Wife Mother Runner Philadelphia Marathon Archives

John Liquori Memorial 5K

June 7, 2015

Today was a spectacular morning. Not only is it my son’s 8th birthday, but it was the Inaugural John Liquori Memorial 5K. Sadly, John Liquori, a 20 year old young man, was struck my a drunk driver while running at 2:00 in the afternoon last July. He died in the hospital. I didn’t know John, but I remember the day the accident happened. I was driving to St. Therese to pick up my kids from camp and a section of Rte 17 was closed off. I knew that wasn’t good. I didn’t see what happened, but learned later that a runner was struck.

John Liquori just hours before his life was taken from him.

John was a great looking guy. Was loved by so many people, and his friends and family put together this event to help raise money for the organizations and interests that John cared so much about. To learn more about this Foundation visit www.doitforjohn.com. I’d say there were about 500 runners and walkers at the event today. The sun was out, the sky was blue and it was a wonderful morning.

My friend Adrienne was running her first 5K. I met up with her and her trainer, her sister-in-law and some friends from her gym. I was excited for Adrienne. Last night I hadn’t even registered for the race yet. When I tried to register online it said the registration was closed so I knew I had to register at the race. We had my son and husband’s family birthday party Saturday night and then we had a fire and stayed up late watching our favorite TV show, America’s Got Talent, so I knew I had to set my alarm for at least 7 a.m. so I could get there in time to register. I didn’t know how large of an event it would be. I actually woke up this morning before the alarm even went off. That was good because I was afraid that I was going to wake up my husband and then he wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep. I am also pleased that I woke up on my own on the weekend because I need to start coordinating my training plan for my upcoming Marine Corp Marathon and the Philadelphia Marathon which will require some early morning weekend long runs to avoid the summer heat.

Before

We haven’t had the chance to run together yet so this was our first time! I ran with her for the first mile without doing my intervals, and then told her that at mile 1 I was going to start doing my intervals. I didn’t set my watch ahead of the race, so it was stuck at the 30/30 setting. It felt great to run the entire mile without stopping. They were keeping a great pace of around 10:30 per mile. I would have continued with them, but I haven’t trained that way and didn’t want to cause injury considering what I have been going through with my back lately. They were never out of my sights and in the end I think I finished only 30 seconds behind them. The course was very flat and it was a great race for her first 5K!

The end of the race ended at the track and I saw Adrienne and her gang just ahead of me and was going to take a picture for her; but decided to just finish the race. She trained well for this race and I am so proud of her! I am looking forward to running more races with her! We are talking about the Branford Road Race in 2 weeks.

After

Way to go Adrienne! I enabled another Mother to Run!

It was great to run for a cause. Sad that this cause was so close to home. His mother and many family members were at the race; but the town supported them and came together today to remember John and to support his family and friends. Life is short, it can change in an instant. In the past year or two I have had the mentality to make the most of every day; especially in the lives of my kids. Yes the accident happened while he was running, but accidents can happen anywhere. He was struck by a drunk driver. He could have been struck by a distracted driver. Yes, I am more aware now when I am out walking and running and make it a point that I am seen by driver and that I can see the driver as well.

Philadelphia Marathon – City of Motherly Love

November 23, 2014

My race reports lately are happening in order of most recent to older. I apologize for that; however, it is easier for me to write about today’s race since I am taking multiple trains home with some time to spare. To begin I took a train from the Wallingford station on Saturday morning. The kids slept over my parents’ house so Kevin and I actually got to bed early. The train was scheduled for 9:09 departure but ran over 20 minutes late. When it arrived I settled in and got comfortable with my tea. The trip took about 4 hours and when I arrived I met Jen at a pub across the street from the train station. I had a nice cold blue moon and a turkey sandwich and then we walked to our hotel to check in.

After dropping off our bags we walked to the expo to pick up our bibs and do a little shopping and I really wanted to go to the Another Mother Runner booth. Dimity spotted their 26.2 sweatshirt I was wearing when I approached their booth! She’s awesome. She gave me a big hug and signed my bib for me. I knew she couldn’t run because of her broken foot but she was going to ride a bike to cheer on her cadets. She told me she’d look for me. I bought their city of motherly love hoody and she posed for a picture with me and told me she would look for me out on the race course.

After the expo, Jen and I made plans with Joe and Melissa Pardo to hook up for dinner. We dumped our goodies off at the hotel and Joe and Melissa picked us up in the front. We went to Chickie and Pete’s. Good food, cold beer and a fun time! Jen wanted a Fliers hat so we made plans to see if we could get into the stadium area to go to the gift shop. Well after a little wheeling and dealing through the side door she was able to purchase a hat even though she didn’t have tickets into the game! We all got a good laugh out of that and then went to the Xfinity Center to check the place out. Joe drove us down South Street to show us the sites and then he dropped us back off at the hotel. It was a very fun time! Thanks Joe and Melissa!!

Jen and I were getting tired so we got ready for bed and despite a few coughing fits, the both of us settled down pretty quickly for the night. I never mentioned how sick I was during the week. I started to get a tickle on Monday with some annoying coughing. By Wednesday it was in my chest so I started steroids and used the nebulizer machine. My Tuesday morning run was a challenge but by Thursday I was breathing easier. I made sure all week that I was getting to bed early so that I could get ahead of this cold or whatever it is.

We hit the sack, I read my kindle until my eyes closed and quickly the alarm went off at 4:30 a.m. I got ready, ate my oatmeal and had some tea and we walked to the starting area.

We got there very early. I wasn’t sure how to plan for this race since I never ran it before. The paperwork said to be at the corrals no later than 5:30 but the race didn’t start until 7:00. We were there by 5:38. Thankfully I was able to find Danielle, who I was planning on running the full with and we hung out with Jen for a while before we went back to our corral. I was able to switch corrals at the expo and Danielle was able to stick with me so that worked out nice. It was very cold standing at the corrals. I had a space blanket which helped a lot. But I took it off too soon and out it back on again a few minutes later and shared it with Danielle. The corrals had some time between releases so we needed to keep warm.

We finally got to go and I helped Danielle with her knee and hip issue by doing 30/30 intervals with her. We had a great pace for the first few miles. Then I got to a point where I needed to use a potty. That usually doesn’t happen to me during races or training. But if I wanted to enjoy the rest of the 20+ miles I needed to do it. That was a big relief on my mind when I got that out of the way.

We continued on through South Street and through downtown and then ended up in the college area and the zoo. Danielle started doing a funky skip hobble which wasn’t good. Her knee was getting worse over time and we were talking about what she should do. We maintained our intervals but walked up the hills. Again we kept a good pace but I wanted her to be careful. As we were climbing a hill around mile 8 someone had donuts. Now I never eat donuts, but I looked at what there was and the glazed donut called out to me! My tummy was rumbly. I had about half of it and it was wonderful! But I didn’t want it to give me trouble so I tossed the rest.

Danielle decided around mile 10 that she was throwing in the towel. It is a very hard decision to make, especially since she paid to do the full and it was her first but her knee was really behaving badly and I was concerned that she would have major issues just finishing the full or even if she did finish, what kind of damage could be going on with it. We took some pictures before we split off and around mile 11 I said goodbye to her. It was sad losing a pal along the way. But I put on my headphones and hunkered down to complete the other half marathon I had ahead of me.

The course has many areas where you can see the other runners returning back towards the finish as I was just heading towards mile 14. That plays games with my head. I struggle with that. But then I remembered Dimity was going to be near the river so I had someone to look out for. I found her just as Sarah was coming up to her as well!! I gave a yell out to Sarah and posed for a selfie with Dimity and then kept on my journey to the finish.

I wasn’t familiar with the course so I didn’t have a sense for when I would see things. I just knew that eventually I’d have to take the route back along the river into the city. Well the course sighed and zagged a few hills here and there and over a few bridges. I saw Dimity again and gave her a shoutout. I saw Linda Bachand around mile 20 and took a picture with her. I wanted to see Danielle again and she said she would be at the bridge. It helps to know there are people you know ahead to give you a boost.

Around mile 22 I was struggling. I called my husband and talked to the kids and it helped. I decided that for the last 3 miles I would run for my husband and kids. I called him again at mile 25 and he told me to finish strong. That was helpful to me. As I came up to mile 26 I kept repeating to myself, “Finish strong”. It helped. I ran the entire .2 distance to the finish line and was practically alone in the shute. That was weird. Everyone was looking at me but I was so focused at finishing strong. I crossed the line and was very happy to have my 4th marathon completed.

I got my medal, space blanket, water and snack bag and headed back to the room to meet Jen and have my chocolate milk! This was my first non-Disney race in many months so I ran for Team Chocolate milk. I was glad to run wearing the gear that my sponsor gave me. I felt special, like maybe what I am doing actually means something. I took a shower and packed up and we left to go to the train station. Since wet didn’t have much time, we grabbed lunch at the station. We relaxed and had sandwiches and then said goodbye until next time! Jen had a great time and told me that she really felt like her old self this weekend. I’m glad she had fun and also finished the race despite her fear of not being trained enough for it.

My next marathon is Dopey. Jeff Galloway has my cluster of runs near Christmas where I do 3, 6, 13.1 and 26, but I think I am going to do a 20 or 23. I am feeling marathon burnout a little bit and don’t want to do 26 miles through my neck of the woods and then do it again at Dopey. It’s just too much. Mentally I struggle so I want to enjoy dopey and not feel the training burnout. I know my performance won’t be spectacular but my goal is to finish Dopey. Hell after my first marathon on 2013 I had no idea all this would have taken place for me!!!

This was a good race and now that I have had time to think about it, I think I would do it again as a training run. I struggled with it a little during the race. I didn’t know the course, but the point was to run on new streets and get a new view for a long training run. I have to remember that I was sick and I did great considering that. I think I am benefiting from doing multiple training runs (3, 5, 10, 26) that Jeff has on my plan and it seems to be keeping me loose and also strong at the same time. It was a beautiful day and I did enjoy it. I had a great time finally meeting Jennifer in person. I also got to hang out with Joe and Melissa and met a new Mickey Miler, Danielle! So it was a great weekend! I also recovered very quickly. I didn’t have much pain at all post race and during the following day I was able to go up and down stairs like it was nothing different. That makes me suspect that I didn’t push myself hard enough. Then when I think that, I keep reminding myself that I did what I was supposed to do and use it for a training run to remain injury free and able to do multiple miles in 4 days. Mission accomplished!

Team Chocolate Milk

November 18, 2014

Thank you again to everyone who voted for me in August to get me into Team Chocolate milk. I recently received my Team Chocolate milk runner’s pack and will be proudly wearing my gear while I run the Philadelphia Marathon November 23.

As I have mentioned in several other of my blog posts, this year has been about growth for me and becoming a member of Team Chocolate milk was a big deal for me. I’m no one special, I’m just a 42 year old mom of two children and a wife of 12 years to my husband and I enjoy running. I’m not an Iron Man, I haven’t competed in a triathlon, and I hardly consider myself an athlete, but I try hard at anything I do and I never give up. I always strive to do my best and challenge myself. I push myself through difficult times and see the results of my hard work and dedication when I reach my goals.

Follow me on my journey as a member of Team Chocolate milk!

What is your goal?

Philadelphia Marathon

October 30, 2014

I have been training for the Dopey Challenge in January, but in reality I have a real (non-Disney) marathon to do in just three weeks! I am running the Philadelphia marathon. I made arrangements back in March for a room. I was’t sure how many of my friends were going to run the race, so I booked two hotel rooms in different places. I needed to put aside time this week to find those hotel reservation confirmations, identify where the hotels are, gather up my paperwork for the race registration, research into train times and take a look at the course map.

I have been successfully training, but it sunk in that I am going to be running a marathon soon. I’m a little excited about getting a new race medal and seeing how well I do at this non-Disney race. I was listening to the Another Mother Runner podcast on my way to work Wednesday; and Sarah’s story about her BQ race in Victoria was so amazing. It really made me think of what I want. I had given up on the thought of qualifying for Boston. But I haven’t completely given up on the thought of running Boston one day. Kim told me something and I have been thinking about it.

“As Kathrine Switzer told me – her first Boston she finished in 4:30 the second she was around 3 because she worked hard. It’s as simple as that. U have to work hard to get what u want. Unless u are gifted which we aren’t. And Kathrine says she is not as well. She worked hard.”

It’s true, I am not a gifted runner, I do it because I enjoy it. But if I do want to do something I have to work hard to get it. So I am going to take the time to think about it and run some more marathons and see what happens with my finish times. I have been successfully training for Dopey with no injury so far and I’d like to keep it that way.

So for me Philadelphia will be a test to see what my time will be compared to the Providence Marathon in May. I will be running this race alone, but I am hoping to hook up with the Mother Runner Dimity and her cadet. I believe their finish time will be around 5:20 and that’s a big push for me. If I could get 5:30 I’d be blown away. Time will tell!

I have heard that this course is really fun and many people have said that the race is really great. I’m looking forward to it.

I Won’t Try To Do A Tri This Year

August 26, 2014

I had a goal set this summer that I would participate in a Women’s Sprint Tri this September. I did take part in training, biking, running and “some” swimming. But I didn’t get the chance to step up my swimming training and I also didn’t do any brick workouts. So after being on vacation last week and doing my first open water swim in a lake, I decided that I am just not ready for a race like this. I can do well with the biking and the running, but I am too afraid I will run out of gas from just the 1/2 mile swim alone.

The medal they are giving for the race is a cute charm bracelet and that sure did tempt me to suck it up and do it anyway; but I talked to my husband and kids and told them I had made the decision to not do that race that I had been working for during the summer. It was so cute when I told them. The kids immediate told me “you can do anything you want to mommy! Don’t give up, you can do it!” It was so obvious to me that they listen to me and what I tell them when I encourage them to keep trying and to not give up while they are doing something hard and get frustrated. It was so sweet that they were telling me that I still had time to train and get myself better and ready for the race. But I told them that sometimes I have to be wise and make a decision to NOT do a race to prevent myself from getting hurt. I wanted them to understand that I wasn’t giving up; but that I was making my decision so that I could be safe and to know that next year I will work harder towards the goal.

I am slightly disappointed that I won’t be doing this race, but I also want to stay injury free and healthy as I prepare for the Philadelphia marathon and the Dopey Challenge in January. Sometimes the best decision is to sit out an event rather than try to do it all.

I am so happy that my running hobby is also teaching my children some good lessons in life.

My Very First Race Location

August 4, 2014

This was the field I ran in for my very first race. It was a 5K at the Potato and Corn Festival in North Branford, CT August of 2011. It is a very memorable day for me, not just because it was my first race, but because it was probably the worst first race anyone could have had! I had thrown my back out the day before because I was riding on the hayrides in a bumpy field, going on the slides with my kids, and sitting improperly on the grass. These were all recipes for disaster. The morning of the race my mom had to go to the quick clinic for an infection so she wasn’t sure if she was going to make it for my first race, and not to mention it was a torrential downpour.

But, it didn’t stop me from participating in my first 5K that I had been training for. Despite being driven there in tears with my family, I pinned on my number, slopped through the mud and lined up with the other runners. Then the race began. I pushed through the pain and took my first steps into my racing career. The rain came down so hard my headphones stopped working. I was afraid I was going to short out my iPod. I had no clue what the course we going to be like but I followed the pack. I was mostly towards the back, but I was just happy to be there.

My finish time was 38 minutes. Not my best 5K time, but it was my first PR. Since then I have done many 5Ks, several 10Ks, half marathons and 3 full marathons. This was where it all began for me. As they do every year, the race was held this year, but I chose to sit it out because I am training for the Dumbo Double Dare, along with the Philadelphia Marathon, and the Dopey challenge. I can’t afford to twist an ankle on a trail run that I haven’t trained for. But this race will always mean something to me. And I am proud to walk its course and remember what it was like running my first race there.

Dopey Training and Philadelphia Training All At Once

July 27, 2014

As I am on out my long run this morning I asked myself, “Why did I sign up for Dopey?” I did a 5 mile run yesterday per Jeff Galloway’s instructions and my 16 mile run this morning. I felt ok considering I did 5 miles yesterday, but then I was doing the math in my head…5 and 16 not so bad, 13.1 and 26 the following day — kind of scary. 3.1 (5K), 6.2 (10K), 13.1 (half marathon) then 26.2 (full marathon)… WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING????!!!! Seriously, I had a bit of panic over the idea.

The back to back 5K and 10K races don’t scare me, but the “Goofy” part of the challenge, the half and full marathons do. I must trust in the training Jeff is setting up for me to prepare my body for this and hopefully not get injured during the training as well. I did as he instructed and changed my intervals from what I normally use (45/30) to 15/30. It slowed down my pace to 13 minutes/mile, but also having the shorter bursts of running and longer walking helped me to not be as sore and endure the distance better. Compared to my 16 mile run a few weeks ago, I did finish it 7 minutes slower, but that was mainly because I did the 15/30 intervals.

I set my alarm for 5:30 this morning. My kids tucked me into bed last night and I read my book and fell asleep rather quickly and relatively early compared to my usual bed time. I didn’t stall when the alarm went off, I got up, made some toast and tea and got my butt out the door by 6:20. I was concerned with the storms that were in the forecast on the news and it was still a bit more overcast at that time of the morning. But once I was out there it didn’t feel as dark. There was a point in time around 7:15 that the sun came out and I was worried because it was very humid already.

As usual, my iPod was loaded up with my favorite Disney Pod casts, Mickey Miles, Be Our Guest, The DIS Unplugged so I had my usual Disney magic in my ears. The Mickey Miles Podcast was talking about California and that made me a little excited about the Dumbo Double Dare coming up next month. I haven’t had been thinking about it as much lately with other events going on in my life right now. But the training I am doing now for the Philadelphia Marathon and Dopey is rolled in with that race weekend as well. I haven’t been thinking about Philadelphia as much either. It’s funny how you put your head down and push forward with what’s on the training plan without thinking much about where you are racing. At least that is how it is for me. November and January are a long time from now for these upcoming races, but the work needs to be put in now to build up to them.

So the lesson I took out of this weekend’s training routine was about being dedicated to get up early and hit the road in the early hours before it gets too hot and also so I can spend more time with my family. With the longer runs coming up on the training schedule and my work schedule I don’t know how I will get them all fit in so I may be using my weekend mornings like I did this weekend with early starts. In the winter, I have no clue what I will do when it is dark out so early. I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.

I was also very conscious of cars when I was on the main roads. I was thinking a lot about the poor young man who was killed recently in the town next to me, on the roads that I run on. I am a very conscious runner and did move to the side of the road a few times when I wasn’t sure if I was being seen. I pray that nothing like that every happens to me, leaving my family without a mother and a wife. I hate to think that way, but it has been on my mind a lot more lately. I won’t stop doing what I love, but I will be more aware and make changes accordingly (like choosing different routes to run on that are less busy).

Here’s to looking forward to a weekend of low miles and recovery in the next coming weekends and to an excuse to sit in the movie theater with my family this afternoon!

Philadelphia Training Run – 16 miles

July 7, 2014

This weekend I had a 16 mile training run on my schedule from Jeff Galloway. Being the holiday weekend I was looking forward to some down time and sleeping late. I figured I would do this long run on Saturday so that I could still get some sleep on Sunday and there’s no reason why I couldn’t also take a nap Saturday afternoon if needed. I am beginning to like cat naps!

I set my alarm for 6:00 just like I did two weeks ago. I got up made breakfast and was out the door before 7:00. I didn’t have a fixed finish time in my mind for how long this run would take but I knew that I wanted to get it done early before the sun got higher in the sky. It was a perfect morning. I don’t plan my runs around the weather, because when you train for a race, you have to train for any condition since there is no guarantee that race day will be the perfect day. But I’ve been getting lucky that my weekend runs have been beautiful days.

I am really enjoying getting out early like this while the family is still sleeping and putting in my miles so I have the rest of the day to do whatever we have plans for. I did the total distance in 3 hours 25 minutes. I was happy with that. My average pace was 12:49 per mile and I did intervals of 45/30. As it got warmer in the morning I felt that it was affecting me a little bit and I also had to be smart about it and not push too fast. I also thought of a new route where I wouldn’t have to climb 3 large hills on my way back home. I had one large gradual hill that wasn’t so bad. I actually ran up most of it.

How can you not enjoy such a beautiful morning?!

The next long training run isn’t until the end of the month. Since getting up early and putting in my miles has been tolerable, I am considering doing the Red Dress Run For Women 5K in Hartford this weekend. I better get my butt in gear and register for it! They are giving away cute bracelets for their finisher’s medal. How can I pass that up?!

Tag: Philadelphia Marathon