Race Recap: Angel Run ’15

I’ve run this race in the past quite a few times and there isn’t too much new to say in terms of the course or the experience. It remains a nice, well-organized hometown 5k where all the race proceeds help local initiatives. It’s also a nice way to cap off the year and see friends and acquaintances before everyone begins to get busy for the holidays or hibernate through the winter.

The big difference this year was that it was Cecilia’s first 5k! And she did great. Better than great, really. She ran the whole way, pushed through the tough times in mile 3 and finished strong. Her time would have been even better if she didn’t slow to run and chat with her friends at the start. But what fun is running if you can’t hang out and chat with friends? She’ll have plenty of more years to really race. Continue Reading

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Return to Running

Reunited and it feels…. Well it feels pretty damned good. I did my first run in almost three months today and my first since the hospital. My training calendar was beginning to look like a barren wasteland. Truthfully, I tried not to think about it. Not being able to exercise when it was such a key part of how I define myself was, and continues, to be very difficult. But after my one month post-hospital checkup, I was cleared to return to exercise and it was all I could do not to leave the office and try to run home. Continue Reading

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1 Month

The difference is so distinct and so much better that it feels like a year since I hobbled out of the hospital. In reality, it’s only been a month. A few days ago, I had yet more tubes of blood drawn (which didn’t conjure up pleasant memories, but I guess I need to get used to it) and then yesterday, I had my one-month check-in with the endocrinologist. 

What has the last month been like? Mostly managing fatigue, resting, taking some meds, resting some more and letting the body recover. It’s probably not unlike what people go through after a major surgery. 

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Race Recap: Patriot Half 70.3

At the ten mile mark, over seven hours and 67 miles after I had started, I turned to Laura and said I thought I might be able to run to the finish. She wished me luck. I took a deep breath in, let it out and before I could take it back I started, well, not running exactly, but shuffling more quickly than I had been for the past three hours. I just wanted this over now as quickly as possible. This was not how today was supposed to go. At all. Continue Reading

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Race Recap: Newport Half Marathon

It was the hubris the brought me down. Fresh off winning my age group at the Rev3 Poconos Olympic event, I thought I’d wrap my season by putting that AG winning fitness to good use and lower my half marathon PR, or even get under that 90 minute mark, at the Newport Half Marathon. Knock off a a dozen or so miles at 6:50 pace and duck in under the wire. That was the plan. The race did not going according to plan. Continue Reading

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Race recap: Rev3 Pocono

My final ‘A’ race triathlon of 2014 was at Rev3 Poconos. The Poconos area is not unfamiliar to triathlons, and on paper does appear to have all the elements a race could want, but it does seem to be a bit cursed. Ironman has tried repeatedly to put on events here only to have logistics or acts of God (a hurricane) scuttle their efforts. They pulled the plug last year. Rev3 stepped in and gave it go this year with a half and an Olympic event. Like all debut races, not everything went perfectly and there are areas for improvement, but it has all the elements to be a successful race venue for Rev3 in the future. I’d race it again. Continue Reading

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