Why I'm not running on National Running Day

National Running Day!! It is certainly the holiday of holidays for runners. Yet, I am probably one of the few runners who is not running a single step today. Am I injured? Nope! All is well. I simply don't want to run today. Yes, you heard that right. As much as I love running, trying to race two halves this month (and the lack of a race recap for the BK Half should tell you how stellar that went!) has left me mentally exhausted. I am so glad I haven't committed to a fall marathon, because running 10 miles right now seems miserable. I am the first...

What's in a number?

I feel like I've been making a big deal about Saturday's race. My 30th half marathon! Holy crap! But then when I really thought about it, I couldn't pinpoint why this number seemed so significant. I don't really remember which race was my 10th, or even 20th half marathon. So why does 30 seem so different? Maybe because now I am actually in my 30's? The age that used to loom over my 20-something head is now here, and well, it just is. Maybe there's some sort of weird symbiotic relationship? I've known people who try to hit 40 half marathons when...

The Power of Confidence

There have been some big changes in the Push Through Philly world since I last posted. For those of you not keeping track, that was nearly SEVEN months ago when I ran the Mohawk Hudson Marathon. Good gravy. The biggest change by far is that after 6 years, I have a new running coach. I'm not going to go into the hows or whys in a public forum, but I have only love for my former coach. There was no drama, no messy fall out. I just knew my body and...

Marathon #7 - Mohawk Hudson

I wasn't going to do a race recap---I haven't done one in so long, it seems kind of silly to start again. But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to try and capture what happened this weekend in hopes that I can learn something about myself and racing the marathon. The short version: On Sunday I ran my 7th marathon, Mohawk Hudson, and ran a 7 min 49 second PR, and couldn't be any happier.  The long version: Pre-race...

Introducing...Push Through Training

My Mission: My goal is simple. I want to use my knowledge (as an RRCA Certified Running Coach/ACSM Certified Personal Trainer) and experience as a runner (including 26+ half marathons, and 6 marathons) to help you push through your boundaries and help you reach your running goals. Whether that goal is to run your first 5k, or to PR at your next half marathon, I can help you achieve it. All of my workouts are carefully planned to suit your...

Why not run fast?

I'm sure by now you've all read about Kayla Montgomery, the teenage runner with M.S, whos legs go numb at the end of the race, causing her to collapse upon crossing the finish line. If you haven't read the article, the NY Times did a great piece about it here. I was reading this article the other day, and with the NYC Half coming up in just a few days, there was something that Kayla said that stuck with me. ‘Coach, I don’t know how much time I have left, so I want to run fast — don’t hold back,’  And I thought (in a somewhat morbid way)...

Winter

Is there really much more to say? Winter. I was tallying up my miles for January, and I realized more than 50% of those miles were done on a treadmill. A necessary evil. Training is going well, but I hope that in the next few weeks the weather calms down a little bit. At least for March 16th. How are you all dealing with this weath...

A New Week

I'm really glad that Monday is the start of my training week. I'm in week 3 of my half marathon training, and I'm not sure what to expect. The first week was pretty good, but by Saturday night, I was feeling sick and run down. I spent all of week 2 being various degrees of sick (fever, sore throat, full blown laryngitis) but after three solid night sleeps, I am finally feeling back to "normal". Even though last week was a complete disaster, I am trying to be positive about this week. It's only week three, and it is a brand new week. Yes, every...

Happy New Year (right?)

It's only January 13th, so I think it's still appropriate to say Happy New Year....especially when I haven't blogged since....yeah. There's lots of stuff coming up for me running wise this year, and I'm really excited to share it with you. Though, most of you know already, I got into the 2014 NYC Half Marathon! I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but this was my first time entering the lottery for this race (the last time I ran it was in 2010, when it was in August and not even a lottery) The timing of the race is perfect, and the fact that...

Surviving the Philadelphia Marathon With A Smile...Again

This weekend was such a whirl wind, it's hard to believe I ran a marathon yesterday. The weekend started off great, my Megabus was on time, I got to Philly half an hour early and I was able to check into my hotel before noon. Philly is one of my favorite cities, and I loved being right across the street from Reading Terminal Market. I ended up meeting up with a few friends and we went through the market, went to the expo, and had a hearty pasta lunch. Later...