Momming & Marathoning

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It’s been one of the most frequent questions I get asked when someone finds out I run marathons: “but how do you find the time with twins at home?!”

It’s absolutely not easy and there are many days where I feel guilty for leaving to go for a run. Having childcare a few times a week and a flexible 30 hours a week work schedule absolutely help. I think also knowing that I feel so much better when I run is key, as well as having an amazing supportive partner.

I feel like myself when I’ve had time in the morning to sweat and have some movement. Normally getting up early is my biggest tip. I also am in bed most nights by 9pm and my alarm goes off somewhere between 5-5:30am. I like to be heading out the door or starting my workout by 6-6:30am and home to be with the girls by 7:30am.

I do my longer runs on the days where I don’t work and do have childcare. That is the NUMBER ONE thing that I think helps me train for longer distances with little kids. If I didn’t have that availability, I really am not sure I would be able to get it done. I do a little bit of housework on those days and then the rest of the day is long run, sometimes strength work, recovery fuel, cold water baths into Epsom salt baths, and normally a nap. It’s not something that is necessarily sustainable year-round so I realize in my off-seasons.

I try to be home when the girls get up in the mornings, I might workout earlier to be home in time for them to roll out of bed, or I might do more stroller runs. It’s not a perfect schedule and I’m certainly not the ‘best mom’ when I’m in peak weeks training for my next goal race, but chasing goals outside of being a m and nurse is really important to me.

What helps get you out the door as a parent? How many marathons do you run a year?

Wineglass Marathon Recap

in ,

Here we are and marathon number 2 of the year is complete! I went into this marathon in honestly the best shape I’ve ever been in- I had three 20 mile long runs during my buildup and then, everyone in our household got sick (per usual before Wineglass). My taper for this race also went by so fast- I never got the taper crazies and thankfully only felt a slight sore throat/ headache the two days prior to my race (which ofcourse- why couldn’t that have happened like a week or two before?!? My carb-load went great and travels to the race went so well. I just wish the race result went better (I wanted to put this recap out earlier, but honestly needed some time to decompress). I honestly thought I could PR by several minutes (mid 3:20s was what I was thinking), obtain my BQ for 2025 (FINALLY) and spoiler alert: I ran a 3:41… Let’s go back to the start of my carb-load and I’ll recount it all.

I ended up putting my carbs into ziploc bags so I didn’t have to spend time counting out my pretzels or measuring my cereal while I was on the road (easy 50g carbs to fill-up on while on the road or momming throughout the weekend).

Food/meals that work best for me during my carbload: Pretzels, dry cereal (honey nut cheerios are my fave), bagels, bananas, grapes, premade pasta with chicken (I do a balsamic vinegar/olive oil dressing and add in kalmata olives, feta cheese, artichokes, sundried tomatoes) that I’ve portioned out, soft pretzel bites, candy (swedish fish/ gummy worms), Gatorade, juice (orange or apple), and graham crackers.

I started my carb load on Thursday for the Sunday morning race. I spent most of Thursday packing/cooking/ taking care of the kiddos. We had previously spent the last weekend at my mom’s for the Fair (normally it’s held the week after and it’s a celebration post-marathon, but the dates were reversed this year…bummer! I think the extra travel stress just added to my mental load leading to race day), so we had a lot of things still in bags and ready to go for the race. On Friday we left around 8:30 and arrived in Corning by 3pm. The girls did great (no potty accidents and we had lunch pre-packed, so we ate on the go which also really helped)- thank goodness for car DVD players. They binged Paw Patrol and we were so tired of hearing that music by the end of the 6 hours. We checked into our hotel (Stay bridge Suites- HIGHLY recommend), got settled, and then walked over to the Expo. I love how everything is centrally located for this race- we can walk to the Expo and finish line/start line buses from our hotel. Really convenient for families. The weather was looking nice, but the high kept getting a bit higher (which with an 8:15am race start for the marathon- I didn’t love ). We took ample showers over the weekend (the girls love it) and took advantage of the two-bedroom suite (with the girls not coming into our room until the morning).

The next day we ate the hotel breakfast and then I ventured out for my easy 20 minute shakeout run. I ran to the finish line and got super excited. It was going to be warm today and temps were already in the 60s by my 9am shakeout run!

We ventured to a nearby park after I came back from my run and the girls had so much. I love how much green space and family-friendly this community is. It feels like the entire weekend is catered to the runners. After the park, we walked around a bit downtown and then went to Wegman’s for a few supplies for the weekend. Shoutout to one of the downtown stores that was offering free poster-making for runners. The children’s museum was also a highlight for the girls (so glad they were open over the weekend this year)!

We drove the marathon course afterwards (obviously they did not do a car ride nap, lol) and then came back to the hotel in the afternoon. The girls watched Frozen (they’re obsessed), while I took a nap (they were much too captivated by the movie to rest!). We ate an early dinner (thank goodness I had all of our meals all made and we just had to heat them up in the microwave, it was super easy) and then took the girls to the hotel swimming pool- they loved it. I went to bed around 8:30pm and slept fairly well (no wakeups from the girls thankfully)!

I woke-up around 5:30am, which was my normal wakeup time at home. I ate a bagel with PB and honey, got some coffee from the hotel (sadly they didn’t have bananas), and gathered my things to leave the hotel around 6:15am. I walked to the start and didn’t have to wait long to get on a start line bus (first time ever!). I wore my NYC finishers blanket and that was the best decision I’ve made. It was so nice and warm. I got to the start shortly after 7am, immediately used a porta potty and then just watched a lot of the runners arriving for a bit. I did a short jog and some warm-up drills before heading to drop my bag off and head to the start line. I took one maurten gel at 8am (15min before the start).

I started the race around 8 min/mi pace and had the plan to slowly chip away towards 7:40s after the half point. The first half of the race is always so lovely. I felt good in the beginning- really good. I kept my pace easy and tried to hold back. Around mile 10, my right hamstring started to ache (something I’ve never had happen before in either racing or training). I thought it was odd and then when it continued to hurt after each mile marker, I started to get worried. I didn’t necessarily feel like it was something that was getting worse (or else I would’ve stopped), but it wasn’t going away. At this point, I just decided that I needed to ease up and hope it would improve. It finally started to get better, but not until after mile 23 (when my legs started to hurt too). I started walking through water stops around mile 14 or so and used the porta potty once. I’m really proud that I finished and this was honestly one of the worst marathons I’ve had (maybe ever)- finishing in a 3:41 when you fall apart that much feels pretty good.

What I didn’t do while I was physically hurting, was give up on my nutrition (which is why I think that I still finished in a strong time!). I took my gels every 25 minutes (alternated between maurten and gu caffeine gels) and only skipped the last one (since I was past mile 24 at that point). I think staying strong on my nutrition also helped me recover better post-marathon (I also had a Core power immediately after I finished- I had that in my drop bag).

Am I disappointed? Yes- of course! It’s been over 2 weeks and I’m still disappointed. I put in so much work this past training cycle and it sucks when you have no race result to show for it, BUT I also know that all my training is not “lost” just because I didn’t get the result I wanted. I learned so much during this race and it absolutely makes me hungrier to get back out there again.

My hamstring (what I believe is tendonpathy ) was definitely tender after the race, but it went away within a day or two. The pain only came back during my recent half that I did a few days ago, so I think that it needs a rest and I’ve got to start to add back in some strength.

I’m also proud- I put in so much work this past year and I CRUSHED IT. I got Covid for the first time in July and bounced back to have a really strong 10 mile (hilly) race in the middle of August. I rocked my nutrition. All of this fitness that I’ve built isn’t gone and I’m even more excited to have a great 2025. I’ve been brainstorming my races that I want to do and I know that it’s going to be a great year.

My love for Wineglass continues and I will definitely be back next year (but maybe for the half)!

Revel White Mountains Recap (I did it!)

in ,

You know those goals that seem totally crazy and probably’never going to happen, but it would be cool if it did’ ?!? Well- I HAD THE BEST DAY ON SUNDAY! I never thought I would be ‘fast enough’ to run a Boston Qualifying time (I mean, I always thought that it would be cool and yeah sure maybe some day), but here we are! New 11-minute PB 3:25:14!! I think I’m still in disbelief. The coolest part is that I always thought about a BQ as a stepping stone towards greater things. Sub 1:40 half’s, sub 3 hour marathons- the real big scary goals that I know I can get! So, it’s pretty nice to be putting in the work and actually getting the results. I’m just going to recap the race here, but am already planning on doing a separate post all about my marathon progression and why I think it finally happened for me!

Let’s start with the days leading up to the race. I had a pre-race call with my Coach (Cara from Lift Run Perform https://liftrunperform.com) who thought I could run 3:28 or better. We had a plan to start out conservative on the steep downhills and then slowly build faster. I knew the course since I grew up 10 minutes from Conway and knew that miles 9-13 would be hilly (was looking forward to the downhill reprieve). I also was so excited to finish at the Ice Arena (I skated at the rink from basically its opening day in 1997 until 2008 when I graduated high school and then transitioned to coaching there until I had the girls in 2021!). So the finish area was super special to me. I had an amazing training cycle (lots of hills!) and felt strong. I raced more during this cycle, so doing the marathon just seemed like another race day to me (that helped build up my confidence!). I worked with Featherstone Nutrition https://www.featherstonenutrition.com , which also helped me nail down my race day nutrition and fueling! I did the same thing that I had practiced during training (also helped build up my confidence come race day). So, 3-day carb load it was!

We stayed with my mom who was 15 minutes from where the buses were loading (as well as where the expo/finish line was). We arrived to her house on Friday afternoon. Flatbreads for dinner that night (obviously!!) and an early bedtime for me. I woke up Saturday around 6am and decided to get my shakeout run in early. 20 min shakeout at 10:30 pace felt perfect (no breaking records the day before a race!). I came back, showered, and ate breakfast (bagel- obviously) before the girls or Alex was awake. We got to the Expo a bit after it opened (10:15ish). It still wasn’t busy then , which was nice! I love how the Revel expos aren’t overwhelming, but they also always have amazing purchasable swag (this was my third Revel- I did the Revel Rockies as my 2nd & 3rd marathons).

Alex and I took the girls to the local park after the expo to get some energy out. Parking for the expo was easy and a short walk. After we all ate lunch (PB&J on a pretzel bun for me), the girls took a nap and I also napped for over an hour and a half (putting Harry Potter on for background noise is my new napping secret weapon 😂). We played outside for most of the afternoon and did an early dinner of pasta & butter. This was my first carb load where I ate a majority of my carbs before 6pm the night before the race, which I think also helped (I also knew it was an earlier start time than other races too). I was in bed by 8pm, but didn’t really fall asleep until probably after 9 (I don’t think I woke up until my alarm at 3am too!).

I got to the buses a few minutes before 4am and I’m glad I did because it was starting to get busy. Finding a bus was easy and seamless. It took just about an hour to get to the start line and I remember thinking that the music the bus was playing was awesome (90s throwbacks), as well as how perfect the weather was going to be (mid 40s and cloudy)! I could just feel it was going to be a good day. I got off the bus around 5:05 and immediately found a porta potty line (it seemed really long already!).

I waited for a porta potty for sooo long. I started getting nervous that I would miss the drop bag time so I managed to get my things together and bring my bag over (thank you to the kind runner that held my spot in line) before the last call. I was still waiting for a porta potty at 5:55 with 5+ runners ahead of me and I decided to just go to the start line and not go. I knew it was mainly nerves (I didn’t need to go number 2) and knew that if I really needed to go, I would hit a porta potty probably around mile 3. This was the first time I’ve never been able to go before a race or have times to stretch! Crazy to think that I waited 50minutes and there was still a crazy long line! This didn’t happen to me at other Revel events. I decided to start with music from the start line (normally I used to do playlists then music). Taylor Swift favorites were a good majority of my songs for the first half. I stayed conservative through the steep downhill sections early on to save my quads, but I also remember thinking that my quads were already sore at mile 3 😂. I took a Maurten 10min before the start and alternated Mairtens with caffeinated GUs every 30min during the race. I took in 20oz of scratch through mile 20 , tossed my bottle, and did water at the final two aid stations. I upped my fluid intake for this race and I think it paid off.

Miles 0-6: I was feeling good and glad that Revel provides you with throw away gloves! I wore mine until mile 14 maybe? I also remember thinking how beautiful of a morning it was and also remembered it would be my last ‘early morning run for a bit’, since I knew I would be taking some rest days post marathon. That always helps put the race into perspective for me! I had a lot of people pass me and I didn’t stress- I kept reminding myself that I’m a seasoned marathoner! They’ll come back to me and we’re all on our own race plan.

Splits: 8:07, 8:00, 7:50, 7:33, 7:41, 7:50

I also knew that there wouldn’t be service along the race course and that my GPS might be off, so I enabled the auto-lap feature and also decided to just go off feels too since it seemed like my watch and the race course mile splits were off (I think it said my second mile was 8:30 pace and then third mile was 6:30 pace).

The next few miles were less steep and I planned (well Coach) told me to go into the 7:55 range, but to still save my quads. I remember thinking to hold myself back and I’ll be thankful later on in the day. I think this is really where marathon experience helped me a ton. I always used to get anxious about not being near race pace from the start. I tried to smile and take in the experience as much as possible. I also am always grateful to have a few hours of uninterrupted running since becoming a mom (IYKYK)!

Mile splits 7-10: 7:49, 7:57, 7:51, 7:50

I knew miles 11-14 might be slower until I hit my next downhill section, so I focused on enjoying the out and back and went into thinking this is ‘only a 3 mile stretch’. I also kept reminding myself of how smooth and in-control Fiona O’Keefe looked at the marathon trails. I channeled her through most of the race! I started passing people on the uphill section and remembered thinking that I trained for this. I felt great. I also remember seeing the lead man and woman coming back by us as they did their turn around and that was really fun! I also remember seeing a woman running barefoot and I was wondering if she started out that way or if she got tired of her shoes and through them!?!

Mile splits: 8:33, 7:54, 7:45, 7:52

Miles 14-20: the plan was to dip into the 7:40s once I started going downhill again. I started passing more people at this time and remember thinking that this is fun! I loved seeing a few spectators on the course around this time and was also excited to finish my water bottle at mile 20 and toss it (I have always carried a half empty bottle until the end of races and finally think I got a good handle on my hydration strategy). My playlist started to get really good around mile 20 and I was getting excited to finally get to a point where I could race!

Mile splits: 7:57, 7:46, 7:39, 7:43, 7:39, 7:43

Miles 21-26: I threw off my headband around mile 22 and was basically like ‘I GOT THIS’. I was psyched, but I also knew before I started this race what my plan was and I was so confident that it was going to happen that I didn’t have to ‘dig too deep’. Maybe / most definitely I could’ve gone faster! (Which excites me). I hit mile 20 around 2 hrs 36 min and did a quick math to know that I was going to get my BQ and then knew that anything extra was icing on the cake. I thought of everyone who helped get me to this point and support me on my 10-year dream- this is when I basically could’ve gotten very emotional, but I decided to get excited instead. I always feel like I’m about to bawl my eyes out towards the end of a marathon - anyone else?!?

I wore a pink, red, & orange ribbon on my race shirt to remind myself that I run and move for more than myself. I carried my Dad (red for heart disease awareness), my gram (cancer), & grandfather (MS) with me on my run. I thought about how much they have endured and how small and minute running a marathon really is.

My shoe came untied at mile 24 🙄 and I had to bend over to tie it and quickly get back on pace. I knew that if I stopped or thought about anything besides just tying my shoe that walking or stopping would seem very easy! I used two water stations at this point after I dropped my amphipod water bottle. The aid stations were small, but well labeled. When I saw that I was in the home stretch of the Kanc, I couldn’t believe it! I was weaving through several half marathoners at this point, which was a bit tough on tired marathon legs. I wish they would have stayed off on the dirt and maybe single file. I think I used up a lot of extra energy trying to maneuver through them and wish it would have been a bit more seamless to the finish.

Mile splits until mile 26: 7:37, 7:24, 7:43, 7:41, 7:50, 7:55

I came around mile 26 and loved the crowd support. I got so happy to see many spectators and was proud of my little community that I grew up in. They showed up and I carried everyone’s cheers with me through that mile 0.2 miles.

Last 0.2 miles: 6:54 🔥

I saw the girls and Alex in my last turn to the finish (the finish line was AWESOME with a beautiful arch!) and my father-in-law who you could tell was excited. I was excited too! I couldn’t stop smiling. I had no idea I had a low 3:25 in me (truly) that day. Obviously, the girls wanted to taste my Siggi’s sample yogurt immediately afterwards and wanted to be picked up.

I got my finisher’s certificate and BQ luggage tag (so cool! I had no idea they did this)! I downed a core power elite almost immediately after I finished (I left it in my checked bag) and changed into my Oofos sandals. My legs were definitely cramping up.

A few days later and my quads still hurt and I’m still in disbelief most of the time. Some times I break out in a giant smile or tears because I can’t believe I actually ran that time that I’ve been training and daydreaming about for so many months (this was also what I had trained to run in Wineglass last Fall before the weather became ridiculously hot).

I’ll do a separate post about what I think helped me get faster to a BQ over the years. I loved this race and think Revel does a great hi! Downhill races are hard, but fun! This one also gained over 400’ elevation , so it wasn’t all downhill. The swag was awesome and medals were beautiful. I hope they decide to come back again for another year! The weather was also perfect.