April 11, 2012 New 5 Days to the Starting Line….
You would think….. with the 116th Boston Marathon being in 5 days (holy smokes I can count that on one hand!!) that I would have been keeping up with this blog. Yet I haven’t posted in 3 weeks– eeks! Let me attempt to give some quick updates on what’s been going in the last 3 weeks.
The Last Long Run: 21 Miles
It was everything I imagined it would be;it was more fun running with hundred of other charities, there were several spectators along the route and a lot more adrenaline. If I had a penny for every person that passed me and said good job, I’d have enough money for a treadmill- it was awesome.
Except I made the mistake everyone told me not to make.I ran the first 3 miles way too fast taking 9 minutes of my 5k time. I tried to slow down by the 10k mark but it was too late— my right hip was hurting from mile 6 to mile 15. In these miles I was really doubting my ability to run 26 on April 16th. I also had a minor headache most of these miles, which I figured out meant I was dehydrated. This won’t be happening on race day I promise!
I turned onto the Newton Hills feeling confident and strong. This is where my team has been training since December, so I’m comfortable on those rolling hills. My boyfriend Dan was my lone spectator that day, I gave him a kiss at mile 17 and headed toward the base of Heartbreak Hill. When I got there I ran the whole way up no walking! This is one of my performance goals for race day.
I finished feeling like I could have run 5 more (if I had to). But I don’t want to have any pain on race day in those middle miles, so I will need to be very focused on staying conservative in the first 5 miles. I’m hoping running in the pack will take care of this for me in the first 2 miles.
Yoga Goddess in the Making
Yes I’m becoming a yoga goddess, in the privacy of my own living room. My friend Darcel is a Beachbody Coach and I am on a 60 day challenge to do yoga at least twice a week to bring balance to my running regimen. At the 30 day check up I had lost 3 inches in my waist and 1 inch in the bust. But I can’t put a measurement on how much happier I have been since incorporating yoga into my week! The DVD set is called Yoga Booty Ballet and you warm up with meditative exercises and stretching, then go into a zumba-like routine, on to strength training for a few minutes and then some yoga posing.
Project No Pizza
Pizza is my favorite food in the entire world…. I decided almost 2 weeks ago– no pizza until after the marathon. Plain and simple. I haven’t decided where I am getting my post-run pizza, wondering if Cappy’s II by Northeastern would deliver to Watertown- probably not =)
That’s about it— I’ve been tapering my weekly mileage a lot— and possibly more than I should have, but I am being extra cautious. I want to have as much energy as I can on Marathon Monday and as little risk of injury as possible. I think I’m going to do great!
Boston Marathon Fun Fact
The Centennial Boston Marathon in 1996 established a record as the world’s largest marathon with 38,708 entrants, 36,748 starters, and 35,868 finishers.
Tags: beachbody, Boston marathon, charity, health, heartbreak hill, mentoring, running, tapering, yoga
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March 21, 2012 26 days until 26.2 miles!
At the ripe age of 26 years old, I’m 26 days away from the 26.2 mile Boston Marathon! Thanks to 70+ donors thus I have raised a total of $3718 which will benefit hundreds of kids from at-risk communities who are on waiting lists for mentoring services in Massachusetts. I’m less $800 away from my goal of $4500! Since chubby runners are required to raise a minimum of $4000 in order to run– I am still hoping to get some more sponsors, if you interested please visit www.razoo.com/mags.
This Saturday is our last and longest long run — 21 miles from Hopkinton to the top of Heartbreak Hill. The Marathon Coalition will be joining hundreds of other charity runners for this run that will prove itself as challenging as the marathon itself since the cheering crowds will obviously be significantly less and the adrenaline in our bodies a lot less too.
For friends planning to find me at the marathon, this will be very challenging and we will have to carefully plan it out together. Therefore this Saturday is also a great opportunity to come out and cheer on hundred of charity runners without dealing with the chaos of marathon day. I did this last year at a water stop at mile 9 and it was an AWESOME EXPERIENCE!
Below is a map of the marathon route, and approximate times that I will be at certain check points this Saturday. I’m starting around 8:45 am in Hopkinton and finishing in Newton around 1:15. Who is making me lunch???
To see the whole route click the picture
Tags: Boston marathon, charity, countdown, health, heartbreak hill, mentoring, running
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March 11, 2012 Today was a good day and let me tell you why….
19 miles on the Boston marathon course today, and after 3 miles in the beginning feeling really irritated by music I ran 16 miles without music for the first time and found myself more focused. I think I has the confidence to try this today as I did yoga the night before the long run for the first time, and I came into the day with a very clear mind.
I have no regrets about taking off my headphones today, I couldn’t feel more impressed with the outcome. I feel like this whole time I’ve been washing out the sounds of my running experience that are important for me to take in if I want to start seeing improvement. Plus Coach gives us a mental checklist (feet under you, relax arms, deep breaths on the exhale, run in the moment) that I think I haven’t been focused on because the messages coming zthrough the iPod wires are conflicting with the checklist.
Let me tell you something that would surprise you. Being last on the team has more advantages than I ever realized coming into this 20 week experience. Everyone on our team always says something really nice to me when they pass me. This week without headphones on I could really take that in, and boy did that help. I even get a few “great job” comments from strangers that can see in my face that I’m not just jogging in Wellesley because I live there, I’m becoming a marathoner.
Today Rick’s pep talk was about breathing, particularly the need to push out the built up carbon dioxide with great force. I took a lot of deep breaths, literally every breath I took. Good luck to whoever paces me at the marathon, my sounds are quite annoying, but they are working!
I feel like this long run was transformational for my confidence and focus! Thanks to everyone on our team and enjoy resting today!
As always to learn more about my charity run visit:
www.razoo.com/mags
Tags: Boston marathon, charity, iPod, jogging, marathoner, mentor, running, team, wellesley
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March 9, 2012 Friday Night Nesting for 19 Miles
Can you say Team Spirit?: I am so excited to run with the Marathon Coalition tomorrow for 19 miles. My spirits have been a little low so I can’t wait to run on the course tomorrow with people that are after the same goal as me. Wind, rain, sleet or shine I’ll be there with bells and sneakers on!
Latest Training Obstacles: Last weekend was the 1st Saturday training run I was by myself because I went to Vermont for the weekend to celebrate my 14 year old brother’s birthday. Since they had recently gotten a lot of snow, my run was full of a lot of slush so my sneakers became no exception. I ran on Route 30 from Brattleboro to the Dummerston Mobile across from the bridge and then back. The worst part turned out to be running downtown, once I was on Route 30 game was on. Man was the game on. By game I mean a little game I call “Dodge the Snow Plows with All of Your Might (or you’ll get hosed).”
An hour into the 13.5 mile run, I was confronted with my first snow plow. I had no where to run except into a snow bank which soaked my feet for the rest of the run. Luckily I became more adept at this and successfully dodged 2. One by pure chance of being near a drive way, the 2nd there were no cars coming so I could cross the highway for a few seconds. Nothing like small victories right?
Friday night, it’s time to party like a marathoner NOT. It is my tradition on Friday nights to do laundry, so literally all is fresh for Saturday. I recently started doing a yoga DVD via my friend Darcel who is a Beachbody Coach, so I’ll do that while my clothes are in the dryer in order to stretch myself out and to clear my mind. What I want to do tonight is also set up my water bottles, make my post run snack, and pack my bag for the church- because I haven’t been my best in the mornings in general lately.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I want to say thank you to all who went to my fundraisers in February, and to those who gave offline in order to have it matched. I know that on April 16th I will be running strong, fueled by the inspiration of my friends that have helped me raise important funds for kids who need the guidance of the mentor in their lives in order to achieve their dreams!
A Finisher’s jacket, I can almost taste it. First I wasn’t crazy about the color, but at least I can justify spending the $100 on it since it could double as a reflective running jacket that I don’t currently have. Someone on my training team already bought one and is sporting it, which is totally great and perfectly fine… but I want to hold out until I FINISH. I don’t want to wear this jacket until I am a MARATHONER. To see the whole 2012 collection click here.
Tags: beachbody, Boston marathon, charity, mentoring, running, snow, training, vermont, yoga
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February 22, 2012 54 Days to Boston & Taking It 1 Day At A Time
It’s getting to be more and more official, the marathon in 54 days away!
Things that are greater in quantity than the current X in t-x days to April 16th (aka the biggest day of my life)
+346 = 400 dollars spent by each charity runner to participate a charity marathon team, $300 to BAA $100 to the charity.
+253 = 307 Shopping days left til Christmas
+47 = 101 Dalmatians (love that movie!)
+26 = 80 Days left to pick up that Mother’s Day card you forgot to send last year. Or in my family’s case, 80 days left to pick up a Graduation card AND a Mother’s day card for mom! Miss Roben Elizabeth is graduating with her her BA in Teacher from Bay Path College on Mother’s day this year =) –> This is continually an inspiration to me in my running, so her graduation day is very special to me!
+22 = 76 trombones led the big parade
+ 56 = 110 cornets right behind
Well enough of that game… (it could go for days!)
Anyways what prompted my rant about 54 days until the marathon was I received this email today confirming that my entry was accepted and my card has been charged the $300 to run! See picture and email inserted. I read it and said to myself “Why Yes, Boston Athletic Association you have that correct, Margaret E. Lapan IS running the Boston Marathon!”
Other training updates:
We ran 18 miles last week, it was a bit windy but nice and sunny, so amen for that. Hopefully this weather will stay dry until April 16th!
We went into Wellesley for the 1st time and turned around at the Welcome to Natick sign, which was exciting for me because I work in Natick. Crazy to think I RAN TO THE TOWN LINE!
I may have panicked the other day when I started to realize that 26 is IN FACT 13 X 2! 16 and 18 miles were definitely more challenging than 13, 14, 15. And to think I’m going to go to 26. But like Coach Rick says, the finish line will be there- stop thinking about it. It’s what you do in the moment. Make that 18 miles to 19 miles count. And that is what I’m going to do this Saturday, hydrate properly, take my scheduled walk breaks- and make each moment count.
Tags: boston athletic association, Boston marathon, charity, charity marathon, Happiness, health, marathon team, mentoring, natick, running, wellesley
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February 4, 2012 I Smell Success
Every run I go on I am concerned about my pace, I am the slowest runner on the team but I am putting in a ton of work to try and get faster. For weeks in my training I am seeing the same snail pace over and over and I’m getting frustrated… Or was getting frustrated.
I had 2 majorly successful runs this week, averaging 1.5 and 2.2 minutes per pile faster than my average pedestrian pace of a 15 min mile that I have been running for 3 years. The run on Tuesday was such a nice surprise, but left me nervous for Thursdays run. I didn’t know if I could have the same success twice in 1 week. Sure enough it was successful so I’m pretty excited about what this could mean going forward.
Things I changed this week:
*Taking vitamins again – women’s daily, a Zinc Calcium Magnesium combo, B6, and B12
*Taking something recommended by my doctor for a condition that runs in my family to promote weight loss, called Metformin. My doctor is running the marathon too, so her and I will catch up on how the med went after the marathon.
*Wore vest not a jacket
*Wore Headband vs hat
*Wore running socks and new shoe
*Didnt fiddle with my iPod
*Ran at night not in the morning
*Didn’t wear my running tights, but my Sporthill pants that are better suited for fall chilly weather, they are a little more of a comfortable fit around my waist where I carry the bulk of my weight. I think I am having an easier time moving my hips in these pants, but maybe that isn’t it at all and the above factors are more powerful together than the pant change. Despite that possibility, I think I am feeling bold enough to wear them on the 15 miler tomorrow, I like the pants that much!
As always to donate to my Boston Marathon for Mass Mentoring visit www.razoo.com/mags
Despite the fact I feel a cold coming on, all is well! How are you?
Tags: Boston marathon, charity, mentoring, metformin, pace, pcod, pcos, sporthill, vitamins, weight
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January 30, 2012 Chubby Runner Nightmares
Last night I had a dream that my mom had triplets. For those who follow this blog and don’t know me in “real life” I have one sister two years older and a brother twelve years younger (yes same parents, everyone asks). In my dream when I was holding the babies I was brought back to those early days of when my brother was born and my heart was so full and ready to love, but this time x3. Except it was weird with him on the sidelines in the dream, he didn’t look too happy with all of us. Again for those who don’t know me “real life” at the end of last year my brother lost his vision to a brain tumor. Within the dream I was feeling like we were replacing him because of his new physical handicap of blindness. Let’s just say I woke up a lot last night in sweats, boyfriend will tell you I woke up grumpy and I’m not in the best mood today as a result. When I woke up I had to remind myself that my mother didn’t have triplets at all. I did post it on her Facebook wall just to give her a laugh though!!
I always Google my dream meanings. This dream no different, this is what I found:
To see triplets in your dream, signifies that you will be met with success in situations where you assumed failure was expected.
Okay………….. I see now…. this dream totally has everything to do with my melt-down last night about the marathon. I’ve been hyper-focusing on getting my pace up, fearing that I’ll finish the marathon and no one will be in Copley to give me a medal and a pat on the back. HA! Hopefully the nightmare turns into a dream come true, and I do have success in finishing the marathon before the finish line closes!
Let’s hope tonight is a more restful night for this chubby runner!
Tags: brain tumor, dream meaning, failure, last night i had a dream, marathon, success, triplets
January 28, 2012 Call me Energy Management Spice
Today was a big day I’ve been waiting for! We went beyond the 13 mile distance, which was the farthest I’d ever gone coming into this team training experience. Today we went 14.5 miles! I’m really starting to realize how much work I have to do between now and April to ensure I finish in relative comfort.
Highlights of today’s run:
As of today I am dedicated to treating my feet the way I should: I ran in Bolego running socks for the 1st time today, my feet were very satisfied with the experience. I am also no longer running in shoes that are a year old with a million miles on them, bought a new pair the other day with lots of cushioning.
High Fives and People Dodging: Now that the Marathon Coalition has been training as a team together for 2 months, people are really starting to get to know each other and support one another. Record breaking high fives and smiles from teammates today! Coolidge corner was a bit of a pain in the rear today, because of the unusually nice weather today I was dodging pedestrians like crazy. However, Coolidge Corner is where I watched the elite runners last year, so today I had fun visualizing myself running on the street through this busy intersection on April 16th.
Call me Energy Management Spice: I haven’t used Gu since my I was training for my 1st Half Marathon, the Wicked 1/2 in Salem. I remember using it in the summer and feeling boost from it, today not so much. Not sure why. But I will continue to use it and play around with when to take it. (For non-runners, Gu is a substance that comes in packets, it has a consistency of toothpaste but comes in many flavors.)
Today on all the downhills I tried to keep my body loose and let gravity keep my feet moving faster, I was hoping this would help my overall pace for the day, but it didn’t.
I used a few more walking breaks today too. But again, it actually didn’t help my pace. A goal I have for the week is putting together a new playlist, I’m sort of sick of my current list of songs so I was shuffling around a lot and I think I was a little distracted today playing with my iPod.
That’s the recap for today, time to foam roll!
Keep me on my way to $4000+ by April, give $10 and make a difference in the lives of youth that need a mentor to keep them on the right track –> www.razoo.com/mags!
Tags: Boston marathon, coolidge corner, energy management, gu, heartbreak hill, running shoes
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January 25, 2012 Greatness is coming.
From here on out each weekend run will be the farthest I’ve ever gone. I’ve only done 13 miles 4 times, the 4th time taking me an extra 45 minutes with the snowy conditions last Saturday. I swear that I only just warmed up an hour ago from that run!
Already thinking about our next team run, I’ve been keeping my eye on the weather. Cloudy and a high of 41 degrees, perfect. I feel as
though the Hallelujah chorus should be singing! I couldn’t feel more ready, greatness is coming. I have new pants, the foot rocker, foam roller and my running stick should be here soon (Amazon cheap shipping all the way!)
It’s funny I’m starting to wake up on my own before my alarm goes off for a run. Today I was alert at 5. Someone check my pulse, something is wrong with me.
I did go back to sleep and then was groggy for my work out session with Dan-Dan-the-trainer-man. Squats, front plank and side plank with the stability ball, leg press, 2 arm rows, I’m all endrophines today! I hope you cross my path!
Click the image below to help me cross the finish!
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Tags: charity, foam roller, foot rocker, health, marathon, mentoring, running, side plank, snowy conditions, spring-like
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January 22, 2012 Why not write a lame poem about 13 miles of pure slush and misery?
I finished the 13 miles today, not happy about my time but horray!
There were 4 big hills, didn’t walk them at all, what a thrill!
Met 2 strangers today 1 said, “I’ve been following you, you look like hell.” I said “I am training for the marathon, oh well!
The 2nd guy we had a nice conversation and he admired determination!
Lessons I learned today:
When I know something wet and cold is going to fall out of the sky, bring a pair of socks and shoes if I want to drive home with feet that are dry
The key to my success I bet, could be gloves that can’t get wet
Looking down at the ground slows me down
As our mileage is climbing, music sounds like whining
When waiting to cross the street, step away from the puddles or EEEEK!
When everyone is trying to share the same path in the snow, if you don’t budge over an inch when someone is coming towards you something is wrong with you fo-sho! —————-(Note: This wasn’t anyone on my team, but every single person did this to me on another training team that was running in opposite direction as us so I saw them twice)
That’s all the rhyme I got, keep checking this blog this winter is going to rock!
Tags: Boston marathon, heartbreak hill, hope, inspiration, new england, running, slush, snow
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