Chicago marathon Training: The First Month

If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you probably know that with previous marathon training cycles I’ve posted weekly training updates, where I talk about what I’ve been up to and how I’m feeling. It keeps me accountable, and lets me compare how I was feeling in previous cycles with how I’m feeling today. 

Well, if you’ve been wondering “aren’t you marathon training, where are the updates?” I’m here to let you know, they’re coming!

I opted for a longer than usual training cycle with Chicago, so that I could have a bit of wiggle room built in for travel that I knew was going to happen between June and October, and the first month of training was going to include travel for 3/4 weeks, so I opted to not make a hectic month even busier with trying to squeeze in weekly training updates (but don’t worry, I still clipped together some race recaps for you guys!). 

But going forward, somewhere between weekly and bi weekly training updates will be coming back to the blog, starting with a quick recap of what I’ve been doing for the last month. 

This time around I decided to try a new (to me) program for training: The Hanson’s marathon method. I ordered the book, read the reasoning behind the program, and took a deep breath at the thought of such a large undertaking - it’s a lot of miles, and a much shorter ultimate long run distance than I am used to, but I am a believer that growth can only occur outside of your comfort zone, so I am going to go for it.

While I try to tell myself that my “A” goal for any marathon is just to finish and to have a good time, I also get a lot of joy out of pushing my limits - and that is why this time around my goal is to aim for 4 hours. So using the Hanson method, that means longer tempo and track workouts, and higher mileage weekdays. Then weekend long runs cap at 16 miles - this part scares me, and I can’t promise that I’m not going to do at least one 18 or 20 miler at some point.

So far, I’ve been feeling strong with this training plan. There have been a few times that I am definitely feeling the cumulative fatigue of so many miles, but I just make sure that I am listening to my body, and really slowing down on easy days.

Since I was travelling most weekends in June, two of my long runs happened out of state. First, when I headed to Disney for memorial day. It was a short trip, just Saturday to Tuesday, but Dennis’ whole family was going to be there, including his sisters who currently reside in California and Grenada (for most of the year - she is in vet school, so when school is in session she is far away). Our decision to tag along on this trip was somewhat last minute, but we were both happy that we were able to make it work. It was already HOT in Florida, even though it was only May. We were hydrating a ton throughout the day in the parks and were exhausted anyway, largely from the heat, by the time we were back at the hotel . One morning I woke up before the rest of the family, and went out to get my first “long” run of the training cycle in, since I had the time. We were staying at Saratoga Springs, the same place we stayed when we did the Dopey challenge in 2017, and running loops around the resort brought back memories of Greg and I running our make-up half marathon when the race was cancelled due to thunder storms. It was hot, but I found a water fountain on one of the paths, and would stop for a drink every other loop. Of course, my garmin died mid-run, but anticipating this happening I had started Strava on my phone when I began running. To my own surprise, I pulled off 8 miles at a 9:07 pace, which is my “goal” pace for long runs, and according to my schedule every other weekend I am supposed to be hitting this pace. It was humid and hotter than I was used to, so I was really pleased with myself.

The following weekend I was in Gettysburg, where my Aunt and Uncle live, to celebrate their 50th anniversary. The start of the weekend was dedicated to the party, but on Sunday morning Dad and I headed out to the battlefields and did an 8 mile run/bike ride through all of the memorials. It was super hilly, but the sights were well worth it. I loved running through all of the history, and was surprised by how many other runners and bikers were out there getting their miles in. This one was slower, coming in around 9:50 or so, but I was happy with it, and it was a great run.

As for hometown runs, I have spent three weekends at Jones beach with my parents, running up and down the boardwalk and bike path as they bike along to varying degrees of success. The weekend that I raced the queens 10k, I somehow pulled off 10 miles at a sub-9 pace the day after, and while I was exhausted as a result, I felt so good about it. The other two weekends weren’t quite as successful - one weekend I decided to do a tempo run that was 9 miles total, with 6 of those miles being around an 8:40 pace, on a Friday night and when I went to do my long run Saturday morning, I managed to stay at goal pace for the first half of the run, but then had to back off in the second half, as I crashed and burned hard. That particular morning may have even included a mid run temper tantrum, where I had to fully stop and sit down on the side of the path for a few minutes. It was just hard and mentally, I wasn’t coping well. Most recently I had a 12 mile long run, where I managed to stay on pace when the wind was to my back, but lost it once I had to run into the wind. The final pace came in around a 9:20, and I was happy enough with that.

My weekday runs were pretty standard for the first month, if it was a Tuesday or Thursday and Kasey had school she joined me for a few miles. Dad biked along for most of my morning runs, and my younger brother Tommy even gave running another chance, and joined me for about two weeks for the last miles in the morning. Most Wednesday nights I headed to track night with the Merrick Bicycles Tri Team, and most Tuesday mornings I did a track workout of my own, either on the treadmill or at the track. I also squeezed in tempo runs on Thursdays or Fridays, and boy, are those harder than I anticipated! This is the first time I am doing a training plan with tempo runs, and they are more challenging than I expected.

Despite the cold that I am currently dealing with, I feel strong in this training cycle so far, and I am very much looking forward to the miles that lie ahead.

Gear Roundup: Running Shorts

There are two things that I really look for in running shorts:

1. They have to be long enough that my thighs don’t chafe

2. They need to have some kick ass pockets!

New Balance 2 in 1 Shorts

Honestly, I wish I could tell you that the first thing was the most important to me, but if a pair of shorts had great pockets, I would probably happily load up on body glide in exchange for them being able to hold all of my crap when I am heading out for a long run.

My go-to shorts for the last few years have been the new balance 2-in-1 shorts, which used to have a great pocket in the waist band that my cell phone could fit snugly into. The downside was that when I raced in them – something I did often, as I have run 3/5 of my marathons in these shorts – I needed to also wear a fuel belt with them to hold my inhalers and Gu, as there is no way that anything other than my phone is fitting in that pocket. But last summer when I looked to expand my collection of these shorts, I found out that they had been redesigned, and the pocket that was previously large enough to fit my phone now could barely fit my inhaler – a total bummer.

So, I began my new shorts quest, since I would really like to own a pair of shorts with enough pockets to comfortable fit my cell phone, inhaler, and race fuel. I like my SPI belt, the fuel belt that I own, but sometimes the weight of anything beyond gels in it makes my back hurt, and lately I have been using Skratch gummies over Gu as long run fuel, which takes up more space.

I already owned a few pairs of shorts other than my trusted 2-in-1s, all of which I like for shorter distances, but just weren’t capable of the carry capacity that I need for half and full marathons. I’m going to run through a few of them here, because I would still recommend these shorts, and the new shots that I purchased that have become my go-to shorts:

For track workouts:

New Balance accelerate 2.5” shorts:

These shorts have a wide opening around the legs, and allow you to really get moving with some strides. They do have a small interior pocket that I would say is sized to carry a key, but there is no means to close the pocket, so I have never used it. The one downside? They are a little bit on the short side, so on humid or rainy days, I do apply body glide before running in them to avoid chafing.

Oiselle Roga Shorts

For a long run when you don’t have much to carry:

Oiselle Roga Shorts

I purchased these when oiselle did a warehouse sale last summer, and they are a little on the short side, but are made of a super comfortable material. They have a good sized zipper pocket on the back of the shorts, large enough for my inhaler or one Gu, but too small for my cell phone. I ran in these for the Star wars Dark side half marathon in 2018, and while it was a humid day I can happily report that no chafing occurred.

Reading the product descriptions on the oiselle website, it seems that the “toolbelt” rogas offer more pockets, but I have yet to try a pair of those shorts myself.

But as for my hands down, favorite shorts:

So, in my search for the holy grail of pocket shorts, I spent a lot of time on running websites, looking at photos and descriptions of pockets. I checked out shorts on the brooks website, on REI – which carries a variety of brands, and at target, hoping maybe they would have something a little more budget friendly than the big running brands offer. Ultimately, I decided to order a pair of Pocket Jogger shorts from Oiselle, because I was basically drooling at all of that pocket potential, and I had a $20 coupon code to Oiselle for referring a friend to their site.

Two weeks or so later my shorts arrived in the mail, and I fell in love with all of the pockets. They have two deep side pockets, that full fit an iPhone X, one back zipper pocket, and two small open pockets in the waistband, which fit fuel well. It was still winter in NY when I ordered them, so I hopped onto my treadmill with them, and they fit like a dream. They stayed in place, without rolling up along my legs, an issue that I have with some spandex shorts. Heck, I can’t even wear the Nike PRO shorts that so many runners love because they immediately roll up on me! To really test these shorts, I loaded them up with my phone and race day fuel, and put them through the paces on the treadmill. Everything seemed to stay put, with no bouncing despite loaded pockets.

When I ordered these shorts, I figured I would continue to try other styles and brands if I was not happy with them. But I never did get around to ordering any other pairs, and for valentines day Dennis surprised me with two more pairs of pocket joggers – I had talked about how much I liked them so much that my non-runner husband had decided that I needed more pairs of these perfect pocket shorts.

My next warm weather race was the events at the princess half marathon weekend, and when I packed for Florida, I gave myself options for shorts – I had never run outside or over 6 miles in these shorts, so I wasn’t sure how they would compare to my New balance 2-in-1 shorts on race day. I packed a pair of each short style to go with my outfits for the princess 10k and Half, figuring I would make a race day decision. I was wearing a skirt for both events, so figured I had time to decide as things didn’t need to coordinate perfectly.

Oiselle Pocket Joggers

The morning of the 10k it was hot and humid, and I was going to attempt to race the event. I made the decision to go for the pocket joggers, since it was the shorter distance of the fairytale challenge, and if I liked them, then I would do the same for the half. My gamble paid off, and even when I was pushing the pace, my phone stayed securely in the side pocket. Plus, I no longer had to fumble with a zipper with pulling my phone out for photos, which is a frequent occurrence during RunDisney events. Since the shorts had served me well at the 10k, I decided to wear another pair for the half the following day, when they would really be put to the test, as I would be running with my GoPro.

I ran the WDW half marathon in January while wearing my newbalance 2-in-1 shorts, and spent most of the race just holding the camera in my hand, as I didn’t have a large enough pocket for it and it bounced too much when I clipped it to the waist band of my shorts, even if I was clipping it to my SPI belt at the same time. I figured worst case I would just wind up holding it, like I had done in January. But when we got moving, I slid the camera into one of the side pockets, and was shocked to discover that it sat there comfortably when I wasn’t filming with it, with no real bounce or annoyance. So, the pocket joggers passed yet another holding stuff test, and officially became shorts that I would wear for longer distance runs.

I plan on continuing to run in these shorts as I train for the Chicago marathon this summer, and will update this post if I purchase any new shorts, or have anything to add. But as of now, the Oiselle pocket joggers have officially become my go-to running shorts.

Race Recap: 2019 Brooklyn Half Marathon

Earlier this year when registration for the Brooklyn Half Marathon was approaching, I reached out to my friends to see if anyone was interested in running the Brooklyn half with me - When Mike, Sophie and Carson all wanted in, we made sure we were at our computers right when registration opened, since this race always sells out fast! Luckily, the three of us got into the race, and made sure to get our miles in leading up to race day.

I’ve written about running with these three before, but I am going to take a moment to introduce them here -

Mike and I first met in 1998, when my family moved to Wantagh. Our younger brothers were on the same baseball team, and we were the reluctant older siblings that got dragged to every game. But we forged a friendship that lasted through our days of doing plays together in high school, and into adulthood. He is often encouraging and a co-conspirator in my running shenanigans.

Sophie and I met in 2013, after she started dating my younger brother in 2012. They’re still dating today, and the two of us are truly kindred spirits. She has become one of my closest friends since moving to Long Island last year. Sophie, Kasey and I spend a lot of time together in a group message and in person, and this was set to be her first half marathon - until she decided to run the Long Island Half two weeks before the Brooklyn Half. Unfortunately, she injured her foot at the LongIisland half, so we really just wanted to get to the finish line without additional damage for the Brooklyn Half.

Carson and I met through work - when I moved into a new role last year she was occupying an adjacent cubicle, and we struck up a friendship that lead to days at the gym after work. We don’t work for the same company anymore, but we still find each other for runs!

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let talk about the Brooklyn Half! This race happens on a Saturday, which means you have to pick up your bib in Brooklyn, on a week night. Lucky for me, Mike works in Brooklyn and was able to stop at the race expo on his way home one night. I have heard the expo is epic, and I hope to experience it one day, but it just wasn’t in the cards with my work schedule this time around.

On race day my husband, Dennis, had agreed to drop us off at the starting area. We picked up Mike and then Sophie, and Dad of course had to assemble us for a pre-race photo - Sophie and I look super prepared, right?

We hopped in the car and were on our way. I made sure to organize the bag I was planning on checking as we drove towards Brooklyn. After a very rainy month - I did five weekends in a row of racing, and 3/5 were pouring rain - it was nice to have good weather on race morning. Mike and I always joke that if he is signed up to run, it is going to rain, so when it was pouring during the run as one four miler, we made sure to shout to the skies “It always rains when Mike does races shorter than half marathons!”

Our shout to the skies seems to have worked, because there were nothing but blue skies that morning, and we had a easy ride into Brooklyn. Dennis headed home to go back to bed, and Mike, Sophie, and I headed to the start area. We were all starting in wave 2, so we tracked down the wave two bag check area. One thing I hadn’t considered was that I was going to have trouble checking a bag - my bib was for wave one, and the bag check area was completely separate, about a mile away. We decided to just cram my stuff between Sophie and Mike’s bags, and once we dropped them off we headed for the security line.

While we were milling about the bag check area Carson found us, and we all waited together to get through security. As we inched through the security line I managed to apply KT tape to Carson’s calf and to Sophie’s foot, which was harder than I expected while having to move forward a few feet every so often. This line took much longer than expected, and by the time we got though the metal detectors we only had 20 minutes or so to go before our wave was set to take off. The porter potty lines were long, but we realized that there were more in the corrals, so we decided to walk to the corral and hope for shorter lines. Finding our corral was easy, but finding the end of the porter potty line was significantly more challenging. It weaved through the corral, and we hopped onto the end, hopeful that we would make it to the front of the line before the corrals collapsed forward. Luckily, we all got our chance, and the corrals were just starting to inch forward when we finished up our business.

We moved forward towards the start line with the masses, all eating a Gu as we shuffled. We were excited and ready to get moving, as the day was warming up as the sun moved up in the sky. The shuffle quickly turned into a run when we crossed the start line, and in her excitement Carson briefly swapped from running to prancing.

We didn’t have any particular plan for pacing this race, beyond wanting to enjoy the miles - which I always find is a good approach. We ran the first two miles through the streets of Brooklyn, eventually getting to grand army plaza, where spectators lines the street. We chatted as the miles rolled by, and entered Prospect park around mile three. After running the Hot chocolate 15k in prospect park, we were very familiar with that scenery - but at least this time we only had to take on the hills there one time!

Sophie and I stuck together, with Mike and Carson slightly ahead of us for most of the race - most of the time when we hit a mile marker, I could hear Mike celebrating ahead of me, and when we stopped to walk aid stations, we often found Mike and Carson along the way, and all reunited for a few minutes. Sophie’s foot was hardly cooperating with her, but she did a great job of moving forward despite the pain.

There were musicians along the course, and even some people offering snacks - among the snacks were doughnuts, and possible the most amusing sideline snack I had ever seen at a race - someone holding a bag of lucky charms. In my excitement over seeing the lucky charms I of course grabbed a handful, before realizing I really did not want to eat them - but the good news was that Mike was ready for a snack!

Eventually Carson decided to push her pace as we closed in on the end of the race, and Mike fell back to run with me and Sophie. Mike is basically the mayor of New York through, and did find his cousin and a friend along the race course! His cousin was working, so we had some idea of where she would be, but we just happened to find his friend among runners!

As we approached Coney Island there was a bio freeze station, which was funny to run through, as it was full of people in jumpsuits and goggles, armed with spray bottles of bio freeze to spray onto runners - we ran in, pointed to a body part, and got some relief. Once we could see the cyclone in the distance, we knew that we were in the home stretch. We hit the boardwalk, and once we turned the corner we could see the finish line. Mike and I shout-sang to each other, as always, and Sophie looked like she wanted to kill us both for it.

We crossed the finish line, and just like that our race was complete, 13.1 miles later. We spotted Carson before we got to the metal rack, and all collected our metals together, and then walked to the bag check area. It was slow going, but it felt good to be done with the race. The temps had climbed as we ran, and it was nice to be cooling off.

There is an after party at the baseball stadium that is on Coney Island, which we walked through on our way to Nathans - which was our primary post-race goal. The Nathan’s location on Coney Island is the original of the chain, and was our primary motivation any time we had a tough moment during the race. Plus, Carson had never before had a Nathan’s hot dog so we had to make sure she got the full experience. The wait for Nathans was almost as long as our half marathon, and just as we were finally receiving our food - chili cheese dogs and cheese fries, of course - Dennis called to let us know he was right around the corner. We had time to witness Carson experience her first bite of Nathans, but then we had to find Dennis to head home, hot dogs and medals in tow.

I carried my GoPro along for the race, so if you’re looking for a more detailed race recap, check out my video below!

Race Recap: 2019 Queens 10k

Well, we are half way through 2019, and I’m almost done with my 9+1 program with the New York Road Runners, which will earn me a spot in the 2020 NYC Marathon.

My 6th race of the year with the road runners was the Queens 10k, which takes place in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, NY. This was the third year that I was participating in this race, and it is one race that I have looked forward to each summer. The ride into queens is a bit shorter than the ride into Central Park, since I live on Long Island, and Dad has come along each year to cheer me on and snap some photos as I run. This year Sophie was also signed up to run, but since I wanted to race the event, we weren’t planning on running together.

I headed over to my parents house race morning, as Dad had agreed to drive to queens, and was surprised to see that my mom was awake and ready to join us. Sophie and I piled into the back seat and we were on the way. We were able to find parking in the park, so we managed to avoid having to park in citi field. We had a little walk to race day central, which had moved from where it was located previous years. This of course lead to me leading us entirely out of the way, but a volunteer eventually pointed us in the right direction, and we found it near the entrance to the subway stop at citi field.

We were able to get our bibs quickly enough, but the diversion in getting to the pick up meant that we didn’t have time to stop at the bathroom before the race. Instead, I headed for the corrals of wave one, and Sophie and I parted ways as I climbed into the corral.

A few members of the Tri team, including Sami and Nicole, were in a starting corral near mine, so the three of us were rapid fire texting before the race, trying to spot each other. We all wanted to run similar paces, so I was trying to spot them before the race began. Eventually Nicole flagged me down, and we found Sami shortly after.

The national anthem was sung, and after a bit of corrals shuffling forward, we were off! The first mile was a bit crowded, and it seemed like a fair number of runners with wave 2 bibs had somehow wound up in wave one, and it was probably a big part of the congestion that was going on. Eventually the narrow park road opened up as we made a left and headed under some highways, and we got a little more space to spread out.

While overall the course was flat, we had a few sections that largely consisted of getting up highway overpasses. Mom and Dad were positioned just after the first one the race went by, but I managed to miss them. Mile two took us by the queens museum, and then on a very long out and back, which lead to the entrance of Citi field before turning us around and sending us back to the park. As the sun rose in the sky the humidity picked up, and we were all reminded that the park was once a swamp, as buckets of sweat ensued. Throughout the race I caught glimpses of my teammates, and seeing them pushing made me continue to cling onto what was, for me, a hard pace.

As we entered the park again and ran through mile 4, I reminded myself that it’s only a 10k, it would be over in just two more miles! I spotted my parents as we ran through the park, and knew I would spot them again by the unisphere. I just kept pushing to keep up with Sami, trying to focus on running and ignore the urge to constantly check the pace on my watch. Mile five took us passed the worlds fair pavilion and observation towers, AKA those space ships that you see in the Men in Black movies.

Mile five took us passed the unisphere, and then over to the area race day central was, before heading back towards the unisphere, and making one final turn towards the finish line. So close, yet so far! I managed to keep moving forward and stick with Sami until the end of the race, and we finished in 53:19. Not too shabby for a humid day. I was happy with the time, and even happier to be done running. I was handed a medal, and collected my finishers bag, which had an Apple, a Gatorade, a water, and some pretzels.

After the race Sami and I found Nicole and Gabby, and snapped a mini-team picture, before I headed back to race day central to collect my tank top. I always get nervous about getting a shirt my size, as they sometimes run out, but I got the size I wanted this time.

I headed back towards the unisphere where my parents were waiting for Sophie to run by, and got there just in time to spot her and cheer her on. I met her by the finish as she completed her race, and then we took some photos around the park before heading home.

I love the historic scenery that you get to run by in this race, with the relics of the worlds fair scattered throughout the course. If you’re a Disney fan, this is where it’s a small world and the carousel of progress first debuted! It’s a “must do” on my race calendar each year, and I always enjoy exploring the park with my family after the race.

We hit some traffic heading home, but it enabled a little post-race nap, which was perfect for me! All in all, it was a fun start to Father’s Day weekend.

Video Recap: The 2019 Brooklyn Half Marathon

Still working on a written blog post about the 2019 Brooklyn Half Marathon, but at least the video recap is complete!

I met up with Sophie, Mike, and Carson for the Brooklyn half, and we lost and found each other throughout the 13.1 mile distance.

Check back soon for a blog post, if you’re more into reading than watching videos.

Video recap: The 2019 Disney Princess Half Marathon

Did I carry my go pro for another 13.1 miles? You betcha! Today I’m sharing a recap of Kasey and my experience running the princess half marathon together. 

Up Next: The Chicago Marathon

Marathon number 6 is fast approaching: the 2019 Chicago marathon

Even though I am a native New Yorker who frequently participates in NYRR events, my plans to complete their 9+1 program in 2018, to earn a guaranteed spot in the 2019 race were thwarted when my cousin Jen announced her wedding date – November 2, 2019. AKA the day before the marathon. Which would totally be ok, if the wedding was local… but Jen lives in Atlanta and, dare I say it, I love her more than marathons, and there was no way I could be fully present at her wedding the night before the race and then somehow catch a flight back to NYC and get my butt to the athletes village on Staten Island before 7:30 a.m. So, I bowed out of the NYC marathon for 2019, since there will always be another race, and started my search for an alternate fall marathon.

The real bummer of this? I had already made a pact with Mike to run NYC 2019 with him as his first marathon, but thankfully he has forgiven my transgression, and we will make up for the missed shared finish line when we complete the 2020 Dopey challenge together – but I suppose that will be a story for another day.

So, I started clicking about the internet, looking for a new fall goal. Maybe I would aim to complete a half iron man in the fall? I played with this idea, but ultimately felt like I still have so much left to give to the marathon, and found two race options. The local Suffolk county full marathon at the end of October, or the Chicago full, which is in mid October. I entered the lottery for Chicago, crossing my fingers that I would get my chance to visit the windy city, and was pleasantly surprised when my name got pulled the day of the lotto: I would be taking on my second world marathon major!

I then began to consider the logistics: Who would go with me? Where would I stay? When would I head there?

Well the who was easy – Dennis agreed to head to Chicago with me, as neither of us have been there before. I managed to earn a companion pass with southwest, so it made our flights a bit simpler as well. Thank God for points! The hotel I flip-flopped about a lot, looking at different websites, and eventually booking one through the Chicago marathon housing. I toyed with heading to Chicago a few days early so we would get a chance to take in all of the sights, but ultimately our work schedules lead to us deciding to pick a flight the morning before the race. So with travel plans all set, my next consideration was the really important one: the training plan.

In the past with marathons, I have followed different schedules – sometimes using the runners world plans, or the hal higdon ones available online. After a lot of reading, I ultimately decided to try something new this time around: Hanson’s marathon method. A big part of the Hanson method is the idea of cumulative fatigue, so there are higher mileage weekday runs, but the long weekend runs max out at 16 miles. If we are being honest, I see myself going beyond 16 miles for my own sanity, as that just doesn’t feel long enough mentally, but maybe by the time I work up to them in this training cycle I will have more trust in the method, which has brought success to so many runners.

So for now, my plan is simple. For the next month or so I am aiming to maintaining 25-35 miles of running a week, with regular biking and swimming mixed in. Once training officially begins in May, it is going to mean a lot of early mornings for me, but I like to think that I will be up to the challenge – after all, growth only happens outside of your comfort zone.

Race Recap: 2019 Brooklyn Hot Chocolate 15k

This is it guys, the last time Kasey will ever run more than three miles in one go. She swears it, never again - and this time I can’t even point to some race that she is already registered for.

When I heard that the Hot Chocolate race series was coming to New York, I was excited and registered at the first opportunity. The race series is known for some great swag, with the giveaway being a zip up technical sweatshirt, a medal at the finish line that looks like a chocolate bar, and a mug full of hot chocolate and fondue.

I had been under the weather on Friday after eating something that turned out to be bad, and was out of commission for the day, so I was a bit nervous about how the race was going to play out - would my stomach even cooperate with a 9.3 mile run? Welp, we were going to find out one way or another.

My Uncle Tom had headed to the expo for us on Friday, as he works in the area. They expo had super limited hours, only operating from 10-7 on they day before the race, so it made it difficult to get to. But it was lucky for us that his job was in the area and he could pop into the expo to grab our bibs and jackets. Sophie and I had signed up with a promo code, so we got hats as well.

Come Saturday morning my alarm startled me into consciousness, and I had to shift an unconscious cat off of me to get moving. I had packed up my race day bag the night before, so I got dressed and was on the way. Sophie had agreed to drive into Brooklyn, so I only had to make the two mile drive to my parents house. Sophie was about as sleepy as me, and the two of us headed to Kasey’s house to grab her next. She was very bitter about the early hour, and she did not speak until we were a solid 20 minutes into the drive, at which point she could suddenly hear us talking.

The race guide had recommended reserving parking in advance, so we were headed for a parking garage just outside of Prospect park that we had found on spot hero. We got to the garage around 6:15, and while we though it would be quick to drop off the car, there was only one person working so it took longer than expected to drop it off - by the time we were walking to the start line it was 6:45. The race was scheduled to start at 7, and we had a little more than a mile to travel to get to the start line, which we knew was around the middle area of prospect park - it was going to be a bit of an adventure, as none of us really knew where we were going.

We headed in the direction of the start line, taking in some pre-race fuel as we moved, and eventually heard music in the distance. Once we heard the music we were able to follow it until we found the masses of runners heading in the same direction, and got to the start just as the first corral was being released. We pulled over quickly so i could re-tie my shoes, and then hopped into the next corral and were ready to get moving.

I suppose the walk had been a good warm up, because I was able to settle in faster than usual. The course was 2.5 loops of Prospect park, and I was worried that the hills would feel killer like they did when I ran the Jingle All the Way 5k with Mike and Carson, but they somehow felt more manageable this time around. We took on the largest of the hills right before the first mile, and would run up it twice more before the race was through.

Around the second mile marker they had a chocolate chip station, but it wasn’t well marked so i didn’t notice what it was until I was already passed it. There was also a Nuun and water station near there, and I did manage to grab a cup or strawberry-lemonade Nuun as we went by.

As we continued on our loop we soon reached the point where the 5k course split from the 15k course, and we had to take a moment to all jokingly suggest that we could easily turn left and just be done with the whole thing - Okay, for Kasey perhaps it was a little more than a joke, as she had threatened several times that she was going to drop down to the shorter race distance in the weeks leading up to the race, but Sophie and I somehow convinced her to stay signed up for the 15k so we could all run it together.

On the back side of the first loop was another aid station, this time serving marshmallows with the Nuun and water. Soon after my watch buzzed to indicate we were through mile 4, and I looked around for a mile marker, as I couldn’t see one, even in the distance. Eventually I managed to spot the sign - it had flopped over on the side of the road as a result of the wind.

Loop two slipped by quicker than the first, knowing exactly what to expect the second time around. We noticed that more and more of the mile markers were being knocked over by the wind, and the crowds of runners thinned out on the second loop - apparently many of the people running with us had opted for the 5k over the 15k. Towards the end of the second loop Kasey’s shoulder started bothering her, so I took over the responsibility of holding her water bottle… so I am pretty sure that’s worth her signing up for at least one more race, right?

The final loop was shorter than the first two, and after one final pass of the aid stations we followed the signs to the finish line. Kasey fell a little behind Sophie and I towards the end, but I could still spot her right there when I looked over my shoulder. There were some people on the course walking away from the finish line, totally oblivious that they were in the way of runners that were still on the course. We crossed the finish line, collected our medals, and then had a short walk over to the post-race party, where we collected our coveted finisher’s mugs. There was a dog park near the finisher party, so there were a ton of dogs wandering about, and one even had to come over and say hi to Sophie. The mugs were piled high with treats like hot chocolate, fondue, rice krispys and marshmallows. We hung out in the post race area long enough to fill up on goodies, and then retrieved Sophie’s car from the garage, and started our drive home.