marathon training

Running a wicked fast PR at the Wicked Fast Poconos PA Marathon

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Before signing up for the Wicked Fast Poconos PA Marathon, I’d never raced a downhill marathon.

Yes, Boston is technically a net downhill, but with the Newton Hills it’s nowhere near the same as a race with a steady decline from start to finish. I know downhill marathons are controversial, but I wanted to try one. Wicked Fast is point to point with a very slight downhill slope— I originally saw that the course dropped 800 feet, but then I read that it was a net decline of 680 feet. Not actually sure which was correct.

But I took down a 3-year-old marathon PR at last month’s race, beating my 2022 Chicago time by just over a minute. And I freaking loved it!

Getting paced by a caterpillar

Wicked Fast, formerly known as the Jack and Jill Marathon — they also have a sister race in Washington state that has been going on for years — actually held two half marathons and marathons, one on Friday, September 12 for anyone who wanted a last ditch attempt to qualify for Boston 2026, and then one on Saturday, September 13, the first day of the Boston 2027 qualifying window. I signed up for Saturday’s race.

I stayed at Staci’s house and was up bright and early (3:30 am) to make it on time to the bus that would take me from the Lehighton Outdoor Center to the starting line at the Lehigh Gorge State Park. My goal was to run sub 3:25 and I was hoping for a 3:25 pace group, but the fastest was 3:30. So I just decided to line up ahead of them, close to the start line. Just before we began, 4 women connected by a caterpillar costume approached the start, and the race director announced that they were going for a Guinness World Record and were aiming for a 3:20 finish. Definitely not anything I’d ever seen at a marathon before!

The course was simple — 5K out on the D&L Trail, then we turned around and ran straight back down to the finish at the outdoor center. I didn’t notice any downhill until about mile 10, and even then it was very slight. The route was also absolutely gorgeous and we had views of the Lehigh River the whole way. And the weather! Couldn’t have ordered a nicer day!

Two things that made this hard packed gravel trail a little more challenging than expected, though. One, uneven terrain. I almost rolled my ankle around mile 4 on a rocky patch on the trail. Two, running in the mountains really jacked up my Garmin and I pretty much had to run by feel, because the pace it was telling me was not accurate (and only got worse in the later miles!)

Somewhere around mile 7, I caught up to the caterpillar and realized I was going faster than I expected. They were keeping a steady pace and I felt pretty comfortable, so I decided to hang with them as long as I could! These ladies were so fun and I’ll never forget being paced by a caterpillar in a marathon! (Spoiler: They did get their record; it just has to be verified by Guinness!)

Around miles 15 and 16 is when my Garmin really started to shit the bed, at one point saying I was running an average pace of 18 minutes per mile. So I relied on the caterpillar, the mile markers along the trail, my elapsed time and just my own sense of what my marathon pace is. But it was a bit of a mindf*ck.

Wait– I’m going to PR?

I completely spaced out during miles 17-19 and then was legit surprised to spot the mile 20 marker. How the hell were we at mile 20 already? The elapsed time on my watch told me I had been running for 2.5 hours and then it hit me that if I just kept running my current pace, I could finish under 3:20…. And maybe even PR!

I pulled ahead of the caterpillar around then and the next few miles were kind of a blur, as the later miles in a marathon usually are. The course flattened out and we passed by the town of Jim Thorpe, where there were more people around cheering us on. My watch was still going bananas and I’m sure the trees lining the trail didn’t help. At mile 24ish, I saw Kristen, whom I had met in the spring at the Spring Ahead Half near Philly. She had been one of the pacers for the half marathon, and she was running some extra miles so she joined me until almost the end of the race.

The end had a surprise (to me anyway) overpass before we made the final turn toward the finish. That was mean! About 800 meters from the finish, another woman, Aimee (I stalked her online pretty quickly after and we became Instagram friends) came up behind me. As we approached the finish line, the announcer called out “we have a fight to the finish!” We both were running as hard as we could and she outkicked me by 7 seconds. We finished as 2nd and 3rd female respectively and both PR’d!

Official time was 3:17:41, a BQ with almost 27 minutes of cushion for 2027 (since I’m 45!)

The downhill factor

As I mentioned before, I didn’t notice any downhill until about mile 10, and even then it was very minimal. Did it give me extra speed? Probably, but the hard packed gravel terrain was more difficult for me than running on pavement, so that might have canceled out any benefits I got.

My previous PR was 3:18:46 from the 2022 Chicago Marathon, a pancake flat course. I also ran 3:19:53 in Boston in 2023. I think I was in similar shape for those races. My A10 time this year was almost identical to my A10 time in the weeks leading up to Chicago in 2022, so again I think my fitness was comparable.

Regardless, I worked hard, had fun, and am happy with the result. I highly recommend the Wicked Fast PA marathon if you’re on the East Coast and looking to try a downhill marathon (that adheres to Boston’s new restrictions on downhill marathons!)

What’s next?

I am also running the Atlantic City Marathon in 11 days with BibRave! I was so back and forth on this race. First, I was planning to run the half and train to run a fast half (low 1:30s/maybe even sub 90 again.) Then I signed up for Wicked Fast and decided to focus on marathon training instead of half training. And THEN I decided what the hell, let’s just run two marathons this fall. When I ran Philly six weeks after the Chicago Marathon, I ended up having so much fun and running even faster than expected. So I am hoping for similar vibes in AC!

A fantastic day for the 50th anniversary of the Annapolis Ten Mile Run

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The Annapolis Ten Mile Run will always hold a special place in my heart. 

I was mainly a treadmill runner and group fitness enthusiast when I signed up for the 2013 race. I didn’t even really consider myself a runner then, though I had run a few 5K road races. I mainly signed up to give myself something to chase outside of work. At the time, I was covering county government for the local newspaper, making less than $35,000 a year to be available at what seemed like all hours of the days, nights and weekends. It was a lot, and I often felt overwhelmed and wondered what the hell I was doing with my life.

That first year, I ran it extremely hungover (because I had spent the day before partying on my now-husband’s boat) in 1:24 and was hooked. Soon I signed up for a half marathon, then another one. Then a marathon. Then I qualified for and ran Boston– 5 times now! I truly believe I have the A10 to thank for that.

I haven’t missed a year of the A10 since I first ran in 2013, except for 2020 and 2021 when the Covid pandemic forced its cancellation. This year, which also marked the 50th anniversary of the race, was my 11th time running it. 

And I ran my second fastest time ever on the course, finishing in 1:10:50, 10 seconds off my course PR from 2022! I won my age group and yes, got my mug this time – as well as the mug I was supposed to have gotten last year!   

Micah, who turned 50 at the end of August, also ran the race for the second time. He had run the 40th anniversary of the race when he turned 40, so it had been a full decade. He doesn’t run much these days and didn’t train at all, but did pretty well all things considered, finishing in just over 2 hours.    

Much like last year, the weather was fantastic. A little humid, but not even 70 degrees at the start of the race, truly a blessing for late August.

The A10 course is challenging and hilly. But it is also very scenic and there is a decent amount of crowd support for a small town race, which always helps pump up my mood. 

I also know the course very well after so many years of running it, which I think gives me a huge advantage. This was easily my best race since, well, last year’s A10. I ran three 10 milers during Boston prep: The Lewis 10 Miler in 1:18:00 (a prediction race where the first half is straight uphill), the Road Runners Club of America 10 Mile Challenge in 1:14:50 and the Shamrock Shuffle 10 Miler in 1:13:23. I actually won the Shamrock Shuffle, but was disappointed in my time, having expected to be closer to 1:10 in that pancake flat race. I did run it two days after a 20-mile long run, though.  

Aside from my familiarity with the course, this year’s race took place 3 weeks out from my September marathon, the Wicked Fast Poconos Marathon, and I felt like I was in peak shape thanks to many of the workouts my coach has given me over the past few weeks! I’ve run lower mileage this training block, but more workouts– each week has a track workout, a tempo run, and of course a long run, but always with marathon pace miles. It’s been tough, but fun, and I think my body is holding up well!  

The race takes you on a tour of historic Annapolis, starting at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium and heading downtown, past the Naval Academy and over the Naval Academy Bridge (a tough climb that rewards you with amazing views at the top), through the Pendennis Mount community and then back over the bridge before ending at the stadium. As I mentioned earlier, the crowd support is great. The midshipmen staff a water stop at miles 4 and 9, and they are always cheering loudly and playing great music. Lots of residents of Pendennis Mount come out to support the runners as we run through their neighborhood. 

But my favorite part this year, hands down, was how many runner friends I saw on the course! I said before the race I probably knew a hundred people who were running, and that’s a low estimate. As soon as Micah and I got to the race that morning, I started bumping into people I recognized. “Geez, do you know everyone?” he said with a laugh. It was such a boost to see and hear “go Allison!” from others on the course. I really felt the love this year! A woman who was running near me around mile 7 even said “wow, you’re popular!” I guess this is what happens when you run your hometown race year after year!  

I kept up with the 1:10 group pretty well, but they pulled ahead somewhere around mile 6. Still, I was able to keep them in my sights pretty much the whole way until the finish line, and so I knew a 1:10:xx finish was in the cards. Around mile 8, I saw Coach Beth handing out lemonade and water. She had told our marathon training group she would be out there with refreshments, which was awesome, but at that point I was in too much of a hurry to stop, ha! She later said my running looked “effortless,” but let me tell you, I was definitely working hard at that point. The second trip over the Naval Academy Bridge was soul crushing!

But I am super pumped with how it went and it was a real confidence booster going into Wicked Fast next weekend. When I ran my A10 course PR three years ago, I went on to set my marathon PR later that fall in Chicago. I know my marathon PR is really solid and will be tough to ever beat. But maybe I can get closer to it than I think. I keep saying I’ll be happy with any time under 3:25, and I definitely think that’s reasonable. Plus, Wicked Fast is a point-to-point downhill– designed to run fast. Let’s go see what I can do out there!

Summer 2025 running: A mud run, a mile PR, and more marathon training!

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Does anyone even still read running blogs anymore? I have to wonder, ha! I started this blog in 2017 (which was probably way past peak blogger era anyway) when I was trying to qualify for Boston for the first time. 

Here we are 8 years, 12 BQs, and 5 Boston Marathons later. I’m still blogging, just much less often, though I am very active over on Instagram. 

I figured it was time to give a brief update on what I’ve been up to since I ran Boston in April! 

I Did a Mud Run

To be honest, I’ve never had any interest in doing anything like a Tough Mudder or a Spartan race. The risk of injury always seemed far too great. But when my friend Staci asked me last Christmas if I wanted to run the Mud Girl women’s race in the Poconos at the end of May, I said why not. They let kids as young as 7 participate, and the obstacles didn’t look too scary (plus, you could skip any you weren’t comfortable with.) It’s not a timed event, so it was purely for fun. 

And we did have a lot of fun, despite dealing with some pretty awful weather. Even though it was the last day of May, the weather didn’t get above 50 degrees and there was a steady cold rain for most of the run, which took place at the Pocono Raceway. But honestly, that kind of added to the experience. There were 17 total obstacles where we did things like carry weighted bags through mud, climb up mud piles, and swim through muddy pools of water underneath netting. I don’t love being in cold water at all, so that was a challenge for me, but both Staci and I got through. Total distance was about 5K, but we mostly ran/walked it, so it wasn’t like a 5K race. We both laughed a lot throughout the race and said afterwards that we would do it again!

I PR’d My Mile Time at the John Wall Memorial Mile

I’ve said it before, the mile scares the shit out of me. I am a long distance girlie for life. But the Annapolis Striders host a track mile race every summer, and I have always been intrigued by it. However, I am usually on vacation when it happens. Not this year, though– so I decided to really push myself and sign up, with the goal of finishing in under 6 minutes and hopefully even breaking my previous mile PR of 5:56. 

I trained for the race for about 6 weeks, doing mile-specific workouts on the track once a week. And oh my GOD, they were hard! Think 10 x 400 at goal mile pace with brief recoveries in between. Made me long for marathon training. I also participated in an informal track meet held by the Striders earlier in June, racing in the 800 meter (finishing in 2:49) and the 400 meter (76 seconds). 

The race was held at Severna Park High School and I was way more nervous and scared beforehand than I ever am before a marathon! I had a lot of friends there, some who were running and some who just came to watch, so that helped take the edge off. 

We were segmented into heats, with the last heat for anyone who was going to try to run 6 minutes or faster. I ran in that heat and was honestly just hoping I wasn’t the last one to finish. The whole thing was kind of a blur, as racing the mile is. The first lap felt hard, the second lap felt harder, I felt like I wanted to die during the third lap and then just tried to hang on for dear life for lap 4. When I turned the final corner on lap 4, I saw 5:3x on the clock up ahead and I knew I had sub 6. My official time was 5:51 and I was so happy with that! I was the top female Master and second female overall. Maybe I’m a miler after all! (I still prefer marathons, haha!)

I’m Running a Marathon in September…..

I said after Boston that I was going to take the fall off from marathons and focus once again on running a fast half, like I did in 2023. But what do I do? Sign up for the Jack and Jill Poconos Marathon on September 13. 

Why? A few reasons. One, well…. I like marathons. Two, the race is in Jim Thorpe, one of my favorite small towns in PA, and it’s 15 minutes away from Staci’s house. Three, it’s a downhill marathon, dropping 800 feet from start to finish. I know downhill marathons are controversial, but I’ve always wanted to try one and there are very few on the East Coast. This isn’t even that downhill and still falls within the Boston Athletic Association’s new standards for downhill races. Who knows how much of an advantage I will even have. But I am excited to run it! I am actually working with a coach for the first time ever. I got a very part-time job (like 5 hours a week) at my favorite local running store, and with that comes some cool perks– like half off coaching. So I decided to take advantage. So far it is going great, but this summer humidity is kicking my butt. Is it just me, or is it worse than usual lately? 

I’m shooting for around a 3:25 finish. A year ago, I had my heart set on a 3:15, and maybe I can get there, but– I am getting older and the amount of training I would have to do to beat my 3:18 PR from three years ago is daunting. If I can still keep qualifying for Boston with a comfortable cushion, that may be good enough for me.   

…..And Maybe One in October?

I am signed up for the Atlantic City Half on October 19, and now I am thinking of bumping up to the full marathon there, too! I ran the Chicago and Philly marathons, which are 6 weeks apart, in 2022 and both races went awesome (Chicago holds my PR.) Jack and Jill and AC are 5 weeks apart; maybe I can make magic happen again?  

Regardless of what distance I ultimately choose, BibRave is kindly sponsoring me, so I have a comped entry, plus a discount code to share: 15% off your registration with the code BIBRAVE25! Price goes up the first of August, so don’t hesitate to sign up! https://www.acraceseries.com/

How is your summer running going? Any big races you are training for?

In my racing era: Boston Marathon 2025 training

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How is the 2025 Boston Marathon only 28 days away? 

I train in 12-week blocks, and it always seems to go really fast. This cycle has proven to be no exception. Though it’s not necessarily been the easiest training cycle. This winter was pretty much the worst winter I’ve trained through since I started running marathons a decade ago. There wasn’t quite as much snow and ice as there was during the winter of 2015, thank goodness, but it’s been really cold. I don’t even mind the cold, and it was still too much for me. Thankfully we are coming out of it now and it’s actually expected to be close to 80 this weekend– so I might start complaining about the heat soon! 

I’ve incorporated a bunch of races into my training this past winter, so here’s a quick recap of what I’ve been up to! 

Road Runners Club of America 10 Mile Challenge

This 10-mile race happens every February in Columbia, and it is known for being very competitive – I think the top 50 runners all finish in under an hour– and challenging. My friend Daniel was running with team Bullseye Running, and they were looking for another female in the 40-49 age group, so he asked me to run. I had a planned weekend long run of 16 miles with 10 at goal marathon pace, so I said sure, why not. It was cold, it was windy, and the course was hilly, but nowhere near as hard as the Lewis 10 Miler that I’d run a few weeks prior. I ran a 1:14:50/7:30 pace, which seems wildly optimistic for Boston Marathon pace, but hey. That time would typically earn me at least an age group award in a local race. Not at this race! I was 20th in my age group! Like I said, it is a very fast crowd! I also ran 4 miles before the race and 2 miles after it to get to 16 for the day. 

Spring Ahead Half Marathon 

Signing up for this half, held a little more than two hours away in the small town of Douglassville, PA, was a last minute decision. But I had 15 miles to run with 12 at marathon pace, and what I won’t do to avoid doing that alone in a training run. When I saw this half marathon wasn’t happening until 10 in the morning, meaning I wouldn’t even have to leave the house all that early, I decided to sign up. I’m glad I did! The trail it was on, mostly the Schuylkill River Greenway, was beautiful, as well as flat and fast. My only complaint was a really annoying headwind on the way back to the finish line and my Garmin didn’t seem to want to function with the trees lining the trail. At one point late in the race, it told me I was running a 9:30 pace and I knew damn well that wasn’t the case, that I was probably running around 7:30 or faster. Trust me, I’ve been running long enough that I know what 7:30 pace feels like vs. 9:30! I finished in 1:37:52/7:29 average pace, again overshooting what my marathon pace is likely going to be. (I’m thinking 7:40-7:45 is more realistic for my current fitness.) I was 6th overall female and first in my age group. My husband and I got brunch at the Fork and Ale a few steps from the trail and it was awesome! All the runners got one free beer, which of course I was happy about! 

Shamrock Shuffle 10 Miler

Aside from Boston, this race in Cape Henlopen State Park in Rehoboth Beach and Lewes, DE was the one on my calendar that I was most excited about this spring. I’d been looking forward to our little St. Patrick’s Day weekend getaway since Christmas. I love the beach any time of year, but I really appreciate it in the off season. My plan was also to race this 10 miler, rather than stick to marathon pace, and I thought I could finish somewhere around 1:10-1:11. I ran the Annapolis 10 Mile Run, which is a much harder course, in 1:11 last August! 

So I was somewhat disappointed to finish in 1:13:23/7:20 average pace. I think there were probably a few reasons why I was slower than expected. This race came at the tail end of a 61-mile peak week of training. I also ran a strong 20 miler Friday morning before we left for the beach, and my legs probably weren’t recovered. I got up Saturday morning and ran a 4-mile shakeout around Rehoboth, and my legs definitely felt tired. That said, I set my 10-mile PR of 1:08:03 the day after running a 16-mile long run, so. Sometimes you get lucky. Despite the Shamrock Shuffle being the day before St. Paddy’s Day, that didn’t happen this time. 

All that said, I won the race! So it’s hard to be too bummed, ha! And I had fun. I might make it an annual St. Patrick’s Day tradition! 

I had a lead bike to chase!

Piece of Cake 10K       

Big fat DNS (Did Not Start) for this race! 

My plan called for me to race a 10K this past weekend, and normally I would have signed up for the 10K at the Annapolis Running Festival, which I have run twice before. But Christ, it’s expensive – $85 when I went to sign up in December, which is awfully steep for a 10K in my opinion, especially one that I have already run. So I found another one in Montgomery County that was only $17, happening the same weekend. It was on a Sunday, so I planned to run my long run of 17 miles on Saturday. 

As mentioned above, I’ve run really strong races the day after knocking out a long run. Well, I knew after I finished my 17 miles that I was not running a fast 10K on Sunday. The cumulative fatigue had really caught up with me. I think a lot of that was due to a particularly hard kickboxing class on Thursday night, which involved a ton of weighted squats. I got through the 17 miles fine, though the last 5 miles were a real slog, but I was soooo sore afterwards. At first I thought, well, I’ll go and just run the 10K at marathon pace. Then as the day wore on, I knew I wasn’t up even to that. So I bagged it and ran an easy 6 miles around my neighborhood. I have no regrets! 

The plan calls for me to race another 10K in two weeks/just before my taper starts, but it looks like my only option is the Sole of the City 10K in Baltimore. Which looks great, but also expensive– currently right around $100! Yikes! So I will probably chuck it in the f*ck it bucket, as my friend Chris likes to say.

I’ve always heard it’s better to get to the start line of a marathon slightly undercooked than overcooked anyway. We’ll see what my 5th Marathon Monday holds!

Running up that hill: Recap of the Lewis Memorial 10 Miler

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A staple of the marathon training plans in Pete Pfitzinger’s Advanced Marathoning book are his long runs with marathon pace work. These runs, to me, are some of the most challenging in the plan. Even though I know I can run the marathon pace, and I have many times before, it is HARD to do it all alone in a training run. 

So, whenever I can, I try to find a race that fits in with the schedule that will allow me to practice the pace in a race environment. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t! 

The long run for the first week of Pfitz’s 12/55 plan that I am following for Boston was 13 miles with 8 at goal marathon pace. I am still not sure what my goal marathon pace is going to be – I’m not chasing a PR in Boston, just hoping to run a strong race – but I feel like somewhere in the 7:40-7:50 range is reasonable. 

When I saw the Lewis Memorial 10 Miler was happening on Feb. 1 near Frederick, I thought that might be a good opportunity to practice marathon pace. 

But this wasn’t your typical 10 mile race.  

For starters, it was straight up a mountain for the first 5 miles, then straight down it. (So, you were pretty much guaranteed to run negative splits!)

But the real catch is that it was a prediction style race, meaning you had to guess your predicted finish time before the race started and prizes were given out based on who came the closest to their prediction. No watches allowed! 

My last 10 miler was the A10 last August, which I ran in 1:11. However, with this elevation profile, I had zero clue what to expect. I predicted I would run a 1:18:30 (which was more or less in line with my goal marathon pace anyway.) 

The race started and ended at Mount St. Mary’s college in Emmitsburg, and I got there early enough to do a 2-mile warm up. When I checked in, the volunteers with Frederick Steeplechasers, who organize the race, asked me if I was OK with my predicted time. Sure, why not, I said. 

The first three-quarters of a mile or so of the race was mostly flat, with a few little rollers– but then the climbing began almost immediately. There was a pretty steep hill in the second mile – at least I think it was in the second mile, because not only were we not allowed to wear watches, there were also no mile markers! I was actually glad I didn’t have my Garmin on here, because I think my pace would have depressed me, ha! 

There were a few downhills during that first half, but it was mostly a climb. It was really tough! It sort of reminded me of Riley’s Rumble, except in that race, I felt like there was a lot of downhill in the first part and then some mean uphills in the second half. 

At one point during the first half, I ran past a water stop and asked the volunteers what mile we were at. “Mile 3!” they said. (Seriously? Only mile 3?)  

After lots more climbing, we finally reached what seemed to be the top of the mountain and then, thank goodness, we got to run down! So much downhill! I actually don’t consider myself to be a particularly strong downhill runner– for one, I am clumsy and always afraid I am going to trip and eat shit – but this felt so fun after the long uphills. Did my quads ache for two days afterwards? For sure! Again, no idea what my pace was, but I felt like I was flying! 

At one point, we ran past another water stop and the volunteers told us we had a little less than 3 miles left. The course flattened out a bit, then we got some more downhill, and then in the last mile leading back to Mount St. Mary’s– we had another long-ish uphill! It was all I could do not to walk at that point, but I knew I was so close. 

When I crossed the finish line, the clock said 1:18:00. So, I was exactly 30 seconds faster than my predicted finish! I was really happy with that! 

I thought I might get a prize based on how close my prediction was, but the top 3 closest guesses were within 10 seconds of their finish time. The funny thing is, I almost chose 1:18:00 as my prediction. Oh well! 

After the race, I ran a 1-mile cooldown to get to 13 miles for the day. My average pace for the race was 7:48/mile, so pretty in line with goal marathon pace (and I guess I did a little extra as far as the workout goes since my plan only prescribed 8 miles at goal pace.) 

I was also the fourth female finisher, so I was happy about that! 

This weekend, Pfitz has me running 16 miles with 10 at goal marathon pace and once again, I am running a 10 mile race: The Road Runners Club of America Club Challenge in Columbia, after a friend recruited me to run on the Bullseye Running team. The course has a reputation for being challenging and the race itself is very competitive, so even if I was planning to race it all out, which I am not, I have zero chance of placing! 

That said, I did practice the course with some friends over the weekend and it was hilly, but nothing like the Lewis 10 Miler! I’d compare it more to the A10. I am looking forward to it!

Recap of the 2024 Rehoboth Seashore Half Marathon

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Earlier this month, I participated in what has become an annual holiday tradition for me, the Rehoboth Seashore Half Marathon! Longtime readers/followers will know that I ran my first BQ at the Rehoboth Seashore Marathon 7 (!!!) years ago, and I’ve returned most years since then to run the half. It is flat, fast, and festive, with a hell of an after party!

Plus, I love Rehoboth, my family’s annual vacation spot for my entire life, and I will use any excuse to visit. If you’ve never gone during the holiday season before, I highly recommend it. It’s a magical time!

I had a blast as always this year, though I wouldn’t say I ran especially “fast” (remember, it is all relative.)

I wasn’t expecting to, either. My recovery from the dumpster fire that was the Ocean City Marathon has felt slower than my usual marathon recovery (is this aging?) A week before the half marathon, I ran my hometown’s annual Turkey Trot in 21:47, my slowest Turkey Trot in about 5 years. I hadn’t done any speed work since the marathon and it was super rainy, but I also went out way too fast. So I blew up in epic fashion. First mile was 6:26, last mile was 7:30. Nice. I did win my age group, so that was cool. 

Anyway, that didn’t inspire much confidence for the Rehoboth Half, but I told a few people ahead of time that I would probably run between 1:35 (if I was having a good day) and 1:40. In the end, I finished in 1:38:58. 

I’m sure there are people who will read this and think, hey, that’s fast! But like I said, it is all relative. My PR is 1:29! Last year, I ran a 1:31:45 on that same course when I was specifically training for half marathons. This year, I’d run Ocean City about a month prior and didn’t feel like I was really in race shape anymore, logging around 30 miles a week of all easy runs since then. So, my body was capable of a 1:38 during this race and that’s OK! 

Micah and I left for Rehoboth after work Friday, the night before the race and got to the beach in less than 2 hours – one of the reasons I love going in the off season! I grabbed my bib/race packet and then we headed to Dogfish Head for my usual pre-race meal of a veggie burger, fries, and beer. Except I decided to mix it up a bit this time and order mac and cheese instead of fries. Living on the edge! In the end, it was totally fine and I didn’t have stomach issues or anything. If you go to Dogfish, totally check out their mac and cheese. It is really good!  

Race day was cold. Really cold. Totally different than last year, when it was in the mid-50s and humid, and the year before, when it was about 60 and also humid. I am all about racing in the cold, so I wasn’t too concerned especially when I saw the start temperature would be around 30. No big deal! But then my friend Stacy, who was also running, pointed out that the windchill was forecasted to be around 13. Shit! I figured that was a little too cold for the outfit I had planned– red tank, green arm warmers, and shorts with Christmas gnomes on them. I ended up putting on my long sleeved red shirt from this year’s Baltimore Running Festival, the Christmas shorts, and black running tights underneath the shorts. I wound up regretting the leggings! I wasn’t too warm, but they just felt bulky with the shorts over top. 0/10 do not recommend unless you are someone who runs really cold. 

We stayed on the boardwalk literally a block from the start, which was so convenient because I could leave the hotel just before the race started at 7! We met Stacy at 6:45, she gave Micah her coat to hold, and then we lined up. It was very crowded at the start, which I think kept us from getting too cold! Before I knew it, we were off. 

The course for the half – and the course for the marathon, too– is really pretty. You start at the Rehoboth bandstand, head down Rehoboth Avenue and then wind around the neighborhoods around Silver Lake before going down the boardwalk. From there you go into Cape Henlopen State Park before turning around and running through Rehoboth toward the Breakwater and Junction Trail. You do an out and back on the trail before coming back into town and finishing by the Cultured Pearl restaurant. My only complaint about the course is that the trail is kind of rocky and depending on the weather, it can be a little muddy. But it is a very scenic course and I do think it’s a fast one!    

And even though I wasn’t running as “fast” as I did last year, I felt like the miles were just flying by and everything felt good. I paced it really well, running consistent 7:30-7:35 miles. No major blowups like in the Turkey Trot. I was happy about that! Before I knew it, I was turning that last corner toward the finish line. Stacy PR’d, finishing about a minute ahead of me! 

I collected my medal and space blanket and headed back toward the finish line to see a few other friends, Mindy and Rachel, finish their races. Then it was time to hit the party tent! As mentioned many times on this blog, the after party is pretty lit. Runners get 3 beer tickets with their bibs (you can also purchase beer bracelets for friends/family) and I’ve definitely partied pretty hard at the after party before. In 2022, I tripped, fell, and skinned my knee while reaching for a Fireball shot! Whoops! This year, the race directors cracked down on alcohol being brought in from outside, so there were no fireball shots handed out by “Team Fireball” this time. Probably a good thing, for me at least. I still had a blast, though I did take issue with the DJ refusing to play All I Want For Christmas Is You (“A lot of people don’t like that song,” he told me. Bah humbug!) 

This race is pretty competitive and I came in 5th in my age group. It was actually only the third race I ran this year where I didn’t get an age group or overall award – Boston, of course, and then Riley’s Rumble didn’t give out any awards at all. Oh well! 

I actually have one last race to run in 2024, the Naptown Half Marathon, this weekend! The weather looks really similar to the Rehoboth race. But I can tell you I won’t be wearing legging for this one! 

I received a free entry to the Rehoboth Beach Seashore Half Marathon as part of a partnership with The Vibe: A BibRave Network. Thank you so much for this opportunity!  

The Ocean City Running Festival Marathon: I puked, I rallied, I BQ’d

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I am really disappointed in how the Ocean City Marathon went. At the same time, I am also very proud of myself. Both things can be true! 

In summary, the marathon at the Ocean City Running Festival was a flaming dumpster fire. I went into the race, my 17th marathon, feeling really confident. I had nailed my training and thought if I had a great day, I could PR with a time of around 3:16-3:17. I thought if I had a good day, I could break 3:20. And if the day was just OK? Surely sub-3:25 was totally reasonable. 

Except I had a crap day where I puked my guts out and crossed the finish line in 3:32:34, my first time not breaking 3:30 in four years. It sucked, but I never gave up and kept on pushing when my entire body was telling me to quit. 

Here is my recap of the Ocean City Running Festival marathon! 

Micah, my sister Catherine, and I got to OC late afternoon the day before the race, hit the expo to get my bib, and headed to Shenanigans on the boardwalk for dinner so I could get my usual veggie burger, fries and beer. Last year before I ran (and won!) the half marathon, Shannon and I went there and I had 2 beers, so I decided to do the same this year! Everything felt fine. I didn’t feel weird or nauseous.

I woke up on race day just before my alarm went off, had my usual coffee, liquid IV, bagel and peanut butter. Got to the OC Inlet by 7 and saw Vanessa of She Runs By the Seashore, who was running the half. The weather was decent — around 50 at the start — but so windy, and I wasn’t a fan of that! Before I knew it, it was time to line up and we were off!

The marathon is an out and back, starting at the Inlet, going into Assateague State Park, and then back into Ocean City. I told myself I wouldn’t run faster than 7:40-7:45 splits for the first half, with plans to crank up the pace in the second half. And I stuck to that. I also took a 160-calorie Maurten gel at the start, plus I planned to take gels at miles 4, 8, 12, 16, and 21. I had two of the new 160 calorie Maurten gels with me, plus four 100 calorie gels.

I saw my husband and sister around the 10K mark, and I told them I was probably going to have to stop and pee, ha. I did dart quickly into a porta potty at mile 8, where I also had a little diarrhea seemingly out of nowhere (TMI, but it was a harbinger of what was to come!)

Overall, though, I was still feeling strong as we headed into Assateague. We passed the half marathon starting line, I saw some wild horses as well as some horse poop on the running path (I did not step in it) and I took my 4th Maurten gel (the second 160 cal gel) of the race at mile 12.

The turnaround point was at mile 12.5, and as soon as we turned, we were running smack into a fierce headwind. I knew that was going to get old real quick.

When the marathoners turned left to go back over the Verrazano Bridge out of Assateague, it was brutal. And it didn’t really let up— the next 9 miles of the race were back up 611 into the wind.

On top of that, this part of the race was where the marathon mixed in with the half marathon, a point-to-point race that began at Assateague. This led to a bottleneck and I got mixed in with runners who were running a slower pace than I was trying to go, so I was doing a lot of weaving around them.

Right around mile 14-15 is when I started to feel barfy, and I wondered if I’d be able to take a gel at mile 16 as planned. I decided to hold off, and then managed to choke one down at mile 18, figuring I needed the fuel because I could see my pace slipping. At mile 19 I saw my sis and husband again. Catherine asked me how I was feeling. “Like shit!” I yelled back.

I think it was around mile 20 or 21 that I stopped on the side of the road to see if I could puke, but nothing came out, so I soldiered on. Right before mile 23, I stopped again and that’s when I got sick. First time that’s ever happened to me in a race! A few runners stopped to see if I was OK, and I said I was. I felt better after I threw up, but of course my body was super depleted by then and I was just in survival mode. The last 3 miles were a shuffle back into Ocean City, down the boardwalk and back to the inlet. (I did not love the smell of the Dough Roller right there around mile 25.5, woof!!) 

At that point, I didn’t really care what my time was, because I knew I was nowhere near my goal anyway and I just wanted to finish. When I stopped my watch and saw 3:32, I was sort of pleasantly surprised because those last miles felt like a death march. I still managed to qualify for Boston! We’re currently in the 2026 qualifying window, and I’ll be 45 for Boston 2026, meaning my BQ time under the standards that were updated this fall is now 3:45. So I actually BQ’d with a really solid cushion. Yay for aging up! Getting older is not so bad! 

I found out later I won my age group, too. So, I guess maybe it wasn’t a total trainwreck, even if it felt like it! 

Micah and Catherine met me just after I crossed the finish and Catherine said I looked super pale and insisted I go to the medical tent. The kind volunteers gave me chips and water and I felt pretty good after that.

Good enough to get my life together and spend the afternoon shopping in Rehoboth, and I even made it out to Seacrets that night to celebrate! Since it was two days after Halloween, Catherine and I decided to dress up, but we were the only ones who did. What is up with that, Ocean City? That phallic-shaped thing on my sister’s head is a shark fin, in case you are wondering. And yes, I wore my finisher’s medal out proudly.

What the hell happened? 

Ugh. The million dollar question! Sure wish I knew. 

I did wake up feeling really dehydrated the day before the race, which I blamed on the two Pumking beers I drank the previous night on Halloween. But I made sure to drink tons of water and Liquid IV throughout the day, and it’s not like I was hungover or anything. As I mentioned above, I usually love to have a beer or two the night before a race (carb loading!) So it wasn’t like I did anything that crazy for me. 

Maybe it was the heavier Maurten gels. I usually take five 100 calorie gels throughout a marathon (sometimes four if my stomach is being funky and I can’t get the fifth one down.) This has always worked well for me. In fact, I ran Boston 2023 on only three Maurten gels when mine fell out of my flipbelt, and I finished in 3:19! I have been reading a lot online about how more fuel is better, and for the most part I agree, but…. Maybe I overdid it here? 

Or hell, maybe I just had a bad day! 

As for what’s next, I am running my hometown Turkey Trot next week (5Ks, yuck) and then two half marathons, the Rehoboth Seashore Half on Dec. 7 that I run every year and then the Naptown Half in Annapolis two weeks later. I don’t really have any time goals for any of these races aside from just doing the best I can. I’m back to running a few times a week, all easy runs, no workouts. Long runs on the weekends will be 10-12 miles at the most. Last year in Rehoboth, I finished the half in 1:31 and was bummed about it! I’ll be thrilled to finish in 1:35-1:37 this year, but hey, maybe I will still have some marathon training fitness that will help me.

And then of course, Boston again in April – but I won’t start seriously training for that until January. Currently debating how hard I want to train for it. Part of me wants to go balls to the wall and try to redeem myself after Ocean City, and part of me wants to follow a lower level Pfitz plan and just have a fun time in Boston. I’ve run 3:26 and 3:27 marathons off the 12 week Pfitz plan that peaks at 55 miles per week, so I could still run a strong for me race.

Anyway, I have time to decide! For now, I am relaxing a bit! 


I received a free entry to the Ocean City Running Festival as part of a partnership with The Vibe: A BibRave Network. Thank you so much for this opportunity!  

Incorporating two 10K races as part of Ocean City Marathon training

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It’s hard to believe I am just 4 days out from the Ocean City Running Festival marathon! 

As part of my training this fall, I signed up for two 10Ks. One was a total dumpster fire. The other went fantastic! 

Let’s get into it!

PRO-Vision 10K: 44:03

I’ll start with the good part.  

This is a great little local race put on by a wonderful Severna Park family. PRO-Vision is an organization named in honor of Paul Robert Overton, a Severna Park native and athlete who died several years ago of injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident. The organization raises money for local charities – this year’s race benefited our local Boys & Girls Club and the Orphan Grain Train. Before the race started, Paul’s brother got up and spoke a bit about him and it was very moving. I wasn’t planning on crying before the race, but I did. They just seemed like awesome people, and I will hopefully be returning to run this 10K (there is also a 5K option) in the future. 

Both the 5K and the 10K start at the Elks Lodge in Severna Park and then go onto the B&A Trail, where I spend many weekends running. I got to see some of my Anne Arundel County She Runs This Town Friends right around the half mile mark, and that was basically the highlight of the race for me because it all went to hell shortly thereafter! 

Thank you MJ for the photo!!

We’ve had a really warm fall, though mornings have mostly been cool and lovely. However, that last week of September was an exception. It was so uncomfortably muggy, the worst that it had been since probably July. I think when I looked at my weather app, it said the humidity was 90%. Just nasty! 

So it felt like running through hot soup. It has been a LONG time since I have run a race and seen each split get progressively slower. My first mile was 6:35; my last mile was 7:35. Basically a textbook case of how not to pace a race. I crossed the finish line in just over 44 minutes feeling half dead, but ended up as the second overall female. The first overall female was more than 5 minutes ahead of me, so it wasn’t even close. She also beat all of the men, too! Impressive! 

The after party was fun. There was a ton of food, including an Always Ice Cream Truck, drinks, a band playing some yacht rock and other tunes, and a raffle with some really nice baskets donated by local businesses. The Overton family also had set up several photo collages showcasing Paul with his siblings and friends over the years. Like I said, awesome family. Overall, I enjoyed the experience and it was decent speed work for me even if I had a crappy race! 

Baltimore Running Festival 10K: 40:38 

The Baltimore Running Festival is one of my very favorite Maryland running events, and I missed it last year because I went to Cape May for the weekend! So I was super happy to be back. I was initially signed up for the half marathon (my favorite of all the distances offered at the festival), but the Pfitzinger plan I’ve been following directed me to race a 10K on the weekend two weeks before the marathon and then run a 16 mile long run the next day. So I dropped down to the 10K. 

I had run the 10K in 2021, the first year the running festival included that distance, and came in 2nd female with a 43:36. The race has gotten a LOT more competitive since then! My time of 40:38 this year got me 3rd place in my age group, and I think I was the 11th or 12th female. There were some really fast people out there! 

Before the race, I told my husband I hoped to break 42 minutes, something I hadn’t done in about two years in the 10K. The weather was really good and even though the 10K course is hilly, I think it’s actually pretty fast because almost all of the uphill is in the first half of the race. There is a lot of downhill in the back half, making it easy to run negative splits. I was more nervous about going fast and tripping and falling in a pothole in the city, but thankfully that did not happen! 

I ran the first few miles around 6:45-6:50 pace, and it felt hard, but doable. I spent most of those miles running alongside two younger women who were just chatting like the pace was nothing! (They dropped me about halfway through the race.) And once I hit mile 3, the downhills came and I felt like I was flying. I split the 4th mile in 6:16! There was a clock at mile 5, and it read 33 minutes when I passed it so I knew I was easily running sub-42 that morning. 

I was elated to turn the last corner onto Pratt Street and see that the finish line clock read 40 something. Way under my goal! But…. then I stopped my Garmin after I crossed the finish line and saw that my watch read 6.08 miles– just shy of a 10K. 

Now, it’s possible that the buildings in Baltimore messed up my watch. I don’t remember the course being short three years ago, and it definitely didn’t change from then. I know the marathon and the half marathon are USTAF certified, but perhaps the 10K isn’t. 

Honestly, it doesn’t really matter – assuming the course was short, I was still on pace to finish well under 42 minutes. Which is what I had hoped for! So it’s all good. 

Afterwards, I hit up the after party, saw friends who were going to be running the half (which doesn’t start until 9:45 in the morning) and also watched the marathon. It was a super fun morning and I can’t wait to do the Baltimore Running Festival again next year!

Recap of the Great Allegheny Ohiopyle Marathon

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Last Christmas, I decided it would be fun to run a “bonus” spring marathon after Boston and before Memorial Day. I asked my husband to pick it out and surprise me with it, and he chose the tiny Ohiopyle Marathon in Pennsylvania on May 4, 2024, not quite three weeks after Boston.

Going into the marathon, I didn’t feel super confident, nor did I feel terrible. We had a tough day in Boston. I missed my goal of 3:15 and to be honest, even though I knew Ohiopyle was going to be a much flatter course with better weather, I still felt 3:15 was kind of a pie in the sky goal at this point. I just didn’t feel fully recovered. But hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

Here’s how it went!

Before the Race: A Shoe Dilemma

I wore my Alpha Fly 2s in Boston this year and they beat the hell out of my toes. To be honest, I have not liked the 2s as much as I liked the OG Alpha Flys and I am nervous to try the 3s now. When I saw the Saucony Endorphin Pro 3s were on sale for about $120, I snapped them up, knowing they are popular with a lot of runners. I got them in the mail probably a week before Ohiopyle and tried them out a few times and they felt fast and comfy– but then I noticed a chunk of foam was missing from the outside of the right shoe! WTF? I still have no idea how that happened, maybe one of my cats started chomping on it in the middle of the night? Or it came like that and I didn’t notice? I was 95 percent sure this was a cosmetic issue, but still didn’t want to risk it during a marathon. So I decided to race in my Hoka Mach 6s. They are not carbon plated super shoes, but I still think they are light and fast. This was my first time NOT racing in super shoes since 2021. (Spoiler alert: This was also my slowest marathon in 3 years, but I think that was more due to not being recovered from Boston!)

We’re Not In Boston Any More

When I say this marathon was the opposite of Boston in every way, I mean it. Ohiopyle is a tiny mountain town in western PA known for white water kayaking and rafting. There is also a lovely rail to trail bike path that runs from Pittsburgh to DC, which is where the race was held. We stayed in a little place called the Ohiopyle Suites, literally 100 feet from the start line. How convenient was that? The race, as I mentioned before, was very small, though in addition to a marathon there was also a half, 10K, and 5K. There were only 44 finishers in the marathon! It was also VERY casual. The official race start for the marathon and half marathon was at 7:30, but the race director let people start any time they wanted that morning, Covid style, in case they knew they’d be on the trail for 6+ hours or maybe they just wanted to start early. I would say a lot of people opted for the early start, and it was hard for me to tell during the race who was doing what distance!

But I chose to start right at 7:30. The weather was pretty good, in my opinion — 50s and light drizzle. I’ll take that over what we had in Boston. That being said, I could tell from the first few miles this wasn’t going to be a PR day. I was running around 7:40-7:45 pace, and it felt decent, but like I wasn’t going to be able to go any faster, either. Oh well. Again, I knew that would be a tall order after having just raced a tough marathon. I ran a good portion of the first half with a young guy named Ryan, who was running his first marathon, and enjoyed the peaceful path through the woods. There were no spectators, but the path was open to the public so there were people out walking and cycling who cheered us on. I also got to “meet” Instagram friend Leigha out on the course and was so excited when she called my name!

This course was a double out and back for the marathon, which to me is the most mentally challenging course you can run. I was still feeling really good at the beginning of my second lap, and holding onto my pace pretty easily, but I knew the race was going to get a lot harder! And it did!

As I headed back out onto the trail for my second loop, my pace started to dip into the 7:50s. One mistake I probably made: Not taking in enough fluids. The race only had two stations with volunteers handing out cups of water and Gatorade. Since it was a double out and back, I passed them eight times and took hydration each time, but that wasn’t enough. The race director did put packs of bottled water at certain other points during the race to grab and go (again, Covid style!) but I hate running while clutching a bottle of water. I should have done it anyway! I also forgot to take a gel at the start, but did take 5 during the race.

I still felt relatively strong through mile 20, and then it was time to turn around and head to the finish. I started to slow down significantly around 21. In fact, I don’t think I’ve bonked like that since the Tidewater Striders marathon in March 2021 (also a double out and back!) Pace was now in the 8s and I really didn’t want to walk, but I did walk a bit each time I hit a mile marker. I also started doing runner math. “Once you’re at mile 22, you just have to run 3 miles and you’ll be at mile 25! Then you’re practically done!” At this point, I had no idea what my finish time was going to be, and didn’t want to look at my elapsed time, but I was guessing around 3:34. Still felt pretty confident I could finish with a BQ time and keep my streak alive, but I knew I wasn’t beating my Boston time.

By the time I hit the high bridge going over the rapids around mile 25.5 or so (what a view, by the way!) I felt like I was practically crawling! But before I knew it, I was passing the former train station at the end and saw my husband and my dad, and then my mom right at the finish line. Crossed the finish, stopped my watch and was shocked and elated to see 3:29:40 (official time was 3:29:39.)

I sat down for a minute, then asked about the results and the race director told me I was first overall female and gave me a plaque!

Again, small marathon, but I was still very proud! This was my 16th marathon and 10th BQ.

It might have been my slowest marathon in 3 years, but 3 years ago, I would have cried tears of joy if I’d broken 3:30. So — I’d say this was a win, in more ways than one!

What’s Next?

After running two marathons in three weeks, I am ready for some down time this summer. I am not even signed up for anything until the Annapolis Ten Mile Run in August, and I won’t start training for the Ocean City Marathon on Nov. 2 until early August. (P.S. I have a discount code for that race! Use RUNOCRAVE for 10 percent off when you register.) Currently I am focused on running easy and maintaining my base mileage of 30-35 miles per week. I am actually kind of missing following a training plan, but know that it’s good to take a break now and then. So that’s what I am going to do!

That Was Hot: Recap of the 2024 Boston Marathon

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Two weeks ago, I finished the Boston Marathon for the 4th time!

It was a tough one. Even Accuweather, in the days leading up to the race, said in its forecast “great day for baseball. Warm for the marathon.” Um…. yes. At 73 degrees and sunny, it was the hottest Boston I have run, including in 2019 when the weather got a lot warmer than originally expected. Reports of a tailwind were also greatly exaggerated, in my opinion!

But I finished and while I didn’t hit my goal time, I did BQ by a pretty significant margin and ran my 2nd fastest Boston time!

Here is my recap of the 2024 Boston Marathon.

My Boston weekend actually started off pretty shitty. We drove up from Maryland (yes, we drive because my husband and I both hate the ordeal of flying and we have more control over our schedule this way) the Saturday before the race. Before we left, I asked him if he had everything he needed for his C-PAP, as he’s an awful snorer and has forgotten it before. He insisted he did. Guess what? We got to our hotel and he’d forgotten the power cord, and it’s a very specific one that you can’t just pick up anywhere. To say I was angry was an understatement. Almost immediately I booked him his own room for Sunday night, because how tf was I supposed to sleep with him snoring like a freight train the night before a marathon? No regrets. Yeah, it was extra money, but a good night’s sleep is priceless!

Sunday was a nicer day. We saw the Red Sox game and I got to reconnect with one of my old editors from my Capital days. I felt a lot more relaxed.

Woke up on Marathon Monday feeling well-rested and ready! Got to Boston Common and on my bus to Hopkinton with no drama, though the bus driver messed up and just dropped us off right at the start rather than in Athlete’s Village. It was just as well — I love the walk from the Village to the start, but I was also psyched to not have to walk that 3/4 of a mile before a marathon! I saw my friend Kurt from Instagram and he told me he was happy about the warm sunny weather as a Southern Californian (famous last words!) I was also pumped to see Carissa walking to our corrals and Jess in my corral! Seeing familiar faces definitely helped me chill out.

Although Highway to Hell was playing as I walked to my corral, which I thought was quite the choice right before a marathon. Turns out it was very appropriate!

My goal going into the race was a 3:15, though my recent 1:29 half indicated I could be a few minutes faster. Still, I knew that would be tough with the warm weather. I was trying not to push the pace too much in the first few miles, which are mostly downhill. Was mostly between 7:35-7:40 pace for the first 6 miles, then dropped down to 7:30ish through mile 10. The sun was out and I felt a slight breeze here and there, but not much of one! Again, did anyone feel the tailwind we were maybe supposed to get? The crowds through Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham and Natick seemed bigger and louder than last year, probably because of the great spectating (not running 😆) weather. I was grabbing Gatorade from every aid station, but the heat didn’t feel too bad quite yet.

Heading into Wellesley, my favorite part of the race, I felt strong and continued to run in the 7:30s. I thought if I kept that up (big if) I could at least squeak out a course PR (sub-3:19:53.)

I heard the screams from the Wellesley Scream Tunnel at least 3/4 of a mile away. The Wellesley College women were on fire this year with their “Kiss Me” signs, and I high-fived so many of them and saw some dudes kiss a lot of them, too! This section of the race really pumped me up and had me smiling for the next mile.

At this point, the race was halfway over and the hardest part was still to come.

After passing through the Scream Tunnel and the town of Wellesley, which was lined with spectators, we headed toward the infamous Newton Hills. I was definitely starting to get pretty hot so I was grabbing either Gatorade or water to drink and then dumping water on my head. Some spectators were passing out popsicles and I wanted one so badly, but didn’t know what my stomach would do. I was successfully getting down my gels — and I didn’t lose any this year!! — so I was happy about that.

Mile 14: 7:37
Mile 15: 7:46
Mile 16: 7:28 (mostly downhill)

Around mile 17, when the uphills really begin, the race started to get harder especially with the blazing sun. My pace dropped into the 7:50s for the next few miles until I reached Heartbreak Hill, which broke my heart this year! I clocked an 8:35 mile for mile 21, my slowest of the race. But seeing another Instagram friend, Jude, on the side of the road cheering was definitely a bright spot! By the time we got to the top, the crowds were extremely enthusiastic and I wanted to high five some drunk college kids, but didn’t have the energy!

The rest of the marathon after Heartbreak is relatively flat, but of course after 21 miles of downhills and uphills, your quads are pretty trashed. Mine certainly were!

After you summit Heartbreak Hill, you’re in the home stretch — just about 5 miles to go! To be honest, this section of the race was a bit of a blur for me. It was hot. I was really thirsty. I started walking through the aid stations and drinking two cups of water or Gatorade, plus pouring water on my head. (An aside, the volunteers at Boston are the absolute best of the best!!!) I felt like I was slowing to a crawl, but I ran mile 22 in 7:45. Mile 22 is also where I tripped and fell and skinned my knee two years ago, so I’m always careful on that stretch of road!

The crowds got thicker and louder as I ran through Brookline and they truly carried me through those later miles.

Mile 23 — 8:14
Mile 24 — 7:57
Mile 25 — 8:01

At mile 25, you run past Fenway Park and the infamous Citgo sign. I’ve NEVER gotten a photo of myself with the Citgo sign and was really hoping this would be the year! Sadly, it was not. I ran on the right side of the road and everything, but the Marathon Foto photog wasn’t even looking up when I ran past 😭 One of these years!

With about a half mile to go, I saw my husband! He later said I looked really strong, but I certainly didn’t feel that way! Then it was time to go right on Hereford, left on Boylston. (Mile 26: 8:08)

Once you turn onto Boylston, you can see the finish line, but it always feels so far away. I was torn between wanting to soak it all in and also just wanting to finish. I had no idea what my finish time was going to be; in fact, I wasn’t even looking at my watch the last few miles. I knew I wasn’t getting a PR or even a course PR, but thought I’d squeak in under 3:25.

And I did: My official time was 3:24:26. It wasn’t as fast as I’d hoped for, but it was the absolute best I had to give and I was happy. I also BQ’d for 2025 by more than 15 minutes. It honestly took me years to break 3:30 in the marathon, so I really can’t be upset about 3:24 on a hot day and a hard course.

See you next year, Boston!

What’s Next?

Um…. let’s run another marathon? Like, this weekend?

Some of you may remember that for Christmas, my husband signed me up for a “bonus” spring marathon in a surprise location. It is this Saturday in Ohiopyle, PA! It is a marathon that will basically be the opposite of Boston. Just a few hundred finishers (and that actually includes a half marathon, 10K, and 5K), double out and back, I get to stay basically 100 feet from the start/finish for not that much money. But I am really excited! I have pretty much no clue how it’s going to go. I could be faster than I was in Boston. I could run a 3:15! Or…. it could be a total dumpster fire. Who the hell knows!

But that’s kind of the fun of the marathon, right?