Anna's Taqueria - delicious, but not the kind of fuel you need.

Sorry to all of you loyal blog readers... I know there are probably hundreds of you out there.  Ok, maybe 10... ok, maybe it's just my teammates and Grandma, but to anyone reading I apologize for my negligence this week.  It has been a busy, busy week.

As some of you may know every year Boston Partners throws a fundraising gala.  I have the super fabulous job of designing all of the distributed materials for said gala (save the dates, invitations, the program, etc.)  This week we were finishing up the invitation, so needless to say I was BUSY.  It was tough to find the time (and the motivation) to do the mid-week runs.  Monday it was surprisingly warm...(wait, was that last week?) I ran by myself in the evening.  Tuesday the BPE runners and Tricia went out together, it was a good one.  Thursday I was unable to fit a run in during the day and by the time I got home it was cold, windy, icy and I just didn't feel like running.  So I didn't.  I was pretty torn up about it, but not torn up enough I guess.  I really wanted to get a short one in on Friday, but again a (freezing cold) busy day.

So, it's Saturday again and we had 14 miles to run.  I kind of psyched myself out.  Convinced that skipping 6 miles on Thursday would set me back, I had made up my mind that today would be difficult.  Maybe that's why I didn't make very good decisions when fueling for my run last night.
1) Lunch at Lucky's (thanks, Hil for taking me to lunch... totally worth it).  Tuna melt and fries... yumm
2) 2 Sam Lagers at Rattlesnake.  I mean, I could have gotten Harpoon's... I really felt like I was trying to be good.  If you didn't know, while Harpoon IPA is my go-to beer, I am surely to have a horrible hang over from it the next day.  It could be that they taste so good, I always drink too many!  But who knows...
3) Chicken quesadilla from Anna's Taqueria.  I knew this was a bad idea.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not an idiot.  It just sounded so good and everyone else was doing it... and it was late... and I was hungry.  And who can resist a warm tortilla with melted cheese, chicken, sour cream, salsa, extra hot sauce and jalepenos... and due to a miscommunication steak instead of black beans!?!?!?!  In short, bad idea.  *To add to the "bad-ness" I ate this at maybe 10:45 pm.  (I can't believe I'm admitting this.  Stupid, stupid, stupid.)

Back to the 14 miles.  I was running with Kelly and Laura, fast, really fast.  Like super speed.  We are feeling great.  We get to ohh, mile 7 perhaps and I go to drink some of my water (I know you've all seen my fuel belt).  Well, it was SO COLD that BOTH of my water bottles were FROZEN, almost frozen solid.  I could extract no liquid from them.  Their sole purpose.  Yes, I was running in 6 degree weather with 2 ice blocks on both hips.  And then, ohhh a half a mile later I started slowing down... turns out there was more weight in my middle region.  Well, you all know where this is going.  Pit stop had to be made.  Luckily, stopping by a Mobile bathroom gave me a chance to run my water bottles under some hot water thawing them out enough for me to take a drink and dump the rest.  Off I was again.  I did run the rest of the way, alone.  It was probably for the best.  I had plenty of time to review my bad decisions and decide that I would, in the future, not make those decisions again.  At least not while training for a marathon.

I will say, I feel pretty good now.

Thank you to......
Matt Allen, Wendy Beninati, and Aunt Janice for your contributions this week.  I can't tell you how much I appreciate it!
I'm off to a fundraiser for Erin on Sunday, please join me!

Upcoming events:
Friday, February 19 at 6 PM - Team Trivia Night at Crossroads Pub (Mass Ave and Comm)
Teams of 4 or 6.  $10 a person.  $5 off a team rate if you can pre-pay!
Prizes for winning team!!!

Friday, February 26 at 7 PM - A special fundraising event.  Cash prize.  Email me for details:
baker.jessicaa@gmail.com

I promise to blog again soon, with pictures!

Not my forte...

In life, there are always ways you can improve.  I am by no means ashamed to admit that I have a few skills that could use some, well, sharpening.  For example, Matt seems to think I could "clean better" - ha.  Anyway, that's really neither here nor there. A skill that comes to mind because of today's adventure... route-plotting.

There are a couple of elements to this:
1) Map reading.  While I have come a long way, I know I could work on this.  I often get my lefts and rights confused and have a fairly difficult time with understanding where to go if someone tells me to head east.  Unless of course I'm in Michigan and you tell me to go West, there happens to be a large landmark that I use called Lake Michigan.  I really am improving though, I swear.

2) Visualizing myself in the particular area I need to navigate.  This one is tough, since I've been running in so many new areas these days!

3) Memory/paying attention in general.  Today I screwed up the route (again) not because I plotted it incorrectly or wrote down left inside of right, but because I completely forgot to make a turn.  Completely forgot.  In my own defense (someone has to stick up for me, right?!) we had discussed taking a different route that was impossible due to the location of the USPS (grr...) and I did not look at the map one last time before heading out.  I'll quit making excuses.  In the picture below the plotted route is in blue and the route that we took is in red.

Whoops.

Needless to say, my route-plotting "privileges" were revoked.  Probably for the best.  I still think the route has potential.

Today certainly was an adventure.  I also had a too-close-for-comfort-almost-incident with a bus that scared the hell out of me!  We had the walk sign and the driver of said bus decided that (s)he was still going to turn left, even while I was making my way across the cross walk.  Yikes.

Lucky for me the rest of the day was uneventful.  Good thing too, my legs are feeling it today.  I'm happy to be relaxing and eating sushi.  30 Rock tonight!

Experimenting....

So, last week I found out something really important.  I need to start thinking about eating during runs.  During my 11-miler last Saturday I got to mile 7 and my body felt great.  My legs felt strong, I felt hydrated, I was ready for the last 4 miles and then my stomach started grumbling.  And of course, I didn't have anything to eat.  At 9 miles I was starving.  When we finished 11 I was close to chewing on my own arm.  Luckily, we only had a short walk back to Simmons where I had a banana and pb&j awaiting my arrival.
This week we ran 12.  I knew that I needed to eat something during my run.  As it turns out there are a lot of options and choosing what works best for your body is really just trial and error.  On Friday, the BPE marathoners/staff (Kelly, Erin, Todd and myself) took a trip to City Sports.  I left with a handful of possibilities ($7.97 later).

I left with two of these, one chocolate and one vanilla.  They are called "Gu" - sounds appetizing, right?  I've heard mixed reactions on Gu.  Some people hate it, some people swear by it.  I had the chocolate packet during my 12 miles, between 6-7.  The consistency was frosting/pudding with a chocolate pudding taste.  Not too bad.  Later on, it was not so good (not going in to that with all of you).  My Aunt suggested trying the Power Gel brand as it is nicer to your tummy.  What I liked about Gu is that I really didn't need anything else during the run (the whole wheat bagel and a banana at 6:30 that morning may also have helped...)

I also brought these guys along on my run.  The Clif Shot Bloks.  I saw Laura eating them the week before and they actually looked good, so I bought a pack.  I only had one during my run, it tasted good but it was really, really, really chewy.  I think I will try them again!

Laurelin suggested I try these.  Caffeinated energy Jelly Beans - Jelly Belly brand.  I've had one or two in the past and one or two doesn't do the trick.  I would obviously have to eat the whole package, next run I'm going to try them and see how I feel.  Update to follow.

I fully realize that this is cheating.  It's not really what you would think of eating during a run.  My biggest worry was that when I get hungry I don't want Gu, or gummy bites, or jelly beans; I want food.  ME WANT FOOD.  Really, all the time.  This I grabbed at Trader Joe's ($1.99).  I figure when we get into longer runs if I really need to put legit food in my stomach I will eat one of these because they are tasty and filling.

The most important part about eating all of these mid-run snacks is having water to chase them with.  Otherwise, you are going to feel like you ate a rock and that would be horrible.  That's why even on the group runs where they kindly set up water stops for us, I like to carry my new Fuel Belt (not tool belt, Kelly) with one of the bottles filled with water and the other a water/gatorade mixture (thank you Erin for the water/G mixture tip).  That way I can snack at my leisure without having to wait for the water stops.

This week the long run was a great success.  I had a ridiculous amount of energy after 12 miles and for the most part I felt great.  I did eventually need a nap and sadly could not join Jessey and his friend for a night of dancing (there's no WAY I could have danced yesterday-- ouch).  But today I am pain free.  Although, it does feel like my calf muscles are growing by the second... weird.

I'd like to end with some thank yous!  My favorite part!
Thank you to Erin McGrath, co-worker, fellow marathoner, and baker extraordinaire for your donation that bumped me up to 25%!

AAANNNDDDD to...
 Stephen Sacco for your very generous donation!  And, thanks for reading my blog!  :)

AAANNNDDDD to...
Grandma and Grandpa VanGinhoven for your donation!  We miss you lots!

Last but not least, thank you to Pamela, Laura and Miki for being at our run bright and early Saturday morning to share our mission and work our water stops!

Really, thank you to everyone who has supported me throughout this endeavor.  There have been so many people who have helped me in so many ways already.  This has been such an amazing experience already and we still have 3 and a half months to go!

**Also, I have an event coming up on Friday, February 26.  Please email me for details:
baker.jessicaa@gmail.com
Chances are, you'll hear from me soon anyway!

Cool Winter Gear

When I tell someone that I've been training for a marathon in Boston, in the winter, outside I generally get the same reaction... (s)he asks me if I'm crazy.  Well, maybe a little bit, but I'm telling you there are some positives about training in the winter.  Despite the bitter cold wind, snow and ice - often times a winter day provides a much more comfortable running temperature to a summer day (give me 40 and cloudy over 75 and sunny weather to run in any day!).
To be comfortable at 40, 30, 20, even 10 degrees you have to get some winter gear.  Below are photos of some sweet gear that fellow runners wear to stay warm in the cold temperatures.

This is Kelly.  She is also running the marathon on behalf of Boston Partners in Education.   Underneath the top layer (jacket with a zipper -- zipper is key) is a hooded Under Armour long sleeve with a hole for her pony tail.  If that isn't ridiculously cool, I don't know what is.  Seriously. 





On Tricia, a fellow runner and floor-mate (not to mention former Boston Marathoner) we have the mitten sleeve.  I don't know if this is the "technical" term for this piece of outdoor running gear, but it seems to do the trick.  Yes, you could just wear gloves or mittens, but what happens when your hands get hot?  What do you do with your gloves?  What if you are pocketless?  In this situation, there are no worries.




Some gear that I don't have photos of that I'd like to try:

• Long underwear made of silk (suggested by the one and only, Aunt Shelley)
• A pair of gloves like Erin's - they have a soft patch on the side, so if you have to wipe your nose and you don't have tissue it doesn't tear your skin to shreds. 
• A neck warmer (although I feel like I would get really sick of this really fast) 

This is me dressed for the coooooolllllddddd weather and wearing my awesome new contraption.

If you have any running gear that you love and you think that I must have, please let me know!

And, last but not least... a big thank you to Francesca and James for their donation!  You guys rock!

10 miles!!!!!!

I don't know what it was about 10 miles that felt so... scary!  But it did, it felt scary!  I was nervous last night before I fell asleep and nervous this morning when I woke up.  And, especially nervous when I walked out the door at 6:45 am and it was snowing!  Which it did all the way to Grafton, MA and continued to do for the duration of my run.  I should have taken a picture there, but I forgot.  This is what it looks like off of our back deck though!      --->

10 miles.  It was HILLY and SNOWY and SLIPPERY and I feel great.  Do you know what the best part about running 10 miles is?  Everything is better afterward.  I ate the best pb&j ever after my run and took the best shower when I got home.  Everything just feels awesome.  Well, except my legs, they're a little tight.  Nothing a rest day can't cure!

For the most part, this week has been full of interesting runs.
Monday- ran to the gym for my Club Strength class, which is incredibly difficult but equally as ass-kicking awesome.
Tuesday- this was the bad apple of the week.  4 miles on a treadmill because it was too cold outside to run.
Thursday- 5 miles with Kelly and Tricia.  What a great run!  We ran before work along the harbor.  It was beautiful.

Pictures from Thursday's run! 

Zakim Bridge

Ice Sculptures at The New England Aquarium

Boston Harbor

Saturday- A snowy, slippery 10 miles in Grafton


I hope next week feels just as good as this week did!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!


Miles Run: 116