Blogger turned Vlogger

HEY EVERYONE! I figured the ol' running blog needed some dusting (considering I haven't written in about 3 weeks... >_>), so I wanted to drop by and say hello!

There's a million excuses I could give you for not blogging here, but I'll save you the other 999,999 and give you the only excusable excuse I can think of - I've been logging all of my training on my YouTube channel via vlogging!

I told you guys a while back about my vlog project for the last 16 weeks of training, and I've stuck with it so far! Unfortunately, it's leaving me a little less motivated to utilize this beauty of a running blog, but I'm hoping to change that. I can't let another blog of mind wind up in the internet cemetery for under-utilized websites! :P

To tide you over until I can come up with some fresh material, here's a little training update:

1. I ran the Foam Fest 5K with my parents on the 13th! It was a lot of fun, and is on my to-do list of race reviews, but until then, here's the video!


2. I still have yet to officially register for Hartford (These damn bills acting like they're more important. Pshhhhh) but I'm still training for it like I am. Eventually I'll scrape up the money to get myself a bib, and I'm hoping that's within the next few weeks or so!
3. I'll be honest and admit I've missed a few runs, and in an attempt to make them up, I've totally stressed myself out. Since stressing myself out during this training is the one thing that I want to avoid, I decided to ditch the make-up workouts and stick to the schedule. It feels like the world's been lifted off my shoulders!
Hope you guys haven't missed VStR too much! I'll try to make a better effort of giving this space some love. In the mean time, check out the MaraVLOG playlist on my channel!

Race Review: Havard Pilgrim Finish at the 50

Last week Louie and I (along with Nick and my parents) ran the Finish at the 50 races. My dad ran the 5K, while the rest of us ran the 10K in 90 degree weather with 85% humidity like crazy people. The event was A LOT bigger than I expected, and hands down the largest race I've ever run. I'm used to about 2,000 people tops, but this was the kind of race that if you split up, it was almost impossible to find each other again.
I was not properly fueled for this race. I had worked all day before hand, and couldn't really hydrate properly (I work retail and you can't have a water bottle on the sales floor) and between working and packing for the holiday weekend, I didn't eat all that great throughout the day. Needless to say I was feeling it! I finished in 1:02:41, though, so I'm not too upset about it!
I was a little disappointed in how the race was run. The water stops, though nicely spaced out throughout the course, weren't long enough to accommodate the amount of runners, and there was a huge back up at every station. You also couldn't get back into the stadium once you stepped foot off the field, which was super annoying. I think the runners should have been able to come and go as they needed as that was the only place with post-race water.
The event itself was fun, though! It was so cool to be on the field at Gillette. I know that there are various NFL sponsored races that have the same idea as this one, so be sure to check for races near you! :)
Check out the video from the race below!