Louie's Very Delayed Hartford Marathon Review

It's been almosttwo and a half months since Riley, Nick and I completed the Hartford Marathon. I considered skipping doing a review for this race. At first I did not want to write a review because part of the experience was bad. I will get into that later. Then I debated skipping this review simply because it has been so long since the event. Now to state the obvious, I have decided to write a review or well more of a recap.

Waiting at th starting line. Photo Credit to Riley.

The events of the day before the marathon. We headed for the marathon around 6 o'clock and this was the start of this going badly. We ended up hitting rush hour traffic on the way to Hartford and barely made it to check in on time. Upon getting to get in, Riley and Nick recieved marathon relay bibs in place of the official marathon bib and I received a generic Hartford Marathon Foundation bib. There check in was strange in that they did not have numbers assigned to pre-registered runners and instead you were given whatever number they reached for during check-in. 

After checking in, it turns out that they had run out of the official t-shirts. We were asked to write down our name, which race, address, and shirt size as they would be mailing them to us.  As of this post , we have not received our race shirts. We were informed that the order was placed the end of November and we would have them in four to six weeks. 

So next up is the race itself.  For the race itself, I have nothing but good things to say about the course and the volunteers.  The course itself had a lot of great scenery and whether it was running on water or through downtown Hartford, it was beautiful. The first six or so miles were run with those running the half marathon and then from there we split off onto our own course. The marathon course was lined with both spectators and volunteers water stops were frequent enough. They averaged about every other mile or so. 

Crossing the Finishline!

Physically, the first half of the marathon went pretty well. Having ran a few half marathons this year I was prepared for that. I came into the marathon with a sore ankle and after the halfway mark it started to act up, but I just kept running. Eventually, it turned into a run then walk then run routine, but even so I managed to finish the marathon. That was all that counted. 

Crossing the finish line was amazing. We were greeted with water bottles and what we call "space blankets". What we were not greeted with however were the hard earned finisher's medals. They had run out of them as well. Once again we were asked to put our name, event and address on a sheet of paper as it was going to be mailed to us. We have all received them in the mail. It is easily the coolest finisher's medal in my collection. 

Note: That is not the official shirt. It was one I purchased at the race day expo.

A few fun and random notes from the race:

1. Riley and I started singing Livin' on a Prayer at mile 13. "Ohhhhh, We're halfway there."

2. The highest elevation we had to climb was at mile 25. 

3. It was inspirational to see many of the runners who also achieved there goal of finishing a marathon. It can see like a daunting task.

4. The Cracker Barrel has the greatest bacon cheeseburger and apple cider ever.*

*This could have just been my hungry self making me believe this. 

Riley's ING Hartford Marathon Preview

TOMORROW'S THE DAY! Louie and I are about to face our very first marathon tomorrow in Hartford, CT. Our friend Nick will be joining us for his first 26.2 as well. This is probably going to be the best bonding experience ever, haha.

I've spent most of this morning just trying to mentally prepare for the race. I've been thinking a lot about why I started training in the first place. I feel like I've always had the goal of running a marathon one day, but I never knew when. I'm a huge fan of Shay Carl on YouTube, and when I started watching he was a relatively big dude. He decided one day that he didn't want to be big anymore, lost over 100 pounds, and finished the LA marathon in 2012. If that's not inspiration, I don't know what is.

I thought, if he could do it, then I (a person who's been in relatively good shape my whole life) could totally do it. And with that, my life as a long-distance runner began. (What was I thinking?!) I took the time to watch all of his marathon videos this morning to get me pumped up, and I thought it'd be nice to share one with you all. Who knows? Maybe he'll inspire you to run your first marathon like he did for me!


I'm looking forward to this race. I know I can accomplish this goal that I've set out to accomplish, and I can't wait to get that medal!!! I'll be vlogging our experience in Hartford, so look forward to a nice long marathon video! :)
P.S. Don't forget to follow us on Twitter for progress updates during the race!  Louie's Twitter: @lsimoes3 Riley's Twitter: @rmfickfack

Louie's ING Hartford Marathon Preview

In about twenty-four hours Riley and I will be running the ING Hartford Marathon. I would be lying if I said I was not nervous. It is a pretty daunting objective. 

When we first started this blog the timer on the side said 200+ days. Now it is down to hours. We have experienced a lot since starting this. Two half marathons, an obstacle race, a 10k and training runs. These are what will see us to the finish line. Anything you put your mind to you can achieve. 

Also, these really cool finisher's medals help! 

Race Review: Color and Glow 5K

Louie and I ran in the Color and Glow 5K last weekend! It was so great to participate in a fun run type of race instead of something super duper challenging like I have been this entire race season. I wasn't nervous about the distance, I wasn't worried about my time, and I wasn't concerned about coming in first place (but let's be real - I'm never too concerned about coming in first place, because I know it'll never happen :P). I was just there to have a good time!

One complaint we both had about the race was packet pick up. Participants only had 2 options - the day before the race (which was a work day) from 11 AM to 7 PM at an off-site location, or on-site the day of the race from 10 AM to 12 PM (the race started at 7:30 PM) only if you were travelling more than 80 miles to the race. A. That's super inconvenient for participants who live close but work weird hours (like me) and can't get to an off-site location, and B. What are the participants that are travelling from far away supposed to do for 7 hours after they pick up their packet? A race like this always needs pre-race packet pick up as an option. Seriously, that's a no brainer. The only time races should be allowed to get away without race day pre-race packet pick up is if there's tens of thousands of participants and it's physically impossible to hand out all of the packets right before the race. Judging by the amount of people that were at the race, I think they could have handled at least one registration tent.*

The race was held at Brockton Fair Grounds in Brockton, MA. We showed up about an hour early (which is TOTALLY unlike us) and we were able to just hang out and take in the atmosphere before lining up. The race MC was tossing out glow-sticks at the starting line, so we weaved our way to the front of the pack to catch a few and get decked out for the race.

Before the glow sticks...

...and after!

The race was scheduled to send the first wave out at 7:30, but it didn't start until about 7:50. We got a little antsy for the start of the race, but it also gave us the opportunity to take in the atmosphere, rack up out glow stick collection (I think I wound up with about 12 or so, haha), and get excited for the race to come!


Personally, I was expecting more lights along the course - kind of like the Electric Run - but the route was, for the most part, pitch black and since the majority of the race was through a field, I was super worried I was going to step into a hole (which I did a few times) and injure myself. For this reason, I was extremely careful about my footing the entire race, which definitely took away from the fun. I would love to see this course more well lit (bonus points if it's colorful lights!) in years to come.

I would like to have been covered in more paint, also. I sign up for races like these to be doused in color. We were in the first wave, so I understand that they had to conserve for the other runners, but adding in some more paint stations along the course would be awesome. (Side note - they didn't tell the voluteers not to shoot paint into the runner's faces. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the other runner got their eyes painted, because I certainly swallowed some. >_>)

Either Louie and I totally beasted the course, or it wasn't a full 5K. I think we finished in about 22 minutes (neither of us timed it because we were just there for the fun!) which is extremely fast for both of us. I wasn't too surprised about the short distance (we experienced the same thing for Color Me Rad) because these types of events are more about the fun experience than completing a true 5K, which I think is awesome. I love that there are events like these to encourage people to get active and introduce them into the running world with something fun!

Post-race glow!

The race bling was really cool - colorful glow in the dark medals! It's definitely one of my more unique pieces of race jewelry. Our originally-white bibs also got totally covered in glow paint, which gave them a cool splatter effect. Loving that I have some color on my bib wall now! :)

This was a really fun race with a LOT of potential. They need to add a few things to make this a truly great event, but I think with each year this race will improve and become bigger and better. I can't wait to see where it goes! If you're looking for a fun, unique approach to fitness and night life, definitely check Color and Glow out!

P.S. Check out my video from the event! :)

To find a Color and Glow 5K event near you, visit their website www.colorandglow.com!

*It was pointed out to me that there was a registration table at the event, but it wasn't advertised at all. We were both under the impression we had to go to the times on the website. So frustrating!

What I've Been Doing

It's been a while since I've written on the blog. Riley has been picking up my slack like a champ. I wanted to check in and let you know how training is going and how a few of the races I've done were.

First, this summer was pretty rough fro training. I felt like if I was not injured then I was sick, but that did not keep me from doing some running throughout the summer.  I did do enough training to feel prepared for The Hartford Marathon, which was the goal when this blog was started.  As part of the training, I have run my furthest distance which was about 15 miles. In my preparation for the marathon, I have learned that while 20 mile long runs may be productive, they are not completely necessary.  If you can complete a 16 mile run heading into the marathon you should be okay. this is an opinion that was shared in more than a few articles.

I've, also, managed to get in some fun races as well.  Riley wrote the review for the Harvard Pilgrim Finish at the 50 so I won''t go into too much detail about that. I will say that it was an awesome event and was slightly more difficult than when I ran it last year.

The week before the Finish at the 50 race, I ran the Warrior Dash in Barre, MA with my friends Nick and Danielle.  This was a 5k obstacle race. All in all, I think it was a pretty fun race to run too. As far as obstacle races go, it was not the most difficult one that I've run. I'll get to that one in a minute. It was, however, challenging enough where someone with experience running them may still have a challenge, but it is not too daunting for new runners.  Some of the obstacles were a barbwire crawl, cargo net climb, wall climb, and up & overs.  One of the coolest things about it is that the finisher's medal doubles as a bottle opener.

The Finisher's Medal

Posing after the Warrior Dash

On September 7th I ran the Super Spartan Race in Vernon, NJ.  This race was hardest race I've ever done. It is 8+ miles and 15+ obstacles. The terrain was probably the biggest obstacle of the entire race. It was on a ski resort. For about the first two miles we had to go up the mountain. this was brutal.  The obstacles were many of the usual ones including a barbwire crawl, up and overs, rope climb, sand bag carry, and spear toss.  One of the unique twists was that their cargo net was a vertical cargo net as opposed to the angled ones that make a pyramid.  This was the biggest test of will I have done to date. The sense of accomplishment after was indescribable.  

Sandbag Carry

the Fire Jump.

Accepting that I'm about the catch a shot to the stomach and seeing the finish line.

Celebrating with a post race PBR.

Well, that's what I've been up to since my last check-in. What have you, our readers, been up to?

#POWERMONTH

It's finally here - we're in the last month leading up to our first marathon.

My last few weeks of training haven't been the best. Yesterday I set out on a 5 miler and couldn't make it through. Granted I had about zero nutrients or water in my body and it was insanely humid, so it probably wasn't the smartest idea to run at the time. I haven't really been taking care of my body the way I should be.

But for this last month, I'm making a promise to myself - get my body ready for this marathon in every way possible! I'm going to call it...

Hyration . Nutriton . Stretching . Running . Sleep

These are my 5 frames of focus for this race. Constantly drinking water (which I've actually been doing really well with!), cutting out the junk (including my high sugared-high creamed coffee x_x) and loading up on healthy foods, stretching for at least 20 minutes every day, staying on my running plan, and making sure I'm getting enough sleep.

This is where it all counts, and I want to be prepared for this race as possible. 

I think I can ask at least a month out of myself to get ready in every way!

#POWERMONTH - Let's do this!

Preparing for an LSD Run

No, I'm not talking about running on acid.

In the running world, LSD stands for long, slow distance. When training for a race, it's good to work one of these runs in every week, ideally on a day when you have lots of time on your hands! The goal of these run isn't the time, it's the distance. You're ultimately just trying to achieve a certain distance (that is usually obscenely longer than what you usually run) with little to no stops, no matter how long it takes. When I go out on LSDs, I'm usually just shuffling my feet by the end of it, looking like an old lady. But I reach my goal distance one way or another!

How I feel during LSDs

These runs are supposed to introduce your body to the amount of stress it will feel during a longer distance race. You need to get used to being on your feet for a few hours at a time, your muscles need to feel the impact of your feet pounding the pavement repeatedly, and your brain needs to practice fighting through the physical anguish that you're putting yourself through which will ultimately push you across the finish line. Sounds appealing doesn't it?

Your LSD should be your dress rehearsal for your actual race, and you should prepare accordingly. Hydrate the entire week leading up to it. Load up on (good) calories and nutrients the night before and morning-of. Warm up and stretch your muscles the way you would the day of a race. And make sure you pack all of the supplies you need while out on your run. Here's what I usually bring with me.

1. Cell phone

Since an LSD isn't an organized race, there aren't always going to be medical personnel near by to come to your rescue if anything were to happen. If there's an emergency, if you feel like you physically can't go any further and you need someone to pick you up, or if someone needs to contact you while you're gone for a couple hours, you'll be thankful you brought it with you!

2. Identification/Insurance Card/Blood Donor Card/Emergency Contact Info

I like to carry all of these things with me if for whatever reason I get hurt and become unconscious. Since I'm normally running solo, there won't be anyone to identify me to anyone else who might find me. This way, they know my name and address, have a number to call one of my loved ones, and can relay some medical information to any medical personnel that arrive on the scene. If you don't want to carry all of these things with you, definitely consider buying a RoadID and wearing it while you run!

3. Camelback

I don't like carrying water bottles, so I strap on a Camelback when I go out on long runs. Makes for great, hands-free running!

4. Running Belt

I usually wear long spandex when I go out on LSDs, so that means zero pockets. Instead of having to carry everything in my hands for 3 hours, I just strap on one of these handy running belts! They look pretty nerdy but its better than juggling 13 things.

5. Nutrients of Some Sort

I'm not big on gels or goos or what have you, but I do think it's important to bring some sort of nutrients with you on big runs. After sweating for such a long time, your body will be screaming for some sugar or salt towards the tail end of a big run and ust water will not do the trick. Pack a granola bar or banana or plan your run where you can stop at a store and buy something to eat. You'll definitely feel the difference!

6. Podcasts, Audio Books, and Playlists - oh my!

LSDs can be excruciatingly boring - especially if you're going it alone. I love my music, but there's only so much of the same 100 songs that I have loaded onto my running playlist. I like to load up my iPod with podcasts and audio books as well, so A.) I'm learning something new and B.) It's kind of like there's someone chatting with me along the way! Definitely try downloading a few of those or have someone else make you a playlist of their music so you're hearing something totally new during each run!

7. Suncreen, Hat, and Sunglasses

Since you'll be outside for a particularly long period of time, make sure you're preparing for it - especially in the summer! The sun can take a lot out of you, and cause scary things like severe sunburn, heat exhaustion, heat stroke, migraines, and more. Protect yourself!

I hope these tips will be helpful for your next LSD run! 

I'm off on an 18 miler myself... Wish me luck!