Hyannis Half Marathon 2014

Last year Riley and I ran The Hyannis Half Marathon and it was the first half marathon either of us had run. This year I decided I wanted to try and tackle it again. The race was on February 23.

The registration, number pick up and expo went just as well this year as I last year. I picked up my number and did some shopping at the expo on Saturday and showed up to run the race on Sunday. Even the weather was cooperative this year. Last year it felt like we were running in a monsoon. 

Now to the race itself, it was a beautiful day to run on Cape Cod. With the nicer weather this year, it's no wonder there was such a great turnout of runners. With the nicer weather it was a lot easier to appreciate the scenery around the course. If you want to run a great half marathon, I highly recommend this one. 

As for my performance on the day, I set a  new personal record by finishing in 1:52:05! I'm pretty excited to say the least. 

What to do in 2014

So, after last years large amount of races, I ma stuck trying to figure out what I am doing this year. So far, I have registered for The Hyannis Half Marathon, BAA 5k, BAA 10k, Warrior Dash, Rugged Maniac, Yuakn Run Triple Threat, BAA Half Marathon and The Zombie Run.  I plan to add one or two marathons, March, April, and July Half Marathons as well as the Runner's World Heartbreak Hill Hat Trick, a Spartan Race Trifecta, and a Tough Mudder.

New for 2014 are my plans to volunteer. I've signed to volunteer for the Yukan Run Fool's Dual and BAA Boston Marathon.  I want to see the other side of racing. I have spent a lot of time running races and have yet t volunteer for any. This year that changes. Volunteers make it all possible. Without them there would be no races. They motivate runners to keep going and they provide the necessary support of to set-up and run races.

Volunteering for the Boston Marathon holds a special place this year for myself and many others. I have the privilege of working in Boston and on April 15th I witnessed much of the aftermath of the bombings. I look forward to being on the course this year and witnessing this great event show the resilience of not just the City of Boston but the entire running community.

Overall, I plan to make 2014 a great year from a professional, personal and athletic standpoint. It all comes down to being better. Better than last year, better than I believe I can be, and better than people think I am.

2014 is all about better.

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?