A blog about all things related to the sport of running
Two weekends ago I was supposed to run 20 miles on Saturday and race a 5K Sunday. The run didn’t happen on Saturday. I didn’t run when I first woke up and I kept putting it off. Then I came up with a million and one reasons why it was everyone’s fault but my own as to [...]
B & A Marathon is not so far off. I’m back up to speed with the long runs but not with mileage or speed work. I’m not too concerned with mileage this training cycle, because frankly I just don’t feel like running 70+ miles a week right now. When it warms up maybe this will [...]
Saturday morning I felt chilly in my bed. It must be REALLY cold outside. Eric typically heads to Starbucks alone for his coffee before I start my long run. It’s a 15 minute calm before the storm of watching three kids. This Saturday the littles all wanted to go with him and I didn’t want to [...]
Choppy post. Writing thoughts as they come. Training is back in full effect. I say training because I think there is a difference between running and working out to be healthy and the things you do and do not do while *training* for a marathon or other big race. Last post was last Wednesday. Sometimes [...]
I know in order to recover properly and keep doing this marathon thing year after year I have to rest. I enjoy rest and I hate rest. After a marathon I usually take a week off from running or working out. I’m typically in pretty good shape physically post marathon so sliding into my jeans [...]
One of the things I think about when I take time off from writing here….is that I have more time to actually RUN and do the things I talk about, rather than just talk about them. I think at the beginning of every month and certainly every year it is good to analyze your priorities. [...]
I get mind blocks. My mom once went a year with out cleaning her car because she had a block about it. I get it. I get those type of mind blocks and no matter how hard it is to overcome them sometimes I can’t. I get mini blocks about writing race recaps. I don’t [...]
My heart gets carried away every time I take a break from running. 6 days full recovery. No running, no cross training. NOTHING. It felt good up until a point. I needed to run today. My mind needed it, my body needed it, my heart needed it. Living so close to my favorite place to [...]
Today’s post is inspired by Tess….. This comment helped me immesenly today after feeling like a failure because I could not muster up the energy to get up and run at the insane hour of the morning my alarm goes off. I reasoned with myself that maybe marathoning just wasn’t my thing anymore and that maybe just [...]
What happens after you have a bad long run? Do you automatically start to doubt your ability on race day or do you move on and chalk it up to training? I’ve done both. 9 years ago when I first started training for marathons a bad long run would get me down for weeks. I [...]
I love your comments, tweets and facebook messages. They lift me up and help me DREAM BIGGER in running and life. They make me want more – to live a life I can’t even imagine. I feel blessed to have YOU supporting me. When I feel doubt in my mind I often draw from a [...]
10/01/00 is the date I ran my first race. It was a 10K and my average for the 6.2 miles was 10:44 per mile with a finish time of 1:06:42. That was giving it all I had. I am not blessed with a natural running talent. I don’t consider myself athletic. What I learned long [...]
Two weeks ago I was furiously packing my bags for the trip of a lifetime. Yet I still sit here unable to put into words how amazing the whirlwind weekend was. I find that writing a post makes things final and when it comes to recaps it means something is over. Admittedly I don’t want [...]
Monday determines my week. If I start it out on a high note with running, my weekly mileage usually follows suit. If I skip my run that day or have a rocky start, I find it hard to get in a groove. After my basically-no-sleep-weekend in NYC with Women’s Running Magazine, I started out last [...]
I’ve never had an injury. Yep – never. There have been times I felt a twinge of something coming. When I did I pulled back. I rested. I lowered my mileage, even stopped it for a little. I listen to my body. ALWAYS. Listening to my body is what I credit to this no injury [...]
Everything – truly everything – in life happens for a reason. We may not see that reason at the time but it’s there….. If I have learned anything over the past 30 years it is to try to stop planning out my life. To stop trying to figure out where I am going or what [...]
Last Thursday little people and I decided to head the other direction on the trail near our house. The first little bit was downhill which is exactly why I hadn’t wanted to run on it. Downhill in the first part meant that it was going to be straight uphill on the last little bit home. [...]
Saturday I ran 18.18 miles with an average pace of 8:18. I have this crazy [some think insane] thing with the number 818. I see it ALL the time. This run is just nuts to me because there is NO WAY I could even try to do this. Normally I stop my run when I [...]
Sunday I ran 6 miles with baby C on the section of the W & OD we now live off of, so I knew what I was in for this morning. The first 2 miles were going to be mostly uphill with only a couple of little bits that were either flat or a tiny [...]
I’ve been thinking about things I will miss at our house….. Chloe’s room is one of the places I miss most from our old town house and I know I will miss her room here as well. The boys and I went to the W & OD Trail this morning after we dropped Chloe off [...]
Little person #1 has Vacation Bible School this week which means if I want to get in a run in the mornings I have to leave the house early in order to be back in time to get the three of them ready and get her there by 9. This morning she was in NO MOOD [...]
51 miles last week in runs – only 16 of those miles were solo – all others were pushing a stroller. Instead of this making me feel sorry for myself that I have to push 100+ lbs of little people, it’s making me feel just a little bit bad a$$. I’ve got the motivation in [...]
Today I took both boys to a local trail with me to push them for a longish run. Some thoughts. People never cease to amaze me. While getting the boys ready to go - a man dinged his bike bell at me. I jumped a little since I wasn’t in the way and wasn’t expecting it. [...]
Before my 20 miler on Saturday I looked up what I did for my last 20 miler before B & A in 2010. I looked this up on my blog……my blog helps me remember things….moments……so I am introducing a new weekly post. THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY Tuesday – it will be filled with random [...]
It’s not even Friday and it’s sad to say but I’m ready for this week to be over. I’m worn out. Tired. Stressed. Feeling overwhelmed. Run Down. I’m behind on emails, blogging, reviews, you name it. If you are one of those people I owe an email or a call to – this is my [...]
One of the many things I hate and love about life is that it can change in an instant. Thursday was just about one of the worst days of my life. Two sicks kids + tired mommy + hubby working late = misery. Friday since hubby had worked so late he decided he could/would take [...]
I coach myself each training cycle. I am my easiest client because I don’t really have a set in stone training plan. I found early on in running that having a laid out plan before me does not motivate me – in fact it does quite the opposite. I stress the night before about the [...]
When hubby asked him how many miles I planned on running this past Saturday morning I looked at him and said 11 of course. 11 miles for the last day in 2011. I was not in the mood to be cold, so I had decided not to race and feel the burn in my lungs [...]
I’m a bit over the moon about being featured today on Another Mother Runner!!! http://anothermotherrunner.com/2011/12/18/why-i-run-dorothy-beal/ I am even more excited though that I learned that they included me in their next book Train Like A Mother in their section on Stroller Running. You guys know how much I LOVE stroller running – right? Well I didn’t use [...]
I get questions each week about my training. I find these questions hard to answer at times because I am constantly switching up what I do each training cycle. I don’t want my body to get comfortable, I don’t want it to ever stop adapting. I keep it guessing. I keep it confused. If you run 5 [...]
Runner, dreamer, marathoner x24, mommy of 3, Women's Running Magazine cover model, published writer, Saucony contributing blogger, running coach, and lover of all things running. I Run This Body. Read More
Today I ran my 20th marathon. It's always surreal to me when my … [Read More...]
Saturday I woke up and knew I needed to run 20 miles - my last long run … [Read More...]
I write and re-write blogs posts in my head every day. Sometimes I get a … [Read More...]
Are you a runner? Want to find the perfect baby name that pays homage to … [Read More...]
I have until now not written much about weight and nutrition. This is the … [Read More...]
Recently someone remarked that I have very patient kids in order to run so … [Read More...]
I said it. They do. After a weekend of totally overeating I needed to … [Read More...]
Some of my favorites: Mile 1: Be sure of this: I am with you always, … [Read More...]
