Tag Archive | Bethlehem Running Festival

Day 3 & Done

Oct20

Day3 was the warmest of all three days, but a perfect day for running.

Not too cold.

Not to Hot.

Just right!

Luckily I only packed shorts to run in because I really wasn’t prepared. Day 1 & 2, I wore the long sleeved race shirts. At the trail event, I wore the bright orange from last year. Then Saturday, I wore this years grey. I have to say while nice, I think a bolder color is better.

Sunday, I ended up going with short, tankand running sleeves. Perfection.

As you can see, I started in the back…….In the way way way back. The goal for me was tru a smart race. While I had no concrete goal, I did plan to start around the 2:45 pacer and take it from there.

I started with my son and his friend. This was both their first marathons. Justin has not been running long and his training was lots of hiking, climbing, and. Some running. His longest run was 10 miles. I wanted him to run conservative as I knew he would finish either way, but I didn’t want it to be the hard way.

So we ended up starting together behind the 3 hour pacer. We did our own thing. We walked when needed and I tried to keep conversational. There were some times where I would point out we were running in the 10’s. We pushed when needed. We walked some of the hills. We ran and most of all, we had a good time!

Then at mile 11, I told them to run the paces that they wanted. The ran ahead and I kept doing my thing.

By this point we were running near the 2:45 pacer again. so I thought maybe, just maybe it would happen.

Then it did!

Official time 3:41:08

Celebrating the victory!

Done is done!

More. To come tomorrow:

Day 2

Oct18

Another day. Another race. Actually 2 races today.

Logistics: 5K stared at 7:30. In order to get there, find parking and not feel rushed we decided to leave at 6:00. That meant an early morning waking up at 5:00. Only race mornings will get me out that early.

Hypopra: New dosage of 24 of Yorvipath seems to be working. Still, I did prepare taking calcium with me. Did not need it at all. Did not feel symptomatic either. So we will call this a win.

Races

5K

We lined up at the start. Willa went to the front of the pack as see had fire. Worked for her as she placed number 1 in her age group. Justin and I started towards the back. This was not my goal race, so we ran together.

This was the first time my son did a big event like this and it was fun to run the race together. We chatted the miles away and kept an easy going pace.

I will say at the end, I jokingly said lets race to the finish…. So we did.

As you can see, he smoked me! But it was fun:). Finish time was 39.10 which I was happy about. This was supposed to be exactly what it was…. A run with more runs to follow.

10K

This has been my goal race. Justin and I started together, but did not run the race together. I did not for a specific time, but to run it and run it well. I feel like that is exactly what I did. I pushed. I walked some. I ran and I ran hard. It was reflected in a strong finish.

Overall, I am pleased with the way I have been running the races. Tomorrow is another day and we shall see what happens there.

After the race there was some down time, refulling and now an early night to bed.

Stay tuned……

3 Weeks to Go!

Sep28

It seems like training lasts forever and then before you know it the race is around the corner!

Training has been going well.   While I have not been sticking to my trianing plan 100%, I feel confident in my training.    I’ve been for the most part hitting all the long runs or the multple day runs.

As a reminder, I am training for the Bethlehem Running Festival which consists of 3 days, 4 events totalling 26.2 miles.   I’ve done this event a few times and am excited to do it again.   I wasn’t planning to do this but got talked into it by my son and his girfriend to do it with them.   How could I say no?!

Todays run was 11 miles.   It was hot today.   I’ve been having some very minor low calcium symptoms . 

Dancing muscles as I call them.   Technical term is muscle spams.

I’ve had a few other very minor symptoms.   I had blood work done Thursday and my levels were just at the low level.  My  doctor plans to up my Yorvipath dosage, but since it’s a daily injection I need to wait for new pen.   The pen has 3 different dose levels and my current one is already the max for the pen   

So in order to make sure that I didn’t have any issues, I put some powdered calcium in an extra water bottle that I took on the run.   My thought was to just see if I needed it.   Well since it was in the mid 80’s, I needed it.   I didn’t wait till I felt like I needed it, I drank it preemptively which I’m glad I did.   When I got home I did show minor symptoms but nothing to worry about.

The run was hard.   I took it easy and tried to be consistent.   The heat made the run not as enjoyable as it has been but you can’t pick your wheather.   I feel like I am ready for this event, but we shall see.

After stretching, I made a protein calcium packed smoothie.

I am starting to form ideas of how I want to run this event. More on that this week. As its tine for some rest

Jul26

I’ve been talking a lot about my pre-training for my October Bethlehem Running Festival races. Pre-training will officially turn into training this week.

What does the week look like now that it’s go time.

4 mile run

5 mile run

4 mile run

7 mile long run

Am I ready for this level of training? I guess we will find out. Here is what I do know……

I am down now over 15 pounds thanks to following WeightWatchers!

I am 100% off all supplements and currently my Yorvipath dosage is keeping my calcium stable. I’ve gone for several runs in the heat, with fast paces, and even shortly before my injection was due without issues. Fingers crossed this keeps up.

I will say that I feel once again like me. I will also say that after Natpara getting pulled once I got used tot his feeling that part of me worries that something similar will happen. Although I don’t think this will get pulled, I think my concern is more about insurance suddenly not approving it. It is nice not to constantly deal with effects of low calcium and have a stable level at 9.6!!!

With that being said, I do feel like I am at a good place to begin this training plan. There are no excuses. If I follow the plan it is on me. If I don’t it is on me as well. As long as my Yorvipath continues to work, I need to do my part.

So here is to beginning training….

Setting Goals

Jan2

Yes it is that time of year for goal setting. That being said, I would be doing all this if it was June. I am ready. So here we are……. One week in.

What a difference a week makes.

  1. Working on my diet. Healthy smoothies in the morning. More water. More salads. Less processed foods. It’s a work in progress with progress being the key word. Small changes that can be sustained.
  2. Downloaded a 12 week wall pilates program on an app (Reverse Health). For the $30 fee, I feel like it will be worth it. My goal is to carve the 20 minutes out a day. So far. So good, but its been 3 days:)
  3. Started doing some running again. Even ran a New Years Day 5K with friends. This lead me to another goal…. In June there is a Downtown Run into Summer 5K. MY GOAL NOW IS TO RUN THIS RACE WELL….whatever that means. Not time, but the way I feel. Although to be honest I would like to run it in under 35 minutes. I ran the Bethlehem Running Festival 5K in 40.17. So I think while a reach/stretch goal, it is not a crazy goal.

I have been reading a GREAT book by a running coach that I was very lucky to work with. The book is Running Past 50, Your Guide to Running Longevity and Success by Caolan MacMahon. (You can find it on Amazon and I highly recommend it). This book has been motivating me…..for me because I am lucky enough to know Caolan and have worked with her it really hits home. She was my running coach who got me through 2 marathons, a 50K and my one and only sub 2 half marathon. She is an amazing coach and her book speaks the truths coach’s need to say to thir athletes.

The below passage really spoke to me and I hear the truth of her words….

“But it takes time and willingness to develop a habit, which will also include breaking a habit. Habits can, of course, be “good” or “bad.” In this case, you want to develop a good habit, running , while breaking a bad habit, inactivity.”

This paragraph goes on with more information and really spoke to me. So much so that I have it bookmarked.

I have developed bad habits. Not just eating more processed and sugary foods than I should, but coming home from work and immediately sitting on the couch with my dog and a coffee. While this isn’t a bad thing, the timing is a bad habit because once your on the coach it is harder to motivate to do what needs to be done. So what I’ve been trying to do is inside of doing this to go for a walk after work or as in today do my wall pilates which today focused on abs.

So here is to making better choices in the new year. Here is to making healthy habits while replacing the bad ones.

Since this post is long enough, I will explain later how I plan to hold myself accountable.

Happy New Year!

Check

Oct22

It is not an exaggeration to say I was at my peak as a runner in 2016 before my surgery. I had only started running in 2013 with the couch to 5K. By 2106 I was on my 3rd marathon chasing a sub 4 marathon and even ran a 50K. I felt unstoppable. I was working with my running coach who helped me meet many goals even a sub 2 half marathon. I was even 25 pounds lighter.

I timed my thyroid surgery around running the 2016 NYC Marathon.. At this point we all know what happened so no need to rehash. (Search posts to see how crashed & burned). I even ran the Runners World Hat trick as training for NY.

Here is the thing though while I’ve never let my Hypopara stop me, sometime it beat me. In 2017, I signed up for at the time the Runner’s World Bethlehem Festival quadruple play. I ran the trail. I ran like I didn’t have Hypopara. I finished the trail race and called it a weekend. I just didn’t have it in me to run the rest of the weekend. It beat me. This was my first DNS (did not start) for the other races.

I admit that I wasn’t trained enough to even think of running 4 races. Hypopara was still to new to me. I didn’t fully understand it and how it affected my body. It took me years and I’m still learning as it is always different, but I’ve learned.

I always figured that I would go back, but then the event was cancelled. Then a few years later, they brought it back as the Bethlehem Running Festival. This is why this past race weekend was so important.

It wasn’t about the bling….. which is very nice.

It wasn’t about feeling like a badass….which I kinda do now

It wasn’t about anything….

It was about proving that I could do this… even with hypopara.

I can’t explain why this event was important for me to finish, but it was.

Next:)

Bringing My A Game

Oct20

The weekend is over. The races are done….. I’m still running on the high of the weekend. I couldn’t have asked for better weather and a better outcome.

Today was the last race of the Quadruple Play Marathon Challenge. I have to say that I wasn’t sure how the day was going to go since my left foot started hurting so much during the 10K yesterday.

After yesterday’s race, I soaked in jacuzzi tub with epsom salt. I rolled my foot. I used different creams and over the counter pain meds. Still I didn’t know what would happen today.

I went to ben early again last night. Probable in bed my 9:30 and asleep by 10. This after snoozing on the couch. Thankfully I woke up again on my own because my alarm didn’t go off. I got up a little later than I would have wanted, but it all came together. I got to the starting line with 20 minutes to spare.

The Bethlehem Running Festival does not have corrals. You pick where to start. I picked the back of the pack. I started between the 2:45 & 3:00 pacer. I knew I wasn’t at 2:45 but thought that was a good option.

The hills of Bethlehem Pa are no joke. Per my Garmin the elevation for today 373. I trained hills, but not Bethlehem hills. So my goal today was to watch my pace and be steady. I also did not walk downhills or flat parts of the course. I did walk, but so did the 3:00 pacer I was stealthily following from a distance.

As I’ve said before, I try not to add extra calcium when running but incorporate it into my running. Before starting, I took my morning dose of calcium and calcitrol a little earlier than usual. Then at mile 6 I took 250 mg calcium (half my afternoon dosage). Then at mile 8 I took the other half with my calcitrol. I also made sure to fuel and drink electrolytes. It seemed to work.

So I ran…..and ran…. And ran some more.

My foot had some discomfort today, but actually much less than yesterday which I don’t get. I will take it though!

Towards the end around mile 11, I realized that I would be close to a 3 hour half. I continued to be smart, but I did push at the end. I’m glad I did because I came in right under at 2:58:18.

I saw the pacer at the finish line area. She was running alone for a good deal of the race. As I said, I kept her in my site but did not run with her at all. I thanked her for pacing me even if she didn’t know it. Pacers are awesome.

More to come, but this is enough for now:)

Half Way There

Oct19

Today was day 2 of the Bethlehem Running Festival. You know the big event I’ve been training for:)

Yesterday, I left work early to head to the 3.8 mile trail run. I love trails but have not run them in a long time nor did I do any trail training. That being said, my goal as with all the races is just to run smart and finish.

Check!

The trail was steep in some spots and rocky in most. I started in the back and stayed there. As with all trail runs, I met some people. There were 4 of us who pretty much kept in each other sites. When done we high fived.

Done is done!

Luckily this destination event in the Lehigh Valley is 25 minutes from my parents. So after the race, I went there. Had some pizza, showered and relaxed.

I was exhausted from the day and was in bed by 9:00 which was good because I had early wake up call next morning.

Then this morning, I woke up on my own at 5 am which was an hour early than I intended. I did’t mind as it gave me time to relax into the morning.

I left the house before the sun and off I went.

Since I had two events today, I knew I had to be smart especially with the Bethlehem hills which are not joke. I took my morning meds a little earlier as the day started earlier. Ran the 5K and reminded myself to go easly. Slow and steady may not win, but will get me to the finish….. and it did.

I had maybe 45 minutes between races. Enough time to do a little stretching, hydating, and snack. I also took 250 mg calcium before starting. Then off I went again.

The 10K had more elevation than the 5K. About 4 miles in my left heel was bothering me. I pushed through. Again walking many hills. Trying to remind myself of a slow steady pace when running….Finishing agin.

Done is done.

I took my afternoon dose of meds after event and from calcium prospective felt good today. My foot is a different story. Rested, rolled, and hopefully ready for tomorrow.

One to go…. This is the half which I know is going to test me, but I feel ready. I am ready.

It’s go time:)