EatRunLuv

Today marks Day 1 of my latest training cycle. A training cycle for a race that has yet to be canceled, but in all reality will probably get canceled or become virtual. While I’ve already run a virtual half marathon at the start of this pandemic, running a virtual full marathon is not exactly the most thrilling idea. I’ve always said the marathon is a different beast. Crowd support, running for a…

Trying to re-invigorate this blog.

For as long as I can remember I’ve been a bit of a control freak. If things don’t go the way I want or envision, I’ve been known to throw a tantrum or two, a Monopoly Jr board, and even a banana. I’m a planner. I admittedly don’t always follow the plans I create, but when I do, and things start to go off course, it takes a lot for me to hone it in, accept the…

Never Miss a Monday

“Never miss a Monday” is a phrase that I’ve seen become quite controversial as of late. I think I first heard this phrase from friends who are Beachbody coaches on social media. It became a frequent hashtag that I can only assume originated as a means of motivation to jump start your week with good habits. Admittedly the phrase never really resonated with me. Back in my CrossFit days I’d …

The Boilermaker Road Race is more than just a race. There is a 2 day Health and Wellness expo held at Mohawk Valley Community College, which includes activities like a kids run, packet pickup, food trucks, and more. Last year I was finally able to try the Utica famous Tomato Pie and meet Katherine Switzer.

And on what always feels like one of the hottest Sundays in July, the 5K and 15K runners take off to complete their journey through the Mohawk Valley to the finish and post race party at the F.X. Matt Brewing Company, also known as the Saranac Brewery.

A friend of mine ran the 15K in 2015, and ever since its been on my radar. With Saranac being the brand of Neil’s favorite beer, and Utica being only 3 hours from CT, it was a no brainer for us in 2016. I remember researching all of the details about registration to ensure it would not sell out before we had a chance to register. One of the amazing things about this race is that if you ran it the previous year, you automatically get dibs on registration for the same distance the following year and I was worried a lot of people would re-register before Neil and I could. I if I remember correctly, I registered from my cell phone, in a train station on my way to visit a friend in Philadelphia.

I’ll be honest, the first year was we ran the race it was overwhelming. With 14,500 runners in the 15K and 4,500 runners in the 5K, plus spectators its a lot of people. Since we lived out of state, we arrived at the expo on Saturday afternoon. There were people everywhere, much of the merchandise had been purchased and I admittedly panicked a bit, but really this is because I did not know what to expect. After picking up our bibs, souvenir pint glasses, and purchasing our finished medals, we walked around the expo and checked into our hotel. Another perk of this race is great deals at the F.X. Matt Brewing Company (Saranac Brewery) with your race bib. Since at the time we lived out of state, we stocked up with a case each of our favorite brews.

That first year we were also unprepared in terms of food options and picked a dinner spot that I ended up not being too keen on. In the subsequent years, dinner has become a tradition and opportunity to meet up with Neil’s parents at local Italian eateries. The one place I always want to go takes off the month of July, so we’ve found great alternatives for some chicken riggies (a Utica staple) in the meantime including the charming Bella Regina restaurant.

Race morning comes early on the second Sunday of July. The race gives you an option to park at the start or the finish. If you opt for the finish, a bus will bring you to the start, while if you opt for the start, you’ll take a bus back from the finish later. Being paranoid about getting to the race on time, we’ve always chosen to park near the start. Usually this means parking on a side street or in a random lot, sometimes on grass, with a short walk over to the start.

A reminder for where we parked!

This is where you’ll find a crazy number of porta potties and a drink that is similar to Gatorade, that I’ve never had at a race other than this one.

At the start of my corral

The 9.3 mile route starts out relatively easy, and quickly gets tough with some hills early on. The first mile or so is usually where I find two runners dressed as the Blues Brothers who seem to run every year. It is always a race goal to find them and take a selfie with them while I run.

As a newbie, I quickly learned getting out of the golf course is the first major objective. Maybe conquering the hill before the golf course is really the first. To me the golf course is the toughest section of the race, and once you’re out, it more or less feels down hill from there. There also tends to be lots of spectators with popsicles, which are always a welcomed treat.

You get out of the golf course somewhere around the peak of the giant hill on the elevation profile, but don’t let this scare you, the second half of course elevation really makes up for the difficult start

Toward the end of the race you can high five a guy or two on stilts, run through sprinklers, maybe take another popsicle, and complete your journey under the finish arch.

After a short walk, you’ll receive a finishers pin and make your way through the chutes with various food and drinks like chocolate milk and fruit cups. I try to meet up with Neil by the chocolate milk each year before hitting the 20,000+ person crowd to get to the free beer behind the brewery.

Again, as a newbie, super overwhelming, but when you’ve been through it once, you know a lot better what to expect the following year.  You’ll also find string cheese, pretzels, chewy bars, yogurt, gatorade, and other snacks here as well. If you stick around you’ll see a WW2 era military flyover.

We make our way over to the bus to get back to the start line and another tradition for the past few years has been to stop at bakery, Holland Farms for another Utica favorite, Half Moon cookies before making the 3 hour trek home.

Image from HollandFarms.com

WNY Race Recaps & 19 for 2019

I am planning to start a post series on WNY race recaps. I’ve been running races in WNY for a few years now, and now that I actually live here, I’d love to share more about those experiences to encourage more people to register, especially my running friends from CT. I’ll start with the Boilermaker Road Race in my next post. For now, here is the start of my 19 for 2019 list.

Putting together a 19…

New Year, New You

This phrase “New Year, New You” seems to be everywhere these days. Since moving to Western, NY just a few weeks ago and starting a brand new job, this phrase really seems to resonate with me right now. The timing of the move couldn’t be more perfect in terms of a fresh start and now that I’m over my two week long cold, I’m ready to find some type of routine.

In the past few weeks I’ve been doing…

I woke up to a few new followers, undoubtedly related to the #Last90days hashtag. Overall today went pretty well as far as Five to Thrive. I am finishing up my water, and I got a 30 minute 2.51 mile run in at the gym while starting Game of Thrones Season 1 Episode 1. I wanted 60 minutes, but I had to bring some work home this evening, so I stuck to 30. I’ll try for 60 tomorrow afternoon. I’m…

I stumbled upon Rachel Hollis and “Girl, Wash Your Face” (I can never remember if you are supposed to underline or quote book titles) a few months back through some ladies that I follow from Weight Watchers on social media. I decided to listen to the book in the car using some type of Audible free trial and eventually I found the #MadeforMore group on Facebook, started following Rachel and Dave…

It’s really hard to start back at square one similar to where I was in May of 2009. I’ve been frustrated and angry that I’m back at this point, the highest weight I’ve been and my activity levels are basically non-existent. Running for 30 minutes at a 12:00/mile pace is exceptionally difficult, but doing that a few times a week has been one of my recent goals and is probably something I could not…