Accountability Monday: 11/20/2017

Helloooo late November!

I don't know about the weather where you are, but it was chilly this week in the mid-Atlantic! I think we've officially passed fall and are securely in winter. Which is totally fine with me- I'd choose to run in the cold over the heat any day.

Even though it was super cold this weekend, I am riding such a high from the last few days. If you follow me on twitter or instagram, then you know that my friend Steff and I surprised our other friend Jeff at the mile 15.5 marker of the JFK 50 miler on Saturday. Our friends, Chelsea and Lauren, were there to support his as his "crew," aka meet him at each checkpoint and help him refuel, change shoes, fill water bottles, swap out gloves, etc. Jeff had no idea we were coming down to cheer and we absolutely surprised him at the first check point.

Selfies or it didn't happen.

I'll be writing another post with all the details about spectating this race, but for now, just know that it was one of the most inspiring and uplifting experiences I've had being part of the running community. It was simply awesome.

Let's dive into this past week!

Training
Wednesday: 2.47 treadmill miles with varying paces and inclines
Sunday: 11.25 miles, 12:52 overall pace + light strength workout post-run

I did not get to all the workouts I wanted to this week but I am pretty happy with how the long run turned out yesterday. For the Disney Marathon, I'd like to average between 13-13:30 pace and so far, this seems attainable. I'm also stoked with the splits during yesterday's run- they were generally even and the last two were 12:43.  Also, I made some new friends yesterday! 😉

Just making friends mid- long run, ya know? 🐮🌾🐄

A post shared by Sarah (@sparklyrunner) on Nov 19, 2017 at 7:07am PST

Best Run

Now that the sun sets earlier in the day, I find myself on the treadmill more often after work. Honestly, I'm learning to love it! I like that I can control the incline and the pace- I'm finding it's helping me push myself a bit more than I would if I were out on the road running. So the best run this week was my Wednesday night treadmill adventure.

Bravo Moment

This week, I'm giving out an honorary bravo to Coach Jeff; he rocked those miles at the JFK 50 Miler- congratulations, Coach! 

Quote of the Week

Yup, they sure do.

Have a great week, friends!

To Pittsburgh, With Love

Confession time: I was kinda dreading Pittsburgh Marathon Weekend.

I have been struggling.

Hating myself struggling. Stress eating struggling. Not wanting to run struggling.

My weight is the highest it's been in two and a half years; my clothes don't fit the way they normally do. Work has me incredibly stressed which affects my sleep, my mood, and my ability to get out the door for a run. I am disappointed with where I am in this journey. The years of healthy habits I have worked so hard to cement into the foundation of my life are starting to weigh me down.

Tracking my food. Always choosing the healthy option. Planning meals. Running. Strength training. Exercising. Making time for training. I am tired of doing these things.

This healthy lifestyle routine? It sucks. I hate doing it. I hate that I have to do it. Why can't I just be a normal weight, healthy person who doesn't have to ever think about food? Why can't I just be naturally athletic, run fast without trying, and love to work out? Why can't I have endless energy and a flexible schedule so I can cross off my to-do list and finish all the projects I keep meaning to get to?

I don't have the answers to these somewhat dramatic and irrational questions.

But here's what I do know; Pittsburgh Marathon Weekend made the struggle feel a little less crappy.

Starting line of the half marathon. 

I don't know if it was the races, the people, or the city itself- but my spirits were definitely lifted this past weekend.

There's something about the Pittsburgh Marathon races that makes you feel like you are part of something bigger than yourself; like you belong somewhere. Like all these tens of thousands of people have the same, shared goal you have- to finish the race you start.

Home stretch of the 5k.

I can pinpoint the moment that something changed. Around mile six of the half marathon, I suddenly felt a jolt of pure joy- endorphins, maybe- and was overcome with happiness. I felt good... strong... athletic... healthy. I haven't felt much like that in a long time.

Ohana means family and family means no one gets left behind.

Beyonce was playing in my headphones, the sun was shining, and I was high-fiving spectators and keeping an eye out for my running ohana- some were running, some were cheering. Throughout the course, I got to see familiar faces and hear encouraging and supportive words from friends. Strangers cheered for me by name- probably because it was on my bib, but still :-) I finished a tough course and then joined my husband and running ohana to cheer for folks still out there racing towards the finish.

I felt like a runner again. I felt like an athlete again. I felt motivated to want to keep trying- to maintain my weight, to get faster, to train more effectively. I felt like me again.

The crew.

Today my muscles are sore, my feet are blistered, and I've still got unpacking and lots of laundry to do. But I feel great. And somehow finding the time to run, and meal prep, and track my food doesn't seem to feel as crappy as it did before.

Like I said, I don't know if it's the races, the city, or the people, but Pittsburgh Marathon Weekend has some kind of magic in it. And I am so, so grateful. ❤

Race Recap & Review: Pittsburgh Marathon 5k

For the third year in a row, I ran the Pittsburgh Marathon 5k on April 30th this year. The Pittsburgh Marathon/Half Marathon is always on a Sunday and a few years ago, they started offering a 5k on Saturday morning.

Last year, Gloria and I ran this together as we both wanted to take it easy the day before the half. We had the same plan for this year- with the addition of Matthew! He wasn't able to make it for 2015 so I was super excited to have him join us for 2016. This race is a point to point- we started by PNC Park and finished near Point State Park, just a few miles away.

5k course map. Source.

It was down right cold the morning of the race- probably in the low 40's but because of the high humidity it felt MUCH cooler. I wore a sparkle skirt, short sleeved shirt, and a long sleeved throw-away shirt (that I actually kept on until after mile 1). We met up with all our running ohana and some other Pittsburgh friends, snapped a few pictures, and then Gloria, Matthew and I headed towards the back of the pack to wait for the race start. Our plan was to take the 5k slow and to really just enjoy the run.

Gloria, Matthew and me- freezing but ready to go!

Luckily for us, this course is pretty flat so it was easy to stick to our race plan. We took our time, averaging about 12-13 minute miles. I felt good the entire race- I knew I was under trained going into the weekend so I was grateful to feel great at a slower pace.

We grabbed selfies at each mile marker as we chatted and caught up on each other's lives; the miles flew by. One of the things I love about this course is the amount of spectators that come out for an early morning race- especially on a cold morning! There were tons of folks out holding signs, clapping and cheering, and giving out high fives. There's just an energy in Pittsburgh that's hard to describe but it makes for an awesome race-day atmosphere.

Gloria and Matthew crossing the lone bridge of the course. 

My favorite sign on the course :-)

We finished in 37:18, collected our medals and mini "Eat'n Park" cookies, and headed to the finish line festival to meet our running ohana. This year, as in past years, the 5k medal was a smaller replica of the marathon/half marathon medals. It's always a nice treat to get a medal for a 5k :-) Once everyone finished, we set out to find something to eat and ended up at Cherries Diner- this little hole-in-the-wall that had like 10 tables in it and one waitress. But the food was pretty awesome so I can't complain too much!

Pittsburgh swag is always pretty cool.

After we ate, a friend of mine from the internet (I know that sounds weird, but hear me out) came to meet us at the restaurant! Kelly (aka @curvyfitgirl) and I "met" through twitter and a shared interest of healthy living and Weight Watchers. It was so awesome to meet her in person- she is just as sweet and inspirational in real life as she is online! We got to spend some time together after breakfast, walking around the city and checking out the expo again. She fit right in with our ohana- she is super sweet and supportive; I'm so glad we finally got to meet in person!

Blogger + Friend = Blends

Pros of this race: mostly-flat course, lots of spectators, finisher's medal, finisher's cookies, and lots of runner support (water stops, medical aid, etc.).

Cons of this race: ....I got nothing. Seriously, this is an awesome little race!

Stay tuned for the Pittsburgh Half Marathon recap- coming soon!


Did you run Pittsburgh this year? If so, what'd you think? If not, what's your favorite 5k experience?

Race Recap & Review: Akron Marathon Relay

In February 2014, I got an email from a few friends (that I'd just met at Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend) asking me if I wanted to be the fifth member of their marathon relay team for the Akron Marathon. Of course I said yes- that was the beginning of our running ohana; the group of running friends that have become family. We met on twitter and now meet a few times a year at races across the country.

Sadly, I didn't get to run in Akron 2014 because of my stress fracture. I went along for the weekend and cheered on my friends, vowing to return in 2015 and run the blue line with two, unbroken feet. 

This year, I would get my chance. 

Matthew and I signed up for the half (on 9/26) almost nine months ago. At some point, Chelsea invited me to run the first leg of the relay with her team. The plan was to run my relay leg (5.8 miles), hand off to Chelsea, remove my relay bib, and continue on to finish the half. 

Coach Jeff, Steff, her husband Joe, Lauren, her husband Mark, Nathan, Lauren H., Natalie, her husband Jimmy, and a bunch of Coach Jeff's "old guy running group" friends all planned on making the trip out to Akron, OH. Lauren and Mark ended up not coming out and we definitely missed them!

We all arrived in Akron on Friday afternoon and visited the expo. While this is a small expo, they did have some nice stuff. The hotel we stayed at was just a few blocks from the convention center (expo) and start/finish line so we were able to go back and forth all day.

Nathan, Coach Jeff, Me, and Matthew

This race offers a pasta dinner at the expo on Friday night and we all decided to go that route for our pre-race carb load. It was $20 per person and included pasta, salad, vegetables, and cheesecake. I think we'd definitely do this again- it was quick, easy, and tasty!

My right foot had been rocking all damn day. I'd had an x-ray the week before but no MRI so I was trying to take it easy as I was still suspecting a stress fracture. After the pasta dinner, I laid out my clothes for the race the next morning, keeping my fingers crossed that my foot would behave and let me finish the half marathon the next day. 

The crew.

Did I mention that Natalie was 7.5 months pregnant?!

Race morning. I got up and get dressed. Matthew got up... and immediately went back to bed, feeling super sick. He was feeling awful and running a fever- definitely not in any running condition. Heartbroken, he headed back to bed, reluctantly agreeing to skip the race due to illness. 

My foot was already bothering me but I met up with our ohana in the lobby of the hotel. Together, we walked up to the race start and got situated in the corrals. Steff was gunning for a PR so she started at the front of A. The others made their way to the relay stations or other corrals. Coach Jeff, Natalie, Jimmy, and I agreed that we would start together and hopefully stay together the whole race. And of course, no babies would be born on the course! :-)

We look pretty good for 7 am!

Our group of four started slow and steady. We did three minutes running, one minute walking. We chatted and ran and walked and laughed and the miles flew by. However, my foot kept hurting. It was a dull ache right in the area of my stress fracture. Soon enough, I saw the first relay exchange. I had been debating off and on the entire race of continuing to complete the half or to just cut out at the relay exchange. 

Hands up if you love running with friends!

I made the incredibly tough decision to stop. I handed off to Chelsea and watched her, Coach Jeff, Natalie, and Jimmy keep running. I stood there watching them and sobbing. I considered jumping back into the race for probably 10 minutes after they ran past me. I stood there at the relay exchange feeling super sorry for myself and blubbering on and on about my failure. 

After trying to call Matthew (he was still sleeping), I called my Dad and sobbed to him for a while. I knew this was the smart decision. Anytime there's pain, you should back off. But it still felt like utter and complete failure. I walked back to the hotel to check on Matthew. Luckily, he'd been able to get some sleep and was slowly starting to feel better. 

A very quick shower later, I went out to the finish area to get my post-race snacks: pizza, beer, chocolate milk, chips, etc. They had quite an awesome spread! I met up with Steff, Nathan, and Chelsea and we chatted for a while. 

Then we went back out on the course to cheer for the finishers, including looking for Coach Jeff, Natalie and Jimmy. 

Jimmy and Natalie trucking along towards the finish.

I ran/walked with Natalie and Jimmy until just before they entered the stadium and the final little section of the race. Coach Jeff had gone back on the course to run in one of his friends completing the full marathon. We got back into the finisher's area in just enough time to see Joe (Steff's husband) finish the marathon relay. 

All smiles for Joe at the end of the blue line.

Captain Chelsea's a popular gal with all that beer ;-)

Akron Marathon Relay Team 2015

While I'm disappointed I wasn't able to run the half marathon course, I did feel some sense of redemption by getting to run the first leg of the marathon- what I should have ran in 2014. 2014 was the year of the DNS- Did Not Start. 2015 brought my first DNF- Did Not Finish. At some point in every runner's career, a DNS or DNF will happen. This was mine. Looking back and knowing what I know now (that my foot is fine) makes it hard to not beat myself up about not finishing the half. But, I made the best decision I could with the information I had at the time; I can't ask myself for anything better than that.

I can't say enough great things about the city of Akron or this race. Well-organized from the expo to the starting corrals to the finish line party. The shirts, medals, and post-race food were all really high quality and made the whole experience feel very runner-focused. In short, this is an awesome race and I hope we keep doing this one every year. 

#runakron fans

Have you ever had a DNS or a DNF? How do you cope with the negative feelings it brings?

The Things She Carried

Ok, so the name of this post is slightly misleading. This won't be a post about all the stuff I actually carry during a race (food, gum, body glide, etc). This post is more about what I carry emotionally when I run.

It's finally Pittsburgh Marathon Weekend. A weekend that we've been planning for what seems like forever. This is supposed to be my second marathon- my "comeback 26.2" from my stress fracture this fall. But life has thrown me a few other curve balls in the last few months. Arthritis in my big toe. Peroneal tendonitis in my ankle. Major stress at work. And one more unplanned change: I'll be traveling to Pittsburgh solo today.

After lots of discussion, Matthew has decided to forego the races this weekend to go home and spend some quality time with his Nana. He'll also be completing the distances he would have completed in Pittsburgh; a 5k on Saturday, a marathon on Sunday, while running around his hometown. While I'm sad he won't be coming with me, I know this is what he feels is right in his heart. I plan on heading home to see Nana next week- and hopefully I'll be able to show her some shiny new Steel Challenge bling :-)

Without a doubt, Nana and Matthew will be on my mind this weekend when I run. I often think about the people in my life and our relationships when I'm out there slogging through the miles of a long run. I also think a lot about running- shocking, right? :-) I reflect on my training, previous races, PRs and everything in between And on Sunday, it won't be any different.

The first time I met Coach Jeff, he gave me the blue "Love to Sparkle" bracelet. It was during Dopey Challenge 2014 and I wore it for all the races. At this past year's WDW Marathon Weekend, he gave me the "Sparkle Princess" one. Every time I look at these, I think about Coach Jeff and all of my running Ohana. You'll find both of these on my wrist this weekend.

My former roommate and best friend Kelly bought me this necklace before the Dopey Challenge. I gave it to Matthew for safe keeping until I'd officially completed the races. Now I wear it for almost every race. It reminds me of all the support of my friends and family while we were training for Dopey and it reminds me that I'm capable of doing hard things.

I have two BeeCause charms that I wear on my current pair of running shoes: a custom one with my Mom-mom's initials, and a 48.6 one to remember my Dopey accomplishment. I love knowing that my Mom-mom is with me every step of every race. And when I get tired, I look down and find encouragement to keep going.

A very sweet friend gave me this Fellow Flowers a few weeks ago. It reminds me of the basic promise of sisterhood and friendship: to lift each other up and help each other get to the finish line. I am truly blessed to have many "sole sisters" in my life that I can count on for motivation and inspiration. You can bet I'll be thinking about them while running 26.2 miles this Sunday.

My amazing Matthew got me this commemorative Dopey Challenge necklace in 2014. It's special to me because Matthew bought this when he signed us up for the races- nine months before we would complete it. His belief in me has never wavered. Because he believes I can do something, I believe I can do it. He's my biggest cheerleader and I'm so grateful he's in my life. I'll be wearing this necklace close to my heart all weekend.


With lots on my mind and lots on my heart this weekend, I'll run the Pittsburgh 5k and Pittsburgh Marathon. To be honest, I'm nervous. My training didn't go exactly as planned and I didn't get in all the long runs I wanted. My plan is to stick with the six hour pace group for as long as possible and then continue on to the finish.

The things I carry will hopefully help carry me to the finish. Game on, Pittsburgh. Let's do this.

2015 WDW Marathon Weekend Recap: Part IV

Recap Part I

Recap Part II

Recap Part III

I've thought about writing this post every day since we've been home from Disney. It's proved harder than I thought it would be to try and sum up this day and this experience with a traditional blog post. Sure, I could just give you all the play-by-play of what happened and when, but somehow that wouldn't do this race or this day justice.

Being injured has changed so much of my life these past few months. It's given me heartache, envy, depression. However, it has also given me a new appreciation for my health, my strong spirit, and the people in my life who have lifted me up during the darkest days.

Without those people in my life, I don't know how I would have handled being injured. Without the texts, emails, messages, phone calls, pep talks- I would have just wallowed in my misery and been a terrible person to be around.

But I wasn't. Because of some awesome and inspiring people. And some of these same awesome and inspiring people were running the Walt Disney World Marathon; my two biggest cheerleaders included: Matthew and my Dad.

I remember just sobbing to my Dad when I got the diagnosis. I remember repeatedly apologizing. This was supposed to be our race. We were supposed to train together and cross the finish line together. I sobbed to Matthew. Apologized to him, too. I knew all the long runs would fall to him; he would have to coach my Dad through his first marathon. I felt like I was letting both of them down. I felt like a failure.

But neither of them saw it that way. They both said, "It's ok. We'll figure it out." We adjusted the long runs; they ran, I biked. Matthew and I spent hours showing Dad youtube clips of the course, preparing him for what was to come. We sent him articles about running, training, nutrition. We adapted.

After training for close to a year, the day had finally come. Dad was going to run his first marathon. Matthew was running his eighth full marathon and fifth Goofy Challenge. We got everything ready, developed a plan of where I'd see them during the race, and then I watched Matthew and Dad walk back to the corrals.

I waited for them in the Magic Kingdom, just after mile five. I got to see so many of those awesome and inspiring people I mentioned earlier: Coach Jeff, Nathan, Patrick, Donna, Mandy, Matt, Kathleen, Lee. I got to see other twitter/ig friends- Krissy, Megan, Carlee, Bill, Angela, Julie, Scott. So many people came up to say hello that the woman beside me asked me if I was a local :-) Matthew texted me often, letting me know where they were and how they were doing. He also sent a ton of pictures.

A MUST when you run at Disney.

Before too long, I saw them running down Main Street. Kim (Matt's amazing wife) was there again and grabbed some phenomenal pictures. They looked amazing. So strong. So far, so good. We chatted for a few minutes and then they headed off to run the next part of the race. I hung out for a while and then headed out to Wide World of Sports where I'd see them next.

So much joy. So much love.

My heart is about to burst. Thank you, Kim, for these pictures.

Selfies with Donna!

My usual spot. Thanks, Mandy, for the picture!

Me and Coach Jeff- another awesome moment captured by Kim.

Me and Matt, aka Hokeyboy

Mandy, with a halo :-)

I jumped on a bus to WWOS and chatted with fellow spectators. Once there, I set up in the stadium and cheered for the runners- they were just six short miles from conquering the marathon. I kept getting texts from Matthew updating me on their progress. They kept running into our friends- it always amazes me that out of thousands and thousands of people, we can find our running family. They also bumped into Lori- a blog reader from Minnesota who recognized Matthew and Dad on the course. Funny story- as she was going back through her pictures, she found me in her castle selfie! How cool is that?! Matthew and Dad also ran into Artney from My Pretty Brown Blog and Matt from Hokeyblog. Yay for friendship!

Matthew's got great selfie skills. Artney, Matt, and Lori.

Lori's castle selfie with a grumpy sign holder in the background.
I'm having fun, I swear. Thanks, Lori, for the photo!

Matthew texted and let me know they were close to the stadium. I walked out of the stadium and got onto the road that leads them out of WWOS- just before the mile 20 marker. Soon enough, I saw them coming my way. When they got to me, I jumped in with them. Yes, you are reading that correctly, I jumped onto the course with them.

Let's rewind for a minute.

Right after I got injured, as I was sobbing to my PT about how I'd be missing Dad's first marathon, he offered a suggestion- "You'll still have your bib, right? What if you ran six or so miles with them? You should be trained up to that mileage by early January." So we thought about it. And we talked about it with Dad. He thought it was a good idea. He asked me if I would help him get from mile 20 to mile 26.2 by running with him; by finishing what we'd started a year earlier. With a request like that, how could I refuse?

Together with my PT, we decided that the final decision would be made the morning of the marathon- it all rested on how my foot felt that day. Had my foot been cranky, I wouldn't have risked it. But it felt great.

Now before I go any farther, let me put a few things out there- yes, I was registered for the race. Yes, I paid for the race and obtained my bib legally. Yes, I was disqualified because I didn't have any timing information for the first 20 miles of the race. I did not take anything that I didn't pay for and I didn't take anything from any other runner.

So, the three of us ran the last few miles together. And took tons of pictures. Kim (Matt's wife) saw us in Epcot and grabbed a few more pictures.

Dad wanted to stop for the "babe."

Matthew just LOVES Duffy.

Almost there!

Another awesome shot from Kim.

And then just like that, Dad was a marathoner. Matthew was an 8-time marathoner and 5-time Goofy Challenge finisher. I could not have been prouder. Two of my most favorite people had just ROCKED 26.2 miles. How awesome is that?

My finishers. 

After the marathon, Dad thanked me for getting him through those last tough miles. I thanked Matthew for staying by his side for the first 20 and all the other hundreds of miles he ran to get Dad to this finish line. Words can't describe the pride and love I felt that day, in those moments after the race, watching Matthew and Dad hug and congratulate each other, big smiles lighting up their faces. It was a once-in-a-lifetime kinda feeling. This my friends, is true magic. The purest kind there is. And I'm so glad I got to share a little piece of it with them :-)



Be on the lookout for a final recap later this week with all the fun Disney stuff we did post-marathon!