Marathon Nervezzz

Next week is the marathon so we spent the weekend at home relaxing. We decided to finally use one of our wedding presents, a gift card to The Barnes Foundation. Before going, we were told to watch the documentary, "The Art of the Steal," which covers how the museum came to be in Philadelphia.

Despite the documentary's stance against the Foundation, I thought the museum was very well done. The works of art are the personal collection of Albert Barnes and it includes 181 by Renoir, 69 by Cezanne, and 59 by Matisse (along with a ridiculous amount of really important pieces). We spent over three hours listening to the free audio tour and viewing the collection. If you haven't already, be sure to check out The Barnes Foundation (and watch the documentary first to understand the story behind it).

It was the perfect weekend of relaxation and as I get ready for the week ahead, I can't help but be excited and nervous for the marathon next Sunday. Andrew keeps telling me that I need to "call my shot" and go for it, so here it is - my goal for Philly is 4:00 . This is my fifth marathon and the first time I have been uninjured and trained, so this marathon means a lot to me.

In May 2011 Andrew and I decided to run our first marathon, Big Sur. We were young and still in pretty good shape from college but had no idea what we were getting into. I had experienced terrible runner's knee problems and barely trained so that first marathon hurt a lot but, after running a 4:30 marathon, I was hooked.

The Big Sur Run Course

First time marathoner

I don't know how I did it, but I convinced my mom to run the Marine Corps marathon with me that October. Although she got hurt after training for only a month, my mom decided she still wanted to run the marathon. It was a week after Andrew and I got engaged and we were so excited so we drove down to D.C. together to give it a shot. My mom and I ran a 5:10 marathon together, a really great experience for us both. If you ever have an opportunity to run a marathon with a parent, do it.

Excited to be engaged :)

Still hooked, I convinced my best friend from Cleveland, Katherine, to run Cleveland marathon with me in May 2012. We drove out to Cleveland on Friday, ran the marathon on Sunday, and drove home immediately after running. I ran with Katherine the entire verrry hot 26.2 miles, and we finished in 4:36. 

I can't find my Cleveland pictures :(

My last marathon was the San Francisco marathon in June 2013. Unfortunately, I had bursitis in my knee that March after the NYC half marathon and didn't run from March to June. We went out to San Francisco to enjoy a fun trip and I had no intention of running. Not sure what made me do it, but I decided to try running and ran a very painful 4:44 marathon.

Morning of San Fran marathon

So here we are one week from Philly marathon. I have been training for 4 months, I've run 525 miles and my knees only hurt a little bit after long runs :) I signed up for the marathon while drunk at a bachelorette party and my year would have been so much different if I had not. Every Thursday I get home and run 5-7 miles with Andrew and Sundays have been spent on long runs and recovering. I cannot wait to get out there next week and run the marathon for myself to see what I can do! If you are in Philly, stop by our house for brunch!

"We just signed up for a marathon...?"

Thank you to everyone that has been a part of my running career over the past few years. I am fortunate to have really great friends and family who have signed up for all these silly races with me and helped me become a better runner.

Baltimore Marathon Relay - October 2011

Virginia Beach Half - March 2012

Runner's World Half - October 2012

NYC Half Marathon - March 2013

Philly Half Marathon - September 2013

Philly Half - September 2014