Running Stories
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United Airlines NYC Half Recap
I don’t run many half marathons and I certainly don’t race many but I was fortunate enough to snag a bib in the lottery for this year’s United Airline NYC Half this past weekend. I figured it would be a good tune up and a test of my fitness heading into this year’s Boston Marathon. The Goal My primary goal for the race was to run a hard effort and to challenge myself on the hills. I haven’t been a very strong runner on hills in the past and have incorporated more hill work and strength training to try and fix that. The course profile offered me a great opportunity to…
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The Great Cookie Toss at the Tokyo Marathon
As the Tokyo Marathon is this weekend, we thought we’d put a pause in our Atlanta trip to share with you our experience in Japan. We visited grand toriis and drank sake in a roof top igloo. We played with snow monkeys and rode on fast trains. But by far the MOST interesting experience has to be what happened RIGHT before the race. Let’s unpack the great cookie toss at the Tokyo Marathon and the collision at the crevice. First, remember the Collision at the Crevice In case you missed it, let me recap. Our hotel room in Tokyo was small. How small was it? If it were any smaller,…
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The Publix Florida Marathon Race Recap
There are just some times of the year that going somewhere warm and sunny is JUST what you need. Think – “Jack Nicholson at the Overlook Hotel.” This past weekend I had the chance to break away from the winter cold for a few days down to Melbourne, Florida. It was my first time pacing with Elevated Racing and Pacing and I was super excited for the opportunity. Join us this week for the Publix Florida Marathon race recap and be sure to bring some sun glasses! I Love the Smell of Donuts in the Morning My day started at 4 am as I woke up to eat my pre-race meal.…
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Top 5 Sporting Events I’ve Been a Part of or Witnessed Live
In addition to traveling, The Travel Oracle is also pretty passionate about sports. Runner_dad has been fortunate to see some pretty epic sporting events live. Here’s a little trip down memory lane with his top five. 1 – Packers vs Lions Oct 5, 2024 – Thursday Night Football, Ford Field. Lions win 34-31 First football game for Savanna, Connor’s first Lions’ win. A heavyweight slugfest. The fourth and one gamble. Field goal by Jake Bates to win the game as time expired!! Total playoff atmosphere. This comes in at number one because I know that 30 years from now the kids will still remember this day, just as I remember…
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NYC 2024 Marathon – The Rest of the Story
Do you remember a movie from the 80’s called “Planes, Trains and Automobiles“? Well if you haven’t seen that yet, you should really check it out. It’s really funny and it’s Thanksgiving themed. And if you haven’t read it yet, be sure to check out last week’s NYC pre-race report, where we take an Uber, to a ferry, to a bus, JUST to run 26.2 miles! And once that’s done, come back here for the rest of the NYC 2024 Marathon story. Bridge #1 – the Verrazzano Narrows Once the cannon went off my shuffle to the start line began. It wasn’t but a minute before I crossed the start…
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NYC Marathon Pre-Race Report
Hard to believe it’s almost been two weeks since I completed my third NYC Marathon. Thought I’d share a little bit with y’all about how the day went for me. Today I’ll be sharing the journey to the start line. Join us this week for the NYC Marathon Pre-Race Report. With the marathon falling on the day we set the clocks back an hour, it means either an extra hour of sleep or an extra hour of tossing and turning. Fortunately for me I usually sleep pretty well the night before a race and tonight was no exception so I enjoyed the extra sleep. Alarm was set for five am but…
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Make Your First NYC Marathon a Smashing Success
Just before the world hit the “pause” button, Stephen ran his first New York City Marathon. Though we had been to the Big Apple many times previously, this was his first time there for the running of the race. If you’ve never been to Manhattan OR if this is your first NYC marathon, let us share some things we’ve learned along the way to make your first NYC Marathon a smashing success. Don’t even THINK about driving a car Unless you’re a big fan of stress, near misses, horn honking and altercations just forget the idea that driving a car would be “better” in any way. Instead, get yourself a…
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Looking for the Light at the End of the Tunnel
Join us this week as we unpack the incredible journey our kidney donor athlete underwent to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Through a tough path, he went looking for the light at the the end of the tunnel at the Tunnel Light Marathon. The Long and Short of it “Great moments are born from great opportunities.” – Herb Brooks The Short Version: Did the work. Believed. Crushed the goal. The Long Version: Although the short version sums up what happened, I hope you’ll take the time to read this. So many feelings and emotions about the buildup and this race that I’m not sure I have the words to adequately…
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Boston Marathon 2024 Recap
Usually after a race, especially a big one, I can’t wait to sit down and write a race recap to share with y’all. I’m not really sure why it took me three months to get around to writing about this year’s Boston Marathon but here ya go. I hope you enjoy reading about it much more than I did running it this year. Good Beginnings The day of the race always requires an early alarm. We were fortunate to stay with some new friends in Cambridge at a great little Air BnB. Although Patrick and I were taking different routes to the start line, it was nice that we got…
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Beating a Genie to the Finish Line
Greetings Friends! Even though Halloween is just around the corner, we are going to take a break from all things scary to share Stephen’s race report from this last weekend’s Cocoa Beach Half Marathon. So let’s unpack our bags and talk about beating a Genie to the finish line. I Got No Plans Following my pacing gig at the Chicago Marathon two weeks ago, I didn’t really have any plans to run any more races this year. With my heart related health issues, my training has been sporadic at best. But then…I got a text from my friend, Phil on Wednesday. He wanted to know if I’d be interested in running…
