Saturday I will be running the Blue Ridge Half Marathon in Roanoke, VA for the second year in a row. The race coins itself as “America’s Toughest Road Marathon”. And it just may be with 7,440 feet in total elevation change for the full and 2,734 feet in total elevation change for the half. The Weather Channel agreed, and ranked the Blue Ridge among their list of “The World’s Toughest Marathons” (which included road and trail marathons).
**Note: This elevation is for the 2013 race, which reflects a detour late in the race due to flooding. The detour added an extra 206 feet of elevation change.

Last year this race chewed me up and spit me out. I ran a time of 2:45:48, which was almost a personal worst (we won’t talk about the 2009 Baltimore Half when I ran with a bad chest cold and hadn’t trained properly). I went into the race expecting to run/walk to the top of the mountain and then run the rest of the race. Obviously that didn’t happen.



Pre-race picture with my running buddy Kim, with no idea of what was to come.

I ran/walked to the top of the mountain as expected, and was running with my running buddy Nicki (who has since moved to Texas… boo). We passed the star and I was so happy we had conquered the mountain! Now all I had to do was run down the other side of the mountain, and then run around town to the finish. As we were coming down the mountain, which was a sharp descent for about 1.5 miles or so, I could feel my quads becoming more and more tired. I also got nauseous for a bit, but I think that was just from the water in my stomach sloshing as we went downhill. When we made it to the bottom I felt like I was done. I stopped to take a walk break and urged Nicki to keep on running, but she stayed with me and would stick by my side the entire race. The rest of the race was a mix of walking and running until we finally made it to mile 12. At that point we saw Barry, who had come back to collect me as he often does at races, and I dug deep to run the one mile to the finish. That’s right, running just one mile without stopping seemed impossible at that point.

Me, Nicki, and Kim at the finish. I’ve never been happier to just be done.

I have thought about last year’s race over and over again, and to this day I have no idea what happened. I guess I just “bonked” and had a really off day. Based on this, I’m not sure how to approach the race this year. I’m not sure what other strategy to use other than run/walk up to the Mill Mountain Star.

The star is up there where the red arrow is pointing

Maybe it truly was just an off day last year and things will go better on Saturday. I sure hope so! One awesome thing about the race last year was that Bill Rogers was there. We got to meet him and talk to him at the race expo AND he signed my race bib!

It says “Meagan, Nice to meet you here at [arrow pointing to the race name]! Run strong. Bill Rogers 2012”. We’re basically BFF’s now. This year Bill Rogers will be back again, along with Bart Yasso and Frank Shorter. They had a “Run with the Legends” contest where two lucky runners will get to run the 5 person marathon relay team with those three. How cool is that!? I’m crossing my fingers that they will be at the expo this year and that I can meet them and/or get a picture!

Relieved that it’s over

Either way, I hope at the end of the race this Saturday I am smiling more from being happy than just from relief that it’s over and I survived.

What is the toughest race you have ever run?
It’s a toss up between Blue Ridge and the Varmint.

Have you ever met a “running legend”? Who was it??

Anyone else racing this weekend?

I am continuing to keep all those affected by Boston in my thoughts. I am sending healing thoughts to those injured and condolences to those that lost a loved one. I’m also sending comforting thoughts to all of the runners who were there that had a day of celebration ripped away from them. I can’t imagine what they may be going through right now, especially if someone who came to watch them run was hurt. I continue to dedicate my runs to Boston.
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After work Barry and I went for a short run, a little over 2 miles. It’s in the mid-70’s outside, but it didn’t feel all that hot. We ran at a 9:52 pace today, which felt comfortably hard.

As I was driving at work today, I was thinking about running (as I often do while driving… since I’d rather be doing that). I was thinking about Boston and I was thinking about my own running. And I got to thinking about how I really want to run Boston someday, which means I have to get a lot faster.

It’s not just the desire to run Boston that makes me want to get faster. In general I want to continue to improve as a runner. I feel like I have proved to myself I can conquer the distance (at least I hope so, after completing eight half marathons), which is what running was initially about for me. Now it’s time to start focusing on getting a bit faster, but I’m not sure exactly how.

I read enough blogs to know about speedwork, tempo runs, etc. I currently incorporate tempo runs and progressive runs into my training but obviously I need to do more.  I use the McMillan calculator to figure out what pace I should be aiming for on my tempo runs and I’m thinking I should also be able to use it to figure out what to aim for on shorter speedwork-type workouts. But I feel a little lost. There is too much information on the internet about how to get faster and how to do speedwork, and a lot of it conflicts.

I’m thinking I need to make friends with the local high school track. However, I just don’t know what to do there. What should my first track workout be? Should I aim for the paces I find on the McMillan calculator using a recent race time, or should I put in a goal race time and use those paces? Also should I run on the inside lane (obviously I won’t if there’s someone faster using the track at the same time)? If I run in a lane thats further out, will I still only hit 400 meters if I run once around and finish at the same spot where I started? The reason I have all of these questions: the extent of my experience with the track is the dreaded “Mile Monday” that we ran for field hockey in high school.

All of that being said, I do not expect to PR at either of the half marathons I have coming up. Blue Ridge goes up a mountain (and it’s on Saturday…. not exaclty enough time to become a speedster) and the Varmint is really hilly and run at elevation. BUT the Varmint is in early June. Maybe that’s enough time to get stronger and aim to beat my time from last year?

By the way, look what my Dad found! Here is some proof that I know how to ride a unicycle, like I said 🙂 These pictures are from the Cherry Blossom Parade, and I was probably in sixth or seventh grade which would be sometime 2000-2001. I was riding a 7 foot tall unicycle.

Do you use speedwork in your training?

Help me! I need some guidance on how to do speedwork. Any suggestions on speedwork for a beginner?

Aside from befriending the track, how else can I try and build speed?

Today has been a mixed day of emotions. On one hand, it is the sixth anniversary of the massacre at Virginia Tech. I always have waves of emotion on and around this date. We are forever changed, we will neVer forgeT, and we continue to live for the 32 who can’t anymore.

In addition, there’s the horrific events that took place yesterday at the Boston Marathon. I don’t understand why someone would do that anywhere, but especially at a place that is supposed to be about triumph and celebration. My heart is with the victims and all those affected by this senseless act. What a world we live in.



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One of the reasons I am a runner is because I can turn to running when things like this happen. I went for a run today in a blue race t-shirt in support of those affected at Boston and the entire running community.



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The human spirit shines brightest when faced with adversity. Runners are resilient and so is the running community. Do not let evil triumph.

‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

My Dad just called me and asked if I was watching the news. I said no and asked him what was going on and he told me there was an explosion at the finish line at the Boston Marathon. Now I’m sitting here watching the coverage. My earlier post went up a few minutes before this happened. I had no idea until now, as I pretty much disconnected from media after the live coverage.

Ribbon from Deb Runs

I am completely shocked by this. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims, and all of the spectators, runners, and race personnel in Boston.

Happy Patriots Day! Which means it’s Marathon Monday!!

I enjoyed watching the 117th running of the Boston Marathon today. What better way to get pumped up for the Blue Ridge Half Marathon this weekend!? Luckily we get the Universal Sports channel, so I got to watch it on TV. I love that they had a preview show, a pre-race show, and a post-race show in addition to the live coverage of the race itself. Truly the Super Bowl of running, ladies and gentlemen.

I read a great article about the Boston Marathon yesterday, where ESPN referred to it as the ‘Mecca of Marathoning’. Towards the end of the article, the author shared a compilation of statements about Boston from radio interviews over the years.

Although I’ve yet to run a full marathon (stay tuned… it’s happening later this year!!!), I get really excited about the Boston Marathon each year! This year was especially exciting rooting for Kara Goucher and Shalane Flanagan, as they fought to become the first American champion since Lisa Larsen Weidenbach in 1985. Unfortunately Flanagan finished fourth and Goucher finished sixth. But I think that’ still pretty awesome to have two Americans finish in the top six! On the men’s side Jason Hartmann finished 4th behind two men from Ethiopia and one man from Kenya.

Did anyone see Shalane’s finish line interview? She said being able to “brag” that she has competed in the Boston Marathon “legitimizes” her as a runner. This coming from the girl who is a three-time Olympian, won the bronze medal in the 2008 Bejing Olympics in the 10,000 meters, and holds the American record in that same event. That just goes to show you what a crown jewel Boston is, even to elite runners.

I dream of running Boston, which has been called the “people’s Olympics”. Right now it feels as far fetched as attempting to qualify for the actual Olympics. But I feel confident that once I tackle my first marathon later this year, I may be ready to start focusing more on speed and not just on conquering the distance.

Photo courtesy of my wonderful sister-in-law, who was nice enough to take this picture for me while she was in Boston earlier this year.

Someday I will cross this line, and it will be on my list of greatest achievements.

Did you get to watch the race today?
Have you ever run Boston? Do you dream of it like I do?
How many full marathons have you run? Which ones?