5 Tips To Make The Best of Poshmark

Maybe you’ve hear of the site and maybe you haven’t. Assuming the latter, Poshmark is a site gear towards women’s fashion. Whether you are looking for a new party dress and killer heels or to unload and revamp you wardrobe you can do it on Poshmark with a little bit of effort on your part. I am by no means a pro of the app, but from the 1.75 months I’ve been using it I have learned a thing or two. My tips go both ways, it doesn’t matter if you are a buyer or seller, there are a number of things to consider. So without further adieu here is the list. (Don’t forget the $5 credit at the end of this post)

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Take Good Pictures: First off, photos are everything! Keep in mind that this is a completely virtual landscape. You potential buyer has no way of trying on the item unless by chance you are within a few miles of each other. Your photos should be great quality. When you look at your photos would you consider keeping the item for sale? If not you should retake them. Don’t think that you are restricted to a coat hanger and closet door. Lay them on a clean carpet, against you outdoor fence (during the daytime of course) or have someone model them for a fun day style event. A picture is worth a thousand words and your photos could make or break your sale. Trust me, I know there are a few items I need to update photos on in order to gain traction.

Give A Good Description: This is equally as important as a photo. The information you outline to your potential buyer could make or break the sale. If there is a button missing, this is the place to let them know. Keep in mind an item with the title of, “Dress,” is not going to gain much interest. If you have a NWT (new with tags) ASOS dress for sale PUT THAT INFORMATION IN THE TITLE! Seriously, people search keywords all the time. I know that I’m always on the hunt for cute green dresses. You want to give the buyer as much info as you can. As a buy you will ask questions and if you don’t see something that may aid in you purchasing then ask away if that information if detailed. Worse case scenario you don’t get the sale on the first try, but another buyer will see the information and benefit from it thus purchasing without question.

Share Your Items: There are three parties a day on Poshmark. This is a great way to find out which closets are active and who has great things for sale. If you are looking for a handbag, you can assume that there will be at least one handbag specific sale at 3pm EST every week. Grab up all the Coach wristlets you can handle then! Honestly, the parties at 12pm EST, 3pm EST and 10pm EST are awesome.  If you are selling you need to share there in order to get your items seen. If you are starting out and have a dozen followers this is a great way to garner interest.

Return The Love: If you have anything for sale you may see that someone has shared your item. Don’t ignore the share! Let me reiterate that, don’t ignore the share. This means someone has taken a liking to your item and feels as though it is worth telling their Posh friends about. The best way to thank them is by going into their closet and sharing any items that you like with your followers. There’s no loss in sharing back the items from follower Poshers. Worst case scenario you spend a fee minutes of your day sharing back what others have already shares. In personal practice I try to share back each share I have received. There are times when I will share three (3) items from a fellow Poshers closet and they will share back and we do this every 12 hours or so…. This means if I share someone’s item and they have 130,000 followers that there are potentially 130,000 unique eyes that are seeing something from my closet. This helps with followers, sharers and above all SALES!

Consider Offers: Finally, you get an offer. What are you to do? In my closet, right at the top is a guideline for Poshers. If you are a buyer and you see a fabulous pair of Cole Haan shoes priced at $30 dollars, what do you do? Purchase them outright? Maybe. In actuality you may feel that you should be able to spend $25 total (including shipping) and offer $20. What’s the harm in that you say. Nothing! The seller should consider in the end that you are paying up to $4.99 in shipping costs. Make the offer even if it’s more than 20% less than the listed price. Most people are looking to move items out of their virtual (and literal) closets to make space for new items. If you are a seller, keep in mind that trying to earn an extra $2 or $5 dollars may not be worth the extra time spent reposting it. Nor is it worth the space in your closet.

Poshmark is a great way to sell your stuff as well as a great way to acquire new things for your closet. If you have any questions be sure to ask them to the seller, if you don’t get a response move along to the next best thing. Trust me, there are a plethora of things that I am looking at, but I need to clear out my closet first.

If you haven’t downloaded the Poshmark app to your phone yet, check it out and get a $5 credit on your account (Worth at least shipping cost). If you spend $50 through 9/7/15 at 11:59pm EST you will get free shipping meaning that you get a $5 discount on your order. You honestly can’t lose. The code for the credit is PNKSA!

Back to School Shopping on a Dime!

I know. It almost sounds like an oxymoron… How can you possibly not spend tons of money while purchasing clothes for you pre-teen or teenager? Well the answer isn’t so hard if you think outside the box. No, you don’t need to sift through racks and racks of clothing at your neighborhood Goodwill, not that there is anything wrong with that. Today all you need is a smartphone and an open mind. A GREAT place to shop for your 10-18 year old is Poshmark. Granted this site is only for women’s clothing, you can still save a ton.

What is Poshmark?

It’s a website (primarily a smartphone app) where people can sell women’s clothes and accessories, both new and used, to other interested people at a fraction of the cost. No more do you need to look through racks, simply type in the keywords for items you are looking for and you can find almost anything you would find at your local mall -likely for a much lower price. There are hundreds of brands listed and thousands of sellers looking to fill your closet with clothing and accessories for cheap. You can sign up today with this code PNKSA and get a $5 credit, to at least cover credit on an order.

With Poshmark, if there is an item that you love and don’t really want to pay the asking price you can make offers on items that you are interested in, within reason, and if the seller accepts your offer you may walk away with a pair of American Eagle Outfitters jeans for $15 compared to the $50 you would have spent in the store. If the seller drops the price you can also get discounted shipping (usually $5). If one seller has multiple items for sale there is a feature that will allow you to get a discount for purchasing more than one item at a 10% or more discount.

What Can You Find?

On Poshmark there are a number of items for your child that would be perfect for school, a number of your people sell on the site, as well as other folks with a very diverse closet. If you child is interested in Lilly Pulitzer or Anthropologie this is the way to introduce them to those stores. Looking for a pair of Vans or Cole Haan shoes, you’ll find them as well.

There are daily sales, which rotate brands and styles so you can easily filter through the types of items you are looking for. Seriously, there are tons of brands from Forever 21 to Chanel. With you account you can look for a Golden State Warriors t-shirt and then a pair of Miss Me jeans with a few clicks. You honestly can’t go wrong looking here, even if you just want to use it as a look book.

There are great deals to be had, like ASOS dresses for less than $10 and Urban Outfitters tops for about the same price. Considering the fact that you would spend well above that in store or not find what you are looking for in your size, it doesn’t hurt to check it out.

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Shop more of my closet on Poshmark

Give it a try!

There is no harm in downloading an app and this is one that may easily become an addiction. Not only can you buy items, but you can sell items that other women (or teens) might enjoy as well. The best that can come from it is finding a dozen garments for less than $50 including shipping , the worst is that you only find one or two items that were half off retail. Remember, if you decide to try Poshmark out be sure to use PNKSA as a code and get a $5 credit. Happy Poshing!!

Why I Ran The Boston Marathon on No Training

I could have trained. I should have trained. But as we all know, sometimes things do not go according to plan. I knew that if I turned to the online running community for tips on running Boston while logging less than 20 mile/month would be met with anything but support.My running buddies who became my friends over the years never doubted and even made the trek to Boston for Marathon Monday. We were all committed to getting my body over that finish line.

The last year of my life have been utter chaos. Still I made a promise to my mother that I was going to run the race that I set my eyes on in early 2013. There was no way, sans a natural disaster, that I would miss running Boston. Who knows if I was going to BQ on another marathon in the near future. The 16-20 weeks leading up to the race I told myself that I would get out and run. Eight weeks out I officially joined a gym with the intention of logging many a mile on the treadmill. In reality I went to Zumba or cardio classes twice a week and log a mile or two after. My body and my brain were on totally different wavelengths.

I had decided that this was going to be the race that I truly ran for fun. Considering the fact that I had run a marathon seven months before I knew I was still capable of completing the distance. Shoot, I ran 81 miles in a 24 hour race on a whim.

In order to finish looking like a human and not a zombie my plan was to ride the coast the downhills with as little effort as possible and focus on my form and foot turnover on the uphills. My base goal was to get to the half marathon mark without walking and then walk the Newton Hills as needed. The expo was superb and the other runners that I met that day were a friendly reminder that we all run for a reason. A race wouldn’t be a good race if I hadn’t drunk my two god luck beers the night before the race. The race dinner offered Samuel Adam’s 26.2 tap, just my luck.

I’m so excited and I just can’t hide it!

On race day the weather wasn’t great. It was just under 40 degrees with wind gusts of over 20mph. By the 5k mark the rain was another ‘perk’. Once I arrived at bag check I realized that I had left my Body Glide at home. I hadn’t planned for rain so a friend let me borrow her jacket to run in. This morning was off to an amazing start, but I still didn’t doubt that this would be a great day. After bag check things calmed down and I planned out my final race strategy.

The race went off without any further surprises. The downhills early in the race were helpful. I coasted through the 5k and 10k marks in good time. The crowds were great, it seemed that no one packed up shop and left due to the weather. Somewhere between the 10k and 21.1k mark I met my first running mate, a guy from the Czech Republic. Around the same time I saw a pizza shop and someone walking out with a few boxes of piping hot pizza. This is also the same time that I started craving pizza! Approaching the Wellesley crowd was something special. Those ladies (and gentlemen) must go to class without voices for the rest of the week. I partook in no kissing myself, but for those that are looking for a unique moment this is the place.

I slurped down my first two gels and ate a few oranges leading up to the halfway point, but my body wanted something else. I continued to push forward, head first into the wind and rain. As I made it to the first of the Newton Hills I slowed my pace and power walked my way up. My running mate for the next 7.5 miles spoke to me then. He said something along the lines of, “You look like you have the right idea.” At that point we began talking and motivating each other to make it to the next stoplight, tree or mile marker. He had a surgery a few months earlier and couldn’t train, but felt that he still had to complete the race.

We ran, talked, ate Pringles and Swedish Fish. At mile 19 I saw a few friends and became a little more energized. A few miles later we saw his cheer crew. Eventually I knew my legs need a slightly longer break, a couple of minutes in a lovely porto would work. For the first time in a race 50k or under I did something different. I stopped running completely and went to the loo. I wished my mate a strong finished and proceeded to compose myself and shed a bit of liquid.

The last couple miles were tiring, I was walking anything that felt like an incline. The hill leading up to the Citgo sign was a walking hill for me. At this point I was saving as much steam as I could for the final 1.2 miles. The crowds continued to cheer and motivate runners. I had a few fun and friendly quick conversations with spectators.

Once I made it onto Hereford Street I started to pick up the pace. There was no more walking now, I was only a few minutes from keeping my word on one of the biggest promises that I have ever made. As I left onto Boylston Street and saw the finish lines in the distance I started to get emotional. I wished my mother was able to watch the race, see me finish it, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen. I unzipped my jacket in hopes that the photographers would snap a good photo of my crossing with my tribute shirt to my mother. All race photographers have a goal of catching you mid-moment, I had just finished opening the jacket when they snapped a photo with my arms flailing. Than all of a sudden it was over, years of planning to get here and after a few fun hours of running it was over. It didn’t feel like I had run completed another marathon, well physically it felt like I had run one, painfully smart.

Treating this race like an ultramarathon was my personal key to success. Shoot, I even dressed like I was running an ultra – so many colors, so many brands. I listened very intently to my body, paid attention to my foot turnover and ran my own race. Staying true to my word was another reason why I didn’t let any minor pain deter me from finishing. The Boston Marathon was my slowest marathon, but it is the race that I am most proud of. Thank you Boston for allowing me to run this great race and thank you mom for being my greatest supporter and motivation.

Missing: 11.5 Months!!

Almost a year ago today I was counting down the days until I boarded a flight to Honduras for a spur of the moment style trip. SO much has changed since then. I have crawled in the proverbial hole and am just starting to peak out.

About a week after I returned from my trip I decided to send my mother a photo from my trip that I hadn’t thought about until that moment. Since then I have played back a number of scenarios: What if I had called her 30 minutes earlier, What if I had not sent that photo, What could I have done that would have changed the course of what was to come. A few moments after I sent her the photo I received a response, but it wasn’t from her. My mother was being rushed to the hospital. I froze in front of my computer at work. It was still the middle of the day and I was over 1,000 miles away from her. What in the literal hell was going on and why was this happening?

I tried to calm myself especially seeing as though I was just as paralyzed as she was. It took me a few hours to figure everything out, book a flight, rent a car and finally let my boss know that I had an emergency. I tried my best to remain composed as I commuted home. I barely knew what was going on.

Over time more came to light and she slowly started to recover, but I felt as though I was stuck in very slow moving quick sand. There was hope, a branch jutting out just far enough for me to reach, but when I reached out I could only graze the tree branch with the tips of my fingers.

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On her birthday, just two months after her accident she was laughing and telling stories from the rehab facility that she was in. Just about two weeks after her birthday I watched all that work disappear. Doctors had said that she was ready for another surgery, a surgery that they said should take place six months after her initial accident was now considered ‘safe’ after just two months. I guess we should have taken that with a grain of salt. I am glad that I was there to record her last words, we talked about her mother and my father. I hadn’t thought about it at the time, but my mother lost her mother around the same age.

While I still talk to her everyday I can no longer hold her hand and kiss her forehead the way that she did for me so many times throughout my life. I have tried to come out of the hole I’ve found so much comfort in, but it has been very hard.  This is my first step in making it official, all while carrying my mother with me. Next week I will stand with 30,000 other runners and take on the Boston Marathon course with her tucked in my belt. I had hoped that she could watch the race on tv and cheer for all of the other runners, but unfortunately this will never happen.

Now to keep a smile on my face and do everything possible to make sure I honor her and make her proud of me.

Don’t Miss Honduras!

Let’s get the negative out of the way. Yes, Honduras currently holds the title of being the ‘Most Dangerous Country in the World,’ yet there is much more to the country than one bad mark. Most people have done poorly on a test in school, I feel like that same bad experience is what’s keeping a cloud over the beauty that in Honduras. I only had time to scratch the surface, but with that tiny scratch I encountered so many great things. I was likely as fearful of entering Honduras as I was entering any country before it, it’s almost like crossing a state line at this point. A friend and I trekked through three cities and used San Pedro Sula as our transportation hub.

We hiked behind Pulhapanzak Waterfall

Pulhapanzak Waterfall (Peña Blanca): This was our first stop after we landed in San Pedro Sula. The bus ride to the area was via El Mochito at the San Pedro Sula bus station (we took a cab there from the airport), which is very similar to the dollar vans in NYC or the mini bus service in New Jersey. Vendors hop on and off the bus along the route and you can get fresh agua de coco, fried chicken or platanos. We were planning on using D&D Brewery as a landing place, but that didn’t work out so we just brought our bags to the resort at the waterfall and they watched things for us. Once we got the the park, which is about 15km from Lago Yojoa, we paid our entrance fees and hired a guide. Rafael was our guide and did a great job at getting us down to the waterfall and behind it. My friend can’t swim and was still able to do the waterfall tour. It takes about an hour and is worth the schlep. The bus ride there took about one hour and 45 minutes.

Getting ready to hand feed this lil guy (that I named Chippi)

Copán Ruinas: We got here pretty late at night after a very long taxi ride from San Pedro Sula, seeing as though the last bus to Copán Ruinas leaves around 3:30pm. Thankfully Hotel Brisas de Copán was very welcoming. We did have a reservation, which orginially with Hotel Acropolis across the street, but all the rooms were booked for the two nights that we needed. We proceeded to pass out and got up well after sunrise. We found a great breakfast at Copán Grills not too far from Parque Central. Baleadas, pupusas y licuados, they have a full menu that will fill you up for a great price. We found a tuk-tuk driver, Cesar R., that agreed to take us to the Ruinas, pick us up after and take us to the Canopy Tours location then drop us back off at our hotel for $7. Deal! The ruins are a great morning trip and we hired a guide to tell us about the ruins. There weren’t too many people at the site and there were some beautiful birds in the area. In the early afternoon I did the canopy tour, it’s worth the $45, which includes the bird park. I skipped the bird park, although there was a baby Guarda Barranco at the canopy start point that I helped feed. We spent the rest of the afternoon at a great restaurant and bar, Don Toño’s a few blocks from Parque Central. The owner was completely friendly and it was a great atmosphere.

Sunset over Bahia de Tela

Tela (Bahía de Tela): There are lots of buses towards La Ceiba that stop in Tela from San Pedro Sula. We got to Tela in the early afternoon and paid 60 lempiras for a ride to our hotel, Maya Vista. There are three stops for most buses in Tela and we opted for the second just in case. The hotel is basically the tallest building in Tela since it is at the top of a hill. The bay has great views and you can catch both sunrise and sunset on a clear day, unfortunately we had misty days. Here days are as long and calm as the beachfront. The restaurants close by 9-10pm and the streets are pretty desolate. There are tours that go to Punto Sal y Izopoo, but you need at least six confirmed people in order for the tour to go out so that was out of the question. I think there were maybe a dozen foreigners while we were here. If you are a seafood lover this is the place for you, while folks like me can’t get by on fresh cut coconuts and chicken. Tela was definitely a great place to end a whirlwind trip through Honduras. There are more mosquitos here than I recall encountering in other area. 

There are things that made each stop similar: the overtaking of vehicles on all roadways, vendors selling items on the side of every road, the love of Pepsi. As dangerous as Honduras is said to be I can say that I didn’t feel unsafe, even after seeing a corpse on the side of the road leaving Copán Ruinas. I’m sure there are tons of things I have forgotten, but I can only say that you should, ‘Visit Honduras,’ as it is a country full of beautiful people and places.

Desayuno! Baleada, licuados, pupusa y fajitas.

Getting Married At Burning Man

Those that know me would likely say that, “I am a bit of a free spirit and spontaneous.” I assume I proved them right when I decided to get married at Burning Man and then actually followed through by marrying someone I had never actually met until our wedding day. There are certainly folks that would say that is insane, but I think it was great that way.

I asked potential platonic spouses to fill out an online form. Over a dozen people responded and a group of folks sat down with me at a bar to go through the responses, names/gender were redacted to make this unbiased. The group ended up selecting someone from NYC. A virgin burner who had kick ass responses to questions on the form. Date and time were set and we agreed to meet at Champagne Lounge (who graciously let us use their lounge space for the ceremony and short reception, down the road from my camp, for the ceremony. 

After picking up a fun looking ring and sending Facebook wedding invites to camp mates I figured everything would work its way out. MagicMan would officiate, Dogbrain would walk me down the aisle, Ice Brain was to be my ring gal… It was set. For some odd reason I thought it would be a bright idea to run my first 50K the same day as my first wedding. The few hours between the race and wedding were not pretty. Could I really go through with this after putting my body through five hours of running? As we say at camp, “It’s probably fine.” So when Ice Brain ran over and said someone in a white dress walked by I knew I had to get ready for the big show.

We physically met for the first time just before we were to walk down the aisle. The music started and we were all systems go. It was great! A ton of my camp mates were there to celebrate this unofficial, temporary union. Her mad lib style wedding vows were crowd approved. I received messages from folks after the burn that they stopped by my wedding, but didn’t get the chance to catch me after.

We spent a little time wandering streets and chatting. She went with me for my post 50K massage. On my birthday there was a balloon and a flask labeled, “Birthday Bourbon. -Your Wife,” waiting for me at my camp bar on my birthday. I definitely found a winner! My camp loved her and if she’s back for 2014 she’s definitely found a home with us.

Would I do it again? I’m not sure. It takes a lot to coordinate something like this on playa, especially since everyone operates on ‘Playa Time.’ Overall the experience was a win. I wish I had spent a lil less time sleeping and a lil more time hanging out and exploring with her, but it was still all smiles in my book. So the platonic marriage to a perfect stranger turned into meeting a superb being that I definitely need to schedule a date with.

My 1st 50K & Burning Man Ramblings

Oh gosh!!! It’s been far to long and updates are definitely in order, (this is now a moot point as I have skipped this post and am now backtracking) especially on the running front as that is what has become of my life (I believe this still holds true). I forgot how much I missed running until it became my evening routine after being tucked away for over a decade.

As usual I made my way to Burning Man, I love that place and I can’t think of many other places I would enjoy returning to for almost two weeks annually. This year I decided to do two things while I was there:

1. Run the 4th Burning Man Ultramarathon, it’s a 50k.
2. Get married.

Both of these were things I haven’t done before and they were also among the infinite number of things I knew I could do on the playa. For some strange reason I also thought it would be a great idea to do both of these on the same day. I would later regret that, well my body regretted it. Mentally, I am glad that I followed through on both!

The ultramarathon was great. A couple things to note:

• Cherri Bomb is the Race Director
• You get to run beside some kickass runners
• It’s free! Instead you are asked to bring a gallon of water & a shareable snack/fuel
• Cool 5am start
• It’s a looped course – four loops and an out and back
• It gets hot
• Clothing is optional
• You need to acquire a ticket to Burning Man
• It’s Ah-May-Zing! (Don’t believe me, watch this video)

I planned to use this race as a long training run while prepping for my first marathon.  I barely made it to the start on time because I love sleep. Upon arrival I jumped in for the group photo before hearing that there was only two minutes until the start. DAMMIT. I needed to pee, badly. Start on time and hold it as long as possible or use the potty and tack the time on my run? I’m a Virgo, I stood among my fellow Burners and started at the sound of the …. I don’t remember what was used, it wasn’t a gun. Right?

Into the darkness we went for almost two hours, which is when the center of the solar system decides to rise above the mountains and naturally light the city that me and my camp light every night. Although the course is looped you do not see the same thing each time since you are at Burning Man and people, art cars/mutant vehicles and parties roam around day and night. As the sun beat down during the fourth loop I remember just wanting to finish. I hadn’t run more than 23 or so miles and I tired. Hours ticked by. I sorta forgot about my bladder. A few of my campmates knew I was running and it was nice to see them on the course as they were doing morning lantern pickup. Eventually the out and back came, I was pushing it as best as I could. There it was, the finish line. Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle. I was done. I finished my first 50k in 5:15:23, fourth female finisher and 21st overall, not shabby.

A friend, whom I met on the playa two years earlier, met me at the finish and let me sit on his bike as he pushed it back to my camp. Upon entering camp I was greeted by, “How was the run?,” to which I promptly responded that, “Dumbest idea ever.” (I’ve since forgotten the pain and plan on running it again.) Other than tired legs, one toenail felt like it was in bad shape. Thanks to one of our awesome doctors, Dr. Tink, I was bandaged and ready to go.

I should note that I forgot my running gear on the East Coast so I resorted to wearing new gear, it worked out, kinda. I ran in an old pair of Nike Shocks, shoes that I wore for three weeks while cleaning homes in Staten Island and Far Rockaway following Hurricane Sandy. The pain of wearing those shoes for 50 dusty kilometers was worth it.

I was slated to be married three hours later. TBC

Steamtown Marathon, I Love You!

Just over six months ago I decided I needed to start base training for the Honolulu Marathon that I registered for in January. I told myself I wanted to Boston Qualify this year as well, 3:35:00 or better for my age group. As a reference point, there are lots of people that spend years trying to run a time that qualifies them for Boston. I, on the other hand, hoped to do so on my first try and with one official race completed since my high school track days, a half marathon on mostly treadmill running. This is going to go well, right? Well somewhere over the last six months I found out about this amazingly beautiful race in Scranton, PA. I registered and found myself trying to stick to a schedule I drew up on my own. It wasn’t perfect, but I enjoyed it.

Fast forward to October 13th! Two friends and I parked in a garage around the corner from the bus loading area and got ready to run the Steamtown Marathon. Since this is a point to point race we all get dropped off in Forest City, PA and then run back to Scranton, PA. Sounds like fun? It is! The ride up was pretty calm, the sun had just started to rise and I was able to get a few minutes of sleep in. The men/women bathroom designations at the start worked well, we did have a guy in the women’s line – we let him use the women’s portos even though he somehow didn’t notice he was the only male in the line. It was nice to have an indoor place to wait and the messages from the students were a nice to see. Two bathroom trips later I made it to my corral/area that had a 8min/mi pace sign held up while taking my first gel.

There was a misfire of the traditional cannon start so runners started out with the gun blast. Three seconds later the cannon went off followed by cheers as runners crossed the starting mats. Miles 1-6… From what I recall they were great. The first half mile was pretty flat and the pace moved nicely, the downhill when you turn on Dundaff St. is very steep! I shuffled down it and turned right onto Main St. There are some early birds out there to cheer and it’s nice to know that the residents support 2,000+ runners making their way through the area at 8am. I don’t wear a fancy watch and I tend to forget to hit lap at mile markers, so I just did the math in my head at each mile marker. Thank you to all the runners around me with fancy watches that beeped and rang out as we approached each mile marker. I did use Map My Run on my phone so that I could see my stats later. 7:21 – 8:00 – 7:56 – 7:16 – 7:18 – 7:22

Miles 7-15 were equally as nice. I followed the advice of a friend, almost, and just enjoyed the run. I looked around, read signs, smiled and said ‘Good Morning’ to spectators. I believe I gave out about 12 high-5’s by this point. I made an effort to high-5 anyone the had a hand out or an ‘ Official High-5 Station’ sign, even when it meant darting to the other side of the street. Thank you to everyone lining the streets here: Carondale, Archbald and Jermyn. The scenery was gorgeous!! The support was fantastic and I breezed past the 13.1 mile clock at 1:41:11. At this point I had a few minutes banked, but I was feeling great and the best felt perfect with little effort. I took a gel at mile 8 and just after 13.1. The trails began just before mile 15 and they were lovely. The major elevation drop ends around this point as well. 7:54 – 7:17 – 7:46 – 7:33 – 7:38 – 7:39 7:53 – 7:43 – 7:51

Miles 16-23 included more trains and a loop in the park. I was on cruise control at this point and simply read signs and did pace/goal time math. I began to think that not only would I run a Boston qualifying time, but I may be able to run a sub-3:30. I told myself not to get ahead of myself and reassess my goal. Just as you exit the park there is a little wooden bridge that takes you over to the last of the trail section. Enjoy it!! I personally found it very enjoyable and not hard to manage. I took my final gel around mile 20. I think there was a little hill at mile 23, I’d compare it to one of the lower loop rollers in Central Park. I did the math at mile 23. I had 6.5 minutes banked if I wanted to hit 3:33 . I could run 10 minute mile pace at this point and reach my goal and rather than risk blowing out on the major hill that was yet to come I decided to start pulling back. I was around 2:58 with 5k to go. 7:47 – 7:47 – 7:47 – 7:56 – 7:53 – 7:52 – 8:01 – 8:12

Miles 24-26.2  is where the FUN begins in this race. Yes, they are kind enough to put a couple nice hills at the end of the race. I was very nervous about these hills going into the race and asked a few people at the expo about them. I tend to run Harlem Hill in Central Park and thought they would be a lot worse, thankfully they weren’t for the most part. The major hill is the one around mile 24.3. It’s a bit steep and a has a little curve at the end where it hides a little extra. I simply leaned forward a bit, shortened by stride and powered up the sucker. Sorry for the lack of smiles there, minus a smile and wave at the hospital patients I saw just before the right turn. It reminded me of Cat Hill in Central Park. More running, the support dies out a bit around here, everyone is on the last hill and at the finish minus the beer guy at mile 25, you are awesome, my friend. I told you I was coming back for that beer, I ended up asking a friend to grab one for me! Two ‘hills down’ and one to go is what I thought. I was greeted by my friend shouting at me. I love that kinda stuff!! ‘One little hill after the light, Espinoza, you’re almost done!!’ Trudging up to the top of the hill wasn’t effortless, it was a bit long, but once I reached the stoplight at the top I could see the finish line. YES!!!! I definitely had a sub-3:30 in the bag. I picked up the  pace a little, not a powerful finish by any means, but I was happy. Stopped my watch, 3:28:11! (It matched my chip time perfectly) ::Happy dance commences:: 8:17 – 8:13 – 8:13 – I forgot to stop my phone so it’s a little off, around 8:00

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If you are going to run this race, get some hill training in, get some downhill training in and get some off-road running in if you can (nothing too crazy required). There’s no need for gloves, thermals, etc. at the start, IMHO. You’re body should warm up pretty quickly and by the halfway point the temperature should be ideal.

Overall I loved the race. The organization was great. They should definitely host a conference on ‘How to Plan and Execute A Great Marathon.’ The food at the finish was top notch. I love perogies! I love my medal! I was happy with my massage by Grace in the court house lobby. The shirts were a nice touch. The volunteers were very helpful and remembered faces, a great thing! If you are a looking for  a race that makes you feel like an elite and support from perfect strangers then definitely register for the 2014 Steamtown Marathon. I can’t gush about it enough, meaning I’ve probably forgotten about 300 great things I have been thinking about the race over the past 48 hours. I love you, Steamtown Marathon!

Ultramarathon & Marathon Training During Ramadan

It’s not hard. (إن شاء الله) Well I should say it’s not impossible, but it’s certainly not easy. When presented with the most recent heatwave in NYC I was left with to options, run in the heat or not train at all. (I’m not a fan of treadmill running now that I’ve started a serious relationship with outdoor running, so that was not an option.) Over the past couple weeks I have made it a priority to run at least four times a week, even logging over 16 miles on a Sunday run.

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Going into this training season I hadn’t planned to run an ultramarathon at the end of August. It just happened. Really. I did know that I would need to log miles during Ramadan in order to hit my marathon training goals. So then this ultra moseys onto my schedule and there’s no turning back. I haven’t even run a marathon yet. I keep telling myself if I can run 30-40 miles a week in the heat and without hydration I can deal with a flat ultramarathon course with a cool start and a couple hours of running in the heat with hydration.

My ultimate goal is to finish the 50k, but I have an ambitious 4:59:59 or better goal time tucked away in the back of my mind. I was under the impression that I could hit my goal time on some of my longer runs, but I’ve found it hard to hold a slow pac, even on long runs. Last weekend I completed my run at a sub-9 min ave pace of 16.55 miles (if you don’t count the 5 minutes of water breaks, traffic lights and figuring out where we were). I believe the cooler, evening conditions aided in keeping a slightly faster, conversational pace with my fellow running buddies. My goal finishing pace is 9:39 or so for the 50k. I’m hoping that I can complete my 20 mile run this weekend at that pace, but if I stay in the low nine minute range I may be in for a surprise on race day.

I feel like I’m in a grove at this point. My weeknight runs have been at 7:50-8:40 mile averages. I don’t feel drained as much, which I can likely attribute to sitting in the air conditioning for a few minutes after runs to lower my core temperature.

Some of the things that have worked for me during Ramadan race training include:

• Listening to my body instead of trying to hit specific paces
• Not wasting energy by making unnecessary movements
• Wearing breathable clothing
• Not running more than than 6-7 miles (approx. 10-11k)
• Starting runs within two hours of sunset
• Having at least a .5 litre bottle of cold water nearby when the sun does set
• Starting long runs close to sunset

Every mile during my runs I try to do a tune-up check on my body. I think about my form, my breathing, any tension in my body and how my body feels overall. I feel like this has definitely helped keep me on track and keep my mind off of the fact that I cannot rehydrate like many of my fellow runners post-run. Two more weeks to appreciate the simple things like a sip of cold water after putting a hard workout.

3 Running PRs!! (And the Brooklyn Half Recap)

Well I guess the title is a little deceiving since two of my personal records are in races that I’ve run for the first time ever, but you’ve gotta start somewhere! Right? [This will likely be a long post]

After completing my first half marathon in April 2012 I told myself I’d stick to shorter distances and casual running. In the end I didn’t put much effort into running and crossed it off my calendar by December, then I registered for the Honolulu Marathon. With an ambitious goal of 3:35:00 I told myself I’d start running again to build a base in March and planned my first 5k for early April 2013. This is where the PRs started.

PR #1 – JFK Runway 5K Run (April 2013)

My goal time for this race was 25:00, factoring in the fact that I had only been back in my running shoes for three weeks, I thought it was a reasonable goal time. The course was flat and the weather was cool. The only con was the headwind that decided to pick. The entire start/finish set-up, including the clock, toppled a few minutes before the start.

Look at that kid go!

The run was nice and there weren’t too many people. I ended up finishing in 24:36, just ahead of the 9 year old that I spotted picking up speed beside me. In addition to surpassing my goal and getting to run on an active runway legally, I finished in the top 100 which was an added perk.

 

 

PR #2 – Newport 10000 (May 2013)

I read up a bit on this course and two factors in choosing to register for this race were the location and the elevation. The course was practically flat, with one small hill just before mile two. I didn’t think the turns would be much of an issue and was looking forward to the run along the boardwalk, with views on Manhattan.

Race Day arrived and the weather did not want to work with the runners. I believe the forecast mentioned a 90% chance of rain in the morning. The rain was cooling, but the puddles that it created made a world of difference when trying to avoid potholes on this road race.The turns ended up being a slight problem only due to the fact that some were very sharp and people needed to flush themselves together along them, lest you opt for wide turns during the race.With a sub-50 goal in mind I pounded along each mile, hoping that the rain and turns weren’t hurting my times too much.

I was a little nervous when I made it to the boardwalk since it was wet and potentially slippery, at least in my head. Once I passed the mile 6 marker I knew I was basically home free. As I made the final turn a friend who had finished the race already shouted my name and ran along the side as I crossed the finish. Once chip times were posted I was a little happier, 48:49. Another friend crossed shortly after, 52:XX, on his first 10K as well. That deserves celebration!!

PR #3 – Brooklyn Half (May 2013)

The race that I didn’t plan on running had me in mind. After some very mild coaxing I decided to run the Brooklyn Half. My goal time for a half is 1:40:00, but my only goal for Brooklyn was to finish (and hopefully PR). Although I hadn’t completed any runs longer than 8-9 miles I was assured by friends that my weekly mileage would easily carry me over the finish line.

                 Brooklyn Half Moments

Thankfully a friend let me stay at her place on Grand Army Plaza, so I slept in and wandered out just after 7am with no bags to check. The corrals were filling up quite nicely by that point and the first wave had already started. I got to watch a couple speedy friends zip by the library as I walked to my corral. By the time I crossed the start line 33 minutes had elapsed. I started picking off runners early since I started in a slower corral (no offense peeps). I had also never run Prospect Park and received mixed reviews on the ‘hill’ in the park. I tried to take it a little easier until I hit the hill, just in case it turned out to feel like Harlem Hill. The hill around mile 5 wasn’t bad at all. It was a little like Cat Hill in Central Park, maybe a slightly higher grade. The downhill for the next mile was great, it was my best split (7:24).

After leaving the park I cruised, sipping a few ounces of water at each station. I made sure my legs felt fine and I didn’t feel tired after each mile marker. I did munch on jelly beans intermittently throughout the race and they kept me energized. Near mile 9 a dog ran by. He ended up crossing the finish line as well. At mile 10 I realized how good I still felt, and time was still on my side. Somewhere after mile 11 you run out of lettered streets which only means one thing: you are getting close to the finish.

The only gripe I had was the extreme narrowness of the boardwalk entrance. It would be nice if they could somehow widen it for runners. Once on the boardwalk you only have a few hundred feet to go so you have to go all out. In all it was a great run, I did PR by about 7.5 minutes (1:46:32)!!! I know I have a 1:40:00 waiting to be chipped away, but ultra/marathon training has commenced.

This year has definitely kicked off on the right foot and I’m excited for the races I have scheduled for the second half of the year.