I did it. I officially signed up for the Erie Marathon at Presque Isle in Pennsylvania. Race day is Sept 11th and it will be a qualifier for Boston – 2023 and 2024! I’m going for the 2024 qualification because my qualifying time will be 4:05 in 2024 vs 3:55 in 2023. I have run that marathon 4 times before. It’s a good race but the last time I ran it the weather was humid and I had a tough race. Here’s hoping it will be a great race day!! After signing up I went over to Dave’s Running Shop to get my supplies 🙂 I should be all set now!

Here’s how the rest of my week went: 40 miles running, 52 mile biking. There was a lot going on this week…
Mon – 5 miles, with 6 x 10 sec sprints (20 seconds rest). This run had sprints after a 3 mile warm up and then more easy miles. You’d think I’d be kicking out some sub 7 min sprints in there, but sadly my sprints were 8:07, 8:42, 7:23, 8:02, 8:50 (??) and 7:38. To put this in perspective, I hope to run a 9:0x avg for the fall marathon and have run a half marathon recently with 8:25 avg pace! Oof. So yeah, these sprints were not so stellar. I’m not so speedy at the short stuff!


Work related – we had a fun little party for Christmas in July! A key part of our party was raising money for the Christmas fund we use to donate gifts to a family in need. We bought tickets to dunk our coworkers (mostly bosses!) in the dunk tank! I had 3 shots – didn’t get my boss on my first two tries, but I did dunk a guy who has been requesting a lot of changes in his software program LOL! (I’m a computer programmer…) Sweet revenge.


Tues – 9.5 miles, tempo run! I had to make a decision on this one. It was a time based workout, which included 10 mins WU and 10 mins CD, and the workout was 10 x 4 mins zone 3 and 3 mins easy. So … 90 mins. But the plan also said around 8 miles. I decided to run this just by time and ended up at 9 miles as I finished my last speed set! Seeing as how I had to get to work, I finished up with 9.5 miles and got ready for work quick (20 mins!). This week I have to be in office all week. Life is hard. BUT, my goal was between 8:20-8:30 for the “on” sets, and I got 9 out of 10 of them! It sure helped that the temp was 60 degrees. Yahoo!


Ladies Ride Night! It was a shorter ride tonight (14 miles) and we enjoyed delicious pizza afterwards. The group had its largest attendance (60 riders) and we split into 3 groups. My husband’s group ride was his fasted ride yet – 22.5 avg for 28 miles. Dang! My ride was a social one, around 16 mph. Social hour followed and we stayed until close 🙂


Weds – Cycling, 25 miles. Windsday group ride! As always, this was a challenging ride. Even though it didn’t seem windy, the headwind had an impact on the group for the first 9 miles. By the time I almost had my turn to pull the group, I had to drop back because I was exhausted. I thought of leaving the group and cutting the ride short at that point, but once we turned out of the wind, the ride was awesome. We went from an avg speed of 18.5 mph to 21. I saw 24 mph when I pulled, and our fastest group speed was 26.7 mph. Woohoo! Good times.

Thurs – 7 easy miles. Easy miles will vary based on the day for sure. The temp was back up to 70 degrees with 90% humidity. It was a sweaty one! I have noticed the mornings are darker each time I get up early. Whomp whomp. So sad to see the days get shorter!

Fri – 2 easy miles. When I saw it was 63 degrees outside I had to get just a couple of miles in! Then we headed to Put-In-Bay. It was the perfect day for riding around on a golf cart and playing mini golf.


Sat – 17 miles long run. This run had 12 miles of race pace in the middle. I’m glad it was cooler out! My original route was in the full sun so I changed it up to be in the shade for most of it. The pace miles weren’t “easy”, but I got it done.


13 miles biking – My daughter and I went on an evening bike ride to an ice cream stand. I only rode 227 miles in July, compared to the 500 I had hoped to ride, but it’s all good!

Need some more inspiration? I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Check out all of the fun blogs there!
Sun – I woke up feeling like I was hit by a truck! My husband and I got our 2nd dose of Shingrix (shingles vaccine) yesterday. I had chills last night and couldn’t get out of bed until 10am this morning. Ugh! It’s probably just a 24 reaction so I’m planning on getting outside for a bike ride or something later today. I can’t pass up the beautiful day!
Q: Has the weather been good around your area this week?
Q: Do you like Dole Whip?
I’ve been trying out all of the flavors this year. Orange and coconut have been my favorites!
I struggle with short speed- but I wonder if that interval was so short that your Garmin didn’t really have a chance to ‘catch up’? Clearly your tempo run shows you can run faster!
Good luck at Eerie- its coming up quickly! Glad you stocked up on all the supplies 🙂
It’s funny, I have purposely not even marked my training as “week x of 16” because I don’t want to know how soon it is!! 😬
You are probably correct, Garmin wouldn’t be completely accurate on such small bursts. I didn’t think of that!
wow a September marathon sounds hot! If anyone can power through it’s you. And here I was complaining about having to train in the heat for my half. LOL The shingles vaccine hit me the 2nd time too for a day and then totally fine. Have a great week!
For 3 of the years that I ran Erie the weather was decent. I think being next to the water (it’s on a peninsula) helps. I do have a Plan B in mind in case race day is not ideal… like when the Glass City marathon was too hot!
I wish we had group rides here. Our town isn’t very big, though, so we’d have to ride in circles or do the hilly bike path (and that’s not really a social ride because of the hills). The Shingles vax did a nasty number on me (as did all of the Covid shots, too). Thankfully, all of those after effects lasted less than 24 hours, but UGH.
Most of our group rides are among the cornfields, but that’s perfect because of less traffic! I did bounce right back after 24 hours post Shingrix shot. Phew!!!
Other than the Shingles vaccine, sounds like a great week of training for you! Along with some fun stuff.
Wow, 9/11 is so close . .
Shhhhh! We are not thinking about how close the marathon is. 😂
I agree with Jessie- I think it’s possible your speed intervals were so short, your Garmin didn’t read them correctly. having said that, I feel like I have NO fast twitch muscles fibers, so I definitely hear you.
Sounds like you had a great week of training, and I’m excited for your marathon! Yes, we have to start hoping for good weather. It sounds like the BQ is definitely within your grasp.
Hope you’re feeling better by now. I really need to get the shingles vax… good to know I need to plan a day of rest in there.
It’s so weird how vaccines kick your butt for just a short period of time. My husband only had a bit of tiredness and the sore arm though. I felt dizzy when I tried to get out of bed. Odd!
You had some great workouts last week, Lisa. And yay for registering for the Erie Marathon!
Oh yeah, that second Shingrix shot is a doozy and knocked us both flat as well. I hope you recovered quickly enough and were able to get outside for your bike ride this afternoon.
Debbie @ Deb Runs recently posted…Weekly RunDown: July 24 – 30 / A Last Minute Training Plan
I did get back into the swing of things by noon. It was like a switch was flipped and I was just fine. So odd!
Congrats on committing to the Erie Marathon. I hope you make your goal of 4:05. I have no doubt you will!
I never got the second Shingrix vaccine. The first one knocked me flat on my back and then flared my RA for a few months. Not worth it–even my rheumatologist told me I could skip it. I’m pro-vaccine but that was a bit much!
I appreciate your positivity! 🙂 I do have my doubts, but it’s a process, so if this race doesn’t get it, I’ll have a whole year to keep trying!
That sounds bad about your vaccine reaction. What an unpleasant surprise!
Glad you’re feeling better. I remember my arm being very sore.
Wow. A Sept marathon. Good for you.
Look forward to following your training.
Biking to an ice cream stand. You’re speaking my language lol.
We are blessed with so many ice cream stands nearby!! 🙂 it’s my summer favorite.
I love the Christmas in July theme – it’s always so much fun!
Congrats on signing up for the marathon! Fingers crossed that it will be a great weather day for race.
I was super happy to have been able to dunk someone in the tank. Some people were not so lucky (or skilled maybe?).
All the best with your training for Erie! So exciting! Hopefully the weather will cooperate this year. Love that you loaded up on supplies! A ride to an ice cream shop sounds pretty perfect! Our fave frozen custard place got Dole Whips this year but I have yet to try.
We had some mornings in the 50s last week that were divine for running. This week it’s heating up again.
I’m a huge fan of chocolate and ice cream, but those fruity Dole Whip flavors are perfect when it’s so freaking hot out!
The weather has been straight up miserable. I hate it.
I like Dole Whips, but I prefer things with chocolate.
So exciting about your marathon! You’re going to do so great!
I don’t envy Florida weather. My hair would not like the humidity there one bit! You do manage to stay very active despite the weather you get. Good for you!
I think I’m better at shorter and speedier. I tend to struggle with longer events. I’m not built for endurance I don’t think.
It has not been nice in my area haha. It’s super hot! I can’t wait for fall. I’m counting down the weeks.
Montana @ Pretty Lil Mudder recently posted…South Carolina Spartan Super Race Recap
Even though I love it being daylight by 5:30am in the summer, I’m about ready to move on to fall. I’m getting so excited about enjoying the football games and my son’s senior year at high school!
Good luck on your BQ attempt. Sounds like you know the course well. I wish we had group bikes around here. I don’t ride much but would be more motivated with others. Looks like you had a great week. And dole whip, oh my yes. A favorite of ours.
I do know every turn of the Erie marathon! What was odd was that they ran the course the opposite direction the last year I ran it. It was a whole new course!! 🤣