Disclaimer: I received a free entry to the Buffalo Half Marathon as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!
Before I recap my week of training, I want to give a HUGE thank you to everyone who congratulated me on my 2:11:08 performance at the Love Run Half Marathon. It was a very emotional experience and I’m still on cloud nine! Your positive comments and well wishes mean the world to me.
Now, I’m keeping up the momentum and looking forward to the next big race – the Buffalo Half Marathon! I’ve heard such great things about this race and it’ll be here before I know it! I’ll be sharing my training over the next several weeks and I hope you enjoy following my progress along the way!
I’m joining Courtney of Eat Pray Run DC for her Weekly Training Recap linkup and HoHo and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap! These are great ways to keep accountable and share your workouts with fellow runners!
[bctt tweet=”Training for the @buffalomarathon half in May! Find out why you should too! #bibravepro #runchat” username=”Janelle_RWNR”]
Weekly Wrap: Buffalo Half Marathon Training
I’m very excited to be moving into my next phase of spring training for the Buffalo Half Marathon coming up on May 28, 2017! This will be my first distance race in the Queen City and a particularly special race because it’s in my hometown of Buffalo, New York! Believe it or not, I’ve never run a race of this magnitude in Buffalo. The closest I’ve done is a year of high school track and that was a LONG time ago!
I will continue to work with Coach Laura who has already kicked off my training plan for this race. I’m SO excited to see how things go since I’m still riding the high of my 2:11 half marathon at the Love Run!
The Buffalo Marathon Weekend features the 5K and mini half marathon for kids on Saturday and the half marathon and full marathon on Sunday, so there’s something for everyone! Here’s more detail for the half marathon:
The half marathon will start with the full marathon, the course is relatively flat and fast with great volunteer support and a scenic view of downtown’s waterfront and its major landmarks. The course has been designed for our athletes to enjoy views of Lake Erie, LaSalle Park, First Niagara Center Home of the Buffalo Sabres, Forest Lawn Cemetery, parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and many other Buffalo highlights.
The weekend will also include a pasta party on Saturday night for $20 registration. I have to admit – it’s tempting to sign up, but I’m probably going to have some of our famous pizza the night before the race! I still think that Buffalo has some of THE best food around!
The course looks great – I’ll be running pretty close to my elementary and high schools, so I know that I’ll be extremely sentimental along the way. I’m looking forward to running around the marina, but I’m almost jealous of the full marathoners because they get to run through Delaware Park! The race starts at 6:30 in the morning, so I’m hoping for some great running weather!
If you’re a bling chaser, the Buffalo Marathon has had some fantastic finisher medals over the years!
Did you see these yet? #runbuffalo #buffalomarathon #bibchat #welikechickenwings pic.twitter.com/WaqYobukGU
— Buffalo Marathon (@BuffaloMarathon) March 27, 2017
And if you’re tired of boring T-shirt for a half marathon, Buffalo’s got you covered! The zip up looks great and I love the red, white, and blue!
In addition to sharing my training recaps each week, I’ll be promoting the Buffalo Half Marathon with my fellow BibRave Pros on social media. If you’re interested in running in Buffalo, you can get $5 off the half marathon or marathon using discount code: 2017-BibRave-JJ! Spread the word to your runner friends from Western New York!
Workouts for the Week:
Monday 3/27: Rest day! My calves, quads, and hips were feeling pretty tight after the Love Run Half Marathon!
Tuesday 3/28: Yoga class with the crew after work. As always it was challenging but I made sure not to overdo it, especially when practicing the crow and shoulder stand poses. My quads got a lot of attention!
Wednesday 3/29: Traveling to Kansas City for the NSBE convention! The first day was pretty low-key but I did take a while around the neighborhood near my hotel.
Thursday 3/30: Another full day at the conference, meaning lots of walking!
Friday 3/31: My first run since the Love Run! It was a very relaxing run, a little under 3 miles with some walking intervals with my friend who’s training for a sprint triathlon. It was nice to run through downtown KC.
Saturday 4/1: 5 miles in the evening after a busy day at the conference. I ran to the Penn Valley Park and checked out the Liberty monument at the World War I museum. I encountered a few hills along the way and spotted some bunnies! I finished up by running through the city and over a couple of bridges to finish my mileage.
Sunday 4/2: Traveling back to Philly. I could have done a quick workout in the gym before checking out, but I just wasn’t feeling up to it!
Week 1 Report Card
This past week was very laid back and I took advantage of it! It was great to have so many rest days and fully recover from the Love Run half marathon. I’m really pleased with Saturday’s long run – I took it nice and easy and didn’t have any shin or knee issues. While I didn’t make it to barre class due to traveling, I’m going to give Week 1 an A-. The hard work is yet to begin, but I’m glad to keep working towards this new goal, especially seeing that I have a lot more to give on the course!
When did you run your first race in your hometown?
I love that gear for the race! I can’t even remember the first time I ran a race here…
I have to admit I’m excited for the zip-up!
The gear and the medal for the half marathon look awesome! It’s pretty cool that you will be running by your old school during the race 🙂
I’ll be super sentimental I’m sure! I’m really excited!
That looks like a cool race. I didn’t know you were from Buffalo?
I am originally from LI and there is a Diva race in my hometown – maybe someday.
Yep, born and raised in Buffalo, NY! But I’ve been in Philly for so long…it’s become my home. I haven’t done a Diva race but I’ve heard great things.
This sounds like it’ll be fun. Super excited to see you build on your success of a couple of weekends ago!
I’m really looking forward to it! I still have to figure out my goal for the race…
Those jackets look great! I never did a race in Boston, but the marathon course goes right by my high school athletic fields. I always love seeing those when I’m watching the marathon.
I would love to watch the Boston Marathon one day because I’m pretty sure I’ll never be able to run it haha!
You deserved the rest after a great race! Nice that you still stayed active too.
Thanks! It was definitely nice to get a little break 🙂
Sounds like a great race! I finally returned to my hometown of Duluth MN after 25 years to do the Grandmas marathon!
Well, I’ve never actually raced in my hometown (Pougkeepsie) — although naturally Darlene has! I have run there. Quite a bit over the last few years. Always in the same places.
My second half was in Austin, where we lived for 17 years. And it was a blast.
I’ve been to Buffalo a couple of times — on the way to Niagara, to visit a friend — can’t say as I remember the food.
Those are some cool looking medals! Obviously, I’d go for the pizza too now. 🙂
Oh I know I’m biased, but Buffalo has some great food! We’re best known for our wings (we just call them hot wings, not Buffalo wings LOL) and our pizza is unlike anywhere else!
I’ve never been to Poughkeepsie (so hard to spell!) or Austin – I’ve great things about Austin, I’ll need to make my way there for a run!
Those are indeed great medals and shirt for the race. I hope to do a race in my hometown too, to make running extra special. Although I know that 120 F might kill me 🙂
120 degrees, I can’t even imagine!! LOL
Hopefully you will have good weather during the half marathon in Buffalo. I have family that live up there. It seems to always be cold every time I go to visit. I like those half zips for the race. So much better than t-shirts. I have so many so it’s nice when races offer something different.
I think last year, they had record heat for the Buffalo marathon! Knowing my luck it’ll be freezing cold LOL – you just never know with Buffalo!
I love race T-shirts but the collection is getting a little over the top lol!
Thats exciting that you are starting to train again! It sounds like it will be a fun race with a nice medal and shirt. Great job this week!
I would LOVE to run a race that starts at 6:30am, especially that time of year! Nice job getting in a great week even as you recovered from your half!
You deserved some rest after your incredible performance at the Love Half! I’d still be on cloud nine too! The first local race I participated in was our Jingle Bell 5k . I thought it was the hardest thing I ever did. LOL. The Buffalo race sounds like a good one. The previous medals are nice too! Good luck as you train. Thanks for linking, Janelle!
Hmmmm, I live right across the border (kinda), I’ll look into this race!
That’s a fun medal! I actually ran my first half marathon here in Boston then I started traveling 😉