February Ultimate Coffee Date!

This is my first time linking up with Deb and Coco for their monthly Ultimate Coffee Date. This link-up is a bit more personal, a bit more random…

Here goes!

If we were having coffee together, mine would probably be a non-fat latte.

That’s usually my coffee order of choice! I don’t like a lot of sugar or sweetener, just coffee or espresso with some sort of a milk. I’m also a fan of a misto (coffee with steamed milk). When I make a latte at home, I use oat milk only because that’s what we have in our fridge, but I’m not too picky with what kind, whole milk is a nice treat sometimes! I don’t mind tea, but I am more of a ‘sleepy time’ tea drinker, i.e. a mug before bed.

So now that you know what I’m drinking for our coffee date, here’s what’s on my mind this week…

It was a stressful week…
I usually keep this blog a bit more fitness-focused, but sometimes other parts of life inevitably make their way in.

A bit of background- my mom has a few underlying health conditions and has had a lot of health scares over the past few years; this past week was a significant one.

She had undergone surgery to remove a malignant tumor from her throat (plus her lymph nodes); she was released post-surgery (still with a feeding tube and drains on her throat), but ended up being rushed back to the hospital in an ambulance the next day due to confusion (which ended up being caused by an infection) + an array of other complications from the surgery.

It was a very scary couple of days while we waited for her to get transferred from her local hospital to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (where she had the original surgery.) Visitors were limited, of course. My dad was there, and one of my sisters was there (as much as she could be, with changing visitor policies due to Covid), but it was a lot of waiting for the rest of us to get text updates plus a lot of worry. The ICU, a ventilator, and the loss of the ability to communicate – my poor mom.

I would be remiss not to state that there were no beds in the ICU originally because of all of the Covid patients.

Please get vaccinated. Full stop.

There are so many downstream repercussions when you don’t. I am so grateful she finally could transferred to the University to get the care she needed, but I have heard too many stories where that is not the case and life-saving procedures are unable to be provided. Heartbreaking.

She is stable now and is recovering, which is a huge relief, but it will be a long road. Please keep her in your thoughts.

Here’s a blast from the past picture of my mom with her FIVE daughters (that’s me in the stroller!) She’s an amazing mom.

On to something lighter…
Once I got that off my chest at our coffee date, I’d probably want to keep things a little lighter, you know? That topic was a heavy lead but I don’t want that to be the only thing we catch up on.

Maybe we should pivot to a fitness discussion….

Let’s see…I’m proud of myself for completing the 4-Week Crush Your Core challenge on the Peloton app with Emma Lovewell. I did at least 10 minutes of core work every day for 4 weeks (even the day I ran the Baton Rouge marathon.) Usually I took Emma’s core classes from the program, but sometimes I’d mix in other instructors too. I can’t see any real visible differences, but I feel stronger. Daily core work was a good habit to get into. I hope to continue with it as best I can going forward!

Let’s talk about some new winter running gear, shall we?

I recently purchased the Down for it All Jacket from Lululemon (some colors are currently marked down!) per a recommendation from fellow blogger The Runner’s Plate, and it is SO warm. Almost too warm!

Honestly, I didn’t need to wear more than a thin long sleeve under it for 13.1 miles in 5 degree “feels like -5” temperatures last Saturday. There is a vest version of this jacket as well that I have been eying up. The Runner’s Plate lives in Alaska, so she probably knows a thing or two about winter running!

I also love the Altitude Athleta Polartec tights. They are very cozy/soft on the inside, but still functional for a long run. My new favorite winter running tights! (pictured above as well as below.)

Any new favorite winter running items for you? Please share!

The 2022 Boston Marathon
Finally, as my friend, you might be wondering how/when I qualified for the Boston Marathon. Great question!

Technically my 3:37:54 finish time from the Indianapolis Marathon in 2019 was still within the window to qualify for the 2022 race. Usually the window is 18 months, but due to Covid, it was extended a bit.

The qualifying time for me (a 40 year-old female) is sub-3:40.

What matters is the age you are when you run the Boston marathon (I’ll be 40), not the age you were when you qualified (I was 38). I hope that helps clear things up!

When I submitted my time, I honestly didn’t think the 2 minutes 6 seconds under 3:40 would be enough, considering the buffer for 2021 was over 7 minutes! Yet, surprisingly for the 2022 Boston race, ANYONE with a qualifying time got in, i.e. the buffer was 0:00 for the first time in years!

It’s true that running Boston again doesn’t help me with my 50-state goal (I ran Boston in 2017, so I already checked Massachusetts off the list), but we don’t have a ‘next state’ planned yet, so I don’t mind tossing in another Boston for fun.

I am excited to pick out a fun one after Boston though for my 40th marathon (Boston is #39.)

Dustin has run Boston three times; I was able to be his cheer squad two of those times (the other time, we were both running it); he actually encouraged me to register as he wanted to be the spectator this time! He went to high school (Tabor Academy) and undergrad (Tufts University) in Boston and always loves to have another reason to visit.

There is such a stacked line-up of US elites racing Boston this year, I know he’ll have fun as a spectator. And we are staying at the Fairmont Copley Plaza, which is often where a lot of the elites stay! Maybe Molly Seidel and I will grab a post-race beer together. 🙂

So, I am back at marathon training with Boston as the goal in 11 weeks. (Check back tomorrow for my weekly recap of training!)

And that’s a wrap on my first Coffee Date!

Be sure to stop by Deb and Coco‘s blogs and the others who linked up with them today and connect with some virtual friends over a virtual cup of coffee!