Cleveland Marathon Contest Winner & Discount Code

Thank you to everyone that entered my Cleveland Marathon race giveaway this week! I wish I could give an entry to all of you - but unfortunately I can't (boo). I can however share my discount code, which is good for 10% off your registration. Before checkout just enter code: PMCLE10. Feel free to share the code with any of your family or friends that sign up!

For the contest, I used an app called Name Picker Ninja, which randomly selects a winner to make it a fair shot for everyone. So drumroll please...Congrats to winner Evan Close! See you on May 20th for the race! Just send me a PM and I will get you your special code to register for the race at no charge!

Have a good week everyone and Happy Running!

It's Cleveland Marathon Giveaway Week & Quick Training Update

January is nearly gone and before we know it May will be here! And you know what May is right?! On May 20th I'll be running the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon with my fellow marathon ambassadors including my friend, running buddy and craft beer snob in the making - Stephanie Itibrout who writes a blog called Run away from Trouble (@itibrout on IG) and about 20K other people!

Are you thinking about running Cleveland this year? If not you should be! If so, it could be your lucky week! Stephanie and I are both giving away free entries this week to the Cleveland Marathon race of your choice. You can go long with us and run the full and then drink a tasty Great Lakes Brewing beer in the beer garden post race, or run the super fun half or 10k - totally up to you (and there is still beer available after these races too)! All you need to do to enter my contest is leave a comment below. One lucky winner will be announced on Sunday via the blog and my social media channels! And if you don't win - no worries...you can still save! Use my code PMCLE10 for 10% off your registration!

To enter Stephanie's contest head on over to her blog and enter there as well because two chances to win are better than one! Plus you should follow her because she is fun and is always getting herself into crazy exploits like running the Burning River 4-person Relay this summer!

In terms of my marathon training so far I'm feeling pretty good. I have been getting in speed work and my long run every week as planned (including sprinting 12 x 400 last Tuesday and 16 miles at a 9:00 avg yesterday on the roads in Akron-Peninsula). I ended the week yesterday with 46 miles of running so I am taking my time to build up the run mileage. I'm also cycling quite a bit usually between 75-100 miles a week, swimming and doing core work such as lifting or barre. More to come on the training but for now enter the giveaway!!!

Dreaming of summer running days w/ Steph!

Cleveland Marathon Contest Winner and Training Update

Last week I posted my Cleveland Marathon giveaway and there were a lot of runners hoping to win an entry. I wish I could give one to all of you but unfortunately I can only give away one entry. To make it fair I also use Random-ize.com. This year's winner is ChelseyKelsey! Please reach out to me and I will give you your code to sign up for any Cleveland Marathon race distance of your choice. I hope that you have a fabulous race! For everyone else, keep following along with the ambassadors each week leading up to the race and there are still many entries to giveaway!

As far as my training goes, I got in another great effort last week of 71 miles, including my first 20 miler of the year yesterday! When I started the long run I felt awful and wasn't sure I was going to get it done but I stayed strong mentally to overcome the physical struggles I was dealing with (mainly GI issues but also a headache and some fatigue). The second half of my run went much smoother and I was able to get in some fast miles at the end. Today, I am resting and not running. I will do an easy spin on the bike just to get the legs flushed out and ready to run in the morning. 

My husband and I planned a last minute trip to Austin, TX in a couple of weeks and we we learned that the Austin Marathon was still open we signed up! Of course I am excited and nervous! This will be a good early season test of fitness and it's always fun to run a marathon - especially in a new city and when there's an Oskar Blues beer tent at the finish! Since we're running the marathon we're tapering back the next two weeks, which is always bittersweet. I know my body needs the break but those taper days can be a challenge. Wish me luck! 

Congrats to Random-ize.com winner ChelseyKelsey!

Cleveland Marathon Training & Race Giveaway

It's that time of the year again... I am all signed up for the RiteAid Cleveland Marathon! It's become like a right of passage into spring for me. This race was my first half marathon in 2008 and then my first full marathon in 2010 so I have many fond memories of running through the streets of Cleveland each year in the Cleveland Marathon!

Some years I've PR'd the course and other years like last year I've hardly survived. This year I will be running the HOF marathon a few weeks before to get ready for what I hope will be a strong 26.2 in Cleveland! So far my training has been going really well so I'm excited to see how I will do!

This year is the 40th anniversary of the race so they are giving away some really cool swag including a nice commemorative key chain to all participants and as always each participant will receive a high-quality tech tee and access to the fun after party! Want to join me and race on May 21? As an official ambassador for the marathon, I have a free entry to give away to the race distance of your choice. Simply leave a comment on this post and I will randomly select a winner next Monday. Goodluck and Happy Running!