2018 YEAR IN REVIEW

Dear RWM Readers,

It has been yet another year full of awesome, crazy, intense, good, bad, ugly, beautiful and everything in between.  In terms of running, I ran....well, I started four marathons and completed three.  I had my first DNF down in Virginia Beach.  That was rough.  I guided for William Greer at Boston, hands down the hardest race of my life.  That was insane.  And I finally, FINALLY, after nine attempts, three of them within just seconds, broke three hours in the marathon this past fall at Baystate.  I also ran my fastest half marathon time this past spring, so both my half and full PRs have been at the spritely age of 43.  That's right, my friends.  I hate to sound cliché, but I am still working hard to prove that age is just a number and I think I'm doing a pretty good job if I don't say so myself.  In life beyond running, both my girls had an amazing year as well.  Grace had a huge breakthrough this past winter up in NH on her ski team, finally finding her groove after a few years of frustration.  On the flip side, literally, Rosie had a tough spring, not hitting her goals in the gym and has come back this fall guns blazing and crushing it, earning her highest score on floor (9.725) this past December down in the Bahamas.  Man, was that fun to watch.  Grace also stepped it up a notch with soccer this fall and, despite her very small size, we saw a new, aggressive, feisty player out there on the field.  That was really fun to watch, too.  I am so ridiculously proud of them and all they have accomplished.  And last, but not least, my LHS track and XC teams completely blew it out of the water.  In the spring, I coached both the girls and boys distance teams.  I had about 40 athletes in my crew and every single one of them improved; several of them by quite a bit.  Many of the ladies broke 6 minutes in the mile and quite a few of the guys broke the 5 minute barrier.  Huge accomplishments for both groups.  Not that I would know anything about time barriers and breakthroughs.  In XC this past fall, the ladies took the Middlesex League Championship title back from their rivals, won the EMASS Divisional Championship and came in 6th in at the MA State Meet.  They were a force to be reckoned with all season and such a joy to coach.  So, yeah, all in, a pretty unbelievable year.  If next year is anything like this one, I'm doing something right.  Thanks again to all of you for following along on this crazy journey of mine.  I love writing about my experiences and hearing your thoughts and feedback along the way.  I hope that you, too, had a year worth talking about and/or celebrating and that you are as exited as I am for what's to come.  Enjoy the rest of your holiday season and I'll see you in 2019!

All the best,

RUNNING WITH MUSIC 2018

JANUARY

First visit to Oiselle Headquarters in Seattle

ALBUM:HOLLY - SLEIGH BELLS

SONG:OUT OF MY HEAD - LOUD FOREST

FEBRUARY

Grace takes it to the next level up in NH

ALBUM:CRITICAL EQUATION - DR. DOG

SONG:RUN - PRONOUN

MARCH

The Cheap Marathon, my 8th (unsuccessful) sub-3 attempt

ALBUM:HERE COME THE RUNTS - AWOLNATION

SONG:LOST SONG - NONONO

APRIL

Boston Marathon w/ TWAV guiding for William Greer

ALBUM:NATURAL RATTLE - LAYUP

SONG:FOLLOW YOUR FIRE - KODALINE

MAY

LHS Spring Track Season #DSQUAD

ALBUM:DIRTY COMPUTER - JANELLE MONAE

SONG:MATINEE - REYNA

JUNE

RTB Ragnar w/ Oiselle Team

ALBUM:WHOLE NEW LEVEL - LAYUP

SONG:NEW COMPASSION-HAERTS

JULY

Lake Winnepesaukee

ALBUM:MOVIN' ON - GIVERS

SONG:SHADES - THE KNOCKS

AUGUST

Oiselle Birdcamp

ALBUM:KARATE - FITNESS

SONG:HIYA - ELEPHANT HEART

SEPTEMBER

Fall XC Season (Clipper Relays)

ALBUM:I DON'T WANT - SANTIGOLD

SONG:EGO - NONONO

OCTOBER

Baystate Marathon

ALBUM:YUYI - ERIN MCCARLEY

SONG:IT'S JUST THE START - ROYAL TEETH

NOVEMBER

Jewett family on Thanksgiving

ALBUM:ART OF DOUBT - METRIC

SONG:MOUNTAINS - SIA

DECEMBER

WGA Gold Team - 1st Place All Around

ALBUM:SOMEONE OUT THERE - RAE MORRIS

SONG:EVERYTHING GOES (WOW)-BROODS

Listen to this:

RWM DAILY SONGS 2018

BE THE AVOCADO

"Mom, I left your daily note by your bed.  It didn't fit in your motivation box.  But I think you'll like it."

~ Grace, age 11

It's 8:15 am.  I've had coffee but my body doesn't seem to remember that I drank it.  Happens a lot lately.  I've got a tempo workout to tackle this morning; 10.5 miles total including a three mile warmup, four and a half miles at 6:35-6:40 pace and a three mile cool down.  It's a common one for me and yet I'm dreading it.  The temperature outside is in the twenties.  Sweet, sweet winter.  I decide to run inside.  If I'm being honest, and I might as well be since I'm sharing the inner demons today, I really want to go on the treadmill so I don't have to think about hitting pace.  I want to let the machine do it for me.  There, I said it.  Though, I really do hate doing workouts in the cold.  So, off to the gym I roll.  I park and walk slowly....shuffle, shuffle...to the front door of the Y.  I see my friend Pam.  She's running across the parking lot, clearly in a rush and maybe even excited to start her workout.  She does a double take as she sees me heading towards her.  "I'm kind of struggling",  I say.  "Not super motivated today."  She laughs.  I smile.  But I'm not laughing.  I'm wishing I could tap into her energy reserves because mine are depleted.  I don't tell her this.  No need to make things weird.  I throw my stuff in a locker and make sure I have everything I need.  Headphones, water bottles, phone, towel and two pairs of shoes. I'm a walking garage sale.  I grab a treadmill, set myself up and start my warmup.  My legs are heavy, but I knew they would be.  It's fine.  I set the pace slow and ease in.  After a few minutes, the running feels good, natural.  So, I relax and enjoy.  I finish the warmup and change my shoes because I want a something lighter for this work.  I start back up again at goal pace, the high end.  After one minute I stop.  It's not happening.  I change back into my trainers and decide to try one more time.  "Come on, Rebecca.  Be the avocado."  I smile.  Sweet Grace.  I increase the pace back up to 6:40 and try to find a groove.  To say it's hard doesn't even begin to describe it.  I can't get there.  I mean, I'm there, I'm doing it, but it's abnormally difficult.  How did I run 13.1 miles faster than this just three months ago, I wonder.  How am I going to run four and a half miles as this pace today?  I cover the screen with my towel and decide to do as much as I can without looking.  I know that this pace usually equals about 2 songs per mile, give or take.  I tell myself I am not allowed to check my mileage until I've heard six songs.  Instead, I stare out the window at the naked trees and the dead grass.  Sweet, sweet winter.  I sing, I dance, I air-box, (is that a thing?) I shake my hands out, I roll my arms in big circles.  Whatever I can do to move things along, I do it.  Six songs.  Finally.  I've run 3.3 miles.  I sigh with relief.  I'm hurting.  But I can power through 1.2 miles.  I know this.  Two more songs.  I tell myself not to look.  I look.  4.2 miles.  Sweet Lord above.  Make it end.  Finally I finish.  I slow to a walk.   I'm so happy to be done my sweat mixes with tears of joy.  Not really.  But maybe a little.  I putter on for another three miles.  It's a GD miracle that I was able to pull that off.  The struggle is so painfully real lately.  My head and my heart are not in it.  But there is beauty in the struggle.  I know this.  It's one of the reasons I started running in the first place.   It's a big part of what keeps me coming back.  Moving forward, I will take Grace's message to heart.  I will be strong on the outside.  And I will be loving on the inside.  Especially of myself.  Something I don't do often enough.  My heart....my pit, as some might say,....is so full.  Thank you, Grace.

Listen to this:
Dignity - Erin McCarley