Hi friends! I’m back from a wonderful whirlwind of a weekend in Boston for the Runner’s World Heartbreak Hill Half & Festival! I’ll be back tomorrow to recap the running/race portion of the weekend, but for now, I wanted to share a couple of the other highlights!
- Experiencing the original November Project on Friday morning!
The November Project is a free grassroots community workout group that began in Boston; as you know I’ve been to the DC one on the Lincoln Memorial steps quite a few times! It was a lot of fun to meet the original founders and experience the insane hill that they run up on Friday mornings from 6:30-7:30 a.m.
This hill was NO JOKE. It was really long (apparently 0.75 miles?) and really steep. I did 4 trips up it, including our original walk up it when we arrived. You know, since doing hill repeats (well, hill shuffles…) the day before a weekend you’re running a 5k + 10k + half marathon is a really good idea. ;) Whatever – worth it!
With the beautiful Julie:
I survived!
- Brunch at Zaftig’s with the full blogger crew following our November Project beat down:
I’d been here once before on a previous Boston visit and it rocks. Vermont sharp cheddar and apple omelette for me! Plus fruit, potatoes, side of bacon, latte.
- Meeting Shalane Flanagan and Sarah Reinertsen, who are both truly inspiring athletes. Shalane said: “I am in the business of inspiration” – she is right!
Sarah was the first woman to finish an ironman with a prosthetic leg. Isn’t that amazing?!
Both women were really friendly and it was such a honor to get to do a meet and greet with them. Thank you to Runner’s World for the opportunity! (Everyone attending the festival was also able to meet them- they both gave seminars/speeches that were free and open to all!)
- Sampling some goodies from the Runner’s World Cookbook!
- Meeting Nancy Clark! If you are in the dietitian world you know that Nancy Clark is basically THE expert on sports nutrition. She gave a free seminar on sports nutrition that was excellent – so cool to see her speak!
I loved that this race weekend included some cool seminars and speakers in addition to the races. I thought the expo was excellent, too – nice and small and not overwhelming, and really well organized. I hit up the Runner’s World booth at the expo for a foot analysis – hello, high arch!
It was also fun just exploring Boston College’s campus, where the race weekend took place – beautiful!
We stayed right on campus in the dorms which was both hilarious and fun – it made the whole weekend feel like a party! (Below photo via Caitlin.)
I’ll be back tomorrow to share a big recap of the other main highlight of the weekend: lots and lots of running! :) Until then, check out my fellow Runner’s World blogger crew – it was a really great group!
- Matt: www.nomeatathlete.com
- Jason: www.strengthrunning.com
- Katie: www.runsforcookies.com
- Caitlin: www.healthytippingpoint.com
- Sarah: www.sarahfit.com
- Julie: www.pbfingers.com
- Theodora: www.preppyrunner.com
- Dani: www.weightoffmyshoulders.com
- Presley: www.runprettyblog.com
- Amanda: www.runtothefinish.com
- Katy: www.katywidrick.com
- Karla: www.runkarlarun.com
- Heather: www.relentlessforwardcommotion.com
- Marnie: www.runstreet.com
- Sarah: www.pickyrunner.com
- Larisa: www.larisadixon.com
- Charlene: www.fabrunning.blogspot.com
- Jessica: www.keepingmommysane.com
A big thank you to Runner’s World for hosting me this weekend! :) And a big hi to those of you who came up to say hello during the weekend – loved meeting blog readers Melissa, Katie, Mameko, Sarah, Abby, and more! Thank you for saying hi and for reading my blog! Hope you had a blast, too! :)
I didn’t get to meet you this weekend, but what a fun fun weekend! Props to Runner’s World for the great festival.
I’m sorry to have missed you, but glad you had fun, too! :)
It was so fun seeing all the Instagram photos from many of my favorite bloggers this weekend – CONGRATS on finishing and having a blast doing it!! Super jealous of meeting Shalane, and WOW – Sarah is so inspiring!
Sounds like a great weekend! Heard about the chilly dorms!!! Hope you’re getting to relax a little today!
I absolutely love Nancy Clark’s nutrition book! And she has the absolute best banana bread recipe!
Ooo is her recipe online?
I don’t think so, but it’s in the sports nutrition book and she also has an app with all her recipes!
So cool all of the wonderful, inspiring people you were able to meet! Looks like a great weekend!
Looks like an amazing weekend! I got the Runner’s World cookbook for Christmas, but haven’t looked at it lately. I’ll have to dive into a little more. That food looks delicious!
Looks like it was a really good time. I am actually making that Feta Watermelon salad tonight from Runners World Cookbook, love that thing! :)
BTW where did you get that blue tank top? Love it!
Unfortunately it’s super old and I don’t remember!
Aww I am excited that you got to stay at BC, I went there and miss it a lot. What dorm did you stay in?
Stayer!
Looks like such a fun time! Perfect weekend for it (though a bit hot for my liking). Gotta love Zaftig’s and BC!
Running uphill has never been my cup of tea, but I live in Seattle and we have hills everywhere!! lol. Looks like you had such a great time! That’s awesome that you got to hang out with other bloggers. That foot analysis programs looks pretty cool!
What a fun weekend! That hill sounds crazy. I really need to get around to trying watermelon and feta together! It looks amazing.
The weekend looks like so much fun! I can’t wait to hear about how the runs went for you.
Wow! What an awesome weekend! Looks like fun…..tough race, but fun! I hope to run Boston next year, so I will see for myself how big heartbreak hill really is! Looks like lots of great activities after. I am excited to see what Chicago has to offer. I think I am running in the elite section now, pretty excited :)
Looks like an awesome weekend. Look forward to the post on the runs! 5K, 10K, Half! Wow!
Yeah! You did it and quite well! I would have love to have been there! I don’t know if I would have made it through every race like you did but I would like to do at least one. Great job!
Love this! I got to hear Nancy Clark speak at the Boston Marathon expo one year (another great crop of speakers and free too!) and isn’t she just the greatest? Can’t wait for your recap tomorrow. Also, love that you stayed in a dorm the Elle could have lived in ;)
Wow! Looks like a amazing event! can’t wait for your race recap.
Where did you find those awesome running skirts? :)
It was fun meeting you in person at the expo after following your blog for a while! What a great weekend, huh? My quads are a tiny bit sore today though! :-)
Nancy Clark spoke to our charity marathon team a couple of years ago and it was great to have a question and answer with her. So interesting.
So great meeting you! :)
sleeping in the dorms must have been a blast! …but maybe not the most comfy for all that runnin’ ;)
Haha yeah definitely not the most comfy… but made the weekend feel like a party!
I haven’t heard one negative comment about this weekend! Looks like an overall fun time and a great event.
I had a blast with you girls!!! What a fun weekend :)
Loved meeting you and of course bring flat mates for the weekend. SO much fun! Hope we get to hang again soon. P.S. my food pictures look lame next to yours were we eating the same food? Lol
Loved meeting you, too! :)
OMG missed this post while traveling and need to say ZAFTIG’s is the BEST! :D