Elizabeth Clor's Blog, page 8

Boston Marathon 2022: Running my heart out

I ran my 4th Boston Marathon yesterday which was my 31st lifetime marathon. It was an amazing experience and I am so thankful that I was able to complete it, given everything that has happened to me during this training cycle.
A common question asked on race weekend is "How many Bostons have you run?" And I never knew if I should say 2 or 3, because it depends if you count the 2020 virtual. I definitely count it as a Boston, but in terms of running the official course, I had done that just twice ...

Boston Marathon Weekend 2022

This blog recaps the weekend leading up to the Boston Marathon. I will post my race report separately. 
FridayGreg and I flew into Boston on Friday and arrived to our hotel at around 1:30. We relaxed for a bit and then headed out to the expo and to preview the finish line. The finish line is always buzzing with people and the vibe is absolutely amazing. I ran into my previous coach Andrew at the finish line. He was there representing adidas. It was so great to catch up with him and talk to him ab...

4 Days until Boston: Final Update

With 4 days left to go, I am in decent shape. The cortisone shot worked, and the SI joint pain is usually 100% gone, but I do feel it from time to time when walking around. Thankfully not while running. It's a huge improvement from where I was 2 weeks ago.

Last Sunday, I ran 15.1 miles with 9 at marathon pace (5 miles MP, 0.5 mile easy, 4 miles MP). The marathon pace miles averaged out to 7:36, and I wasn't even trying to go that fast. This pace felt somewhat easy, which really surprised me. Sinc...

11 Days To Boston: SI Joint Injury Update

I'm back again with an update, with a little more clarity than I had in my previous update.  I'll first provide a brief overview of the situation, then a detailed timeline (more for my own sake to remember how this progressed) and then I will do a little rant about of navigating the healthcare system. Feel free to skim, as this is admittedly a boring post. 

What I've learned since my last blog post:

MRI showed healthy discs. I have minor bulging, but nothing that would cause this type of pain
The r...

3 Weeks Until Boston and OUCH!

With less than three weeks until the Boston Marathon, an injury has popped up, bringing my training to a complete halt. I'm going to document all the details here, mostly so I can go back and reference them, but the punchline is that I am having issues with SI joint inflammation; something completely new to me. The joys of growing older! 

How it started
On Tuesday, March 15, I was doing deadlifts with the hex bar during a strength training session with my coach. I have done these many times in the...

Boston Marathon Training & Amazon Sponsorship

It's been a while since I have updated my blog. The last time I posted I had just made a full recovery from Covid and was starting to train again. 

The big news is that Amazon reached out to me about a month ago, offering to sponsor me in the Boston Marathon! They found me on Instagram and said they were running a campaign with the Boston Marathon around the 50th anniversary of women running the race.

Amazon is an official sponsor of the Boston Marathon and as part of their sponsorship, they are p...

The Ultimate Tracksmith Gear Review

Ah, Tracksmith. The brand I love to hate and hate to love. 

What is Tracksmith?
Tracksmith is a high-end running apparel company based in Boston, MA. Founded in 2014, the brand markets itself to the "amateur" runner, with "amateur" meaning not professional, but definitely competitive. They even sponsored runners in the 2020 Olympic trials.

They sell primarily running clothing with a few overpriced accessories like an umbrella ($88), sunglasses ($255), and a necklace ($600). Their prices are about 5...

Covid Recovery - Slow but Steady

I hope I am not jinxing myself by saying this, but I believe myself to be 100% recovered with no lingering symptoms. In my previous post, I said that this would either be a "normal" recovery or it would turn into my mono-like illness, taking months to recover from. 

In retrospect, it seems like it has taken me slightly longer to recover than the average person, but not abnormally long. Here's a recap:

Days 1-2: Mild sore throat
I noticed that my throat was slightly scratchy. It was more of an annoy...

UCAN vs. Maurten for Marathon Fueling

In my long quest to find the optimal fueling solution for my needs, I have found Maurten and UCAN to be the products that work best. How are they different? Can they be used together? Let's discuss. 

Disclaimer: These products work well for me, but each runner has unique needs. This review is based on my personal experience.

Maurten Products
I have tried all of the Maurten fueling products. They have 2 types of gels and 3 drink mixes. There are no flavors:

Gel 100Gel 100 Caf 100Drink Mix 160Drink Mi...

2022: A Shaky Start

This is my 500th blog post! And it's the first blog post of 2022.

The year is off to a shaky start. On New Year's Eve, I had some major digestive issues that left me feeling

January 5 snowy runquite fatigued and unsettled. So when it came time for my annual New Year's Day race, I made the decision to run it as tempo run, not a full-out race.

New Year's Day 5K
I didn't write a blog post about this race because it wasn't really a "race" for me. Greg and I were planning to leave for our vacation in Mex...