Jersey Girl Triathlon, August 2, 2019

This was the eighth year in a row that I competed in the Jersey Girl triathlon with my BFF Patty by my side for the past 7 years. This was the best race conditions ever! The ocean was like a lake, no rain and although hot it wasn’t unbearable. I felt strong and had fun giving it my all. I had a great swim, on pace with my fastest bike, flew through the transitions and had a descent run too. I accomplished something for the first time; I placed in my age group! It has been something I have been close to before, but today I got it! I was 2^nd in my age group and 34^th overall. My final time was 1:11:14.

Seaside Half Marathon, October 14, 2018

It has been 5 years since I raced the Seaside half marathon. I completed the challenge so I ran the 5K first and then a few minutes later raced the half marathon. My friend, Patty, paced me to the 5K to make sure I didn’t really race it and kill myself for the half marathon. My goal was 1:50 for the half. I was in the best pace group and had an incredible lead pacer. I ran my fastest half ever, but the course was long so I came in at 1:50:37. I was pretty excited about that time. I was even more excited about the special medal I got for doing the challenge and all the free bottled iced teas they were handing out. I had an armful when I heard they were announcing the winners in my age group. I paused to listen and they said my name. I won 3^rd in my age group! What? I ran up, dropped all my drinks and got my medal. What an awesome surprise.

Jersey Girl Triathlon, August 4, 2018

This was the seventh year in a row that I competed in the Jersey Girl triathlon with my BFF Patty by my side for the past 6 years. This was the toughest overall year. The ocean was deceiving. The current was strong and I got pulled off course. There was also a sand bar so at the end of the swim we had to stand up, take a few steps and jump back in to swim to shore. Then on the bike the skies opened up and it poured. The rain stopped on my run, but I was running through puddles ankle deep. I survived and even had some fun! My bike was slower again this year, but my run was pretty good especially through all those puddles. I was 6^th in my age group and 43^rd overall (out of about 700). My final time was 1:16:41.

Atlantic City Half Marathon, April 15, 2018

It has been 3.5 years since I raced a half marathon. After running NYC marathon I think I’m going back to half marathons. The first half of this marathon was fantastic! I was running a personal best. Then we turned around. We were running in a Nor’easter with 30 mph winds blowing against us on the boardwalk in AC. I literally was getting blown across the boardwalk. It was comical. It still was a fun race with so many friendly participants. I finished in 1:53:03. That isn’t a personal best, but pretty good for the conditions. I was recognized for finishing top 5 in my age group. That was exciting! An extra bonus was fellow math professor Pam Kosick was racing too!

NYC Marathon, November 5, 2017

After the NJ State marathon I said I would never do another marathon unless I got into the NYC Marathon. Well they picked my number in the lottery! Training was grueling, but I made it to race day. The NYC marathon started with shots going off and thousands of runners running over the Verrazano Bridge (over 50,000). It was surreal as we ran through all 5-boroughs. We started in Staten Island, through Brooklyn, into Queens, over the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan, up into the Bronx, and through the final stretch down Fifth Avenue and into Central Park. The only quiet parts were over the bridges. The streets were lined with so many people cheering/screaming for us. I had my name on my shirt and my face hurt from smiling at everyone yelling my name. I actually missed my husband and two friends at mile 16 because so many people were cheering. I did see them at mile 25 right before the final stretch. That was incredible. I got a little kiss from the hubby and flew into the finish. Unlike the first marathon, I did not tank. My overall pace was slower, but as the race went on I felt better and better. My fastest miles were 16, 22 and 26 and I felt great afterwards! The craziest part of the entire day involved my Laney dog that passed away a month before the race. She started me running so I honored her with a paw print on the back of my shirt. Right before the race started my mom said, “Laney girl will be right by your side.” I ran the first 10 miles with a girl, Elaine, I met on the bus to the race. I will never forget when she looked at me with a smile and said, “My friends call me Laney!” In the end I finished in 4:11:58.

Jersey Girl Triathlon, August 6, 2017

This was the sixth year in a row that I competed in the Jersey Girl triathlon. The weather was nice, but the ocean was rough! It looked so calm, but the pull was insane. I felt like I wasn’t moving. My BFF Patty was in my age group again thankfully. She always calms me. I got out of the ocean and on my bike a little over a minute ahead of her, but she caught me on the bike a little beyond the halfway point. I pedaled my heart out to keep up with her. We both had lightning fast transition times and I let her take the first step ahead of me for the run before I took off, putting nearly two minutes between us. I had my fastest Jersey Girl run time ever at 22:13, but my bike time was the slowest it’s been in years. I was 5^th in my age group and 35^th overall (out of about 700), but was so sad when I learned 2^nd place in my age group was just 35 seconds in front of me. Oh man, getting close to medaling….maybe someday. My final time was 1:12:24.

Jersey Girl Triathlon, August 7, 2016

This was the fifth year in a row that I competed in the Jersey Girl triathlon. The weather was perfect and the ocean was relatively calm! My BFF Patty was not in my age group & I was very nervous about getting in the water alone (I may have cried a little). I put my big girl panties on and got in that water without hesitation. The swim was double the length of last year, but smooth! In my first transition I accidently ripped my race number off my shirt and that slowed me down just a little. My bike was my fastest ever followed by an insanely fast transition for me and my fastest run to date! Unfortunately there were timing issues and I never got my split times. Luckily I had my Garmin on and got a pretty good estimate. My time was 1:16:23. I finished 35^th overall, my best ranking yet! I was 4^th in my age group though….first loser.

Jersey Girl Triathlon, August 2, 2015

This was the fourth year in a row that I competed in the Jersey Girl triathlon. The ocean conditions were so much better than last year. I had one goal, to get in the ocean without hesitation. My swims have always been worse than they should because I am fearful to get into the ocean. Not this year! My nerves were really calmed when I saw two dolphins putting on a show right before I got into the water. The swim went great and I improved my time by almost 2.5 minutes! It was very hot and my bike and run were a little slower than last year. Overall, I finished slightly faster than last year! My time was 1:12:24. It was a faster field than last year and I finished 55^th overall, 7 places worse than last year. I got to do this race with my training partner Patty and had my cheering squad at the finish!

NJ State Marathon, April 25, 2015

For some reason I got it in my mind that I wanted to do a full marathon. Training was challenging through the winter because it was so cold my water would freeze a mile into my long runs. Race day was fantastic! I started with the 4 hour pace group and stayed with them until mile 21. Then things got fuzzy. I think I entered delirium. I knew I would make it across that finish line, but I laughed out loud thinking why would anyone do this to themselves once let alone again. At about mile 24 I heard someone yell, “Come on Brandy!” It was a cop. We had our names on our bibs so I thought he was just being nice. Then I noticed it was my friend Dave. His cheers got me through until I hit mile 26 and saw my family. I have never been happier to see the finish line which was shortly past them. In the end I finished in 4:06:29. Oh and that race was long at 26.5. Let me just tell you when you expect to be done at 26.2, that 0.3 is killer! I was dizzy when I crossed the finish line, but otherwise good. When I met up with my family, Joey took my pretzel because he was so hungry, Andy took my water because it was so thirsty and Theo threw his arms up for me to pick him up. Just like that I went from marathoner to mommy.

Seaside Half Marathon, October 19, 2014

On October 19, 2014 I completed my 8th half-marathon. I finished it in a personal best 1:51:31. The race course is still messed up due to the fire at Seaside last year so they created a new one. They had us looping up and down the boardwalk. We past the finish line three times before we actually finished the race. That is just rough! In the end we ran 13.24 miles instead of 13.1! That makes my personal best even better. I hope next year they will get the course right. The race felt good. I have run more miles this year than ever before and was really prepared. Preparation paid off! Also I have to thank my cheering squad.

Jersey Girl Triathlon, August 3, 2014

This was the third year in a row that I competed in the Jersey Girl triathlon. It was the first year I was paralyzed with fear by the ocean swim. The water was rough and as we were waiting to start I was watching the lifeguards on their surf boards wiping out. When the horn went for us to go I ran into the water and stopped. Luckily my training partner Patty was by my side. She looked at me and said we had to keep moving forward. I got hit by a wave and got knocked down. She grabbed my arm, picked me up and pulled me out into the ocean. The swim was so rough no one was even really swimming until we got past the first buoy. I made it out (with the help of three swim angels who pulled me out). I actually got out a few seconds ahead of Patty, but waited. If it wasn’t for her I would have never made it in so there was no way I was going to leave her. Once we got to the transition area we were on our own. I borrowed another friend’s road bike and had the fastest bike of my life. Patty and I were still together in the second transition. The run is my best event and I had a fantastic run finishing the 3 miles in 23:15. I ended up with a 1:12:56, an almost 7 minute improvement from last year! I finished 47 out of 886!

Asbury Park Half Marathon, April 26, 2014

On April 26, 2014 I completed my 7th half-marathon. I haven’t done this half in years, but one of my BFF came into town from Houston to run it so of course I was going to do it too. My last half-marathon was my running partner Patty’s (new Patty) first half. She did awesome, but got sick afterward. I convinced her to run another one with the promise I would run by her side and we would treat it like a training run. Our training runs were great and even slightly faster than she ran her first half. We had two goals, finish without her getting sick and (not nearly as important) beat her old time of 2:02. Well we achieved one of those goals, finishing in just under 2 hours. This picture was taken right before we failed on the other goal.

Seaside Half Marathon, October 20, 2013

On October 20, 2013 I completed my 6th half-marathon. A year sure makes a lot of difference. Last year I was pregnant with Theo and this year he was cheering me on. I finished it in a personal best for me 1:53:41. With the fire at Seaside just weeks before our race the course was adjusted and we actually ran 13.2 miles instead of 13.1! I was VERY surprised with how fast I ran this race. I know it’s not the fastest, but I had no idea I could run that fast for that long. I had not been training speed. At the end of the race my body was telling me I really can’t run that fast!

Jersey Girl Triathlon, August 4, 2013

I had decided not to do the Jersey Girl triathlon this year because I had a baby just 3 months prior to race day. Then a friend (the same one that got me to do it last year) texted me and told me her girlfriend couldn’t do the race and wanted to give me her registration for free. That’s $100. How could I refuse? I convinced my training partner to do it with me and off we went just 6 weeks before race day. The ocean swim was a little longer this year, but a little smoother than last year. I swam slow, but strong. This year I borrowed a “real” bike from a friend so that helped (biking is not my thing). It was the same course as last year and I beat last year’s bike time. I was excited to get to the run, my favorite. I was shocked that I finished in 24:51. That isn’t quite as fast as last year but close. I ended up finishing in 1:19:15, about a minute ahead of last year’s time. I was the 178 out of 1057!!! How couldn’t I do well with this cheering squad (check out their shirts)?

Seaside Half Marathon, October 14, 2012

On October 14, 2012 I completed my fifth half-marathon. I finished it in 2:05:59. If you look back at last year’s half marathon race you will notice that this was over 11 minutes slower. I had a really good reason for that, I am 12 weeks pregnant. The race felt great and crossing that finish line was incredible. The best moment in the race was when an older gentleman came up next to me and started bragging that he had only been running for a few months and now he was doing a half marathon. I congratulated him as that was clearly what he was looking for. He looked at me as if to say, “Beat that!” Normally I would not say anything, but I couldn’t help myself. I looked at him and said, “I’m pregnant.” He starred at me, his head dropped and he slowed down. It made me laugh. At the finish line I was greeted by my two boys and husband. My husband took the picture below and I posted it on Facebook to announce my pregnancy. He made the shirt that reads, “Running For Two”. It was such a beautiful day for a race. The weather definitely helped me out!

Jersey Girl Triathlon, July 29, 2012

Very early in the year a friend of mine mentioned the Jersey Girl Triathlon (an all-girl triathlon) and convinced me to participate. I had not done a triathlon since the first one in 2006 (before kids). I didn’t notice there was an ocean-swim until after I paid the registration fee. It’s a good thing because if I had known I was swimming in the ocean there would have been no way I would have signed up. I managed to get one practice in the ocean and that made me feel a little better. On race day the water was very choppy and so disorienting to swim in. I didn’t break any records, but I made it out in one piece and did not need the assistance of anyone. I did really appreciate the swim angel that handed me a noodle as I was getting out of the ocean and pulled me the rest of the way. I had a very quick transition to the bike. During the last triathlon I took out the photographer while getting on my bike. This time around I got on very smoothly and had a great ride. I don’t have a road bike, so I got passed by a lot of people. Even so, I had my fastest ride ever though! As I ran into the transition area my 3 & 5 year old boys were there with my husband cheering me on. They had to wait only about a minute before they saw me again as I started the run. I felt great on the run, passing so many people. Only two ladies passed me the entire 3 miles. In the end I did a 300 meter swim, 11 mile bike and 3 mile run. The run was my best event. My fastest 5K (3.1 miles) ever was 24:48. After swimming in the ocean and biking 11 miles I ran the 3 miles in 24:38. I couldn’t believe it! I finished 325 out of over 1300 participants. Now I need to invest in a road bike and come back next year to improve on my 1:20 finish.

Seaside Half Marathon, October 16, 2011

On October 16, 2011 I completed my fourth half-marathon. On the day of the race I forgot my watch. The only clocks on the course are the half-way turnaround and the finish line. At the half-way mark I was going a little slower than my previous half, not bad. Usually I hit a wall around mile 9, but I felt strong this time. Right before the finish I saw my husband and my two little boys (2 and 4). Andy and Joey both waved and yelled, “Go mommy!” What a boost that gave me. The crowd was blocking the clock. I heard the announcer say, “Under two hours.” I thought that meant we were at 1:59 something. When I finally saw the clock and read 1:54, I screamed. The crowd actually laughed. I was so excited. I had run the second half as fast as the first half and beat my previous time by three minutes finishing in 1:54:50. What a great race!

Asbury Park Half Marathon, April 16, 2011

On April 16, 2011 I completed my third half-marathon. The third time is the charm! I had a wonderful race and finish in 1:57:54. I achieved my lifetime goal of under 2 hours and I remained injury free! I can’t wait to run Seaside in October!

Seaside Half Marathon, October 17, 2010

On October 17, 2010 I completed my second half-marathon. On October 8, 2010 I completed my final long training run (12 miles). A few hours later I couldn’t even walk. I managed to put myself back together enough to complete the half. The weather was perfect this year! I finished in 2:00:08. Given my ultimate lifetime goal is to get under 2 hours I am more than thrilled. My running buddy Patty didn’t race this one, but she met me a mile away from the finish to help me run it is. I was so happy to see her! After the race I ended up in a walking cast for three weeks. Luckily I didn’t do any permanent damage. My new goal is to stay healthy!

Seaside Half Marathon, October 18, 2009

On October 18, 2009 I completed my first half-marathon. It was at Seaside right along the boardwalk in the middle of a Nor’easter. The first 6.55 miles were great. Then we turned around and had 30-40 mph winds blowing directly against us. It was hard, but I made it. Thankfully I had my friend Patty by my side. Without her I am not sure I would have been able to complete that half-marathon. Together we finished in about 2 hours and 11 minutes. Patty out sprinted me in the very end. J

Patty sprinting me out in the end.

New Jersey State Triathlon, July 23, 2006

On July 23, 2006 I participated in my first sprint distance triathlon. The triathlon was a 500m swim followed by a 13.5 mile bike and then a 3.1 mile run.  I wasn't the fastest, but I did finish 62 out of 103 first time females.  I also beat some non first-timers including a bunch of men!  Overall the race went really well.  The swim was my best event and most tiring - I got kicked and punched so many times.  The bike was what I was most nervous about - actually getting onto the bike was what I was concerned about.  After almost knocking down a photographer I was off and riding beating my fastest time.  The run was rough after the bike ride, but once I got through the first mile I was at my normal pace.  What I actually did the best in were my transitions.  I took less than 2 minutes from the swim to the bike and only 58 seconds from the bike to the run.  Some people actually were faster than me in all three events, but because of the transition times I ended up ahead of them in the end. After the race Steve asked me if I would do it again.  I told him definitely not next week, but I hope to be back next year. Steve was a great supporter - waking up at 4am so I could get there by 5:30 am.  He also took some pictures so there is proof!

I did it and with a smile. Check out the shirt, a girl has to representJ