First in Age Group - Marine Corps Marathon!

Below are my official results from the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC - Sunday, October 25, 2009. This is a great result despite the issues with my stomach and also the issue of discovering the chip issues with my finish time. The staff at the ACS was great to follow up and help with the fix from the great MCM staff.

I am very happy and very proud of my results from this race. As a top master runner this placing and time will help in my national rankings.


NANCY COOK #325
BELCHERTOWN, MA, USA
Age: 45 Gender: F
Distance MARATHON - 26.2 miles
Clock Time 3:16:17
Chip Time 3:16:07
Overall Place 532 / 21176
Gender Place 50 / 8335
Division Place 1 / 885
Age Grade 76.6%



Split times:
5K 21:53
10K 43:25
15K 1:05:06
20K 1:27:03
Half 1:32:01
25K 1:49:41
30K 2:13:45
35K 2:38:28
40K 3:04:29

Winning Attitude & Marine Corps Marathon Survey

These 2 surveys were in the official guidebook to the Marine Corps Marathon and I thought it would be fun for me to do the survey and share my responses as a follow up to the Marine Corps Marathon this past Sunday.

Pre race tradition?
Tradition in getting ready for a marathon includes pinning my bib to my jersey or shorts, setting up my clothes, GU, crumpling my bib, putting all the stuff on the bed and sometimes taking a photo of it. I also love to buy the race jacket
Current Running Shoe = Asics racing flat for marathons, Nike Voom for training
Must have Post Race Food = Starbucks Nonfat Latte ½ sweet vanilla
Song that gets me motivated = I've got a feeling - Black Eyed Peas
I never get sick of watching = Stargate Atlantis, SG1, SGU

What is your favorite MCM landmark? National Mall / The Capital
What is your favorite spectator location? The Pentagon
What is your most memorable MCM moment?
Seeing my husband Steve at 4 different locations!




What have you seen on the course that most inspired you?
Signs "Pain is Weakness Leaving the body" and this man in a regular wheelchair rolling himself up the major hills in the beginning of the race - wondering what the ride would be like for him on the backside of those hills!

What do you do with your finisher medals?
In a basket - hoping to be mounted someday soon - Steve has bought the oak and carving the handmade display.



Marathon Survey

Marathon Location - Number of times - Memory
2007 Chicago Illinois (2nd)
I wore my tiger ears and tiger tail as a follow up after running in the pink power ranger outfit the year prior... This year was the heat wave walking at the 20 without a clue, thinking how badly I ran and blaming my husband Steve for my lack of training, When walking to the restaurant and seeing all the people walking on a side street thinking there was another race, but to find out the race was cancelled and I was fortunate to finish.


2008 Nike Woman's San Fransisco,CA (1st)
Nike and Team in Training monopoly in San Fransisco, Early morning running in the dark past walkers out where there were no spectators (zoo), Flat finish, frustrating timing error because of the walker times.

2009 Vermont City Burlington (4th)3:19:59
Elite runner status, getting to meet all the elite runners and hearing their stories. Schuyler and Steve in the pre race talk decorating my water bottles. First Charity Runner and speaking to the group at the Hope Lodge - Being nicknamed the "Baller" and feeling like an elite runner.

2009 Marine Corps Washington DC (2nd) 3:16:07
Great expo time with Steve, shopping and then to Filene's Basement, Walking all over in the dark the morning before the race looking for the Determination tent in Charity Village. Running with Ann from VT and other women getting inspiration by others cheering for all the women. Running up the path to the Capital. Finish results messed up because my chip inadvertently was set off at 7:10 am and possibly being 1st in my age group despite severe stomach cramps and wanting to throw up. :)

I'm Famous again! Article in The Republican - Metro East Plus

A few weeks back a reporter (Bill) calls to interview me for an article in the Republican. I was very flattered as he spoke of the accomplishments he knew of where I had some great running results. I shared my blog and talked to him, answering his questions. Today - the Republican insert called "Metro East Plus" features the article / interview on the front page of the section.

It shares my passion for running, my recent results -- the fact that I am a top master runner in New England, etc. Very cool indeed. Best of all the article highlights my fundraising efforts for the American Cancer Society at the Marine Corps Marathon. I am very proud of my accomplishments including my fundraising efforts supporting the ACS mission of fighting ALL cancers and creating a world where more people can celebrate more birthdays. :)

Families Fighting Cancer - Family Highlights

Results from my creative fundraising idea to take portraits of local families slowly is catching on. I have 4 families that have said yes, and was able to shoot 2 beautiful families this weekend.... and including my own family - that makes 3!

It was so much fun to spend some time with the Courchesne Family at their beautiful home and capture their smiles! The O'Connell's were so happy to get together as a family, and although the rain continued to pour outside we were able to get some nice photos. All the beauty of the foliage outside makes us want to get together again and soon! At home having the same issues of getting out on the rocks before nightfall proved to be a family photo inside for us as well. Here are my favorites from the weekend! Enjoy!

Here is a link to the original posting that shows the fundraising flyer I created. If your family would still like schedule a time, my time is short for weekends, and the leaves are changing fast, but please let me know! $125 donation to the American Cancer Society toward my fundraising efforts for the Boston Marathon 2010!



Thank you for your support!

I'm Famous!

At least in my own eyes.... After going to the staff orientation pre season at Mount Snow this weekend many of the coaches said they saw my picture in the National PSIA magazine "32 Degrees" --- I knew that I had submitted a photo for the Last Chair section and it was a very cool photo of Murray at the top of the jump where he looks like he is holding up the freestyle athlete "mid-trick" - -

But not only was that photo in there with a nice credit to my photography, I am also in an earlier section called Locker Room Talk and they highlighted pieces of my interview - after I answered an email from the marketing department outreach from Facebook.

Here is the full interview and the scans of the feature in the magazine!
PSIA-AASI (USSA) Membership Interview --

7 days until the Marine Corps Marathon!

Counting down the last days... woke up to cold and rain and got in a 3 miler just to stretch my legs today. Last light week of the taper before the big marathon day... I leave Thursday morning for a work meeting in DC and Steve joins me on Friday. We are staying at the downtown Marriott and are looking forward to this trip and to a successful marathon.

My bib number is 34188 - although I am a little concerned it isn't ranked with the elite runners. I have found the ranking helpful in achieving my goals and will be doing some follow up this week.

My 3 goals for the race are:
"The planets are aligned and the gods are smiling" time:
3:05
What the heck, give it my all, dig deep, my half marathon times have been fast, so in all aspects of listening to Hal on the etraining from ACS Determination -- I am on -- think positive, find the energy bus that works, as Jon Gordon would head me in that upward direction and following the little engine that could model - now I just need to DO IT.

"Considering all my times and averages" this is a more reachable goal:
3;10
AND that it would be very fast! The begining is hilly and the end is FLAT -- so the terrain can work in my favor....

"Stomach issues in my last race with a little cramping has me worried about dehydration -- just need to follow a plan and have one last goal to reach for when I hit the finish."
3:15

Our plan for the week:
Tuesday - Our 2nd Wedding Anniversary!
Thursday - 9 AM - Nancy leaves for DC
Friday - 6 AM - Steve leaves for DC
Saturday - Expo and dinner with Judy & Tom
Sunday - Marathon Day
Monday - Fly home!

Families Fighting Cancer - Portrait Tips

Researching tips for my upcoming Portrait sessions and found these great sites with some pretty good tips:

9 Tips from Simple Mom


Photo Tips and Techniques

Mormon Chic


Digital SLR Website


Julie Watts Photographer - Bloggilicious

Nancy E Photography collection below:
Here is our family photo on the rocks last year --- I set it all up with the tripod for a great shot!
One of the Ogden Girls for Christmas and the MacKenzie Family at Easter.

12 of 12: The Birthday Bash!

7:30 am Today is Schuyler's Birthday Party and Schuyler runs into the room around 7 am to get us going, but needing some extra sleep I give him breakfast and head out for my run. Happy that I took the day off from work to prep for the party and spend some great quality time with my beautiful family. And that is where we begin, on this 12th day of the month. Here is today, in 12 photos....

.

8 am:
The fall foliage in the northeast is amazing and Oakley and I went out for our morning run in Belchertown, where there seems to be a horse farm of some sort on every corner. Shadow and Lakota at the bottom of our hill are the only names I know, but "we" say hi to all of them as we pass. A 5 mile loop run around Boardman Corner and home...

10 am:
Next to get the boat clean, we took it out for its last run yesterday and left it out to dry and clean for the am before bringing it to the Marina for winterizing tomorrrow. We had so many great rides on the boat this year on the Connecticut River and with Pam and family in Connecticut. Never enough time, but we plan on getting out more next year. The crazy rain from the beginning of the year really put us behind in days, but we did get some great skiing in!

11 am:
Steve & Schuyler spent a little time working the rope and puttinig in a zip line, but the logistics really didn't work to have it ready for the party, so we decided to take it down. We plan on getting cable and hope to put it up before the snow flies. It was fun playing with it and imagining a ropes course in the back yard... looking forward to that. We did get the big oak tree down yesterday and it really opened up the yard to be bigger than ever!

12 noon:
Jake is the first to arrive for the costume birthday party - gift in hand, great costume with mask - I have him and all the 21 kids to follow sign in with their phone number just in case! :) It was a good plan, because Owen didn't feel good and mom needed to come pick him up. The boys and girls ages 7-10 run around the yard playing swords, balls, swinging, volleyball and just had a great time with eachother. The donut eating contest where we put mini donuts on a string is always a big hit!

Lynne, Fab, Mary and Alicia's dad stayed to hang out and play with the kids and help me which worked out great. We had pizza, played tug of war and had them eat donuts off the strings and then cake! Schuyler LOVES ice cream cake and it was a hit! Presents were opened and goodie bags were delivered to each as they left with their moms and dads.

2 pm
Tug of WAR! So much fun to see the smiles and the kids pulling with all their might!

2:30 pm - Dan comes over with the rocket launcher and the guys set up the compressor with the water hose for some end of the party fun! Party is deemed a true success.

Happy Birthday Schuyler! The time flies watching our boy grow up!

3:30 pm- Cleaning up is always fun... Recycling the bottles, plates, forks and getting the garbage out to the garage... picking up the balls and the rope. The yard is clear again!

6 pm - Dinner time, we head to the store to pick up some of our favorite sirloin steak and a bottle of champagne to celebrate all our blessings of late. Between training, nutrition, Schuyler's party, soccer and more - life has been so busy... We need to stop and say thank you for our health & happiness.

A great day for celebrating!

That's my 12 of 12 for this month --- check out this link for more 12 of 12 from around the world!

Hartford 1/2 marathon - 2nd in age, 13th woman, 93rd overall

My blog for this race may be short --- having my mind on prepping for the Marine Corps Marthon and actually hoping to set a PR here was pretty intense. My nerves were going crazy.... couldn't seem to find the start line with more than 7000 runners and 3 races going on consequtively just made for a whirl wind of people not knowing where to send me, but I will call it my warm up. I met this really great woman and we chatted while waiting for the start and I had time to stretch in the front coral before heading out on the course.

I remember doing the full marathon and really thought this one was a flat one, but I am sharing the elevation map to show you -- it really was NOT flat. Oh well - no Personal Record (PR), but I was pretty happy with my result considering there were only a few mile markers and nothing to keep me in the pace I wanted. Only when I was 1 mile from the finish did I realize that I would not make the 1:28 goal I had set --- The hill at 10 was pretty steep, and watching the woman pass me during the last miles of the course was not fun at all --- my stomach cramped up and I just didn't have the push at the end.




It was a beautiful course, I love the race technical shirt, and the expo out on the park with all the vendors was a real fair like atmosphere. Whole Foods sponsored the food tent and there was free beer too! (Although I did not partake).

SEE below my results ---- NEXT is the Marine Corps Marathon - 2 weeks and counting!

Results from the Hartford 1/2 Marathon
Hartford, Connecticut
October 10, 2009

2nd of 205 in age Female 45-49
93rd overall
Gun time = 1:31:23*
Official = 1:31:20 6:58 per mile
3055 Nancy Peck-Cook - Belchertown MA