Marathon 1: 3:52:32, Boston qualifier by >27 min, highest career age group finish (76% of world best)

Bike: 1,184 miles over 17.5 days of riding through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey

Averaged 67 miles/day with 2 rest days.

Trip duration: 20 days

Flat tires: 0!

Bike issues: 0!

Number of bruises from heavy bike falling in me—8

Most pop tarts eaten in a single day: 4 (when stove stopped working—2 for breakfast, 2 for dinner in York, PA)

Numbers of sharing size bags of almond M&Ms consumed—3

Most consecutive days without coffee—4

Highest mileage day—Dinwoodie, IN to Wabash, IN—108

Shortest mileage day—Point Pleasant, NJ to Sea Streak ferry—28

Number of close calls with vehicles—3 (I’m trying not to think about them)

Worst road—PA bike route S into York, PA

Best road—everything between Lancaster, PA and Philadelphia

Runs between marathons—3 (13 miles in Philly, 2 x 2 miles in NY)

Marathon 2: New York marathon: 4:09:10, BQ by > 10 min. Second best finish (of 3) at New York. Age group percentage 69%.

So in 4 weeks:

68.4 miles run, 1,184 miles biked, no scrapes, broken bones or damaged bike parts! Ready for next adventure!

Thanks so much to all of you who sent me well wishes throughout this little adventure! I really appreciate all the support and encouragement.

I particularly want to thank:

Karen and Alan Crossley for indispensable advice about the Chicago-New York bike tour. I would never have taken this on without their having showed the way.

Liz Chumanov for getting me to two marathon starting lines (and two BQ finishes)

The Sabgir family for their warmth and hospitality in Columbus, OH

Daniel Kleinman and Susan Bernstein for hosting me in Boston

Bill and Lisa Lahey for hosting me in Essex, MA

Larry Loeb and Linda Silberstein for the use of their amazing apartment in Manhattan

Mo and Amber for their warmth, encouragement and amazing chocolate chip cookies in Meyersdale, PA

My amazing BFF Vicky for constant encouragement and virtual companionship throughout, especially on the phone on some of those long rails to trails days

My husband Steve for being comfortable with me shirking my household and dog parent responsibilities for a month, for the use of his sturdy panniers and for sending me vital supplies for marathon #2

My son Seth for supporting me through marathon # 1 and taking on my responsibilities in October

My older kid River for encouragement throughout

And, again, thanks so much to of you who reached out with encouragement and well wishes. Your thoughts and words made all the difference!

Planning my first ultra for Memorial Day to be followed by a bike ride from Portland to Seattle in June. Also thinking about a bike tour of Iceland and the Reykjavik marathon this summer.

Will keep you posted!

Well, it happened. I ran another marathon exactly 4 weeks after my best-ever ( by age grading, not actual time, just saying).

And it was..fun!

The weather was beautiful—no wind, mild temps, blue skies. It was maybe 10 deg warmer than perfect but SO much better than last year and, TBH, better than the weather here over the past week.

I wish I’d taken a moment to capture some images, but I was too much in go-time mode. Given that I got really awful quad cramps after just 8 miles 10 days ago, I’m so grateful that I could run the whole 26.2 today—no walking, a bit of cramping, but no epic crash in the last 10 miles. I was able to keep a largely steady pace, albeit more leisurely than I might have liked.

I will post some wrap up and gratitudes tomorrow. Going to bed—had to get up at 2:30 to do all my pre-game and get the bus at 5 am.

Start: Point Pleasant, NJ

End: 34th street harbor, Manhattan, New York, NY

Total miles: 28

Biked along the boardwalk at sunrise and finally had the breakfast I’ve been craving for more than 2 weeks in Asbury Park, NJ.

Nothing left to do but pedal alongside beachfront villas and over the Sandy Hook bridge to the Seastreak ferry harbor at Highlands.

Now it’s time to start getting ready to run up and over this:

I said goodbye to Tourina, my trusty steed.

Ready for part 3: NYC marathon, t-7 days, 19 hours…

(With apologies to the Boss)

Start: Philadelphia, PA 8:30 am

End: Point Pleasant, NJ 4:30 pm

Total miles: 74

After a challenging hour trying to figure out how to get to the other side of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge (there was construction, there were closures, there was traffic, there were stairs, and I really had to pee), all went according to plan today.

I owe such a debt of gratitude to Karen and Alan Crossley for sharing their notes from their trip to New York. It was so great to know what to expect. Lots of traffic but nice double wide shoulders for a bike to maintain the illusion of safety.

The final few miles involved going through small beach-side communities kind of reminiscent of parts of Cape Cod. All of a sudden, a maritime landscape just emerges from dated strip mall sprawl. And there it is! The Atlantic Ocean!

Found the only two stalls you really need on the boardwalk—fish and chips and ice cream and has a very cliched and appropriate post-ride treat.

This was the last full day of riding. Just about 30 miles to the ferry to Manhattan…

As in, freedom to sleep, eat, run, do laundry and explore the Reading Terminal market.

It felt good, mostly, to run. Did 12 miles along the Schuylkill River and am both encouraged and a bit worried about the NYC marathon. Encouraged because marathon pace felt easy and 12 miles felt short. Worried because my left quad cramped after 8 miles in a way I haven’t experienced before. I’m hoping it’s just fatigue from the riding. I think more rest than miles will be in order for the week before the race.

Loved walking and eating my way through the Reading Terminal market. What a gem! There’s been a market here for like 300 years.

Start: French Creek State Park, 8 am

End: Philadelphia, PA 3 pm

Total miles; 53

What a day! I stated out looking for breakfast near the park since I couldn’t check into my hotel until 3 and only had 53 miles to go. I cruised down the hill to find the fairy tale village of St. Peter’s with the amazing St. Peter’s bakery. I had my first espresso drink in > 2 weeks. Ok, I had 2.

Then it was 30 miles through Revolutionary war territory, including Valley Forge. Houses were made from stone, there were stone fences and pumpkin and horse farms. I was imagining that things might have looked much like that 250 years ago.

Then it was onto the Schuylkill River trail into Philadelphia.

Part of my goal in planning to arrive in Philadelphia by today was having a chance to walk in to Zahav for dinner. Reservations are impossible, but I’ve been successful as a walk in for a seat at the bar in the past, so I went for it! And I was the first in line!

The food was amazing! First, 6 salatim (salads) , hummus and fresh wood fired laffa bread.

Then four mezze…

Then 3 grilled skewers…

Yes, in case you were wondering, that IS house made tahini in the bowl behind the platter!

Then apple walnut baklava with spiced cream semifreddo.

.

And of course I got the wine pairing. Who said 4 glasses of wine is too much? Hey, this is the first meal I’ve had since Columbus, more than 600 miles ago!

And, if all this weren’t enough, I had an amazing conversation with celebrity chef and humanist Michael Solomonov. It was all like a dream!

Excited to have a day to not look at the bike and instead get a chance to lace up the running shoes. And eat more.

See you again on Friday.

100 miles to go!

I think it’s a lot more crowded here. I’ve been sensing something creeping in, and I think some of it is that as I’m going east, the country is becoming more populous. Traffic, more crowded campsites, more cities to navigate.

Just something I am only now putting together. It sort of creeps in without announcing itself, but since leaving Chicago, I’ve been mostly in remote areas, especially between here and Columbus through Appalachia.

And I’m becoming more stressed! It all makes sense.

Plus it’s game 7 of the NLCS and the Phillies are in it. I know because my campsite neighbor is blasting the pregame on the radio.

Start: York, PA 10 am

End: French Creek State Park, Lancaster County,PA 5:45 pm

Total miles: 68

I was pretty freaked by that last 20 miles yesterday and was really nervous about today. So nervous that I stopped for my first donut of the trip a few miles in.

But it was…ok. The road out of York, still PA Bike Route S, had a much better shoulder than on the way in. It was pretty much suburban commercial hell all the way to Lancaster, punctuated by an amazing mile long bridge over the Susquehanna River. Sorry I couldn’t stop to get a photo, but I was navigating hills and traffic.

Lancaster has a very charming historic center and a beautiful public market! Yay, public markets!!!

Coming out of Lancaster, the route went right back into the amazing farmland that I fell in love with yesterday. There were also lots sf Amish farmers. Kids, women riding bikes, kids driving pony carts. Also lots of CAFOs. Very weird juxtaposition.

The landscapes reminded me of southern Wisconsin.

Exhaling.

Start: Hagerstown, MD 8 am

End: York, PA 5 pm

Total miles: 71

For 70% of the miles, today was everything bike tourists dream about—bluebird skies, crisp temps, rolling hills, gorgeous fall color, picturesque farms, historic towns. It was like a dream. I stopped for coffee, eggs and toast at a friendly cafe filled with everyday regulars of all ages chatting with the friendly owner who called me “Honey”. The works!

And then it was time to turn onto PA Bicycle Route S. I had high hopes. They were quickly dashed. For 18 miles, this two lane road with a 1-2 ft shoulder went up and down over not-insignificant, endless roller coaster hills with cars and tricks whizzing by at 55 mph. Not great.

Sadly there’s at least two more hours of this road tomorrow.

More from the other side.