Revisiting Our 2010 Goals!

Well, another year has come and gone! Let's see how well we did with our goals from 2010...
Ryan's original goals for 2010:
1.) Work on my core. COMPLETED
2.) Run at least 4 marathons.COMPLETED Ran 6 marathons and 1 ultra.
3.) Start my master's degree. COMPLETED
4.) Eat more fruits and veggies. COMPLETED (Miss Bethany packs them in his lunch, can't go wrong on this one!)
5.) Set new PRs in the 5k, 10k and half marathon distances. NOPE. Got a PR in a 7 mile race and a new marathon PR.

Bethany's original goals for 2010:
1.) Run the StoneCat 50 Mile Trail Race in November. COMPLETED
2.) Have a new marathon PR (3:25?) NOPE 3:34:50 was my fastest marathon this year, no PR
3.) Break 5:20 in a Half-Ironman NOPE, didn't even get to do a HIM this year :'-(
4.) Floss More (not going so well) COMPLETED
5.) Read at least one book per month (so far on book #3) COMPLETED On book #13!
6.) Maybe lose a couple pounds this summer NOPE

We've enjoyed reading all your posts about your goals for 2011 and also all that you've accomplished in 2010! Congratulations to you all and good luck in 2011 on your new goals! Can you believe it's the start of a new decade!? 

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL! 

We are looking forward to meeting many of you at Disney, Boston, San Diego and Mount Desert Island marathons in 2011! 

We'll post our 2011 goals soon! 

Our Last Unmarried Christmas

Merry Christmas!!! Hope you all had a great day, and we hope Santa was as good to you as he was to us! We both went on a nice Christmas Eve trail run for 1.5 hrs with our friends, and then Miss Bethany also went on her annual Christmas morning run. There's a blustery blizzard going on outside, so we've hunkered down with a couple cups of candy cane green tea and we've been relaxing, waiting out the storm. We were hoping to get in a 2+ hr run this morning, but the blizzard made things a little interesting and messed up our plans. We ended up taking an early train back to Boston from our parents' homes, and then once we got back to Boston, we ran for a snowy/cold/windy hour. Oh well, it felt good to get out there for a bit anyways.

Well, in the meantime while we're snowed in, we'll share some of our Christmas pics with you:

Ryan in his Christmas sweater with Ginger the Reindeer-dog

Ryan ("Ryry") and Robby ("Bobby ")

 Bethany's Dad with Robby and Joshua

Miss Bethany's favorite Christmas ornament

In front of Ryan's parents' Christmas tree

The view from our front window

Do you know what tomorrow is? . . . . 5 months til our wedding!

You're All Invited . . .

You are cordially invited to celebrate

the wedding of

Bethany Bertrand

and

Ryan Couto

on Sunday morning

May the 29^th

at 8 o’clock

Pineland Farms Trail Running Festival

(50 mi, 50 km, or 25 km)

New Gloucester, ME

Planning your spring race schedule? Looking to run your first ultra? Consider running with us! Just two days after our wedding, it will be our first ultra as husband and wife! We already have a bunch of running friends going, and we'd love some more! We did this race last year, and it is AWESOME, which is why we're doing it again just two days after our wedding. 

I've Been Tagged

I've been tagged by Stacie to answer the following questions. Thanks, Stacie!!

1. What was your toughest race? I'm sure you all expect me to say my 50 miler, or some marathon, but my toughest race was actually a local 5 miler I ran on July 4th 2009. It was my 12th time running this race and it was in my hometown; I've run this course literally hundreds of times. I had just started "Clean Eating" earlier in the week and I wasn't eating enough because I was still learning what I could eat. My goal for the race was 34:59. At mile 3 I had nothing left. That was the first time I ever felt like that. I wanted to quit so badly or start walking. Mentally I wasn't into it, physically I was hurting, and having tons of people speed past me didn't help either. It was probably the most miserable I've ever felt while running. Good thing it was only 5 miles. I ended up with 37:30, still a great time, not sure how I pulled that off.

2. What are your goals for 2011? Well, as you all know, Ryan and I are getting married (finally) in May. Currently for 2011, Ryan and I are signed up for 5 marathons, Disney, Hyannis, Boston, RNR San Diego, and Desert Island Marathon. We are also planning on doing a 50 km in May and we both hope to run the Stone Cat 50 miler in November (same one i did this year). I really want to do another 70.3, but with the wedding and honeymoon, I don't see it happening. I would like to focus on riding my bike more. In July, i have plans on volunteering at Ironman Lake Placid and then hopfully being able to sign up for 2012 IM Lake Placid. I'd like to work on speed too, I'm overdue for some PRs.

3.If you could live anywhere, where would it be? Here. I would never want to live anywhere else. All my family is here and I like the weather in MA. If i could though, I would love to spend the summers in Alaska. I love Alaska so much and I think about it at least once every 5 minutes. My heart aches when I look at pictures, I just want to go back so badly. But i wouldn't want to live there year round because I'm not that tough.

4. What is my guilty pleasure TV show? Hannah Montanna. Don't judge. I don't watch it very often though. The only TV show I watch is The Biggest Loser, I've been watching it since season 1.

5. How do you keep a sense of balance? hmm, not sure how but i always feel like I'm balanced. I'm very disciplined and efficient and I always get done what I need to get done. i wake up early and go non-stop until bedtime but that's what I like to do so it's doesn't stress me out or anything. I get a lot done in a day and I always find way to squeeze things in. I guess by not wasting anytime I get everything done. Obviously running makes me feel balanced. I started running in 1998 and don't want to imagine my life without it! I don't know my adult life without running (I was 12 when i started) so I'm not sure how I'd be without it, and i don't want to find out anytime soon.

Thanks for the fun, Stacie! I tag Ryan :-)

Christmas Parties, Marriage Prep, and Long Run

We had another busy weekend this weekend, and are just having some time now to go back and recap and blog. It was a fun weekend filled with good runs, the office Christmas party, and our required marriage prep class at a local Church. 

Friday night, we got home from work, went for a nice cold run along the Charles River, and there was NO other runners to be found. All the fair-weather runners have gone into hibernation for the winter :) It's such a drastic change from the summer, when you can't run two steps without seeing another runner. We finished our run at a local burrito place for a quick little dinner date, and then we did groceries. Of course, us being the Christmas-lovers that we are, we bought a bunch of Christmas goodies such as egg nog and candy cane tea :)

 Miss Bethany with a clean Christmas cupcake and our Christmas tree

Close-up of the Christmas cupcake (from Whole Foods)

Saturday we had a very busy day. Knowing it was going to be a long day without the chance to get a workout in, we went for a half-hour morning walk to the Church where our Wedding Prep class was being held. The class was full of about 30 or so couples, and we did all kinds of activities such as 'how well do you know your  future spouse,' things like that. It was pretty fun, although it was a long day, and lasted from 9-5. 

Right after the Wedding Prep class, we had to rush back to our apartment and get ready for my office Christmas party. It was at a fancy hotel on South Boston's waterfront, and we had a lot of fun with my colleagues. There was great food, good friends, and fun times on the dancefloor. The food was delicious, and was good fuel for our long run this morning :)

Bethany and I with Ryan (my co-worker and one of my groomsmen) and his girlfriend Sarah

Kissy-pic on the Viaduct Bridge near the hotel (Note: Co-worker Ryan and I worked on the structural repairs of this bridge, right next to the hotel where the party was at)

Co-worker/Groomsman Ryan and I

This morning, I slept in a little while Miss Bethany went out to start her long run (b/c she had to catch a train to go visit her friend in NH, we wouldn't be able to do our whole long run together). So she swung back by the apt after 8 miles and picked me up, and we ran another 7 miles together. After our 7 miles together, she came back to the apartment and showered and headed to the train, while I finished up my run for a total of 14.5 miles. I've been having a little IT band discomfort, so I've started using KT Tape, and I really think it has helped me. It was miserable weather, with lots of wind and rain, but we were able to get a solid run in, so we were both happy with that. 

Have a good week, everyone!

Downtown Providence Jingle 5k

Today my Mom and I ran the Downtown Providence Jingle 5k, and we had a blast! On the way to the race, we hit some plywood (w/ nails in it of course), and got a flat tire. Luckily my dad and I were able to fix it and get to the race with time to spare! We got to the race, I ran in and picked up our numbers and shirts (which were awesome!), and listened to some Christmas tunes, played on the sax by none other than Matty B, the local musician who will be playing at our wedding! :)

Everyone was out in their elf, reindeer, santa, or other festive costumes, and Santa fired the start gun. The race took us through the streets of Downtown Providence (where I used to call home. Oh, how I miss Brown!) My mom was running strong the first mile (10:06), but I was a little concerned that we were going out too hot. The second mile came in (10:04), and she was still going strong, so I kind of pushed her for a strong finish, and our last mile (9:59) was our fastest. We ended up doing 31:03, which is about a minute and a half faster than her previous best, which was 2 years ago. I was so proud of her, and she was so happy! It was a great day. We got a great picture in front a Christmas tree after the race. 

After the race, we got to chat with Matty B, and he is pumped to rock the reception for us, haha! He seems like a really nice guy, and he puts on a really good show. We're all looking forward to the big day.

Well anyway, here is the pic of us, hope you all had a great weekend!