Girls just wanna have…THIS!
It’s that time of year!
I generally have two big busy seasons in the year: spring marathon season, and fall marathon season. (Don’t ask me to choose. I swear I love them equally.) (But yeah. Fall.)
The event calendar runs year-round, of course, but my travel and event commitments are mostly centered around the Bostons, Chicagos, and New York Citys of it all.
And the Busy Season officially kicked off this past weekend in Richmond, VA. My — our, actually — first big work trip of the year!
Virginia Girls Weekend — on International Women’s Day, no less — Year 2!
The River City Half Marathon & 5K weekend is always a fun way to get it all started. It’s a decent-sized event with a small-town feel and great community support. The races are on Saturday (which I prefer), and then Keira D’Amato and I host a live show later in the day. It’s a great way to recover and celebrate together. (You can listen to the show here now.)
As chaotic as this season can be, it’s always the best reminder of just how much I love my job.
Sure, there are plenty of parts I could do without. The admin, mostly. Emails, invoices, anything involving Quickbooks.
But I love this work. I love the conversations I get to have, the live shows I get to host, the races I get to announce, and the people I get to talk with and learn from.
I love the big race weekends and the like-family reunions at each one. I love that each event has its own energy, its own vibe, its own special thing.
I love getting to see so many of you.
In that room in Richmond, I felt it. I always do at these shows.
You wore your sparkles and your sequins, and you laughed with us and celebrated with us (Keira’s win in the half, not to be overshadowed by my second-place age group finish in the 5K…). You played games with us, debated hot takes with us, and created lasting memories with us. (Aww.)
Getting to do it all with my best little buddy by my side the whole time? My god. I love it. (Annie had an absolute blast the entire weekend. We had a sleepover with Keira and her daughter, Quin; we got some family time in with Cousin Jackie and her crew; and Annie got to visit with two of her favorite boys, Zach and Conor.)
The pit crew!
This weekend was so good for my heart and soul. I was craving a weekend like this one — a mix of work stuff and loved-one stuff. We struck the perfect balance, I think.
Coming Up, the Highlights:
Boston this weekend with New Balance. (Sending love to everyone running the NYC Half! I’m sad to miss it this year. And shout-out to everyone running the L.A. Marathon! And shout-out to everyone everywhere. You’re doing great.)
Drop your shoulders. Come on. We’ve been over this.
The Boston Marathon next month. My schedule is jam-packed, a touch overwhelming, and all exciting. I’ll be hosting two different panels at the expo, plus two live shows. Details coming soon!
Unclench your jaw! What are you doing?! Relax. Everything is going to be OK.
The London Marathon! O M G. This is happening! I’ll be there, for the first time! First time in London! I would like to do a Ted Lasso tour when I’m in town. Is that so lame? Do I even care.
I’m turning 40. What should I do for my birthday? I have a few ideas, and my friends cornered me in Richmond and forced me to commit to a plan. But IDK you tell me. Did you host or attend an awesome celebration at any point in your life? What made it great? Sell me on an idea.
The New York Mini 10K in June. It’s annoying that I have plans that I can’t tell you about yet, but I have plans. Concepts of plans, and then some.
I live for connection and community. I love people. I love my people. And I love that I’m headed into the very best time of year to bask in all of it.
This week on the Ali on the Run Show:
LIVE in Richmond with Keira D’Amato: Ali and Keira, at it again. A super fun show with a great, sparkly audience. Plus, a few very special guests!
Everything You Need to Know About Grand Slam Track: Fan favorite Kyle Merber — now the Senior Director of Racing at Grand Slam Track — shares everything we should know about track’s newest league. If you’ve seen the hype but still have some questions, Kyle has the answers, including what the recruiting process was like, and why he thinks we should all tune in.
Running:
Daylight Saving Time messed up my body clock quite nicely (I never even used to notice the time changes; now it takes me a full week to adjust), but I am loving that it’s lighter later! And the weather was lovely in New Hampshire this week, so I made sure I got as much fresh air as I could. That included a hilly 8-mile round-trip run to vote in our local town elections on Tuesday, and a handful of reasonably long walks. I really want to get back to consistent running, but the motivation has just been lacking this winter. I’ve been so much more excited to walk than I have been to run. But that one 60-degree day we just got made me think I’ll be back on the run in no time.
I raced the River City 5K in Richmond over the weekend, and it was so fun. I ran a full (exact) minute faster than my last 5K at the end of January, which was also a full (almost exact) minute faster than my 5K before that, in Chicago in October. I tried to run comfortably hard, which is a funny phrase because it wasn’t comfortable. It didn’t necessarily feel like an all-out, might-vomit-at-the-finish effort, but it wasn’t easy. I ran 23:15, which is a 7:30/mile pace. Fine by me.
Watching:
The same: White Lotus, Summer House, and Schitt’s Creek. I’ve barely watched anything at all this week on account of aforementioned busyness. No complaints there.
Chatting with:
Elise Cranny, coming next week to the Ali on the Run Show! I’ll just say that at the very end of the episode, I finally worked up the courage to ask a pro runner a question I’ve always wanted to ask. And boy did she answer. It was wonderful.
Heading to:
Boston! It’s New Balance Indoor Nationals weekend, and even though I don’t follow or cover high school athletes, I do have a bunch of fun things I’ll be doing at The TRACK over the weekend, including a few interviews and some time in the sports lab.
SPONSOR SHOUT OUTS
I am so eternally grateful for the wonderful brands and partners I get to work with on the Ali on the Run Show. You can always find the offers and discount codes in the show notes for each podcast episode (rate, review, and share while you’re there!). And now they’re here as well:
UCAN: Click here to get a FREE UCAN Edge sample pack (you’ll just pay the cost of shipping). Use code ALI for 20% off your next UCAN order.
Shokz: Click here and use code ALI for $10 off your next purchase. Code valid in the U.S. and Canada. (Check out the limited edition Boston Marathon OpenRun Pro2!)
New Balance: Click here to shop New Balance's latest releases for the season.
goodr: Click here and use code ALI for $5 off your next order.
Lagoon: Click here to take Lagoon’s 2-minute sleep quiz to see which pillow is right for you. Use code ALI at checkout for 15% off your next Lagoon order.
Vuori: Click here for 20% off your first Vuori purchase.
And so…
Take good care of yourselves. Take good care of each other. Take three deep breaths. Unclench your jaw. Drop those darn shoulders. And whatever you’re going through, keep going.
(You’ve got this. You’re doing great.)
Love,
Ali
“Unclench your jaw! What are you doing?!” is the note we all need right now - thank you!
For my 40th last year, originally I was thinking something normal like drinks at a bar, and then my husband reminded me that I don't really like bars (too loud!) or staying up past 9pm. So we invited a bunch of friends over and we *wait for it* RAN A 5k! Not an official one, just around the neighborhood. And then consumed an ungodly quantity of bagels, cream cheese, and lox from my favorite bagel place. Runners got there at 9:30, everyone else arrived at 10:30, and everything was wrapped up by 1pm. It was low key, so fun, and perfectly me. I loved it.