Day of the Tread

I was a little hesitant to do this since I would be alone with my son and sometimes the logistics can be overwhelming when you're trying to handle a bike and a son that likes to try and run away from you.  But when I saw that they added a 12 mile family ride where you rode out the 12 miles then caught the train back downtown I knew my son would love that and went for it.  I had done this ride pre kiddo when they had first started doing Day of the Tread and I'm happy to say they've come a long ways.  They were a lot more organized this time around!  My son had a blast and I got a good workout in!  I could say it's the best day we've had in a while but that's probably just because the day before was a tough one and we spent most of it in a standoff of wills. 

Riding the clunky commuter bike with the heavy child's seat on the bike is becoming quite the challenge now that my son is nearing the 40lb mark.  My legs were surprisingly sore so I was happy to get a good workout in and have some fun doing it!  On the way there I was scared my little bike rack wasn't going to stay on my car as the added weight from the bike seat kept making it rise up on that side.  We made it and I realized I had forgotten our bib number, which you needed in order to get on the train on the way back, and sunscreen for my kiddo's face.  Luckily the race organizers took care of us on both!  Thank you!!!   Then we saw the 26 mile ride take off in front of us and all the costumes.  My son fell in love with the Roadrunner Mascot and it was so cute seeing him dance with him and imitate his dance moves then fall to the ground in laughter.  He was seriously giddy with him.  He was a little scared when the "devil" tried to say hi to him. 

We stopped to hear the Mariachis play around mile 2 and I had the song stuck in my head for the rest of the ride.  They had an aid station at mile 4 so we stopped for a break and ate some snacks.  We had to do a couple of potty breaks for my son and have a talk about why he has to leave his helmet on and he fell asleep around mile 8 and poor little guys head kept falling forward and hitting my back or he'd be double over with his head practically in his lap.  They helped us get our bikes on the train and we went up and road in the top car.  Once we got off the train we had police escort back to the finish.  A good day with great weather(although unseasonably warm for this time of year) and a lot of helpful volunteers and nice riders!  I'm glad I take these risks and get out there because in the end it is always worth it. 

Happy Training!

Sisters Relay Duke City Marathon

I had never ran an official relay before and I was excited to get to do one!  A few years back a crazy friend had convinced me to do one at midnight and I had sworn I'd never do one again but that was obviously the tired talking.  I had so much fun during this relay and really needed a distraction with a fun group of ladies that new how to make me laugh and didn't even care when I messed up the hand off!! 

The day started with my son sleeping in for the first time ever so I cringed at having to  make noise at 6 am so that he would get up but the hand off went smoothly all things considered and I even managed to remember my breakfast, pb & honey sandwich, and my Accelerade drink!  When I first signed up to do this relay I thought I'd have to take my own car go do my leg with my son in the car seat and someone else driving only to have to leave right away.  But I got to stay for the whole thing and ride along with all the rest!  Then I get to our meet up parking lot and it's full!!! We all manage to find spots and somehow find each other!  Our fearless leader somehow found our chip just in time!  This race seems a little disorganized but we made it! 

The first leg our team mate killed it!  The second leg I ran 6.2 miles and I was pretty cold so all my muscles were tight and I felt like I was going pretty slow.  I tried to wave at a fellow Sole Sister that was there cheering and my hand wouldn't open.  Once I warmed up I tried to push myself to make up for some lost time.  I was able to do a sub hour 10k which made me happy considering the lack of training going into this!  But here's the kicker.  I get to the hand off and it is so congested and I'm staring straight into the sun.  I hear my teammates yell what I thought was "She's at the top!" so I ran past them to the top of the hill and yelled her name as I twirled around.  Then the cop started yelling at me to cross the street because he was holding up a line of cars for me so race brain and panic kicked in and I kept

running!!!  I missed the hand off!!  What they had yelled is "She's on the pot!"  Apparently the porta potty line was horrendous!  Anyway I saw her at my turn around and we ran back together!  In the end crisis avoided and we got to talk while we ran and I got to know a teammate better!  My 6 mile run turned into an unplanned 11 mile run but I felt surprisingly good even with the couple of little hills.

The day started getting really hot after that so I'm super proud of the next two ladies finishing it off for us!  One of which also ran a second leg because one of our mates had to step out last minute due to illness.  We managed to do sub 4 hour marathon as a team and best of all I made some new friends, great memories, and I made it back in time to take my son for a swim and add a new pin to his medals!  Sometimes you just need a good run and good company to get you out of a rut.  Sisterhood at it's best!  My half marathon training starts next week so I figure this was a good start to it.

Happy Training!!