Hi! Did you miss me? No, not really? Well, too bad cause I'm back anyway! I have a lot of catching up to do but here is just a glimpse in photos of what I've been up to. I've been spending a lot of time catching up and making up for lost time with this guy:
Hanging out around town:
Scouting new sights:
Teaching this one how to play tether ball:
Practicing for my rappel on Friday:
Oh yeah and still training for my Ironman!!! Only 9 more weeks left! I did a half marathon this Sunday as part of my training. I'll do a race recap soon! Are you loving this fall weather for training? I am!
I'm behind on here and there are so many things I wanted to blog about lately but work has been INSANE so I haven't had the time as well as been really tired when I do. The stress at work has been adding up over the last 3-4 weeks but this week was the worst and of course it was also taper week which meant I didn't have my normal coping mechanism available, which usually involves running like hell until all the stress (poison) is out of my system. This is the 1st time I've truly experienced taper madness, usually I'm so tired from my training that I have to admit taper week doesn't make me go all that crazy.
So last weekend I did my first trail run/shuffle it was so fun and beautiful. It didn't hurt after the first mile once my heart realized it wasn't really going to explode :-) having all the scenery was awesome and distracted me a lot! We did 4.5 up then back down it was almost 1800 feet in elevation gain and a little chilly at the top. Took me 2:10 to do it. I plan on adding some trail running to my training plan just because it was so much fun! My legs were really hurting the next day but that was expected.
Warning if you are a guy you can skip this paragraph! :-) This weekend is a sprint tri with my dad on Sunday and don't worry we haven't forgotten about mother's day we have something special planned, or do we? (She likes to keep up with my blog so I'll have to be vague) Anyway I had this whole race strategy written on my mirror with dry erase marker and then got thrown for a loop. It's supposed be raining and I've never ridden my tri bike in the rain so it makes me a little nervous. Also my body has been all outa whack and it decided it should be that time of month right now!!! Let's just hope I don't have a repeat of Ironkids when I was just 12 years old. If you happened to listen to my dad's pre race interview that I posted here you would have heard him elude to this incident. It was traumatizing for a 12 year old girl to go through. I was racing Ironkids nationals and when I crossed the finish line a kind woman came up and asked me where my parents were. I said I didn't know. She then asked me if I had a change of clothes I had to say no my parents would have it. Then she had to point out why she was asking and I looked down to see a soaked t-shirt and bathing suite (and let's just say it wasn't from the pool water) I can't remember if I was in instant tears or not but I do remember thinking I was justified in feeling so horrible during the race!!! But I've grown up and I've learned how to use a tampon :-) but I'm more concerned with being fatigued during the race!!!
Ok enough girly stories and more pretty pictures. Good luck to everyone racing this weekend my race plan is simply going to be to GIVE IT H - E - double hockey sticks and not worry about what the race gods throw at me!
As I went to work this morning on my commuter bike I felt like this (it's all donwhill to work):
Then on the way back home after work I felt like this (it's all uphill and hotter on the way home):
Once I got home and remembered it was a recovery week and that meant my workout was over for the day I felt like this:
Once I got inside and put my toys away I wanted to do this:
So here is what I looked like today on my ride home minus the bike:
Well I GARUNTEE if you saw that coming towards you the 1st instinct would not be to whistle, offer to call 911 maybe or call the fashion police even better. But for the poor soul who thought that was whistle worthy may I suggest that you get out more. I mean come on it's not like I was wearing this:
Good cause, good people, laughs, delirium, cops, Cujo, trains, stars, robbery, all in a night to remember. I said I would never do a relay no matter how much my friend coaxed me. On Friday at work I received a text from her "Call me now!" I thought something was wrong so of course I called. "We gotta do this relay!" of course I said no but then she explained what it was for:
Revolution3 Triathlon
They are doing a Run Across America to raise money for the Ulman Cancer Fund and there is still time to donate! They have two teams that leap frog taking 8 hour shifts and they take turns running. They contacted our running club because they need an 8 hour shift covered while passing through NM so they could nurse some injuries and get some well deserved rest so my friend decided to come to the rescue last minute and put together a team to take it on! It was such a great experience and even though we only met them briefly I could feel the energy that each of them put out! Some of us on our team had never met other than through DM or FB but we all had fun.
Cops/Robbery - We were in the middle of no where between midnight and 8am with our hazards on going really slow following runners with a head lamp/vest and blinking red lights, so we got pulled over at least 5-6 times. A couple of times the cops asked our runner if we had seen a guy in jeans walking and we had actually noticed 2 guys dressed in black walking together on this desolate road and thought it was odd but then we figured they thought the same about us. The cops told us they had just robbed a store and took off with lights on. Another one just wanted to make sure we were ok and once we explained he just waived us on.
Cujo - There was one small town that we ran through that was very scary mainly because each house had at least 6 vicious dogs protecting it and Cujo was on the lose while one of us was running, luckily he just sniffed our runner a little and took off but he was HUGE and scary and when it was my turn to run my heart was racing so fast and I've never been afraid of dogs. Once I looked over to see one racing towards me with gnarly teeth but then it came to the end of it's chain!!!!
Trains/Pooping in the desert - Another one of us was apparently scared to death of trains, we couldn't stop laughing (sorry) I mean seriously who's scared of trains :-) I appreciated when the trains came by because I figured the loud noise was scaring away critters that might have been lurking in the dark waiting for us to pass by. She did get over her fear of pooping in the open though on this trip we were all so proud she's officially an endurance runner now!!
Can you guessed who organized this for us? Maybe the one that looks way too excited to be running a relay at midnight?
After all that we made it back safe and it was an awesome experience. Although it confirmed that I am grumpy when I don't get sleep and not a very good night runner I did manage to get 9 of our team of 5's 48 miles in and even though I wouldn't want to do a relay that was actually a race I loved the experience and my running friends and all for a good cause! I then came home and went for a 2 mile hike/walk with a friend who it was her 1st time exercising and I'm so proud of her! She did awesome and has a plan to get healthy! Another runner rushed home because he still had to go pace his wife on her 1st 10k race ever and she did awesome!
It was a good weekend folks!!! How about you would you rather do a 36 hour running relay or an Ironman? IM for me thanks!
P.S. Don't forget to enter my Road ID giveaway HERE!!! ends April 6th
I made it back safe and sound with lots of pics, swag, stories and a PR!!
1st time I saw these at the Exp!! Wouldn't a band aid work?
Packet Pickup
The Good:
Lots of cool swag: technical race short sleeve shirt (long sleeve
for the full marathon), backpack, finishers hat, finishers medal,
finishers sweatshirt, plenty of food at finish and 1 gel stop on course,
plenty of water, Gatorade and possible 2 beer stops put on by the hashers (I might have had one at mile three which might have been the reason for my PR, hmmm)
Plenty of room on the road for all of the runners I was afraid it
was going to be really crowded but I didn't have to do too much dodging.
Walked to race start 1..7 mi from our hotel there were plenty of
hotels near the start just depending on how much you were willing to
pay.
Overcast and a little chilly for half start which meant the humidity didn't bother me as much
Very flat course at sea level which may have had more to do with my PR then the beer
After party on the beach with beer, ocean and the sun finally came out, oh and stew if you weren't vegetarian
The Bad:
Look at all the cool stuff!
They started the full marathon 1.5 hrs after the half which meant
some people were running in really hot and muggy conditions once the sun
came out, I believe there was 1 death at this race
Only the last quarter of a mile was along the actual beach (but
that was due to the ample roads that were used instead which if you see
above is one of the good things)
Most restaurants were overbooked the night before the race and
really hard to get a pasta dinner (impossible if you are vegetarian) so I
bought a microwaveable pasta dinner that I ate in the room
Totally due to our poor planning we ended up flying in to BWI instead of Norfolk which added 4 hr drive to our 4 hour plane ride which made for sore legs
I was wanting a time faster than 2:16 so that I could call it
a PR and apparently if you bother to train it works because my
"official" time said 2:04:29 I PRd by 12 minutes!!!! This gave me the confidence boost I needed for my triathlon training that officially starts today! We had 3 PRs in the group of 4 so that was awesome! Had fun hanging out with my running buddies!
I have started a FB page for my blog please like me if you are so inclined. I will add all the pictures from my weekend there! Also stay tuned I have SEVERAL exciting giveaways coming up very soon!! Who else raced this weekend?
Pre Race 6 am
Post race, very sweaty humid race, but I'm a desert girl so you east coasters are probably use to it.
First of all something you may not care about but I felt compelled to share. I had sent a package via priority mail with our wonderful US postal service back in January. The first thing that went wrong is that it took my 3 post offices to find the free envelopes actually in stock. Then I finally sent it with the extra confirmation option. It went to California, Puerto Rico, Kirtland AFB and finally about 2 months later it made it back to me!!! My husband is now overseas and never received his care package before leaving. :-( One thing I noticed though was that it was so beat up that the pixie sticks inside it had broken and there was a white powder coming out of it if you shook the package!!!! Maybe that's why it never got anywhere? It at least gave me a good laugh even though I was sad it never got to him...
Second of all for those of you who might doubt that my dog is crazy, this is my dog in a car at the end of a road trip AFTER being on doggie sedatives for a few hours, so this is her calm self:
So I found this list of Half-Marathon Essential Q&As on Runner's World UK and thought I could have a little bit of fun with it to get rid of pre race jitters:
Can I run/walk a half-marathon? Can you? Heck just wait until mile 10 when you realize you didn't hydrate, your calf muscles start cramping, and you will be lucky if you can continue walking.
I’ve only been running for two months – is it too soon for a half?The sooner the better there's no better time than today right? Who needs a base?
Do I need to run more than 13 miles in training?You will just get bored if you do this why not save that for the actual race and have a surprise to keep you interested.
Why should I do speed work for a half-marathon?This is very important in half-marathon racing because how else will you be ready for the full on sprint at the beginning of the race where everyone that snuck into corral 1 tries to run at the front with the elites? You don't want to be trampled or embarrassed so yes it is essential!
What kind of speed sessions should I do for a half-marathon?The best kind of speed work is to have friends help you simulate what the race will be like, have one try to run you off the road, have another oblivious to the race start still stretching somewhere in front of you where it's hard to not run over them, have another taking pictures of the person behind you oblivious to you stepping out in front of you. You get the picture.
Can I train for a half-marathon on a three-days-a-week schedule?Wow you train three days a week!? You are really on top of your training!
How much fuel should I take on during a half-marathon?Fuel? You don't need fuel and if you do on race day feel yourself bonk they'll have something on the course to try out, even if you've never had it before your stomach should be OK with it.
How often can I race a half-marathon?If you get in less than 12 a year then you are obviously not a serious runner, 'nuff said.
How can I save something for the last 0.1 miles? I always peak too soon. That's OK that's how you know you sprinted hard enough at the start. You have to leave it all out on the course right? Oh and don't forget real runners puke at least once a race.
How long should I taper for?Taper?!?! Tapering is for wussies! Actually I use this time when all the wussies are tapering to make up for any lost workouts I had during my training which means this is the hardest week of training!
What's your favorite pre race ritual? Turns out we will be spending Fri. - Mon. in Virginia Beach so if anyone wants to do a meet up message me! Happy Running!
Ok Ok so they didn't literally attack us but it sure seemed like they were aiming for us! More on that in a minute..
I survived my 1st week of training but not without some mishaps, the good news is I didn't let it slow me down. Well, maybe it slowed me down time wise but I still put a lot of heart into it and pushed through!
Saturday was this month's running club handicap run and it was a "prediction" run which meant that you were not allowed to wear a watch and you were told the total distance and had to guess how long it would take you to finish. This was a 2 person team so the team who predicted their time best won. My friend that went with me had never done one before so I put down our times I wrote her in at 36 mins. and myself at 37 and she looked at me like I was crazy because it was only a 3.4 mile run. I told her "trust me" I've ran out here before and the hills are killer. As we made our first ascent I could hear her behind me saying "wow this is tough you were right!" As we had to stop and walk up some patches of snow/ice I new I had made the right call. Now on the downhill I got so excited and was running a little too fast, hit a rock, and went for a tumble! I'm pretty bruised up, have a swollen hand, knot on my elbow, and my shoulder and hip hurts still. I shook it off and kept going but it hurt... Good news is we won the prediction run by only being off by like 30 secs each so the Starbucks gift card helped me forget about my injuries...
1st hill
I'm still smiling after the fall...
The next day I had committed to meeting a friend at the "bosque" trail which is a flat path by the river. Trust me I probably would have wimped out if I hadn't said I'd be there. The winds were up to 40 mph gusts with wind chills and I was hurting more than I thought I'd be from the fall. We still did all 9 miles and thankfully my running buddy was there to get me through the last couple of miles because I was struggling. The first few miles were in the 9-10 min. range and the last half were closer to 11 I was sooo dehydrated from the wind and a few times I swear the wind almost ran me right into my friend. Not to mention the tumbleweeds that you had to dodge as the wind blew them over the path!!
So now I'm at work licking my wounds but so happy to have completed a tough week of training. I start the week off with some weight lifting and plyometrics...
Wow what a weekend! There was great, good, bad and just blah! First of all one of my really good running friends that moved away (boooo) came to visit (yay)! We didn't stop talking the entire time she was here we were speed talkers it was hilarious! We went to a Brewery Run with my local running group where she finished first female and I got lost but found my way back. What was funny when I realized I was lost and there were no more chalk marks on the sidewalk I looked behind me and there was a about 5 people that had been following me, whoops!
Then we did some speed shopping, seriously I've never seen anyone that can buy shoes as fast as that girl and I'm fast! On to grocery shopping to prep some delicious food for my girls night as a belated birthday celebration for myself. Our second workout consisted of dancing with the Wii it was ridiculously fun! Yes, I just turned 34 but I refuse to grow up :-) Hey I just realized this is my last year in this age group for races, SCARY!!!
My doggie got to join in the fun!
Amazing cupcakes, I had to eat the one the dog had licked :-)
Chocolate Fondue yuuummmm!
Now to show you how horrible Awesome our dance moves are:
On Sunday I spent the day cleaning and taking pictures for my brother and his fiancee, they are so cute! But the house was sooooo quiet after such an awesome night that it was a little sad...
Now for the not so pretty... Sunday I went with my friend to attempt to go skiing and everything that could go wrong went wrong here is a list:
1. We were supposed to go to Taos missed the turn off due to the horrible weather conditions covering the road signs with snow.
2. Decided to try Santa Fe since we were back in SF, well the road to the ski area was so bad that people were turning around, I decided to learn how to use my tire chains
3. By the time we mad it up there it was 11 and would be only 1/2 day but the winds were 40-50mph and zero visibility
4. Dropped my glove in the toilet and had to dry it with the hand dryer
5. My friend thought she lost her gloves and we ran around asking if they had been turned in, it turns out I was carrying them the whole time because they looked just like mine and I had stuffed mine inside my helmet.
6. I had my 1st wimp out day EVER in my ENTIRE life, I didn't ski!! My friend lasted about 1 hour on the beginner lift.
7. On the way back someone slammed on the brakes while everyone was doing 75 and almost caused a chain reaction.
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Good cause, good people, laughs, delirium, cops, Cujo, trains, stars, robbery, all in a night to remember. I said I would never do a relay no matter how much my friend coaxed me. On Friday at work I received a text from her "Call me now!" I thought something was wrong so of course I called. "We gotta do this relay!" of course I said no but then she explained what it was for:
First of all something you may not care about but I felt compelled to share. I had sent a package via priority mail with our wonderful US postal service back in January. The first thing that went wrong is that it took my 3 post offices to find the free envelopes actually in stock. Then I finally sent it with the extra confirmation option. It went to California, Puerto Rico, Kirtland AFB and finally about 2 months later it made it back to me!!! My husband is now overseas and never received his care package before leaving. :-( One thing I noticed though was that it was so beat up that the pixie sticks inside it had broken and there was a white powder coming out of it if you shook the package!!!! Maybe that's why it never got anywhere? It at least gave me a good laugh even though I was sad it never got to him...
