Atlanta Running Mom

1st Race of my 31st Year

2012-02-27T20:50:00.001-05:00

So I decided to take advantage of having the hubby around more than usual by running a 5k for fun this month. If you were gifted with an extra few hours to yourself, that’s what you’d chose to do right?

Naturally.

But then my competitive side took over, and it turned into me running two 10k races on back to back weekends.

Naturally.

Anyway, this week’s race left me feeling more satisfied than last week, and I’m glad I came out for it. I didn’t place, or even get a PR, yet I’m still very pleased with how it went.

I ran smart (well, smarter than usual anyway) and finished feeling STRONG. Totally the opposite of last week race, when I thought I was going to drop after finishing.

The Charles Harris Run is a popular 10K in Atlanta. It’s a point-to-point race with an overall net-downhill, so and draws a lot of runners looking to establish a good seed-time for the Peachtree Road Race.

Source

The set-up is a little different for this one, as you park at the finish line and they shuttle you to the start. I got there a little later than I’d hoped, and only had time for a quick 2 laps around the school track before the race started. The temp was just creeping up past 40 degrees at this point, so at least I was able to defrost my blood a little bit.

I was able to give a quick hello to Kristy and Jaime as everyone was milling around before the start. Then I found Lee, and settled in next to her at the starting line.

I love how the blogging community has turned into a real life one now. It’s added incentive to show up when you know you’re going to have familiar faces there to greet you.

We chatted for a few minutes as I went through my standard pre-race dance of tightening my shoelaces and adjusting my ipod a billion times. Then we were off!

I guess we were a little farther back then I thought because it took few seconds to get moving, and then there was a bunch of bobbing and weaving to be done for the first half mile or so. Despite what felt like a slow start, it was actually a perfect first split, 6:49.

Source

Around mile 4, I caught up to Kristy, who was already blazing the way to a new PR for herself. I tried to utter hi, but was sucking too much wind to get anything out. Instead I just spooked her by tapping her on the shoulder and giving a thumbs-up.

We had been mostly going up and down rolling hills to this point, and I was able to maintain a relatively even pace for those. Then just when you need it, mile 5 has a nice, long downhill for you. Still feeling like I had fuel in the tank, I was really able to take advantage of it.

As you turn the corner at the bottom of that hill, you’re met with two more small uphills. They look innocent enough on the elevation map, but they make you dig deep one last time before the finish.

I was so focused on the finish line, but about 40 feet before we crossed, all of a sudden I was like “Hey a ponytail!” I realized there was a girl just a few steps in front of me and I gave it all I had to pass her, and finish with an official time of 42:54.

After taking in a few swigs of water I headed out and ran an additional 5 miles for a cool down. I wanted to hit 35 miles for the week.

You can’t be in racing shape year round, and you’re just asking for a world of problems if you try to tell yourself otherwise. I feel satisfied with this performance, and that I ran it to the best of my current ability. This was just what I needed to get the some competitiveness out of my system, so I can focus on basebuilding until August when official marathontraining starts. At the ripe old age of 31, I hope to have some more PR’s ahead.

How do you define a successful race?

I was happy to finish feeling strong, but I have to give a shout-out to Lee, Kristy, and Jaime who all rocked it with sizeable PR’s J

Stats:
Official time: 42:54
Pace: 6:55/mi
Overall: 138/948
Gender: 27/367
AG: 7/59

Coincidence (10K Race Recap)

2012-02-23T08:05:00.007-05:00

My official finish time for the race I ran on Saturday was 43:54. That’s EXACTLY the same finish time of my New Year’s Day race. Crazy right? Especially considering my mile splits were all over the place again.

Well, before I get to that, let’s backup a minute. Run the Reagan is actually a festival of races. There’s a 5K, 10K, and half marathon to choose from. I wanted to run this half marathon last year, but it just didn’t fit with the husband’s schedule.

Really my only goal for the year is this, and I don't have intentions of doing much else.

Hopefully having a schedule free of races will quell my desire to push the pace on every.single.run. I know it's counter productive, and yet I can't resist.

But the Mr. happens to be on vacation this month. It’s not often I get a Saturday morning to myself, so I decided take advantage of the opportunity. Just one little race couldn't hurt....

With the mileage I’ve been running, I would have been fine physically to run the half marathon this year, but psychologically, I just wasn't feeling it. In fact, the 10k was more distance than I felt like tackling.

This looked to be a decent sized event, and a short, sweet 5k sounded good. I haven’t raced one on my own since last September, so that’s what I registered to run.

As I was figuring out the race logistics early last week, I realized the 5k wasn’t scheduled to start until 11:00! Somehow I’d overlooked that important detail. Plus, the venue was an hour drive each way. I wanted to have a morning to myself, but I didn’t want to kill half the day being away from home. I emailed the race director and he was kind enough to switch my registration to the 10K which started at 9:15.

Like I mentioned before, I was excited for the 5k. The 10k required a lot of pep talk to get me out the door. It was forecasted to be a rainy weekend, so the night before I gave myself an “out”. If it was raining when I woke up I wasn’t going to go.

Nope the weather was perfect. Low 50’s and overcast. I got suited up, grabbed my waffles with peanut butter, and shuffled out the door.

My plan was to go out at 7:05 for the first mile, then 7:00 for the 2^nd and 3^rd, then give it everything I had for the final 3.

Nope that didn't happen. U-G-L-Y.

The course was a straight out-and-back. The first half of the course was slightly downhill, meaning we had a climb back to the finish line. Knowing this, I consoled myself the fast start was ok, and it was good to have the time in the bank for the way back.

I was passed by one woman around mile 2 and another one shortly after the turn-around.

Watching my pace slowly creep up was a big confidence crusher. I should really retire the Garmin when I race. My best races seem to be the ones where I didn’t have it. However, I had both the women who had passed me locked in my cross-hairs. They were my motivation to keep going.

Around mile 4, I passed the first woman who had passed me. She didn’t put up a fight. I passed the second woman in the last half mile. We played leap frog for a bit, but I was able to open up a 10 second gap on her by the end.

Source

Official time 43:54. The same time I ran on New Year’s Day after staying up past midnight drinking champagne.

So I went from not caring about my 10k time and doing it for fun, to feeling like I should’ve done better and wanting a do-over. I’m now signed up to run another local 10K this Saturday in a second attempt at a better race.

That’s the problem with having Type A personality. Your greatest nemesis is yourself.

I was still quite happy to leave with a new little trinket though.

Stats:
Chip time: 43:54
Pace: 7:04/mi
Overall: 26/711
Gender: 3/367
AG: 1/49

One Big Party

2012-02-19T09:47:00.004-05:00

Just when you think you’re done with the holiday season, February rolls around. In our house that means a month long party.

The first half of this month it’s been all about Emily’s 3rd birthday. First it was her party with family in NY.

Then we celebrated her birthday at home during the week, before going to NJ to celebrate with my side of the family.

Little does she realize Valentine’s Day is not all about her as well. Yet another party at school with balloons and goodies.

I was hoping to do a lot of running while I was in NJ since I’d have some very reliable babysitters on hand. I did get to run, although not the 10+ milers I was dreaming about.

When we first arrived on Thursday, my mom took us to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Yeah, at this point I was still dreaming big that I’d run some of that off.

Then we walked to a nearby kiddie salon for her first haircut. I'd been putting it off since I didn't know where to take her in Atlanta.

Just a little off the back please.

I started off Friday morning with an 8 mile run. It was 26 degrees when I stepped outside. Brrr, I’d forgotten what real cold felt like.

Then we took Emily to an indoor kid’s play-place to burn off some energy.

And shopped for her party afterwards, and put together party favors.

Cupcakes, in a cup. Simple idea that ended up being a hit.

Between preparing appetizers and decorating the house on Saturday morning, I squeezed in a quick hour on the treadmill. I covered a little over 7 miles doing a mix of sprints and incline changes. We had gotten snow Friday night, and the streets weren't clear enough to go outside yet.

About 30 friends and family members came to her "Princess Party"

We caught an early flight back to Atlanta on Sunday morning.

Jackpot. Love when this happens.

We were all pooped after the previous day's activities, but I couldn't pass up the relatively balmier 40 degree weather and ran another 8 miles around our neighborhood.

The only solid New Year’s Resolution I made for 2012 was to keep track of my mileage. While I can look back in the blog to see snapshots of the workouts I was doing at different periods in time, I’ve never tracked my workouts consistently in any format.

It’s not high tech but it works.

January's Stats: 132.8 miles run and 2.5 hours of cross training

February to date: 92.2 miles, 2 hours cross training

I think these totals look good, even without previous year's numbers to compare. I feel like I'm running a lot, in a good way, even though I’m not training for anything specific at the moment. I love running in chilly weather, so I enjoy the time outside.

How much cake I have consumed/intend to consume is usually a driving factor in how I plan workouts these days. I'm only partially kidding when I say that. My birthday is coming up in a few days as well. Gotta offset that too……..

Do you have a mileage goal that you aim for each month when you're in "maintenance mode"?

Do you do big birthdays or prefer to keep them private?

I love throwing big parties for other people, but I don’t like a whole lot of attention on myself when it’s my turn.

Home Gym Trifecta

2012-02-06T20:57:00.001-05:00

After the busy holiday season, and traveling for Ragnar, I was just feeling rather bleh the rest of January. It wasn’t a bad month, it was just uneventful. I had a lingering cold that completely sapped my energy for about a week and a half, and we had nothing on the agenda aside from routine stuff at home. I wasn’t feeling much inspiration for blogging, so I didn’t.

Speaking of routine stuff, we finally talked some cleaning projects we’ve been putting off. The previous residents left some crazy crap behind in the attic. We had TWO pick-up trucks worth of junk to take to the dump. We found things like their bankruptcy paperwork (um, yeah they filed once I the 90’s and then AGAIN in 2007….and what exactly do you buy for over $100K at places like Macy’s, Dillards and Best Buy? No joke, those were 3 of their main creditors).

Also things like family death certificates, journals, adult VHS tapes from like 1982 (totally ick), and tons of other stuff covered in sensitive personal information.

With their credit situation, maybe they weren’t too worried about anyone wanting to steal their identity anymore? I don’t know. It was some weird stuff I would’ve wanted to keep private if I were them.

So what do you do after you clean out your house? You bring new junk in of course. Well, Mr. Blondie may beg to differ, but I don’t think this is junk at all.

So I’ve put my grandiose vision of learning to cycle “for real” on the back burner for now, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to buy a used spin bike when I saw a friend looking to get rid of his.

She might not be pretty, but she works perfectly, and is all mine now.

I did my research, and refurbished this bike goes for about $600-800. So for $200, i thought this was a fair deal for a third-hand bike.

Lucky #13 here started off life as a fitness center bike.

My friend had swapped out the pedals long ago to work with his cycling shoes. Since I don’t have cycling shoes, I stopped at Performance Bicycles on my way home to see if I could buy toe cages for the pedals.

Well, when I got to the store I told the salesperson swayed me away from the toe cages and showed me a pair mountain biking shoes on clearance for $40 that would work better.

And once you have shoes, then you need the cleats. If you’re paying $25 for just the cleats, then you might as well pay $40 for the cleats/pedals combo right?

The pedals have seen better days, so I was down with that logic.

This sports equipment stuff is a slippery slope.

So $285 later I still think this was a deal. If I use it great, if I don’t then I won’t feel too guilty. I like having another cross-training option at home though.

It doesn’t look like it, but it weighs a TON. I lightly scratched my car bumper wrestling it out of the trunk, and I’m most likely going to lose a toenail from setting it down on my foot as I dragged it into the garage.

We’re not quite sure how we’re going to get it up the second floor, but eventually it'll join the treadmill and elliptical in our gym/office/guestroom. And unlike the previous owners, we'll be normal people and take it back down when we move out the house too.

So have you ever found anything crazy while cleaning out a closet or storage area?

Are there any podcasts or videos you could recommend for indoor cycling workouts?

My 11 Randoms

2012-02-02T10:09:00.016-05:00

Thank you Amber and Nicole for tagging me (oh and Brittney too!). I think y’all know the rules of this meme by now.

It was fun to let my mind wander and see the nonsense that resulted J

1.) In middle school I wanted to get a second set of holes pierced in my ears. My mom said no, so I did it myself with a sterilized safety pin. They turned out fine, so she let me keep them. Years later she told me she was impressed with my tenacity.

2.) In high school I wanted my navel pierced. My mom said no. Nope, I wasn’t brave enough to do that myself, but any guesses about what I did my very first weekend in college?

3.) When people beep at me on the road I know it’s because I left something on the roof or trunk again. You’d think I would have learned my lesson, but I have driven off with coffee mugs, diaperbags, purses, shopping bags, etc. up there. At least it hasn’t been my kid.

It’s pretty wild how it stays nestled in the roof rack like that.

4.) I never wanted a sister growing up (I have one younger brother). It would have meant I had to share more things. I think it would be fun to also have a sister now though.

My "Little" Bro

5.) I ended up giving birth via c-section. It wasn’t that bad. Stitches in the hooha sound even worse to me, and I get queasy thinking about it. The only thing that made me upset is that I had to endure 24 hours of labor before they let me have it.

41 weeks, 2 days pregnant. Get this baby outta me!

6.) I hated peanut butter and jelly with a passion until I was about 16. Then one day a friend offered me a piece of her sandwich at a track meet and I suddenly realized that, in fact, they’re amazing.

7.) Mr. Blondie and I sleep in a full size bed. The only time it was really uncomfortable was when I was 9 months pregnant (see above).

8.) I was once a contestant on a, episode of a dating show called “Change of Heart”. It was on the WB for 2 whole seasons. I’m sure you remember it.

9.) I once appeared on Good Morning America…wearing a wedding dress and diving into a 16ft tall cake in the middle of Time Square. It was a contest and the woman who found the specially marked ring box inside the cake got $50,000 for their wedding. Yeah, I didn’t win the money. Luckily, I left with my hair and skin in tact, unlike some other participants. OMG, there were some ruthless bridezillas.

10.) I don’t like Star Wars, and I especially hate the Lord of the Rings movies. I’ve actually ~~been tortured with~~ seen every one of the movies, but could barely maintain my attention, so I can’t even recall the full storylines.

11.) In fact I don’t care for watching movies at all. I can’t remember the last time I was in a theater. At home, I need to be doing something else at the same time because I can’t sit still on the couch for that long.

Now the questions for me:

If you could have dinner with any one person (dead or alive), who would it be? My great-grandmom (grandfather’s mother). She passed away long before I was born, but I would like to know more about our family’s history. My grandfather doesn’t recall much from his early childhood. He was born somewhere in Eastern Europe, lived in Brazil until he was a teenager, and then his entire family moved to the US. I’d love to know what precipitate the moves. He also thinks he had two older siblings that passed away before he was born, but he’s not sure.

What/who is your favorite band/musician? Dave Matthew's Band. The Mr. and I have traveled to at least one concert a year since we started dating 8 years ago.

What is your favorite thing about being a "grown up?" Having the confidence to stand up for myself when I think something is wrong.

What is your least favorite thing about being a "grown up?" No longer feeling immortal. I’m concerned about cancer, disease, etc., and that it CAN happen to me.

Describe your best friend(s).

Mr. Blondie of course. We share the same values, but our personalities are completely different otherwise. Our relationship works so well because our traits complement each other instead of clash head- on.

Next would be my mother. I know she’s a reliable and honest source on everything from clothes shopping to child rearing advice.

Early bird or night owl?

Definitely an early bird

Do you have a secret talent or just a talent that is unique?
No secret talent that comes to mind. I’d like to think I’m a jack of all trades…..yet I’m a master of none.

What is your favorite holiday?
Christmas. Even as an adult, I think it’s a magical time of year.

Have any tattoos?
No, but I’d get the rings if I ever went to the Olympics, or the Ironman symbol if I ever did an Ironman. Safe to say I will never have a tattoo.

Why did you start blogging?
As a training log of sorts. And who doesn’t like to talk about thenself?

What is your favorite meal?
I could eat pizza 3 meals a day, everyday.

As far as restaurants go, one that stands out in my mind is Creolina’s in Ft. Lauderdale (recently renamed Bourbon on 2^nd) I’ve never been to New Orleans so I can’t vouch for it’s true authenticity, but they have some awesome food.

Also, the Fountain Restaurant at the Four Season’s in Philly. My college boyfriend had a relative who was the manager there. Every now and then we’d get dressed up and stop by to “say hi”. Any food or drink we ordered would magically be comp’d to the price of a couple beers. Over the course of four years, I think I tried almost everything on their menu. Yeah, it was an awesome hook-up to say the least.

Yeah, I'm going to cop out......If you’re reading this and would like to join in this meme, then consider yourself tagged!

1&2) What did you want to be when you grew up, and are you that now?
3) What is your favorite month of the year?
4) What quote would you want people to remember you by?
5) Sweet or savory?
6) Do you like to celebrate your birthday or do you keep it quiet?
7) Where is one place you’d dying to visit?
8) Right or left side of the bed?
9) Dark, milk, or white chocolate?
10) Name one thing on your bucket list.

Ragnar Florida Keys Part 4: Bringing it Home

2012-01-27T22:51:00.002-05:00

Now that I've drawn this out as long as possible, I suppose I should wrap this thing up. I have one more batch of Ragnar pictures if you'll hang with me, and then we can return to some regularly scheduled blogging :)

When we last left off, our van had just completed our second round of runs, and were having lunch near the 7 Mile Bridge. After we finished we still had hours to kill, so we directed our van driver to Bahia Honda State

The water was colder than we expected it to be, and changing into bathing suits and getting all sandy was more effort than we were willing to put forth by that point. We opted to stroll along the beach, and then walked to the top of the old Flagler Bridge to take pictures.

After a couple hours at the park and one more coffee stop, we made our way to Sugarloaf Elementary School. It was the last major exchange point. Van 1 would be completely done, and then it would be up to us to finish the last 6 segments.

As we milled around the school parking lot, we were trying to size up our position. We had made up some time, but were still one of the last 30 teams on the course due to our late start time. Some of the checkpoints were already being disassembled as we came through. It was a little disheartening. We just wanted to be DONE.

Around 4:30, the last runner of Van 1 handed off the timing bracelet to Elijah (runner #7), and it was "go time" again.

The next exchange zone was in the parking lot of this place. No, it wasn't open, I'm sure to the dismay of some.

The last 3 legs were short...2, 3.5, and 5.6 miles. Unlike the residential sections near Miami, when we hit grid lock traffic going into Key West, we had no alternate ways to go.

Scared we wouldn't make it to the final exchange point before Mr. Blondie got there, I decided I'd just run with him.

The shoulder was to narrow too run side by side. I let Mr. Blondie lead the way. It fun to be out there together.

Together the miles went by quickly, and then I was on my own to bring it home.

The last couple miles refreshed my memory of what it's like to run a marathon. My body was exhausted, I felt delirious and was seeing weird shapes and shadows in the dark.

Oh man, am I really going to attempt another full marathon later this year?

Granted it would have been much easier to run 25 miles straight, instead of being broken up over the course of 30 hours. I couldn't stop asking myself that question though.

Total mileage run: 25.4

Coming into home stretch was pure exhilaration and emotion. Our entire team joined hands and crossed together.

There was beer at the end (and only beer, everything else was gone), but we were more interested in finding Key Lime Pie on a stick.

We took the obligatory pictures, then went back to the hotel to clean up.

We were exhausted, but the night wouldn't be complete without hitting Duval Street. One margarita at Sloppy Joes was plenty for us. After our drink we made out way back to the hotel and flopped happily into bed. We were deep asleep in about 2 seconds flat.

Morning came too quickly, but we had to get moving. We had a team brunch at Camille's (which only has THE BEST pancakes and french toast ever, I'd been looking forward to it the entire trip).

And after just missing each other at checkpoints the entire race, I finally got to meet the fabulous Jena in real life!

The vans had to be back at the Miami airport by 4 pm, and we had flight to catch. Fortunately we had no problem getting a flight home despite it being a busy Sunday night.

Even though we just made it in before the cut-off time...seriously, they turned off the clock and started taking down the finish line about 30 minutes after we finished.....we didn't do so bad overall. We came in 101st out of 246 teams in the "mixed open" division with a time of 31:37. We would have been closer to 70th, had we not lost about an hour when our runner got lost on leg #16.

We're already discussing which Ragnar we're gong to do next.

Ragnar Florida Keys Part 3: Running THROUGH Marathon

2012-01-20T18:29:00.004-05:00

So to pick up where we left off...

At the end of my last post I was sleeping in van ~~down by the river~~ in the parking lot of Coral Shores High School in Tavernier. Meanwhile the first half of our team was traversing their way through the rest of Homestead and Key Largo, finally ending with a handoff to our Van.

It was a little before 7:00 when the final runner of Van 1 reached us. With the sun rising over the water, it was go time again. Now it would our our job to ~~carry the torch~~ get the timing bracelet across Islamorada.

The first leg of this set was approximately 10 miles long. We had shuffled the line-up at the last minute so Elijah (runner #7), wasn't expecting to run this far at one time. He had anticipated running 10 miles for the whole relay! He stepped up to the challenge though..

And like good teammates, we did the sportsman like thing.....Patted him on the back, said "Go get 'em buddy" and "We'll see ya in an hour and a half after we're done having fun."

I kid. Sort of.

We directed our van driver to Robbie's Tarpon Ranch. It's a quirky little place Mr.Blondie and I like to stop every time we go to the Keys. For $3 you get a bucket of bait fish which you can feed the ginormous Tarpon that congregate around their dock.

Ok, maybe our runner didn't miss much after all. Hey, we thought it was fun at least.

We also got lucky and saw this guy.

Elijah (runner #7) finished up his 10 miles like a champ, and we had some time to kill after that. We joked around and took some pictures while we were waiting for our next 3 runners to finish their segments.

Adelle (runner #9), with our team captain John who paced her, arrived right on time and handed off to Mr. Blondie.

I helped him get on his way.

Mr. Blondie survived his 3.5 miles, then it was time for me to run my 7-ish miles. My leg was through Marathon Key. How apropos right?

It was a little past noon at this point and the temp was in the low 80's. It had been about 60 degrees when I ran the night before, and that was perfect. I knew I was going to struggle in the heat for this part.

My calves were tight from the night before, and I felt stiff for the first mile. Breaking out the calf sleeves really helped in the beginning until I loosened up again.

Things were going well until mile 3. Then the heat and my sub-par breakfast (pretzels and Powerade Zero) started getting the best of me. My stomach was angry. I knew I was going to get sick, I just didn't know from which end. Let's just say I let the evil out once I reached mile 6, then held on the best I could to finish up.

I handed of the timing bracelet and it was Van 1's turn to again. It took about an hour for me to cool down and feel normal again. Then I couldn't wait to get my hands on a normal meal.

We stopped at another place we like for lunch when we visit to the Keys. It's at the base of the 7 Mile Bridge, hence the name. The have an excellent grilled grouper sandwich if you're ever in the area.

Once again I think Van 1 had it rougher than us. It sounded cool on paper, but in reality we were sooo glad not to be running the leg over the 7 Mile Bridge. It was blazing hot, and traffic was whizzing by with nary a shoulder to run on.

Someone almost got killed. A car had flipped over trying to avoid a runner earlier in the day. I think everyone was able to walk away ok, this happened before we got there.

Our Van 1 runners managed to stay strong, and got through their next 6 legs on target. Then it was back to us.........

Next post: Bringing It Home

Ragnar FLK Part 2: Hurry Up and Wait

2012-01-15T17:59:00.000-05:00

After that excitement of seeing our first runner off, it was time to wait again. We were Van 2 which meant we had at least 4 hours before it would be our turn to start running. We milled around for the next couple hours perusing at the Ragnar merchandise (or what was left of it), organizing our stuff in the van, and adding “flair” to the exterior of it.

Waves of runners started every half hour beginning at 5 am all the way until 2pm. An 8:00 or 9:00 start would have been lovely, but apparently we were a little too honest with our predicted times. The Ragnar official said we were going to be one of the faster teams so that’s why we were one of the last groups to get started. I don’t know how that’s possible being that we planned to average a 9:00/mi as our overall pace. Other teams who know the system better must have fudged their times slightly to get earlier starts then us.

We made a stop for lunch and Starbucks, then arrived at the Miami Zoo. The first major exchange point were Van 1 would hand off to Van 2.

We went through the safety orientation, and were given our supplies (flags, first air kit) which also included a box of Krispy Kreme donuts. That was the last freebie we saw for the rest of the relay.

The worst part about the late start was every exchange point would be completely out of food and giveaways by the time we got there. The Ragnarians were like a hoard of locust moving across the islands. The biggest commodity ended up being toilet paper. There was not a square to spare at any public restroom or porta-potty anywhere along the way. We learned to carry our pack of baby wipes with us everywhere.

At 4:30, Van 1 handed off to Van 2. Elijah (runner #7), got the timing braclet and was off. Legs 7, 8, and 9 of the relay were tricky because they were through residental areas with lots of intersections and traffic lights. There was alot going on. Elijah did better on Leg 7than he gave himslef credit for.

Exchange 7 video

Traffic was INSANE. It required some ninja navigation skills to make it to each exchange zone before our runner. It was such an adrenaline rush each time we successfully completed a hand-off.

By the time our 5th runner (leg #11) started, we were out of the residential sections into the everglades. It was very dark, and exceptionally smelly. Poor Mr.Blondie has this leg. It went alongside a landfill area, and he could barely hold it together the smell was so wretched. He also saw a big snake along the way. He knew better than to tell me about it until afterward we were finished. Game over, I would have been done had I known they were that out in the open. :::Shiver:::

My leg (I was runner #12) , took me even further into a desolate section of swampland. I was wearing my iPod, but decided that it would be foolish to use it. I need every one of my senses available and alert to my surroundings. After close to an hour of running through what felt like in a black hole, bright lights and a glimmer civilization came into view. It was the Homestead Motor Speedway.

While the stadium was empty, it was actually pretty cool to be on the track.

When you think about a bunch of race cars whizzing around at 200 miles an hour, the track isn’t very big at all. However it’s much larger than your standard ¼ mile track. It messes with your mind. After going around the first curve I still had almost a mile to go!

How many people can say they’ve done a lap on a Nascar track? I’d read reviews about how dreadful this part of the run was, so I had prepared myself for the worst. I think this was one of the most memorable sections of the race.

Miles run this leg:

My Total Miles: 8.86

I handed of the timing bracelet back to the first runner of Van 1, then it was our turn to rest for the next few hours.

We stopped at a diner for food, then headed to the next major exchange point, Coral Shores High School, to sleep for a few hours.
I think Van 1 had a much harder job than we did. They did all of the overnight running which included an 11.1 miles stretch over the Key Largo Bridge. It's one lane in each direction, with barely a shoulder, and trucks and cars whizzing by at a high rate of speed. I don't know how people didn't get killed.

In the dark, one of the Van 1 runners got lost and turned a 4 miles leg into a 9 mile leg. She ended up having to knock on the door of a local resident who drove her back to the beginning exchange point for that leg. Luckily she was safe, but it set us back another hour.

Coral Shores High School looked like an Econoline convention. It was a sea of hundreds of vans with people camped out alongside them in sleeping bags. Instead of the standard 15 passenger van, we had a Town & Country mini van which ended up being really comfortable. The seats folded into the floor, making the middle a decent area to sleep.

What made this experience so much fun was that I was with my husband and another couple we've been close friends with for years. It would have gotten even more awkward otherwise.

Sleeping configuration: 2 people in the front seat, 3 in the middle, 1 on the back bench.

After ~~a solid~~ an interrupted 3 hours or so of sleep, it was time for us to get running again.......

Re-Living the Ragnar Relay Florida Keys

2012-01-14T09:50:00.001-05:00

I have a bunch of pictures and video clips I want to share with you, and I’m still working on how to put this whole experience into words. I hope y’all won’t mind if I break this up into sections.

Thursday (Day 1): Travel to Miami

Our original plan was to drive from Atlanta to Miami, so we wouldn’t have to deal with airports. We thought it would be the more relaxed way to go. We were pretty concerned about the flights being crowded since this is snowbird time year in South Florida.

After Mr. Blondie got home late Wednesday night fom a particularly busy trip, we decided the drive down wouldn't be easy. And then doing the drive home after being awake almost all weekend? That could end up being downright dangerous. Plus, driving would have cost us at least $300 in gas and tolls. New plan....

Flight loads looked good the night before, so we made the last minute we made the decision to fly instead. Fortunately, things stayed in our favor (no weather delays or cancellations), and we had no problems getting seats Thursday morning.

I brought plenty of mini Marathon Bars for sharing.

Two of our teammates picked us up at the airport. Elijah and Adelle are from San Diego, and had arrived on an earlier flight. A friend of their’s in Miami graciously let the four of us borrow his car for the day and spend the night in his apartment.

We grabbed some lunch,and spent the afternoon chilling out in downtown Miami.

Source

Then we hit Target for supplies. All the stuff we couldn’t/didn’t want to carry on a plane.

Pillows, towels, snacks, sunblock, drinks, etc., etc.

We met up with the rest of our team for a quick dinner at Carino’s. It was our first time meeting the other 8 runners in person.

Funny aside: Our team captain, John, is the husband of one of Mr. Blondie's old girlfriend's. Through her Facebook page over the summer, we found out he needed extra people for a Ragnar team. When Mr.Blondie told me about it and asked me if I thought it would be awkward, I was like, hell no, sign us up! That's how we ended up here.

With full bellies after dinner, we were ready to sleep almost immediately when we got back to the apartment. This would be the most sleep we’d get for the next 4 days.

Friday Morning (Day 2): The Starting Line

Friday morning we up and at ‘em at the early morning hour of 9am :) While we weren’t happy with our late assigned start time of noon, we did appreciate being able to sleep in.

We packed up and made our way to Virginia Key Beach Park. Eccentricity was encouraged.

Not our teammate

Our costumes were a little more tame.

To go with our team name "Running with the Devil", the men (begrudgingly) dressed up as angels, and the women as devils.

Really babe?

Then clock struck 12:00, and it was time to get things started.......

Ragnar Start Video

2012- We're Off With a Running Start

2012-01-04T10:33:00.002-05:00

Mr. Blondie was away for almost the entire first 3 weeks of December putting in his hours at work. Emily and I have a pretty good routine established for when it’s just the two of us, but with all the extra stuff I had to get done for the holidays, it left me feeling pretty stressed out.

The payoff’s been having him home for the past week and a half. We got our chance to decompress, and it was lovely.

Christmas Day looked a lot like this.

And New Year’s looked a lot like this

Spending quality time with our couches

I have to thank Lee for motivating to run a 10K on New Year’s Day. She was willing to drive all the way to my part of town for the race, so the least I could do was change out of my pajamas and peel myself off the couch to meet her.

“Champagne loading” isn’t the best pre-race strategy, but that’s what you do on New Year’s isn’t it? Who am I buck tradition.

Showing up at the race I was feeling sluggish, bloated, and off my game….but raise your hand if the holidays haven’t left you feeling that way too. I know I was in good company in that respect.

Ok, those of you raising your hands can put them down now. Thanks for rubbing it in.

I felt accomplished simply for being there. As you can see my splits were all over the place. My official time was 43:54, 2nd overall female, 1st place age group. The woman who won was the same person who beat me at the 15K a couple months ago. I was happy to finish within eye shot of her this time.

After I crossed the finish line, I gave Mr. Blondie and Emily a quick kiss and kept moving to bring my total up to 9 miles for the day. Lee had a strong race as well. I was able to catch up just in time for her sprint to the finish.

So tonight we’ll be packing up the car because tomorrow morning we leave for the Ragnar Florida Keys. Our team starts at noon on Friday in Miami. Mr. Blondie is slated to be runner #11, and I’m #12. I’m looking forward to meeting Jena who will also be there running.

Toodles for now. I’ll see ya’ll again once we get to Miami!

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

2011-12-28T10:40:00.003-05:00

I’ve been calling myself a runner for over half my life now, but at the ripe old age of 30, 2011 was truly a breakthrough year for me.

Highlights included being selected as part of Team MARATHON Bars, achieving an official 5k time that starts in 19:xx, and taking several minutes off my 10K and half marathon times.

I obtained my RRCA Coaching Certification, participated in my very first marathon relay, and even survived a trail race.

We traveled to races and abroad for vacation.

I enjoyed spending more time with my mini-me during training runs and races, and except for a minor hiccup, remained relatively injury free.

I’d say it was a good year.

Having now broken many of my long standing goals, it leaves me re-evaluating what I want to achieve in 2012. I’ve been chasing the same goals for so long it’s weird to think I can finally put some of them to rest. There are always new challenges to be had, so it’s time to freshen up my list.

Some possibilities:

First there’s the NYC Marathon. Registration for those meeting “guaranteed entry standards” opens on January 2nd. I’ve applied through the lottery system twice before, and didn’t get in either time. I have a qualifying time for guaranteed entry this year. Like Boston, they’re making the standards tougher for 2013…..impossibly hard in my opinion, so it’s either now or never if I want to take advantage of a guaranteed entry. Mr. Blondie has given me his blessing, as this race holds a special place in his heart too. His dad ran the NYC Marathon several times in its early years.

It’s been over 5 years since I ran my last full marathon. If you’ll recall, I didn’t exactly train properly for my previous marathons. I got by running on a whole bunch of haphazard mileage.

If I were to run another marathon I’d want to do it the “right way” this time around, by not only training harder, but SMARTER than I have in the past. My goal would be to break 3:30 which is in line with my other race times.

The longest I can run with the jogging stroller is about 10 miles, so I haven’t entertained the idea of racing anything longer than a half marathon since Emily was born. Since Mr. Blondie typically works weekends and my gym has a 2 hour childcare limit, this would mean doing my 16, 18, 20+ milers after work during the week. During the summer, IN GEORGIA. I get a little woozy just thinking about it.

Other people manage to do it. I know I could too. Question is, do I really WANT to do it?

Another option I’m considering is investing in a road bike so I can attempt duathlons and sprint tri’s this year. I’d have to learn one/two completely new sports. If that’s not a good personal challenge, I don’t know what is. However a road bike is a big cash investment. Mr. Blondie is supportive of this as well (He’s one of those people that likes to tell me knees aren’t going to last forever if I keep running. It's my eyes that may wear out from rolling them every time he says that.), but after talking him into the elliptical and treadmill, it doesn’t seem very fair to spend even more money on one of my hobbies.

Plus, if I’m worried about finding the time and freedom to do long runs for a marathon, where do I think I’m going to find time for group rides and swims?

TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK.

To add to the noise in my head is the amplified sound of my biological clock ticking. We were waiting for Mr. Blondie to make some more career advancements before that happened, but we’d like to give Emily a sibling sometime before she’s in ~~high school~~ kindergarten.

If it looks like there are going to be positive job changes, this may become a top priority. Bow chica wow wow.

Decisions, decisions……

So Full of It (Biscoff Truffles & More)

2011-12-23T19:04:00.000-05:00

If you still haven't gotten enough sugar this holiday season, then come on in! I've got plenty for you in this post.

Last Sunday I was going to try my hand at making Oreo Truffles to give as gifts to our neighbors, but then decide to one-up it by using Biscoff Cookies. We happened to have a bunch of single serve packets floating around in our pantry. Surprising, I know. Now what to do with those mini packs of peanuts and pretzels....

I followed the standard formula for Oreo Truffles but substituted Biscoff Cookies (12 packs, 24 cookies total) in place of the Oreos. I also mixed in about 1/3 cup of powdered sugar and half a bag of white chocolate chips for good measure.

It made exactly 26 truffles. Mr.Blondie and I took care of the spares. Deliciousness.

Moving on to my next project, it was time to make Cranberry Bliss Bars for my co-workers. If you like the Starbucks version, this recipe is spot-on.

Starbucks Version

Cake Base:
1.5 sticks butter, softened
1 C brown sugar, packed
3 eggs
1 tsp ground powder ginger
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
2 C flour
1/4 C minced dried cranberries
1/4 C white chocolate chips

Frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 C powdered sugar
2 Tbsp butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla

Drizzle:
2 Tbsp minced dried cranberries
1/3 C white chocolate, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9 x 13 pan

Beat together butter and sugar and then add eggs and vanilla beating until light and fluffy. Add flour, powdered ginger and salt. Beat well. Fold in the cranberries and chocolate chips. Spread batter in pan and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until light golden brown.

My version

After the cake cools, mix all frosting ingredients together and spread over top of cake. Sprinkle with minced cranberries. Use a cake decorating bag of melted chocolate with a small round decorating tip to drizzle the chocolate over the cake. Cut into bars.

Bars and Truffles, wrapped up and ready to hand out.

I wasn't the only one getting crafty. Mr. Blondie helped occupy Emily while I worked in the kitchen.

He also finished making a special Christmas gift for Emily. What started off as a standard plank of mahogany is now a seat for a rope swing in our yard.

Do you give any homemade gifts? Do you like receiving homemade gifts?

Safety First

2011-12-16T21:17:00.001-05:00

Hey kids! Hope everyone finished up their online shopping. Today was your last chance to order in time for Christmas without paying for expedited shipping.

I made up for lost time and completed most of my shopping this week. There were just a couple more things I needed to order. Something skimpy and attention getting….

Mr. Blondie, if you’re reading you’ll want to stop right here.

First I ordered two of this little number. What’s sexier than some personal safety equipment?

There's less than 3 weeks until to go until we run the Ragnar Florida Keys. Don’t ask me why since only one person will be running at a time, but every member of our team needs to have their own vest.

Mr. Blondie joked that he’d swipe a couple the next time he was in Canada (they’re required to wear reflective vests when they do the walk-around to inspect the plane). However the Canadian authorities would probably frown upon that, so best we buy our own :)

Also in my order, two of these guys. Nothing says I’m sexy and I know it, like putting a flashing LED light on your butt.

Come and get it

We also need headlamps, but I think we might have some working ones with our camping gear. Remind me to check on that....

I plan to wrap everything up and put it under the tree. I’m sure they’ll be the highlight of Mr. Blondie’s Christmas morning (pun intended). I don’t think his reaction will top these kids though. Have you seen this yet? I challenge you not to crack-up.

On the fitness front:

I’ve been feeling a little wonky this week. I haven’t had an appetite which is so unlike me, and I’ve been getting bad stomach cramps after eating. Emily's told me her stomach hurt a few times too. It's probably some daycare bug. I took it easy with only two early morning workouts.

Tuesday: 5 miles treadmill (@7.0, 1% incline), 25 mins elliptical

Thursday: 4 miles treadmill (@7.5, 1% incline), 20 mins elliptical

To make up for the shortcomings of this week, the plan is to run at least 8 miles with the stroller tomorrow morning and then do a spin class/run combo on Sunday. Mr. Blondie has a nice stretch of days off until the end of the month, so hopefully I'll get to more of my beloved spin classes than usual this week. My gym bag is packed already! Oh the things that excite me.

Are there any ~~odd~~ unique gifts you bought for someone this year?

Holidaze

2011-12-12T15:14:00.002-05:00

Hey all! I know things have been slow around here lately.

I’ve been waffling back and forth about running one more race for the year, but I think I’ve missed the boat on that one. I don’t see anything nearby until New Year’s Day. It’s ok, I’m perfectly content letting 2011 end on the high note that was the my new half marathon PR.

Since I’m not training for anything particular at the moment, my workouts were just a mix of whatever I felt like doing. Let’s be honest, that's what my workouts are like even when I do have a race in mind.

Mon: 8 miles tm (@7.0, 1% incline)
Tues: off
Weds: 5 miles tm (@7.0, 1% incline), 15 mins elliptical
Thursday: off
Friday: 5 miles tm (alternated between 6.8 and 8.5, 1% incline). 20mins elliptical
Saturday: 3 mi tm (7.5, 1% incline), 1 hr spin class, 1 mi tm (7.5, 1% incline)
Sunday: 65 minute run w/ the jogging stroller

Baby, it's cold outside

The early morning workout thing turned out well. Morning exercise has always been my thing. Even in college I’d be worked-out, dressed for the day, and clicking away at some assignment before my roommates had rolled out of bed. It wasn’t until this year that morning workouts disappeared for the most part. Mainly because I have a hard time letting things go and have been staying up later and later at night. If there’s laundry that needs to be folded, or dishes in the sink, I can’t go to sleep until it’s all take care of. Oh, and there’s also that time suck known as the internet.

Making sure I was in bed by 9-9:30 last week made getting up at 4:30 not so painful. Actually I was so productive after work with all my newly found “free time”, I had most of my chore list already crossed off by the time the weekend rolled around.

Our Friday night was livened up with an impromptu visit from our friends Elijah and Adelle. They were making their way from San Diego to Miami for the RnR half, but the connecting flights out of Atlanta were too full. I thought I’d be envious, but after the whole FLL 13.1 debacle I was relieved not to be making this trip as well. Luckily they got the first flight out Saturday morning and didn’t have to drive the rest of the way!

I rather enjoyed having some down-time this weekend to hang out Mr. Blondie and Emily. However, approximately 0 of the dozen or so gifts I have yet to buy were purchased. Shopping for my family members is so hard. That’s something I have to get cracking on this week.

How’s ar eyour holiday plans coming along?

Ahead of Schedule

2011-12-04T16:29:00.005-05:00

Christmas is in the air!

Normally we're rushing around a week before Christmas trying to get all this stuff done.

The tree has been purchased.

And decorated. Emily makes a good extension ladder.

Go, Go, Gadget toddler!

Cookies have been baked.

Not sure what's up with the fleece hat. She insisted on wearing it around the house all weekend. It made for a good hairnet I suppose.

Emily was the artist behind the cookies on the left. The green mess on the right was 100% me playing around with a pastry bag. If you can get past the looks, they taste really good.

Lights have been hung.

And Christmas cards are almost ready for the mail.

So with all the holiday hustle and bustle, not much running happened between the race last Saturday and this weekend. I ran for 45 minutes on Tuesday, and ran for an hour with the stroller on Friday night. That was it.

I was long overdue for a rest week anyway, and wouldn't have taken it otherwise. It was a good thing to have it sort of forced on me.

While some rest was warranted, I was feeling a little stabby by yesterday morning. Missing workouts makes me a ~~turbo bitch~~ little grumpy. I hit the gym for an hour spin class and 3 miles on the treadmill making everything right with the world again.

My plan is to get to bed at a decent hour every night this week so I can wake up at 4:30 to exercise before work. Shorting myself on sleep ain't pretty either. It's a delicate balance.

What's on your to-do list this week? Do you keep your workouts on track during the holidays? How do you do it?

Zooma-ing to the Finish (Half Marathon Recap)

2011-12-01T14:25:00.005-05:00

Let's just think of that half-marathon 2 weeks ago as my PR dress rehearsal shall we? I come bearing happier news this time.

photo courtesy of Lee

When I arrived at Chateau Elan on Saturday, it was an overcast morning with the temps in the upper 40‘s. It was going to be a good day for running and I knew it. I could feel the competitive spark re-ignite inside, the one I was missing in Ft. Lauderdale a couple weeks ago.

While waiting in the starting area, I chatted with Tina, Kristy, and Lee. We shared our goals for the day, along with words of encouragement. As a race ambassador, Kristy had run the course a couple times and was able to give us some pointers on what to expect. It really helped me get my head right.

photo courtesy of Tina

I had charged my Garmin the night before, but when I took it out of my bag at the race it was already on. Uh oh. At mile 2, I got the expected “low battery” warning on the screen. This sent me to the brink of an anxiety attack. Seriously, I was freaked out. There were no course clocks, so I’d be running completely blind.

I started bargaining with the man upstairs to take my iPod, please just leave me my Garmin!

My splits were 7:18, 6:49 (yikes!), 7:11 for the first 3 miles. I felt really good. Too good, and I was worried I’d set myself up for a crash with a fast start.

Just before mile 4 is when it shut off. Oh the terror, I was left to pace myself purely by feel now.

Literally running blind here (source)

If I’m really pushing myself I can crank out 3-4 miles at 7:30/mi pace on my training runs. Typically I hover around the 7:50-8:00/mile mark for my runs. It still amazes me to see numbers in the low 7’s when I’m racing. To see a sub 7 minute mile during a half….how does that even happen?

It was probably a good thing after all. I know from previous races I let the Garmin mess with my head. I would have doubted myself and pulled back more had I seen a split starting with a 6.

Right around mile 4 is also when the pack had thinned out, leaving me as second female. I don’t know about you, but I think it’s harder to be the chaseé rather than the chaser. I could see the lead runner ahead of me the entire time, and while she served as a target, I was more worried about someone sneaking up behind me. I kept anxiously looking over my shoulder to make sure no one was there.

I’d rank this course as moderately hilly by Atlanta standards. They were the “right kind of hills” if you want to call them that, similar to the one pictured below. Even though you felt the burn by the top, you had a nice downhill to recover. Different muscle groups were being worked, and it keep it from feeling too monotonous.

We were treated to this roller coaster ride the entire way (source)

It was only the last 3 miles or so when you got back onto the Chateau Elan property where you encountered the short, steep variety of hills that were packed closely together. And don’t forget the uphill finish. With a half mile to go you could see the finish line...sitting on top of a hill with a meandering road to reach it.

NOT Chateau Elan.....just what it looked like through my eyes as I came into the home stretch.

The killer? They were in the process of switching the finish line clock back from 5k timing (they offered both distances )to the half marathon as I crossed the line. I had no idea what my finish time was! I had to wait to find out.

I was a hurtin' chica, but I felt strong to the end. Boy was I psyched to see my finishing time was 1:33:33 when I checked at the timing kiosk inside. A new PR!!!

The post race refreshments they provided were, um, interesting….

I get that they were going for a healthy mix of carbs and protein, so I’ll give them that....but yeah, that is a peeled hard-boiled egg in a baggie (that had been sitting out unrefrigerated).

There was an ample supply of champagne flowing to make up for it though. Maybe not what an empty, dehydrated belly needed, but I was in a celebrating mood and sampled a little of each kind. (Not to worry, I was responsible :))

(source)

Not only was it a good day for racing, but it was fun day with friends. Everyone ended the day with some speedy race times, and a lot of smiles.

If you told me in the beginning of this year I'd be ending it with a 1:33:33 half marathon finish, I would have thought you were nuts! But there you have it, the 6th and final half marathon of 2011 is in the history books.

Stats:
Chip time: 1:33:33
Pace: 7:09/mi
Overall: 3/348
Gender: 2/321
AG: 1/51

FLL 13.1 Recap (& why "free plane tickets" are never really free)

2011-11-17T20:20:00.002-05:00

The weekend started off nice and leisurely. I had the day off from work on Friday, and got to spend it with Mr. Blondie.

Emily and I caught and early flight to Ft. Lauderdale Saturday morning without a hitch. With the stress of taking care of my grandma these past few months, and then her passing, my mom was in need of a getaway. We decided Mr. Blondie would stay at home and we’d make this a girl’s weekend. My mom’s flight arrived shortly after ours, and we met in the airport.

We’d hoped to spend some time on the beach that afternoon, but it was way too windy. You couldn’t put a beach towel down without it blowing away, and the sand was whipping around. I knew it was going to make for some fun times at the race the next morning.

As excited as I was for the trip, I was feeling kind of blah about the race. I never got the pre-race jitters, or that feeling of pent-up energy like I normally get in anticipation of a race. Even standing in the start coral, I was hoping a wave of adrenaline would wash over me once the gun went off. It never happened.

Going in, I knew I was going to struggle with the temps and humidity (mild by South Florida standards, but still warm and muggy), and the monotony of the course (up A1A, back down A1A). I thought the pancake-flat terrain would negate some of those obstacles though. The strong winds weren’t something I had anticipated in addition.

Miles 1-4 weren’t so bad. I was on pace for a decent race and felt good. Around mile 5 mile the ocean belly kicked in…you know that sloshing, weird feeling. Around mile 6 my legs suddenly got really tired and heavy. During mile 7 the 1:40 pace group passed me. I may or may not have muttered ~~shitballs~~ oh sugar to myself.

After that happened, I was convinced I wasn’t even going to break 1:45. And y’all know my real goal is to break 1:35. Somehow I managed to hang on for a 1:41:xx finish.

If I’m smiling and waving in half marathon pictures, it’s a clear indication I’m feeling purely craptastic. If things were going well I would have been oblivious to the cameras.

source

After the race I'd planned on hanging out and possibly taking a dip in the ocean. Once I crossed the finish line I was exhausted and irritated with myself. I just wanted to get out of there. Emily managed to skin her knees, get sand in her eyes, and fall off jungle gym while I was running. My poor, frazzled mom had gotten quite a workout too.

We hit the pool to unwind after the race instead

We stayed at a hotel just a few blocks away from our old apartment. It was hard to believe it’s been over 4 years since we’d left. So much has happened in our lives since moving to Atlanta, but everything felt very familiar and unchanged once we were there. We ate at some of my favorite old restaurants and did a some shopping at my favorite boutiques.

The plan was to fly back first thing Monday morning, then spend the day doing more Christmas shopping in Atlanta so my mom wouldn’t have to ship Emily’s gifts down to our house this year. I’d been tracking flights in and out of Ft. Lauderdale for 2 weeks looking at capacity trends, and it didn’t look like we’d have an issue getting seats.

What I failed to realize when I originally decided to do the race was this was Veterans Day weekend, and the northern schools also had the week off for teacher conventions. The cardinal rule of standby travel: DO NOT travel on holiday weekends or school breaks. I looked at every Florida airport and combinations of connecting flights through other major hubs. I concluded there was no way we getting a flight out before mid week. After deciding everything from Plan A through Plan Y wasn’t going to work, Plan Z was put into effect……Road trip time!

After having an ordeal with Budget Rent-A-Car (I've never had a good experience with them, but they were the only ones who would do a one way rental), we hit the road. We had all day to make it back to Atlanta, so we were game for the adventure. It wasn’t a bad drive at all. Emily slept most of the way, and I had my mom to chat with and keep me alert. I also learned the proper way to roast and carve a turkey listening to Martha Stewart radio on Sirius, hehe.

It was a fun girl’s weekend even if the race itself was a letdown. This was about 1.5 minutes faster than any half marathon I ran while we were living in Ft. Lauderdale, but I know I'm capable of better now. It wasn't my day. I have my chance at redemption next Saturday. My disaster on the Schuylkill earlier this year was followed by a PR two weeks later. Here’s to hoping history will repeat itself.

Anyone have a Turkey Trot or other big race coming up in the next couple weeks?

Stats:
Official time: 1:41:25
Pace: 7:44/mi
Overall: 169/2147
Gender: 32/1057
AG: 6/171

MARATHON Smart Stuff Bars Winner

2011-11-15T08:47:00.000-05:00

We rolled (yes, rolled as in drove) back into Atlanta late last night so I never got around to picking a winner of the giveway. More on our weekend in Ft. Lauderdale to come!

But without further adieu, out of the 21 entires I recieved, the winner was #19.

Wendy from Wendy Likes Books

Hope you enjoy the bars and other goodies as much as I do!

A Family Affair (15K & 5k Races)

2011-11-11T10:54:00.004-05:00

My 15K race was was an ok run for me, but there's nothing real interesting to report about it. I want to mention this past Saturday mainly because I’m proud of Mr. Blondie. He woke up early and joined me in the freezing cold to run the 5K.

This was the 4th year of the race, and participation had been steadily growing until this year. The original race director was a local resident and avid runner. This year ownership of the race was handed over to the county parks department. I got to chat with the lady organizing the race when I dropped off a couple boxes of MARATHON Bars as a donation for the race bags. She was very nice, but admittedly not a runner. Thus, some important details that would otherwise be apparent to a runner were overlooked.

A couple biggies:

The race was not advertised on Active.com or other major running websites

Limited course signage. There weren’t markers at every mile, and there were a few spots where the course branched off into side streets. I would have gotten confused had I not already been familiar with the course. I wonder how many people did make wrong turns….

I’ve already made it my mission to help this race succeed next year, and plan to help in the organization of it. I’d like to see Mr. Blondie design the t-shirts too. They could use some work.

If you recall, I ran the 15K two years ago and the 5K last year, both times pushing Emily. When Mr.Blondie and I were deciding who would push the stroller this year, we both called “Not it!”, teehee.

I wanted to give it a shot on my own this time, so we recruited my mother-in-law to visit for the weekend and keep an eye on Emily for us.

I comfortably run this course in about 1:13-1:14 on training runs. With race day adrenaline I was hoping to finish in 1:06 or faster.

The rolling hills affect my times more than I realized. I actually feel better about my training times now, since they always tend to be a little slower than what the pace charts say they should be.

Since turn-out was smaller than expected this year, it didn’t help my motivation by not having any other runners in sight after the first mile either.

I ran an extra 2 miles to cool down once I was finished, and took an ice bath when I got home. My legs felt good afterwards, so let’s add another checkmark to the list of quality workouts this month.

By the time I finished, all the food had been gobbled-up by the 5k’ers. A cooler bag once filled with Chick-Fil-A biscuits, only contained their glorious smell when I went to get one. Darn Mr.Blondie and his sensitive post-race stomach didn’t think to grab any for us. So disappointing.

I wasn’t too hungry anyway. After all I had eaten a lot of dust in the first mile as the lead woman pulled away. I was 2nd female, 8th/72 overall.

The 5k course was equally as challenging, and Mr. Blondie finished in 27:47 for 12th/120 and 1st in his age group! Not bad for a guy who kept muttering “I can’t believe you’re making me do this” from the moment we woke up that morning.

Wouldn't it be great to have Emily running alongside us at this race one day too? A girl can dream :)

Don't forget to enter my giveaway!

Atlanta (Team) Marathon Relay & Giveaway

2011-11-07T10:03:00.006-05:00

If you're tired of reading the race recaps from fancy pants people who ran the NYC Marathon and Savanah RnR, then come join me on a journey way back into history…last weekend :)

You may have noticed the snazzy orange and blue shirts I’ve been sporting at races this year. As one of 200 nationwide members of Team MARATHON Bars, I’ve gotten more than just a lot of tasty bars to eat. It’s given me the chance to meet and swap stories with some very inspiring people. There’s people like Brenda Carawan who finished 6th at the Badwater Ultra Marathon. Then there’s mere mortals like me.

The common thread that unites us all is the “Passion and enthusiasm for living a healthy, well-rounded life and are involved in activities ranging from running, to cycling, to triathlon and other endurance sports.” If you’re regular reader of this, then I know the team mission statement applies to you too.

On that note, I’ve got something I think you’ll like. Just bear with my ramblings until we get there…

Last Sunday I teamed up with 3 other local ladies on Team MARATHON Bars to run the Atlanta Marathon Relay. I was running leg 2 of the race, advertised as 8.4 miles.

It was an unseasonably cold morning for Atlanta with temps in the 30’s. Great for running, not so much when you’re just standing around. My first mile felt very stiff and disjointed. After waiting around in the cold for over an hour and a half I was partially frozen, but I felt good once I began to thaw in the second mile. This was a social event, not really a race. I kept the pace comfortable and used this as an opportunity to get in a solid workout for my upcoming half marathons this month.

After I transitioned the timing chip to our third runner, I continued on for another 2 miles before turning back to get the bus to the finish line. This is totally random, but here’s a clip of me running on YouTube. I have no idea who filmed it, but I run by around 27 seconds into this clip.

Afterwards, my teammates and I met up to chat some more. I also ran into Lee, Mark who also ran the relay, and Kristy who ran her 9th full marathon.

I saw Super Woman running during the race too.

Source

I should have guessed she was a Team MARATHON Bars member as well! She approached me after the race to introduce herself. This was Becky’s final marathon in her quest to run 50 marathons, in 50 states, all in under 4 hours. Incidentally, she also ran all of the New England marathons with Dean Karnazes when he was doing his 50 marathons in 50 states tour a few years ago. Wow.

Now sticking with the marathon theme, let’s get to the giveaway.

In addition to their yummy Energy and Protein bars, MARATHON has just rolled out a new line of bars called Smart Stuff.

“Marathon Smart Stuff Bars include wholesome ingredients, like blueberries, cranberries and peanuts, and are made with real chocolate for a taste everyone will love. Each bar contains a blend of 8 essential vitamins and minerals, and is an excellent source of calcium. Containing 3 to 5 grams of fiber and 140 calories or less per serving, this new energy bar is naturally low in sodium and provides 5 grams of whole grains, with no high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors, colors or sweeteners.”

Want to try them? You know you do.

In addition to a box of Smart Stuff bars, I’ll also include two other foods I’ve been loving-on lately:

A two-pack of Nutiva Coconut Oil. Virgin pressed coconut oil us a healthy fat that adds a delicious coconut essence to baked goods and has a high smoking point great for cooking stir-frys.

A bag of ground Salba seed. Ground Salba is the hip new cousin to the chia seed. One that you don’t have to floss out of your teeth.

All you need to do is leave a comment. It can be anything. I just like knowing someone is out there.

For extra entries you can:

Become an Atlanta Running Mom follower
Tweet about the giveaway. It would suffice to say something along the lines of “I love chocolate & healthy stuff, especially chocolate covered healthy stuff. I want to win Smart Stuff @MARATHONbars from @runblondie26.” :)

Please leave a separate comment for each extra entry. I’ll pick a winner next Monday.

Disclaimer: I'm provided with free product by MARATHON Bars. This is a small-potatoes blog so the rest of the items I purchased. All product opinions are my own.

Leaf Peepers

2011-10-31T09:23:00.007-04:00

We took our annual fall trip to the North Georgia Mountains on Saturday. It’s been a hectic month so we made our trip a couple weeks later than usual, but it made for even more colorful foliage and fantastic landscapes.

This Saturday was no exception and started off equally as hectic. First I had to meet my teammates for the Atlanta Marathon Relay to pick up our registration packets and discuss our game plan for the following day. Then we had to stop by and help our (transient pilot) friend move some furniture out of his current crashpad, since he's moving yet again.

We didn’t get to our intended destination until almost 4:30, so we had to get moving if we wanted to make it to the top of Amicalola Falls.

Girlfriend was in a mood most of the day. Her daddy came home late the night before after being gone on a long trip, and we kept her up much later than usual. It was all our fault really.

She’s a pro at pouting. Here she is standing statue still with her back to us because we wouldn’t let her stop at the playground before our hike (but she did get to play once we got back).

So into the backpack she went. We had some ground to cover and were already running short on daylight.

Mr. Blondie was a champ. Not only did he carry her on his back for the hike, but also up and down these stairs.

Here we are at the "bottom of the top", just a little farther to go

And looking down from the very top

Then back down again

We were too late to hit Burt’s Pumpkin Patch on the way home. Our supermarket pumpkin will have to do this year. Em did get to help me pick it out of the bin, lol. Our requisite stop for Dairy Queen Blizzards on the way home hit the spot though. I’d been looking forward to that part the whole second half out of hike :)

Do you have any fall traditions?

Where the Party Meets the Pavement

2011-10-28T10:44:00.006-04:00

Thanks to Amanda’s giveaway over at Run the to Finish, I have a free entry to the 13.1 Ft. Lauderdale in a couple weeks!

Isn’t that the beauty of the half marathon? As opposed to a full marathon, with a running base of 25 miles a week or so, you can just pencil one into your schedule.

Weekend Getaway? Yes, Please.

When we lived in Ft. Lauderdale a few years ago, it was Mr. Blondie’s first year working as an airline pilot. That meant I had a lot of free time on my hands, which in turn meant I did a lot of running and quite a few races to keep myself busy. I’m excited to be going back to “old-stomping grounds”, so to speak.

Toodles!

A1A Half 2007

Although I’ve never done the 13.1 race before, the majority of Ft. Lauderdale races follow the same format. Start somewhere along Las Olas Blvd, run up A1A to the half-way marker, turn-around and run back down A1A to the finish. Up until this past year, my half marathon PR was 1:43, which I set at the A1A Half Marathon in 2007. I hope I can finish well under that time now.

The monotony of a pancake flat course can be challenging too. Would you rather run a completely flat course or a hilly one?

Change of Plans

2011-10-25T15:32:00.000-04:00

This weekend, well, it pretty much sucked.

For weeks, I’d been planning to meet up with Shelley. She was visiting Atlanta for the weekend, and we were going to run the Fast Past Race 10k together. I was all set to run a mean 10K with the stroller :)

Instead my grandma passed away, so the three of us traveled to NJ.

I sort of knew when we saw her 2 weeks ago that would be our final goodbye. It was a gradual decline, so I had time to process the grief in pieces. It would have been worse if it were a total shock. She went peacefully Friday morning, and was surrounded by love with her husband and children by her side. That’s how it’s supposed to be.

May we all be struck down by a bolt of lightning, but this had us in tears….of hysterical laughter. The funeral director offered us a coloring books and some crayons to keep Emily occupied during the viewing (we hung out in a separate room with her). May I present to you a sample of the WORST COLORING BOOK EVER.

Titled: Koalie Goes to the Funeral

Koalie helped bring some comic relief to the occasion. We were passing it around to all the adults on the sly, and everyone was busting a gut. There were some equally lovely burial illustrations.

Sorry for such a downer post today. That's just how it goes sometimes. Thank goodness this weekend promises to be much better with a lot of fun things planned.

Are you Sure I Didn't Run a Marathon? (Race Recap)

2011-10-19T09:37:00.004-04:00

Don’t be fooled by the smile on my face. This had to be one of the most difficult races I’ve ever run. And I’ve run a race or two in my day.

My running buddies Mark and Kristy were there and we met-up before the race.

Check out this Superwoman. They offered everything from a 5K to a 50 miler during the weekend-long event. On top all the miles she’s running with her Atlanta Running Tours company and with Big Peach Running Co, she chose to run the half-marathon. The 10K was more than enough for me. She had awesome finish and didn't even get her sneakers dirty!

Going into this, I was expecting pinestraw covered walking paths and rolling hills through the forest.

Don’t be fooled by this picture either. The course looked like this for about a milli-second.

Oh no, it was really was more like this

The entire race was a narrow track of roots and rocks with a 1500ft flux in elevation. There were points were you had to use your hands to get up a hill or had to turn sideways to shimmy around a ledge.

For someone used to road races, it was hard to be patient. The trail never became wide enough to run any way but single file.

When we came to a small, dried-up stream bed, I thought this would be a good opportunity to pass some people ahead of me since there was enough room to get around them. I was getting antsy to make a move. My toe got caught as I leapt over, and I face planted on the other side, scrapping up my knees and elbows quite nicely.

We were only a half-mile in at this point. Did someone say patience?

It felt like forever before my Garmin chirped for the first mile. One stinkin’ mile done. I couldn’t believe it. I was sure we had to be at least halfway done. I almost left my Garmin at home because I didn’t think it would work with the tree cover, and my pace would be irrelevant anyway. It worked fine, and I was very glad to have it since my sense of time and distance was completely distorted.

Around the mile mark is when the other women dropped off, and I began playing leap-frog with the woman who I thought she was the lead. After a few minutes of dueling, she with shot ahead of me on an uphill and disappeared from sight.

With about 2 miles left, I ran through the lone aid station and they confirmed I was the second place female. This gave me the boost I needed to keep pushing. I figured first place was out of reach, but I sure as heck was going to hold onto second.

My Garmin continued clicking onward with no finish line in sight. Then suddenly, there it was. Sweet Jesus, blue sky and an open field ahead. It was clear shot to the finish, and the first place woman was in view!

I sprinted my tail off but couldn’t close the gap. She beat me by 8 seconds. For my first trail race, basically since high school cross-country sometime in the late 90’s, I couldn’t have been happier with second place though. It was another 6 minutes before the 3rd place lady came in.

Was this road runner in over her head entering a trail race? Totally. Was it a great experience? Absolutely.

Our friends Kurt, Krysti, and son Jakob live in the area and met up with us after the race to do some more hiking.

We planned to do 6 miles but cut it short at 4. It was taking longer than we expected and the kiddos were getting really fussy. I was pretty much over it too, but I didn’t want to ruin it for the group. Thanks for giving me an out Emily.

I also have to give big shout out to Mr. Blondie for waking up so early in the morning on his day off, driving the 2 hours each way to the race, and entertaining the kiddo for hours while I raced. You’re the best!

Now if you’ll excuse me. I need to waddle off and find my foam roller.

Quick Trip and Fear of the Unknown

2011-10-14T09:25:00.002-04:00

Well hello there! It's been awhile.

Last week was another good mileage week. I hit 30, and I'm beginning to think 40 may be an attainable goal in the upcoming weeks.

Sunday: 5k race w/ stroller, 2.5 miles
Monday: off
Tuesday: 9 miles (8:04/mi pace)
Wednesday: 6 miles (8:07/mi pace) 15 mins elliptical, 10 min core work
Thursday: off
Friday: 10 miles (8:00/mi pace), 10 min core work
Saturday: off
Total: 30.5 miles run, 15 mins elliptical

My grandma was admitted back into the hospital, so Emily and I did a quick trip up to NJ on Saturday morning to visit.

The visit started off good. She didn’t know we were coming so her face lit up when we walked into the room, and she was able to address us by name. As the visit went on, she got more confused and you could see her frustration that the words weren’t coming out the way she wanted them too. You don't always need words though, so we made sure to shower her with ample kisses.

Less than 24 hours after we arrived in NJ we were back on a plane to Atlanta. Mr.Blondie had a break between flights and met us at the gate when we landed. We hung out for a little bit, then dropped Mr.Blondie off at his gate before leaving the airport ourselves.

Brittney sent me a message she’d be passing through town and I had intended on meeting up with her. Unfortunately after all the morning’s activities, Emily was.not.having.it. At least I got a 4 hour nap out of her. Sorry Brit, we’ll make it work one of these days!

Fortunately I was off from work on Monday, giving me a chance to decompress. Mr. Blondie was off as well, so we got a rare, full-day at home together. Yay for obscure holidays.

So the North Face Endurance Challenge is this weekend. I’m reading the participant guide and thanking the smidge of common sense I have for only choosing the 10K.

We’ve hiked in quite a few GA State parks, so I *think* I know what to expect in terms of terrain. I’m not scared of the pain from a hard effort. It’s my general lack of trail racing experience that has me all nervous. How do you handle passing/being passed on narrow strips of trail? What if I don't know which way to go?

Is there any special trail racing etiquette I should know about? Any words of wisdom to share?