MM 70.3 Blooper Reel

As promised in yesterday's Musselman 70.3 recap, 

a few photos for your viewing pleasure.

Most of these are bloopers 

but I did throw in a few decent ones as well.

I don't really have any swim bloopers, at least ones that were documented on film. 

Onto the bike.

Trying to wave, not fall, and prepare for 56 miles.

And this was coming in after almost 56 miles...

with the last few riding on flat tire. Epic Fail.

& then there was the run.

At least my nephew looked cute.

As mentioned in the recap, I stopped and kissed him on the run.

That is my hand holding his on the right.

About 12 miles later...

I remembered to get rid of the sponges I was hoarding

Oh the finish chute...

at least I managed one good one.

Here's a good one of my sister and myself.

Note that I had ice cream in my hand within 5 minutes of finish.

Would have been less, but I spent that 5 minutes sitting in a kiddie pool full of cold water.

Worth the wait.

And of course, my #1 Fan :) Rocking his volunteer stuff :)

 Not only did I get a fabulous medal, 

but permanent tan lines

and a knot that took me as much time to get untangled

 as it did to navigate the 70.3 miles.

Some random blooper moments not caught on film:

Getting tangled in seaweed and spazzing for 10 seconds trying to get it off.

Slipping and almost falling hard getting out of the water.

 (again, thank you to the young man volunteer who caught me)

Getting caught eating PB&J on the bike, and trying to figure out how I was gonna get the sticky PB&J off my hands while riding.

Getting caught singing on the bike, multiple times (one dude started singing along though! Folks I was singing T.Swift, he held a tune better than I!)

in T2 I unscrewed my water bottle top to dump the remaining little bit on my head...unscrewed but forgot to remove the top...dumping water and the lid on my head. DOH!

Do you have any race bloopers?

What is you "tired running" quirk? 

T-rex arm? tilted head? Bow legged?

Musselman 70.3 Recap

After a fun Mussel-Weekend of adventures, it was finally race day--

Pre-Race
The morning itself went pretty darn smoothly. Got up, got ready, and got on the road. Went to volunteer tent and John did my body marking for me, and then I went to transition to set up. I ate a huge handful of Energy BITS, and drank water like a boss. I knew it was going to be hot and was trying to help prepare myself as best I could.

I got set up and left transition and found my family & friends and was actually pretty relaxed.

My friend Amy is the Volunteer coordinator and made sure to leave me a special note for when I arrived in transition. Good work making a girl cry before the race.

Kind of reminds me of my awkward faced wetsuit photo from my first sprint triathlon.

 We made our way to the shore and I got my hugs and "be boss", "kick butt" etc, before John walked with me to enter swim area. It was an absolute gorgeous morning on the lake, and I was just trying to soak the sights and sounds (bagpipes) in.

Ratcliff photo posted this on Musselman Facebook page

Swim (Goal time: 45:00, Actual time: 41:22)[T1-2:38]
After getting counted in, I waded my way out to the start buoys and found a spot I was comfortable and relaxed while waiting. Miraculously I hear a pretty loud "GO LAURA" and turn to the shore which was a ways away to see my family and friends jumping up and down. I waved my hands in the air and smiled, it was going to be a good day.  I maintained pretty steady pace throughout, and only over shot one of the buoys which made me really happy. I finally made my way through the canal and to the last buoys by the boat launch where we exit. I walked up the ramp and slipped right near the top as the mat had moved towards the middle. A volunteer caught me right as I did (thank you, whoever you are!) and then I was able to get out and go. I looked at my watch as I was going through transition and saw 41:XX and couldn't help but smile. I gave my high-fives as I passed my family and friends and continued to get ready for bike.

Bike (Goal time: 3:25, Actual time: 3:30)[T2 2:09]
Bike mount went smoothly, and got to wave and see my family and friends shortly after which put a huge smile on my face!

The bike could easily be broken down like this for me

First 1:30 hours--"oh boy it's gonna be a long day"

From 1:30-2:30 hours--"this girl is on fire"

From 2:30-3:00 hours--"I literally feel on fire, it's hot"

From 3:00-3:30 hours-- "FML, why is this so hard right now"

After rounding the last turn- I knew I was close, got all excited seeing my family and then my friends were also at dismount....I got off my bike and said "woah"...drunk legs. T2 was decent for me switching my shoes, dumped remaining water from my bike bottle on my head and went on my way.

[After the race, I realized that I had punctured my tired while coming out of Sampson State Park (rough road section, I remember the bump where it had to have happened) which is about the time I thought it was fatigue slowing me down. I rode on low air for a while, and it had to have been flat the last 2 miles because I struggled really bad but wasn't going to stop with so little to go...explains why it felt harder than it should have!!!]

Run (Original Goal time: 1:45, Adjusted Goal time: 2:00, Actual time: 1:53)

Goofy smile seeing everyone in beginning of run.

Coming out on the run felt amazing, I was finally in my element. As much as I was happy to be running, I knew that I was tired and that the 90 degree heat wasn't going to help me get a 1:45 half in. I immediately told myself, just come in under 2 hours. I came around a corner and saw one of my favorite sites of the day. My parents, friends and their kids, my sister and her hubby all screaming and cheering my name. Even the people next to them started cheering my name when they heard them. Then my friend Mary did something that made my eyes light up, she held out my 3 month old nephew. I stopped and gave him a huge kiss on the forehead and went on my way. I couldn't stop smiling. Shortly after that I saw my friend Tom, he was stretching on the side and told me he wasn't going to go on (he was injured going into the race), I walked with him for a minute and then he told me to "get my ass going". I carried on, and got to see John around mile 3. I was so excited I just stopped and gave him a big kiss. We jogged together for a minute and then he told me to have a good run and I went on my way again. I knew that aid stations were roughly a mile apart so I made the goal to run to each and walk when I got to them (for fuel, ice, sponges and standing in hoses). With walks I averaged 9 minute pace for first 8 miles. Finally at mile 8 I told myself to kick it in, and bring it home. I still walked a little through aid stations to drink water and dump it on myself but managed to do the last 5.1 miles at 8 minute pace(including walks).

Pure happiness before the finish line. 

My goal times (with original run goal) + 

my pre-estimated 5 total minutes of transition time 

would have put me at 6 hours.

I crossed the finish line in 6:09.

9 minutes away from my original goal, and I am definitely okay with that. I did a half-iron distance triathlon, I didn't die, and I finished with a smile on my face.....you can't beat that. Yes, there is a part of me a little bummed- but that's what makes me an athlete and competitor, you HAVE to have the drive to be better. If I was 100% satisfied with this then I'd have no reason to try again and work harder for a better time. I want to get better, I want to get faster and I want to prove to myself I can break 6 hours. And you can bet your bottom, I WILL. #Findyourstrong

Thoughts
I may be a newer member of the Tri-family, but I still feel part of it. The encouragement from most of the other athletes out there was incredible. The "good jobs" and "you can do it" out on the course were awesome. If someone was on the side with a flat, everyone was asking if they needed help (I even offered my CO2 to someone, but they already had some).

I have amazing support from family and friends. I can't thank them enough for being there. My parents, sister/hubby with the baby, Mary/Cassie, Corey/Marie/Giada, Amy, and everyone else--it made me incredibly happy to see their smiling faces.

I also can't discount the amazing support from my friends and family who were not there physically but were sending emails, Facebook posts, texts, and tweets.

John really is my number one fan and team mate. I couldn't have done this without him. I absolutely can't wait until he is fully recovered from his knee problems and we can be out there together. Even though he hasn't been able to compete this year, his support to myself and other athletes has been more than I ever could have asked for.

The volunteers and course support was INCREDIBLE. I took the time to thank as many of them as I could on the bike, and same on the run. The run course was never lonely, aid stations every mile (overloaded with water, ice, sponges, food, flat soda, and hoses), and many local residents had their sprinklers and hoses set up outside as well. I don't think I ever went more than a half mile without either a local resident support crew or race station. I'm going to the volunteer appreciation dinner tonight (I volunteered Saturday and John did both days) and I can't wait to give lots of people hugs for all they did. Musselman, you put on an amazing race and I thank you for that.

Stay tuned: There will be some more photos, including a blooper reel for you. Most likely tomorrow (waiting for my daddio to send me the rest, get ready for some laughs!).

Mussel-Weekend

I'm still processing some race thoughts, but I do have some general things about the weekend for you :)

After my last post on Friday, I worked and then headed out of town to get the fun started. I rode out to Seneca Lake with a friend of mine since John left earlier that morning.

It was an afternoon of friends and fun at the MicroMussel Triathlon- a very short triathlon involving costumes and tricycles (or in our case....a moving dolly with a fake plane on it). John and Corey dressed up as Goose & Maverick from Top Gun, and had everyone laughing the entire time. Truly a great way to start the weekend off in a fun way!

Me and my Maverick- he's way better than Tom Cruise!

Saturday was the Mini-Mussel Triathlon (Sprint Distance). John and I were volunteering, and a few of our friends were competing. I spent the first part of the morning at the "mount line" yelling at athletes not to get on their bike until they were at or past the line. It was a great place to be as I got to see all my friends as they started the bike, and cheer for others as well. Once people started coming in from the bike, I moved over to the "dismount line" making sure everyone got off their bikes before the line. More yelling and cheering but I was having a great time, and again it was a great place to be so I could see everyone! Volunteering the day before my race was a great way to get inspiration and motivation, and to see logistics of race location!

My Job was making sure everyone go off their bikes before the line- I also made sure to yell "have a great run" to as many as possible. They thought it was a good idea to give me a megaphone(haha!), I used it for a few minutes but it was heavy to hold and I also helped people grab things they dropped at dismount (shoes, water bottles, bikes etc) so I was better off without it.

Being at the"dismount line" is where I first learned of "the accident". One of the faster cyclists to come in, asked me if I knew what the name was of the person injured on course. I said I did not know, and he sternly told me to find out: there was fear in his voice. My friends were standing near me and heard the whole thing, they ran to the volunteer tent to make sure they knew there was an accident on course. They knew- and it wasn't good. After that, many people were asking me questions about it as they dismounted their bike. They all had to ride past the accident site, seeing ambulances and crowds of people and blood. I can't even imagine how hard that would be to see, emotional and scary for sure. Then later on, the questions turned towards family members cheering near me "has so & so come in yet?"-- everyone was worried it was a friend or loved one. 

After I was done at my volunteer post I walked around talking to my friends who had finished, and spent some time helping at the volunteer tent. I had heard bits and pieces more about the accident, but nothing definitive. Everyone was on edge, it was like being in high school all over again- rumors were flying, the bad news was that it was actually as bad as everyone was saying.

 I actually left to go get some "me time" as my nerves were building for the race the next day. I went back to John's parents on the lake and practiced mounts/dismounts by myself before heading to packet pickup and the pre-race meeting. 

I got all my gear ready for the next day 

Saturday night was spent at the house with all of our friends. Carb-rich dinner, some wine and good company; perfect way to unwind the night before the race. They have been doing this for Musselman weekend for a few years now, and I was happy I was able to join in the tradition. I also spent a little time on the hammock outside, trying to unwind and mentally prepare for 70.3 miles.

We did find out more information regarding the accident as the night went on. The man, who was a Rochester native was pronounced dead after being transported to a local hospital. An SUV had ran out of gas and was parked as far over on the shoulder as possible, the cyclist had collided into the back window. This is the first fatality in the 10 year history of the race. Sadly, we can't look and analyze exactly what happened, we will never really know-- and at this point it doesn't change anything. The victim, his family and friends are definitely in my thoughts and prayers.

Brief Article here

It was hard not to think about it, it was also hard not to let my parents find out about it.  I had sent them an email with links to maps, race website and my time estimates for them as they were going to be there Sunday. The last thing I needed was my mom to find out someone died on a 16 mile bike course when I was going to be on a 56 mile course the following day. I didn't want her freaking out the entire 3 and a half hours I was going to be on the bike. Did it scare me? you bet; but I have that fear every time I ride, accidents happen and the best we can do is just be aware and ride as smart and safely as possible.

Sunday was race day for me (recap to come this week), overall it was a great day. I survived my first 70.3! I had fabulous support crew of family and friends, and the race staff/volunteers were just as amazing. I can't say enough good things about Mussleman races- Jeff Henderson and his crew(including my friend Amy who is the volunteer coordinator) do an amazing job. From the different race options, mass volunteers, amazing swag and sponsors, pre-race meetings that are fun & informative, "green" race characteristics, all of it makes for a memorable weekend. Congrats to them for 10 years and cheers to many more! I already have next years race on the calendar...more volunteering and more racing!

Me and my #1 fan and team mate after finishing yesterday! :)

What did you do this weekend?

Cyclists- what are your riding fears?

To Wave or Not to Wave

I'm sure you have seen it before...waves on the road. A motorcycle doing the "low five" wave to another, a Jeep driver nodding and steering wheel waving at other Jeeps. There are these little "cliques" on the road, but one that relates more closely to home....the running/cycling wave.

Every morning I get into work with my coffee, grab The Wall Street Journal off the ground and mosey inside. Usually take a quick peek for a few minutes through the paper for any headlines, then toss it on my bosses desk. Today there was an article that caught my eye.

Some wave, some nod, some smile and some just don't acknowledge you at all. Now let me say I am guilty of all of these. Sometimes I wave, many times I will smile and nod as people pass by, and others I am just to damn zoned out to notice what is going on. I have always had a "poker face" when it comes to running, the kind that Heath Ledger would have said "Why so serious" to.

I know that I am more guilty of the "poker face" during races, but I have been trying to be better about it. It has nothing to do with not enjoying what I'm doing (I love running, no dispute there), I just get crazy focused and driven, and I'm honestly okay with that. BUT I am trying to smile more while running, take the time to look around see the sights and the passerbys...I love competing, I love this sport, I love the running/cycling community-- and I want others to see that too.

Last night running on the canal path, I went by quite a few different people and got about 50% waves/nods/smiles which is probably my normal percentage. Some sort of acknowledgement is nice, after all we are out there doing the same thing at the same time....but to each his own. Like I said, I know I don't do it 100% of the time and I don't expect everyone else to either.

There are times (more often with cycling than running) that waving isn't exactly feasible (flying down a hill, dealing with traffic, etc.), and you most likely wont see someone wave while they're in the middle of a hard interval/tempo or hill repeat workout while running. But other times, maybe nod or smile or even muster up the courage to wave, I promise it won't kill you.

Acknowledging another runner/cyclist may seem small but it might be just the boost they (or you) need. In races we have signs and crowd support which help us push when we get tired and lack motivation, but what about training runs? We spend 90% of our time training and 10% racing, yet all of the attention gets put on the racing support. This is where sites like DailyMile are nice, because you get feedback on training (and racing) from fellow athletes which can reinforce all that training and hard work you are doing. Think of smiling/nodding/waving on the roads like your training cheer squad, your in person DailyMile "motivation".

Where do you stand on the waving spectrum? 

Do you smile and nod (I do this much more than waving)? 

Or do you do nothing at all?

Thoughts?

Pink Ribbon Run 5k

Ohhh Tuesday of Taper Week... I am surviving...

As I said yesterday it was a great weekend, 

here's the 5k recap I promised y'all.

This was the Pink Ribbon Run 5k, put on by the Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester (BCCR). The race had been put on for over 10 years now. I ran this race in 2010 &2011 and it became one of my favorites. It's an all women's race (there is a walk that men/women can both do) where over 3000 people came for both events (a little over 1000 did the run). Out of all the races I missed last year due to my broken foot, this was the hardest to not be there for.

Needless to say I was happy to be able to be there this year, supporting a great cause and spending the morning with thousands of women dressed in pink. This year was a new location though, where it used to be out by Lake Ontario Beach park, the race had outgrown it and needed to be moved to Genesee Valley Park. I was happy to hear the race is growing every year, but wasn't so happy about the move to different park. The new course meant TONS of hairpin turns, so I wasn't planning on breaking any records. Good news is, you don't go into a 5k the weekend before a marathon planning to throw down some all-out speed.

Let's play a game of red light/green light. This was how the race went.
Speed up slow down stop for sharp turn...repeat.

Warmed up for the race with Hollie & Heather, chatting and fighting with the cold and wind. Finally it was time to start. My legs felt decent (much better than the day before when I bailed halfway through my run), but my lungs were not liking the speed thing mixed with the cold wind thing.

Heather, myself and Hollie at the start...
2 seconds later Hollie and I stripped some layers down...
isn't a race without stripping at the start line. Okay, Moving on.

I settled into a quick but not "guns-blazing" pace. Then I had a freak out moment for a good solid 2 minutes..."I have to do this for 26.2 miles next weekend..."

And then I realized "hahaha oh yeah, I don't have to run this fast next weekend. whew"

We will file that under "taper freak out moment".

Mile 2 was my slowest, as it pretty much always is for 5k's and cruised in last mile with a negative split. Finished strong, didn't have anyone in sight for last little while which made it harder to push. Finished in 19:48, sub-20 so no complaints. Hollie finished 5th and I was 6th..she was 40 seconds ahead of me so it wasn't like I had a chance at that one. I found her quick at finish and we turned to go watch for Heather thinking we had more time, and BAM there she was...throwing down a 20 second PR for herself! 

We hung out by the finish for a little while, and was approached by a young girl asking us if we were in high school like she was. I'm 25...and that's flattering and all but..NO.

Me, Heather & Hollie

After waiting for awards, the 3 of us hit Starbucks and had fun running/girl chat.
Fabulous ladies these runners are I tell ya.

Official Stats
Time 19:48 (6:23 avg. pace)
Overall Place 6th/1040
AG Place 2nd

Overall I was happy with my time, I didn't race all out since I'm "tapering" so I know it could have been faster on a better course and had I been actually pushing the pace to race. More than anything it made me excited to get into some speed work this summer. After the marathon this coming weekend, my focus will be on Musselman 70.3 triathlon in July. But I definitely plan on running some shorter races this summer so it's time to get back to the track! I'd really like to see my time for the 5k go sub-19. My PR right now is a little over 19 and I feel like if I get my workouts in and train properly sub-19 will be mine soon enough. I remember 2 years ago desperately chasing sub 20, and it gave me awesome motivation to keep working so I know that if I keep sub-19 in sight I'll work hard to get it!

T-minus 4.5 days until Cleveland Marathon.
Let Taper madness continue.

Good, Bad & Yummy 5/10-5/12

I can't believe it's Monday already, weekends are going by way to fast these days. Actually every day is going by way too fast. After a long fun filled weekend, I head into final week of taper for the Cleveland Marathon. Bring on the list making, stressing, eating, emotions, and everything else in between.

Weekend Workouts

Friday

I held the bed down so it wouldn't blow away.

Saturday

5.21 easy miles (8:51 pace)

Sunday

2.72 easy miles (w/u & c/d for race)

5k race (19:48)

30 minute recumbent bike (8.1 miles)

This past weekend was a very good one though, definitely a good way to head into home stretch of taper. Friday was kind of a blah day, ended up working half day and laying in bed on a heating pad useless to the world for the rest of the day(ladies, we've all been there.). Thank goodness for Starbucks, heating pads, and fiance's who take you to get FroYo at 9:30 at night. True story.

Saturday I was excited because Hollie was coming to stay with me for the weekend. Got up early, moseying around doing things (still not feeling the best) while I waited for her. When she got to my house, we got ready and ran together for some nice easy miles.

After the run we had a fun day of adventures: Breakfast at Jines(Because the Lox omelette is to die for)Target (because we wanted to, and everyone needs something at Target), Starbucks (because it was cold out, so we needed hot caffeine), Lilac Festival (because it's the best people watching spot in Rochester right now), High Falls (because I've tried to show Hollie all the sights I can in Rochester every time she visits me), and dinner at TRATA (because a tall cold Guinness and yummy food, and even better Guinness cake is the best pre-5k race meal you can eat).

Shenanagins at Lilac Festival with Hollie

Me, Heather & Hollie Post-race

Sunday was another fun filled day.Hollie and I got up early and ran the BCCR Pink Ribbon Run 5k, Heather met us there too which was great to finally meet her in person! I'll do a recap of the race tomorrow :) After the race Hollie, Heather and I went to Starbucks to chat and unwind.

Sunday afternoon was spent stretching, relaxing and laying on the heating pad for a while. Then it was time for Les Mis, something I have been waiting a long time to see! I got to enjoy the show with John, his brother and his girlfriend, our friend and her son, and John's sister and her man. Wonderful way to spend a Sunday night.

Here's an Oldie but Goodie for you...Happy Mother's day Mama :)

I'll always be your baby :)
[ 1990 maybe?]

The Good

At least my crappy-female time came this weekend and not next!

I got to spend a lot of QT with Hollie this weekend!

Got to meet and spend time with Heather :)

Fun filled weekend all around.

A Sub-20 5k again, hopefully under 19 this summer.

Les Mis was amazing, and the guy who played Javert was WAY better than Russell Crowe's rendition in the movie version.

The Bad

Being a girl truly sucks sometimes. END.OF.STORY.

Hollie moves to VA beach next weekend. MEGA.BAD.

Instead of 10 planned miles on Sat. I did 5, not feeling great. Hate bailing on runs.

Taper Madness is setting in. 

Didn't get to see my mom, or John's for Mother's Day. 

The Yummy

Lots of Starbucks all weekend, always Yummy.

Breakfast at Jines- Lox omelette was amazing as always.

Dinner at TRATA:

Heaven in a glass. AKA Guinness.

Duck Quesadilla --Chocolate Guinness cake

Afternoon Sandwich Sunday
Wegmans hand made cheese bread, TJ's lowfat cheddar cheese, spinach, arugala, and tomatoes.
Bring on taper-eating.

 How was your weekend?

What did you do for Mother's Day?

Commuting/Adventure Running

Happy Friday!

How about something fun today?

Fun running/adventure running/running commute.

So the other day I did something I hadn't done before.

Well, sort of.

I ran to the gym, and to the store, and then home.

It was a SHORT running adventure/commute, but a good one none the less.
Hey you gotta start somewhere,

And a great way to do a taper run :)

I've ran to places before instead of driving, but never where I had to wear a backpack. It was a nice day and I needed to run on top of my other workouts so it seemed like a fun idea. I wanted to bike & swim at the gym so I had to pack my suit, goggles, towel, hair brush, swim cap, lap counter and water bottle at bare minimum. So I dug out my Camelbak hiking backpack. I packed my gear and made sure to wear something running that I would be okay spinning in as well (that way I didn't have to pack something else to wear).

A few years ago I read 50/50 about Dean Karnazes. It's about his journey to running 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days (overachiever, I know...right?). Actually I really liked the book and took a lot of things from it. Where I am going with this though, is I remember at one point him talking about how he will just go for adventures running with his backpack. Bring his phone and wallet and that way if his wife or kids need him to pick up something at the grocery store he could. I remember thinking, running is MY time NOT errand time. But now looking back, I'm like well there might be something to that.

So when I packed my bag I threw in my phone and ID (even though I had my RoadID on my wrist), I also threw in some cash and my debit card just in case (this will come in handy later). I even took a plastic Wegmans water bottle (empty) put it in my bag knowing I could fill it up at gym, but it wouldn't weigh me down on the way there. I remember thinking, Dean would be proud.

 I got the pack on, made sure straps were adjusted and ready to go. 

I did text Hollie and told her what I was doing, that way someone knew my plan.

Sorry for the craptastic pictures, best I could do....and yes I am not wearing matching socks, that's normal for me though.

I got myself ready, took some ENERGYbits, 

chugged some good old H2O and I was ready.

Pre-commuting/adventure run.

 I quickly found out that the backpack was seriously going to affect my form. I wasn't worried about pace, but I worried how comfortable this was going to be. The pack didn't bother me at first, other than the fact that I knew people must be staring at me because I felt like I was running very awkwardly. Kind of like this....

Okay anyways. I ran the 3.72 miles to the gym in 30:15 (8:07 pace) which was surprising considering it felt MUCH slower. My only issue on the way there, was that one of the backpack straps kept riding up and rubbing against my neck. But I made it.

When I got to the gym I quickly signed in, and went to change into my swim suit. I got in the pool (for the first time in a few weeks...I've been slacking...please feel free to yell at me about this), and I felt good. Laps went by smooth and steady paced...then...my goggle strap snapped. $%&@. And that was that. This one had snapped before and I had already jerry-rigged it once so I knew I couldn't do that again. So my 1500 yard swim went to 500 yard swim with the snap of a strap.

I said whatever, and changed back into my other clothes and hit the spin bike. Jamming to my tunes and keeping my cadence high. I'm trying to coast less outside so I wanted to focus on keeping my feet always moving on the spin bike and getting used to that cadence more. The spin bike is good tool for getting used to high cadence.

 I was getting my sweat on....then a man in a pink Hollister shirt got on the bike next to me. Dude really? See that blue post it on his screen...it had TWO words on it. Weights & cycle. He couldn't remember those TWO words or the order they went in? Anyways. He proceeded to furiously spin and shake his sweaty mop head of hair everywhere for 30 seconds then stop and cough trying to catch his breath. I amused myself by watching him try and do this for a while.

This is the best I could get. Haha. 

 Okay, enough about meat heads. I did 60 minutes on the bike (22.9 miles) and was ready to head home. I grabbed my stuff and walked outside to find it sprinkling rain (my favorite!) it felt so good and refreshing, unfortunately it only lasted a few minutes. My legs were not moving quick and my backpack was still bugging my neck but I put one foot in front of the other and loosened up as I went. I had to pass Fleet Feet on the way home. I remembered that it was "Diva Day" (Women's specials and sales) and was planning on going later, but I figured "why not" so I stopped running and went in the store. (Run from Gym to FF was 2 miles in 16:29[8:15 ave.]).

Had a nice chat with the fella's in Fleet feet. One of the guys noticed my spiffy Kinvara 4's and asked me how I liked them. I said...well this is my 7th pair of Kinvara's so what do you think? He laughed and I proceeded to tell him how much I love these shoes and how well they have worked for me. Nice people there, I tell ya. Of course I had to buy something while I was in there (duh). So I got a nice new shirt and even bought myself a new pair of socks for the marathon next weekend. (I'll actually wear matching socks for the race, only because they didn't have these in 2 different colors for me to get...true story).

So I put my stuff in my backpack and continued home. 1.71 miles in 13:32 (7:54 pace). I was happy to finish stronger than I started, especially considering there was a swim and bike in the middle.

I know this was a short running commute/adventure but it was a good experience. I really liked running around and not having to fight traffic to get places. Like I said, I have run places before but not where I needed a backpack. If I were to do this again, I'd need a running backpack that won't give me a literal 'redneck'. I do like the concept though, it was a great way to get a workout in and run errands. I live close enough to so many things that I could see myself doing this more often if I had the right gear for it.

This was a fun and different way to get a run in. Planning fun routes is a good way to get runs in and not be so monotonous. Normally my 'fun runs' are runs with friends (thank goodness I get to run with Hollie all weekend!!!), but I feel like I could make more fun routes for solo runs if I do them this way. This was also a really good way to break up the boredom of taper running.

I wanna try doing a longer version of this sometime, maybe just spend a day running around and seeing how far I can get. No, this doesn't mean I want to do an Ultra ANYTIME soon. I just want a damn adventure :)

Do you do running commutes?

Have you ever used a running backpack?

(If so, any suggestions for good ones?)

Oh, and in case you need a pick-me-up, watch this video about 2 Boston brothers who were separated after the bombing (both lost limbs) and reunited weeks later. Amazing. #BostonStrong

Video here

Good, Bad, Yummy 4/19-4/21

This weekend was...INSANE.

It was a great weekend, but the entire thing was on a strict time schedule 

which didn't leave much room for error (no room for error in some cases).

And the only way to describe how I feel today, TIRED.

Friday: 

Worked all day

Errands/packing for the weekend

Played a Game all night with J's friends for one friends Birthday

Saturday: 

10 mile Run with Hollie & Jen

Wedding Venue tour on Keuka Lake

Seneca 7 Packet pickup/pre-race briefing 

Pasta dinner with our relay team/goofing around all night

Sunday:

Seneca 7 Relay (Full recap of this to come tomorrow)

The Good

*Not working Friday night was a nice breath of fresh air.

*I actually got to relax Friday night and have a beer.

*They caught that monster of a terrorist. In a boat. (The jokes are endless.)

*Friday night I was sent this picture of my nephew in my mom's glasses. Priceless.

*Running with Hollie and Jen was great, nothing like running with 2 women who are insanely talented but the most down to earth people to spend time with...I wish we could run together more often.

*The Wedding Venue John and I toured Saturday was...amazing. I think we found a winner!

*Saturday night pasta dinner with out relay team was great. I knew all but 2 on the team, and by the end of the weekend I felt like I knew everyone for years. 

*Having an adorable nephew makes for great pre-race texts.

I got this text Sunday morning as a "good luck picture" of my Nephew from my sister.

*Seneca 7 falls under good category simply because I don't have an amazing category (I might have to make one). The race was one of the most fun things I have done in a long time, and I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to spend all weekend in close quarters with. We had a VERY fast team, which was incredibly inspirational...it took 7 runners (and 1 amazing chauffeur) 8 hours and 32 minutes to run 77.7 miles (6:34 average pace). 6th place out of 208 teams, BAM! I will write much more about all this tomorrow in a full recap, there is too much I don't want to leave out! 

The Bad

*I didn't get my run in as planned Friday afternoon, but I'm okay with it. But since it is a missed workout, we will file that under bad.

*The game we played Friday night for J's friends Birthday was... LONG. Let's just say it took 5+ hours and could have gone longer. It was fun but...yeah. 

*It snowed/hailed Saturday morning, who made Mother Nature mad?

*There were a few times yesterday things got stressful (we were going so fast, there were times it got difficult to get from checkpoint to checkpoint), it meant some sacrificing. We worked great as a team though which made us successful, but there were definitely some things on the course that made it hard! Stretching, warm-up/cool-down and proper fueling became challenging as the race went on and legs got closer together.

*My hamstring has a giant knot in it, that decided to show up halfway through the day yesterday (running fast, and multiple times and cramming in a van between probably didn't help)

*My stomach is NOT happy with me from this weekend (mainly yesterday), it was so confused as to what was going on. (run, ride in car, eat, cheer, repeat 3 times)

The Yummy

*Friday had some seriously yummy food bar stuff from Wegmans for dinner. 

*Double chocolate stout while playing the game Friday night...AMAZING.

*Sunday's relay was fueled by Bananas, brownies, cookies, and cheeseballs. It was amazing. 

For the record we had lots of healthy things too...but I will say, I DID eat 5 cheeseballs right before running a sub 20 5k on my second leg.

1lb. GONE after 77.7 miles and 7 runners.

 How was your weekend?

Any races/relays or fun things that you did?

What was your Good, Bad & Yummy for the weekend?