Enjoy!
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Demotivational Monday (again on a Tuesday)
Back again for another installment of demotivational Monday. As I said before, I'm not very clever or funny but I think this week's picture is pretty hilarious. And really only because of the picture itself.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Monday, August 26, 2013
Rev3 Maine Recap
I'm not even sure where to begin with the recap of this race. So much to say. So many thoughts in my head. I have learned a lot of things about me from this and I'll share those at the end. For now, I guess I'll just start at the beginning.
As you recall, I was not really wanting to do this race. I had planned on doing the 70.3, but because of many things, I was very undertrained for that distance and decided to drop down to the Olympic length.
We arrived in Old Orchard Beach on Saturday around 11:00 and got to the expo to register and drop off my bike. It was so simple to switch distances right at the check-in. Thank you Rev3 for being so easy to work with. Just a few clicks on the computer and bam! I was in the Olympic race. Phew.
I didn't end up spending a lot of time at the expo because the kids were anxious to get to the beach and do all the OOB things. I didn't stay for the athlete's meeting either, such a rebel, because I didn't think there would be much to add from last year.
So fast forward to that evening as I'm in bed at 10:00 trying to fall asleep while thinking about that STUPID ocean swim the next day. The ocean water was SO cold. Like so fucking cold that I couldn't go above my knees in it that afternoon at the beach. I wasn't worried until then. But after feeling the frigidness of that water, it was all I could think about.
I actually had to get in it and swim. For somewhere around 40 minutes. Fuck. Me.
So that was all I thought about that night. I looked at the clock hourly.
I wondered if everyone would be mad if I just didn't go to the race at all that morning. Just skipped it and went home. Would my family be mad that I dragged them all the way down there for nothing? Would I be mad cause I spent all that money and then didn't even do the stupid race?
I DID NOT want to swim. At all. And that was all I could think about. I got right in my head and talked myself right out of that race. Right then. Right there.
I finally gave up trying to sleep at 4:50 a.m. and got up and got ready. I gagged and almost barfed while brushing my teeth.
Who does this? Who pays hundreds of dollars to do something that makes them so anxious they feel physically sick? Who gets up at 4:50 a.m., barfs, and then goes out to swim in an incredibly cold ocean, only to bike distances that make your legs hurt and then run after that? Who does that? No sane person, that is for sure.
I quit in my head about 15 times that morning. My body, however, left the hotel and went to transition to get ready. I was there incredibly early, almost 2 hours before my swim wave start. But somehow I felt better there. I felt less nervous, less insane and overall, just better.
I got my area all set up and then proceeded to wait. I was racked with the half distance folks since that's what I had signed up for originally. Their swim wave was a full hour before mine. I was racked next to a girl who I met last year at this race. She was so nice and it was good to talk with her to keep me calm. I found Mandy from Caratunk Girl, she was two racks over and I chatted with her a little. I love her. I've only met her twice but that girl is the best. She is so happy and cheerful, I think she could even get Grumpy Cat to smile.
Some photographer snapping pics of the race got a picture of us while we were chatting. It appears as though I'm admiring her wetsuit or checking out her hoo-ha. Not sure which. Anyway, thank you Mandy for the calming words. You are the best.
I spent the next 45 minutes sitting in transition just snacking a bit and trying to keep my cool. It was a little awkward since I wasn't in my distance group, I had no one to make small talk with until race time. I got my wetsuit on and began heading down to the beach to the start. During the walk I found a woman with a purple cap who was walking alone so I targeted her as being my new best friend. I walked up and started talking to her so I wouldn't be at the start line all alone. I was sorely missing my friend that I met last year at this race. This girl was nice but I don't think she really loved that I was tagging along talking away to her. Oh well. Thanks for being there anyway Becky from CT. Even if you didn't want to talk to me, I appreciate that you did.
It was finally time for our wave to go in. We got the countdown and then we ran to the water to swim. It was so cold. I think the official temperature was 63*? It felt 50*. I walked as far as I could and then just started swimming. It took my breath away to put my face in so I swam freestyle with my head up for as long as I could. The tide was coming in so the chop was banging waves into my face. I looked to my side and saw another purple cap on her back, so I said fuck it and started backstroking too.
I seriously don't know why I bother to practice swimming at the pool freestyle since both of my OWS I have done the back stroke. It was better on my back since I didn't have the waves smashing into my face but they were still splashing and I coughed and gagged more times than I can count on this swim.
It seemed to take forever to get to the first buoy and when we did, it was chaos. There were women swimming over me, around me, next to me. Everyone was kicking me and hitting me with their hands. I kept hitting people also when I was swimming because I was on my back and couldn't see who was ahead (behind?) me. Sorry folks. I even got punched in the face at one point. That was awesome combined with a mouthful of frigid salty water. Yes.
I tried to keep pep talking myself--you can do it; swim, swim; almost to the next buoy; it's almost done. Let me tell you, this freakin swim took FOREVER. Finally, to the last buoy and it straight ahead to the beach. Here I flipped over and swam freestyle which kinda seemed easier as the tide was pushing us in. My legs felt like logs and I had stopped having feeling in my feet just after the first buoy. I could finally stand, so I decided that wading was better than swimming so that's what I did.
So thankful to be done with that part. Time: 43:29 Six and a half minutes longer than last year. It's a miracle I wasn't last in my division, but I wasn't.
The transition to your bike is a bit of a run from the beach, down the road and into the transition area. Here I had my first glimpse of another Tough Chik. She cheered so loudly for me as I ran past! It was great. She had on a Tough Chik shirt and it was great to hear her cheers. I did pretty well in transition and got out of there 2 minutes faster than last year.
Time for the bike. I thought I could make up some time on the bike but it turns out, my start was pretty slow. I couldn't feel my feet from the cold swim and my legs were so tired from the swim. I have no idea what I did on the swim that made my legs so tired, but they were sore. And heavy. Maybe from the wading in? No idea. It took awhile to get going on the bike. First split I averaged 15.66 mph. Second split was much better with an average of 17.88 mph.
During the last half of my bike, a bunch of the lead men in the half were passing me as they were finishing their 50 mile ride. Almost all of them had those fancy bikes that sounded like a semi coming up behind you. Whoosh! as they went by. I was going around 20 mph and they went by me like I was standing still. Crazy.
Total bike time: 1:29:50. 5 minutes slower than last year. Initially, when I looked at the results, I thought I had done better than last year because I saw my mph average for the second split and thought it was for the whole ride. Crap. I guess the cold water had much more of an effect on my biking because once I got warmed up, 17.88 mph is pretty dang good.
Bike to run transition look a little longer because I didn't put socks on for the bike and now had to take the time to get the sand off my feet and put socks on. I had a few bites of a nectarine, water and then off.
The run off the bike is always hard for me. Maybe it's because I never do brick training. Ummm, Duh. I felt good though, in that I kept running and didn't need to walk like last year. I only walked through the water stations, just long enough to take a few sips of water and move on.
As I was running one of the local women, Angela, passed me and I gave her a shout--Go Ange! She turned around to see who yelled to her and I called back, 'I read your blog!'. I hope she didn't think that was too creepy... she laughed, waved and smiled and off she went. She went on to take first in her age group in the half distance.
At another point along the run, maybe mile 2? I saw a Rev 3 car and a woman cheering for folks running by. I looked over and noticed that it looked like Carole Sharpless. I recognized her from Jen Small who she coaches. I yelled, "Is that Sharpie?" She ran right over and started talking to me. She was the nicest thing ever and asked me my name, chatted and ran with me about 1/4 mile. It was a nice distraction from the run and I felt better after. Thanks Carole!
I was feeling better and better on my run. I was only getting passed by fast men doing the half so that made me feel good. I don't think any women passed me on the run that I remember. I saw my Tough Chik cheerleader again on my way back in and she was just as loud as before! Thank you again for your awesome cheers!
Once again, my kids were at the finish waiting for me and I ran over the finish line with them. I made sure to do a big jump at the end so I would get a finishers photo this time. I'm pretty sure I'll get one since I was the only one finishing then and I looked right at the camera guy. He'd better get me or I'm going to have a bone to pick with Rev3. Run time 1:03:50. 5 minutes faster than last year.
Total race time 3:26:27. Last year's time 3:21:08. wah wah
So on to the things that I've learned by doing this race:
1. I don't like ocean swimming.
2. I'm not good at ocean swimming.
3. I like swimming (in a pool), I like biking and I like running. But I don't really like doing them all at once.
4. Triathlons are HARD. It is damn hard to swim almost a mile, then bike 25 miles THEN run 6 miles. I don't care who you are, it is hard.
5. I don't believe that an Ironman is in my future. Maybe a 70.3, but not for a long time. I think I will stick with sprints.
6. I think triathlons are best done with a buddy. I wish I had a tri friend to go on this journey with me. Someone to 'feel your pain' so to speak.
7. Did I mention that I really dislike ocean swimming?
8. The mind is a crazy thing. It can make you sick when you aren't.
9. I will not likely do this race again next year. Maybe as a relay? Maybe I'll get the misery of the ocean out of my mind and sign up again anyway.
As you recall, I was not really wanting to do this race. I had planned on doing the 70.3, but because of many things, I was very undertrained for that distance and decided to drop down to the Olympic length.
We arrived in Old Orchard Beach on Saturday around 11:00 and got to the expo to register and drop off my bike. It was so simple to switch distances right at the check-in. Thank you Rev3 for being so easy to work with. Just a few clicks on the computer and bam! I was in the Olympic race. Phew.
I didn't end up spending a lot of time at the expo because the kids were anxious to get to the beach and do all the OOB things. I didn't stay for the athlete's meeting either, such a rebel, because I didn't think there would be much to add from last year.
So fast forward to that evening as I'm in bed at 10:00 trying to fall asleep while thinking about that STUPID ocean swim the next day. The ocean water was SO cold. Like so fucking cold that I couldn't go above my knees in it that afternoon at the beach. I wasn't worried until then. But after feeling the frigidness of that water, it was all I could think about.
I actually had to get in it and swim. For somewhere around 40 minutes. Fuck. Me.
So that was all I thought about that night. I looked at the clock hourly.
I wondered if everyone would be mad if I just didn't go to the race at all that morning. Just skipped it and went home. Would my family be mad that I dragged them all the way down there for nothing? Would I be mad cause I spent all that money and then didn't even do the stupid race?
I DID NOT want to swim. At all. And that was all I could think about. I got right in my head and talked myself right out of that race. Right then. Right there.
I finally gave up trying to sleep at 4:50 a.m. and got up and got ready. I gagged and almost barfed while brushing my teeth.
Who does this? Who pays hundreds of dollars to do something that makes them so anxious they feel physically sick? Who gets up at 4:50 a.m., barfs, and then goes out to swim in an incredibly cold ocean, only to bike distances that make your legs hurt and then run after that? Who does that? No sane person, that is for sure.
I quit in my head about 15 times that morning. My body, however, left the hotel and went to transition to get ready. I was there incredibly early, almost 2 hours before my swim wave start. But somehow I felt better there. I felt less nervous, less insane and overall, just better.
I got my area all set up and then proceeded to wait. I was racked with the half distance folks since that's what I had signed up for originally. Their swim wave was a full hour before mine. I was racked next to a girl who I met last year at this race. She was so nice and it was good to talk with her to keep me calm. I found Mandy from Caratunk Girl, she was two racks over and I chatted with her a little. I love her. I've only met her twice but that girl is the best. She is so happy and cheerful, I think she could even get Grumpy Cat to smile.
Some photographer snapping pics of the race got a picture of us while we were chatting. It appears as though I'm admiring her wetsuit or checking out her hoo-ha. Not sure which. Anyway, thank you Mandy for the calming words. You are the best.
I spent the next 45 minutes sitting in transition just snacking a bit and trying to keep my cool. It was a little awkward since I wasn't in my distance group, I had no one to make small talk with until race time. I got my wetsuit on and began heading down to the beach to the start. During the walk I found a woman with a purple cap who was walking alone so I targeted her as being my new best friend. I walked up and started talking to her so I wouldn't be at the start line all alone. I was sorely missing my friend that I met last year at this race. This girl was nice but I don't think she really loved that I was tagging along talking away to her. Oh well. Thanks for being there anyway Becky from CT. Even if you didn't want to talk to me, I appreciate that you did.
It was finally time for our wave to go in. We got the countdown and then we ran to the water to swim. It was so cold. I think the official temperature was 63*? It felt 50*. I walked as far as I could and then just started swimming. It took my breath away to put my face in so I swam freestyle with my head up for as long as I could. The tide was coming in so the chop was banging waves into my face. I looked to my side and saw another purple cap on her back, so I said fuck it and started backstroking too.
I seriously don't know why I bother to practice swimming at the pool freestyle since both of my OWS I have done the back stroke. It was better on my back since I didn't have the waves smashing into my face but they were still splashing and I coughed and gagged more times than I can count on this swim.
It seemed to take forever to get to the first buoy and when we did, it was chaos. There were women swimming over me, around me, next to me. Everyone was kicking me and hitting me with their hands. I kept hitting people also when I was swimming because I was on my back and couldn't see who was ahead (behind?) me. Sorry folks. I even got punched in the face at one point. That was awesome combined with a mouthful of frigid salty water. Yes.
I tried to keep pep talking myself--you can do it; swim, swim; almost to the next buoy; it's almost done. Let me tell you, this freakin swim took FOREVER. Finally, to the last buoy and it straight ahead to the beach. Here I flipped over and swam freestyle which kinda seemed easier as the tide was pushing us in. My legs felt like logs and I had stopped having feeling in my feet just after the first buoy. I could finally stand, so I decided that wading was better than swimming so that's what I did.
So thankful to be done with that part. Time: 43:29 Six and a half minutes longer than last year. It's a miracle I wasn't last in my division, but I wasn't.
The transition to your bike is a bit of a run from the beach, down the road and into the transition area. Here I had my first glimpse of another Tough Chik. She cheered so loudly for me as I ran past! It was great. She had on a Tough Chik shirt and it was great to hear her cheers. I did pretty well in transition and got out of there 2 minutes faster than last year.
Time for the bike. I thought I could make up some time on the bike but it turns out, my start was pretty slow. I couldn't feel my feet from the cold swim and my legs were so tired from the swim. I have no idea what I did on the swim that made my legs so tired, but they were sore. And heavy. Maybe from the wading in? No idea. It took awhile to get going on the bike. First split I averaged 15.66 mph. Second split was much better with an average of 17.88 mph.
During the last half of my bike, a bunch of the lead men in the half were passing me as they were finishing their 50 mile ride. Almost all of them had those fancy bikes that sounded like a semi coming up behind you. Whoosh! as they went by. I was going around 20 mph and they went by me like I was standing still. Crazy.
Total bike time: 1:29:50. 5 minutes slower than last year. Initially, when I looked at the results, I thought I had done better than last year because I saw my mph average for the second split and thought it was for the whole ride. Crap. I guess the cold water had much more of an effect on my biking because once I got warmed up, 17.88 mph is pretty dang good.
coming in to transition
maybe sitting down is not the speediest way to transition
Bike to run transition look a little longer because I didn't put socks on for the bike and now had to take the time to get the sand off my feet and put socks on. I had a few bites of a nectarine, water and then off.
heading out on the run, I even kinda look like a runner...
rear view
The run off the bike is always hard for me. Maybe it's because I never do brick training. Ummm, Duh. I felt good though, in that I kept running and didn't need to walk like last year. I only walked through the water stations, just long enough to take a few sips of water and move on.
As I was running one of the local women, Angela, passed me and I gave her a shout--Go Ange! She turned around to see who yelled to her and I called back, 'I read your blog!'. I hope she didn't think that was too creepy... she laughed, waved and smiled and off she went. She went on to take first in her age group in the half distance.
At another point along the run, maybe mile 2? I saw a Rev 3 car and a woman cheering for folks running by. I looked over and noticed that it looked like Carole Sharpless. I recognized her from Jen Small who she coaches. I yelled, "Is that Sharpie?" She ran right over and started talking to me. She was the nicest thing ever and asked me my name, chatted and ran with me about 1/4 mile. It was a nice distraction from the run and I felt better after. Thanks Carole!
I was feeling better and better on my run. I was only getting passed by fast men doing the half so that made me feel good. I don't think any women passed me on the run that I remember. I saw my Tough Chik cheerleader again on my way back in and she was just as loud as before! Thank you again for your awesome cheers!
coming in to the finish chute, pretty much the only smile of the race lol
Once again, my kids were at the finish waiting for me and I ran over the finish line with them. I made sure to do a big jump at the end so I would get a finishers photo this time. I'm pretty sure I'll get one since I was the only one finishing then and I looked right at the camera guy. He'd better get me or I'm going to have a bone to pick with Rev3. Run time 1:03:50. 5 minutes faster than last year.
cool photo of my son and I heading to the finish line
Total race time 3:26:27. Last year's time 3:21:08. wah wah
finishers shirt and medal
So on to the things that I've learned by doing this race:
1. I don't like ocean swimming.
2. I'm not good at ocean swimming.
3. I like swimming (in a pool), I like biking and I like running. But I don't really like doing them all at once.
4. Triathlons are HARD. It is damn hard to swim almost a mile, then bike 25 miles THEN run 6 miles. I don't care who you are, it is hard.
5. I don't believe that an Ironman is in my future. Maybe a 70.3, but not for a long time. I think I will stick with sprints.
6. I think triathlons are best done with a buddy. I wish I had a tri friend to go on this journey with me. Someone to 'feel your pain' so to speak.
7. Did I mention that I really dislike ocean swimming?
8. The mind is a crazy thing. It can make you sick when you aren't.
9. I will not likely do this race again next year. Maybe as a relay? Maybe I'll get the misery of the ocean out of my mind and sign up again anyway.
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Things I'm Thinking About This Thursday
1. I have a tri this Sunday. I am surprisingly not nervous/excited/worried or anything about it. I really have no feeling about it other than, Oh yeah, I've got to do that this weekend. I don't know if this is good or bad. It may be good since I have kinda felt that way about every race this summer and those have all turned out pretty good. Whatever. I'm going to do it and you'll hear about it Monday or Tuesday.
2. I turn 43 tomorrow. Forty fuckin' three years old! As in, the BIG 40 + 3!! When the hell did that happen? I have no emotion about that either other than wow, I can't believe I'm that freakin old and I'm still alive and don't need a cane or reading glasses or hair dye or dentures or botox.
3. I am totally resisting the urge to sign up for this race even though I want to.
It is completely stupid to have your first trail race be 12 miles. Not to mention it is in 2-3 weeks. And I haven't ran over 8 miles since February. And my family would kill me if I signed up for another race. And I will not cave to peer pressure. This means YOU Danielle.
I will, however, put this race and it's smaller brother and sister races on the tentative schedule for next year and complete the Bad Ass Series.
THAT, you can convince me to do. And I hope Danielle joins me.
4. In somewhat related news, I won a pair of Inov 8 running shoes while taking part in a tweet chat yesterday at lunch! I have no idea how long it will take to get them, but I'm pretty darn excited! If I get to choose the style, I'm going to choose a trail running sneaker since I don't have any right now and I want to start trail running.
5. Last weekend there was a community event held where all the elementary school aged kids can come and get their school supplies for free. Backpacks, paper, pencils, you name it. Whatever is on the teacher's list for supplies, is at this event to get for free. So my oldest daughter needs 3 1" binders. But horror of all horrors, only white is available. Can you imagine? FREE binders and only white to choose from. Poor kids.
Anyway, she decided she wanted to look at the store for other colors (which I was totally not going to pay for). We went to Rite-Aid later that night and she found blue, red and black.
For $8.00.
EACH!
She actually wanted me to pay $24.00 for 3 binders that we could have gotten for free just an hour earlier.
No. Fucking. Way.
She decided to go back the next day and buy them with her own money and was so proud of herself when they were on sale for $4/binder. So total cost $12 for 3 binders. And she's happy as a pig in shit.
What am I doing wrong?! I can't even begin to understand the logic in that.
Teenagers are a logic vacuum. That's all there is to it.
6. I pulled this hangnail on my finger the other day. No big deal, right? Well, usually that is the case but for some reason, this one is now all swelled up like a big nasty slug is growing out of it and it hurts like a mother. I can barely even touch it and pain sends me into another universe. I hit it in my sleep last night and just about died from the pain. I will spare you the picture.
2. I turn 43 tomorrow. Forty fuckin' three years old! As in, the BIG 40 + 3!! When the hell did that happen? I have no emotion about that either other than wow, I can't believe I'm that freakin old and I'm still alive and don't need a cane or reading glasses or hair dye or dentures or botox.
3. I am totally resisting the urge to sign up for this race even though I want to.
It is completely stupid to have your first trail race be 12 miles. Not to mention it is in 2-3 weeks. And I haven't ran over 8 miles since February. And my family would kill me if I signed up for another race. And I will not cave to peer pressure. This means YOU Danielle.
I will, however, put this race and it's smaller brother and sister races on the tentative schedule for next year and complete the Bad Ass Series.
THAT, you can convince me to do. And I hope Danielle joins me.
4. In somewhat related news, I won a pair of Inov 8 running shoes while taking part in a tweet chat yesterday at lunch! I have no idea how long it will take to get them, but I'm pretty darn excited! If I get to choose the style, I'm going to choose a trail running sneaker since I don't have any right now and I want to start trail running.
5. Last weekend there was a community event held where all the elementary school aged kids can come and get their school supplies for free. Backpacks, paper, pencils, you name it. Whatever is on the teacher's list for supplies, is at this event to get for free. So my oldest daughter needs 3 1" binders. But horror of all horrors, only white is available. Can you imagine? FREE binders and only white to choose from. Poor kids.
Anyway, she decided she wanted to look at the store for other colors (which I was totally not going to pay for). We went to Rite-Aid later that night and she found blue, red and black.
For $8.00.
EACH!
She actually wanted me to pay $24.00 for 3 binders that we could have gotten for free just an hour earlier.
No. Fucking. Way.
She decided to go back the next day and buy them with her own money and was so proud of herself when they were on sale for $4/binder. So total cost $12 for 3 binders. And she's happy as a pig in shit.
What am I doing wrong?! I can't even begin to understand the logic in that.
Teenagers are a logic vacuum. That's all there is to it.
6. I pulled this hangnail on my finger the other day. No big deal, right? Well, usually that is the case but for some reason, this one is now all swelled up like a big nasty slug is growing out of it and it hurts like a mother. I can barely even touch it and pain sends me into another universe. I hit it in my sleep last night and just about died from the pain. I will spare you the picture.
Have you won any stuff from social media?
Do you buy your kids the expensive binders or make them have the ugly free ones?
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Demotivational Monday (a bit late)
Rachel at Running in Real Life is hosting Demotivational Monday which I think is hysterical. Instead of posting motivational quotes and memes, post your own demotivational or self-depreciating meme.
Here's my first attempt at something demotivational. Bear with me, I'm not very funny or clever so it may take a few weeks before I get a really good one.
Also, my photoshop skills are not up to par either. What do you want? I'm an eye doctor not a web designer. Jeesh.
In unrelated news, I am still planning on doing the Rev3 tri this weekend. I think it's my least-looked-forward to race all year but I'm still gonna go and do it. I am going to drop down to the olympic length and not the 70.3 for two reasons. 1. I haven't run any distance over 6 miles since February. 2. My son has his first soccer game that afternoon in another town at 2:00. If I did the 1/2 length, I would not be getting done until 1ish? and would either miss his game completely or get there really late.
So, even though I'm not feeling this race, I'm going to go and try to beat my time from last year and just make the best of it. I know I will have a good time once I'm there and it will be all done in about 3.5 hours. I can do better than last year, I know it. I can run 6 miles like a boss and my biking has just gotten better and better. The swim, like last year, will just be something to get through. Then quick, find a YMCA, get a shower and get to the soccer game.
Otherwise, life here in Maine has been pretty ho-hum. The weather has finally gotten to a 'normal' Maine summer. 75* temps, low humidity and cooling down to the 50's at night. Ahhh. Finally. THIS is why people come to Maine for the summer.
Two more weeks until school starts and then we are back to the routine. I am happy/sad about that. Happy because I enjoy the fall activities (field hockey and soccer), the routine of getting up and going to school/work, getting kids to bed at a normal hour, but also sad because I know the colder weather is on its way and so are the shorter days. The short days really kill me.
Did I mention that I have an 8th grader, a 5th grader and a 3rd grader?? My oldest is 8th grade?? Really? As in high school next year? oy. And my youngest is 3rd. Wow.
Here's my first attempt at something demotivational. Bear with me, I'm not very funny or clever so it may take a few weeks before I get a really good one.
Also, my photoshop skills are not up to par either. What do you want? I'm an eye doctor not a web designer. Jeesh.
In unrelated news, I am still planning on doing the Rev3 tri this weekend. I think it's my least-looked-forward to race all year but I'm still gonna go and do it. I am going to drop down to the olympic length and not the 70.3 for two reasons. 1. I haven't run any distance over 6 miles since February. 2. My son has his first soccer game that afternoon in another town at 2:00. If I did the 1/2 length, I would not be getting done until 1ish? and would either miss his game completely or get there really late.
So, even though I'm not feeling this race, I'm going to go and try to beat my time from last year and just make the best of it. I know I will have a good time once I'm there and it will be all done in about 3.5 hours. I can do better than last year, I know it. I can run 6 miles like a boss and my biking has just gotten better and better. The swim, like last year, will just be something to get through. Then quick, find a YMCA, get a shower and get to the soccer game.
Otherwise, life here in Maine has been pretty ho-hum. The weather has finally gotten to a 'normal' Maine summer. 75* temps, low humidity and cooling down to the 50's at night. Ahhh. Finally. THIS is why people come to Maine for the summer.
Two more weeks until school starts and then we are back to the routine. I am happy/sad about that. Happy because I enjoy the fall activities (field hockey and soccer), the routine of getting up and going to school/work, getting kids to bed at a normal hour, but also sad because I know the colder weather is on its way and so are the shorter days. The short days really kill me.
Did I mention that I have an 8th grader, a 5th grader and a 3rd grader?? My oldest is 8th grade?? Really? As in high school next year? oy. And my youngest is 3rd. Wow.
Do you have a demotivational meme you'd like to share?
Are you looking forward to back-to-school or dreading it?
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Color Run Winners!!!
I am still technically on vacation because it is Sunday and I don't have to work until tomorrow, but I wanted to take a moment to announce the winners of The Color Run giveaway I hosted. I was able to have two winners and they are:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
If you were one of the winners, shoot me an email so I can the you the code for your free entry!
Congratulations!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
If you were one of the winners, shoot me an email so I can the you the code for your free entry!
Congratulations!!
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Beach to Beacon 10K Recap
This recap has been a little late coming because directly after the race, we left for a 5 hour ride north to get to my parent's house on a lake for vacation.
This is the view in front of me:
And this is the view behind me:
It could be worse.
Anyway, the Beach to Beach was Saturday in Cape Elizabeth, ME. There was a start time of 8:00 a.m. so I had fully planned to leave my house around 5 to get there at 6. This is a very large race for Maine so there is very little parking at the start. Plus, it's a point-to-point race so if you park at the start, you still have to find a way to get back to your car when the race is done.
Last year I parked at one of the satellite parking sites and there were shuttle buses to get you to the start line. Getting there early last year got me to the start super early and I was able to get pictures with everyone I wanted to and the start line.
This year was a different story. I ended up waking up at 5 and leaving the house around 5:25. Doesn't seem like it should matter all that much, those 25 minutes, but it sure did. There was actually some traffic as I got closer to the parking area and there was a GIANT line for the shuttle. WTF. Last year, I walked on to the first shuttle that came, no problem.
I did make a good decision to wait in the porta-potty line there rather than at the race. smart. So I got that out of the way. When I got out, there were 3 huge lines waiting for the shuttle buses. I noticed that they were taking folks from the first line first, so I hopped into that one. The bus got full and then left. Another bus came and we thought for sure that they would load people from the second line, but nope! They filled it with the first line people! Yay! I was so psyched because it was already 7:10 at that point and we still had to drive to the start line!
I thought for sure that there might be a battle about the lines, but no one said anything. I felt a tiny bit guilty for cheating the line, but not really.
We seemed to take the longest route ever to get to the start, but we finally arrived at 7:30. Last year we had to walk about a quarter mile to the actual start line but this year the bus driver got us right at the porta potties! So I guess the extra long ride was worth it.
I had made great plans to find so many people, but really only ended up finding two. Danielle and I met up after some text messages and then I found my friend Bobbi and her husband Greg. Danielle and I had a total blogger fail and never got a picture... wah wah, but at least I did get to see her. She looks fabulous after having had a baby just a couple months ago. Skinny minnie again.
Thanks to the great photographer Greg is, Bobbi and I got plenty of pictures!
The run itself was great! The weather was perfect, probably around 65* and overcast with some drizzle. There were 6400+ people running this race so it was crazy busy with people everywhere. Because of our late arrival we never made it up to anywhere near the 9:00 minute mile start line so we were way back behind even the 10:00 minute mile start. I think we finally made it across the start line about 6:00 into the race!
It was so fun! The people along the route we awesome with their cheering and we decided that the race could use some more cowbell. So we would cheer loudly when we passed by folks who were ringing a cowbell. There were two places where the fire department had firetrucks and American flags and that was awesome. It was such a great atmosphere.
Here I am having ALL THE FUN!
We ran all three together for about half of the race and then I think Bobbi stopped for some water and when I looked back, I couldn't see them so I kept going. Around mile 5, I found Danielle and her husband. They were running together so I just kept going on my own.
Unlike last year when it was so darn humid and people were passing out everywhere, it was perfectly cool and everyone was so happy and having a great time. I loved it!
I love the last little bit of the race where you come into the park because there are people lined up everywhere to cheer you on. Our race bibs have your name on them so it was great to have total strangers call out your name and tell you you are doing awesome.
I did manage to get a few finish photos this year--I made sure that no one was around me when I crossed the finish and that seemed to work.
I have 3 or 4 finish line photos to choose from. See them here. None of them are great but much better than the NONE I had last year.
The clock says I'm crossing in 1 hour something. My actual finish time was 54:53. 127/464 in my age group and 2808 out of 6247. Not too bad. Last year was 56:52 so 2:00 min PR on the race course. Not an overall PR, but whatever. I was a little bummed that there wasn't a medal at the finish line. Last year they had them, but I didn't know that was special for the 15th year. I'll have to wait until 20 years for the next medal, I guess.
I love this race and it is becoming my most favorite one to do. The crowds are crazy and there is no expectation that I will win or place or anything so it's just really fun to run it and have the best time. I will totally be signing up again next year.
This is the view in front of me:
pardon my fat, sausage fingers
And this is the view behind me:
Anyway, the Beach to Beach was Saturday in Cape Elizabeth, ME. There was a start time of 8:00 a.m. so I had fully planned to leave my house around 5 to get there at 6. This is a very large race for Maine so there is very little parking at the start. Plus, it's a point-to-point race so if you park at the start, you still have to find a way to get back to your car when the race is done.
Last year I parked at one of the satellite parking sites and there were shuttle buses to get you to the start line. Getting there early last year got me to the start super early and I was able to get pictures with everyone I wanted to and the start line.
This year was a different story. I ended up waking up at 5 and leaving the house around 5:25. Doesn't seem like it should matter all that much, those 25 minutes, but it sure did. There was actually some traffic as I got closer to the parking area and there was a GIANT line for the shuttle. WTF. Last year, I walked on to the first shuttle that came, no problem.
I did make a good decision to wait in the porta-potty line there rather than at the race. smart. So I got that out of the way. When I got out, there were 3 huge lines waiting for the shuttle buses. I noticed that they were taking folks from the first line first, so I hopped into that one. The bus got full and then left. Another bus came and we thought for sure that they would load people from the second line, but nope! They filled it with the first line people! Yay! I was so psyched because it was already 7:10 at that point and we still had to drive to the start line!
I thought for sure that there might be a battle about the lines, but no one said anything. I felt a tiny bit guilty for cheating the line, but not really.
We seemed to take the longest route ever to get to the start, but we finally arrived at 7:30. Last year we had to walk about a quarter mile to the actual start line but this year the bus driver got us right at the porta potties! So I guess the extra long ride was worth it.
I had made great plans to find so many people, but really only ended up finding two. Danielle and I met up after some text messages and then I found my friend Bobbi and her husband Greg. Danielle and I had a total blogger fail and never got a picture... wah wah, but at least I did get to see her. She looks fabulous after having had a baby just a couple months ago. Skinny minnie again.
Thanks to the great photographer Greg is, Bobbi and I got plenty of pictures!
here we are being silly. me trying to look tough, but I get duck lips instead. #fail
Bobbi, Bobbi's husband Greg and I. Notice we are all matchy-matchy with the dragonfly pattern from InkNBurn
The run itself was great! The weather was perfect, probably around 65* and overcast with some drizzle. There were 6400+ people running this race so it was crazy busy with people everywhere. Because of our late arrival we never made it up to anywhere near the 9:00 minute mile start line so we were way back behind even the 10:00 minute mile start. I think we finally made it across the start line about 6:00 into the race!
one of my favorites! I didn't even know he took the picture. Nice to know I look ok from behind.
It was so fun! The people along the route we awesome with their cheering and we decided that the race could use some more cowbell. So we would cheer loudly when we passed by folks who were ringing a cowbell. There were two places where the fire department had firetrucks and American flags and that was awesome. It was such a great atmosphere.
me high-fiving the announcer!
Here I am having ALL THE FUN!
We ran all three together for about half of the race and then I think Bobbi stopped for some water and when I looked back, I couldn't see them so I kept going. Around mile 5, I found Danielle and her husband. They were running together so I just kept going on my own.
Unlike last year when it was so darn humid and people were passing out everywhere, it was perfectly cool and everyone was so happy and having a great time. I loved it!
I love the last little bit of the race where you come into the park because there are people lined up everywhere to cheer you on. Our race bibs have your name on them so it was great to have total strangers call out your name and tell you you are doing awesome.
I did manage to get a few finish photos this year--I made sure that no one was around me when I crossed the finish and that seemed to work.
I have 3 or 4 finish line photos to choose from. See them here. None of them are great but much better than the NONE I had last year.
The clock says I'm crossing in 1 hour something. My actual finish time was 54:53. 127/464 in my age group and 2808 out of 6247. Not too bad. Last year was 56:52 so 2:00 min PR on the race course. Not an overall PR, but whatever. I was a little bummed that there wasn't a medal at the finish line. Last year they had them, but I didn't know that was special for the 15th year. I'll have to wait until 20 years for the next medal, I guess.
I love this race and it is becoming my most favorite one to do. The crowds are crazy and there is no expectation that I will win or place or anything so it's just really fun to run it and have the best time. I will totally be signing up again next year.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
things that irked me this week
Grammar and the use of the English language. Oh my.
Ok all you blogging folks, if you are writing a blog and making any sort of money off it, then please take the time to make sure you are using the proper word. In my blog stalking travels this week, I found three different errors that really shouldn't happen to anyone who has managed to graduate high school.
Error Number One:
I will chock it up to bad training.
Let me help you with this one. The word you are looking for in this case is chalk. As in writing it down on a chalk board. The official definition of chock up is to cram or pack full.
Error Number Two:
I wish my heal would heel.
Lord, help us. A two-fer. I haven't seen that actual sentence, but I have seen both words used wrong so I thought I could kill two birds with one stone.
Example Number Three:
It was a miss-mash of things.
Oy.
When things don't MATCH--then we call it a miss-match. When it is a bunch of random things bunched together we call it a mish-mash.
Lastly:
Nice story, but since when is a 5K a marathon?
Ok all you blogging folks, if you are writing a blog and making any sort of money off it, then please take the time to make sure you are using the proper word. In my blog stalking travels this week, I found three different errors that really shouldn't happen to anyone who has managed to graduate high school.
Error Number One:
I will chock it up to bad training.
Let me help you with this one. The word you are looking for in this case is chalk. As in writing it down on a chalk board. The official definition of chock up is to cram or pack full.
CHALK
CHOCK
Error Number Two:
I wish my heal would heel.
Lord, help us. A two-fer. I haven't seen that actual sentence, but I have seen both words used wrong so I thought I could kill two birds with one stone.
HEEL
HEAL
Example Number Three:
It was a miss-mash of things.
Oy.
When things don't MATCH--then we call it a miss-match. When it is a bunch of random things bunched together we call it a mish-mash.
Lastly:
Nice story, but since when is a 5K a marathon?
What's bugging you this week?
Oh and don't forget about The Color Run giveaway. It's a free entry, why wouldn't you want it?
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