PPD Beach2Battleship Half 2012

Pre Race:
Drove down to Wilmington Convention Center on Friday morning and got checked in to the race around 11:15.  We attended the first "mandatory" athlete meeting at 12, checked in T2 bags, then grabbed Jason's Deli for lunch.  I had forgotten how much I like that place - my sandwich was delicious!  After lunch, the group went separate ways to quickly cover all the food related errands we had and then checked our bikes at T1 in Wrightsville Beach.  All the pre-event gear check was quick and painless!  It helps that we know the area and that Jonathan did this event (the full) last year.  We got to the house and relaxed a bit while we waited for the rest of our party to join us.  Pasta with Jen's homemade tomato sauce, garlic bread, and water made for a good dinner.

Sleep:
Or lack thereof?  We went to bed probably around 9:30 for a 5am wake up call.  Unfortunately my wake up call came at 2am courtesy of nerves.  I dozed off and on for the next 3 hours.  Ugh!

Race Morning:
Got up, had a Cinnamon Crunch bagel and water before heading to transition to drop off the T1 bag, check the bike tires, etc.  Race morning breakfast is never easy for me to get down, but I got it done.  I came back and taped up my ankles and a slightly bothersome right knee and ate a banana while we watched the full distance athletes swim by the house.  Swim suit and wetsuit were on about 8am and we made our way to the half start, which was only about 25ish yards from our front door!

Swim:
I tend to get a little overwhelmed right before I start, but once I'm in the water, I feel a little better.  I got in the water about 10 minutes before my wave went off and the water was a warm 72 degrees.  I'm not sure why, but I lined up at the back of the pack here, which was not the right place for me.  I would've liked to have been a bit more forward and to the outside, but placement wasn't as easy as it may sound here because of the current.  There was a strong current, but I personally didn't really feel it that much.  I never swallowed any salt water, but some did get in my mouth (ew).  My right shoulder was nagging a bit, as it does in a wetsuit, but I still should have had a better swim than I did.  Maybe fresh water swims are more for me, though I did drop about 9 minutes off my time from White Lake Half.

T1:
Long run, so I stashed my flip flops just off the dock of the swim finish so I wouldn't step on anything barefoot.  The heated rinse off showers were great!  I fully changed clothes, which is not easy on a semi-wet body, but I wanted to be comfortable for the bike.  I somehow gained time on this from my last race, whiff.

Bike:
I started drinking Infinit as soon as I could, which was good.  I ate a stinger waffle at mile 10 and mile 30 and only drank one of my two bottle of Infinit plus a bit of water.  I really should've tried harder to finish both bottles and get one more stinger waffle down, but I think my saddle discomfort got me off my nutrition and hammering rhythm.  The headwinds were fierce, but finally disappeared for the last 10-15 miles, so I actually felt like I was getting somewhere with the effort I was inputting.  That's a win AND I dropped 10 minutes from my previous bike time.  Not nearly as much as I was hoping for, but I can at least see and feel an improvement when I'm not up against the wind.

T2:
Had a great welcome crew as I rode in to the chute :)  I dismounted and tried to jog up through transition, but the balls of my feet weren't liking that too much with the cleats right under them.  T2 was inside the convention center, and it was awesome!  I grabbed my bike to run bag and went into the changing tent.  Sat down in a chair to change clothes, shoes, etc., then decided to pee and fill my water bottle.  Long T2 time, gotta work on that.

Run:
I am always so damn happy to be off that bike that I feel great when I get to the run.  I ran probably most of the first 5 or 6 miles, then started to feel a little dehydrated with possible GI questions, so I walked off an on for a couple miles so that I could eat some pretzel rods (aka lick the salt off of them and then eat them) and a few M&M cookies.  Those both made me feel a lot better than the chews I brought with me, which were giving me a weird bubbly/indigestion feeling, so I went with it.  Mile 6-9 were probably the hardest, maybe because I fell behind on nutrition a bit?  Not sure.  I think I may start the run out with a low concentrate bottle of Infinit next time and then transition to water and food.  By the run, I am wanting regular food instead of race food (gels, chews, stinger waffles, etc.), so I'm happy with getting snacks at aid stations.  I did have one very fit gentleman from San Diego doing the full who saw me stop for a walk break at the top of a slight hill encourage me to run down the hill, which was nice of him.  I kept going after that and got to make the right hand turn to run it on home!  Felt pretty decent for the next couple of miles though I did do some walking.  Once that mile 12 marker came around, I ran it on in.  Saw our HUGE cheering crowd, well, they saw me (in my "Rainbow Brite" gear) and they called me in to the announcer, who called me and my array of colors across the finish line.  I felt great and dropped 27 minutes off of my run time from the last Half Iron!

Post Race:
A box of medals was lost, so they'll have to mail my medal to me.  Womp womp.  Jonathan and I found each other as soon as I was out of the finish area and then went to join our friends who had taken over a Mexican restaurant about 200 yards before the finish line.  It was the perfect spot to enjoy the rest of the race day!  After a bit, I went back to grab some athlete food (pizza, doritos, and an oreo) and then rinsed my face off with water (so needed!).  A friend of ours also got me a chocolate & peanut butter cupcake that was amazingggg.  I'll be adding that to my post-race repertoire of food for the future :).

Overall, I'm pleased with this race and am already planning on doing it again next year so that I can drop at least 40 more minutes off my time (I decided that on the Monday after the race to ease my post-race blues, haha).  I have a good feeling of accomplishment over the distance, now I just want to have that same feeling of accomplishment for my time.  I've come a long way in just two and a half years of triathlon and am really starting to feel improvements.

Next race on tap?  Ironman Texas in May!!  Yep, the full 140.6... and nope, no off-season for this girl! :)

IMLou & B2B Goals

Ironman Louisville has come and gone! I am so proud of all of the athletes, especially the friends we were there with and, of course, my hus :). The course was a tough one, but they were all tougher than the course and finished well.

Here's the Full Circle video to recap the day:

Check me out; blurry in the foreground at the 5:30 mark :)  And Scottie finishing right in front of Forrest Gump!

I spent a couple hours soaking in the finish line after I had seen Jonathan (and walked with him for a few) around the 14 mile marker. As expected, the finish area was loud, encouraging, exciting and makes me that much more focused on getting there in May. My incredible knack for eyeing a perfect spot and patiently working my way up to said spot is really something I should teach a class on. I ended up seeing all my people jump in for the swim start, got a great spot at the swim finish, moved over to the bike out, then came back for the bike in. I hopped around on the run course and saw everyone, then made my way to the finish line where I was the last person before the emcee tent at the finish arch. Like a boss.

Spectating a race is so inspiring. I am more than ready (mentally) for Beach2Battleship in 46 days. I've got my goals nailed down; nutrition came via FedEx this morning; training is going well. I've been biking a good bit more for this race than for White Lake, so I look forward to seeing how I've improved. Nutrition was also a big hang up at White Lake (in terms of lack of energy), so I'm eager to dial that in for my body in the next 6 weeks.

"A" Goal: Under 7:00:00 (Busting the barrier)
"B" Goal: 7:17:00 (Dropping an hour from last time, now that I know what I'm up against)
"C" Goal: Better than the last half (Just PR)

Per Jonathan's strong suggestion and recommendation, I'll take about a month off after B2B and then begin training for Texas. I really don't want to mentally burn out or get injured, so that's the plan. Five and a half months of full-on training. Can't we have daylight savings time year round just this once??

Ironman Texas 2013

"Your biggest challenge isn't someone else. It's the ache in your lungs and the burning in your legs, and the voice inside you that yells 'CAN'T', but you don't listen. You just push harder. And then you hear the voice whisper 'can'. And you discover that the person you thought you were is no match for the one you really are."
- Unknown

I am officially registered for Ironman Texas! A full Ironman - 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run - all of it, done by me. For a good part of the next 10 months, I will be physically and mentally preparing myself.  I'm sure I'll be even more excited after traveling to Ironman Louisville at the end of August and hanging out at the finish line for several hours (Lord knows I want to see the 'magic hour' of 11 to midnight!). I can't wait to see amazing things there and then to turn around and have my own Ironman journey.

When I think too much about the actual event, I get very nervous for the chaos of the swim. It makes no sense as I've been a swimmer my entire life. I'm a strong swimmer. I've also never run a marathon. You'd think I might have some nerves related to that? No, not really. And I'm not yet an incredibly strong biker. But, I will get there and I will remember this about the start:

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.
- Frank Herbert, Dune (a fellow October 8th birthday friend!)

Jonathan sent me that quote the day of sign-ups and I love it.
 
I am so, so excited for this. The journey will be intense and tiring and rewarding and on May 18, 2013 I will become an IRONMAN with my husband by my side.

5 Year Anniversary Trip: NYC! {Part 2}

Sunday morning, our day started with bacon waffles and cappuccino chocolate chip pancakes at Good Enough to Eat.  We walked by the morning before and noticed a line outside, so it's got to be good, right?  In deciding on breakfast for Sunday, Jonathan was checking out Urbanspoon and noticed it opened at 9am - we had a whole 13 minutes to get there.  We threw on some clothes and high-tailed it out of the apartment and down a couple blocks to get in line as seating began.  Lucky for us we made it in the first wave of seating and got a great spot outdoors to enjoy a laid back, delicious meal to start our day.

We spent the late morning hours and early afternoon hours exploring the 30 Rock area.  We squeaked in a quick look at Times Square and the Ball as we walked by Radio City, the Wicked theater, and the Rainbow Room, then took some pictures at Rockefeller Plaza and went to the NBC Experience store (as most of our favorite comedies are NBC shows).  J got a really neat Troy & Abed in the Morning mug!

We walked around the 30 Rock building for a while (not so secretly hoping to run into Kristen Wigg or Tina Fey) and enjoyed a leisurely cup of coffee in the shops below the building.  After some browsing in the Anthropologie right next door, we walked over to Grand Central Terminal and saw New York Public Library on our way (yay Sex & The City)!  Grand Central was massive and we even got to experience taking the subway from here to SoHo!

Once in SoHo, we got a quick bite to eat and walked in a few stores.  This area was much more crowded than I was expecting and we weren't even near the Dash store!  We slowly made our way on foot to the East Village.  It was a neat walk and we found it so interesting that each neighborhood has its own clear cut beginning and end, and feel.


Crif Dogs was our destination in East Village, thanks to Anthony Bourdain's show No Reservations.  And thank him, we do!  Oh my gosh, I never thought I'd say that one of my favorite meals of all time was a hot dog, but here I go.  I can't even convey the awesomeness of the meal we ate there, honestly.  We ordered two hot dogs to share - one bacon wrapped with sour cream and avocado and one with cream cheese, chives, and everything bagel seeds.

Amazing doesn't even begin to describe this.  I'm pretty sure we'd make a special trip up to NYC again just for Crif Dogs, although we plan on attempting to recreate these, if we can find everything bagel seeds.

Also shown on No Reservations was the bar next door, Please Don't Tell (PDT).  We waited until 6pm for it to open, and entered the only way in or out: through the phone booth inside of Crif Dogs.  It was a treat to sit at the bar, watch the bartender artfully create his drinks using an ice cube as big as ones fist, and soak in the 'secretive' surroundings.  No windows, doors, barely a website, and you wouldn't know the place was there unless you know.  It's totally awesome and certainly piques my interest!  J and I both got an Ommegang beer and were incredibly pleased.  We'll be back for some of the mixed drinks!

From there, we walked several blocks to Union Square for my dessert pick of the trip: Max Brenner.  Before arriving at the dessert destination, we took a side trip to Strand Bookstore, which is the bookstore with 18 miles of books.

Once at Max Brenner, the chocolate pizza and s'mores sundae did not disappoint.  J's favorite was the pizza, mine was the sundae.  The s'mores sundae had layers of chocolate ice cream, crunchy graham cracker, marshmallow creme, possibly some hot fudge, a toasted marshmallow on top and white chocolate ganache on the side.  I will not lie: I could have eaten the entire thing by myself.

The chocolate pizza had chocolate chunks, marshmallows, bananas, hazelnuts, toffee, and peanut butter drizzle, served warm, of course.  This was also so, so good.  I obviously enjoyed myself.

The Empire State Building was our first stop on Monday morning.  It was a clear day with no rain, so we got some lovely views and pictures.  I found it really nice to do this activity on our last full day there, as we had learned a lot about the city and knew at what we were looking and in what direction things were that we had already seen.

Before our World Trade Center Memorial ticket time of 1:30, we stopped for a quick piece of pizza.  I got the lasagna pizza with mozzarella, tomato sauce, ricotta, and ground beef.  It was the perfect slice for me, as the bottom of the crust was crunchy while the top wasn't overdone at all.  Yum!

Once through the lines and security for the WTC Memorial, we saw the memorial pools and the Survivor Tree.  While the waterfalls are incredible, they really do symbolize the void.

As we made our way back up to the apartment for our evening plans, we took a side trip over to the Upper East Side for Serendipity and Dylan's Candy Bar.  I had to get one last sweets venture squeezed into the trip!  Serendipity's was crowded, of course, but I requested a Frozen Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate to go and the host gentleman was kind enough to grant my wish.

We continued moseying back to the Upper West Side by way of Central Park, stopping to spend some time at the Lake, watch skateboarding dogs, see the famous elm trees, and walk through Sheep's Meadow.

One last stop at Alice's Tea Cup for a mug and tea to take home and we were ready for our final food experience: Shake Shack!  We both got cheeseburgers, fries, and a Dr. Pepper to share.  It was awesome and we're now ready for Raleigh to have its own Shack.

Our last outing of the trip was up to the Bronx for the Braves vs. Yankees game.  J is a big Braves fan and I'd never been to a game before, so this was our chance!  Our seats were great and the weather was almost crisp.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time, even though the Yankees took this game (although not the next two, yay!)

This vacation and celebration of our 5 year wedding anniversary was everything we thought it would be, wanted it to be, and more.  We had the trip of our dreams and both fell in love with the city, so we'll be back.  Until then, NYC...

5 Year Anniversary Trip: NYC! {Part 1}

Back in April, Jonathan surprised me with the news that we were going to NYC in June to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary!  He sent me picture text hints to clue me in on where we were going.  For our accommodations, we rented an apartment for 4 nights through vrbo.com, which was perfect.  We picked where we wanted to be in the city, got in touch with an apartment owner, flew JetBlue up to JFK and were all set!

We got to our apartment on Friday morning with plenty of time still left during breakfast hours.  Before we left town, I had downloaded several travel apps, so Jonathan checked out Urbanspoon and found a place he knew I would love: Alice's Tea Cup.  (Alice in Wonderland is a big thing at Meredith.)  We walked 14 blocks down to Alice's and sat down in the cutest little tea room.  I am still obsessed with how adorable the place was.

The food and tea was just as delicious as the place was cute.  Jonathan got coffee, I got Lover's Cup tea (they were out of the Alice's Blend), and we got pumpkin pancakes, a raspberry and goat cheese scone, and a chocolate salted caramel scone to share.  All seriously delicious and the perfect start to our trip!

Next up? Strolling around Central Park.  My heart is still there.  I LOVED it!  It was gorgeous, shady, a haven for us 'active folk'.  There were walkers, runners, bikers, roller bladers, readers, nappers, photographers and so many others.

We took our time wandering straight through the park and landed on the east side to make our way to the Met, where Jonathan found the perfect display for my inner color theory nerd.

From there, we enjoyed a couple slices of pizza and some coffee fro yo before making our way back through Central Park to our apartment.  Waking up at 4am had finally caught up with us, so we crashed for a couple of hours before dinner.  It was one of those totally zonked out bodies upside down diagonal across the bed type naps.  As the grogginess lifted and after walking around our section of the neighborhood for a while, we ultimately decided on Isabella's for dinner where we split a filet and lots of veggies.

Saturday morning we grabbed some coffees and a couple of Le Pain Quotidien pastries to eat back at the apartment.  The view from the breakfast nook was perfect.  I just loved our street!

View down the street

View directly across the street

The NYCWAY app was a lifesaver as it had the subway map within.  Jonathan became very familiar with the different lines and we got around easily on the subway system.  Our first ride was down to the World Trade Center and Financial District area.  WTC was quite crowded on Saturday morning, so we decided to wait until Monday for that.  Instead, we walked around the Financial District, found ourselves in Tiffany & Co., then made the trek across the Brooklyn Bridge, which was a great walk with some stellar views.

We had two main reasons for going to Brooklyn: Talde and to see a good friend of ours.  After the Bridge walk, we made it down to Talde with about 40 minutes to spare until brunch was over.  Whew!  We knew of this restaurant from our Top Chef fandom. Chef Dale has been on a couple of seasons of Top Chef so we checked out the menu prior to our trip and as soon as we saw 'Bacon Pad Thai', we were sold!

We had been walking quite a long time by now, so I wanted a good drink.  Enter Watermelon Margarita.  It was pretty damn good, the best part being taking a little bit of the salt covered watermelon slice and a sip of the drink together.

My allergies came into play in the entree choosing, but all's well that ends well, and this ended quite well.  We got the Pretzel Pork & Chive Dumplings (yum), Jonathan got the Bacon Pad Thai (he says yum, I couldn't because of allergies), and I got the Korean Chicken Wings & Waffles (OMG YUM!).  The chicken wing sauce was spicy and creamy and everything you could imagine.  Honestly, that Korean Chicken & Waffles (with a coconut brown butter syrup) was one of the best things I have ever eaten in my life.  A bite with each of the flavors and ... wow.  We are both still thinking about this dish days later.

We enjoyed spending the rest of the afternoon and evening with our good friend Kunal and his girlfriend Salma.  They showed us so many gorgeous spots in Brooklyn!  

We enjoyed highly recommended ice cream right under the Brooklyn Bridge at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory and found the perfect bench in the shade to people watch.  We saw no less than 6 brides and 3 quinceanera celebrations roll through!  

Erin Miller, 70.3

The big race is over and done!  Like my post title above, I think I'm going to add the numbers '70.3' to my signature.  Yes? :)

Starting from the beginning, I didn't leave myself a lot of time to train and prepare for this race.  I took way too long choosing my race (thought about Ironman 70.3 National Harbor, Knoxville Rev3, Ironman 70.3 Florida) - I finally decided in early March that I would do White Lake Half.  I had a half-marathon in the middle of March, so I continued training for that and would start the half iron training after that was over.  My swim base is always pretty decent (haven't lost too much of that over the years), my run base is pretty good (especially with just having the race mid-March), but my bike base leaves much to be desired.  I trained for about 6 weeks for this race, and am aware that that was not long enough to achieve the time goal I wanted.

After my work conference wrapped on May 3, all thoughts went toward the race.  I was nervous!  It was really the swim that was winding my nerves into a ball, as I get very nervous for open water swims.  That damn jellyfish on my first OWS messed me up!

We drove down to WL on Friday and got there in plenty of time to get our stuff settled into a cabin and go for a short swim.  I rented a wetsuit from InsideOut and wanted to test it out, since I'd never before worn one.  Excellent decision in having the wetsuit - it made swimming so easy that I didn't even have to kick.  We probably swam 250m on Friday - just enough to get my nerves under control.

Race morning, our cabin woke up at 5am to get suited up.  I had a cinnamon crunch bagel with water about an hour before race time and a banana about 15 minutes before race time.  That seemed to work pretty well.

The swim went really well.  Friday's test run helped immensely as did the wetsuit.  I never felt tired on the swim and I did pretty well drafting off of a few people.  It certainly did not feel like a 1.2 mile swim!

T1 was slow, as I decided that I was going to run into the bathhouse to change from swimsuit to compression shorts and sports bra.  I wanted to be comfortable (and not soaking wet) for the bike ride.  So, I obviously had a bad T1 time, but I don't regret the change.  Next time, I could probably swim in the sports bra and compression shorts under the wetsuit.  I put on my top and bike shorts when I got into the transition area.

The bike.  Oh, the bike.  I am not a strong biker and I know this.  I've improved, yes, but I'm not great (yet).  I had a good first hour to hour:fifteen on the bike, but it went downhill after that.  About mile 22, the headwinds started.  I had forgotten hearing about that obstacle.  I was putting forth effort (not 100% effort though, because I knew I needed it later, but effort) and just not going my speed.  The mile 30ish aid station didn't have any water, so that hurt.  That was also the point where the headwinds got down right mean.  Oh, hmm, I haven't even mentioned the heat yet.  I'll save that for the run section...  After the half way point, I realized that I didn't have the strength or dexterity in my left hand to gear up to my big gear.  That was very strange and frustrating, so I just stayed in my small gear.  I swore off my bike and biking in general many times from mile 35 to 56.  The last 10 miles were the longest 10 miles in the history of miles.  I have never been so happy to be off a bike and beginning a half-marathon in my life.

T2 was pretty quick.  I switched out bike shorts for run shorts, and tied my running shoes the best I could.  Grabbed my race number belt, visor, and hand held water bottle and was off.  Tying my shoes was very difficult, it was odd.  My hands just weren't working right or quickly.  I saw my people here which was a great boost to start the run out strong.

The run was hotter than hell; I'm sure of it.  By the heat of the day, the heat radiating up off of the asphalt made it feel roughly 7,000 degrees.  I fully utilized the sponges and towels soaked in ice water at just about every single aid station.  The sponge went down the front of my sports bra (so classy) and the towel was for my neck, face, arm pits, and anywhere that would make me feel even the slightest bit cooler.  I felt pretty good for the first few miles (and with no real ankle pain - thanks to my Friday chiropractor visit!), realized I was taking in way too much water (nuun wasn't sitting well), so I had to walk that off for a few minutes.  I ran as much as I could muster, walked the aid stations, and was so happy to see Jonathan around mile 4.  He stayed with me on his bike until about mile 5, which was a huge help.  I wish I would have known to tell him to stay!  Miles 6-almost 10 were HELL.  It was a section that has a fence, so heat just radiates off of the fence and off of the asphalt at the same time.  The area could not have been any less than 120 degrees.  (Real outside temp was around 90.)  Just before mile 10, a guy from Wilmington was behind me and called out, "Come on, let's run to the next aid station!".  Yes sir, let's go!  We did intervals together for about 2 miles, which helped so so much.  I stopped to pee at mile 11 and that was a great decision.  I got a small second wind after that and caught back up to my new buddy Bobby around mile 12.25.  There was something about mile 12 that just gave me a boost.  The lake was calling, I guess.  I took a short walk break right about 12.5 and one of our friends helped me go again and keep on going to the finish.

The finish chute was great!  One friend ran me to it, I saw another at the turn in, then saw the whole rest of my crowd lining the chute.  It was awesome!  I had just enough energy left for a solid finish and a good picture, haha!

The adventure took me a lot longer than I had hoped, but I did it and never once felt like I wouldn't or couldn't finish it.

It only took me a few hours to admit that I'll probably do another one ... and a day to start looking up the next race ...  I guess I won't be taking this summer/fall off afterall!

Nutrition:
Tortellini with marinara for dinner Friday night
2 24oz bottles nuun on the bike
1 ~16oz water bottle on the bike
3 honey stinger waffles on the bike
~10 peanut butter pretzels on the bike
1.5 16oz bottles nuun on the run
Countless refill bottles of water (est. 4-5) on run
3 cups of ice on run
2 handfuls pretzels on the run

eta: Shout out to my awesome husband for a stellar 'tape these orthotics in these running shoes with electrical tape' job (worked like an absolute charm) and to RockTape.  I love RockTape so much that I have the tan lines to prove my never ending devotion.

Big Week!

1. This week is officially one month out from the race.  Panic mode incoming!

2. I knew my streak wouldn't last forever, but Sunday on my longest ride to date, I finally fell off my bike.  It was while I was trying to come to a stop, although I have no idea how it happened, but I've got the bumps, scratches, and bruises to show for it.  (It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be...kind of more of a "well, that happened" moment.)

3. I officially got fed up with getting no help from two medical doctors about my ankle problems.  I broke down and went to a chiropractor Tuesday morning and I actually really think this guy may help me.  The others have just provided relief (oh wait, that's a lie, there's not really been much relief), and this guy is actually tackling the problem by using Active Release Technique in my calf (well, both calves, but more my left than my right).  The technique hurts, but not in a "stop" kind of way.  It's more of a hurts so good or a this hurts but I know this is doing some good.  The areas worked were sore almost immediately - topically and deep in the muscle.  This continued through the afternoon and evening, but I did go on a 5 mile run, keeping my orthotics in my shoes and minimally taping my ankles.  I am so happy to say that the run went great and I felt very minimal ankle pain during the run!  I was sore (from the therapy) and a little tight right after I stopped, but I iced for 15 minutes, which seemed to help.  It's now Wednesday morning and the deep muscle soreness is pretty much gone, though some topical soreness remains, just to the touch.  I used the foam roller last night, the stick this morning, and also did some stretching this morning.  My next appointment is in a week and I am so hopeful that yet another therapy session will begin to work wonders!
*eta (because I don't want to forget): The chiro also did an 'adjustment' on both my ankles. Not really sure what all that entails, but it didn't hurt and he said it helped the alignment or something like that ... :)

Tobacco Road Half Marathon - 3.18.12

I went into my 7th half marathon under-trained but with great expectations.  I should really know better by now. Jonathan and I have determined that early Spring races aren't our best.  I dislike the treadmill so much that I just won't do it; therefore, Winter training doesn't happen as it should.

Anyhow, we got up at 3:40, ate an english muffin, got dressed, and hit the road.  We met up with friends to carpool to the parking lot, where we waited for the race to begin.  We got there around 5, so it was quite a wait til the race began at 7.  During that time, I re-taped my left ankle (both were taped the night before), ate a banana and a stinger waffle, tackled the porta-potty line, and just hung out.  I should have drank more water while I waited.

I met up with my running buddy around 6:30 and we waited in the corrals for the race to begin.  I didn't realized until I got into the corral how humid of a morning it was - my body's not used to that this early in the season!  I felt great for the first 5-6 miles.  It was just before the turn around that I started feeling tired.  I did hit that first section faster than I usually run, but I think my 'out of gas' feeling was more due to a bit of dehydration. I was sweating like hell, especially once the course went onto the actual trail (practically enclosed with a canopy of trees) as opposed to the open road.  Miles 7 through 11 were pretty tough.  At 11, we were back on the open road, which was a little cooler.  I felt like I finished the last 2 miles okay compared to how the previous 4 miles had gone. Most of the last mile was downhill, but the last .1 was uphill and I MEAN COME ON! :)

I ate one bite of a stinger waffle on the course and it didn't sit well, so I quit that right quick.  I did go through 3 nuun tabs (which Jonathan said was outrageous).  I was just feeling so thirsty from sweating so much due to the humidity.

After the race, I got my awesome medal, immediately ate a stinger waffle, sat on a curb for a few eating that and drinking water, then slowly ate some cinnamon chip bread.  I never once felt like I was going to be sick!  Nutrition success!  (Post race celebration included a hot shower, a nap in bed with wet hair, and fries & a burger with buffalo sauce, blue cheese, and pickles.)

I missed my A goal (1:59), my B goal (2:0x), and my C goal (PR'ing).  I missed a PR by 17 seconds.  Before the race even started, I mentioned that after my 70.3 on May 5th I would probably take a break from racing for a bit.  Well, we know how long that thought lasted.  Even though standing up from a sitting position yesterday was a feat, I've already been checking out the early Fall races.

Monday Mash-Up

Pretty fun week last week!  We started off the weekend by celebrating my Dad's birthday on Friday night with the whole family.  We also got a great 7 mile run in on Saturday morning at the site of the upcoming race.  Flat, yay!!!

We're getting closer to having the house ready to put on the market.  One paint match followed by some touch-ups and final cleanings, and {I think} we're there.  I even bought a couple (1 & 2) of Crate & Barrel accent pillows for our bedroom to brighten it up and make it show well.

I got off the bike trainer and onto the neighborhood roads this weekend to give the clipless pedals a try.  I was so nervous!  I mounted pretty well the first time but my first dismount was .05 seconds away from disaster.  Thank goodness Jonathan was there on my left to catch me because I was most certainly falling.  After that, I got the hang of it much better.  My left shoe and pedal combo is much harder to unclip, so for now, I am starting with my right foot clipped in and also unclipping with my right foot.  I will just switch while stopped for the time being.

We tried another recipe from Pinterest yesterday - Quinoa Cakes.  I had really high hopes for these things, then as I was making them and forming them into little patties, my hopes diminished.  Jonathan cooked them up in the large square skillet and we actually ended up really enjoying them!  Our favorite thing to put on them was Texas Pete, though I liked them just fine without anything added.

Source: wholeliving.com via Erin on Pinterest

Last week, I decided I'd give the maxi skirt trend a whirl.  I ordered this skirt and can't wait for it to come on Tuesday!  (It's grey and white striped just like one I had my eye on last year at Anthropologie - I have a weakness for anything grey and white striped.)

Source: target.com via Erin on Pinterest

House Decorating

In the midst of getting our house ready to sell, I have simultaneously been decorating our future house via Pinterest.

Pottery Barn sent an email out this morning with the picture below and a link to this article on choosing a wall color in the living room.

I wanted to document that picture and that article so that I can refer back to them later, you know, when I'm actually decorating my new house as opposed to just daydreaming about it. I can't wait to lighten up our living space!!!

I have grand plans for us this weekend of finishing all of the "to-do's" with the house that keep looming over my head.  It's time to get the show on the road and buckle down.  Wish us luck!

2012 so far ...

I've gotten clipless pedals - eek!  I started out on the trainer last night to practice clipping in and out.  If I can get 5 minutes of daylight after I get home from work one day then I may give a neighborhood ride a whirl.

We've packed lots of stuff away so we can stage the house for showing.  I hope to have it on the market in mid to late February ... it's kind of scary, really.

I've been playing Tiny Tower on my iPhone like a crazy woman.  50 floors, ladies & gentlemen!

I have not, however, been running and/or working out like I should be.  I need to get my running on schedule so that I can do well at my race in March.  It is really hard getting used to the shoe orthotics.  I also need to be biking a lot so that I'm ready for the 70.3 race, whichever race it is that I do finally choose.  I am almost worthless when it's cold outside and dark at 5:30, I tell you.

I am debating on a May rev3 race and an August WTC branded race.  I just don't know which to do & I get nervous even reading about either of them.

I've made 2 new recipes - Buffalo Chicken Rolls & Broccoli Quinoa Casserole - both quite good!

I've kept up my 'one book per month' resolution and almost finished this book (and I finished Tina Fey's book on New Year's Eve Day) -

Source: popmatters.com via Andrea on Pinterest

And just because I love my boy, here's a picture of him on a walk one day ... he does the cutest thing when he's super happy, just chillin' - he kind of trots and the tips of his ears flap like mini wings.  It's one of my favorite parts of my dayand I get to see it every morning after I let him out.  He comes back in and just trots down the hallway before we go upstairs for breakfast. I'm determined to get a good picture and/or video of it one day!

Welcome, 2012!

2012 feels like it's going to be a big year for us.  To start with, my goals are to:

• Finish the 3/18/12 half-marathon in under 2:00 (1:59:59 counts!)
• Complete a 70.3 triathlon
• Sell our house & buy a new home
• Make one new dinner dish every other week
• Read one book each month

I love this picture that Anthropologie sent out in their "Revel in Renewal" email push today.