I wrote this post when we got to Bermuda and then got too busy to finish it. I'll post about the race weekend next, but suffice it to say that the trip was amazing! Bermuda is gorgeous! Our trip here was a little rough - 3 airplane changes in Miami, 5 gate changes (from one end of the terminal and back several times), and an overnight in a hotel (if by overnight you mean from 11pm-3:00 am). If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that you should probably never travel internationally with me. Anyways, we finally made it here on Wednesday morning and spent the day walking around the town of St. George's and the forts near the town. It was about 4 miles of hilly walking, so I didn't feel any guilt about not getting in a … [Read more...]
Coffee and Runfessions from the Longest Month of the Year
There have been a ton of memes going around about January being several thousand days long. I generally think time flies, but wowza, this month was a long one. At one point I was actually begging for snow, just to add something new to break up the month. Ah well, only one more day! I'm joining Marcia, Deb, and Coco for a little coffee and runfessions this morning. If we were having coffee this morning, we'd be sitting in a hotel room together. I am yet again on a college visit, this time to a school that was barely on the radar and is now a front runner. It's a flight (or long ass drive) away from home, so I'm not sure how I feel about it, but I guess all that matters is how Jones feels about it after this weekend. If we were … [Read more...]
Reasons to Lift Weights after 50
OK, I'm not *quite* to 50 yet, but that big round number is looming in my near future. 2020 is a big year around here - Beer Geek and I will have been married 25 years, Jones goes off to college, and I hit 50. And I've really been struggling with my fitness since the 50K training messed with my hamstring. I'm finding that my body does not recover as well as it used to and all those things I skipped in my younger years are coming back to haunt me. I'm currently back on the FWTFL program, which has 3 weight workouts each week, plus HIIT which can range from a kettlebell workout to bodyweight tabatas to sprints. Since life is a lot busier than the days when I had time to run for more than an hour every day of the week, I find the super … [Read more...]
Kicking off 2020 with some new goals
Yes, I realize we are already more than a week into 2020. But mentally, with the way the holiday fell this year, it feels like 2020 started last Monday. So, I'm only a week behind in figuring life out. It's going to be an interesting year, with some things still very up in the air. Things like what schools my kids will be going to and what job my husband will be doing, but hey, my work is fairly stable and my injury is a minor soreness here and there, so I can plan MY life LOL. Running Add some races to my half marathon count. Last year I stalled out after managing 4 half marathons in the early part of the year. Between work and deciding to cheer as a unicorn, I had nothing in the fall. So far this year, I've signed up for 2 in May and … [Read more...]
Talking about 2019 over coffee
Here we are approaching the first weekend of 2020. The Wednesday start to the year has me all kinds of confused and my kids have been home for two weeks and need to go back. (Not sure that they would agree...) So I'm sitting here with my 2nd cup of coffee, thinking back on 2019 since I'm not quite ready to figure out 2020. Thanks to Deb and Courtenay for hosting! If we were having coffee, I'd tell you that it feels like the new year does not start until this coming Monday. I have several things I'm waiting on that I won't hear until then and a few calls I need to make but the offices aren't open until then... It's like that weird space between Christmas and New Year got extended a few extra days this year. If we were having … [Read more...]
Final Runfession and 2019 in Pictures
This year flew by! I still can't believe we are only days away from a new year and decade. I've been blogging for just over 10 years and this year was nearly the end. I don't know what 2020 will bring for blogging, but I'll do my best to pop in when anything interesting comes up. So, here we go with one last Runfession with Marcia! I runfess that instead of running my favorite half marathon this year, I decided to cheer. A lot of thought went into the decision, but what it really came down to was that my butt still hurt and I had zero interest in walking the last half. Instead, I dressed as a unicorn and cheered on the course. People loved giving me high fives at mile 1 and they were fans of my sign at mile 5! Even better, I got to … [Read more...]
Sport Suds Laundry Detergent Review
Laundry is one of my least favorite chores. And with 4 adult sized people in our house, it's a chore I get to do way too often. I took a couple of days off recently and suddenly I was 6 loads behind. What??? So when my clothes don't always come out smelling clean (or maybe it's an absence of smelling dirty?), I get kind of cranky. Between Beer Geek and I and our workouts and two, umm, teen boys, there are some smelly loads heading into laundry. For an added bonus, I have an old front loader. You know, one of those that always has to be kept open so it doesn't mildew. Enter Sport Suds. When I got the chance to try it, I was a bit hesitant. I fully confess that I do not separate our technical fabrics from our regular casual … [Read more...]
Running late on my runfessions
That seems to be the story of my life lately. I'm desperately trying to catch up on everything that fell through the cracks this fall. In the last week, I've had a mammogram and a skin check (both came out fine), as well as figured out our health insurance for 2020 and sent in all of our FSA receipts. Up next are new tires for one car and an inspection for the other. Oh, and I'm working 3 part time jobs still... But it's time to jump in the runfessional thanks to Marcia. I must runfess that I'm struggling with my injury from the 50K training. I'm still tender where my hamstring attaches (aka my butt is sore). I can run slow miles, but I haven't managed more than 3 miles at a time since the 50K. I'm focusing instead on weight … [Read more...]
Thankful for Running: 10 day photo challenge
Last month I participated in the "10 day running challenge" on Facebook where you posted pictures of running that meant a lot to you, but did not post any context. While I had fun with the challenge (and it's one of the few FB challenges I've ever done), I felt like the pictures would mean so much more with explanation. Since I'm struggling with finding both my running mojo and my blogging mojo, I decided to share the 10 photos and what they meant to me here. Day 1 Eleven years ago I ran my first Marine Corps Marathon. It was the reason I started my blog (my husband got tired of hearing about my training and chose my blog name for me) and a huge turning point in my life as a runner. That first race is still my MCM PR. Day … [Read more...]
Will work for swag: tales from behind the scenes of a race
Two years ago I took a leap of faith and signed on with ZOOMA Women's Race Series. Originally I was managing the ambassador program, but Sarah invited me to travel to the Texas race in March of 2018. It's been a wild and crazy ride since then, but somehow earlier this month, I took the lead in producing our second Texas race of the year. I know! I don't quite know how I got here, but I'm couldn't be happier. As Sarah said to me one night at midnight as we unpacked boxes, "This is so much fun." So true. I have never had so much fun while working so hard in my life. I thought I'd share some of the crazy, unusual, and "oh shit" moments of this past race season. Random statistics Things I stuffed in my running bra: my phone, my … [Read more...]
Marine Corps Marathon 50K Race Recap
MCM 50KOctober 27, 20197:05:57 Temp: Low 60s to low 80s What I wore: hat, tank top, arm sleeves, a Skirt Sports Cascade skirt, Crazy Compression socks, and Altra Kayenta. There were many moments before and during this race that I considered not crossing the finish line. I had gotten in all of my long runs, but my left glute was unhappy and I'd missed a lot of supporting runs. Added to the fun was the tighter time cutoff for the 50k - my pace had slowed greatly thanks to literally a pain in the butt, so I was pretty sure I could not maintain the required 12:30 minutes/mile. (Spoiler: you don't have to.) When the weather projections kept getting worse, I ordered a pack of ponchos from Amazon, hoping that by being prepared, I … [Read more...]
Confessions of a wannabe ultrarunner
We are two days out from the Marine Corps Marathon and the first MCM 50K. As you might guess, it's the primary thing on my mind. Nevermind that I have one more ZOOMA race to get ready for and my kid still has one more application to get done. All I want to do is think about the 50k, which means these runfessions may be a bit single topic. Thanks to Marcia for the chance to runfess. I must runfess I'm really not excited about the current weather predictions. Rainy AND unseasonably warm? Yeah, I'm not doing cartwheels over here. I did buy a big pack of ponchos on Amazon. I was planning on picking one up from a friend in Crystal City because I hate being cold post race, but if the temps keep going up, I won't have to worry about … [Read more...]
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