Welcome to crabby season over here at MCM Mama. Y'all know I hate the heat of Virginia summers, so I always go north as often as possible (or run off to Australia and New Zealand where it's winter.) This weekend we visited Ithaca, NY and I was greatly disappointed by how warm it was. But there's a lot going on over here, so I'm joining Deb and Coco for a coffee date. If we were having coffee, I'd tell you that we are in Ithaca to visit Cornell University. When you have a kid who loves bugs and birds, it's kind of the place to go. (I've told you about our hissing cockroaches, right?) But man, it's crazy competitive and far from cheap. But who wouldn't love to go to a school with a waterfall in the middle of campus? If we were … [Read more...]
Tips for a successful long run in the summer
Every spring, my FOMO overrides my common sense and I end up signing up for the Marine Corps Marathon. It's kind of like having babies - you conveniently forget the bad parts and only remember that cute squishy baby you ended up with. This year, FOMO REALLY got the best of me and I ended up signing up for the Marine Corps 50K. Know what that means? It means I'm already up to 16 mile long runs. (For those playing along at home, I usually use Hansons Marathon Method, which means 16 miles is my longest marathon training run. Yeah.) So, for the first time in years, I'm running some really long runs during the hottest months of the year. Yes, we are talking 80+ degrees with matching humidity. Running when the air feels like you are breathing … [Read more...]
I Hate Summer Training: June Runfessions
Temperature wise, we are in full on summer. This week has been in the high 80s/low 90s all week, sometimes with matching humidity.`Welcome to Virginia in the summer! But mentally, we are barely there. School just ended last week. This week Jones has been in a full time training for the work he'll be doing this summer. Shoo has been lazing, but also just joined his summer activity. While I'm excited for both of them to be doing the cool programs that they are doing, the schedules will be erratic, so I'll be juggling a lot this summer. Which leads me to Marcia's runfessional... I must runfess that I hate having a training plan in the summer. Our schedule during the school season is pretty consistent, but we are all over the board … [Read more...]
Struggling with my body in my 40s
Notice that I did not say body image. One of the beautiful things about getting older is that I'm generally quite comfortable with my appearance and don't really give a f$%^ what others think. What I'm struggling with are some of the changes that are going on in my body. Some I didn't expect this early, some I never expected at all. Who turned the heat up??? I haven't started getting hot flashes during the day yet, but some nights I wake up way overheated. And it's not a "flash". It can take me quite a while to cool down. I don't mind it too much in the winter when any extra warmth is a good thing, but I'm pretty sure I'd freeze my family out if I put the thermostat where I'd like it this … [Read more...]
Lawyers Have Heart Race Report
Lawyers Have Heart 10kJune 8, 2019 Temp: High 60s to low 70sWhat I wore:hat, tank top, a Skirt Sports Lotta Breeze Skirt, and Altra One 2.5 When I was offered a free entry to this race in exchange for a blog post, I jumped on the chance. I had never run it before and I'm trying to run all the races in the area. I'm a huge fan of the American Heart Association (I actually ran a "stop smoking" campaign for them in high school), so I'm happy to promote them. Plus, I'm training for the Marine Corps Marathon 50K and running to the race, running the race, and running home would be a great long training run. This race is often crazy hot and humid, but we were super lucky with relatively mild weather. I hadn't had time to get downtown … [Read more...]
5 Reasons to Run ZOOMA Bermuda
Have you heard the news? ZOOMA is going to Bermuda! Mark your calendar for President's Day weekend 2020. Here are the top 5 reasons you should join us... It's a ZOOMA race. All ZOOMA races are women focused weekends. ZOOMA hosts a race (and often challenges with extra races and medals) surrounded by an awesome finish line party and events like yoga. Bermuda will have all that ZOOMA races normally offer and more! And I can guarantee that the medal(s) will be awesome!The weather! The average temp in Bermuda in February is in the 70s. I don't know about where you live, but in February, Virginia is miserable. It's cold and grey and just plain unpleasant. Someplace sunny and warm? Sign me up!Beaches and Forts and Lighthouses. (And … [Read more...]
Coffee and Runfessions for the Month of May
This blog is coming to you from the Denver Airport at 4:30am. I just spent an amazing weekend with the best tribe a girl could ask for. The annual Skirt Sports retreat is an amazing and energizing event, made even better by the fact that I get to spend time with some of my closest friends who live in different parts of the country. I will recap the event later, but for now, just know that my cup is full. Speaking of full cups, I'm joining Deb and Coco for a virtual cup (in addition to the copious amount of coffee I need to survive today after my 2:30am wakeup.) I may also be including a few runfessions ala Marcia. If we were having coffee, I’d tell that I swear that May and June are the longest, most stressful months of the year and … [Read more...]
Half Marathon #80: National Women’s Half Marathon
National Women's Half MarathonMay 5, 20192:26:57 Temp: low 60s and rainyWhat I wore:hat, tank top, a Skirt Sports Lotta Breeze Skirt, compression socks, and Altra One 2.5 I ran this race last year and enjoyed it, so when I got the chance to get the race for ~$40 for 2019, I jumped on it. But we've had a crazy rainy spring (like it's rained almost every weekend) and huge downpours were in the forecast. The race starts and ends in a not very convenient place, so I was less than thrilled with the forecast. I don't mind running in the rain, but I hate standing around in it and walking home in it. However, thanks to the rain preventing Beer Geek from going out on a bike ride, I was able to convince him to give me and a couple of … [Read more...]
Naked Bar Review #nextlevelnaked
I have long been on the search for a convenient, easy to carry, easy to prepare, protein source. I think I've tried every protein powder out there. I finally realized that I'm not a fan of drinking my calories (unless it's beer LOL). There were plenty of decent options, I just never reached for them. So, I've been trying other protein sources - I need easy to carry with me, no refrigeration required, and it has to taste good. So, when I was offered the chance to try the new Naked Bars, I jumped at it. Naked bars are nut based, gluten free bars with added whey for additional protein. They currently come in two flavors: peanut butter (which is peanut based, as you might expect) and chocolate (which is almond based.) Neither has any … [Read more...]
Move More, Sit Less: Keeping your heart healthy with exercise
Confession: I want to be that lady running races in her 90s. While I will totally admit to being a bit of a serial racer and a mileage addict, when I'm being completely honest, I run so that I can be healthy enough to run when I'm older. That's why I'm partnering with the American Heart Association to run their Lawyers' Have a Heart 10K. Since I'm training for a 50K right now, I will be running the Lawyers Have a Heart race in the middle of a long training run. We'll call that a tempo run with a long warm up and a long cool down. The location is perfect for me to run to the race, race, and run home. In addition to running a race with the American Heart Association, I'd like to share some of their tips on improving and … [Read more...]
Runfessing over a cup of coffee
Since Marcia opened the Runfessional late and Deb and Coco are hosting the Ultimate Coffee Date, I've decided to combine the fun into one post. If we were having coffee, I'd runfess that I meant to write this post days ago, but life kept getting in the way. In fact, it took me all day today to actually hit publish. I've been juggling two part time jobs for a while, but recently I started working a regular shift at the library as well as picking up a few other shifts as they need people. I like it and I'm still not working 40 hours a week, but it's taking a bit of adjustment to fit in my non-paid activities now. Speaking of non-paid, if we were having coffee, I'd runfess that I'm nervous about getting in all the miles for … [Read more...]
Marine Corps Marathon 50K Training
According to various training plans I've been looking at, it's nearing time to get this party started. I've done some crazy things in the past, including 7 half marathons in 7 days and two marathons in the same weekend. I've created training plans in the past to accommodate these antics, so now it's time to take all the plans I've been looking at and put them together in a perfect plan for me. I won't be sharing it here - I've designed one that works for MY body and its strengths and weaknesses - but here are some elements I plan to use to be successful in October Incorporate one or two full marathons as training runs. I've already identified a few options in September and early October. Most of the plans I've looked at … [Read more...]
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