Here we are bright and early on a Monday morning. (Or really, dark and early. It was a rough start today). I'm joining HoHo and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap and closing out 2015. Last week was a busy week. The boys and I were pleased to have a snowy day in Wisconsin before we left. Shoo got to play in the snow and go sledding with Papa. I got to try out my new Altra NeoShell Lone Peaks. I'm pretty much in love with them and want it to snow lots in Virginia this year. (Review coming soon.) Soon it was time to head home. I am always a mixture of sad and happy when it's time to leave. I was ready to be in my own space again and to see Beer Geek, but I always hate leaving my family. Packing was a bit challenging this year … [Read more...]
Packing for a destination race AKA racecation
You know I like to make races part of my vacations. Heck, I like to make races the actual vacation. LOL. Luckily, Beer Geek loves to travel so he's joined me for several Mainly Marathon series: Dust Bowl, Riverboat, and Center of the Nation. He's also gone with me to Cape Cod (where he looked at light houses while I ran Ragnar Cape Cod) as well as multiple vacations that included races, including trips to Washington, Oregon, Utah, Alaska, and Wyoming. So, packing for a destination race or racecation? Yeah, I got that. Here are the most important tips I can give you: ALWAYS take your running shoes in your carry on. ALWAYS. - I've never actually had my luggage lost on a racecation, but the times I have had lost luggage it's … [Read more...]
Center of the Nation photos
We have awful internet connection tonight (but my phone did regain 4G literally as we crossed the border into Nebraska!), so I'm just sharing a few of my favorite photos from our trip. Thursday's race was not my favorite, but I have 4 done! Here are my recaps for Montana and North Dakota. I hope to have South Dakota up soon (spoiler: my favorite race so far). As per usual, I'm linking up with Courtney, Cynthia, and Mar for Friday Five. 1 - Race #4 - yes, I am actually running here. 2 - Center of the Nation - I love this photo! 3 - My favorite store. 4 - Close Encounters with Devil's Tower... 5 - Sometimes running is fun. Fingers crossed that I'll feel better on Friday than I did on … [Read more...]
Hills and Beer
The title pretty much covers my trip to Asheville last week. It was an amazing trip, but it did not do any amazing things to my marathon training. (Didn't quite derail it, but close...) We drove down to Asheville via Chapel Hill. I went there for grad school, so wanted to take the kids there and show them the campus. Unfortunately, we hit awful traffic leaving at DC (note to self: on a summer Friday, always leave as early as possible), so it was close to dinner time by the time we arrived. I'd splurged and gotten us a suite at the gorgeous Franklin Inn (because we couldn't afford it when I was a student. Oh, and I had an apartment LOL). They upgraded us to the Presidential Suite. It was amazing! … [Read more...]
Planning for an Asheville Vacation
Last summer we did a huge vacation to Ireland. It was amazing to visit there and we had a fabulous time as a family (and I got to run my first international race!) … [Read more...]
How to Take a Ragnar Vacation
It's time! Here we go with another Ragnar - this time in Cape Cod. When I wrote my packing post last time, I was running a local race. No airlines were involved and I left my house Friday morning and returned Saturday afternoon. Things are a little different when you Ragnar away from home. To add some fun to the mix, Beer Geek and I decided to make it a vacation to celebrate our 20th anniversary. This meant packing not only for running and maybe a night on either end. Nope, I had to pack for running and a week's worth of clothes. Yep, I was going to take a Ragnar vacation. Luckily, I don't have to take that all in the van LOL. … [Read more...]
Skirt Sports #REALwomenmove
I'm made no secret of my love of Skirt Sports products. A skirt that is well made, cute, fits me well, and allows me to run without chafe? Sign me up. Or perhaps just take my credit card... But since I became an ambassador last year, I've fallen more and more in love with the company as well. From their Kickstarter program that helps women become runners to their partnering with Kathrine Switzer and 261 Fearless to their newest initiative #REALwomenmove, Skirt Sports is all about embowering women to get out there and take chances. What is #REALwomenmove? It's a movement to inspire women of all shapes, size, age, ethnicity, lifestyle, marital status, family situation, etc to MOVE. It's a movement to empower women to embrace … [Read more...]
Vapor Fresh® Sports Laundry Detergent Review
I like to travel. I always have. In recent years, I've added a new dimension to that travel: the racecation. Just this year alone, I've done 5 half marathons in 5 days and half marathons in Maryland, Delaware, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Ireland. What does that have to do with sports laundry detergent? Well, have you ever thought about what your running clothes smell like after you shove them into a plastic bag to stew for a day (or 14)? Add in a Ragnar and a kid who pretty much lives in his soccer uniforms and you have a recipe for a really disgusting load of laundry. So, when Raw Athletics reached out to me to try Vapor Fresh® Sports Laundry Detergent(affiliate link), I was totally on board. I even waited to try it until I … [Read more...]
Visiting Skellig Michael
Update: Apparently this won't be off the beaten path for long. Rumor has it that they will be filming part of the Star Wars movie here. Beer Geek tends to like to do things that are a bit off the beaten path. When he heard about Skellig Michael, he let me know that it was one of the top things on his "to do" list in Ireland. Skellig Michael is an island about 8 miles off the coast of Ireland. It was once an active monastery, but now is just ruins. You can only visit Skellig Michael via boat and only 12-13 boats with 12 passengers each are allowed out each day. Because it is completely unprotected from the elements, it is often impossible to visit because boats are not allowed to dock due to waves or climbing is not safe due to … [Read more...]
Tips for staying fit on vacation
There used to be a time when we'd go on vacation and I'd come back a few pounds heavier. We'd go out for every meal and I hadn't yet learned to choose smaller, lighter meals for the majority of my meals. It was VACATION and I was going to eat what I wanted. Yeah. As you know, I just got back from two weeks in Ireland. Guess what? Not only do my pants still fit, I actually lost a couple of pounds. So, it seems pretty fitting that April, Patty, and I decide that the Tuesdays on the Run topic this week would be fitting in running on vacation. Spoiler: I only ran 19 miles while I was in Ireland. And 13.1 of those were my race. Why? Because we spent most of our time staying out in the country and the roads in Ireland are hella … [Read more...]
My five favorite things about Ireland
Ireland was amazing. There's really no other way to describe it. With the exception of our flight back (which actually went smoothly once we took off), the trip went as perfectly as one could imagine. So, I'm going to take the Friday Five topic that Cynthia, Mar, and Courtney came up with and spin it a bit. 1. The weather!- I've never hidden my dislike for Virginia in the summer. I'm not a fan of heat and humidity. Ireland was a lovely moderate temperature every.single.day. There were periods of rain most days, but with the exception of one overnight downpour, the rain was either light or shortlived or both. I didn't wear shorts the entire time I was there! LOVE! 2. The beauty of the country - Everything was so … [Read more...]
Packing for a destination race in five easy steps
I've traveled to a lot of races. I've run races at the beginning of vacations and at the end of vacations. I've driven us much as 6 hours just to run a race (ok, I admit it may have been more to spend time with the lovely ladies I was racing with.) Last year I flew out to the west and ran 5 races. So, I have this packing thing down to a science. The only things I've forgotten in recent trips have been Gu and Glide - both of which I can live without. The below tips will work for a single race, but I'm mostly focused on multi-race events. If you are running Goofy or Dopey or just doing two half marathons in the same weekend, this is YOUR guide. 1. Create a spreadsheet and do inventory - Do you have enough bras? Enough socks? Shoes? … [Read more...]
