It's been a minute since I even remembered I have a blog. Lately I've found myself on Instagram and Facebook more because, quite frankly, forming more than a couple of sentences at a time has been beyond me. It's not that I'm necessarily busier than normal, it's more that my attention span is spread over more things. The result has been one sentence updates rather than paragraphs, but I'm gonna give this whole runfessions with Marcia a try again. I must runfess that I am over the moon excited that Marine Corps Marathon is going live! I got in right away because I'm an MCM Diplomat (more on that soon), but I would have converted my deferral to live if I had not. I think this may be the biggest sign to me that life is heading in the … [Read more...]
Drinking coffee by myself
This weekend is the coffee date link up with Deb and Coco. Sadly, given the current pandemic, there will be no in person coffee dates. If we were having coffee, I'd tell you that I hosted a "Corona Relay" this weekend. Every runner had to run 3 legs in 24-36 hours. I managed 13.3 miles (math error, oops) in 24 hours. I had to do the last 3 on my treadmill because it was mid afternoon on a gorgeous day. The number of people walking past my house was ridiculous. If we were having coffee, I'd tell you that I'm on day 11 of a run streak. I am happier on days when I run, so now I'm running every day. Today was leg day, so I only got in a mile and I did it on a T intersection near my house. I had to run it 8 times to get a … [Read more...]
VA Momentum Growler Relay Race Recap
This weekend I joined some other Ragnar Ambassadors to run a local relay. Instead of 12 runners, two vans, and 200 miles, it was 8 runners running from one brewery to another and back. What could be better than a day spent with running with friends, followed by a party at a brewery. Not much. During the week leading up to the race, one of our runners let us know that he had to drop due to a family issue. Thankfully, a quick post on MRTT netted me a new runner for the group. (I swear I don't know what I'd do without MRTT. So often they come to the rescue.) So, with crisis averted, we worked out our logistics. While it is possible to do this event with two cars and have one "active" vehicle, we decided to all pile into my … [Read more...]
Bucket List Race: Bend Beer Chase
Today on Tuesdays on the Run, we are talking about our bucket list of races. For me, I've never been tempted by the big marathons, like Boston or NYC. I think it's because I live in a big city myself, so big races don't excite me. There are lots of races out there that I'd love to run, but here's one that has been on my radar for a while and I WILL get to someday: the Bend beer relay AKA the Bend Beer Chase. When someone says “Relay Race” most of us think of races like Ragnar or Hood to Coast or American Odyssey where you have more than one van and run through the night. These are great races and a lot of fun, but there’s another option that’s been gaining in popularity: the one day relay. The one day relay is usually closer to 70 … [Read more...]
Ragnar DC 2016 Recap: Mad Fox 12 Pack
Once again Ragnar DC did not disappoint. I did not plan to run Ragnar DC this year as the date is right at the beginning of the school year and just a couple of weeks before a conference I attend for work. But when my friend asked me to help captain a team for Mad Fox Brewpub, I couldn't resist. I mean, beer and running. What could be better? This was my first time captaining but I have a lot of friends who've done it, so it went pretty smoothly. We did have a little excitement when our first start time was 1:45, which would mean a midnight finish. Oops. Thankfully, Ragnar fixed that so we started at 8:45am. We also lost one runner about two weeks ago, but were able to replace her quickly. And then I got a text from a runner … [Read more...]
Preparing to run Ragnar DC again
I ran my first Ragnar Relay at the Ragnar DC two years ago. It was an amazingly fun experience and I couldn't wait to run one again. We got lucky and our team won a free entry into Ragnar Cape Cod the following spring. I was afraid going in that it wouldn't be as much fun as the first one. After all, the bar had been set pretty high. Ragnar Cape Cod was amazing. I loved the course, my team was amazing, and Beer Geek and I followed up with a week exploring the area. I knew I'd run Ragnar again, but wasn't sure when or more importantly, where. After all, I love to travel and run in new places. I almost ran DC again last year, but life intervened (thank goodness, it was cold and rainy most of the race.) And with going for Mercury … [Read more...]
Wrapping up a no race, low mileage week
How is it already May? This year is totally flying by! Last week was a bit crazy. I worked more hours than normal, we had some computer issues I needed to fix, and Shoo had several appointments, including one with my awesome chiropractor. Thankfully, his ankle seems to be nearly mended, so now it's all about strengthening it so he doesn't sprain it again. I did manage to survive the week, but I ran fewer than 10 miles. We are going to just call that a fall back week, m'kay? On the bright side, I did manage 140 miles for the month of April, which was more than twice as many miles as the month of March! As I mentioned in the title, I did not have a race this weekend. It was the first weekend since Easter that I wasn't racing. It … [Read more...]
Bucket List Race: Spokane to Sandpoint Relay
Every once in a while, I stumble upon a race I want to do someday. I've decided I'm going to start a series of "bucket list" races so that I don't forget about them LOL. This is not a sponsored post, just me talking about what I love: traveling, racing, and beer. And this race has them all. Here's my first one... Spokane to Sandpoint Relay We all know I love a good relay and this one looks like it would be awesome. Like many relays, it's about 200 miles, broken up into 36 legs. It's on the smaller side with fewer than 100 teams, but every leg is timed and volunteers are plentiful. Speaking of volunteers, S2S offers a "hire a volunteer" program where you can hire volunteers (each team must provide 2 volunteers) from local charities. The … [Read more...]
Pacers Mini Relay + Ambassador party
This was a busy weekend for us. Shoo was supposed to have a soccer game (thankfully canceled due to wet fields.) My dishwasher was being delivered (it's in my living room now. Baby steps, people.) The boys were testing for belts at martial arts and I had a relay to run. And that was just Saturday! Jones and Shoo rocked their tests and I got an amazing picture of Jones earning his white belt... After their test, Beer Geek dropped me at the Pacers store in Old Town Alexandria. My leg was to run from there to their Pentagon Row store. Sadly, I didn't take a picture of myself, but I did get my "Find your strong" tattoo from Saucony. My leg turned out to be pretty good. It was a slow start due to people and traffic lights (and … [Read more...]
