It's time for the monthly virtual coffee date with Deb and Coco, but this month I had the pleasure of getting to see both of them at a dinner party that Deb threw. So, today we are having wine. If we were having wine, I'd tell you that it was awesome to meet up with a bunch of local MRTT ladies and a few bloggers at Deb's house. I got to meet Kim and Linda and also see the other Deb again. Not only was the food great, but the company was amazing. Kim and Linda were in town for the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler, so hopefully they had a great run today. If we were having wine, I'd also tell you that I volunteered at the Altra booth at the Cherry Blossom expo. I got to try on the new Kayenta (OMG, can't wait to get a pair) and learn … [Read more...]
So, how’d November treat you?
My November was a nice respite after the craziness that was September and October. Don't get me wrong. I love working for ZOOMA and going to each of the races is a high point of the job, but between my travel schedule, Beer Geek's travel schedule, and the Marine Corps Marathon, I was ready for a quieter month. And since I spent the first half of the month recovering from running a marathon way undertrained, I was happy to have a quiet month. I wasn't even jealous that Beer Geek went to Germany for a week for work and I couldn't go with him. That's not to say I didn't have any thing going on. Some highlights from the month: My parents came to visit and we did a whole bunch of projects on the house that needed doing. After living in … [Read more...]
Give thanks AND give back
November is the time of year when everyone is giving thanks. It does make sense why people focus on it because, duh, Thanksgiving Day. But giving thanks, while showing that we appreciate the good in our lives, is not an action. It's more of a reflection. Turning a thankfulness for something into an action gives back and creates good and possibly creates change. For example, showing that you are thankful for always having enough to eat by helping feed the homeless is a way of turning your thankfulness into an outward goodness. So, for those of us who are thankful every day of the year for running, here five ways you can give back through your running or to the running community. Get matched through I Run 4. IR4 is a group that … [Read more...]
Peasantman Triathlon Race Report
OK, I know you all are going "WHAAAT??" No, I haven't been hiding secret triathlon training from you nor did I actually race a triathlon this weekend. What I did was volunteer at the Peasantman Triathlon for a few hours on Sunday morning. Peasantman is held about an hour and a half south of DC on Lake Anna and from all appearances, it's the perfect first triathlon. Everyone is super laid back and you can do a sprint or olympic distance or you can mix it up and combine distances or change your distance on the fly. Heck, a few people just did it as a duathlon and I know two of my friends just did the swim and bike. So, yeah, Peasantman is the perfect low key race to get your feet wet (pun intended) at a triathlon. I started the … [Read more...]
Black Friday Runfessions
Today is Friday, right? I've been so confused about the day all week because Jones was out of town until Monday night, Shoo did not have his usual soccer practice, and neither boy had school on Wednesday. Somehow it feels like it should be Monday, but I still have three days off. Sweet! Since it's the last Friday of the month, it's time for a little runfession. I'm linking up with Marcia over at Marcia's Healthy Slice and Friday Five 2.0 with Running on Happy and Fairytales and Fitness. I'm trying to meet a goal of 85 miles this month and it's coming down to the wire. I have 26.9 miles to go. Don't think it didn't cross my mind to just run a marathon and get most of it done. Beer Geek won his age group at the local turkey trot … [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...]
It’s a perfect day for a coffee date!
Happy Saturday! I'm sitting here with a cup of coffee, wondering if there is actually enough coffee in the world to get me through the day. It feels like it's been raining for years. I know it hasn't and I know we need at least some of this rain, but I don't do well with multiple grey and wet days in a row. Anyways, I'm joining up with my friends Deborah, Coco, and Lynda for a virtual coffee date. If we were having coffee, I'd tell you that instead of running Ragnar Relay, I spent my evening in my nice warm house drinking a pumpkin beer and baking for a recipe post on Monday. While I was a little (tiny) bit sad not to be out with my team, beer and donuts are not such a bad way to spend an evening. … [Read more...]
A (Summer) Day in the Life of MCM Mama
Once again, I'm joining some other bloggers to share a "Day in the Life". I've done a few of these before. I've shared a typical school day, a day near the holidays, and a Friday complete with volunteering at Shoo's school. Since there is no such thing as a typical day for us in the summer, I chose to grab pics of last Saturday. I had a feeling it was going to be crazy and I was right. 5am: Yes, I woke up at 5am on a Saturday. Why? Marathon Training. Thanks to the squirrel digging in my attic (I think it's finally gone now!), I moved to the couch in the middle of the night, which meant crickets and the cat kept me from sleeping soundly. I really was not happy to get up, but I managed to drag myself up and grabbed an almond butter … [Read more...]
Nike Women Half Marathon non-runner report
When I was hired a year ago to work the Nike Women Half Marathon in DC, I had no idea what I was getting into. I knew I was going to be helping to manage packet pickup and I had plenty of experience volunteering (and picking up my own packets LOL), but I'd never been involved from site visits all the way through execution. Honestly, it was a pretty amazing experience. I could go on and on and tell you every little detail, but instead, I'm just going to say that I loved every minute of it (yes, even when we lost power for a short while on the busiest day, yes, even when I'd been standing for 10 hours straight). If I didn't have kids and this paid as much as my real job , I could happily make race management my career. So, here is the … [Read more...]
Live, Breathe, Eat, (No) Sleep Nike
I will never again take a race for granted. Especially a big one that happens in a big city. I've been working behind the scenes on the Nike Women Half Marathon for months now, but this week is Nike week! The number of people working nearly 24/7 and pieces that are being put into place is astronomical. And, yet, everyone seems to know exactly what they are doing and how to get it done. Last night was the first of many late nights and tomorrow will be the beginning of the early mornings. I'm pretty sure that by Sunday afternoon I will be crashing hard! So, if you stop by and think you hear crickets, rest assured I'm busy working to help make the event a wonderful experience for all who are here to run. Welcome to all the Nike … [Read more...]
Three Things Thursday: Tough Chik, Brooks Expo, half marathon training
1. A while back, I joined "Team Tough Chik". It has turned out to be a wonderfully supportive group of women that I'm really enjoying being part of. And now I can dress the part. My team "kit" came yesterday. I'm really really excited to race in it. 2. Today and Friday I will be spending my mornings/early afternoons at the Brooks exhibit at the RNR DC expo. I'm really looking forward to spending the time there and hope to have some time afterwards to do a bit of shopping. Getting to spend a day hanging out with other runners? Why, yes, that does sound like a good idea. Thank you, Melody, for passing my name on to the coordinators. 3. My half marathon training for the Blue Ridge half marathon is going surprisingly well, … [Read more...]
My crazy awesome weekend
I knew this weekend was going to be a little crazy, but we added in a wild card on Friday night that made it just a touch more so. Friday we went out to dinner at my favorite brewpub aka Mad Fox. While we were there, the owner mentioned that he was going to put my favorite beer on tap as the "stealth" beer (as in you have to know to ask for it). I went from "I'm just going to have one beer tonight" to "Let's take home a growler" in a matter of seconds. Let's just say that Emz may have gotten some slightly less than sober texts late that evening. Good thing she was running all night and I wasn't disturbing her sleep. ;o) Saturday dawned too early and way too bright. Thankfully, a big bottle of nuun got me pulled together because … [Read more...]
