Boilermaker, the beach, and some IT relief!

When last I left you I was in a flurry of packing in anticipation of the Boilermaker and our trip to the seaside of Delaware.  It has been quite a little while since I have updated the blog.  Sorry!

Our trip to Utica went off without a hitch.  The boys had an amazing time with their two cousins while we were at the race and were completely exhausted from all the fun when we loaded up the car once again and headed South for the beach.

But let me back up and tell you all about the Boilermaker!

We VERY nearly didn't even attend the race at all.  Our youngest had very recently developed an incredible terrible two fit that I couldn't quite place -I thought it might be molar teething pain, and he was up most of the night before the race (but who sleeps the night before a race anyway right?).  I tried in vain to get him settled by 5AM, when we would need to get our stuff together and head to the race.  He would NOT be pacified.  Then thankfully at the LAST moment that I thought we could leave and still make it to the race start comfortably he fell asleep...

We ended up with plenty of time to find the start area, the potties, and make sure we were fully ready for the race.  I found Jacki and we lined up together at the start.

It may be early, but I'm ready for this race!

Just so you know, Jacki knew this would be in my blog, HA!

Look at all those people lined up at the start!

What a crazy crush!  14,000 racers!  WOW.  That is a LOT of people.  The streets were lined with people for almost the entire 9.3 miles!  My favorite parts were the frozen ice pops and the 21 drum band!  My least favorite parts were the hills (two quite long ones near the beginning and the last mile was a steady incline, but not really a hill).

By the end of the race I was absolutely drenched from sweat, dumping water over my head, dumping ice into my sport bra, and from running through sprinklers.  I was pretty uncomfortable.  I was really exhausted and my IT band had been pretty painful from about the second mile on... Once I stopped running my leg sort of froze up and it was very painful to flex my leg.  I must have looked about as pathetic as I felt limping around trying to find a beer truck and a free area in which to drink it.  The after party was an absolute crush of people. 

Phew, I'm exhausted and soaked

Thankfully Tom and I had agreed to just get a bus back to our car and to meet there.  I'm pretty sure I never would have found him at the after party area.

Not too much later we were clean and fed (thanks Jenn and Kevin) and leaving with the car packed back up and the boys tucked into their car seats for the next part of our trip, the BEACH!


Tom and I love the beach!  This was our first vacation in quite a few years.  The weather was really nice, not being too hot or too cool (most of the time).  The days slipped by quickly and we were back again in the car headed for home (thank you for the hospitality -we loved our break from reality)!

We were very glad during the trip that after some deliberation had decided to bring the twin jogging stroller.  I took Darren out a couple mornings early (to let people sleep a bit longer) and Tom did the same a couple of other mornings.  I even had a couple of good runs in the morning and have been trying to do some exercises to heal my IT band pain.  So far I am having some success! 

I guess I didn't realize I looked that half crazed after than run... HA!

Ah, running while on vacation... relaxing!

Last day at the beach.  Up and at 'em for a morning run before we hit the beach!

That's about it for now!  I'm currently training for a 1/2 marathon at the end of August.  

I pushed the boys in the stroller yesterday morning for 3 miles... that's hard work!

Thank you for reading!

Getting ready for some #Boilermaker2014 fun!

It's late and I'm up doing last minute laundry.  Tomorrow our little family will pack up my parents car (oh yay, ours is recently broken...) and head to the Utica/Rome area to visit Tom's family and run the #Boilermaker2014 on Sunday morning!  The packing is intense due to two small children and the not small fact that we will continue driving South Sunday afternoon until we reach the Delaware seaside!  Who is so ready for a week at the beach?  This family!  

I'm hoping for good things on Sunday at the race.  I was really hoping to finish under 1:30:00, but with my various leg issues, I'm not so sure that will happen now.  I've realized that when you have a very full race calendar sometimes you train hard for a race and other times you just get through the miles as you recover from the previous one.  I ran a half marathon last weekend and I'm just not too sure how this 15K will go (9.3 miles).  No matter what though, I'm sure it is going to me awesome!!! 

Thank you for reading and have a great weekend!

Summer Sunset 5K #2

Unfortunately it was canceled due to inclement weather!

I had the event all planned out; I would bring running gear for Tom, who was staying late at work anyway, and we would run the race together and get home to the boys, who were being watched by my Aunt.  But sadly the weather did not cooperate.  I arrived at the event ready to go but it was pouring outside of the car.  There was intermittent lightening followed by not-too-distant thunder.  We dashed over to the event tent where other hopeful runners (are we all nuts?) were huddled around the sign in sheets.  It's amazing how cold 73 and wet feels compared to the day of 85 with hot sticky humidity.  Shivering slightly under the tent we waited to see if the event would in fact go on.  Then right before the 1 mile kids dash the race director said that they were deciding to not hold the race.  Don't worry everyone!  As long as we signed in for the 2nd run and put our shirt size down we would still get our event shirt at the 3rd and final race in the series next month (yup, we runners are a crazed T-shirt-coveting bunch).

As the group digested this information there was a VERY close lightening flash and thunder came right on it's heels.  I gasped and people started darting for their vehicles in a mad rush!  Tom and I were laughing maniacally as we sprinted back to the safety of our cars.  Snug in our respective vehicles we drove home in a torrential downpour to our little boys, who were very glad to snuggle us while we listened to the storm.

Star Spangled Trail Half Marathon!

My run buddy was after me to run a trail half marathon with her at the end of the 4th of July weekend (this past Sunday the 6th).  Because of my leg pain (IT band syndrome) I didn't commit.  Tom and I are running the Boilermaker in Utica on the 13th and I didn't want to aggravate my leg on the trail and then have a poor run the following weekend.  Almost the entire month of June I went back and forth wanting to run the trail run, but thinking it was a bad idea physically.  I even ordered some flag print shorts and a new blue running singlet -hoping deep inside I would be able to run the race.

So Saturday I just kept thinking that I wanted to do the race.  The week prior I was finally running up to 5 miles pain free (sounds like I'm ready for 13.1 again right?  NO, HA!)  Really the thing that was drawing me the most was the promise of beautiful mountain/forest views.  I knew that if I went it would be difficult and I would probably not be fast at all, but I just really wanted to see the trails.  I'm not a trail runner, but I do love hiking and the solitude of the woods.  Finally at 10:30 PM Saturday night I made plans with Jacki to meet at 6:15 AM and head over (up into the Adirondack Mountains) to the race.  

The race was at Paul Smith's College VIC.  What a great place this is!  It is an interpretive center with the purpose of getting people engaged in the natural ecosystem of the Adirondack Mountains of New York State.  There are over 25 miles of hiking trails and it is BEAUTIFUL there!  Lots of different types of forest, ponds, bogs, mountain streams, and hiking shelter lean-to.  If you get the chance, get your family over there this summer!  Some of the trails are easy enough for little kids, and there are also challenging trails for more serious hikers.  

Sometimes it's just so fun to dress up!

We arrived early enough to get registered and pick up our packets before the marathon participants started at 8 AM.  There were 9 of them.  I think 6 men and 3 women.  WOW these people looked like they ate mountains for breakfast.  Very serious runners.  The marathon course was the half marathon loop twice.  The course was unassisted -so no potties, water (although there ended up being one stop with water at the halfway mark), or foods on the course.  This meant that you had to carry anything you wanted with you.  This was the biggest deterrent for me to not do the marathon, because I seem to still require more water than I can comfortably carry for that distance.  Luckily due to having a two loop course the marathon participants left support items under the shelter of the building to be used before they headed out for their second loop.  

The half marathon didn't start until 9 AM so we spent the next hour eating, hydrating, applying Body Glide and checking our packs to make sure we had everything we wanted to bring with us stashed carefully away.  I packed two packets of Jelly Belly Spots Beans, a PowerGel, two 8 oz. bottles of Gatorade, and a pot of Burt's Bees body balm (to take care of any potential chaffing during the race) and my cell phone.  I carried my water and phone in my Fitletic hydration belt on my front and my other items in my Spibelt across my back.  I refilled my Gatorade bottles with water at the water stop and finished the rest of the bottle before continuing on mid-race.  

The weather was perfect.  Mostly sunny and slightly cool when we started the race and never very hot when you were under the forest cover.  A little warm when you were in open field in some spots.  And the views from the trails were absolutely gorgeous!  

Peaceful footbridge over a mountain stream

The marathon leaders passed me and they were a sight to see!  One minute they were there, bounding over tree roots and rocks like they weren't even there and the next minute I couldn't even see them anymore.  How they can run that fast on the trails is beyond me!  I stumbled several times, but thankfully never fell!  

Some of the time it was pretty hard to see the trail.  Note the red and white striped tag on the tree!

Everything for me was pretty good until about mile 9.  That is when my IT band just couldn't take it anymore.  I had to power walk the last 4 miles and eventually even walking was excruciating.  But, because the views were so nice and I was all by myself out in the forest it didn't seem like such a big deal.  I wanted (like anyone would) to be able to jog to the finish line, but it wasn't happening.  Oh well :)  Guess I should have done the 10K instead!  HA!  Thankfully Jacki had some Aleve with her and that made my leg very happy pretty quickly. 

Another pretty creek bed along the trail.

Salty and hungry we packed up and got two slices of greasy pizza each on the way home.  

What a great experience!  How lucky I am to live in a land where I am free to run and enjoy the outdoors!

Thank you for reading and consider getting out into some deep nature soon!  

The June Recap

The month of June had a lull in training because of my two injuries from my May marathon.  Despite the pain I ran, although only about twice a week and only short distances.  Thankfully I was able to continue Zumba classes and that kept my fitness and moral up for the month.  

One of my goals is to run 40 miles/month.  Sadly I missed the goal by 6.9 miles.  I could have probably pushed a little harder and made it, but really when you hurt making a distance goal is pretty far from your mind.  Hopefully I can put the injuries behind myself and get the distance back up soon!

My second goal is to run at least 1 race/ month.  I happily participated in two 5K races at the beginning of the month.  One was the Color Run in Ogdensburg and the second was the Summer Sunset 5K in Canton.  The second Summer Sunset 5K race is tonight!  Time is going by so quickly!  

I've been crazy busy lately with BBQs, playing outside with the boys, gardening, Zumba, Tom and my wedding anniversary, then family and friends for the 4th of July!  Despite all the crazy, running is always there for me.  

Thank you for reading and have a GREAT July!!!