setbacks

Would you believe that I managed to injury myself sitting? 

Literally. I spent almost three months, sitting on my ass, driving a giant monster truck across the country, and what do I have to show for it? Besides a serious lack of fitness and loss of all muscle tone. 

A bum hip.

Somehow sitting on my ass for days at a time exacerbated some bad shit in my glute, hamstring, quad, and has reared it's ugly head in the form of a really painful hip. Bursitis, tendonitis, tendonopathy, etc.  Sitting is the WORST. Followed closely by laying on that side, which given my opposite shoulder still has some issues, makes sleeping kind of miserable. Biking isn't bad, as long as I'm not torquing down to climb hills or sprint. Running is...manageable for a few miles at a time, but as soon as I stop moving? Woof. 

I've thrown everything I know at this situation. Chiropractic care, Graston & cupping, massage, traditional acupuncture, a cortisone shot (never again), and am now 6+ weeks into PT and dry needling. So far the relief has been minimal, if any. And rest doesn't seem to help at all (sitting, if you recall is the worst of the worst).

I had big goals of running my first trail 50k this year. I recruited one of my coworkers to help coach me through this. I picked an event. I've researched shoes and gear and nutrition. And now here I am, wondering how to get from A to B.

The first test of my trail fortitude was to be a spring 25k. I have two races in April in mind. So far I'm hitting my long runs, but my overall volume isn't anywhere near what it should be, and the recovery between runs is loooong and feels awful. I am fairly confident that even with my parred-down training, I can survive the 25k, but will this set me up to successfully dive into 50k training? I don't know.

I'm to stubborn to give up just yet. But I'm just smart enough to know that what I'm putting my body through probably isn't the best either. But good god do I want this. Need this.

Consider this another setback. One of many. 

Fears, Nerves, and Advice Needed

I'm not going to lie. As excited as this new opportunity is, there are a lot of things I'm really nervous about. There's the standard issue new-job-jitters, but this is more than that.

I'm nervous about seedy motels and lost luggage. I'm afraid of getting sick or injured on the road. I'm nervous about long, lonely drives, especially at night, and car troubles. I'm afraid of driving through really awful weather (did you hear about the 50+ inches of snow the Dakotas got last weekend?!). I'm afraid of my car getting broken into. And so on.

I have vicariously lived the life of a traveling rep for the past 5yrs through W. He totaled a car in northern Wisconsin, passed kidney stones at a hospital in Indiana, had his car broken in to in Nebraska, and was stranded in Minnesota because of a late season blizzard. He's driven through the night to get to places, driven 8-12-14 hours alone on the road to get somewhere. Having worked on the road for over a decade he's pretty much experienced it all. And if he hasn't, I have other friends and colleagues that have. 

When I accepted the position, and this new adventure, I knew all these things, and to some extent accepted it. That comes with the territory (no pun intended).

But what I can't seem to wrap my head around is how to balance life on the road and an active, healthy lifestyle. I'm afraid I'm going to stop exercising, eat like crap, and end up morbidly obese and miserable. 

Now I realize that this is actually one component to life on the road that I can actually control. I can choose to exercise and run. I can seek out healthy restaurants and make smart food choices. It all sounds good and empowering on paper.

But how? How do you stay motivated? Find the energy? Make the most of a food per diem? 

It's great in theory to look up running routes of Crossfit gyms in the cities you're in, or to ask for suggestions online, but after a long day of travel, visiting accounts, and then catching up on office work, how does it actually work? 

I'm hoping that someone out there can relate and share some real life advice...

Wordless Wednesday: National Running Day Edition.

#Boston

From the cover of Boston Magazine
Click here to read the story behind this moving image.

Perspective

Over the past six months I've struggled with family, work, weight, anxiety, and life in general. But when something as senseless as the bombing of the Boston Marathon finish line happens, it really puts things in perspective.

I am still able to appreciate the sunshine, go for a run, and hug the ones I love. I will go on to run races and cheer for my friends at others.

Sadly there are those that cannot say that after yesterday. And that breaks my heart.

For most runners, toeing the line of the Boston Marathon is a dream come true. Something they worked and trained for for years. For their family and friends who are there supporting them, this is a heartwarming and proud moment for them. The kind of moment that erases all of the time without their loved one because they were training. The kind of moment where pictures will be snapped, tears will be shed and sweaty hugs will be given.

Someone had the audacity to senselessly attack the spectators and participants of the Boston Marathon. And that makes me mad.

But like so many runners, I will lace up my shoes today, this week, next week, and I will #runforboston. I will wave to my fellow runners. And I will know that I am a part of a resilient and pretty amazing community that will keep moving forward. One step at a time.

Original image from Shape

#runforboston

Race Recap: Madison-Mini

The short of it: 

I came heart-breakingly close to my goal time of the day, but didn't quite get there.  2:25:48

The long of it:

The week leading up to the Mini was hit or miss at best.  Coming off a stressful, feel sorry for myself and be lazy week, I was feeling pretty uncertain about the race.  I know that my training had been inconsistent, with hi's and lo's like none other, and there's no one to blame but myself for that.

With life, and the course, and my training in mind, the coach and I agreed on  a sub-2:25 goal for the race.  Not a lifetime PR, but definitely a PR for the year.  It seemed realistic with just enough of a challenge to keep me going and focused.

Despite everything, I was excited about the race. It felt like everyone I knew was descending upon Madison for the occasion, and I was excited to see so many of my running pals.  Also, the weather was forecasted to be undeniably perfect for race day.  However things officially shook out I knew it was going to be a good weekend.

Friday afternoon we pedaled to the expo to pick up my packet.  I figured it was a good way to get my legs moving and do a little pre-race XT without exerting myself, which I try not to do.  :) And obviously since I rolled my bike all of 12m that afternoon a pre-dinner nap was needed.  Post-nap it was time to get my eat on with Renee and a dozen or so other online running peeps.  It was like Twitter threw up at Tutto Pasta.  Seriously.  At one point someone blurted out that almost their entire feed was at the table. For reals.  With the exception of W, everyone at the table has become my friend through Twitter first, IRL second.  Random but true.

Since someone refused to take me for post-dinner fro-yo, there was nothing left to do but go home and get ready for the race.  Outfit selected (and second guessed), gear checked (and re-checked), nails painted, eggs boiled (thanks Renee!!), off to bed.

Obligatory pre-race family photo

My alarm went off way too early the next morning and it was time to get up and get moving.  I had my typically race day panic over my outfit.  Would I be too cold?  Would I be uncomfortable?  Was I too bloated to wear X, Y or Z?  And actually, yes, I was feeling too bloated and too cold to wear the originally selected (and instagramed) tank top, so I sub'ed in  the red one.

We headed down to the Memorial Union to get the show started.  I met Jen, my running buddy for the day, on the steps of the Union and with 10mins til to go time we made out way down to the start corrals.  Earlier in the week I had bullied Jen into agreeing to we had decided on a 2:25 goal time.  We typically run pretty similar times, and were both wrestling with our own running pains, so we thought this was a good, attainable, goal to strive for.  The first corral, aka the speedsters, were off and we slowly creeped our way towards the start...

GOOOOOOO!

Up Langdon, down Wisconsin, around the square and down State.  The first few miles ticked by nicely.  The miles were flat (or downhill) and the temperature was gorgeous!  We listed to our music and chatted occasionally...and by chatted I mean I likely annoyed the hell out of her by random up beat drivel and inability to do simple math.  We headed inot the Arb knowing that this was where the race was going to start to get tough. And hilly.  We kept moving and I kept Jen entertained with my inability to do simple math.

Somewhere around mile 7 or so, Jen's IT band started to rear its ugly head and she wasn't feeling up to the pace we were keeping, and we parted ways.  She was still set for a strong 2:30 finish, which was her original goal, so things were looking ok for both of us. Lonely, but ok.

I kept putting one foot in front of the other telling myself to dig deep and do this.  Shortly after the Arb we headed down Commonwealth and I distracted myself by trying to find one of my friend's house.  Having only been there once I thought I would recognize it when I saw it, btu wasn't really sure what I was looking for.  Also, I didn't want to be puttering along if they were outside, so I had to keep moving down the street.  When I came up to there house they were having a breakfast running party--pancakes, bacon, and so on.  I gave a shout out to them and got heckled in return, which was just what I needed to push through that little bit of the run.

At the 5k mark I was still feeling surprisingly strong.  I knew I was going to have to dig deep to make my 2:25 goal, but that it was still well within the possibility. Just. Keep. Running.  Around mile 11 I realized that my pace was slooowing and that I was going to have to keep a ~10-min mile pace to finish under 2:25. Well, shit. I tried to dig deep and finish strong. But the wheels were starting to fall off.  At about a mile and half we hit the packed gravel portion of the Laskeshore path and it was ever so slightly uphill.  This was around the point I knew I didn't have what it would take to meet my goal that day, but dammit, I was going to run ever last step of that race if it killed me.

I did run every last step of the race.  Complete with finish line kick.  And no, it did not kill me.  The little hill .1m from the finish almost did me in, but I made it. 2:25:48. So close.

At the finish line I found W, toting around Burton in a doggy-bjorne, and my work bestie Gayle!  I handed thrust all my sweaty stuff and food at them so I could snag a finish line photo in the giant terrace chair, and while I was waiting guess who came strolling in? Jen!  She finished just a few minutes after me and we snagged the obligatory finish line pic together.

Christmas Card!
Source

We meandered our way down to the terrace, where we saw Joel and Lisa (who PR'd--congrats!!), grabbed our finisher cups and sodas (beer did NOT sound good yet), and found a seat.  After we collected ourselves a bit we went to reconvene with the running group and swap running tales by the lake.

All in all, not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning.  

Madison-Mini Final Results:

2:25:48

243/329 AG

1303/1725 Gender

2647/3227(?) Overall

Race Recap: Mama Goose 5k

I had the pleasure of having Matt as a counselor at a summer camp I ran many moons ago.  During that summer, I was continually amazed at Matt's kindness, generosity, work ethic and compassion for others--the sort of values you know are instilled by wonderful parents.  As the summer when I learned that Matt's mother had been battling cancer for several years, and the prognosis was continually up and down.  Matt's mother Peggy, on the rare occasion she stopped by camp, had a way of bringing warmth and happiness to the room despite all of her personal battles.

A year or two later, Matt's mother Peggy lost her long time battle with cancer.

I'm sure there was grieving and heartbreak in the family and friends, but rather than let cancer have the final say in their family, Matt started a memorial run in his mother's honor.  And so the Mama Goose Memorial Run was born.  Running has always been a passion and source of accomplishment in Matt's life, so it made perfect sense to combine two things he loved dearly.  Every August the race in run in Peggy's memory and money is raised for the UW Carbone Cancer Center.

I feel blessed to know a soul as kind and compassionate as Matt and know that his mother is incredibly proud of the man he's become.

---------

While of much lesser importance, I suppose it wouldn't be a a race recap if I didn't share how it went.

The weather was beautiful--much milder than it has been, probably mid-60's at race time.  The course this year was a 5k jaunt through a neighborhood in Verona that I had never been to.  The pavement was great, the hills were rolling but manageable and the 200+ participants were friendly and happy.

I warmed up before the race with little .5m jog to loosen up my legs because I have actually learned that I run/race better on warm muscle (duh).  Things kicked off at 9am with a very official '3, 2, 1, GO!'

My goal was sub-31:00.  And no walking, no matter the size of the hill.  After all of the running and speed work coachie has me doing I wasn't sure how things would play out.  Quite honestly, my legs felt awful.  Like bricks.  Heavy, tight, sore, angry. AWFUL.

I was pleasantly surprised that more often than not when I glance down my pace was in the mid-9:00's, a pace I NEVER run.  For much of the race I was keeping pace, or within a few strides, of skinny high school runner girl which in and of itself felt like an accomplishment.  But wouldn't you know it, as we neared the finish line that bow-legged lassie pulled away. Drats.

I still finished strong, with a nice little kick in the final .1m.  All and all I am quite pleased with myself.  :)

Unofficial Garmin Time: 28:42

Mama Goose 5k Final Results:

28:45

 88/142 OA

Running & Other Such Shenanigans

I may or may not be the worst blogger ever these days. But it happens. Life happens. We all move on.


Over the past few weeks I've been trying to figure out how to get my mojo back--it's been MIA since April. And the wicked hot and dry summer we're having this year is not helping matters. Wah.

The artistic stylings of Jay Roeder.

First thing first, I found a coach. I am now working with a longtime acquaintance, Chris, on planning out my training and racing schedule for the rest of 2012.  I gotta say, this guys got street cred-- TNT coach, multiple Ironman races under his belt, 70.3's, ultra marathons (including finishing the Rocky Racoon 100 in like 18hrs and change), just to name a few. Oh, and he's an all around cool guy.  So far I think his training plans are out to KILL me which is why I taking them more as suggestions than gospel.  I think we're in the early stages of our 'relationship' and that we'll sort things out. But in the meantime, it is so nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of and to tell me when I need to HTFU and get on with it.


One of the things he and I were both on the same wavelength about was adding some trail running to the mix. Something fun, different, and a little lower impact on my poor, beat up body.  Enter the amazing Marty.  I know Marty mainly through the Twitter and mutual friends, but I can tell you he is one of the nicest guys around. Not only does he love running and trails and staying active, but he loves sharing his passion with anyone, of any ability, any time. We had been trying to rendez-vous at Lapham Peak for some time to learn me to trail run. We finally made that happen last weekend.  I let Marty and a few other FitMKE peeps out there in the heat and sunshine for ~4m loop.  The first loop was the 'faster' group...which I TOTALLY sandbagged, but amazingly enough, no one seemed to mind!  We chatted, Marty gave an excellent tour and tips, and we had fun.  I should have called it a day there, but I let Marty talk me into ANOTHER loop with the 'slower' group.  And off we went. Again.  And while I was getting tired, I stuck it out and had a BLAST. I drove home, smelling NASTY, singing along with Carly Rae (on repeat) at the top of my lungs. All and all, a great little field trip.

Go ahead, click on it and laugh.

And since, you know, I've gong trail running all of ONE time, I let myself be talked into running Dance with Dirt this weekend. I blame Krista. Let's be honest though, I am only doing the 10k...but I've heard it's a doozy of  run.  Oh and and it's going to be toasty out there tomorrow. AND DID I MENTION THE 10k RUNS UP A SKI HILL? Because it does. Twice. But what goes up must come down, right? 


After I'm done hauling my ass up and down a ski hill, coachie wants me to tack on another couple miles for training purposes or something.  By the time I finish my 10 or so trail miles for the day, assuming I can still walk, the plan is to scoot over to Devil's Lake to cool off in the lake a bit and shower before heading back to cheer for my hardcore friends doing the 50k.  Fun in the sun my friends. Fun. In. The. Sun.


It would be arguably way MORE fun if I wasn't fighting off the plague and it wasn't 9000 degrees out, but those details are neither here nor there.

More Jay Roeder because I'm OBSESSED

What's totally cray-cray about the situation is that this is just a training weekend.  Just like next week, Rock 'n Roll Chicago, is just a training weekend.  Me and 10,000+ of my closest friends will be sweating it out on the streets of the Windy City, just training, having some fun. And even more off the reservation is that between the weekend and next coachie will jam pack my week with bricks, and crosstraining, and long runs and fartleks. 


Speaking of crosstraining, who here has tried Aqua Zumba? 'Cause I'm here to tell you, you haven't lived until you've gone to Aqua Zumba.  This discovery of mine was a happy accident, but since I'm in a sharing mood I thought I'd go ahead and pass on the awesome. You're welcome. So Aqua Zumba, yeah. I begrudgingly headed to the YMCA the other night to swim some laps, but was pleasantly surprised to find the laps removed and the blue-hairs taking over the pool. Let me tell you, these grannies meant business. Headbands on, water aerobics gloves on, game faces ON.  And then we Zumba'd. In the water. I have not smiled so big or laughed so hard in a REALLY long time. I was shaking my money makers and gyrating my hips, kicking my legs and clapping my hands, all in the safety of chest deep water because I am fairly certain I would have hurt myself on dry land. Oh, and the water hid the fact that I have ZERO coordination or rhythm.  I will be going back every chance I get.  


Did I mention that somehow I was talked in to running the Disney Marathon this January? Two of my Ragnar ladies from last year, Nesa and Kim, have decided to run Goofy this year. Seeing as it's the 20th anniversary of the WDW Marathon, and I love me some Disney, I was easily convinced to cross the Disney Marathon off my bucket list. That is assuming that I make it to marathon day and that it goes better than CMM. Details...  That's coachie's job, right?  


Assuming I survive tomorrow, I'm sure I'll have some epic stories to tell about my first ever trail race. Eek!!

One more Jay Roeder for the road!

Race Recap: Ragnar Chicago 2012

This time last week we were loading our gear into a 15 passenger van about to embark on 30-some hours of  sweaty awesomeness. (Note: That would have been true if I had published this the day I started the damn post. Blogging FAIL.)

Being the only Madison locals on the team W and I decided to host a team dinner.  Carbo-loading feast for 13 people, no problem. Truth be told, I probably made it more work than it needed to be, but that's how I roll.

  

Before the hungry runners arrived  

Being the only Madison locals on the team W and I decided to host a team dinner.  Carbo-loading feast for 13 people, no problem. Truth be told, I probably made it more work than it needed to be, but that's how I roll.

I opted for penne with sauce and ground turkey (suckas, you thought it was beef didn't you?!), followed by my all time favorite dessert, homemade strawberry shortcake. There was salad and bread and all things a runner needs before tackling Ragnar.

Food was eaten, conversation flowed, fun was had (I hope), until the mosquitoes descended upon us and we all fled for safety.

I don't even think I made anyone sick. ;)

Fast forward to race day.  Van 2 was nice enough to pick up W and I on the way to exchange 7 in Lake Mills. By 11am when we headed out it was already getting HOT which did not bode well for my running...

Van 2: B*tches Be CRAZY

I work hard to avoid photographic evidence of me running because, well, it's not pretty. So you'll just have to take my word that I ran.  


Leg 7 started at Lake Mills HS headed down the street a bit before turning onto the Glacial Drumlin trail. I really couldn't complain about my leg because legs 6, 8 and 9 were WAY worse, but it still sucked.  The trail is a very forgiving crushed gravel, but there was not nearly as much shade as I thought there would be.  It was like 1pm'ish and HOT already and let's face it, I am just not a good hot weather runner. I sucks the life out of me and I just haven't built the mental toughness to push through it.  Leg 7 ends with ~3/4 of a mile, mostly uphill, on the side of an unshaded county road. Nothing says 'KILL ME NOW' like running on the side of a black-top county road in full sun in HOT weather.


Leg 7: 4.7m 53:28 (11:22 avg pace) 

W before his first leg.

Apparently I stopped taking pictures at this point...

After we finished our round of running we headed to Noodles for some food (which, not shockingly, didn't sit super well with me) before heading to Martin Luther HS to catch some z's.  This break last year we had enough time to eat, catch a few hours of sleep and get ready to run without feeling rushed.  This year after eating we had barely enough time for a cat nap before we were back at it.  I maybe snoozed for 30 or so minutes thank sin large part to the asshats yelling in the parking lot.   

Leg 19 started at Martin Luther HS and headed to Franklin HS.  Last year this leg followed the Root River Parkway and was flat and fast and fabulous. Since they changed the exchange for 2012, this year it headed out from Martin Luther HS and straight down 76th straight for 2'ish miles.  By straight down I really mean straight up, as in uphill. For 2 miles. Granted it wasn't steep, but it was constant for 2 fucking miles. It was 20-degrees cooler than earlier, but those first few miles took a lot out of me.  Eventually we turned off of 76th and made our way onto a multi-use trail of some sort through some park. The trail was awesome with some rolling little hills, twists, turns and whatnot.  What sucked was turning off the trail and finishing the leg running uphill. Again.  What also sucked was that the leg was almost 1/2m long.

Leg 19: 5.49m 58:49 (10:42 avg pace)

The cooler temps, and by cooler I mean in the mid-70's, felt downright chilly after the heat of the day.  It was refreshing but cool when not running.  We finished up our round of running at the YMCA in Racine at 5 or so in morning, watched the sunrise, and then promptly passed out on the grassy median in the parking lot for an hour and a half.  After that little cat nap we made our way to the next major exchange for pancakes and little relaxing before we started another steamy day of running.

I started my final leg, leg 31, around 9:30 from North Chicago HS.  Last year this leg wound its way through a neighborhood before making its way onto a crushed gravel path for the majority.  Not so lucky this year.  This year I had the pleasure of running the first half on sidewalks in the full sun and heat of the day.  I made my way through some Naval base, base some Seamen (hey-o!), and eventually onto a multi-use path.  Holy balls, Saturday felt even hotter than Friday.  There was a point during the run I started to get the chills, which is never a good feeling when it's wicked hot out.  Luckily my van was able to stop a few times and refill my water/hose me off because every step was a challenge. There was never enough shade.  But it was flat, so there's that I guess.  I finished at Lake Forest HS, which ps, has the most amazing front lawn I have ever seen. Like take off your clothes and roll around neked on the grass amazing. Seriously. Only by the time I finished I was too overheated and miserable to enjoy it.  I have never been so happy to be done running.

Leg 31: 5.1m 1:01:04 (11:58 avg pace)

I feel even worse for my teammates who had to run as the day got hotter.  Saturday seriously became a death march.  We did our best to pace to our runners and take care of one another, but it was almost too hot to matter.  W spent some quality time tossing his cookies at Northwestern after his leg.  And poor Maureen had the longest, hottest leg of them all to finish it off.

Trust me, these medals were well earned.

We wrapped it all up at Montrose Beach in Chicago.  I wish I could say we celebrated and got epic at the finish line, but really we all just wanted to be done with it.  We were ready to be out of the heat, clean, and off our feet. That's not to say we didn't love (almost) every minute of the experience, because I know that I did. And that W did. And that I adore the ladies of Van 2 so flippin' much.  But enough is enough already!


I'm disappointed in my running this year. Not just at Ragnar, but this spring in general has been a let down.  I'm still at it, working things out, hoping for a break through.  But in the meantime, I'm going to savor the memories, the friendships, the laughs...and start plotting an planning for next year.

Ragnar Chicago 2013, I'm coming for you! Here's hoping for cooler temps in 2013!

#RagnarCHI 2012: The Cliff Notes

All I have the energy to say today is that Ragnar Chicago 2012 with Team Awesome was, well, AWESOME.

And that I spent *a lot* of time wearing nothing but a towel.

#RagnarCHI 2012

Oh hai. HI. Remember me?  I've been on a  bit of blogging hiatus these days, sorting things out, living life, etc.  But how can I not come out of hiding to tell you about Ragnar Chicago, which is finally here!!


In little more than 8hrs Team Awesome will be descending upon our casa for an evening of van decorating, carbo loading and camaraderie.  For some of us it will be a long overdue reunion, for others it will be the first time we meet.  Other way, it will be awesome.  Team Awesome.  And by the end of this crazy ride we will all be the best of friends.  Or the worst of enemies.   However it shakes out, it will be epic. And AWESOME. Obviously

A-W-E-S-O-M-E. 

Awesome. 

Awesome. 

TOTALLY.

Yes,  I have been dying for an appropriate time and place to use this cheer since, like, high school cheer camp.  And if I could find an indiscriminating pic of myself as a high school cheerleader I would totally post it. But since I was high schooler before the interwebs exploded and picture all went digital, thankfully those things don't exist.  :)

But I digress. Story of the day. Back to Team Awesome.  If you're interested in following this weekend's #RagnarCHI action, Twitter is the place to be. Seriously, get on it if you're not. And if you're on it go ahead and give @TeamAwesome12 a follow.  While you're at it, go ahead and give my awesome teamies a follow too:

Laura @laurakkraft

Jenn @Jenn_if_er

Kelsey @chelseykelsey

Sara @mkemom

Renee @rshill37 

Maureen @rushourunner

And if you're reading my blog and not following me, @katietris, then you are missing out.  It's like an inside look into the snark and sass of my life, with gratuitous puppy pictures, and some running. End shameless self promotion.

OH! And in case you are a procrastinator like me and are still packing, or trying to figure out what to pack, head on over to Blognar, the official blog of Ragnar, for the little something I wrote about packing. What? More shameless self promotion? Yeah, it happens. It is my blog after all. :)

Training off, RACE ON! 

Race Report: Country Music Marathon

AKA Marathon FAIL
AKA Worst Run of My Life

The short of it: That sucked balls.

The long of it: Ugh, that really sucked balls. Seriously. Awful. Splat. I died.

My marathon training started well. I was making my long runs, I was doing my midweek runs. I was picking up speed and gaining confidence. Then RnR NOLA happened...and didn't go as planned. I trained for a 2:15. I ran nearly a 2:30, 2:20-something if you exclude porta-pottie time. I was pissed. I was discouraged. I WAS LAZY.

Yes, I admit it. I got lazy. I started a new job. I made excuses. I got sick (legitimately). And mainly I pouted about blowing a perfect PR opportunity.

Fast forward to early April when I realized I didn't log the mileage I needed to make it to race day. Shit. Oh well, looks like I'd have to run my first full some other time. I decided bir to stress and just be excited about hanging our in Nashville with a friend I don't see very often and just have fun. What's that? She didn't show? AGAIN? That's a different post entirely. But I digress.

Fast forward to race day. After an outfit meltdown and an I-don't-wanna-run tantrum, we did in fact make it to the start line. Shocking, I know. Seeing as I had averaged one run a week in the 3 weeks prior I knew this was going to be a struggle, but doable...

I had heard the course was hilly, but was NOT PREPARED for what was ahead of us. The first two miles ticked by uneventfully in the mid-10's. Then we turned the corner. And hit the first of many long, slow, tortuous climbs. And by mile 2.5 I was walking. That is never a good sign.

And then it got hot. And sunny. And I wanted to die. I made a decision, somewhere between mile 6 and 7, that I was going to embrace the slowest, longest, most miserable 13.1 miles if my life and make the most of it. I took pictures. I complained less than I wanted to. I walked the aid stations, and most hills, and just kept putting one foot in front of the other. At least I showed up, AM I RIGHT?!?

I still don't know my official time, but I expect it to be in the 2:50's. Embarrassing and uncharacteristic, but I am proud to say I hung in there.

What's next? I don't know. I really want a re-do. I also really want a break. And to lose 20lbs, but we don't always get what we want...

Wah, wah, wah....

So marathon training. Yeah what's that?

Somewhere in the stress of life training just sort of stopped happening. It did. I let my motivation slip away, I made excuses, I got lazy.

I'm just a smidge over a month away from marathon day and my farthest run has been 14m. There's technically *just* enough time for me to build to 20m and still have 2wks to taper and recover for the marathon, but it's going to be tight. If I can get my ass out the door tonight or tomorrow for 16m it'll be a step in the right direction.

As of right now I'm accepting the possibility of dropping down and running the half with W. I'd rather put off the marathon than injury myself in the process. I guess we'll see what the next few weeks have in store...

C'est la vie: RnR New Orleans Recap

The short of it: It didn't go as planned, but 2:29:44 we were it done.

The long of it:

The flight there was easy. In and out of Milwaukee to save some $$. Manageable layover in ATL, which I am happy to say we made (#FTW) and Delta was even sweet enough to upgrade us for our final leg. Weeee. Complimentary cocktail? Yes, please. Anything I want from the snack basket? I should probably take a look. Another cocktail? Don't mind if I do.

And just like that, we were there.

We arrived in the Big Easy around midnight Thursday night, Friday morning (whatever). We checked into our hotel, which was in the hear of the French Quarter just 2 blocks off of Bourbon St. The last time I was down here I stayed near the Riverwalk, which was quieter and cheaper, but not as close to the fun. We were suppose to share the room with a friend of ours...but that fell through (on Friday) and stuck us with a hefty hotel bill. Really nothing we could do at that point. But I digress. After checking into the hotel we decided to stretch our legs on Bourbon Street.

I was mesmerized by the neon.

Are people actually bribed by beads to show their goodies? Does that work?

One of the few places twinkle lights are appropriate year-round.

Friday brought daylight, which meant a short shake-out run and some site-seeing. We headed out for an easy 3-miler around the french quarter around noon. It was a swamp 70-some degrees. To go from running in the dry 40's and 50's to the humid mid-70's was a shocker, not that I'm complaining. Just sweating. A lot. And I was pleasantly surprised by how good I felt despite flying the night before and the humidity. We showered and headed out to check out the French Quarter, find some lunch and pick up our packets.

Local music on Royal Street.

The rest of the gang, that made it to race day, arrived Friday evening. Renee, Maureen, and Kelsey, 3 of the fabulous ladies I met running Ragnar Chicago last summer. A flurry of text messages later, we were all at the same place, at the same time. Dinnah! We enjoyed an assortment of New Orleans classics, including hurricanes, before hitting the street.

Maureen, Kelsey, and Renee

Saturday we slept in before seeking out beignets at the word-famous Cafe Du Monde.

One word: YUM!

After shaking off the powdered shugar we headed back to the expo to take advantage of the registration discounts. Yes, I was seduced by a $15 discount and a t-shirt into registering for not one, but two more Rock n'Roll races: RnR Half Chicago (July) and RnR St. Louis Half (October). Let's not talk about it.

Saturday ended with a small tweet-up of ladies at a downtown restaurant. One of the N'awlins locals organized a little face-to-face time for us to meet and carbo-load. The service was terrible, but the company was good. Unfortunately something I ate did not sit well with me. At all. Wyatt ate the same thing so I don't think it was the food poisoning, but I do know that whatever I ate gave me the worst gut-rut I've had in a looooong time. We walked back from the restaurant and were in bed by 9pm.

The culprit...

Despite being in bad at 9pm, sleep evading me until well after midnight. And then I was up again around 2:30, asleep sometime after 3:30, alarm went off at 5:15. Major sleep fail. I woke up feeling crampy and bloated from the night before, but thought I'd be ok if I ate something.

Breakfast in bed.

After a quick breakfast we were dressed and off to the start line. I had had a bit of a meltdown the night before about what to wear and the weather, but walking the half mile to start was a great warm up and the weather was turning out to be perfect. We navigated the bag-drop, snagged some water and found our coral. About 20-after-7 our wave was finally up and we were off!

The first few miles were crowded, but I was running 10min/miles and feeling pretty good. I couldn't shake the bloated, gut rot, grossness from the night before, but my legs felt ok. We ran the first 5k in 31mins and change and I knew I was on pace for my goal time of 2:15.

Around mile 3 1/2 we decided to stop at the porta-potties. The way my stomach felt it was an inevitable stop as some point so we decided early was as good as ever. We waited in line for what felt like forever, duked into our respective pots and (tried to) take care of business. All in all this detour cost us just over 7 minutes, which I quickly realized I was not going to be able to make up...

After the 7min break we were off and running at a 10min/mile pace again. I was feeling myself become more and more bloated and uncomfortable as I ran, but my legs and cardio felt good so I kept pushing. Around mile 6 or so I untied my pants which were suddenly feeling too tight, despite being a size too big. Another mile of so later I loosened my fuel belt. And by mile 8 I was starting to feel really gross. I drank water when it was available, took in a little gatorade, and took one of my Hammer Gels. Despite my best efforts I knew my pace was slowing dramatically. At that point I knew if we kept the pace in the low to mid 10's we would still come in under 2:20. Around mile 10 I started to realize that the pace had slowed even more and 2:20 was going to be close, but still doable.

And then things got really uncomfortable.

What had been bloated discomfort became searing pains in my lower stomach. Walking didn't help. Stopping didn't help. Nothing seemed to make the stomach pains go away. Ugh. The last few miles were awful. Mentally I was down on myself because I had trained for a much better race. Physically my stomach was protesting and my right foot was starting to get sore. My bad attitude was getting worse by the second and I was ready to be done.

Before, after and the bling.

We finished in 2:29:44 ad were glad to be done. Water, gatorade, a banana, finisher pics and off to the shuttle.

Back to the hotel for showers and naps. A few hours later, feeling marginally better, we headed out to find po'boys and take in a little culture.

Rumored to be the best po'boys in the French Quarter.

Apparently weddings in N'awlins come with a parade!

Definitely one of the highlights if the trip. <3

After an afternoon of walking and taking in the sights we headed back to the hotel to pack and relax before our last dinner in New Orleans.

Farewell cocktails.

All in all, a great time was had in New Orleans. I saw friend, ate some po'boys (yum), drank some huricanes (double yum), ran a little and relaxed a little. The sunshine and weather were perfect and a much needed break from the dreary WI weather. Rumor has it we have to go back next year to vindicate ourselves, but we'll see...

RnR NOLA, The Good:

-Efficient, organized packet pick up (go early!!)

-Organized start and bag drop

-Well planned, fun course

-Plenty of water, etc. spaced out on the course

-Great entertainment

-Perfect weather

-Post-race shuttles were AWESOME!

RnR NOLA, The Bad:

-Corals not well enforced

-Course was incredibly crowded

-Not enough porta-potties on the course

-Bottleneck at the finishline

-Michelobe Ultra, really? Ick.

Overall I would definitely recommend the race and am glad we went. Now if only I could have used all of the pro's the race had to offer to my advantage...

L'aissez les bon temps roulez!

I am officially here in N'Orleans for the Rock n' Roll Half Marathon this weekend!

Goals for this weekend include:
1. Run a sub-2:15 half (yeah, we'll see about that...)
2. Hang out with some of my running besties
3. Find (and visit) the New Orleans Lululemon Showroom.
4. Eat as many Shrimp Po'boys as possible.
5. Drink at least one hurricane a day.

If you need me, check Bourbon Street.




*UPDATE*

After our little shake out run around the French Quarter today I'm fairly certain my 2:15 goal is never going to happen. Granted race morning should me much cooler, but holy humidity Batman!

Roadblock aka My Bad Attitude

Yeah, that pretty much sums up how I feel.

If it was a flaming, shit-covered, profanity spewing roadblock it would be exactly how I feel. But those are hard to come by.

I feel like my life is stuck in a vicious cycle of two steps forward, one step. Wash, rinse, repeat. Every time something goes right BAM! six other things will go incredibly, frustratingly wrong. I can't name names or give details, though goodness knows I so desperately want to. I also one to punch enough people to probably get my ass thrown in jail, but I am an adult so instead I give scathingly dirty looks, delete emails and pretend to not hear them when they speak (very mature). But anyone who's come within a 5ft radius of me can feel the radiating hostility and frustration. And probably has seen me cry. Whatev.

What in the WORLD does this have to do with running? Or marathon training? Or, well, anything?

Wellllll, every well-meaning soul out there is advising me to get out and run. You'll feel better! Well I call bullshit. There I said it. BULLSHIT. Going for a little run never solved world peace, gave food to the starving children in Africa or anything else. Now granted, neither does wallowing in my self pity and anger, but let's not split hairs.

When life hands me a lemon I want to know where the vodka tonic is to put it in. And then I want some Gushers to put in this vodka tonic with the lemon (trust me, it's fabulous). Cocktail in hand I want to pour myself onto the couch and watch hours of mindless bad tv. Sometimes, like last night, the shitstorm and stress of life makes me want to clean. While drinking vodka, obviously.

Monday was a rest day, so drowning my sorrows in beer and bleu cheese was totally ok. Last night, however, was speedwork. I didn't even pretend I was going to go to the gym for a run. And AM Shreddin' hasn't happened yet this week. Nope, no way no day. The alarm may go off, which doesn't really matter because I'm not sleeping at night anyways, but my ever expanding ass doesn't budge from bed for at least another hour.

Tonight I may or may not make it to my 6m run. I'd like to say I will, but who the knows with the way today is going.

I'm watching my bad attitude and this current suckfest called life come between my goals like one giant never ending detour. I want to PR my upcoming half marathon. I want to finish my first marathon. I want to be tone and lean and lose those pesky lb's.

Just not more than I want a vodka tonic and bad reality tv.