Have "trainers", will travel - UK Rave Run

Runner's World publishes Rave Runs (see here) in each issue, and I always get so jealous/inspired when I see them. They highlight some of the most beautiful routes in the world - through deserts, redwood forests, and along the coasts. When we were in England last week, I had MY rave run. 

Ben's family lives in Newlyn - a suburb of Penzance (think Pirates of...) in the southwest of England (County Cornwall). It's RIGHT by the sea, tropical climate, and absolutely beautiful. I usually bring my 'trainers' (aka sneakers) and head out for some stress-relieving runs, but I generally only get out half of the time I'd like to because of the weather. 

Here was the 10 day forecast before we left: 

Yep. Rainy every day. Cold (compared to the upper 90s of the US East Coast!). I packed my 'trainers' (sneakers) regardless and kept my fingers crossed.  

The first two days were pretty rainy, and on the third - it was like the skies opened up! So, I headed out for a solo run to scope out the path. I had run it on a few trips before, but never (ha!) thought about a stroller being able to go on it! 

Backtrack. In anticipation of our pond-hopping, B and I decided to bring the BOB. We spent a day in London on each side of the trip (between the 8 hour flight and 8 hour train ride), and wanted to have it to maneuver around the museums and zoo. Best. Idea. Ever. We bought the BOB Single Stroller Travel Bag, and it was GREAT. (I'll do another post about packing/travelling with a family at a later date)

The next morning I work up and eagerly looked out the window. Horray! Another not wet day! (Notice I didn't say sunny quite yet.) So, O and I had breakfast, got dressed and headed out west along the path. We stopped every so often for photos, and of course his snack (I didn't bring my Garmin, having read that it wouldn't work on UK satellites). We ran 1.5 - 2 miles towards Mousehole, a cute little town known for their Christmas lights around the harbor and then headed back. 

Here are our photos! Enjoy!

Ready for the run, in the sun (?!?!)

Prounounced "Mowzel"

Looking out towards the Atlantic coast

Photo op at the turn-around point. Thank you, camera timer!

Pretty rocky shore

O's mid-run snack - fruit rope. I snuck a bite, DELISH.

The view heading back

Perfect day!

Garden with the best view - ever!

Just your run-of-the-mill scarecrows. Ha. 

St. Michael's Mount in the distance

Back to Newlyn!

Coastal path along the water

Newlyn in the distance

The last run of our UK trip I did solo, on Sunday, while O was napping. I headed east along the road towards Penzance and probably ended up doing about 5 miles? It was really sunny and I actually ran in my capris and a tank top! I just had to remember which way the traffic went while I was crossing the road! I didn't drag the camera with me, and my phone was off (!) for 10 days straight. Bliss. 

Now, contemplating sending this into RW. 

Any Rave Runs out there worth sharing?

Four on the Fourth

Happy 4th of July, everyone! 

(A day late, sorry, the race results were just posted!)

This 4 mile race was a last minute decision. As in 24 hours ahead of time decision. 

Nothing like an impromptu run with the stroller to keep you on your toes!

I hadn't run with Oliver in the stroller in a LONG time. (Since the 10K training run, 5/19!) I was reeeeeally nervous about what would happen. The runs I did last summer with him were pretty easy by comparison, because he fell asleep every time! Not anymore. I was all set (or so I thought) to go. I had snacks (fruit strip, dried strawberries in the snack trap, string cheese), drinks (water in sippy cup), toys (Elmo sound toy, mechanical book, jingle bells, YesYesNoNo book, and shake eggz.) 

What did I forget? The velcro straps. (Uh.mazing = Sippigrip - see here) We have three of them and LOVE them. And they're great. Just not sitting at home on the counter! Wrap 'em around a sippy cup, a snack trap, or a toy - and if your child should drop (ahem, THROW) them out of the stroller while moving, no big deal.) 

What else happened? We wore Crocs. BIG mistake. Oliver loves these shoes. They're amazing in the summer, especially at the park when we're running through the water (see photo below), but not so much in the BOB with the snack tray. Oliver likes to wedge his feet in there and slide them off. Generally, they drop into the little 'holding' area at the front of the stroller. Not this time. This happened around mile 3. One croc off (I didn't realize it), I mean completely off the stroller. Then another about 50ft farther down the road. Awesome. I had to stop and go back to get it, not a big deal, but it was a slight annoyance to those around me - especially seeing as the race was on both sides of a non-closed street. 

What more happened? After the Croc incident, I wedged the shoes into the canopy remembering the "shaded streets" comment on the race's site. Ha! Should've known better. The last 1/2 mile was in full sun and it was about 80 degrees already, couldn't pull the shade down without doing an Go-go Gadget arm maneuver to get the shoes under the stroller basket. O was a trooper, and kept cheering (clapping) everyone on! 

Over the course of this race, I ran into a friend from college who played on the tennis team for a year, as well as a great family friend (and running inspiration!). It was a nice holiday run, fairly inexpensive ($15 with cotton t included!), local (12 minutes away), kid-friendly (strollers allowed, and popsicles afterwards!) and easily accessible (parked about 25 yards from the check-in/start.) Overall, a great race, one that I will probably do again next year, and perhaps be better prepared for! 

So, here are the results: 

4 miles in 34:10, 8:32/mile.   47/127 women, 11/32 age group. 

10K Race Recap and Coxsackie

On Monday, I ran a 10K with an awesome group of Moms! 

Stroller Strides does a 5K/10K training program to get mums ready to do a road race, and I was privledged enough to 'lead' the 10K training group for the last two months. I've really enjoyed getting to know these four awesome ladies, and am SO proud of how much they've accomplished. Through foot pains, hill aversions and everything else... we did it!

Woo hoo!

10K? CHECK! 

I wasn't planning on running the race for time, but I felt pretty well lining up for the start. The course rolls through a beautiful residential area of South Salem/Lewisboro, around a lake, and there's plenty to look at - although being a race of only 118 people (357 in the 5K), there were certainly points where I couldn't see a whole lot of other racers in the vicinity.  

My race prep normally this involves going to bed fairly early the night before, drinking a lot of water, and sometimes doing some yoga or stretching. Sunday I was so exhausted from everything going on in our house (see below) that I needed (NEEDED!) a mango margarita.  It was amazing. And apparently (as told by my husband) this will become of my night-before routine. Or at least until I have a bad race. While clutching the drink, I found my Garmin in a box (still unpacking - blech!) and took my iPod out to charge, but unfortunately left it at home Monday morning! Luckily I had another one in my car (from using it at the gym the previous week), although it didn't have my new mix on it. Oh well! There's always next time :) 

We got all checked in (not a bad race shirt, and it all came in a nice re-usable grocery bag, love 'em!), met up with all the other 10K racers, snapped a few pictures, and got ready to run! At race time (8:00), it was about 70 degrees, and about 70% humidity. Luckily, most of the roads were fairly shaded. It did, though, get significantly warmer before the 5K start at 9:30!

By the numbers...

6.2 miles

50:48

8:12/mi average

1/4 division

7/44 females

27/118 overall

3 nasty hills

1 shoe-tie

2 box turtles (1 moved off by fellow runner)

3 squished chipmunks

Now, comes the "Mum" part... We've been battling Coxsackie Virus at our house since Thursday. Not sure what it is? Thank you, WebMD. I was really unsure of how well I'd be able to be able to run the 10K, mainly because of the lack of sleep I'd been getting!

So, after a bum rash (thought it was just needing some Desitin) and a back rash (thought it was allergy to the salmon we let O try) - Oliver came down with a fever at daycare on Thursday afternoon. Friday I stayed home with him, and luckily we had the weekend to heal. Boy, was it a long three days! He really didn't eat a whole lot more than watermelon, jello, popsicles, and cheddar broccoli soup. (No matter how he's feeling, he will ALWAYS eat this soup - gotta love the kid!). Friday and Saturday nights were LONG. He'd get up every 3-4 hours or so, needing some more medicine (just infants pain reliever), and SCREAM until it kicked in. He developed a few sores on his chin, two visible ones on his tongue, but it seemed to be more a sore throat than anything else. Poor buddy! It's never fun when a baby is sick, but even worse when they can't vocalize what hurts :(  

Good news is that we're on the mend now, not contagious, and returning to our cheerful, happy self! And that's always a good thing!

No registered races coming up. But that probably won't last for long. I'm ITCHING to break 50:00....

Mommy friends and a new 5K PR!

Mother's Day generally involves breakfast in bed, maybe a pedicure or a massage.... what did I want to do on "my" day? Run, obviously!  Ridgefield, CT (along with cities in 10 states) have an all-female race on Mother's Day, and it was awesome.   (To clarify: they also have a kid's race, which was SO cute, I can picture Oliver doing it someday!) 

Never turn down a cute race tshirt! (Baby blue, well-cut cotton shirt!)

A bunch of friends ran it last year, before we moved back up here, and I was very excited to run it this year.  I signed up last week, once the move was finalized. It was only about 25-30 minutes away, and it made me realize just how much I love doing smaller races.  I got to the race 45" before start, a friend picked up my bib for me (thanks, J!), and it was super easy to get to and from the start/finish. 

We ran like mothers!

I hadn't seen some of these awesome mums in 6+ months (K/J - how did that happen?), but it felt like we had just done some Rail Trail training runs together... glad to be back! :)

I ended up finishing in 23:18, new PR! It breaks down to 7:31/mile, which I'm pretty psyched about. (LOOK!)I do have to say that having trained on some serious hills (for our 10K in 2 weeks), I felt awesome with the rolling hills and even passed a few people going up some hills! 

Team SS ready for our 10K race!

Upon crossing the finish line, we were all handed a very pretty red rose! I hung around a little and waited for everyone to finish, then Kerry and I headed over to check out the results.  Well.... I made the first printed page. Then, I looked over at the place in division. #2! WHAAAT?!?!?! How did that happen? 

Anyway, I was going to head straight home to shower (and then off to IKEA), but clearly wanted to wait around and see what I 'got'! They were announcing the division winners, and said some other girl's name for #2. (They read them in 3rd, then 2nd and 1st). Felt like a dummy for sure, until they read my name for having come in FIRST. [The girl who 'beat' me was 2nd overall, so I guess they pull out of division for that? This is all new to me....]

My first time placing in a race!

In addition to this beautiful bouquet of flowers, I got a free race entry into next year's race! (Ben was hoping for a cash award, not something that will just feed into my 'addiction!')

Happy Mother's Day to all of my Mum friends (runners and non-runners), as well as my three moms! I hope you all did whatever makes YOU happy today! 

Race recap (SO late!)

So, somehow the last two and a half weeks have flown by, and I have just not gotten around to writing my race recap post. SORRY! I know (ha!) that you've been waiting (ha! ha!) for this post. 

In short... WE DID IT! 

Us, circa 1990

My sister and I crossed the finish line of the Jersey Shore Half Marathon. Together. For those of you who know us, and have known us for - oh - twenty years or so, know that this is pretty cool for us. We've come a long way.

I'm pretty sure we'd both be lying if we said we didn't feel slight disappointment for our time (2:00:43), especially as we've both broken 2 hours before. But, that wasn't the goal for this race. (9:13/mile isn't too shabby though?!)

We signed up together, each of us ran for the last few months for different reasons. Through different sicknesses, in different states, and we learned that we are very different runners.  

ME: running shorts, fuel belt, and glide. (aka marketer's dream)

AMES: soccer shorts, compression sleeve (on one leg, totally intense looking) and vaseline.  (She did see another girl in soccer shorts lining up, and they totally air high-fived from 20 ft away!)

It was a GREAT course from Asbury Park down to Sea Bright and back. (We opted for the out and back as opposed to the three-loop course, great decision). It was ridiculously flat, only having to go up and over one small bridge. It was super foggy when we started, you couldn't even see the ocean from the boardwalk! By the time we reached the turn-around point, most of it had burned off, and we even got some sun! 

From the RunAPalooza! website.

After the race, we headed to shower at a friend's house (Thanks, J+N!) and had lunch before heading back. A nice little morning :)

The back of Amie's shirt!

All in all, the worst part of the race was that the photographers (stationed throughout the course) didn't take a single picture of the two of us together. Not even at the finish line!  Now, normally I would understand this... but we were wearing MATCHING NEON GREEN SINGLETS throughout the race and we CROSSED THE FINISH LINE HOLDING HANDS. 

Dude, seriously? Take ONE picture so we can give it to the parents for Christmukah, or put it on an ornament or something. Lost out on some $$ there, that's for sure! 

On the back of my shirt, was a crazy picture of O from his birthday and it said "13.1 for my 13 month old." As Amie pointed out, it was ONE day before he was 14 months, ha! 

Up next: 

Mother's Day, Run Like A Mother 5K - Ridgefield, CT - 5.13

(Putting the team back together for this one... can't wait!)

South Salem 10K - 5.28 

(Yay team Stroller Strides 5k/10k training!)

Stay tuned for what I decide about registering for a fall half and maybe even a full! Eeks! 

Bad run, GREAT run!

After missing two weeks of my long runs (one week Oliver was teething like a champ and not napping well, the next week I had strep and pink eye and spent four hours in Urgent Care waiting for medicine), I got in two more training runs before our half marathon on April 21st!

The first was last Sunday, April Fool's Day - but it was NOT a fun run. I felt a bit stiff before I even set out, and I had the feeling that it wasn't going to be a good run. I had led our 10K training program the day before, and gone to S.S. class - I'm pretty sure that's what put me over the edge. My legs and glutes were really sore from the time I woke up.  Here's the map and elevation/pace chart from my bad run. Now that I think about it, it also could've been the fact that I did the same loop as a few weeks ago. I need new scenery to keep me occupied :)

8 miles in 1:16:20, 9:29/mi. BLECH.

Wednesday, I picked Oliver up from daycare and he had napped for 40 minutes. All day. So, I figured it would be a great opportunity to get a short run in, allow him to nap (he will always sleep in the BOB if I'm running), and test out the Bronx River Trail where we'll be doing a lot of our 10K training runs.  It's a great, but very hilly trail. Oliver fell asleep before the first mile beep, and missed out on seeing a muskrat in the stream that runs along side. (I managed to snap a photo on my phone and text it to my nature-loving mum).  We ran 2.5 miles out, and came back. So it ended up being 5 miles in 45:30, 9:06/mile. Not bad with the stroller! Check out the elevation chart for this run, woah.

THEN......... comes the great run. [It's always better to get the bad news first, right?] I only did the 10K training, and not class on Saturday, which I think partially contributed to the success. Also, it was impromptu. I didn't plan my route until I headed out the door... and luckily my iPod and Garmin were charged and ready to go. It was a simply beautiful day - about 58 degrees with a slight breeze. Absolutely perfect running weather. I also ran a new way, along some residential roads, and across a few highways (I love this feeling, see previous post). I've decided that doing an out-and-back is great, but having to make a few turns breaks the run up into more manageable chunks.  For example, I ran 2 miles, turned right, ran another 2, turned left and ran another 2. Then, I just ran back home. This was mentally much easier than running 6 miles on the same road and turning around. And, after running for almost 7 years now, I've learned that running is about 80% mental. Ben will attest to this as well!  Here's the map/chart:

Easter Sunday, 4/8/12 - 12 miles in 1:47:36, 8:58/mi. YESSSSSSS! After this run I feel READY for our race in less than two weeks.

Running by myself is always a little bit harder (to keep pace, etc.), so I'm confident that Amie and I can break 2:00:00 again. (I've done one and made it under, she's done 12 (!) and made it under also).  I also have to say that I wasn't TOO sore today. I did make it to SS this morning, which was good. I ran a little bit, which felt nice to stretch it out a little bit. 

BRING IT ON!!!!!!!!!!!

12 Reasons I run...

During my AWESOME 12 mile run today (recap to come later today, or later this week....) I was thinking about all of the reasons I run. With a little assistance, I came up with this list. Any more to add?

Reason #12 -  I run, because the only feeling better than the one you get DURING a run ("runners high") is the feeling when you're done. And stretching. And about to shower it all off.

Reason #11 - I run, because I get to listen to guilt-free and judgment-free music. Thank you, Pitbull, David Guetta, and Jennifer Lopez. 

 

Reason #10 - I run, because as my sister Amie once said, "spandex is a privledge, not a right." And I enjoy wearing spandex. (I believe leggings qualify here, and leggings are super comfortable - and semi-work appropriate, especially where I currently work - yesssss!) 

Reason # 9 - I run, because there's an unexplainable and powerful feeling you get when running across a highway overpass.  Watching the cars and trucks speed by is such a unique feeling.

Reason #8 - I run, because I like wearing shorts.  Not "short shorts", but I like a good pair of shorts in the summer, and running makes everyone's legs look better.

Reason #7 - I run, because I enjoy the looks I get from people driving by. I love the looks I get from people sitting in McDonalds as I run by them, even more.

Reason # 6 - I run, because it makes getting dressed in the morning a little less stressful. Running makes you think about, and feel, parts of your legs, shins, ankles, abs, arms, and hops that you don't really think about a lot.

Reason #5 - I run, so I don't feel TOO guilty polishing off the pint of Junior Mint Turkey Hill ice cream. That may or may not be happening as I type this.... 

Reason #4 - I run, because I LOVE the salt residue above your eyebrows after a long run. 

Reason #3 - I run, because as a competitive college athlete, I need a goal or race on the calendar to train for. Even if I'm competing against myself or a previous PR, I need that fire. 

Reason #2 - I run, because he (below) is learning how to. And I need to keep up. Or try to. For now. 

Reason #1 - I run, because it makes me a more patient person, teacher and most importantly, a more patient Mum. 

*Side note - I have been a terrible blogger - it's been pretty hard to keep up with everything. I was sick for 2 weeks (pink eye and strep) and missed two long runs. With work, and trying to find a full-time job for next year, blogging has taken a back seat. SORRY! I'm on break this week and will likely try to play catch-up!*