On Love and Friendship

November 2, 2015 by kpjenn

hearts Lately I’ve been having these epiphanies.

Well, maybe not epiphanies. Maybe it’s just remembering things I already knew. Maybe it’s because I have some time to myself while not training alllll the time.

Maybe it’s because in the three years since I picked up and moved away from home and family and friends, I’ve been forced to think about, really think about, what it means to truly care for someone.

Yes, I’m talking about love.

Not just romantic love, though that is something I think about often, too. Philia. Love for your friends.

Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics describes Philia as “affectionate regard” or “friendship,” which is a simple translation. In his Rhetoric, the definition goes deeper:

“wanting for someone what one thinks good, for his sake and not for one’s own, and being inclined, so far as one can, to do such things for him.”

Aristotle speaks of love as something selfless. Loving someone puts them first. Puts their needs and feelings and experiences first. Loving someone asks that one gives of herself and doesn’t demand for the same in return. Loving someone is giving yourself fully and trusting that love to nourish and enrich both souls.

It isn’t something that should be felt lightly, though too frequently, it is.

Hearing “I love you” from a friend should be something you cherish. It’s a tiny gift that you can carry with you, a light for your heart, a constant reminder that someone, somewhere, has your back. Cares about the state of your heart. Wants to protect it for you. Wants to guard you from hurt and suffering.Will do nearly anything for you to lift you up. To stand beside you and hold your hand when you’re frightened. To celebrate and laugh and cry with you. To remind you of your boundaries and to call you on your shit and to respect your limits. Love should be fearless in this way. It can be fearless because both souls know the other deeply and well. That fearlessness is born out of mutual trust and respect.

“There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.” – Jane Austen

To truly love a someone is to give yourself to it wholly. To put your friend before yourself. To take ownership in that relationship and to recognize that your words and actions always have an effect. What you do and say carry weight. Think about your dialogue. Be respectful of your friend’s truth.

Maintaining the old, far-away friendships takes work and I’m fortunate to have bonds with people that can withstand years and miles. Forging new relationships, though, has taught me how to value people and their stories in a way I’d never considered before.

For a long time, friendship was easy for me. School was a social situation I was comfortable with. My peers and I had plenty in common and those experiences brought us together. Moving halfway across the country to a city where I knew nearly no one changed the landscape altogether. I struggled, for a long time, to connect with people here and that was not something that I was comfortable with, or comfortable admitting. It was lonely and I let myself live inside that loneliness for a long time.

“Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won’t either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your hear. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself you tasted as many as you could.” – Louise Erdrich

It took a while to find a way out of that lonely place – it was unfamiliar and I didn’t like it, but it had a way of keeping me there – but when I did, I found what I had been missing. New friendships, found almost by accident, but since nourished by a depth of mutual respect and care that I am overwhelmed by the affection that I have for them.

They give me more than I realized I wanted and fill my heart to overflowing. They teach me what it means to be brave and strong and genuine and kind. They are beautiful souls who have come through fire to light one in me. I didn’t realize how much I needed them until I found them and now? Now I gladly give of myself to repay that respect and generosity of spirit.

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” – Anais Nin

Friendship, much like romantic love, is not without risk and it can hurt, deeply, when those bonds of love are disrespected or broken. But what is living without taking a risk? You will be forever changed by that person and what they can teach you.

“Hearts are breakable and I think even when you heal, you’re never what you were before.” – Cassandra Clare

You have the choice. Let others in, let them teach you and put them before yourself, or live in that dark place, alone, with nothing to keep you company but selfish pity. Let yourself be changed by the good in others and the love that you feel will be genuine. That is true friendship. And it is beautiful.

What the heck is a NanoWrimo, anyway?

October 30, 2015 by bec2point0

It comes from the Latin Nano, meaning project, and Wrimo, meaning for crazy people who can’t accept that their life is already too busy, especially during November, and decide they are going to write a novel.

I may be paraphrasing a bit.

NanoWrimo is short for National Novel Writing Month. It’s a creative writing challenge, where lunatic writerly types sign up and try to write 50,000 words between 11/1 @ 12:00AM and 11/30 @ 11:59PM.

In case you didn’t know, I am one of those lunatic writerly types. Most of us around these parts are, in one fashion or another. I mean, we write posts about running, and cooking, and not running, but we write about other things too.

I’ve already ‘won’ Nano once. In 2011, I did the (previously) unthinkable and wrote 50,000 words of a novel. A really crappy, unbearably angsty, wreck of a young adult novel that will never see the light of day. Ever.

But still, it was a novel, or the very rough start of one, anyway. And while the book itself was mostly drivel, the experience was pretty awesome. I felt like a real writer. I’ve written as long as I can remember. There have been dry spells (the last 3.5ish years) and not-so-dry spells (2009-2010). But I’m always a writer, so whether I’m writing or not at any given moment, writing is part of who I am.

I look at the world through writer’s eyes. When I see a couple sitting on a park bench, faces terse, voices hushed and angry, and one of them stalks off, I want to know their story. I want to know what led them there, and what happens next. And since they are strangers, and I’ll never know, I want to tell their story. I want to give them the happy ending I don’t know if they’ll have. Because I’m a writer.

And also, clearly, a romantic. So, what am I going to write? ROMANCE, of course! I love love. A lot.

Working title: Rooftops and Carparks

Synopsis: Boy meets girl on a rooftop. He falls in love, she falls asleep. And then some other stuff happens, some of which is adult, and some of which is very childish, because most of us never grow all the way up, not really anyway.

I have a rough idea, but it’s been kicking around in my head for a while, so it’s pretty well formed. I have no outline, but I’ve still got… holy moly, I need to get on that. Or not. Sometimes it’s good to work without a net.

So, if you need me for the next month, I’ll be in my dining room, muttering to myself about stupid characters that don’t want to do what I want them to do. And I’ll be writing. Around 1700 words a day, give or take.

If, in addition to reading rambly blog posts, you are also one of those lunatic writerly types, and you sometimes like to not sleep, and you think the month in which Thanksgiving falls is the perfect month to make your life complete chaos, you should join me! (It’s not as bad as it sounds. It’s actually a lot of fun. Don’t rub that in my face on day 20, when I’m 8,000 words behind and crying, please).

This post is not remotely related to diet or exercise. My diet for the next month will involve a lot of coffee, and a fair amount of sugar. Exercise will include long walks to the fridge. Basically, I’m not sweating it. Or sweating at all. Sometimes, you have to feed your soul a little. And mine likes words.

And pie.

Do you write? Do you think Bec is insane? Do you think you maybe want to get insane with her? DO IT.

Recipe Box: Cauli Cream

October 28, 2015 by vfreile

Leafing through Wegmans’ Menu magazine last month, I came across one recipe that intrigued me: Cauli “Cream.”

For years I’ve avoided creamy dishes because heavy cream-based sauces don’t agree with me. Cauli cream would be a simple, non dairy cream substitute that would allow me to finally attempt to make some sort of alfredo dish.

I ran to Wegmans and bought the ingredients, including a head of cauliflower for $3. I chopped it up.

Following the simple recipe, I made the vegan cream alternative in about an hour, first boiling the cauliflower, then blending it into a puree.

Here’s what you need:

10 cups of water

Juice of two lemons

2 tsp. salt, divided

1 cauliflower, 3 lbs, trimmed, cored and cut into florets

Heat the water, lemon juice and 1 tsp. salt in a large pot. Bring to boil. Add cauliflower and return to simmer (med-low heat). Cook until fork-tender (it took my stove about 30 minutes.)

Cauliflower florets are simmering.

Transfer cauliflower to a colander. Retain cooking water in pot. Let cauliflower sit at least 10 minutes in colander.

Steaming cauliflower and my ancient blender.

If you have a good blender, add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of cooking water, about half the cauliflower and 1 tsp. salt to blender. Puree until smooth. Remove most of puree from blender and add remaining cauliflower. Puree until smooth and combine batches, mix.

My blender is less than stellar, so I do mine in about 6-8 half-cup batches. Not ideal, but it works.

I separate into 1 cup servings and use immediately in another recipe, or freeze.

All ready to go!

I made a few dishes with this, all courtesy Wegmans: cauli cream corn chowder (we gave it a B), cauli cream pesto pasta with broccoli and tomatoes (Hubs gave this an A+ and I’ve made it twice already, using fresh broccoli) and cauli cream truffle pasta, using kale (solid B+)

I hope you love this easy and healthy recipe as much as I do!

Now, who can recommend a decent blender?

This IS the Race I’ve Been Dreaming Of

October 26, 2015 by Jennifer

In June, something big happened and I forgot to tell you guys about it. I manged to score an entry into the Disney Star Wars Rebel Challenge in January. I’ll elaborate on my excite in a sec, but I have to let you all know that it wouldn’t have happened if not for Mer. She’s always our superhero!

I tried to remain calm. At peace. I failed.

You know those times when you have everything all planned out so you can get your entry submitted before the race sells out in mere moments? You have all your info in a Word document so you can quickly cut and paste it all into the online form (thanks for the tip, Cam). You set reminders on your phone to buzz 15 minutes before noon EST just in case. And then, your pesky job gets in the way by sending you to an all day training class where there will be no internet access.

Mer to the rescue! I frantically emailed her and told her of my impending enforced internet deprivation on registration day and she, because she is the most wonderful person ever, said she’d help me out. And because this wasn’t her first Disney registration rodeo, she got me in! Thank you so mucho, Mer!!!

I could barely contain myself!

The best part is that Cam also got in, so we get to run it together! This is the best because Cam is one of the funnest people I know, and I think she loves Star Wars as much as I do. Rest assured, we will be in costume, and the costumes will be awesome! I seriously cannot wait to partner up with Cam on this one.

Love these Chicks!

Why is this race sooooo important to me? Well, for two reasons. Firstly, I am a lifelong fan of all things Star Wars (except Jar Jar Binks). I saw The Empire Strikes Back in the theater in 1980 when I was 4 years old and it was all over from there. I take great pride in the fact that I’ve seen all of the films in the theater ever since, and yes, I already have my tickets for The Force Awakens.The geek in me really wants those medals, partly because they’re pretty, and maybe partly to flaunt them at the Denver Comic Con next year. What can I say, I’m a scoundrel.

No one will play my game with me anymore. 🙁

I am also a huge Disney fan. I’m Team Sleeping Beauty because Prince Philip actually fights for her and Maleficent is the biggest bad ass in the Disney villain pantheon. I’ve wanted a princess makeover since I saw Amy, Bernadette, and Penny get one on The Big Band Theory. (I found out later it’s only for kids. Oh, Walt, you cruel tease.) And yet, I’m 39 years old and I have never been to Disneyland or Disney World. Needless to say, I’m beyond excited that my first experience at Disneyland will be the Rebel Challenge where I’ll get to run in costume with a great friend.

Best. Email. Ever.

So I’m training. I’m thinking about what to make for my costumes. I’m freaking out that it’s less than 90 days away. I can’t believe I’m finally going to Disneyland! I can say that now for real!

Do you have any tips for a first time Disney racer? Are you running this race too? Do you need help distinguishing between Star Wars and Star Trek (because I can so help with that)? Let’s chat!

How Sweet It Is – Hershey Half Marathon

October 21, 2015 by Meridith

Think back to what you were doing in January of this year. Usually I can’t remember what I did yesterday, let alone what was going on in January but I can tell you broad strokes. It was cold here, probably snowing, because it snowed all winter. I wasn’t eating sugar (errrrr, I really need to get back on that for a bit). And I was dreaming of fall racing.

Naturally, when my Florida buddy, Meredith, messaged me asking if I was interested in doing the Hershey half I said, “You betcha!” After checking on logistics of the date, and stalking the website to see when registration opened (May 1st, for the record), we paid our registration fee and processing fee of $81.31.

We love you Mr. Hershey!

We both went about life after that until September rolled around and we realized, “Oh crap! The Hershey Half is next month!” My foot was still on the mend and training was less than stellar but I badly wanted to do this race so I figured that I would be able to keep the 14 minute mile course requirement. Plus MEREDITH! I hadn’t seen her since January when I got a brief glimpse of her running her first marathon in Disney.

Our planning was minimal. Our mindset was to just have fun and see where the course took us (aka, the finish line). With Hershey Kisses on our Sparkle Athletic visors, of course.

Meredith made the kisses! Always doing my part, I supplied the tape.

The expo was small and simple, although a little on the breezy side since it was held in the walkway between the arena and outside. The weather had us worried, with temps only reaching 34 degrees.

This race comes with lots of perks, besides the basics of the shirt and medal. At the expo we were given cinch bags that had the 13.1 magnets, candy, and two tickets for the amusement park! We put those to good use both Saturday and Sunday.

Is she not the cutest?

Meredith is used to Florida weather and I’m used to… well, I’m used to this type of weather but I can’t say I love it. As long as there wasn’t wind, we assumed we would be okay with our layers upon layers. On Sunday morning we bundled up; I brought extra tights so we’d both have warm legs and Meredith hand warmers for us.

The start of the race seemed a little chaotic. There were no corrals and we weren’t exactly sure where we were going or even where the start was in relation to where we were. We followed the hoards and eventually found our way to where we needed to be.

The first mile was crowded as the 5,000 runner took off all together; Meredith and I got separated nearly immediately but I could see her just a little bit ahead of me. I ran the first mile before settling into 1:1 intervals.

Right around mile 2 I caught up to Mer and we decided to stick together for the rest of the race with the 1:1 intervals. After that first mile, the course opened up and never felt crowded.

Mile 3 was in the park.

What you did feel were the hills and they were numerous! Again, I’m in a flat area of New Jersey, so what I consider a hill isn’t really a hill. These were HILLS, all capital letters.

May you run and not be weary.

The crowd support was really nice during this race. It wasn’t Philly marathon sized crowds however, it seemed like the spectators were spaced exactly right. They knew where they were needed. Always on hills (which, remember, were never ending) and always with a kind word. Everyone was in good spirits on the course, too and I had fun chatting with people throughout.

The views were pretty spectacular. Fall in the Northeast, not too shabby.

Just after the hydration stop (which were plenty and well spaced) my foot was a little achy. I think it was right around mile 5; I knew that we just needed to push on and get it done.

The Meridith/Meredith team cannot be stopped!

There was a relay option so at mile 6.55 it was the hand off for that. Usually seeing people with their medals at this point might have been a little disheartening. However, we were thrilled to actually see the medals, as we hadn’t up until this point. They were adorable Hershey Kisses and that put some pep in our step up a hill.

The ladies of Desserts, Etc. were handing out COOKIES on the route, so you can bet we grabbed those.

The next few miles were through the Milton Hershey School campus and oh my gosh, those kids. Those kids. What a boost!

The only sad part was somewhere along this stretch is where I lost my KISS! My taping skills need work. Whomp.

We hit mile 11 which lead us back through town. They were giving out Hershey Kisses which we were pretty happy about and we laughed at these signs.

Up another hill and then a blissful downhill during the Children’s Miracle Network mile. I’m pretty sure that was the only downhill the entire race. (I might exaggerate slightly.) (But only slightly.)

We knew we were in the home stretch at this point. My watch had been reading .25 ahead the entire race but even still, when it alerted me to the fact that I’d run 13 miles and the finish line was nowhere in site, I was a little despondent.

The finish was in the arena and I knew we had to be inside but we kept going and going and going.

FINALLY, we turned, made our way into the arena and ran as fast as our legs would carry us over the finish line!

At the end of the race we were pretty excited to get our Hershey Kisses medals, heat wraps, and recovery bags which were little cooler bags with pretzels, a cookie, granola bar, apple, whey protein bar, and a Hershey bar. Chocolate Town Challenges spares no expense for their racers and it’s appreciated!

Overall, I loved this race. I’ve found my most recent races have renewed my sense of strength and self and for that, I’m so grateful.

What are your bucket list races?

It’s apple-picking season!

October 19, 2015 by vfreile

While many folks swoon over pumpkin-flavored everything when the weather turns cooler, I’m always crushing on everything apple.

Perhaps its because I live in New York – land of apples. Heck, the state’s main city is known as the BIG APPLE. Fresh cider, honeycrisp apples straight from my favorite local farm stand and baked crisp are my mainstays.

A variety of apples are on display at Schutt’s Apple Mill, just a few miles form my house. Their cider is ah-maz-ing.

For me, fall is more than an excuse for leaf-peeping and the return of sweater season. It means I get to pick apples.

Get to? What’s that?

LOTS of MacIntosh apples. I picked bushels and barely made a dent in this tree.

Picking apples tops my list of favorite fall activities, but I rarely head to a touristy apple farm to do so. Sure, those are fun, but not my cup of tea. Thanks to my in-laws, I get to pick all the apples I could ever dream of picking in our own backyard.

Each fall, I drive to downstate to help my husband’s father pick apples. The family orchard is on a retired dairy farm in the Catskills. Sometimes apple-collecting is a family outing and other times, its a solo gig.

I know its a chore, but to me picking apple after apple is heaven. I pluck one after another from the tree, careful not to pull too hard and bring dozens more to the ground. (or bouncing off my head- yes, that’s happened….many times.) Sometimes I even climb into the bucket of the backhoe and pick from the top of the tree.

Picking from the bucket in 2012

Last week, I filled crate after crate from two blossoming trees on the farm. Several hours and eight bushels later I had yet to run out of steam, but I absolutely ran out of containers. Sigh.

Apples picked at the farm are pressed into cider, fermented and made into apple wine, turned into delectable applesauce, crisp or homemade pies. Most of the time, I just eat them as is. These apples are completely organic. No pesticides, no sprays.

our bounty

Last week, my father-in-law taught me his coveted recipe. I made one last week for company, and other today. Delicious! The trick is to use a variety of apples.

Have you gone apple-picking this season? Where do you go? Do you pick from the tree or buy by the bushel? What’s your favorite way to use freshly-picked apples? Tell me in the comments!

Mighty nuts about Mighty Nut – recipe and giveaway!

October 16, 2015 by Meridith

Let’s take a moment to swoon over fall. The sounds of football games waft through the open windows from the high school and college down the street. The crispy leaves crunch on the ground as my kids play in the yard. Friends chat about PSL and how many Fridays remain until Christmas. And, of course, my running friends know just how special fall racing can be.

Fall cooking (and dare I say, fall in general) is my most favorite. I mean, I love cooking all the time, but there’s something about fall that makes it extra special. Oatmeal! Bread! Crock pot meals! ALL THE THINGS.

Surprisingly, my knowledge of powdered peanut butter is was somewhat limited. As in, I saw it at the store but never paid it too much attention. After all, what’s the point? Just get regular peanut butter and call it a day!

Silly me! Of course there’s a point, which I quickly learned when Fit Approach sent me the Flax & Chia and Original Mighty Nut Powdered Peanut Butter to try and review (and giveaway – more on that soon!).

There’s 85% less fat calories than traditional peanut butter and 1-1.5 grams of fat, depending on what type of Mighty Nut you try. And 5-6 grams of protein!

To kick off the powdered PB party, I decided to go with a tried and true recipe – Whipped Banana Oatmeal to which I added the Flax and Chia… along with sliced bananas, a few chocolate chips, and Craisins.

Muy deliciouso!

Not quite done with my peanut butter party (’cause the peanut butter party don’t stop!), I decided to get a bit more creative and step it up with a favorite of mine, banana bread with a nutty kick of the Original Mighty Nut.

My dear friend Anne shared her banana bread recipe with me a few years ago and it’s a family fave! I figured with a few tweaks, I could add a PB twist. Spoiler alert – I feel like it wasn’t peanut butter-y enough. Therefore I’m sharing the recipe that I’ll be trying the next time around. Pump up the peanut butter, dial back the banana (slightly).

Ingredients

1 1/2 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon lemon juice

2 very ripe bananas
2 eggs
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup butter at room temperature (I am never good about remembering this part!)
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons Mighty Nut Original Powdered Peanut Butter

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Combine the milk and lemon juice and set on the stove top near the vent to sour.
Combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a bowl and set aside.
Mix together the butter and sugar. Add in the eggs and mix until creamy.
Add in mashed up bananas.
Add in the lemony milk mixture.
Add in the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder mixture.

You can also add chocolate chips, nuts, whatever your heart desires! I added chocolate chips because you can never go wrong with a banana/PB/chocolate combo!

8. Dump the mixture into a greased pan and bake for 1 hour.

9. Try not to eat the whole loaf. Or do. I won’t judge you.

You want to try it, don’t you? Lucky for you, the awesome folks over at Fit Approach and Mighty Nut have given me the chance to host a giveaway! Just click on the picture below and enter via Rafflecopter now through 10.22.15. US residents only.

Click the pic to enter!

One prize per person. If you win this giveaway, and have already won another prize from Mighty Nut through another blog, please disclose that you have already won so we can choose another winner.

Many thanks to FitApproach and Mighty Nut for this awesome opportunity. I’m provided the product and compensation but all opinions shared are honest.

I’m Swagtastic and I’ve Got the Swag to Prove It!

October 14, 2015 by Meridith

I don’t know if you’ve noticed but races these days are all about going paperless. The expos are about getting your shirt, your bib, and that’s about it. Gone are the days of race bags, filled with goodies to try and freebies. And while I’m all for being environmentally friendly, I really LOVE trying things before I buy a case, or at the very least, a box!

So I was pretty stoked when the Swagtastic Race benefitting Medals4Mettle reached out to see if we wanted to check out their virtual race. Yes and please! The race took place this past weekend and I was thrilled when I found the (heavy) box of swag on the doorstep.

My swag partner in running, Gemma.

I decided that the swag would wait until after our 5k. After all, I needed to work for my prizes! On Friday, while the kiddos were in school, Gemma and I took to the streets in our neighborhood and accomplished our 5k. It was a gorgeous day and we actually held a pretty good pace, going off my Fitbit calculations. (You know, when she wasn’t trying to trip me.)

Racer number 22 and her trusty sidekick!

After a busy weekend, I finally got the chance to check out the SWAG and I was NOT disappointed. Stalking the Swagtastic Races website gave me a pretty good indication of what was awaiting in the box but still, there’s something about opening a box of goodies that makes you feel like a kid on your birthday!

To give you an idea of just a FEW things in here that I’m super duper excited for… on with the pictures.

Using these right now – stupid cough! Good Ricola!

A few of these are tried and true, but most are new to me! And a few things I can even share with my running partner (okay, maybe a kernel or two of popcorn).

I have the Hershey Half coming up this weekend and the 5k at “race pace” definitely gave me some recently lacking confidence!

Did you do the Swagtastic Race or any other virtual races recently? I want to hear about it! Link me to a blog post in the comments or just talk at me. 😉

Thank you to Swagtastic Races for the awesome opportunity.

Run Army Strong: Army Ten Miler

October 12, 2015 by kpjenn

As my marathon training winds down (it’s this weekend, guys!), I’ve sort of been struggling to keep my head in the running game.

Life gets busy sometimes, and priorities change. Motivation changes. I made the decision a while back that following the marathon, the next couple of months were going to focus less on racing and more on my other fitness goals. Running just isn’t giving me the same balance that it used to.

So, as I’ve been struggling through this “running is meh” mindset, I’m glad that the “I love running!” version of me decided to sign up for a handful of races as part of my marathon training. It’s definitely been a little bit more motivating to have events to go to and publicly accountable reasons to get my training miles in.

In the last month, I’ve done the Navy/Air Force Half Marathon (which I’ll re-cap soon!) and the Army Ten Miler. This is the cool thing about living in Washington DC: lots of opportunities to run really fun, well-organized races put on by different branches of the military.

Obviously, the big one that everyone recognizes is the Marine Corps Marathon – I haven’t run this one yet, but I have spectated it! It’s on my bucket list… maybe next season? If I feel less meh about running then?

But after MCM, the Army Ten Miler is probably the second most well known. At 35,000 runners, it’s the third largest ten miler in the world.

Yesterday morning, all 35,000 of us descended upon the Pentagon to get things started. Because there are so many runners, ATM does a wave start, with eight waves that start roughly eight minutes apart. It works pretty seamlessly. Both times I’ve run this race, the start was smooth sailing.

The only downside to yesterday morning? It was CHILLY. Like 44 degrees by the time I got to the Pentagon. I had worn capris and a tank to run in (which was ultimately the best call), and had brought a sweatshirt to throwaway at the start, but because I didn’t want to have to check a bag o’ stuff, I decided not to wear anything else to stay warm.

Consequently, that also meant that because I got there STUPID early (I’m talking 2 hours early, folks. I’m an idiot. Or I just wanted to get there and get it over with.), I was faced with the prospect of standing outside in the cold for far too long. So, I decided to huddle in the Metro station until the security guards threw us out. Ultimately, that ended up being about an hour.

I was warm for an hour. And then I was banished outside to wait for the sun to come up and bless us with her warm, inviting rays.

This is the face of someone who just wants to be warm.

I went to my corral, found a curb, and proceeded to sit on it with my knees up around my ears until it was time to start.

Fortunately, that happened quickly and as my wave rolled forward, I kind of scooted into the wave in front of me and ended up starting with them. Ultimately, this worked out well for me, because it was clearly the pace group I should have been in.

My race plan was to stick to my marathon training strategy: 5-1 intervals, pacing around 10:30-11:00 min/miles. But then I thought about it some more. “It’s only ten miles.” “You can run faster than that.” “Why the hell not?”

So, I decided to push this race. I had a time in mind to finish by, one that I haven’t seen in a couple of years and knew I was more than capable of achieving. As we started, I kicked it out a bit, not going too fast, but hanging with the swifter-moving folks in our group. Turns out, I banged out the first two miles (without walking) in 8:20 and 8:14. Not mad about it.

After Mile 2, I decided to implement the intervals again, because I know they work for me. So I did. Stopping to walk for a minute every five definitely affected my pace, but I was surprised to see that I was still moving at a good clip. Miles 3-9 were all between 8:58 and 9:30 min/miles. And then I ran Mile 10 straight through, without intervals, to finish that one in 8:20, and ultimately meet my time goal for this race.

I don’t know what happened, but I was pretty stoked on it.

Today, however, my legs are a liiiiittle tired. I’ll have to be nice to them this week as we go into marathon day.

Here’s to knocking out that last bit of training and looking forward to 26.2!

Show Me Your (Medal) Rack!

October 7, 2015 by Jennifer

The medal is one of the best things about racing, right? We work so hard for them, and they represent our big accomplishment. I don’t know about you, but if I had 5 minutes to evacuate my house, my medals are coming with me. It’s only right that they are given an honored place in our homes and are handsomely displayed. Just like our dreams should be.

Cam’s Wall of Triumph

Meri’s bib board (a few years back)

But my two half marathon medals deserve a nice rack on which to be proudly displayed. Currently, my two medals are in my office at work, hanging from a coat hanger.

It’s tragic.

Since I like to make stuff I’ve decided to make a rack myself. I went to Michaels today and got a nice 12×16 wood blank plaque that I can do whatever I like to!

And a coloring book because of reasons.

The thing is, what to do? I found some inspiration (thank you, Pinterest), and imagine I will incorporate some of these elements into my rack. I love this one because you can use any old shelf or hard surface since you’ll cover it with the bibs using Mod Podge. We love upcycling!

This one I liked because it’s so beautiful you could display your bling anywhere in the house!

I will probably end up using a little chalkboard paint because I like having the option to track times or to just write myself a note to stay motivated.

I can’t wait to get started on this project! I’ll share the progress in Instagram, but please share photos of your rack. Or pile. Or coat hooks. Lemme see what creative ways you’re honoring your bling!

Scootadoot

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