See you in 2015!

Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I'm taking some time off to travel with the family and visit friends.

Oh, and run another half marathon :)

See you in 2015!

Thankful #TBT: Vacation Exploration

Two years ago I was in DC for some girl time & me time. I had a beautiful watchless run along the Potomac and Arlington National Cemetery. I love when TimeHop reminds me of days like these.



I've had some nice vacation runs since I became a runner. DC, Savannah, Charleston, Orlando, Chicago.  The list goes on.  Running is really one of the best ways to explore a new city.  What's the last city you explored?

Before you leave, have you entered my giveaway for an entry to the Detroit Women's Half Marathon and 5k? Go here to enter - you can use the entry for either the actual or virtual race.

WIAW: aka Why I gained 6 pounds on vacation

Yes, it's Wednesday, and that means it's weigh-in day.  Rather than bog everyone down with the numbers (it was 6.4 pounds up on Saturday but I'm down 4 since then), let's take a look at the reasons WHY....

A stop to tour the city a bit and eat at West Sixth Brewing Co.

10k race at Pisgah Brewing and breakfast at Early Girl.

Amazing fish tacos at Rita's, Lagunitas on the beach at
my hotel, and breakfast at Lost Dog Cafe.

She Crab Soup at Noisy Oyster (I died and went to Heaven), bottomless
mimosas the size of my head at Toast, and dinner at
Southend Brewery and Smokehouse.

Late dinner after many hours of driving at Bluegrass Brewing Co.

So, I should probably be glad that the damage was only 6 pounds and the fact I've already lost 4 of it means most of it was bloat, but still.  Wow.  If I hadn't run almost 20 miles on vacation (not counting Sunday's half marathon), I'm sure it would've been much worse.

Have you ever had She Crab Soup?  Do you even know what it is?  If I lived anywhere near fresh seafood, I'd be trying to learn how to make it.

Training Tuesday: the vacation edition

This past week was spring break for me and my kids, so we loaded up the van and traveled south in search of warmer weather.  We found it and if you read last week's training post on doing what scares you, you saw a bit of what I did on vacation.  Since I have 2 weeks to recap, I'll try to be brief.

Monday 3-31-13: Plan LIFT 30 min / Actual LIFT 60 min and then my arms fell off.

Tuesday 4-1-14: Plan BIKE 30 and LIFT 30 / Actual BIKE 8 miles in 30 min and LIFT probably around 15 min of abs. Zero desire to workout so I logged this as a win on Daily Mile.

Wednesday 4-2-14: Plan RUN 4 miles / Actual RUN 4 miles at 9:55 pace (just under 40 min).  This was a beautiful spring day and one of those runs that made me think I might still be a runner. Only strength work was a 60 sec plank for Lent.

Thursday 4-3-14: Plan REST (driving day for vacation) / Actual 15 min LIFT (abs) for Lent.

Friday 4-4-14:  Plan REST (more driving and visiting with friends) / Actual 15 min LIFT (squats, lunges and abs in the hotel room) for Lent.

Saturday 4-5-14: Plan RUN Black Mountain 10k / Actual RUN Black Mountain 10k in 1:12:xx (11:35 pace and my worst 10k EVER).  This was crazy hilly and hard through the mountains near Asheville, NC.  Since my Garmin is not currently able to talk to my computer, I have no proof of the hills, so maybe it was really flat and I was just being a pussy.  Unless I get a new computer, we'll never know.  I'll write a race report eventually because I took some really pretty pictures.  I also managed a plank for Lent.

Sunday 4-6-14: Plan REST (more driving) / Actual 2 mile recovery walk in 30 min before we hit the road for South Carolina's beaches. 

Monday 4-7-14: Plan REST / Actual RUN x 2!  The weather in Charleston was looking much better for running the Cooper River Bridge on Monday instead of Tuesday and I'm so glad I swapped the days.  First run was a 2 mile, pre-dawn run on the beach (23 min at 11:42 pace).  You'll notice my vacation paces SUCKED but that was me enjoying the surroundings and probably all the shit I ate and drank combined with warmer temps and humidity.  Goal wasn't pace though, but having fun.  Next run about an hour later was the Cooper River Bridge.  5 miles round trip in 54 minutes (10:50 pace).  There are pictures in my what scares you post that I linked above. Then for Lent I embarrassed my kids by doing pushups and tricep dips outside of the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier at Patriots Point :)

Tuesday 4-8-14: Plan RUN / Actual REST plus Lent workout in the hotel room (fitness center was packed because it was pouring).  I also took a very short walk on the beach in the rain. Twas lovely.

Wednesday 4-9-14: Plan ??? / Actual RUN 6.15 miles (68 minutes or so and 11:01 pace) with Sarah and Dimity from Another Mother Runner!  This was beyond fun and really a highlight of my trip.  Sarah and I meandered around the historic districts of Charleston and along the Battery while Dimity did some speedwork.  We talked running, kids, beer, you name it! The hour+ flew by and I wish we'd had time to run even longer. The rest of the day was another 3-4 miles of walking around Charleston with the family and then my Lent workout consisted of an ice bath in the Atlantic and some stretching and planks. My feet were DONE.

Thursday 4-10-14: Plan REST before our long drive / Actual WALK 20 min in the ocean at sunrise and then pushups and planks in the hotel room.  I really want to move to the ocean.

Friday 4-11-14: Plan REST for more driving / Actual BIKE 10 miles in 38 min on the scariest of hotel uprights and then 15 min of 2 circuits squats, lunges, planks, bird dogs in the hotel gym for Lent.

Saturday 4-13-14: Worked the Gazelle Girl Half Marathon expo for Another Mother Runner.  So, unless you count moving boxes, being on your feet for most of the day, and connecting with women as a workout, then I rested :)  This was actually incredibly fun and even though I was exhausted by the end of the night, I can't wait to do it again.  Being an Ambassador for Another Mother Runner is truly an honor.

Sunday 4-14-14: Plan RUN 7 or 8 miles / Actual RUN 13.1 miles in 2:42:40 (12:25 pace) at the Gazelle Girl Half Marathon. Yep, I signed up at the expo and ran a half marathon completely untrained.  I managed to run 8.1 miles, run another mile with a potty break, and walk the other 4 miles by running 2 miles and walking 1 mile.  Race report is coming.  I really hate seeing that 12:25 pace, but it is what it is.  If you take out the walk breaks and potty stop mile, I did the 8.1 at about a 10:25 pace so I didn't suck completely :)

Any fun spring break workouts you'd like to share?  16 oz pint curls totally count.

Tri Training "Mid Cycle Taper" & vacation photos

Since I was on vacation last week, I'm combining weeks 10 and 11 of training today (and let's face it, the "training" while on vacation was minimal at best so it doesn't warrant it's own post).  Here's how it all played out:

Week 10 Build/Recovery
Monday 7/9/12: Planned Rest - Completed Rest
Tuesday 7/10/12: Planned Run 0:25/Strength 0:30 - Completed Run 0:35 min and about 3.4 miles. Stopped and took a break at the midpoint that wasn't included in the time, plus my app didn't record in right so the data is a total guess.  Not sure what happened with strength training, but I didn't do it.
Wednesday 7/11/12: Planned Swim 0:25 - Completed Swim at Lynn's Lake 0:29 minutes (the OCD in me is a little perturbed that I didn't keep swimming for another minute)
Thursday 7/12/12: Planned Bike 0:40 - Completed Nada.  I spent the morning cleaning house before I hit the road for vacation.  We'll call vacuuming "cross training".
Friday 7/13/12: Planned OFF - Completed many hours of walking around the memorials in DC. This was my favorite picture of the night and I'm not even sure which memorial it is. Sad, huh?

Saturday 7/14/12: Planned Swim 0:25 - Completed An awesome meetup with 4 of my best girls.  We spent the day at the National History Museum laughing and catching up, while trying to keep track of the 5 children we had with us.  You'd think the 1:1 ratio would have been easy - it wasn't!

Sunday 7/15/12: Planned Bike 1:00 - Completed a shit ton more walking around DC.  I don't even remember where I went.

Week 11 Peak (oops!)
Monday 7/16/12: Planned Rest - Completed more walking.  I think this was the day I went to the National Archives (where photos are not allowed) and then the American History Museum. Does anyone know if there is an easy way to tell when photos on your camera roll were taken because I feel dumb when I can't figure it out.

Tuesday 7/17/12: Planned Swim 0:30/Strength 0:30 - Completed a bucket list watchless run around DC :) 1 mile warm up/cool down walk between the Metro and Marine Corps Memorial, then about a 4.5 mile run/walk from the Marine Corps Memorial, past Arlington Cemetery, along the Potomac, and out to Roosevelt Island and back.  It was hotter that Hades and mentally I really struggled with feeling like I "needed" to take walk breaks, but the scenery was awesome. The bonus to this run was running into a very friendly runner before I left who clued me into a ceremony that was to take place at the Marine Corps Memorial that night.  I got to see the Marine Corps Drum and Bugle Corps Marching Band and the silent drill team.  Mostly I took video to show the kids when I got home.

Wednesday 7/18/12: Planned Run 0:30 - Completed a 3+ hour drive to meet up with Kirsten at the beach! On the way I stopped at Dogfish Head Brewery for lunch and had probably one of the best crab cakes (not to mention the Namate Belgian-style white beer) that I've ever had.  ZOMG!

Thursday 7/19/12: Planned Swim 0:30/Strength 0:30 - Completed Run/Walk 0:40. Kirsten and I got up early (after a night of booze - awesome pre-run strategy) to attempt 3 miles.  I think she could've done it.  I crapped out after 1.5.  We walked and had a great talk on the way back to the beach house. Then we spent the morning on the beach (that's her dad in the picture watching the ocean - isn't he so cute?!?) and were treated to a storm and DOUBLE RAINBOW that night! We also headed to the beach at sunset for a bonfire and s'mores.  YUM!

Friday 7/20/12: Planned Rest - Completed 0:30 min Atlantic Ocean Open Water Swim :) The waves and dark sky were insane and for a lot of the swim I felt like I was on some kind of weird aquatic treadmill because I'd look up and realize I hadn't moved, even though I'd been swimming. The day was capped off by more beach lounging, a trip to Ocean City, MD for Thrasher's fries, and a few more beers.

Saturday 7/21/12: Planned Bike/Run Brick (1:05/0:20) - Completed a long-ass drive to a hotel just outside Pittsburgh through torrential downpours (um-the Bay Bridge is scary on a GOOD day!), with a stop in Baltimore to have lunch with my friend Meg at a funky little place called Papermoon Diner. ZERO exercise unless you count sitting on your ass for almost 12 hours.

Sunday 7/22/12: Planned Bike/Run Brick (1:00/0:25) - Completed the rest of my drive home.  Another 6 or 7 hours in the car and then I crashed on the couch so another day with no exercise.

Needless to say, I will be repeating week 11 of tri-training since my race is in 3 weeks (eeekk - technically less than that now!) and I need to be more prepared than I am.  The plan I've been following has a 2 week taper, which seems a bit excessive for a sprint tri, so I'm going to cut out one of those weeks.  It'll work itself out. I hope.

Overall, I didn't do too bad on fitting in workouts over vacation.  I actually completed 3 official workouts which is much more than I would have done 5 years ago on vacation.  Plus, if you count all the walking around DC, there was even more.  Sadly, the scale was not too kind to me yesterday morning (up 2.5 pounds I think), so I am getting back on the bandwagon because my weight before I left for vacation was bad. Now it's even worse.  Oh well, I had an amazing time and got to spend a lot of it with some of my best friends.  What more could I ask for?

Road Tripin' Part 2

I'm heading home from Delaware today.  I highly doubt I will be able to make the 13-14 hour drive home without needing to sleep somewhere, so if any Pittsburgh or Cleveland bloggers wanna let me crash for the night, hit me up, tweet me, let me know! Just kidding not really.

Wordless Wednesday

Today I drive from DC to the Beach.  Only about 3 hours, so definitely not as bad as Friday's drive!

Menu Plan Monday: On Vacation

One of the best parts of vacation is not needing to grocery shop and plan a menu.  I don't have to think much.  I have no idea what the hubby and kids are eating this week and frankly, I don't care :)  My goal is to not be 5 pounds heavier when I get home next week. In the meantime, my brain is still on vacation.

photo credit

Do you plan your meals out when on vacation, or just wing-it and eat where ever and whenever you're hungry?

Road Trip!

This is me today - I'm spending about 12+ hours driving. Alone. On Friday the 13th. So if you could shoot up some prayers for a safe trip I'd appreciate them!

What's the farthest you've ever driven alone?  Do you have a "driving limit" - as in anything over a certain drive is an automatic plane ticket?  I used to be that way, but couldn't swing the airfare this time.

Thankful Thursday: VACATION

Later today I'm leaving for a little bit of "me" time.  Here's my thanks for the day:

• I'm thankful my children are pretty much self-sufficient so they can take care of themselves (for the most part) while I'm gone while the hubby is at work.  But if anyone wants to drive my daughter to diving practice all next week let me know since we haven't figured that out yet.
• I'm thankful for a job that lets me have summers off so I can go away for a week without worrying about work.
• I'm thankful that I will get to meet up with a bunch of friends this week and then spend a good chunk of my vacation with my best girl.  On a beach. At the ocean.  SQUEEEEE!!!! Now where did I put that sunscreen?

Things will be pretty quiet around here.  I might have a few posts set to pop up just so y'all don't forget about me, but basically I'm taking the week off from blogging too.  Even though I have the technology and can blog from my phone, I don't plan to use it.

I'm sure lots of pics will be posted to Facebook, twitter and instagram - so follow me if you're the stalker type a friend!

See ya in a week or two!