It's Friday, I'm in Love!

My new readers are probably expecting me to wax poetic about my husband or kids or maybe even my garmin, but those of you who've been around a while know all about the other love in my life: beer.

Beer Geek and I got to go out to dinner tonight without the kids.  This doesn't happen often around here, so when it does, we aim for two criteria: walking distance from our house and really good beer.  Tonight we decided to try out a place we hadn't been before - American Flatbread.  They offer really good pizzas made with local ingredients and, in the case of the one by us at least, a really good beer menu.

For our first beers, Beer Geek chose an IPA (very hoppy, but I can't remember what it was).  I made the mistake of trying it.  I admit I'm not a hop fan, which makes no sense since I live on the very bitter arugula. Anyways, I was not impressed with the grapefruit beginning taste, followed by all kinds of bitter.  My beer, on the other hand, was quite good.  I had the Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter.  It was quite good.  Very dark and yummy, with just enough hops to balance the flavor.  But that's not the beer I fell in love with.

When the waiter brought it out, he brought me a warm glass (because that's how you serve this kind of beer), but offered me a cold one.  When I adamantly refused a cold glass and in fact, waited for my beer to warm up a bit, he figured out I had some knowledge of beer.  When I began talking about my second beer and was tossing around some of the really dark, high alcohol content beers, he told me that they might have a beer I would love.  It turns out that they had recently had a beer dinner with the Heavy Seas' beers and he thought they might have one bottle left of a beer that I would like.  Turns out - they did.  The beer?

Heavy Seas Siren Noire.  Described on the Heavy Seas' website  as "An English style imperial stout, fermented and flavored with imported Belgian chocolate nibs. Smooth and easy drinking. Named for the Sirens who lured seafarers off course and ultimately to their demise.", it was amazing!  Many chocolate stouts are called that because the roasted malt takes on a chocolate color and flavor.  This beer, on the other hand, included actual chocolate.  It tasted a bit like Godiva meets beer.  Fabulous!  It went amazingly well with my dessert of apple pie and ice cream.


Needless to say, the waiter got a really good tip! (And I will likely have a headache in the morning.)

Three Things Thursday

1. Today I went on a field trip with Jones.  As luck would have it, it was early release day at Shoo's school and Beer Geek had an all day conference, so I made arrangements for him to go home with a friend for lunch.  When we get out to the festival (40 minutes away), the teacher informs us that the buses are leaving 40 minutes later than we were told back at the school.  Umm, don't you think you could have mentioned that earlier?  So I then spent the next hour finding someone to take Shoo instead of the planned mom as I knew she was counting on me being back on time.  Found someone, eventually got back to Jones' school, tracked down Shoo, picked him up, ran back to his school to pick up his forgotten backpack (milk left over the weekend would not be pleasant), then finally got home.  I can't decide if I need a nap, a run, or a beer more.  Maybe all three, in that order.
2. Speaking of the festival, it was a "Native Lands" festival and we got to see some African dances and some Native American dances.  Being German, I wanted a festival where you dance the chicken dance and drink beer.  Oh, wait, those are just the family weddings in Wisconsin...
3. I left the little bit of arugula I had remaining out on the table the other afternoon.  When I returned to put it away, I noticed all that was left was the very ends of the stems.  Apparently, Shoo likes arugula too!  I had to laugh at the neat pile of stems though.  Thankfully, a friend had picked me up another container, so I'm not going through withdrawal symptoms.  Just wish the arugula in my garden would grow faster - it'd save me a lot of money!

Edited to add 3 running related things:

1.  I got that run in, but I had a big snack before I went, so I felt like I was running with a bowling ball in my stomach.  I seriously considered puking in a neighbor's yard, but decided that wouldn't win me any friends in the neighborhood.

2.  My mojo is apparently tapering.  My mind is just not into running right now.  I hope it shows up at the marathon, refreshed and ready to go.

3.  I seriously need TMB to move up here.  My clothes usually don't match when I run and I'm used to that, but today I actively clashed.

Mind Games

I did not want to run today. I specifically did not want to run the 12 miles that I had on the calendar. I wasn't feeling 100% mentally and I was having some minor GI issues and it's super windy today. I nearly talked myself out of running, but when I looked at the weather, it looked like Sunday (my next opportunity to run that long) was going to be really warm with a possibility of thunderstorms. So, I grabbed my ipod and headed out.

That's right. I decided that the only way I was going to make it through the run was to run slow and to listen to music. I decided I could only look at my garmin when a song ended or it beeped the end of a mile. I knew I wouldn't make it to twelve miles and figured I'd finish up on the treadmill. I was afraid to go to far from the house, so I ran up and down all the streets in my neighborhood, which meant basically rolling hills.

Mile 1: 10:08 (mostly downhill)

Mile 2: 10:34 (long light)

Mile 3: 9:57 (oops, too fast)

Mile 4: 9:53 (gonna regret that)

Mile 5: 10:02 (a little better)

Mile 6: 9:54 (gotta thank Chumbawumba for a sub 10 mile)

Mile 7: 10:10 (ate a honey stinger gel - therefore must run at least 3 more miles to "justify it")

Mile 8: 9:52 (really?)

Mile 9: 10:06 (running out of energy, thinking about stopping, head towards home)

Mile 10: 9:47 (huh? uphill into the wind and I pull that out? I bet the next mile is much slower)

Mile 11: 9:39 (Ok, that hurt)

Mile 12: 9:13 (Hmm, so that's what you get when you do a flat out sprint for the last 1/3 mile of a 12 mile run)

I'm in a much better mood than before I ran. I was beginning to question if I could do a marathon (yeah, I got the "taper crazies"), but this run felt good. Even though my mind wasn't in the game, my body apparently was ready to play. Now if I can just get my mind and body to both be ready on marathon day.

When I got home, I'd received an email from Jen at Setting You Free. I won her giveaway of a Kalyx bra! Woot! I'm totally excited because all my running bras are cheapies from Old Navy, Target, and Shopko. Can't wait to try it!

And for your viewing pleasure... Remember how I mentioned getting to hold the banner at the end of a recent 5K? A friend got a small movie of us "practicing" beforehand. I'm technologically challenged and unable to pull out just a frame, so you get to see the clip.

4 months, 500 miles!

First, go over and give me a pity vote. Jess is kicking.my.a$$. She may be a better writer, but hey, I've got the beer!

Back already? OK. So today, I headed out for a "recovery run". I wasn't really in the mood to run (I've been staying up too late and I'm dragging these days), but it was beautiful outside and the boys were at school. One can NOT skip a run on days like that. First mile was 10:29. Meh. Figured I'd run two more and call it a day. Then I remembered I was near 500 miles and couldn't remember exactly how many I had left. Mile 2 came in at 9:40. That's better. Mile 3 was a lovely 9:25. OK, now how much more do I need? Oh, screw it, if I do a full mile I know I'll hit 500, so mile 4 in 9:10. Well, that was a nice progression run! Total miles as of today? 500.9 Guess I didn't have to run most of that last mile after all.

My mileage goal for the year was 1000 miles, but even with cutting back after the marathon, I think I'll be passing that in November. My new goal? 1111.

On a totally different subject, I think I may need an arugula intervention. I always buy a 5oz package of arugula when I shop on Monday. It used to last me until it went bad. Last week I finished it by Wednesday. This week, I have enough left for my dinner salad tonight. Is it still binge eating if the food you eat by the handfuls while reading blogs is lettuce?

My bus or yours?

I got up at 4:30am on Sunday morning to volunteer at the GW Parkway Classic. After a night full of anxiety dreams (I dreamt that I fell back to sleep and missed the event and that Kathy took my t-shirt away. I also dreamt that I couldn't count to 55 and kept putting the wrong number of people on the buses LOL), I headed over to Pentagon City. My task? To help load the approximately 1000 runners on the buses in Arlington to get them to the race start at Mount Vernon. It was completely dark out when we started.

I can't remember the last time I saw the sun rise and this particular day was no exception LOL. It was grey and rainy, so it still seemed pretty dark even towards the end.
The runners were, generally speaking, in a good mood and cooperative. This wouldn't be the DC area if we didn't have a few Type A personalities *roll eyes*, but overall, it went really smoothly. Great job, Pacers! It was just starting to rain when we finished, so I headed home. Beer Geek snapped a quick picture of me and then I jumped on the treadmill.

I did 6.8 miles, with a slow warmup, 1 minute intervals between 7-7.5 mph separated by 2 minute intervals at 6 mph. Overall, it was a great run and it enabled me to hit 40 miles for the week!!! This is my highest weekly mileage ever and will likely hold until the next marathon training(if there is one).

And the Winners are...

1. GU giveaway - Random.org gave me 35 and 14, which means that Missy at Ironman, IronThings... at and Lorian at Running Guarantees Sanity win! Email me at mom2shoo at gmail.com. If I don't hear from you by the Tuesday when I get up, I'll move on to my backups.
2. Last Mile Half Marathon - Hopefully me! I'm one of the finalists in the competition for a Last Mile Brewing T-shirt. Head on over to Last Mile Brewing and vote. Honestly, all of the finalists' entries are pretty entertaining, so make sure you read them all before you vote for me. ;o)
3. B.I.G* Giveaway -It just might be you! I'll be having this giveaway after my marathon, but I'm in the planning stages right now. I haven't decided if I want this giveaway blasted all over, so one of the things I've decided is that anyone who is a follower by the time I wake up on May 1 gets an extra entry. So, if you read my blog and think you like it, join up and get your extra entry. I reserve the right to add extra entries as I so desire (what can I say, my blog, my giveaway, my rules. LOL). However, I could use some input. So far, I have the following:

• a growler cooler (holds wine bottles, beer bottles, water bottles...)
• a glass from Mad Fox Brewery
• a glass from Abita Brewery
• a bottle opener from Dogfish Head
• a 12 oz package of coffee from Berres Brothers
• some GU products
• a couple of tubes of nuun
• a special, to be disclosed later, item (but I'm sure you have an idea)

I'm hoping to come up with a few more running related items for a total of 13 things. My dilemna - should there be one winner, multiple winners of combined items, or 13 winners? Oh, faithful followers, what say you?

Another good four mile run today. Tomorrow I volunteer way too early in the morning for the GW parkway classic. Then I plan to run 7 miles to hit an all time high for mileage. Taper is treating me quite nicely, thankyouverymuch!

*"Beer is Good!" Giveaway

Three Things Thursday

As I expected, I am ROCKING the taper. See, unlike "real" marathon runners, I love the cut back in running. Oh, wait, I haven't actually cut back yet...

1. I ran my 20 on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the only part of my body that hurt was one of my toes. So, I figured I should try running. 4.1 miles in 40:17. My legs felt like I'd run the day before, but not like I'd run 20 miles. Woot. Well, if that felt good, obviously I should run today. 4.6 miles in 43:07. My legs did a little bit of "nuh uh, we do NOT run three days in a row", but got over it and it was a pretty darn good run. That was certainly a surprise.
2. You know you are a mom when you eke out as much distance as you can by running up and down your street for the three minutes you have left before you need to leave for preschool pickup. You know you are a runner when you walk into preschool, quite literally dripping sweat, and everyone asks if you spent the entire preschool time running AGAIN LOL.
3. I'm doing well on the 3 changes for the most part, although one sort of led to messing up the other last night. I did great on water consumption yesterday, as well as on not snacking in the afternoon. However, I went out with the preschool moms last night and two glasses of red wine led to a bit of snacking when I got home. (And what is up with an upscale restaurant having their best beers be Yuengling, Stella, and Blue Moon? C'mon, at least throw me a Guinness...)

Happy Earth Day. I thought about not showering to save water, but after the run, I was afraid I could clear a room LOL. Oh, and my GU giveaway is now closed. I'll announce the winners this weekend.

Bring on the taper!

Today I ran my last 20 mile run of this training cycle. Woohoo! Unfortunately, that's Woohoo, it's done, not Woohoo it went great. Sigh. Actually, the first 15 miles were great. I ran to a friend's house and then we ran the first 10 together. It was warm and the route was a bit hilly, but I really enjoyed having someone to talk to. I think I may have run a few of the miles a bit too fast, but I was feeling pretty good when I got back to my house at about the 10.5 mile point. After a quick refill of my fuel belt, I headed out for another 10ish miles. I may have run the first four of that set a bit fast, but I was feeling pretty good, despite the sunny, no shade route and the mid-60s weather. I was thinking I was going to completely rock the second 10 miles and actually get in more than 20.

Then I felt it. The lovely intestinal gurgle that means nothing good is going to happen in the near future. I managed to keep running for about another quarter of a mile towards home, but quickly realized that a) I needed to find a bathroom ASAP and b) I'd better walk. Thankfully, I was near a Whole Foods. It was all I could do to walk calmly up their stairs, past all the people having lunch in the cafe, and all the way to the back of the store. I've never been so happy to see a bathroom in my life. Thankfully, this solved the belly issues, but by the time I was done, my legs had completely tightened up. I could barely walk and I still had 4.4 miles of running to go.

I managed to start running again, but it was more like a shuffle. I could not get my legs moving in any sort of reasonable manner. I was also getting really hot and drained and finally, when I ran out of nuun at the 18.5 mile point, I gave in. I headed into the house and was not going to run anymore. But, I'm nothing if not stubborn, so I hit the treadmill and finished the last 1.5 in a lousy 18 minutes. Oddly, by the 1.3 mile point, I actually thought I might be able to keep running for longer, but I decided it was time to just be done with it. So, 20 miles in 3:37:44 minutes, which is a 10:53 average pace.

Splits:

Half mile on the way to friend's house: 5:03

Mile 1: 11:34 (majorly long light)

Mile 2: 10:17

Mile 3: 10:09 (nuun)

Mile 4: 10:12

Mile 5: 10:42 (nuun + hill)

Mile 6: 10:55 (GU)

Mile 7: 10:13 (nuun)

Mile 8: 10:28

Mile 9: 10:37 (nuun)

Mile 10: 11:29 (same long light as in mile 1)

Stopped for potty break and GU

Mile 11: 10:19

Mile 12: 10:18

Mile 13: 10:20 (nuun)

Mile 14: 10:19

Mile 15: 10:38 (nuun)

Mile 16: 12:49 (Gu + lots of walking, not included is long stop at WF)

Mile 17: 11:49

Mile 18: 11:29

Inside for more nuun, decided to hit treadmill.

Last 1.5 miles: 18:00 (12 min/mi pace)

After my not so impressive run, I chugged a glass of chocolate milk and then headed upstairs. I cranked the heater in the bathroom, put on a warm, dry fleece, and climbed in the tub. I managed to tolerate a 20 minute cold water bath, while reading a trash novel. My legs are tired and my feet are sore (I couldn't even tolerate socks after the run), but I feel better than I have a right to. I weighed myself after the bath and despite drinking 30+ ounces of nuun, at least 16 ounces of water, and 12 ounces of chocolate milk, I'd lost 1.5 pounds. Hmm...

So, now what? Well, taper obviously, but I'm about four days ahead of my plan. I may add a couple of miles to next week's 12 mile "long" run, since it too will be ahead. I'm also planning on focusing on intensity. Two of my four runs for the next 2.5 weeks will be either speedwork or hills. I'll also be praying for hot weather for the next month, followed by a really cool marathon day. Hey, if you're gonna ask, might as well ask big.

Run for the Beer race report

As you know, I can't pass up a virtual race. Even better, a virtual race that I don't have to actually run. Thanks to Jamoosh at The Last Mile Lounge for the best race I've never run. Disclaimer: This is FICTION and only took place in my head.

The Run for with Beerathon

When I read the ad, I knew it was a race I could really get into. It was billed as a point to point brewery race. The ad said "It's not fast and it's not flat, but it's the best race you might not remember". Hosted by the awesome brewers at Mad Fox, Dogfish Head, and The Last Mile Brewery with assistance from Capitol City Brewing and Rock Bottom Brewery, this race promised to be a challenging mostly uphill 13.1 miles of running and beer. The shwag alone was worth the cost of admission! Well, sign me up!

The race shwag

Race Day

It was a beautiful fall day near the nation's capital. Sunny, but in the low 50's - perfect racing weather. I dressed in my Last Mile long sleeve technical shirt and a pair of shorts, filled my handheld water bottle with a lovely Anchor Porter, and was ready to go. The race start time was a reasonable 5:00 pm to accommodate any runners who had enjoyed the previous day's expo a bit too much. Beer Geek and the boys dropped me off at the start line near Capital City Brewery and headed over to the finish to enjoy the festival taking place at Mad Fox. As I lined up at the start, I saw my competition - beer lovers like Viper and Jess and Razz. This race was not for the amateur beer lover, but rumor had it that Julie was looking for a beer to like.

After a quick stop at the potties (major kudos to Cap City for letting us use the indoor facilities), I grabbed my first beer of the day - an Amber Waves from Cap City. Just as I finished my beer, the gun went off and we headed out. Now, I was looking to PR on this race. Not by time, but rather by ounces consumed and the ability to finish the race upright. I knew I stood no chance against such strong competition as Jamoosh and Viper, but I was pretty sure I could take Jess.

The first mile started easy, but ended with a huge hill. I powered up the hill, knowing that it wouldn't be far to the first "water" stop. Mile 2 continued as a mostly uphill run, but I could see the first stop at the Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse. They were offering the much loved Dominion Baltic Porter, as well as the lighter Shiner Bock. As always, I walked through the stop, while I sipped my porter. I knew I was playing it risky as I saw Jess choosing the Bock, but I'm not one to give up one of my favorite beers.

I headed out of the "water" stop after only consuming one small cup. As much as I would have loved to linger, I knew I still had a lot of miles ahead of me. The next couple of miles had some flat and some rolling hills and I settled nicely into my pace. I was fully carbed up and ready to run some miles. Just before mile 4, we headed into Clarendon, one of the most happening places in Arlington. The crowds were wild and the "water" stop sponsored by Harry's Tap Room and Pacers was awesome! Pacers provided some sports drinks for the light weights, but the serious contenders got to indulge in Starr Hill Dark Starr Stout or Harpoon IPA. I found the stout quite refreshing, but the IPA seemed to be the beer of choice for my competition.

And we were off again. At this point, I was feeling great! Was this the best run ever or was the beer talking? Only time would tell. We headed down the hill on Clarendon Boulevard, knowing that it would not be long and we'd have to head back UP the horrible hill. I had the advantage at that point as I've run up that hill in many of the races that I've done. I knew the best strategy was to push the pace going down and then just hold as steady as possible going up. I knew that the reward at the top was a stop at the old Bardo site. I was excited because, although it no longer exists, a guest brewer had brewed some of Bardo's old beers. As I saw the totem pole in the distance, I found a surge of energy and got to the stop. I shed a quick tear for the bar I drank too much at spent too many evenings at used to love, grabbed a "Beat My Wheat" and kept on going. We were almost to the halfway point and I knew the best was yet to come. I also knew that the distance to the next stop was not far.

The next mile and a half was a gently uphill, past metro stops and cheering crowds. Everyone was out enjoying the beautiful weather and watching the crazy beer runners. We passed the halfway point and got to the Rock Bottom brewery's "water" stop. Knowing I was halfway done, it was time to start the serious consumption. To that end, I chose the "Naughty Scot", despite it's high alcohol percentage. I was pleased to see that Viper and Jamoosh joined me in that option. If I was going down, I wasn't going by myself. While I was tempted to enjoy more than one, I knew I had three miles until the next real stop. There'd be water on the way, but there'd also be a major hill and some boring areas. The reward? Palo Santo Marron at the stop at Dogfish Head. I'd willingly run a full marathon for this beer and today I only had to run 10 miles to get there.

After what seemed like hours, but was really only 30 minutes, I could see the next stop. I was getting tired, but I knew the reward was worth it and that the remaining miles were mostly flat. I knew I could run those miles drunk, which was good because I knew the Palo was going to knock me on my bottom. I showed up at the stop to discover they were nearly out. Apparently Jamoosh had been there before me and decided that he was going to take the consumption lead. Thankfully, Sam is a generous host and made sure I got a couple of glasses before I staggered out for the remaining couple of miles. At this point, I knew I had my PR in the bag. I'd had more beer in a two hour period than I'd had since college! I'd also ran more miles tipsy than, well, ever.

Finally, Mad Fox loomed ahead of me. The newly finished brewpub promised some of Bill's award winning beers and free pizza for all participants and their families. As I headed to the finish line, I saw Beer Geek and the boys waiting. I swayed as I approached the finish, adding mileage as I ran a crooked line. Thankfully, the organizers had expected this and included this zigzag in the total 13.1. I staggered across the line and accepted my lovely beer bottle opener/medal. I thanked the organizers, grabbed a beer, and gracefully (or not) settled onto the ground to enjoy the post race festivities.

The medal

Ryder Hex Sunglasses review and other randomness

About a week ago, a box arrived at my doorstep. Inside, were 5 lovely pairs of Ryder sunglasses.* I was beyond excited to receive some pairs to giveaway and two pairs for me to review.

After consulting all my loyal followers and my darling husband, I chose a black pair of the Hex sunglasses. I've now run in them four times, in varying weather and for different length runs, so I feel like I've given them a good tryout.

Before I tell you what I think of these glasses, let me tell you how I feel about sunglasses in general. I HATE them. I don't like the feel of them on my nose. I don't like how they either slide down my nose when I'm sweating or give me sore spots behind my ears when they are tight enough to stay on. Invariably, I break them right before I really need them or my children steal them or I scratch the lens in a really annoying spot or... Before this trial, I'd only run in sunglasses twice and I really didn't like it. In fact, I've always relied heavily on the fact that my contacts offer some UV protection.

So, I didn't have high hopes for the Hex. I figured that best case, they'd do ok for a few miles and I'd use them on super sunny days. Well, I was in for a surprise. The first run, a fast four miles, went well. I was dripping sweat and the sunglasses stayed in place and were comfortable the whole time. Next, I wore them on my 11 mile run. If they were going to annoy me, this was going to be the run. Nope. They stayed in place, my ears didn't hurt, and I didn't come home with a headache from the sunglasses or the sun. Hmm, maybe sunglasses from places besides Tar.get are a better option?!?

Today I ran in them again on a sunny, very windy day while doing half mile intervals. They.still.rocked! I had sweat pouring down my face and I was getting blown all around by the wind and they stayed in place! We are currently surrounded by balls of oak pollen the size of small animals and the sunglasses managed to keep most of that out of my eyes.

I give these sunglasses the highest praise: When my children manage to break them (yes, that is a when not an if, sigh), I will be buying myself another pair. For the first time in my life, I'll actually spend a decent amount on a pair of sunglasses.

Unfortunately, I can't say the same about the Duchess style. I wore them out on Friday evening and, while they did mostly stay in place and did protect me from all the crap blowing in the wind, I had sore spots behind my ears by the time I got home. I'm sure I'll use them, but honestly I have a pair of cheapies that I will likely reach for first.

Disclaimer: I was given these sunglasses for review. I did not pay anything for them. The opinions, however, are my own.

In other random news...

• I ran 6 x half mile intervals today - 4:17, 4:16, 4:15, 4:08, 4:00, 4:13. It's amazing what a difference 17 seconds make. The first three were quite manageable. The fourth one felt hard. The fifth one left me gasping at the side of the road, trying not to pass out. The last one was hard, but I didn't feel like I was dying. Probably didn't help that the fifth one had a tenth of a mile uphill at the end. I ended up with a total 6.3 miles in 59 minutes.
• I'm still trying to keep up with Amanda's 3 changes challenge.
• Water = success
• No snacking = pretty darn good. In fact, I lost a pound last week, even with weighing in the morning after Mexican food and two margaritas.
• Non computer/non running fun - moderately successful. I've read part of Julie and Julia, read an entire trash novel, gone for coffee with friends, and reorganized my dresser. What? Yes, reorganizing my dresser is fun. It was one of those things that really needed to happen, but I just never made my wants a priority. Now I can get to my running clothes without pulling a storage box out from under my bed. This? Makes me very happy.
• In non-running news, we found out today that Jones' First Communion will be the same day as the quarter marathon I'm running. Now, someone with their priorities straight might now run, but I can't bear to miss out on the bling that you get if you run a certain set of races. Luckily, the race is at 8 and the service isn't till 11, so I'll just have to PR and then run home for a shower as fast as I can. ;o)
• I've signed up to volunteer again. I'll be helping load buses in Arlington for the GW Parkway Classic 10 miler. My non-morning person self will be out there at 5:30 am. What WAS I thinking?
• (Guys stop reading now) I purposely chose a marathon that would hit in the middle of my cycle. Unfortunately, my body has been wacky this spring and guess what? Yep, I'll be dealing with girly issues during my marathon. This happened last time too. File that under "things that suck". I'm not running another marathon until menopause LOL.

Now I'm off to read a few blogs before I start on my 4th change - attempting to get to bed by 10:30 every night. I see a big FAIL in my future.

GU Recovery Brew Review and some heat training

GU Recovery Brew

There were a few packages of Recovery Brew in the lovely package* I received a few weeks ago. I've now both flavors after long runs, with one long run in between where I didn't use it.

The verdict: It seems to make a difference, but I'm not sure I'd go out of my way to get it.

I tried the Orange Pineapple a few weeks ago after my 19 mile run. I didn't love the taste, but I managed to get most of it down. It didn't bother my stomach at all and seemed to give me some energy afterwards, but I didn't feel like it was anything spectacular.

Last week I drank the Strawberry Watermelon flavor after my 20 mile run. Now this is a flavor I can get behind. I really liked it and had no trouble drinking the whole thing. I also felt the best that I have after a long run in a long time. I'm not sure it was all from the recovery drink, but I definitely was in a better mood after running 20 miles than I've been and I didn't have my typical mid afternoon crash. Usually, I drink chocolate milk after a long run. That seems to work moderately well for me. I do think I'll make sure to take a packet with me for after the marathon as we'll be driving back from Pennsylvania and it's easier to take this along than milk.

Want to try it yourself? Comment on my giveaway to get a chance to try it! It ends April 21 and two people will win!

Heat training

To say I'm not a fan of running in warmer weather is a bit of an understatement. All of my FAIL races have involved temperatures over 75*. I'd much rather run in 20* weather than 70*. Unfortunately, I live in the south, so summer running is going to be in the 90s. Bleh.

Today I purposely waited until it was hot and sunny. (OK, maybe I also wanted to go out for coffee with friends first LOL). It was 80* when I hit the road at 11:15. Knowing I only wanted to do 3-4 slowish miles, I chose a fairly sunny route. Once again, I rocked my new Hex sunglasses.

Mile 1: 9:47 (wow, I'm already soaking wet)

Mile 2: 9:36 (oops, too fast, dying here)

Mile 3: 9:49 (this sucks. I don't want to do this any more)

Mile 4: 10:21 (Keep going. Doesn't matter how slow. Just.Keep.Going.)

That run sucked, but totally served a purpose. I didn't enjoy it, but I've got to start adapting to the warmth just in case the marathon is on a warm day. I was so glad to be done. I did also get to try out a new pair of shorts (that I bought). They no longer seem to make the Adidas Rebound shorts that I love and I'm having trouble finding the Lululemon style that I like, so I bought a pair of Under Armour Heat Gear attack training shorts. They worked great for the four miles, so I'll be trying them on a longer run soon. Unfortunately, shorts with longer inseams do not come with built in liners, so I'll be trying some Under Armour underwear soon too.

Now I'm off to take my second shower of the day...

Three Things Thursday

1. Today I ran 10 wonderful miles. Too bad my actual distance was 11 miles. I planned to do 10-12 miles at an easy pace on a really hilly route. Physically, it's a very challenging route with constant ups and downs. Mentally, I like it because it's an out and back and has some nice landmarks that help break it up. 8 of my miles fell between 9:50 and 10:06, which was right were I was trying to be. Pretty amazing, considering the hills. My fastest mile was a 9:28, where I sprinted to make a light. My slowest in the first 10 was 10:18, where I hit a couple of red lights. Then I hit mile 11. My body just stopped. My quads were screaming, I was tired and hot, my water bottle was near empty. I was just done. I managed to finish it in 11:02, but if I hadn't needed to do that mile in order to get home, I would have probably not done it.
2. I ran with the new sunglasses again today. I think almost everyone recommended the Hex in black and, indeed, that's the pair I had chosen. I really wanted to love the Hex in the purple but I have to admit, I'm not really a brightly colored accessory kind of girl. Despite sweat rolling down my face, the sunglasses did great. I'll write a longer review this weekend.*
3. I am participating in Amanda's newest challenge, the "3 Changes Challenge". I've been feeling a bit stuck in a rut, so I'm hoping this will get me out of that. My changes are:

1. ) Start drinking a glass of water with every meal, plus a couple in between. I never drink enough water and as we approach summer, I really need to work on this. I figure if I drink a 12 oz glass of water with each meal, I've already hit 36 oz for the day. It shouldn't be too hard to get from there to 64.

2.) Stop mindless snacking between school pickup and dinner. As I'm making lunch for the next day and starting dinner, I often find myself snacking on whatever comes to hand. So far, thanks to all the running, this snacking hasn't led to much in the way of weight gain, but I can see it happening in the future. Plus, if I am hungry, I'd like to try harder to fill the need with fruits and veggies instead of plantain chips and pretzels.

3.) Start doing one thing each day that is just for me that does not involve the computer or running. I used to read all the time. I used to do cross stitch. I know there were other things, but the combination of two young kids and running so much has pushed everything else to the side. I'm trying to get back in the habit of sitting down for 15 minutes and doing something I want to do, instead of constantly hitting up facebook or blogs. This has been the hardest of the three so far, as I find myself getting majorly behind on my blog reader.

*The Hex sunglasses were given to me for review, opinions are my own.

Miscellany

Is it really only Tuesday? I'm having one of those weeks that seems to be flying by, yet hardly moving at the same time. I'm feeling rather scattered, so I'm going to be falling back on bullet points.

• I was supposed to run on Sunday, but my mid-day beer left me feeling highly unmotivated. Instead, I ran 4 miles yesterday on my usual rest day. I averaged a 9 minute pace, but my two middle miles were 8:37 and 8:41. It's been a while since I saw some 8s, so I was pretty happy.
• Today I ran 6 miles at a 9:47 pace. Sadly, they felt as hard as the fast ones did yesterday. My quads apparently did not appreciate fast miles yesterday after 20 miles on Saturday.
• I've pretty much thrown my training plan out the window. The combination of Wednesday long runs, spring break, and a rescheduled long run has gotten me so turned around I can't quite get back on track. I will get in my 20 next week as called for and I'm trying to hit the number of planned miles and that's going to have to suffice.
• The nice gentleman at Outside PR who sent me the GU (don't forget the giveaway if you haven't entered!) has sent me some of the Ryder sunglasses to review and giveaway. When I asked, I hoped he'd send me one pair to review. Instead, he generously sent me four pairs of active sunglasses (1 for review, three to giveaway) and a pair of casual glasses. The review will happen soon, one pair will be included in the "B.I.G" giveaway and the other two will be given away some other time in the near future. Stay tuned!

Two pairs of "Flange"

Two pairs of "Hex"

And a pair of "Duchess"

• Which of the top four should I keep? Beer Geek and I actually agreed on which pair and I've already taken them out running (and LOVED them), but I'm curious to hear what you all think. As far as the Duchess, I think they are a bit big for my face, but they will make awesome driving and poolside sunglasses this summer. (Apologies for the quality of the photos, I took them myself right before I headed out on a run.)
• Instead of posting yesterday and reading blogs today, I actually watched a movie. I never watch movies, but after several months of waiting, I was able to get Julie and Julia from the library. I knew Beer Geek wouldn't want to watch it, so I watched it in bits and pieces throughout the last two days. I enjoyed it so much that now I want to read the book.

Really, could my life be any more boring?

A near perfect weekend

Great weather.

A fun time volunteering at the Pacers 5k.

The best 20 miler I've ever run.

Lunch at a brewpub with my husband, father in law, and Shoo.

Really, could my weekend get any better? Yes, apparently it could.

We were invited to a little reception at a brewpub that is currently under construction. Master Brewer Bill Madden will be opening Mad Fox Brewing Company sometime early this summer. We've known Bill for a number of years and have followed him faithfully as he's brewed at a number of local brewpubs. We are beyond excited that we'll soon be able to drink his beers at his own brewpub. The only negative is that it's not walking distance from our house. Guess we'll be taking turns being the designated driver. ;o)

Beer Geek and Bill near a part of the soon to be assembled brewing system

The room where my 40th birthday party will take place.

(What better way to celebrate hitting masters status than hanging with friends at a brewpub?)

The best part about a reception at a brewpub? Even though Mad Fox is not yet brewing, there was still good beer to be had. Oh, and a glass or a t-shirt to add to the "Beer is Good" giveaway.

Yes, it was definitely a good weekend.

20 miles in the books

Yesterday evening, I volunteered at Pacers' Crystal Run 5k. I helped out with handing out bibs/chips before the race and then headed over to the finish line, planning to hand out waters to finishers. Well, in one of those cases of being in the right place at the right time, I got to be one of the people who got to hold the banner that the leading runner ran through. In fact, I got to do it twice - once for the first man and then again for the first woman. I'm pretty sure that I was more excited to get to do that than the winner runner was to win! My endorphin high from that was nearly as good as if I'd actually run the race.

The only negative was that I didn't really eat dinner and I certainly didn't drink enough. I had a small dinner when I got home and drank a couple of glasses of water. Then I headed to bed early. Unfortunately, I am a night owl, so just getting in bed early did not equal falling asleep early. The alarm (AKA Beer Geek) woke me up a bit after 5 and it took me almost 45 minutes to get out of bed. I was absolutely convinced my 20 miler was going to suck.

I was wrong!

I headed out just after 6:30, when it was nice and cool (45 degrees) with a plan of drinking every two miles and GU at miles 5, 10, and 15. I ended up doing most of my run in a nearby neighborhood that had quiet, shady streets and rolling hills, but no big hills. I wanted an average pace of 10:30, but wasn't sure I'd be able to manage it.

Mile 1: 10:28

Mile 2: 10:34

Mile 3:10:45 (walked to drink)

Mile 4: 10:28

Mile 5: 10:46 (walked to drink)

Mile 6: 10:51 (gu)

Mile 7: 10:26 (walked to drink)

Mile 8:10:12

Mile 9: 10:22 (walked to drink)

Mile 10: 10:17

Mile 11: 10:52 (gu)

Mile 12:10:27

Mile 13:10:42 (walked to drink)

Mile 14:10:11

Mile 15:10:21 (walked to drink)

Mile 16:10:46 (gu)

Mile 17:10:20 (walked to drink)

Mile 18:10:06

Mile 19:10:04 (walked to drink)

Mile 20: 10:03

20 miles in 3:29:00, first 10 in 1:45:08, second 10 in 1:43:52, with a 10:27 average pace. I even felt like I could have run another 6 miles, although it would have been slow going. I learned two key things today: Vanilla bean GU is my best fueling option and if I stay focused, taking a very short walk break to drink does not hurt my times.

After the run, we headed out for lunch and I made sure to refuel with a nice Russian Imperial Stout, proving once again that I will run for beer. Even better, I scored a lovely growler cooler (will also work for wine bottles or water) that will be included in my B.I.G. giveaway in May.*

*That would be the Beer is Good Giveaway. Don't forget my GU giveaway that is going on now!

Stilettos and GU

There was a point in my life where I was much more familiar with the former than the latter, but now that I'm a mommy runner, GU seems a bit more useful these days. So, I guess I'll give out a few Stilettos and some GU. ;o)

GU Giveaway:

The lovely folks over at Outside PR sent me a care package of GU products. I've sampled and reported on a few and will hopefully have a review of the Recovery Brew tomorrow after my 20 mile run. Since they were so generous, I'd like to share the love. Two! lucky winners will receive a package with the following: 1 Electrolyte Brew, 1 Recovery Brew, 1 package of Chomps, and 3 gels. See the photos below for flavors in each package.*

To enter, check out the GU website and come back and tell me what product you think you'd find most useful.

To receive additional entries in the giveaway (please leave a separate comment for each entry):

1. Become a follower or remind me that you are already a follower.

2. Tweet or blog about the giveaway and comment and let me know. (If you tweet it, make sure to include @mcmmama).

3. Help me come up with a word or words for my medal hanger. I'd like to get a custom one from here, but I'm not the most creative person in the world. ;o)

Giveaway ends at midnight on 4/21. Why? Because that's the date of my last 20 mile run and I might actually have time to mail the stuff out after that.

And some Stilettos:

Shelly at It's Just One Foot in Front of the Other recently gave me the Stiletto award. I'm incredibly flattered. Shelly is so inspiring as she gets out there almost every day and often twice a day, usually pushing a jogging stroller. Wow! And she's fast with that stroller too!

Lots of running bloggers inspire me, but this week I've been most inspired by all the runners who are heading to Boston. While I don't have any Boston aspirations, I am impressed by the dedication and hard work it takes to get there. So go check out these fast ladies:

Marcia at Running Off at the Mouth

Meg over at Meg Runs!

Emily at Sweat Once a Day

(I know that's not everyone I read who's heading to Boston, but Shoo wants lunch and

seems to think I should be doing something about that. Sheesh!)

*Apologies for the not so great photos. We left the camera bag with both cameras at Beer Geek's dad's over Easter, so I had to use my cell phone.

Three Things Thursday

1. As soon as I get motivated (aka as soon as it rains and some of the pollen goes away, so I feel like I have brains instead of just snot in my head), I will be doing a GU giveaway. I'm thinking two winners and I know it will include some gels, chomps and brews. Stay tuned. ;o)
2. This week has turned into a relatively low mileage week and I apparently needed it. The two weeks right before spring break were high mileage and exhausting. Then we left mid-day Friday, March 26 and didn't return until late afternoon Easter Sunday. Between the running, packing, unpacking, and daily living, the house looked like the FBI had tossed the place. Having some extra time allowed me to get things back to the normal chaos and I'm in a much better place mentally now. Yesterday, I spent the time I would have spent running decluttering the playroom. Seriously. It took me as long to straighten out the mess as it would have taken to run 20 miles. Normally, the boys would have been involved in the cleanup, but since they really hadn't played out there much this winter (it's a converted porch and is cold unless we turn on its heater), I took the chance to make some stuff "disappear". ;o)
3. Anyone use a gel flask? I'm liking the chomps, but the gel seems to work best for my stomach. The last time I ran with gel, though, I ended up all sticky. I looked at some options at REI today, but was wondering if anyone has used one and can give me feedback. Also, has anyone run a road race in trail shoes? I need hiking shoes for Alaska, but I'm also running a race while there. I'm trying to figure out if there is a shoe out there that would work for both. Any ideas?

And a Bonus for you - a picture from the finish line of the race. Yes, I wore the jacket the whole time. Every time I thought about taking it off, the wind or the rain picked up.

I may be crazy

But I'm not stupid.

Several of you suggested cutting my 20 miler short or rescheduling it, Beer Geek included. In fact, he offered me the option of running it Saturday morning while he watches the kids. Since I have two meetings this week and I'm volunteering at a race on Friday night, this was a huge offer on his part. He's already doing the lion's share of the kid watching. But, I'm taking him up on it. It's supposed to be much cooler on Saturday, plus I can start running at 6ish am instead of at 9:30am. I'll be done before the day really gets going.

Today I figured I'd try for 8-10 miles, but as soon as I walked out the door this morning to take the kids to school, I knew that wasn't happening. It was already quite warm and humid. Despite a week in Mississippi and warm days here, my body is not at all ready for this kind of weather. When I headed out the door around 9:30, it was already in the low 70s, humid, and really sunny. I set a goal of a minimum of four miles and a 10:00 minute pace. I ended up managing 5 miles in 50:45, with mile 5 being by far the slowest.

Had I planned to do 20 miles today, I'm pretty sure I still would have been done around 5. My Wisconsin blood just does not like warm weather, despite living in the south for the last 25 years LOL. By rearranging my schedule, I was able to have a "successful" run and know that I will still get a 20 miler in. The race in May starts at 6:30am. The chances of the first couple of hours being too hot are slim and hopefully by then I'll have acclimated to the weather a bit. I will do this marathon, I just might not do another. I really enjoy running up until about the 15 mile point. After that it just sucks. I'm beginning to wonder why I would take something I love to do and make it a chore?

Coming soon: A GU giveaway!!!

Excuses or reasons?

Today I planned to run an easy four miles. I ended up doing only 2.5 and walking the rest of the way home. It was a horrible, slow, slog of a run and I was just D.O.N.E. at the 2.5 mile point. Could I have pushed myself and finished? Probably. Did I have it in me mentally to get it done? Nope.

Possible causes for it sucking:

• It's 70 degrees and sunny out there, for the first time this spring.
• Even though my stomach bug was only 24 hours and not particularly bad, I didn't eat or drink much for a day.
• My legs are still wrecked from the hills.

I wonder, though, if these are valid reasons and it was smart to listen to my body or if I'm just making excuses for wussing out? I don't really know.

I have 20 miles on tap for tomorrow with an expected high of 90. I am not a warm weather runner by any stretch of the imagination. I'd postpone the run, but what if the marathon is hot? The race director won't be postponing the race just because I don't run well in the heat.

I'm struggling mentally with this race. It's normal for me to freak out the day before and morning of a race. I'm always convinced I can't do it, even if "it" is only a 10k. But I have nearly 6 weeks to go and a fair amount of training left and I'm already questioning why I'm doing this. I had hoped that taking it easy for a week would help me get mentally back in the game. While it did allow me to have some really enjoyable runs, it didn't really get me excited about really long runs. Maybe my original decision that marathons are not a good distance for me was right.

State #9: Rainy and Hilly

After a week of spring break down in Mississippi, we headed up to Lynchburg, Tennessee for the Oak Barrel Half Marathon. Poor Shoo had a stomach bug, so we ended up stopping multiple times for him. What should have been an 8 hour drive ended up being quite a bit longer. Finally, we made it to Lynchburg and headed over to the Jack Daniel's Distillery to pick up my race packet and take a tour.

The tour was awesome and I highly recommend taking it if you are ever in the area. I enjoyed it, despite hating the smell of whisky and suffering from flashbacks to college football games. ;o)

Saturday morning, Beer Geek woke me to tell me that a huge thunderstorm was going to hit right as the race started. I quickly headed over to the start line to pick up my timing chip (my one issue with the race organizers) and then came back to the hotel to stay dry as long as possible. Finally, I had to just accept that I was going to be wet. Beer Geek and the boys dropped me off near the start line, where I lucked out and ran into Missy! I had forgotten that in rural areas my cell battery doesn't last long, so my cell was dead and I missed her call. It was great to talk to her for a few minutes before the race started.

After an, umm, interesting rendition of the National Anthem, we were off! The race started out mostly flat, with lovely scenery. At one point, a herd of horses was running along the fence line with us. I had decided to run with my windbreaker on and was about to take it off when suddenly the wind and rain hit. At one point, the rain was coming sideways! Needless to say, I was drenched right down to my socks and underwear and it was only mile 3. We had been warned that mile 4-5 was a long uphill. I managed to run (and I'm using that term lightly) the first three quarters of that mile, but the last quarter was a challenge to even walk up. That mile ended up being slower than my next slowest mile by 2 minutes! (12:09). Once we survived that mile, there were 5 more of rolling hills and then the last four were flat to downhill.

I didn't really push myself too hard and ran comfortably for all except the last half mile. I would have liked to have hit 2:10, but ended up with 2:11:something, which was totally acceptable given the weather and the hills. All in all, this was a well organized race. The shirt is a nice long sleeve technical T and the medal was made from an oak barrel (it smells like Jack LOL). There were regularly spaced water and gatorade stops and fruit at one of the last stops. I ate a half a banana at mile 9 and found that real food works well for me! I highly recommend this race if you are ever in the area (but don't expect to PR with these hills LOL).

My jacket is actually a lighter blue - I'm completely soaked in this picture.

After the race, we hit the road to get up to Roanoke for the night. Because of the hills, I was already tight by the time we left and I didn't have time for an ice bath. When we got to Roanoke, I could barely walk! Thankfully, we stopped for dinner at the Bull and Bones Brewhaus and I was able to get my customary post race sampler. ;o)

Now I need to get everything unpacked and put away, while contending with the stomach bug that Shoo shared (at least it didn't happen during the race) and legs that still hurt.

Three Things Thursday

1. I registered myself and my dad for the Army 10 Miler last night. I happened to be on the computer late last night and discovered that when they said April 1, they meant 12:01 am. At this point, less than 24 hours later, 23,000+ of the spots are filled. I know I said I'd never do it again, but my dad really wants to run it and the logistics last year were not as bad as I remembered them being the previous time I ran it.

2. I ran 149.8 miles in March. Yes, that is way more miles than I've ever previously run in a single month. Yes, I am kicking myself for not running 0.2 more miles so that I hit 150. Now I feel the need to run 150 for the month of April so that I can say I did it (as I really never expect to run that many again.)

3. For various reasons, not the least of which is that this was a fallback week, I haven't run a huge amount this week. I've done one 4.5 mile and one 6.6 mile run. Both were fairly fast for me right now. I REALLY enjoyed not forcing the mileage and having my legs feel good enough to run fast. I'm looking forward to being done with the marathon and being able to focus on running fast and having fun again. Instead of running, I've been focusing on drinking and eating too much. I may need detox soon.