Zooma Annapolis - Part 1

Hubby and I headed North on Friday. Well we went South for a split second until I yelled out, "Hey, why are we going South?" Poor hubby was on autopilot. We made it to Annapolis without any trouble, and we had the great idea to drive the course before rush hour hit. Little did we know how nuts Annapolis is on Friday afternoon. Also, the prime comment from the hubs was, "Did a drunk guy lay out this town." Crazy side streets, narrow passages, and odd one ways. It was a little tense in the car trying to follow the crazy map and no Verizon reception.

Not sure about the crazy birds that were all over the sidewalks. The town is cute, but I can't say that I got to enjoy more than a small bit of it. We did make a stop at the Navy Campus Store to buy a present for our good friend who was watching the little monster guy.

I failed to take a single picture of the expo, but I did buy some really cute shirts. And caught up with some awesome Tough Chiks: Katye, Tonia, and Katie.

Hubby bought me the Wonder Woman bike jersey after the race. He is awesome.

I caught up with a Mom"s Run This Town buddy and we caught up with Emma. She has a picture of us at dinner at an awesome restaurant and the hideous bridge (foreboding music here). I highly recommend Osteria 177, and they have a $200 cocktail. Not that I will ever spend that kind of a money of a drink.

Then it was Flat Momma time, and wind down time to get ready for the early time ... In the heat.

Taken before we left because I'm OCD.

 

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What not to do before you run a half marathon!

Accessory to the crime. Just look how dirty that thing is. Screams criminal.

How can I be such a klutz? I got through a long spring racing season with minimal ITB issues, no colds or illnesses, otherwise all healthy. That is until three days before my last race before the Fall. Oh well, at least I keep things interesting.

Thank goodness for the plethora of sports medicine docs in my hometown. One was able to squeeze me into his schedule yesterday. I was begging him to just please drain it. Little did I know the technology has vastly improved from my athletic training days. He whipped out this little tool, drained out the blood, and instant relief. Woohoo!

So, the verdict for today. I'm guilty as charged of being a klutz. The iPad will get a thorough cleaning for being a dirty accessory to the crime. And the poor victim looks like rather black, blue, and green, but is otherwise healing nicely. I just hope for a decent recovery before 7 am tomorrow.

And because I am a nerd, just how many times will toe hit the ground over the course of a half marathon?

90 foot strikes on the left per minute X 120 minutes to complete a half = 108,000 hits.

Wish me luck.

 

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Long Run with Hubby Support

So it's taper time for next week's half in Annapolis. We were out of town for a few days at my inlaws, and I needed to get 6 miles in. This is definitely on the shorter end of my long runs these days. Never thought those words would come out of my mouth. Being out of town meant no run with my buddies that I have come to rely on these last several months.

My inlaws live in the middle of nowhere. It's quiet and peaceful and very flat, think pancakes. If I head out from their house and take a right, I can get three miles before hitting the main road. Perfect for a 6 miler except for I am now spooked. You don't see any, make that no, runners out here, but you see lots of hunters. I wish I didn't think this way but a run where I am looking over my shoulder the entire time is not how I envision a peaceful time.

This is where hubby became my hero this weekend. He got to use his new toy, a fat tire bike with a borrowed basket. He kept calling himself my mobile SAG. He was so proud of himself.

Just a really cool shot. We are in the middle of nowhere.

Pretend you only see the cows and beautiful day in the background. There is no heel striking and over-striding here. Nope, you don't see any of that. I promise as soon as this half is over, I'm going to have a gait analysis and start back on my core strengthening. If I don't, someone please smack me.

The mandatory action shot.

And the staged shot to show off the bike. I have one awesome hubby to cruise around and keep me company for 6 miles. Thanks and love you dude.

The other crazy part about this run. I purposely waited until 11:00 am to run so it would be warmer. Next week in Annapolis, the low is 70 and a high of 80, and I was not successful at any heat acclimation with this run. I'm not sure what's going on with this crazy weather, I only wish it would last one week. This girl is going to melt into a puddle.

And thanks Emma, the new Lucy top was awesome. Cool and comfortable, lots of pockets, just wish it wasn't quite so see through. The hubby liked that part. ;)

And because my hubby made the effort to video me. Please ignore me adjusting my shorts. Oh well.

 

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I've been a bad, bad blogger

I've had two recent great races and I haven't posted a single word other than through Twitter. I wish I had a better excuse, but back to back race weekends, crazy work deadlines, being a mom/wife, and then Boston happened. I just didn't feel like a blogging for a while.

I'm going to try to do a quick rewind and catch up in the next couple of days. So please be patient with me.

 

 

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Cherry Blossom Race

So, better late than never.

Do I look ready? I felt ready except I still didn't have a race strategy. And it was colder than I expected it to be.

 

Can you feel the cold? This was one of the few blooming trees we saw. I did see one cherry tree in bloom on the course, but I didn't stop to take a photo. Maybe a few more blooms would have distracted me a little more on the LONG second half.

But I digress. The race start was crowded beyond belief. I couldn't even get into my corral without considerable effort. I could see the 9:00 pacers but couldn't reach them. I thought I would catch up with them, but that didn't happen. They started all the corrals one right after another, so there was quite a bit of weaving and jumping over curbs for the first two miles. The scenery was gorgeous once we got going.

The back of the course along Hain's Point was windy and LONG. Are you hearing the theme? I didn't think I was ever going to see the turn-around point. But it finally came. I did like the extra touch of having the half mile markers at the end.

Oh, and the pacers, I passed them because they didn't carry the signs with them. Are you kidding me? I guess I was spoiled from the phenomenal pacers at Shamrock. So this race was much harder because I was doing the hard work of running and pacing. Oh, but I guess that's why I run races. No one promised it would be easy.

I did manage to have pretty consistent splits except for mile 2 where I was trying to get around people and find the pacers. Overall, I was very happy with my time. And yes, it was a cool morning.

All smiles at the end.

I had to throw this one in because the girl's face beside me cracks me up.

Loved the flags coming to the uphill finish. Have no idea what I was doing with my arms.

I will admit that the ITB was not happy with me, so I did find some ice and a new friend. Pam a teammate from Team Tough Chik, hence the fun team clothes.

And stick with me just a little bit longer. One of the cools things was the extra analysis they posted of your race. This was very cool for a tech nerd like me.

Overall, I'm glad I did this one, but can't say that I will be back any time soon to do it again.

 

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Cherry Blossom Before the Race

M, K, & I headed up to DC on Saturday for packet pickup. Girls on the loose in DC. Watch out or not because we are lame. First stop was to drop off our bags before hitting the expo at The National Building Museum. The building was amazing.

Photo

Packet pickup was easy, but they were out of the shirt size that M ordered. Frustrating, but they did offer to mail her a replacement shirt. They should have had enough for everyone, but I'm glad they had an answer for their snafu. There were quite a few vendors, and I let my arm get twisted into signing up for another half marathon, Zooma Annapolis. I met the owner, Brae, and when she explained how she started the race series, I was sold and 20% off helped too.

After the expo, we walked around a bit to see a few sights.

Just because I'm a Mickey nerd.

Hoping we see lots of blooms tomorrow.

A much needed pitstop for refreshments.

I'm glad I don't have to look at that backdrop every day. I can feel the calories oozing off the wall.

The grasshopper.

And legs up the wall after too much walking before a 10 mile race.

We had a wonderful dinner (forgot to take pictures), and then headed back for an early bedtime.

I know we are in the right spot when this is what I found in the hotel room.

Jelly Bellys for Jilly Bean.

 

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Cherry Blossom - here I come

 

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