Lessons Learned (fingers crossed)

This is exactly why I purchased SPF 85 spray on Sunscreen today.

This is two showers + additional scrubbing later, you can imagine the mark in it's original state.

Listening to: We Own the Sky/ M83

Soaked up the Sun, Got my 45 on

                                                       Yep the odometer says 45 miles :)

Possibly tomorrow I will post a picture of wicked sunburn # 2 of the year... although I did attempt to put sunblock on today, I couldn't be bothered to reach around to my completely exposed shoulders. As it stands now I have funny burn lines outlining my tank top and hand prints in addition to the cycling shorts tan I acquired last weekend. Wish I had a camera with me to record the excellent example of a chain ring tattoo that I so artfully crafted over the entirety of my right leg when I came to an abrupt stop at an intersection. I've heard they're also called "rookie marks" so I better try a bit harder to avoid touching the right side of my bike. 

It was phenomenally large, even for me : )

It's also worth mentioning that ice cream, while an excellent choice post ride, consuming while still on a bike ride is not so much a good idea. Guess we'll have to look into nutrition for long rides, GU's and Shot Bloks just aren't going to cut it.

Coming to a City Near You!

I've been meaning to write this post for sometime now, haven't had much down time lately but it's too big a deal to keep quiet any longer. Angela, Kris and I are riding our very first Century in a little less than 4 weeks! We've all signed up for the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure. I'm getting pretty excited about it, if a little nervous. As of today my longest ride is only a 35 mile trek. While my overall mileage is slowly growing, I wish my puny muscles and endurance would follow suit. I am at least trying to prepare. If the weather would cooperate it would be a bit more helpful.

However, in the last 12 days I've managed to ride the following:

31 miles of the Syracuse 70.3, 17 miles with hill repeats, a FAST 18 of the Iron Girl, 30 on the Tour de Loop course with a 5 mile detour to Fair Haven Beach, a recovery 12 on the Iron Girl course in the rain, and a 14 miler on our normal roller route on the Loop. A grand total of 127 miles. While I wish that number was higher I should mention that I also did the 5k and a few swim workouts, lifting, and short runs on top of all the biking.

So as usual we signed up for a ride that's a bit over our heads and probably going to leave us walking funny for a good week, but man will it feel good to ride across that finish line! And the best part I think is the cause we're riding for, to raise awareness and funds for the American Diabetes Association. There are so many people that are affected by Diabetes, who deal with it on a daily basis whether it be themselves or a family member, I feel like the least I can do is show up to ride, raise a little money and give a worthy cause my support for the day. Hopefully I can bring in a few more donations and get some long rides in before the 100 miler!

Let the Fur Fly

 6 Legged 5k! 

 This morning we ran our first 5k of the season. After a 31 mile hilly bike ride yesterday we were both dragging a little, lucky for me I had Boomer to literally pull me through. It was a fun race and the proceeds went to a great cause, The Syracuse SPCA. There were a lot of fellow dog lovers all out enjoying themselves with their furry friends. We ran past a girl and her black lab who had decided he had enough of running and did a belly flop into a big mud puddle. I love that animals never take themselves too seriously. I thought this was a great race to start off with, lots of fun distractions, fun people and their canine counterparts and a very laid back atmosphere... my kind of race!

Boomer and I crossed the finish line at around 28 minutes and then he ran the last 100 yards with Angela as she finished shortly after.

I was certain Boomer would misbehave and definitely trip me at least once but he behaved like a perfect gentleman and happily made doggy friends jogging along like an old pro. He made me proud : )

He's been pretty much out cold since we got in the car to drive home and a few minutes ago he was catching a snooze giving his paws a well deserved rest!

Running Buddies!

Listening to: One Foot/ Fun.

Battle Wounds

So today was interesting. I expect to get clobbered in an open water swim, cut up my feet and nearly drown, I've fallen off my bike and been stung by a bee while out riding... where I don't expect to get hurt is out on a run. Guess what happened today?

It was a gorgeous day out, coming off a cold and snowy two day stint we managed to climb back in to the 50's with sunny skies. I thought I'd bring Boomer since it was good running weather. The 2-3 miles were a bit of a struggle, adjusting to warmer weather and being pulled around by my overjoyed pup was wearing me out. In the last 200 yards or so I felt rough but just wanted to finish so I kept going. Boomer was just ahead no longer pulling, just panting and looking forward to being done as well. Out of nowhere the toe of my sneaker decided to pin itself to the concrete and it was as if the necessary message from my brain to my foot got intercepted and I tripped, turned over my stubbornly non responsive ankle, hyper extending it, swore and essentially slid through the gravel like I was stealing home. Good old Boomer just stopped and looked back with an expression like, are you kidding me right now? I gimped back to the car with Angela and tried not to think about how much it was going to suck trying to clean out the dirt and gravel. To top it all off I ripped my favorite running tights and my knees were cut up underneath. So all-in-all not a great run, possibly one day I will acquire the dexterity required to move and breathe at the same time :)

I'm just hoping my hands don't get infected, I couldn't clean the cuts any better than I did but they don't look so hot at the moment... it would also be nice to avoid any lasting damage to my ankle, fingers crossed.

Ouch : (

Listening to: Some Nights/ Fun.

Simple Little Kind of Free

This morning I happily awoke to slightly more than 2 inches of new snow. Although I'm down my usual workout partner I always have my faithful backup of the four legged variety. After passing most of the morning grumbling about all my sore muscles from yesterday's run we geared up for snow and headed out for a cross country trek.

Conditions were less than ideal for me and my skis but for Boomer they were absolutely perfect. I decided to keep him leashed for the first section along the road for his safety but as soon as we turned away I set him loose. Rarely do you see such joy as in an animal running free, I think Boom was channeling his inner greyhound today as he went flying ahead of me and charging back. Lucky for me he never goes too far and almost always comes back once I call, only occasionally taking the scenic route.

After our last run when we were chased down by a rottie, I have been a little reluctant to take Boomer along. At least I know I can scream loud enough to elicit help. Lucky for us even though the dog nipped at him a few times and I had to pick him up over my head, the neighbors helped us escape shaken but unharmed. It would be nice not to have to worry about these things, but if it's a choice between my dog's health/ happiness and the occasional mishap I guess it's better to take your chances. Although if I have to, I might buy dog repellent spray to carry with me for our own safety. As much as I hate the idea of ever harming an animal, I would have gone down fighting that rottie if it had attacked any worse than it did. I'm crossing my fingers it never happens again!

Listening to: Born to Run/ Bruce Springsteen

This One's for the Girls

I dragged my sleepy self from a nice warm bed this morning to brave winter winds and the cold hard pavement. I met the Tri group at the Y despite my reservations that I wouldn't be able to keep up. My last run was about 2 weeks ago at the college with Angela, I didn't make it much more than a mile and had to walk on and off more than usual. It's easy to get discouraged with running, too many bad days that leave you questioning your capability and then seemingly random good days that have you guessing what exactly it is that contributes to those vast differences.

Today was a little of both. First off I'll mention that our group today consisted of three very active men and then me... Luckily for me they did one of their easy runs so that I could attempt to keep up. I did manage to keep up for almost two miles, slightly out of breath. Before hitting the two mile mark however a problem that I've been having for awhile attacked with vengeance... lately when I run, about 10 minutes in I get cramps so bad I can barely move, feel like puking and sometimes find it hard to breathe. And by cramps I don't mean in my legs : ) The only way to get through it is to stop and breathe deeply for about 3 minutes while attempting to walk and not immediately fall to the ground in the fetal position (yes it hurts that bad). So not the kind of thing you want to happen when running with a bunch of guys. I pulled the girl card though, I would rather do that than puke in front of them. The good thing about the whole debacle is that directly after the pain goes away I can run all day without having another symptom. So I decided to try and meet them when they looped back around.

After my brief walk I started jogging, weaving up and down the side streets probably freaking out the neighborhood with my haphazard route that had me circling the same area so much that it's a miracle I didn't make myself dizzy. After awhile I figured I must have missed them or misunderstood the route so I headed back to the YMCA. When I got there I kept going because I felt lame ending my run early so I threw in a bridge loop, as I turned for home I spotted them and met them back at the starting point. So in the end I ran for about as long as they did, I had to walk that one time but I was shocked when I got home, mapped my run and saw that I actually did make it to the 5 mile mark. It's nice to know I still have it in me even in the off season.

Listening to: Charlie Brown/ Coldplay