Happy Halloween....and Sunday Ride!

It feels like it's been forever since I've had a really good ride on my bike, or any ride at that. I did ride last weekend, but it was only 20 miles, and it was just an easy hang out ride. Not to say the ride today wasn't an easy hang out ride, but it was 37 miles (which is decent), through hilly (but not that bad) N. Raleigh. It was a GORGEOUS ride! The weather is great and I was super excited to be able to get out on my bike and get it done.

Kim, Bob, and I meet at Pleasant Union School (so that we would miss the traffic infused areas on our bike roads) and took off for Falls Lake (Rolling View). The best part a surprise newly paved road. Nothing like nice smooth road to ride on! *smiles* While we were riding along down the route I've done a bunch with Kim (mostly last winter) I noticed this sign:

A little ironic that it's Halloween and I noticed this street sign. It would of been cooler if they had it all decorated up...ohh well.

We made it to Falls Lake and took a quick break at the boat ramps (where the bathrooms are), and I had Kim take a picture of me and Bob. I talk about him every now and again and though you all might want to see what he looks like!!*smiles* Bob is Kim's neighbor and "coach" for running. We were doing a normal Sunday Bob Ride for awhile, riding from Kim and Bob neighborhood and out to Falls Lake.

Now it's time for a shower and getting ready to go Trick or Treating with one of my Best Friends little ones! Happy Halloween everyone!!

Bob's Big Block Run...10 miler!

I woke up this morning happy that we weren't planning on meeting for the run until 9 am. It was COLD and FOGGY when I got up to walk Scout.


(the fog on the morning walk with Scout)

Jason decided to sleep in a little and go for a shorter run in the neighborhood, so our friend Chris came over and picked me up since we were doing the run together with Kim and Bob (who live where we were going to run). Chris made it to my house almost on time (he is notorious for being late for runs) and we headed over. The fog had mostly cleared and the temp went from 36 to 42 which is a pretty decent difference. I still decided to wear my tights, t-shirt, long sleeve hoodie running shirt (that I got at REI and LOVE) AND my Nike vest....ohh and some gloves to, that I knew I wouldn't hold onto for long but I had pockets to stuff them in.


(Kim and Chris before the run, Ebony -Kim's Dog- really wanted to be in the pic too)



(Kim and I before the run...notice all the layers)

The 10 Mile Big Block was EPIC....well it was interesting none the less. I've seen a ton of people running along Six Forks in the past, but I didn't know what the "official" route was. Not sure it's official anyways, but it sure felt right. I got a little lost and was glad the peeps didn't leave me yet when we got into the neighborhood, and the first part of the greenway. Kim, Bob, and Chris did an AWESOME job with their intervals and running. I on the other hand had a little hip issue and took a couple more walk breaks to work on stretching out my hamstring/glut area so I could keep going. At about mile 8 I was too HOT to keep all my layers on, so I went through the ordeal of shedding my AWESOME hoodie running shirt. Then when I was on the home stretch I got stuck going through the tunnel with the Asian Walking Group (whole big group of people WALKING at a slow pace and enjoying the day). After I got through the tunnel I started my run back again, got stopped by a phone call (weird because no one calls me, and everyone who knows me knew I was out running...and somehow I couldn't get it to go to voicemail...so I ended up answering the phone and telling the person I'd call them back after the run). I finished up my run with a 11:27 min/mile average, My fastest pace was 8:36 (I'm sure I was running downhill somewhere) I climbed 518 feet on the run and supposedly burned 1315 calories.

After the run we went to I HOP (which just opened down the street). Yum breakfast food after a good run. While waiting to be seated we were stretching a little on the sidewalk, and Kim looked down and noticed she had 2 different shoes on. These are not the shoes she ran in, she changed before heading over to I HOP. HA! Classic.


(Kim's Shoes 1= Saucony, 1= Brooks)

Friday Morning Run..

I'm back again....I'm going to try and be better about posting. This week has been rough (that doesn't excuse the rest of the time), kinda been in a funk. Ready to be back on track. Quick back track...after Disney got a wicked sinus infection, then the antibiotics literally flushed out my system so I had to deal with that for awhile. Now I'm just in the Fall Blahs.

Today I woke up and said...I need to run. More than that I need to get my sweet boy out there running too, it's finally getting cool enough that I can take him for short runs again. Scout loves to run, well he loves the first mile of running and then he isn't sure. It helps if I take him to Umstead (State Park with trails) or fun places like that. However today we just ran around the neighborhood. I'm really hoping to get him tired enough that I can get in and clean his teeth. (I haven't been able to do that for awhile, and when I called the vet for an estimate it was $415-$750....YIKES!). Since it's what I do (on people usually) I'm hoping that this run will tire him out enough for me to at least do some.

The morning was cool, we started running and the temp was 50 degrees, it didn't warm up, but I did. I decided to wear my Nike Vest (the one I got when I did the Nike Women's Marathon in 2008). It was perfect with a long sleeve dry-wick shirt, and shorts. There were a bunch of people out walking and some out with their dogs. It gets tricky running by people with dogs, I usually try to cross the street, if I can, just to avoid crazy dog greetings. While I was running up one of the small hills on Falls River Ave there were two ladies walking their two dogs (boxer and mutt) and I crossed to the other side of the street (where the sidewalk was closed), and of course the two dogs were barking and wanting to play (probably). If Scout is running he is usually focused on the task at hand, but he can still get distracted. We ran through the Estate section of the hood, which I usually like to do to add on some distance without having to go down the street that doesn't have sidewalks (Dunn Rd). Usually Scout puts on the breaks when I try to take him into the Estates section, but he came along just fine today (YAY!). As I was running up the bigger hill on Bedfordtown Drive the same two ladies plus one more, and the same two dogs were coming down the sidewalk. I was really hoping that since I was struggling running UP the HILL they would be nice and move to the other side of the street, but they were oblivious to most anything. So as I got closer and they still didn't move AT ALL (taking up the entire sidewalk), I ran up the hill of someones yard to let them pass. They ladies (bless their little hearts....it's a southern thing) could not even keep their dogs on the sidewalk, luckily for me Scout was being very good and he just sat there and didn't try to engage with the two dogs. The two dogs both pulled their owners up the yard hill towards me and Scout and finally they got them back on the sidewalk and past me a little bit, so I finished running up the hill. I think the little Grrr moment got me up the hill a little faster than normal.



(Scout and I after the run)


Anywho- now I'm going to see if I can get Scout to lie still for a bit so I can scrape at his teeth......wish me luck.

Disney Trip and Wine and Dine Half Marathon

What an AWESOME time we had! The race was AMAZING, the trip was fun and good times were had!!

We got there on Thursday....and got to eat at the Flying Fish. Yummy food.

Friday we spent the day at the Magic Kingdom, and ended the day with Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. We were trying to stay up as long as possible so that we could sleep in the next morning.

Saturday was race day. We hung out for most of the day hanging around the hotel and pool, went to the Expo (packet pick-up). We ate at Wolfgang Pucks in Downtown Disney and then got ready for the race. We had to be at ESPN by 8 pm. Which means we had to take the bus by 7:30 pm. The race started at 10 pm. Of course we had to drop off our bags to bag check. Then we sat around in the grass waiting. Finally we made our last stops to the porta potty's and water stop, then off to the corrals. 3 of us (Kim, Chris, and I) were in Corral B, and Jason was in Corral C...but we snuck him into the corral with us. We waited for a really long time and then the wheelchair racers had their start. And then off we went.

We started with a bang.....well firework to be specific.

We met lot's of characters along the way.

The 4 of us were together for the first mile or so, then Kim, Chris and I were hanging out together. Kim and I stayed together up to almost mile 11 and then I told her to go on..I needed a few more walk breaks.

Overall I had a great race! Everyone had fun and enjoyed themselves on the run.

The bag pick up at the end was a cluster. It was the worst race organization I have ever seen. EEEKKK! The after party was WAY to crowded. And the lines for the small bathrooms at the world showcase were ridiculous. I know next year if I do this race, I will have someone hold my bags, they can also use my taste and sip tickets, and once I finish we can leave!!

I'll write up more about this soon....but today I just wanted to get something up so people would know!!*smiles*