A weekend of Grace

Saturday was the Tour de Grace in Louisburg, NC. My friend Kim and I drove out to the ride start on Saturday morning. We got there just in time...but we got a nice tour of Rolesville and Louisburg on the was there. Our original plan was to do the 52 mile ride. There were two rides to choose from 32 and 52 miles. As we got through most of the ride I was really feeling the hills of the ride and my neck and shoulders were bothering me, so we cut off a small loop of the ride and ended up doing 48 miles instead. No worries though because it's a RIDE not a RACE. It was fun going down some of the hills going 30 mph, but it wasn't as much fun going up the hills going 7 mph. Kim is an excellent cyclist and a great hill climber so this ride was right up her alley, I on the other hand have less skills, but really enjoy the challenge. I averaged 16 mph throughout the 48 mile ride....not to bad considering the hills!! After the ride and a quick stretch we went to get pizza (YUM), and wine as well. It was a truly wonderful morning through afternoon.





Sunday was the Race of Grace 5K at 4 pm in downtown Raleigh. I went again with my friend Kim and her Mom. We had a great time, even though it was toasty out. It had been threatening rain all day so I wore my long sleeve high viz yellow shirt. It was a nice little route. I had a really nice time. There were some kids that were running in and out of where I was running. They'd walk and then run like crazy and then walk again. Funny thing I heard while I was running along....after I passed a couple of ladies and mentioned that I would love to run like the little girl who went buzzing by. After I passed the ladies I heard one of them say, that she was amazed that I could run like I run since I was so big. Funny thing is that I am big...but not that big! HA!! It makes me laugh.

It was a "Graceful" weekend!*smiles*

My Friend gave me a Gift!

For awhile now I've noticed my "cool" friends have had these "safety" bracelets on. I think they are AWESOME! The cool thing about them is that they have vital information that is attached to you while you ride, run, or even swim. The Road ID is easy to wear and very visible. Of course I love it too because it's PURPLE!! It comes in many other colors if purple isn't your thing like it is mine. Check out the website to see what other products are available as well. So my friend surprised me with a Road ID, and I am so happy happy happy to have this cool safety bracelet!

http://www.roadid.com/Common/Catalog.aspx?C=RoadID#5

What a Run can do?

I feel like I was meant to go for a run today....I guess I was.

Today I wanted to go for a 40 minute run through the neighborhood. It's Wednesday and I didn't get called in for a job (for those of you who don't know I work on Tuesdays and Thursdays and do temp work or volunteer on the other day), so I decided to go for a 40 minute run through the neighborhood. Scout (my 7 year old Chocolate Lab) gave me the puppy eyes and "asked" if he could come along. Sure I thought, it's cool enough out I think Scout can handle this run. Off we go through my "normal" route around the hood, knowing that I would add on a little at the end (normal run is a 30 min run). We'll just say my neighborhood isn't flat, and I have the elevation levels from my new running app to prove it. There is one section through the neighborhood that I have to pull Scout through....and I do until I he calms down, it's funny because it's the Estate Section. After we got through 30 minutes of the run Scout had slowed down a lot and his tongue was hanging out, ohh and those eyes were saying: "Please stop Mommy....PLLLLEEEEAAAASSSSEEEEE!". So I decided to give up my 40 minute run and be happy with just 30 mintues. We ended up near some of the green spaces in the neighborhood. So I let Scout roam around (still on his leash) the green area. I kept hearing this weird sound....at first I thought it was someone "yelling" for help, so I looked down the street where the sound was coming from, but I didn't see anything. Then it sounded like a strange cat "meow". It was a sporadic "MEOW" "MEOW" "MEOW". I couldn't see a cat, dog, person...anything so I figured that the animal was in someone's backyard. Scout and I started to walk home when another lady with her dog came walking up the street so we split the road. Once we both (the other lady and myself) got to the cross street the "Meowing" came in earnest. We looked down that street and saw a little old lady who had fallen and couldn't get up. She was obscured to me when I was hearing her at first because she had a for sale sign in her front yard. I tied Scout up to a tree and the other lady took her dog back home (she lived around the corner) and we ended up fireman carrying her into her house and she called her son to come take care of her. After getting her a bottle of water from the fridge, the phone and some paper and pen we (the other dog lady and I) ended up leaving her with her next door neighbor. So I guess it was a good thing that Scout only wanted to do a 30 minute run today. I think he saved her day.

2010 Cycle NC Spring Ride, in Edenton, NC

What a GREAT weekend of Riding and Friends! I love being able to get out on my bike and just enjoy the day, I love it more when I am surrounded by others who enjoy the same thing.

The original plan was to drive to Edenton on Thursday night after work, pitch our tents and get a good nights sleep and do a 50-ish mile ride when we got up. After considering the time frame of when we would get to Edenton we decided to wait to leave on Friday morning and get to Edenton in time to set up, eat lunch, and do a shorter ride. Well, I'm glad the original plan didn't work out for us because Thursday night in Edenton was a doozy. Apparently it rained cats and dogs all night long (as it did here in Raleigh) and on top of that a small tornado popped out and had a little fun at the camp site. I didn't hear that anyone was hurt, thank goodness, but I did hear some stories. One tent flew 6 blocks away, a tree landed on a tent with someone in it (but not on the person), a chimney fell off the Barker House (one of the places hosting our big dinner Saturday night), so needless to say there was a lot of noise and wetness on Thursday night.

When we arrived on Friday the weather was still iffy. People were in pretty good spirits, but there were lots of puddles to go around to find a good spot to pitch the tents. Kim, Bob, and I drove down together. Kim and I have been friends and training partners for awhile and we did the Spring ride last year together. Bob is Kim's 71 year old neighbor who (when the weather is good) does a weekly 45 mile ride with Kim, along with other rides throughout the week. Ohh the joys of being retired. Kim and I were sharing a tent, and in fact she had pretty much lent me most of the camping stuff I have (minus the camp mat that I wrote about in the last post). We found our "ideal" camp area (anyway from the main group but not to far away from the showers and toilets), and set up 3 tents (one for Kim and I, Bob's tent, and one for Ruth and Jake), we didn't have Janet and Jason's tent but we held a spot for them with our camp chairs. After getting all of our stuff together we changed into cycling gear got our bikes together and went out in search of lunch. A very nice woman from Edenton suggested our lunch location (The Edenton Bay Oyster Bar) and told us how to get there on our bikes. Off we went with happy thoughts of a good lunch to fuel our ride. Ahhh but on our short little jaunt to the restaurant it decided to down pour on us. So we ended up soaked to the bone and barely able to see the sign to the restaurant, but we made it there. They welcomed us in and gave us a warm batch of hush puppies (YUMMY), because the felt so bad for us. While eating the sun came out and it looked like the day was going to turn out alright after all.



After our satisfying lunch we went out and did a 10 mile ride to test out the weather, and after the 10 mile route we did a 23 mile route and it was beautiful. We passed by the sound, the marshy trees, beautiful fields, and a few cows. There was a little bit of wind but it didn't seem to bad. There is a paper mill in a near by town so there were a few big trucks coming by and the only scary moment of the "ride" on Friday was when we were waiting to cross over a street a big truck came hauling down the street we were waiting to cross and nearly knocked us over as we were standing with our feet on the ground. When we got back to the camp site, Ruth and Jake had arrived and we all set out to get dinner (after our shower). We ended up at Watermans and just in time, got a table right away and had a good dinner. Kim and I stayed up and sampled some of the beer out of the canoe at the Trading Company's back patio, while waiting for Janet and Jason to arrive. They made it there at about 9:45 and we held lights up while they set up their tent. It was a cold night and I was really glad I brought my snuggie, cause it kept me nice and cozy through the night.


Saturday was an Amazing Day. Woke up a little cold still, but knew it was going to warm up to a comfortable temperature. Went in search of some Hot Chocolate (it was cold and I don't drink coffee). The first place we went to turned out to be a dud, it was sad because we waiting to see if they had hot chocolate, then ordered it 3 times and finally gave up as it seemed they were never going to actually make it. We ended up going across the street to the coffee house (DUH) and they were AWESOME!! They had their act together and Kim and I were sipping some tasty hot chocolate in no time. Back to the camp site we went and had our breakfast of bagels and peanut butter and Kim had her orange. Into our cycling gear we got and decisions were made about mileage. The Girls (Ruth, Kim, Janet and I) had been out on our bikes a few more times then the guys (Bob, Jake, and Jason). So the Girls decided on the 53 mile route while the Boys decided on a 35 mile route. Kim, Janet, and I were wearing our cereal jerseys so our tradition of being the "Cereal Killers" could continue, and Ruth wore her Oscar the Grouch Jersey. We had a fun time, but the wind was brutal and it felt like it followed us around to taunt us at every turn changing direction just so it could be a headwind. Needless to say our 53 mile bike ride felt like it was 153 mile bike ride. I don't know if there were any truly easy spots on the ride (because of the wind).

At the first rest stop we reloaded with a few M&M cookies, empty out what needed to go out in the porta-johns, and got our picture taken from a guy who works for Kellogg's. Our cereal jerseys are all Kellogg's- Frosted Flakes (Kim), Fruit Loops (Janet), Corn Pops (me), and Stephanie who wasn't here on this trip has the Rice Krispie Jersey. At the second rest stop they had COKE and I was HAPPY! They also had PB&J sandwiches, bananas, trail mix, cookies, and a raffle for free beer. I am very lucky to be able to ride with some of my very speedy friends and some day I will be able to keep up with them. Towards the end of the ride the wind started to die down, but of course by then I was spent and Janet was hurting a little. Kim was happy, but Kim is ALWAYS HAPPY. Ruth who pulled us a good bit of the way decided to put her legs to use and ride the last 5-7 miles going 20mph.....she is a ROCK STAR!! I was never so happy to see our shower truck! Lunch was found after we took a shower and a some time to stretch. Saturday night was the free dinner that came with our weekend, but after our late lunch I was having a hard time finding room to eat anything. I did however find room for the free beer. The night ended again with a bunch of us at the back patio of the Trading Company.



Sunday dawned after a very windy night....or at least it sounded like it in the tent. We reevaluated how we felt and some of us went out for the 23 mile ride. We made Jason lead because we figured his legs were in the best shape of all of us. It was a beautiful ride (in fact it was the same ride as I did on Friday), with great friends. Jason and Ruth even ended up switching up bikes so Jason could see what a Tri bike feels like. I'm not sure he fully understood the awesomeness of Ruth's bike. I mean I haven't even ridden Ruth's bike. In fact I am scared to ride Ruth's bike (I don't want to be the one to fall and scratch her baby). After the ride we took our showers, packed up our camp sites and got all the cars packed up for the ride home. Ruth and Jake said goodbye and headed back to Raleigh, while the rest of decided to find some Sunday Brunch. Yummy food was found again, and after brunch we said bye to Janet and Jason and Kim drove us back to Raleigh.

I had wonderful time hanging out with my bicycle friends this weekend. I love to be on my bike, outside, enjoying my surroundings. Maybe next year more of you....will join me!!

Getting Ready for Cycle NC Spring Ride....

Whew....it's been a little crazy around here. Lot's of fun stuff happening, and lot's of Yellow Pollen falling from our Carolina Pine Trees. Allergy Season is HERE!!

I've packed up all my stuff (I think) for the drive down to Edenton, NC, just waiting for my ride (my friend Kim is picking me up along with Bob her neighbor and cycling friend - he's only 71 years old and still kickin'!). I realized that I hadn't blogged about this yet so here it goes.

Cycle NC has two rides a Spring Ride held this weekend that is a weekend of riding from one location (that changes every year), usually near the coast (flat). They also have a Fall Ride that goes from the Mountains to the Coast and is a week long. On the Fall Ride you go from point to point camp and hang out. On the Spring Ride you set up camp once and have different routes you can to every day. They have routes from 5 miles - 100 miles. The routes they have available for the day have rest stops on them with food (trail mix, fruit, pb&j, etc) and drinks (water and sports drink). It's not a race, and no one gets a medal for coming back the quickest....and there is no official start time. Ahhhhh, so nice.

I debated on which bike I was going to take this weekend. I was 3 bikes now, a mountain bike (that wasn't in contention for doing a lot of riding), my Trek Pilot Road Bike, and my new Kuota K-Factor Tri Bike. Since I haven't been riding my road bike lately and have been focusing on my Tri bike I decided that is what I'm taking this weekend. Only problem with the Tri bike is that I haven't changed out the bar tape (The colored tape that is around the handle-bars) to my normal cushy stuff. And the reason I need such cushy bar tape is that I don't usually ride with gloves on (except in the winter when it's cold) because I have yet to find a pair of cycling gloves that don't make my hands go numb. Not a good thing to have numb hands on the bike. So pretty new white bike is coming with me this weekend.

This is a Camping Trip. Camping is not my forte. However I did go out and buy a sleep mat for this trip. I'm borrowing everything else....still. It depends on how many times I end of using stuff as to whether I'm going to go buy more "camp" stuff. So I debated on this sleep mat. Last year my friend Kim let me borrow one of her sleep mats, in fact she let me borrow her newest and most comfy sleep mat. I felt bad afterwards because I didn't fully enjoy the plush of her sleep mat and didn't truly enjoy the sleeping experience. So when I went to REI (with my 20% off coupon and $18 dividend + a gift card from Christmas) I thought I wanted to get the Mac-Daddy of camp mats (which is about $200), then I thought....since I didn't really enjoy the plushness of my friends camp mat, I should just get a "normal" camp mat and live through the experience. So I just got the 1.75 REI Trekker Mat, instead of the Thermarest Dream Time Mat. I'll have an update later on how the sleep was.

Tempetures have cooled off after last nights thunderstorms. Making this weekend seem like it will be more tolerable for being outside. I woke up to it being in the low 50's, which is refreshing after that last week I think our lowest low before this was 68, yes I said that was our LOW! Looks like we'll have mid to upper 60's during the day for riding with Sunny Skies, and the lows will be mid 40's. It's going to be GREAT!!

Well....I better get the last of my stuff together and have it ready by the door. My ride (Kim and Bob) will be here soon. I'll post pictures afterwards and maybe some of you will join me next year??

Utility Belt Boy and iFitness

My friend Chris was searching for a belt like device to carry his "stuff" in, while he ran....especially longer runs and races. We searched at our favorite store TrySports but apparently the last belt like that in the store had been sold that morning. Dang.

So imagine the happiness that was felt when we got to the Cooper River Bridge Run Expo to find a plethora of such devices. There were several different vendors with cool packs that would carry his iphone, ipod, nike sport kit, money, ID, credit cards, etc. He settle on a neat looking pack that had 2 pockets (one with an inside credit card pocket), it was like a sea blue color. On the morning of the race he put on his belt and found that one of the zippers didn't work....it stayed open. Bummer, but at least he had the other pocket and was happy with that at least. When we got to the race site, the second pocket split. Grrrr. Everything stayed in his pockets while he ran, but he wasn't happy having spent good money on this device to not even get to wear it once before it fell apart. We decided we would look for the vendor at the "after party" after the pace.

While we were waiting for the start of the race Chris starting talking about all the technology he had on him and he started adding it up. I think the total count was something like 9. Let's see: iphone, ipod, nike sport kit, sport watch, cool ear phones, ear phone wrapper, the new belt (from iFitness), tech shirt, I'm sure there is more, but I can't think of them. So in all of his tech geekdom we had to give him a special name, which is why he now know as Utility Belt Boy.

More about the broken belt: When we got to the "after party" there was no iFitness tent to be found. I told Chris he should find their website and write them to see they would send him a new belt, considering what had happened. He was not optimist about this approach, but decided to see what would happen. Well good news, they were apologetic about what happened and sent him out a new belt right away. In fact he wore the belt today on our run. It's not fun not having something that works the first time, but it's nice to have a company that would rectify what happened and act swiftly to make it right. Yea iFitness!

Here is what the iFitness belt that Chris got looks like:

Cooper River Bridge Run 2010

March 27th, 2010.

4 am Wake Up - for Kim and I - take the pups out for their morning walk.

4:15-4:30 - the rest of the house wakes up and gets ready for the race.

4:30- 5 am - get dressed for the race and eat your version of the breakfast of champions. Chris came up the perfect pre-race breakfast - honey wheat bagel with cream cheese AND peanut butter. The rest of us either had peanut butter or cream cheese on our bagels.

5 am - get in the car and drive into Charleston from Folly Beach. We had to wind our way around the normal way to get to parking, but we found our way. We ended up on the top deck of the Aquarium Parking Deck. We were glad we got a spot, and that we woke up to get it.

5:45 am - get on a shuttle bus that takes us from Charleston to Mt Pleasant (where the race starts).



6:05 am - find the first set of Porta-Johns and decided to take advantage while we can.

6:15 am- find the Dunkin Donuts and Missy goes to use a flush toilet and Chris goes to get coffee.



6:30- 6:45 am - work our way to the Purple area and huddle to try and stay warm.



6:55 am - Missy heads to the next set of Porta Johns. As the sea of people grow in front and behind us.




7:30 am - Utility Belt Boy aka: Chris (who right before starting counting up the number of tech pieces he was wearing, and therefore got that name) goes off to the Porta Johns. I thought when we left that we wouldn't see him before the race started.

7:40 am - Missy makes it back to us, but didn't actually get to the Porta Johns....she gave up and came back.

8 am - Race Starts!

8:06 am - We (Jason, Kim, Missy, and I) cross the start line, and shortly after Kim and Missy go on their way!



8:20 am - I found utility belt boy on the run.



So then the running was well on it's way. I met and saw lot's of great people and had a wonderful time. There was Waldo, Forest Gump, a couple of flowers, a cow, a pig, and lot's of fun people. The bridge was amazing! So pretty and cool to be able to RUN over it. I did my standard Galloway Running (3 min run, 1 min walk). Kim and Missy were doing straight running. Jason did his version of Galloway with combos between 2 and 1 , and 1 and 1. Chris ran a little with me, and then he did his own thing. We had a meeting spot of Starbucks (but then when the race was over we couldn't get to the Starbucks we wanted to meet at). We ended up calling each other and meeting at the TrySports Tent.








Our race times:
Chris - 1:05:26
Kim - 1:09:23
Missy - 1:10:37
Chrissy (me) - 1:11:51
Jason - 1:34:19

I am so PROUD of EVERYONE!! This was Chris, mine, and Jason's first official 10-K! This was Jason's first race EVER!!

Such an Awesome Race. I think we are going to have to make it a yearly event!!

I was truly so impressed by this race! 40,000 people running 6.2 miles, and it went so smoothly. From packet pick up to the Victory Finish Party in Marion Square! Amazing!!

Our Weekend in Charleston...

I just got back from a fun weekend in Charleston with friends and dogs. We had 5 people and 2 dog in 2 cars for a 5 hour drive to Charleston (well Folly Beach). What I think is interesting is how people come together. I knew for the trip down that my husband would not enjoy the drive (he doesn't like long car rides), that my friend Chris would be an interesting mix (I had never traveled with him before), my friend Kim would be happy (she's always happy), and her friend Missy...well I just didn't know. I also knew that Ebony (Kim's dog) would be well behaved and sweet, and Scout (my dog) would be neurotic in the car!

I drove the whole way to Charleston with a few stops at rest stops for potty breaks/ stretch breaks/ and lunch...and one gas break (to fuel the car). We all took Friday off to travel down (well I always have Fridays off, but that is neither here nor there). We had discussed a morning meeting time (9am at my house) and some lose travel plans (picnic lunch at a rest stop with the dogs) and meet at the Folly Beach rental house. Jason wasn't happy about all the stops, if it were up to him we'd drive straight through....but the rest of us need breaks. Chris sat in the front seat and got lot's of "puppy" breath on him as Scout likes to hang out on the center console when we are driving. He really likes to see where we are going and be the co-pilot.



When we got to the out-skirts of Charleston we could really tell it was going to be a big weekend. Lot's of people coming in for the Bridge run and probably some Spring Breakers out there. Lot's of traffic and lot's of time to sit at stop lights. It was getting exciting as we were getting closer to the beach house. I'm so glad that we had the GPS (who speaks in a "hot" Australian voice) to get us around.

Once we made it to the house we un-packed and took the dogs out for a beautiful walk on the beach in the sunshine. Went back to the house and got ourselves together for the trip into Charleston for Packet Pick Up and dinner. Charleston was a mess, rush hour traffic and all the people coming in for the Bridge Run. We made it to Expo and had a great time going through and getting all of our stuff and checking out the goods. Afterwards we walked down to the straw market and found some dinner.



The morning of the run was an early start….up at 4am, dog walk, eat, and drive down to find a parking spot. And it was COLD!! More on the actual run in the next post!

After the run was tired sleepy cold time. We couldn’t find food or food we could all agree on, but finally went to go get taco’s. Chris wanted to stay and eat and I was going to bring food back for everyone. Once Chris and I got to Taco boy….there was a line out the door. Once we got inside I asked to place a take out order – the girl told me that they didn’t do any take out orders during their busy time…..WHAT?? So we ended up getting bratwurst at the grocery store and opening up a few bottles of wine. Yeah it ended up being the perfect afternoon.

Dinner on Saturday was at our favorite restaurant in Charleston – Magnolias. So much yummy food and good wine. Of course we had more wine. A quick tour around downtown and back to Folly Beach we went to rest up for the drive back on Sunday.



Sunday’s drive back was WINDY. I was so happy that Chris was willing to drive some, and ended up driving most of the way.



Overall I think it was a good trip!!

Getting ready for Cooper River Bridge Run...

WOW....it's been a crazy week.

So today we are going to be traveling down to Charleston!! I'm so excited to go on this fun trip. There are 5 people and 2 dogs traveling in 2 vehicles today. Our plan is to stop at a rest stop and eat a picnic lunch on the way down (because we have the dogs with us). When we get to Charleston we'll actually head out to Folly Beach where we are staying and get the pups settled...then we'll head back into town to the Expo and packet pick-up!! We'll check out a bit of Charleston and go back and rest.

Last night I went to a wonderful Fundraiser/wine tasting/silent auction at Taylor's BP station/wine shop. Seems like there are a lot of // in there. It was a fundraiser for my friend Donna who is doing an Ironman distance triathlon this year in honor of her sister who passed away from Breast Cancer. She is raising money for Hospice. How awesome is that? Just got the update this morning and she raise almost $2,000 last night!! WOW!!

The rest of the week....all crazy. I'm working on healing my peroneal tendons in both ankles. Lot's of ice and self massage. Trying to rest before the "race" so I don't hurt myself (more) this weekend. After this weekend I'll be resting a little bit and reworking my training schedule.

Stay tuned for the post on what actually happened this weekend!! Think good thoughts for us!!

No more sickness....and the joys of Volunteering.

Okay so I'm ready for this cycle to stop!! I've been sick so much lately that I'm surprised I can even keep up with any of my training. I'm slowly getting back into the swing of it....and just in time cause next weekend is the Cooper River Bridge Run (10 K) in Charleston, SC.

I've had a killer sinus infection that lasted about 3 weeks, and just recently I caught an AWESOME stomach bug. The only "good" thing about the stomach bug was that I lost about 5 lbs in one day. Bad news....my body was so dehydrated and weak afterwards that it took out 4 days of training. I'm getting myself back into the swing again, and will hopefully even make it back to the pool next week.

On tap this weekend: a 40 mile bike ride on Saturday morning (early, because I have a friend's baby shower to go to), and volunteering for the Tobacco Road Marathon at one of the water stops on Sunday (I might get a run in after volunteering).

I love being able to give back at races. Volunteers make it or break it for most endurance races. You know if you done a race and longed for the sip of water and saw angels as you approached the water stop. There is an art to being a good volunteer: fold the cups a little so they are easy to grab, tell people what you have (I hate getting Heed when I'm trying to get water), smile and be encouraging. I have had some pretty amazing volunteers at my races....but the funniest volunteers are the bad ones. At the Nike Women's Marathon at one stop they had fruit (grapes and oranges) one of the young (teenager) volunteers thought she was being funny by offering the runners one grape instead of a bunch....I'm sure she was bored and I can laugh about it now, but at the time when my glucose level was dropping it was not funny. I have definitely learned a lot about volunteering (good or bad) from doing races. I try to put myself in the runners shoes, smile, and give them what they need. I always figure out where I am so I can tell them where they are and figure out where bathrooms are if I can (I always want to know where bathrooms are when I'm racing....you never know). It's the little things that make it great. I try to have a good time with it, enjoy my time doing what I'm doing and hope a little happiness rubs off and they can carry it with them as they are trudging through those last miles (the hardest ones).

Next weekend: a trip to Charleston, SC - Cooper River Bridge Run (with Jason, Kim, Chris and Missy)!