Showing posts with label Area 13.1 half marathon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Area 13.1 half marathon. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Normal (Week 3)

Tuesday - Ran 4.5 miles on the treadmill. I don't really remember much about this run, but just the fact that it was so short probably means it was a little rough. I also did three of the videos - arms, core and butt/thighs. SHOCKINGLY, they are still hard. Probably because I haven't been doing them with any real regularity.
Wednesday - Ran a total of 9.11 miles for the day (for 9/11). This was TRICKY to get in. I left work a little early for a few reasons. One, because the server went down AGAIN, and there isn't a whole lot I can do without getting on our network. Two, because I still needed to drive down and pick up my car. So I was hoping to squeeze in some early miles AFTER getting my car and before run club, sneaking in a few miles with run club and then going to pick up A. Well, it had been raining like crazy, and I did run a few miles in the neighborhood where run club is, but I got POURED on. Then I ran another few miles with Heather and Dan and finished up for the night on the basement inferno treadmill at home. LONGEST 9.11 MILES EVER.

Picked up this cute hat at run club!
Thursday - NOTHING
Friday - MORE NOTHING
Saturday - Area 13.1 half marathon
Sunday - Oh hey, more nothing. However, A and I decided that we were going to do a complete makeover on J's man cave. Here is a spoiler, pictures of the finished product to come later.


Monday - 7.5ish miles on the treadmill. Started out a little rough, tight and tired legs, but after I warmed up it was a pretty decent run and I wished I had more time to get in a few more miles. Did two of the videos - arms and core.

Loss - 1.4 pounds
  • Down from last week, but still up a bit from the final #NotEatingAllTheThings challenge. I am in a minor detox right now, not because I think I need to lose anything, but because I got in the habit of making poor food choices way too often. Le sigh.
  • Appetite is DEFINITELY back. Food splurges this week - pizza buffet, pumpkin pancakes. Yum.
  • Beer - Not super out of control this week.
  • Out of the blue, I get some communication from J - where he claims he thinks he wants to work things out and that he really misses us, blah blah blah. I stupidly respond and SHOCKINGLY, he backed down from this. I don't even know what the point of all that is. Anyway... 
Online Dating Updates

  •  So remember last week I said I was going on a lunch date? Well... Let's call this guy "Evan"
    • ZERO attraction to the guy. Conversation was nice, but he seemed unable to make eye contact, which made it a little awkward. However, he was nice.
    • He sends me a message later saying he had a nice time and hoped we could talk later.
    • Then proceeded to send another half dozen messages. I didn't respond to these right away because I was dealing with the rain, my car, working out, etc. His last message was "or not" (in regards to hoping we would be talking more).
    • Finally, around bedtime I get a chance to deal with these messages and I say something along the lines of, I had a long and busy day, I've only known you a few days, this many messages is a bit much.
    • He keeps sending messages over the course of the next few days, and says, (as is) "Honestly, it's bugging me that your done with me over me saying "or not." I'm sure in your version I'm somehow a crazy person but I can't see how. If it's not too much to ask I'd love a brief explanation of why you think this doesn't work, please." So, I felt bad for not answering earlier messages and responded with "after meeting there was no attraction for me. Also there were the excessive texts."
    • He responds with the LONGEST TEXT MESSAGE OF ALL TIME - I'll summarize - He calls me rude, shallow, dishonest and judgmental. He goes on to say that I have masculine (??) legs and that I sound extremely selfish and it's no wonder I am single.
    • Oh. So I respond with, "ok, best of luck!" - to find out "The wireless subscriber you are trying to reach is not accepting incoming messages at this time" - which means he blocked my number. lol.
    • I think my response was concise and honest, and he was super personal in his response to what he asked for.
  • Guy number two - Let's call him "Possible steroid user"
    • Initially I responded to him because he said he "works out" and he was sort of cute and "built" in his pictures. Our text exchange was also a bit... awkward. A few back and forth "hey, how are you" and then I get this: "?" - that was for real the message. So I respond with "? I don't know what that means" and he responds with "got a number?" and I say "I don't feel this level of communication warrants me giving out my number." Him "ahhhh the emailer" Me "ahhhh The End. Keep looking"
    • You'd think that would be the end of it....
    • Him - "It's not cool to sit around and email someone. Go get a prison pen pal."
    • And that was STILL not it - he sends ANOTHER message later about me stalking his pictures??? What?
    • I had to block that guy.
  • Guy number three - "Randy"
    • On Saturday, the 8th, he sends me a text asking if I want to go on a date that weekend, either Saturday or Sunday. I say sure and to let me know what he has in mind so I can get a babysitter.
    • NOTHING. For over a week.
    • Sunday morning - Hey, do you still want to go out?
    • UM NO. Do you remember asking me out over a week ago, then not even bothering to contact me to tell me not to worry about it?? WHAT.
  • Guy number four - "Chuck"
    • Asks me out - but says he has his son on the weekends and so it will have to be during the week. Again, I say, sure, but I need to get a babysitter so let me know, etc.
    • NOTHING for like 5 days. Then, he sends me some messages about being at the gym, and he has to take a shower but will talk to me in a bit. Almost two days later, finally gets back to me and asks if I still want to go out.
    • NO. What the hell??
  • Ok.............. so far here are my thoughts on Internet dating.
    • LAME LAME LAME. Guys are lazy douches. DO NOT ask someone to go out and then have ZERO contact with someone. If this is your best first impression, KEEP MOVING. I can't even imagine how ridiculous these guys get after they STOP trying to impress someone.
    • The one guy did not look like his picture at all.
    • Am I not supposed to tell someone I was not attracted to them? I feel like if I'm PAYING to meet someone, I have a right to be picky and if there is no attraction/chemistry then what is the point???
    • THESE DUDES BE RUDE AND CRAZY.
I am ready to give up on all this nonsense and let the universe decide if and when I should no longer be single....

Monday, September 16, 2013

Area 13.1 Half Marathon (Race Recap)

Castle Rock, CO
Saturday, September 14
Half Marathon #93
Colorado Half #32
Weather - Chilly and rainy, wet


The Area 13.1 half marathon is put on by Zulu Racing. This was the inaugural year for the Denver area. Unless you are living under a rock, you know that Denver/Boulder has been getting POUNDED with "Biblical" amounts of rain. This stuff is NO JOKE. For example, here is a picture of the trail that I ran my 22 miler on LAST WEEK:


The drive down was a bit rainy... (don't worry, I'm the passenger):


And we got a ZILLION Emergency Alerts on the drive down. I think we actually got a few more than this and I just didn't get an updated screen shot. But, I kept checking the race's Facebook page and the event was still on. Maybe it would just be another really memorable race!


We pulled up the Fairgrounds with about 45 minutes until the race started, which gave us plenty of time to put on all the fun glow in the dark stuff L got to accent our outfits. This picture doesn't do it justice, but we have glowing necklaces, bracelets and rings. Sadly, our super bright neon yellow shirts weren't so bright once it got dark out.


It was still drizzling, although the rain had let up A LOT, and Hope and I had both opted to wear arm sleeves. CRAZY to think that just a week ago we were melting and running in 90 degree weather.

About 15 minutes before the race was supposed to start we are told that they are delaying because of thunder and lightning. But, it was still on! Thankfully, the race did get started at 7:15. They had been saying that if there was too much flooding on the course that they might have to turn the race into a 10 miler instead of a half. Thankfully, they were able to find a safe route for us to get in all the miles.



Because of the dark and the rain, I did not take any pictures on the course. In fact, I didn't even take my camera with me. The course was on the same "trail" as the Castle Rock half marathon that we ran in June. I was really surprised that there weren't more puddles and that the course was as dry as it was.

L started with us as she is still crippled and taking it easy. The first mile felt great. Slight downhill and cooler temps. Hope was concerned that we were going a bit too fast and mentioned that she has been having some hip tightness. We slowed it down.

There was a 5k along with the half marathon and it was a bit congested at the start, as an alarmingly large number of people actually came out for the event, but it wasn't too bad. The aid stations all had water and I think Cytomax. The volunteers that made it out were super friendly and energetic. The aid station at mile 4/8.5 also had Hammer gel in a variety of flavors.

Not much to say about the race itself... L took off ahead of us somewhere around mile 4 or 5 and I stuck with Hope. The course is really hilly and neither one of us was really "feeling it" so we walked quite a bit. I ended up keeping my arm sleeves on the entire race. I'm sure I would have been fine without them but I was comfortable having them.

We did the 10 miles out and back, and then we had to re-do the 5k route (out and back on the same trail) to get the mileage in.

Awesome medal!!
Official - 2:49:29 (not sure how this is SO far off from my Garmin)
Garmin - 2:44:04
Mile 1 - 11:15
Mile 2 - 11:22
Mile 3 - 11:21
Mile 4 - 11:20
Mile 5 - 13:18
Mile 6 - 12:53
Mile 7 - 12:27
Mile 8 - 12:40
Mile 9 - 12:39
Mile 10 - 13:45
Mile 11 - 11:52
Mile 12 - 13:29
Mile 13 - 14:18
Mile 13.12 - 11:48

Thoughts:
  • Excellent for an inaugural. Especially considering the circumstances, they really did a great job with this event.
  • The starting area at the Fairgrounds was perfect. We cycled through the bathroom lines three times and never had to wait. Plus, I like washing my hands.
  • The aid stations were well stocked and plenty of cheerful volunteers.
  • The course was very well marked, and they had tons of cute decorations on the course (glow sticks, inflatable aliens, etc.)
  • A shockingly large number of people carried no headlamp. And wore all black. Why?
  • LOVED the shirt and the medal. The shirt is gender specific and CUTE (I should have a picture) and I will definitely wear again). The medal is awesome.
  • This group put a lot of work into this event, I maybe would run again, although I am TOO OLD to be running at night! By the time we finished and drove Hope home and got the kids and got back home it was after midnight!!
  • Pho was probably NOT the best pre-race food (2.5 hours before race time) - mildly upset stomach most of the race.

Week in Review (July 28 - August 3)

Tuesday  (93,581 steps) - Summit 200 Wednesday (78,699 steps) - Summit 200 Thursday (94,423 steps) - Summit 200 Friday (16,235 steps) - S...