Tomato Blast! (My worst idea ever!)

I am a sucker for a good Groupon.  Most people know that about me.  So back in March when I saw the Groupon offer for the Tomato Blast I bought it right away.  I mean who cares if the event was 4 months away?!  It was going to be fun!!

And obviously Shruti had the same exact thought!  Since she bought it too.  

We took a cab over to Soldier Field only to realize that it would have been cheaper and easier just to drive and pay for the parking.  And the Tomato Blast wasn't actually in Soldier Field it was basically in a parking lot outside of McCormick Place!  So that was kind of annoying.  After that long walk we got there just as the tomatoes were about to start blasting.  

And they were just letting everyone in!  It was sort of chaos!  I didn't want them to forget about my free beer.  Luckily we found a guy who looked us up on a list and then gave us our beer tickets.  But then I realized that there was no way this beer ticket would survive.  I mean people were throwing a lot of tomatoes.   But Shruti was confident that if she put them in her pocket they'd survive.....

**Spoiler Alert** They did!  In line at the beer tent, yeah it was really cold and gross to be covered with tomatoes!  

Basically there was a bunch of tomatoes flying EVERYWHERE.  And these were hard ripe tomatoes!!   I totally have a bruise on my arm.  The ground ended up being covered in what looked like marinara.  

And when we were done we thought we would never be able to convince anyone to take us in a cab!  And we were sort of right.  It took us at least an hour to FINALLY flag down a cab.

Would I have liked it better if it'd been hot out?  Probably I mean they had a huge hose to wash everyone off but since it was already freezing I didn't want to be in even wetter clothes!  I had brought my backpack so I was able to change in a porta potty.

The most fun though was when everyone started dancing like crazy.  I am always up for a good dance party.  If no one had danced at the end I would have REALLY hated it.  As it is I doubt I'll EVER partake in a tomato fight again.  I see on Yelp I'm not the only disappointed one.

Weekly Recap W/E 7/27

Week ending 7/27 was a busy busy week and I think I might have burnt myself out.  As a consequence week ending 8/3 is going to be REST REST REST.

Sunday

Rock N Roll Half Marathon- PR CITY BABY!!! 2:24:30!!!

Monday

A.M. Bootcamp  I woke up with stiff legs but being able to sprint in the bootcamp class actually helped my legs (I thought).

P.M.  Swim (got my ass kicked up by super fast Heidi!!)  and TRX strength.  I did a few lunges and my quads were SCREAMING.  At this moment I knew I had pushed myself too far.

Tuesday

A.M. 20 mile bike ride.  Normally I do a Tuesday morning bike/run brick but my legs were so dead I only wanted to ride.

P.M. CARA Pub Run.  Was running late so ran about 5 miles on my own.  This felt great as the weather had actually cooled off!!!

Wednesday

A.M. Bootcamp

P.M. Beginners Group leading so about 2ish miles run/walking

Thursday

A.M. My first mile repeats at the track followed a swim in the lake.  Unfortunately I must swim the slowest mile ever because I ended up getting a parking ticket :(

P.M. Undie Dash 5K!

Friday

REST

Saturday

12 mile long room with the training group.

Yeah I think I did too much.  And I just felt physically awful the entire week.  So this week I'm resting and catching up on laundry!

Borgess Kalamazoo Marathon Race Recap

March 26th, 2013 will forever be remembered by me as the day I got my MRI test results.  Officially diagnosed with stress fractures in BOTH legs.  Sentenced to the bench for 6 weeks.  Yeah and my marathon was to be in 5 and a half weeks!  So yeah, kind of an upsetting day.

So for 5 weeks I didn't run at all and then the Ravenswood 5K happened and I tried to test out my legs. At that point I was 4 and a half weeks into not running.   And I ran it and I can't say it was pain free or anything.  But it didn't hurt.  (Yeah I know that makes no sense.)  And I also ran 33:38 which actually wasn't that bad!  My last mile was even a 10 minute mile (but it hurt I just wanted to be done).

Right and did I mention that my Mom was already scheduled to fly in to be there for my first marathon. And that she is sort of naive about injuries so she didn't really know it was probably a bad idea for me to go and run the Kalamazoo Marathon.  But I did.

AND I FINISHED!!!!

The Borgess Kalamazoo Marathon has this totally cool 50 state program.  Basically if you are the 1st person from your state to register then you get a free registration and a free pair of New Balance shoes!

To be honest the shoes are pretty useless to me since my Physical Therapist says they give me NO support and she basically forbid me to do any physical activity in them.  Still it's pretty sweet of New Balance to hook us up in a cute pair of sneaks!

Oh have I mentioned that I had NO idea that Kalamazoo was in the Eastern Time Zone?!  We left Chicago at 3:30 a.m. in order to get there in time for the 7:20 a.m. race photo.  Well we thought we'd be getting there 6ish until suddenly the clock in my car had jumped an hour ahead!!  My mom literally dropped me off and I ran into this photo just as they were taking it!

The race started at 8 so just before about 500 of us marathon runners lined up at the start.  I lined up at the way way back since I had no idea if I would be able to finish much less actually hold a pace!  In the back were a bunch of Marathon Maniacs and Mittens Challenge runners.   Even though this was my first marathon I felt an instant kinship with these guys.  We would struggle though it together.   Maybe one do I'll be a Maniac too!

Usually one way that I count down the miles is by counting down the water stations.  They had advertised aid stations at least every 2 miles but I really think they came every mile and a half!  There were so many spectators from the town that had set up their own homemade aid stations there was always some sort of support.  My faves were the Girl Scouts with cookies and the Boy Scouts with popsicles!  And there were at least 3 guys with pickle jars and a lady with orange slices!!   There was a homemade neighborhood Baconville and even an Elvis that you could stop and take your picture with!

I don't know the area at all so it's hard for me to describe the course very accurately.  Basically we seemed to go from the course start into town and then basically around the outskirts of the whole town. I'm imagining we crossed into nearby towns as well.  There were a lot of neighborhoods that we ran through and I always enjoy that.  Most of the race I was running behind an older man that had a sign on his back about the many many marathons he'd run in the last year.  I wanna say it was at least 50.  He was running with two local ladies and they were giving him the tour of the town.  He also used a walk/run method so a few times I got ahead of him.  And every time he caught up to me.  He definitely finished faster than me but I'm not sure what his exact time was.

This was the first race I'd ever run wearing an iPod.  Now I am not an iPod user AT ALL.  In fact I basically just grabbed my Shuffle and uploaded random songs (for the first time) the night before.  So I had no control over my playlist.  Thankfully I have a good mix of upbeat Pink songs and downbeat Regina Spektor songs.  I really enjoyed listening to the music but at the same time I haven't even used the Shuffle since.

Garmin says I hit the Half Marathon point at about 2:32.  I remember thinking that I had a chance to finish right around the 5 hour mark.  I like to think that I'm half marathon ready at all times, considering just 2 weeks later I ran the Chi Town Half in 2:27 I'd say I did stay half marathon ready despite not running for 5ish weeks!

After the half way point Garmin says that most of my mile splits 12s and 13s.  I'm quite proud that none of my miles were 14 minute miles!  And I'm proud of the random mile 2 surge I had (it was the Egg McMuffin I swear!!) that got me a 9:59 mile!

Around mile 24 I was really starting to cramp up in my thighs.  For the first time I thought that I might not actually finish the race.  I grabbed 2 water cups at this aid station.  I can't believe I didn't run with a water bottle during this race actually.  This is the moment where I definitely reconsidered whether or not I should have attempted this marathon.

I got pretty delirious from this point on til the end.  You can see it in my eyes in the pic below.

At the last .4 mile or so a 10 year old chubby local girl came up to me and asked my permission to run with me.  I have to be honest if she hadn't shown up at that moment I don't think I could have gone on. She pushed me til the last turn, then she told me I had to do it on my own.

So I did.

1st Marathon DONE.
5:22:45

Would I do this marathon again? YES.  The crowd support and the aid stations were AMAZING.  I can't imagine a better first marathon.  And of course I have to go back again and obliterate that time.  I'm capable of much faster than that!!!!

Chicago Undie Dash 5K Race Recap

Somewhere back in April (and I was probably drunk) Jamie got me to agree to sign up for the Chicago Undie Dash 5K with her.  And then she bailed.  And I still ran it!!

I managed to coerce not one but two of my Marathon Training Group Buddies to head downtown on a Thursday evening and run in their underwear!  Well for Adrienne and I underwear=shorts.  In our world capris=shorts!!

This was my first time wearing just a bra and I kinda liked it!  But when I did get a bit sweaty I had nothing to wipe my sweat on!

I'd say there were about 300 runners total.  I'm just guessing maybe there were more!  I was surprised by the turn out and though that there were some GREAT costumes!  Too bad we were so boring!!

The race started right on time at 6:30.  Gear check was a breeze despite the fact that basically EVERYONE had gear to check since not everyone arrived in their undies ready to run!

We started out really close to the docks and lake but then ended up higher so we actually ran long grass for a bit.  This made it so while it was an out and back course we weren't all trying to fit on the same lil Lakefront Path.  We reached the grass about a lil over a half a mile in and I'd say this was the point where the crowd really thinned out.  This only made us run faster because if we were with a crowd we at least felt a bit covered!!

The path curved so we ran underneath Michigan Ave basically right to the bridge by the Metra Station. This is actually the first time I'd been on this portion of the path!  It felt a lil exciting since it was a new direction that I was not used to!

The water station was located about a quarter of a mile before the turn around which was nice because it meant we hit that station twice.  Hills kill me and somehow the few hills in Chicago seem to kill me every time!  From the water station to the turn around on the bridge it was basically all up hill, but at least every hill if usually comes with a corresponding downhill.

The path back towards the start definitely felt like it was slightly downhill.  Maybe it was psychological because the weather was nicer, but to compare Burgers and Beer 5K the return bath was along Columbus Dr. and that felt way more torturous!

Before we knew it we crossed the finish line together.  The race wasn't chip timed but Garmin says we crossed in 10:17!

Now the post race party was a BIG disappointment for me!  Apparently I signed up so early that I'd read all of LAST year's party details.  These details included a free Mike's Hard Lemonade as well as an after party on a boat!  Now they communicated to us that they would no longer have the party on a boat but NOTHING about no free drink!

In fact this is cut and paste from their website:

Post Race Party Details!

How much do we like to party?  

We have outgrown the boat, that's how much.  

Don't Fret! 

NEW POST RACE PARTY LOCATION:

Friendship On The Lake Restaurant.

Enjoy a lakeside, "hilltop" party only 200 meters from the finish line. Music and dancing? Of course!

Party goes until 11PM  

Additional food and drink available for purchase.   

Spectators can come too. Just $5 at the door.  

Additional food and drink makes it sound like you got a free drink at least!!  And I hope no one paid $5 at the door!  It was a big open space with a band and some tables and then food and drink for purchase.  

Bottom line I'd only run this race again if I really really wanted to run in my "undies" again.  And while the pink free race shirt is pretty cute....SHOULDN'T THEY BE GIVING US FREE UNDIES???

Trying to Find Balance

It's really tough when triathlon training to find the time to actually take a rest day.  I mean I know there are specific training schedules out there but I never seem to be able to follow them.  Too many other things get in the way and I miss a swim on a Wednesday and have to shift etc. etc.

And then I have too many friends that are training too. I'm constantly getting IMs or emails about working out!  One friend wants to strength train, another a track workout and a third wants to swim in the lake!  How do I choose? How do keep it all straight?

I'm the worst at saying "No".  Now I'm roped into running the Undie Dash 5K and I'm not even comfortable with undies!!

Usually my lack of clean clothes will dictate a rest day.  Since I'm so busy I have very free time and have to squeeze the hour and a half to do laundry SOMEWHERE.  Plus it's been so hot and sweaty that my clothes STINK!!!

Mondays nights and Tuesday mornings I have Tri Club, Tuesday Nights Pub Runs, Wed Nights Beginners Group Leading, Thursdays Bowling, Fridays Beach Volleyball, Saturdays Marathon Training in the early A.M. and Kickball in the afternoon and finally Sundays is Softball.  I haven't even mentioned that I actually work Mon-Fri from 9-6!  And instead of staying super busy with a lot of fun, I usually end up missing things!  Either from other commitments or being just plain tired.  So really I'm just half assing about half of my commitments.

It's not good.  And I need a break.  How do you find balance??

Weekly Recap w/e 7/20

It a very hot and kind of miserable sort of week!  :(

Sunday:

Volunteered at Fleet Feet's Hydration Station.  The weather didn't feel too bad from where I was standing and since I was at the Randolph St Station didn't get to see as many runners as the other two stations.  I was impressed with the amount of runners in the solid double digits!!!

Sunday: 

REST DAY!!

Monday: 

Burgers and Beer 5K!  It was hot hot hot!!  29:22, 9:27 pace.  I really wanted a PR on this one but it was high 80s so what can I do?!  

Tuesday: 

A.M.  CAC Tri Club bike/run brick.  50 minutes of bike followed by 20 minutes of run.  Really wanted a negative split on the run since that's what I've been working on.  Got 10:12 for first mile and 9:53 for the 2nd mile!!

P.M. CARA's Summer Nights Pub Run.  We met at Mad River and then I went out for 3 hot miles.  Somehow I don't think it felt hotter than the previous week?!   3 miles, average pace was 10:45.  Garmin says moving pace was 10:16 I don't always go by Garmin for moving pace but considering we ran through the streets and had to stop at lights I'll take the moving pace! ;)

Wednesday:

A.M. Open Water Swim at Ohio St Beach.  This was a struggle only did .5 mile with a lot of stopping.  

P.M. Was meeting CAC Tri Club at Kirkwood Bar and Grill so randomly ran the mile there and back. So a bonus 2 miles at 10ish pace!

Thursday:

A.M. Met my Rock N Roll training ladies at the Lakeshore Park for a track workout.  We did a mile warm-up and then we did 2 x 800 and 1 x 1600.  The 800s were at 5K pace and the 1600 at Half Marathon pace.     I did the 800s in 4:28 and 4:24.  I did the 1600 in 9:31.   These were tough for me physically but I'm happy with the pace!  

Then I headed over to Oak St Beach AND MADE IT OUT TO THE .5 MILE MARKER!!  Of course I had to make stops but that was my first attempt and it was successful!!!

P.M. Esprit de She 10K 5K  The 10K was cancelled and all runners did the 5K.  This one was extremely hot and I finished in 30:39.  I got extremely hot and stopped and walked in that last mile!

Friday: 

Rest Day!!!

Saturday: 

7 miles the temps were cooler but they didn't feel that way!!!

Total Miles: 23.2 

Bike: Once (gotta work on this!!)

Swim: Twice (gotta work on this too!!!)

Finally picked a goal Triathlon!!!

I've known since the beginning of the summer that I wanted to do Tri Rock Lake Geneva so on July 5th I decided to head up there with Jamie to check out the course and make a game plan.  We had decided in advance to bike/run first and end with swim.

The race starts and ends in an area called Williams Bay, so we drove through Lake Geneva and then on a road with a lot of construction to get there.  All of the Lake Geneva area is really really pretty which is one of the major reason why I wanted to do the race!

We found a parking spot and unloaded our bikes.  I had brought my bike pump so we could be sure to double check our tires.  Well it was at this point that Jamie somehow managed to DEFLATE her tire instead of pumping them up!  We quickly figured it out but it felt like a bad omen for the rest of the ride.

Once the tires were situated we headed out to find a spot to ride.  We turned onto a major street (because I can only turn right and am too afraid to turn right!) and this major street basically ended up being one really really long uphill.  And it was at this point that I realized I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO RIDE HILLS!!!

So Jamie and I pushed ourselves along as much as possible at one point my computer registered 4 mph!  This was worse than some of the windiest days I'd rode on the Lakefront Path!  I finally got to a parking lot so I could pull over!  Jamie was behind me and she was complaining of stabbing pains in her quads.  Thank goodness the parking lot was for a hospital!!!  Kidding we didn't go in.

We weren't sure were to go next and we became mentally defeated that it took us about 10 minutes to go up this mile hill.  Without knowing where else to go we decided to turn back in search of neighborhood roads rather than this major highway.  Now on the way up the hill we were traveling on high way that had two lanes on the right side but on the way back it was reduced down to one!  So now we basically had to travel in the same lane as the cars.  I know this really isn't a big deal for a lot of people but to me it was SCARY!!!  Plus now we were going quite fast since we were now traveling downhill.  The only lil mental boost I got was when we passed two people walking their bikes up the same hill we'd already made it up!

Back down the hill and now we turned into a random neighborhood.  We thought it'd be a little quieter but it really wasn't.  There were tons of dangerous intersection signs and on deserted roads we'd suddenly see a MAC truck speed across an intersection we hadn't noticed before.  I walked down a lot of these hills.

At one point I nearly fell over on my bike because I couldn't pedal enough for the bike to stay steady!

All in all we did 10 miles in I think in an hour and twenty minutes!  Terrible!  Feeling defeated we decided to swim next.  We were just too hot to think about running at this point.  We walked over to the obvious beach with swimming area and we realized not only was it overrun with kids and family but it didn't really provide much of an area to actually swim!  We tried 3 other spots and found the same thing.

The third spot is when I realized we'd gotten to Fontana which is where Zooma Great Lakes Half Marathon had taken place back in October 2012.  At the time I PRed in the race despite not being used to the hills.  I remembered it ended with an out and back on a hill, so guess what I wanted to do.  Yup!  We run 1.5 miles up the hill and back down again.  This hill is gradually rolling but it gradually rolls upwards, so even when you turn around come back you are still battling going up hill!  I managed an 11 min average pace in the 84 degree heat on tired legs.  The steepest uphill was 12:13 but the same stretch downhill was 10:14.  I just love running downhill!!!

I left Lake Geneva thinking there was no way in heck that I was going to sign up for Tri Rock.  I mean I really really wanna end the season with an Olympic Triathlon but I want to end one without one that I'd get disqualified on the bike course!

And yet I signed up.  I have 8 weeks to figure out how to bike on hills!

My plan:

1) Try to fit in spin class at least once a week.  And when I do fit it in to ADD RESISTANCE.  I noticed a major problem is I'm not really comfortable standing and riding on my bike.

2) Actually learn what the whole gear thing on the bike means....

3) Find new trails and roads that AREN'T the Lakefront Path to ride.  I'm thinking North Branch Trail and/or Barrington.  Anyone else with any ideas???

4) Swim in open water at least twice a week.  I really need to work on endurance first then add in the speed.

Anyone else do Tri Rock Lake Geneva before?  If so what's your advice for this poor city girl???