Upcoming Fall Plans (Friday Five Edition)

With my summer not being very interesting, I thought I'd try to highlight things that I want to do this fall.  That way I won't let the season get away from me without a little bit of excitement.


1. I have one real race this fall.  I really don't count the Bubble Run that I did last week as that is more of a fun run then a race.  I have joined a few other ladies and we will be doing the Baltimore Marathon Relay.  It's only 3 weeks away and with my lack of training, I hope I get the shortest distance. :)

2. I really need to get a massage or two or 50.  At least once a month my back tenses up so bad I have to spend a lot of time on my lacrosse ball.  I'm always saying how much easier it would be if I just scheduled regular massages.  I'm not sure if I like the idea of the big box places where you sign up for a membership.  I just don't know how reliable the masseuses will be.  But then if you find a nice independent one, they are only open during the week, during week hours.  So I go back and forth on what I want to do and then just don't do anything.  I need to get off my but and schedule one once a month.

3. I really want to try to keep biking over the winter.  I'm not talking like every weekend or anything like that, but it would be nice to keep riding even when it's a little on the chilly side.  I do have to say that more then anything I HATE the cold, so this will be a challenge.  I did buy a long pair of biking pants and a couple biking underwear.  Now don't laugh too hard at this.  They are basically very short biking shorts that make it easier to wear under normal (non-padded) pants.  This way I'm spending less money and able to use the tights and pants that I use for running.

4. I really want to try and get my house organized again.  I know this doesn't sound like fun, but it will really make me feel a lot better.  When I was out of work earlier this year, I really got some good cleaning done.  I didn't 100% finish everything and those rooms I did finish are starting to look a bit cluttered again.  I'd like to just pick something small in a room each weekend and get that done.  I'm hoping by the time winter comes around, I won't feel like I'm starting to lose control of the mess.  I just want to try and get ahead of it, just a little.

5. Fix up some things outside my house.  Again, it doesn't sound very fun, but it will make me feel much better.  I need to do things like weed and cut back growth from this summer.  I need to power wash one side of my house, which has green stuff all over it.  I need to power wash and stain my front porch.  I'd like to find someone to move the tree/bush things in front of my house to the back.  I feel like it's a security issue not being able to see my front door, but I don't want to cut them down.  Or maybe I can find someone who can trim it better then me to make them a lot smaller.  I'm not sure how much I'll get done, but we will have some nice weekends coming up in the next month or two.

This is from 2 years ago, those are at least a foot taller

I'd like to also try to spend more time with my kitties.  My old lady is 18 years old this month.  All she wants to do is to lay in my lap.  But that means I will just have to sit on my couch some extra. :)

Do you get massages from those subscription places?  Do you like them?  What races do you have coming up?  What fun fall plans do you have?

I'm linking up with Fairytales and Fitness and Running on Happy for Friday Five 2.0

The Bubble Run (Tuesdays on the Run Edition)

This past Saturday I had done the Bubble Run.  This is something one of my friends wanted to do and asked me to join her.  We signed up for it last spring.  It's a traveling race, like most color runs, that put on the same race in different cities several times a month.


This past week I knew it was coming up and, honestly, I really was dreading it.  I just wasn't in the mood for a race, and really just wanted to hang out this past weekend and not do much of anything.  There was packet pickup on Friday and I told myself if my friend, Beverly, didn't contact me about it, I wouldn't bother with the race.  There was no way I was doing it on my own.

Friday had happened and I hadn't heard anything all day.  So I didn't plan on picking up my packet.  And then at 8 PM Friday night I heard from my friend.  She asked if I was doing the race tomorrow and I replied, "It's tomorrow?"  She said that she hadn't texted me earlier since she was in the Bahamas and had no cell service.  I really didn't feel bad for her at all.

So we made plans on carpooling and heading out there the next morning.  She was going to pick me up after her friend Ellen and be to my house sometime after 7, so I planned on being ready at 7.  The race was taking place at the Racetrack, which is across town.  As we drove there we talked about the race and wondered if it would be on the actual track.  I didn't think it would, but if it were I don't know if I'd like it as the track is banked and makes it hard on my knee.

We got to the Racetrack and found out that it was $10 per car to park.  Seriously?!?  It's not like it was limited to parking and trying to get people to carpool.  We asked the lady taking the money if it went to the charity of the race.  She said yes, but I still wonder if it really did.

Beverly had her packet mailed to her.  She got the wrong size shirt and didn't get the tutu that she ordered.  Both Ellen and I had to pick up our packet.  I showed my ID and he asked if I had the email to scan.  Huh?  Really, you can't type my name in.  He finally did when I just flat out said no.  Then they told us there was a $5 fee for picking up our packet on race day.  Gug, talk about gouging for every penny we had.  It made it feel like a runDisney race. :)  I got the shirt, headband, and tattoo that came with the packet.  I asked about the bib and he said they ran out.  What?!?  How do you run out of bibs for the registered runners?  Would we still be let into the race?


We went to the merchandise tent to get Beverly's tutu.  Apparently the extra merchandise that was being sold online was not sent to your house if you requested the packet to be mailed.  So she picked it up, but they didn't have pink, which is what she ordered.  Again, how do you run out of things that are pre-ordered?


We headed back to the car to drop things off and put on the race shirt.  I didn't want to wear it as it was cotton and it was getting hot out.  But I wanted to make sure I cold get into the starting corral without being questioned.


We headed to the port-a-potties for a last bathroom break and noticed that no one was checking for a bib.  So basically if you happened to be around and wanted to do the race, you wouldn't of had to sign up for it.


There were waves that were being let go about 5-10 minutes apart.  We just got up in line and waited our turn.  We saw two waves be let go before it was our turn.  They were letting the bubbles build up so that everyone would be able to run through them and not just the people in the middle.  Once it was filled up enough they had us go.


I have to admit, going through the bubbles were fun and it was lifting my mood.  They were soft and felt a little wet, but really was fun.  Once we were through the bubbles we had just a road to continue on.  No sight of any other bubbles that we could see from there.  Most people were walking, but we decided to run.  My friends had said that they were "out of shape" and that we all would stick together.  I told them that my peak was normally slow and I'm so far from my peak.  So I was usually about 5 steps behind them.

We came up to the first bubble color.  It was just like the bubbles from the start, but it was pink.  So we just run through and play with it and we are back out to the road of the run.  I thought there would be more of an obstacle type thing, but it was just bubbles dropping from above.


We were back on the actual course.  We were now on the field area where people park, so we were running mostly on a rocky trail.  I became even slower and even walked more of it.  At this point my friends mostly stuck with me.

We got to the second color, green.  Again, it was the same thing of bubbles dropping from above with green color to it.  We played around a little in this and headed on.  There was a water stop right after the green.  So we grabbed some water and rinsed off our hands and headed on.


We saw that there were people cutting through the field to save some of the mileage.  We were thinking of doing the same, but there was a part that we couldn't see beyond the trees that we decided to go along the path.  And of course when we got to the other side of the trees, there was no other bubble color.  We got back to the main field area and came across the third color, blue.  Not much to say about it, except same bubbles, different color.

The other two kept running and I just kinda had it with running, so at that point I just walked and let them go ahead of me.I did take a shortcut across the field while they ran the long way, which was fine with me.  We got to the blue bubbles and again just bubbles that fell from above.  At this point I was kinda getting bored of it all.  My IT Band was getting tight and I didn't want to push it and run too much more, especially on uneven trails.  So I would run a little and walk a lot.


We got to the yellow bubbles and both Ellen and I just walked through them with no playing.  Ellen said that she just didn't like yellow and I said I was just bored.  It really was getting hot at this point and doubly so with the cotton shirt on.  We knew that we were towards the end.  Beverly and Ellen kept running and there were no way I could take another short cut because there were fences around at this point.  I just let them take off and I just walked and took my time.

 

I assumed that they finished up without me so I stopped and took pictures and really was not worried about them.  And then I looked toward the finish and there they were waiting for me.  If I would have known they were gonna wait for me, I wouldn't have dilly-dallied.  The three of us crossed the line together.


We joined the after party, which really was a lot more fun then the race.  They had bubbles being shot at the crowd from both sides and you could tell the kids were having a ton of fun.  We got our finish picture.


Beverly wanted to get a "fun" picture of the three of us, so we walked into the foam and jumped around to get a fun picture.


Beverly insisted on getting a picture of me, since I had been the one taking pictures the whole race.  She was worried that I wasn't going to be in any, even though I told her I got plenty of selfies.  I stood by one of the cannons that was shooting the bubbles and the guy controlling it kept hitting the back of my head with the bubbles.  It just made me laugh as they were taking pictures of me.


We all had enough at that point and called it a day.  We headed to Starbucks for refreshments and chit chat before the fun came to an end.


My final thoughts on the race....
For a traveling race that is put on several times a month, it was very disorganized.  Running out of bibs for those that had already signed up is the most disorganized that I've ever seen a race.  I get it if you don't have bibs for those doing race day registration, but we had been registered since April.

It was a bit boring.  But I think that's a bit on my side.  I wasn't in a race mood to start with, but I also thought there were obstacles and not just bubbles being dropped on us.  The after party was so much more fun then the bubble stations during the race.

Race day add-on charges really made me feel like I was being ripped off.  Granted, I only paid $20 for the race (plus $650 handling fees), but the tack on of parking (and you couldn't park anywhere else) and race day packet pickup felt a bit over the top.

But I did have fun with a couple of friends.  I probably wouldn't do this particular race again, but it was fun to do it once.

Have you done The Bubble Run (or other traveling races)?  Have you done a race where they ran out of things for pre-registered participants that they shouldn't have run out of?  Do you get annoyed with those extra, out of the blue, fees?

I’m linking up with with MCM Mama Runs, Marcia’s Healthy Slice, and My No Guilt Life for the Tuesdays on the Run linkup.

Weekly Update (Weekly Wrap-up Edition)

I don't feel like this was a busy week, but it sure did fly by.  I can't believe we are in the last week of September already.

Monday I was going to get a run in, but as the evening progressed and I wasn't even tired, I knew that getting up early was not going to happen.  Usually I'm so tired by 9 PM that going to bed isn't very hard.  But Sunday night it was close to two before I started getting tired, so I didn't even set my alarm to run.  And it gave me an extra day to rest my quad.

Tuesday I went to FT.  Through the class my quad wasn't hurting, but it was talking to me.  But by the time the class was done and throughout the day it was feeling much better.  Sometimes it just gets to a point where you need to get it moving and warm for it to get that final kick into feeling better.

Wednesday I did get out for a run.  I decided to up my 2 1/2 miles to my 3 mile loop.  My IT Band felt tight, but the quad didn't act up.  The funny thing is on this run, I didn't see a single person out. Even though my runs are really early, I usually see some people out walking their dogs.  I just thought it was very weird.  The sun was just poking it's head out as I finished the run.  I think I saw a planet.  I know a few are visible during the sunrise to the naked eye.


Thursday was my normal FT class.  Everything was starting to feel normal.  I think all the stretching and rolling I had been doing in the past week really was paying off.  Though my shoulders really needed some help.  So I took my bumpy lacrosse ball to it which helped those knots.

Friday was another 3 mile run.  This one felt hard.  I don't think it was any warmer then normal.  I just think it was one of those hard runs that we all have every now and again.  I was also messing with my new AirPods, which I'm having issues connecting to my iPod.  So I connected them to my phone and listened to music that way.  I just don't have a good running playlist so I had to fast forward through the slower songs, which is not as easy as it is with an iPod.


As I was getting to my door to unlock it, something moved and startled me.  It turns out it was this little guy.  Over the years I have seen one or two of these frogs each year, but I haven't seen one in years.  I think he is adorable and I hope he stays safe.


Saturday I had my first "race" since my triathlon in June.  I put quotes around it as I don't think it's a real race as it's one of those fad races.  This one is a 5k with bubbles.  It was The Bubble Run.  I really didn't want to do this race as I just wasn't in the mood for it, but in the end it was fun.  I'll have a recap of it up tomorrow.


I spent the rest of Saturday trying to set up a new wi-fi router.  I thought it was something I could do as I understood most of the directions.  But it really was I understood enough to make a mess of it.  Thankfully I had an old Verizon router to use.  My friend who is in networking will be helping me set it up next weekend.  Let's hope he can fix it. :)

How was your week?  Did you get in all of the runs that you had scheduled?  Do you find that a good stretching routine can help in the long run?

Linking up with Holly and Tricia's Weekly Wrap Up.

Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall (Friday Five Edition)

Today is the first day of fall.  I thought I would look back to see the highlights of the summer.  The sad thing is, I had to really think hard to get five things.  I'll have to try better next summer.

1. One of the main reasons I am having a hard time thinking of highlights of the summer is because of work.  One, I don't get paid time off, so it kinda is hard to justify to take off a day or there to do something fun.  Don't get me wrong, I will be taking time off, but I feel I really need to justify it now.  I also go thrown into a huge project the month before go-live.  Meaning I was working tons of hours.  Good for the wallet, bad for fun extra things.

I also got a new job title of Scrum Master.  Basically that's a glorified Program Manager in the Agile world.  I might do a post to explain all of that in a week or two.  It's a position I have been wanting to get for the last year and a half, so I'm glad that I finally have the title.  I still work with my original team doing the things I did, but I also joined a second team as the Scrum Master.  I know it sounds like I'm doing two jobs, but it's worked out.

2. I decided that I needed to take some time off from running.  So at the beginning of the summer I got myself a new bike.  This was something I have been talking about for the last two years.  It was about time I got off my butt and get one so that I could enjoy some time on it.  And I did.  Minus a few weeks when work was crazy and my IT band really was bothering me.


I was able to get out for many beautiful sunrise rides.


I mean a lot.


Really I should say tons.


3. With this new bike, I did a triathlon.  It had been a couple years since I had done one.  On top of that, I was very under-trained.  But getting out there and doing it, I forgot how much I enjoyed it.  The training can be hard to fit in, but even with very little, I was able to put everything I had out on the course.  Before the race I swore I wasn't going to sign up for this one again.  After, I knew I had to as I love that course.


4. We have been having a friend stop by the back door almost every day before summer started.  She came by every day and just sat at the door.


My cats loved when she came by.  They would just sit there and watch her.  Sometimes they would claw and hiss at the windows, but mostly they all just stared at each other.  I ended up naming her Duibhe (Doobie), which is black in Gaelic.  All of my cats have Irish names, and since I didn't know if the kitty was a boy or girl, I thought this would work.  Since then my neighbor had said she believes the cat is a girl.  I don't quite know how she knows, but she does a lot of work with cats.


5. As summer hit, it was getting very hot in my upstairs.  Every summer I hate being upstairs during the day because I have two skylights in my bedroom.  With full sunshine in there for most of the day, it was very hard to keep the upstairs cool.  I had heard of shades for your skylights a few years back and kept meaning to get some.  But, like my bike, I'm very good at putting things off.  I don't know why as it was the best thing for my house.

What did you do this past summer?  Anything fun?  Anything productive?

I'm linking up with Fairytales and Fitness and Running on Happy for Friday Five 2.0

Weekly Update (Weekly Wrap-up Edition)

This was a busy week for me, especially in the work out realm.

Monday I really didn't have anything planned on my calendar.  I had two good bike rides over the weekend and I really needed to give my legs a rest.  I could tell during my stretching and rolling that my quads and glutes needed extra attention with a couple of knots in them.

Tuesday I went to my regular FT class.

Wednesday I actually went for a run.  This was the first time I had in 2 1/2 months.  I know my relay partners are saying "Finally!"  I did 2 1/2 easy miles before work.  I kept it light and did a 30:30 walk run.  I didn't push myself and I didn't slack off and walk any extra.  It was good.  I kept thinking my run time was set to 15 seconds instead of 30, so that's probably a good sign.

Thursday I went to my regular FT class before work.  The gym at my job offers classes to take as well.  I have taken a couple over the last month and they added a new one on Thursdays.  It's a Core Blast class.  Basically 30 minutes of nothing but abs.  The class lasted about 25 minutes and I felt it as we engaged our abs and lower back the whole time.  While we were doing some leg lifts the knot in my quad from Monday started to cramp.  Oww!  I didn't feel soar after (not even my quad), but I know it was a good workout.  My core is something that always needs to be worked on.

Friday I went on a second run for the second time.  I did the same mileage and run/walk times from Wednesday.  My IT band was a little tight, but nothing that is no different from when it bothers me before so I wasn't worried about it.  I did notice that both these runs were not any slower then what I had done last summer when I was heart rate training.  So I really don't think I've lost too much taking the break over the summer.  There was a beautiful moon out shining through the clouds.  It's just weird getting a whole run in before there is any hint of the sun to come up.
 
I had decided to do the TRX class again at the gym at work.  I had enjoyed it the first time I took it as I feel it really worked my core.  While it was still a fun class, I don't feel my abs like I did after the first class.  So I probably will try to take one of the two classes a week to make sure I get some extra core work in.  My quad was bothering me a bit during this class.  Not bad, but it was talking to me some.

Friday night I took my friend out to a nice dinner for his birthday.  He loves Texas de Brazil, so it was a lot of meat.  I can't eat red meat, so I fill up on their yummy sausages and some wonderful goat cheese.  We then made our way to the Apple store as I wanted to check out their AirPods.  I wanted some truly wireless earphones and I wanted to make sure they would fit properly.  Well they did and they were comfortable so I bought a pair.  I'll post something about them in a couple weeks after I have a chance to use them and run in them.

This past weekend I wanted to try to get at least one bike ride in.  The weather would be nice for riding in the morning.  Saturday I knew my quad was still a little acky to head out.  And the only group going out was a little faster then I'm used to, so I knew I didn't want to push it.  I set my alarm to head out with a group on Sunday morning and when I woke up my quad hurt more then it had in the last few days.  So I decided to not go and stretch and roll it some more.  I decided to use that time to start looking into getting some Podcasts onto my iPod.  I've listened to Podcasts every so often, but it was never a regular thing.  I decided to add a few to my iPod to listen to during my runs.

How is your training going?  Do you listen to Podcasts?  If so any recommendations?

Linking up with Holly and Tricia's Weekly Wrap Up.

Five Reasons I'm Trying to Love the Fall (Friday Five Edition)

I am one of those that does not like to see the summer over with.  There are many reasons I don't like the fall.  I don't like the cold, I don't like the shorter days, and I think I have repressed memories of going back to school.  I don't have kids to be excited that they are going back to school.  I don't drink coffee to be excited about all the fall flavors.  I hate wearing layers of clothes, I just want to put on shorts, shirt and sandals an head out.  I won't get a chance to bike ride as often or any during the colder months.  Instead of being sad about it, I thought I would come up with five reasons to love the fall.  I hope this helps others that are already missing the summer days.

Cooler Running - There is about 2-4 weeks of perfect running weather each spring and fall.  I still don't have to think about what I need to wear for the temperature and I'm not a sweaty mess the second I step out the door.  If I could have every run in the mid-50's I'd run all the time.  There are also the prospects of a lot of fun fall races.  This weather has even motivated me to get out and run after 3 months of not running.


Open Windows - I love to have my windows open.  If I could have them open all day every day I would.  But like running, there are only a few weeks each spring and fall that I can do that.  My kitties love it even better.


Fall Foliage - If you have seen my Instagram, you will know I love beautiful nature pictures.  The colors of the trees in the fall just fascinate me.  Sometimes I take a day trip up to Charlottesville to see all the colors in the mountains.  And something I have been doing since I was a child was stepping on leaves.  I still love to hear that crunch.


Chili - I don't do a lot of cooking, but the one thing I make and make well is chili.  I do a few different types of chili, but I love making my White Chili.  Instead of ground beef, I will cook up some chicken and cut it up to little pieces and then add the beans, spices, and tomatoes.  I will also add corn and rice.  I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

TV - While TV has evolved over the years, I still have excitement over the new shows and episodes that will come across the tubes.  I don't have cable anymore and I don't watch a lot of TV weekly, but I still look forward to hearing about the new shows and putting them in my Netflix or Hulu queues.  And with the weather colder and the nights darker, there is nothing better then snuggling under a blanket on the couch.

And each day that we get through fall brings us closer to the Holidays!!

Why do you like the fall?  What else can I be excited for?

I'm linking up with Fairytales and Fitness and Running on Happy for Friday Five 2.0

Weekly Update (Weekly Wrap-up Edition)

It was a busy week for me.  Not necessarily running, but I did think about it.  lol

Monday started off with Labor Day.  I had the day off so I decided to power wash my deck.  It's been at least six years since I had done anything with it and it really was starting to show!!  It took me forever as it was just ick.  But even though it wasn't perfect when I was finished, it looked a heck of a lot better.

I didn't take a before power washing photo, so this is the best one I could find to show how icky it was.

This is the after power washing and before staining.

Wednesday I planned on getting up and running.  My alarm went off when I was in the deepest sleep ever and I couldn't function, let alone get out of bed.  So I reset my alarm for another hour and went back to sleep.  I tell you I just couldn't wake up at all throughout the day.  I felt like a zombie and couldn't wait for bedtime.

By 9 PM I was dead asleep and an hour later I woke up to go to the bathroom.  This really isn't out of the ordinary, but not a second after I got back into bed I had to go pee again.  I knew right then and there that things felt off and I probably had a UTI (bladder infection).  I've only had one before and from that experience I know it gets bad very fast.  Every time I made it out of the bathroom I had to go right back in.  I knew it was going to be a long night.  I searched for a Doc in a Box (Urgent Care) that was open, but none were after 10 PM, so it's either I suffer and not sleep all night, or head to the ER.  I decided to head to the ER, especially since things were getting worse and all I wanted to do was sleep.

My trip to the ER wasn't bad.  It was actually fairly quick.  They took a urine sample and I sat in a room playing games on my iPad.  They came back and verified that I did have a UTI and gave me a prescription.  The nice thing is that they tested my sample with the antibiotic that they were going to give me to verify it will work with that medicine.  I asked if their pharmacy was still opened, and of course it wasn't.  But they were nice enough to give me my first dose.  And within an hour I was feeling much better.  I did decide to find a 24 hour pharmacy because the ones near me don't open up till after I'm at work and I didn't want to miss a dose.  The antibiotics did their job and the next day I was feeling much better.

I was planning on maybe running on Friday morning but I can't remember why I didn't.  But I didn't get out there.

Saturday I woke up really early to go for a bike ride.  My riding buddy had been out for like 6 weeks with back pain.  He was back and ready to ride a slow short route.  A few of us headed out for an early ride to watch the sunrise as we rode.  While it was a little chillier then our past rides, it was still a lot of fun.  We ended up getting 33 miles in, which is good for me.


That afternoon I started staining my deck.  I didn't want to do the spindles but when I really looked at them and realized it probably was at least 8 years since I have done them, I realized that I had to stain them too.  I only got the outside of the deck and about a quarter of the inside spindles done.

Sunday I woke up to join my riding buddy again for another 33 mile sunrise ride.  Even though others said they would be there, it was just the two of us.  Which is good as we ride well together.  As the sun was just starting to come up and it was a bit dusky out I saw a deer run across the street in front of us.  It was amazing to see.  A Jeep was heading toward us and all the sudden I saw a second deer jump right in front of the Jeep.  I gasped as I saw it happen and then a loud bang happened.  My riding buddy had not seen the deer, and just heard me gasp and a bang and he thought something happened to me, but he saw the lights on my bike right behind him.  I told him that we would stop at the next intersection as I couldn't bare to see what happened.  I love animals, I love nature, and to see something like that just made me so sick to my stomach.

We continued on with our ride.  I just kept seeing and hearing it over and over in my head.  Heading back we realized that we would have to take the same road.  I kept taking deep breaths and mentally preparing myself for what we might see.  When we came around the curve there was nothing on the road and the Jeep was off on the shoulder.  There wasn't any glass or blood anywhere.  So two things could have happened.  Whoever hit it, took it home for the meat.  Or what I am going to assume happened is that the deer was stunned, but OK, and went off after his friend.

That afternoon I finished up my deck.  The wood was so dry that I felt like I just needed to pour the stain on it.  It took four gallons when it normally only takes 2.  But it was done and I was proud of all the work I put into it.  

Morning after staining, but still a little wet.  May need another coat.

**Edit - I took this second picture after work. It's looking so much better. I don't think I'll need the second coat.

Later that evening my cat's little friend, Duibhe (Doobie), came to visit.  I was hoping that she wouldn't step all over my wet deck, but she did.  And stayed there for awhile.  It doesn't look like she left any paw prints anywhere.

You can sort of see the white area where it is so wet pretty wet.

So that was my busy week.  I'm hoping it's a little calmer next week.  And maybe get a run in.  The races on my calendar are coming up very quickly.

Did you have a good week?  If you had Labor Day off, did you do anything fun?  What was the most traumatic thing that happened to you on a bike ride or run?

Linking up with Holly and Tricia's Weekly Wrap Up.