Another Busy Week (Weekly Wrap-up Edition)

Two weeks ago I had a crazy busy week.  Last week I was out of town.  And then another crazy busy week.

Monday I got back from Florida in the afternoon.  I had to work a few hours, but thankfully I was able to work from home.  I was able to unpack a little, but enough to empty the suit case and put into piles of dirty laundry, items reused for travel that needed to be reorganized and put away, and items that just needed to be put away somewhere.  I was so tired from the week away that I just went to be really early.

Tuesday I got up and went to the gym.  Nothing really exciting there.  After work I went to another User Group.  As I explained in another post, in IT there are user groups which focus on different aspects of IT.  There are ones for .Net, Database, Networking, and of course Agile.  There are two different groups for Agile in Richmond and this second one I have never attended.  They decided to do drinks, networking, and a Q&A.  So basically it was like a happy hour where you could submit a question and those questions were discussed in smaller groups or the group as a large.  It was a nice night were I met some people, had some good beer, and talked Agile (not everyone would enjoy that last part.

Wednesday I didn't get up and go for a run.  My knee was still bothering me a little and really, I need at least a week of rest before I start running again.  I really hope I do enjoy getting back out there when I don't have to do longer runs.  After work I went to physical therapy.  While my knee had been feeling better, I knew I needed some straitening done.  He ended up needling my IT band and it just kept jumping.  If you have had needling you know what you mean.  Knowing most haven't, it's like someone shocked you.  It usually means that things are very tight and it's getting loosened with the needle.  It doesn't hurt much, just a weir sensation.  And I know that things will feel a lot better in a day or so.

Thursday I went to my FT class at the gym.  Again, nothing special.  Than after work I went out to a happy hour with a couple of ladies from my contracting company and someone that I used to work with that also got a job through them.  As I walked in I saw a running friend of mine.  I said hello and went over to my group.  The three of them are in their twenties and there was more then once that I felt old.  It was a good time, but more then once I had to date myself and had to remind myself more then once that they really needed a few more years to really understand things. :)

Friday I didn't run again.  It was nice to sleep in a little.  After work I met my parents for dinner and then we had tickets to see Rent.  I walked into the restaurant and who did I see?  My running friend that I randomly bumped into the night before at my happy hour.  It was Restaurant Week, so a lot of restaurants have special three course meals that you get for a set price.  A few dollars of each meal goes to the Food Bank.  It's win win.

We headed to the theater to see the play.  I went to get some water and who do I see again?  Yes, my running friend.  Granted, I knew they were going by at this point, but it is a big theater.  I know I saw Rent when it first opened on Broadway.  I remember that I didn't like it, but for the life of me I couldn't remember why.  I did enjoy it this time around.  A couple of songs reminded me of TV shows that have used them, namely Big Bang Theory and The Office.


On the way home from the play I got a text from a coworker.  His wife had their baby earlier that day.  He is such a sweet guy, I know he will make a good dad.

Saturday morning I woke up early to one cat in my face, one on my leg, and the other kneading my back.  I wanted another hour of sleep and they just wanted snuggles.  I guess I really haven't been home much in the last few weeks.

I got up and knew I had to clean.  I still had my piles of stuff from unpacking and my house was a mess.  So what did I decide to do?  Let's make a bigger mess by rearranging furniture.  I rearranged my CD and DVD shelving, which meant I had to pull everything out, which meant that I needed to wipe everything down individually cause everything was so dusty, which meant I just made a bigger mess.

I got most of that done by early afternoon, and really I am happy with the change.  But before I could finish I headed out to the movies to see the new Avenger movie.  I really enjoyed it.  The first part, I was unsure as it was a lot of characters and they quite hadn't fit all the pieces together.  But by the time they got to the Guardian of the Galaxy guys I was rolling.  They really stole the whole movie.  And yes, there will be a squeal to finish up the story line.  We only have to wait till May of 2019 to see it.  Very excited to see the conclusion.  Oh and I got the best shirt to wear to the movie.

Sunday I did all of that laundry from my trip and cleaned more with the rearranging of the furniture.  I still have to put back all the DVDs and clean the kitchen (and a few other odds and ends), it is still better then it was.  I would have loved to take Monday off and finish what I started.

How was your week?  Ever randomly bump into the same person more then once in the same week?  Have you seen Rent?  Did you see Avengers this past weekend? 

I am linking up with Holly and Wendy for their Weekly Wrap!

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.

Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon 2017 (Tuesdays on the Run Edition)

I feel like a lazy person not getting this out earlier.  But that's life and here it is.  Thankfully I made some notes about it so it won't be "dark, boring, hot, done".


If you missed my previous posts, please take a moment to catch up.

• The First Day
• The Expo
• The 5k
• Epcot Part 1
• Epcot Part 2
• The 10k

The morning started early again.  We didn't get on the first bus this time as we knew we weren't going to stand in line for any pictures.  Franklin was not running the half, but was there to see the start and both Kelly and I were in different waves again.  The time up to the start of the race was the same as all of the Disney races.  Like the 10k they split each coral up into different groups and let us go a few minutes apart.  The last coral didn't leave till about 50 minutes after the start of the race.

The first couple of miles were very unforgettable.  We started in the parking lot of the Magic Kingdom and headed down towards Animal Kingdom.  They had a school band near the start and then a couple of photo ops.  The first was R2D2 with a not too bad of a line, but since I got a picture with him during the 5k, I decided to skip him.  The second was of an Ewok.  I really wanted to stop for him, but the line was super long.


But really what was annoying about the first few miles was that we were on back roads where it was very dark and hard to see much around you.  Every so often they would have spot lights, but that was it.  They did have a section where they had laser lights flashing around and they ended up flashing me in the eyes.  That was not fun.

By mile 3 it was already getting hot and humid as the sun started to come up.  I wished I had thought to bring my towel to wipe the sweat off my face.  About this time I decided to put on my music as I was really bored.  I did see a couple of fun "costumes" that people had.  One guy was in full Dark Helmet costume from Space Balls.  Man do I love that movie.  For the first Disneyland Star Wars race I dressed up as Dot.  And then another person had a Dunder Mifflin Fun Run shirt from The Office.  That is one of my favorite episodes and I would have never of thought to buy one to wear at a race.

They had a couple of non-character photo ops that I thought were fun.  The first I came across was from Star Wars A New Hope where they were stuck in the garbage compactor.  They had this setup at Disneyland and it still is a fun photo op.


About 4 1/2 miles in we finally reached Animal Kingdom.  Yay!!  I was so bored up till then, that I was glad to have something fun to look around and see.  I was doing a quick clip for my vlog and right as I finished I heard someone ask if I was Heather.  I looked around and it was Chaitali.  I knew she was going to be there and had kept an eye out for her.  I saw some of her Instagram pictures so I knew what she was wearing but she found me first.  It was so good to meet her and have someone to talk to for a few minutes through the park.

We really were in the park for about a half a mile, which seemed like a shorter time, especially having someone to chat with.  After we got through the park, we split our ways as we were doing different intervals.  As we rounded the lake outside the park we had this most beautiful view.


The other non-character photo op that I stopped at was the Emperor's chair.  There was a nice person there that was wiping down the chair after each person because we were all drenched in sweat from the humidity.  And I really felt like this, just hot and tired.  My IT Band was bothering me a bit at this point as well.


At this point we were making our way to Hollywood Studios.  Again there really wasn't much to look at on these back roads.  They did set up a few movie clips from different Star Wars movies throughout the course which was a nice distraction.  I think my times got slower near there so I could watch more.

Somewhere during mile 7 I really got into a funk.  I really kept trying to use my mantras to keep my spirits up, but they really weren't helping.  There weren't any spectators out in these areas as there isn't a way for them to get out there.  There wasn't anything interesting to look at except for road and other runners.  It was just getting hot out.  Thankfully at this time it was still a bit overcast so we didn't have the full sun beating down on us as well.  I just kept putting one foot in front of the other, just to get to Hollywood Studios.


By mile 9 the sun was starting to peak out from the clouds and just was making things hot.  I kept seeing signs for Hollywood Studios and kept thinking that we had to be close but we never seemed to get there.  It felt like a mirage, you could see it and you kept moving towards it but you never got to it.

We finally got into Hollywood Studios a little after mile 10.  The 501st Legion had a group set up again right before we entered into the park.  Like the 10k the day before, we were in and out of that park in less then half a mile.  It did help my funk once we got into the park, even for a short time.  I was in a park and would be done in less then 3 miles.  That was something to be happy about.


The rest of the course was the same as the 10k from the day before.  We made our way out of the front of Hollywood Studios to the path that leads to The Boardwalk.  Once I hit The Boardwalk I knew my funk was gone.  I really do love running there.  There are so many people that come out to cheer you on that it always picks me up.

And then we finally made it into Epcot.  It was great to see Spaceship Earth.  I knew the finish line would be right behind that and that thought got me to the finish line.  We actually were in Epcot about the same time as the other parks put together.

 

The 501st Legion group was also right before the finish line like they were for the 10k.  A last pick me-up before the finish line.  As I rounded the corner I pushed as much as I could to finish the race.


We went through the finisher's chute and collected medals.  I got my medal for the half marathon.


Then I got one for the Rebel Challenge.


Then I got the black Coast to Coast (which I still don't get why).


Then I got the mother of all medals.  The one I do both the Star Wars races for.  The Millenium Falcon.


Overall I really did not like this course either.  There was so little time in the parks and after spending that much money for the race, I would like a little more time in the parks.  Last year's course wasn't the best one I have done, but it was a ton better then this year's.  Would I do it again?  Yes, I already signed up.  I had a great weekend with my friends and expect the same for next year.  And there is always a chance that they will change the course again.


After the run I went back and cleaned up and rested for a bit.  I headed back to Disney Springs to find someplace to eat.  I walked around some and ended up back at Paddlefish.  Their crab fries were so good that I had to get them again.  I also read tons of reviews on how wonderful the Fish and Chips were so I had to try them out (minis the chips as I was having the crab fries).  I do have to say that the fish was good, but not for the price I paid.  I think next time my whole meal will be the crab fries.


And as I made my way back to the boat to take me to the hotel I was greeted with this beautiful sunset.  A perfect way to end my trip to Disney.

Have you ever done a race where the course just bored you?  Do you do races just for the medal?

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.

SPC Turkey Waddle 5k Recap (Tuesdays on the Run Edition)

On Thanksgiving I ran a 5k Turkey Trot.  We only have a couple in our area this year, a 10k and this 5k.  I've done the 10k before, but it's really hilly and full of very fast runners.  The 5k that I did was very laid back with only one steep hill.

I was not planning on doing a Turkey Trot this year, but a friend of mine who is starting to get back into running really wanted to.  So I said I would go with her.  She felt like the 10k would be too much for her, so we oped for the 5k.  This is the first year that I have done this particular race and I found it a lot of fun.

The cost of this race was $10 and all proceeds go to the Food Bank.  We got to the church and went to check in.  There were no timing chips or even bibs.  From what I understand the whole $10 went directly to the Food Bank, so they saved the money on buying bibs. 

We were able to hang out inside and even use real bathrooms before the race began.  The weather was in the upper 40's and overcast.  It sprinkled a little on our way there, but the ran stayed away for the race.

As we were directed to the start line, it looked like several hundred people were out to run this.  They made some announcements but we couldn't hear any of them because no one would be quiet.  It was very irritating.  Because this was put on by a church they did say a prayer and it only got a little more quiet during that.  This was the only really irritating part of the race as it just seemed that everyone was being very rude to the announcer. 

And then we were off....

My friend stayed with me for a very short time.  She was always a couple steps in front of me looking back and I told her several times to go on without me.  It was funny as I was doing that a guy next to me was telling his wife to go on without him.  It turned out that my friend kept the wife as a pacer.  I ended up losing the husband at some point.

The first mile went through some nice neighborhoods and I kept up a good pace.  In fact my first mile was just a little over 12 minutes.  Really fast for me.  By mile 2.5 I knew going out that fast was a huge mistake as my IT band was starting to hurt me. 

We ended up running next to part of a lake.  At that point it was a trail and then sand.  The lake was beautiful.  When we finished near the lake we had to go up some stairs and then up a really steep hill. 

By the time that I got to the third mile my IT band really hurt, so I ended up walking most of the last mile.  There were a bunch of families near me and the kids would run fast ahead and get tired and the parents would slowly catch up.  There were also a lot of dogs out for the 5k.  So cute.

Then end of the course turned onto the grass of the church.  I decided to run the last bit of it out to have a strong finish. 

Overall I would do this race again.  It was a fun atmosphere and the course was nice in some great neighborhoods.  They even raised over $8k to Feedmore Central Virgina Foodbank and Shalom Farms this year.

Did you do a Turkey Trot this year? 

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.