#RagnarSoCal with #TeamNuun

When I talked The H into letting me run Goofy Challenge AND Eugene Marathon, I had to trade out some other events - namely, Ragnar SoCal.

The course runs directly outside my office window.....

heeeey, Santa Ana River Trail...

Plus, 1/3 of #VanAwesome from last year is busy growing tiny new humans, so I was resigned to staring longingly outside my office all day, wishing I were wearing a sweaty slap bracelet and not sleeping for 24 hours.

So when Sarah OUaL asked if I was interested in running with #TeamNuun, it took me approximately .47 seconds to tell her ABSOLUTELY I WILL.

(I'm ignoring the parts in the 3 weeks following me joining the team, where I almost dropped out when I realized I was BY FAR the slowest runner, when I wasn't having fun training, and when I thought my right quad might just amputate itself if I didn't cut some shit out).

I lived in denial for a few weeks, and procrastinated so much, that I was packing at 9:30 am on Friday morning, while van 1 was getting their safety briefing and at the start line.

This year, I was runner 9, and in van 2 (last year, I was runner 3, in van 1), so it was like a whole new race for me.

Megan, our fearless Nuun leader and van 2 driver, got us to exchange 6 in record time, and we breezed through the paperwork, waivers, safety briefing (one for each van!), packet pick up. While our first runner got ready to pound out 8 miles in the hot, hot inland sun, we met up with van 1 for the first time, and got a present from Sheila!

The other van 2 runners had already decorated the van for our adventure.




Runner 7 off, and van 2 on duty.

Man. Like last year, it was HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT. I think the heat index was 101? So not ideal, but... it's Ragnar, and it all moves so fast, so you barely even get to register the heat (ha).

Leg 9, my first.....

This was an ugly, ugly slog up that hill, and down a long stretch of unshaded road. I have never been so psyched to see red lights during a run, ever.

After our van finished our 6 legs, we headed for a quick dinner at Applebees, and then on to the next major exchange, #18 at the Lawrence Welk Resort.

We had a couple hours of downtime here while Van 1 worked their legs, before we headed out again (I think around 1am?).

My second leg, leg 21, was an easy 4 miler, mostly downhill. It was cold and glorious and everything should be run downhill in the cool dark air. (seriously, I want to find that exact race course).



Safety first! Not even Ragnar Ambassador's can forego safety gear.

San Marcos at 3am. In case you ever wondered what it looked like.

Van 2 finished up around 5:30am, and we headed out to find some breakfast.

After breakfast and a delicious coffee break, we headed out to exchange 30, right in Torrey Pines. I was SUPER excited to hit this exchange, because I've never been to Torrey Pines.

And then we ended up here.

Vandemonium

Off the freeway in a broken van. Womp, womp.

Luckily, a friend of our first runner lives locally, and was able to pick her up and take her to the exchange so we could keep running. Van 1 rescued us shortly after, and the van rental company sent down a new van to get us through the remaining legs.

My last leg, leg 33, was an easy down/flat for 4 miles, then a killer death hill at the end.

Our last runner handoff......
And we headed down to the finish area to meet Van 1 and run Megan in as a team.

 

 

I had a blast, Ragnar is just the funnest event in all the land. Everyone is fun, and friendly, and I can't wait to do it again. The entire course was well organized, and well marked. Ragnar does a stellar job at the logistics, which seems overwhelming to me in an event THIS enormous.

A HUGE thank you to Nuun for letting me on the team, and for their great support this weekend keeping us all hydrated in that hot SoCal sun!

t-6 days, and i'm drowning in snot

First, I'm sure you've all read about what happened to fellow blogger Elizabeth over the holiday weekend. Click HERE to read her story. The most shocking thing I've seen, is in the comments. The number of people who said they have also been attacked BY THIS SAME MAN is unbelievable.

She has listed excellent tips on how to stay safe while out running, some of which I shared with #1 when she went out for a walk over the weekend. I live in what has been consistently rated the safest large city in the US, and honestly, reading our crime blotter is hysterical - things like, car left unlocked, laptop removed; police called to scene where kids were loitering. We're very, very safe. And I try to be careful, but her list was an excellent reminder of how to stay safe - and I'm guilty of more than one of those things.

Alene at Journey to Badwater summed up my feelings exactly HERE. What a shitty, shitty piece of human that dude is.

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So, I know I said Saturday that I was heading out for 4 miles. I lied. I've been fighting some funk for a few days, and the longer I sat around waiting to feel better on Saturday, the worse I felt.

I figured the 11 for Sunday were more important than the 4, so I called it "resting", and thought for sure I'd feel better Sunday.

Sunday comes, and now in addition to all the snot and foggy headedness, I have a sore throat and cough. That's awesome. I sat around and moped and guzzled tea for hours, to no avail.

I felt crappy, but decided to head out for 20 minutes, and I would re-evaluate then. Maybe it would cure me.

20 minutes, I felt awful. My body feels fine, my legs feel great, but I feel AWFUL. I try to give it another 10 minutes, and still awful. But I can't possibly leave a run with a decimal point in my mileage, so I slogged through until I hit 3 miles, and called it a day.

Way to close out CIM training with a bang.

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Some fellow Ragnar Ambassadors are hosting an info session at Road Runner Sports in Costa Mesa tonight at 6pm - I'm hoping to make it, but it will totally depend on the status of my sickness. Message me if you have any questions, or need directions!


Last week:
Tuesday: 6 miles, easy pace. Headed out IN THE DARK with a friend for 4.3 easy, finished 1.7 fast. Not what was scheduled, but it was fun.
Thursday: 6 miles easy with The H.
Sunday: 3 super lame miles

This week:
Today: I rest, and drink more tea, and cross my fingers that I'm magically healed ASAP.
Tuesday: 5 miles, some speed work
Wednesday: Yoga (FOR REAL)
Thursday: 5 miles easy
Friday: pack?
Saturday: Becka!
Sunday: 26.2

Ridic HTC Jealousy + 18 Internet Strangers + 200ish miles...

Freaking FINALLY!!

Ragnar supplies have taken over a corner of my dining room.

I'm sorry in advance, #SMCOL, for bringing this on board.

I'm still doing laundry. I haven't packed. I have to work tomorrow, then meet up the rest of the 12-chick team for van decorating. It's chaos.

It's just the way I like it.

Team So Much Cooler Online will be...

Outfitted by:

RunningSkirts


BIC Bands


Run Pretty Far

Hydrated by:

Nuun

Compressed by:

Aspaeris Pivot Shorts


Pro Compression Socks

And fueled by:

GU

You guys. 200+ miles.

THAT'S KIND OF FAR.

There have been some last minute changes to our lineup (um, hello, Rose is going to INDIA).

Our line up (with our Twitter handles for your following pleasure)

Van 1
Runner 1: Shannon@hungrygazelle
Runner 2: Becka @squirrelgirl44
Runner 3: ME! @hmgiraffy
Runner 4: Julie @julie16750
Runner 5: Sandy @bicbands
Runner 6: Madison @Borntorun77

Van 2
Runner 7: Ashley @prettyfittie
Runner 8: Linzay @brokerunner
Runner 9: Danica @GTR_Danica
Runner 10: Erica @cajun_runner
Runner 11: Sharon
Runner 12: Elisabeth @ewallerscott


We'll be tweeting up a storm, giving away Nuun at exchanges, and generally being... awesome.

Follow us under #SMCOL

I'm super stoked, in case the obnoxious giant fonts didn't tip you off.

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In less exciting news, I saw a new PT today regarding the lumpy shin, and I'm hopeful she'll get it unlumped. She's a runner, and gave me the green light to run Ragnar and PCRF in 2 weeks (omg 2 weeks), and then, probably take a week or so down time to actually fix the weirdness.

Phew.

Running news: 6 miles easy yesterday, 10:53 pace. Boring, I know.

Things that happened, things that will happen

Souplantation FunRaiser for PCRF! I don't know the numbers yet (I'm impatiently waiting....), but I heard there was a stack of flyers by the registers. I know I was down for at least a $10 donation....

#1 brought some friends

#2 had an ice cream eating contest (and won, can you tell?)

Gabby was the cutest ever (pardon the instagram-ness of this picture)

My friend Jordan terrified the Snork's baby....

...but then Shady Baby was the most docile I've ever seen her, so I guess it worked out.

Also making an appearance: Sarah, Madison, Margot, and Pam! Giant thanks to my Ragnar teammates (and their friends!) for joining me for #eatallthethings! You guys are the best. I can't wait to spend 24+ sweaty, gross hours stuck in vans with you people.

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Saturday, we took my mother in law down to San Juan Capistrano.

#2 visited once on a field trip, but the rest of us haven't been. It's super pretty, really interesting, and if you're around in the spring, full of beautiful flowers. You should go.

(I didn't forget to take pictures of my other kids, they just didn't join us. Swear.)

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Running last week:
Tuesday: 8.45 miles at the track!
Wednesday: Conditioning
Friday: 4 miles, easy
Saturday: 10.78 miles, easy pace
Sunday: 7.75 miles, easy

I REALLY suck at math, and thought I was hitting 31 miles for the week. Then, I added it, and it was 30.01. Except, I REALLY suck at math, and just added it, and I'm at 30.98. WTF, brain. Be better.

This week is RAGNAR WEEK!!

Tuesday: 6 miles easy
Wednesday: Conditioning
Thursday: 4 miles easy
Friday/Saturday: 19 miles

I'm a little panicky that Ragnar is already here. I mean. Already!? How did that happen!? The forecast looks... well. Shitty. 90* Friday. WTF. It's been rainy and cool and beautiful. NOT CUTE.

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Two excellent blog posts from two of my friends last week, both training for PCRF, their first half, and who didn't know each other, but apparently share a brain:

Jordan, on the state of his training.

Snork, discovering that I'm NOT A LIAR, and running isn't really all terrible.

Plan for the Week

On Sunday I met up with a few of my Ragnar teammates for brunch in San Clemente.

I've never been to San Clemente before, but it was really cute - tons of tiny shops, a farmers market. The ocean.

I know. It really sucks living here.

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Last week....
Tuesday: 7 miles easy, 1:16:24, 10:54 pace ( < --- hey, remember when that was my hard OMG I'm gonna die pace!?)
Wednesday: 1.3 miles easy warm up for "Conditioning" class. Coach Doris introduced jump ropes this week. Turns out, I SUCK at jumping rope. So mostly I hopped around swinging a rope and hitting myself in the head. Graceful, that's me.
Thursday: Sucky 7 miles of tempo. Goal was 3 miles at 10:20, 2 miles at 9:55. Actual was 10:24, 10:19, 10:19, 9:54, 9:40. 2 miles warm up/cool down.
Saturday: Scheduled for 12. Did 6 easy on the treadmill, and 6 with the PCRF group, total time 2:11:43. Felt good the whole time, but it's kind of cheating since I had a 30 minute break in between, y'know?

That's a total of 27 miles! My highest mileage week ever.


This week....
Tuesday: 7 miles easy
Wednesday: a mile or two warm up, "conditioning" class
Thursday: Hill repeats. Whee.
Saturday: FOURTEEN MILES. Marathon training seems REALLY official now!

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It's SHOCKING (ha) what some consistency does to your paces.

I love the Daily Mile tools.

Photo Friday....

Lumbar puncture? What lumbar puncture?

Click HERE to donate to Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation.

Hey, so, a few of my PCRF teammates also have blogs!

Jordan hates running, so obviously, he's broken. How do you hate running?

And Will is training to run his, like, millionth half marathon, AND preparing for a new baby. If he thought running was exhausting.....

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I've got 12 miles on tap for tomorrow, followed by some extensive and exhausting shopping after that. And Sunday brunch with Team So Much Cooler Online.

Have a great weekend!

One thing you can’t recycle is wasted time.

I really, really suck at time management, apparently.

Yesterday, I was scheduled for 7 miles (easy). Monday night, I had grand plans to wake up at 4:12 am to be running by 4:45 to be done by 6 to shower and leave for work by 6:30.

And then my alarm went off at 4:12, and I remembered, running alone in the dark in the morning really freaks me out. I know, we've had this chat before, I don't know WHY I thought this time would be different.

And WHY did I want to run in the morning? Because I had dinner plans with some friends at this place.

"America's Best Salads" -> not necessarily true.

Anyway, then I decided I would run my 7 miles on WEDNESDAY morning, before the "Conditioning" class (I'm going to keep "" that word until it no longer equals torture and cruel things).

But then I realized, I am not fooling anyone with this morning run business. I'll run what I can before dinner, then run whatever 1-2 miles in the morning before class.

Except, by the time I got home, yapped with the family for a bit, changed, etc etc etc ad nauseum procrastinated lame, I could only fit in FOUR miles.

LOSER.

But whatever. I ran the 4 (42:37, 10:39 pace). Met Skinny Runner, Sarah, Margot, Pam, and Monica for soup and salad...

....and next time, can we do Souplantation? This 5 item topping limit is completely unrealistic.

Margot brought our Nuun stuff - they're supporting Team So Much Cooler Online!

Pretty rad. And, delicious.

And then I skipped FroYo with them after because I promised the kids I'd be home before they went to bed.

And THEN, this morning, my alarm went off at 4:34 (wtf), and I was actually waking up and ready to get out of bed, when Gabby walked face first into my bedroom door and scared the hell out of me. Then she walked in saying, "I'm okay. That really freaked me out.".

That kid cracks me up.

So I hung out quietly waiting for her to stop talking (seriously, she was starting full-blown conversations, and poor H just wanted to snore), before I procrastinated myself long enough into only having time to run 1 mile before "Conditioning" class.

1 mile, 10:45.

So to recap, last night, 4 miles, dinner, no fro yo. This morning, 4:34 heart attack, 1 mile run, 45 minute "conditioning" class.

So this is why, when the Stabucks boy this morning asked if, at 7:28 am, I was ready to start my day now that I had coffee, I laughed at him.

Sorry, it was rude, but I couldn't come up with a more reasonable response.

Anyway. BIC Bands is running a special today - buy 3 bands, get 1 "goof" band FREE! And, since they're donating a portion of February sales, that makes TODAY you're last chance to shop and donate at the same time! SHOP SHOP SHOP!

Tinker Bell Half Weekend - The In Between's

Friday, I took off of work early, headed down to Huntington Beach to pick up Becka and A.

Me: Where are you?
B: Huntington Beach?
Me: Where in HB? Where should I park.
B: Just north of beach.
B: Twin dolphin.
Me: Cross street? I have no idea what twin dolphin is. {neither did my google map}
B: PCH.

Um. ALL of the beach is on PCH.

But I found her, and A, recovering from a ladybug attack.

Ran home, and found a ginormous display of fruit from our friend Ruth, who was supposed to join us, but couldn't last minute. Sad face.

We pretty much ravaged the fruit, and then ran to the expo, in our sparkle skirts.

Unfortunately, Team Sparkle had been swarmed, and they were all out of the swag bags. Sad face.

I placated myself with... sparkles.

Madison dared us to take a picture with Superman at the Hollywood Half booth....

but he was nowhere to be found. Luckily, she accepted Batgirl.

Home, Lasagna, Friends, Sleep.

Saturday, we woke up super early for the Kids' Races - recap here.

The H's sister was in town, so after the race, we all went across the street to breakfast. The place we went was okay. But it was... weird.

Not the kids. The place.

Need a book? It's in the lobby.

Afterwards, we headed back to the Expo, because a little birdie told us Sparkle Swag Bags were back... But alas, we were too late. Sad face again :(.

But, you know. This happened.

THEN, we headed back down to Irvine for Team So Much Cooler Online Serious Pants meetup!

{lifted from Pretty Fittie}
l-r: Madison, moi, ChaCha, Sandy from BIC Bands!, Becka, Pam, Pretty Fittie Ashley, Sarah, Danica, Julie, and Nicole.

After some cupcake eating, strategizing, and deciding who is in the stinky van, we disbanded and headed home briefly before running to dinner. Where our waiter was shocked at how much Becka can eat.

True, that happened. In his defense, she is deceptively small. I don't know where all that food possibly goes.

Becka, our very tall friend Mary, and Kat headed over to our hotel for the night (Crowne Plaza Anaheim, Priceline, $55 winning bid, $69 total. Winning!). Julie joined us at the hotel bar, where I drank a bottle of water and bailed within 15 minutes. Lame old lady with a cold. That's me. I was back at the room and in bed by 9, and sleeping by 10. I know at some point everyone else came back, and I mumbled something disparaging about effing Disney and their super early wake up calls. Alarm set for 3:38, and out.

The Tink recap... that's coming. There are SO.MANY.PICTURES to sort through.....