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Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Nearly Wordless Wednesday...

The week in pics...again.  I'm getting horrible at writing any blogs lately, I've been just so damn busy!

25 mile bike ride with the hubby Saturday morning

See the deer?

See him now?

Trail running on Sunday

I seriously don't know how I got dirt on my face, I swear I did not fall

My new ride I got today.  I didn't even plan on getting one.  She will get her own post soon.



So my week has been hectic to say the least.  I'm not sure what day it is most days of the week.  Kinda scary.

Will I ever have a normal, boring life?  

Nah, probably not...







Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Mostly Wordless Wednesday: Why I have no spare time....

I have no time to waste.  This is gonna be short and sweet, and mostly pics...

My most favorite uncle passed away last week.  He was my birthday buddy.  After I spoke to my dad I picked up some Chinese food and this was my fortune cookie...

Exactly what I needed in that moment


I have been buried in books for the past week....

My OCD tendencies have been left at the door to the office...

Clinical comes early in the morning.  I forgot how early until last week.  This is the time AFTER I was finished getting ready and about to head out the door...



I had an angry tooth that had to be pulled.  I spent the majority of Monday morning trying to get it crowned so I could save the tooth, but it had to be pulled later that day...I also found out I have some rare nerve thing that only bothers the tooth I had pulled, the dentist gave me a handout, it only happens to 0.9% of the population, I was only the second case he's ever seen...lucky me....  Because of this rare nerve issue, I received nine shots in the morning for the temporary crown, then eight in the afternoon to have it pulled.  Eventually they had to numb the actual bone.  My jaw is still sore...but the tooth pain is gone!

I have seriously the most awesome dentists (they are a husband and wife) you could ask for.  I wanted pics, and they were okay with that!

The dentist actually took this one for me! 
THAT is a big ole tooth!!!
BTW, that dark spot is NOT decay.  It was an old filling I had put in 12 years ago when they used the ones with mercury in them...

Come to find out, my tooth was fractured.  Ouch.

I've been riding the hell out of my bike, and I'm still fitting some running in there.  It seems to keep me sane amidst all this chaos.

I rode yesterday after I had clinical and after I didn't sleep the night before (apparently I'm allergic to Vicodin now).  I told the hubby I'd be good for 10 miles...well I did 15 instead.

Cicadas are taking over our life here.  They say it is not even as bad as it's gonna be yet.  They just came out of the ground, but when they get their "groove on" to make more to bury themselves for another 17 years it's gonna be even louder...Yay.



Oscar is still getting his run on.  With the heat it's hard to get him out, but we're trying our best.

I'll gladly put this down for a run momma!


Okay, so that's my wrap up of the past week or so!

Gotta study...NOW!!!!!!!

How do you deal with chaos and stress?

I tend to exercise more, and I think that does help.

Monday, June 3, 2013

4 the Wounded 5K race recap

4 the Wounded 5K is a local race, literally in my backyard.  100% of the proceeds go to the Wounded Warrior Project which is extremely near and dear to my heart.  Being the spouse of a veteran, you kind of have a different kind of respect for veterans and this cause in particular.  We've seen many wounded soldiers in our time, and some are actually family members.  This race reminds us of their sacrifice and their courage.

Okay enough about that before I get all mushy mushy and start to tear up...

So the race.  Yes!

At the start/finish line



This is an awesome quote!



The race is part road, part trail.  You have the option of going all road, but that's no fun, I mean for real.  It's not like I'm pushing a stroller!  So the hubby and I take the trail every year.  This is the third year for the race and the first year I beat the hubby, the second year he beat me, so this year it was my turn!!!  (or at least I wanted it to be!!!!)

Pre race 'thumbs up' for beating the hubby!



Before the race we hung out at the start line with some friends and chatted a while.  We couldn't hear a thing they were saying at the start of the race since they had approximately 1200 runners.  We are 'mid packers' so we hung out in the middle.  Since this is the third year of the race, they still need to do some tweaking, the number has more than doubled in three years, and the course has changed every year.  It was a bit confusing to me, but I'll get to that later.


Pre race photo...I look like I'm pushing my boobs and butt out...




So we started around 8am.  The first mile is a huge downhill literally 1/2 mile down, 1/2 mile up!!  So it was and always is horrible for me.  I don't mind hills, but this one is crazy!

First mile:  8:00 (a PR for a one mile in a race)

The second part is the trail.  Trails always kick my ass.  I mean for realz.  I am a nervous runner as is, throw some trails in the mix and I get really nervous.  I'm such a klutz, so I'm always thinking I'm going to kill myself on the trail.

To my surprise not many people took the trail this year.  I was kinda upset about that.  I mean obviously your time will be better on pavement, but dang y'all, it's a TRAIL run!!!!!  Embrace it!!!  I felt okay on the trail part, I was passing what little people were on the trail, so I thought, dang, I got this!!!

Second mile:  9:15

Not too shabby, right?  I was on my way to a PR!

Then something happened.  The course changed from last year, and the year before.  And I'm not sure why.

In previous years the trail runners were told to go straight, but this year we had to go left.  I went left, started walking to make sure I was going the right way.  The guy behind me also thought we made a wrong turn, we asked a race volunteer, after he told us to keep going and turn at the sign, I sped back up.  That confusion cost me precious seconds....

Third mile:  9:48

I was a little ticked off about that.  Why would they do that?  The race was perfect as is.  I'm not sure why, but it did make me a little irritated to say the least.

So my final time (per Nike GPS) was 27:24.

8:51 pace for a part trail run.

Not too shabby.

Online it says my time is different.  I contacted the person for discrepancies and he told me they do 'gun time' as opposed to 'chip time'.  WTF?  I mean, you make us wear a chip, USE the chip time!  It's way more accurate than 'gun time' especially if you're mid pack before you start!  So I was irritated about that....I had a discrepancy last year too, but didn't say anything, but this year I did.  I think they should totally make it all chip, I mean it IS more accurate, it's not like we are racing in the 90's people!!!!!!!

Ugh.

So the hubby is still the record holder...for one more year.  But his time of 27:01 will be demolished next year.

I do wonder, IF we didn't have to do that extra part that was NOT part of the course last year, maybe I would've beat him...hmmmmm.......maybe.....

So all in all, it's a great course, they need to work on more of the technical stuff to make it right though.

Things I would suggest?  (and I will, they always send out a follow up email for suggestions...)

Chip timing only.
The course more clearly written out for trail runners when they finish the trail and get back on the main road.
I'm not sure about the extra we had to run this year, I honestly don't think it was needed...it was literally a waste of time, and caused much confusion!!!


Do you prefer 'gun time' or 'chip time'?  Did you even know there was a difference?

I prefer chip time obviously.  I mean it's more accurate, duh!