Reach the Beach!

First off, I highly recommend a relay race with friends. 

Its a great bonding activity, you never know what is going to happen. 

It can be a lot of work to organize, especially if it is a 24 hour race but it is definitely worth it!

There are all kinds of relays now but Reach the Beach and Hood to Coast are a couple of the original 24+ hour relays.  My running crew is talking about maybe doing one in Florida put on by Ragnar Relays, although I also found one that goes from Key Largo to Key West.... its a little shorter too and we could have a smaller team.  

Any how back to Reach the Beach.  

THURSDAY

We headed up to northern NH.  Luckily one of our crew has a good hook up, so we had a free place to stay.  I hit the hay relatively early, as I knew I wouldn't get much sleep Friday night. 

FRIDAY

I was up before 7am, showering and packing up. We had to be at the start close to 8am to get registered.  I was our team captain so I had to do all of our check-in, I also was our first runner too! 

My first run was about 8 miles so I had to fuel up for my run.

BREAKFAST

-poppyseed bagel w/ PB

We of course had to take a few team pictures........

And decorate our vans...

Although this year was a bit sad compared to past years.  We just didn't have much time to decorate or the motivation. 

But at least we had me & Tito.  ;-)

And then we were off!

Beautiful scenery along the way of course. 

This was one of the transition areas. 

If you don't remember my explanation.  There are 12 of us on a team, you can have less too but no more than 12.  If you have 6 or less you are considered an "ultra" team. 

We each ran 3 legs, the legs are split up by the race directors, you have specific transition areas.  Once you pick an order you have to stay in that order.  I was our 1st runner so I ran legs 1, 13 and 25.  

The total mileage of the race is just over 200 miles.  Each runner has a combined total of miles ranging from about 14 to just over 22.  I was the lucky person with just over 22 miles.  :)

While it may sound great that most of the first few legs have a lot of downhill.... you quads pay the price.  The start of the race, you are full of energy...... you are excited.... you are.... well stupid..... you go out too fast and later on when you have to run up hill during your later legs.... it. really. hurts. 

But despite all this talk, I was able to recruit a newbie from my blog.....

Mrs. Our Life is Delicious donated her husband to the cause.  :)  

Or well he donated himself I guess. 

Yay Artie!!!  He even sported his "No Meat Athlete" shirt. 

A little action shot.... Artie jetting off on his first leg after the hand off. 

Soon it started to get dark..... and that meant dressing up in such fashionable items as

-reflective vest

-2 blinky lights... one front, one back

-head lamp

This is my sexy night runner pose.

I swear it did get dark on my run.

This was a leg or two  later when it was really dark out. 

My teammate Tom was getting ready to head out on his run.  It was one heck of a hilly run too... he started going straight up a hill that lasted at least 1/3 of a mile, went down for a bit and then right back up.  

So I have to admit, my eating was not all that spectacular.  For lunch I had a turkey, swiss, baby spinach and mustard sandwich.  It was camera shy.  Also had some trailmix and a chocolate chip cookie 

But after my 2nd run of the day, I got snacky and we had lots of snacks. 

Twizzlers......... evil.

Cheez-Its....... even more evil. 

But when you are living in a mess like this...... it kinda fits I guess. 

My van was lucky and we finished up our 2nd leg by midnight.  We headed to the next team transition area for some sleep.  Most of us slept in the van.... on seats, on the floor, outside in a tent... where ever we could find a place. 

SATURDAY

At 4:50am we got a call from the other van.  Their last runner was on course for her 7 mile run and I was on deck. 

I started my run just around 6am. 

 It was dark, but soon I could see a beautiful sunrise in the works.....

My team stopped by to give me some support..... 

It was my longest run, about 9.5 miles and the first half was pretty much all uphill.

This is at about the top of the hill section, right before I hit the downhill.

As you can see I was happy to see them and the downhill!!!

Me finishing up my final run and passing off our reflective slap bracelet "batton" to Mia

So my team thought it was odd that in my purchase of food for the van I got baby spinach.  I figured.... who wants just a meat & cheese sandwich, spinach is an easy addition and its like lettuce but even better for you. 

Well it became a running joke. 

At one point we showered one of our teammates with spinach during his run.

Here we are posing with our mascot vegetable....

Pretty much the answer to any problem involved....... baby spinach.... and sometimes hummus or baba ghanoush (which we didn't have any of but its fun to say).

Then we finally REACHED the beach!

This is the crew after we ran through the finish line together and got our medals. 

Our Stats

Overall Time: 28:48:42

Average Pace: 8:20/ mile

Runners: 6 guys, 6 girls.... ranging in age from 29-47

Overall an absolute blast!  :)

Let me know if you have any questions, its hard to fit it all in.  But hopefully that gives you an idea of how it all went.  

Britt

And..... I'm back......

Sorry about that.  

I'm a bad blogger when my life gets crazy. 

I'm back from a fabulous racing weekend!  Reach the Beach went awesome.  I'll do a separate post shortly. 

Today was about trying to get back to my routine.....

It kinda worked. 

6am I did Kettlebell!

This mornings workout was a good one for a Monda, I think. 

1 minute of each exercise (30 seconds each side when applicable), 1 minute rest at the end

Swings, rest

Swings, presses, rest

Swings, presses, slingshot, rest

Swings, presses, slingshot, squats, rest

Swings, presses, slingshot, squats, rows, rest

Swings, presses, slingshot, squats, rows, lunges, rest

Mini set of abs

overhead weighted situp, rest

overhead weighted situp, Russian twist, rest

overhead weighted situp, Russian twist, Sicilian crunch, rest

Then it was home for some breakfast!

BREAKFAST

Green Monster- spinach, ice, milk, almond butter, little greek yogurt, frozen mango and banana

Then off to work I went!

I headed home to make a quick lunch at noon time. 

 

LUNCH

-spinach flat out, turkey, homemade pesto, tomatoes, lettuce and roasted some strange vegetable from our CSA (didn't go so I yanked them out)
Left over roasted potatoes. 

After work I grabbed our crop share veggies for the week.  I was bad and didn't take a picture.  Yummiest watermelon ever though!!!

After getting our veggies & watermelon I had to venture downtown to prep the planters for tomorrow.  I have a crew of volunteers coming down after work to help me plant mums, cabbage & kale for the fall.  I had to remove all the summer plantings, which took me longer than I had hoped but I got it done!

I finally got home to make dinner around 8pm. 

DINNER

Pesto Turkey Burgers - just mixed in some homemade pesto with the ground turkey

Sauteed Turnips w/ olive oil & garlic

Yum!

Now to work on road race planning details.  I'm very glad Reach the Beach is done, now I can totally focus on the 5K I'm coordinating.... I'm getting a bit nervous, being a newbie at this race directing thing and all... I'm worried I'm going to forget something!

But first I'll do a race recap post!

Have a great night!

Britt

Getting ready to Reach the Beach!!!!

Its crunch time, I'm scrambling to get things ready for Reach the Beach.  We don't leave till 6pm, but there are little things I kind of put off..... 

Like printing out the handbooks that we are required to have two of.

But then I realized it was way too many pages to do at home.... so I just spent almost an hour cursing at the Kinkos and Staples sites.... they were NOT cooperating!

So my day in food.....

BREAKFAST

was running late again, so I packed up my mix-ins for my at work oats

Mix-ins: blueberries, dried cranberries, walnuts, ground flax

With my oats & a little skim milk.
Yum.

Headed home for lunch and to walk the pooch.

LUNCH

-flat out & marinara sauce, broiled with roasted brussel sprouts & turnips, plus some tomato, roasted potato and feta
It was messy but good.

At work I snacked on some Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato Chips

After work I got my butt to Kettlebell!!  (since I messed up my alarm AGAIN)

Repeated the all of the following 5 times, 

1 minute rest between each round, each exercise a minute unless otherwise noted

Round 1

-hand to hand sumo deadlift

-figure 8's

Round 2

-Get up sit ups

-Russian twist

Round 3

-Heavy press 1/1, 2/2, 3/3

-1 arm rows

Awesome workout!  I love it when there is lots of variety!

Then I ran around working on some 5K race promotion, after that it was home to walk Reggie and make dinner. 

DINNER

Chicken Parmesan 

-preheated over to 400

-dipped chicken breast in an egg, coated w/ breadcrumbs

-sprayed pan w/ canola oil

-baked for 20 minutes

-added marinara sauce and some parmesan cheese

-baked for 10 minutes more

-boiled up some pasta

(yes I like sauce)    

Time to get some packing done.... need to dig out the sleeping back and warm clothes.  

There is a FROST ADVISORY tonight where we will be running Friday night/ early Saturday morning.... eeks.  

So timeline tomorrow....

6am short run

8am work

noon leave work & finish packing

2pm leave to get huge passenger van from rental place

4pm pick up manuals & grocery shop

6pm pick up van 6 of the crew & head north

8pm dinner, check into our accomodations

My goal is to be IN BED before 11!!!

My mileage for the race....

1st leg 7.95 miles  (9:20am)

2nd leg 3.91 miles  (approx. 8:35 pm)

3rd leg 9.42 miles  (approx. 7:10 am)

Total mileage =  21.28miles

the good: no real late night or early morning running

the bad: my last leg is my longest & the hilliest

I'm going to attempt to blog on the road... not sure how successful I will be!

Have a great night!

Britt

Its all Greek to me.....

So after my Greek-esque salad today at lunch I headed back to work.....

As I made my way through the day I got a bit of a sweet tooth.....

Fruit Leather....

Then I needed to fuel up for some post work weeding.  It was my weekly volunteer weeding night!  So a larabar was my fuel. 

I tried to simplify my life and stop at the hardware store down the street from me to pick up a few yard waste bags.... 

The credit/atm card reader was down. (I don't really carry $$ on me)

So I walked across the street to the bank.  Their ATM was down.

Had to walk back across the street over to another bank down the way.  Finally $$! 

Went back to the store to get the bags.  Ugh.  

Had just enough time to run home and change then head back out. 

I always forget to take pictures before & after we weed, it makes such a huge difference.  It feels so good to make things look great in just an hour!

Afterwards I hit the grocery store.  Never got there this past weekend.  By the time I got home the hubby was there but he had already eaten at the charity golf tournament he played in, so I did leftovers. 

DINNER

had a Greek flair to it once again......

-flat out

-turkey burger

-Fix'ins: feta, kalamata olives, ketchup, lettuce and cukes

YUM!

Now I think a piece of the hubby's b-day cake is calling me.... chocolate w/ chocolate frosting....

Do you like gardening?  Do you have a green thumb??  I try... not sure if I do, but I just learn by trial and error.... I think I'm starting to kinda get the hang of it..... I think....

Have a great night!!

Britt

Ready to Run... just not THAT early

So this morning when my alarm went off at 5:20.....  

I didn't get out of bed. 

Instead I hit snooze. 

Stupid me. 

BUT........

I did finally get out for my run by 6:15!

It had to be a bit shorter than planned unfortunately though.  I did just over 4 miles in about 32 minutes, warming up the first mile at about a 9 minute pace. 

Even with my run cut short I was running a bit behind, so I quickly showered and got ready for work.  Had to breakfast at my desk, fortunately the cafe has oats. 

BREAKFAST

-oats

-mix-ins: little brown sugar, dried cranberries, ground flax and a little coconut flakes

Plugging through the workday, I hadn't packed a lunch.... so I am home right now eating that.

LUNCH

-crop share lettuce, tomato & cukes

-feta

-kalamata olives

-veggie burger

-little balsamic dressing

I have WAY too much on my plate, I think that is part of my issue with getting my runs in.  

Last night I had school board, got home from that and worked on some job application stuff.

My "To Do" List Today

• Let my Reach the Beach team know I'm alive and send out final details, since I'm captain and all
• Put together my "to do" list for the 5K race I'm directing, nail down the # of volunteers I need and where they are all assigned, figure out what tasks I need to full unload on key volunteers, also need to follow up on age group prizes
• Meet my team of weeders after work to do some weeding & prep for some fall plantings downtown next week.
• Get my job application out to my dream job!

Um I think that is it for now.... I have little notes to myself all over the place... not good. 

Hope your day is a little less chaotic than mine. 

What type of organization system works best for you, do you do everything on your computer?  Do you write it down?  Do you do both (that seems to be what I'm doing lately)?

Have a great day!!

Britt

Refocusing.....

Good Morning!  How can it be Monday already.....  weekends go by too fast!

Hope your Monday is off to a good start.  Despite morning coming too fast, I woke up 5 minutes before my alarm!  Getting up wasn't too hard since I woke up on my own.  

First up, Kettlebell!

We did as much work as possible in each 3 minute round. Repeat the entire workout twice!

Round 1
Double Swings x 5
Double Front Squats x 5

Round 2
Turkish Get Up + Snatch x 2 per side

Round 3
See-Saw Press x 5 per side
Suitcase Lunges x 5 per side

Round 4
Double Clean + Press x 5
Double Static Rows x 5 per side

Yep that woke me up!  

Any time you do double bells it take it out of you. 

I was primarily using two 20lb bells, couple of times I switched to 16lb ones.  

After class I was hungry hungry hungry!!

BREAKFAST

-Kashi H2H, plain greek yogurt, blueberries, ground flax, little mixed berry jam and almond butter

I also packed up my lunch.

-Salmon & chickpea salad w/ olive oil mayo & dill, peas and tomatoes
I am a bit frustrated with the mileage I logged last week, I need to stick to my training plan more.  Life seems to be getting in the way to much... I just have a lot going on right now.  I think I'm in that training mid-point where you need to really focus and recommit yourself to finishing what you started.  

Marathon training is a huge commitment and I think sometimes I don't truly appreciate all that it requires.  It doesn't intimidate me as much as it used to, which is good but I also need to appreciate what my body is capable of and what it needs out of my training.  I need to put that mileage in and do so in a gradual way so that I don't injure myself.  

How do you recommit yourself to your goals?  Do you write them down again, tweak or reformulate your game plan... Seek the advice of others?  Find inspiration in others?

Happy Monday!

Britt

My big news & another beach run!

Hello!  Hope you are having a great Sunday!

I could be out biking with the hubby on his birthday ride, but I ran this morning and have stuff to take care of this afternoon.... so I let him go ride with the boys.  He's all excited to ride his new bike!  (a new one was required as his frame on his old one cracked!)

We had a fabulous time last night, but unfortunately my pictures came out awful..... it was so dark in the restaurant (and I didn't want to use my flash).  So after I skipped my 5 mile race in the rain, yes I'm a wimp, I took the hubby out for his birthday dinner (well the fancy one).  

We went to one of my FAVORITE places ever in Kittery, Maine called Anneka Jans.  If you are ever in the area I HIGHLY recommend this place.  So. Good.

What we ate......

Bangs Island Mussels, Bacon, Shallots, White Wine, Cream

Organic Greens, Sweet & Sour Golden Raisins, Toasted Pine Nuts, Champagne Vinaigrette

Halibut pan seared w/ peas, lobster cream sauce, spring onions and potatoes (what I could remember, they don't have it on the website)

Seared Duck Breast, Wild Rice Pancake, Grilled Asparagus, Blueberry Glaze (the birthday boy's meal)

We shared a yummy bottle of Pinot Noir.  After dinner we met up with some friends for cocktails.  

I took it easy though and didn't finish my drink at two places we went.  I had to be ready for my run this morning!

Today

I didn't get the earliest start, but that is ok at least I got going.  :)

I ate breakfast in the car, as I needed a little ocean for inspiration again.  

BREAKFAST

-Clif Kid Twisted Fruit 

(super sweet)

-Kashi Granola Bar
Then I was off.  See why I go to the coastal route to run.
In some parts there is even a nice little trail, but primarily nice WIDE bike lanes most of the way.  

I brought 3 Gu's with me.  I took one about every 40-45 minutes.  This was at about the half way point.  Me and lots of surfers.  :)

I didn't do all 20 miles though.  The first half of the run I was dragging, the second half I got some energy but I could feel a little aching in my right foot's arch.  I ended up doing 16 miles in about 2 hours and 15 minutes, so around an 8:30 pace.  

I grabbed some stuff from the car and hit the beach.  

I figured some nice cool ocean water would be good for my feet.  

Aaaahhh.......
I did some stretching on the beach and enjoyed some food and drink. 

-Cashew Larabar
-Peach & Mandarin 10 Calorie Vitamin Water

(I was craving something other than just water, which I drank a good amount of on my run... thanks to my fuel belt)
I couldn't stay too long though, I had to run some errands and get home.  On my way home I picked up the hubby's b-day cake for dinner to night with the family. 

I was HUNGRY so I whipped up a quick lunch....

LUNCH

-canned salmon & chickpeas w/ little olive oil mayo and herbs

-peas

-left over potato salad

It was actually pretty darn tasty, I also have some leftovers for tomorrows lunch too!  Yay!

Ok, so my big news.....

.......

..............

....................

Nope not pregnant.  LOL

I got my own website.  :)  

Figured if I was going to do this blogging thing I should go a little more all out. 

I'm not transitioning quite yet, but you can do a quick preview if you want.  

www.runnerbelle.com 

I welcome any suggestions too.  :)

Enjoy the rest of the day!!

Britt