Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY! Sunday Lately is a weekly linkup hosted by the Blogger Tribe (lead by Angelica, Meghan, Nicole, and Katy). And the rest of us in the Blogger Tribe are sharing our posts today, too. The prompts for June 12 (Week 76) :: Planning, Loving, Reading, Wishing, Feeling.
Planning:: out my running bibs and medals wall! I’m so excited that I have the space to put up all of my memories in my workout room, and I’ve already made some purchases to help pull this whole thing together. There was a lot of great inspiration out there on Pinterest, and I can’t wait to lay mine all out. I also plan to include some items from my roller derby days. It will be an inspiration wall to hopefully lead to motivation in keeping my new goals on track!
With that, I’m also starting to plan out my training for the IMT Des Moines Half Marathon in October, including finding some run groups and group runs in the area.
Loving:: I am loving the crap (pun intended?) out of my morning coffee routine. So much so, that I find myself willing my brain to sleep with the promise of waking up to the warmth of a delicious black drink. I’m still mostly keeping to my “no coffee after noon” rule at work, but LOVE weekends when IDGAF I’M DRINKING MORE COFFEE.
After finally catching up on my Shape and Running World magazines last night, I’m also reading about some TRX upper body workouts to crank out this week, now that I finally set up the system in my workout room. NEARLY A YEAR AFTER BUYING IT.
Wishing:: that I could figure out my living room arrangement. I spent an hour making minor chair adjustments… and something is just not working. I bought a slipcover for the black leather sofa, but it’s much more blue than gray, which probably has something to do with throwing off the color balance in the room. But it feels haphazard and OMG it’s what I struggled with for the duration of the time in our Pittsburgh house — it never felt right!
I’m considering pulling out the leather sofa to see how the room feels without it (which would then both leave us with less sitting area and an empty space along the window). And then it might be another call into 1-800-Got-Junk. I HAVE NO IDEA.
Feeling:: I’m feeling a little nervous about this bike ride we’re doing next weekend. While it’s a day-long event with multiple stops along the route (BACON!), it’s still 78 miles in total, and uh… I haven’t been on a bike at all this season.
the week:
Feeling a lot like my first week of work, as I’m transitioning into a new role on my team. So, it’s been a lot of training (both receiving and giving, as I have to train a couple team members who are taking over my previous tasks) and exploding my brain with new procedures and systems.
BUT I love that the work is a little more intense and challenging and providing me with a broader skill set.
It’s also really, really hot this week — like, in the 90s, hot. It feels nothing like Pittsburgh 90-degree weather (which I found completely sticky and oppressive), and I actually spent time OUTSIDE kind of enjoying the hot winds (yeah, it’s still windy!).
weekend:
Last night we went to a fundraiser at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, which is in Prairie City, Iowa. I want to post something separately about this wonderful preservation because it was a beautiful place and a fun event.
Since it’s going to be close to 100 degrees with the sweat index today, I’m going to spend some time in some air-conditioning at Ulta replenishing some of my make-up stash (birthday gift cards, ftw!). And then, we’re golfing on Sunday — I get to practice some of what I learned at my lesson this week.
seven things, seven days:
1. I plan to attend one of these beginner adult ballet classes at Des Moines Social Club.
2. I’m also starting to think about CrossFit again. I’m just… not comfortable or confident with lifting alone at my gym (and I can’t get a trainer to respond to my online requests to set up an appointment), which is kind of a bummer.
3. Man, just when I thought that MarathonFoto was a rip-off, to download pics from my race last weekend is $18 per freakin’ picture. FOR A LOCAL RACE.
4. For all my fellow Goop haters: Is Gwyneth Paltrow full of shit? Science says yes. And I especially love said scientist calling out detoxes as “fancy anorexia.” {via Think Progress}
5. Hold the carbs, please. {via NYT}
6. On the tireless consumption of foodies. OOOOOH BOY, do I hate the word “yummers.” {via The Baffler}
7. We’re booked on next year’s Rock Boat XVII!
Thanks to a late push (no thanks to you, motivation) to train for this half marathon, I had zero goals aside from finishing in one piece. BUT aforementioned last-minute motivation or not has really helped propel my health and fitness goals and to get excited about some upcoming events — including the planning of my GOAL RACE in the Fall. More on that in another post.
Dam to Dam was my FIRST race in Iowa, and my fifth half marathon overall — and my fourth state! My PR for the half was back in February at Gasparilla… but with our big move in March, my desire to run really flat-lined. I was happy to at least get a 10-miler in (which went a lot better than I anticipated — and on the treadmill, no less. WHO AM I?!)
Two years ago, Dam to Dam changed course to a half marathon. The race still has remnants of its old school past, which is something that usually irritates me, but I actually kind of dug its small race charm (though 9000 entrants is certainly not “small”): there was no bag drop, no PERSON drop off at the start line (you had to take a bus), the emails were in all text (one that I received promised a lot of fun race day info but contained no images or links), and no real time tracking. Even the chip on the bib was MONSTROUS, considering the chip tech that exists in road racing.
And I guess, considering my not following my training plan, the race went about how I expected.
Flat Mel! (My race day uniform at this point.)
Registration and Cost: Registration was online via GetMeRegistered and cost $43.69 total (after some fees) — pretty great price for a half marathon! Dam to Dam has both a half marathon and 5K option, and the Half is limited to only 9,000. The first 5,000 runners get a $40 entry fee (I got in on this deal! WOOT!), $45 for the next 2,000 runners (5001-7000) and $50 entry for the last 2,000 runners. I sincerely couldn’t imagine this race adding any more runners to its registration, and I hope it never does!
Packet Pick-Up and Expo: Packet pick-up was downtown at the Veteran’s Auditorium / Convention Center the day before the race, so I had a double commute to drive into downtown from where I work. Thankfully, they were open until 8! Because there isn’t a lot of traffic in Des Moines (double WOOT!), I was able to find street parking; total time to park, pick up my bib and swag and peruse the FREE FOOD BUFFET was less less than the 42 minutes that I put on my meter.
I’m not sure if I missed a larger section of the Expo, but didn’t really explore beyond packet pick-up. Picking up bibs was by race number (which they posted the day before); t-shirts were a few tables down from there. The volunteers were REALLY encouraging me to enjoy myself with some free food. And I guess there was beer too!
Free Swag: Brooks t-shirt and socks! First time that I’ve received socks as part of my swag bag — and they’re hot pink, so YAY!
Bag Check and Transportation: As I mentioned above, there was NO bag check for this race (on Facebook, the organizers posted about an unofficial and unsecured bag drop location downtown, but my day didn’t start there). I had to be dropped off at Valley West Mall in West Des Moines around 5:30 a.m. to catch a school bus that took us up to Saylorville. It seemed very organized, and once the bus filled up, the doors closed and the next bus pulled up. I did hear that at other locations, later in the pick-up window, it got a little messy and delayed. But I live by the mantra: BE EARLY! (especially when it’s your first time, and you have no clue what to expect).
I do get car sick, so I was honestly really nervous about taking a bus up (by myself, no less). But I did OK.
Start Line: The bus ride took, like, 20 minutes (if that), so I stopped into the Kybo (Iowan for port-a-john) — there were at least 100, if not more. And then I sat around for another hour. As the start time approached, all the runners make their way to the bridge over the Saylorville Dam (Dam #1!).
Walking out to the bridge!
It was a BEAUTIFUL view, and you could see the downtown skyline in the distance where we would finish.
Downtown Des Moines in the background — 13 miles away!
I didn’t see any official pacers, but there were sections posted with expected finish time. And then the swarm of people started moving after the gun went off and the timing mat for the start was kind of a surprise for those of us in the back of the pack.
Weather: UGH. Remind me why I sign up for summer races? I, thankfully but sadly, ditched my long-sleeve shirt. It was chilly enough to wear it sitting around pre-race, so I’m happy that I brought it. I wore it in so many races, so was sad to let it go. BUT OMG, a tank top and shorts was too much to wear within the first two miles. By the end of the race, it felt like 80 degrees and I could not keep my body cool. This was something of a disaster for me, as I felt thirsty constantly and probably drank too much water (despite properly hydrating the week before the race). And then by mid-race, I was legit feeling sick. By Mile 11, I had to stop running because my chest hurt and I was seeing spots, and I sincerely was freaking out about passing out on the course.
At least my allergies weren’t bad! #smallwins
Course: Saylorville Dam was the start, and the course almost immediately went into open roads and cornfields — so very Iowa! The course followed the path of the Des Moines River, though we didn’t see much of the waterway during the race. Portions of the race went through neighborhoods, others on bike trails; at one point we were running through the woods and over a wood plank bridge. The best was the approach downtown, coming past the Botanical Gardens and up the Principal River Walk over the Iowa Women of Achievement Bridge. We have a pretty cool pedestrian bridge.
Miles 6-7 were no joke!
Also around that incline in elevation was Morningstar Hill, lined with American flags honoring all the Iowan soldiers lost in the line of duty since the first Dam to Dam on June 15, 1980. That’s always a somber experience in a race.
I really enjoyed the variety of scenery on this course. Also, there were staggered water stops, not specifically at every mile, but enough to be sufficient; there were maybe 3 stops with Powerade. Kybos were scattered throughout the course as well. There were sponges at one stop, but they were gone by the time we got there, which was a HUGE bummer because SO HOT. At this point, I was just dumping cups of water over my head and down my back. I missed the ice cubes too, as we were approaching downtown.
Fans and Experience: As you’ve probably gleaned from my past recaps, I have problems with large race crowds; this one didn’t feel overwhelming at all. At various spots throughout the course, there was live music and DJs; in the neighborhoods, there were more people cheering on their tree lawns. Cyclists were out cheering us on at the trail crossings, too. There were a couple of nearly-drunk guys at one of the bike outposts and one of them offered us doughnuts… TORTURE. Most of the “fans” were lined up near the finish line and in downtown.
Finish Line: I didn’t specifically hear my name, but the announcer was calling in all the finishers, which I always think is super cool. The finish chute opens up into Western Gateway Park — there were so many runners with their shoes off and sitting in the water fountains. There was free beer (Coors Light and Smirnoff Ice, blech). Would have been nice if there was some kind of cider. #glutenfreeproblems I heard there was chocolate milk, but I didn’t see it (thankfully, the boyfriend brought me some).
And then the sprinkler system went off in the park near where they were doing finish line photos and OMG you could only laugh because it was definitely not on purpose.
A strained smile at the finish line. More happy about my chocolate milk.
After Party: BBQ brunch at Jethro’s. And heck yeah, I wore my medal inside!
Bonus: A mutual friend online connected me to someone on Instagram who was also running the race, and SHE FOUND ME AT THE START LINE! And we were planning the same pace! We were able to run most of the race together, too — and I never had to put in my earbuds (though, I will not let my $42 purchase on iTunes the night before the race be wasted).
Extra bonus for you beer lovers out there: Besides the beer at the finish line, at 400 meters from the finish line you approach Exile Brewing, and volunteers there are giving out beer samples on the course. I was almost desperate enough to take one. lol (But OH GOD the smell of warm beer on this hot day and already feeling sick made want to hurl.)
Random Bullshit: I realized post-race that something bit me on my inner thigh, and I have a rash on the inside of both of my legs. We ran through the woods in one portion, and I’m so stupid fearful of ticks (I don’t know if it was a tick but that’s where my mind goes). So, that’s something that I have to keep an eye on.
Best Sign: Run Now, Poop Later.
OVERALL The Great: It’s always awesome making new running friends, and having someone to enjoy the experience with. The Good: My first race in Iowa! The Bad: My training overall for this race was not so great, so I’m not surprised how poorly I did. Despite this, I pretty much assumed that I would finish in about 2:30. The Ugly: THE HEAT. The end of this race was an awful slog. I couldn’t even muster enough energy as the finish line was approaching; 12-minute runs-walks for the last two miles. SIGH.
It’s the freakin’ weekend, and the Blogger Tribe is collectively sharing their Sunday Lately posts (and I’m getting back to my normal routine, after skipping last week). Sunday Lately is a weekly linkup hosted by the Blogger Tribe (lead by Angelica, Meghan, Nicole, and Katy). The prompts for June 05 (Week 75) :: Completing, Visiting, Repeating, Writing, Scheduling.
Completing:: I never finished the laundry that I started last week that’s still hanging all over the laundry room. Whoops! I have a pretty long cleaning to-do list for completion today, which I will be stretching out over the course of a couple of mimosas. 😉
Visiting:: We’ve got a couple of barn swallows that keep visiting their nest that they’ve built under our deck. I’m pretty sure there will be baby barn swallows soon, but any time we attempt to go over to check the nest out, these birds start swarming and dive-bombing us — and they bring their friends! And they were super mad about the cats being out on the upper part of the deck this morning.
Repeating:: the word COMPLETION. It’s kind of been a mantra to me lately, to provoke more of a sense to do things now / finish that now, instead of my usual habit of “I’ll get to it later.” Little things like “throw this away now” or “rinse this oatmeal bowl now” and “put these shoes away now.” I just say the word COMPLETION out loud and do that task right away. And then it’s something that I don’t have to add to my aforementioned to-do list.
Writing:: Finishing up my race recap of Dam to Dam! I wanted to write the post while everything was still fresh — it will be posted tomorrow morning.
Scheduling:: I signed up for golf lessons, and my first scheduled lesson is tomorrow! Learning something new is always fun (yet scary!), and considering the boyfriend golfs a lot (and we joined a club), it made sense to finally get out there and actually learn how to swing properly. I’m a little nervous because I’m terribly inconsistent and ball sports for me have always been a challenge.
the week:
The long weekend and a face punch of allergies really did a number on me this week. I’m trying to reserve all the energy I can harness for my race this weekend. And deal with all these patchy dry spots on my face from the excess rubbing, dripping, and tissue chafing (WTF?!)
weekend:
Saturday morning, I’ll be running my first race in Iowa — and my fifth half marathon — Dam to Dam. Tonight after work I had to drive downtown to pick up my bib and free swag. I’m still not downtown a lot, and I have zero clue which streets are one ways (let alone having any idea how to enter the parking ramps), but I did it all by myself.
And then, chocolate milk. And then and then, Jethro’s BBQ for brunch.
seven things, seven days:
1. I made my first microwave mug cake — it was gluten-free and it was delicious!
2. Oh hey, my job role changed again this week. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
3. Making a goal of wearing my hair down more often and IDGAF if it’s perfect anymore. It won’t ever be, so I’ve just kind of embraced the mess. #growingup
4. Signed up for my first golf lesson!
5. So, hard soda is a thing here. But I haven’t found a brand that’s gluten-free. WHOMP.
6. As I’m making sure that I’m properly hydrated for race weekend: How much water do you REALLY need?
7. Holy cow, I need to wake up at 4am tomorrow. -_-
the week:
Friday’s Weekly Therapy was disrupted by OUR FIRST IOWA VISITORS!
weekend:
The boyfriend’s parents spent the holiday weekend with us, and we explored some fun things in Des Moines — the Downtown Farmers Market on Saturday and Iowa Cubs game on Sunday were big highlights. We definitely crossed a few items off of our Iowa Bucket List!
I get an extra (unpaid, unfortunately) day off today, and we’ll be spending our free afternoon on the golf course with some friends. I’M DRIVING! 😉
It looks like the rain is holding off until tomorrow, too — yay!
It’s the freakin’ weekend, and the Blogger Tribe is collectively sharing their Sunday Lately posts. Sunday Lately is a weekly linkup hosted by the Blogger Tribe (lead by Angelica, Meghan, Nicole, and Katy). The prompts for May 22 (Week 73) :: Creating, Finding, Switching, Forgetting, Craving.
Creating:: This weekend, the boyfriend and I went to our local garden center and purchased a LOT of plants and flowers to put in pots in various places around our house. It’s supposed to be in the 80s today and for a few days this week. And creating all the individual groupings was actually a lot of fun! Even if I can’t participate in any of the actual planting because I’m basically allergic to everything.
Finding:: Seriously, when did I become allergic to the outdoors? I cannot be around plants without getting hives or sit outside without my eyes getting watery and itchy. Even just sitting inside the kitchen with the windows open, I’m a sneezy mess. I need to find something to get me through this all-things-pollen season.
Switching:: Since starting my new job, I have adopted a really bad habit of having more coffee in the afternoon for a pick-me-up-from-my-post-lunch-coma (hey, the coffee is free!). I finally remembered to put some tea bags in my work bag, so I can switch to something non-caffeinated (if it’s the warm beverage that I’m actually craving).
Forgetting:: I’m not shitting you — when I originally wrote this post, I forgot listing out this prompt. I had it above all together with the other week’s topics, but literally skipped right over it. HILARIOUS.
Craving:: I don’t know how I never thought of this, but PEANUT BUTTER IN OATMEAL, you guys! Someone at work makes this almost every morning, and I copied the same habit. I feel so much more full than eating oatmeal on its own and, well, peanut butter is my everything. I basically crave it every day (and I may or may not go through a jar a week).
the week:
I had two full days of training at work, so my week just FLEW by!
And, YAY! I got a new bike — 600+ miles of Iowa trails, here we come! We also signed up for our first group trail fun ride in June — the BACooN Ride (where BACON meets the Raccoon River Trail) — so I am fully outfitted and ready to explore.
weekend:
We live in a front license plate state, so I need to take my car in this morning to get my front plate mounted. The dealership is also charging us an OUTRAGEOUS amount of money to update the maps on my GPS (like, holy shit, they’re sticking in an SD card WHY CAN’T A SATELLITE DO THIS). All I’m saying is that it sure as shit better locate my house when it’s uploaded.
ANYWAYS.
Otherwise, we have a pretty laid back weekend. Last night we got to hang out with our neighbors for a bit because it was SUCH a beautiful night. I’m pretty jazzed about the weather report in general this weekend, and we’ll probably go for a bike ride.
seven things, seven days:
1. My workplace has a corporate library, which we can reserve from a great selection of business-themed and popular book titles. And they deliver it right to my desk!
2. Everything is SO GREEN right now, including the farm crops around us. Daily, I just feel so happy with where I live.
3. I finished Leah Remini’s Troublemaker — it was a really engaging story, with all the gossipy celebrity juice you’d expect from someone who attended Tom Cruise’s wedding. I’m obsessed with the Scientology survival stories, and it’s a pretty incredible read from someone who went into the church so young.
4. Man, I just had another awful online shopping experience with a furniture company that I love and have shopped with for over a decade (AND have their dumb store credit card). Needless to say, I have to now find another living room side table somewhere else. #grumpy
5. Oh, HEY! Roller derby article in Shape magazine: How Roller Derby Helped Me Finally See Myself As An Athlete
6. The unhealthy truth behind “wellness” and “clean eating” {via Vice}
7. Spinning: You’re doing it wrong {via Indoor Cycling Association}
It’s Sunday morning and the Blogger Tribe is collectively sharing their Sunday Lately posts. Sunday Lately is a weekly linkup hosted by the Blogger Tribe (lead by Angelica, Meghan, Nicole, and Katy). The prompts for May 15 (Week 72) :: Doing, Appreciating, Designing, Humming, Expecting.
Doing:: All weekend, I was volunteering at the derby tournament (hence, this post being late). So, for the rest of Sunday afternoon, I basically did NOTHING. Well, I definitely made a sandwich first… then, nothing.
Appreciating:: I’m still feeling all the warm fuzzies from friends who reached out with birthday wishes. For anyone who has moved to a new city, it can feel incredibly sad to miss out on celebrating with friends (who have likely celebrated with you for past birthdays).
Designing:: a new playlist! Man, I don’t think that I’ve updated my running songs since I ran the marathon. It’s no wonder I’m unmotivated to workout (a big HA! there because we all know the real reasons — my friends Lazy Tendencies and Procrastination). 😉
Have any new, good dance, electronica or remix recommendations that I should download?
Humming:: the jingle for one of my favorite podcasts, We Know Nothing (as sung by Anya Marina, an artist that opened up one of my FAVORITE live show memories back in my Cleveland days — she was on the bill with Greg Laswell and Jay Nash).
At work, I’m allowed to wear headphones/earbuds, so I’ve been plugging back into my growing list of unplayed podcasts. I’ve also been catching up on Nicole Antoinette’s past seasons of Real Talk Radio on my commutes, and have gained much-needed insight into some life decisions that I’ve been struggling to make. I’m pretty sure she’s about to release another new season, so I want to be caught up!
Expecting:: We’re expecting our first guests (boyfriend’s parents) at the end of the month and OMG it’s already halfway through May! I need to start putting stuff up on the walls and figure out my living room arrangement already.
the week:
YOU GUYS. MY PINK CHAIRS WERE DELIVERED. The ones that I just ordered on Monday from Wayfair. On top of all my birthday surprises from the boyfriend (and my furbabies), this was seriously the BEST WEEK.
But if we’re being super serious, despite some of the shitty and sad stuff, this has really been a good year. And I’m happy that you are here to celebrate all these memories of my 30s with me.
weekend:
Hey, I’m volunteering at the 80/35 Invitational this weekend — a tournament hosted by Team United in Des Moines. You should come out and watch some roller derby!
Birthday week is coming to a close, but here’s the run-down of my week of surprises, aka: seven things, seven days:
1. My boyfriend special-ordered a gluten-free carrot cake from Sweet Rewards (and even got some candles, so that I could make a wish).
2. An emerald necklace (from the cats, ahem)
3. A gift card to LifeSpa (boy, do I need a massage!)
4. WINE CLUB MEMBERSHIP to Plonk (ALL THE CABS!)
5. This hilarious t-shirt from Raygun
6. This hilarious t-shirt from Raygun (from the cats)
7. And this hilarious t-shirt from Raygun (he’s so silly that he individually gave me one each day, for the last 3 days. I love punny localized t-shirts!)
Bonus: My mom sent me flowers that arrived on my birthday.
Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY! Sunday Lately is a weekly linkup hosted by the Blogger Tribe (lead by Angelica, Meghan, Nicole, and Katy). And the rest of us in the Blogger Tribe are sharing our posts today, too. The prompts for June 12 (Week 76) :: Planning, Loving, Reading, Wishing, Feeling.
