Uno Carrera de los Muertos 5K 2016 (Yee-haw!)

 

Carrera de los Muertos 5K (3.15 miles)

36:57

Average Pace 11:54/mile

A little over two years ago, I started off a Chicago race adventure in Chinatown like this.

So I suppose it's only appropriate that I started a new Chicago adventure in a similar way.

Too bad that Emmers was out of town, so unfortunately I went into race day knowing we would not be able to meet up.  But, no worries - nothing can rain on this parade.  Carrera de los Muertos - it's on.  Let's go!


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A lot of people have asked me why I chose to run this race, since it's kind of in a non-famous neighborhood in Chicago and not terribly well advertised (unlike the Hot Chocolate 5K, which took place the next day, and was all over the news).  But, if you go check out the race organizer's Facebook page, my reasoning for why I've been lusting to run this race over the last 3 years should be pretty obvious:

That shirt and finisher's medal are right up my alley, no?

Actually, that shirt is somewhat coveted amongst the running community, and has become a bit infamous.  Uno even has a place on their race website where you can post photos of the shirt in various locations around the world.  They call it "El Camino", and it has it's own interactive map where you can click on the location to see the photo posted. 

Case in point to the awesomeness?  Check out last year's shirt, which I bought post race for a friend:

Yeah, that's some amazing print design, folks.  So amazing, in fact, that I actually folded and bought the hoodie that was made for this year's race.

I also debated buying this shirt for someone I know in Chicago that likes to run, but the gear tent was kind of a sheet-show with no posted price info at the table I was purchasing from.  Making matters more chaotic, staff didn't know how much things were, so finally I just said ... skip it.

Oh well. More money in my pocket, I guess.

Anyway, back to the race.

On race morning, I was fortunate enough to have race packet already in hand (thanks to a family member who lives in Chicago), so all I had to do was get my family fed, dressed and out the door.  With the race starting at 8am, I was shooting for a 7-7:15ish departure, but was running a tad behind and ended up catching a cab to the race around 7:25am or so.

Thankfully traffic around the event area was minimal, and street closures weren't so bad that our cab couldn't get into the approximate area of the race start, so we had a seamless drop off and transition into the park where pre-race festivities were taking place.  Overall the park was extremely jubilant, and we arrived just in time to hear the ever popular "Percolator" song that seems to be played non stop at this race ... with a dancing crowd to accompany it.

Since we basically arrived right on time, just as we walked into the park the DJ's on stage announced it was time to line up for the race. 

Well, ok!  We'll do as we're told!

 

 

As you can see in the above pictures, the crowd was a healthy size for this race and included a fantastic mix of serious runners, social walkers, and families - as well as tons of stroller runners like me.  My husband had never run anything aside from a few local 5Ks with me prior to this race, so he was impressed by the turn out ... but was a little challenged by the crowds, too.  I say this because once the gun was fired (pretty much on time, might I add), he was totally unprepared for how much weaving we would need to do to navigate the course.

 

I myself wasn't totally surprised that we spent a good half mile or more weaving around groups of walkers.  I had read online through other recaps that many people seed incorrectly at this race, so I was anticipating some congestion - though to be honest, I wasn't expecting it to be as bad as it was. I say this because of course, I had a stroller and courteously self-seeded at the back of the 12 minute mile ... and many walkers with LARGE BACK PACKS self-seeded at 10.  Sigh.  Frustrating when they were all walking 5 people wide and staggered maybe 6-12" apart in their individual packs. 

 

No matter.  I steered the stroller like a champ through the crowds.  And much like Moses, the waters parted for me.

 

 

 

 

LOL!

 

Despite the clogging on course, as we bobbed and weaved through the crowd, I enjoyed a few of the things this race is known for - vibrant murals, costumed runners, on course entertainment, and the overall jubilation.  Really, the congestion was second fiddle to all the fun surrounding me, so I couldn't care less that I had to zig-zag a little. 

 

I mean, it's not a like a mural or crowd like this could let you get down, anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

Fun aside, by mile one I found myself struggling a little and decided to take a break.  I told my husband in advance that my goal was to make it at least that far and walk a bit, as I was finding the effort challenging (since I haven't been putting as much into training as I ought to and wasn't in shape enough yet to support a continuous 3 mile run WHILE pushing a stroller).  After I said that, I looked at my son and said "I can't imagine why that might be, can you?" and smiled. 

 

Amazingly, he smiled and cooed back a sarcastic sounding "hmmm....". 

 

Ok, OK!  I know 6 months old can't really talk yet but ... the timing was uncanny.

 

As we continued on, there were various points of entertainment and groups of spectators cheering for the runners.  My husband put it best by saying "this is definitely the most happening race I've done".  I had to agree, it was definitely exciting!

 

Speaking of excitement, even without the various DJ stands, costumed dancers, and cheering spectators, the runners on course were really something to see.  Almost everyone was wearing something festive, even if it was just the race T itself.  I particularly liked the runner who RAN past us during our walk break who was wearing a cotton t, cut off denim shorts and cowgirl booties. 

 

Yes, she was RUNNING in ankle height cowgirl boots.  And not tennis shoes modified to look like boots.  They were standard boots with heels, hard soles and all. 

 

In the heart of Chicago. 

 

IN DENIM SHORTS.

 

Yee-haw!  You go, girl!

 

Just after we were passed by the cowgirl and I decided I had enough of a walk break and started to run again, we came upon a water stop.  Of course.  Not knowing what else we'd have at the finish line and being a bit thirsty, my husband and I both decided to grab a cup and continue on.

 

From there on out, we ran/walked as needed.  Ideally, my goal was to run out the last mile as well, and I mostly adhered to that goal.  Within the last quarter of a mile, I debated if we could come in sub 36, as I really would have liked a 35 and change finish ... but, as I saw the dancers at the finish line I realized ... no dice.

 

 

 

Not that I can complain, as I still managed to "run" my fastest race of the season, and only 6 months post baby, with minimal training, and on a somewhat "hilly" course (though, not really, since the hills were really more like some minor repetitive inclines / speed bumps to keep people slow in the neighborhoods).  But ... good enough!

 

 

 

 

*Oh hey, look at that!  A negative split.  Nice!

 

 

At the finish line, there were several volunteers handing out finisher's medals.  I noticed that the medals had various colors of neck ribbons, so I opted to snag a tennis ball yellow/green one. 

 

 

 

 

My husband took a medal with a red ribbon.  And then ... without us even asking, a volunteer says "and here's one for you little guy, for going along for the ride" and puts one around my son's neck. 

 

LOL!  Not that he would know the difference but, OK!

 

The finish line dumped us out into the park where we started.  There, runners were offered water, a small sample bag of "natural" cookies, and some various Hispanic looking drink options (one stand was giving out what looked like sour and tonic bottles, but I'm sure it was some sort of Mexican soda, another stand was giving out what looked to be a Mexican type of Gatorade or something similar - I don't really care for soda or energy drinks, so I declined both and therefore didn't see what they actually were). 

 

Oh!  In case you are wondering what I mean by "natural" cookies - they were some sort of non GMO blah blah blah cookie that was made from beets, oranges, and chocolate.  Yes, they were about as good as you would imagine.  So they were interesting to try, but my husband and I didn't even want to finish the single sample bag between the two of us.  Hahaha!

 

Our race bibs did entitle us to additional post race snacks, including a churro, but the line for that was easily 100-200 people plus.  Not being THAT hungry, and having a waiting baby in the stroller, we opted to skip the line.  Ah, the sacrifices of being parents, huh?

 

After passing through the refreshments area at the finish line, we continued on into the park to check out the post race party area.  I was pretty excited for this part as I had heard various vendors came to the after party to sell their crafts and food.  And you know me and skeleton stuff - I was ready to shop!!

 

Unfortunately, while the music and overall atmosphere was fun, I don't know if I missed something, but ... I didn't see much for crafts, which I was really disappointed about as I had two $20 bills burning a hole in my pocket.  The only things I noticed for sale were a few what looked to be handmade clothing items that were cute but not my style, a handful of food tents, and a couple of vendors offering to do your face paint to look like a sugar skull (needing a shower post run, I wasn't exactly in a hurry to get my face painted).  Oh well.  This wasn't a deal breaker.  Plus I left $40 richer.  So ... win?

 

As I mentioned above, I did end up spending some additional money at the gear tent on the hoodie.  But because that process was so disorganized, I sadly passed on the mini skeleton shadow boxes and sugar skulls they had for sale.  I REALLY wanted to look at those and make a purchase or two, but I didn't want to stand in a second line of 50+ people just to do that (I was in a separate line to make the shirt purchase as I was using my card).  Ideally, if I were king anyway, I would say next year they should put the more crafty items on a third table and sell as "cash only" so people can shop them better.  As it was, everyone was focused on clothing anyway, so the crafts were totally lost in the push of the crowd.  Besides - I mean, who wouldn't want to take home a mini version of the sugar skull awards they give out to the top runners?  Those things should be cool enough to stand alone!

 

Speaking of, here are the top finisher awards.

 

 

 

 

Amazing, no?  If only I was a faster runner!  I especially like the one that appears to be Cubs themed.  Very appropriate given the World Series was happening that weekend as well.

 

After making my gear purchase, since I had already spent a considerable amount of time at the race running and shopping, I decided I better be a responsible mom and get my little boy back to our hotel.  He had been fighting a nap the entire run because he was too excited being an on course spectator, so I knew it would be ultimate disaster if we didn't get him into a nice and comfortable bed ASAP.

 

Of course back at the hotel, I couldn't resist one more selfie, though, before I took off his costume.

 

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And that's the story of how race bib #77 joined my collection.  Here's to another race soon ... which I actually already said this last time, and here I am again running, but ... I don't have anything more booked for 2016.  This might be the end of my race season this year.   I guess we'll see!

Taco Bell ... Healthy?

I recently came across an article talking about Taco Bell's strides to offer healthier menu options, which I found interesting.  Of course fast food is never really "good" for you, but their approach to making wiser food choices is refreshing.


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Taco Bell Has Low Key Become One of America’s Healthiest Fast Food Chains
Tessa Newell

While no one was looking, Taco Bell has been scheming.

Unless you’re a hardcore follower of the chain, you may not have noticed the change, so we’re going to fill you in: Taco Bell has started to become one of the country’s healthiest fast food chains.
It seems a little weird that a restaurant that offers a Doritos shell taco would warrant that title, but it’s the gospel truth.

In the past year or so, Taco Bell has been restructuring menu choices from top to bottom, especially on the company website and mobile platform. The goal? To give consumers a choice. They can pig out on Crunch Wrap Supremes if they want, or they can go for a healthier option that’s still quick service and delicious.

Very few fast food chains today can claim a similar accomplishment.

Much of the credit can be given to Taco Bell’s dietician and product developer, Missy Nelson. Take a minute to wrap your head around the fact that Taco Bell has a dietician.

Since Nelson joined the Taco Bell team, she has made huge strides towards taking out all artificial ingredients, switching to cage-free eggs, and offering lighter (but still delicious) options. On top of all that, there has been a 15% reduction in sodium across all menu items, which is subtly a brilliant move.

Taco Bell now offers so much more than the traditional menu we’re used to. There is now a low-calorie “Fresco” menu, a high-protein “Cantina” menu, and a vegetarian menu certified by the American Vegetarian Association. The vegetarian menu even comes with vegan-friendly selections, all of which can be found on the Taco Bell app.

With a touch of a button, your order can be customized to fit your dietary needs, which leaves endless options for customization. And by adding these extra, health-conscious menus, Taco Bell gets to keep the traditional fast food menu, while allowing for another avenue to drive new business.

However, what we really appreciate is that Taco Bell isn’t making a huge deal out of their new health offerings – which could be why you haven’t heard of them.

“Us [Taco Bell] touting ourselves as a health halo – it’s not authentic and it’s not real,” Taco Bell spokesman Alec Boyle says.

Instead, Taco Bell has kept the usual advertisements and low-key released information on the new menus, so anyone who wants to make the healthy choice can do so. This gains consumer trust more than any of the nutritional tools now at the customer’s disposal.

Eyes are now on the rest of the fast food world to see if they're taking serious notes.

I Was Featured - AGAIN! Mankato Marathon

About two weeks ago, I mentioned that I was featured on Active.com for my wacky race day wardrobing. 

Just as that post was going up on my blog, Mankato Marathon posted this to their Facebook feed:

Hm.  Wear something gaudy day, you say?  I didn't know there was such a holiday.  This is just what I wore for a regular old race day in 2015.

Now I'm faced with a conundrum - how does one who's gaudy on normal occasions dress for a day specifically celebrating gaudy?!  Discuss below!

40 Questions 2016

A week or two ago, a fellow blogging friend of mine named Emmers posted in reference to the below 40 questions list.  I figured it's been awhile since I've done one of these, so why not go all in and do the full list?

Here goes nothing!

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1. Do you like blue cheese?
Um, if you put the word cheese on anything, I'm pretty much guaranteed to eat it.  I don't care if it starts with "blue", "stinky", or even "string".  If cheese is included, I'll probably eat it.  Maybe even if you write the word cheese on a piece of paper.

2. Favorite color?
Purple.  Though I also am quite partial to red.

3. Do you get nervous before a doctor's appointment?
Sometimes.  When I was pregnant, I was always a little nervous that something might be wrong.  But after about 15 visits with the doctor and my gestational diabetes nutritionist, I pretty much got over the nervousness.

4. What do you think of hot dogs?
Eh, I can take them or leave them.  I'm not a huge fan.  BUT!  If I do eat them, I like when they are a little crispy on the outside from being over cooked on a charcoal bbq.

5. Favorite Movie?
I honestly don't think I have one.  I do enjoy rewatching Strange Brew on occasion, and have watched a handful of vampire moves and TV shows more than I'd like to admit.

6. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
Good, European style coffee.  I got a little spoiled after our visit to Europe and my husband bought me this for my birthday after we got back:

 

7. Do you do push-ups?
Um ... I'm a certified fitness instructor.  It kind of goes with the territory.

8. What's your favorite piece of jewelry?
I should say my wedding ring, but I do love the secondary ring my husband gave me a few years ago for Christmas.  It's not fancy, and is just from Pandora, but I like it all the same.

9. Favorite hobby?
I think probably the best answer to this question is the reason why I do this blog - running and doing goofy things at races.

10. Do you have ADD?
No.  Though sometimes I feel like I do!

11. What's the one thing you dislike about yourself?
What?!  I'm not answering this.  We shouldn't focus on things we don't like about ourselves.

12. What's your middle name?
Lynn

13. Name three thoughts at this moment:
What happened?
Where am I?
Who am I?

 

14. Name three drinks you regularly drink:
Water, water, and my morning coffee.  (See #6 above)

15. Current worry?
I'm a mom now.  I don't think anything worries me much besides my kid.

16. Current annoyance?
I suppose I can couple this with #15 above and go for the easy answer: poopy diapers.

17. Favorite place to be?
Relaxing at "home".  And "home" might be whatever location I'm based out of on vacation, not just the building my husband and I actually reside in legally.

18. How do you ring in the New Year?
With cheese fondue.  I'm not kidding.  That's a tradition almost 15 years in the making, now.  I guess this complements #1 above, LOL!

19. Where would you like to go?
I'd like to go back to Europe again and see more of it.  Our trip last year was such a whistle stop that we didn't really see much in each city.

20. Do you own slippers?
Yes, several pairs.  A girl has to co-or-din-ate!

Brownie points if you caught that reference.

21. What color shirt are you wearing right now?
Black and white.  Pretty tame based on my usual standards.

22. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets?
Yuck, no.

23. Can you whistle?
Yep, though not super well.  Just enough to carry a tune.

24. Would you be a pirate?
Hm - I was just going to plug in a race photo here and I realized I've never run as a pirate.  Inspiration abounds!

25. What songs do you sing in the shower?
Anything gangsta.  Yo.  Word.

26. Favorite girl's name?
Lily

27. Favorite boy's name?
Quinn

28. What's in your pocket right now?
Nothing, I try to keep them empty.  The feeling of sitting with stuff in my pockets grosses me out.

29. Last thing that made you laugh?
Something related to my little boy, I'm sure.  He's been starting to move around, so he's constantly getting himself tangled in things.

30. Best toy as a child?
Jem and the Holograms doll WITH blinking earrings.  I still have the doll.  Last I checked the earrings still lit up, too.

31. Worst injury you've ever had?
Childbirth.  And I was lucky to have an easy delivery.  Enough said.

32. Where would you love to live?
Somewhere near the ocean.  I'm not picky, within a reasonable driving distance would do.  I wouldn't need to be able to see it from my house ... though that would be nice.

33. How many TVs do you have?
Three that can be actively used - one in the living, one in the basement and one in our bedroom.  There is one in the guest bedroom that isn't plugged into TV service so it's basically useless right now, and I have an old tube TV with VCR built into it hidden in my basement storage (VHS is hard to find now - I might be glad I have that, right? *wink* Hoarding, buried alive.). 

Wow.  As I typed this I thought to myself ... why?!  I don't even have a TV show I watch on the regular.  LOL!

34. Who is your loudest friend?
Hm.  I don't think anyone stands out to me in this category.  Maybe that means I'm the loud one.  I hope not.

35. How many dogs do you have?
Since a few months prior to having my son, zero.  We had to make the difficult decision to have my old man beagle put down due to severe health issues, and I miss him a lot.

36. What book are you reading at the moment?
I actually just finished my nutritional CEC (continuing education credits) book for my group fitness instructor certification.  Now I'm on break!  Wahoo!

37. Favorite candy?
Lindt chocolate truffles.

38. Favorite flavor of ice cream?
I don't know the name, but it's made by Kemps and has Oreos and Salted Caramel in it.

39. Favorite sports team?
The Badgers, of course!

40. Favorite month?
April - the birth month of both me and my son!

South Dakota - Buffalo Round-Up & Volksmarch Weekend 2016

As I mentioned in a previous post, the weekend of September 30th through October 2nd my family flew out to Rapid City, South Dakota.  While our main purpose of the visit was to participate in the volksmarch up to Crazy Horse, we had no shortage of other things to do to help us fill our weekend. 

Below is a listing of things we did while visiting.  Even if you can't make it to South Dakota, I hope that this information inspires you to consider a trip to your local National Parks as well!

Enjoy!


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Custer State Park - Buffalo Round-Up

Before I get in to detailing what we did do, I want to start this post by mentioning something that we DID NOT do (despite it sounding really interesting to watch): the Custer State Park buffalo round-up, which takes place the same weekend as the Crazy Horse Volksmarch.  **Photo credit above to Google, not me!

Unbeknownst to me, every year at Custer the park managers bring in professional cowboys to round up the wild buffalo heard that resides in the park.  Apparently, they do the round up to bring the entire herd into one location for corralling and counting. 

I read some information online that explained the process, basically stating that this round-up allows the park to control the heard both in numbers and in health.  The process makes sense for two reasons: (1) since Custer only has so much land mass, this yearly counting ensures that the herd does not over-populate itself and  (2) capturing and counting every animal each year enables trained professionals to evaluate the health of each animal, offering treatment for sick/injured animals or vaccinations to those newly born into the group.

Since the herd is publicly held, being that they reside in the park and are gated in, any excess population is sold to other farmers in the area who keep buffalo and the profits of the sale go back into the park.




Wall Drug

Wall Drug is one of those weird, gotta do it kind of places, so of course I had to start my trip day one by going there.  Since it was a considerable drive from our hotel in Rapid City, it seemed to make sense that we'd drive there and let our little boy nap along the way, then when he woke up cruise through the shops. 

That's pretty much exactly happened, with the entire visit being capped off with a feeding and a diaper change.  Gotta love it when your kid's nap schedule fits into your travel itinerary.




Minuteman Missile Silo

My husband is a bit of an air & space nerd, so when we were done at Wall drug he mentioned this site was not too far away and he was curious to see it.  Since we had no real agenda on the first day of our visit to South Dakota anyway, I was game for a visit.  Off to stop two!

Overall this site is fairly small and there's not a TON to see, but what they do have is both interesting and bone chilling.  Having never lived through the "duck and cover" era myself, just the sign in log was an eye opener.  The fact that people were recalling having air raid nightmares as 6 year old children ... depressing.

However, visiting this museum (of sorts) definitely gives you a healthy dose of respect to the value of world peace.  Especially when you see a map like this that notes the fallout ring of a 1 mega ton nuclear attack ... my home is just outside of the blue ring, slightly south west of the city of Eden Prairie.

 

 

By the way, my husband had no qualms pointing out that typical blasts these days are 15MT+.  So in reality, we wouldn't even survive the "average nuke" to Minneapolis ... if it were to happen.  That cheery thought gave me a stomach ache as I left the exhibit.

 

At least there was a gift shop.  Nothing like good old American consumerism to wipe away the fears of another cold war or missile crisis, huh?

 

That gift shop actually brings me to my next topic...

 

 

 

The National Parks Passport Program

 

In the gift shop of the Minuteman Missile Silo, my husband and I noticed they were selling these little guys:

 

 

 

Now, I don't know if you are familiar with this program at all, but I certainly was not prior to this trip.  You can watch the official video about the program here, but in a nut shell: the passport is around $10, includes little maps of various geographic areas in the US (IE Midwest, rockies, etc), and each geographic area has a small blurb talking about points of interest there. The novelty of the passport is that at most points of interest you can visit, there is a stamping station where you cancel your passport. Additionally, there are also special stickers that you can buy to put into the book (not all sites sell the stickers, so it’s an extra special find when you visit a site that sells one; you can see below the Badlands sold a sticker - it was $1.00).

Since this year is the centennial for the National Parks program and there are additional stamps available to commemorate the year, PLUS this is also the birth year of our son, we decided it would be a neat way to encourage our son to enjoy traveling as much as we do. 

 

Buy the passports online here.  Buy the centennial stamp collection online here.

 

The Badlands

 

 

 

After picking up the above passport, our agenda for the weekend shifted focus a bit.  Although we had already planned to visit the Badlands, now with passport in hand our goal was to also get a stamp there (of course, duh!). 

 

The Badlands have always been a favorite of mine, simply because they are so unique.  Even just driving through is an interesting and oddly relaxing experience.  This year we even hiked the area ... sort of.  We would have been more adventurous and REALLY explored the area had it not been for the fact that the volksmarch was the next day and we didn't want to wear ourselves (or our son) out too much.  So basically, we parked at a couple of the designated view points and walked around on the marked trails provided.  In the future though ... for sure, more exploring here.

 

Bonus points on this one, btw, because when we flew out on Monday we skimmed along the edge of the area.  I was able to take the photo above from the plane.

 

 

Sturgis & Deadwood

 

 

 

The unique thing about South Dakota is how its daily life and culture has been influenced by the wild, wild west.  In Deadwood you can see the historical side of that influence, while Sturgis continues the modern day wild west vibe via its yearly bike rally. 

 

Of course, there are other cities in South Dakota that you can experience the wild west feeling at, too, but ... I'm a sucker for tourist traps.  Sue me.

 

Since we were still in the Badlands, and Sturgis was closest of the two cities from there, we drove to Sturgis first (yes, it was a fair drive from the Badlands to Sturgis - but a napping baby and a scenic view made for an easy drive). 

 

Now - neither my husband nor I are big into motorcycles.  But, I have an uncle who over the years has religiously made the pilgrimage to Sturgis for the bike rally.  Unfortunately, for various reasons, he ended up skipping that trip this year.  So in his honor, albeit a bit late for the rally, we stopped in Sturgis briefly just to be lookey-loos.  And, I do have to say, there's something to be said about visiting a city that's famous for some sort of event AFTER the event is well past having happened.  Sturgis was pleasantly quiet, and we were one of maybe three cars visiting the Harley shop.  Bonus points that all their bike rally gear was 50% off - merry Christmas, Uncle Mark.  LOL!

 

After driving through Sturgis and trying to imagine this tiny town overwhelmed with a seedy crowd of bikers, we headed out towards Deadwood and did a similar driving tour that was equally brief.  Then we turned around and started to head back towards Rapid City.  **Photo credit above to Google, not me!

 

 

 

 

The Air & Space Musuem - Rapid City

 

 

Before we threw in the towel for the night, we decided to make one last stop in Rapid City itself.  Lucky for us, we cruised right up to the Air & Space Museum at 4pm, which allowed just enough time to make a quick loop through the museum and plane displays outside prior to its closure at 4:30pm.

 

You might guess by our 30 minute visit that this museum is pretty small.  If you made that assumption, you would be correct.

 

While the things inside are interesting to see, there's basically two or three large rooms of memorabilia to look at and that's about it.  If you're an aviation nerd like my husband, you'll enjoy it.  As for me ... well, I was most amused by my son's reaction when a jet simulator started making a noise like it was revving up an engine for take off (a little background on this one: my husband had sat outside with my son at the airport the day previous, while they were waiting for me to arrive for our departure for this trip, and my little boy was ... less than impressed ... by the loud noise of passing jets - his face in the museum was basically "oh no, not this again!").

 

As we were getting ready to leave, I pointed out the above plane to my husband, wondering out loud what the R on the tail was all about.  With a deadpan face, he looked directly at me and said "it's a pirate plane, obviously".

 

Well, thanks for that one, husband.  Good thing our first day of touring in South Dakota was complete, because obviously one of us needed a beer and a break from all the driving we'd been doing in the car.  Heh!

 

 

Jewel Cave 

 

 

 

 

On our second day in South Dakota, after completing the volksmarch, we were back at it with the passport.  Since neither my husband nor myself had ever been to Jewel Cave, we decided to hit that up next.  **Photo credit above to Google, not me!

 

Of course, with just minutes before we were to arrive the cave, our little boy fell asleep in the car.  D'oh!  Being that neither of us even knew what this site had to offer, my husband suggested that he stay in the car with the air on while our son napped, and that I go inside to determine what to do next. 

 

As I made my way up to the visitor's center, I already had a feeling that this location was not going to be baby friendly.  What lead me to think that?  Well ... perhaps the sign with a box next to it that was posted well outside of the entrance.  First off, the sign had information on it about how you cannot have any packs or bags on your person once inside the cave ... that did not fit inside the box.  And the box, by the way, was about the size of a commercially produced loaf of bread.  Great, I thought - we had been carrying our little boy around in a pack most of the weekend, so that was obviously not going to work here.

 

Once inside, my concern was confirmed.  To quote the website verbatim: Children may NOT be carried on any portion of the Scenic Tour route.

 

Well, there went that visit.  Oh well!  For that day, I simply took a brief loop through the free informational museum and grabbed a passport stamp before departing.  Going back to the car, I told my husband the situation at hand, and we both agreed that we'd save this stop for a future visit (when our son is old enough to appreciate it ... and walk through it on his own). 

 

 

 

Wind Cave National Park

 

 

 

Since Jewel Cave was a bust and we had a baby sleeping on board, my husband and I both agreed a driving tour of Wind Cave might be a more viable option to pursue.  I knew nothing about this park, so once we got to the entrance we just followed the signs to the visitor's center and hoped for the best.

 

Lucky for us, the rangers at the park were incredibly helpful.  When I explained we had a sleeping infant in the car and wanted to (hopefully) take a scenic drive through the park that would allow him to continue napping, the Ranger handed me a free map and highlighted a few potential driving routes. 

 

With the Park Ranger's advice in hand, my husband and I opted to drive north through the park (taking 385 leaving the visitor's center and heading to 87) and then followed the gravel road loop through the far side of the park (the road marked with a 5).  This path eventually dumped us out on the south side of the park, with an easy transition back to Rapid City (5 fed into 101, which got us to 79 - a straight shot back to Rapid City).  If you're wondering - this entire route was perfectly fine in a sedan rental car, no off roading required.

 

Though Wind Cave also had ... surprise, surprise ... a cave we could tour, skipping that for the above scenic drive was actually a lot of fun.  There were quite a few nice spots along the drive to park and take in various overlooks, and we saw several buffalo roaming the park throughout (as you can see in the sub par photo I took and posted above). 

 

The most entertaining part to me, though, was when we exited off 87 to 5.  Wow was there a TON of prairie dogs there.  Prairie dogs were everywhere!!  We even parked on the side of the road for a little bit to just watch them scamper around - which resulted in one dog actually yelling at us through the car window (ok, squeaking).  Hysterics.  I loved it.

 

 

 

Mount Rushmore

 

On our drive out of Wind Cave, our little boy was still sleeping.  To this point he had already taken quite the extended nap (from Jewel to Wind and up 79), so we decided to hedge our luck that he'd wake up a happy baby and be game for one last stop.  Cutting off 79, we headed towards Keystone to see Mount Rushmore ... with the goal of getting the final stamp for our little guy's passport, of course.

As you can tell by the above photo, our bet paid off.  With a happy baby in hand, we got one last stamp for his passport and spent a few minutes enjoying the monument.  Plus, we even had some time for a snack!  Well, us adults who can eat solid food, anyway- lol.  In the cafeteria, my husband had a pie made from locally harvested rubarb, berries and apples. And since supposedly Thomas Jefferson had his own recipe for ice cream, and they were all about pushing that at their ice cream booth, I was down for some praline pecan.

Once we had eaten our snacks and collected the last of the 5 available stamps in the South Dakota Black Hills area, our trip drew to a close.  With a quiet evening back at our hotel and one last dinner out, the next morning we packed up and headed for home.

But of course, now we have this passport in hand so ... where to next?!  Ha!  Time will tell ...

Tim Gunn & Fashion to Fit Normal Bodies

My goal of this blog has always been to promote the fact that no matter who you are, you can be active and work towards a healthier lifestyle. 

Most of you know I started working out when I was extremely overweight years ago.  Even today, at my more fit end of my weight spectrum, I still tip into a clothing size of 12-14 ... maybe a 10 when I'm not carrying extra baby weight.  While I'm not trying to comment on a size 12-14 being big or small, you have to admit - it is by no means tiny; and depending on where you shop, it sometimes even qualifies as "plus sized".

Recently, I came across an article by Tim Gunn that brought this topic to front of mind, and emphasized a point that I still somewhat struggle with given my clothing size. 

Since I've always been a fan of Tim Gunn, when I saw said article the other day, I was thrilled.  (Below is the article in full, since sometimes links tend to break and I'd like you to be able to read the article whenever you happen to find this blog ... not just for the week the link works at the Washington Post.)  Since the article is pretty long, I've highlighted my favorite parts in yellow in case you're strapped for time. 

And by the way, if you haven't seen the red gown referenced below, it was really stunning on Leslie.  Which by the way, absolutely dumbfounds me ... how can a woman like her struggle to find a designer?  Really!?  Aside from the fact that she's about 6' tall (and I am 5'8"), I feel like she and I have a similar body type.  No one wanted to dress her?!  Unbelievable.

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Tim Gunn: Designers refuse to make clothes to fit American women. It’s a disgrace.

Far more women in this country wear a size 16 than a size 6, but the industry seems not to have noticed.

By Tim Gunn


When I was chief creative officer for Liz Claiborne Inc., I spent a good amount of time on the road hosting fashion shows to highlight our brands. Our team made a point of retaining models of various sizes, shapes and ages, because one of the missions of the shows was to educate audiences about how they could look their best. At a Q&A after one event in Nashville in 2010, a woman stood up, took off her jacket and said, with touching candor: “Tim, look at me. I’m a box on top, a big, square box. How can I dress this shape and not look like a fullback?” It was a question I’d heard over and over during the tour: Women who were larger than a size 12 always wanted to know, How can I look good, and why do designers ignore me?

At New York Fashion Week, which began Thursday, the majority of American women are unlikely to receive much attention, either. Designers keep their collections tightly under wraps before sending them down the runway, but if past years are any indication of what’s to come, plus-size looks will be in short supply. Sure, at New York Fashion Week in 2015, Marc Jacobs and Sophie Theallet each featured a plus-size model, and Ashley Graham debuted her plus-size lingerie line. But these moves were very much the exception, not the rule.

I love the American fashion industry, but it has a lot of problems, and one of them is the baffling way it has turned its back on plus-size women. It’s a puzzling conundrum. The average American woman now wears between a size 16 and a size 18, according to new research from Washington State University. There are 100 million plus-size women in America, and, for the past three years, they have increased their spending on clothes faster than their straight-size counterparts. There is money to be made here ($20.4 billion, up 17 percent from 2013). But many designers — dripping with disdain, lacking imagination or simply too cowardly to take a risk — still refuse to make clothes for them.

In addition to the fact that most designers max out at size 12, the selection of plus-size items on offer at many retailers is paltry compared with what’s available for a size 2 woman. According to a Bloomberg analysis, only 8.5 percent of dresses on Nordstrom.com in May were plus-size. At J.C. Penney’s website, it was 16 percent; Nike.com had a mere five items — total.

I’ve spoken to many designers and merchandisers about this. The overwhelming response is, “I’m not interested in her.” Why? “I don’t want her wearing my clothes.” Why? “She won’t look the way that I want her to look.” They say the plus-size woman is complicated, different and difficult, that no two size 16s are alike. Some haven’t bothered to hide their contempt. “No one wants to see curvy women” on the runway, Karl Lagerfeld, head designer of Chanel, said in 2009. Plenty of mass retailers are no more enlightened: Under the tenure of chief executive Mike Jeffries, Abercrombie & Fitch sold nothing larger than a size 10, with Jeffries explaining that “we go after the attractive, all-American kid.”

This is a design failure and not a customer issue. There is no reason larger women can’t look just as fabulous as all other women. The key is the harmonious balance of silhouette, proportion and fit, regardless of size or shape. Designs need to be reconceived, not just sized up; it’s a matter of adjusting proportions. The textile changes, every seam changes. Done right, our clothing can create an optical illusion that helps us look taller and slimmer. Done wrong, and we look worse than if we were naked.

Have you shopped retail for size 14-plus clothing? Based on my experience shopping with plus-size women, it’s a horribly insulting and demoralizing experience. Half the items make the body look larger, with features like ruching, box pleats and shoulder pads. Pastels and large-scale prints and crazy pattern-mixing abound, all guaranteed to make you look infantile or like a float in a parade. Adding to this travesty is a major department-store chain that makes you walk under a marquee that reads “WOMAN.” What does that even imply? That a “woman” is anyone larger than a 12, and everyone else is a girl? It’s mind-boggling.



“Project Runway,” the design competition show on which I’m a mentor, has not been a leader on this issue. Every season we have the “real women” challenge (a title I hate), in which the designers create looks for non-models. The designers audibly groan, though I’m not sure why; in the real world, they won’t be dressing a seven-foot-tall glamazon.

This season, something different happened: Ashley Nell Tipton won the contest with the show’s first plus-size collection. But even this achievement managed to come off as condescending. I’ve never seen such hideous clothes in my life: bare midriffs; skirts over crinoline, which give the clothes, and the wearer, more volume; see-through skirts that reveal panties; pastels, which tend to make the wearer look juvenile; and large-scale floral embellishments that shout “prom.” Her victory reeked of tokenism. One judge told me that she was “voting for the symbol” and that these were clothes for a “certain population.” I said they should be clothes all women want to wear. I wouldn’t dream of letting any woman, whether she’s a size 6 or a 16, wear them. A nod toward inclusiveness is not enough.

This problem is difficult to change. The industry, from the runway to magazines to advertising, likes subscribing to the mythology it has created of glamour and thinness. Look at Vogue’s “shape issue,” which is ostensibly a celebration of different body types but does no more than nod to anyone above a size 12. For decades, designers have trotted models with bodies completely unattainable for most women down the runway. First it was women so thin that they surely had eating disorders. After an outcry, the industry responded by putting young teens on the runway, girls who had yet to exit puberty. More outrage.

But change is not impossible. There are aesthetically worthy retail successes in this market. When helping women who are size 14 and up, my go-to retailer is Lane Bryant. While the items aren’t fashion with a capital F, they are stylish (but please avoid the cropped pants — always a no-no for any woman). And designer Christian Siriano scored a design and public relations victory after producing a look for Leslie Jones to wear to the “Ghostbusters” red-carpet premiere. Jones, who is not a diminutive woman, had tweeted in despair that she couldn’t find anyone to dress her; Siriano stepped in with a lovely full-length red gown.



Several retailers that have improved their plus-size offerings have been rewarded. In one year, ModCloth doubled its plus-size lineup. To mark the anniversary, the company paid for a survey of 1,500 American women ages 18 to 44 and released its findings: Seventy-four percent of plus-size women described shopping in stores as “frustrating”; 65 percent said they were “excluded.”  (Interestingly, 65 percent of women of all sizes agreed that plus-size women were ignored by the fashion industry.) But the plus-size women surveyed also indicated that they wanted to shop more. More than 80 percent said they’d spend more on clothing if they had more choices in their size, and nearly 90 percent said they would buy more if they had trendier options. According to the company, its plus-size shoppers place 20 percent more orders than its straight-size customers.

Online start-up Eloquii, initially conceived and then killed by the Limited, was reborn in 2014. The trendy plus-size retailer, whose top seller is an over-the-knee boot with four-inch heels and extended calf sizes, grew its sales volume by more than 165 percent in 2015.

Despite the huge financial potential of this market, many designers don’t want to address it. It’s not in their vocabulary. Today’s designers operate within paradigms that were established decades ago, including anachronistic sizing. (Consider the fashion show: It hasn’t changed in more than a century.) But this is now the shape of women in this nation, and designers need to wrap their minds around it. I profoundly believe that women of every size can look good. But they must be given choices. Separates — tops, bottoms — rather than single items like dresses or jumpsuits always work best for the purpose of fit. Larger women look great in clothes skimming the body, rather than hugging or cascading. There’s an art to doing this. Designers, make it work.

I WAS Featured! Active.com

A little over a week ago, I mentioned I was going to be featured in an Active.com article.

Well - check it out!

See the full Active.com article here.

And not to pat myself on the back or anything, but we were basically the only runners in the entire feature that weren't either (A) super heros, (B) wearing a tutu, or (C) in some cliché outfit.  Well ... except for the pirate.  Can't talk smack about that one being it was InkNBurn, heh!