Show and Tell - Part 2

Awhile back I posted what my medal rack and bib display looked like.  At the time, I only had 14 items laying claim to rack space at home, and a fairly decent area covered on my cube wall at work. 

Of course you know that I've ran quite a bit since then, and unfortunately my poor rack was starting to get a bit overwhelmed, not to mention the disaster that was my cubical...  which meant time to organize. 

Thanks to my brother in law, who is a metal works guy, cleaning up my medal display was a snap.  He was the original maker of the upper portion, and in a matter of a few days had whipped up some adder racks to me to use on future medals (only one of which is currently in deployment, but a second will be added shortly).

May I present to you the updated medal display:

I RUN THIS TOWN

 

Medal collection, left to right:

(Click on any blue race title to read the report)

 

2nd Place/Age Category, Lake Run 2011

Mankato Half 2013

Get Lucky 7K 2012

Dog-n-Jog 2013 Finisher Ribbon

Run 100 2013 Finisher Charm

Run 100 2014 Finisher Charm

Iron Girl Du 2012 

Monster Dash Half 2012

Monster Dash Half 2013

Get Lucky 7K 2013

Chicago Half 2013

Get Lucky 7K 2014

Lake Minnetonka Half 2013

Lake Minnetonka Half 2014

2nd Place/Age Category, Gandy 2013

1st Place/Age Category Webster 2013

 Lola's (Waconia) Half 2014

Minneapolis Duathalon 2014

 Minneapolis Duathalon 2013

 

 

If you have an eagle eye, you may notice my Little Rock Marathon 2014 beast of a medal is missing from the display.  That's because that thing weighs 2.5+ pounds.  As such, I'm struggling to figure out what to do with it.  I think it may need to be hung on a stud since it's so heavy.  More to follow there...

 

Not to be out done at home, I also cleaned up my bib wall at the office.  Actually, that was even more disastrous since I'm close to 50 bibs now.  Plus, there was the issue of people knocking off the push pins I was using to keep the bibs hung when they came to visit my cube area.

 

May I present to you, my new bib wall:

 

 

 

 

My Bib Collection

Starting with New Prague 5K 2010 in the upper left (my first ever race)

 

 

I have to admit, this hanging style isn't as impressive as the previous method was... but it is definitely more functional (since there's hardly any push pins to knock down).  Think of it of like high heels versus tennis shoes - a runner has to make hard choices sometimes.  Plus, since the bibs are hung from a ribbon with a safety pin in the upper corner, it helps me use up some of my safety pins amassed from all my races... which seriously is getting to be a ridiculous collection.

 

Anyway!  That's all I got for today... so, tell me - how does your display look?  Send me a link to your collection in the comments below!!

Spectating the Wisconsin Ironman 2014 (Hard to Quit)

Over the last year, a friend of mine from the gym has been training for the Ironman Triathlon. 

For those of you unfamiliar with the race, it's as follows:

     - 2.4 mile swim
     - 112 mile bike
     - 26.2 mile run

ALL IN ONE DAY!!!

Yes, it's fair to say that the Ironman competitor is definitely a special breed.  Most people call them dedicated.  I like to call them bat-shit crazy.

I mean, who wakes up at the crack of dawn and has enough energy to do that?!

Unfortunately, before I even got to Madison, disaster struck.  In the week leading up to the race, my friend went in to the doctor for an MRI.  Yeah... when you hear doctor and MRI in the same sentence, you know this story is leading nowhere good.  Turns out my friend had worked up a stress fracture in her leg, and the doctor was advising against completing the running portion of the race.

OH NO! 

Not to be put out by the bad news, with her doctor's approval she decided to compete anyway, and just pull out prior to the run portion.  And, why not?!  I mean really... anyone who can complete a 2.4 mile swim and  112 mile bike ride back to back is still a rock star to me. 

So, with just a few days to spare, I started seeing photos like this in my Facebook feed:

 

Man, that backpack alone was enough to make me want to do an Ironman.  I can imagine the cheers they'd do for me now...

Ahhh.... hmmm.  Well...

The more photos that surfaced in my feed, the more excited I got for the visit.  I couldn't wait to get down to Madison and cheer this thing.  LET'S DO THIS!!!

---

On race day, the alarm went off and I had my usual early wakeup hissy fit.  You know the drill, so let's not dwell on it.  Once I realized that I couldn't sleep until 10 and still see the race start, I got out of bed, showered, and my husband and I packed up our hotel.

After checking our bags with reception, we walked down the square to the race start, and I posed quick for a photo.  (For those of you who don't know Madison, the downtown is centered on a square loop that goes around the capital building - AKA "the square").

Look at all those bikes in transition - SEXY!!  AND, that's only 1/2 of transition!!  It was quite impressive.

After maneuvering the building where transition took place (yes, part of transition took place indoors, very odd), we finally managed to figure out how to get down to the shore ... just in time to find our spectator friends and catch the starting gun.



The Swim

7:00 am
2.4 Miles
One Lap
Lake Monona
Close: 2 hours 20 minutes

The reason why triathlons scare me is ... well ... exactly what I saw at Ironman.  I mean, look at this:

 

 

 

And my friend's Facebook post after the race just confirmed my fears:

In fact, the only time I saw the swim settle down was for the elites (photo below) and for the back of the packers - which there were many more than I expected... and I was surprised to see many struggling even in the first 50-100 meters.  I think many fell out before they even got the swim started.

The swim portion seemed to fly by fairly quickly, since our racer was out in 1:20, and it was pretty exciting to just see everything go.  In fact, before we could even get bored, elites were out of the water at the 40 or so minute mark (super human, I'm telling you), and things just flew by from there on out.

Of course, it was nearly impossible to find a specific racer in the pack of swimmers as they came out of the lake and cross the mat to enter transition... we were barely lucky enough to catch our girl.  After a quick cheer, she was off - and so were we.  A fan bus was awaiting to take us to our next locale - the bike.

The Bike

112 Miles
Two Loop
Close: 10 hours 30 minutes after the official start

While our racer was going through transition and working on the first few miles of her bike ride, we were just being dropped off in what is referred to as "Verona Village".  Unbeknownst to us, we were dropped off at the 56/95 mile marker and would NOT be seeing our biker for a very, very long time... even the elites weren't close to shooting by.

That meant we had a tremendous amount of time to kill.  As such, the "husbands" (my husband, and our racer's husband) decided to go for a stroll.  I'm not sure how far away they walked, but somehow they found a local Walgreens and about a half an hour later returned with refreshments and a few other vital necessities we forgot - IE sunscreen. 

With nothing else much to do, we settled in on a curb and started talking details of the race.

First we talked swim rules.  A few I found interesting were:

(1) Athletes must wear cap provided by race.  (I didn't know they provided one!!)

(2) No fins, gloves, paddles or flotation devices (including pull bouys) of any kind are allowed.  (I'm guessing they've had lots of problems on this in the past...???)

(3) And despite all sorts of other weird restrictions, snorkels were allowed!!  WTH?!

Of course, in talking about swim rules, a few of us started the "what if" conversation.  What if we did this in the future?  How would the swim go?  Would we be able to do it?  Several comments were made in regards to the ability to swim with a snorkel, and how much that would help - yes, this would mean no age grade placement... but like any of us would be able to place anyway!!

Although I didn't say much in regards to myself during our conversation, I started to have an internal dialogue.  I have always shied away from triathlon events because of my poor swimming skills and water phobia issues.  But, as of late, I have been able to clear just under 2000 meters in a 45 minute swim class.  With the help of Google I realized something...

I'm already over half way to being able to manage the Ironman swim distance.  Granted, I need a lot more work on endurance, not to mention experience in open water.  But... the wheels were definitely turning.

As we chatted, we talked other aspects of the race, too - like the rumored $700 entry fee, the cost of a decent tri bike, the investment in swim gear like wet suits and goggles and such... that discussion may have hampered my spirits a little. 

Note to self - first things first, must get a decent road or tri bike for racing.

That, or have really big balls and just go all out with a basic commuter bike - and OWN it.  I pitched an idea to the group - how about if I tape a bunch of those New Years mini confetti cannons, exploding end up, on my commuter bike T handlebars... and then just fire them off as I go through densely populated cheer sections?

The people I was with were obviously too serious.  None of them supported that idea.  Dammit.

Eventually the elites started to roll through, and we started to spectate.  Lots of cheering, clapping and cowbell was involved.  Somewhere just before or around noon, our racer went by for the first time and we cheered for her. 

She loved it.

 

Not far behind her, we had a pleasant surprise - an old coworker of my husband's came by on his bike.  Although we had hoped to see him, we weren't sure if the timing would work out.  Lucky us, we were able to get one good cheer in as he went by!

Since we were at mile 56 (which is also mile 95 on the second loop for the bikers), and we were staying put due to lack of car access, we figured that it would take another 2 hours or so to see our racers again.  In other words - time to figure out some lunch.

In the "village", there were all sorts of booths set up selling food, which was really convenient.  Most of them were hosted by local youth sports teams, plus one or two by local adult groups (I think one was a church group and one was Knights of Columbus or something like that).  Options included the standard brat/hotdog/burger, as well as some "healthier" options - walking tacos (with beans even!), corn on the cob, and steak.  Plus drink options like soda and water.  And dessert was covered, too, with various ice cream sundae type creations available.

I settled on a walking taco, and was promptly swarmed by bees.  I may or may not have screamed like a small girl and ran away from them several times.  *Ahem*

I also had to snicker when I noticed one of the booths was selling 5 push ups for a dollar.  It originally caught my attention because I couldn't figure out what you would sell at an event like this that would be 5 for $1.  But then I realized it said "5 push-ups for a $1 tip".

SOLD!

Yes, I did pay a 6-8 year old boy to do 5 push ups for me.  And his form was pretty good ... well, at least until he started #5.  I think his form was drooping some at that point because of all the effort he was putting into his F-U face ... which he conveniently directed at me.  LOL!

After everyone had a chance to snack a little, we hunkered down under some pine trees and enjoyed the shade.  A few people even claimed to have taken a nap (although I did not).  Eventually we passed enough time that we saw our racer again:

She made it to mile 95!  Whoop!!  With just under 20 miles for her to go, we knew we had to hustle back on the shuttle to ensure we'd see her at the finish.  So, off we went.

And just in time, too.  With the delay of catching the shuttle, trying to find a bathroom stop, and then getting situated at the bike finish we hardly had time to blink before this happened:

Yep, she finished!  Hooray!!

But also, boo!  This meant the hardest part of the entire race was coming - she was going to have to pull out.

We all squeezed inside trying to find our racer, and eventually we met her... with a very emotional moment for all of us.  It was 100% clear that based on her very good swim and bike times, she could have walked the entire marathon portion and still been able to finish within the cut off.  But she knew for her own health, she had to drop out.  So, she did.

The whole time this was happening, all I could do was I think back to my marathon attempt and the course closure.  It wasn't even my choice then, and I had to quit.  I couldn't imagine how hard it would be to quit under your own will.  I'm so proud of her for knowing it was the right choice and sticking to it... no matter how hard it was.

Despite the drop out, we all celebrated her accomplishment... and then I split.  I felt like a bad friend, but it was already well after 3pm and we had to get home for work on Monday AM.  That also meant we didn't get to see my husband's coworker a second time, who was about 45 minutes or so behind our girl.  Boo.

But also - yeah!  Because it meant time to fly Bubba home.  Yep!  My husband finally got to fly us down to Madison after years of talking about it. 

And take a look at the areal shots I managed to get before we left... I think you can kind of see the Ironman finish down between Monona Terrace and the capital building if you look closely.

While we flew home, the rest of the race carried on...



The Run

26.2 Miles
Two Loop
Close: 17 hours after the official start - AKA arrive by midnight

Although I really wished I could have stayed to spectate this portion, I didn't get to... well, technically I did, sort of.

When I finally got home, had dinner, and got settled, I switched on the live feed of the finish line and watched victory after victory as finishers crossed the mat.

And, not going to lie, I started stalking my husband's coworker's live results feed to see how he was doing.  I was very nervous for him at the half marathon point, and was sending him every positive thought I could.

After 10pm, I propped up my iPad on my night stand and tried to stay awake for the finish.  I made it to some time after 10:30 before I crashed... with the live feed still on.  Which woke me up as the final roars came through prior to midnight (which Ironman is notorious for - cheering those on who are just about to miss the cut off, hoping to push them to the finish).  Unfortunately, I was too out of it to absorb what was happening... but awoke the next morning to happily discover everyone I knew on course (even those not mentioned in this recap) had all finished with gusto.

So now, I leave this recap thinking... what about me?!  Maybe there are some tris coming up in my future...

Product Review: Victoria's Secret Sport Underwear

I think by now, most of you know what Victoria's Secret has been working to promote their sport's line.  Yes, that's right - sports bras like this (as well as other workout clothing items):

However impractical I might think some of their designs are, I have to be fair and say that a lot of people seem to like Victoria's Secret's sports bras.  (Although, I have purchased some of them in the past, and they just don't work for me.  Oh well - to each their own.)

Anyway!  In an effort to expand their sports product line, Victoria's Secret has apparently decided to introduce sport panties.  Hence why I am writing this blog today.

How did I find out about these panties, you ask?

Well, I got a free panty coupon in the mail, of course!

Never being one to refuse something that's free, within the first few days of validity, I went in store and used the coupon.  Within minutes, I walked out with one of these.

Yeah, you're seeing that right.  A basic black ... thong.

I have to admit, I was a little shocked at that myself.  My initial reaction was "A panty that's being marketed as sports friendly, in a thong cut?!  How does that even go together?  Sounds like instant butt chafe to me..."  But it was my own fault.  When I read the coupon, all I saw was "free panty".  I neglected to read further into the details to discover it was only for their basic, solid black panty in a thong cut.

Before admitting defeat, I desperately started looking through the adjacent drawers, hoping I could find a normal panty and talk the woman at the counter into giving me that instead of the thong.  But, after failing to find anything EXCEPT black sport thongs, I kind of came to grips with the reality. 

Thong it is.

So I walked up to the counter, turned in my coupon, and walked out the door with a free panty valued at something like $12.50.  (Or 3 for $33, as their heart shaped promotional sign shouted at me in bright pink letters.)



Product Testing

I can't say I was exactly thrilled to give these underwear a go.  And here's even more of a dig to all this: after I got home I found out that apparently online, they also offer the sports panty in a hip hugger cut. 

What?!  Let's just think about that for a minute... 

Victoria's Secret decided to launch a brand new line, geared at athletic women... in a thong cut only?  Even though they were offering a hip hugger option, they still only wanted women to test drive the underwear in thong cut? 

I mean, I don't know about you, but I gave up on wearing thongs even casually pretty much once I left college.  Only binge drinking and multi-hour cram sessions fueled by ramen noodles could induce enough brain haze to make me disregard the feeling of having something wedged my ass for 18+ hours straight. 

And then add to that the idea of working out in a thong?  No. 

Besides, they make "no show" panties now.  You don't HAVE to wear a thong to avoid a VPL.  So why would you?

Anyway, I am derailing here.  The real point of this post is to review the underwear.  So, let's get back on topic.

First off, let's talk quality.  When initially seeing the panty, I had to say, I was not impressed.  The fabric was a very light weight feeling poly blend of some sort, and looked very ... unfinished.  And felt flimsy.  There was no hemmed edge on the waist or leg holes, which meant that the only sewing used on the entire garment was to stitch the seams together at the hips and in the crotch gusset.  There wasn't even heat sealing/welding on the edges of the raw fabric (like some seamless panties now-a-days tend to use). 

This lack of finishing, of course, made the product developer in me leery right away.  So, what did I start doing before wearing the underwear?  Stretching the thong piece several inches to see if the fabric will start to unravel at the edge. 

Technically, I did that before I even left the store.  Yes, I was testing butt floss for strength - in public.

I don't know why I do what I do.  Don't ask.  I can only justify my motives by saying this: wearing a thong is naked enough for me, I certainly didn't want to risk it ripping and totally falling off.  Worse yet, having it ... ah ... go where no man has gone before.

After my stretch test, I was impressed to see that the fabric did not start to fray at all.  While the fabric did stretch thin enough to make me leery, I figured I would be ok. 

Step two in the product testing - time to put it on.

Since I pretty much live in yoga pants on the weekend (when I'm hanging out casually, not when I'm trying to dress up or anything), and not wanting to deal with renegade underwear while at the office, testing out my new underwear on a Saturday seemed like a natural fit.  Ok then - let's do this.

Overall, upon first fit, the underwear felt ... fine.  Nothing fancy one way or another.  They were comfortable, there were no rough seams, but they weren't like the greatest thing ever.

However, once I got dressed and started moving around the house...

Yeah.  I wasn't impressed.  The underwear was riding up all over the place.  And I wasn't even "sport-ing" yet.

Good thing I was still at home and could be un-lady-like.

Not wanting to waste a free pair of clean undies, I decided to just roll with it and see if the day got any better.  Honestly, things didn't really improve.  I basically wore them for a long car ride and constantly was pulling at things to make them sit straight.  Considering that fact, I declined the thought of trying to go for a run or do some sort of other workout.

Although, to be fair, I did get a little active in them:

Results

After wearing these for a full day, I have to say - I still hate thongs.  Also, there is no way I would consider doing any kind of "sport" in these.

Also, I did notice a strange phenomenon where the fabric along the edges of the thong started to curl up on itself.  In fact, entire back side of the thong had rolled into itself - from both sides!  Perhaps the fabric back there was cut too narrowly and didn't have enough surface tension to remain laying flat?  I don't know, but it is very odd.

Now, to be fair, I can say the fabric did feel nice, and I'm sure in a more traditional, brief type cut, these might not be too bad... if you don't mind paying $33 for three pairs of underwear.

But in my opinion, there are much cheaper options available ... that aren't thongs.  Why not choose those instead?

Friday Funny #1

I'm guessing you wouldn't be surprised if I told you - a lot of stupid, funny stuff happens to me on a regular basis.  And usually, it's because I unknowingly set myself up for it.

In honor of my follies, I've decided to start a new (occasional) post tradition on my blog:  the Friday Funny.  Whenever something worthy of my unique brand of stupidity happens, I will post a snippet about it here.

And so, with that introduction, I bring you the first ever Friday Funny:

Lake Run 5K 2014 (Just Sorta Blah)

Lake Run 5K (3.15 miles)

30:23

Average Pace 9:39/mile

Shell Lake, WI's Lake Run is one of those races that sticks in my gills a little ... but in a good way.  I say this because, four years ago I ran this race for the first time, and this happened:

Yeah, that's right.  In 2011, placed 2nd in my age category.  And I've been chasing the dream ever since.  I mean, don't get me wrong.  Running this race in 2012 and 2013 was fine and all.  But I've been wanting to take home a medal ever since I got my first taste of it way back when.

Ok, ok - reality check time.  Yes, I have not been training enough with my running this summer and can basically only pump out a 5K in 30-35 minutes.  I knew well in advance of this race that a medal was definitely not in my cards.  But a girl can dream, right?

Anyway, let's fast forward to race day.

Again for 2014, Shell Lake opened their race day festivities with overcast skies and misty weather.  Not that they had any choice in the matter - ha!  Unfortunately, it seems like every year I've run this race, the weather has been unpredictable and unseasonably cool.  Kind of a bummer when you consider this race is held on what is basically the last "official" weekend of summer.

Hence why I was still wearing my warm-ups just minutes away from race start:

Yep, I picked a water themed shirt.  Seemed appropriate given the name "Lake Run".  Besides, you can't go wrong with a shirt that has a hidden skull on it (a personal favorite motif of mine, as you well know):

As if the race director knew the weather would be overcast, at check in race volunteers offered some sort of solace to us runners by handing us our race shirt, which was a nice sunny orange color:

Overall, I liked the shirt.  The fabric was a nice, lightweight cotton.  And I'm sure the locals will love the orange color come deer season in a few weeks.  (But don't get me wrong, I do still pine for the performance shirts of years past... oh well.)

And ... this is the point in my blog where I have to apologize. 

Sorry if this part gets boring, but aside from basically showing up pre race, there's not much else for me to discuss/entertain you with here in regards to pre-race activities.  That's because this year I opted to arrive just in time to pick up my packet and have a potty break prior to race start - I've done this race enough times, so I knew that there was no point in arriving early to partake in pre-race festivities.  Why?  Well, to be blunt, there pretty much are none.  (Boo.)

As the last few minutes ticked by pre-race, I basically spent my time queuing up and taking in the field.  Unlike years previous, it seemed like the field of runners for 2014 had slimmed down quite a bit.  I thought there were close to 150 people participating last year, rough estimating lead me to believe there were only about 50+ racers present at gun time (for the 5K, there was also a 9 mile option which was equally low on head count).  Perhaps it was the overcast weather, or perhaps this race's popularity is starting to wane.  Only time will tell which is to be held accountable.

The most exciting activity to happen before the gun fired was that all runners were directed to line up, facing opposite directions.  (This was due to the course variations - 9 milers went the full loop around the lake, whereas 5K runners only went out and back on the last leg of the 9 mile course.)  Once racers were in their "corrals", the national anthem was played on a trumpet.  Then, as the last few notes sounded, the race director raised a cap gun in the air and ... Bang!  We were off.

Knowing that I had no opportunity to medal, something changed for me on course this year.  I think my heart just wasn't in this race.  Don't get me wrong, I had a fine performance, but I wasn't LOVING every second of the run.  In fact, quite the opposite, I was annoyed. 

First, there was the boy in front of me who was basically running my exact pace and jumping in every puddle that crossed his path.  Which, mid / post rain, meant quite a few puddles.  I quickly tired of the constant back splash and sprinted around him to avoid the excess moisture.

Second, I forgot how long and desolate this course is.  It's not well spectated (read - not at all), isn't particularly scenic, and doesn't offer much for lake views either.  This became even more apparent for me this year, as I did not opt for music and ended up becoming more and more bored as the race went on.

Aside from a well managed water stop at the turn around point, overall this race left me feeling a little blah... I really don't recall much of anything worth reporting.  The only thing I can say is that in the last 1/4 of a mile, there were three women ahead of me that could have been in my age category.  So, as I turned the final corner and started the last straight stretch to the finish line, I decided to try to sprint and beat them to the finish.

At first, you can see my determination seemed to be working.  I passed the two running together, and started gaining on the third (in the orange shirt).

But, forgetting that in addition to lack of distance training I also do not have SPEED training... I started to feel like I was going to puke and had to pull back.  Although I had quite a lead on the two women, and almost caught the third, I started to lose my edge.

I did make it to the finish line, but I lost all my lead on my imaginary opponents and they beat me to it.  Boo hoo hoo.

Either way, I was still quite pleased with a 30 minute finish time.  Not too bad given I've been battling plantar's fasciitis AND not training as much as I should be.

Afterwards, to help me wind down post race, I wandered into the coffee shop at the finish line for a latte (yeah, I know, caffeine... but it was my only caffeinated coffee in over a month).  While I enjoyed my drink, I decided to hang around a little to see the age placement awards. 

I hate to say it, but the age placement awards ceremony made me even more disappointed in this race.  Unlike years previous, this year there was only a medal offered to the first place runner in each age category.  While I can understand wanting to do that from a cost perspective, to me it seemed that this change took away the one last thing that made this race fun.  With top 3, I knew I'd at least have a chance to bring home a medal.  With only 1st place... it's not likely that I will ever medal again.

With my goal of 2014 to register for more meaningful races, the above recap makes me realize - maybe this race isn't for me anymore?  I need some time to think on it... let's see where 2015 takes me.

In the end, that's pretty much all to the story of how race bib # 49 joined my collection.  Which means I'm almost to a big number - 50!!  Here's to another race soon... let's hope it helps me celebrate 50 in style!