Cincy run LIKE hell XX

This was our second year participating in this event. It’s a fun race that runs through the Walnut Hills Cemetery at night. This year they extended the distance in the cemetery, adding more hills! Last year it was technically only 2.84 miles but, with the added time in the cemetery it became and official 5k.























 
Run like hell is more of a party and a charity event then a race. The proceeds benefit a great cause, cystic fibrosis.

The after party is always a good time. They have a band playing, plenty of food and a separate beer/ food section. Last year it was so cold after the race, so being seasoned vets, this year we brought hats, jackets, gloves, etc to be able to enjoy the post party without freezing our asses off. They also have some outdoor fire torch things (technical term) to provide some heat.

The Halloween costumes are the major reason to run this race. I am so lacking in the creative department, it’s really fun to see what the rest of the runners can come up with.  Dan and I decided to be Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable this year. 

source

not a good pic, but I'm in the front with my red hair

Not the best costumes we’ve come up with yet. Better luck next year!

Indianapolis Half Marathon

Last weekend I completed my second half marathon with four of my friends in Indianapolis. My goal for this race was to come in under 1:45. Overall, I was pretty pleased with my performance, here's how it went down:

Wake up call around 6:30 am; I like to wake up early enough to make sure I have time to take care of all of the bathroom business. The Indianapolis Hilton North was offering a shuttle from the hotel to the race site at 7:25 am. After getting dressed and ready to go I headed down to the lobby to meet my friends and grab some coffee. I was hoping the hotel would offer some kind of continental breakfast, but I had no such luck. Usually before a race I eat a peanut butter sandwich. I made one before we left the house and forgot to pack it. Instead, I had a power bar around 7:30 am

The four of us were riding nervously on the bus to Fort Benjamin Harrison when one of the women behind us said: “ the hills around mile 3 and 10 are brutal!” What, hills? Brutal!? We chose a race in Indy! Indy doesn’t have hills! Good thing Cincinnati does, I guess.

We arrived at the race start at 7:50 am and had 40 minutes to kill. It was really cold and windy so we huddled for warmth. One of my friends suggested sitting in porta potties until the race began. Not quite that cold!

It was finally time to line up. I lost a layer of clothes and wished my friends good luck as we headed to our separate corrals. I tried to jump around and stay warm but it wasn't happening.

After the National Anthem, the race started and we were off! The start was a little crowded and I was in the back of the corral. The path was narrow in the beginning, making it difficult to pass at times. I probably should have started a little closer to the front of the pack, but I thought since we were lined up by pace I wasn't going to be one of the fastest in corral B, rookie mistake. I finished the first mile in 8:04 and knew I needed to pick it up if I was going to meet my goal.

The majority of the race took place on wooded paths through the park. The course was really beautiful with all the fall foliage and I was feeling great, running at a good pace and taking it all in. At each mile marker I looked down at my watch, noting my time, and giving myself a little pep talk. There were some significant hills in the race, but not as bad as the flying pig half marathon (which I was thankful for).

At mile 8, I was feeling fantastic flying through the rolling hills. That feeling ended abruptly at mile 10; I got a side stitch and felt like I was barely moving. I tried hard to hold onto my pace. I slipped a little more and mile 11 with a split of 8:26. Once I passed the mile 12 marker I knew my pity party was over and I had to suck it up to finish strong!

The half marathon split from the full at 12.5 miles. I saw the split and with .6 to go, picked up the pace a little more. After being burned at my last race I wasn't going to get beat at the finish this time. At the 13 mile marker I took off and ended with a time of 1:43:03!!! Beating my PR by 6 minutes!!!

Splits:
Mile 1: 8:04
Mile 2: 7:11
Mile 3: 7:58
Mile 4: 7:47
Mile 5: 7:31
Mile 6: 7:40
Mile 7: 7:48
Mile 8: 7:31
Mile 9: 8:08
Mile 10: 8:09
Mile 11: 8:26
Mile 12: 8:11
Mile 13: 7:56
Mile .1: 45
Average pace: 7: 52

Good enough for a 5^th place finish in my division. I had a blast at this race! The whole event was organized very well. Now that this years racing season is basically over, time to start planning next year’s events! Any suggestions??



Huff, Jojo, Me





Me, Jojo, Abbey, Huff



my number one fan

post race celebratory cocktail!

*** Check out Shut Up and Run for a Saucony Shoe Giveaway***

A day in the life of the wife

A couple months ago one of my coworkers introduced me to the world of blogging and Shut up + Run! I was hooked! I subscribed to the blog before Beth could say: "steaming load of crap!"

So, when prompted to post a day in the life I thought why not? I like to share a good poop story too, and finally someone's interested in reading it!

My Mundane Monday:

7:51 am First cup of coffee, the reason I jump out of bed in the morning

8:39 Ironed my shirt

A wifely skill I haven't mastered yet, but the dryer works just as well.

8:40 I had breakfast, my second favorite reason to wake up

8:50 leave for work

8:55 arrive at work; I'm really fortunate to live 5 minutes from my job!

10:07 I dropped the Cosby kids off at the Superbowl!

10:24 Flu shot! Let's call this my selfless act of the day, taking the pain in my arm to prevent spreading the flu to my patients!! JK I like not having the flu.

10:45 pay the water bill:

OUCH! One of the joys of new old home ownership is that every other day something breaks and costs a crap load of money. This time it was the water line in the front yard. Trying to look at the cone and not the crap here, after all, we do have an indoor swimming pool now!

12:05 Since I live so close to work and I get an hour for lunch I usually come home to eat, catch up on cleaning, and crappy tv shows. Today is Columbus Day so I got to have lunch with my hubby!

2:08 my after lunch dump. Some people say they can't poop in public restrooms and I just can't fathom that. Do you just hold it all day??

2:13 I made a change to our car insurance policy

3:00 I work as a physical therapist assistant in an orthopedic outpatient facility. Today after school there were more teenagers in the gym than high school musical! One of them kept telling me I was insane... is it that obvious!?

source

6:00 I came home to make dinner for the hubbs and me.

the right way to eat asparagus

 

 

 

The rest of the night will be spent on the couch with my husband, Monday night football and an ice cold brew. I hope I didn't bore you to tears because I had a pretty good day!

Cyclones 5k Recap

Saturday night was the Cincinnati Cyclone's first ever 5k. The race cost 25 bucks and included: a technical shirt, a finisher's cup, 2 drink tickets, 1 pulled pork or chicken sandwich,  and a ticket to the exhibition game that night. (for those who don't know, the cyclones are our ECHL hockey team.)

I'm not going to lie, I had high expectations for my performance in this race. The intermediate training program I have been following for the Indy half marathon includes speed work so, I should be FAST, right? I was really hoping to break 23 minutes. I was a little weary about the fact that the race started at 5pm and not early in the morning when I'm used to racing. I figured it would probably be okay since I have been running after work so it wasn't completely unusual for me. I was also concerned with the temperature, a steamy 85 degrees! That's Cincinnati weather for ya, 40 last week 85 this week, wtf?

The race started at the Cincinnatus Statue at Sawyer point 

source

They didn't have a starting mat, so the chips automatically started when the horn sounded. We ran down the Serpentine Wall through Yeatman's Cove. The start was narrow and therefore a little crowded, but we turned a corner and headed into the streets of downtown Cincinnati.

The majority of the first mile was through a parking garage, which was a great relief from the heat. We ran out another half mile and made the turn back toward US Bank Arena. The course went down Mehring Way, passed Great American Ballpark and into the plaza between the two arenas. 

I can't be sure, but I think they had the mile markers a bit off my splits came out like this:

mile 1: 7:56:30

mile 2: 6:36:33

mile 3: 8:03:85

.1: 32:30

for a finish time of 23:03

My second mile didn't feel that fast, in fact I've never run that fast for a mile in my life; but, since I don't have a Garmin, I can't really be sure.

I ended up missing my goal by 3 seconds which blows! I must say though, that I'm very happy with my average pace of 7:25. I'm probably never going to PR on a 5k again because my current record is 21:42, which I ran my sophomore year in high school, but 23:03 is the closest that I have come since I have started running again.

I also got beat at the finish line by some one in my division, giving me a third place finish by 1 second, damn!

D ran a great race! He ended up with a finish time of 26:17 and an 8th place finish in his division! D is down for any race that comes with a T-shirt and beer, but he was excited about this race because he is a huge hockey fan.

At the finish they gave out water, Powerade, bananas, Lara bars and Nabisco snacks. The exhibition game was a blast and the Cyclones pulled out a win against the Wheeling Nailers in sudden death over time. I was impressed with how smoothly everything went down at this race considering it was the first running. It was great that the finish line was right outside the entrance to the hockey game. Although it was it a little hot for running, the weather was great for hanging out and having a couple beers before watching the game...

.. and racing Twister the team mascot. Obviously post race here considering the sexy pit sweat!

Sunday RUNDAY

I woke up and ran 12 miles this morning, my last long run before the half marathon on Saturday. D and I participated in the Cyclones 5k last night and I thought it might be a little rough, but I was wrong. I had another great run (the third time this week!) Let's just hope I haven't used them all up!! Here's the plan for the rest of the week:


Monday: Stretch + Strength
Tuesday: 4 mile run
Wednesday: 30 minute tempo run
Thursday: 2 mile run
Friday: Rest
Saturday: RACE!


Now time for a nice pasta dinner with D!! Happy SundayRunday!!

A triathlete with a T-shirt to prove it

Last weekend I completed Morgan’s Little Miami Triathlon and it was a blast!! The weather was a little chilly, (40 degrees at 9am) but the sun was shinning and the fall trees were beautiful!! I was a little nervous about all the equipment I needed to remember for the race…

Canoe 6 miles: 1:10 min after potty break


We walked downed to the livery and chose a shiny red canoe. We didn’t realize until we were on the water that we grabbed a canoe with a patched hole on the bottom, but we paddled on pushing vivid images from “Titanic” to the back of our minds. The water was up a little bit; we only scraped the bottom once or twice. Around 27 minutes we saw the 3 mile marker, a good pace since I was hoping to finish around the 1 hour mark. I had no idea that my partner had taken a course in canoeing in college. She steered the boat and made all the tough, “to the right or left” decisions. Our legs were stiff and toes were numb after sitting/ freezing in the canoe for an hour. We got out of the boat changed our shoes, lost a layer of clothes, and hit the porta-potties before starting the 5.5 mile run


Run 5.5 miles: 50 minutes?

The first mile I felt like I was 100 years old with a serious case of peripheral neuropathy. It seemed like we got through the first mile really fast, but I checked my watch and we were at 9:28, so slow! I could finally feel my feet again and we picked up the pace. The running course had some uphill but was fairly easy. We ran on the Lebanon bike trail for awhile then you turn off into the woods and run up “killer hill.” Aptly named, this hill is steep and a little slick since it’s covered with all of the falling leaves. We basically had to walk up the hill because it’s narrow and people are trying to come down while were going up. Once we got back to the bike staging area I ate some strawberry Clif Bloks, YUM! After more wardrobe changes than Jane Lynch at the Emmy’s we were off!!

Bike 18 miles: 1 hour and 15 minutes

Confession: this is the first time I have ever biked on the road, and the first time I have ever biked 18 miles at once. Maybe Race day isn’t the best day for practicing!? My partner led the way through the course as we rode past beautiful old farm houses, more fall trees and huge cornfields. It was pretty windy I was glad I was wearing a long sleeve compression shirt. They had most of the miles marked on the course, as each sign approached we will do a celebratory count down. This is the first time I have raced with a partner and I really enjoyed the camaraderie, it made the time fly having some one to push me along. There was about 5 water stops along the course but I haven’t really mastered one handed riding and didn’t want to crash so I went without. Finally we got to the end of the 18 miles, hopped off our bikes and crossed the finish.

We ended with a time of 3:15 each. The times are added together to come up with a final score of 6:30:47 giving us a 13^th place finish out of 80 female teams. We were both a little disappointed in our time, hoping to finish at 3 hours. We have a lot of room for improvement. Our transition times were very slow, and next time we will probably do some training first! Our goal for next year is to finish in the top 5. Overall we had a blast, there was a nice buffet at the end of the race and we can’t wait to do the race again next year!! 

Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

I really enjoy baking, but I feel like I need a reason to do it. If I were to bake something for D and me we would eat just a little and the rest would go to waste. This week I went to a friend’s roller skating 30^th birthday party. She decided to have a dessert bar, the perfect opportunity to hone my baking skills!! I decided to try not one but 2 different desserts. The first recipe came from Martha Stewart. You can always count on Martha for an adorable seasonal treat! 
 

Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Ingredients

·       For the Cookies

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

·       For the Filling

• 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup canned solid pack pumpkin
• Pinch of cinnamon
• Pinch of nutmeg

Directions

1. Prepare cookies: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside.
2. Place butter, shortening, and sugars into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add egg; mix until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in half the flour mixture, then the milk and vanilla. Mix in remaining flour mixture. 
3. Drop about 2 teaspoons dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies spring back when lightly touched, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to wire racks and let cool 10 minutes. Remove cookies from baking sheets and transfer to wire racks using a spatula; let cool completely.
4. Prepare filling: In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together cream cheese, butter, and confectioners' sugar on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg; whip until smooth, scraping down the bowl as necessary.
5. Pipe or spoon about 2 teaspoons filling on the flat sides of half the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, keeping the flat sides down.

I was so pleased with the way these turned out. They were delicious and super easy to make! Enjoy!

The most wonderful time of the year

I decided the perfect way to ring in Rocktober would be Pumpkin Pancakes!! I have been waiting a long time to make these little bits of heaven!! It was pretty chilly, fall day around here on Saturday, but nothing some spiced pancakes and a warm cup of coffee couldn't fix.

This recipe was given to me from a patient and recommended as the BEST pumpkin pancakes ever…

Pumpkin Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 ½ c all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground ginger pumpkin pie spice

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1 ½ c milk

1 c canned pumpkin

3 Tbsp vegetable oil

3 eggs separated

Combine all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Measure liquid ingredients, including egg yolk, into a quart measuring cup; in a separate small bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Use the same beater to combine liquid ingredients- milk, pumpkin, oil and egg yolks. Stir into dry ingredients with wire whip only until combined, and then gently fold in egg whites. Use ¼ cup measure to dip and pour batter onto hot greased griddle.

 

These pancakes were pretty simple to make and I already had all the ingredients at home. I thought they were really delicious, not too spicy but just enough to get that warm pumpkin pie taste. I had a little trouble with under cooking some of them for fear of burning them (my Achilles heel of cooking). I’m not sure if they were the best pumpkin pie pancakes ever since I was a pumpkin pancake virgin, but they were really good. I guess I’ll just have to make more pumpkin pancakes to see if they really were the best! Enjoy! 

Training Plan

Let the count down begin, 12 days until my next half marathon!! I'm really excited to go to Indy!! I feel like I’m in pretty good shape, but I have been slacking a little with my training. Here is the plan for this week:

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: 45 minute tempo run + strength

Wednesday: 3 miles      

Thursday: 5 miles + strength

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Cyclones 5k

Sunday; 12 mile run

Mid Week Mediterranean

I have a new found love for baba ghanoush! The first time I tried this dip was at the Kona Bistro in Oxford about a year ago. We have gone several times for happy hour and we always order the mediterranean munchies which is: hummus, baba ghanouj, feta, olives, tomato & fresh (warm) pita wedges. I fell hard for this dip. So, in an attempt to recreate the dish myself I scoured the internet and cook books looking for a suitable recipe. Eggplants were on sale last week at Kroger. I figured it was a sign and I finally made the dip using the Cook’s Illustrated recipe. I halved the recipe because I only had one eggplant. The recipe also called for parsley leaves but I only had cilantro so I subbed that in instead.

Modified Cook’s Illustrated Baba Ghanoush, Oven Method

Ingredients:

1lb eggplant poke uniformly over surface with for to prevent bursting

½ tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 small clove garlic, minced

½ tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for serving

1 tsp fresh cilantro for serving

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

Instructions:

1.    Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 500 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with foil, set eggplant on baking sheet and roast, turning every 15 minutes, until eggplants are uniformly soft when pressed with tongs, about 60 minutes for large globe eggplants, 50 minutes for Italian eggplants, and 40 minutes for Japanese eggplants. Cool eggplant on baking sheet for 5 minutes.
 

2.    Set a small colander over bowl or in sink. Trim top and bottom off each eggplant. Slit eggplants lengthwise and use spoon to scoop hot pulp from skins and place pulp in colander (you should have about 1 cup of packed pulp); discard skins. Let pulp drain 3 minutes. 

3.    Transfer pulp to workbowl of food processor fitted with steel blade. Add lemon juice, oil, garlic, tahini, 1/8 tsp. salt and 1/8 tsp. pepper; process until mixture has coarse choppy texture, about 8 1-second pulses. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper; transfer to serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap flush with surface of dip and refrigerate 45 to 60 minutes. To serve, use spoon to make trough in center of dip and spoon olive oil into it; sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

I thought this dip turned out great!! It’s necessary to let the flavors meld together in the refrigerator before serving. I would have liked the serve my baba ghanoush with fresh pita, but time did not allow so, I used store bought naan. D liked it but he prefers hummus. I have tried the Cook’s Illustrated hummus recipe and it didn’t turn out how I’d hoped. Next time I’m going to make them at the same time for comparison. Enjoy! 

FOO FIGHTERS

Thursday night D and I attended the Foo Fighter's show in Columbus at Nationwide Arena for their Wasting Light tour and it was FREAKIN AMAZING!! Seriously, so good!

The opening band was Mariachi El Bronx. We only got to hear them play a couple songs, but they are very entertaining and I would love to see them again sometime. 

source

 Next up was Rise Against. D has seen them previously, before they became popular, but this was the first time for me. I have never seen a band with so much energy they jumped around like cheerleaders for their 45 minute set. I was exhausted just watching them.

source

And then it was time for the FOOFS!

...because you don't know who the Foo Fighters are

source

The show was everything I'd hoped it would be! Dave Grohl is hilarious, during the breaks he chatted it up a lot and was making us lose it. The lighting and stage set up was awesome, like nothing I've ever seen before. The band played for a good two and a half hours. Finally the show ended and they band left the stage....

our view from the nose bleeds! Who cares we could still hear them!!!

For the encore Dave came out and did a couple acoustic songs (my fav!!) and finally the whole band ended the show with Everlong (my absolute fav!!!)

D and I had a great time and I can put a check on my Bucket List!

Here is the set list from the show: source

1.)    Bridge Burning
2.)    Rope
3.)    The Pretender
4.)    My Hero
5.)    Learn to Fly
6.)    White Limo
7.)    Arlandria
8.)    Breakout
9.)    Cold in the Sun
10.)  Stacked Actors
11.)  Walk
12.)  Monkey Wrench
13.)  Let it Die
14.)  These Days
15.)  Skin and Bones (w/ Krist Novoselic)
16.)  This is a Call
17.)  In The Flesh (Pink Floyd Cover)
18.)  All My Life

Encore:
19.)  Long Road to Ruin (Acoustic)
20.)  Best of You (Acoustic)
21.)  Times Like These (Acoustic)
22.)  Dear Rosemary
23.)  Breakdown (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Cover)
24.)  Everlong

Race Time!!

Over the next 3 weekends I am signed up for 3 races! I'm really pretty pumped about all the running in my near future! This weekend I am doing Morgan's Little Miami Triathlon with a partner. My partner did this race last year, but I am a triathlon virgin!! This race is a 6 mile canoe, a 5.5 mile run and an 18 mile bike. The thought of swimming intimidates me, A LOT, so I figured this would be a good way for me to get a taste of triathlons without taking the big plunge (haha get it? Swimming, plunge?) Any way I'm really excited about it!

So, onto the training plan for this week:

Sunday: 10 mile run

Monday: REST

Tuesday: Strength + bike ride with D

Wednesday: 10x 400 on the track

Thursday: Strength + 5 mile run

Friday: 3 mile run

Saturday: REST

Sunday: Little Miami Triathlon

And what will we eat???

Monday: Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas

Tuesday: Italian Chicken and baked pastina

Wednesday: Hearty Chipotle Chicken Soup

Thursday: Dinner &  Movie

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: ??

Sunday: ??

Wife vs. Food!!

Confession: I LOVE Adam Richmond!! I don't know what it is about him but I could watch him eat alll dayyy loooonnng!! So, naturally, when D and I were planning on going to Columbus for the Foo Fighters concert I thought we could hit up a "man vs food" restaurant. Cue the Thurman Cafe!

This restaurant has a HUGE list of HUGE burgers! Eighteen different burgers to be exact... HEAVEN!!!

 I had the Jonnie Burger which is:

"A bleu cheese burger with loads of bacon, horseradish cheese, and a splash of tequila cooked in; no lettuce, tomato, or mayo cuz, quite frankly, if I’d wanted a salad, I’d of ordered one! Served with fries, cuz chips are for quitters!" 

The menu also recommended a shot of 1800 with the burger, but that would have led to a completely different night altogether... I'm not sure D could have kept me off of the Foo Fighter's stage!! So instead I had a tall Leinenkugel Oktoberfest, YUM!

source

 D had the Thurman burger (the burger Adam eats in the episode):

source

"Our head honcho overloaded with ham, sautéed mushrooms & onions, mozzarella & American cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, banana peppers, and mayo with kettle chips and a pickle spear"

The food was DELICIOUS and filling!! The atmosphere was fun and relaxed. They had dollar bills hanging every where with signatures, doodles and funny quotes. The place is really small and luckily we arrived fairly early and got a seat right away. There was a crowd and a pretty long wait when we left around 7pm.

I'm so glad I have Adam to follow to the nation's best burger joints!

 and in this battle of wife vs food...

yeah.. I ate the last bite don't worry!

..... WIFE WINS!!!! 

 And now I need to go for a 100 mile run! 

Hudepohl 14k Brewery Run Race Recap

This was actually the 10^th annual Hudepohl 14k, however, they had been on a hiatus. I’m not sure how long it had been since the last run. They also added a 7k to the event this year. I don’t really know where to start with this race. I feel that the intentions were good and it was supposed to be more of a party than an actual race, but there were some major planning flaws at this event.

We arrived plenty early and had no problem finding parking. They offered a shuttle service but we did not use it as we found a parking spot within two blocks of the starting line. 

Abbey, Jojo and Me

 D and I and two of my friends grabbed our bags and headed over to the race. There was a building with food/beer and bathrooms. It was very crowded before the race even began. We asked volunteers at 3 different booths where the bag check was only to find out that the volunteers had no idea and it probably didn’t exist! WHAT! (Strike 1) The facebook page clearly stated there would be a bag check or I would have left my stuff in the car! So another 2 blocks back to the car to drop off the bags. I also had to pop a squat in the parking lot since the bathroom lines were a nightmare. I did get a nice warm up in jogging back to the start line.

The race started about 15 minutes late (really? Strike 2!) The race started on a slow downhill grade. There were 3 bands within the first mile and I thought for a minute I could just turn off my ipod and enjoy the course and entertainment. Glad I didn’t because that was the end of the bands.

As I was running the first mile my legs were feeling kind of heavy and I wasn’t sure if they were going to hold up for the 8+ miles but when I reached the first mile marker I was at 7:23. My goal for the race was to run under 8min/mile pace again so I was way ahead of that. I wasn’t sure how long I could maintain that pace but I remained there until mile 4.

Around mile 4 I started getting really concerned about D and my friend Abbey. They signed up to run the 7k. The course was supposed to be out and back and I hadn’t seen the turn around!! D usually runs no more than 3 miles for his training and has never done more than a 5k race. This was Abbey’s first race ever! She has been training to run the half with us in Indianapolis but I don’t think she has done any long runs. I was really hoping they didn’t have to run all 8.7 miles!!

I was looking for the 5 mile marker and glanced down at my watch (the cheap timex kind) only to see I was at 10 minutes!!! Whaaaat! I couldn’t have slowed that much!! A few minutes later I saw the 6 mile marker and was relieved. Apparently they didn’t mark miles 5, 7 or 8!! (Strike 3) That makes me crazy!! I guess that’s why I need one of those nifty Garmin watches.

I really enjoyed the course it was a nice long loop that was mostly flat or slight downhill. There was a short hill mid way through mile 3 and 7. There was also a short steep hill around mile 8 with a group of girls with signs that said “Keep going, keep going, that’s what she said!” and “You have great stamina, call me!” and “Chaff now, beer later.” Funny stuff!

From there on was mainly a downhill until you turned a corner and hit the finish! They were giving out 7k/14k medals at the finish.  A few minutes after my finish I met up with my friend Jojo, who also signed up for the 14k. She informed me that there was no turn around and D and Abbey were still out on the course! I also ran into one of D’s friends who signed up for the 7k and just turned around and ran back after he realized the turn around wasn’t marked.

Both D and Abbey finished a few minutes after Jojo. I was really impressed with their times not having down any training for a long race!! D said runners were yelling at the volunteers and the police officers the whole race. Turns out the race coordinators forgot to put out the turn around sign (OOPS! Strike 4). Also by the time Abbey finished they ran out of medals (Strike 5?) And the beer and food lines were a MILLION miles long!! (Strike… too many to count)

There were some good things about the race. I really loved the course and all of the police officers did a great job with traffic control and encouraging the runners. The food and beer afterwards was good, it just took forever to get. They had a nice set up outside of the building were you could hang out and drink your beer. Each runner was given a nice short sleeve tech shirt and a Hudepohl 14k pint glass.

I ended up finishing in 1:07:30 a 7:47 pace which I was very happy with. I also came away with a second place finish in my age group!! I had a pretty good time, but hopefully they will organize a little better next year!!

Winton Woods Fall Beer Tasting

Last Friday D and I went with a group of friends to a Beer Tasting at a local park. I love trying new beers without having to buy a whole six pack only to find it tastes awful and then of course we have to drink it all any way. I was very excited to find a new fall beer of choice. The event offered some pretty strong contenders. My favorites were: 

River Town Pumpkin Ale 

source

The Pumpkin Ale was like drinking a cold glass of pumpkin pie! Plus it's brewed right here in Cincinnati, so you just can't beat it! 

Shock Top Pumpkin Wheat

source

A close second! Very good will definitely be drinking more of this throughout the fall!

I also have an uncontrollable obsession with hard ciders! I love to try each seasonal flavor of Woodchuck cider as it is released, but my favorite cider is:

source

JK Scrumpy's Hard Cider!! I could drink bottle after bottle, so goood!!

The tasting offered a cider called Crispin. There were 2 types original and honey crisp. I really loved the Honey Crisp. So I ran out to my local Kroger and bought this...

source

Sadly I didn't enjoy it as much as the Honey Crisp... which completely defeated the whole purpose of this blog post!

Happy Friday

I can’t believe its Friday already, but I’m so happy it is.


Running Recap:


Monday I had a great 4.5 mile run in the morning before work. Sometimes my favorite part about running is getting time away from everything to think. Sure, I listen to my ipod while I’m running and I do depend on it sometimes to keeping moving, but other times I just let my mind wonder. I have a coworker whose mother was diagnosed last week with pancreatic cancer so I spent a lot of my run thinking about her operation that was taking place that morning and praying that she had the best possible outcome. During my run I spotted a doe with two of her offspring crossing the road and I found it very inspiring. I get very excited when I’m out running and see beautiful occurrences in nature I would have missed if I let my snooze button get the best of me. We are keeping our fingers crossed for my coworker’s mother, but it seems as if the operation went smoothly and the whole tumor was removed.


Tuesday D and I went to the track for a speed workout after dinner. I wasn’t sure how my stomach would feel completing 8-400s filled with enchilada casserole, but it worked out in the end. I even managed to knock about 20 seconds off my 400 pace.


Thursday D and I went for an easy 3 mile run. It’s getting dark so early now and we waited a little too late to start the run and ended up finishing in the dark. This cool front that has come in has made for some great running weather.


Today I’m taking it easy because I’m participating in the Hudepohl Brewery 14k tomorrow morning with D and a couple of friends. I’m really looking forward to the course. I haven’t run through this part of downtown and the after part looks like a blast!


TWRAWTS