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. 

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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!

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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!?

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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 

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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!