Ready for Ragnar - Wasatch Back!

I'm going to be occupied over the next couple days.  Tomorrow morning is the beginning of my latest adventure.  At 9:45, I'll be leaving Las Vegas with 11 of my closest friends (okay, that's not really true, I only even know two of them) and heading to Logan, Utah to begin what will be my first Ragnar Relay!  Specifically, I'll be running on a 12-person team doing Ragnar Wasatch Back.

I am Runner #10, which means I run legs numbers 10, 22, and 34.

Leg #10 should be a breeze: slightly less than 4 miles and basically flat

Leg #22 is slightly less of a breeze.  Only because it is 7.3 miles.  The slight overall incline shouldn't be too big of a problem (I know, I know...famous last words...)

And then there's leg #34....Oh, leg #34.  Just a quick 4 mile jaunt through the woods.  Oh yeah, 4 miles + an elevation increase of nearly 1700 feet!

These are my legs and, whats more, these are the legs that I chose.  Originally, I was going to walk the easy path of runner #12.  However, the sick freak inside of me needed an extra challenge and wanted the extra mileage, so I requested (beg & pleaded) to get switched to runner #10.

I'm so excited and I'm pretty sure I'm overpacking.  My backpacking pack is full, I have a duffle full of food and drinks and I also have my messenger bag because there is no way I can leave my trusty laptop  behind.  This talk of the things I'm taking is freaking me out because I haven't finished packing!!

I already can't believe that some people do these as a 6-person team!  I'm pretty sure I'll be in even deeper disbelief come Saturday when I finish my third leg.

******************************************************

Do you pack at the last minute before a trip?

       (I wish I wasn't, but I'm always last minute)

What are your go-to items that you always take on road trips?

        (I always need my laptop, chewy sprees, and diet coke)

What are you watching on TV now that most of the shows are on summer hiatus?

        (I've been watching a lot of Netflix lately.  The cord that hooks my iPad to the TV is a godsend!)

******************************************************

Better Late than Never - Weekend Roundup

Yes, it is already Wednesday, but I'm going to recap my weekend anyway because it was so fun!  First, we got up at at 5:45 am, by choice, to meet up with some of our best hiking buddies to hike up to Cockscomb Peak in the Spring Mountains at 9,692 feet of elevation.

The hike was ~5 miles round trip beginning at Trail Canyon and most of it was on a very nicely maintained trail.  Once you get to the saddle (2 miles from the trail head), instead of going left toward Mount Charleston, you follow the slightly more faint trail to the right.  

The last little bit involved a little scrambling, but nothing we couldn't handle in the capable hands of our fearless and always prepared leader, Bill.

This was the most exposure we encountered

Doesn't it look like he loves it when I shove my iPhone in his face?

It was a beautiful day.  The weather was in the high-50s when we started and warmed up to high-70s by the end....a perfect day hanging out in the woods with my husband and some of our friends.  ...and we earned the Jack of Hearts for our troubles.  (My 15th card!  Only 37 more to go!)

Our selfies didn't turn out so well...but someone else took this and I kind of liked it.

I really love taking walks in the woods.
(I know I've said this before, but isn't my husband a pretty awesome iPhone photographer?)

After our hike, we each had appointments for a 50-minute massage.  It was awesome.  

This weekend was also awesome because I got to hang out with one of my dear friends from law school.  Her being in town was a total surprise, but we had a blast.  We did all of the Vegas-y things like gambling (I put a total of $6 on the line) a little and seeing the Bellagio fountains.  

But, we also did some of the uniquely Vegas things that people forget about, like hanging out with my other friend Flif at Boulder Beach at Lake Mead.  We also took Maggie!!  She *loves* swimming and it was so fun to get in the water and swim with her.  The only drawback was her claws coming in to contact with my legs as she was dog paddling.  

Really, Maggie was such a good dog and very patiently endured me shoving my iPhone in her face. 

she was so dirty from swimming then laying in the sand

If you live in the Vegas area and want to take your dog to the beach, just a heads up, you will get fined if you have a dog at Boulder Beach proper.  I didn't get ticketed because we didn't get out of the car before speaking with someone that had recently been ticketed $108!!  However, you are allowed to have dogs just south on the "Special Events Beach."  I actually think it is superior to Boulder Beach.  It isn't as crowded, isn't as rocky, and you can pull your car up closer to the water.

me shoving my iPhone in faces to take pictures seems to be a reoccurring theme in this blog post

I had such a super fantastic weekend, but I was (and still am) exhausted!  The exhaustion would maybe, sort of explain my absence from the blogosphere during the last few days.  

I needed my beauty rest; Thursday morning I leave for a weekend in Utah during which I'll be doing my first Ragnar Relay.    More on that in the coming days.

************************************************

Ever done a Ragnar?  What are the crucial things that I might forget to pack that are really important?

How do you feel about spending a day at the lake?  What are the essentials needed for a day at the beach?

       (I personally need some sort of float to lounge in the water)

Have you ever been to Vegas?  What's your favorite Vegas activity?

       (Obviously I'm partial to hiking, but I could watch the Bellagio fountains for hours.  They basically hypnotize me!)

************************************************

Another June day in Nevada = more treadmill time...

.....and there is no end in sight to the time I will be spending on a treadmill......

So, this is my most recent attempt to distract myself from the fact that I'm running in place for 50 minutes.  Yes, I find that the pink legal pad paper helps make it a little less miserable.  However, I can sympathize that taking a picture of the written workout doesn't make for efficient repeatability....mostly because I'm not sure the workout is legible in the picture above.  So, I made the below chart that shows the main nuts & bolts of my interval workout.  

It is basically 10x400m at 10K pace with a little recovery in between.  This workout took me to 4.25 miles, so I just sort of made it up as I went along for .75 miles to make it a nice round 5 miles.  The time passed like nothing, probably because I was watching the brilliant cinematic stylings of Dawson's Creek via Netflix.  Oh, you caught that, huh?  Try not to judge me...I watch a lot of Netflix and I can only watch Spirit of the Marathon and all the episodes of Arrested Development so many times....

************************************************

Mid-Week check-in:  How have your workouts gone this week?

What fruits have been eating lately?

     (I had some really delicious seedless watermelon today!!)

I think I need new running headphones.  Any suggestions?

     (I currently use yurbuds but they kept falling out today....umm, that's not supposed to happen?)

Blue Skies, brown box . . . My June StrideBox has arrived!!

My husband can attest to the fact that I don't often check my mail.  However, this pattern changes when I'm expecting something exciting....and at the beginning of the month, I am excitedly expecting my StrideBox and the latest issue of Runner's World.  This month, they came on the same day!!!

It's like the postal service new I needed a kick in the butt this week

This is my first StrideBox and I have to say, I am impressed.  The packaging was minimalist and tasteful (both really big positives in my book).  I also really liked the "Just Keep Running" tape on the outside.

And as much as I liked the packaging, I am even more excited about the contents.  I'll be holding off on most of these products until Ragnar (T-minus 10ish days! eek!), especially the banana blueberry almond butter pocket fuel and the skratch labs lemon/lime hydration mix.  I'm super intrigued by the PowerIce popsicle type thing.  I promptly put it in my freezer and will be consuming it after I get home from a sweaty run or bike ride in the near future.

I mean, this really is the perfect box of goodies for me.  For example, I have pretty near constant tightness in the arches of my foot and live in near constant fear of getting plantar fasciitis again.  Thus, I'm pretty jazzed to try the Due North Foot Rubz Massage Ball.  This item will definitely be packed in my pack for Ragnar, along with my foam roller of course.  

Finally, I'm looking forward to lacing up the Lock Laces in my LunarGlides.  In high school I had a pair of Saucony running shoes that had a toggle so that I didn't have to tie them and I loved them and how I felt running in them.  Unfortunately, I can't even find a picture of them and have no idea what the model was called =( .  Even if just for the purposes of nostalgia, I'm looking forward to lacing up this no tie shoelace system!  I hope these work half as well as the lacing system in my Solomon Trail Runners, these laces do not loosen for anything - so so awesome.

**************************************************

Do you subscribe to StrideBox?  Which item this month are you most looking to try out?

Which other "surprise/sample boxes" have you investigated?

**************************************************

Sunday - 6 mile Treadmill Workout (including Treadmill Roulette!!)

I think my feelings about treadmills are pretty much in line with the majority of the human population.  I   very, very much prefer running out on the roads, so I try to avoid treadmills as much as possible.  That being said, when it is 111 degrees outside on June 8th and the temperature is already 86 degrees (and quickly climbing) at 6 am, running outside isn't the smartest idea.  Thus, treadmills in Las Vegas seem unavoidable to me.

via someecards

I needed to run at least 6 miles this weekend and I was determined not to skip out on it.  I definitely did not get up to run at 6am to run when it was (relatively) cool, so I was stuck with the decision of either not running or spending an hour on the dreadmill.

To make it a little more entertaining, I came up with the following workout meshing a workout from the Hungry Runner Girl and an idea I got from Carrots n Cake:

The Part from Hungry Runner Girl (modified and repeated from this)

5 min warm up (6.0 mph)

1 min hard run (6.5 mph)

1 min easy run (6.0 mph)

2 min hard run (6.5 mph)

1 min easy run (6.0 mph)

3 min hard run (6.5 mph)

1 min easy run (6.0 mph)

4 min hard run (6.5 mph)

2 min easy run (6.0 mph)

1 min hard run (6.3 mph)

1 min easy run (5.7 mph)

2 min hard run (6.3 mph)

1 min easy run (5.7 mph)

3 min hard run (6.3 mph)

1 min easy run (5.5 mph)

4 min hard run (6.3 mph)

2 min easy run (5.0 mph)

Treadmill Roulette:  The Part from Carrots n Cake (modified/shortened from this)

Step 1: Get your favorite playlist and put it on shuffle

Step 2: Create your own questions or use these:

     Song #1 - warm-up (5.5 mph)

     Song #2 - Is the singer of the song male or female?

          Male - 6.0 mph

          Female - 5.7 mph

          Both - 6.3 mph

     Song #3 - Is the song longer than 3 minutes?

          Yes - 5.7 mph

          No - 6.0 mph

     Song #4 - Is the song related to love?

          Yes - 5.5 mph

          No - 5.7 mph

     Song #5 - Is the song title related to running?

          Yes - 5.7 mph

          No - 6.0 mph

     Song #6 - recovery (5.5 mph)

     Song #7 - Is the singer male or female?

          Male - 6.0  mph

          Female - 6.3 mph

          Both - 5.7 mph

     Song #8 - Is the song from before 2000?

          Yes - 6.3 mph

          No - 5.7 mph

     Song #9 - cool down (5.0 mph)

**I actually hit 6 miles before getting all the way through song #8, but you get the idea**

Normally, I think treadmill workouts pass by slower than the time passes at the dentist's office...but doing this workout made it seem not quite as bad.

Hiking Mummy Mountain - Ace of Hearts

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to join 18 fellow hikers from the Hiking Las Vegas meetup group on the ~9.5 mile hike up 3,732 feet to the peak of Mummy Mountain (some people call it Mummy's Tummy) for a final elevation of 11,542 feet:

via hikinglasvegas.blogspot.com

It was a very strenuous hike.  It was as strenuous as you can imagine hiking up over 3700 feet of elevation at an already high elevation.  The first ~3.5 miles, although severely uphill, were on a nicely maintained trail that wound through gorgeous forests of bristlecone pine and aspen trees.  

However, around that 3.5 mile mark the hike takes a turn for the exceptionally strenuous as soon as you see this tree:

"M" is for "Mummy"

This tree signifies the make a sharp right turn off the main path and head up the steepest most evil scree slope I have ever encountered.  It was so steep and the rock was so loose that I often felt like I was spinning my wheels getting to the top.  

The only thing worse than climbing up was climbing down.  I was covered in dust from falling.  Fortunately no blood was spilled.

Once we got to the top, we had a very special celebration for my friend Dinorah became a 53er!!  This means that she has climbed the best 52 peaks in the area surrounding Las Vegas.  By hiking and climbing all of these peaks, Dinorah has climbed over 110,000 feet and hiked the equivalent distance of the distance between Las Vegas and Los Angeles!!  She's also an incredible ambassador for organ donation because 2 years ago she was the recipient of a life saving kidney transplant. 

In addition to celebrating Dinorah, reaching the top of Mummy Mountain resulted in me earning my first Ace!! 

It was truly one of those fantastic days.  I spent time with incredibly interesting people; burned a ton of calories; and saw some incredible views from the second tallest peak in southern Nevada.

Finally, my favorite pic of the hike: 

This tree was almost completely hollowed out by what appears to be lightning.  The opening was just wide enough for my obviously very broad shoulders.  This is basically my new tree house.

And of course...after burning over 3000 calories, I was starving and decided a treat was in order.  Have you figured out that I'm pretty obsessed with these McDonald's caramel shakes? 

Now, I really need to convince myself to make my way to the treadmill and run 6 miles, but I am pretty sore from yesterday which has kept me pretty firmly within the clutches of my couch.  We'll see how that pans out.

****************************************************
What have your workouts looked like this weekend?
(I obviously avoided the 111 degree Vegas weather by traveling to the Mt. Charleston area where it was ~25 degrees cooler!)

What do you think about my I <3 Sweat shirt?
(If you're jealous, you can get one here - and a portion of the proceeds goes directly to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America)

How do you survive long treadmill workouts?
(I'm still figuring this out...but right now, I write workouts and switch up inclines and paces.  I'm still open to suggestions)
****************************************************

A no running national running day + egg muffins!!

So, I skipped my run today to prepare for an unexpected interview that I have tomorrow.  After preparing for my interview, I decided to whip up these delicious egg muffins.  I like to make these and refrigerate them and eat them all week for breakfast (and lunch and dinner, if I'm being honest).  My co-workers get very happy when I bring them and store them in the work refrigerator.

The recipe is essentially this one from justapinch, but I used Jennie-O turkey breakfast sausage because turkey is healthier, right?

Start by preheating the oven to 375 degrees.  Next, brown the sausage.  Once the sausage is browned, turn off the heat and add broccoli florets and spinach.

While the broccoli softens and the spinach wilts a little, whisk up 6-8 eggs, 1/4 cup of milk, 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil, 1/2 tsp baking powder, and salt & pepper (I also added some garlic powder, even though it wasn't in the recipe, because I don't like to be constrained by rules).

Lightly spray a muffin tin with oil.  Then, once the broccoli isn't so crunchy, spoon the vegetable and turkey sausage mixture into the muffin tin.  After that, use a ladle to add the egg/milk mixture.

Top the muffins with some shredded parmesan cheese and throw it in the oven for 15-20 minutes.  In my oven, ~17 minutes seems to work the best.

Not the best picture I've ever taken, but the oven was really hot.
(try not to judge my dirty oven)

the finished product: 

I'm looking forward to eating one of these with my morning raisin bran!

Did I mention that I whipped these up while watching episodes from Season 1 of Arrested Development?  To me, that's a fantastic Wednesday night.

***********************************************

What is your favorite breakfast food to eat during the week?
    (I love these egg muffins & raisin bran or McDonald's Egg White Delights)

How did you celebrate/commemorate national running day?
    (I talked about running a lot today, does that count?)

What's your favorite Arrested Development quote?
    ("I don't understand the question and I won't respond to it.") 
    (anytime they refer to hop-ons on the stair truck or Tobias's "Never Nude" condition)
***********************************************

How is it this hot in June? Plus, an exciting addition to my fitness regime!

So, I have pretty much been a lazy bum since the triathlon.  And seriously, who wouldn't be lazy with this kind of weather in June?

I feel that 108 degrees on June 8th is inappropriate.

Sunday consisted of me laying on my couch and watching an embarrassing amount of television and only leaving my apartment to take my dogs out and to get McDonalds at 9:15pm (yes, I got another caramel milk shake...I'm addicted).

Monday was slightly more exciting.  Remember how I'm a little impulsive?  Well, after obsessively trolling craigslist and other various websites for road bikes for approximately 48 hours, I found the one for me!!

See specs here.  Thank you so much to all my friends that reviewed the specs on this bike and agreed that it was a good buy and a good starter bike for me.  This article was also very useful in quelling my concerns about getting a bike with a unisex frame instead of a female frame.  I'm looking forward to getting some solid miles of cycling in very soon.

Also, can we just all agree that my husband is amazing for being so cool about the $$$ I've shelled out in the last week because I've picked up this cycling/triathlon habit??

After acquiring my new toy, I had a lovely evening with Ellie.  She made chicken pesto using the basil that she grows in backyard.  Mind. Blown.  This stuff was so good.  Now, more than 24 hours later, my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

That brings me to Tuesday:

Tuesday's Workout:

3 mile run - 30:57 (my legs are still feeling a little heavy from the triathlon, I think...at least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it)

1800 yds Swim

   Warmup:
       300 Easy Freestyle
       100 IM Drill

       100 IM Kick

       4 x 25 swim IM Order
   Main Set:
       500 build 

       2 x 150 swim - 30 seconds rest

            #1 - first & last 50 hard / middle 50 easy swim

            #2 - first & last 50 easy swim / middle 50 hard

   Kick Set:

       2 x 100 fly kick on back in streamline position

   Cool Down:

       100 Easy

It felt good to burn some calories both on my legs and in the water.  I was a little disappointed with the run, but that's what happens when you push it waaaaayyy too hard for the first mile and then have to back it waaaaayyy off to recover in the middle.  Swimming also felt a little rough, but I bumped up my yardage a bit from my last workout and this workout included longer swims, so I was less disappointed with the swim than I was with the run.

*****************************************************

How do you work through disappointing workouts?

Any bike enthusiasts out there?  What do you think of my purchase?

June 5th is National Running Day! What are you doing to celebrate?

       (PS - you can get $20 off the entry of RnR Las Vegas - Run the Strip at Night!)

       (You can also get a discount on races managed by US Road Sports)

*****************************************************

Woah, I am sore - Amica 19.7 Sprint Triathlon Race Recap

So, I've spent all of today sleeping in and laying on the couch in an attempt to will my muscles to stop screaming with soreness from my latest athletic endeavor.

http://www.amicatriathlonvegas.com

Yesterday was a long and amazingly fun day!  First, I rolled out of bed at 5:00am, met HP in the parking lot, loaded our bikes and everything else into my SUV and headed off on our 45 minute drive to Lake Mead.  

Many of your are aware of how much I agonized over my decision of what to wear for the swimming stage of the tri.  Well, I gave in a bought a tri top at procylery to wear with the tri shorts that I purchased at REI earlier this week.  I was very concerned about wearing something for the first time on race day.  I mean, I know better than to do that...but I did it anyway.  Fortunately, this time, there were no negative consequences.

Pearl Izumi Top (purchased at ProCyclery)
Danskin Tri Shorts (purchased at REI)

As soon as we got there, we set up our transition area: towel, cycling top w/ number on back, socks, shoes, sunglasses, Garmin watch, bike helmet, headband, running singlet w/ number on the front (I think that's it).  

You can sort of see the transition area in the background on the other side of the blue carpet.  This was taken as we were leaving, so the transition area is basically empty.  It did not look this way when we arrived.

After setting up the transition area, race volunteers used permanent markets to mark our arms and calves with our numbers, age, and an "S" because we were competing in the sprint triathlon.  I'm pretty sure that no amount of scrubbing will get this stuff off before work tomorrow morning.

Then it was time to take our cap (green caps for girls; orange caps for guys) and goggles and head towards the water.  I was *super* afraid that I was going to freeze.  Against HP's advice, I had decided not to rent a wetsuit.  However, I had gotten advice from my very best friend who is more experienced in the ways of triathlons and she told me that she felt super claustrophobic and had a panic attack when she did her first triathlon in a wetsuit.  Fortunately, the water was PERFECT!!

The guys started at 7:00 with the women starting 3 minutes later at 7:03.  So, at 7:03, the gun went off and we sprinted out towards a series of buoys floating in Lake Mead.  After we frantically rounded the first buoy things started to spread out a little more.  The first few hundred meters seemed to take awhile, I had a hard time finding my rhythm with all the people and I was sort of having trouble swimming straight.  After we turned around and headed south (toward the Hoover Dam), it was less crowded and I was swimming remarkably straight.  I really started to feel great!  So, the 1/2 mile swim (~880 yards) was quickly over....well, not as quick as I would have liked....and it was time to run towards the bicycles.

Swim - 16:42.4 (this time includes the time getting out of the water and running to the beginning of the transition area)
Transition #1 - 4:09.1 (obviously, I was not in a hurry to get on that bike - yikes!!)

After putting on socks, shoes, shirt w/ race number on the back, watch, helmet, sunglasses, I slowly wheeled my bike out of the transition area and hopped on and headed out for what I was sure would be a miserable 16.1 mile ride.  The first 0.70 miles were completely uphill and just took all of the wind out of my sails.  Then, at 1.5 miles, catastrophe struck when I dropped my water bottle and made the pretty horrible decision not to stop for it.  I was completely miserable until I got to the turn around point.  The first half was way more uphill than downhill.  However, that made the last half MUCH more enjoyable.

Bike - 1:25:18.5 (yeah, I need to beef up my biking skills if I do another triathlon)
Transition #2 - 1:57.7

I was never so happy to come back to my semi-frozen bottle of gatorade.  I shed the bike, the helmet, and the shirt w/ the number on the back and exchanged it for a running singlet w/ the number on the front.  I made the executive decision to take the bottle of gatorade with me, which was an excellent decision.  I took off up the same 0.70 mile hill, which was as brutal on my legs as it was on the bike.  I promised myself I wouldn't walk, but if I'm being honest, I broke that promise.  The run was pretty dismal, but after that 0.70 mile, it was pretty easy, especially when I was running down that 0.70 mile hill towards the finish line.

You have to admit, the surroundings for this race were pretty spectacular

Run - 33:37.1 (dismal...but not completely hopeless given how my legs felt after getting off the bike and how much I walked)
Total Time - 2:21:45.0

I am triathlete!!

All in all, I had tons and tons of fun yesterday.  I don't think I can describe how great it felt to be in the water.  I also felt a real sense of accomplishment for completing the cycling portion of the tri.  This will definitely not be my last triathlon.  My first order of business needs to be finding and purchasing a bike.  (Actually, my real first order of business needs to be convincing my husband that a bike is a worthwhile purchase)

After the Tri, I decided that I deserved something delicious.  McDonalds to the rescue!! These new Caramel/Dulce de Leche shakes are incredible!!  I die.  

I probably need to go get another one of these right now.

After the tri, I went hiking with Ellie and her family.  It was a good opportunity to shakeout my legs a bit.  We did Ice Box Canyon, which I've done a hundred times, but I really never get sick of it.

Which leads me to today.  I have watched an embarrassing amount of television/netflix.  Re-watched several episodes of Arrested Development and all episodes of Running Wilde, a short-lived comedy that had the same creator as Arrested Development, I think, that was on Fox starring Keri Russell and Will Arnett.  I watched a few of the episodes when they were on tv, but apparently I was one of the few people in America that did so; It was cancelled after like 10 episodes. =(

(Sorry for such a wordy post!!)

***********************************************

Anybody out there have a lot of triathlon experience?  Any suggestions for my second triathlon somewhere within driving distance of Vegas?

How can I convince my husband that a bike is an excellent purchase?

Do you reward yourself after a strenuous athletic pursuit?  With what?

***********************************************