B&B Off-road Race Report

I've heard about Omaha's Beer and Bagel race for a number of years.  It's very popular.  Mostly because there's beer and bagels at the end and you get to run through the woods.  I've never run it, but when some friends were coming to town to race, I joined in on the fun.

The morning was cold but sunny.  God I miss summer.  Anyway here's me lined up at the start.  That's me up front in the lilac top praying for warmth.

Actually, let's back up a little:

1. I got my wisdom teeth removed the Wednesday before the race.  Recovery has been interesting.  My teeth are fine, but still, 10 day out, I have a killer head ache.  I'd prefer to stop taking ibuprofen around the clock, but pain throbs up from my jaw, around the ears, and straight to my temples if I don't.  Add in twin toddlers who are unbelievably testing my patience right now, and well, sorry liver, I'm taking the damn drugs. 
2. Speaking of that lilac top, I found out the day before the race that Omaha has a mini Lululemon store.  Um, LOVE!  A friend posted she was there on twitter, and I couldn't get in the car fast enough.  The shirt is adorable and perfectly long. The sleeves not only have thumb holes, but they fold over your hands like infant shirts so they don't scratch their faces.  Perfect.  It wasn't cheap, but I used my birthday money.
3. What?  Birthday?  Yeah, TOMORROW IS MY BIRTHDAY!   Feel free to send presents throughout the entire month of November.

This race picture cracks me up.  I'm so fast that my head couldn't be contained in the frame.  It does give a lovely close-up of my new birthday shirt and capris.  (It also establishes my sustaining membership into the Itty Bitty Titty Committee.)

Anyway, back to the race.  The route was four miles on a golf course and through the surrounding woods.  Now, I don't do trail running.  I'd love to try it, but there just isn't any place around here to do such things.  That, and I'm kind of a scaredy cat who's convinced a forest monster could come eat me if I were alone on trails someplace.

There were some serious hills, serious uneven terrain, and serious people congestion.  I could handle the course fine, but it was tricky to navigate around people.  I prefer a giant road instead of a skinny little path behind people walking three across.  Oh, and we had to run through calf high, cold water twice.  I felt so outdoorsy!

34:16

8:34/mi

age group: 21/321

women place: 74/1263

I was pretty pleased for my first trail run.  I wish we had more, heavily populated trails around here, because I could see myself really enjoying running like that.  The post-race festivities were super fun.  Loud music, beer, and tons of people hanging out on a perfect Sunday morning.  A large cupid shuffle dance party even broke out.

I just happily hung out with friends munching on bagels.

They had a Sasquatch out on the course, so I had to get a picture with him too. 

So that's the perfect end to my 2011 racing season.  A fun morning with great friends and new running adventures. I'll definitely be back to race this again next year!  

And finally, just because this is adorable:

Bath time really is the perfect way to end the night.

Halloween and race plans

Are you sick of reading about people attention-whoring their kids in halloween costumes yet?  I'm going to assume no and attention whore mine.

It's not nearly as awesome as last year's South Park characters (the greatest costumes of all time), but it's still pretty damn adorable.  What's the point of having twin boys if you they can't be Mario and Luigi?

They didn't actually eat much candy, but they certainly understood the concept.  

No worries though, The Husband has been eating enough candy for the entire family. He can not turn down candy on sale.

Shifting gears entirely, I thought about doing some smaller races this fall. Race #1 didn't work out.  I wanted to take the boys in the stroller to a 5k last weekend. It was 34 degrees that morning and the boys slept in for once.  Both great reasons to stay at home, if you ask me.

My next possibility is a 4 mile partial trail run this weekend.   The potential problem-- I got my wisdom teeth out yesterday.  The doctor said that barring any complications, I could resume normal activity in 4-5 days.  Sunday is 5 days, and I'll happily lay on the couch to "avoid complications" for all days leading up to race morning.

Actually, I just want an excuse to lay on the couch all day without feeling like I should be working, cleaning, cooking, etc.  I'm on PTO, the boys are at daycare, and I'm happily napping, watching tv, and trying to find the end of the internet.  All on doctors orders, of course.

I have a bunch of friends doing the race on Sunday, so I can go as slow as I need.  I just want to go for the fun and to experience my first trail(ish) race.  Apparently there's a section of dry creek with a rope to help you climb.  The most "off-road" I get is the shoulder of the road hopping over road kill raccoons. I really really really hope I feel up to it. 

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend!  Can't wait to read all about it.

Testing my body fat in a scary little tank

I’m fascinated by exercise science. It’s one of my dream jobs to work with athletes on testing the limits of what our bodies can do and how to improve it. I had a grad school friend in the sports physiology program who asked if I’d come do an underwater body fat % test three years ago. It was right before my first marathon, I was skinner than I’d ever been, and I’d get a bunch of interesting numbers about me. Of course!

I'm breaking this texty post up with pictures of my adorable kids.

In the three years since that marathon, I gained 4lbs to get back to my normal weight, gained 34lbs growing twins, and lost 40lbs to get where I am today. Not that I expect you to do the math, but that puts me less than my previous low. After a great summer of running/racing, I decided to do the body fat test again.

You see, I never trusted the numbers in 2008. They seemed far too low to me. I read runner/tri blogs, follow fashion week, and watch Survivor. I know shockingly skinny, and it’s not me.

After a few weeks delay for some renovations, I went in for my appointment. The process was pretty much the same as three years ago. Except this time, instead of some fumbling, nervous guy, I get this plucky, smiley grad assistant girl. She was lovely. I felt confident she’d get the real numbers. First was the three spot skin fold test:

2008 Tricep- 16.2
2011 Tricep- 13.2 (Hauling around two 23lb kids will give you monster arms!)

2008 suprailiac (hip): 5.0
2011 suprailiac (hip): 5.1

2008 thigh: 17.4
2011 thigh: 17.1

2008 % body fat: 15.5%
2011 % body fat: 14.4%

My hip and thigh are about the same, but my arms had the biggest loss. I suppose going from zero lifting to constant kid hauling will make an improvement. Interesting.

Then it was time for the underwater part. Basically, you get into this very small, very cold, very deep tank and sit on this PVC pipe chair. I found it terribly unnerving. Once you rub all the bubble off and get your hair soaked, you duck under water, blow out allllll your air, hold still, and try not to pass out. Then do it again since you screwed up some part of that. I was eventually able to put it together enough to get some good measurement and be done.

I dried off and changed while she printed out the calculation. Even though the skin fold % was lower, I fully expected the under water number to be higher since it’d be correct this time. It was barely .8% higher. Basically the same as 2008. I was shocked. Even with a different tester, different equipment, and three years worth of other users in between, I’m just skeptical that my number is still lower than the skin fold.

So skeptical, that I called the head of the department last time to chat about my results. The fumbling tester guy was ZERO help. After telling him my theory, he asked if I was getting my period. Well, um, no. (Not that I’m getting it now either, but that’s thanks to my wonderful long term birth control.) He said that body fat can look totally different on people depending on muscle mass and water. This post does a much better job of explaining appearance.

Assuming I wouldn’t get my period now either, I guess that’s part of the essential fat criteria? The thing is, I don’t feel frail or underweight in the least. Quite the contrary. I’m fitter, happier, and more energetic than I’ve ever been. Not that I have much choice with two nutty toddlers constantly running around and destroying everything in sight.

Overall, I’m glad I got tested again since I was really curious how I changed in three years. It was an interesting $40 and 45 minutes of my time. Most colleges with exercise science programs have testing labs available to the public. Mine even had all the prices online. A fun little guinea pig menu of tests they’ll do on you. The VO2max test is on deck for next spring, I think.

So in conclusion, what am I going to do with all this info? Well, not much. I run (although not nearly as much as some), I eat healthy (again, not nearly as healthy as some), and that’s comfortable and enjoyable for me regardless of any numbers. Although I may give it some thought as I plan my race goals down the road. Words like “half/full Ironman training” are no joke if you’re not taking care of yourself.

We’ll see what the future brings.  For now, I've got enough to keep me busy. :o)

Race (and other) pics

Race pics.  My favorite part!

It turns out, I was dressed perfect for the weather.  I was fearful the sleeves were going to be too much once the sun came out, but after I was terribly under-dressed in all my KC pictures, I wasn't going to risk it.  (The compression socks were for warmth.  I certainly don't think I need them for function during the race.)

This may be my new favorite race picture.

Bwahaha.  How dramatic is that?  You'd think it was the last few steps of a 16 hour Ironman.  Nope, just my exhausted ass trying to get a damn PR.   

Enough unflattering picture of me, how about my sporty children?  Can someone give these kids a shoe deal already?  They're Zoot-ed up and ready to go.

Come on, you know you'd buy whatever they were selling, right? 

Omaha HM race report

Pre-race Technically, the pre-race goes back almost two years to the disappointing yet PR Kansas City half in 2009.  I was in a great place physically, but life was a bit of mess otherwise and it showed in my performance.  In the two years since, I grew some people, became a mom, had some shitty races, had a great race, and was FINALLY ready to properly tackle that half again.

Packet pick-up was efficient, The Husband made a great dinner, and I went to bed early and easily.  My plan was to get out of the house by 5:45 since that's when my littlest gets up and I didn't want him to see me leave.  Turns out, I didn't need worry at all since he slept until 7:00.  Of course.

I made it downtown quickly and found another sweet parking space right by the start.  Last year I was leaping over fences as the start gun went off, so the relaxed start was a nice change.  The weather was perfect.  Calm, cool, sunny, perfect.  You couldn't have asked for better atmosphere or day to run.

The race
I spent most of Thursday and Friday spazzing about what pace I "should" be able to run.  The Running Buddy sent me a great message reminding me why I run and to trust my training.  I hung onto those words the whole race.

The 1:45 pace group was big, happy and felt comfortable, not that I planned to kill myself sticking with them.  The first half of the course was the same as the previous week's race.  Minimal rollers, boring scenery, miles pass quickly.  Things felt great.

The second half of the course is quite different and where it earns its "hilly" reputation.  Whoa.  I took a gel at mile 9 and put my head down to climb.  The 1:45 pace group had gotten away from me, but it was totally fine.  Sub 2:00 was honestly my goal.  The 1:52 group hadn't passed me yet, so I had a vague idea how it was going.

I let myself take a peek at Garmin for the first time at mile 11.  My time was looking fantastic, but most importantly, I wasn't miserable and hating my life.  A stark contrast to my spring races. Run, run, turn, kick, finish line!

Final stats:
1:48:12
8:16/mi
19/272 age group

That's a 5 minute PR and a 12 minute post-babies PR.  I was thrilled.  Finally, a race where it all came together.  Finally.

Post-race:
Once again, Marines in full dress handed out medals.  Nice.  Food and drink were plentiful and organized, and I made it home quickly to my favorite part:

So, that's it.  A wonderful end to my first season of post-babies running.  I received many well wishes and congrats via twitter, so thank you very much for that.  It meant a lot.

Not sure what the future holds at this point.  I may sneak in a few small races next month.  Or maybe not.  It's not a burning need to end on a better note like it's been in the past.  There's a few more races to online stalk this fall, and that's always some great motivation for next year.  We'll just have to see how life shakes out.  You never know what two two year olds will do to your world.

Omaha CC Race Report

When last we left, it was the night before Omaha's biggest and best 10k.  The race started at 9, so while I didn't get to sleep in (toddlers don't give a shit about "sleeping in opportunities"), we did get a relaxing morning together. 

As soon as I rolled into downtown, I found a sweet (free!) parking space and made my way to our meet up spot. Smiles, hugs, catching up, pace chat, etc before heading out to the start line.  The best thing about this race is the qualified corral start.  The elite race started at 7:45, but the rest of us could send in race times for "select seeded" or "seeded" corals.  It's fun to line up at the very front without all those pesky legit racers in the way.

Last year's time was 8:21 pace, so my goal was to stay ahead of that. 8:00 was my plan, but 7:45s felt even better.  The weather was foggy, humid, calm, and cool.  Pretty nice conditions.  The course is slightly hilly with plenty of people watching opportunities.

I was running what felt comfortable and couldn't believe how easy I hung onto a 7:45 pace.  Weeeee faaaaaaaaall!

Final stats
48:25
7:48/mi
85/1899 gender (got to love a race with a ton of walkers to make your finishing place look better)

I did more chatting with friends at the finish line and happily made my way to the car.  Now, remember that totally awesome free parking spot I mentioned?  I had absolutely no idea where it was.  Save for four years in college, I've lived in this city my entire life, and I STILL don't understand downtown.

I walked south...walked west...hmmm....turned back north...man I'm hungry...start running...did I go down this street already...walk again...do I remember seeing this bank...maybe I'm not west enough... goddamnit!

After searching for my stupid car for nearly as long as it took me to run the race, I made my way home to a house full of rowdy boys.  On the anniversary of my first post-baby race, I couldn't be happier with how the race went.  I was strong, fit, and loving it. 

And here's a nice bookend to my previous post.   Same couch, same kid, much less fuzzy.

And here's both our cuties still in their Sunday morning jammies. (Pay no attention to the hot mess of me.  Getting both kids to look at the camera is a like photographing a unicorn.)

Now, my focus is totally shifted to Sunday's half marathon.  Last year, I just wanted to finish and ended up surprising myself with my fastest post-baby race to date.   This year, I need to get below 2 hours again.  Need.  I haven't cared this much about a race in a very long time. Thankfully, last weekend's race has given me a great deal of confidence. 

Much like my 9 months on-9 months off post-pregnancy bod analysis, one year is long enough to play the "I just had twins/I don't have time to train" card.  I run as much as I want to these days. I have complete control over how I look and feel.  No more excuses.

Off to obsess about the weather and what the heck I'm wearing...

An unfuzzy memory

Last year at this moment, this was my life:

(Well, technically there were two of them, so just imagine another sleeping baby on me.)

I was happy, unkempt, and in a constant state of fuzzy.  Is it Tuesday?  Did I eat lunch?  Is it 3AM or 3PM right now?  I remember veeeeery little of those first few months.  Good thing I took pictures.

My first clear memory was the start line of the 2010 Corporate Cup race.  The boys were 10 weeks old, and we were in the throes of new parenthood.  I had been mommy-mommy-mommy every second of every day.  Every second, until I lined up at the start line of that race.  It was buzzing with all the best of pre-race excitement.  I was surrounded by friends and runners, and I was soaking it all in.  The gun shot, we all took off, and I had to choke back tears.  Finally, for 51 minutes, I was entirely me again.

Well, I'm lining up for that very same race tomorrow morning.  Things are so different now.  Life is clearer, but I still don't take that start line for granted.  Every time I get to race, I know I'm lucky.  Not everyone has the time, support, health, or circumstances that let me selfishly do what I love. 

With that said, I'm not too worried about my actual performance.  Of course I'd like to be faster than last year.  I'm 10-15lbs lighter, sleep more than a few hours at a time, and actually know my own name. My real goal is next weekend's half marathon.  I'm deadass serious about getting a post-baby PR and will taper as serious as necessary.  Tomorrow is for fun.  To be a part of that pre-race excitement with friends and to stand were I stood as a fuzzy new mom once again.  Omaha's Corporate Cup will always have a special place in my heart.

And what's a post without some adorable pictures of the boys?  They are doing fantastic.  They run everywhere, destroy everything, and repeat anything they hear.  Pretty much, your typical toddlers.  Times two. And I love it!

B to the F to the E Relay race report

It was technically "Beverage Fun Exercise" but they thought they were really clever calling it BFE.  Central Nebraska is indeed BFE.  This is my second relay race, so I'm glad I knew what to expect.

Before we departed, here's what I packed:

I post this because I seemed to be the only person in the entire race who changed their clothes.  Like, people wore the same cotton shirt all day.  I...just...no.  No.  While I love being sweaty, I can't stand staying sweaty.  ::shudder::

The husband loading everything while I got the babies ready to go to bed in the car.

Race morning came very early, dark, and foggy the next day.  I had the first leg, so I was hard core spazzing.  (Although not enough to keep me from posing for a million pictures with my pocket-sized friend M in the fog.) 

Leg 1: 4 miles, 7:35 pace

The leg was mostly through town, and I felt like I was flying.  There were only 24 teams, and you could barely see people through the fog.  Very eerie to know you were among people but couldn't see them.  I hoped I didn't get lost.

T1: 1:30

Yeah, I'm calling it T1.  Fog=100% humidity, and I couldn't dry off and get out of those sweaty clothes fast enough.  Plus, I'm a girl, and we all learned in middle school how to totally change in and out of clothes without showing anything.

We passed the time between legs by taking pictures of ourselves in the van

and taking photos in the random small towns along the way.

(She's doing yoga.  Not dead.)

My second leg was three miles on a straight, flat, dirt road.  I wasn't a fan of the sandy terrain, but the scenery was amazing. It was so rural Nebraska, I loved it. Heaven.

Sunny, green, and hot. I could have run all day.

Leg 2: 3 miles, 7:45 pace

T2: 2:00.  We had to take an (almost) group picture during lunch. The attire change happened immediately after it was taken, don't worry.

My final leg was pretty much more of the same: Farms. Dirt. Sun. Smiles.

Leg 3: 3.5 miles, 7:55 pace

It was getting pretty hot toward the end of the day.  Running past beans felt fine, but running with corn on both sides is tricky.  Unless the wind is exactly at your face or back, there's no cross-wind.  It's a very hot, humid, sunny sauna.  A corn sauna.

I got to that place in the last 5% of an 11 hour relay when you're just done.  Thankfully, I rallied to excitedly cross the finish line with our awesome Team Minivan team.   

All in all, I'm sooooo happy I did this.  My teammates were a hoot, the weather was perfect, and I felt great running much faster than my normal pace.

And while I was cruising around the country, The Husband and the boys played on the farm at my in-laws.

A perfect day.

Pre-race spazzing

(First, a huge thanks to everyone following me on twitter.  I was terribly self-conscious about posting to no one.  I feel much better now, and I'm loving this twitter business.)


Anyway, I'm racing in the aptly named "BFE Relay" race this weekend.  It's 60 miles around the dirt roads of central Nebraska.  Have you ever been to central Nebraska?  Not "flown over", not "driven through", but actually BEEN to central Nebraska?  We have a whole lotta this:

That will be my view for 10+ hours in a minivan.

HOWEVER, it's going to be a great time.  The girls on our team are a hoot, I've been running well, and any day that you get to spend doing what you love is pretty fantastic.

HOWEVER HOWEVER, since this is an extra long race, my pre-race spazzing has been in over-drive.

• I'm obsessed with the weather.  I have three weather apps on my phone and four websites bookmarked on my computer.  I cycle through them all several times a day.
• What the hell do I wear?  I'm running at least three legs in a corn sauna, so I'm tempted to just wear a sports bra to stay cool and save space.  Can't decide if that's obnoxious or not.
• What the hell do I eat/drink?  The info from the race director is as follows: There are a few gas stations along the route. In Roseland there is also Reggie's Bar.  Soooo, you're saying I should pack my own Larabars, right?
• The coordination of stuff/schedule for The Husband, two toddlers, grandparents, and great grandparents may be the death of me. Since my in-laws live 30 minutes from the race, The Husband and boys will be hanging out with his fam.  Nothing is ever simple.  There's a good chance we'll be switching car seats around at 5am before I leave.  Awesome.
• Will my blackberry battery survive?!  I'm not thinking it's going to last through 10 hours of twitter surfing.  Although, who am I kidding.  Like I'll get service out there anyway...

Despite my City Girl Snobbery and high maintenance race prep, this race has plenty of pluses.

1.Breaking in my pretty new shoes.  Ooooh, shoe porn:

2.Amping up my farmer's tan.  Nothing says "I'm a legit runner!" like the ever-present white summer shorts.

3. These two get to run around the farm chasing dogs, cats, and cows.  Pretty much a little kid's dream.

2.5 more days until race day...

Running, racing, and I joined twitter!

First: I JOINED TWITTER!  Which, as the only person on earth not have a Facebook page, this Twitter thing is kind of a big deal.  You should follow me. (Please)  I'll follow you too.  Just click on this little button here: 



I also promise that I'll tweet much more than I've been blogging lately.  Life's just been crazy busy but good.  I love summer so much.  It can't be hot enough or humid enough or sunny enough for me. 

I also have a couple races on tap that I'm excited/nervous about.  Up first is a 60 mile relay race around central Nebraska next weekend.  It doesn't appear to be nearly as well organized as Nebraska's other relay, M2M, but the girls going will make it a blast.  The pre-race spazzing has more than begun.

I also have the Omaha half marathon next month.  I have a sub-2:00 score to settle with that distance after three attempts.  Eleven weeks post twins last year was the closest I've come to 2:00 post-babies.  It's about time to get back to 1:5x:xx.

And in anticipation of all this racing, I've been running quite a bit.  (Did I mention I love summer?)  The boys and I go in the stroller 3-4 nights a week, and I've been doing 2-a-days on the weekends.  (One AM run with them and one PM run alone.)  Five runs in three days leaves me exhausted on Monday, but it's the best kind of exhausted.  The kind that leaves you with a wicked farmer's tan and a ravenous appetite when you go back to work.  Looooove.

Speaking of love, the boys are fantastic.  Everyone should have twins.  It's awesome.