Friday

The day started a little slow…slow enough that I missed going to my Friday morning yoga session…which I was sort of okay with. I was feeling slow and sluggish some of the week and I wasn’t in the right head space for relaxing in a yoga class…

I worked the day straight through…deadlines had to be met before I left town a little early…and then I had more to do before ACTUALLY leaving town. The fun part of the day is that we had the Halloween costume contest at work… Our little group decided to be cookies…and one of the guys dressed up as cookie monster 🙂

Well…I got off work late and then the scramble began! I went to the City Hall place to get my title registered and my tags renewed. I put in my phone number and it was going to be a 15 minute wait…so I ran (drove my car) to the bank to get daycare money. I was back at the City Hall within 10 minutes…and I just couldn’t sit still… So I went upstairs and made my contribution to the Presidential Election. Once I got downstairs, my number was called! Long story short, it took forever,…and then he started to give me a new tag and we had to start the whole process again – because I already have a tag from my previous vehicle. Bah… Soon, I was on the road to get little man from the sitter…and then a short stop at home to grab EVERYTHING needed for the weekend and hit the road!

Phew…

Once I got into Ottawa, I was able to check in, pick up my bib and shirt, and make myself a dinner plate (also a part of the registration). 

Due to running late, I didn’t have the time to drop off little man with the in-laws before the dinner…so they decided to come out to Ottawa and pick him up! This made the rest of my evening a little less restless…

After dinner, I traveled back to my aunts house for the evening. We hung out, chatted about running, chatted about life, and I settled in. The last thing I needed to do was set out all of my clothes and STUFF for Saturday morning! This is by FAR the best thing to do the night before a race…everything is ready to go, no game-day decisions, and no questioning whether or not I have everything I need! 🙂

Saturday

Alarm goes off…I think I snoozed the first one, but I was up on the second!

Since Michelle and I wouldn’t be able to get Starbucks until 6am (when the opened), it was okay that I snoozed my first alarm. The sleep the night before a race is never all that great for me…an extra 10 minutes wouldn’t help or hurt…

Once I was all set, I packed up my Nuun (chilled in the fridge), put my hydration stuff together, and hit the road. Once we got our coffee (and I got a couple bananas – since I forgot mine at the house), we were headed to the start area!

We showed up in enough time to cheer the 100-mile runners past the first out-and-back. Whoop!! The photographer was awesome and kept flashing the runners as they passed, ha!

In the next 30 minutes, the 50-miler runners were off as well – then we cheered them at the same location.

This area was where we had the pre-run meeting for the 50K runners. We had a briefing of the race and then the 50-milers started coming by (see image above).

Ready to run!

Oh boy…my nerves were all over the place! I loved seeing the start!

Throughout the distance, I kept telling myself to run my own race. I went into this race with the expectation to cross the finish line! I didn’t want to tear up my legs more than I could, but I was going to give it a good effort 🙂

The manned aide stations were amazing!! I certainly over-packed my drop bags…but I was way happier knowing I had everything I needed in case anything went wrong. 

I knew that the race was going to become difficult… I prepared myself as much as I could and around mile 13 I started my run:walk intervals and started using my Aftershokz Headphones. The BibRave Podcast was my podcast of choice…it really helped just think about anything but the pain that was starting in my legs.

One of the great surprises was seeing my dad at the 17-mile Richmond turnaround! With cold water and bananas in hand, it was great seeing a familiar face! I tossed him my drop bag (so I wouldn’t have to wait on it later), grabbed a banana, and headed back out on the trail – heading back to the start/finish!

 

 

My dad also met back up at the Princeton manned aide station 🙂 I handed off my hydration pack to get filled with ice water and grabbed banana #2 from my dad (…number 4 for the day so far!). 

I struggled big time the last 10 miles…as to be expected! I enjoyed seeing all the same milestones the second time because I knew it meant that I was getting closer to the finish.

Once I realized that I was only a handful of intervals away from the finish line, my energy got a nice bump!

The final straightaway is on the paved trail, which was a good change from the previous 26+ miles of crushed limestone (the first few miles were the same paved trails in town). 

50K #1 – complete!! Official time : 7 hours, 25 minutes

After the race, I waddled to the post race area, asked my dad to go grab my drop bags, and went to change my NASTY clothes…

I cleaned up a little with a couple Shower Pills,…and I was ready to eat!

The post race meal was the same choices as the dinner the night before – spaghetti, ground meat, tomato sauce, bread, salad, dressing, cake, and water/juice/coffee to drink.

I made a big plate of food…and I don’t think that I ate half of it. For a distance I am not familiar training for or running, I wasn’t sure how my stomach would handle anything at this point…

I put my feet up for a bit…and then decided to head back to my aunts for a cold bath and warm shower 🙂 I first waddled into Starbucks again and got a highly caffeinated beverage… (I knew I was going to be staying awake for a while tonight, so I was preparing early!). 

Once showered and clean, I chatted with Christy and her girls for a bit…packed up, and then headed out with banana #5 for the day!

Dad told me about a church picnic Saturday afternoon, so I wanted to make an appearance and see everyone! I ate some good food, got to talk to mom for a little while, and enjoyed sitting for a little while 🙂

I headed out once it was good and dark… It was only around 8pm, but it was pitch black outside! I kind of expected little man to be in bed (or close to bedtime) when I got back to the in-laws…but he was up and helping Papa eat his dinner. 

It was a little bit of a mess getting him to go to bed…but once he was down, he was out for the night!

The hubs showed up a little after 9pm. I believe he got off work and then hung around home until he decided to come out to KC for the rest of his birthday weekend! It was past 10pm when we finally headed out to meet up with everyone…yes, 10pm. 31 miles on my legs, no nap – only caffeine keeping me alive 🙂 

We had a blast hanging out with everyone at Jerry’s Bait Shop! The hubs and his best friend have the same birthday, so it was great! I miss being able to go out with the old crew…so it is always a good time when we are able to see them!

Somehow…we were out past last call… I am not sure what was keeping me vertical! My dogs were barking and legs were ready to get some much needed rest!

Tweet: Check out the #WeekendHappenings @livinglovingrunner and other great #linkups http://ctt.ec/bbO5H+ #fitfluential #sweatpink #ffcheckin

Sunday

While I hadn’t been asleep for long, the stomping around of little feet woke me up…

I eventually went upstairs to find Nana and little man cooking breakfast! Well, Nana cooking and little man eating… He ate piece after piece after piece of bacon… “Mm mm! I like bacon!” “I need more bacon!” 

Once Papa left for work in a hurry, I noticed he forgot his phone on the counter…so I went to go take it to him! It helped that there is a Starbucks right across the street from Bass Pro…so the trip had dual purpose! In hindsight, I should have waited a couple more minutes before heading out…because he also forgot his lunch… Oh well!
Once home, we all relaxed for a bit…I found an open wall to make my friend 🙂 Little man kept posting his legs up on the dresser…but it never lasted long.

The hubs and I had lunch plans with his best friend and gf and headed out for a while. We took the missing lunch by Bass Pro for his dad…and that monster staircase is not forgiving the morning after a 50K event (twice!!).

We met up with Brandon, Bree, and Mitch at Q39 – a barbecue place in KC. I didn’t know what to expect, but the atmosphere was great, the food was excellent, and the service was nice.

After eating, we decided to go to a brewery. Matt hadn’t been to Torn Label and it was close to where we were…winner!

We drove right past the brewery! There wasn’t much signage outside…but we eventually found our way. The outdoor patio would have been great on a nice day…but being a touch on the chilly side, we sat inside at the bar. 

Personally, I didn’t really care for the beer. Not every brewery is going to have a brew that suits my fancy…and this was surely the case. Once the guys were done with their slightly overpriced flights, we headed out!

Where did we go? Bass Pro for the 3rd and final time 🙂 

The hubs and I wandered around, found some socks for the hubs, played the shooting game, waddled down the stairs (looking for punishment since the elevators were RIGHT THERE), checked out the fish and ducks, and headed out.

A quick nap was needed and I was soon woken up to go out for dinner with the family!

We went to Longhorn Steakhouse! 

I am a super glutton for punishment…super full from dinner, cake still waited for us at home!

Tweet: Check out our Weekend Happenings with @dblred0728 and the other #linkups http://ctt.ec/70E71+ #fitfluential #sweatpink

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How was your weekend? Have any exciting adventures?

Check out some awesome #linkups this week!

There is the great Weekly Wrap #linkup with Holly and Tricia! Also, check out a couple other weekend updates with Meghan, the Tumbleweed Contessa, and Ilka and Angela’s Sunday Fitness & Food link up!

I’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment and start a conversation!