Seattle Electric Run

I feel so behind!! Last Friday I had the Electric Run and this Friday I have HTC and I haven't had a chance to blog about any of it! This is my Electric Run Re-Cap, I will try to blather about my anticipation of HTC tomorrow.

I'm on the left, Krissy on the right

I registered for the Electric Run months ago with the idea that it could be a "birthday party" for me because I knew it would be a fun 5K that pretty much anyone could do with minimal to no training. However, only one friend and my husband signed up to come. Yes, all my other friends SUCK. Ok, not really, some of them had other plans, some are probably intimated by running with a marathoner (haha ego inflated much?!), and some thought the $45 price tag was a little too spendy. I think because I planned it so far in advance it gave people time to consider it, think they had time to make a decision, and then forget about it. I learned it's always best to pressure people last minute so they have no time to make other plans or change their mind :)

I shopped for my "costume" last minute. Soooo last minute in fact that I was about 20 minutes late picking Krissy up. We had a little over an hour commute but were worried about traffic and finding parking so there really is nothing like adding a little last minute anxiety. Thankfully none of it proved to be an issue. We got to packet pick up with 15 minutes to spare. It was odd because you literally walked up to a table, they asked you your tshirt size and violia you get a bag with a bib, ridiculously small tshirt and some glowsticks. No id checks, no official wave time...anyone could have just walked in really. We hit the port-a-potties, downed a free rockstar and got in line for the start. This was probably the slowest start I've ever been in BUT it was party so who really cared? I actually think the start line was the best part of the whole deal. All the excitement of what was to come paired with lots of glowsticks, neon and EDM = a really fun 45+ minute wait.

It was odd to hear essentially my marathon playlist shared for the whole world to hear. 95% of my running playlist is EDM. I love country music, I love rock, I like pop, but EDM just makes this girl go CRAZY! It's what makes me legs move :) My first EDM experience was a Daft Punk show in 2007 I believe, it was FANTASTIC. Fantastic actually sounds like a pretty lame word to try and describe it but no words could adequately describe it. I also took James to his first show, Benny Benassi's Winter White Party- A-MAZING! Most recently (ok last summer) we saw Kaskade for my birthday, again, the experience goes beyond words. Hours of dancing, getting sweaty, fist bumping, laughing and just living in the moment. Alright, well how did I get off on this little tangent? Back to running....

We watched the night turn from dusk to full out darkness before we got to the front of the pack. We finally took off and I quickly realized several things:

A. I couldn't see shit
B. My cool glasses weren't going to stay on once I started to get sweaty
C. I forgot to bobby pin my wig on!

 

I'm not going to detail every exhibit (umbrellas, snow machine, black lights), but I will tell you that the ground reached up and tried to trip me once- I survived. And, it was a very slow moving race- I think there maybe more walkers than runners. It was fun to just enjoy the experience though. We stopped and took pictures often. Krissy and I didn't even bring our Garmins!

 

 

Overall a very fun race. I'll look forward to it next year, and maybe a few more friends will come along for the ride ;)

Jamie Eason is my girl crush!

Ok so here is the thing DO NOT google images of Jamie Eason because some of them are practically playboy shots, and others aren't that flattering. BUT I have been learning about her live fit program and watching her recipe videos and let me tell you this girl is soooo cute. She also seems so friendly that I wish she lived down the street and was my best buddy. I can just see us going to the gym, her spotting me on a weight bench, and then we go get spinach protein shakes and lay in the sun. I promise I'm not stalker status though, just really inspired by her right now. She is ripped, but not disgustingly so.

 

Unlike this chick. I can respect her dedication but don't find veins popping out attractive in the least.

 

 

Anyway the reason I decided to post about my obsession with Jamie Eason is because I've tried two of her protein bar recipes lately and loved them both. Tonight I even got my husband to eat the carrot cake one (he hates veggies!). It was seriously a big win! Both the recipes were about 100 calories per serving, low in sugar, high in protein and full of fiber. I didn't have oat flour so I ground up some oatmeal like she suggests in her video and it turned out great. I'll probably continue to do that vs. buying oat flour because it was easy and probably costs less to just buy a huge jar of quick cooking oats. Plus it's a staple food in our house so I always have oatmeal on hand! I also loved that she uses baby food in her recipes = no grating up carrots, score! After I let the bars cool off I topped with lite whipped topping and unsweetened coconut the just ate it like a dessert. Jamie does suggest cutting these in 16 pieces and I messed up and did 9 :/ However 1 serving = 2 bars so it "pretty much" equals out to just eating one bigger bar. Bodybuilding.com check out Jamie Eason's live fit people!

 

 

Another year closer to the big 3-0

Yesterday was my birthday, 27th to be exact. It's funny because I know I'm still young but it is trippy to be getting closer to 30. I'm not scared of that number, truth be told I kind of already feel like I'm there, but still it's weird to think about- time sure flies. I wanted to get out of the house and do some fun things the whole family would enjoy. I decided on the zoo:

On the way home I spotted the Seattle Great Wheel and have wanted to do that for the past year so we made a quick pit stop and climbed aboard for beautiful views of the city.

 

We had brought food to picnic at the zoo with but since all the parking lots were full and we have to find parking on city side streets our plan changed and we didn't really eat anything other than almonds so by 5pm we were starving. Spaghetti Factory fell onto our list of activities :)

I had a fantastic day! Oh and I forgot to mention but I did start it off with a short (2 mile) run. I haven't done much running lately. Hood to Coast is less than 2 weeks away and while I know I will be fine I still have butterflies. I need to log a few more miles this week to feel better about myself, lol.

More to come when there is more time to write. Ciao!

And in other news...

So much has happened the past few weeks, other than Ragnar, I need to catch up. If you're interested please keep reading :)

I have a nephew! Baby Cash was born 7/17/13 around 12:15 pm, 8 lbs 3 oz (small for our family). He's is sooo cute and seems like a really good baby. I left for Ragnar the next day so he arrived just in time. We held a welcoming party for him Sunday and I was extremely happy with how the cake turned out.

 

  

My sister and Cash

 

 

I have to give special shout out to my good friend Rosanna (yes, the Ragnar Rosanna) for helping me make invitations and decoration for the welcoming party. She is an amazing Stampin Up distributor so if anyone has any SU needs I would recommend you search her out! She is fabulously crafty. I do plan on eventually hosting a scrapbooking party for my running friends. I thought it'd be neat to bring some race pics, bibs, stories etc and capture them all in a really cute way. Right now I have a race binder where I store all the course maps, bibs, finishers certificates etc but I'd like to have them in a book to display someday. Visit Rosanna's page here!

 

How stinkin' cute are these invitations?!!

I realized I completely forgot to blog about Macayla's latest race. I signed her up for the See Jane Kids run months ago thinking it was a Saturday race and it turned out to be Sunday the 14th of July. Well my husband works Sundays so we decided to still take her but we would have to rush back home right after the race vs. hanging out in Seattle like I originally wanted to do. The race was at Gas Works Park in Seattle- BEAUTIFUL park. I had never been there before while parking was a b*tch, the park itself was very spacious even with a half marathon going on. I had decided not to do the HM so that Macayla could have all the focus on her. I wanted it to be her special day :) So we caught and early ferry and got to the park by 8:30 am, two hours before the start of the kids race.

 

 

We picked a spot on the grass and hung out watching half marathoners finish while we waited for the kids dash check in to open. When check in finally opened it was a little crazy- they gave us Macayla's bib but didn't have any pins (I later raided another tent for them), and they didn't have any sz small shirts so she got a medium which might fit in 3 years? We took some pictures at the start line for the kids race and found out that the race was only 1/2 a mile, not the full mile advertised. Bummer, but I didn't feel like it was that big of deal I guess.

Before the race we had decided that James would be running with Macayla since I ran with her at the Armed Forces Day 1 miler in May. I have to admit I was a little jealous but it was fair. All the kids lined up, there were maybe 50 and then their parents and before we knew it they were off!

 

 

Macayla did great. She was all smiles the whole run and extremely excited to get a medal! Despite the craziness of the check in the race was very worth it- for $15 she got to run her own kids dash, received a bib, tshirt AND medal. The course was at a beautiful location and next year I will for sure plan to make a whole Seattle fun day out of the deal.

 

 

 

 

Ragnar Relay NWP '13. Recap #3

Whew, finally a few minutes to sit down. The girls are coloring, dinner is in the oven cooking, James is getting ready for work so I'm jotting down my final thoughts on Ragnar I while I have a rare minute.

 

The memory of the excitement and fun I had at Ragnar will never fade but details already are. Ooops. I have a clear memory of hanging out at the final major exchange waiting for Van 1 runner Krissy to pass off to Tim. We had a good couple of hours to kill so most of us showered. Thank you Coupeville HS!! Everyone was really courteous took quick (hot) showers and kept moving along so the lines were pretty short and quick moving. After we got changed into our running outfits for our final legs Rosanna went off to find a spot to nap, Mike and Tim rested in the cab, and James and I crawled in the back of the truck and got comfortable amongst the piles of sleeping bags and blankets. I have no idea what Tyler did to be honest. I didn't really get to sleep but it was nice to just lay down and shut my eyes for awhile. After awhile I climbed out and made a turkey sandwich and attempted to organize the bed of the truck- a futile effort. I think I took about 5 bathroom trips since there were real bathrooms to utilitze. I also hit up the Brooks tent and got myself a free pair of sunglasses. I have to say they have been a life saver these past few days while I've been super sick. The lenses are super dark. Van 1 messaged us that Krissy wasn't too far out so we gathered for the final transition. It was bittersweet.

 

Tim's last leg was BEAUTIFUL. He got to run along the water for a big chunk of his route if not all of it. Don't get me wrong though, better him than I, it was 8+ miles and I planned for the distance of my legs to DECLINE. LOL.

 

I don't remember much of what Tyler's final leg looked like, but I do remember that he had a few more hills....poor Ty.

 

Mike's final leg was a ton of fun because his family was staying on Whidbey Island that weekend so they came out to cheer. He had about 15 cheerleaders and was all smiles. Oh, yeah in true Mike fashion..."Penis."

 

 

James took off with a huge smile on his face too. His final leg was the longest of his three - not the way I would choose to do it but he didn't let it stop him. Such a proud wifey :) We did see snow white at his exchange- she offered us an apple but I mentioned to my van-mates it might be poisoned.

 

 

My turn! Of my three legs this last one (leg 35) was my least favorite. It was only 3.8 miles so I was looking forward to a shorter distance and thinking that I was going to be able to fly through it. Didn't exactly happen the way I imagined it. So from the beginning; James finished his leg on wheels. He heard a runner coming up behind him and was NOT going to be road kill in the last 50 feet so he powered it out and finished first. It was an awesome finish everyone was cheering. Rosanna got an awesome pic of them afterward.

 

Since James had such an amazing finish and beat the Where's Waldo runner I wanted a strong start. I took off at a comfortable but not easy pace because I knew there was a pretty big hill coming up- we had to drive down it in order to get to the exchange. I felt the Where's Waldo runner on my heels to start but then as we started up the hill she slowly fell behind and I got a road kill as I passed another runner. I'd say the first 3/4 miles were uphill and then it kind of leveled off for a 1/4 of a mile before turning into rolling hills? This is all an estimate since I didn't have my Garmin. I have no idea what my pace was up the hill but I tried to push it without over-exerting myself. I guess stripes had held back a little more than I did because she overtook me at that point and charged ahead. The sun was beating down on me and as far as I could see we were just running on a highway with no shade in sight. I dumped so much water on my head- I was glad I had the handheld. I got a second road kill but stripes was still ahead of me and she stayed that way until the end. I started getting really tired and walking on and off. I was mad at myself and kept thinking that I was going to end up with a 11-12 minute pace :/ After a long straight stretch I saw a volunteer and she told me I was only 1/4 mile away. Whhhhaaat? I hadn't seen a mile to go marker!! I was psyching myself out because I thought I still had over a mile to go but yet I was almost done. I picked up the pace a little and saw Rosanna waiting for the final handoff. I know I came in smiling but I think I screamed, "Take it!" as I handed her the slap bracelet.

 

 

 

The girls' bringing it home! Turns out my pace was still under a 10 average. How that happened I'm not sure, it didn't feel that way but I'll take another 9:50! I worked for that pace baby! Rosanna had a pretty hard final leg. She had a long brutal hill but was still smiling...or at least had enough energy left to fake it for the camera :)

 

The remaining 5 of us drove ahead to the finish line, parked and met Van 1 where the runners come in so we could all finish together. It wasn't too long before Rosanna came barreling in and we fell behind her to finish. She apparently was all amped up because she came in at like a bullet and we had to yell at her to slow down so we could cross as a team. Crazy lady!

 

 

 

 

 

There it is. Team NOM NOM NOM. Official finish 33:50:16.

 

Can't wait to do it again next year! :)