Buying my time....

I've been busy. And unmotivated. I think it's the cold but when I actually see how much that I do get done I don't feel too bad.

Running: pretty much cleared to take it easy and let it heal. My willingness to NOT run will speed my healing process. After Florida I don't feel like it worsened, but I'm going to take about 3 weeks off and continue the taping, icing, elevation, rest and essential oils for good measure. I like to think of it as my first "marathon".

In the meantime......

I started the house project. Since Matt moved out I decided to finally paint the office and master bedroom. He took most of the stuff out of the office and also our king size bed. He wasn't being a dick, I offered it to him. I wasn't really fond of it so he took the bed but I kept the bedding and I got the 1000.00 we had saved for the new dining table that I never found. I'm going to use my classic 50's style dining table that I found in my duplex when I bought it in 1998. Matt left his folding chairs for us to use. I'm the queen of design, I know.

With a tight budget and trying to work lots of overtime I've planned the re-do quite carefully. Even though we all know that painting a room is a lot more expensive and time consuming then HGTV tells us.

Last night I cleared everything up and covered the dressers. Thank goodness I have tons of old sheets and an old plastic tablecloth over the dressers for extra protection

I'm type A, even with prepping the room for paint. It's the most time consuming for sure.

After wiping the walls down THREE times I came to the realization that you should really paint a room every 5-7 years. When I moved in almost 10 years ago the house was painted all white and completely move in ready. That's why I loved it. Since then almost every room has been painted but the last two. I can actually see in some spots the dark turquoise that it was painted who knows how many years ago.

The room has a chair rail and I considered taking it off and painting it or putting on a new one. No. Not going to happen. It's pretty much glued to the wall with multiple coats of paint. Plus I don't have the money or talent to replace right now. I'd love to learn to put up crown molding but that is for another day.

I bragged to my friend Tera about how I don't have to tape, that I kick ass at cutting in paint edges. Even with my self announced talent, the tedium of painting such a small strip made my hand cramp up and go into seizures. So I humbly taped.

I'm painting the chair rail a shiny white.
Speaking of hand cramping. Not the best idea to do two nights of TRX before starting a paint job. I'm sore everywhere, but super happy to be doing something. Tonight I'm taking a core class. Why? Why? Oh I know, peer pressure. Haha. No, I am just a sucker for a great workout even if it means I'm grunting and moaning as I paint.

Thanks to Trader Joe's for their no nitrate bacon pieces I was able to make my delicious Italian Chili and for their cut up veggies for an easy salad. Big lunch for me and the kids. They both work evenings so we rarely eat together, so we had lunch and there are leftovers for after they come home from work.

I also ate fried eggs on the way to a meeting. Didn't want to miss breakfast, didn't want a smoothie, didn't have time to sit down. Problem solved!!

I might not be able to run like I want to, but I'm getting something done!

Blog on........

Vanapalooza. Tales of a dirty mind.

I've done 6 Ragnar Relays.  Florida Keys is by FAR the most outlandish!  Themes didn't seem to have any limits and unless a Van was corporate sponsored then there was at least one naughty "could be taken either way" statement.  Plenty that were outright naughty and just hilarious.

****If you are easily offended then pass on this post*******

This is just Utah.  Boom.  Done.  Simmer Down.  Yeah, Utah

Help with pregnancy....while flashing your rooster....

 I like the way this rolls off the tongue.   Cincinnati Skidmark.  Awesome.

Honey Badgers..always funny.

Not sure whats going on here - but she doesn't look happy.

Classic.

At least it's smiling.

Our team van.  Name was in honor of Paul and Angela's dog Corn dog.  Get your mind out of the gutter!!

My very favorite.  I have no idea why, it's just awful and very ballsy.  (giggle)

Check out Urban Dictionary if you don't know what it means.  So wrong.  So wrong.

I'm going to sum it up by showing you one of our last exchanges.  A perfectly good adult superstore with a large parking lot.

So, in a way, the race was just asking for it!

I'm just sad I didn't think of taking Van pics until toward the end.  

This post was only for your enjoyment and held no value and probably decreased your moral boundaries just a smidgen.

Blog on..................

Team: Everybody Loves a Weiner!!

Warning:  This post is a LOT of pictures (thank you to those that unknowingly shared), because we all know that pictures speak a thousand words.

Dinner the night before and meeting

 Me, Lisa (Van 2) and her Husband Dane.  

Mike and Dena (Van 1) and Josh (Van 2)

Of course I don't have everyone but there are plenty of pics to meet the rest of the hooligans.

Morning before take off.

Top of Van:
Lisa, Sheila, Heather and Kim

Ken, me, Trevan, Josh, Paul, Mike and Dena

Angela

After check in we went down to the ocean to get a peek.

 Ken and Heather

 Ken

Me photo bombing Heather's photo.

She wasn't really puking, just playing

VAN ONE.

Unfortunately I don't have lots of pictures from Van one.  I tried to take a bunch from Facebook (my bad) but lets face it, it's the Van your in that makes the race experience.  

 Paul:  Team Captain, helicopter pilot for the military working Medivac.

Boom.  That's all I can say.

 Mike.  He lives in Tennessee with is wife Dena (Don't have a running picture of her) and I believe Dena works with Paul on the helicopter.  Dena had just found out she was pregnant.  I felt her pain.  What a rock star for running anyway.

 Angela.  Paul's right hand gal and wife. She thought of everything and really did a great job organizing.  I appreciate all her hard work.

See the excitement??  She was runner 1 too!

 Ken.  Never saw him run but did catch him taking pictures!  I have known him for about 15 years and love doing races with him and his sister Heather.  

Heather coming in!

VAN 2

 Kim.  Friends with Angela and from Florida. 

 Lisa.  She just moved from Vegas back to Florida.  She brought her hubby along to follow us and take pictures.  He was a great addition to our group!

 Sheila.  From DC and has run multiple Ragnars.  She doesn't like to wear pink feathers.

 Josh.  He is also from Florida and quite the racing machine.  He and Trevan took good care of the girls with trading off driving.

Trevan.  I met Trevan when he went through the Critical Care internship at the UofU hospital and I was his Fellow.  He's moved on to management now which served him well and he corralled all of us from place to place and did a great job taking the lead in our van.  He did most of the driving and was key to our success. 

Our Van was a blast!  It's not easy throwing 6 strangers into a mini-van for 30 hours, but it worked out and I feel like I made 5 new friends.

 Josh, modeling the reflective gear that is mandatory.  A man that should run without a shirt.  wink wink

 Waiting for my last run and keeping the brightness on.  

 Middle of the night PIZZA!  It was delicious and I ate 3 pieces!  

Confession:  I wasn't as good with Paleo as I have been in races past.  I had 3 pieces of pizza, 3 donuts and a piece of Key Lime Pie.  I finished up with a Cuban Sandwich the next day.  

I regret nothing.

 Aren't we bright and happy!!

 Waiting to support Josh, the girls decide to show off!  

It was shortly after this that I saw Jennifer from Running Moves Me.  Again, rush over to her site and see our picture together.  I look like a wet rat, but I'm happy!

First time meeting another blogger and I'm still tickled about it!

TO THE VAN!!

 AFTER

Obviously we've relaxed and feel comfortable around each other.  

Sheila is wearing the princess crown.

For the Van Princess.  I know, your shocked it wasn't me.

Double medal BLING!!

Back to the hotels..JENGA!

Such a great time.  I'm sad that I felt so sluggish and hot, but loved the experience.  Three days after I got back to Utah I finally started feeling better and my legs gave up all the water they were holding onto.  My magical friend Herpy that I brought home on my bottom lip is even starting to heal.  Next time, sunscreen on my lips no matter how sweaty I get!

Have you done a relay?  Would you fly across the country too?

Blog on........................

Ragnar Recap

It's so hard to put all the shenanigans and fun times in one post!  This post will be about the run itself and how I did.  My total mileage was only 14.2, which I was very grateful for.  I was quite nervous going in and afraid that my foot would either get worse or just be so bad I couldn't finish my legs.  I was lucky and my foot did great. I had pain, but not like the shooting nerve pain I had in Las Vegas Ragnar.  It was more of a dull ache after.  Once I iced my foot after each leg my foot was fine.

Starting line with my team, "Everybody loves a wiener".

I knew two people that were in the first van, Ken and Heather and happened to know one guy, Trevan from Van 2 (the van I was in) from the Hospital.  

It was a great team!

I was runner 9 in Van 2.

Leg One.

3.4 miles at a 10:40 pace. 

I started late afternoon so I had to wear all my reflective gear.  The heat and humidity was really getting to me and I just took it slow and watched my heart rate.  I was also careful to take salt tabs with all the sweating.  

Thanks to Lisa's husband Dane, for taking some sweet pics along the way! 

And after: Ice Ice Baby!

It was 12 hours later before I ran again.  Van 1 had some long runs for the second leg.  I had to wear my reflective gear again and was really glad I had invested in the reflective vest/belt.  I could hardly tell it was there.  

Waiting for Sheila at the exchange.  It's dark now, but right after I took off the sun started rising.

Leg Two:

7.99 miles (suppose to be 8.1) at an 11:07 pace.  My run started at sunrise and I ran over a bridge as the sun came up.  I wish I could say that I enjoyed every minute, but I didn't.  Maybe it was because I just came from 20 degree weather and snow, but I never did overcome the heat. 

Ragnar was sending out high heat warnings so I know it wasn't just me.  I was hoping for a little sea breeze but no.  The only wind was when the semi's roared by and I was grateful for that.  I drank all my water and refilled at the water station and was almost out when I finished.  The run itself felt good, but I was disappointed that I couldn't run faster.  I was at sea level and the humidity and heat totally negated that.  I was wiping my face off constantly on my shirt.  At least I was bright and colorful!

This picture was taken at the end.  See the wonderful porta-loo's!  It's definitely a love/hate relationship with them.  It may seem that wearing so much may make me hotter, but the capri's are Lululemon and I felt cooler with them on.   I don't know how they do it except magic.  

Caption:  I haven't been this wet since High School.

teehee

(posted on Facebook via Instagram)

Ice part Deux.

I tried a two pack ice deal and it went terribly wrong.  It still worked though.

Leg 3  

2.77 miles at 10:50 min/miles.   Well, sorta.  There was a virtual exchange which meant that as soon as I arrived to cross the street my runner took off before I did.  I had no idea and was kinda bummed I didn't get to hand off my pink feathers.  I stood with my Garmin on for about 5 minutes.  

Check out that glow!!  At this point I didn't care about my outfits.  Which means I must have been pretty miserable.  I didn't dare even take off my running bra because I knew it wouldn't dry and I'd probably never get it back on.  Everything was wet - I was resigning myself to it.

Virtual Exchange.  Busy street so the next team runner would take off when our number was called and there was no hurry to cross the road.  They had police officers taking us across.  

We finished up a few hours later.

 After pictures and getting to our hotels I went to the room, ordered in food, ate in bed and iced my foot.  It was a little sore but felt better in the morning.

Key Lime Pie was essential in my recovery!

A few things about the team.  It was awesome.  This was the first time I really didn't know anyone in my van.  I signed up on this team because Ken and Heather did and I wanted to try Florida.  The captains did a great job organizing and everyone was friendly.  Our van actually spent a lot of time laughing and helping each other out.  

The Race was pretty good too.  The start line and finish line were organized and roomy and the volunteers were really amazing!  I've never had SO many volunteers that were absolutely dedicated to their job.  We never missed a number call out!  If you've ran a Ragnar or Relay and you are waiting for your runner, they call out the number of the incoming runners 30 seconds to a minute before they get there.  Most Ragnars the volunteers (and I'm grateful for them all) sometimes don't get the numbers yelled out either on time or loud enough and chaos ensues!  Plus the volunteers I interacted with were pretty happy to be there too.  The police force of the Keys did an awesome job too.  I'm sure they get sick of yelling at people to get out of the road. 

I'll have a few more posts covering the team and fun stuff along with Vans and "overheards".  

Thanks to Angela and Paul!!  Great captains!

Big question for me - When you go to a race with a huge temperature difference what do you do to recover??

I hydrated, rested, hydrated, carb loaded with sweet plantains and everything!!

Blog on.................