The Runner Who Doesn't Run

So truth be told I actually created this post back in June! Three months later and I am still a runner who doesn't run. But that is all about to change, I feel the fire and excitement coming back. In case you don't know, I ran my first full marathon in May. Then I got completely burned out and tired with training and running. I became a machine who ran because a piece of paper told me to do it, not because I actually wanted to. I guess part of me liked being out there or I would have given up before I even crossed the start line, but you get the point. Summer vacation and the heat started to kick in and then the stress and busyness of wedding planning kicked into high gear and I just had a million reasons to not run. Plus I just didn't really want to. I ran the Boilermaker with my Dad in July and ran every now and then on the treadmill at the gym, but nothing more then a 5k and that was it. I did spend the summer in the AC of the gym and got really into strength training and taking multiple spin classes each week.

I didn't win the challenge but those darn stickers did
keep me pretty motivated!

I also maybe got into the Fro-Yo craze that seems to have taken over the Rochester area recently. I guess it is better for you than Coldstone though. Hopefully.

Strawberries, graham crackers and
cheesecake & strawberry fro-yo.

Now that the wedding is done, the school year has begun, routines have reappeared and the weather has cooled drastically I am ready to get out the running gear. My first step? I signed up for a 5k in 6 days!! Yea, maybe this was a bit drastic, but drastic times call for drastic measures. Plus the race is for an amazing cause. I love the fall/winter race calendar and am looking forward to some more 3-peat races in the upcoming months. I am also missing my running girls terribly and am hoping we can reconnect soon.

So for now I'll leave you will some gratuitous wedding photos, but come back soon for more running chit chat!!

Have you ever fallen off the running wagon?

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Keep coming back for more!

Ironman Lake Placid Volunteer Recap- Part Two

After Andy Potts came out to start his second loop we knew it was time to head back to transition to begin the real work of our shift. When we got back Randy gave us instructions for what to do and what to tell the athletes. At this point it started raining off and on, not too heavily but enough to make the transition area slippery. We all positioned ourselves around the gear bag area and waited patiently to hear the crowd start cheering for the leader out of the water. Before we knew it Andy Potts came barreling around the corner, knocking down some of the fencing, and was smiley, gracious and even apologized for the mishap as he zoomed by. One of the perks of being a pro is that you get a little more TLC, so as pro's came around the corner we would shout out their numbers and volunteers would pull their bags for them. Everyone else that came out of the water (in a hazy stupor) had to figure it out for themselves.

All of a sudden there was a constant stream of athletes coming through the transition chute. Due to the rain and the fact that they were all wet, the grass and concrete became very slippery. More volunteers positioned themselves to act as catchers as people went down, others yelled out to athletes to slow down and watch their footing. The gear bags were in a new area this year, and even though I can't compare it to what it was, it seemed slightly dangerous. Athletes had to navigate their way around, grass, old wooden boards, concrete and because transition is in the former olympic speed skating oval, they had to worry about stepping over the lip of the track. You can see some of what I mean in the photo below.

Lots of neon tape to make the athletes more aware. 

As more and more athletes came in they became foggier and foggier. At one point an older gentleman walked by me and something didn't seem quite right. I had been yelling to the athletes to grab their blue (bike) bags and head to the changing tents. But when he walked by I saw a red bag. I quickly yelled at him that he had the wrong bag and when he turned around he had dark swim goggles still covering his eyes. No wonder he couldn't tell the color of the bag!! He still wasn't quite comprehending me so I kept yelling you need your blue bag, you have the wrong bag. He finally got the idea and headed back to his spot, but still was wearing the swim goggles. The rows of bags were kind of confusing and to athletes who had just swam over 2 miles and were disoriented it was even harder to figure out. Some athletes would just stand at the end of the row, staring at the sign, hoping it would shout out to them which direction they had to go. For a lot of athletes we could see their body markings, or they would  tell us their numbers and we could help to guide them.

You can sort of make out the small sign
on the end of the gear bag rack. 

After a while there were just a handful of blue bags left hanging and fewer athletes were coming in. We had about twenty minutes left in our shift and lots of new volunteers were coming into the gear bag area. Now our job was to take the 2000+ blue gear bags, all thrown into a HUGE pile, and hang them back on their rightful hook. Randy reminded us that it was super important to get the numbers right so they weren't searching for bags for the athletes after midnight. I must have checked those number labels a million times. The bags were heavy, they had all of the athletes wet swim gear in them and wet because of the rain and puddles they were resting in. A little after 9am Rob, Molly and I made our way over to the merchandise tent and looked around and then headed to get some breakfast. We have a favorite sandwich/creperie deli to go to and as we approached the line was out the door. But it was well worth the wait. I got the Gulf Brook, an amazing breakfast burrito and we all sat on a bench and wolfed down the goodness.

Taken from the link above.

While we were enjoying our breakfast Rob happened to spot a childhood friend who was in town to watch the race. He himself is an accomplished triathlete who has gone to Kona to race in the Ironman World Championships. Rob has talked about Travis for a while and so it was neat to finally meet him. We then headed to my really favorite spot in Lake Placid...

Taken from the link below.

Last year they had dill pickle popcorn for the first time and I loved it so much I was really hoping they would have it again. Apparently it has become so popular they have made it one of their daily flavors, woohoo!! When I told Molly about the dp popcorn I think I got a disgusted look or at least a shocked one, but when she tasted it she was instantly converted and got some for herself. The owner also recommended mixing the dill pickle with the cheddar and I told her we would be back often and would try that combo too. With popcorn in hand we headed to the bike turn on Main Street to watch the cyclists finish their first loop and head back out on to their second loop.

We noticed a lot of the athletes were eating at this point and we saw everything from bagels, to sandwiches to uncrustables. The athletes were in good spirits and a lot of them encouraged the spectators to cheer louder by yelling or making arm movements. At one point there were three cyclist whizzing by and one female athlete was screaming and not in a good way, it turns out a toddler had somehow gotten under the barrier and was making her way towards the cyclists who were heading downhill (see in the photo above). It could have been a scary situation but luckily a volunteer had heard the scream and ran over to scoop the little girl up and return her to her mom.

Okay small rant break: I know I am not a parent, but exactly how does that happen?!?!?! Plus what made it worse was that the mom didn't even seem thankful or appreciative. She just wrestled the (seemingly) wild and hysterical little girl back into her stroller. Molly said she was practically sitting on her to buckle her in. REALLY?!?! I would have told them to leave. I also saw them a later in the day and the little girl was still being unruly.

After watching for a while and moving to a new spot I was getting tired of standing, here I am complaining about standing, so we decided Rob would swim and Molly and I would find a place to hang and relax for a little while. Molly wound up going to hang with the Towpath crew at their tent and I made my way to the top of the hill by the beach and parked myself there for a new vantage point. It was here that the cyclists were getting their bike special gear bag. Ahhh that explains why they were all eating just a short bit down the road at our previous spectating spot. As cyclists would approach, their numbers were called through a megaphone and volunteers grabbed their bags and assisted the athletes with what ever they needed. Then they would push them off on their way again. I sat there on the curb and loved cheering and calling out numbers as they rode by. Since this was a much less crowded spectating spot, I actually got some smiles, thanks and thumbs up. I also chatted up a woman next to me who turned out to be from Rochester too.

Once Rob finished swimming we decided we would take the shuttle back to his car to unloaded his wetsuit and some stuff from our bags we weren't using. I think we both just wanted a break from the hustle and bustle too. We didn't have to wait long and we enjoyed being chauffeured around town. Once we swapped stuff at the car we got back on the bus and headed into town again.

The wheels on the bus...

When we met up with Molly she was standing at the run entrance/exit of transition cheering on runners some of whom were starting their first loop and the pro's who were finishing their race! By this time we were getting hungry again and jumped into a near by pizza shop for halfway decent pizza. After some more spectating and a quick trip into a bar for some free popcorn and adult beverages we decided we would take the shuttle to the car, take the car to get gas and head back to the campground for some relaxation before we came back to cheer the last hour. In hindsight this was probably a bad idea. For a short portion of our drive we were following alongside the run course and so we cheered, and Molly rang her cowbell out the window. We saw lots of tired, weary athletes but they were all still moving.

Once we got back to the campground Molly and I decided to close our eyes, we were exhausted and the day already felt like the longest day ever. At around 9:15 I was awoken by Rob who was also getting ready to take a nap, he had turned off the tv and the lights and was going to bed. Apparently we weren't going to make it back to Placid for the last exciting hour. Molly was passed out and even though I thought I had just fallen asleep I guess I had been out for a while. We all were in agreement that we would go to bed and we didn't wake up until the garbage truck woke us a little after 7am Monday morning.

Overall volunteering at IMLP was an amazing experience and we were already talking about next year and what we would do differently. First: not volunteer at the butt-crack of dawn. We weren't sure how easy or hard it would be to get around town from Wilmington but apparently it is pretty manageable. Second: I think it would be fun to volunteer out on the course. Third: get back to town for the last hour of competition. You can't help but be inspired by the people and their stories and what keeps them moving, for some, up to 17 hours!!!! Soon I'll have a post about the volunteer dinner we attended the day after the race and the rest of our time in Lake Placid.

Have you ever volunteered at a race?

What was your favorite part?

Ironman Lake Placid Volunteer Recap- Part One

Mirror Lake- Swim Course

I have known about Ironman Lake Placid (IMLP) for quite some time now because we have been vacationing there most summers and you tend to see the flags, banners and hear chatter around town. This was the races fifteenth edition. About five years ago, a close family friend Scott (the one responsible for bringing Rob into the cycling cult) attempted IMLP and because of health reasons related to his diabetes, had to pull out during the run. Scott and his family have volunteered at the race numerous times and so last summer while camping at the KOA we decided to reserve camping sites for 2013, volunteer and at the time, Rob planned on signing up for the 2014 race. My friend and training partner Molly and some of her friends decided they would sign up also and Molly reserved us a volunteering shift in transition, doing gear bags from 5-9am. We had also planned to stay until the last hour to watch the final athletes come in before midnight, we knew it would be a really long day.

Beach/Boat House on Mirror Lake

Since we were going to be away from the campground for the entire day, we all packed bags and brought what we thought we would need to survive the day. I brought a magazine, which I wound up never using and Rob brought his wetsuit so he could swim the course after our shift had finished. Our priorities are slightly different! We figured out logistically where we had to be and when and set our alarm for 3:00am. Don't worry, we planned on hitting snooze at least once. When the alarm went off Rob and I were surprisingly awake, I think it was the excitement of the day, and we weren't even racing!! Rob went out to make some coffee with the Keurig and it was quickly realized that Dad only had stock piles of decaf coffee. What the heck was that going to do for us?!?! Not too shortly after, Molly awoke from her slumber and joined us as we stumbled around the RV trying to get ready when it was so dark out still. The volunteer shuttles began at 4am and since we had a little bit of a drive to the lot and because we weren't quite sure how long the wait was going to be and because I am a worry wort, we left the RV at 3:45am. The funny thing was that as we were leaving the campground so were about five other cars, not something we expected to see even though we knew a lot of volunteers and participants were staying at the KOA. We made our way down the dark and twisty route 86 and turned on to River Road. Because both of these roads would hold a couple thousand athletes later in the day we loved seeing the signs, banners and spray painted messages along the road. If we weren't already excited it was really hitting us now. Somewhere on River Road the low gas signal came on in Rob's car and so of course I began to panic. The panic only lasted, well most of the day, as I knew getting around town would be challenging and didn't know what would be open when we left at 1:00am. I knew where we had to go, but it was so dark and there seemed to be no other civilization awake that I started to get nervous, until we came upon a field that had a couple people and a school bus. We were the first volunteer cars to actually pull into the field and I thought maybe my need to be early might not have been warranted.

Rob and Molly on the Shuttle sometime
around 4:15am.

We stopped at the other lots and picked up a couple volunteers, okay I wasn't the only crazy early one, and we eventually arrived at our destination at the shuttle lot near the ice arena. Even though it was so dark still, the place was bustling with activity and we made our way around transition to find where we needed to report for volunteering.

Transition and finishing chute. 

Along the way we passed the body marking area where lots of athletes were stripping down to their skivvies to be written on. In addition to numbers and ages we saw lots of smiley faces being written in thick, black marker.

Lots of excited volunteers and anxious athletes.

The emails we received from the transition coordinator, Randy, leading up to the big day were funny and we were looking forward to meeting him in person to put a face with the emails. Since he did not hold a meeting the day before, we were told to tell security that we were working with Randy and that he would give us our wristbands and t-shirts when we started our volunteer shift. Well when we approached the, not too friendly security, they gave us a hard time about not having wristbands and didn't seem too happy with "who ever this Randy guy was". They made us walk all the way around transition to a back entrance to talk to whoever was there. I think they just wanted us out of their hair.

Athletes doing last minute bike prep.

The three of us walked around back and approached a couple people setting up the bike entrance/exit. They were much nicer and pointed us to someone who pointed us to the right place. However, when we arrived there was no Randy, or other volunteers for that matter. Chalk it up to being there a just a tad early. A couple other guys (one who we later found out was the race director) gave us some (unclear) info about what to do and told us that is how they thought Randy did it, but saved by the bell, Randy arrived before they walked away and quickly informed us that is NOT how he does things. He was very laid back, but still organized and put me in charge of handing out shirts as the other transition volunteers arrived. The first hour from 5-6am was all about answering athlete questions and pointing them in the correct direction. The most common questions were: what do we do with our (green) morning clothes bag, where do our special needs bags go, what time is transition open until, where is the exit for transition, where is body marking? Some of these questions I thought were funny, because if they found their way into transition, couldn't they find their way out? Plus most of the athletes had to walk right by body marking to get into transition. But based on the many, many, deer in the headlights looks we got, I knew they had a lot going on in their minds. I even had an athlete frantically come up to me asking if I had a cell phone. Apparently he had forgotten all of his water bottles and needed to call for back up. He was so appreciative and I was happy to help put out one small fire. At 6am we corralled all of the athletes out of transition and got the low down on what we would need to do once athletes came back for their transition onto the bikes. Since Randy was so laid back and we didn't have any work to do until the athletes finished their swim, we all headed to Mirror Lake to watch the swim start.

 
The swim start at IMLP has always been epic and I have not only heard about how cool it is, but have even watched YouTube videos of it. All athletes start in the water and start swimming at the cannon blast. Well about a month or so ago we heard that Ironman was testing a new start at some races, a
self-seeded start, and that this year's IMLP would indeed be testing it as well. So we weren't quite sure what to expect and we were too far away from the beach to really be able to tell what was going on.

Athletes finishing their practice swims.

Getting corralled on the beach.

What it seemed like was that all athletes started on the beach and lined up behind placards with different expected finish times, for example 0-60 minutes, etc. When the cannon went off Pro men and then Pro women went off running into the water. Then a few minutes later went everyone else, almost single file into the water. The process took so long that when Pro leader Andy Potts got out of the water to begin his second loop, there was a line of athletes still feeding into the lake for their first loop. The start wasn't as exciting as what I would think previous years would have been, but I think it was safer for the athletes and that is what is important. Plus it was still neat to be able to get to watch the start!!

Part Two Coming Soon! 

Go Dacks

Every year I look forward to spending time in the Adirondack Mountains. My grandparents had a house in Big Moose, near Old Forge, so I grew up going there multiple times a year. Now that I am an adult, Rob and I love to go and hike, bike, run and swim in Lake Placid and surrounding towns. Most of those exercises he loves to do and I love to hang out and read and relax. As you probably already know Rob is a triathlete and the idea of racing the Lake Placid Ironman is something he has been considering for a long time. This year we decided to "borrow" my parents RV and camp in Wilmington, volunteer at Ironman and spend the greater part of the week relaxing and having fun.

Before we left last Saturday we were dealing with a small, singular (hopefully) mole problem that you may have read about here. Well to up date you on the story, Mr. Mole exited our apartment by way of mouse trap thanks to the fantastic maintenance workers of our apartment complex. I guess it had been captured while we were at work and when the workers came to check things out, they were nice enough to remove it for us. They even cleaned up the chalk outline.

Too bad it was really a mole, or this would be even funnier. 

Once the mole was taken care of we were able to pack and prepare for our getaway. But you can be sure I had Rob get my suitcase out of the closet for me. We left for the Adirondacks at 6am last Saturday, and because Molly had signed up to volunteer also, she followed en route to my parents house in Cicero. Since my parents were nice enough to let us borrow the RV, but not trustworthy enough to let us drive their baby, they drove the RV and towed their vehicle while Molly and I followed in hot (code word for: super slow) pursuit. Actually I just don't feel comfortable driving it and they kindly offered to drive and set-up/tear down. I also joke about the speed but my Dad has this RV driving thing down, and he even got a compliment, while we were stopped at a McDonalds, from a complete stranger who had been following him. Nice, but creepy gesture. I love our drive up North because it is like visiting an old friend who you haven't seen in a year. We have a comfortable routine of places we stop and like to see what is new in the area. Overall from Fairport the drive is about 5 hours. 1.5 to my parents house, 1 hour to Watertown and 2.5 hours through small towns and back roads.

My parents have been to Placid during Ironman weekend and have talked about it for the last five years. We couldn't wait to get there and feel the electricity. Originally we were going up to volunteer so Rob could sign up for next year. Due to the fact that it sells out quickly (3-4 minutes for 2014) the best way to ensure a spot is to volunteer and then you are allowed to jump the line on Monday morning. Well Rob had to go and ruin everything when he proposed in January, so the timing and especially the money (over $600 bucks) wasn't going to work for now. We still wanted to go and experience it and I would recommend it to everyone, whether you are a fan of the sport or not. Once we passed Saranac Lake, which is the last major town before Placid, we started spotting cyclists and runners, everywhere!!   Once we got into Placid there were beautiful, athletic people crawling like ants. We go to Placid every year and I have never seen it with so many people walking the streets. We had to drive by all of the festivities, tents and transition area on our way to Wilmington and there was so much to look at it was hard to drive. From Placid to Wilmington the main route you drive is the route for the bike course. We saw hundreds of cyclists and we couldn't believe that so many people were riding the course the day before the race. We realized later that the majority of them were not people who would be participating the next day. Our caravan pulled into the KOA and I raced in ahead of Mom so I could pay, because I knew she would insist that they pay. Our site was located in the front row, near the office and we had camped at or near the same spot last year. Mom and Dad started setting everything up and we unloaded our stuff and learned the ways of the RV. Me the inside and Rob any business pertaining to the bathroom and plumbing.

After we were settled we all grabbed lunch together and then Molly, Rob and I went back to Placid so Rob could visit one of his favorite bike stores and Molly could visit with a friend who was competing the next day. We also got our plans in order for what time we had to get up and where we had to be for volunteering on race morning. We said our goodbyes to Mom and Dad, who got a hotel room for one night and hit the hay early since our alarms were set for 3:15am. Ugh!

Volunteering Recap Coming Soon!  

Boilermaker 15k Race Report- Part Two

Before we begin our regularly scheduled program, we bring you this important news bulletin: 

There is a mole in our apartment!! 

Long story short, we woke up to some noises early Saturday morning but found nothing. Fast forward to Wednesday evening when I was having a quiet night home alone getting ideas for our honeymoon location, when low and behold a little four legged friend decided to walk right by and scare the crap out of me. It would appear as though I scared him as well, but who cares about his feelings. I had him trapped in the corner behind our entertainment center and frantically called my sister and Rob. Rob was on his way home and Meredith gave me some tips. When Rob got home we each took a side, but that little sucker was wicked fast and he headed for our dining room/office. It was trapped underneath my filing cabinet and Rob thought he could get it, but he didn't. So then the little fur ball headed into the kitchen and squeezed itself behind our dishwasher. So we stood watch, nothing happened, my brother in law came over and we put two mouse traps by the edges of the dishwasher, at this time we thought it was a mouse. So now I am totally freaked out and pissed that the little booger is in our kitchen. We haven't seen any droppings or any signs of chewing and it didn't really look like a mouse to me, so I googled mole and the mug shot of the culprit seemed to resembled our guest. I also researched trapping methods but they were all suggestions for outside infestation, nothing for inside, because they aren't supposed to be inside!!!   

This may or may not be to scale. 

So the Boilermaker seems like forever ago now, but I'll do my best to try to capture the excitement. Once we got moving I was surprised at how exactly the same the race was from the previous year. Katie and I ran together for a short bit and Dad ran up just ahead of us. I was worried that he would go out too fast, since he sometimes does but we slowly caught back up to him. My favorite sign at this race is at one of the first houses you pass and it says ".1 down, 9.2 to go". At this point in the race a sign like this is amusing, being told "you're almost there" at mile 5, not so much. Katie ran off and Dad and I stuck together for the rest of the race. This race has water/ice stops everywhere you look, at least it feels that way. I kept telling Dad that something that helped me last year was the ice. Always holding a cup of ice, putting ice in my hands, cold water on my head, drinking it, helped so much to beat the heat last year. In fact, I adopted this technique to get me through the marathon too. We ran the first couple miles straight, with only slowing at water stops. The 5k mark is at the beginning of the biggest hill on the course, and as we approached the base of the hill (golf course) I asked Dad how he wanted to handle this challenging part of the course. We decided we would pick different landmarks (signs, mile markers, bands) to run to and then do the same for walking portions. The hill is long, really long. When you think you are at the top, you aren't. Our technique worked great, but when we approached the water stop at a point where it levels out a bit they told us they had run out of ice. Okay no big deal, just get some at the next stop. We pressed on, talked to some of our fellow racers and tried to enjoy the scenery and constant music playing. When I say constant music I mean it. By the time one band/DJ/musician/car speaker/speaker on a front porch is out of ear shot, you can hear another one coming. We survived the hill and enjoyed the descent, but the next water stop was out of ice too and now it was beginning to get sunny and hotter. A bit down the road someone from behind started talking to me about my shirt and she had a Fleet Feet No Boundaries shirt on. Turns out she was from Fairport also and had done the HFM program this spring to train for the Flower City Half Marathon. I told her I trained for and completed a full this spring and she seemed impressed. The zoo animals were up next and last year I missed them so I wanted to pay more attention this year. There were all sorts of animals, but my favorite was a giant tortoise just walking around in the grass munching on some lunch. The next few stops had ice and I began to take multiple cups, I also got Dad using this cool down method and it seemed to be working for him too. At one point the Red Cross was giving out ice and they were in big red solo cups, we continued to run with them for a long time, I think Dad even crossed the finish line with his, and the song "red solo cup" followed us from spectators and fellow racers along the way. I was too slow this year for popsicles, freeze pops and oranges on the course, but I was running with Dad and we were getting through it together. 

This may or may not be a proof. 

During the last mile we were plugging away and all of a sudden my Dad said "HOLY SHIT". I said nervously, "what Dad?" and he said, "we are actually gonna finish this!" Apparently up until that point he had doubts. It was neat to see him capture a new distance PR, experiment with fueling while running, staying hydrated and racing smart to get it done! It was also around this time that I heard the crowd saying "Go Canada" and "look our neighbors to the North". All of a sudden I had a flashback to the same point in the race last year, when I was passed by four Canadian women, all decked out in red, white, maple leaves and cowboy hats. And wouldn't you know it the same ladies were going to pass me around the same spot as last year. The crowd loved them and clearly they were having a great time. I could hear the bagpipes ahead which is a clear sign that you are getting close to the end, so Dad and I picked up our speed and ran down into the finishing chute looking for Mom who was there waiting to cheer us in. As we were running along the yellow barriers, I mentioned to Dad that the announcer from last year was my former band director and I wondered if he would announce our names this year. Sure enough, with tons of enthusiasm and excitement I heard him say "Art and Stephanie Keiser" we made eye contact and thumbs up, waves and smiles and then he said "good job old man". Haha, priceless. 

I love MarathonFoto!

So my time was drastically slower compared to last year, but I haven't been training as much, I have slowed down and I wanted to stick with Dad. I wouldn't change a thing. However, as we walked through the coral they told us that they had run out of pins. Which is the traditional thing they present you with at the finish line. WHAT?!?! Seriously, how do you run out, you know exactly how many people are running this thing. Last year (and it sounds like this year too) they have run out of food for the finishers as well. We were upset but continued through the mob of people to get to the post race party. I headed to claim my pint glass and to check out the merchandise table, Dad headed to the line to get a beer. I decided to buy Dad a finishers medal since he has never earned one before. Even though he came over to me before I was done paying for it, I unwrapped it and placed it around his neck. We were both pretty proud in that moment. I also happened to run into Rob's boss Glenn, what are the odds with 20,000 you would see someone you know! After a snow cone or two we met up with Mom and headed over to the Polish community center, as I discovered last year, it was a nice, dark, air conditioned place to sit and relax. They also had a fundraiser of traditional Polish cuisine so we carb loaded back up. 

Soooo good!

Everyone was hot and sweaty!

While we were getting settled Katie wound up coming in and finding us, everything was really going so smoothly. We all swapped stories and relaxed for a bit before Katie and I had to board the bus to head back home. Once we went our separate ways I crouched down in the tiny bus bathroom to change out of my wet and stinky clothes and felt so much better after that. 

Wilt took attendance, passed around some snacks and we were off headed back home to Rochester. As I sat there and thought about next year, I thought about how cool it would be to be a volunteer. As much fun as it is to race it, it has to be pretty fun to spectate as well. On FB it was posted that if you didn't receive a pin to send an email. So I sent an email on behalf of my Dad and myself but never heard anything back from them. Then Dad sent me this the other day:

Pretty clever, but still not acceptable. 

This weekend we are heading to Lake Placid for vacation and to volunteer for the Lake Placid Ironman. I cannot wait!! I will be doing a post or two on that, look for them in about a week!! 

Boilermaker 15k Race Report- Part One

So I got a text message this morning from my Dad asking where my Boilermaker race report was. Geez Dad no pressure or anything, but I am a little preoccupied with working (part time) and getting ready for the wedding (sunning myself at the pool to even out my farmers tan). Tough work, ya know? But I guess it is a bit delayed so let's get to it.

The Boilermaker is a huge 15k race in Utica, NY that boasts an elite group of runners, wheelchair race division and running with 15,000 of your closest friends. I had done the race for the first time last year and even though it was really hot and challenging there was no doubt I would sign up again. The race has become more and more popular and actually sold out in 3 days this year. Shortly after signing up I noticed my Dad wearing a Boilermaker training shirt and so unbeknownst to me he had signed up as well! To that date he had only run 5 miles so I was curious to see how he would handle the longer distance.

Add caption

Last year I had taken the "Boilermaker Bus" sponsored by The Greater Rochester Track Club and Fleet Feet. For $35 dollars or $15 if you are a member like me, you get bagels, coffee, water, gatorade, snacks after the race, dropped off at the bib pick up tent and picked up at the post-race party. It doesn't get much better then that. Aside from the 4am meeting time, it is a blast!!

Up and at em'

Ahhh the Golden Memories

Watching the sunrise

Andy & Katie at the rest stop

Dad and Mom drove themselves and I had plans to meet Dad at the bib pick up tent on race morning. He had gone to the expo the previous day and seemed to really enjoy it. Maybe next year he'll let me go with him so  I can rub elbows with elites like him.

No lucky number this race

Dad got Bill Rodger's Autograph

This years pint glass, mine has a printing flaw, boo.

We were a tiny bit delayed getting to the bib pick up tent because of traffic, but I spotted Dad right away and he had already met up with some people he knew.

Katie and I grabbed our bibs pretty quickly and talked strategy. Last year I spent the entire time in the port a potty line and I did not want to do that again this year. So I spotted a bunch of people heading over to the woods to do their business and I grabbed some tissues and joined them. And not to get into too many personal details but this year I rocked my running skirt and that makes going to the bathroom on the fly so much easier, if you know what I mean.

The sea of people and port a potties

We made arrangements to meet up with Katie near the coral and hung out with some family friends in the shade. It was already pretty warm and humid, but there was a good amount of cloud cover which was way better then the sunny start/race last year.

2012 Boilermaker Photo

With about 10-15 minutes before the official race start we made our way to our peach "coral" and found Katie. Last year I started farther back and realized that the street before mine fed into the line first, so this year I pushed my way through the crowd and found a comfy spot to listen to the announcements and national anthem. Standing in such a compact group of people was making me warmer and finding fresh air to breath became more and more difficult. I was looking forward to getting started and spreading out for some clean air. After the gun went off and the Rocky Theme started playing we waited over ten minutes to get to the start line. I was excited to be back, looking forward to the crowd and atmosphere, anxious about my lack of running lately, since I know the course is challenging and hilly and nervous for my Dad to complete this PR distance in the heat and humidity.

Come back next week for part two!!

Race Recap: Fairport Firecracker 5 Mile

New logo this year!

I have a love/hate relationship with this annual race. There I said it. I love this race because it is in my stomping grounds and it has become a family tradition. Plus, it was my first race beyond the 5k distance. In addition to my Dad and myself, I knew I would wind up running with tons of familiar faces and that is always a perk. Part of the course switches back so I always look for friends and running peeps to cheer on when we cross paths.  I hate this race because of the sun & heat and challenging, hilly course.

Lucky number! 

This year the race started at 8am so I picked up Evan at 7am and headed over to meet up with my parents, Molly and Katie. Evan hadn't picked up his packet so we went to the tent to get his stuff. This would be Evan's farthest distance to date so he may have been a bit nervous, but didn't show it at all! My first year I was a nervous wreck and lucked out when my Dad had surprised me and signed up to race as well. It was our second 3-peat race and since last year I wore the previous years race shirt, I decided to continue the tradition this year.

Near the start line

Dad, Evan and I began the walk over to the start line and I hit the power button on my Garmin to get it going and connected to satellites. Not too long after I hit the button it beeped to let me know that I had a low battery. WHAT?!?! SERIOUSLY?!?! In 3 years of running I have never not had my Garmin for a race. Not too long after it beeped it shut itself off. Holy cow, what was I going to do. The kicker is that I haven't even been running that much lately. How did this happen? Ugh. Add another point to the "hate" column. Luckily Dad had his Garmin, but it just isn't the same. So while we were walking over Katie caught up to us but there was still no sign of Molly. Evan found a friend and ran off to join her and Dad and I greeted other runners. Apparently we were having our photo taken too...

Borrowed from the FF FB page, thanks!
In blue and green on the right. 

Overall I felt pretty good but wondered if the hour spin class and strength training the day before would come back to bite me during those hills. The weather was really humid but it was cloudy so we didn't have to deal with the sun that normally beats down on your for the first half of the race. Before we knew it the race started and I just gave my Garmin a dirty look as we crossed the start line. I settled into a comfortable pace, exactly what that pace was I did not know. Overall it felt a little faster then what I have been running lately. Not long into the race you hit a long uphill battle. I just settled into it and set the goal to run the whole thing and take a brief walk break at the top. Along the way I had some great help from Anita to keep me focused on forward motion. Thanks! After the first major hill there is a water station at one of the fire stations. I gladly took water and walked through the water stop. After that I kept trudging along and turned on to Turk Hill Road where large hill number two is located. I set the same goal to run to the top of it and walk through the intersection. I cheered along some FF team members along the way and they repaid the favor when they passed me at the top. Love that runner camaraderie. It was here, about mile 1.77 according to my Dad whose Garmin was working fantastically, that I realized that my legs felt like I was carrying two cement blocks. There is a nice down hill after the intersection so I tried to let gravity help a little.

In my opinion the race can be broken into three sections: hills, Cobb's lane and main street. I was about to enter the second, an out and back along the canal that on a sunny day can make you think your never going to get to the turn around and your never going to make it back. The two perks are that since it is an out and back you get to pass other runners & see your friends and that there is a water stop in the middle, so you get to pass it twice. However as we were approaching the water station they were announcing that they had just run out of water. Now I realize I was slower then the average runner, but there were still a lot of runners to come through. I don't think I have ever done a FF race and have them run out of water. Also, not that it mattered, but the water stop was not in the middle, it was only on the side of the road for the runners on their way back through. During this section I had a proud mama bear moment when I saw a young female runner coming towards me and realized it was one of my former girls on the run. She came in second in her age group in a five mile race! So proud. We passed Evan and Katie, who both appeared to be doing quite well, but still no sign of Molly. I was hoping after we made the turn around we would see if she was able to make it in time.

I finally felt like I had warmed up and now that the big hills were behind me I was running longer consistent chunks. We did spot Molly and even though she got a bit of a late start she was plugging right along. Dad and I mostly stuck together and before we knew it we were approaching the last chunk which is our favorite part of the race. Fairport has their 4th of July parade following the race and the course goes along the parade route, so the last mile and change has a decent amount of spectators who are out cheering for the runners. It is also tree lined so there is a lot of shade. There was one more water spot at the other fire station and I was happy to see they had water and also a hose spraying water on the runners as well. Not too far after that was Mom cheering and photographing. Dad grabbed an extra Gatorade from her as we ran by and I was happy to guzzle some down. I was feeling pretty good during this stretch and I continued to thank spectators and volunteers and chat with Dad and Molly. With a little under a mile left it started raining and it felt really good. We turned into the park and saw Thea and her daughter cheering and began to hear music and Ellen's voice announcing runners at the finish line. Dad and I ran in together and heard both of our names announced and Molly came in not too long after. I knew my time would be the slowest out of my 3 Firecracker races, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was about 7 minutes faster then my run the previous week, running the same distance and an easier course.

We met up with Evan and Katie at the finish, got some fruit and drinks and swapped finishing times. Katie got a new PR, Evan did fantastic for his first 5 mile race, beating all of my times, and I was just happy to be done. Evan, Dad and I began our walk back down the course to join my Mom to watch the parade. I grabbed a drink and salty snack from the gas station and welcomed my sister and her family to our spot.

We stayed and watched the parade and as it was close to finishing the cloudy sky opened up on us again, but this time it poured heavily. We all gathered our items and fled as quickly as possible to our car. Overall it was a good morning and even though I have a love/hate relationship with this race, I am sure I'll sign up again next year and then wonder why during mile 2-3. But it's tradition!

Ever done a 4th of July race?

Have any love/hate running moments?

The Week I Became A Gym Rat

Last week was my first full week off for summer vacation. Two years ago I spent most of my summer in the gym and loved the results by summers end. I would do cardio, strength training and swimming in some sort of combination. My real goal was to bring down the average age of the ladies in the gym. Plus no one will complement you more on your outfit, shoes or progress, like little old grandmas lifting the 3 pound weights.

Go get em' grandma! Not my actual grandma.

Going into this summer, with the big W-day at the end of it, I knew if I didn't start off strong I would go down a slippery, lazy slope. Last summer my focus was on running and racing, but with feeling burnt out still, going to the gym has given me some motivation rejuvenation. Last week I wound up getting 5 work outs in. 4 trips to the gym and one run. 3 spin classes and lots of core, arm and leg strength training.

Daily Mile Report Card

The RAC always offers a Summer Sizzle competition. I've never paid much attention to it or signed up for it because it is geared towards their fitness classes. But in the fall I started spinning and did it consistently throughout the school year, so I thought it might be fun to sign up for the challenge and do something new. I believe the way it works is that if you do 30 classes in 60 days you get a free t-shirt. The t-shirt is nice and all, but the best part are the stickers and the tracking chart. Pause and rewind to elementary school and there is nothing you wont do to get your name on the chart with a long line of stickers trailing it.

Wooohooo!! 

So I caved to my own peer pressure and signed up. Monday was the first day of the contest and even though I went and did cardio and strength training, I didn't take a class. I guess I didn't know how cut throat this contest was, but when I saw the name beneath mine and saw that they had already collected 3 stickers, my competitive side kicked in! Oh those powerful, glittery, little circles of my affection. So yesterday I was determined to get my first sticker and checked out the class schedule. I found a late morning 45-minute spin class, which would be perfect to get in before I spent the day with my Mom. The class was good. It is always interesting to see how the different instructors vary their class, music and style. At the end I proudly collected my sticker and affixed it to the chart next to my name. One down, 29 to go! Happy Fourth of July everyone!! 

Coming Soon: Firecracker 5 Mile Race Report