Adventure Runs, Long Rides and Things to Come

An Adventurous Run:

It's been a fun season so far and the training continues! Steve and I had signed up to race an adventure trail run in Ashtabula last weekend but were unable to race. We ended up having our own "adventure" trail run at Girlded Rd Reservation!

Friday late night and Saturday morning we had gotten bad storms and rain in Lake County. That translated to a mess Saturday morning. Luckily our house had not flooded but the pool was a different story. It was a freaky deaky green color! We decided to leave the pool that morning and headed to Girdled to run the trails.

The trails were very torn up as the river had flooded - carving out whole areas of the trail and replacing crushed stone with a muddy, mucky mess. Trees and branches were down and it was mud puddles galore. Needless to say it made for an interesting and challenging hour and a half run Saturday. Later that afternoon we bought a bunch of chemicals for the pool, which is never fun.

Sunday Riding and Pool Time:

Sunday we headed out for a 50-mile training ride. Some of the roads were strewn with debris from the storm and the entrance to Headlands Beach was closed due to flooding so there was some rerouting that had to take place. The ride went pretty well but the heat and humidity were getting to me in the afternoon. I was quite happy to get home to have a cold IPA post ride! A few minutes of relaxing by the pool and it was time to get to work. Steve vacumed the pool and I skimmed for what felt like hours but was probably an hour. Does that count as an arms workout? Finally a little time to float around on our rafts. Ahhh, I wish that I could say this was all we did for the rest of the day but we were soon back to reality of more chores. Yuck!

Things to Come:

This week we have some more mild temperatures than 90s, which is okay by me. Lots of swim, bike, run training to get in and a fun weekend ahead including a beer tasting Friday night and we're racing the Fairport Harbor Sprint Tri Sunday. This race is 10 minutes from home at most so I will get to sleep in a little...maybe! Next weekend Steve is racing the Greater Cleveland Triathlon Oly and I get to relax and cheer with the kiddos! Then the weekend after that we are running The Perfect 10 Miler, our anniversary race! And of course Rev3 Cedar Point is just around the corner...can't wait! I am hoping to PR the half course again this year!

Turkey Trots, Jingle Bells and New Years Resolutions

It’s been a while since I last updated the blog. I know…I’m a slacker. Some people may wonder if I fell off the face of the earth. Nope, I’ve been doing stuff – just not blogging about it. After this post you’ll be up to speed and I’ll vow to write more frequently!

After the Rev3 Cedar Point Half in September, I started to enjoy the off season. And by “off” I mean working out because I love it not because I am competing. That entailed some biking, trail running, yoga and even a couple races for fun. It also includes some formalized swim training with local triathlon pro A.J. Baucco.

Post race at Believe & Achieve Race

The week after Rev3 Cedar Point in September we ran the Girl's With Sole Believe & Achieve Trail 5K. Steve won first overall and I placed 2nd overall female. We had a blast and it is beautiful running at Penitentiary Glenn!

Post race at Twinsburg Turkey Trot

In November Steve and I ran the Twinsburg Turkey Trot 5-miler, which is a pretty challenging race mixed with roads and trail. We both did decent. Steve won 2^nd in his age group and I was third in my age group. Not long after we followed that up with a Thanksgiving Day race at the Painesville Turkey Trot 5K. It was a chilly but clear day and a fast course. Again we both did well. Steve placed 3^rd in his age group and I just missed placing 4^th out of 80. 

In December I started doing yoga consistently again and have been loving that as well as winter trail running. I can be spotted at Girdled Rd Reservation almost any weekend now. On New Years Eve I took a very good yoga class at Harmony Yoga in Concord and on New Years Day Steve and I did a trail run at Girdled to welcome the New Year!

Some of my New Years resolutions are to stick with yoga every week, run more trails, continue to work on my swim and most of all remember to have fun and appreciate the gift of being healthy and active.