My 2nd NJ Gran Fondo

Hello everyone! Do you remember my super duper 107 mile Gran Fondo last year? Well I did the same event again this year last Sunday, September 8, 2013, but a shorter course. My friend and I decided over the winter that we'd do the Medio course this year instead so we wouldn't have to kill ourselves with all the training we'd need to do for the grueling full length Gran course. It turned out to be a really smart decision for us for a bunch of reasons, but most importantly because we really didn't have the opportunity to train much at all beyond our regular 20-40 mile rides once or twice a week. We each also put in solo 50 mile rides while the other was away on vacation, but that was pretty much it. We still did well, though!

At the start line, ready to roll!

The Medio course in the NJ Gran Fondo event was named one of "The 50 Best Rides in America" by Bicyling Magazine in 2012, so even though it was just under 63 miles [99 km], it's a pretty intense course with over 5200 ft. elevation gain-- a lot of climbing!

Speaking of climbing, the best part of the day for me, which was also the most difficult, was the first category 4 climb that always kicks my butt. The climb is about 2.4 miles long, but it's the last mile of the climb that's killer. It ranges from from 8% to 13% elevation for the entire last mile. Oh man, it's tough. The good part about this climb on Sunday was 1 - feeling so good mentally that I actually DID IT and 2 - the ego boost I got from passing the men who were walking their bikes up the hill! Oh I wanted to stop... but I didn't! Yay for me!!!

That climb is at the 24 mile mark of the course and by the time we got to the 45 mile mark or so, our legs were getting pretty tired from all the hills. But we were rock stars and finished strong with a total cycle time of 4:43:27.

My friend (and cycling partner) and I
at the finish line.

My lovely friend Mari, who is a fellow NJ blogger and athlete (go visit her blog.. she's got a Fondo post up, too!), saw my the photo to the left that I posted on instagram after picking up my race packet the Friday before and was inspired to join the Fondo at practically the last minute! She pulled her hybrid bike out of the garage (not a road bike), got it tuned up, bought herself a helmet and rode the entire Medio course on her own! Talk about inspiring, right? She's AMAZING! We were texting over the weekend and she found me at the start line where we had this cute photo of us snapped before we headed out onto the course. I took the liberty to spiff it up with some fun graphics to play tribute to her sense of adventure. ;)

Mari and I at start line!

What about you.. what kind of fitness adventures have you been on lately?

I'm linking this post up over at Joy Weese Moll's blog where she hosts a weekly blog meme for Readers' Workouts. Head on over and check it out.. it's a great way to stay connected, inspired and motivated with other bloggers (most of who happen to also love books and reading) who are working out for pleasure and health. All fitness levels are welcome!

New Year's Day 5K

Happy New Year!

For the last four years, I've started my New Year with a local 5K Race called The Hangover Run, aptly named following a night of perhaps one too many glasses of champagne the night before as people welcome the New Year. For me, I just like starting my year with a push.

Running 5K isn't particularly challenging for me--that's the distance I typically run two days a week among my other workouts. But running a race is always a push because I can't just go out there and do it to have fun. Oh I do have fun doing it, but I guess I'm a bit competitive [with myself] and I feel compelled to try to beat my time from my last race and set a personal best. Well, sadly, I didn't do that. I ran 5K in 30:59 [9:58 min mile pace] which is faster than my every day pace, but not faster than I ran it last January [30:31] or faster than my personal best [30:02]. I know I should be pleased with my effort and results, but truthfully, I'm kinda disappointed. But don't worry.. I'll get over it.

Hangover Run 5K
January 1, 2012

Because you know what I'm going to do about my disappointment? Turn it into motivation! I'm going to train more seriously to improve my running time in 2013. Which, I think includes losing some weight and finally reaching my target weight in 2013. I mean.. who wants to run 3+ miles with a 20lb. backpack on? I didn't think so.  So here I am repeating my goal for the last two years to run a 5K in under 30 minutes by the end of the year.

Looking back for a moment...

In 2012: 
I RAN        244.87 miles
I BIKED  1672.43 miles

I SPENT 292.71 hours EXERCISING

THAT'S 12 days 4 hours 48 minutes OF EXERCISE.

Which actually doesn't sound like a whole heck of a lot to me right now. . But if you want to see what I did in all those hours of exercise, feel free to scroll through my monthly workout logs on my fitness journal blog See How She Runs...

So what do I want to accomplish in 2013?
I'm still exploring specific events, but I'd like to do the following: 

• Run a 5K Race in under 30 minutes. 
• Bike another Gran Fondo [100 miles] or other long distance bike event. 
• Do another Sprint Triathlon.  

My first choice is to do the Danskin Tri again, but once again.. it is on the SAME DAY as the NJ Gran Fondo, so I'm not sure what I'll do. Maybe the SheRox Tri in August if it doesn't coincide with our summer vacation. I'll have to see.. 

What are your fitness goals for 2013?

Wishing you all a year of good health and happiness in 2013!

Hello July! ..What Happened in June?!

Holy smokes it's July 4th already! I hope you had a wonderful holiday and the fireworks were spectacular by you.. whether you saw them at the park or made some of your own at home. ; )

Well, I sure am starting to sound like a broken record, but dang it.. life has been busy, leaving me too few minutes in the day to read or blog and blog hop as much as I'd like. I thought the school year was never going to end there for a while, but it finally did on June 20. I swear we were the last schools in session in the whole country by then. Both girls brought home awesome report cards. My youngest ended 7th grade with all A's and a few B's.. honors in several of her classes, high honors in Language Arts. That's my girl! My oldest finished 11th grade--her junior year with a stellar report card. Also A's and a scarce B, most of her courses being honors and honors AP courses. She did so well, she boosted her overall GPA a smidgen and now has over a 4.0 GPA! YES! My girls are some smart cookies! So proud. ^_^

I imagined summer break was going to be lazy, easy, breezy, but alas it's been quite hectic. All good things, but my time management skills are forever a work in progress so I'm not very methodical about getting stuff done. Everything always seems half finished and I can't seem to carve out a decent block of time for myself to read or blog. I always think I'll get to it in the evening after dinner, but I don't know what happens. Well, I do know. I end up being too tired to be on the computer, so I decide to read instead, which ends up being pitiful anyway because I fall asleep after just a few pages. It's a vicious cycle.

My youngest is away at sleep away camp for the first time ever this week. We were busy getting ready for that last week, including packing, shopping for some supplies and getting a physical, etc. No phone calls to or from camp are allowed unless it's an emergency. It drives me batty not being in touch with my kid, but I'm trying not to worry about the little things and trying instead to picture her having a great time, making new friends, trying new things and basically having a really positive experience. I admit I'm looking forward to picking her up on Saturday.. seeing her face, hugging her and hearing all about her adventures.

My oldest landed a nice nanny/babysitting job three days a week for a family with three young girls... ages 10, 8 and 4, I believe. Even though it's a lot of work caring for and playing with the girls, taking them to the pool and activities, I'm not sure who's having more fun here... the little girls or my teen! She loves it. She's also in Volleyball training three nights a week and on her days off from babysitting she's out and about with her friends or her boyfriend. Never a dull moment.

Before I forget, here's a quick look at what I was up to in June. My memory's already getting fuzzy. :/

In fitness & health: 
My workout schedule has been pretty similar each week lately. Strength training, a weekly kickbox class, running and biking. I've spent most of my workout time on the bike, having ridden 274.6 miles in June! My longest single ride was 70.4 miles which was nearly five hours of cycling. Boy, was I tired that day!

I finished June with 133+ fitness challenge miles where 1 fitness mile = 1 mile run = 15 minutes of other cardio or strength training.

I have also been participating in the weekly Reader's Workout Meme hosted by Joy. Check it out over at her blog if you're interested in joining in. It's a low-key, casual thing.. and very welcoming. In the Reader's Workout Meme, some of the participants are tracking their exercise in total minutes spent exercising. I clocked in with 1884 minutes in June or 31 hours and 24 minutes! That averages to about 63 minutes a day. Not bad!

I recently recommitted myself [again, I know] to losing 20-25 lbs. between now and Thanksgiving. I'm working on a few aspects of my diet plus I want to add more strength training to my weekly workout plan. I'll keep you posted.

What did you do to keep moving last month?

In books: 
I read only five books in June.. I guess it's indicative of how busy I was with other things last month. Still, the five books I read were pretty darned good so I'm not complaining!

Romance .............. 4
                  Historical .... 3
                  Paranormal...1
Children's Lit........1

1. The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie by Jennifer Ashley
2. Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage by Jennifer Ashley
3. Odd And The Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman
4. Tangle of Need by Nalini Singh
5. Caine's Reckoning by Sarah McCarty

My favorites are The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie and Tangle of Need--both books get five stars from me.

What noteworthy books did you read in June?

In photography: 
I had fun participating in a photo-a-day challenge hosted by the Fat Mum Slim blog, or @fatmumslim on twitter. The fun daily prompts helped me stay on track taking a picture every day and the best part? I made some new friends on Instagram! Yay! :) I've decided to do the #photoadayJuly challenge too. As well as a fun daily picture challenge for book-mided people hosted by Cassandra at Indie Reader Houston. You can follow this challenge on twitter or instagram using the #dailybookpic hash tag.

Come back later for my favorite photos from my Project 366.. [I'll post them in the morning.]

As always, you can follow my photography challenges on http://web.stagram.com/n/thehappilyeverafter .

In the garden: 
I finally finished the new vegetable garden. For the most part, anyway. You're never going to believe this.. but I'm not so crazy with this location anymore. I think I might be re-re-establishing my vegetable garden to the backyard next year. So indecisive, I know. In the meantime, at least I have some tomato plants in the ground and growing! Finally! I'll edit pictures into this post tomorrow.. I want to post this now before I delay it another day. And it's time for me to get my beauty sleep. Zzzzz...

Thanks for reading about my June adventures. Here's wishing you a jubilant July! ^_^

My May Adventures

If you stopped by looking for my Neverwhere Read Along discussion, I'll be posting that tomorrow.

It's June! June! Three more weeks of school and then summer! This is such a busy time of year around here. I'm sure it's the same for all of you as well.

I posted earlier this month about my youngest daughter's dance recital--such fun! She's also been busy with girl scouts as her Cadette troop is working towards their Silver Award. I am starting to feel tapped out as a leader, so I'll be glad to have a bit of a break from it over the summer.

My oldest has been busy, too. Mostly with schoolwork and a very busy social life. Last week we attended a small Academic Awards ceremony at the high school at which she received an award from Brandeis University for outstanding academic achievement and civic service. She also recently completed a wonderful project for her high school orchestra for which she filmed, photographed and edited a video about the impact of water on our community that accompanied the orchestra's performance of a beautiful piece by Philip Glass. The video was projected on a large screen behind the orchestra. It was quite moving.. especially given the devastating effects Hurricane Irene had on our community last August.

Lots of proud moments in May! While I couldn't possibly top the accomplishments of my kids, I may as well tell you what I've been up to last month. ; )

In fitness: 
I easily met my 100 fitness mile goal for May with a total of 120 miles. Interestingly, I took quite a few rest days this month, but apparently I made up for it on the days that I did workout, especially in cycling. Most of my rides these days are 30-40 miles which is at least 2 hours on the bike. On Memorial Day, my cycling partner and I clocked just under 4 hours to bike 59.4 miles---my new longest distance in a single ride.

I mentioned last month [in April] that I wanted to increase strength training and aside from my Monday powercuts class and maybe 15 minutes of abs, light weights at the end of kickbox class and a bonus TRX class, I haven't been doing any other strength training. I need to work on increasing that. Here's a look at what I did in May:

Run 23.07 miles :     ~241 minutes
Bike 170.54 miles :   ~705 minutes
Kickbox & Abs : 300 minutes
Spin & Abs :       150 minutes
Strength training:        240 minutes
TOTAL:   1636 minutes     or     27 hours 16 minutes

What did you do to keep moving last month?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

In books: 
I read eight books in May and from quite a few different genres, too. I'm pretty happy about that.

Non-fiction ...... 1
     [Health & fitness]

Romance .............. 2
     [Historical]
Crime fiction ....... 1
Young Adult ....;;.. 1
Fiction .................. 1
Fantasy ................ 2

1. Creation in Death by J.D. Robb
2. The Governess Affair by Courtney Milan
3. Saving Grace by Julie Garwood
4. If I Die by Rachel Vincent
5. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
6. Food Rules by Michael Pollan
7. Cold Magic by Kate Elliot
8. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

I have to say that I loved all of these books and would recommend each and every one. If I HAD to pick favorites? Hmm... The Governess Affair by Courtney Milan is a wonderful novella and the first in a new series. I have a review partially written that I hope to finish, but know that I did love it. It's Kindle lendable, too, so let me know if you're interested in borrowing it. I think I can lend it out at least twice.

Saving Grace by Julie Garwood. A timeless medieval romance and a favorite among so many romance readers. You can read my review HERE.

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell is a really solid, engaging read, too. A lot of readers classify it as romance, but it's not exactly. It's more general fiction with romantic elements. Not quite chick-lit either because most of the book is really about the male protagonist, so it's really more dude-lit which is a brand new sub-genre coined by Brie from Romance Around the Corner. You heard it first from her, folks. Remember that when dude-lit goes rampant. ;o)

Gigi likes Cold Magic by Kate Elliot!

Honorable mention goes to Cold Magic by Kate Elliot. I originally shelved this book in young adult, but it really straddles into adult fantasy fiction. The protagonists are not minors at nineteen years old and older and in fact at the marriageable age. The setting is Victorian-England-esque alternate history with a steampunk component. A lot of fascinating people--powerful mages, princes, spiritwalkers and others-- cultures, histories and politics between peoples and three main characters whose fates get personally entangled with each other and those of power. There is a lot of information to digest in this book, but the story premise, setting and characters were so interesting that it was so worth reading. I'm looking forward to reading the second book in this trilogy, Cold Fire. The concluding book in the trilogy, Cold Steel comes out in 2013.

What interesting books did you read in May?

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A bouquet of African Roses

In photography:
My Project 366 is now a Project 362. Yes, I missed another TWO days in May. Ugh. Oh well. I decided to have a little bit of fun this month by participating in the photo a day challenge hosted by blogger fatmumslim who blogs at Fat Mum Slim. There's a daily prompt every day for the month and users post their photos on instagram, twitter, facebook, a blog, flickr or pinterest using the hash tag #photoadayJune. Fun!

As always, you can follow my photography challenges on http://web.stagram.com/n/thehappilyeverafter.

Are you on instagram? Friend me!

In the garden: 
The deer are in my yard almost every night munching on anything and everything green. I know what they're all saying..

"Hey, have you been to that organic salad bar down the street yet? It's amazing! They've got a wide variety of plants to choose from, loaded with tender shoots, plump flower buds, and lush leaves. Not only is it 100% organic but it's all you can eat AND open 24/7!" 

Nice. I woke up one day last week to discover they ate most of the tops off my budding purple coneflower plants last week. This means my coneflowers will be blooming late and won't be so lush this year. Again. I know they have to eat, too, but sheesh, I sure wish they knew how to show a bit of restraint so I could enjoy a few flowers. I have an inkling that the day lilies are on this week's menu. I haven't seen a day lily flower bloom in my yard for a couple of years now. But really, what are you going to do? They're only doing what they're supposed to do, right?

I started converting that section of my perennial flower bed into a new vegetable garden, but I haven't yet finished. In fact, that's on my to-do list for this week. A friend of mine gave me several pots of tomato seedlings that sprouted up in her garden from the seeds of last year's dropped fruit and I've got to get them in the ground soon. I'm already a couple of weeks late. A few of them even have flowers already. Oh how I love the promise of homegrown tomatoes! I'm not sure what else I want to try to grow this year. At this point, I'll be happy just to have a nice harvest of herbs and tomatoes.

Are you growing an edibles in your yard?


Thanks for reading about my month! Wishing you a joyous June! xo

My April Adventures

"Time flies when you're having fun." That explains why it's May already! 

What a month. It's been joyous, but also a bit bittersweet, when my baby.. whom I birthed, nursed, nurtured and protected all these years.. turned 17 years old this month and is now driving a car. This is way harder than the first day of school, first time away at camp, first period, first boyfriend... seeing your child get in car and drive away from home is SO SCARY. I am proud and happy to see that she has become a strong, capable, independent young woman so anxious to get out there in the world, who by the way, learned first hand how to jump start a dead battery about 60 hours after getting her license, but at the same time I miss the little girl who is no more. Never has childhood seemed more fleeting to me than it has this month. Did I mention she's smart, too? She was inducted into the National Honor Society in April. :)

In fitness: 
My workout pattern has been pretty predictable this month. I've been running twice a week outdoors and biking on at least one weekend day. At the gym, I'm either in spin or kickbox class. I haven't been keeping up with strength training this month and I can feel it! I'm making a point to get weights, planks, push ups and ab work back into my weekly workout plan--even if I have to do it on my own at home. Here are my running and cycling stats:

Run 21.0 miles [33.8km]
Bike 191.5 miles [308.2km] <-- A new monthly record for me!

I know there are many, many cyclists out there who bike way more than this in any given month, but for a weekend cyclist like me, I think 191.5 miles rocks! I'll probably end up breaking this record before the summer ends, but for now.. I'm pretty happy with this mileage. I also made some new personal records with distances in April. One is for the most miles in two consecutive days, which was 68.4 miles [110km] (42.5 on Saturday and 25.9 on Sunday). The other record was for my longest ride yet at 52.2 miles [84km]. This route was mostly easy rolling hills, with one climb at the very beginning (4 mile mark) and one at the very end (48 mile mark). Most of our rides have several climbs interspersed with rolling hills. Did I mention we're signed up to ride a Gran Fondo [103 mile (165.8km) cycling event] in September?

What did you do to keep moving in April? 

In books: 
April was yet another productive reading month for me! I read twelve books! Well, three of them were re-reads of a graphic novel and a fourth was another graphic novel, but since Lover Reborn was over 500 pages, it kind of evens out, right?

Non-fiction...... 2
   Health & fitness... 1
   Memoir ..................... 1

Romance ............ 6
     Paranormal ...........3
     Contemporary...... 2
     Historical ..............1

Graphic Novel .....4

1. Crazy, Sexy Diet by Kris Carr
2. The Warlord Wants Forever by Kresley Cole
3. Rainshadow Road by Lisa Kleypas
4. A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole RE-READ
5. Lover Reborn by J.R. Ward
6. A Dangerous Beauty by Sophia Nash
7. The Sweetest Thing by Jill Shalvis
8. Amulet: Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi RE-READ
9. Amulet: Stonekeeper's Curse by Kazu Kibuishi RE-READ
10. Amulet: The Cloud Searchers by Kazu Kibuishi RE-READ
11. Amulet: The Last Council by Kazu Kibuishi 
12. Paris in Love by Eloisa James

I plan to review Paris in Love by Eloisa James, so stay tuned for that.

Do you read memoirs? If so, what compels you to chose the memoirs you read?

A girl and her cat

In photography: 
I missed another day in my Project 366, but I decided against starting over from the beginning. I'm just going to continue doing the best that I can and if I miss a few days in a year, so be it. I'm not perfect and the project is still fun.



In the garden: 
I haven't done a thing! I'll be so annoyed with myself if I fail to get my vegetable garden re-established again this year..



Thanks for taking the time to read about my April adventures!


Here's wishing you a marvelous May! :) 

My January Adventures

Instead of doing a 'Monthly Reads' post for each month, I thought I'd try making a monthly post recapping anything noteworthy that went on in my world such as the books I read, athletic adventures, travel or anything else interesting. Interesting to me, anyway, but hopefully to you, too.

January 2012 was surprisingly jam packed with adventure for me. This post ended up much longer than I expected. Feel free to scroll to the parts that most interest you. ;)

Reading adventures:
I had my all time record low reading month since December 2007 when I didn't read a single book! Last month, I read only THREE books!

1. The Longest Night by Kathleen O'Reilly
You can read my review for this book HERE, which I read for January's TBR Challenge.

2. Tides of Passion by Tracy Sumner
This book had the makings of a great story--interesting characters, a fun premise and a wonderfully unique setting. Unfortunately, I felt the main characters said or did things out of character one too many times and it weakened the credibility of their story.

3. Wife by Wendesday by Catherine Bybee
This book has been on the top of the Amazon Kindle charts for a really long time now. I don't know if the author has any secrets for keeping it up there, but I can tell you this story was really fun and I thoroughly enjoyed reading every page! It's a contemporary marriage of convenience turned true love story. Utterly adorable and believable, too! The ebook is only 99 cents!
Amazon Kindle
Barnes & Noble
Smashwords

I sure hope February is a better reading month for me or I'm never going to get to 101 books by the end of 2012! Good thing February has an extra day this year. ;)

Did you read anything good in January?

Health and fitness adventures:
So what was I doing with all that time that I clearly wasn't spending reading? Detoxing, working out and a bit of traveling, that's what!

As many of you already know, I started following the 28 Day Whole Living Action Plan featured in Whole Living magazine and on their website earlier in January. It's a food based detox-type-mind and body cleanse. It's kept me busy preparing new food dishes, healthy snacks and smoothies and because my caloric intake was naturally so low because of the plan and I wasn't drinking any coffee or tea with caffeine, I admit I napped a lot the first week or two. I have a few more days to go before I'm finished.. but already my diet feels close to normal again, but heavier on the fruits and vegetables. That's always a good thing!

Since the detox-cleanse is meant to be restful and healing, I eased up on my regular workout schedule a bit, which I thought would drive me crazy, but actually felt welcomed in the early weeks of the plan. Giving up coffee for the diet combined with fewer calories overall made me very tired and sleepy this month! I still managed to keep my miles and hours spent exercising at a decent level, though, so I'm happy about that. Here's a look at what I was doing in January to keep my body moving and my heart rate up:

Run ...................... 14.0 miles
Bike ..................... 56.7 miles
Snowshoe .............  3.5 miles

Spin class ................. 2.5 hrs
Kickbox ................... 3.5 hrs
Strength training .....  5.0 hrs
Cardio interval ......... 2.0 hrs

Total fitness challenge 'miles' ..... 77.5 miles
[My typical monthly goal is 100 miles where 1 fitness challenge mile = 15 min cardio or strength = 1 mile run or snowshoed.]

Other highlights:
I ran a 5K Race on New Year's Day hoping to break my 30:02 PR, but ran 30:31 which is still under a 10 minute mile, so that's cool. Maybe next time. :)

I started new small group TRX training classes in January after my gym had TRX Suspension Trainers installed. TRX suspension training is a fully body strength training workout in which you suspend your body weight by straps and do various strength exercises all the while your core is fully engaged.
Want to see a video? Visit trxtraining.com or go straight to the video HERE.

I went snowshoeing for the first time when I participated in the Tubbs Snowshoes Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer Snowshoe event. and loved it! I want my own snowshoes! Thank you again to everyone who supported me and donated to the cause on my behalf! xo

How did your workouts go in January?


A photography adventure:
One last adventure to share with you. After three failed attempts at doing a 365 Project, I started fresh again for the fourth time on January 1 and so far I haven't missed a day! I'm doing this project exclusively using my iPhone 4S and Instagram. I know this is probably a ridiculous way of doing a 365 Project when I have a fantastic digital SLR, but the iPhone is SO convenient and I always have it with me, so I'm hoping the convenience of it will enable me to stick with the project and take a photo every day. Oh wait... I just realized this is a leap year. I guess this is a 366 Project? ; )

Have you ever done a 365 Project? 

Traveling adventures:
My husband, daughters and I took a long weekend getaway to Florida over Martin Luther King Weekend and had a really great time even though it was really cold that weekend! I wanted sunny warm 70s--not chilly, cloudy 50s. I heard it got warm the day after we left. Figures.

We have very close friends who moved to the Orlando area several years ago and who were always inviting us to come down to visit them, trying to lure us with all of the theme parks in the area. [We are more of a National Park kind of family--not the amusement park kind, but it was still really fun.] We really enjoyed visiting our friends the whole weekend in their lovely home. It was so relaxing staying with them!

Hogwarts
 Harry Potter World in Universal Studios
Orlando, FL

The first day we went to Universal Studios and pretty much beelined for Harry Potter World which was SO COOL!!! It really felt like you were walking through Hogsmeade and into Hogwarts castle. The ride in Hogwarts is a simulated broomstick ride and omg it felt so real! I admit I screamed when the dragon ... well, I don't want to give anything away. We went into Honeydukes, Ollivanders wand shop and of course, Zonko's! And we ate lunch at Three Broomsticks. We even had Butterbeer!
How cool is that? :)

Totoros!
From 'My Neighborhood Totoro'

The second day we went to Epcot. We had fun walking around, doing some of the attractions, visiting the international pavilions, but I don't know... it didn't seem so amazing. Even the fireworks were just okay. We ate lunch in 'Japan' and got giddy over the souvenirs from our favorite Hayao Miyazaki films.

The third day we went to an Indian Kite Festival with our friends. I had no idea kite flying was so competitive! We arrived with numerous kites in our arsenal. You'd think it's challenging enough to just get your kite up and flying, but no! All the other kite fliers will start maneuvering their kite to cross yours and with the right tension and direction, their kite string--which is actually finely coated with glass--cuts your string and your kite falls to the ground! So you have no choice but to be both an offensive and defensive kite flier to keep your kite in the air. On a side note, I ate some amazing Palak Pakoras [spinach-chickpea fritters] there. I had forgotten how much I LOVE Indian food. Mmmm I want some right now!  photo to come... maybe.

The Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB)
Kennedy Space Center
[photo taken from tour bus]

The fourth and last day, we went to Kennedy Space center. We spent time walking around the visitors center and then took the up-close tour of the space center and Vehicle Assembly Building. We actually got to walk inside the VAB and see the orbiter Endeavor up-close! Then bus took us around to the launch pad. Afterwards we spent an hour or two in the Apollo Saturn V Exhibit.

Endeavor 

I loved the up-close tour! I think it was especially meaningful for me because after college [I had just earned my B.S. in Electrical Engineering] I worked for an aerospace company that was a subcontractor of a subcontractor of NASA, updating and writing new test software for two electrical devices we built for the space shuttle program. So I was familiar with the very basic picture of preparing the space shuttle for launch and then the retrieval of the solid rocket boosters after each launch. Anyway, visiting the Kennedy Space Center was definitely a highlight of this trip for me!

Did you go anywhere special in January? 

Thanks for taking the time to read about my January adventures. I assure you January was unusually adventurous for me and future monthly posts will be much shorter!

Wishing you all a fantastic February! xo

My First Snowshoe Event

Today was the Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer Snowshoe 5K and it was a blast! First and foremost, however, with the help of many generous friends, I am pleased to report that I raised $335 for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation. Most of this funding is used to provide essential breast care education, screening and support to women without access proper medical coverage.

Thank you very, very much to those of you who made a donation on my behalf--your support is very much appreciated. Every bit will help stomp out breast cancer.

The evening before the snowshoe event, I drove up to the ski resort with one of my friends where we joined a group of women she knew who organized the rental of some condos at the resort. We woke up this morning to several inches of snow on the ground, which to me, made this event so much more exciting. It snowed all day while we were up there and I loved it!

The start line of the Snowshoe 5K. Go pink!

The snowshoe walk took place right on the slopes on trails marked off for walkers right alongside the ski trails. We shared part of the trail with skiers and other parts were just for the snowshoers. I had expected the snowshoe trail to be flat, but we actually had some decent inclines to walk up and down, making for a pretty decent workout! If you are a skier, the steep parts were walking up a blue trail. Of course, being the kickass athletes that we are {haha!}, three of us when up and down the steepest part of the trail three times before continuing on with the rest of the walk! ;)

A pic of me at the finish line. 

I had so much fun snowshoeing that I think I might invest in a pair of my own snowshoes!

Thank you again to those of you who supported my cause today. As always, I appreciate you wonderful support! xo

A Running Start

Happy New Year!

As per tradition, I started my New Year running a 5K race today. I had hoped to break my personal record of 30:02 set on October 1, 2011 but I didn't do it. I finished today's race at 30:31. Bummer. But at the same time... Woohoo! I ran an average pace of 9:49 minute miles for 3.1 miles and was out there running around on New Year's Day! :)

This a pic of me that my husband took after the race. He's my #1 SAG. That's actually a term used in bicycle racing for Support And Gear--the vehicle that follows the riders to provide mechanical and medical assistance, but I'm taking the liberty to use it for any sport I do. ha!

I've been reflecting on my fitness accomplishments in 2011, and I have a lot to be proud of. In addition to going to fitness classes and swimming at the gym, I ran a total of 203.91 miles outdoors and biked a total of 641.1 miles. I did all my biking May through December.

One of my fitness goals last year was to run a 5K in 31 minutes or less--CHECK! Another was to participate in my first triathlon--CHECK! What an amazing experience that was. So much fun and what an incredible feeling to have accomplished something like that. Edited to add [Jan. 3, 2012]: My third fitness challenge for 2011 was to achieve 100 Fitness Challenge "Miles" every month of the year. I reached that goal 9 out of 12 month--No Check. But still kicked some butt this year with my consistency and dedication so I'm not calling this a failure. :) 

My fitness goals for 2012 are similar... with a few tweaks.

A New 5K Personal Best:
Run a 5K in under 30 minutes. I want to see 29:xx:xx on the clock crossing that finish line!

Another Triathlon:
Participate in another sprint triathlon. I'm thinking of the SheRox Triathlon here in New Jersey in July, but I haven't committed.

A Gran Fondo:
Participate in a Gran Fondo, which is a 103 mile bike event. This is a non-timed event, although the particular Gran Fondo I'll be doing does have timed trials on six climbs. My cycling partner and I expect to finish the course in about 7.5 hours. Yikes! It'll take place in September and I'm pretty much committed to it already. After doing so well in the biking portion of the triathlon last year, my cycling partner and I decided to focus our efforts on our strength and give ourselves a little challenge. We've kind of started our training already biking on Saturday mornings. We meet just before sunrise and bike for 20+/- miles, in literally freezing temperatures, attacking some of the toughest hills for cyclists around here. I'm already looking forward to spring when we can put in more miles in some more agreeable temperatures!

I've decided to discontinue the Fitness Miles Challenge here on my blog in 2012. The gals at 100 Fitness Miles Challenge blog, which is now the Get Moving Fitness Challenge are starting things up over there again, so I encourage you to check it out. Of course, I'm not going to stop posting about exercise here and hope to do a Month in Review type post to track my progress in reading, exercise and any other fun things going on, so there will still be opportunities for us to share our fitness adventures here on the happily ever after... 
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


Fitness Mile Challenge Report Card for December 2011: 
If you have any fitness challenge miles from December to share, I'd love to hear how you did! I for one was definitely challenged to meet my 100 fitness mile mark last month, but managed to finish with 100.64 miles. December is such a hectic month, so whatever you managed to get done--pat yourself on the back! If you want to see how I reached those miles, see my December Workout Log.  
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


I've got a few other New Year's Resolutions and goals for 2012 that I'm going to tackle, but I'm waiting to start those tomorrow... because one of them requires getting on the scale. Yeah.. tomorrow's looking good for that. ;)

What are your fitness goals for 2012?

If you don't have one... make one! It'll be good for your body and spirit. 

Fitness Challenge Report Card: November 2011

Interested in joining the Fitness Challenge? Please visit the Sign Up post for more information, including the challenge rules. You may leave a comment there or on this post if you'd like to join. Be sure to include your fitness miles goal in your comment.

Did you track your fitness challenge miles* in November?

*ONE fitness challenge miles = 1 mile walked or run for fitness OR = 15 minute increments of other exercise for fitness such as aerobic or strength training exercises.

What kinds of exercise have you been doing?

My ongoing goal has been to reach 100 fitness challenge miles* every month and I just squeaked by this month with 100.97 miles. Phew! That was close. You can see what kinds of fitness related things I did this month in my November fitness log.  I ran A LOT this month. In fact, I worked out 27 out of 30 days in November and 11 out of those 27 workouts were spent running. I think it's the weather. There's something unique about chilly fall mornings that makes me want to get outside and run.

Here's a summary of the fitness challenge miles I earned in November:

Running [outdoors] .... 36.97 [36.97 miles]
Cycling [on road]....... 25 [85.9 miles]
Spin class [in gym] ....14
Kickbox class ........... 13
Strength training........ 12

Total ...................... 100.97

I'm shooting for another 100 fitness challenge miles in December. How about you?

Still Running

Approximately two years ago I did something completely out of my comfort zone and joined an outdoor running group. I had just started biking a month or two prior, but aside from that my regular workouts for several years consisted of pretty much the same four fitness classes at the gym, four days a week. I was not a runner. I would run once in a blue moon if I had to, but it was definitely not my thing. I decided to give the running class a try anyway, in order to support the instructor [who was also a friend] who was trying to get this new class off the ground.

So I joined this running group.

I admit I was not very good at it.

In the beginning, I could barely run 2 miles [3.2 K] before I'd have to slow down to a walk to catch my breath. But I stuck it out and thanks to the efforts of the instructor, the support and positive encouragement from the small group of awesome women in the class, I slowly improved. Five weeks later, everyone in our group signed up for a local race and I ran in my first ever race on November 28, 2009. It was a 5 Mile Race [8 K] and I finished in 1:01:46. It was a slow 12:21 / mile pace and I recall having to power walk a couple of times to catch my breath, but I did it. I was very proud of myself for putting myself out there doing something new and something that was downright hard.

I decided to run that same race this year so I could see how much my fitness level has improved over the last two years.

On Saturday, November 26, 2011, I ran the same 5 Mile Race [8 K] and finished in 51:17 !!! :)

That's more than 10 minutes faster than my time two years ago! My pace was decent at 10:15 / mile, but this actually placed me in the bottom 20% of the 800+ people who participated in this race. Ugh, that stinks. There are a lot of really fast runners out there, people! But this is about me, not them, so whatever. Besides, I look SUPER FAST and HAPPY in this [blurry] picture, don't I?  


And that's what really counts. Not the super fast part, although that is nice. The HAPPY part. 


Get out there and try something new. Challenge yourself. Work for it. Make yourself healthier and happier. It feels good.  :) 

Fitness Challenge Report Card: October 2011

Hello November! What a wacky few days we just had around here with that freak snow storm and the damage it caused. The kids were back in school today and things are mostly back to normal, but in some areas here and there it feels like you're in a labyrinth trying to figure out how to get from A to B with some roads still closed due to broken tree limbs and power lines in the streets. As far as our school calendar, it's going to be an interesting year. We already have one day taken away from our spring break in April and no snow days to get us through the winter. Let's hope it's a mild winter and all snow storms take place on the weekends!

Thankfully, our town allowed trick-or-treating on Halloween, because I heard that some other New Jersey towns "cancelled" trick-or-treating because of the safety hazards. My girls were out for a while and came home with several pounds of candy--including at least a dozen Reese's peanut butter cups [my favorite] but only one Twix bar [my other favorite]. And yet I am reporting to you with immense pride and astonishment that I have successfully resisted the evil temptation of Halloween candy for 48 hours! I haven't had a single piece! NOT ONE! This is major, people. I don't think there's EVER been a time in my life when I haven't eaten Halloween candy. We're talking four+ decades! Where this resolve came from, I do not know. Maybe it's because I know exactly how freaking hard I have to work just to burn 100 calories! Speaking of which...

Did you track your fitness challenge miles* in October?

What kinds of exercise have you been getting?

My ongoing goal is to reach 100 fitness challenge miles* every month. I came in at 119.65 for October, exceeding my goal by a nice chunk this time. I only took two days off from working out this month. One day because of those monthly cramps [omg how many YEARS am I going to go through this? For a lovely rant, see my post from 2008 titled Don't Do the Math in which I do the math. Add on a few dozen days for the last three years... ]. The other was the day after the snow storm when the gym had no power and it was just too dangerous out there to exercise under the trees!

Here's a summary of what I did in October to rack up all those miles:

Cycling [on road]....... 31
Strength training........ 25
Running [outdoors].... 28.65
Spin class [in gym].... 16
Kickbox class ........... 14
Cardio Interval class... 4
Swim [indoor pool] ... 1

TOTAL fitness miles ....119.65

I did a lot of cycling in October. My friend Maureen and I are planning to bike in a Gran Fondo, next September [100 mile bike course], so we started training by doing some longish rides together. We spent over 8 hours biking over four weekend days, logging over 118 miles. :)

I ran two 5K races in October, which was pretty fun. The first one was on my birthday in which I ran my new personal best of 30:02! I am very excited about that, but hope to break 30 minutes in my next 5K, which will probably be in January. [5K = 3.1 miles]

Empty Sky 9/11 Memorial
Liberty State Park
Jersey City, NJ
Photo taken on October 16, 2011
NJ Make-A-Wish 5K Run

The second 5K I ran took place in Liberty State Park along the pier where I had views of the New York City skyline, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty for the whole run. There is also a new 9/11 Memorial in the park that was opened just this September called Empty Sky Memorial. If you stand in front of the memorial [as I was when I took the photo on the left], the memorial fills in the skyline where the twin towers once stood. The names of all those who died on 9/11 are engraved along the wall of the memorial. When you get to the other side, you see the skyline as it is today... an empty sky. I like the design of this memorial a lot and think it's a very meaningful and appropriate addition to Liberty State Park. If you're in the area, I recommend you see it for yourself.

I still miss my Friday 5:45 am Bootcamp class. Okay, I don't miss the 5:45 am part, but I DO miss the friends with whom I took the class and I miss how freaking hard it was. At least now I get to sleep in until 6:45 am on Fridays and then I go running with my friend Marie after the girls are off to school. I have to admit it's nice to exercise in the daylight instead of just before sunrise, and Marie and I get to chat the whole time. Plus fall weather is the best for running! Not too warm, not too cold and the foliage is pretty, too.

In November, I'm thinking of running a 5 Mile Race on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. This is the same race that I did a few weeks after I first started running back in November 2009. I can't believe that was just two years ago--I've come such a long way since then. Anyway, I ran that 5 Mile race in 1:01:47 and would like to see what kind of time I could get now. Other than that, I'll just aim for 100 fitness miles again this month.

What are your fitness or exercise goals for November?


Interested in joining the Fitness Challenge? Please visit the Sign Up post for more information, including the challenge rules. You may leave a comment there or on this post if you'd like to join. Be sure to include your fitness miles goal in your comment.

*ONE fitness challenge miles = 1 mile walked or run for fitness OR = 15 minute increments of other exercise for fitness such as cardiovascular or strength training exercises.

After the Triathlon: What's Next?

It's been a month since the triathlon and I believe it's safe to say that officially lost the tri "high." Sure, the pride and sense of accomplishment will always be there, but the thrill has waned. I imagine my family is grateful for the break. They were so patient listening to my incessant triathlon-this triathlon-that training chatter. :)

Last September's triathlon was on my calendar for almost a whole year and I hadn't realized how accustomed I became to having a goal towards which to train. Once the tri was over, it was a matter of days before I started thinking, "WHAT'S NEXT?"

So I've been PLANNING! Here's a running list--pun intended!--of events I'd like to do over the next several months:

_√_ October 1, 2011     5K Run for cancercare.org
_√_ October 16, 2011   5K Run for Make A Wish Foundation
___ November 26, 2011 5 Mile Turkey Trot
___ January 1, 2012     5K Hangover Run
___ January 21, 2012    Romp to Stomp Breast Cancer
                                      5K Snow Shoeing Event
___ July xx, 2012        Sprint Triathlon <--in ocean! OR Duathlon <--on land!
___ August 28, 2012    SheROX Sprint Triathlon
___ September 9, 2012  Danskin Sprint Triathlon <--so disappointed same day as Gran Fondo :(
___ September 9, 2012  Gran Fondo 100 Mile Bike Event
___ September 30, 2012  5KTunnel to Towers
___ November xx, 2012 SheROX Sprint Triathlon in Bermuda <--A girl can dream, right?

This is just a plan. Everything is subject to change. Events may be added or deleted at whim. But I do hope to do most--if not all of these events. In any case, it should be an eventful year for me. Literally.  : )

What about YOU? Do you have any Run or Walk Events on YOUR calendar? 


If not, you should find one in your area. It's FUN! 

Fitness Challenge Report Card: August & September 2011

Interested in joining the Fitness Challenge? Please visit the Sign Up post for more information, including the challenge rules. You may leave a comment there or on this post if you'd like to join. Be sure to include your fitness miles goal in your comment.

This is a double report card for August and September.

Are you all still tracking your fitness challenge miles*?

*ONE fitness challenge miles = 1 mile walked or run for fitness OR = 15 minute increments of other exercise for fitness such as cardiovascular or strength training exercises.

I know Brandy is. She makes note of them every day at the bottom of her daily blog post--which is a great way to keep track of and reflect on what you're doing. I'm still keeping a log of my exercise on my fitness blog, See how she runs..., which I update every couple of days.

How did you do with your fitness challenge miles* in August? And September?

My ongoing goal is to reach 100 fitness challenge miles* every month. In August I came in at a mere 43.8 miles, which I more or less anticipated since I was on vacation with my family for two weeks in Europe, during which I didn't do any workout specific workouts, although we walked miles every day touring the cities, climbed tons of stairs in subways, museums and landmarks always carrying a backpack and often lugging luggage around. So it was hardly a lazy vacation. Then later in the month I missed a few days of working out because of hurricane Irene. Considering those "interruptions" to my regularly scheduled workouts, I was still pretty active.

In September, my fitness goals were both awesome and a bit disappointing. First the awesome. As most of you already know, I competed in My First Triathlon on September 11 and had a really fantastic experience! It so much fun-- the training, the anticipation and finally doing it! I enjoyed it so much that I'm planning to do it again next year!

As for the disappointing part, I fell short in meeting my 100 miles again in September. It's one thing if something legitimate comes up like sickness or vacation, but I was working out consistently. Argh!! I've since figured out why and will make the necessary adjustments so I can reach my goal this month.

One reason I missed some fitness miles was because I was leaving 15 minutes early from my 6-7 am fitness classes three days a week since school started so that I could be home before my teen left for school. She has zero period this year, which means has to leave by 7:15 am and I like to be home to pack her a healthy lunch, make sure she has everything she needs and basically see her off for the day. If I'm not there in the morning before she leaves, I don't see her from bedtime the night before until 6 or 7 pm the next night because right now she has volleyball practice or games every day immediately after school. That's too long without connecting with my daughter so for now, I'll keep leaving class 15 minutes early to see her off, but I'll make up those missed fitness miles at home those days with some ab exercises, push ups and other resistance training after the girls leave for school.

Another reason I missed some fitness miles is because my Friday boot camp class has been cancelled due to lack of interest--although not mine! Ugh. I'm so upset about this. I loved that class--not only was it a killer workout that we often did outdoors, but also because all my workout friends were in it, including the instructor! I miss it. I've been running on Friday's in lieu of boot camp, but I don't always run 4 miles for the same 4 fitness miles I'd get from an hour of boot camp. I suppose I ought to make sure I DO run 4 miles on Friday's then. :P

So it looks like I've got my work cut out for me for October if I want to reach my goal of 100 fitness challenge miles!

What about you? What are your exercise plans for October?

A Happy Birthday Giveaway!

It feels like I just celebrated one of these, but here I am again! Wow, time sure flies when you're having fun. ;)

This first thing I did this year to celebrate my birthday was run in a 5K race. What a nice way to celebrate life, right? The best part--I ran the 5K in 30:02 minutes--my new personal best! Whaoo!

It was like a surprise birthday gift to myself! : )

The rest of the day was spent at home hanging out and relaxing with my husband and daughters and ended with a warm apple pastry, vanilla ice cream and a mug of my favorite herbal tea.

In the spirit of celebration and per my annual birthday tradition, I'm giving away a "birthday gift" to ONE lucky winner on my blog.

This year's "birthday gift" includes two of my favorite things-- a book [winner's choice ebook or paper book--mass market, trade or comparable priced hardcover] and a bar of dark chocolate with caramel with Hawaiian sea salt from Trader Joe's.* [It's SOoooo good!]

You're going to want to enter just for the chocolate bar. It's out of this world.

To enter the giveaway, just leave me a comment below telling me how you like to celebrate your birthday.

Giveaway ends on Saturday, October 8, 2011 EST and the winner has one week to claim prize before I'll give it away to someone else.

Please also include your email address if it's not easily found on your profile or web page.

Open to everyone, but international winner*, if chosen, will receive book of their choice per the guidelines above and shipped from The Book Depository ONLY. Thanks for understanding.

Good luck!

My First Triathlon

Today was the big day when after nearly a year of mental and physical preparations, I competed in my first ever sprint triathlon! I'm also super happy to report that it was such a great experience and I met my goal of completing the spring triathlon in 1:30:00. In fact, I beat my goal by a little over a minute! Hey--every second counts! ; )

Here is my time card from today's race that includes all my stats. Times for the swim, bike, run and transitions as well as rankings for each event, my age division and overall rank. I am especially proud of my bike time and rank....  55 out of 1600 racers!!! Woooo! omg how did I DO that?

I signed up for this triathlon back in October 2010 after being inspired and encouraged by my small group of workout friends at the gym. At that time, I had been biking for a little over two years and running for almost one year. I was not a swimmer. In fact, I only learned how to swim freestyle after taking lessons just this year in February. Seven months later--today!--I completed a sprint triathlon. I swam a 1/2 mile open water swim, ranked in the top 4% of the entire race in the cycling, and ran a competitive 10:17 minute mile pace for the 5K... finishing with a total race time of 1:28:44. My final rank is 367 out of 1600 athletes, which places me in the top 23% overall. Woooo!!!! I almost can't believe it! ... but I DID IT!!!!

My friend Marie and I

I and my gym friends--missing the one taking the picture. 

Thank you all for taking the time to read my training posts and always leaving such kind words of support and encouragement all those times I write all about ME. I appreciate your presence throughout my journey--sharing this journey on my blog has been such a great outlet for expressing my doubts, concerns, plans for improvement and for rejoicing in my accomplishments both big and small.

I hope you to find something new and challenging to do in your life like I have with this triathlon. If I can do it, so can you. It'll be a journey you'll never likely forget. : )

Triathlon Check List

The triathlon is tomorrow! Finally!!! I've been planning and training and practicing for almost a year. Now it's time to pull it all together, "tri" my best and have a blast! I'll let you know all about it sometime tomorrow or Monday.

Thanks for all your support--you've been great cheerleaders!


 Clothing Items: [what I'll be wearing]
 •tri shorts
 •compression tank
 •ankle chip strap
 •sports watch
 •sweatshirt [remove just before swim]
 •flip flops [remove just before swim]

 Swim Items: 
 •swim cap
 •open water goggles
 •spare goggles

 Bike Items: 
•bike [race# attached]
•helmet [race# attached]
•running shoes
•running socks
 •spare running socks
•sunglasses
•race number belt [race# attached]
•water bottle
•flat tire kit
 •floor pump

 Run Items: 
•hat

 Misc Transition Items: 
•backpack
•headlamp [to see what we're doing at set up at 5 am]
•garbage bag [in case of rain to keep stuff dry]
•towel for transition area
•baby powder [to get sand off feet before putting on running shoes]
•vitamin water
•luna bars
•peanut butter & banana sandwich
•sunscreen
•bug spray
•antiseptic wipes
•tissues
•band aids
•lip balm
•cell phone

Fitness Challenge Report Card: July 2011

Interested in joining the Fitness Challenge? Please visit the Sign Up post for more information, including the challenge rules. You may leave a comment there or on this post if you'd like to join. Be sure to include your fitness miles goal in your comment.

I can't believe it's the last day of July already and it will be August in just a few hours! Poof! Well, it was a productive month for me in fitness. My fitness challenge miles totaled in at 123.2 miles for July! :) You can see my daily activities on my fitness blog, See how she runs... HERE. I got in a lot of swimming and biking this month and even participated in my first ever duathlon and practiced for September's triathlon by doing a mock mini tri with a local tri-women support group to which I belong.

I finished the duathlon [2mi run - 10.6 mi bike - 3 mi run] in 1:30 and a few seconds, with which I'm happy. The biking is my best component and I averaged 17.6 mph for that leg. The last 3 mile run after pushing so hard on the bike was brutal, but I did it!

I also participated in a practice min tri with a group of women from a local tri-women support group to which I belong just last Friday. The best part of that was that I did a 20 minute open water ocean swim! You may recall I struggled with that when I went to the beach earlier in the month to practice, but now I did it! Yay!!! The ocean was A LOT calmer this time and it helped that I was with such an encouraging and supportive group of women. I also did really well with the biking part, averaging 18.6 mph for a 7.3 mile ride! Hopefully I can do the same on race day in September! The run was still killer.. :/

So how did everyone do with their fitness challenge miles* this month?

*ONE fitness challenge miles = 1 mile walked or run for fitness OR = 15 minute increments of other exercise for fitness such as cardiovascular or strength training exercises.


How did you do with your fitness challenge goal for July?


What kinds of activities did you do to keep moving this month?

Duathlon Race Day!

sunrise on the Atlantic Ocean

RACE DAY

3:30 am wake up 

4:25 am at Ellen's

5:15 am arrive at race site

6:30 am check in, set up and ready

6:35 am at start line

6:50 am first wave starts

7:47 am MY wave starts

2 mile run | 10.6 mile bike | 3 mile run 

1:30:36 

9:17 am fini!

Fini! 

Lessons learned:
1. Wear sunscreen even at 7 am in the morning.
2. Hydrate well before and during the race. Do this at least when you're in transition if you aren't accustomed to drinking during your run or ride.
3. Fuel your body at the one hour mark in a race.
4. And finally ... include checking that your brakes are engaged in your set up. My rear brake was accidentally disengaged somewhere between mounting my the bike on car and starting the race. I figured this out during the race and had to stop to engage it. I only lost 30 seconds or so on my time, but I could have been in serious trouble if I really needed my brakes!

I'm waiting for the split times to be posted so I can see how I did for each leg, but overall, I'm pretty happy with my race results. :)

Thank you for your enthusiastic support! xo

Triathlon to Duathlon

I have been busy preparing for my upcoming triathlon on July 17 with quite a few new experiences under my belt in both biking and swimming. One new learning experience was attending an open water swim clinic earlier this month--an hour in the classroom and an hour in the pool with drills for open water swimming as well as an open water simulation. The next step was to swim in a real open water situation, which I did this past weekend by going to beach to practice swimming in the ocean where next weekend's race will take place. Let me just say that after [trying to] swim in the ocean, swimming in a pool is piece of cake!

The surf on Saturday was perhaps a little rougher than usual, but that's not an excuse, because I have to be prepared for any possible surf situation--calm or rough--on the day of the triathlon. It took me a good 30 minutes to get up the nerve to get in the water and get swimming. The waves were pretty big and even after getting past the breaks, which was really tough, the swells were still so powerful. The feeling of being pushed and pulled and tossed about like a cork was so overwhelming for me. I just couldn't get calm enough to be comfortable. I wouldn't say that I was panicking, but I definitely didn't feel confident or in control, and I decided that I'm just not ready for open water swimming in the ocean. So I'm not going to compete in the triathlon next weekend. :(

The good news, however, is that next weekend's event is a multi-sport event that is simultaneously hosting triathlon, duathlon and aqua-velo events. So I'm switching my race entry to compete in a duathlon instead. A duathlon is a run-bike-run event so I'm basically replacing the swim portion with a 2 mile run. I'll be doing a course that consists of a 2 mile run, a 10.6 mile bike, followed by a 3.0 mile run. An aqua-velo event is swim-bike only.

I am still planning on doing the Danskin Triathlon in September as that swim event is held in a bay as opposed to the ocean. I think I'll fare much better swimming where the power of the water isn't nearly as fierce as the ocean.

I felt pretty sad and defeated on Saturday when I realized I couldn't do the open water swimming in the ocean, but once I let it sink in a bit [no pun intended!], I feel so much less stressed out about next week's race and am now spending this week training and counting down the days to competing in my first ever duathlon!  : )

Fitness Challenge Report Card: June 2011

Interested in joining the Fitness Challenge? Please visit the Sign Up post for more information, including the challenge rules. You may leave a comment there or on this post if you'd like to join. Be sure to include your fitness miles goal in your comment.

This month's fitness challenge post is going to be a brief one. I'm posting this late at night, I'm too tired to think creatively and my Friday outdoor bootcamp fitness class starts in five hours! Yikes!

So how did everyone do with their fitness challenge miles* this month?

*ONE fitness challenge miles = 1 mile walked or run for fitness OR = 15 minute increments of other exercise for fitness such as cardiovascular or strength training exercises.

I don't remember if I set my goal for 100 or 115 fitness miles for June, but in any case, I ended the month at 109.3 fitness miles as of today. I'm happy with that. :)

I did my usual fitness classes of spin, strength training, kickbox, bootcamp, as well as swimming laps and a short run or two. I was also able to go to Zumba twice this month for the first time in ages, thanks to my teenage daughter who is out of school now until September and therefore able to "babysit" her grandfather for me in the morning so I could get to the gym for 9 am Zumba class on Tuesdays. Yay! I love Zumba.  : )

If you want to see what I did to keep moving all month long, you can see my June Workout Log.

How did you do with your fitness challenge goal for June?


What kinds of activities did you do to keep moving this month?


Thanks for playing along in the monthly fitness challenge!

: )