This is not a test...

...in fact, the gurgling you may have heard (if you'd been running ahead or behind me in this morning's trail half), was my intestines. Too much liquid, not enough solids. No port-o-potties and just my sheer will (and an aid station a few miles away) to keep it in check. Other than my intestinal roiling early on, I felt great so I made a vow to myself to eat something (a PB&J bite and some Pringles) at the next aid station. I settled for a cup of water, a few chips and a bite of the PB&J bite --crust and part of the bread followed the empty water cup into the trash bin--and then I was off. There's something about that aid station that makes me run a little more purposefully. For the second year in a row, one of the volunteers has commented on how strong I looked as I re-entered the woods.

A few minutes into the woods and I'd already picked off my first runner and began progressing along the trail. I felt confident in my technical skills and that made up for my lack of speed. A few miles in I began a conversation with the woman ahead of me--I needed to remind myself that this was just a training run and I needed to save a little for my run tomorrow. So we chatted about last year's race, about JFK50, about trail fashion (I was wearing both a new shirt and new Inov-8s--that's a no no, right? It all worked out, thank goodness--no new blisters, no chafe). Chatting helped keep my pace steady/slow. At the last aid station I gambled on a cup of Mountain Dew. Can't stand the stuff in every day life, but there's something about that neon yellow liquid that gives me the extra push to finish well. And I did--finish well, that is.

As we entered the final 200 m I could see the historical cemetary ahead and to my right and I could hear the strains of some classic rock song. Crazily, it felt like the final scene in The Warriors--hearing that jangly music and seeing the Wonder Wheel and knowing I was home. It felt like that until I broke out of the tree line and saw the crowd in a small knot at the finish line. I was not on Coney Island, but in my temporary home further down the East Coast and I was done--at least for today. I ran through the finish chute and just stopped short and into a walk. My toes hurt a little (a combination of klutziness and new shoes, I suspect), but really I could have gone another 13. I feel good and closer to being ready to slay bigger dragons.

Still. Here.

I'm running. Slowly and in need of new trail and road shoes, but I am happy to report that I am officially training for JFK50. The race essentially filled in two or three days so it has been a worrisome two weeks of waiting to find out whether my application made the cut. Today its official. So I'm pleased.

And I had a fantastic weekend so I'm glowing (and its Monday morning so imagine that!)

As part of my training/life plan I'm also doing this (thanks Ben. Things are going well ;). If you wonder how I look so good (tee hee hee) check it out!

And as part of my sanity maintenance regimen I took an aerial silks class at the Trapeze School-NY on Saturday. It was ridiculously fun and challenging. My shoulders, my forearms and pecs are sore, but in the best possible way. I had such a good time I'm going back next weekend.

Oh and I also checked out a new trail . And somewhere in there was dancing and drinkies and a few too many late nights, but I feel good and had a much needed enjoyable weekend.

Trail inspiration

Yay pix (or at least a single picture)! I'm working on getting a new camera (why are there so many options?!?) and on finding my inspiration these days. The weather is bumming me out, as is the parade of semi-flaky running partners. *sigh*

Sunday Fun Run (ha ha ha)

Sunday's trail half really was mostly fun. A little chilly, a little rainy and VERY muddy, but overall really beautiful and enjoyable. Oddly I hated the technical hills a lot less than the flat, long, boring fire roads. I'm not sure what that says about me other than that I prefer a rocky, rooty run in the woods to wide flat roads stretching interminably ahead. NO pix yet because my camera is broken and official photos have yet to be posted.

This was my first race with this adventure racing company and so far they get two thumbs up from me. Great course, well marked, enthusiastic volunteers and racers. I have nothing else planned until September at this point (of course I'll run--that's just what I do) and am envying those people who live in places where there's either an organized trail race or an FA almost any weekend.

Mmm...food

Other than trail food I don't talk food much, but those who know me well know that I love to eat. Let me qualify that, I love to eat when the food is high quality and the company is as well. Yesterday I wanted coffee but given a variety of minor health issues, caffeine is a really bad choice right now so instead of spending $4.00 on a random hot drink I went shopping for red chai and almond milk and returned home with nearly $70 in groceries. Go me! I'm single handedly working on saving the economy.

On a whim I purchased a few new (and expensive!) products to try: Teese Mozzarella Vegan cheese and Honest Granola Planks.

I love that there are more and more vegan cheese options every day: Sheese, Chreese, Teese, Follow Your Heart, VeganRella, Tofutti...and I wanted to love Teese as an alternative to Follow Your Heart, BUT I don't love the consistency. Teese melts, but then it develops watery pools so you have to wait a little while for it to re-solidify so it doesn't slide off your dish. Once it resolidifies it has an unappetizingly rubbery consistency. The flavor? Its a little sweet--which I didn't mind, but its disarming. It also tastes, sadly, rather like processed "cheese food." All this being said, I think it might work really well in recipes (other than pizza) where cheese is not the focal point.

The Honest Granola Planks were fantastic! A little high in cals and fat but what granola isn't? Great flavor, good mouth feel and texture (soft and chewy, but held up well in coconut milk yogurt) and conveniently packaged for breakfast on the run, post-gym snack or out on the trails. Two paws up on the granola front for sure!

So, to recap: skip the Teese for pizzas but give it a try on sandwiches if you have the room in your grocery budget (retails for approx $5/tube) and want something different. And if you enjoy granola or chewy and grainy snack bars you will dig the Honest Granola Planks

Still crosstraining

The rain is killing my workouts, I can't bring the dogs out in a downpour because they refuse to walk too far when its wet out and I can't leave them alone inside on a rainy day because they are totally stir crazy.  *sigh*  Yep, excuses--I have many.   

I did a brief trail run yesterday once the rain stopped and cross trained on the TRX today.   We are in for a rainy week so I'm planning for many lunchtime run/crosstraining workouts.  This will all hopefully help me feel more prepared for the half in two weeks.

I'm having a few issues with my current road shoes and am hoping to address them in a few weeks.  

Hitting the trails/rocking the roads

In three weeks I run my first trail race of the year and then my schedule is all over the place: Komen 5K, another trail half, a trail 50K, the Nike Women's Marathon, and possibly JFK if my budget supports it. So I'm splitting my weekends into one day of trail running and one day of road/light trail running. I have no plan in mind yet other than to run and think, to drink and eat and run, and to run more. My work/school life are scheduled enough that I'm not sure I want my running life to be the same. We'll see how that goes. Just another few strides in the grand experiment.

Happy Trails.