Running

Weekend Buzz

| cheriarmour

So, I totally hope you guys had an awesome weekend – I sure did!  It went by way way too fast, and I don’t feel like I got to spend enough time with Austin, but I’m hoping to make up for some of it this week.

So, after I did wine with Matthew on Friday night, and taught Zumba, I headed to the Raleigh Half Ironman expo to grab some cowbells, because come Sunday morning, I had plans to wake up early, cheer on some Half Ironman and Half Iromwomen, and grab brunch with one of my best friends in the entire world.

Let’s review really quickly.  So for those of you who are unfamiliar (cause prior to last year, I was!) with what a Half Ironman is, a Half Ironman (often denoted as 70.3), is a triathlon that involves a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile (whew!) bike ride, and a half marathon at the end (13.1 miles), to top it off.  I spectated last year, and had such a great time, that I went for it again this year.

DSC_0708

We started off by spectating some of the guys that would be considered elite.

DSC_0709

DSC_0710DSC_0711We changed locations to meet up with the Lemons (the cool chickaroos from Lululemon)

DSC_0713

DSC_0717

Caitlin, on the left, was giving out free hugs, and it was really really cute to see folks stop, look really relived, and then go in for a big, sweaty hug.  At one point, she said she had to spit someone else’s sweat out of her mouth (GROSS!!?) but she was an awesome sport about it.

After I cheered and cowbelled for the Ironmen and ladies, I headed down to a carwash closer to the north side that had been revamped, and that was doling out free carwashes.  Since I’m on a budgeting kick, I could not justify paying to wash my car, so I went and got a wash, and vacuumed it out as well.

DSC_0720DSC_0719I’ve got to admit, the part where I put my car in neutral, and just sort of rode along was a little scary, and I’m not sure I’d like to do that again.

And finally, I was inspired by the folks from this morning that I topped this busy day off with a run.

How was your weekend?  

OMG PS ONE LAST THING!!!!!!!!!!  I finally registered for my Body Pump Training – so as of mid-July, I am going to Wilmington to get trained to teach Body Pump.  I am SO excited!!!!  Can you tell by all the exclamation points?

The Vibram thing.

| cheriarmour

There’s a saying in Haiti, and it translates loosely to this. “You eat the meat, and spit out the bones.”

What it means?

Take what you want or need from every situation, and “spit out” what you don’t need. This logic should have applied in the case of Vibrams. Vibram, which is under the umbrella of New Balance (fun fact!) advertised these zero-drop minimalist shoe, and claimed, among other things, that the shoes would alleviate knee pain, blah blah blah.  I need you guys to understand that any shoe that across-the-board, promises to alleviate knee pain, is probably bs because of the sheer fact that shoes are subjective.  Everyone cannot wear every shoe.  Because every body is different.

I digress however.

vibram.jpg

I started running in Vibrams like 3 years ago.

It was fine, until my achilles tendon on my right side started bothering me.  So I stuck to the shoes mainly for things like weightlifting, and left the long runs to shoes with more cushion.  I love cushioning, and minimalist running just wasn’t for me.  Didn’t mean it sucked.  But certainly didn’t mean it ruled either.

So back to my original point, Vibram just lost a class action lawsuit for making claims such as the one I mentioned above, with the knee thing.  Folks were getting the shoes on, running like 8 miles in them their first day, and experiencing some serious issues.  Which is obviously Vibram’s fault.  <-that was sarcasm.

So yes, perhaps claiming that Vibrams would magically cure the common cold was a stretch, but where does consumer common sense rule in making decisions about running shoes?

I cannot tell you how many time folks would walk into the store, state they had just had surgery to fix a ruptured achilles tendon, and then ask to see all minimal shoes, despite our suggestions toward something with a little more structure.

Here’s the lesson you should take from this Vibrams thing.

USE YOUR BRAIN WHEN SHOPPING FOR SHOES.  If you’ve been injured before, it’s really not the time to try some crazy shoe with zero support.  If something hurts, stop it and consider a different shoe.  And for the love of God, investigate all wacky claims for yourself.

Have a ever run “barefoot”?  What did you think?

-I did for a short time, like I said, before my achilles started bothering me, so I stopped.  After that, I ran in the Saucony Kinvara for a while, which seemed to agree with me a little bit more.  Austin actually lifts daily in his Vibrams, but he is relatively injury-free and has no problem with it, but he saves his long runs for a more traditional running shoes.

 

Getting Old…

| cheriarmour

Let me start this off by saying that I feel absolutely ageless. I’m 26 years old, and I don’t feel a day over 27.

Jk, but I think between the working out, and spending most of my summers with high schoolers, I’m kind of a young spirit.

But there’s something going on inside of me that indicates that I’m getting a little hold.

So, when I was training for my first marathon over a year ago, the Shamrock Marathon in VA Beach, I started “reading” books on tape, especially during my long runs when my partner, Jenny, couldn’t make it.  During that time I tried to read some crappy book that my religion professor told me was good, I read Kathy Griffins memoir, and I read Tina Fey’s Memoir.  All awesome.  Like, falling-off-the-sidewalk-laughing-so-hard funny.  Kathy Griffin surprisingly isn’t all piss and wind the way she makes herself out to be, she actually had some pretty sketchy things happen in her immediate family, suffered with binge eating, and suffered with a terrible end to a marriage.  Tina Fey is perfect so…

So anyways, now that I’m not really training for much, I’m kind of in my groove where I run anywhere between 3-however many miles a day, and I discovered the best thing ever to help pass the time.  I found comedians on Spotify.

photo (7)Now, I LOVE a good comedian or comedienne.

My faves are obviously Tina, Chris Rock, and Kathy Griffin.  (I can’t sand Chelsea Lately cause I think she’s not funny and really racist, and I hate that she has that little person running around her show like he’s some kinda of novelty item when he’s a human being.)  But as I was listening to a Chris Rock album from about 2005, I could not help but be a little uncomfortable in response to some of the ubiquitous swearing.

Trust me, I can swear with the best of them.  But my speech, in general, is not peppered with offensive words because I don’t want to sound like a dumb dirty idiot.

The older I get, the more offended I find myself getting with profanity, especially ubiquitous profanity just thrown in there for shits and giggles.

I kid.  But anyone else starting to feel this way?

 

What I did this weekend!

| cheriarmour

I am a naughty naughty blogger.

Instead of being the good blogger I know I can be, I did not preschedule out posts like I should have for this weekend, so that’s why things were a little quiet around here over the weekend.  I’m sorry!  But I’ll refresh you on all the cool stuff I did this weekend.

Saturday:  I taught my Zumba class like normal, and then, I went down to a friend’s to pick up a new toy!  I don’t have photos just yet, but my new (to me!) toy is a little commuter bike that I am going to start using – I think I’m gonna try to ride to work once or twice a week for a little extra exercise and to save a little bit on gas.  Any of you guys commute this way to work?

Then, I headed down to Elon (I know, you guys are getting sick of me talking about how great Elon is,) and I headed to the 15-year anniversary party for my a cappella group, Twisted Measure.  The concert was so so great, and they released another CD, available now on iTunes.

My frands!

DSC_0490

DSC_0491

DSC_0493

These kids throw a killer, killer party, and the evening consisted of yard games, barbecue, Jack Daniels jello shots, and Fireball (which I had to kindly decline).

Somehow, but the grace of god (and a package of this electrolyte stuff), I managed to get up, get a run in with a friends from the group (I LOVE DOING THAT!) and even managed to take the little bike out for a test ride!

Okay, that was mine,

How was your weekend? 

Here’s What! What three things are you obsessed with today!

| cheriarmour

It’s Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday….

Okay, so are you kinda obsessed with the fact that it’s the weekend again? And that Monday is Cinco de Mayo? And that means that I will be drinking tequila. Pictures to come. Or maybe not. I want to keep my job.

Here’s what three things I’m obsessed with this Friday!

mean-girls-im-from-michigan1.  Mean Girls 10th Anniversary.  It literally never gets old.  Ever.  I wish Lindsay the best…I’m serious!

2.  When the drug reps bring lunch to the office.  I’m starting to get obsessed with budgeting a little bit, and I’ve figured out an awesome little trick to making sure that I get a free and healthy lunch.  Now, I try and pack my lunch each day.  On the days that I pack lunch and a drug rep brings lunch, I make a plate of the healthy stuff that most of the folks avoid, and shove it in the back of the fridge with my name on it.  The following day (or sometimes two) I have lunch that’s healthy, and it’s free!  Best. EVER!

3.  The Nike Women’s Half Marathon.  I talked about this earlier today, but look at this.

photo 4My smile could not get any bigger that day, and I was floating on clouds for like days.

This is what I’m obsessed with this week.

What three things are you obsessed with?  

 

 

Epic Damned Post. #Werundc

| cheriarmour

So this past weekend (don’t you dare ask me what took so long to post this), I ran the Nike Women’s Half Marathon in Washington, DC.  This post is going to be split up into two posts, one for the race itself and the prep leading up to it, because I don’t want your brain to explode from how awesome all of the deets are.  But they are awesome.

Okay, so I drove up to DC last Friday night, and arrived to my place in Georgetown, which, luckily was right down the street from Niketown Georgetown.  As SOON as I got settled into my spot, I changed into some running clothes, and made the quick run down to Niketown to see the set up for the expo.   photo-1

Thanks to insomnia that night, I really didn’t sleep that well (think like 3 hours), and I headed down to the expo super early so I wouldn’t be caught in the shitshow that was the expo last year.  The lines were really too nuts for me last year, and I really don’t do that well around all those people in the sun.

photo 3

 

photo 1

 

DSC_0454

I meet up with these beauties for the #runnerslove meetup at Sprinkles in Georgetown after, and unfortunately, I wasn’t feeling great, so I skipped the cupcakes and went for a coke instead to try to settle whatever was going on with my stomach.  I will forever be known as “bike girl” in that group because I rode my bike down to the cupcake shop, and had to tote that thang around while we tromped around Georgetown.

DSC_0453

DSC_0435

DSC_0436

I could not eat any of these.  How cruel is this world!

DSC_0447

We determined this might have been this easiest way to eat the cupcake without making a mess.

DSC_0449

DSC_0450Here were all of the beautiful bloggers getting to work.  They were a BLAST.  A blast, I tell you.

The girls lead me to this amazing spot where I snagged some new bracelets to jingle and jangle my rest of the way through the night…

DSC_0475 DSC_0476

And finally, we arrived to race day.  (Don’t worry, I will fill you in on the rest of the amazing things we did in DC, including this insane hotel I stayed in next post, to come tomorrow 🙂 )

Race morning, I woke up around 4:45, and jumped in the shower, since I wasn’t really feeling well enough to do it the night before.  I ate half of a nasty-ass bagel that I found at CVS, and made my way down to the Foggy Bottom metro station and road down to the start line.  Once I was there, I tucked my skinny behind in a corner, and called Austin, and observed people, because pre-race chatter makes me really nuts and nervous.  And about 15 minutes from the start, I made my way into my corral.

**I must have been smoking crack when I estimated my finish time because even though I finished in just a smidgen over 2 hours, I was in the 10:30 pace group, which proved to be so wrong, because I spent far too long in the race bobbing and weaving and trying to work my way up.  DO NOT underestimate yourself.**

And with that, off we went.

I cruised.  I cruised, I cruised, and I cruised some more.  I ran, I talked to people.  I read the signs.  At one point, when I was running back through the tunnel, a drummer hit on me by grabbing my arm, and I have to say, it was an awesome race.

photo 5

photo 2-1This handsome mane delivered me my Tiffany’s.

photo 1-1

photo

My blannnnng!

photo 3-1

My new boyfriends.

The race in review?

The bad?

Seriously, none.  I have nothing bad to say about this race.

The good?

Too much.

  • The Whole Foods chocolate table at mile like 11, staffed by women giving out chocolate.
  • The course.  Tons of entertainment, and tons of people came out.
  • The swag.  A Tiffany’s necklace, water bottles, Luna Bars, Nuun along the course
  • The friends and family station done by alphabet, where we could easily meet up with our friends and family?

The race was sick.

Anyone else out there do this race?  What did you love?  

Race Etiquette

| cheriarmour

I ran the Nike Women’s Half Marathon on Sunday morning, which you totally know if you follow me on Twitter, IG, or Facebook. And yes, that is a shameless plug, but ya girl’s gotta eat!

I promise, I promise, I promise, you are going to get a full recap of that race, but I literally took 10 million pictures that I need to get together, and I might actually have to split it up into two posts.  And I literally just thought of that, and I think that’s a good idea.  I might do that!  Less overwhelming that way, right?

Okay, moving right along.  So I had a wonderful time at the race this weekend with the exception of one really really nagging issue.

So, race day, we were organized into corrals according to our estimated finish time, which we estimated way way back in December, when we were registering for the race lottery.   This is where I made my first mistake – I think I was still reeling from the death of my grandmother, and from having puked all over the Greensboro Marathon, because I must have put something much slower than my normal pace in.  When I got my bracelet which organized me into my pace group, I was pretty surprised to see that I was in like the 10:00-10:30 group.  “Alright, no big,” I said to myself.

20140427-042410.jpg

I should have known better, because I ran into this issue last year, when I started at that back of my pace group, and spent like the first three miles of the race duck, diving and dodging folks to try and rally for a good nice spot that I could cruise in for the rest of the race.  So that part was my fault, and I should have not been so hard on myself about my pace (I averaged a 9:05 for the race, which is still a little slow for me, but nowhere near that 10:30 I was tripping on).

The rest was just folks with bad manners.

Race etiquette. 

These are a few actual things I observed during the race that created a sometimes annoying, sometimes dangerous situation for me and other runners.

  • Know your pace, and stick to that pace group.  Hey, I was guilty here of starting in a pace group that was a little slow for me.  And I had to work my way up.  But when you start in the 7:30 corral, and you’re walking within the first 3/4ths of a mile, you’re creating a really dangerous situation for the runners around you that have to dodge, have to slam on their “brakes” when you decide to stop, or who have to slow down and idle behind you until they find an out.  Now, I understand that sometimes you start there, and you realize it’s just not gonna happen that day.  And that’s fine.  But that brings me to my next point.
  • If you decide that you’re not gonna stick to your pace, get over, kind of like you’re driving a car, and kind of hang out there while you stretch, catch your breath, tie your shoe, or walk it out.  Again, don’t slam on those brakes because it creates confusion and congestion for the runners behind you.
  • If someone sticks their hand out for a high five, don’t be an a-hole.  High five them back!  Chances are, because you’re with me in the 9:05 minute club, you’re not breaking any records, and you can spare a high five.  Plus, it literally makes the minutes and hours go by a little faster.
  • If you’re stopping to take a photo, get over.  I mean, seriously?  Don’t stop, whip out your friggin iPhone, and have me trippin over you because it’s time to take a selfie.  And I get it, I love a good selfie this time of year, but let’s keep it appropriate.
  • Anticipate water stops.  I saw so many people do these awkward crab walks across like 10 lanes of runner traffic for a cup of Nuun.  Fun fact:  most of the water stops were on both sides of the street (nice perk!) and didn’t require that crab walk.

So these were some of the things that I caught…what are your race pet peeves?

Rude Cows

| cheriarmour

So.

I don’t know where to begin with this.

boston-marathon-bib-stealers-sb-doodle__oPt
photo via FitPerez

So, the Boston Marathon was this past Monday, a week ago today.

And it’s a BFD to run it.

Figure out what BFD means, by the way, because I don’t want to swear all over my blog. I mean I do, but my mom reads this and always sends me really rude texts when I say shit and stuff, so figure it out. It stands for big-hmmhmm-deal.

So, it’s a BFD to run Boston. You have to train really hard for a marathon. You have to run a marathon in a qualifying time. Like a marathon isn’t hard enough, right? You have to run it fast, and then qualify. Then you like, qualify, and you qualify, and then you have to apply. Then after you apply, and you’re in, you have to go buy your ticket for your flight, get an expensive hotel, and even the most frugal of people is gonna blow a nice little chunk on their visit.

What I’m trying to say ^^ is that it’s not an easy feat to pull off to get there.  In fact, it’s difficult, and it’s a really really huge accomplishment.

So why in God’s name is a North Carolina reporting that after she posted a photo of her bib to Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, that some schmucks stole the bib by photocopying it, pinned it on like they were real runners, and ran the race?  I’m completely lost.

Long story short.

Do what you want.  But events like Boston are not the ones you need to be fooling with.  For starters, it’s a huge security risk for a bunch of strange idiots to be running the races.  Secondly, it’s a safety issue.  If one of the bandits, God forbid, gets hurt or even worse, how is anyone to know who they are when they have fake bibs connected to the original North Carolina woman?  And third?  YOU DON’T BELONG THERE.  It’s not your race to be running around in.

I’m done.  That was so rude.

What do you think?