The Big Sissy's Long Awaited Race Report...

...or How I Broke My Foot in Two Places....
...or How Much Running in Soft Sand is Too Much???...

All of these would be fitting titles to the Big Sissy's RR...but we'll let her rant for a bit....


If I were in charge of the world (which I am not-but she is striving towards) all races would be planned with common sense and the non runner in mind! (again, a reminder that the thoughts expressed here are solely the writers and may not be confused with the blog's owner's own love of running!!) So after we picked up our excellent race packets, which were the highlight of this race, we learned where the Five Guys Burgers and Fries along with the PetSmart are located in New Jersey. Being a dog owner myself I have to say that the information on where the PetSmart was located along with the location of the 24/7 emergency vet could be potentially useful information but I digress. Race packet pick up was very smooth which considering it was 4th of July weekend at the shore was amazing because it could have been a giant nightmare!
We arrived at the race site only to discover that the racks (at least some of them) were numbered wrong. (I think this was only the 10 or so numbers that the Big Sissy fell into, but I for one was confused when after seeing the mis-marked racks couldn't find mine...) So I set all my stuff up and then had to move all my stuff again. Not so horrible but I should have known then. As we got our pre-race directions we learned that the race was going to start ½ mile from the transition area and then go another 400 or so meters down the beach. Now, there are 80 blocks of beach in Avalon and I understand that some people had trouble last year with the current and ran into the peer but again…there are 80 blocks of beach. After a lovely week of water temperatures the wind decided to change on Saturday and so the water was COLD and I don’t just mean a little cold I mean freeze your feet off, can’t breathe cold.

We need to get you a wetsuit Mooch...

Like any good swimmer would do, I simply swam like the little old ladies who didn’t want to get their purple hair wet at the pool in the summer. My old lady breast stroke was still faster than most of the people’s regular swimming but then we hit the beach…now we have to RUN back to our bikes in the loose sand (see map...I think she's referring to the map I posted previously...) Any advantage that I gained in the water was VERY quickly lost as I trudged back to my bike. you passed this guy trudging!!

The bike was a scenic three loop course, like my sister my ADHD kicked in and by the middle of the second lap I was completely bored but I did notice some very cute doggies along the way who were passing time with their people watching the race. The helpers were cheerful and helpful which is always nice. Not too many bike complaints except that again, you have 80 blocks of beach maybe there was a way to stretch the bike route out so that you didn’t have to do 3 loops but again…

But you're smiling here!!

...next was the run and thanks to the piping plovers (adorable little endangered birds that they are) nesting on the boardwalk we got to run on the beach at high tide. I could again say that there are 80 blocks of beach and PAVEMENT in Avalon but you get the idea. WHY ON EARTH DO YOU RUN ON THE LOOSE SAND FOR THREE MILES WHEN THERE IS A PERFECTLY GOOD PAVED STREET??? Less than ¼ of a mile into running in the loose sand I ditched my shoes and ran barefoot for the remainder of the race. It is completely demoralizing to pass the finish line 3 times especially when you are slow like me. But I did finish and the ice cold towel was a very nice consolation prize. Nic’s beach towel was way cooler. As a total positive they had CHOCOLATE MILK at the finish which was great and REALLY COLD (like the ocean) and since I didn’t swallow any salt water or work hard enough to puke it was sure tasty!!! Since I couldn’t walk on my screwed up ankle (which later turns out to be a broken in 2 places metatarsal bone...) which was now even more screwed up thanks to three miles in loose sand, my very kind sister the nurse went in search of some ice. This turned out to be a much larger challenge than one might think and again proved the value of the ice cold towel at the finish. Anyway, couldn’t get out of there fast enough and for sure I wouldn’t do the race again, even with the awesome packet stuff because I really do think common sense shouldn’t be so hard but hey what do I know?! Some nap time on the beach and a walk in the water to ice my foot finished the afternoon for me.

Nice Puke-Free Finish!!!

Congrats on a great race despite the broken foot and all...I think that ranks you pretty tough in my book!! And a shout out to Dad for the great pictures...although he failed to capture my pukey finish photo, he did a pretty good job getting all the other highlights...or at least some good pictures of the lady in purple he thought was me!! JK...luv your skillz DAD!

Busy-ness...

I need to show my blog some love!! I'll have the Big Sissy's race report up soon since she finally sent it to me...but first I must edit because we all know about the dog (who has made a miraculous recovery...thank goodness) and well because it's my blog and for once I can print what I want...call it repressed pride of authorship for all of those Christmas letters I wrote that were hilarious only to be edited to a more tame and way less funny outcome because someone didn't like something I said!! :) I promise not to butcher it too much Mooch.

I spent this week slowly getting reacquainted with my running shoes...and by slowly I mean after 10 days I finally went for a run...and of course I chose the hottest most humid day to venture out, but I lived to tell the tale and I wasn't even too sore the next day, so we'll classify it as a success...but the reality is I need to get back out there and start getting some base miles in before marathon training starts in full at the beginning of August...this is so against my procrastinating tendencies...so maybe I'll start tomorrow!

For today's project I made pickles...random I know...especially since I've never made pickles before let alone canned anything BUT from my initial (completely amateur) opinion, I think I did a good job...it appears I ended up with a good seal on all 8 jars...so in a couple of days we'll see how they taste. The garden is doing so well...I never imagined I'd enjoy it so much or have as many cucumbers as I do...next year maybe I'll plant some cucumbers that are supposed to be made into pickles, this year we'll just have to improvise! The tomato plants have a million green tomatoes which are all of a sudden turning red in big numbers instead of the one or two every few days I've been getting...just yesterday this is what I picked... ...and the most exciting news is that I've got baby green peppers!!! I'm so excited!

...aren't they cute?!!? I'm already planning for the fall and next year so that I can better use the space I've made...but an expansion is definitely in the plan...especially now that I'm a master canner (spelled correctly just for you Lee!!!)!! Ha! Hope everyone had a great weekend! :)

New Jersey or Bust!

Well I think our long weekend would be described as a Bust! Maybe we should have taken the closed due to flooding tunnel as an omen to not make the trip....or maybe we should have considered the resulting 15 mile back-up at the other tunnel a sign...but silly us...decided to change plans, meet Geek some where in MD to return the puppy and continue our trek up the Eastern Shore to NJ...only to land here less than 30 minutes after our arrival to the parental units....Yes that would be the emergency 24 hour vet hospital!!! In keeping with my strong sense of fairness, Jack decided that he too needed some emergency surgery...fortunately with a lot of luck and the quick actions of his well trained owners, his bout with GVD (aka Bloat....180 degree flipped stomach, filled up with air...) was successfully resolved with surgical intervention by Dr. Jessica. Needless to say, we are so thankful it was successful as we were in no way prepared for the alternative. 48 hours after surgery...when he decided he would eat for us instead of the great hospital staff that took awesome care of him, he was released back to us for a little R&R and the salvage of a nice last day at the beach...which was spent swimming, running, biking and running...at a little race called Islandman.... ...I'm going to let my sister rant about this race...mostly because she chose it, but let me just say, I disagree a little with this particular course but I'm sure that the race director had good reason why it was organized as it was...however it involved a TON of running and a good deal was on softer sand...which I know is unavoidable when doing a beach triathlon...but starting the swim away from the transition area and then swimming even further down the beach just didn't make sense!! So with that little explanation, here's my quick race report...ocean swim...a little choppy but with a good current it was very quick, not that you could tell that from my 11+ minute time for the 1/4 mile swim but really the fastest woman's time was 8+ so I'm not too disappointed....most of my 11 minutes was spent running from the swim exit to transition...I think they could have lessened the blow of this largely soft sand run to transition by having another timing mat at the swim exit but everyone did the same race...on to T1 which was mostly uneventful for me...I'm never super fast but this year I've really mastered having coffee and scones in transition so my just over 1 minute time pleased me especially since I opted to remove my wetsuit once I got to my bike....and speaking of the bike...it was a lovely 3 loop 12 mile ride...it was enjoyable but really hard to remain legal with 400 racers in a 4 mile area but surprisingly few penalties were handed out...and luckily I was not one of the lucky ones receiving one of those even though I was convinced I had incurred one trying to pass a couple guys that were already blocking the guy I was trying to pass...it was ugly but I was pleased with my time of 38 minutes and some change but grossly reminded that my ADHD can really only handle two laps tops!!...T2 was also uneventful...despite that others tell you not to talk to anyone even your parents I had a nice quick conversation with my mom while changing shoes and quickly got on my way to run in some more soft sand. Originally this run was described as a 5K beach run on the boardwalk...but thanks to some nesting Piping Plovers it was run entirely on the beach...and I'm pretty sure the boardwalk in Avalon, NJ isn't very long so it would have been a lot of circles to get 5K...not that passing the finish line not once, not twice but three times before actually finishing was much better!! Despite the sandy run and my awesome vomiting at the end of the race (UGH...think I swallowed a bit much salt water during the swim...) I actually managed a 25 minute 5K which I thought was ok...in all I finished 4th in my age group netting an awesome beach towel prize. And while I have been there done that on this race, considering its reasonable price tag the goodie bag, technical t-shirts and prizes were really awesome....and best of all an iced down towel as a finishers medal...I love useful gear! So with that a few more pics from the weekend....

The Boys Chillin' after Jack's Return Home

The Big Sissy and I in Transition

Off We walk to the Swim!!

...I'll have more pics for the Big Sissy's guest race report...but until then hope everyone's having a great week! :)