"Today Was A Good Day" - Jae Millz

today was one of "those" days.

The kind of day where:

* Peanut makes her own lunch.
* Chuy [pickles, as of yesterday, I changed his  name] . . . he's just happy I talk to him now. . . . Pickles, left me alone all morning.

* I slept for over 5 hours.
* She comes in while I'm running ask me "how my run is going".
* I get a 17+ mile run in that felt amazing.  with no TV, no music, no cell phone/texting [gasp]

* When two people decided to buy expensive dresses from me that I've been carrying in my inventory for[freaking]ever.
* I find some awesome comedy show tickets for half price.

* What killed me was the text exchange with the Pita before buying . .

[....below this I said . . . I could probably find one if that was an invitation and or he'd be okay with it . . . notSOmuch.]
* My go-to jeans . . . fit perfectly after wearing them [3 times now] without washing.
* When I get to go to lunch with some of my awesome AZ running peeps.  Adam & Lauren.

 
* Then I casually stop by Costco for gas and actually go inside JUST to buy a magazine.  $3.40 total purchase at Costco [ok, minus the $84 in gas] - you bet cha.
* Then on the way home, I know I'll pass my favorite "treat" place so I stop - they are out of MY favorite but I get the $9 english muffins that make the stop ohhhhhhhh so worth it.
* To get home to see Mase chillin' in the pool.  Ya, it's a "hot" 75* day today.

* When you pick up your daughter from school and she runs to the car. 
Never fails. 
I feel like a freaking rock star every time.

Oh yes, today was a good great day.

Happy Weekend My Friends!!

"Catalina" - Seven Foot Wave

Catalina [and or "cimi"] is a word I've gotten VERY used to hearing about in my home.

"Mom, when I was in Catalina . . . "
"Well, in Catalina, we did . . "
"So did you happen to get my cimi photos developed yet?"
"When I grow up, I want to live in Catalina."

Peanut went to Catalina Island for her sixth grade trip back in mid-January and well . . . . it's still like it was yesterday around our place.

this. kid. loved. Catalina.

So you can imagine the shrills of happiness & joy when I told Peanut we'd be heading there for the Catalina Island Conservancy Marathon!

[sad but true fact . . . ]

I have never been to Catalina Island.  Crazy right?

Hong Kong - check
New Zealand - check
Great Wall of China - check
blah
blah
blah
Catalina - [soon to be "check" 3/10]

I was stoked when they asked me to run this.

Things I know about this race:

*  It's all nature-y and outdoors-y "rugged terrain".  I can do rugged.  Yes, I freaking love my treadmill but I loved my 50 mile "Man against Horse" trail run too.

*  This is so going to be my chance to get that new PR.

*  The elevation chart looks totally awesome.  hills?  what hills?  What the hill?

*  I am soooooooooooo going to just roll down from mile 22.

*  There will be plenty of "aid-stations"  [they better have Twizzlers] 

Anyone want to make a friendly wager?  I'm calling this a "two fall mary". [I bet, I'll fall twice].

*  That I am going to love this much needed break with my family.

*  That WE get to meet Caroline on our way to Catalina. 

Yes, that was on my 2012 bucket list.  This woman owns a huge space in my heart.  I am beyond thrilled to GET to meet her.

*    *    *    *

I had a chance to visit with a lot of runners last weekend at Ragnar Del Sol. EVERY person I talked to about the Catalina Island Marathon said one of two things:

"That one is on my list of must do's".

or

"That is one of my most favorite marathons!"

I. cannot. freaking.  wait.

Which marathon is on your "must do" list?

"Ready To Run" - Dixie Chicks

Sorry, first I must say I was a little freaking excited when I entered my mileage today and saw that February = 329 miles. 
I was planning on taking a "rest" day tomorrow but then these babies came:

And I follow orders. ;)

Ragnarrelay.com defines a "Ragnar" as:

An overnight running relay race that makes testing your limits a team sport. A team is made up of 6-12 individuals; each individual runs 3 legs. The legs of the race vary in difficulty and distance, from 3-8 miles, allowing elite and novice runners to run together. Over 2 days and 1 night, teams run across 200 miles of the country’s most scenic terrain. Pair that with crazy costumes, inside jokes, a great finish line party and unforgettable stories. Some call it a slumber party without sleep, pillows or deodorant. We call it Ragnar.

I call it, "a freaking must do event".

I'm not going to do the timeline of events - - that would take way too freaking long.

Instead, I will list way too many details as to why this rocked, why this was an event like any other I've done & what I'd suggest for anyone wanting to do this race.

*  I underestimated the "party" factor.  Sure people were out here to run but they were out there to have fun doing it - loved that.
* We started in Wickenburg - ya, I was freezing, as always. [nice face, right?]

*  Some awesome outfits/costumes included:  Forrest Gump, Mitt Romney [we smell like Mitt], Men in Speedos,

Women looking like they just stepped off the pole [sorry that's the only way to put it], Team of super heros, 80's disco crew complete with music, Cast from TOP GUN [TOP RUN] - loved that . . . .awesome.

* Having Mandi as our team captain.  Ya, this woman . . . .she's amazing.  I'm pretty sure the fact I loved this was because she made it run smoothly.  Even down to the stink / stank factor - this girl had it covered.

Thank you Mandi!
* I was runner #1 - so I had the first 14.1[ish] miles.  Then I'd sit for the next 10[ish hours] and run again around 8pm. 
* Ya, I'm pretty sure we had the best team ever.  Not only was I with 5 of the coolest "Cholla Chicks" - I was adopted, I was with two of their husbands [driver/co-pilot] who were beyond amazing.  Seriously, a van with 6 women for 31[ish] hours = sainthood.  I'm sure of it.
* Pretty incredible to be in a van for that long and have zero issues - zero - yes - zero.
*  These Cholla Chicks are pretty hard core.  OK - they are freaking hard core & they are pretty.  And Jeff [Christy's hubby] & Ked [Mandi's hubby] even though they called us their "sister wives"  - - - freaking rock stars.  Cannot express THAT enough.
* We had a 15 passenger van [back seat removed].  Best layout ever.  You could stand up in this baby.  Ideal for stretching.  The girl who had finished running would take to the back area of the van.  Baby wipe shower, stretching, sleeping bags & food.
awesome.
* Jeff was the best with his water bottle hand-offs.  He'd run with me as I drank.  Super awesome.
* cow bell mania.  Sure there were the normal "lull" periods when the bells didn't ring as much, we all got tired....duh...but the support was always there.
*  It was hot.  Lucky for me I ran at 9:30am, 8pm, 6:45am - which were all amazing weather wise.  I had one run at noon [I think] that was only 6 [ish] miles but felt freaking hot.
* Love salty butterfly crotch.

* All and all ------ incredible.
* Loved the finish line.

* loved Emily pushing through at the end with a very sore hip.

* Loved that my views on "Ragnar" were changed....... completely.
* Loved that I got to run 43.2 miles [not my planned 37].
* Love that I had to run one more mile on my Treadmill at home so it'd be 44 miles.
* Love my new treadmill decor

* Love that I altered it because I'm a little peeved they don't do an "ultra" sticker

or medal for that matter.

* The Pita was happy I was " gone runnin' " as it provided him time to buy a-yet-freaking-nother gun.  How many guns can one person have?

Where is my contact info for my peep at Woodway?  ;)
Anyway . . .
* This was one of the best experiences ever.  I've done a trail 50 miler.  I treadmill 100 miler. . . . . and this was unlike either of them.  A different type of demanding put on the body.  A different mental game.

*I'll be doing this again, no question.

BUT . . .

I want to do it with four.
A four person Ragnar relay.
50 miles each.
So, I'm looking for three takers. . . . . . .

 . . . . who's in?

"Love Ultra" - Dwele

Actually . . . .

"FREAKING" - Love Ultra[s] but no one seems to have written that song title just yet.

So a few months back, Mandi asked me if I'd be interested joining her Ragnar [6 women - ultra] team.  Heck ya, I would.

best. decision. ever.

Truth time.

This is how the conversation went down with the Pita when I told him about it.

Me:  Mandi asked me to do a Ragnar with her!
Pita:  sweet.  when, where, blah, blah
Me: February, Wickenburg to Tempe.  It's an ultra.
Pita:  So you run an ultra 3 times?
Me:  No a total of 37-ish miles
Pita:  then that's not an ultra.
Me:  well, it kinda is
Pita:  It's kinda not too
Me:  explain mister
Pita:  well . . . .  do you run 20 miles on Friday then 6.2 miles on Friday night and say you "ran a marathon"?

I'm sure I'll tick a few people off at some point during this write up.  Sorry, in advance, if our opinions differ.  First, you must know, I am married to the Pita.  This husband of mine speaks his mind and I actually agree with some of it, some of the time.

So before I write up my review of this freaking awesome race, I have a question for you . . . . .

* *What do you consider an ultra?* *

Way too long race report to come tomorrow!!

"The Race" [that wasn't one - IMS AZ Marathon] - Wiz Khalifa

Soooooooooooo
my
"it"
race . . . .

Ya, it wasn't "it".

[Thanks Albert]

Which was good & bad.

The good part is . . .

I didn't find out at mile 16, 20 or 22 it wasn't my race.
 . . . I knew, 3 weeks prior, it wasn't going to be MY race.

and

I knew I'd get to meet the one and only Miss Zippy.  Her blog was one of the very first running blogs I ever followed . . . best. find. EVER.

and

That I'd get Racing Dawn here to stay with me for four days [which should have been 5 but whatever] ;)

The Bad . . .

Well, mostly that I was not, even remotely, feeling close to 100%

and

that I want this freaking "BQ like a man" thing pretty freaking bad.  I know I was "there" in my training in October/November [insert a huge . . . . uggggg]

And oh this other little thing . . . . .

that I'm slightly FREAKING competitive [with myself].

Anddddddddddddddd

just so I didn't wake up race day morning and TRY to race it . . . .

I. did. this.

What?
Most normal people destroy the backing off their race bib, right?!

So here we are race morning:

Normal:

And not quite as normal:

We did bump in to SR, staying warm in Basha's [smart girl].  Who kinda killed this course.  Congrats SR!

The weather was fabulous.  Like the most perfect of all perfects.

Some mid run photos:

Ya, thanks for this one Dawn. :/

After Dawn got her SUGAAA:

Shoulda been Twizzlers, just sayin'.

Here's the finish shot [thanks MOM!]

All. Smiles.

After the "after shot":

Not going to lie. . . . I teared up two times out on the course {anger/sadness} that this day wasn't my new PR day.  [kinda doesn't help when you've told other runners (that you get to know from other races) that this was going to be THE DAY.]

But this was what was best for this day.

I am beyond grateful to have a best friend by my side for the whole ride.

And parents who will always be there racing or not.  Always there to support me.

a l w a y s.

So while I'm not super sure "what's next" for me.

I do know . . .

1.  This was one awesome weekend
2.  I love this race/course
3.  I will still get my 3:0x
4.  I am one blessed woman
5.   ............ And this Ragnar with My Cholla Chicks this weekend, will be one big huge tutu, hairy man, pickle juice drinking . . . party!

"Tight" - INXS [Aspaeris Pivot Shorts Review]

Compression.

I freaking love me some compression.

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to receive some Aspaeris Pivot shorts.

I've always been a fan of compression SOCKS but I had never tried a compression short before.

Why?

Well, I was worried that I'd look like an overstuffed sausage for one. Those suckers are tight. Tight on thighs can sometimes yield . . . . ummmmm, not favorable results.

Second, I know how I feel about a MAN in biker shorts . . .

[too visual]

I probably don't want to even see "The Rock" in biker-esque shorts. ok, that one . . .

Wait. . . now . . .I'm . . . . ummm not so sure.

A n y w a y . What was I saying?

Ahhhhhh, ok.

They came . . . .

These suckers are tight - perfectly tight. They looked like they'd fit 11 year old Peanut way better than me but once they were on . . . . they felt amazing.

17 miles later.

I now have a new favorite pair on long run COMPRESSION shorts.

Ya, I loved them.

These rocked.

They without question receive the 5 out of 5 pickle rating.

So out of four 11+ mile days -- I wore them for three [yes, I do two loads of laundry daily - no worries on the smell-o-meter].

The only sad part. . . . taking them off . . . no joke. As soon as I take them off I want them back on.

So my only problem is that I wish I could wear them post run too [need more pairs, maybe blue & red to support my Wildcats at U of A]. ;)

So a big fat huge "thank you" to Aspaeris for letting me try these out.

Happy Friday!!

QUESTION:

Do you rock compression gear?
Socks?
Shorts?
Tights?

"Fit" - Better Than Ezra [PureFit Bar Review]

So you all know I don't do many reviews.  [In 2.5 years, I've done four]

I only agree to do a review if it's something I've been busting to try.

. . . . . . Enter. . . .  PureFit Bars.

I loved the fact that they are:

* all natural
* gluten free

and

* Wheat free
* dairy free

and

* vegan
* kosher
* high protein

and

* low-glycemic
* don't melt [super important in Arizona]

The nutritional profile . . freaking awesome.
The flavors . . . loved them .. . . . well minus the chocolate brownie.

Not a chocolate brownie fan. 
My favorite . . . . . . Berry Almond Crunch. 

Holy. Freaking. Yum.

I suck at eating right after my long runs and I did find these very easy to eat post run.  On the plus side, they go with pickle juice quite well. ;)

So given my pickle-meter . . .

I'd give these 4.5 out of 5 pickles.

QUESTION:

V-day plans?
Do you give your significant other a gift? or just a card?