All posts by Lauren @ mostly i run

About Lauren @ mostly i run

Wife. Web Developer. Kitty Momma. Runner. Singer. Triathlete. Shoe Collector. Blogger.

fitbloggin 2011

fitbloggin'

I had such a wonderful time at the inaugural Fitbloggin’ 2010 that I signed up immediately when the 2011 conference was announced last summer. After a long wait, Fitbloggin’ 2011 weekend finally arrived!

This year was a lot different for me. Ever since last year’s conference and the start of the weekly #fitblog chats on Twitter, I’ve gained so many connections in the health/fitness community. Last year? Sure, I blogged about running and I’ve followed the fabulous Fitbloggin’ conference creator Roni for years. But I only knew a few people from their blogs or Twitter at the time.

I’ve gained hundreds of followers since last year’s conference, most of them are new #fitblog friends. And I got to meet so many of them in person this weekend!

The people are a good part of what makes this conference so great, sure. But we were there for a conference too!

Friday morning was filled with fun activities. We started with a 5K, and then had cherry recovery smoothies and some breakfast.

After breakfast I went to a kettle bell demo, followed by a Zumba class. It was my first time — and I was a little intimidated. Uh, I can’t dance! But nobody cared that I wasn’t getting all the moves quite right or that my butt just won’t shake like the instructors!  As long as you were moving and trying, you were doing OK. I enjoyed the parts where we were just moving really fast — less dance, more endurance. I’ve got that!

And because two workouts weren’t enough … I went to a 30-minute fitness challenge with Cathe Friedrich. And *then* I decided to take a break — I chose to see MizFit’s Ugi demonstration. Only the schedules were a little off between the two rooms … so I was actually able to catch most of the trampoline class as well!

And then I finally showered.

The day concluded with lunch, expo and a couple of panels. I couldn’t do them justice to report on them (but look at all these recaps! I’m sure somebody took notes!), but we had great panelists and good discussion!

Saturday started with a 6:30am pilates class with Andrea Metcalf. I do yoga all the time, but my only pilates experience was a yoga/pilates class at a Sandals resort. The resort instructor didn’t seem too experienced, so I’m counting this as my first class!

It was just 30 minutes, but it was quite a workout! I definitely need to work more pilates moves into my workouts.  Some of the moves were difficult with my tight runner legs and hips!

After breakfast and a shower, I was ready to start a day of sessions! There were a lot of tough choices when deciding which room to go to, so I’ll have to go back and check out the presentations that I missed. Fortunately, we had live bloggers and many of the presenters put their slides online (scroll thru the recent posts at fitbloggin.com).

Much like last year, the conference had wonderful and generous sponsors. Delicious, healthy meals and snacks, samples and coupons, and tons of fun stuff. Repeat sponsor New Balance gave out shoes (the new 890s!), capri pants and headphones. Wow!

If you didn’t make it to the conference, I’ll have a contest soon. I managed to grab some extra goodies to share with you!

so i’ve been away …

i like to run., scotland, travel

Not nearly as long as my blog absence would indicate … but I just spent the last week traveling in Scotland!

The opportunity came up a few months ago, when we learned a friend’s wedding would be held May 1 in Glasgow. A group of us decided it was a wonderful excuse to visit a country we’ve never seen before. And, of course, be there to see our dear friend get hitched.

I’ve slowly started posting my man photos to Flickr if you’d like a preview, but I’ll be featuring them here as well, starting with my first morning in Glasgow.

Upon learning we’d be in the country, I immediately sought out races (ha!), and found that parkrun hosts free 5Ks every Saturday in a park just outside of  Glasgow. I planned to do it, and my girlfriends planned to join me!

Only I neglected to realize Saturday would be our first morning in Scotland (after an overnight flight Thursday into Friday), and that we might be a bit too tired to go running.

But I was wide awake and ready to go! However, my friends were not. Without the use of our cell phones, we had no way to communicate, and I didn’t want to risk waking anybody. So I waited 15 minutes in the lobby before deciding they weren’t coming.

I went for it anyway — I was dressed and ready to run! I walked down to the train station, where the park would be a quick two-stop ride. Except I must have just missed a train. It was a 20-minute wait  for the next one.

So the 5K was not meant to be, but I headed out to the park anyway. I was a bit late but ran into some course volunteers who pointed me in the direction of the race course. Well, I wouldn’t be racing but at least I could join them!

I joined the course just as the  faster runners came by, and tried to stay out of the way as they passed me. The course was a double loop but I added a third for a little more distance. Though with no more course volunteers, I took a wrong turn around a pond before getting back on course.

It was just as well that I missed the race. My travel-tired body didn’t feel particularly speedy that morning, and I managed to run a little farther, finishing back at the train station after 5.25 miles.

The farthest my Garmin has been from home.

It was a beautiful day and a lovely park. I had to pause to take some photos along the way!

Pollak Park, Glasgow

Pollak Park, Glasgow

Pollak Park, Glasgow

Much more to come!

race report: happy runner half marathon challenge

i like to run.

Felice, who blogs at The Happy Runner, decided early this year that she would run her first half marathon.

And she wanted all her blogging friends to join her!

And the Happy Runner Half Marathon Challenge was born. (Well, her second son was also born  — just four months ago!)

Felice’s goal race was the 13.1 New York City Marathon on April 2 — but challenge participants would play along at home virtually. We could either run the half marathon distance, or break it up and cover 13.1 over the weekend, from April 1-3.

Since I already had a 10-mile race scheduled for April 3, I gladly joined the challenge. Surely I could add another 3.1! At first I thought I may add some mileage before or after my race, but plans changed. I was originally going to do a local race not far from my house. But then a friend who was registered for the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run became injured and unable to race. I couldn’t let her spot go to waste!

I decided I’d run my own 5K around my neighborhood on Saturday. I slept until I felt like waking up, and got ready to go! I did a slowish warm-up mile and then headed back home for a wardrobe change.  I’m trying to transition into my Newtons again. While I loved them, my foot did not. I don’t think the foot problem is gone, and I probably need new orthotics, but I still want to try to very, very slowly to ease into them again!

Anyway, I swapped out my shoes and changed shirts because it was a lot warmer out than I expected. Excellent! A few more loops through my neighborhood and I was done.  Not a particularly fast 5K, but I got it done in 31:12.

I had a very early wake-up call on Sunday so that I could meet my friends and travel into DC for the Cherry Blossom 10-miler. I decided I’d run this slow with my friends rather than try to race it.  My regular running partner’s sister was running her first race in about 10 years, and was very undertrained fro the distance. But she insisted on running the whole time (we tried to talk her into Galloway run/walk), only walking at water stops. She did great!

My finish time was 1:56:05. Not bad. It’s quite enjoyable taking your time to enjoy such a scenic course. I took some photos along the way, and was surprised that some of them came out OK! (They’re usually a blurry mess.)

Cherry Blossom 10-miler

Almost done!

I even managed to snap a self-portrait while running. I don’t do this a lot, and was surprised I didn’t cut off my head!

When we add my 5K and 10-miler together for my Happy Runner Half Marathon, my total time is 2:27:17.  Thanks to the Goofy Challenge last year, that’s not even my slowest half marathon!

Felice totally rocked her half marathon, beating her A goal by almost two minutes and finishing in a speedy 1:49:26.

Congratulations Felice and Happy Runner Challenge participants!

what’s wrong with your face?

life

OK, nobody has actually said that.

But I feel like that’s what people are thinking whenever I’m in a well-lit room.

It started with a little redness in early March, and kept getting more noticeable, at least to me (my husband said he never noticed anything until I pointed it out). Fortunately I already had a dermatologist appointment scheduled for a skin check. At that point, the rash was itchy and felt warm.

The doctor thought it looked like an allergic reaction, or possibly rosacea. She treated it as an allergy and prescribed an ointment for me to use for a week. I stopped using all but the gentlest hypoallergenic products on my face,  limited  to cleanser and moisturizer. No make-up, too!

During the week with the ointment, it still was red … but at least the itching stopped. By the time I got to my follow-up two weeks after the initial appointment, the redness had gone down, too.  The doctor gave me clearance to slowly add products back into my skincare regime.

I started with my night cream for a few days, and then added back my Olay SPF moisturizer, both of which I had been using for a while. Everything was fine … for a few days. But yesterday I started getting red again. And today it’s probably the brightest it’s been, warm and itchy again.

I’m not normally a rosy-cheeked person. I’m really pale! Unless I’m running, then I turn bright pink. But I haven’t worked out today …

Still leaning towards a reaction, I’m obviously laying off my old face creams. I’ve picked up another sensitive-skin cream meant for babies, and found hypoallergenic shampoo/conditioner (which has fragrance added?  That’s a possible irritant, too, but I couldn’t find anything better in stores.)

I have a history of skin sensitivity — I can only use natural sunscreen or Vanicream when using it for days at a time (like a week-long vacation) otherwise I break out in hives/rashes.

But until now, my face has never had a reaction.

Then again,  I read somewhere that sometimes rosacea can present like an allergic reaction. And can affect the eyes — yes, I’m still having eye trouble — so that’s a possibility to.

I’ll give it a few days to clear up, otherwise I’m headed back to the doctor.

Has anybody dealt with something like this before?

race report: nikia nippy nor’easter half marathon

i like to run.

I picked up a flier for this race last month — a fundraiser for Back on My Feet. There was still time to meet the early registration deadline — only $15! Support a great organization and run an affordable half marathon? I was in!

I only had a few weeks to prepare, but I was in OK shape. I had already run one nine-miler this year and had time for a couple 10s and an eight. I wasn’t expecting a fast race, I just wanted to run!

The course was on the NCR Trail, which is really beautiful. It’s a packed-dirt trail surrounded by trees, much of it runs along a river. I worried that the different surface might be a problem since I typically only run on asphalt.  We trained for our first marathon there a few times, and I remembered it being a bit tougher on the legs!

I woke up to a good forecast and 56 degrees. It looked like it was supposed to be a little cooler at the start, but I decided I’d be fine in a running skirt. I wore calf sleeves so there really wasn’t too much bare leg! I was also excited my Cupcake Marathon shirt arrived in time.

Unfortunately I neglected to check the weather where we would actually be racing. It was only 49 at the start, and I needed to add a layer.  My Cupcake shirt was hidden the whole race …

nikia's nippy nor'easter half marathon

Oh well. I did get a few compliments on my skirt!

Anyway, back to the race. While a little chilly waiting at the start, it was fun chatting with my friends. I’ve gotten used to really big races, so it was nice doing such a low-key race for a change. My bib was number 18!

I didn’t have high expectations for this race, but it started out really well. I felt great the first five miles or so, but after that I felt myself slowing down. It seemed like this relatively flat trail started going ever-so-slightly uphill …

Yeah, well now I see why it felt like we were going uphill for most of the race!

The calf sleeves did their job and my lower legs felt great, but I sure could have used some compression shorts! Ouch.

I was definitely feeling it after eight or so miles. I could feel myself slowing down and my form suffering — not that it’s that great to begin with! I’d pick up my feet and focus, and actually it felt better. I was able to  pick up the pace.

A  little.

I’m still happy with my unofficial result. Still managed to sneak in under 10-minute miles!

Post-race there was a nice selection of fruit, bagels and snacks.  They also kept the hot coffee flowing — all the better to fill the travel mugs we got instead of T-shirts or medals. We also got a reusable grocery bag as our goodie bag, and they had lots of great random prizes. I won a hat and a $15 RoadID gift certificate!

Sure it was small, and the crowd support was minimal. But the race organizers were energetic and the volunteers cheered everybody on. I saw a lot of support for the BOMF participants. Everyone was having a great time!

There was a lot of time running by myself. Enjoying perfect weather. Surrounded by lovely views.

And that was awesome.