It is SO on

At long last, we are back in DC today after yesterday's evening arrival. We (me, John, and BOTH dogs) are houseguests at my friend Amelia's just outside the city. Last night we enjoyed a delicious feast of her fab chili and David's apple pie whilst exhanging festivus treats. We all awoke this morning to a leisurely breakfast and then Amelia, Tilley, Pazzo and I made a beeline for my favorite locale - Rock Creek Park - to meet up with JoMarie and Rich. David, Oleander, and Laika stayed home. John headed to Bethesda to meet up with his pal Ed, and once we hit the Park, Rich was off on a ride so the girls (and Pazzo!) were left to our own devices.


Before Rich left however, he was entertained with the free peep show....me changing tights in the parking lot from the thin ones I was wearing to the thicker ones Jome had just scored for me half off at Spokes. Amelia did a fabulous job of creating the standard makeshift dressing room, but also had me laughing so hard I am sure I was mooning the @$&* out of the trail runners on the other side of the road. Good times.

We started out -- at about 43 degrees and with laden skies -- at the lot just north of the police station and ran north on Beach Drive, with the goal of getting in a little road time before hitting the trails. Tilley was beside herself with excitement to be running, much less to be running in my Rock Creek, about which she has heard me prattle on ad nauseum.

It was fantastic. There are runs that are tough, runs that just are, good runs, and great runs.



This was a great run.

The trail itself was easy, and we only had to be careful along one or two stretches where it was either on a slick bank, or where it had a bog crossing with boards (Tilley preferred the slog-directly-in method of crossing). By the time we got off the trail and back on to Beach Drive, Tilley and Pazzo had settled into a rhythm, and the three of us girls were deep in conversation, per the tradition. We kept a nice pace and made it up and over the first gated hill in good time, so we pressed up towards the stables to the second gate.


Just as we turned around, it started to rain a bit.



And then it REALLY rained. We had a fun run on the way back with all the rain - and the cold - and the mud - and it was weird; I felt like I could have run for days and days and days. Once we got back into the woods we let the dogs off leash and Tilley had a BLAST. For most of the run back, it was runner-dog-runner-dog-runner, and Tilley kept looking back to check on me. She's a good dog.


After a few pics (and me picking up a rock to add to the loosely self-defined 'memorable natural items' collection on my desk at work which so far includes a coaster John made out of a Live Oak branch that fell on SSI, pieces of driftwood from SSI, The Chattahoochee, and a run back in May with Jess on Haines Point, and a piece of moss on a rock from Mark and Randy's cabin in July), we got back to the car to find one wet Rich. We were all SOAKED, and Tilley had half the silt from Rock Creek stuck under her belly in oddly tidy stalagtites. I took her down to the creek for a quick dip n' rinse, which she lamented was "not nearly as warm as the Chattahoochee!" After the run I felt fantastic...that's two 5 mile runs in 4 days...it is so on :).


As if that wasn't enough, there was more. :) After a quick change and dropoff of the dogs, Amelia and I met Jome at the Mothership for Amelia to get an iPod Nano so we can all track our runs online together. I also upgraded to an armband at Jome's recommendation since my nano-in-the-pocket approach was suboptimal. We then went to Lululemon Athletics where I tried on about $500 worth of swank athleticwear...and then was very good and only got out with one on sale jacket and adorable pink run skirt for under $80 all told. After a quick stop in the wine shop we headed to Tandoori Nights for an early dinner and belated run refueling and had an AMAZING meal...The chat papri was sublime and had a secret ingredient of a touch of mint...the Raj Kachori was a new treat and stellar...there were other fine specialties but writing more details will just make me hungry again :). Let's see....what fun can we cook up for tomorrow morning???

To the Beach!

So ever since we got a place here, I have wanted to "run to the beach". It's just at 5 miles, and our full-time tenure here coincided, with few exceptions, my hiatus from training.

Redemption time.

After a relatively slovenly few weeks since our last 5 mile run, we headed out down the island to the beach from the house. It was about 60 so I opted for the (adorable) knickers and a short sleeved top. Tilley chose a simple choker chain.

The run was fairly uneventful and pain-free; our only incident was coming through a neighborhood where a LARGE black dog was at the edge of the yard untethered. Rather than deal with an incident, I picked Tilley up who immediately barked. I said Shut. The. Hell. Up. You. Are. Going. To. Get. Us. Eaten. She obliged, and I went into my super friendly HEY PUPPY PUPPY voice to the dog, who eventually wagged a tail as we scooted by. I returned Tilley to the ground and off we went. Once we arrived at East Beach causeway, Tilley looked up like, oh yeah I totally know where we are yeah this is the road to the beach! She picked up her step and so did I.

Just about when we hit the parking lot John pulled in (our ride home!). We finished the run to the water then doubled back to meet him for a quick walk on the beach.

All in all a good time. My legs are a little tired but not bad...same blister is annoying me despite wearing thick socks. I think a consult at Potomar River Running in DC is in order for a new sock approach altogether.

Tilley is out COLD next to me on the couch, but I bet I will be more sore in the morning :)

An Island Christmas

We had a great Christmas on St. Simons, and the best way to sum it up is with a few pictures and videos.



Tilley, suffering dog abuse (she was moaning during the photo):




Waiting for Santa:




Enjoying loads of treats and presents:




Ready for lunch-ummmm-dinner:




Laika, not believing her good fortune at getting her own plate for lunch (note the eye expression):




Touring Ft. Frederica with Cousin Cindy, Claire, and Mom:




Beach Picnic with Tilley and Claire:




Tilley playing her favorite game with Beauty: "Put my WHOLE HEAD IN YOUR MOUTH BEAUTYYYYY!":

Ghetto Litespeed

Being someone who considers themselves a moderate but not fully over-the-top gear head, I have to share this one.

So Litespeed bicycles are pretty high-end, and generally those who own them are a little obsessive about them (as is pretty much true of anyone and their higher end bike, regardless of the brand). You know; frequent cleanings, gear accessories that match, careful consideration to handlebar color, and so on.

I am a Litespeed fan and owner twice over because of the penchant for the feel of a titanium ride, the fact that they are made in Chattanooga, TN where I was born, and the fond memories I have of taking the factory tour with friends.

Now....

Mix this with the St. Simons lifestyle, where there'a little bit of Margaritaville and John Prine peppered in amongst - well - folks who are of means financially, to say the least.

What comes out?

THIS!

This was spied down at the Ace Hardware, awaiting its owner. The fella came out at the same time John did and John inquired, complimenting his ride, and the fella shared that the bike was originally his son's who never rode it, so he customized it, paying particular attention to point out the addition of the "fat seat" and the "raised handlebars".

In a five-way tie for my favorite features are: the bike basket, the bell, the "custom" bottle cooler, the clamp-on seat trunk, and the "pocket cooler" addition to the bottled water in the bottle cage.

Applause!

California Dreaming

So of the many holiday guests here on St. Simons where we've retreated for John's 4-week break from school (in part, excepting our upcoming swing North to DC, PA, NYC), the lot included my parents, my niece Claire, and my friends Jessica and Bill from San Diego.

Jessica is an original member of the Girly Sporting Clan and has swam, biked, and run more miles with me than is probably possible to count. She moved out to San Diego about a year after I left DC and met a fabulous boy (and triathlete!) to whom she'll be hitched in June.

We had a fabulous visit filled with browsing the Village shops, walking on the (unusually cold) beach, eating good Southern fare (including breakfast at Dressner's, Barbara Jean's famous crabcakes and Frankie G's Fried Green Tomatoes), the exchanging of Festivus/Christmas gifts, and just generally hanging out.

Of course, a run was in order for Saturday morning. We did an easy 3.3 miles around the nieghborhood, the Q once and the O once for those who are familiar.

Tilley particularly enjoyed the route because mid-loop we ran into her BFF Beauty who is frequently on the lam from her own fenced yard.

It was great to be out and about and enjoy the views (the marsh, the homes, Bill from behind) and to have my elbow once again swinging in time with Jessica's. Read about Jess's account of the trip.

Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Dog

On a whim about a week ago I decided to throw $20 to the wind and sign up for the 20th Annual "Jingle Jog" here in Atlanta to kick off the Holiday Season officially. To be rather frank, I found it while searching for dog events in the area and thought, there are so few races that allow dogs, why not.

After an incredibly bleak response rate from my recruiting inquiry to my coworkers, and an even bleaker response from my still-recovering-from-finals-plase-don't-wake-me-before-6:45-husband (which I understand), yet again it was down to me and Tilley.

We headed out and after a brief missing of the exit and turning around, we got into THE worst race traffic I have ever seen. Made DC's Cherry Blossom 10-Miler look like child's play. After almost 15 minutes of inching, I hooked a right and hopped the curb and parked along the road and we ran down to the race site with literally like maybe 9 minutes to pick up our packet (in this case, being checked off a list and handed a number and grabbing 3 jingle bells, 2 for Miss Tilley's leash, one for my right shoe) and to get ready for the start.

O, THE HUMANITY.

I don't know how many people were there, but it was a TON. Now to be clear, I wasn't in it for time in any shape or form, just a regular run. I hadn't worked out since Sunday having been feeling poorly early in the week and then consumed with work and a few holiday prep activities. Thus, I didn't mind that we weren't seeded by pace, or that it wasn't suuuper clear where the start line was. I assume that the brass band we passed a few minutes in playing "Jingle Bells" was probably it. But then it hit me. I am okay being ducked around and ducking around as folks find their pace....but it's trickier when holding a cord attached to a VERY short dog who is used to running with ONE, not THOUSANDS. So I finally picked her up for the first quarter mile or so and yes - KEPT RUNNING with her. Too bad there's no photo of THAT. I finally put her down to the side and we set off in the slightly less chaotic melee.

It was a fun (but hilly) run, and was pretty chilly and windy the whole way. I had on my (new, adorable PI) knicker tights, a singlet, and a longsleeve top and windbreaker. The windbreaker came off mid run then back on right as we finished. The best, though, was the collective holiday fasion. Tilley had on a custom made lei (her signature apparel) made of faux holly and white poinsettia, and I had my twin hair ponies/piglets that were festooned with the same. I had started out from the apt wearing a Santa hat, and was hot and thought, this is a bad idea, so went for the Hammer Gel hat and hair accessories instead (good choice). We saw many Santa and elf hats, we saw some fantastic candy striped elf tights and socks, and we even saw 7 guys pulling a Santa in a wagon; the fellas were dressed in brown a la reindeer. It was the usual mix of people overzealously sprinting then walking, pretty decent athletes who were there this time pushing kids in strollers or with dogs, etc.

For the most part, everyone was low key and festive about the whole thing. Tilley stayed right by me but at one point I heard someone coming behind me and kind of pulled Tilley over from being a whole 2 ft away to 1 ft. The 20-something girl passed me and gave an audible groan of disdain "hummmmmnnnfff!". As in, how dare you spoin my serious race. IT IS A JINGLE BELL JOG, lighten up! If you are racing try something that has chip timing, not one that encourages kids, dogs, and costumes. Good news? We passed her handily later, and I refrained from "hummmmnnnff"ing back at her. The other oddity came in the finish chute, again, with the high tech stay-in-line-and-get-a-finish-order-card method. Tilley and I were behind two highschoolish types, walking down the chute, and this woman about my age kinda elbows past me. Now to be clear. I am in this for fun, but also to educate people about sportsmanlike behavior if needed, so I politely step back up and say "oooopsie, actually we are supposed to stay in finish order". She looks at me litearlly like I have horns (or reindeer antlers) and barely steps back. I kinda take up extra room with Tilley because I swear, she's kind of elbowing up. Please.

Tilley was a real trooper...in fact, we had passed two women with a springer spaniel, and one of them came up to me afterwards and complimented Tilley and said it's so clear she really loves to run. I told her we typically rin a good 4 miles a few days during the week and a 5 on the weekends and she was like, omg! Tilley was proud :). Tilley had to giggle once on the course when a dog stopped - mid run, no time to pull to the side - and laid a steamer. Thankfully the owner had a bag on board!

After the race, we checked out a few must-sees: the life size polar bear that Tilley remarked was "JUST LIKE BEAR AT HOME", Santa (of course!), a Nutcracker that "seemed friendly but kinda freaked me out", and a Buffaloman from the wing place, whom Tilley was particularly fond of. Then we headed to the food. We shared some bagel, banana, water...and the rest of the goodies were SUBLIME. They had buffalo wings, BBQ, Starbucks, Trader Joe's, and...wait for it...wait for it...a Mayfield Ice Cream van! They were giving out their Snow Creme popsicles. We each got one; I let Tilley enjoy about half before cutting her off. We both got lots of compliments on our matching holiday attire.

All in all, a fun morning!

Here's a video of Tilley barking at the traffic and "freaking out that we might miss the start" - she quieted to some MFFFFS and growls by the time I got the camera on:

My New Favorite Place(s)

So after yesterday's ride fiasco, I was determined to go out for some serious redemption on my Sunday long run. After several hours of nagging from Tilley, we packed up and headed over to Martin Lake, the loveli lake discovered on yesterday's debacle. I had gmap pedometered the lake and knew it was just over 2 miles around. I had a vague idea of how far to tack on on Riverside Drive to get to my desired somewhere between 4.5 and 4.75, based upon how I was feeling. My longest run in a while was 5 miles a few weeks ago, and after the not so hot feeling of this week's earlier runs, I just wanted to stay in tact and out of major pain.

We parked at the pool and headed out on the North shore of the lake. The path was okay, but a little on the narrow side and fairly decently cambered in many places. But it was pretty and I knew we would level out on Riverside so I wasn't that troubled. Lots of people walking their dogs and such, and I couldn't get over how much the lake reminded me of good ole lake Audubon in Reston (pictured here, where I used to live, train, race...)

We hit Riverside and hooked a left and ran along the river, enjoying the view as the sun came out and I proceeded to roast in my midweight knicker-long sleeve jersey combination. We even saw a guy trout fishing in the river and I gave a respectful nod and mental shout out to the Trout Unlimited sign about limiting kills ans catch-and release. We went all the way to Old Riverside, which as fate would have it, is unpaved. We ran down alongside some kooky old-school river homes amidst newer builds, and I thought, what a great place to have a house. Right on the river too. We headed as far as The House With The Really Big Barky Black Dog That Looked Like That Bear Dog That Time (Tilley's words, not mine) and turned back, meeting a nice little dog named Rex briefly (Tilley: "He was nice!").

Again, with the roasting in the sun on the road. We hit the turn for the Lake, ran across the levee, and started the retreat on the South shore. SURPRISE! Not a paved trail, but a Nature Trail. Trail run time! It was actually kinda nice, and made for a nice mental diversion on the last part of what is normally the "please, o please, let this be over SOON". I let Tilley off leash and she enjoyed scampering along amongst the roots, definitely winning in the sure-footedness contest (hey, she has 4, I only have 2). We got back to car after an hour (and yes, just a hair's breadth over 5 miles as it turned out, after all) and stretched/Recoverited/went for a walk back around part of the Nature trail to cool down. I was shocked that I felt good after all that madness.

Still giddy from the run, I went home and changed, did a quick drive-by-2-Cheese-Krystal break, and headed for....drumroll...THE PEARL IZUMI OUTLET! I went seeking tights mostly but also to see what other deals could be had. I was giddy and couldn't wait. The short story is that many of the items weren't much of a deal, but they had clearance and sample items that WERE. But unlike other outlets where sometimes if you wonder if the marked down items are really a deal, in this case I was familiar enough with the products to know that say, a pair of bib shorts for $30 is a *damn* good deal, to the tune of $100 savings. At the register, I got even bolder to ask if they offered any purchase-wide discounts. She kind of hemmed and hawed; I asked if they gave club discounts, not really, mostly for events they gave out coupons on occasion in schwag bags. I looked crestfallen. Finally she says "are there any events you have done recently I could put it under?" I proffered Emerald Pointe Tri, and she bit. 15% off my entire check!!! All in all I ended up walking out with $524 of stuff....for $137! I shit you not. I present the loot to you here in this grainy but heartfelt photo. Three way tie for fave items? The bib shorts, the jersey jacket ($25 less 15%, not $100), and the adorable run knickers with the blue at the knee and the gold logo :)

Mechanical

So Saturday was a brilliant day in Atlanta, and one of those days that made me glad I live relatively far south. I spent the early part of the morning on the phone with JoMarie registering for the Macon 1/2 Ironman in June (wahoooo!), the rest of the morning and afternoon cleaning and doing house stuff, and then by late afternoon it was a ripe 60+ degrees. Ready for my ride! John was home and I said, "I am not going to ride with my phone" (my "workout phone" is awol), gave him my route and time expected back, and headed out. At the last second I thought, better safe than sorry, and crammed my blackberry into the last ounces of space in my seat ditty bag along with the various accoutrement for fixing a flat, should one occur.

I parked under the GA 400 bridge so I could focus my ride on my workout route rather than dodging cars on Riverside and holding my breath the entire way. I headed out on Natchez (road bike for the few of you who don't know my bikes by name), and OW. Right away, I realized that my cavalier self-talk of "so what if I did a spin class Friday morning, my legs should be recovered enough today, so I can do my long run Sunday, when it's not going to be as nice" was total crap. (Running in rain and 40-50 degrees is a snap, riding, not as much fun). So I spent the first 20 minutes beginning to grumble to myself then going hey, it's just lactic acid getting pushed out and so what. This is making you stronger.

By the time I got back to Martin road, I got into a few of the hills and had about :45 under my saddle and was feeling good - even if I was having to go to my lowest (easiest) gear. After a few ups and downs, I came to the base of a decent sized hill, and clicked my right gears to the left, ostensibly to change gears on my rear dérailleur to make the climb easier. Instead of the familiar tight resistance and click of my shifter, it dangled like a flaccid, lifeless, and entirely useless appendage. Oh crap. Push push push push push, profanity, nothing. C'MON. Push push push push push. Nada. Beaten (and knowing the hill would beat my ass and potentially result in a reduction of speed to the point of toppling over) I pulled over and tinkered with my barrel adjusters to tighten up the cable. Nothing, nothing, nothing. Finally, tighter....to the point of COMPLETE lockdown of my drivetrain. Insert more profanity here. More attempts, more profanity, then final defeat. I called John, gave him my location and had to be rescued. Sadly, there wasn't even time for him to bring CC (Saber), as it was getting very cool very fast. So he and Tilley arrived and instead we scoped out the area for future runs and rides; I was pleased to note the remainder of the route I was traveling has some KILLER hills in both directions, which will be (eventually) fantastic for training. Also while I waited, I noticed around the lovelii lake, a run path! So maybe it was fate that I had to stop and smell the roses so to speak.

Moral of the story #1: Always carry a phone (I wasn't in Guam and could have knocked on someone's door, granted, but still).

Moral of the story #2: Ride early enough in the day that if your first workout gets cut in half, you have time for a Plan B.

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