Jerks on the Road

My number one priority when I run is always safety. That is why I do a majority of my training runs through the park, or on the rail trail. Often times I will run in town. One of my usual routes is running a lap at the park, running across the bridge (on the pedestrian walk way) into town on the sidewalk (never on the road).  I feel pretty safe on this route because even though I am in town, this sidewalk runs along the river, therefore I never have to stop for cars at red lights or stop signs because there are no streets that intersect it.

However, for the past month and a half,  I have been running in town so I could run the Harvest Festival race loop.  This loop is on a one ways street, and is two lanes.  It's not that heavily traveled.  The sidewalks on the part of town running North are new sidewalks and in perfect shape. Once I make the loop, the sidewalks on the South side are pretty uneven in some parts.  Even though these are one way streets I am running on, I still have to be cautious because unlike my other route that runs along the river, this route DOES have roads that intersect it so I always have to be cautious of drivers making a left hand turn,

I know this all may be hard to visualize if you are not familiar with where I am talking about.  Usually all my runs on this route are pleasant ones and I really do enjoy it. The people are friendly, drivers are considerate, and I pass walkers and other runners who always wave or flash a friendly smile.  However, with in the past few weeks I've encounter a few drivers who were acting like real jerks.

Example one:  There was one day were I turned the loop heading towards the South side of town (where the bad sidewalks are).  Since this road IS two lanes and it is not heavily traveled I decided to run on the road for a little bit instead of the sidewalk for fear of tripping.  I made sure that I wasn't actually IN the road, I was running as close to the sidewalk as possible.  Well a bit later this guy in a Honda drives into the lane I was in (even though the other lane was completely empty), and hollers at me saying something like "Get on the sidewalk if you want to run".   Wow, I was shocked and a little shaken. I had never had anyone yell at me while I was running. It's like he purposefully when out of his way to do that.

Which brings me to my second example: I mentioned that these roads I run on are one way roads that have two lanes. Yet even when there is no one in the further lane, drivers still do not make the effort to get over. I mean its not like I'm taking up the entire line but come on. If I saw someone running, I would move over and drive in the other lane just out of respect.

This third example really irritates me and this is why I normally don't run where there is traffic. I will stop at red lights if I have to and at stop signs I usually just give a glance to see if something is coming. If a car and I approach the stop sign at the same time, the car usually lets me cross before they continue.  Well, last week I was at a stop sign crossing and a car pulled up and instead of letting me cross she actually sped up. If she was stopped at the intersection before me I wouldn't have cared, but she wasn't.  I had someone do this to me at a traffic light as well.  Just goes to show that you always have to be on alert and watching out for the other guy too!

This last one happened to me just yesterday. I was running on this same one way street (and yes, this time I was on the sidewalk).  I was approaching a driveway (a driveway to a parking lot) that was leading out to the road and this guy pulls right up.  He didn't even see me  running ON THE DRIVE WAY. I knew he wasn't going to even look my way because it is a one way street and he was only looking towards traffic.  I don't know about you but even on one way streets I make a habit to look  both ways.  I knew he wasn't going to look  so I ran behind his car instead of in front and hollered "HEY" at him and he still didn't look even thought his window was down cus he was smoking a cigarette!

Just thinking about that last one is enough to get me irritated again so I'm gonna stop there and let you tell me a fifth one.

Which of these irritates you the most? Do you have any examples of your own? -M

We are linking up with the gals from the Friday 5.

The Summer that.......

Well, today is technically the last day of summer so I thought it was a good time to reflect on how it went.  The first day of summer brings such anticipation as to what's to come in the next several months. Did you have great plans as to how you were going to spend your summer?  Are their things you wanted to accomplish?  Or are you more of a I'm gonna relax and not do one darn thing type of person?

I am the accomplishment type. I wanted to use this summer to catch up on all the things I didn't get to do throughout the year.  As far as this summer goes, I thought it would be the perfect time to increase my mileage and get lots of long runs in. I thought it would be the perfect time to work on my speed a little. I wanted to catch up on all my magazines and I have quite a few house projects that I wanted to tackle.  But this is what really happened instead.

This is the summer that....................

My mom and I took a Cruise together.  2010 was the last time we took a cruise that was just her and I.

I learned I will never take Baylee for long walks on the Rail Trail again. The Island is more her speed.

I finished 3 books!  For me this is awesome because I love to read but haven't read for pleasure since we started this blog!

                                               I spent LOTS of time with Baylee in the pool.

Baylee's story got published. I had to submit a dozen photos for this article and I have to say I'm not real pleased with the one they chose since there were so many cuter options ( like the picture above). I guess that's my fault though since I could have more of a say in it and I really just forgot about when it was going to be published.

I hiked Bushkill Falls and saw some amazing waterfalls and also hiked Ricketts Glen and Trough Creek State Park.

I spent time with Family at the Lake House and had a fabulous time on the Proud Mary dinner cruise.

Baylee and Belle rode in the boat for the first time. We've only bee talking about bringing them for years. I think they had a good time.

                                                                I had some beach time.

I drove my Pappy in the Fourth of July Parade ( and met some famous softball players, the REAL ones from that old movie A League of their own).

I ran one 5K race each month and placed in my age group for the first time and again for the second time!

I learned how to use a pressure washer and got such satisfaction from seeing how clean our deck became. I had no idea it was that dirty! I washed everything else I could!

I did finally paint some of the trim on our house.

I got a summer wardrobe update from Golden Tote and finally took some dress clothes I no longer wear to a consignment store in town.

I worked my way through the Starbucks Frappe menu...lol

I had my first experience with a meal delivery service.

I saw what may be the largest Elvis guitar!

So perhaps I didn't accomplish everything I wanted to do but I had a really good summer and I enjoyed just being in the moment. Sometimes making memories is more important than accomplishing a task.  -M

What memories do you have from this summer?

Harvest Festival Race recap

Every year my parent's town hosts a Harvest Festival. Its basically two weeks of festivities. The first Saturday is the bike race and the second Saturday is the 5K race.  Although none of us ever participated in the bike race, my family has been running the 5K race for several years now.

I know this may sound silly, but this 5K race was actually my goal race for the year. After coming back from the Disney Marathon this year, I decided to do more local races and concentrate on smaller distances.  Another thing that has made this my goal race is that each year we run it, I'm the only one in my family that never places...womp womp!

Unfortunately my sister wouldn't be in town to run the race this year so it was just me and my dad and my running buddy Jay. Jay and I ran several races together this summer and he has been pulling out PR's like crazy but always just misses placing in his age group. But we both agreed that placing in your age group in your 30's is usually difficult because there is such a large field in that age division.  Those of you in your 30's, would you agree with that?

So anyway, my only goal was to do the best I could and come in under 30 minutes like usual. I had some pretty good training runs in the days before so I felt pretty confident that would happen, but hey, ya never know.

The race started at 9:30 which I think is normally a little too late for a race because it gets so hot but really, this day was a perfect day for running.  As far as local races go, this is probably one of the largest 5ks in the area.

I am familiar with the course because I have been running it consistently for over a month now. The only difference is that I was running on the sidewalks and not the roads.  I thought by running on the roads that I would pick up speed but to tell you the truth, the sidewalks were flatter then the road was. Because we had to run in only one lane, I was running near the edge and the road was banked. I don't think I ever noticed this in previous years because I hadn't run the race course anytime before the race.

Around mile one we turned on to the next road and that road felt better to run on. I was so thankful for the lady running beside me because she was keeping a great pace and it motivated me to keep up. I ran with her and we intermittently chatted for the first two miles.

 I saw my mom, Scott, Baylee, and Belle spectating a little after mile two. At this time a man ran up beside me and was talking to me. The last mile of a race is when you want to push and not when you want to be having a conversation. He said "so, you run like an 8 or 9 minute mile?".  I said I didn't know but just wanted to finish in under 30 minutes.  He said his goal was 29. He told me plenty about himself.  He asked where I was from, and how old I was.  He was friendly enough but I thought he asked a lot of questions.

As I ran around the last corner I knew I was for sure going to make it under 30 minutes but as I came closer to the finish line and could read the clock, I thought I could perhaps PR so I gave it an all out sprint!   There were two timing mats at the finish line and I didn't know which one actually recorded the finish time so I turned my Garmin off right after I stepped on the last mat. I'm glad I actually remembered to turn my watch off right away! That doesn't usually happen during a race.

Speaking of Garmin, I didn't look at my watch the entire time I was running so when I finally looked at my stats I was surprised to see that my first mile was actually ran at an 8:30 pace. That's good for me, I haven't seen an 8 on my watch in a very long time! Oh, and I was actually off a PR by a few seconds, but I didn't care. I was pleased!

So getting back to the race,  As soon as I walked away from the finish line I saw my friend and he was just over the moon because he finally place in his age group! He not only placed, he got first! Woo hoo! I was so happy for him!

Unlike years past, the water and snacks were actually placed right at the finish line. This made it very nice because my mouth was so dry and I desperately needed a water. In previous years the refreshments were in the yard beside the building where we register/pick up bibs which was across the street.

After congratulating my friend, I looked to see if I could see my own time. I couldn't believe it, I had placed too. Looks like I had placed second in my age group! I later saw that my dad had placed third in his. Wow, this was turning out to be a great race day for all of us.  A few minutes later the lady at the results table said she had an updated version of the results. My friend and I both panicked because we thought perhaps our placements had got changed, but ours all remained the same!

It seemed like they did the awards ceremony much earlier this year then they had done in the past. I wonder if they wanted to do it right away  while most people were still there and before they started wondering around the festival?  I like that they did the awards right away and I liked that they did them right at the finish line were everyone was already.  However, there were still people running and crossing the finish line as the announcer was giving out awards. I did not like this aspect and thought it was a little disrespectful to the runners who were just coming in. It was almost like telling them that the race was already over by the time they crossed.  Not cool.  But then again, I have never organized a race so I don't know what their time line was like.

Our little group of winners. 

It was nice seeing so many friends and family at the race today.  My Pappy even comes out each year to watch us run which is nice! Wish I would have thought to get a picture with him. I wish Lacey would have been here to run. I know she would have placed in her age group as well. -M

P.S Sorry this recap is longer than I thought it would be. Thank you if you read the whole thing!


We are linking up this race recap with the gals from TOTR.

Weekly Wrap...September 18

I've been pretty consistent with keeping my workout days on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. On these days I fit in a gym session and my runs. I do it this way because I like having 2 days during the week where I don't have to do anything if I don't want to.

When I woke up on Monday I was still exhausted from the weekend. I really wanted to make a plan to just skip my run and come home and take a nap.  I ended up staying at work later than I had planned therefore I didn't get to the gym till well after 4:00. My gym is right on my running route so that's why I do both on the same day.  I figured I better hit the gym before I go out on my run because my gym closes early. I thought I would be tired and my legs would feel like lead when I finally went out to run, but actually I felt fine ( aside from the heat).

I needed Tuesday to just veg out and do nothing. I spent most of the afternoon/evening watching Baylee swim and talking with my friend on the phone.  I did sneak in a bit of foam rolling and stretching, so that counts as something, right?  On a side note: I can't believe how amazing our swimming pool has been this. The water has been so blue and crystal clear, In past years it has been such a challenge to keep it like this. I usually end up spending like a billion dollars in chemicals because something is always off. We had a good year this year.

By the time I got to the gym on Wednesday it looked like it was about to pour at any moment. I figured I better run and get my 3.1 miles out of the way first.

It looked and felt like it could pour at any moment.

 I figured this was my last strong run before the race on Saturday (because I won't want to run Friday) so I better make it a good one. My only goal was to finish before the rain came. If it happened to rain while I was running, then o well! I didn't mind getting wet. I figured I would just chalk it up as one of those "Memorable Runs".  As I started running there was such a strong headwind and it wasn't the kind of wind that cooled things down either. It was a hot and humid wind if that makes sense. Just enough to make it challenging to run.  I finished the 3.1 miles strong and made it to the gym before any real rain fell. Actually when I got home it got real windy but it didn't end up raining at all (at least at my house it didn't).

I REALLY didn't feel like going to the gym on Friday but I reminded myself that I pay to go and I can only go Monday's, Wednesday's, and Friday's and I need to get my monies worth. Plus, I made a commitment to myself and I want to stick with it.  So I went.  I hadn't planned on running this day but the weather was beautiful and I hated to see it go to waste. I thought perhaps I could just run half my normal route.

Turns out people where already setting up chairs and what not on the sidewalks in preparations for the town's Harvest Festival. I wouldn't have been able to run on the sidewalk anyway!  So instead, I went to my dad's house to see what time he wanted to meet at the race on Saturday.  When I got there, he asked if I wanted to go for a run. Why not? When your dad asks you to go running, you go!  We ended up doing a little over 2 miles in his neighborhood.

Saturday we ran the Harvest race.  Since this weekly wrap is already long, I'll try to write a little more about the race later.

Since there was no long run this week, I was hoping to get one in on Sunday but truth be told my legs were pretty sore from the race the day before. I know it was only 3.1 miles but I pushed a little more than usually.  It was raining when I got up anyway so that pretty much sealed the deal that there would be no run happening.

We are linking up with Holly and Tricia for their weekly wrap!

Runner Stuff I'm Loving Lately

I haven't bought a lot of running stuff lately because I haven't gone to any race expos. Well, that finally changed at the Rock n Roll Virginia Beach expo.  I decided that there were a few things that I just ad to have. I always spend way too much at expos but how can you not when there are so many great running related items? Usually at expos, vendors offer a discounted rate than you would find at a running store or even online, and plus no shipping. So at the expo I purchased a few items.  Which brings me to what I am loving……. 

1. Garmin Forerunner 235- I have been looking at this watch since it first came out.  It is a nice upgrade from my Garmin 10. There are a lot of bells and whistles opposed to my other one. Some that I am still trying to figure out. Some nice additions this watch has are smart notifications such as email, texts, and social media alerts. There are even training plans you can download in Garmin connect or customize your own work out and have it synced to your watch. 

2. Sparkly Soul- I have seen these at many expos but have never bought one. But lately I have wanted a headband to wear to work that didn’t look like a workout headband. I have a few that never stay put in place or some other ones that have gotten stretched out through the years after washing it. So I was due for some new one. Of course if you purchased two you got a slight discount, so why not? These are great. They stay in place and are very fashionable. 

3.Click it hot- It is an ice pack/heating pad- The other week when I fell paddle boarding I got a huge bruise on my leg and wanted to ice it. I was able to put this directly on my skin without it feeling like it was going to give me freezer burn. To start the heating process, there is a coin in the pack when you click it and it heats up. It is very soothing on tired muscles. 

4.  A Head Sweat Visor-  Mys sister and I are both big fans of Head Sweat Visors! They really are the best. It's like having a built in sweat absorbing headband. I am loving this particular one because it's black and matches a lot of things. Also, a lot of people in my area wear things that support the local race series ( J &A), so now I feel like I fit in when I'm running!   

5. Nathan Fire Catcher Vest- I did not buy this at the expo but I have certainly been loving it lately on those hot long runs!  It comes with two 10 oz water bottles.  There is a small pocket in the front to keep your key and another pocket that my ipod fits in just perfectly.  It's super light weight and very comfortable.   

Do you share my love for any of these items? L

We are linking up with the gals from the Friday 5.

Meet me at the Miss America Pageant!

Because we've been sticking with our Monday, Wednesday, Friday (and the occasional Sunday weekly wrap) blogging schedule, we haven't done a Thursday thought in a while. Well,  I was reminded this week that the Miss America pageant was held this past weekend and since I have some thoughts on that, I decided to share.  I can honestly say that I haven't watched that pageant in years.  

However, I do enjoy visiting the place where is all began.  Because we live on the East Coast, it's easy for us to get to Atlantic City.

I love the beach, the boardwalk atmosphere, shopping at the resorts (and the outlets), and eating at the Rain Forest Cafe which is one of my favorites. Of course along the boardwalk you are reminded that it is the home of the Miss America Pageant! 

I mentioned on the blog before that a few years back my sister and I got to be guest in the audience of a live taping of the Miss America Pageant. 

The competition was held inside Boardwalk Hall.  Although the venue looks all glitzy and glamorous on TV, I assure you, it is not that way in person.  I was shocked when we walked in to Boardwalk Hall and the atmosphere was like a ware house!

Here is a zoomed out picture so you can see the whole area.

Regardless of what “our end” looked like, it was amazing getting to watch something “in person” that we’ve only ever got to watch on television.

Now here's a little Miss America Trivia for you. The pageant began back in the 1920's in Atlantic City. It was always held the week after Labor Day in an effort to extended the tourist season and build more revenue for the city.  

2004 was the last time the pageant was held in Atlantic City before they moved it to Las Vegas for a few years.   They brought the pageant back to Atlantic City in 2013.  I can’t help but wonder if they brought it back that year in an effort to help boost the economy since hurricane Sandy’s visit.  I'm glad it is back on the East Coast because Atlantic City is such an Iconic backdrop for the Miss America Pageant.

 Share your thoughts!

A Really BIG decision!

I was just on a run with my running buddy discussing our fall race schedules. I told him what I had lined up and asked what he was planning on doing. I knew he had not signed up for anything after the Rock N Roll  Virginia Beach half marathon  which was on Labor day weekend. Last year I told him about my 50 miler relay at Tussey Mountain and told him they offer the Ultra race as well,  meaning you would complete all 50 miles solo. We have talked about it a few times this summer.  This is the same running buddy that I did my first Ultra with last December so talking about Ultra's now isn't really out of the ordinary like it once had been. 

This is me last year during the Tussey mountain 50 miler relay!

It wasn’t until the other day when we were talking about races that he said, “I am really thinking about signing up for the 50 miler”.  I would love to run it with him, but it's only three weeks after I would have run the Chicago Marathon!  And then I have the Lumiere's two course challenge the following weekend.  Boy I just don't know.  That seems like a lot!  

  Of course this would not be for time.  It would be just for the accomplishment in itself. I’m afraid that he is going to sign up, because if he does, you know I won’t be able to see him run it and not feel like I am missing out.  Well one thing I will have on my side is having a marathon completed shortly before that, so I will already be well trained, even though 50 miles is a lot more than 26.2. Final decision will need to be made soon so.  -L     Any thoughts?