tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33806653523212548582024-03-12T22:07:32.180-05:00Run KW RunBecause when the zombies come, I only have to outrun YOU!KWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01048289769679231707noreply@blogger.comBlogger293125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3380665352321254858.post-50933687501718148252015-02-19T07:19:00.001-06:002015-02-19T08:34:28.831-06:00Blog UpdateI know it's been awhile since my last post, <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/12/2014-has-been-epic.html">my epic 2014</a>. I recently had the dreaded foot surgery to remove ALL of my bunion (the previous surgery didn't get it all) on February 9, 2015. I'm now on crutches, but moving around easier each day. I'm really thankful that I can walk on it after a week. I'm also doing 30 crunches a day to help out the body just a bit and well and crutching around is a fantastic workout for the arms. <br />
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The Giant has been my savior helping me out and taking care of EVERYTHING. So, I want to just say thanks to him. And thanks to everyone sending me the well wishes. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQjbPHAkTHpzHJGhbqET8SBTV0MR1DtV0EM_BcxqixskKrHuQDyB_WO3bUQ83djBTtj_0uDlJlEoaBuLwHL21g14Zi83u6rlHXXc2ogpkZ9JpIzrlWe6I3wmQQjOK4OeVRYP7kjuLgVdY/s1600/IMG_9189.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQjbPHAkTHpzHJGhbqET8SBTV0MR1DtV0EM_BcxqixskKrHuQDyB_WO3bUQ83djBTtj_0uDlJlEoaBuLwHL21g14Zi83u6rlHXXc2ogpkZ9JpIzrlWe6I3wmQQjOK4OeVRYP7kjuLgVdY/s1600/IMG_9189.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>I now have lots and lots of pins. </em></td></tr>
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January was spent doing things before I lost the use of my foot for a couple of months, but nothing really to write about. I ran a few times (and even hit six miles). The cool part was seeing that I was consistently runner faster. I biked once with the Giant when he got back, but it was a very windy day and he had a nasty fall. So, a 14 mile bike ride ended up being more like 5 miles, which was a good thing since we had tickets to Book of Mormon (hilarious). I also went to the gym pretty regularly and I even got back into yoga again. <br />
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Now, I'm down and out for at least a month. I believe I can start swimming in March and biking in April if doctor approves. I'm told that I will be able to resume running in May. Marathon training will start in June (crossing fingers).<br />
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Since I'm not doing too much, I have been reading the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Signature-All-Things-Novel/dp/0143125842/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1424356277&sr=1-1&keywords=signature+of+all+things">Signature of All Things</a> by Elizabeth Gilbert and I absolutely 100% love it. Although, now that I'm back at work, the reading has taken a nose dive. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibz4-LBLIi03sAAievZ-LxxxWL8fJbx4v_cTY3Pz7ngUI0q-qFmEELlCPmCQqHcO4W5LJ9RFXQm6cdhQzyctBLGyM6l-XDEYxKOt6LTJJNlhFoou9nMGF3oIqvmzOmNAfYo6970V6IP9I/s1600/Capture.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibz4-LBLIi03sAAievZ-LxxxWL8fJbx4v_cTY3Pz7ngUI0q-qFmEELlCPmCQqHcO4W5LJ9RFXQm6cdhQzyctBLGyM6l-XDEYxKOt6LTJJNlhFoou9nMGF3oIqvmzOmNAfYo6970V6IP9I/s1600/Capture.JPG" height="320" width="211" /></a></div>
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But to be honest, I have been wrestling with continuing this blog. I started to see my picture from the <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/08/planks-challenge-completed.html">plank</a> post everywhere on the Internet and it kind of freaked me out. Also, I wasn't sure many people were really even reading it. Then, I had people tell me they miss my posts. I'm not totally done with this blog, but I won't be writing about much for the next month at least! <br />
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I hope you have a great weekend! KWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01048289769679231707noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3380665352321254858.post-8210519069293461632014-12-18T09:06:00.000-06:002014-12-18T11:50:39.642-06:002014 has been EPICIt's that time again when I recap my year and all the things I did or didn't do (check out previous posts <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2013/12/end-of-year-reviewno-fancy-title.html">here</a>, <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-year-of-broken-kristi.html">here</a>, and <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2011/10/year-of-kristi.html">here</a>). I have to say that 2014 has been pretty epic despite having an emergency surgery, finding out that I will need another foot surgery to correct the previous one so I can maybe run normally again, and dealing with some other personal issues. <br />
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This year, I have met a lot of new people, seen some great concerts, and experienced some new milestones. But the biggest thing of course is that the Giant finally moved here to the good ol' US of A for three months on the tourist visa. This folks means more to me than anything, because now we are on the same continent, hell, the same zip code. I get my partner full-time to watch movies, hang out on the couch, ride bikes, and drink some beers (even signed him up for his plate at <a href="http://www.beerknurd.com/stores/houston/">Flying Saucer</a>). It's been fabulous. I couldn't ask for anything more. <br />
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But there was more...so much more and without further adieu, a list of my epic adventures this year:<br />
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<h3>
Exercise</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/01/my-introduction-to-english-rain.html">Ran in the rain without issues</a>, which gave me some strength and confidence with my running. I'm not scared to run in the rain anymore and using it as an excuse.</li>
<li><a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/02/karbach-running-club.html">Joined the Karbach Running Club</a> and got a <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/04/running-for-free-shirt.html">free shirt</a> after five runs. It's a three mile run every Thursday evening at 6 p.m. at the brewery. I highly recommend it. I met some great people, including one (Bob) who introduced me to the <a href="http://www.houstonracing.com/">Houston Triathlon Club</a>. </li>
</ul>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpV-bSqxQlGeEuf39ArcuVf39HI5AbukQymbD961v6zW0jUie5WXkJV68WwoG4oEARWnYMBjUBHmacfS2FO7OoEITmhDRo8lwRzsyXbQsXHPDvWek3YFc9qCgrxHFNouMeSSF9ED4V37E/s1600/photo+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpV-bSqxQlGeEuf39ArcuVf39HI5AbukQymbD961v6zW0jUie5WXkJV68WwoG4oEARWnYMBjUBHmacfS2FO7OoEITmhDRo8lwRzsyXbQsXHPDvWek3YFc9qCgrxHFNouMeSSF9ED4V37E/s1600/photo+4.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>The inauguration of the <a href="http://www.karbachbrewing.com/">Karbach</a> Running Club.</em></td></tr>
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<ul>
<li>Organized my very first run (<a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/02/quadraman-fun-run-recap.html">Quadraman</a>) with the help of a few great ladies to raise money for a good friend of mine, David Hartsock. If you haven't read his story, please visit his <a href="http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/davidhartsock">Caring Bridge</a> site. His story has made international news again through a Sports Illustrated article in which a<a href="https://www.giveforward.com/fundraiser/0635/david-hartsock-s-fundraiser?utm_source=giveforward&utm_medium=widget"> Give Forward site</a> was set up to help him out. Please considering visiting and donating. His story also made it into Readers Digest and has sparked several groups to do an activity to raise money. It has been awesome to watch. </li>
</ul>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMSt93mv-XaWrbUuQj0Uqska2ZIjC0mvUJlif2gs9DNryumV2TLA2LLrMelkLvriP2ujiF5q-Sd0o9W-7F8bG0jIxlgZWWkjyVheVnaiLcgdXBbaOjwRAMxOKHslFDtIX5tm2hVgxlQng/s1600/IMG_2209.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMSt93mv-XaWrbUuQj0Uqska2ZIjC0mvUJlif2gs9DNryumV2TLA2LLrMelkLvriP2ujiF5q-Sd0o9W-7F8bG0jIxlgZWWkjyVheVnaiLcgdXBbaOjwRAMxOKHslFDtIX5tm2hVgxlQng/s1600/IMG_2209.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Quadraman 2014 participants</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ul>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/03/what-i-learned-this-week.html">Got into swimming</a>...like a lot. I even had a friend (Jim) help me out and I'm now more of an efficient swimmer. I still have more to learn and want to take a Masters Swimming Class once.</div>
</li>
<li><a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/03/great-urban-race-recap.html">Participated in my first scavenger hunt</a>, which was freaking cool. I have wanted to do this race for a year now, but I was always out of town. As luck would have it, I was in town when the call came into to join a team. And from there, I met and cultivated a great friendship with Elizabeth. </li>
</ul>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaJ-BY5zS8kLY8tA3QX8WDzVv-Jqfq2asYRvGnMrvGRLgs_XG8J-GgNizLJN5KInImv2dXtvSZsk1ijEVHrnwhl0ZIb8b1sBxs51ScGhkutucEloX7hdEtQmPn3ZJfHxXzU_BVeWrdyrY/s1600/IMG_3401.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaJ-BY5zS8kLY8tA3QX8WDzVv-Jqfq2asYRvGnMrvGRLgs_XG8J-GgNizLJN5KInImv2dXtvSZsk1ijEVHrnwhl0ZIb8b1sBxs51ScGhkutucEloX7hdEtQmPn3ZJfHxXzU_BVeWrdyrY/s1600/IMG_3401.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Selfie with a party cycling thing and a dog banana. </em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ul>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Participated in my <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/04/a-weekend-of-friends-fun-wine-and-half.html">second half marathon</a> in order to get ready for my first marathon. I didn't go as fast as I could, but I still tried. It was a lot of fun and solidified why I love the Cordovas. Plus, I met <a href="http://christilyn.com/">Christi</a> who is on a goal to get 40 half marathons in one year. </div>
</li>
</ul>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWBI_uePjIZEoTXj-ZsYmylM8Qnu7Z7_wSdCDntNyokeIIZ_9R_BCYx7t09tt5b5in7YYcoVXsqinz8j3PjFaMnCrBbm-ACT3OdlEKspf_XzqIzqvq-ZQjd4sXwK2TJyLCVC6KF_FLYOg/s1600/IMG_3578.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWBI_uePjIZEoTXj-ZsYmylM8Qnu7Z7_wSdCDntNyokeIIZ_9R_BCYx7t09tt5b5in7YYcoVXsqinz8j3PjFaMnCrBbm-ACT3OdlEKspf_XzqIzqvq-ZQjd4sXwK2TJyLCVC6KF_FLYOg/s1600/IMG_3578.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>This picture has nothing to do with the actual run, but it was my favorite picture from that weekend. Oh and we had some good wine, too.</em></td></tr>
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<ul>
<li>Ran the <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/05/2014-sprint-for-life-5k-recap.html">Sprint For Life 5k</a> with MaloRee for the first time ever after three years participating in this event. She just so happened to be in town that weekend and finally got to run it with our group.</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-oEYX2FcVlrpfe2Cac8J5ZCBhRuIT8pVLoH6CIfpA9nZrc9BGbYzsEH197TZCpcjgiHDmk7Dp4zO7-yDfu-cglmLQFn9SGPMErD6fHoegxoaGecZ7uw4DaQwFPIyKbeVz8TZTxZ4sgy0/s1600/IMG_4131.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-oEYX2FcVlrpfe2Cac8J5ZCBhRuIT8pVLoH6CIfpA9nZrc9BGbYzsEH197TZCpcjgiHDmk7Dp4zO7-yDfu-cglmLQFn9SGPMErD6fHoegxoaGecZ7uw4DaQwFPIyKbeVz8TZTxZ4sgy0/s1600/IMG_4131.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li>Participated in <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-walking-dead-escape-recap.html">The Walking Dead Escape</a> with Sara, Lori, and James where we outran zombies and then eventually, became one ourselves. I was knee deep in my sickness (so appropriate for this event), but I was not contagious anymore. Sara and I were marathoners turned zombies, while my brother and his wife were the bride and groom zombies. </li>
</ul>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmrnPG75BmCwvvjffjMhY84_9i43-IlGMGw4zxP6dXqQQrp0s2UGXHwbPEQouZRDptR-qGd5Ewk449Vn9n9ksfJSEls-Om28NuGnRHkDIu5F1wBBRJ_8yJgaLEoztSLuEIhf5kKiIu_64/s1600/IMG_4055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmrnPG75BmCwvvjffjMhY84_9i43-IlGMGw4zxP6dXqQQrp0s2UGXHwbPEQouZRDptR-qGd5Ewk449Vn9n9ksfJSEls-Om28NuGnRHkDIu5F1wBBRJ_8yJgaLEoztSLuEIhf5kKiIu_64/s1600/IMG_4055.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>This was my favorite picture ever.</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/04/a-15-miler-officially-done.html">Ran my longest run ever</a> (before my marathon, of course) with Jim. This was a huge milestone for me and proved to me that I could make it through the marathon without a total fail of my body. </li>
</ul>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2eebQQRWMdQQvzTDmXxQ0ix5GxilRultwYZL90VDaVmJZp4aDeVjXYNYZaj-wR02IPk5iKBiL_sYOD9JQjCZBDP5tYUT1y-JvBN09ct-pEmKvpx08WJ28VaGO7HkyJ-lb7sfGCqp8hP4/s1600/IMG_3860.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2eebQQRWMdQQvzTDmXxQ0ix5GxilRultwYZL90VDaVmJZp4aDeVjXYNYZaj-wR02IPk5iKBiL_sYOD9JQjCZBDP5tYUT1y-JvBN09ct-pEmKvpx08WJ28VaGO7HkyJ-lb7sfGCqp8hP4/s1600/IMG_3860.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>I loved how this picture captured my city, the park, and Jim running. Thankfully, it doesn't show me dying.</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ul>
<li>Completed a much needed <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/05/gait-analysis-completed.html">Gait Analysis</a>, which helped me a lot on my back issues and running form. </li>
<li><a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/06/my-first-marathon-with-four-different.html">OMG! FINISHED MY FIRST MARATHON</a>!!! This was hard and crazy, but was such an amazing life goal that I tried several times to make happen. I couldn't believe it finally did happen. Plus, I got to go to another country, Scotland and show the Cordovas my second home of England (including a very <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/06/8-mile-training-run-in-england.html">beautiful run in England</a>). I also got to hang out with Helen who's friendship I stole from the Giant (love her).</li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj19IsrRiFzpanBeEDTpvSebi3NeF5eeblZANguPmMZrcQ3gtPcuJwH5Rahcu0ulVdk9bfTKmJajxlwrfhfYIrVylk55xkhOHRLzFjP9OBtkibopyjU4oPQUY38OrYPsPu5ujzIqfBxCds/s1600/web-MEDE0997.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj19IsrRiFzpanBeEDTpvSebi3NeF5eeblZANguPmMZrcQ3gtPcuJwH5Rahcu0ulVdk9bfTKmJajxlwrfhfYIrVylk55xkhOHRLzFjP9OBtkibopyjU4oPQUY38OrYPsPu5ujzIqfBxCds/s1600/web-MEDE0997.jpeg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc6TahVKZqLozKZJSvTR5t7PCxIamMEh9hItcBy_4O1L1iXpSNB-bpjVIkCq5sqon6uAbDmNrf45BN-mcQ46ArqqddZcLaX_30W2cx0SyRhsVaAsK-lJYz8NtRrxpOTJ0_-N2wR5dH-gg/s1600/DSCN4257.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc6TahVKZqLozKZJSvTR5t7PCxIamMEh9hItcBy_4O1L1iXpSNB-bpjVIkCq5sqon6uAbDmNrf45BN-mcQ46ArqqddZcLaX_30W2cx0SyRhsVaAsK-lJYz8NtRrxpOTJ0_-N2wR5dH-gg/s1600/DSCN4257.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>The troublemakers can conquer the world now!</em></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGhdX4FMgkHb5k-x_rpiWFDOdtnaWPPzliC6SmZWHQrCExqLjj-YfBkuJ4hZkd5fl7yTdtoJXikKSde9sCr1ICLnaydSWoTx3aMYo-B_xtm3LXnugu7w2V1pgZya2oAYWLVDF2aaRZitk/s1600/DSCF6214.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGhdX4FMgkHb5k-x_rpiWFDOdtnaWPPzliC6SmZWHQrCExqLjj-YfBkuJ4hZkd5fl7yTdtoJXikKSde9sCr1ICLnaydSWoTx3aMYo-B_xtm3LXnugu7w2V1pgZya2oAYWLVDF2aaRZitk/s1600/DSCF6214.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>I take that back...this is my favorite picture ever.</em></td></tr>
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<ul>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/06/oui-to-french-style-running.html">Ran in France</a>...very cool. </div>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolzeTipfbNzDaqx3hAmP89UgKhlVkiGlr9S3SEZAohX6FBZRnyTaCFgnlvjdNXCVxcgsPxrLY7kUwLXi0yA2FFXzY9xx1HmbTDTiLM9uD6kqvPvHCGv_gGe1mJG4Na7G25e5MbhNLnsA/s1600/IMG_4528.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolzeTipfbNzDaqx3hAmP89UgKhlVkiGlr9S3SEZAohX6FBZRnyTaCFgnlvjdNXCVxcgsPxrLY7kUwLXi0yA2FFXzY9xx1HmbTDTiLM9uD6kqvPvHCGv_gGe1mJG4Na7G25e5MbhNLnsA/s1600/IMG_4528.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li>Participated in another <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/07/2014-hot-undies-run-recap-and-return-to.html">Hot Undies Run</a> with Elizabeth (her first) dressed as Gay Mexican Fiesta Pride. </li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8TBvbDghvXxKjS9JnbPJCEMu0N-l-2Y6NbGKUnTSNt-SbRdxF47ztqirBpqJIooY9-SeJkQz1tjMb_7fRmOt7_RSQitJdZjbDTIqrMZy6qQvvgd2nDoMOB5s9rPJ2K26AWKW6PdZtpio/s1600/IMG_5696.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8TBvbDghvXxKjS9JnbPJCEMu0N-l-2Y6NbGKUnTSNt-SbRdxF47ztqirBpqJIooY9-SeJkQz1tjMb_7fRmOt7_RSQitJdZjbDTIqrMZy6qQvvgd2nDoMOB5s9rPJ2K26AWKW6PdZtpio/s1600/IMG_5696.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li>Started and finished my first ever challenge, <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/07/challenge-5-minute-planks-day.html">Five Minutes of Planks a Day Challenge</a>. This was a rewarding experience and something I try to do at least once a week. I was supposed to get to a five minute plank, but it's just not going to happen this year.</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLkDm2xwhx5krDKNR_aLCCnqLpk734YeIPSmy08gT27TDJJHfjKpZFIRJEjz1OxZyc4sH_9SWrrUAXlKkplw_A8LaY2qBTFi9vhEBWWYdcYFfg78LVROwDBzJz-EhuRZHUyQyfmGo5NA4/s1600/2014-08-02+10.00.00-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLkDm2xwhx5krDKNR_aLCCnqLpk734YeIPSmy08gT27TDJJHfjKpZFIRJEjz1OxZyc4sH_9SWrrUAXlKkplw_A8LaY2qBTFi9vhEBWWYdcYFfg78LVROwDBzJz-EhuRZHUyQyfmGo5NA4/s1600/2014-08-02+10.00.00-1.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li>Participated in my <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/07/raspas-y-elotes-ride.html">first Raspas and Elotes bike ride</a> and learned what the hell that even meant. I have always done the taco rides or whatever social rides, but not this one. I also learned that I will never let Caroline get my elotes. </li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDM2qWpibqi5eOa2wm6D7oUZPcJ3SRCzutJQusw4h2USeYJX1s2LBYbTIapjUuWjsqFK1VCoz1Fzzlvy3DlMw5Fzh1tmNNso_TZIHQ2YxpkMoZ3uxIuJgP71Z70GmCeNz5sv8sWtWCPMA/s1600/IMG_5472.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDM2qWpibqi5eOa2wm6D7oUZPcJ3SRCzutJQusw4h2USeYJX1s2LBYbTIapjUuWjsqFK1VCoz1Fzzlvy3DlMw5Fzh1tmNNso_TZIHQ2YxpkMoZ3uxIuJgP71Z70GmCeNz5sv8sWtWCPMA/s1600/IMG_5472.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnQEdlDqsNWQxvd_4ri5l6g4RntLpB4By8bWTTfm5F3DFmBkFgMVzdDiVNMAtIdVcvLz2cyij0fKLF5IuHoauA8LyNQ0fi_jKU7OB-myQUpeGUfcI9fsjttXRN7Up-atP8fwu2E4BxX_c/s1600/IMG_5482.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnQEdlDqsNWQxvd_4ri5l6g4RntLpB4By8bWTTfm5F3DFmBkFgMVzdDiVNMAtIdVcvLz2cyij0fKLF5IuHoauA8LyNQ0fi_jKU7OB-myQUpeGUfcI9fsjttXRN7Up-atP8fwu2E4BxX_c/s1600/IMG_5482.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>This is elotes! </em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ul>
<li>Organized several bridge runs (<a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/07/sunrise-kemah-bridge-run-and-what-not.htmlhttp://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/07/sunrise-kemah-bridge-run-and-what-not.html">Kemah Bridge</a> and <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/08/fred-hartman-bridge-sunrise-run.html">Fred Hartman Bridge</a>) where I actually ran on a bridge with a group of people for fun. It was quite cool and I met a lot of new people. Because my foot got to Level Orange on the third one, I had to stop these runs completely, which made me so sad. </li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjW5fwuwNA1g7phFnrk42v_pO2p2KS1w7x-13KS40XfOWogkl8ra36Af4PH_ihaHpRU2VVCcPnQTv_Vaz_VoONC8f2XmIIW3iuRpo_hZ10yxa7T4L8Yscr_jlqFKh6uFaaQ9xdA8chRaQ/s1600/IMG_6296.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjW5fwuwNA1g7phFnrk42v_pO2p2KS1w7x-13KS40XfOWogkl8ra36Af4PH_ihaHpRU2VVCcPnQTv_Vaz_VoONC8f2XmIIW3iuRpo_hZ10yxa7T4L8Yscr_jlqFKh6uFaaQ9xdA8chRaQ/s1600/IMG_6296.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>This picture here won me a gift card to <a href="http://www.sportchalet.com/home.do">Sports Chalet</a>.</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ul>
<li>Participated in my first<a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/08/splash-and-dash.html"> Splash and Dash</a> hosted by the <a href="http://www.houstonracing.com/">Houston Triathlon Club</a>.</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Fb5LxsEm60JB9AR_KKM9NJ_bOFgYL3wKSiUtBr018E47CyMTzzloxr_eYGEYQiMJ-KYn2aoKO0WvYsPYQcK_wfbGpTMuyVIP_QB1Oqmy16Z-LgTtDboULLvsv7BP6ikD8HRrGW5xeE8/s1600/IMG_6459%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Fb5LxsEm60JB9AR_KKM9NJ_bOFgYL3wKSiUtBr018E47CyMTzzloxr_eYGEYQiMJ-KYn2aoKO0WvYsPYQcK_wfbGpTMuyVIP_QB1Oqmy16Z-LgTtDboULLvsv7BP6ikD8HRrGW5xeE8/s1600/IMG_6459%5B1%5D.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li>Participated in <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/08/sunrise-yoga-at-beach.html">sunrise yoga by the beach</a>, my first yoga session on sand. It was really cool and I hope to make that an annual thing. </li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7eWzL0BZAVt7_zAVLtMwgDCO_5F718SCNVaDb9OcabsZqI1dPzWUkyIARRbIIdYPjyR3RZltsxgRXONZ5w1tj0TvudpeRxxYUyqUmgocFE6CVBaWiVF2Lky08dBHrbK4_nxaLXB41XTA/s1600/IMG_6928.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7eWzL0BZAVt7_zAVLtMwgDCO_5F718SCNVaDb9OcabsZqI1dPzWUkyIARRbIIdYPjyR3RZltsxgRXONZ5w1tj0TvudpeRxxYUyqUmgocFE6CVBaWiVF2Lky08dBHrbK4_nxaLXB41XTA/s1600/IMG_6928.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>This picture shows me doing this headstand thing for the first time with minimal help.</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/09/20-mile-bike-ride-and-new-bike.html">Bought a new road bike</a> named Cylo and have already had some fun adventures on it. Check out posts <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/09/maiden-ride-on-cylo-my-new-road-bike.html">here</a>, <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-mark-of-true-cyclist.html">here</a>, and <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/12/a-nice-windy-bike-ride-on-seawall.html">here</a>, including my <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/12/30ish-magnolia-bike-ride-uphill-into.html">longest bike ride ever</a>.</li>
</ul>
<div align="center">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv3m1fbkqrpDYvP7ggZmBwdGP0XAD2wb7dikn8oEKP8tph4v1bIenT7AlTNUIXmx3j3vHJQzNRAC8xqjmPVrfKjwVoLuhJZRNIdwBu9Ug66ULOI0-JaSADXh3bmq3EO8b81wRTZmmTq8I/s1600/IMG_7453%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv3m1fbkqrpDYvP7ggZmBwdGP0XAD2wb7dikn8oEKP8tph4v1bIenT7AlTNUIXmx3j3vHJQzNRAC8xqjmPVrfKjwVoLuhJZRNIdwBu9Ug66ULOI0-JaSADXh3bmq3EO8b81wRTZmmTq8I/s1600/IMG_7453%5B1%5D.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/11/my-first-triathlon-oktoberfest.html">OMG! FINISHED MY FIRST TRIATHLON</a>!!!! This was another amazing experience. I had some trouble throughout, but I know I can do better. I have even agreed (maybe stupidly) to a Half Ironman next year (for sure 2016). EEK!!!</li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgheKT7xHTUg5n1q0Qu_EFhz0ZSTjGkmAPIqEKtrOcF_VrMtGBe9PBYlNXcKqYNmwQsqZ32dLG6tQ8BxFIMHSwhwPPAm-Ql9GuE-lo8M4LYTM-Y3mnV1AMmsy3qzBr_8D498_M8cuQJSMk/s1600/IMG_7562.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgheKT7xHTUg5n1q0Qu_EFhz0ZSTjGkmAPIqEKtrOcF_VrMtGBe9PBYlNXcKqYNmwQsqZ32dLG6tQ8BxFIMHSwhwPPAm-Ql9GuE-lo8M4LYTM-Y3mnV1AMmsy3qzBr_8D498_M8cuQJSMk/s1600/IMG_7562.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>This picture got me over 100 likes for the first time on Facebook. Oh yes, it did.</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div align="center">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIPxpTXDUD0fmlPIDPiCCCdEha-BCAnJ2Xqt_X62-HYpcEBwM7AjqnQ8tBoYDRB8zFp5JgJF9yJlOGhVqsqvkYXej_56fSZemGLPb35mxQxSiYYt7enxkyRh1bIEikuuECexdxD5FIryY/s1600/635507754044977349.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIPxpTXDUD0fmlPIDPiCCCdEha-BCAnJ2Xqt_X62-HYpcEBwM7AjqnQ8tBoYDRB8zFp5JgJF9yJlOGhVqsqvkYXej_56fSZemGLPb35mxQxSiYYt7enxkyRh1bIEikuuECexdxD5FIryY/s1600/635507754044977349.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Out of all the pictures the professional photographer took, I loved this one the best. </em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ul>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/11/just-quick-hike-up-enchanted-rock.html">Hiked up Enchanted Rock</a> with the Cordovas and the Giant. </div>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPNeoyiXh_dwAo0WToHgWgK1MNZeFQ58Dg0uiABidBFkogkBozDidrd4BGVj5z7xlZ6bqnxJW4I3C2uINPRTGdJiReG6tNLYSZ00MIpyCl6EO5WWMJec-B2NhxEa3mgAUorne-n3_86qk/s1600/IMG_8157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPNeoyiXh_dwAo0WToHgWgK1MNZeFQ58Dg0uiABidBFkogkBozDidrd4BGVj5z7xlZ6bqnxJW4I3C2uINPRTGdJiReG6tNLYSZ00MIpyCl6EO5WWMJec-B2NhxEa3mgAUorne-n3_86qk/s1600/IMG_8157.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>I captured a great moment of them looking out on the beautiful scenery.</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvjQ_ehmvu5HEkpw4_yKFD3HP5jgeTQV2B4L1v0XhWNgnPNVrWDKlhoB-pi0RRPh4PRyQlDHYKL5eFDi7zOLifXFM2pA9uqmr8bGGZPOkpG-rr_i_2PdieR1qMxlBP20tGuUBySLRetW4/s1600/IMG_8133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvjQ_ehmvu5HEkpw4_yKFD3HP5jgeTQV2B4L1v0XhWNgnPNVrWDKlhoB-pi0RRPh4PRyQlDHYKL5eFDi7zOLifXFM2pA9uqmr8bGGZPOkpG-rr_i_2PdieR1qMxlBP20tGuUBySLRetW4/s1600/IMG_8133.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/12/route-66-marathon-recap-and-my-first-dnf.html">Had my first DNF (Did Not Finish) at a marathon</a>. Yeah, it's probably not something to celebrate, but it was my first time and I was okay with it. With this experience, I created a running group bond with the Allen sisters and Valerie. We have plans now to meet each other somewhere and run a half marathon or a marathon every year. The <a href="http://www.marinemarathon.com/">Marine Corps Marathon</a> is on our horizon for 2015 if we can get in at all. </li>
</ul>
<div align="center">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsTh6NH621qUiU9qAVGV16bYOxLRrEoP80yUXnjWfkSBigrAaGQfVVywNNxfT37PKZZMmGgc8E88bIuFgVzAT7A3D1ctjMTl2ttTzOrJXp0Ww2CokCkc9TVEwRzGNgQq9yqWG_K9pPdTM/s1600/IMG_8394.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsTh6NH621qUiU9qAVGV16bYOxLRrEoP80yUXnjWfkSBigrAaGQfVVywNNxfT37PKZZMmGgc8E88bIuFgVzAT7A3D1ctjMTl2ttTzOrJXp0Ww2CokCkc9TVEwRzGNgQq9yqWG_K9pPdTM/s1600/IMG_8394.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li>Participated in <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/12/cranksgiving-2014.html">Cranksgiving</a>, which is a program to bring supplies to homeless people and their dogs on Thanksgiving morning using our bicycles. </li>
</ul>
<div align="center">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif_sy7s8buWb5TTomAPn56QX0baqvo-Yd3M1Q4ZKZltPwlNPDnbDfjWkmvi1v38OaEnfwZpyiEAXty2u4qBWx4UbM7IktRbi1shsnNm3vEkJqPWKgehK5DEBMHCEpJL2BaUJoWcFFqIo0/s1600/IMG_8315.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif_sy7s8buWb5TTomAPn56QX0baqvo-Yd3M1Q4ZKZltPwlNPDnbDfjWkmvi1v38OaEnfwZpyiEAXty2u4qBWx4UbM7IktRbi1shsnNm3vEkJqPWKgehK5DEBMHCEpJL2BaUJoWcFFqIo0/s1600/IMG_8315.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
Life</h3>
<ul>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Went on a <a href="http://www.urbanadventures.com/Houston_tour_historic_downtown_pub_crawl">Houston Historic Pub Crawl</a> where I learned about my city through beer, such as Houston used to be the capital, but was moved to Waterloo (now called Austin), because our last President didn't like Sam Houston. I also won a free tour anywhere in the world. I also FINALLY learned about the Wiley stickers I've seen around town and made a connection with him through Instagram. </div>
</li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6n-aBvkxSjaHhm6nH3_yJw_rCQKDCCaqowlOMSO_Qi0sZRYCQJsAZt30rX5bK_pxyDWGsE767SVnz5xrE5jj89gRxL4-fModtBm29-UvkZ1kQ6FiwVCX3KRspotpOxgGLCV-1KYuGYsg/s1600/IMG_4241.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6n-aBvkxSjaHhm6nH3_yJw_rCQKDCCaqowlOMSO_Qi0sZRYCQJsAZt30rX5bK_pxyDWGsE767SVnz5xrE5jj89gRxL4-fModtBm29-UvkZ1kQ6FiwVCX3KRspotpOxgGLCV-1KYuGYsg/s1600/IMG_4241.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>This is of the State Bar, which was recently closed. The history of this bar was so cool. JFK was there the night before his assassination to give a talk to LULAC.</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnnYVOWE_EkPff4J-n1sjPpOIF5OOYyOMYz32PFQxuZGR-xi3J8xS6RtTY_tIhXcknmLACs5rTzMjvCrYf9QgcbgZHyPjgFbe2XJO7dLmoDLtmhfn7YBO6uSZ5dUw_K8xbxp9MtRl39KQ/s1600/IMG_4265.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnnYVOWE_EkPff4J-n1sjPpOIF5OOYyOMYz32PFQxuZGR-xi3J8xS6RtTY_tIhXcknmLACs5rTzMjvCrYf9QgcbgZHyPjgFbe2XJO7dLmoDLtmhfn7YBO6uSZ5dUw_K8xbxp9MtRl39KQ/s1600/IMG_4265.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li>Participated in <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/07/falconry-or-otherwise-known-as-coolest.html">Falconry</a> with the Cordovas and was by far one of the coolest things ever. </li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKfvRqll5V3_nkjpMwpMa__MY_LwRyMGRTOcxX00H_67ScPLWgSeixWSZ0-XNEqvSpEYEuRbqL4CQFBczbSpUllg4gt1b1T6WBk61WfvVme6IX1LtzLmU8G1is-olyu6JupLcIaSq1f1Q/s1600/DSCN4004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKfvRqll5V3_nkjpMwpMa__MY_LwRyMGRTOcxX00H_67ScPLWgSeixWSZ0-XNEqvSpEYEuRbqL4CQFBczbSpUllg4gt1b1T6WBk61WfvVme6IX1LtzLmU8G1is-olyu6JupLcIaSq1f1Q/s1600/DSCN4004.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li>Found a group of friends equally in love with watching the World Cup as myself. Through this, we have seen and done many activities together. And thankfully, they like food like I do.</li>
</ul>
<div align="center">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipjAN9BuA3bTVY5QjJIq6nXLfaWFFpQGT2jwpr_cvijU4aGf8ECrfDClB5R9f21OZLgXwfxYS8mBKOaJsKZT15q-rdAGZoE82BdzGH3MIViFF_yGtFk1Txf6TREG0jBNBD9OlsHsBWMzc/s1600/IMG_5722%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipjAN9BuA3bTVY5QjJIq6nXLfaWFFpQGT2jwpr_cvijU4aGf8ECrfDClB5R9f21OZLgXwfxYS8mBKOaJsKZT15q-rdAGZoE82BdzGH3MIViFF_yGtFk1Txf6TREG0jBNBD9OlsHsBWMzc/s1600/IMG_5722%5B1%5D.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgl1het3HlUWHCypMtrC0SOVuUvq2Meslu1iFvS7n2FIVTyUyjiEm41G78TMDMF2D5K62bE5im0L0ee7s9t3uPZhy4zaLXNhVTMciUB0-NRL7gLXHIS_E-on2hycDGmqAUL-dL-PiRBzE/s1600/IMG_5526.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgl1het3HlUWHCypMtrC0SOVuUvq2Meslu1iFvS7n2FIVTyUyjiEm41G78TMDMF2D5K62bE5im0L0ee7s9t3uPZhy4zaLXNhVTMciUB0-NRL7gLXHIS_E-on2hycDGmqAUL-dL-PiRBzE/s1600/IMG_5526.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
Participated in my second favorite time of year, <a href="http://www.houstonrestaurantweeks.com/">Houston Restaurant Week</a>. I was able to go to a record eight new places and one place I've been to before for a total of 9 restaurants. The places included Mr. Peeples Restaurant, Masraff's, The Bird and the Bear, Post Oak Grill, Mockingbird Bistro, Churrascos (been there before), Triniti, Brasserie Max & Julie (least favorite), and Nara Sushi & Korean Kitchen. It was awesome and my favorite was Masraff's. </div>
</li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXi-mSdEdTbjarklVYiz-cRz9H-3T-zrqgz_zXNx3CYa_jS-R7eg8qTVGR4XZOLmCU1ARwG7pqT_u8uuGOd6sWwRpb8CS1fXqrgmTDBwXrIwD1en9L0uYXD02G47S-Jb4gkohc6S7W5tY/s1600/IMG_6344.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXi-mSdEdTbjarklVYiz-cRz9H-3T-zrqgz_zXNx3CYa_jS-R7eg8qTVGR4XZOLmCU1ARwG7pqT_u8uuGOd6sWwRpb8CS1fXqrgmTDBwXrIwD1en9L0uYXD02G47S-Jb4gkohc6S7W5tY/s1600/IMG_6344.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>The group at Masraffs. Yum. </em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ul>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Reunited with some old <a href="http://www.tamucc.edu/">TAMUCC</a> college buddies. GO TARPINS! </div>
</li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgLsPtJP2TKsi-MYzIxLd7yCCPQ1r_W9MMu-b1omf6GhIbH0IzBgvYyKlZ4GiZG9a02J38-Th7CMCy1rOViO_O8jJ7tIP0wHbV4funPOJzc5_MQ_P67gXfAP5suZmdOzcAg74RMr0fWqY/s1600/IMG_5338.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgLsPtJP2TKsi-MYzIxLd7yCCPQ1r_W9MMu-b1omf6GhIbH0IzBgvYyKlZ4GiZG9a02J38-Th7CMCy1rOViO_O8jJ7tIP0wHbV4funPOJzc5_MQ_P67gXfAP5suZmdOzcAg74RMr0fWqY/s1600/IMG_5338.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>World meet Corey. Corey meet world. This was at the <a href="http://www.houstonbeerfestival.com/">Houston Beer Festival</a>, which was my first time, as well. It was freaking hot and I'm not sure who was the moron to decide on an outdoor festival in August in Texas.</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKBQei9VVyVlXFRgN6S2DSNEePEFiSCdZMro1JjEqtmlu8T9Sgmi7jR8Jb1_FVwJoKDiBNVlH0lY_gDqgWPSKXLhQA28xksO7lY5PGsXj-De5BbFIaoalO1m69m3MSmrK16hcUdW9tPm8/s1600/IMG_7684.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKBQei9VVyVlXFRgN6S2DSNEePEFiSCdZMro1JjEqtmlu8T9Sgmi7jR8Jb1_FVwJoKDiBNVlH0lY_gDqgWPSKXLhQA28xksO7lY5PGsXj-De5BbFIaoalO1m69m3MSmrK16hcUdW9tPm8/s1600/IMG_7684.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>This guy right here, Matt. Through a randomly posted picture on another friend's Facebook page, I reunited with him and found out that we both have Brits (long distance relationship) in our lives. </em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ul>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
Read a zombie book (Winchester Undead) written by my friend, David Lund. I actually know an author (really need to work on this for myself). Buy his book<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Winchester-Over-Undead-1/dp/150044765X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418674462&sr=8-1&keywords=winchester+over&pebp=1418674465581"> here</a>; the second book is coming out soon. I also won this artwork.</div>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGd6xUHaW12_xelGVO_aXUF7H4Ltp58Y-pS7hTgiWgMPID9hojJolPqPqQu5DAX34JvSRAhE7WniyL796lnZXRw-Pf-zYSws6st1DhtdRl4foX8Ge_gUEWmgSnBSpA-7h3NPbkbP4Rviw/s1600/IMG_5689.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGd6xUHaW12_xelGVO_aXUF7H4Ltp58Y-pS7hTgiWgMPID9hojJolPqPqQu5DAX34JvSRAhE7WniyL796lnZXRw-Pf-zYSws6st1DhtdRl4foX8Ge_gUEWmgSnBSpA-7h3NPbkbP4Rviw/s1600/IMG_5689.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
Jumped with my friend Rueben on his first tandem for his birthday. </div>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-lj1rDGgModTfXKQ1t-a8jvE6itMzCVvfohAEFgplGj8Wt6-4DRO_BKpdR_X7FWTRy44NkmbYyG3m6DFdGr5UXYNDVWjzlptDdaCZYSfvOWZPmlKShPeXny_YBmc8YLdP_ig1B4bIey4/s1600/IMG_6787.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-lj1rDGgModTfXKQ1t-a8jvE6itMzCVvfohAEFgplGj8Wt6-4DRO_BKpdR_X7FWTRy44NkmbYyG3m6DFdGr5UXYNDVWjzlptDdaCZYSfvOWZPmlKShPeXny_YBmc8YLdP_ig1B4bIey4/s1600/IMG_6787.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7EY_-84FOuRKI26-svgDtY1AUaT16hiD7CDfbJ4kUT04VcGoT75pO9IYAhkD95Aj0-vh8PJCgb2_oiaRDokU3mePDHUWEi7QI2eI0jDOofqtRUtjfnV9RwGKrpL-u63HsrkZ3WENx-bA/s1600/IMG_6790.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7EY_-84FOuRKI26-svgDtY1AUaT16hiD7CDfbJ4kUT04VcGoT75pO9IYAhkD95Aj0-vh8PJCgb2_oiaRDokU3mePDHUWEi7QI2eI0jDOofqtRUtjfnV9RwGKrpL-u63HsrkZ3WENx-bA/s1600/IMG_6790.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>These are some pretty special guys in my life right here</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<ul>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
Pied the Cordovas. Only skydivers will understand this and how they got away with it for so long is beyond me. Thanks to Tony for organizing it.</div>
</li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCRBTOywi6NlyxW7xNodhUWhO8XMu7XFOdTIwADLHrxYp3MZ5VSUCODDFlD8C5DW64jQSlYrvC3hnG-B82cB5b8ceAS3CwMZA3OklxGWmMaXPEwjpQStVD4Jxi1XHEPgbN3FOzoW369wM/s1600/IMG_6659.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCRBTOywi6NlyxW7xNodhUWhO8XMu7XFOdTIwADLHrxYp3MZ5VSUCODDFlD8C5DW64jQSlYrvC3hnG-B82cB5b8ceAS3CwMZA3OklxGWmMaXPEwjpQStVD4Jxi1XHEPgbN3FOzoW369wM/s1600/IMG_6659.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Congrats on your 1000th jumps a decade ago.</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ul>
<li>Saw my friends get married at the cutest backyard wedding ever done up with all science related love themes. Loved it.</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuJYtbx773jph07h8Bk4dWFhTBqob418xEqN4NZEjf4vOFHWoxpqxt1g6aBOEuOpb_UoWuzkPa17wHFx0gfeHY1sy9V7KROs0bBs7_Y2-33x4dAL_Olkwl6DNayZEtqGJfHpNLHatTfXw/s1600/IMG_6858.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuJYtbx773jph07h8Bk4dWFhTBqob418xEqN4NZEjf4vOFHWoxpqxt1g6aBOEuOpb_UoWuzkPa17wHFx0gfeHY1sy9V7KROs0bBs7_Y2-33x4dAL_Olkwl6DNayZEtqGJfHpNLHatTfXw/s1600/IMG_6858.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<ul>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
Went to my first ever Oktoberfest in Houston complete with lederhosen and all. I'm ready for the real deal now in Germany.</div>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd-4MJBEWJ495dLgQEmM8hE-3sEX7xGMb9wl2kyxPtTXkBY-9LtWcfBvnWKhmtS84wJsuUgQs3KHmlBrLUgiNCptZ6QBT9INMy5xK2all7twvlYO0m3S35AfUyOVKYU2bz9DN1UFQgans/s1600/IMG_7187.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd-4MJBEWJ495dLgQEmM8hE-3sEX7xGMb9wl2kyxPtTXkBY-9LtWcfBvnWKhmtS84wJsuUgQs3KHmlBrLUgiNCptZ6QBT9INMy5xK2all7twvlYO0m3S35AfUyOVKYU2bz9DN1UFQgans/s1600/IMG_7187.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li>Welcomed the Giant to America at where else...<a href="http://www.saintarnold.com/">St. Arnold Brewery</a> where I coincidentally ran into my Godmother. </li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDy_Wzh1KeZ7a_7rTIjv482ScqBi7HCLBJoscXJSJxmaGqRRb97oY5xI7QJ199ukpVz3mtUJJRMnr6BkornsXEF9EDYo1pBEuFVQE20-BiQIDZz0WGKIYhJweq-u6UXZYyNRlwCP8m8HE/s1600/IMG_7386.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDy_Wzh1KeZ7a_7rTIjv482ScqBi7HCLBJoscXJSJxmaGqRRb97oY5xI7QJ199ukpVz3mtUJJRMnr6BkornsXEF9EDYo1pBEuFVQE20-BiQIDZz0WGKIYhJweq-u6UXZYyNRlwCP8m8HE/s1600/IMG_7386.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwz5zS6Zlg9TGwyrYWilQ1y5vwsQgBxNu3oDKHc0_7ME2wduYvDuhaFwhm8uMR3EiFIlFYmZAj90dPzrs1MHV53hB3F0eLKYnEE5Q1Xhq8gKOmlzVuVahAGp9oEl6P-PbAcC2bmr5B9_I/s1600/IMG_7400.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwz5zS6Zlg9TGwyrYWilQ1y5vwsQgBxNu3oDKHc0_7ME2wduYvDuhaFwhm8uMR3EiFIlFYmZAj90dPzrs1MHV53hB3F0eLKYnEE5Q1Xhq8gKOmlzVuVahAGp9oEl6P-PbAcC2bmr5B9_I/s1600/IMG_7400.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>I haven't seen Susan in years and it was a surprise to run into her. Now, if only my mom would have remembered she volunteers here so we could have gotten a table reserved. </em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ul>
<li>Participated in a Houston Brewery Tour with the Giant, Lori, and James. My brother is not pictured, because he's on the bus ready to drink.</li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj951sLqBPoU3OBX2pO9IAuo_DAob6ILU0yEjhWjv1adx27j_u2TqbD3dkX1BnmV8YYIsLcb_o_Nla8X7oSzNBdvXgemB3kN7V1_P0VMetSlDau7GYePP3gsyRoanHYE7zr9oK6NBmwVe4/s1600/IMG_7450.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj951sLqBPoU3OBX2pO9IAuo_DAob6ILU0yEjhWjv1adx27j_u2TqbD3dkX1BnmV8YYIsLcb_o_Nla8X7oSzNBdvXgemB3kN7V1_P0VMetSlDau7GYePP3gsyRoanHYE7zr9oK6NBmwVe4/s1600/IMG_7450.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li>Went to the opening and closing games for the <a href="http://www.houstondynamo.com/">Houston Dynamo</a>. We didn't get to the playoffs, but I still had fun. </li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx8qJwPUGQAXF1Bn1eWTkdppKRkhffupL9t98pvleEMoaMJM3r04b4eXWGj60vNnnGYodPmYecJ8gqBYMEGfhM_hmv4VepRfdZ4miSNnv_7UoOXEyw-IiKxfOQZcP29bsSyIgPY5rkKM4/s1600/IMG_7579.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx8qJwPUGQAXF1Bn1eWTkdppKRkhffupL9t98pvleEMoaMJM3r04b4eXWGj60vNnnGYodPmYecJ8gqBYMEGfhM_hmv4VepRfdZ4miSNnv_7UoOXEyw-IiKxfOQZcP29bsSyIgPY5rkKM4/s1600/IMG_7579.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li>Saw the coolest, campiest, craziest musical ever, <a href="http://www.houstonbeerfestival.com/">Evil Dead The Musical</a> where I started another new friendship with Lauren. We had so much red liquid poured on us, it was crazy. Next time, I will bring a towel. </li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDvG7Un4cdlip04T8yri6i6h4FL8LJjEQeIJsidIo8UYJbwDZAMtIS7G2i5u87vsTOoNl2gaslZ-TuMUfjZ1ehiY3bfGBx-deFCarB_ezLVAkxd-e41RGk7LKu1X8aBDXcmKrkNFh-te8/s1600/IMG_7583.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDvG7Un4cdlip04T8yri6i6h4FL8LJjEQeIJsidIo8UYJbwDZAMtIS7G2i5u87vsTOoNl2gaslZ-TuMUfjZ1ehiY3bfGBx-deFCarB_ezLVAkxd-e41RGk7LKu1X8aBDXcmKrkNFh-te8/s1600/IMG_7583.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVKrMcK2FlTHek4FjnZiNpPoYy6OFdmAB5wAzZkfd4vN3KbhZQFFfgAmuXP_56szJO4J0sihqxf8PFb4jVxkl-ADXDEWp1MzM0hhyphenhyphenQeulN0oyKoHnCnJEQwAqzJM9WJXKhtUIEiP3MSoE/s1600/IMG_7591.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVKrMcK2FlTHek4FjnZiNpPoYy6OFdmAB5wAzZkfd4vN3KbhZQFFfgAmuXP_56szJO4J0sihqxf8PFb4jVxkl-ADXDEWp1MzM0hhyphenhyphenQeulN0oyKoHnCnJEQwAqzJM9WJXKhtUIEiP3MSoE/s1600/IMG_7591.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>We got a picture with most of the cast afterwards.</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ul>
<li>Dressed up as Magenta from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, which was a bucket list costume item for me. And to top it off, the Giant dressed as Riff Raff. I loved our costumes and can't wait to dress up like that again. Thanks to Susan for making my hair a work of art. All that's left for the Halloween Costume Bucket List is dressing up as slave Princess Leia.</li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_WuFy6gdSzh_1hpJq1JpfYIMGXtFOa92QuekL_VscbVP3KMMOkkLKp8D-UNj3oYYxQ4YHTlPyAHcCaNETMKIMsJKG4aQEPwihkCiRbCo63HdFTG3ICPmxcpwg-cOzavYDJRRoJ1V6u_0/s1600/IMG_7711.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_WuFy6gdSzh_1hpJq1JpfYIMGXtFOa92QuekL_VscbVP3KMMOkkLKp8D-UNj3oYYxQ4YHTlPyAHcCaNETMKIMsJKG4aQEPwihkCiRbCo63HdFTG3ICPmxcpwg-cOzavYDJRRoJ1V6u_0/s1600/IMG_7711.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Touch me Touch me Touch me. I want to feel dirty.</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ul>
<li>Used a pretty cool template for the first time ever to carve our pumpkin. And no, the Giant didn't do all of the work. </li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8LwrtXenWowijnE33lHJ9S58qnUjwDP5njA32aE2lQ55fb8Mlc-qNqYmrPtyUjWa-6AFbrlox9NWGVSymbnSa-ffIJzc4gkgrh4UYOVEwgz04MSzzOg_iPVQHDueiAMBkmQeTLXXtPMY/s1600/IMG_7720.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8LwrtXenWowijnE33lHJ9S58qnUjwDP5njA32aE2lQ55fb8Mlc-qNqYmrPtyUjWa-6AFbrlox9NWGVSymbnSa-ffIJzc4gkgrh4UYOVEwgz04MSzzOg_iPVQHDueiAMBkmQeTLXXtPMY/s1600/IMG_7720.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li>Went to several bucketlist concerts, including Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Gwar (was an off the wall kind of list). I also learned about a new band called Sir Sly whom I LOVE and will see them again in January. I had a mini Mayde Creek reunion seeing our favorite band from that era, 311. It was a fantastic night and I got a free ticket to NIN and Soundgarden (never saw either before and thanks Faz). NIN was one freaking amazing concert and I will make it a point to see NIN again whenever they come to town. I also saw freaking Alice Cooper, which was another fantastic performance. My only other bucketlist concert that didn't get reached was ZZ Top. They had to reschedule the show until May. </li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1hWpj89V44S7c-TIAzoKVN5bFJ8JZGjmCO9lkCTW4rwzZ86bCW622UKn2L8FgKDUqqXZ8YSsQ1_3RuTOiqnjn-rsOL3JhkesD3hvprlspP5Kfq5_Bpzqq30BHqPB_641Cj7AVyd60PzE/s1600/IMG_6114.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1hWpj89V44S7c-TIAzoKVN5bFJ8JZGjmCO9lkCTW4rwzZ86bCW622UKn2L8FgKDUqqXZ8YSsQ1_3RuTOiqnjn-rsOL3JhkesD3hvprlspP5Kfq5_Bpzqq30BHqPB_641Cj7AVyd60PzE/s1600/IMG_6114.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Nick Hexum from 311 is still a dream. </em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPqeisHGWl5FMrI2ExPhr0e4SoiefAs5gtW28hE9hFed1btUMOiqAUC7f69mpjxGik-hlbJAPE8JNCe08Iw2_L4gfybezHFUYbQs0Jeyq3QsgvnnsipDjuw8LcER4ev6mVRQ98_zbEVFk/s1600/IMG_6158.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPqeisHGWl5FMrI2ExPhr0e4SoiefAs5gtW28hE9hFed1btUMOiqAUC7f69mpjxGik-hlbJAPE8JNCe08Iw2_L4gfybezHFUYbQs0Jeyq3QsgvnnsipDjuw8LcER4ev6mVRQ98_zbEVFk/s1600/IMG_6158.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>The Rams alumni right here.</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmR3Vggb4d3JwgNafLNwr0ujXdys1tcliKj4H7TxABLpK4-UjEKAmNOz9FXkw_mYIhLnZyeswqpnDP6ITJ3VCsuGEbwQpPt2ta1nMjEuok1QvkBr8Ak9CrwLlVAvauxsx9udtS44vdV74/s1600/IMG_6490.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmR3Vggb4d3JwgNafLNwr0ujXdys1tcliKj4H7TxABLpK4-UjEKAmNOz9FXkw_mYIhLnZyeswqpnDP6ITJ3VCsuGEbwQpPt2ta1nMjEuok1QvkBr8Ak9CrwLlVAvauxsx9udtS44vdV74/s1600/IMG_6490.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>NIN was freaking amazing. </em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQdt_OW_GbU2IQddz1ID7GzFW3Qs7yxEx3oaaIl7nJaHrXM1XhGl3edGbIygGWOKszhLuOwQt_dpOsATtbdpkugkN9Vs08HVifmLxhre_P1b3J3ijjAYsGpGFxuw4ucxcnE39dcA3XgVs/s1600/IMG_6856.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQdt_OW_GbU2IQddz1ID7GzFW3Qs7yxEx3oaaIl7nJaHrXM1XhGl3edGbIygGWOKszhLuOwQt_dpOsATtbdpkugkN9Vs08HVifmLxhre_P1b3J3ijjAYsGpGFxuw4ucxcnE39dcA3XgVs/s1600/IMG_6856.JPG" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Lindsey and I with the singer of Sir Sly. </em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ul>
<li>Took the Giant to his first professional football game where we saw the Texans play the Philadelphia Eagles. We lost, but I got to hang out with my good friend, Ashley and show the Giant what tailgating is really like (with Jim's group of people).</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggfnoXgyMTvyCIDvYNEQf1yzipnWvGc6L9P5_ObP1TwOAR9uVNOQwjedR7kaioKf-j-r39rWUADDI3Ojy8dgk2MDccEKdvhAR0Kvq9CLbf7Cmgzaf7TdvGhCZIwoh-G1zcGvCeTaY0JlY/s1600/IMG_7832.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggfnoXgyMTvyCIDvYNEQf1yzipnWvGc6L9P5_ObP1TwOAR9uVNOQwjedR7kaioKf-j-r39rWUADDI3Ojy8dgk2MDccEKdvhAR0Kvq9CLbf7Cmgzaf7TdvGhCZIwoh-G1zcGvCeTaY0JlY/s1600/IMG_7832.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdZCr2I1hpRiV0RJLC4A6GHkby7DB_iBaKdjiN0yIhBWVukiLPGdXHI0YBxlKQn3RXBikG0wnEq4ODddrBiMhUli1fx2UTwVeOEG-0OCmVKvW8Jopej-oEGwqLjiJT5yeUr57gsMog3ow/s1600/IMG_7829.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdZCr2I1hpRiV0RJLC4A6GHkby7DB_iBaKdjiN0yIhBWVukiLPGdXHI0YBxlKQn3RXBikG0wnEq4ODddrBiMhUli1fx2UTwVeOEG-0OCmVKvW8Jopej-oEGwqLjiJT5yeUr57gsMog3ow/s1600/IMG_7829.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Apparently the Giant was scared to be seated next to us.</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<ul>
<li>Went to a really cool event called Pints for Pups hosted by <a href="http://k-9angelsrescue.org/">K-9 Angels Rescue</a> at the Karbach Brewery. It made me realize that I want to get more involved with events like this for 2015 or at least go to as many as I can. Remington was not at all pleased with what happened that night and could care less to go back. </li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieBoyLhm3avSsQBV6B4fsZK7qV9vgW6w8xE0kIdpXxX-GUAhfuLVgc0ThJaVHhpyoEDksbjhMvt881lxuuB5_CgqTrJ8ACFO9Pxi3zzLHIhj-AimuQC4ILbNDJ9XcDO9OjMKCdgGIxpl0/s1600/IMG_7971.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieBoyLhm3avSsQBV6B4fsZK7qV9vgW6w8xE0kIdpXxX-GUAhfuLVgc0ThJaVHhpyoEDksbjhMvt881lxuuB5_CgqTrJ8ACFO9Pxi3zzLHIhj-AimuQC4ILbNDJ9XcDO9OjMKCdgGIxpl0/s1600/IMG_7971.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li>Toured Fredericksburg winery country and visited Luckenbach, TX, and Albert Hall, TX, for the first time. </li>
</ul>
<div align="center">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirfwib9zav1s5I29GxZwixn02GsIA_nlJmDxY2zFdRPTK1LCZok_pK3TkwevIfUNynCLEOGdV3TYgdErTNo7O_vBmmw9ZqOp3b42mHSIgYGPsadDpofkYwepy-wijBG8I2J5qumCoFN3A/s1600/FullSizeRender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirfwib9zav1s5I29GxZwixn02GsIA_nlJmDxY2zFdRPTK1LCZok_pK3TkwevIfUNynCLEOGdV3TYgdErTNo7O_vBmmw9ZqOp3b42mHSIgYGPsadDpofkYwepy-wijBG8I2J5qumCoFN3A/s1600/FullSizeRender.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
Watched the Giant learn to play Beer Pong for the first time. It was glorious and he did awesome. </div>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD95XeS7JNY6aK5JOW54p_tztGnvfE0pRts5INsHBqqkSqjS5WCGOfX6ixPgTnyWK89WJzWphJC18NG8liNwavBxbrPCNqNGwD2qSG72mbvkOrqYXLuMgkOsjf6zgY2c6mYDv7sC6LAr0/s1600/IMG_8279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD95XeS7JNY6aK5JOW54p_tztGnvfE0pRts5INsHBqqkSqjS5WCGOfX6ixPgTnyWK89WJzWphJC18NG8liNwavBxbrPCNqNGwD2qSG72mbvkOrqYXLuMgkOsjf6zgY2c6mYDv7sC6LAr0/s1600/IMG_8279.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
Watched the Giant change the break pads and discs on my car. This right here was the sexiest thing ever.</div>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY1IGAAkf6D7jkNTl6MXeWUDYwK5UejKgYj4aTf17F-WJQ6-2T_ZkZHyhmF2jf6DTzMvdSVq4W5TC39-cSZzzQZdeq58xYMnDvsXcekFNq4HOQSMWWO-R0K23mrpThiE56sxj_5n2MLic/s1600/IMG_8391.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY1IGAAkf6D7jkNTl6MXeWUDYwK5UejKgYj4aTf17F-WJQ6-2T_ZkZHyhmF2jf6DTzMvdSVq4W5TC39-cSZzzQZdeq58xYMnDvsXcekFNq4HOQSMWWO-R0K23mrpThiE56sxj_5n2MLic/s1600/IMG_8391.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
Watched the Giant participate in his first American Thanksgiving. </div>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvTOgmyCnHQwwp9NVi1WaaoozTdbT5XGIEKbrEk2jmFCVVYyc9O0D26hb0VyQ1yKf9syM87x_zmkttbnEFqfYlrzXbnpg8VPUk9-d4gDYyM1mO9Gm1QTIMEBfwMvKop9eU3m5XBobDjUg/s1600/IMG_8406.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvTOgmyCnHQwwp9NVi1WaaoozTdbT5XGIEKbrEk2jmFCVVYyc9O0D26hb0VyQ1yKf9syM87x_zmkttbnEFqfYlrzXbnpg8VPUk9-d4gDYyM1mO9Gm1QTIMEBfwMvKop9eU3m5XBobDjUg/s1600/IMG_8406.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li>Went on my first Santa Pub crawl. I don't remember much of the night, but I know I got home safely...I think</li>
</ul>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuID4jUIM6iMhzpy-VJDns0_9B5qQkxBBJqRPSWgsE-yJQ_OjFd4GZ4AmLOkyd1k_vin-fkTGk9FEhR_KCJnDTNktn2p1HezZ12AGdf_eENfDBeDRvOsYdbPHQWzG2aFk5QfpxWPcwpLw/s1600/IMG_8476.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuID4jUIM6iMhzpy-VJDns0_9B5qQkxBBJqRPSWgsE-yJQ_OjFd4GZ4AmLOkyd1k_vin-fkTGk9FEhR_KCJnDTNktn2p1HezZ12AGdf_eENfDBeDRvOsYdbPHQWzG2aFk5QfpxWPcwpLw/s1600/IMG_8476.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>This is the before picture. </em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I have a lot of expectations or things I'm pumped to do in 2015. I will have a big life event happening at some point in early 2015 and then yes, another foot surgery, which will be scheduled around that time, too. I have more triathlons and marathons in my future. I want to do a century ride and definitely hike a large mountain. I also want to do a Rim to Rim Tour of Grand Canyon. There's an Alaska trip hopefully scheduled and maybe I will finally get to see my first Women's World Cup in Canada and/or Rugby World Cup in England. The other two unknowns right now are MS150 and a Half Ironman. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I had a pretty darn busy year and three months with the Giant flew by in a flash. We didn't get to do all of the things I wanted to do before he left. So, I have some places I want to go and see in Texas, such as Big Bend National Park and Hamilton Pools. However, I can't get a concrete schedule until I know when my foot surgery will take place. </div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
Have a safe and happy Christmas y'all! And...</div>
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KWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01048289769679231707noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3380665352321254858.post-977349312155273612014-12-09T16:13:00.001-06:002014-12-10T08:55:15.002-06:0030ish Magnolia Bike Ride Uphill into the Wind<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1USd8ZgcFJ8tls3Xy8b0gRGrQBNaKBP0jzNobk_z9jgAsvzN0YOlBkSHu5m7JRHO1dZt8Tjk7hzRCpkSEqtGbOlFcb_hyphenhyphenR3HyQJtUNJx46mHmiXRgKZGs132AbO_G5E9P8ViboFHRLU8/s1600/stuart_bike_cartoon.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1USd8ZgcFJ8tls3Xy8b0gRGrQBNaKBP0jzNobk_z9jgAsvzN0YOlBkSHu5m7JRHO1dZt8Tjk7hzRCpkSEqtGbOlFcb_hyphenhyphenR3HyQJtUNJx46mHmiXRgKZGs132AbO_G5E9P8ViboFHRLU8/s1600/stuart_bike_cartoon.png" height="224" width="320" /></a>I talked to my coworker about routes outside of the city to hit for cycling. I knew of a few, but I didn't know all of them. I wanted longer bike rides, too. He sent me a list of places to go with maps included. The Giant and I decided (something about how we were eating too much and not exercising enough nonsense) to go for a long bike ride on Saturday. We picked the route from Washington on the Brazos to Chappell Hill. I have wanted to do this ride with the Giant when I first heard about it, because of the scenery and hills. Also, I figured this would remind him of England in some way. <br />
<br />
So, we set off late on a Saturday morning and then saw the signs...290 closed at Mueschke, which meant our option of getting there quickly was out. We were forced to take 249, but it would add much more time to the already long drive. We went from 1.5 hours to now almost 2 hours. Since we were passing Magnolia and I did have a bike route for this area, we decided to just stop there and bike.<br />
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I learned my lesson about wind and finding out the wind from the previous <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/12/a-nice-windy-bike-ride-on-seawall.html">bike ride along the seawall</a>. I made sure to look at the winds and it was going to be 11 mph, partly cloudy, and high 60s. When we got there, the wind picked up to 15 mph, absolutely no sun, and the temperature dropped to high 50s. We were just wearing t-shirt and shorts. So, we popped into the dollar store and bought us some long sleeves. I swear it saved our life. <br />
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Now onto the bike ride. The wind was painful and at first, it was all crosswind. At 5 miles, we turned into the wind with lots of uphills and inclines...into the wind...INTO.THE.WIND.PEOPLE. The shoulders on the road went from bike friendly and large to smaller to basically nothing. Most of the cars moved over, but with the wind and the wind coming off of the dump trucks passing us by at high speeds, I never felt comfortable and stable. I had to stop a lot during that 15 miles to the next town. At one point, I had to get off the bike and walk the rest of the way up the hill, because I couldn't handle it anymore. My legs were screaming. A few cars, including a dump truck laid on its horn really loudly scaring the crap out of me. <br />
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Eventually, we made it to Montgomery to stop for beer and some food. I needed a break. But getting back on the bike after some burgers and beer was quite painful. Thankfully, we were back to crosswind and the wind had died some. But the roads were all under construction making the shoulders and roads uneven and rocky. Some parts were so smooth and other parts made my body hurt. <br />
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The final leg appeared and I couldn't have been happier. The Giant said over and over that what goes up, must come down. But I know Texas and that's not necessarily true. Yes, overall we were going down, but we had lots of inclines. I was hoping for a tailwind, which we had, but it was not as strong since the wind died a bit. I was not a happy camper. When we got to about seven miles left of the trip, I started to have a meltdown. I think I said repeatedly, "Oh, ANOTHER HILL? Can't I just get a break?" There was more cursing and maybe some crying. The Giant was trying to console me and then I got a flat. We had three miles left. The choice was to stay and patch it up taking more time we didn't have or he would just bike back and get the car to pick me up. What do you think we chose? Yes, I sat down deflated (like my tire) and waited for him to get me. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRPknTJeyTxbDIhBwgfpRP9sqSgc6LTu4LKuqRD1O38PjSIFYhTSNhJBnyHA8_oLKbQhq9kFsJqhBNkwAhykkQBHlwXJWdVRDjEZa4Xemxybvb4P4wOr3u4nTOn1w7gfczk-unrFJ7Hic/s1600/IMG_8479%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRPknTJeyTxbDIhBwgfpRP9sqSgc6LTu4LKuqRD1O38PjSIFYhTSNhJBnyHA8_oLKbQhq9kFsJqhBNkwAhykkQBHlwXJWdVRDjEZa4Xemxybvb4P4wOr3u4nTOn1w7gfczk-unrFJ7Hic/s1600/IMG_8479%5B1%5D.JPG" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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It was a total of 33 miles for the Giant and 30 miles for me, which is the longest for either of us in terms of cycling. It definitely burned a great deal of calories (~1700 for me and ~2200 for him). We definitely needed that for the Santa Pub Crawl later that evening. I would love to do this again, but maybe not that first leg. The cars made me really uncomfortable and scared. It seemed like a major route between the two towns, both busy busy busy. I also want to incorporate more hills into my cycling, because I know that will get me faster. I felt and looked like a turtle trying to bike. <br />
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KWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01048289769679231707noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3380665352321254858.post-91677681458809262442014-12-05T09:58:00.000-06:002014-12-05T09:58:01.782-06:00A Nice Windy Bike Ride on the Seawall<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBFYpukqbcRgRa9fGOKxOVRB3fIPH3iO6EJuTr3X_uAQCQg9SYAxTUAMWKguWjWuBPusWt6CBiCMqA1tAGBjS503IUuI5_5BrMgH3CURICfdv4smZjft8s_LRQZUjGecFNxWqz5whWQ7Q/s1600/IMG_8377.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBFYpukqbcRgRa9fGOKxOVRB3fIPH3iO6EJuTr3X_uAQCQg9SYAxTUAMWKguWjWuBPusWt6CBiCMqA1tAGBjS503IUuI5_5BrMgH3CURICfdv4smZjft8s_LRQZUjGecFNxWqz5whWQ7Q/s1600/IMG_8377.JPG" height="161" width="640" /></a></div>
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The Giant and I wanted to get out and ride our bikes, but we didn't want to ride in Houston. I just wanted a break from the bayous and the aggression and the bumpy roads. After much back and forth about where to go (and I'm still new to this whole picking out a cycling route outside of the city), we decided to head to Galveston. We didn't really know where in Galveston we would go and it really didn't seem like there were bike routes. So, we decided to stop at the tourist center to see if they knew somewhere to go. <br />
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On the way there, we noticed immediately how windy it was and the doubts crept into our thoughts (okay my thoughts really since he's used to wind and rain and darkness). I checked the weather app again and saw the winds high of 15 mph. Oops. I forgot to check winds when he asked me to look for rain. We decided that we had made our decision and to just go for it. I was expecting my impending death; he did nothing to reassure me. Oh well.<br />
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When we got to the tourist office, the lady just looked at us like we were aliens. But she did give us a map of Galveston and said a lot of people rent bikes and ride along the seawall. It was 10 miles long. We agreed to it and thanked her for our time.<br />
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On a side note, their tourist office was in a really cool old historical mansion you will see scattered around Galveston. <br />
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We parked by the Pleasure Pier (name still makes me laugh) and Hotel Galvez. Our plan was to cycle into the wind and then turnaround halfway. We would also stop for lunch since we really didn't eat much and it was already 11 a.m. <br />
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The wind wasn't so bad. It was a crosswind, which gave me balance issues, but never got so bad that it made me cry. I'm not saying it was glorious, but I was expecting a lot worse. We stayed on the road and then crossed over at the end of the seawall to turn around. I guess this was the spot to watch the sunset or something, because a lot of people were out there just watching the ocean and waiting.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOWhmRWESK_lMA1CK94eXt5I8785f5xJ2dAfvB9MvG6GMHTKw-vhGtrnj8tRU2-IApVpuXfllRIiuF2IOOd_DHt0-vY_n60zvK-LpSmwfNZcnYEnlYjTvI941tIWd91o_RYZj2JAEsdI8/s1600/IMG_8358.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOWhmRWESK_lMA1CK94eXt5I8785f5xJ2dAfvB9MvG6GMHTKw-vhGtrnj8tRU2-IApVpuXfllRIiuF2IOOd_DHt0-vY_n60zvK-LpSmwfNZcnYEnlYjTvI941tIWd91o_RYZj2JAEsdI8/s1600/IMG_8358.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>I think this worked out great. </em></td></tr>
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We turned around and headed back to the car. The lanes were big enough to share with the parked cars, cyclists, and cars. It was a nice change. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkWI-Y3YTrAyJOaiJwQeNZJ2f1LNuOdBXQG9pbGUNwER12i9tH_nFaZC96PMPjn44us7Ip8xmKsgnJC0XlGBv0pXL2aasT5zAq17LM0MUHPDF5rVRP5sSqc6NEILK2YMCd_KynxMom4WA/s1600/IMG_8347.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkWI-Y3YTrAyJOaiJwQeNZJ2f1LNuOdBXQG9pbGUNwER12i9tH_nFaZC96PMPjn44us7Ip8xmKsgnJC0XlGBv0pXL2aasT5zAq17LM0MUHPDF5rVRP5sSqc6NEILK2YMCd_KynxMom4WA/s1600/IMG_8347.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>We stopped for a bit to take some shots.</em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBeHZYb3kJUV3oYUov4ZWDLrozmhx2ilamnrlrrBKRS1jgDJddOMS5htc14VTRQzixBT85QrWpBHc9BibLoI-MfRGjFhHW2Erglo3gCZVQWU4QIGllr-fMbV_GUM1hA44L8Gx1hA2kFWc/s1600/IMG_8351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBeHZYb3kJUV3oYUov4ZWDLrozmhx2ilamnrlrrBKRS1jgDJddOMS5htc14VTRQzixBT85QrWpBHc9BibLoI-MfRGjFhHW2Erglo3gCZVQWU4QIGllr-fMbV_GUM1hA44L8Gx1hA2kFWc/s1600/IMG_8351.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>The ocean looks pretty in this picture. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnaCmIWW3yXd-n0mK9R6Xa6VlL2h5OBcpjBf_K3Zp2KT9Srlscp0iO0WbBioECHkW5ydwMz1sSgKI1wB-VJKMPyxzDfvBXMGTaMEhi3VBDki7xK8JcGk6eAfNpextpemeggN-2bCExPwI/s1600/IMG_8355.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnaCmIWW3yXd-n0mK9R6Xa6VlL2h5OBcpjBf_K3Zp2KT9Srlscp0iO0WbBioECHkW5ydwMz1sSgKI1wB-VJKMPyxzDfvBXMGTaMEhi3VBDki7xK8JcGk6eAfNpextpemeggN-2bCExPwI/s1600/IMG_8355.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Yeah, I'm not ashamed I took this shot.</em></td></tr>
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We found a place to eat, but went back to Academy to get a lock for our bikes. I actually got a lot of compliments on my bike and how it was a great day for cycling. I always reminded them about the wind. <br />
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So, we trudged back only to be thwarted by no tables and rude customers at one particular table. If you leave your drinks under a paper towel, which covers it and you leave your table open, in my eyes, that's fair game. Whatever. We ended up going to Brickhouse for a nice meal and a beer before we headed home. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1MQG79CWKFk3evAnmImUBWmXRlRURc89xYMHUFsbRf6OWAQBqYxaBaPZULlIHp-LGXHINpXCz_fItFRw9tnro0vOfPVfVyQWwx_Mv2gnHAQyFiikZbN83eJDbr2PXC8De1Bzl1mnPUnc/s1600/IMG_8356.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1MQG79CWKFk3evAnmImUBWmXRlRURc89xYMHUFsbRf6OWAQBqYxaBaPZULlIHp-LGXHINpXCz_fItFRw9tnro0vOfPVfVyQWwx_Mv2gnHAQyFiikZbN83eJDbr2PXC8De1Bzl1mnPUnc/s1600/IMG_8356.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>I took this picture to remember our bikes in case they got stolen. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>I love this shot of a sailboat and a cyclist and the ocean.</em></td></tr>
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It was such a great Saturday and I was so happy we did it. I can't wait to go for that ride again. <br />
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Things I learned:<br />
<ol>
<li>Parking along the seawall is not free anymore. We had to get to this website to pay money and we still don't know how much we paid. It was all very confusing.</li>
<li>The Spot is packed.</li>
<li>The biggest thing known to man is that the Galveston drivers are so much friendlier to cyclists than Houston. WOW! What a change. The drivers actually waited without anger to let us go. At one point, we ended up in a turn only lane. I went on the sidewalk to let this car go ahead. The car was having none of this. He wanted me to go first and finally I went. It was a weird phenonom.</li>
<li>Apparently, leaving your table and your milk shake under a paper towel means you claimed a table for good. Who knew?! </li>
<li>There is a big OSU and Michigan fanbase living in Galveston.</li>
<li>Galveston as a whole has cleaned up drastically. Hurricane Ike was a horrible thing, but on a positive note, it changed for the better when they had to rebuild. It didn't look like a shithole from what I remember growing up. The houses were really pretty and grandiose and they brought in more income to the city. I'm really happy with the positive changes to Galveston and the people / tourists that are going there in mass. </li>
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KWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01048289769679231707noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3380665352321254858.post-50075214530582604632014-12-03T16:11:00.002-06:002014-12-03T16:43:52.781-06:00Cranksgiving 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifi_OdtQL6Vk0Oe7atuQaW21DEAjtp8KUckU7X6ZIu4CwOvzozmmsrs4P9GW-q8SBx4pe_JCsqOliRKKJPTyBkmCp13ONQjE3M_Kn6B_sR4cKf8SxAoNVbDpAClcHK44UW3mLVqDawKQc/s1600/IMG_8405.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifi_OdtQL6Vk0Oe7atuQaW21DEAjtp8KUckU7X6ZIu4CwOvzozmmsrs4P9GW-q8SBx4pe_JCsqOliRKKJPTyBkmCp13ONQjE3M_Kn6B_sR4cKf8SxAoNVbDpAClcHK44UW3mLVqDawKQc/s1600/IMG_8405.JPG" height="240" width="640" /></a></div>
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When I read the Cranksgiving invite come through one of my biking groups on Facebook, I thought, "Oh, it's a anti-Thanksgiving party." And then I remembered that this is probably something to do with cycling. I read a little bit further and viola, it is cycling and helping the homeless and their pets organized by <a href="http://www.jurassicbarkrescue.org/">Jurassic Bark Rescue</a> and HTX Bike Social (check out their Facebook page) to benefit Project Ninja. Not only do I like to do some type of activity on Thanksgiving Day (check out previous <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2012/11/2012-turkey-trot-recap.html">2012</a> and<a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2013/12/turkey-day-biking.html"> 2013</a> posts) to combat the amount of food I would eat, but I especially loved combining exercising with helping. I really wasn't as excited about the Turkey Trot as I was when I delivered meals to people after the Turkey Trot. And animals...yes. So, I was super excited and quickly signed up the Giant and I. He was not as excited, but he liked getting out on the bike on a beautiful day.<br />
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And it was a beautiful day. <br />
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We rode up to Hermann Park for a start time of 10:30, which was actually 11, which was really 11:15. Oh well. I didn't need to bring anything, because I gave a bunch of supplies to Kelley the week before. ABC even came out to do a news segment on us, which you can see <a href="http://abc13.com/society/cyclists-dog-rescue-group-team-up-to-help-houstons-homeless/414091/">here</a>. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>I believe Martha is yelling at David and rightfully so. </em></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjriMBTerWKivfRpeSXUqammzJ9LTB63wO_bBRj2dd_YJJCty0zw3qq9hr0GJwzP8kz5FUXLMWgO1iI8Q2ysmupn8UeZC5fTCnY5ivD-AEGp7eBT33MoFU-nqiMZqV6LoUr58Iv_alAQgk/s1600/IMG_8322.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjriMBTerWKivfRpeSXUqammzJ9LTB63wO_bBRj2dd_YJJCty0zw3qq9hr0GJwzP8kz5FUXLMWgO1iI8Q2ysmupn8UeZC5fTCnY5ivD-AEGp7eBT33MoFU-nqiMZqV6LoUr58Iv_alAQgk/s1600/IMG_8322.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWmWsYn35ZSDmXYVdfml_BP3h5_6Hw_LuNm0m6lQoGzvIeECYx02eWbv6UBiv9_NpWDRIzTynU9QMD8BrURSqgE1DtDeSjQZByNkjgaQHrDBivSgAsnnvyLXu2KYEVF7frpcS-kFjbarM/s1600/IMG_8315.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWmWsYn35ZSDmXYVdfml_BP3h5_6Hw_LuNm0m6lQoGzvIeECYx02eWbv6UBiv9_NpWDRIzTynU9QMD8BrURSqgE1DtDeSjQZByNkjgaQHrDBivSgAsnnvyLXu2KYEVF7frpcS-kFjbarM/s1600/IMG_8315.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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After talking to a few new people, we got our supplies and headed out. We had a small group, which included Caroline and Juan and a few other people. We hit up a tent city in Hermann Park (didn't know was there) and then went to a few places we knew with dogs. Caroline brought big bags of dog food and I wished I brought some, too. I thought they would have extras for us to carry. Sometime in the 12 hour, we headed back to the park when we ran out of supplies. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>This lady had it down with all the snacks and places to go.</em></td></tr>
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It was such a great event and I hope to do something like it again next year. Although, this time, I will bring more snacks and water and dog food with me. We ran out too fast. Thanks to everyone who set this up and thanks to everyone who came (especially the ones who brought cookies). Afterwards, the Giant and I had a great day for his first American Thanksgiving. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Did we not learn our lesson from the Mother's Day fiasco on letting my stepdad take pictures? </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwOTBGNgZQEeGnmefkBFhrLBaMY6TdPrV3nxkF1cMM6m_SOwMKRiDSZW_dK3lihfOzgNB2sqU06ntVJ5MFc7lXF_eSNY3gUC81HDe0s9CblpjKb6lsl6ei4VDWnox9UKhuFGeZufVbeaA/s1600/IMG_8407.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwOTBGNgZQEeGnmefkBFhrLBaMY6TdPrV3nxkF1cMM6m_SOwMKRiDSZW_dK3lihfOzgNB2sqU06ntVJ5MFc7lXF_eSNY3gUC81HDe0s9CblpjKb6lsl6ei4VDWnox9UKhuFGeZufVbeaA/s1600/IMG_8407.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>This is what happens when someone has taken 1,000 pictures and still doesn't know how to work the camera properly. </em></td></tr>
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KWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01048289769679231707noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3380665352321254858.post-91547815681036671462014-12-02T13:32:00.000-06:002014-12-02T14:31:58.265-06:00Route 66 Marathon Recap and My First DNF<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I haven't ran since my first <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/11/my-first-triathlon-oktoberfest.html">triathlon</a>. In fact, this blog should really be called bikekwbike, because that's mostly what I have been doing. I made the hard decision in September to not run the <a href="http://route66marathon.com/races/marathon/">Route 66 Marathon</a>, because I haven't been able to train. However, I still planned go to Tulsa to cheer on the Allen sisters for their first marathon. </div>
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And then in early November, I got a Run For Your Life: Holiday Edition Challenge invite on Facebook to run or walk 100 miles by December 31, 2014. I did not finish the original one (75 miles) back in August, because that was the start of my foot problems and I thought I still had a chance to run the marathon if I rested, but sadly, that was not the case. The organizer posted that we could run 2 miles per day and reach 100 miles. I gave it some thought and decided quickly to go for it. I knew I could run at least two miles without dying and I'm going to have surgery early 2015 anyways to fix the foot, which will put me out of commission for awhile...again. So, might as well get in as much exercise as I can. It's not like the running or walking will make it any worse. </div>
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On a side note, I've been doing the challenges (~2 miles running and walking most days) and I'm even at 36 miles already. </div>
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When I got to Tulsa, I planned to run Saturday and the morning before the race started. After my Saturday run, my ladies talked to me into just running the portions I planned to run on Sunday during the marathon and then getting a DNF (Did Not Finish). I thought about it and even wrestled with running the damn thing all together. In the end, I decided to go for it, because I did pay money to participate. I picked out a marker (or two) where the Giant could scoop me up. Mile 2 and 5 were the same spots on the route. So, if I went passed Mile 2, I could catch him at Mile 5. Settled, I was running the start of the marathon. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Your new running elite group right here. </em></td></tr>
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I started the race with Mal and BranDee. Val was doing the half in another time slot. She actually was in the same slot as me, but BranDee and I agreed to run together during my miles. We saw the confetti and the drone and we were off. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>It's time to get serial. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>We were dancing to the music as he kept me warm. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>She will be running with me, i.e., shoes and headphones. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>This was a super cool running costume. </em></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7m9CHXz2wpkH4REy01V71FmqhPGnAtTyPamBkA6NHlF-r47prjEQr9XxEwRSIgEg0YHGVnEJzsqOxioq_kf8nJ8c063V3knt8JJBA0oX6ZjsKtY1Wu0UJ2dLjyXImfUjq2TJzRARq36g/s1600/IMG_8240.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7m9CHXz2wpkH4REy01V71FmqhPGnAtTyPamBkA6NHlF-r47prjEQr9XxEwRSIgEg0YHGVnEJzsqOxioq_kf8nJ8c063V3knt8JJBA0oX6ZjsKtY1Wu0UJ2dLjyXImfUjq2TJzRARq36g/s1600/IMG_8240.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2OS2kZaFJse91glJgRZOc_MgIjUYjxwhGC8RoYevkYuoS6Y5TaVQ8Gfu1VkMli_qN80NiAQDuJo9q-UJRZhw_EEGHaEgIJk-WbN8BfPbmNQpS8D0zuSMZK19ov29aNiMf3FOjc-d23wA/s1600/IMG_8223.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2OS2kZaFJse91glJgRZOc_MgIjUYjxwhGC8RoYevkYuoS6Y5TaVQ8Gfu1VkMli_qN80NiAQDuJo9q-UJRZhw_EEGHaEgIJk-WbN8BfPbmNQpS8D0zuSMZK19ov29aNiMf3FOjc-d23wA/s1600/IMG_8223.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>That black dot is a drone. Very cool. </em></td></tr>
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First thing I noticed was the freaking hills. Holy mackerel. This was a Boston qualifier? How?! I can't believe people can run this with no problems, but I do come from the flat city known as Houston. I ran up a few of the beginning hills, but had to walk up them after like three. The route just didn't have enough downward portions or breaks from the hills. Oddly enough, I noticed my foot felt better when I ran down the hills. We just didn't get that many. When we got to Mile 2, I didn't see the Giant and decided to keep on running to Mile 5.<br />
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The area I ran was beautiful. In fact, Tulsa was beautiful. I was expecting something different from this city, but the fall colors really just made this town pop. It was a totally nice surprise. Plus, we were in a very rich area and the houses were outstanding to view.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHQzH83xvDwevMA26TrIBp7RR-KdQGhufQLjM7oO8Pp-N4gzD44utvsh35YYsv0ky_PFw3Osie5iG_NfFXklBX6uR4on2xNpwPx4QCCaQ9AJSmnQg09tUu66kvWgJ5wN9QNu5KkJRLcFY/s1600/IMG_8238.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHQzH83xvDwevMA26TrIBp7RR-KdQGhufQLjM7oO8Pp-N4gzD44utvsh35YYsv0ky_PFw3Osie5iG_NfFXklBX6uR4on2xNpwPx4QCCaQ9AJSmnQg09tUu66kvWgJ5wN9QNu5KkJRLcFY/s1600/IMG_8238.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Actually, the joke the evening before was that I would do 2.62 miles instead of 2 miles. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ2lL4IucWMo44SRG95YThzPwVJjUqUaTyBPJt330d08Khy7bo8dpD6RquV82wO5R7NzsQACY7t-qY6w7jjWWdVGXBovQdyYn0Mg-Jpa2luK12VPqFvH8ikMk0uegXgHgn0XokTNxqOck/s1600/IMG_8237.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ2lL4IucWMo44SRG95YThzPwVJjUqUaTyBPJt330d08Khy7bo8dpD6RquV82wO5R7NzsQACY7t-qY6w7jjWWdVGXBovQdyYn0Mg-Jpa2luK12VPqFvH8ikMk0uegXgHgn0XokTNxqOck/s1600/IMG_8237.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Pretty fall colors heading into the park to Mile 5. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Yeah, that just happened. </em></td></tr>
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BranDee and I had some good talks and I had to walk a great deal of time, but I always picked up the run again. The crowd support was not all that big in the first five miles, but I heard it got better, which included beer and Jell-O shots. I found the Giant at Mile 5 waiting for me and I told BranDee good luck. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO6s3URkSX2hztXKfHKACnhC3qNVGSBniddPAtViJiBWXmB5NTyEIaaqNL4HIF65e1jNBNv7PNYQqtXDb-wxpvtQc8Z4QX2LKJ_y7fjWPDYFwsEc9dRRiBhGNi3QlDy7fDtyj9WZ27FnE/s1600/IMG_8235.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO6s3URkSX2hztXKfHKACnhC3qNVGSBniddPAtViJiBWXmB5NTyEIaaqNL4HIF65e1jNBNv7PNYQqtXDb-wxpvtQc8Z4QX2LKJ_y7fjWPDYFwsEc9dRRiBhGNi3QlDy7fDtyj9WZ27FnE/s1600/IMG_8235.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>The Giant deserves a kiss for being Sherpa Jim for us ladies.</em></td></tr>
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It was weird to DNF for the first time. I knew going into it, but it still felt wrong somehow. We hung out on this bench watching the others go by. It made me sad, but I eventually got over it. The Giant and I headed for breakfast and then back to the finish line to cheer on the ladies (Val was already done). I actually ended up doing like three miles of walking afterwards. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzmo0xE8vtWbEd7Kbxb3rKdD1sBgW9XxZ2t6aYrhp0Q3lNBzKGkDZ7MEg4N3Zztt5LEG_vMSdbbVfjt8K79Gv-b-wa6cB-xw89qnso-hmHSuua4lzs14iD0EnIu8QS_zRWpZAs3H7iMeA/s1600/IMG_8398.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzmo0xE8vtWbEd7Kbxb3rKdD1sBgW9XxZ2t6aYrhp0Q3lNBzKGkDZ7MEg4N3Zztt5LEG_vMSdbbVfjt8K79Gv-b-wa6cB-xw89qnso-hmHSuua4lzs14iD0EnIu8QS_zRWpZAs3H7iMeA/s1600/IMG_8398.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>That my friends is a guy dressed as the lampshade from the Christmas Story. Oh yes. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIR6UE36gJvVyDY0oAasPpz_YVcOuM30xq2w6j0w2HYcOW6W7x5r7vr7yZ_tGT2fXOQBVkOsn6dg-0OdpXX-kxx6TRSy7gNRNUUdwi_mnchVVNF2rsXkFAiJ0n73gvjBo-QgPAgNNsooQ/s1600/IMG_8399.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIR6UE36gJvVyDY0oAasPpz_YVcOuM30xq2w6j0w2HYcOW6W7x5r7vr7yZ_tGT2fXOQBVkOsn6dg-0OdpXX-kxx6TRSy7gNRNUUdwi_mnchVVNF2rsXkFAiJ0n73gvjBo-QgPAgNNsooQ/s1600/IMG_8399.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>This was a great shot.</em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp0Jx7zsC_aDxKwM8tp7ieuuEUVeN6susxvmp2tscy1yaB45XNG8Nzk9DcLinY0j_pQSE_43lfRAhbvk5BD40zAo8ctsAAVhBXhlf-6y66qJvSQdZx2Xd3voi2_4HPI4OVuS_Idg7zJME/s1600/IMG_8400.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp0Jx7zsC_aDxKwM8tp7ieuuEUVeN6susxvmp2tscy1yaB45XNG8Nzk9DcLinY0j_pQSE_43lfRAhbvk5BD40zAo8ctsAAVhBXhlf-6y66qJvSQdZx2Xd3voi2_4HPI4OVuS_Idg7zJME/s1600/IMG_8400.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Her nephew, Adam wanted to join in on the fun. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtorcc_eryp42NzzE1IX1padL5-TmmJz3obUxQO-6iKqZVLUPxKH6Dq76DKJq883FWT3TDPtcj2L2CIpkmzu65GxNYGRAlq3D-kY9TysEE-a99XJdbm13gEqzokyC73uHv68Ok_eGWg9g/s1600/DSCN4067.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtorcc_eryp42NzzE1IX1padL5-TmmJz3obUxQO-6iKqZVLUPxKH6Dq76DKJq883FWT3TDPtcj2L2CIpkmzu65GxNYGRAlq3D-kY9TysEE-a99XJdbm13gEqzokyC73uHv68Ok_eGWg9g/s1600/DSCN4067.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>He was so proud of his aunt. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>There was talks to join BranDee, but I'm glad we didn't. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPHOzGe0xBpghqHkUyhz0HZcwAN2DT_79kUDPo3H_ww_gD039cY40FXbzya3zOlxkdU-WjIpKcGALRrMS69U0foD9p-T93TjyL2K5m_mUpbZ7q0wV-VkVJMNP2Df4Pc2cC4Ngj-ZIXKzA/s1600/DSCN4073.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPHOzGe0xBpghqHkUyhz0HZcwAN2DT_79kUDPo3H_ww_gD039cY40FXbzya3zOlxkdU-WjIpKcGALRrMS69U0foD9p-T93TjyL2K5m_mUpbZ7q0wV-VkVJMNP2Df4Pc2cC4Ngj-ZIXKzA/s1600/DSCN4073.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>So proud of this lady! </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9GhzV0iJlKPPVDwpkHaWBTHnfJDo09Lr4I5hbGcOHdmA2M2oQCl-ibhlasKhkR6A2He07EHP32RqGMvECYcaB73JblRM96DcsBsisSH5K2CN-saz4GruTHxM2wdd-kABI33NXxA6GPAM/s1600/DSCN4088.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9GhzV0iJlKPPVDwpkHaWBTHnfJDo09Lr4I5hbGcOHdmA2M2oQCl-ibhlasKhkR6A2He07EHP32RqGMvECYcaB73JblRM96DcsBsisSH5K2CN-saz4GruTHxM2wdd-kABI33NXxA6GPAM/s1600/DSCN4088.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>And this lady. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFKnAkF272v3NDNfgo_wCrYSZX0SUrjLsQg0shTPRUJi4tiZSem-OAHG8K5UJ_QLw-wkvyVGc-AZ_R5cvCIpphw08EPia9r3P7FviLMyIk_HDB7BoCCUkyzv8sy5lqlNZeBmv-0c7RKUw/s1600/IMG_8249.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFKnAkF272v3NDNfgo_wCrYSZX0SUrjLsQg0shTPRUJi4tiZSem-OAHG8K5UJ_QLw-wkvyVGc-AZ_R5cvCIpphw08EPia9r3P7FviLMyIk_HDB7BoCCUkyzv8sy5lqlNZeBmv-0c7RKUw/s1600/IMG_8249.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <em>I loved hanging out with these ladies. </em></td></tr>
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Overall, I enjoyed what little running I did. The marathon was well organized and had so many better things than <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/06/my-first-marathon-with-four-different.html">Edinburgh Marathon</a>, such as a better expo and food afterwards. My only complaint was the online tracker did not accurately tell where the runners were.<br />
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I got to hang out with a new friend and cheer on some of my favorite people in their first marathon. As always, the Giant was just awesome. He reminds me to put on a long sleeve after a run even when I don't think I need it (but I do). And because the ladies and I had such a good time, we decided to make this an annual thing. We have Marine Corps Marathon in our sights, New York City Marathon if we don't get into the first (both lotteries), Wine Half Marathon, and then Long Island Marathon if all others fail. I'm super excited. Sherpa Jim, Paparazzo Dan, and Mule Martin (still working on it) have "volunteered" their services. <br />
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Have you ever DNF? Did you tell anyone or just walk off the course like I did? I honestly didn't see anyone to tell besides the DJs and people handing out drinks. </div>
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KWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01048289769679231707noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3380665352321254858.post-18039875979166638492014-11-25T09:56:00.005-06:002014-11-25T10:41:30.457-06:00Just a Quick Hike Up Enchanted RockThe Giant and I were heading to wine country with the Cordovas (the same peeps from my <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/06/my-first-marathon-with-four-different.html">marathon</a>). No, not Napa, but Fredericksburg, TX, steep in German heritage and traditions and drinking lots of great wine. And I wasn't going to let a trip to that area go by without a stop to <a href="http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/state-parks/enchanted-rock">Enchanted Rock</a>. <br />
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The last and only time I went to Enchanted Rock, I repelled down parts of it. I loved it, but haven't been back since. Plus, I never hiked to the top. <br />
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I knew it wasn't a very big hike (rises 425 feet above the base elevation of the park), which would be ok after a long day of drinking wine and dancing at <a href="http://www.luckenbachtexas.com/">Luckenbach,TX</a>. And boy, did we dance.<br />
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The weather changed constantly and required layers; there was also the threat of more rain. When the sun came out, it was too warm wearing the my new awesome outfit from Eddie Bauer. But when the clouds socked in, it was cold with the wind. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>We ate at this place called <a href="http://oldgermanbakeryandrestaurant.com/">Old German Bakery and Restaurant</a> famous for their German Pancakes. It was so freaking delicious and wished we spent more time here. I highly recommend it if you are ever in Fredericksburg.</em></td></tr>
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We started the hike up the rock. It was steeper than I thought it would be and we had to stop a few times just for a rest. The scenery was beautiful. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>I don't even know how to caption this picture. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Come on baby. I got you.</em></td></tr>
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We did make it to the top and Giant and I spent some time just sitting and soaking in what we were seeing. It was this kind of view that proves my point of how great Texas is to live. I just couldn't get enough, but it was time to drink some more wine. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Loved these little vegetation pockets on top of the rock. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Our view at the top. It doesn't even do it justice.</em></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Is JL watching over us or what?</em></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Yes, I had to do the cliché feet shot. I'm not upset about it.</em></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>I stole their moment and it was so worth it. By far, my favorite picture. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Okay, I'm not sure when I got that water stain on my chest. I missed my lip at some point. UGH!</em></td></tr>
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So, we headed back down the rock (with a few stops for pictures). It was the perfect way to burn some calories. And thankfully, it didn't rain at all on us during the hike. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghbkIfXX-I3erCfEjhcL5mEdGAGl2AeINciHUgtOFMCG8ylH9mkm0Mainxi9ccjK2zXsMFnqS-rstBqbJjCLU29FLF8USFRrK0eRKjcwICl-B9bMrPXOGQzE0BI1QATa9v2AHnL6ySEGg/s1600/FullSizeRender2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghbkIfXX-I3erCfEjhcL5mEdGAGl2AeINciHUgtOFMCG8ylH9mkm0Mainxi9ccjK2zXsMFnqS-rstBqbJjCLU29FLF8USFRrK0eRKjcwICl-B9bMrPXOGQzE0BI1QATa9v2AHnL6ySEGg/s1600/FullSizeRender2.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
Overall, I had so much fun on this little getaway. We came back with more wine (and Peach Cider) than we can handle. I got to do some new things and hike a big rock. I can't wait to take more trips like this in the future. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXlwHtwuE7Ud59mHNZT7nWNFM8wkaZ1D8DjAd00s46nDh8RShmKQn4UbBZVfJw-4yL3v0ESJN2Nw2SAofa6By5PyIqFuJF6NJjfEQKz7BjV91iyPge9AWdhj1_N1W1EpMk3Qo5DvW_iM8/s1600/IMG_8132.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXlwHtwuE7Ud59mHNZT7nWNFM8wkaZ1D8DjAd00s46nDh8RShmKQn4UbBZVfJw-4yL3v0ESJN2Nw2SAofa6By5PyIqFuJF6NJjfEQKz7BjV91iyPge9AWdhj1_N1W1EpMk3Qo5DvW_iM8/s1600/IMG_8132.PNG" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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These are some fun pictures we took during our weekend. Sadly, we got none of us at the winery. Hmmmm....</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR60fxibZPO3v6MJaqJl3n37_6oipLxGVG2PzNpQ8SCeOAPKxACRgY0NhpsL4v_juxf2GJjNjECimtA-OLYUPAWGaMDC-aHM8XcMQ0cDNaAL2FuIpUGQiiJPrrvfhL6d2p87UkmQ-urrE/s1600/IMG_8033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR60fxibZPO3v6MJaqJl3n37_6oipLxGVG2PzNpQ8SCeOAPKxACRgY0NhpsL4v_juxf2GJjNjECimtA-OLYUPAWGaMDC-aHM8XcMQ0cDNaAL2FuIpUGQiiJPrrvfhL6d2p87UkmQ-urrE/s1600/IMG_8033.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>We went to the famous Albert Dance Hall, which is essentially the town. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYBwB24SAWzxob9MPTgWG75eaXDC9uBt68d2ZtTbLYpVa4zKAXpbjbV1H3mjqnq2ZEOFQMU84LC_EZiXZn1dHvW0bEqHwl_feXv1neFWU7zfh-pbru26Tmrj0OXmN_i1EsolgxF62qnl8/s1600/FullSizeRender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYBwB24SAWzxob9MPTgWG75eaXDC9uBt68d2ZtTbLYpVa4zKAXpbjbV1H3mjqnq2ZEOFQMU84LC_EZiXZn1dHvW0bEqHwl_feXv1neFWU7zfh-pbru26Tmrj0OXmN_i1EsolgxF62qnl8/s1600/FullSizeRender.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>I can't believe this is my first stop to Luckenbach, TX. I had so much fun. It's another town, which is just the bar. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq5ryZzowwdYaLjsSKeo3Y9fFMkRm6fYzEHxk4i0SFQPKFVXBmcBpUTePg-Xsga74ezlmCeV0dChXE_YuhZrSICfVXDguYQgkx7_qCpmotnYTf8clWoG4Dobk4861cccvf-4COgLjwLSU/s1600/IMG_8046b.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq5ryZzowwdYaLjsSKeo3Y9fFMkRm6fYzEHxk4i0SFQPKFVXBmcBpUTePg-Xsga74ezlmCeV0dChXE_YuhZrSICfVXDguYQgkx7_qCpmotnYTf8clWoG4Dobk4861cccvf-4COgLjwLSU/s1600/IMG_8046b.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>As a Texas girl, we are used to (and love) bands with fiddles. This was the first time for me to ever hear a band with a horn player instead of the fiddler. It was amazing. I talked to him afterwards and was really impressed. The band I think was named Paul Cauthen band (or that was his solo act shirt that I saw). Check them out. </em></td></tr>
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KWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01048289769679231707noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3380665352321254858.post-61943692539061773552014-11-05T09:56:00.000-06:002014-11-06T07:21:39.839-06:00My First Triathlon, the Oktoberfest Triathlon RecapSorry, this post is so late. My life just kind of got crazy afterwards and I never had time to just sit down and write. And again, sorry, it's so long, but it's my first triathlon...deal with it! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_PN7A82N9a3UPAuj6x1mgIFxac2FH4IUjxeELDRwJQPZ14iqvdkEzYR8wqW_pBmnNsrQvQNGjwjBi_kw753N5VYua1o2kMLiDYQbvqpimjvQfDeKbpYzzMvWyhYrz6-1XOBWw05QsFss/s1600/triathlon_funny_sport_its_all_about_hard_you_tri_photoenlargement-rc4f0927abc0340398f9879111ceca881_7vpr_8byvr_512.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_PN7A82N9a3UPAuj6x1mgIFxac2FH4IUjxeELDRwJQPZ14iqvdkEzYR8wqW_pBmnNsrQvQNGjwjBi_kw753N5VYua1o2kMLiDYQbvqpimjvQfDeKbpYzzMvWyhYrz6-1XOBWw05QsFss/s1600/triathlon_funny_sport_its_all_about_hard_you_tri_photoenlargement-rc4f0927abc0340398f9879111ceca881_7vpr_8byvr_512.jpg" height="156" width="200" /></a>Ever since I started swimming and biking to compensate for the lack of running due to injuries/surgeries, I got it into my head about doing a triathlon at some point. Triathlons if you don't know include a swim, bike, and then a run (in that order), which varies in distances. I had no desire to participate in an Ironman, but I could definitely see myself doing a Sprint, Olympic, or even a Half Ironman in the long away future. So, I started watching triathlons on television, including the Olympics. I also read Chrissie Wellington's <em>Life Without Limits</em> (review to come later). Then, I talked to a few people about doing their first triathlon with me.<br />
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Once I declared my decision to just do it, it was now time to pick out my triathlon; however, I couldn't decide on which one to do. There were so many options and opinions out there and most everyone said to do a pool triathlon first. Pools terrified me. I was more into the open water. Then, through a random invite from my friend, Bob, I ended up at a <a href="http://www.houstonracing.com/">Houston Racing Triathlon Club (HRTC)</a> party with Joanne at St. Arnold where we became members of HRTC and entered into several triathlons drawings. I started to learn more about triathlons and the different ones out there. I saw one that intrigued me the most, <a href="http://www.itrievents.net/Oktoberfest-Triathlon.html">Oktoberfest Triathlon</a>. It was a Sprint Triathlon (400m swim, 15 mile bike, and 3 mile run). It was set in October so Jim could be here to support me. It was also open water, which calmed me slightly (read about my first open water swim <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/08/splash-and-dash.html">here</a>), and we would have a multitude of beer afterwards from different breweries around the city (hence the name Oktoberfest). </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj51N8e8NXIZvcond9trk5vRftRJJs6TNHuZ4r5k0l0f1ZofQ1kH2evMsV_ZuQxBhwNgkjujFyzj6LwJLQnlk5aMvjra2uSJT5xb8yOozLdud_yAobYYueoAsEV5h3ZpOg8G8YUXOrJft8/s1600/IMG_5316%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj51N8e8NXIZvcond9trk5vRftRJJs6TNHuZ4r5k0l0f1ZofQ1kH2evMsV_ZuQxBhwNgkjujFyzj6LwJLQnlk5aMvjra2uSJT5xb8yOozLdud_yAobYYueoAsEV5h3ZpOg8G8YUXOrJft8/s1600/IMG_5316%5B1%5D.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>There's a reason my friend Ashley bought this for me for my birthday. Love you Ash!</em></td></tr>
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So, I registered. My friend Caroline also registered. I got excited. But, I started to get scared when it the event was closer, specifically within the last three weeks. My <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/08/a-hot-sunrise-beach-run.html">last run</a> was on a beach in August and didn't go well at all, because of my left foot problems. Then, I had to have emergency surgery two weeks prior to the race. I completely forgot about the triathlon when I scheduled the surgery, but my Doctor cleared me right before the event. I went for a 1.5 mile run by my apartment and felt strong enough to at least survive running half of the three miles with some pain that wouldn't destroy me completely. <br />
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I was determined to do this triathlon. I just accepted that I would be slow. If I needed to walk the three miles during the running portion, then I would. If I needed to quit at anytime, I would take my DNF (Did Not Finish) with a smile on my face knowing I tried. But I wasn't going to push it.<br />
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<h3>
PRE-RACE</h3>
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The transition area closed at 6:40 a.m., which means we had to have our bikes and gears and everything ready to go locked into place before then. We had to have our numbers on the bike and helmet (stickers) and on our arms (easy on tattoo) and our bibs attached to either our shirts or running belt. Since I wore a tri suit and didn't plan to change at all, I had my bib on my running belt. I was still back and forth about wearing my clips or just wearing my tennis shoes, but in the end, I wore my clips for the bike and wore my tennis shoes for the run. The one thing I forgot to do was to bring my air pump or at least air up my tires before we left the house. I thought I learned that <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/09/maiden-ride-on-cylo-my-new-road-bike.html">lesson before,</a> but it just completely slipped my mind when we were running out the door at 5 something in the morning. I realized this as I left the transition area at around a five minute call before they locked it down. With much assurance from everyone, I decided to just not worry about it and deal with the consequences later.<br />
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On a side note, that five minute call turned into more like a 10 minute call, which meant I had plenty of time to get the Bike Barn guys to air up my tires. <br />
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Caroline and I were newbies (~40 people) and our start time was set at 8:35 a.m. So, we had to get there early to get our equipment in the transition area before they locked it, which basically sucked. It was a lot of me standing around getting nervous by the minute, but I got to see all of the groups start to see how it worked. Oh and did I mention it was cold? Um yes. Thankfully, Jim was there for both of us to carry things around and get anything we needed, while we waited. Juan also came up to wish us well and support us. I even ran into an old friend, John who was also doing the race. My parents were there, but decided to wait by the pond area since we were about to start. And since the newbies were all hanging around each other waiting and more waiting, Caroline and I met some really nice people. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJpq07JxjFFk3O9xj8Io4xxaGA2miN7n0Zh9KA_vYXH4qVdzPAvP40sSUVMP9IptxF-7OqbQcBjlM5X1nuP1osUjBZCxxpdDCOGAOmKPFmdLWICjMh9ZHoSR22kf-e6IVq6rQPjqCR9NM/s1600/IMG_7565.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJpq07JxjFFk3O9xj8Io4xxaGA2miN7n0Zh9KA_vYXH4qVdzPAvP40sSUVMP9IptxF-7OqbQcBjlM5X1nuP1osUjBZCxxpdDCOGAOmKPFmdLWICjMh9ZHoSR22kf-e6IVq6rQPjqCR9NM/s1600/IMG_7565.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Funny story. </em><br />
<em>Juan and I said that we hope we don't get eaten by alligators. </em><br />
<em>Caroline freaked out and we told her that we were just joking. </em><br />
<em>She later saw the sign during her run. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxPA__q36wnD4SD9RJSvCUi-S4ihdhmaZ8Fm9eXmm0I2a84i59-0IPsT4Yi5aZVL_nA2HXIUNWKZ0ygSdNAqqepmw_K7rZSZR-_FvjyIR8pnLLxOItHH7rmXmQ0Cumd4IWssJigSX_mFI/s1600/IMG_7562.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxPA__q36wnD4SD9RJSvCUi-S4ihdhmaZ8Fm9eXmm0I2a84i59-0IPsT4Yi5aZVL_nA2HXIUNWKZ0ygSdNAqqepmw_K7rZSZR-_FvjyIR8pnLLxOItHH7rmXmQ0Cumd4IWssJigSX_mFI/s1600/IMG_7562.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>This picture got me over 100 likes on Facebook. </em><em>First time ever </em><br />
<em>and I felt like the<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO64FvfZSW4"> guy in the AT&T Network commercial</a>.</em><br />
<em></em> </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp_D3p_SpRwoZAiSrHzxHiFqgu41LLd0Kx1uAh2y-_jC6qdS6ns6gFQZGwHGLvYR4CJrioUkY7YrEo7dNL3kDOqqqeDMgoFHjYmawq2Vk13Pw_L2_BvlPPeyfdrXkubSkYFmVmVoPv1o8/s1600/IMG_7563.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp_D3p_SpRwoZAiSrHzxHiFqgu41LLd0Kx1uAh2y-_jC6qdS6ns6gFQZGwHGLvYR4CJrioUkY7YrEo7dNL3kDOqqqeDMgoFHjYmawq2Vk13Pw_L2_BvlPPeyfdrXkubSkYFmVmVoPv1o8/s1600/IMG_7563.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Having some fun during my long wait.</em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDAMj5LhSshvker8w3AI521LHW-PxoL6oQQQl8g0ZywPGIJJfZ84kbz4JE1zoEtcHtkirQnoMThr6lPSgSsak9Y_Fs6dCCz52yapIPEkmMTFswnFBnatcPkLrbCdJ3Mn2RpEUjH1bWvCs/s1600/DSCN4034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDAMj5LhSshvker8w3AI521LHW-PxoL6oQQQl8g0ZywPGIJJfZ84kbz4JE1zoEtcHtkirQnoMThr6lPSgSsak9Y_Fs6dCCz52yapIPEkmMTFswnFBnatcPkLrbCdJ3Mn2RpEUjH1bWvCs/s1600/DSCN4034.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Yes, it's cold people. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_CjDQD-AKEutwWWl4W5kYx5UXWpkKO5E6lr-XXWCDQMuW4JNmSD2by0j42BvmD-Lq0iNrYh2VSdky7lVjKoNCkVrAys2wc7kI-OUHODnhZYR9L26Biz0GOhzOMadrAiq_ig0JZT7hG5U/s1600/DSCN4040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_CjDQD-AKEutwWWl4W5kYx5UXWpkKO5E6lr-XXWCDQMuW4JNmSD2by0j42BvmD-Lq0iNrYh2VSdky7lVjKoNCkVrAys2wc7kI-OUHODnhZYR9L26Biz0GOhzOMadrAiq_ig0JZT7hG5U/s1600/DSCN4040.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>The giant is easy to spot. Caroline I guess wasn't that impressed. </em></td></tr>
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<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
SWIM (14:54:3, RANK 7)</h3>
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A few people said the water was warm and muggy at 80 degrees. It was cold on surface and therefore, skeptical. But they kept reassuring me that it was warm. LIARS!!! This definitely includes Caroline. I got in the water and it was cold cold cold, but I guess it could have been worse. Eventually, I got used to it and looked back to Jim for long off support. We kicked our legs around and swam to keep warm and somehow ended up near the front. The lake floor was squishy and a little bit rocky while the water was brown and murky. I guess the other groups kicked up all the mud, because you couldn't see anything. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiysJbHmOufSpyNMVftxpVa5bV6M4oGi9PeZhy9qPDmr5gD_gl2Dio0XcaeIy6u3055TWLIkjMLn86F3Uol8x1BjC20RT7plfyLg-uGHvc4byMnIF1XqCfsiDc25QQk5D6U_KV05N9_4PM/s1600/DSCN4042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><em><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiysJbHmOufSpyNMVftxpVa5bV6M4oGi9PeZhy9qPDmr5gD_gl2Dio0XcaeIy6u3055TWLIkjMLn86F3Uol8x1BjC20RT7plfyLg-uGHvc4byMnIF1XqCfsiDc25QQk5D6U_KV05N9_4PM/s1600/DSCN4042.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></em></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Apparently, I compensate my nerves with excessive waving to the giant.</em></td></tr>
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Then, they started to count us down and the level of excitement burbled through the crowd. I was nervously excited. The horn sounded and off we went. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI-ht2RpT9OT1-GP9-YVDEKyUSv2nTvbUdQ6oDudanSETGZJriJdyHJatRWMSGEb77l2n-nqt2RoaOt93r66QZexoaz0RTDwh88NLVMcEio6We7NrdUeqNdAiMjHw6chy75WDRrpnpJho/s1600/DSCN4047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI-ht2RpT9OT1-GP9-YVDEKyUSv2nTvbUdQ6oDudanSETGZJriJdyHJatRWMSGEb77l2n-nqt2RoaOt93r66QZexoaz0RTDwh88NLVMcEio6We7NrdUeqNdAiMjHw6chy75WDRrpnpJho/s1600/DSCN4047.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>And we are off with lots of legs and arms grabbing and splashing in the murky water.</em></td></tr>
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First off, couldn't see a darn thing...like at all. There was so much splashing and arms and everything. I had to swim with my head above water just to move. I would feel an arm on my leg and I would feel my hand touch another's leg. It was weird and way more packed than <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/08/splash-and-dash.html">Splash and Dash</a>. I had to eventually go to breaststroke just to get out of the plethora of people and went back to freestyle whenever I was through it. Consequently, this tuckered me out. I had to do freestyle several times when I wasn't in a cluster of swimmers. I could see Caroline ahead of me doing the same thing. Even though I took breaks with the breaststroke, I felt a great deal of power swimming when I went back to freestyle, which made me feel confident about my swimming and where it can go in the future. I could also see my mother on the shore taking pictures. She actually was my beacon to follow the line into the steps, because I kept swimming on the other sides of the buoys (not too far away). This was a big no no on the rules. I would immediately notice it and swim back to the right side of the buoys. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhxqjIElMCH4j10Ll_NZyShcwvU_QaZMkTUaW435OL6FxRyM4z5zMU9fbNetO8YKpV6oi2IX8AafF219InbF4LKj4PEa01AK3rFvq1uUfaIOJDKnYSVfKcnkcDi4Ha10u-bn5wHA8AKB4/s1600/DSCN4049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhxqjIElMCH4j10Ll_NZyShcwvU_QaZMkTUaW435OL6FxRyM4z5zMU9fbNetO8YKpV6oi2IX8AafF219InbF4LKj4PEa01AK3rFvq1uUfaIOJDKnYSVfKcnkcDi4Ha10u-bn5wHA8AKB4/s1600/DSCN4049.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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When I got to the end, I had a hard time climbing out of the water, because the rocks were slippery. But I made it out and started my run to T1 (Transition 1). My body soaked up the water like a sponge and just drained out as soon as I started running, which was unsettling. I got to see the giant, my step dad and my mother all cheering me on and it made me smile. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9S9bRQHlueSsSonMOUFI0rUjwPC4JzyPvTux8BU1A1WPuhS5mCc__uVgw-MygRsSYY2lCd5ZjRmxfNOLl37oxJqVRa4oQcZeEnIFvvNgBvAFMka9Z9kCLEMkWq-3FDIGO3F9pCnYG1bM/s1600/IMG_7860.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9S9bRQHlueSsSonMOUFI0rUjwPC4JzyPvTux8BU1A1WPuhS5mCc__uVgw-MygRsSYY2lCd5ZjRmxfNOLl37oxJqVRa4oQcZeEnIFvvNgBvAFMka9Z9kCLEMkWq-3FDIGO3F9pCnYG1bM/s1600/IMG_7860.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Seriously, this doesn't even look like me. </em></td></tr>
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<h3>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5h2txCg8JfJtiHhgCnezQWpS_2G_tjmx35xVxlLrFCJxFZhCKQ8MWxNsQwwS6KmXyVY7rB3d0wg8HK3UbpugFGThkTJKzR71NNTwIk5lxruNU19Obd2Ca2A-6LwZG3iniFiAB7oyznXU/s1600/KNW-Swim.mp4" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dx69uGDGZqKOvXtK9BI1a-XNWihpe2Gjb1wF5HhdzBPxJpUjAS6-KDmbpLdJnugsoxvvFcUy26yXf8FzfGcFg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
</h3>
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<h3>
T1 (4:15:3, RANK 16)</h3>
<br />
<br />
T1 and T2 were actually in the same area, which made it easier for a newbie to figure out what to do, but for the most part, the transitions confused me. I didn't know what to expect from this at all. I read a lot online and did get a taste of it at <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/08/splash-and-dash.html">Splash and Dash</a>, but overall, I was going in blind. It took awhile to get my feet dry and get into the clips. I eventually made it out and the giant was yelling to me that they are filling up the tires with air. I ran over to the guy and he grabbed my bike, filled them both up, and sent me on my way. So, this explains why I had such a long time in T1. My parents and the giant were still cheering me on, which is another bonus for having the transitions in one area. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ivPRcyl5v-0uFO7KQ9DSmg1G0MJnc62FaSApP1mlepFP8g6DCDjjx2K9RIwduoUfJYDCyzlxDbX5i_PDPuTta6toavO9Xmm4cqCRYvs4jVc9mzjttbtNxomEsU_IkbsTlGlUiEJZsHU/s1600/IMG_7850.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ivPRcyl5v-0uFO7KQ9DSmg1G0MJnc62FaSApP1mlepFP8g6DCDjjx2K9RIwduoUfJYDCyzlxDbX5i_PDPuTta6toavO9Xmm4cqCRYvs4jVc9mzjttbtNxomEsU_IkbsTlGlUiEJZsHU/s1600/IMG_7850.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>This is the Transition Area. You can see me drying off in the back. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzP4RtIh-x-xN8vMm-xgFjKyX-E_geHPvS2yAMwqm7bqBjGIkcrePFtKjV9EMgZC37PBt4RilKrZNSZzeClN9_Cghmn64BV6px3yyK-jo9HIHaYD-9AAjwLrYtOD8-NBjya9KgQCJTu9U/s1600/DSCN4052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzP4RtIh-x-xN8vMm-xgFjKyX-E_geHPvS2yAMwqm7bqBjGIkcrePFtKjV9EMgZC37PBt4RilKrZNSZzeClN9_Cghmn64BV6px3yyK-jo9HIHaYD-9AAjwLrYtOD8-NBjya9KgQCJTu9U/s1600/DSCN4052.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing with my hands. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV-6B0ouTZ6q_JvQFV-tyKp19LbNfpFM0CNZcBgBmvz_aFkq98i1lrZnxKvyXxqO2CbROKaBqXLt9lRkZOWVkn9EAN_awKPuXHbQhelKiiyrSIUP-MsVxVMB3Mc364b4h0CzcwR9BuRqU/s1600/IMG_7851.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV-6B0ouTZ6q_JvQFV-tyKp19LbNfpFM0CNZcBgBmvz_aFkq98i1lrZnxKvyXxqO2CbROKaBqXLt9lRkZOWVkn9EAN_awKPuXHbQhelKiiyrSIUP-MsVxVMB3Mc364b4h0CzcwR9BuRqU/s1600/IMG_7851.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Leaving the air fill up area. Thank you to Bike Barn for having them out there.</em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjICov4ODUOZbH39UPNcQ8Wa5mpQpAQuViLwxnh0gwzBalpkX-DcPU4_vYSvRdTXvRoojEMBKY8IchsYcJPAzFtt_qr1eMr86bBSYAsBjDWEUaZ0EqNpXmAyRuqIAfKL4dEgMEz_ogG57Q/s1600/DSCN4054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjICov4ODUOZbH39UPNcQ8Wa5mpQpAQuViLwxnh0gwzBalpkX-DcPU4_vYSvRdTXvRoojEMBKY8IchsYcJPAzFtt_qr1eMr86bBSYAsBjDWEUaZ0EqNpXmAyRuqIAfKL4dEgMEz_ogG57Q/s1600/DSCN4054.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>And I'm getting ready to start the long 15 mile bike run. </em></td></tr>
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<h3>
BIKING (1:03:04:6, 14.3 MPH, RANK 18)</h3>
<br />
<br />
I felt way more relaxed after getting my tires filled up with air, but I was still on edge since I had surgery two weeks prior in my stomach area. I wasn't sure that I could last that long on a bike. With all that, the bike started off great. I got into the groove quickly, but I didn't like sharing the lane with other cars even in the neighborhood. Then, the route dumped us onto a major road with lots of traffic and torn up shoulders. At one point, I didn't think this fast moving truck saw the cones, but he did. At one intersection, we had to wait for the cops to stop traffic for us to pass through the light. I was a little intimidated on the road and never truly got comfortable until we went into more of the back country roads. <br />
<br />
The route didn't have many mile markers up, which made it difficult to know how long I had biked. Many people were out there training for MS150 or just doing long rides. I smiled and said, "good morning" to everyone. Finally someone passing by gave me an educated guess on what mile we were hitting and she was only off by half a mile. <br />
<br />
I started to hurt in my stomach area around the sixth mile and I just got slower and slower. Even with that, I managed to pass four people and only one of them passed me later. Everytime I lifted up to give my butt a break, water just flowed out of my suit and down my legs (no, it wasn't pee). By mile 10, I was just ready to be done with the bike portion. The route took us back on the busy street and I could definitely see the end in sight. Finally, I made it back to T2, hopped off of my bike, and headed in where I saw the family and giant cheering me on with their cameras still clicking away.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbPl6zgyy7PDTQImbLTv1ZIGHStR3F1zs2v6nup7YFr5z3yPdVCoaqmvoGZx5zHNYNF3KmSrMrJBwoI5DK1N-fGt5i6WFSrb3t71qC9QZ_lDftCh2QnYvontviElxXHti1Szhx-lXGwT0/s1600/635507753873571254.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbPl6zgyy7PDTQImbLTv1ZIGHStR3F1zs2v6nup7YFr5z3yPdVCoaqmvoGZx5zHNYNF3KmSrMrJBwoI5DK1N-fGt5i6WFSrb3t71qC9QZ_lDftCh2QnYvontviElxXHti1Szhx-lXGwT0/s1600/635507753873571254.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>I was all smiles to see the end of the bike portion. Photo by John Thames.</em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_TL2Jhh7NfCZQ7gGJ54GEH4Yd8TNUmFW5ijvwghNVPzDdW-5EBNajfoQD4M4UyiD5urjbZhfWSnpUPke9K2JnzKLfTNhf-Iw3LTY3ME34-4UkQRZ6OhEa0Tpsa8IEK-k1m7rTmyxa4_w/s1600/IMG_7852.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_TL2Jhh7NfCZQ7gGJ54GEH4Yd8TNUmFW5ijvwghNVPzDdW-5EBNajfoQD4M4UyiD5urjbZhfWSnpUPke9K2JnzKLfTNhf-Iw3LTY3ME34-4UkQRZ6OhEa0Tpsa8IEK-k1m7rTmyxa4_w/s1600/IMG_7852.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Coming in from the bike ride. My legs can not move at all. </em></td></tr>
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</h3>
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T2 (2:23:8, RANK 19)</h3>
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This went way more smoother than the first time; however, I had a hard time getting out of my clips and into my tennis shoes. I remembered going to a clinic where the guy talked about running after biking. I read about things, too, but unless you experience it, you have no idea. My legs WERE LIKE WOOD after being on the bike. My stepdad was yelling at me to go go go while my mom wanted me to stop for a picture. But really, I couldn't move my legs fast enough. I was just walking through the transition. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAuVXPE4VEHHZozmhY3geOeQEar6Kf-Wqy0JQkY0BHEZLzWCUFgkUqpZjGFxZTpA1I1nswSm5A8pC2JCDP4Ijh8Wn_Mk8iIRMDv78OMFhNv5tuNaFlzgU-lzAqzBCsPj6zTlflQaZBtIM/s1600/IMG_7853.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAuVXPE4VEHHZozmhY3geOeQEar6Kf-Wqy0JQkY0BHEZLzWCUFgkUqpZjGFxZTpA1I1nswSm5A8pC2JCDP4Ijh8Wn_Mk8iIRMDv78OMFhNv5tuNaFlzgU-lzAqzBCsPj6zTlflQaZBtIM/s1600/IMG_7853.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Again, with the hands. Bajeebus. </em></td></tr>
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</h3>
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<h3>
RUNNING (39:50:6, 13:17 MIN/MILE, RANK 18)</h3>
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<br />
Like I stated before, my legs were stiff. It took until about the first mile before I started to feel normal again. <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/x2-MCPa_3rU" width="560"></iframe><br /></div>
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<em>This video embodies what I felt like running, only slower until I got to about the first mile.</em></div>
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My last run was 1.5 miles a couple of days before and before that was in August. So, I knew this would be painfully slow. I ate my Honey Stinger Waffle on the run, which I wished I had taken the time to eat it during T2 so I would have water to wash it down. We didn't get a water station until about 1-1.5 mile. Another thing I noticed was that my suit was not completely dry by the run. Some parts of the run were uncomfortable. I was slightly disappointed in my tri suit. <br />
<br />
All day, it looked like it would rain, but it never did. The sun actually came out during the run, which made it just that much more painful for me. But the route was nice in the back area with the trails in between houses. It reminded me of my old neighborhood, Fairfield. I did my best to run as much as I could, but had to walk (hence why I have a 13 min mile). I came up to a fork in the road and saw the sign for Sprint this way while everyone was going straight. I ended up asking a guy to confirm the direction; he was running the Olympic portion. This girl passed me by and asked, "do you smell that? do you? That's the smell of beer." I loved her immediately even though I never saw her again. I ran along with this one guy who said he was too fat to run the Olympic; I didn't think so. We stayed together for awhile until I had to walk just one more time and lost him. <br />
<br />
And then I saw the turn to the end. OMG! It was so amazing. People were cheering me on and I spotted everyone at the finish line. I picked it up in to high gear and finished overall at <br />
2:04:28.7 (see full results <a href="http://eztoregister.com/assets/OctFestSprint14.HTM#10 2">here</a>). My time on the thing said over 3 hours and I started to freak out. Thankfully, the time was a lot lower than it said. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYWmNYNcaxGY1c3xpGi7UuGH3G-nN7kvLCJhHsOSrVBEYB6Qe8YJtaJ7WkLZdo5Ef8pOUZ6bMO1wUmFXDhuEh8B0r6ekysurBbMNd1kDm-l9D7x1jspKiGAgvIfkX9bkCWu_Bzp-RwTMI/s1600/IMG_7854.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYWmNYNcaxGY1c3xpGi7UuGH3G-nN7kvLCJhHsOSrVBEYB6Qe8YJtaJ7WkLZdo5Ef8pOUZ6bMO1wUmFXDhuEh8B0r6ekysurBbMNd1kDm-l9D7x1jspKiGAgvIfkX9bkCWu_Bzp-RwTMI/s1600/IMG_7854.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL8TnPkkEy1it-nUQvNaKP9VOUGXpMEZZ26i8xLNAAmoYXwqoaUA6I8DLIfi92wc3bHXrFgwUO3-gQu1-spHkM3lwJM0kkIuRsVJjRvMVZXCy110RYaMECLUwkLjSXwl2-h5qoqzbPzsc/s1600/IMG_7855.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL8TnPkkEy1it-nUQvNaKP9VOUGXpMEZZ26i8xLNAAmoYXwqoaUA6I8DLIfi92wc3bHXrFgwUO3-gQu1-spHkM3lwJM0kkIuRsVJjRvMVZXCy110RYaMECLUwkLjSXwl2-h5qoqzbPzsc/s1600/IMG_7855.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsMtbK06cvi7xcucmPULAIHkzUbn0SvFiv9KnoqhYF3vVOMK19ZBiiPOdIf2Nfn2cGTYmkkOdUYNp5RUkbDrTzUa2mcfi-FtKw-cwRXUfWatDCiLN41PfiE-2xciJmGTxvs-QSx9sJai4/s1600/635507754179354069.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsMtbK06cvi7xcucmPULAIHkzUbn0SvFiv9KnoqhYF3vVOMK19ZBiiPOdIf2Nfn2cGTYmkkOdUYNp5RUkbDrTzUa2mcfi-FtKw-cwRXUfWatDCiLN41PfiE-2xciJmGTxvs-QSx9sJai4/s1600/635507754179354069.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Photo by John Thames.</em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu141DZuiDiCNmxiaK2aZ5W7L9hkPd7C8QJ_9CFOgh0odRq9hcFJJFSep5OtYwBNj7sBVUxLZ-R_7SjFZG0XNyZfhCrC10ZdhWOWzTp21Lj-aJ9C_xnkGSkIJp_WiVFHZeBZ1iZN0_jwY/s1600/635507754044977349.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu141DZuiDiCNmxiaK2aZ5W7L9hkPd7C8QJ_9CFOgh0odRq9hcFJJFSep5OtYwBNj7sBVUxLZ-R_7SjFZG0XNyZfhCrC10ZdhWOWzTp21Lj-aJ9C_xnkGSkIJp_WiVFHZeBZ1iZN0_jwY/s1600/635507754044977349.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>I love this picture of me...not sure why, but I do. Photo by John Thames.</em></td></tr>
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I had so much fun doing this triathlon and I can't wait to do another again. I have lots to improve on before the next one though. Apparently, I got talked into doing a half ironman next year with Elizabeth...EEK! Thank you Caroline for running it with me. It was really nice having another newbie to share in this experience. Thanks to the Giant, my parents, Caroline's friends, and Juan for coming out to support us on our first tri. I really appreciate it. And of course, a double thank you to the giant for taking care of us at the beginning. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeaaQFZuzAesm3PSZypsSsE5F4CuJ3Xr8X1tYQJRGMMgAbzNehBliWubCWhTHANITNTODo84yzyDUKMkKS44dEa7KLHzb6-BL2f67z2Y5-KT2kfNsxnh2PKWF2ayDblYm86zMwghpRS-8/s1600/IMG_7859.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeaaQFZuzAesm3PSZypsSsE5F4CuJ3Xr8X1tYQJRGMMgAbzNehBliWubCWhTHANITNTODo84yzyDUKMkKS44dEa7KLHzb6-BL2f67z2Y5-KT2kfNsxnh2PKWF2ayDblYm86zMwghpRS-8/s1600/IMG_7859.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>I loved all the beer options. </em></td></tr>
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Things I loved about the Oktoberfest Triathlon:<br />
<ul>
<li>It was open water.</li>
<li>The tech shirt is one of my favorite shirts to wear.</li>
<li>The beer options rocked and I got to try some new special brew never seen before. </li>
<li>I shared this experience with my friend.</li>
<li>I had great support.</li>
<li>The run was actually a nice scenery.</li>
<li>The bike portion away from the main road was really beautiful. </li>
</ul>
Things I didn't love about the Oktoberfest Triathlon:<br />
<ul>
<li>The water was so murky I couldn't see anything.</li>
<li>It was hard getting in and out of the water. </li>
<li>We had to share the one lane with cars in the neighborhood.</li>
<li>The bike route took us onto the main road, which was scary.</li>
<li>We had to wait for the cops to stop traffic before we could pass. If I was going for time, that would have been a major time suck. </li>
<li>There were very little mile markers on the bike route. I think I saw two an that's a big maybe.</li>
</ul>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDTT8A08qzWtfbwKJsnJVe04PXQD7X33t8wy2ldDhxyTEC-7o0wknm0FUcL0jHk4hz97Ocg2LwGTYjfBm8KB5LWv5y8sy1FQGs2bWKUpsVy7YWaKyNv32bLSKhqz1IisjzO0iTEgssGig/s1600/IMG_7856.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDTT8A08qzWtfbwKJsnJVe04PXQD7X33t8wy2ldDhxyTEC-7o0wknm0FUcL0jHk4hz97Ocg2LwGTYjfBm8KB5LWv5y8sy1FQGs2bWKUpsVy7YWaKyNv32bLSKhqz1IisjzO0iTEgssGig/s1600/IMG_7856.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>And since everyone thinks bloggers and facebookers only put up the really good pictures, I put this one up. This was a still frame from my mother's video. I wasn't crying, but well, there you go. It cracks me up. </em></td></tr>
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KWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01048289769679231707noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3380665352321254858.post-14324299829899329882014-10-13T09:06:00.002-05:002014-10-13T09:06:56.849-05:00September Plank Challenge UpdateIn September, I entered into another <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/09/september-plank-challenge.html">Plank Challenge</a> hosted by <a href="http://www.hungryhealthyhappy.com/september-plank-challenge/">Dannii at Hungry, Healthy, Happy</a>. I did do this challenge, but September was such a crazy month for me that I just didn't have time to do an update on the blog with how I did on this particular plank challenge. I had to have emergency minor surgery on the day I planned to do an update. Then, work got super busy. But now, I'm finally doing an update. <br />
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I was super excited about this challenge, because I absolutely loved the <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/08/planks-challenge-completed.html">July Challenge</a>. Although, I will admit to being nervous about going for a 5 minute plank. <br />
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So, how did I do? Well, I will tell you that I never made it to 5 minutes. The challenge was just too aggressive for me. I managed to make it 2 min, 30 sec for a plank one time and after that, I just couldn't make it happen. However, this challenge was not a complete bust for me. I took my meager 1 minute planks to 2 minutes planks on an everyday basis when I couldn't even get a 1 min, 30 sec plank during July's challenge. I will take that success. <br />
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Even though I didn't quite make this challenge work for me, I upped my plank time. I also decided to make this an end of the year goal. I will spend from now until December 31, working on completing a 5 minute plank. I think this is a good challenge for me that gives me a slower time to make it happen. Each week, I will add 10 seconds to each plank until I reach 5 minutes. <br />
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Do I have an addiction to planks? Do you? Join me. KWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01048289769679231707noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3380665352321254858.post-3908449955348616002014-09-30T13:49:00.001-05:002014-09-30T13:51:18.504-05:00The Mark of a True Cyclist...In My EyesI saw pictures and even saw some people face plant in front of me without a helmet on group bike rides. At this point, it has not happened to me, but I knew that eventually it would happen. I felt kind of invincible on my hybrid bike with its big tires and ability to go from road to dirt without an issue. I felt somewhat safe. And then I got my road bike. <br />
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And then, I got clips. Their have been multiple blog posts and pictures and stories from people talking about their falls with the clips. In fact, it scared me to put them on, but I wanted to improve myself as a cyclist. With some advice, I bought the mountain bike clips to get me started so that I can easily get in and out of the clips if something went wrong. Well, in theory, it would. <br />
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So, I knew my day would come and unfortunately, it happened on a nice bike ride with the giant (my second or third ride ever on Cylo). He's now officially moved here and this was our first bike ride together in Houston. We have always <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/06/tour-de-yorkshiregroup-style.html">biked in England</a>, but not in Houston. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjpgLCr-Yq_6UTe0Q1YcRoc_LJqZUS1v0OGdhCHA7cBjr_yrbIkbenJf4uzGfP68Ly61YaVC0Lmf2UWjmB7jTYfUHCdvLOTPV3cTIbvGXADDCrzCcTzs6MBgao7An-WTtRViiMFcTdz_k/s1600/IMG_7453%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjpgLCr-Yq_6UTe0Q1YcRoc_LJqZUS1v0OGdhCHA7cBjr_yrbIkbenJf4uzGfP68Ly61YaVC0Lmf2UWjmB7jTYfUHCdvLOTPV3cTIbvGXADDCrzCcTzs6MBgao7An-WTtRViiMFcTdz_k/s1600/IMG_7453%5B1%5D.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Since I have my first triathlon coming up very soon, I wanted to test out my suit on the bike. Now, I need to test it out running and swimming. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirfEcAnBFSUwwlyYasCkT0v6s_y4eDahb3l8h1ip2EsxLWZ0kvdmJyQAvE5XSaVamZmOj0nIS3Gb2GOpIW-T4yj9flCrz46_3db7kTsxHCBdyYJaO-pwLGnXHXu1PWH9YUe9pQ0nbLH6Y/s1600/IMG_7454%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirfEcAnBFSUwwlyYasCkT0v6s_y4eDahb3l8h1ip2EsxLWZ0kvdmJyQAvE5XSaVamZmOj0nIS3Gb2GOpIW-T4yj9flCrz46_3db7kTsxHCBdyYJaO-pwLGnXHXu1PWH9YUe9pQ0nbLH6Y/s1600/IMG_7454%5B1%5D.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>The giant and I just having a nice bike ride on a gorgeous day. </em></td></tr>
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We wanted to do something easy, no more than seven miles. I opted out of dropping into Brays Bayou trail and just go around Hermann and Rice. I'm not sure why exactly. I guess it had to do with me totally forgetting about the 5-6 hour traffic. Stupid idea #1 of this bike trip. I stopped at a light and was about to push the button when I realized that I was not close. Of course, I was still clipped in and kind of found the pole before I went down on the cement block. That was a close call. <br />
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I decided to go a different way and into Rice University, which confused me. We got to an area with a back up of cars and I decided that we should go on the sidewalk to get around it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Stupid idea #2. Believe me, I paid for it. Then, the sidewalk ended and because I'm a complete moron, I forgot that I do not have a hybrid bike anymore. Stupid idea #3. Road bike is called road bike for a reason. Since it had been raining, the ground was soft like quicksand. It sucked my wheels in and down I went hard. Cylo landed on top of me slamming into my knee. I had no time to react or attempt to get out of my clips. It took awhile to even get up. <br />
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I dusted off my pride and body and got back on the bike, because that's what cyclists do. I limped a turn of the wheels and we were off...slowly...very slowly...painfully slowly (literally and metaphorically). There was too much traffic and blockages and turns causing us to make last minute changes. We stopped at the Farmer's Market to see if they had any produce we needed; they didn't and it hurt to walk. Plus, I was just ready to get home and ice my knee. So, we got back on our bikes and headed home.<br />
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It took a couple of days to really just stop hurting when I walked. A nice array of hues formed and is still there today. I learned my lessons a plenty. I'm only thankful that the fall wasn't as bad as it could have been or what I have heard from others. So, now I at least feel like I belong in the cyclist club with my ever so slightly story of falling. <br />
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Oh and the giant still bikes better than me even on an old 60s-70s model road bike that didn't even fit him. Stupid short legs of mine. KWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01048289769679231707noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3380665352321254858.post-17934224031921549892014-09-09T11:11:00.002-05:002014-09-09T11:11:49.534-05:00Maiden Ride on Cylo, My New Road Bike<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I hear about these rides outside of the city, mostly in Chappell Hill, but I never go. Chappell Hill is called hill for a reason and I never thought I was ready for hills with the hybrid bike and especially not with the new guy in my life, Cylo. Then, I got an email about cycling in Brookshire from my friend Bob. Oh that's flat...I can do some flat. And I really wanted to get out there for a ride on Cylo. Elizabeth was in and I begged her nicely to pick me up since it is quite difficult to transport my bike in my car. Hey, I put gas in her car and I'm driving to <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/08/splash-and-dash.html">Splash and Dash</a> this Friday. <br />
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So, we made a plan to get up before the sunshine on a Sunday morning (6 a.m. departure time since it takes about an hour to get out there)...AGAIN. I put everything in an area where I could easily grab stuff in a rush, including laying out my clothes ahead of time. Thank God I just did the washing. <br />
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The group ride started at 7:30 a.m., but we thought we would start at 7 a.m. to beat the heat. However, we didn't get there at 7. <br />
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There were two parts to the ride. One part was out to Monaville and back from the parking area for 21.5 miles or you can add an extra loop as a second part for a total of 42.5 miles. The ride was sponsored by <a href="http://bicycleworldofhouston.com/">Bicycle World</a> and had a van out there in case shit happened or you needed a ride back somewhere. And I needed the van. They also printed out maps for the ride with Wes' (the van guy) number.<br />
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Oh and wouldn't you know, I forgot my darn helmet. Thankfully, Bob had an extra one for me to use. Bob, Elizabeth and I rode out together since Bob knew where he was going. This was my first ride with Cylo since I bought him the previous Sunday, because I was sick all week after my <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/09/20-mile-bike-ride-and-new-bike.html">bike ride</a>. I dropped back fairly quick getting used to my bike and the new way to change gears. I wasn't too far behind and sometimes, I caught up to them. Cylo was faster, so much faster than my hybrid bike. My legs were burning and oh how my crotch/ass area hurt. I had to sit up off the seat a few lotta times. Eventually, Bob and Elizabeth left me, because I just couldn't hang with them speedwise. I lost them quickly on all of the hills. <br />
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Then, my worst fears happened; I got my first flat tire, while alone. I freaked out. I have taken a bike maintenance class before, but I didn't get to do it myself and I don't learn just by watching somebody change their tire on a bike that doesn't look like my bike. Finally, someone came by and reminded me about the number on the map and I called Wes. Elizabeth called me to make sure I was okay and I told her to go on since Wes was there to help me. He showed me what to do (again, not letting me do it) with some tricks. He did let me put on the front wheel, which was helpful. He also put air in my other tire so I wouldn't get a second flat. It was scary, but I got through it with help.<br />
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I finally made it to Monaville for the stopping point and I just stayed there for about 20-30 minutes. I was able to go to the bathroom, get some water, eat a honey stinger waffle, and just contemplate my ride. I had no desire to continue on with the rest of the loop, but I knew Elizabeth and Bob kept going. So, I took my time and eventually met Shelly. We rode back together and it felt good to have someone there to ride with for the remaining 9 miles. Also, it was nice that I was the faster one. That rarely happens. We talked about sports and life and all the dead animals on the road. Thankfully, the weather was cool and the clouds just started to part for some pretty blue skies on the way back to the car. <br />
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On a side note, we were by Waller and I missed it. <br />
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We made it back to the car and I just chilled out reading my book (Game of Thrones...OMG! So, much is happening now towards the end of the book) waiting on Elizabeth. It was such a great ride even with the flat tire and heart stopping panic. I started to feel like a cyclist instead of just a social rider. It also felt good to get out of the city for a change of scenery and ride my new bike. I can't wait to do it again, although, I hear the van won't be out there again until next season. Sad face. <br />
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Things I learned on this bike ride:<br />
<ul>
<li>When you hang your helmet on the bike so you won't forget it, remember to put it on the correct bike. I got home to find my helmet hanging on the hybrid bike, which is why I didn't see it at 5:50 a.m. </li>
<li>Thankfully, it didn't rain, but it was supposed to rain. I forgot ziplock bags again for my phone. Plus, it's just good for the sweat. </li>
<li>Watermelon is by far the best ever after biking treat. Elizabeth was a God send for having it. </li>
<li>Speaking of food, make sure to go shopping for bread before the bike ride. I put my PB&J on a corn tortilla and it wasn't good at all. And the gluten free bread Elizabeth had for her sammich was just not good. </li>
<li>I always air up my tires before every ride, which is why I haven't had a flat until now. I honestly didn't think it would need air. BIG MISTAKE! The biggest lesson I learned that day was it doesn't matter. Air up those tires anyways. I found out that my tires were so far below the psi they required and I didn't check that before I went out. I will never make that mistake again if I ever buy a new bike. I will continue to air up before each ride like I always do. </li>
<li>OMG, my ass, crotch, neck, and back hurt so bad on the new bike. I'm dreading my bike ride tonight for my bike fit appointment, because I'm still sore. I should have done an Epsom salt bath when I got home, but the Texans were playing.</li>
<li>Seriously need to get some new gloves. The new handles made my hands sore. I don't know why I can go into a bike shop and get everything I need to get, but not gloves. UGH! </li>
</ul>
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I'm not sure when my next big ride will be, but I can't wait. And with Jim coming to join me next week, I will have a cycling partner that's also starting from my apartment with a bike rack capable car. YAY!<br />
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KWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01048289769679231707noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3380665352321254858.post-22294866879655675052014-09-04T10:28:00.000-05:002014-09-04T10:28:46.836-05:0020 Mile Bike Ride and a New BikeOne day, Elizabeth asked me about going on a bike ride. I agreed immediately even if it meant that I had to get up early on a Sunday. I could do it and I did. <br />
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We set our goal of 25 miles heading down the Brays Bayou to Terry Hershey Park. But if we could go for 30 miles, we totally would go for it. I realistically could do 20 miles and would be pushing myself to 25 miles. It's okay to have a crazy goal on the back burner though. <br />
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So, we set out with me in the lead. I immediately noticed the darkness surrounding my area. I made a statement that we need to watch out for storm possibilities, but had no desire to delay or cancel our bike ride. Since I'm not running right now, I needed another form of exercise besides swimming and working out at the gym (gyming?). If anything you will learn about living in Houston, a monsoon that looks like the Gods will come down upon us to flood out the city so that we can rebuild society could be happening on one side of your apartment building, while you will never feel a drop on the other side. And I'm not kidding. But you still need to keep an eye on what is going on around you stormwise (well and kidnappingwise, rapingwise, murderwise, stupidwise, etc.). <br />
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Let's just throw it out there...I'm slow. A great deal of this has to do with the fact that I have a hybrid bike, but I'm still slow anyways. I was on my way to getting faster in the bike last year, but lost my speed after surgery. I accept my slowness and move on with the ride. I only felt a little bad for Elizabeth being a faster rider stuck behind a slower one. So, she got to watch me. I learned a lot by the time I got to the bayou like my hand signals were incorrect. I rode when I was little all over my neighborhood, but do you think we used hand signals? Heck no. We didn't even wear helmets and rarely stopped. Currently, I ride with <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2013/07/is-it-time-for-mass.html">large groups</a> or by myself. However, one time, I rode around my area at <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2013/12/turkey-day-biking.html">Thanksgiving</a> with another person. Needless to say, I didn't know the correct hand signals and nobody corrected me until now. And I was glad for that, but I did get confused later on in the ride trying to remember which one to use. <br />
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I'm also used to just jumping on a sidewalk if I feel unsafe, because I'm by myself. One time, I messed up and went on the sidewalk without thinking about Elizabeth. I didn't do that again...not because she punished me for it, but because I realized it was not a smart or safe idea. <br />
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And then the monsoon hit...let me clarify, the first monsoon hit. I couldn't see much. It got windy; I was a little cold; I was definitely wet. We sought shelter in this gym area and then ventured out when it eased up a bit. Then, the next monsoon hit and then it dried up making it cool and beautiful. In fact, I noticed a rainbow painted into the cloud (wished I took a picture). We smelled donuts in the breeze; we said hello to everyone; we had gone the farthest that I have gone on this trail; I might make 30 miles. Then, the third monsoon hit and only looked to get worse. It was dark and the clouds were deep for miles. We decided to just turn around. We made it under 610 before we took another weather break. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAoWm47kpyzUbgNpXxQ8vLJnAQSxgP94FxGy5iz4y0-gFF13gq0qVQ1wMyCVoRpb-5lcRRUbDYrW0X3fu573_f4J777FyGD4aMBnjykwP4M-6O9V_2T2D6Fga3aEid6mc9YnIbUjR_pmU/s1600/IMG_6989%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAoWm47kpyzUbgNpXxQ8vLJnAQSxgP94FxGy5iz4y0-gFF13gq0qVQ1wMyCVoRpb-5lcRRUbDYrW0X3fu573_f4J777FyGD4aMBnjykwP4M-6O9V_2T2D6Fga3aEid6mc9YnIbUjR_pmU/s1600/IMG_6989%5B1%5D.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>This was the only time I felt comfortable enough to bring out my phone to snap some pictures. </em></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8-I2yyUZ-STWRYaBhz6egYLfNOg3VR53xApevIsUHtjlU41cf4A8klr8_k0PxL6E4hbvm6TuDZBCIBApHw26IX1ZRnXU8_FRZpSDaRvwJ9WcVHWM_CUKh0kYMsTr2Y0s72MdVFWSYzpc/s1600/IMG_6993%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8-I2yyUZ-STWRYaBhz6egYLfNOg3VR53xApevIsUHtjlU41cf4A8klr8_k0PxL6E4hbvm6TuDZBCIBApHw26IX1ZRnXU8_FRZpSDaRvwJ9WcVHWM_CUKh0kYMsTr2Y0s72MdVFWSYzpc/s1600/IMG_6993%5B1%5D.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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The rain didn't stop, but it eased up enough for us to continue our bike ride home. To be honest, I was tired of the rain and just wanted to be home. Funny thing about this rain is that it hit us from the front in the one direction and then hit us from the front again in the opposite direction. WTH?! My shoes were flooded. My seat area was flooded. I eventually took off my glasses, because they were worthless to me at this point. <br />
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We finally made it home as a wet sloppy mess. We rode 20 miles through at least three monsoons in roughly 2 hours (according to Jim). I will take it since I mostly do 20 miles, while stopping for long periods of time for <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2013/08/karbach-brews-cruise-19-bike-ride.html">beer</a> and <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2013/09/tour-de-tacos-bike-ride.html">tacos</a> or <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/07/raspas-y-elotes-ride.html">elotes</a> and more beer (not that there is anything wrong with that). And I learned a great deal of information just by riding with someone other than myself. For instance, bring plastic bags for your electronics. Thankfully, the rain always hit from the front. <br />
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Even with all the rain, I couldn't have asked for a better experience. Well, except for I got sick the next day and didn't feel better until well, today. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggRk41XoDmVgMA6qA0KlmWUaoY3ZeuEOqMs0krfXdLsNySLb2ihxY3g4Wt_5v1r0zptUD9Y2_ZElAgbJYtufdc8I9Nuh7E0QmuJVD0-3dACOLQ1b_gDqApN__kRQGexSATUikk2hdqoYc/s1600/IMG_6996%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggRk41XoDmVgMA6qA0KlmWUaoY3ZeuEOqMs0krfXdLsNySLb2ihxY3g4Wt_5v1r0zptUD9Y2_ZElAgbJYtufdc8I9Nuh7E0QmuJVD0-3dACOLQ1b_gDqApN__kRQGexSATUikk2hdqoYc/s1600/IMG_6996%5B1%5D.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>My floor after standing there for a minute. And no, my water didn't break. </em></td></tr>
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During our talks, Elizabeth convinced me to go bike shopping on that day. We were just to go shopping (I swear), but I found a bike that fit me perfectly for rather inexpensive at <a href="http://bicycleworldofhouston.com/">Bicycle World</a> in West U. I fell in love. <br />
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Meet Cylo, because he reminds me of a cylon. Thanks to Dave for coming up with the name. I haven't rode him yet due to sickness, but I'm hoping to get on him tonight. Oh yeah. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgooPzDVrilRsr5sIXRjq50ucXHphm2unycEffB9qpX60nlNGx__9FtxlQoEv1kXykLhwMSbYCg3ypCbMLKZcous67a2Sr5g8T4mBt1HrZIoaf57ydoiq8LWptyOUfoi4glF2wWKyvU4Q8/s1600/IMG_6998%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgooPzDVrilRsr5sIXRjq50ucXHphm2unycEffB9qpX60nlNGx__9FtxlQoEv1kXykLhwMSbYCg3ypCbMLKZcous67a2Sr5g8T4mBt1HrZIoaf57ydoiq8LWptyOUfoi4glF2wWKyvU4Q8/s1600/IMG_6998%5B1%5D.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>He's so sexy! He could sleep with you. He could be nice to you. He could kill you in multiple ways from multiple versions of the same looking clone. He is CYLO!!!</em></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9kCu8jq2LtkO4OvFjdvHcOoQ6kZGSlTuQ8EgLiGLyjrCrPjuAO9v8DMzKAsoEDSLQLWXHun6Jlshn2dn9u4oN3EEExLBweGa13Tmk5MlzGBrUgU6tyJGoa_iCvD50it0lGLOc47dXrQg/s1600/IMG_6999%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9kCu8jq2LtkO4OvFjdvHcOoQ6kZGSlTuQ8EgLiGLyjrCrPjuAO9v8DMzKAsoEDSLQLWXHun6Jlshn2dn9u4oN3EEExLBweGa13Tmk5MlzGBrUgU6tyJGoa_iCvD50it0lGLOc47dXrQg/s1600/IMG_6999%5B1%5D.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Elizabeth was nice enough to give me her old bike rack for two. Although, I need to find a better place to put it. </em></td></tr>
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KWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01048289769679231707noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3380665352321254858.post-17346924056050198962014-09-02T08:18:00.003-05:002014-09-02T13:25:08.503-05:00September Plank Challenge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdmuL7-xzjKYO2nBXpqzIH0gwFu17RrPR4wT14-puRKg9ZTXslHrKL-a21MgwrO6ccJ06jt3T0sSdWi4dVvL-MDywcacIzS8rVNgdYP3KZm_AELeUZ-dZAflTwGiTuLhBiBKHWAqV_Avk/s1600/planking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdmuL7-xzjKYO2nBXpqzIH0gwFu17RrPR4wT14-puRKg9ZTXslHrKL-a21MgwrO6ccJ06jt3T0sSdWi4dVvL-MDywcacIzS8rVNgdYP3KZm_AELeUZ-dZAflTwGiTuLhBiBKHWAqV_Avk/s1600/planking.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
August's challenge of 40 pull-ups/chin-ups assisted/unassisted didn't go so well. I did it for a week and that was it. I mean I did my normal set requested by my trainer at <a href="http://workoutnirvana.com/">Workout Nirvana</a>, but I never reached 40 again. I did attempt to try and pull myself up on a bar twice with no assistance; however, it didn't go so well. I just hung there like dead weight. <br />
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On a side note, my audition to American Ninja Warrior was quickly rejected. <br />
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I didn't know what I would do for this month or if I would do anything at all. Then, I got a post update from Dannii at <a href="http://www.hungryhealthyhappy.com/september-plank-challenge/">Hungry Healthy Happy</a> and it was like a light shined down upon the computer with angels singing Hallelujah. I got giddy with excitement, because I really enjoyed my <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/08/planks-challenge-completed.html">July Plank Challenge</a> and this is exactly what I needed. Plus, planks are excellent to build strength in your core to help with back problems (me), running (me), and everything else. <br />
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Then, I really read it. Oh crap. She wants us to get to a five minute plank at the end of the month. I'm not talking about five sets of one minute (like what I did). Nooooooo, that was chump change. She means one set of five minutes. Is this even possible? I couldn't even do 1:30 minute plank at the end of the month for my challenge, which was my goal. Hmmmm....what to do?! what to do?!<br />
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I decided to go for it. I sent Elizabeth a text that I'm doing this plank challenge and she crazily agreed. We are unsure if we can get to five minutes, but we certainly are going to try. <br />
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I made modifications to her chart (see below or check out Danni's post <a href="http://www.hungryhealthyhappy.com/september-plank-challenge/">here</a> with the original chart) since I'm already at a point where I do one minute planks a day. In fact, I do at least two sets of one minute planks a day usually one legged, because of my toe pain. So, I will spend the first week doing a one minute plank instead of a 20 or 30 second planks. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY147NPjHCIj4mmAlUQc6Zao02XXfbpMHq7QEBHhgUGEBTQgzXqAzBWIw_-lqTqURyYLeNiMDQ6MVxsnrLuqoZ2SiUIjwtFDycvK7WZiOuvodFYqJ5EYTiWz4oRjDAFhbU9bz8Pt2d8kM/s1600/Plank-Challenge-2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY147NPjHCIj4mmAlUQc6Zao02XXfbpMHq7QEBHhgUGEBTQgzXqAzBWIw_-lqTqURyYLeNiMDQ6MVxsnrLuqoZ2SiUIjwtFDycvK7WZiOuvodFYqJ5EYTiWz4oRjDAFhbU9bz8Pt2d8kM/s1600/Plank-Challenge-2014.jpg" height="520" width="640" /></a></div>
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I'm not expecting everyone to do this like me, but it's a great start. If you are starting on your first plank, then check out Dannii's original chart to get you started and certainly work on staging your planks like the picture below.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuWpaVBsaQQfEnEX_7KEZAkaSeyTPd0l-lBLGHGYNVYgCe7y2Y4mF-v0LXUYBSO6icV8bfjfIpjfM6tzEPv1xYLqwG1OhqaZRJubjpcrCkA7PCOGCSasslWGrbo7cvdQn0BdGkZyE-vRY/s1600/thCA3GZ4FD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuWpaVBsaQQfEnEX_7KEZAkaSeyTPd0l-lBLGHGYNVYgCe7y2Y4mF-v0LXUYBSO6icV8bfjfIpjfM6tzEPv1xYLqwG1OhqaZRJubjpcrCkA7PCOGCSasslWGrbo7cvdQn0BdGkZyE-vRY/s1600/thCA3GZ4FD.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Start out on these levels and work your way up (source image).</em></td></tr>
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Do regular planks, side planks, reverse planks, and eventually get to one handed planks like this little guy. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglIiyqlD4x2UWHl05tIm0NWUClQCkVkfPLnvlqcK0kiyRWGPR55TQIkD2DGAmxqQIbdfFDJhF_1yK0V_j-rgrrtAFnEGICPQ0CMj5W5xFICb_MwrmDNud5GXbcloM3gSXGVch2dS_knkM/s1600/thCA2ZUUVK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglIiyqlD4x2UWHl05tIm0NWUClQCkVkfPLnvlqcK0kiyRWGPR55TQIkD2DGAmxqQIbdfFDJhF_1yK0V_j-rgrrtAFnEGICPQ0CMj5W5xFICb_MwrmDNud5GXbcloM3gSXGVch2dS_knkM/s1600/thCA2ZUUVK.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Source image.</em></td></tr>
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And then maybe plank with a friend.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLmNjo2GP8CK0uPfhJF4lwVx08uMOgTnNTof2Pux_upd2szz1le4c_SdlrZYSXg3WbAW1JuDUodAdbKY2kUh8l4ivotsR4Zp_9_hKJosRyj02IVRLafjRcpQHpBJGcJXpHWzXbaNhYOqY/s1600/tumblr_mc27c09rF71rvr3i0o1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLmNjo2GP8CK0uPfhJF4lwVx08uMOgTnNTof2Pux_upd2szz1le4c_SdlrZYSXg3WbAW1JuDUodAdbKY2kUh8l4ivotsR4Zp_9_hKJosRyj02IVRLafjRcpQHpBJGcJXpHWzXbaNhYOqY/s1600/tumblr_mc27c09rF71rvr3i0o1_500.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Source image.</em></td></tr>
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I think this is an awesome challenge and thanks to Dannii for hosting it. I started yesterday with two sets of one minute planks. I'm super excited to see what this challenge brings to me at the end of the month. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuWpaVBsaQQfEnEX_7KEZAkaSeyTPd0l-lBLGHGYNVYgCe7y2Y4mF-v0LXUYBSO6icV8bfjfIpjfM6tzEPv1xYLqwG1OhqaZRJubjpcrCkA7PCOGCSasslWGrbo7cvdQn0BdGkZyE-vRY/s1600/thCA3GZ4FD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />KWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01048289769679231707noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3380665352321254858.post-31468107506900801582014-08-31T17:34:00.001-05:002014-08-31T17:34:02.010-05:00A Hot Sunrise Beach RunI couldn't pass up the opportunity to run on the beach, but I fretted over my foot and whether or not I should bring Remington with me. At the last minute, I decided to go for a three mile run without Remi, while watching the sunrise. I wanted to take him, but he was dragging lately and didn't think he could handle three miles.<br />
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The plan was to run 1.5 miles and then turn around for the remaining 1.5 miles.<br />
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It was still packed with cars from the night before, which is unusual. It was also so freaking humid even in the dark. I was so glad I just wore my sports bra.<br />
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I ran 1.25 miles slowly without stopping. By then, my foot hurt bad and I walked for a bit. Then, my Garmin died and I switched to Runtastic. I couldn't tell what mileage I was at exactly when I turned around, because I had a weird stoppage between my Garmin and Runtastic.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>I'm so miserable at this point.</i></td></tr>
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The run back was miserable. It was hot. I was slow. I was in unbelievable amounts of pain in my foot. I periodically ran, but for the most part, I walked a great deal. I wished that I brought Remington, because I all the walking I did. Oh well, lessons learned.<br />
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I finally made it back with around 3 miles under my belt. JL had Remi waiting for me outside to greet me. He was so cute running up to me when he saw me.<br />
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Overall, I'm glad I ran, but it wasn't the best run ever. And well, I'm not stranger to having crappy runs at the start of another injury.<br />
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So, let's talk about my foot. I've mentioned it a few times now. I've been having lots of pain where I had the <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2013/10/thoughts-on-broken-paw-part-1.html">bunion removal surgery last October</a>. It started bothering me in April and then I tripped on a root in May making it worse. I guess I put the pain on the back burner, because I didn't feel it during the <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/06/my-first-marathon-with-four-different.html">marathon</a>. When I started running again afterwards, it slowly started getting worse (remember my <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/07/sunrise-kemah-bridge-run-and-what-not.html">first sunrise bridge run</a>). On one Sunday, I had to cut down from my planned 9 miles to six miles and I walked the last mile, because the pain was so bad. I was now officially worried. I went back to the doctor and did lots of tests. It's still swollen there and either I'm reacting poorly to the pins or my bone spurts grew back (created new ones). I had a cortisone shot, which didn't help at all. I went back to another doctor who did my ankle surgery. He showed me that there is still bone spurts there and I'm at the last option...which is more surgery. So, there you go. I haven't decided when I will have the surgery, but I'm hoping to not have one this year. I would like to go at least one year without surgery. So, I'm looking at next year at some point.<br />
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And with all this, I haven't been able to train properly for the <a href="http://route66marathon.com/">Route 66 Marathon</a> in November. The plan right now is to drop down to a half marathon (unless the pain is so bad). I will reevaluate myself in October and see where I am at pain wise and running wise. I'm still doing the <a href="http://www.itrievents.net/Oktoberfest-Triathlon.html">Oktoberfest Triathlon</a> and the <a href="http://www.spartanrace.com/dallas-obstacle-racing-the-beast-2014.html">Spartan Beast Race</a>, but unsure about the marathon. I am trying not to let this get me down, because I can still bike and swim and workout and at least run one mile.<br />
.KWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01048289769679231707noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3380665352321254858.post-85531350764687617652014-08-29T14:06:00.000-05:002014-08-29T14:57:43.066-05:00Sunrise Yoga at the Beach<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcJhMjRklk2X6P0KC0NOzh2ATAtesijphglj3EHwNhnwnlrnTOPXDqL8jT7mGtYWs881NFA9wLWaf3vQqkvnooxA2fSwfDUyHudVeW6i57JYjVFl0WuEuoXkC76h0aFy0mwjoIOnw1i-A/s1600/IMG_6954.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcJhMjRklk2X6P0KC0NOzh2ATAtesijphglj3EHwNhnwnlrnTOPXDqL8jT7mGtYWs881NFA9wLWaf3vQqkvnooxA2fSwfDUyHudVeW6i57JYjVFl0WuEuoXkC76h0aFy0mwjoIOnw1i-A/s1600/IMG_6954.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a>It was the annual Rayapalooza beach vacation in Port Aransas, TX, last weekend with the Cordovas. I look forward to it all year and especially at the beginning of August. This month has been by far the busiest month that I have had all year and really couldn't wait for the beachy getaway with some good friends. I can expect good food, some drinking, dogs playing, walks along the beach with JL (and not in a romantic way), and some exercise. <br />
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I was only sad that I had to leave a day earlier than planned, but it was worth it to watch my two friends get married.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Congrats to Dindi and Brian! </em></td></tr>
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And since we always exercise, JL decided to do something different. A couple of weeks ago, she texted me that we were getting up early to do some yoga on the beach with the sun rising around us and our dogs playing. I planned to do a beach run on both of the days, because I LOVE running on the beach. However, I wasn't sure if my toe pain would allow running on both days or possibly not even on one day (more on that in a later post). So, the idea of doing yoga on one day and running on the next day was a much better plan. Then, she wrote to tell me that we would have an actual yoga instructor (Michelle Acebo) from the <a href="http://www.yogastudioofcc.com/">Yoga Studio of Corpus Christi</a> out there teaching the class. I was even more pumped about my weekend getaway and couldn't wait to get there.</div>
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And then our alarms went off at 6:15 a.m. on that Friday morning, we dragged ourselves out of bed for some sunrise yoga. I quickly realized that not only did I forget my skydiving rig, but I also forgot my yoga mat. Thankfully, JL had an extra mat for me to use (but no skydiving on the beach for me). The sun was peaking out and the temps were somewhat lower than the death heat and humidity we received days before and certainly on Saturday morning. I tied up Remington, because he wasn't used to all these people and had been really grouchy since he got there the night before. But he had front row center and sometimes he would get on the instructor's yoga mat to what I assume supervise the situation. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>She started off by rubbing our shoulders with a little deep massage cream (the same one JL used on me before). If yogis started their classes out like this every day, they would have a lot more students.</em></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>I have to say that it was weird not being in the lotus pose for this part, but this is what she wanted.</em></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>These ladies got the best spot in my opinion. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnPEj-rqbQee6dMHdpA7PtAkOVLhfcGUwikynFodK4OEpkrRlx7_sY5lJ8H14X-68O_Ve_M40aUAkps9BHJ4YFD05Sgou4zcV71OhwjYo0eOGzP2aQzt5PFSRn5Kxc4rIASy8Zot2xHSI/s1600/IMG_6899.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnPEj-rqbQee6dMHdpA7PtAkOVLhfcGUwikynFodK4OEpkrRlx7_sY5lJ8H14X-68O_Ve_M40aUAkps9BHJ4YFD05Sgou4zcV71OhwjYo0eOGzP2aQzt5PFSRn5Kxc4rIASy8Zot2xHSI/s1600/IMG_6899.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Molly is doing her own version of downward dog. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh342Fu91Uqb8JV4Q_0Em4CSHJ_4X-exsSmWav9iB67b8dTGbwZuRaL8AFMhq0YwQwl9bI7Kn6cpitavDNZp7SB71gMw3S4N8igxgj1uuCiz6kEIApwZ4mc-WclbKNqg8T-b1ww_p8cWeA/s1600/IMG_6901.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh342Fu91Uqb8JV4Q_0Em4CSHJ_4X-exsSmWav9iB67b8dTGbwZuRaL8AFMhq0YwQwl9bI7Kn6cpitavDNZp7SB71gMw3S4N8igxgj1uuCiz6kEIApwZ4mc-WclbKNqg8T-b1ww_p8cWeA/s1600/IMG_6901.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>I really enjoyed Michelle as an instructor.</em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTGxdulRi1lLGN3-G1hpBaGBj8r1QtDvzyXj-ymRwszZ_95Guq2yd_4XXwvDXsdqpAoj2SmZq_nM-Nd3Eeca8mr32Ii1D2LBqfDhQO6tfnN559dRO_ISjIqi8s_knDRkJjD2Y1wHPJq9M/s1600/IMG_6903.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTGxdulRi1lLGN3-G1hpBaGBj8r1QtDvzyXj-ymRwszZ_95Guq2yd_4XXwvDXsdqpAoj2SmZq_nM-Nd3Eeca8mr32Ii1D2LBqfDhQO6tfnN559dRO_ISjIqi8s_knDRkJjD2Y1wHPJq9M/s1600/IMG_6903.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>And this right here is why we got up so early.</em></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>I forgot my darn bandana.</em></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB9xUbIJL21XbAXutivXGEed10SJDHNQXNddrmNLMuIZaodgdekdT7lVh6kVCf0cI8NbDpQh5S4EdF3ZB3pFP4Im7PufIOjFCaIlUSbFSdsA3uadXT7DgtWNyCI0wLJGNQLck_dm2ikbg/s1600/IMG_6914.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB9xUbIJL21XbAXutivXGEed10SJDHNQXNddrmNLMuIZaodgdekdT7lVh6kVCf0cI8NbDpQh5S4EdF3ZB3pFP4Im7PufIOjFCaIlUSbFSdsA3uadXT7DgtWNyCI0wLJGNQLck_dm2ikbg/s1600/IMG_6914.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKhuJ1dRVxFAOxuH0rdiLlmd8K1pfYiSU2DhHxvADevG1QkxN6ZWz6O4pNq7XAncE4t_bdsvZFaefLJCv7TRcoQk5XO_Mk4YbIQ80GLlWoMd6Pm5tq6gWVNoDOllMQTtjoyyiMaFNcNP8/s1600/IMG_6915.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKhuJ1dRVxFAOxuH0rdiLlmd8K1pfYiSU2DhHxvADevG1QkxN6ZWz6O4pNq7XAncE4t_bdsvZFaefLJCv7TRcoQk5XO_Mk4YbIQ80GLlWoMd6Pm5tq6gWVNoDOllMQTtjoyyiMaFNcNP8/s1600/IMG_6915.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Zori was the only one to get the leg up all the way; I tried, but failed.</em></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjONT-8Vr6uBNjXR9_xeSl2ge6OZHmvGe78OXuMZSDWKDMeWnzIM5fP6_w9UAkJ2U5rzW8cRmhS5vt9cw1ompOxl-2Lk7RqruDY4_GLgN4_jNqZMR34mfeyG7AskdhyphenhyphenQOp4wWf_2zhESb0/s1600/IMG_6717.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjONT-8Vr6uBNjXR9_xeSl2ge6OZHmvGe78OXuMZSDWKDMeWnzIM5fP6_w9UAkJ2U5rzW8cRmhS5vt9cw1ompOxl-2Lk7RqruDY4_GLgN4_jNqZMR34mfeyG7AskdhyphenhyphenQOp4wWf_2zhESb0/s1600/IMG_6717.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrHbvqYInW6_85Nlu56NtFj_LA9UlkFxe4JYbPDillBEXBdVq2imhiKImhAnSSP0MQ7qHTKEx7ARIviQHdrIqHSZ9lHavu_E185XvKVXFDZM9R8tkuEn1Y7VcmqNh_LjHVVKiyUjEpycU/s1600/IMG_6718.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrHbvqYInW6_85Nlu56NtFj_LA9UlkFxe4JYbPDillBEXBdVq2imhiKImhAnSSP0MQ7qHTKEx7ARIviQHdrIqHSZ9lHavu_E185XvKVXFDZM9R8tkuEn1Y7VcmqNh_LjHVVKiyUjEpycU/s1600/IMG_6718.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>This picture cracks me up, because we were all falling and I was getting molested by Niko. </em></td></tr>
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The exciting thing was that I stuck my headstand. I couldn't get my feet up (which is so weird, because as a child, I had no issues with this at all) without jumping to it. So, the instructor helped me out. And then she let me go only giving me minimal support. I swear I thought she was holding on to me a lot more until I saw the pictures. I held it for awhile and was pretty proud of myself. This has now become a new goal for me. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW2OdRdJHAn5fFgN3_GfwUwrQPhvYqxmvPBfMzuuMXpFaRHIQ7KMxn5s3GODK14mrm75QGFmzfIrpcakK_bqiMaHL8AeXyCbYnzULaFHnQRCtoCvWUeq90e9lMmy68U5El2aXkTefa3tQ/s1600/IMG_6918.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW2OdRdJHAn5fFgN3_GfwUwrQPhvYqxmvPBfMzuuMXpFaRHIQ7KMxn5s3GODK14mrm75QGFmzfIrpcakK_bqiMaHL8AeXyCbYnzULaFHnQRCtoCvWUeq90e9lMmy68U5El2aXkTefa3tQ/s1600/IMG_6918.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCsO129UvOvaXRhe60PcYlq4vGXIjLzVd7cnK38NLnXJlURri0lLMBq3D419w7FhSfh6_14gxJRSaEEJbeH1Ffks_UD69XGCDr1U5SzoI6D4iDQyPWxXCINHu4GKZ7CTFtbNGETrFpF-M/s1600/IMG_6919.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCsO129UvOvaXRhe60PcYlq4vGXIjLzVd7cnK38NLnXJlURri0lLMBq3D419w7FhSfh6_14gxJRSaEEJbeH1Ffks_UD69XGCDr1U5SzoI6D4iDQyPWxXCINHu4GKZ7CTFtbNGETrFpF-M/s1600/IMG_6919.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>I'm so close, but I just do not have the control to lift myself up without jumping it. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUkW8lIgXWqBN4ORRy9LOYFXDd22c69Cq2o34CTjEt-0T_-smk5eaq_uhlws5A_dKE4vg3bwoh4Ib_UUqXHmVNW7JZFx8kchKGziUM1r2ouN6JuegoNeErU2xOQ46d1DvabxKOL83sbHk/s1600/IMG_6920.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUkW8lIgXWqBN4ORRy9LOYFXDd22c69Cq2o34CTjEt-0T_-smk5eaq_uhlws5A_dKE4vg3bwoh4Ib_UUqXHmVNW7JZFx8kchKGziUM1r2ouN6JuegoNeErU2xOQ46d1DvabxKOL83sbHk/s1600/IMG_6920.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>She was the only one to get the headstand without assistance. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbX2upPvVXU8dSQIuCgp7CTkhV7uY9AFvYiKPcyg08_u01oQBQgp7WMN5_iQHqvdDBph9_jrzwNzLIeZvjShpsTxBvF5Lv0pZTAO0JLJ-VOR0bFrkC7uUgDx-EF7iqcZd4OfJwEMTVuH8/s1600/IMG_6922.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbX2upPvVXU8dSQIuCgp7CTkhV7uY9AFvYiKPcyg08_u01oQBQgp7WMN5_iQHqvdDBph9_jrzwNzLIeZvjShpsTxBvF5Lv0pZTAO0JLJ-VOR0bFrkC7uUgDx-EF7iqcZd4OfJwEMTVuH8/s1600/IMG_6922.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Initial help to get me started.</em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW9fZVvP3Rp_fnPJQ1vzfXkqpa7pv7wy5IV7tPRR0LyXchCz4NF2y0Y_zP6oZw6vvPBTrPhSi7PFqry_Uu5hYpEW1qnZiJYBfzxdslWUiWR_TT6HkHckDcFz-huM6WpoaXoh89L0EzyNQ/s1600/IMG_6923.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW9fZVvP3Rp_fnPJQ1vzfXkqpa7pv7wy5IV7tPRR0LyXchCz4NF2y0Y_zP6oZw6vvPBTrPhSi7PFqry_Uu5hYpEW1qnZiJYBfzxdslWUiWR_TT6HkHckDcFz-huM6WpoaXoh89L0EzyNQ/s1600/IMG_6923.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>She's barely holding on to me.</em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijC_h4DZREO6Eg51aSfE8CaRy46e8ICcfsLmg_lWl9xqr1bf99q96Ly_OvN9aUxTm3nwt41gfB-9bVe4D3SVkMkA_xWW2nfuuCrsH83n2pwnVrms28tQ7kIBXAPr5OO57Nl6MnIWttxzw/s1600/IMG_6928.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijC_h4DZREO6Eg51aSfE8CaRy46e8ICcfsLmg_lWl9xqr1bf99q96Ly_OvN9aUxTm3nwt41gfB-9bVe4D3SVkMkA_xWW2nfuuCrsH83n2pwnVrms28tQ7kIBXAPr5OO57Nl6MnIWttxzw/s1600/IMG_6928.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>After looking at this photograph, I felt like a rock star. Every time that I have attempted the headstand in yoga class, the instructors are holding on to me for dear life. I think the sand really helped me let go. </em></td></tr>
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We did some final stretching and the corpse pose, which I love and then said our goodbyes to Michelle. JL's dogs were fully involved at this point. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Remington is supervising the instructor as the quality control department.</em></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>I've never had an instructor do an extra stretch for me in corpse pose. I liked it. </em></td></tr>
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It was not the hardest yoga class I have ever taken, but we had a few ladies in the class who have never taken a yoga class before. And to be honest, it was just perfect for me. I haven't done any yoga in a couple of months and my foot was still bothersome, so I didn't think much of it. I will say that it was weird doing yoga on the sand, because the sand was all over my hands and feet and especially on my face when I went into a child's pose. But I wouldn't have it any other way. I highly recommend Michelle if you are ever needing a yogi in the Corpus area. It was by far my favorite part of the beach weekend...well, except for when my friend E caught a 5' shark on my last night. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>My baby boy all tired from chasing flies in the sand and digging for leftover ribs.</em></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>That was a big boy and they had some good tacos that I missed.</em></td></tr>
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Ray took these photos and they are just amazing. I had to include them. Actually, thanks to Ray for taking all of the yoga pictures (except for 2-3 when we couldn't find Ray and Michelle had to take them). <br />
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<img height="72" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCYBvOixLa0y1asakPlNMOocEHb8cnC0NCpDaut9mrzskSx2tGmfbLOtAYBkv8pgJPK1R-mkLtKttFyTgINxnwv3C0aY6Te0Htymrje5NDPJHyujj2QXV4yG1LhWgxd4m1-qVft2I6cQo/s1600/IMG_6764.JPG" style="left: 620px; opacity: 0.3; position: absolute; top: 50.4px;" width="96" />
<!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2F2.bp.blogspot.com%2F-NCu0aqaFGFU%2FVAC4ffDkmdI%2FAAAAAAAAMpg%2FfzHpE2-qiVI%2Fs1600%2FIMG_6764.JPG&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCYBvOixLa0y1asakPlNMOocEHb8cnC0NCpDaut9mrzskSx2tGmfbLOtAYBkv8pgJPK1R-mkLtKttFyTgINxnwv3C0aY6Te0Htymrje5NDPJHyujj2QXV4yG1LhWgxd4m1-qVft2I6cQo/s1600/IMG_6764.JPG" -->KWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01048289769679231707noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3380665352321254858.post-89249094405698955302014-08-21T14:59:00.002-05:002014-08-21T14:59:25.760-05:00Splash and DashOn Friday, August 15, Elizabeth and I finally made it to the <a href="http://www.houstonracing.com/">Houston Racing Triathlon Club's (HRTC)</a> cool event called Splash and Dash. You swim 400m on the <a href="http://288lake.net/">288 Lake</a> and then run a mile right afterwards. Then, it finishes with a slip and slid...oh yeah. <br />
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On a side note, if you are members of HRTC, you can swim at the 288 Lake on Friday for free. You also get discounted rates to swim at the lake. <br />
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When we got there, I reminisced about getting my scuba diving certification here over 24 years ago. It certainly looked differently (better) than it did back then. I think we have may have had two ladders and that was it. I remember being in the car with the AC on eating McDonalds to get away from the heat, while I waited for my parents to finish. The new 288 Lake had a nice gazebo area, decks, nice loading/unloading area, and buoys/flags to mark out the swimming distance needed for triathletes. It was amazing. <br />
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We got in for a warmup to get used to the lake. I immediately loved it. I felt so comfortable in the lake unlike the pool. Yes, it was warm, but it didn't bother me. I felt like a fish and instantly knew that I would be okay for my first <a href="http://www.itrievents.net/Oktoberfest-Triathlon.html">triathlon</a>.<br />
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The group started to congregate around the main loading/unloading area and we asked how this works. We were told that we swim out to the big red buoy thing for 200m and then back for another 200m. It cuts through the lake like a diagonal. I did wonder if we were allowed to swim like that on regular days. Then, a guy said the rules and how we were or actually weren't going to be timed. And then we were off like dirty shirt.<br />
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I did exactly what I do in races...I started off too fast getting caught up in the group and the excitement. So, I tired easily. I just tried to remain calm and work on my swim. I stayed with Elizabeth for a while and then we were separated. I thought we had to swim out to the platform in the middle of the lake, but we didn't. I quickly learned that it was out of the way when heading back to the main loading area. I eventually made it back to the small group I trailed and got up without too many issues. I have no idea what my time was, but there is a possibility I heard 9 minutes something. And really who cares since I wasn't last...thank God. <br />
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We got to the makeshift transition area to change into our shoes, which was painfully slow and headed out. I stayed with Elizabeth until the first dip in elevation (not much). My foot began to hurt, so I just took it nice and slow and easy. I didn't want to press myself. And boy is it weird to run in a swimsuit. My butt jiggled so much and there was nothing to protect it. Eventually, I made it back for a nice whale like finish on the slip n slide.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Photos taken by Elizabeth.</em></td></tr>
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We had some food and beer and talked for a bit to Robert. The weather was so beautiful, which made me want to stay forever, but we had to head out for the evening. I can't wait to swim here again. <br />
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Since this was my first experience into the world of triathlons, I have a lot to work on before October. I need to get up some speed in the swim and not take it fast right out the gate. I also need to work on looking up out of the water in a smoother way. I definitely need a better system in the transition area. Boy howdy, was that slow. And I'm always got things to work on for the run.<br />
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With that said, I'm so ready for the triathlon. I have no loss of confidence on how I will do in the swim. It's a 400m swim on a lake and well, I proved that I can rock it out with the best of them. Okay, maybe not like Chrissie Wellington, but more like KW. <br />
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If you want to join Splash and Dash, the next one is Friday, September 12, 2014, at 6 p.m. It really is worth it! KWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01048289769679231707noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3380665352321254858.post-65341696905576162342014-08-13T11:31:00.000-05:002014-08-14T11:12:53.486-05:00Fred Hartman Bridge Sunrise Run<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We had so much fun as a group running the <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/07/sunrise-kemah-bridge-run-and-what-not.html">Kemah Bridge</a> two weeks prior that we decided to run again on the Fred Hartman Bridge. We chose sunrise mainly because we didn't really get to see it last time (otherwise known as cloud coverage and very late people). This time, we stayed at a friend's house (thanks Rebecca for your hospitality) close to the bridge to ensure that we got there on time (15 minutes early...booyah). </div>
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As I was driving across the Fred Hartman Bridge heading to Rebecca's house, I realized how beautiful this bridge is and that I haven't been on it since my <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2011/12/and-finallymy-first-half-marathon-done.html">first half marathon</a>. I started to get excited for my run. <br />
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And then the morning came and I was less than excited to be up so early. Why did we pick this time again? Oh right...the sunrise. Martha, Cesar and I headed to the bridge with Rebecca leading the way (she was only up to show us how to get there). Like I said, we were 15 minutes early. Only five of us total showed up, because we had a lots of cancelations at the last minute and one that just slept through it (yeah, I'm calling you out Jim). <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Group selfie...you wish you were this cool. </em></td></tr>
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Once again, the awesome John led our group with a slower warm up than the previous bridge run, which was still faster than I could muster. Martha and I quickly fell to the back of the pack. I stayed with her, because she was smart last time starting out slow and saving her energy. I learned my lesson to not go fast right out the chute. <br />
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I immediately noticed the car traffic on the bridge. At 6:30 a.m. on the Kemah Bridge run on a Sunday, there were hardly any cars out...mainly runners. The Fred Hartman Bridge run at 6:17 a.m. on a Sunday was completely different. I expected fisherman and truckers coming, especially considering where we parked; however, it seemed like these cars were a great deal of regular joes coming back home from a crazy night in Houston, sometimes loud and sometimes honking at us. I didn't bring my headphones, but listened to my iPhone. It was actually hard to hear even with the volume turned all the way up, because the traffic was so loud.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>We got a few minutes of these beautiful colors.</em></td></tr>
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Martha stayed with me the whole time, while the boys were ahead...far ahead. As we got near the top, I remembered how freaking long this bridge was in comparison to Kemah. It is less steep than Kemah, but so much longer. Kemah is steeper and short. So, you felt okay afterwards, because you got through it quickly. I didn't feel okay after getting done with one half of this bridge. My energy wiped out on the first lap. I had to walk a few lot of times and Martha and I just worked together as a team (mostly her stopping to let me catch up). I was also having lots of side and stomach pain. <br />
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We saw the guys returning from the turnaround point and we got lots of pictures of each other. Then, we reached the turnaround point, but we really didn't know where to turn around. I remembered where we dropped in for the La Porte Half Marathon, which was now blocked by a concrete wall. They either took out a block of concrete for us or this highway section was in fact new. We wanted to make it an even three miles before we turned around, but the bridge goes up and off into a highway with a really narrow shoulder. The cars were coming pretty fast and made us both nervous. So, we decided to turn around a little earlier than three miles. When we reunited with they boys, we learned that our turnaround point was farther than where they turned around. Score points for us girls! But we still blame the boys for losing us! <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Wow! I love this picture and thank you to whoever took it. </em></td></tr>
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We did have cloud coverage, but for a short period of time, we saw the beautiful colors of the sun rising. Even when the sun was high in the sky, it was only peaking out through the clouds giving us a beautiful calming hue. </div>
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The other difference about Fred Hartman vs. the Kemah Bridge is the scenery. Kemah has beautiful views from both sides of the bridge, including the boardwalk, the boats, the harbor, the houses, the lands, etc. Fred Hartman is not so lucky. It is near a major port, which means lots of shipping boats, some weird island looking thing where they dumped pipe parts, some oil rigs, and refineries (lots of refineries...wall to wall refineries) on one side. This is why our pictures only show one side. Martha said, "On the right, we have what our environment could be and on the left, we have what we are doing to the environment." I did agree with her, but at the same time, I did see jobs. It's a Catch 22 in my eyes. And it didn't matter, because the Kemah Bridge was still prettier as a whole than the right side of the Fred Hartman Bridge. </div>
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This was probably my slowest run ever, but that's because Martha and I were stopping to either walk or take pictures. Don't judge us. Eventually we made it back. We should have ran more to make it an even six, but I didn't understand John's hand signals and just ran to the parking lot. Oh well. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>I believe this is John's picture and it's just so serene and wonderful. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5aWPzkX743iRb2Co9t5HwnFB1V9M6AcxKSSmFmPLdAIwoqiOrOBxSEh666l9gmGVBIK03zYC6ialID_60D80J7KFhJenNJSJR6feDantRb4uOiCDRBRFtRnEVcyV3HJr-1U7OMHOQiHM/s1600/IMG_6297.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5aWPzkX743iRb2Co9t5HwnFB1V9M6AcxKSSmFmPLdAIwoqiOrOBxSEh666l9gmGVBIK03zYC6ialID_60D80J7KFhJenNJSJR6feDantRb4uOiCDRBRFtRnEVcyV3HJr-1U7OMHOQiHM/s1600/IMG_6297.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>We aren't late. We were lost, because the boys lost us. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL8bWKZFBbNQYqatvMzkN1p_PUau2hGAfraHgHpdYu-iusofD5uCQVVx47QY0qYxKNwILikkJoH1Coi2AuLBVpVC4zoEQKk8MWfj5K9EAMAoou_bHNG3cMot8x8HiQO-_W63gE5TC-4PA/s1600/IMG_6287.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL8bWKZFBbNQYqatvMzkN1p_PUau2hGAfraHgHpdYu-iusofD5uCQVVx47QY0qYxKNwILikkJoH1Coi2AuLBVpVC4zoEQKk8MWfj5K9EAMAoou_bHNG3cMot8x8HiQO-_W63gE5TC-4PA/s1600/IMG_6287.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Cesar put this together and I thought it was really cool. </em></td></tr>
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We put Cesar in charge of finding our after run restaurant in which he went the wrong way and took us to an industrial area that didn't even look like they had any restaurants, but we got there. It was actually really cheap and good Mexican food. I wish I could remember the name. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>My freaking yummy breakfast. Seriously, nothing was over $7. This plate I believe was $3. </em></td></tr>
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On Saturday, August 16, we are getting up early again (6:15 a.m.) to run the Elysian Bridge in Houston. Meet us at Market Square downtown for a seven mile run. It's with a good group and we all try to work together as a team. Nobody gets left behind. </div>
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On a side note, all of the pictures on this blog are either from John, Cesar, Martha, or myself. I know the ones from me, but not from them. I just want to thank them for awesome pictures. </div>
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KWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01048289769679231707noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3380665352321254858.post-70791762581242011892014-08-03T17:39:00.003-05:002014-08-04T15:34:18.122-05:00Planks Challenge CompletedOn<a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/07/challenge-5-minute-planks-day.html"> July 2, 2014</a>, Elizabeth and I embarked on a challenge to do five minutes of planks a day for a month. All I have to say is that was a fabulous experience. Not only did I get a chance to find a love for planks, but I also found a great motivational friend in Elizabeth. We emailed our completions and texted each other everyday on how we were doing, pushed each other to finish, or gave each other the ok when we didn't finish.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>This is a series of shots that Jim took of me on Skype showing what I have to deal with on a daily basis doing planks at the apartment. Only, I'm missing a dog. </i></td></tr>
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I definitely feel the difference in my tummy and now I see the difference just a little bit more than the<a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/07/midway-point-planks-challenge-update.html"> midway point</a>. I see this line around my stomach, but I still have a bulge there. Although, the bulge is partly do to some unexpected bloating caused by a minor procedure.<br />
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Both Elizabeth and I totally rocked this challenge out. There were some days that we didn't do a full five minutes, but we always made up for it the next day. My maximum amount of planks for a day was 9 minutes and Elizabeth did a beast mode of 15 minutes one day to catch up. Obviously, she was sore. One day, I plum forgot about doing any planks at all. She texted me to say that it wasn't too late to finish...and it wasn't. I busted those out before I left for the evening to see a concert.<br />
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On our last day of the challenge, Elizabeth met me on the hill at Miller Outdoor Theater in Hermann Park to do our last five minutes of planks. It was totally cool to be out in nature doing our thang even if we had footballs flying by us on our last two sets of minutes. It was also great to have someone there with me and you know we took some pictures.<br />
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On our way out, I remarked that we should have done a plank by the millennium pool. So, we decided to a quick 15 second plank just in enough time to take some pictures.<br />
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I just really enjoyed this challenge so much and may just keep doing planks everyday. I may not do five minutes, but I am at least doing two minutes. And because we had so much fun doing a monthly challenge, we decided to do another challenge for this month. Elizabeth wanted to work on her pull-ups and I must admit that I wanted the same goal. So, we are doing 40 chin-ups, pull-ups a week to do at any time. These can be assisted or unassisted. I'm already doing a minimum of 18 assisted chin-ups a week with my workout program (and sometimes, 36). Of course, we had to up it. We start tomorrow.<br />
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The only question left is what's stopping you from joining us? You don't have to do 40; go for one or five per week. Just get it done.<br />
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On a side note, this was a picture of me smiling on my run Saturday before I met up with Elizabeth. It was such a beautiful morning with I think a record temperature of 76 degrees for August in Texas. I was saying good morning to everyone I passed and it was the first time to do negative splits. I ran 11:20 minute/mile the first mile, 11:05 minute/mile the second mile, and 10:45 minute/mile the third mile. I've never done negative splits on purpose, but I really tried to focus on hitting these numbers for each mile instead of just doing whatever just happened.<br />
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<br />KWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01048289769679231707noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3380665352321254858.post-91196534336697601302014-07-22T11:10:00.000-05:002014-07-22T11:10:26.425-05:00Sunrise Kemah Bridge Run and What Not To DoMy friend, Martha posted a picture on Facebook of the Fred Hartman Bridge (remember I did my <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2011/12/and-finallymy-first-half-marathon-done.html">first half marathon on this bridge</a>). We started talking and then the plan was formed to run the bridge. Eventually, we changed it to Kemah Bridge and at sunrise so it would be safer for our first time running in a larger group. We met at Miramar Park at 6:15 a.m. to get this going. Some of the group would run 9 miles and the other group would run six miles. <br />
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We decided to have a nice pasta dinner (and slumber party) at my apartment with some wine and a viewing of Kill Bill, Part 1 the night before the big run. And it was going to be a big, steep run. I had painful memories of my <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2011/09/toughest-10k-kemah-race-update.html">Toughest 10k Kemah run</a>. So, I didn't want to do too much the day before to prepare myself. <br />
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I was up early and ready to head to Kemah, but because of some complications in the morning (needed gas for car, getting lost, etc.), we showed up 15 minutes late. It's not my finest hour and I know that I'm not always an "on-time" kind of girl (thanks mother), but I'm usually on time for running events. And that is the absolute worst thing to do when leading a group of runners. Consequently, we missed the sunrise. The only thing that made me feel better is that we wouldn't have seen the sunrise anyways, because of the clouds and rain. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>I'm not the only one crazy. </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>I'm praying to the knee and ground Gods to get me through this. </em></td></tr>
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John ended up leading our group (including the six miles, while I would take the 9 miles) and through a slightly different route to see more of the water front in the beginning. The temperature wasn't too hot, which was nice for a change. We started off faster than I wanted, but I expected that would happen with John and Jim in the lead. I started out at front, but quickly dropped to the back of the pack. John would stop the group so that everyone could catch up and we could continue our run together as a group. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Heading up onto the bridge.</em></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Looking down at Kemah Boardwalk. </em></td></tr>
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I lost momentum on the bridge, but I made up for it on the down part. In fact, my first three miles were under 11 minutes or just at 11 minutes (the bridge part caused this). We ran around the boardwalk and got to a point where we would could split off from the group to run the planned 9 miles. We decided to stay together and then just run the extra three miles on the trail by Miramar Park. Several groups of runners kept asking what group we belonged to for this run and we just responded with friends running. There was one lady who kept running by us and saying what a good job we were doing. She was really positive and I liked it. <br />
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The other great thing about this run was Shane. Martha somehow convinced him to get up early in the morning to ride a long with us and provide us water. He was awesome and had music. <br />
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My issues with the toe started to occur when I went back over the bridge the second time. I was physically okay to keeping running (albeit slower), but my surgery foot/toe was hurting. I ended up walking on the bridge for a bit and after I got off the bridge. I finally caught up to the group and we headed back to Miramar Park. At the last stop, John stayed back to run with me and I forced him to walk some of the way to help out my foot. </div>
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In the end, I couldn't continue on with the extra three miles and the whole group decided to just stop at six miles. But now I'm worried about my foot. I mean it gave me issues before, but never like this. I'm hoping that the bridge is the main and only reason for the pain. Otherwise, this training cycle is going to suck. I am working with my doctor to find out a cause and a plan for the foot, because something isn't right and I've known that since May. <br />
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We did a total of 6.03 miles in around one hour give or take seven minutes. My Garmin said something more, but can't remember at this time. I don't necessarily believe the mapmyrun (mainly because I didn't have an average pace of 9:13, but here you go. <br />
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Afterwards, we went to <a href="http://www.seabrookclassiccafe.com/homecookin.html">Seabrook Classic Café</a> for a much needed reward of food. It was really good. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Jim had the Garbage Plate...yeah, this is it. </em></td></tr>
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Our next run is scheduled for Sunday, August 3, at 6:15 a.m. However, this time we are running the Fred Hartman Bridge and I will be early to the run start. We won't miss the sunrise this time, I promise (unless weather prohibits us). <br />
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Come out and join us. Bridge runs are great for speed training and making you feel like a bad ass. KWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01048289769679231707noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3380665352321254858.post-43862870974296096532014-07-18T08:22:00.002-05:002014-07-21T12:02:29.872-05:00Midway Point Planks Challenge UpdateI realize now that the title of my <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/07/challenge-5-minute-planks-day.html">last post</a> made it seem like I was doing five minutes of planks in one setting. Um...no...I was doing five minutes total throughout the day. I may be a ninja, but I'm not that good. Yet.<br />
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So, here we are at the midway point of my crazy challenge. I honestly didn't know if I could pull this off, but I certainly was going to try my hardest. And right now, I'm rocking it out, as well as Elizabeth. I do two minutes as soon as I wake up. Also, I close my office door at work and take care of a minute or two throughout the day. Then, I do whatever is left in the evening. I am thankful that my training program designed by Suzanne from <a href="http://workoutnirvana.com/">Workout Nirvana</a> (check out my post <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2013/09/its-workout-nivana.html">here</a> if you are interested in virtual training) includes three minutes of side planks on one of the workout days. Sometimes on the weekend, I can knock out five minutes by 9 a.m. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>These are called Lateral Pillar Bridges or side planks.</em></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Regular planks in my office.</em></td></tr>
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I'm not sure that I can physically see a big difference in my belly, but I definitely feel the difference. I used to have to work to get my stomach hard when I touched it. Now, with one feel of my thumb, my stomach feels almost rock solid. It's still a little soft, but not by much. I feel that by the end of this month, it will be like a boulder. I was hoping by the midway point that I would be able to do 1 minute, 30 seconds plank, but I'm not there yet. So, that is my goal by the end of the month. I know Elizabeth rocked that out yesterday (twice) and I'm so proud of her for it.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>I swear I didn't mean to wear the exact same thing, but that.just.happened. </em></td></tr>
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I'm not going to lie, it's been hard. There are times when I'm rushing quickly to finish the last three minutes right before I head off to bed, because I completely forgot. One Monday, I got home so late from a bike ride and was so tired, that I couldn't finish the remaining minutes. So, I added those onto the next two days doing six minutes instead of five minutes. The other issue that I have had with this challenge is the bruising and sore elbows. At work, the carpet is just too rough and I had to eventually put my big Fr jacked on the carpet to give me some cushion. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>I'm not sure if these are from the side planks or not, but it showed up after I started the challenge. </em></td></tr>
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Even with the hardships, Elizabeth and I are getting it done. We constantly text each other about the day's plank completions and discuss any struggles we have. I even convinced her to finish her planks at the airport...in a suit. I'm so glad I started this challenge and I can't wait to see how we look and feel at the end of the month.</div>
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If you started the challenge, how is going? Why haven't you started? You still have a couple of more weeks to get going. So, quit lollygagging and do it! </div>
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And have you seen this Kacy ninja badass?! She's the first girl to make it the semi-finals or finals (don't watch this show enough to know if Vegas is the finals) in American Ninja Warrior. </div>
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KWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01048289769679231707noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3380665352321254858.post-77500514285645324302014-07-15T15:30:00.004-05:002014-07-16T06:59:45.427-05:00Raspas y Elotes Ride<br />
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I've been on this ride (takes place the second Friday of every month) with Crucial Matter a few times, but haven't written about it. I felt it was time since it's the perfect summertime treat ride and I remembered to take some pictures. For the gringos out there (or anyone not used to these words, because you live in a non Mexico bordering state), raspas is shaved ice/snow cones in a cup and elotes is roasted corn with lime, chili powder, mayonnaise, and white cheese. And of course, we always have beer at the stops. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Raspas y Elotes y Cervezas! </em></td></tr>
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We met at Market Square downtown, but David (thank you so much for picking me up) drove me to La Macro (last stop and a great place for tacos) so we could meet a few people and ride into town. It was also Jim's first time riding on this adventure, but we forgot to tell him to meet us at La Macro. Whoops.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Crucial Matter leader, Ivan giving out the safety speeches. What is David doing seriously?</em></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Open your eyes! </em></td></tr>
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First stop was Tampico in the east/southeast side of Houston. Carolina was in charge of getting our elotes and thankfully THANKFULLY, we got a snow cone. This places puts the elotes in a cup and since we had a special order, we had to put on our own sauce. Caroline didn't realize how hot it was and poured a mountain of it on there. I said just a little bit for my cup, which was still a lot. People stared at her like she was stupid. Yes, she was and I was stupid for going with her. It was some of the hottest stuff I've ever had. From my torso to my mouth was burning and I couldn't finish it. We had the wonderful snow cone to give us a break, but it only helped a little. It took about 30 minutes before I felt normal again. <br />
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I can't really remember if we stopped at a second place or just went straight to La Macro. But at La Macro, it was roasted corn on the cob like I like it. Not too spicy, not too bland, just right! <br />
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Since we parked at La Macro, we just hopped in the car and left. And ever since this night, we formed a sub group of World Cup watching/country dancing/food eating fools.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Don't you wish your friends were hot like us?!</em><br />
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The Crucial Matter group holds several different social (and totally fun) bike rides throughout the month, including my favorite <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2013/09/tour-de-tacos-bike-ride.html">taco ride</a> (1 year anniversary this Friday) on the first Friday of the month. If you haven't been, come out and join us. Check us out on Facebook, too. KWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01048289769679231707noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3380665352321254858.post-60168174924074326952014-07-13T11:58:00.004-05:002014-07-16T07:00:01.361-05:00Falconry or Otherwise Known As the Coolest Thing Ever<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I know that this blog is about fitness, but sometimes, I like to change it up and veer away from always having fitness posts. I mean I have done <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2013/12/end-of-year-reviewno-fancy-title.html">posts</a> wrapping up my year or my favorite <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2013/05/35-things-ive-done-by-my-35th-birthday.html">birthday post</a>. It's fun to just take a break from the norm to show another side of ME. <br />
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Therefore, this is a post about my epic birthday adventure learning the art of falconry, while visiting Edinburgh, Scotland to run my <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/06/my-first-marathon-with-four-different.html">first marathon</a>. I originally got hooked on the idea after Jim's neighbors did it for their little girl's birthday party. I tried to do it last year for my birthday, but couldn't find a place in Houston that would take first timers. Then, I saw an <a href="http://www.travelchannel.com/video/birds-of-prey">episode of Trip Flip</a> in which they did falconry in Edinburgh...at a castle. When I registered for the marathon, I immediately started researching falconry and found <a href="http://www.dalhousiecastle.co.uk/index.php/falconry/falconry-experiences/">Dalhousie Castle</a> (like them on Facebook). <br />
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On a side note, it wasn't until I stepped on the Dalhousie Castle grounds when I realized it was the same place used in <a href="http://www.travelchannel.com/tv-shows/trip-flip">Trip Flip</a>. I confirmed it right before writing this blog post. Also, when I get ideas to do something off of Trip Flip, I must research their travel guides section, which shows exactly where they went. DOH!<br />
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But it wasn't just the birthday party or Trip Flip that got me into wanting to have a skill of calling birds or animals to me. This stems from much earlier desires. As a girl, I pretended to be Sheena Queen of the Jungle by putting my hand to forehead calling the zebra (my cat) to me. When I saw Ladyhawk years later, I was mesmerized by the falcon swooping to Navarre. And then came probably one of the best Bud Light commercials shown below. Seriously, training my falcon to get my beer...priceless. <br />
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So, in essence, falconry was in my blood pumping just waiting for the right time to be let out. I'm only sad I didn't do it sooner.<br />
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And now on to the adventure. <br />
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I easily sold Ray, JL, and Jim on the idea (too easy), but unfortunately, Helen couldn't meet us there in time. We chose the Ultimate Experience, which included 2 hours with four birds of prey for 80 pounds each. Originally, I wanted to combine archery and falconry, but we all decided it was best to focus on the birds. I'm so glad we did. <br />
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We arrived a little late (we called to let them know) and met our wonderful falconer, Kylie. She showed us around and explained all of the birds of prey. Each of them had names and stories and made me want them even more. For instance, there was Jake the raven who was in movies and is probably the smartest of all the birds. He learned the alarm code key of his cage and got himself out twice, which is why he was at Dalhousie Castle. <br />
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We were all given gloves and headed out to the open area for our first falconry experience with the Peregrine Falcon. I was the birthday girl and was allowed to go first. I was so giddy with anticipation as she put the dead chicks on my bad ass glove and called him over. And then he swooped at me and landed on my arm. I'm not going to sugarcoat, I was scared; I didn't know what to expect. What if he missed? What if my head was more appetizing than the baby chick? But you know what, he was awesome, majestic to watch.<br />
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The others all got to go after me and we did probably 2-3 rounds for each. My smile was insanely huge. <br />
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Then, she brought out the smallest, cutest, bestest, owl ever named Puck. I swear to God, I wanted him. He was so light on my glove and I contemplated on how I would get him in my carry on to take him home with me. He was so darn cute and it took everything I had not to just pet him and squeeze him and love him. However, I was warned that he may look so cute and friendly, but he's actually pretty fierce. It's only after knowing you for a couple of days when he let's his guard down for you to pet him. Jim says that I'm just like him in that I am fierce, rearroowwwwingggggg, don't touch me and then he rubs my head and I purrrr like a kitten.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1yw7B4_OHPrMLKM8kzh2kZgzKtgPtyb2J4Dva5QoEpTLhV6eoHxMMqP40FuSpYwfep5WdAe1D7kdB2zHtvgZT9Z24vpvyxavBafRtpfZEvzIhS4VAgDsdWTFehuAV7zmEx_Six-sqSuA/s1600/DSCN4210.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1yw7B4_OHPrMLKM8kzh2kZgzKtgPtyb2J4Dva5QoEpTLhV6eoHxMMqP40FuSpYwfep5WdAe1D7kdB2zHtvgZT9Z24vpvyxavBafRtpfZEvzIhS4VAgDsdWTFehuAV7zmEx_Six-sqSuA/s1600/DSCN4210.JPG" height="400" width="377" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>This was such a great picture! </i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>I love how they both are turning their heads away from each other. </i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The best selfie with Puck.</i></td></tr>
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Next up, was the big owl, Shiloh. Whoa nelly. After having Puck land on me, I was not expecting this girl to be so heavy. It was like an anvil landing on my arm, but she was beautiful. Her eyes were just beautiful. She was ready to get outside of her cage and go, but she was an older bird (not to be confused with a British term for a human female). She also didn't take orders to well and many times, she went on the ground to hang out looking at kylie calling her back to the stand. Then, she would look at us for support. It was incredibly funny. She also liked to go for your glove even after she ate all the baby chick. When we went through all of the food, we got to hold the owl and pet her. She was so nice.<br />
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And last but not least, was the Harris' Hawk. Wow, is all I can really say. He was amazing. He was cool. He was smart. He was fantastic to watch. My favorite part of the day was setting up obstacles for him to fly around and then he would land perfectly on your glove like it was no big deal. Sometimes, we would have two people stand in front of the person holding out the glove with the food. He would swoop in between the two people hitting them with his feathers and calmly land on the glove. We tried to get video or pictures, but he was too fast. <br />
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Afterwards, we went back over to the area with all the birds and brought more out to play. We saw another owl that looked like the tree rings in a cut tree. He did NOT want to get out and play. He preferred his cage over anything, but eventually, he warmed to us. We hung out with an eagle and rubbed our heads against another owl. It was so cute.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>How cute. </i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>These are future falconers right here.</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieYTJ4XTA7eJTcunSMP18baEPK_PlsWh5TJ0DZwnrWT0LfIIhS9mWO7L-9zFm2QCzPicFp553jrwEAZF_PxEpU7ozk5QK8jnLYgFwhVWE4b_MzCgL-_LwSrhaSn-vbQ1APzh2j48Ce0f8/s1600/IMG_4885.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieYTJ4XTA7eJTcunSMP18baEPK_PlsWh5TJ0DZwnrWT0LfIIhS9mWO7L-9zFm2QCzPicFp553jrwEAZF_PxEpU7ozk5QK8jnLYgFwhVWE4b_MzCgL-_LwSrhaSn-vbQ1APzh2j48Ce0f8/s1600/IMG_4885.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>We learned that birds love Jim, because he's so tall. They have their own tree to perch on for viewing when they are on his arm. This eagle didn't do that for everyone. </i></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDvS7KU0l6Xpnvm4A2ZWD5SH5E7E1BKSD8PCHCtFXIAAHVNnfLZ-atBnCtXSNs9SUok6GhDiKtIvC4AMxLeWFO9u586uwXCxmYHLYflu6ZlMjWR2oahB1cmyJ4fG9zqDZIll9iQOFx7rA/s1600/DSCN4004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDvS7KU0l6Xpnvm4A2ZWD5SH5E7E1BKSD8PCHCtFXIAAHVNnfLZ-atBnCtXSNs9SUok6GhDiKtIvC4AMxLeWFO9u586uwXCxmYHLYflu6ZlMjWR2oahB1cmyJ4fG9zqDZIll9iQOFx7rA/s1600/DSCN4004.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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This by far was one of my top three experiences of my life, including the marathon and seeing Normandy. It was so much fun. Kylie was just amazing as our host and teacher. She was passionate about the birds and explained everything in detail, which made us as a group excited. I loved the stories. My only complaint is that I wished they had a card of all the birds with their names and type of bird, especially the ones we flew. It was hard remembering all of the information and the different types of birds, especially when I was trying to write this post a month later. I highly recommend falconry (anywhere if you can find it) if you are in Edinburgh; you only have to take a the 20-30 minute trip outside of the city center to try this epic adventure. You won't regret it.<br />
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And because there were too many pictures to choose from when writing this post, I decided to make another slideshow. I hope you enjoy it!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/uI8CHp8M8RQ" width="420"></iframe><br />
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<br />KWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01048289769679231707noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3380665352321254858.post-29391728833383974042014-07-02T09:36:00.002-05:002014-07-02T09:41:44.178-05:00Challenge: 5 Minute Planks a DayElizabeth and I were going to be less than covered in the stomach area for the <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/07/2014-hot-undies-run-recap-and-return-to.html">Hot Undies Run</a>. Right before we were about to leave, we did some planks to somehow magically tone our stomachs...like that would help. Elizabeth told me about how her gym did 10 minutes planks a day as a challenge. This peaked my interest, but I didn't think I could do 10 minutes. I told her that I could realistically do five minutes. <br />
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And so the challenge took form. We decided to do five minute planks a day for the month of July. I'm already doing 2 sets of 30 second planks everyday as part of my <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2014/05/gait-analysis-completed.html">PT</a> for my back. This will also help me build an awesome core and train for the <a href="http://www.spartanrace.com/dallas-obstacle-racing-the-beast-2014.html">Spartan Beast Race</a>. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM2Jlpa7n8BYuJUKu9B4oQ3bV274su-O_nZyeJN1fsIiFvfurY2WUj3PqEC7XXoe7AV-gU0w7lOKReVbRPE17RwOeVF6ghFmy5RfchoQEV1A41UNGmA38i5czI7svT5O_DyfKzJ4SIMV0/s1600/funny-girl-doing-planks-elephant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM2Jlpa7n8BYuJUKu9B4oQ3bV274su-O_nZyeJN1fsIiFvfurY2WUj3PqEC7XXoe7AV-gU0w7lOKReVbRPE17RwOeVF6ghFmy5RfchoQEV1A41UNGmA38i5czI7svT5O_DyfKzJ4SIMV0/s1600/funny-girl-doing-planks-elephant.jpg" height="320" width="226" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>That's how I look in the morning. </em></td></tr>
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Because I have been dealing with this awful sickness, I just didn't have the energy to start yesterday on July 1. But that's okay. We are going to be different. From July 2 to August 2, Elizabeth and I will take on this challenge of planking five minutes a day. I've already done two minutes this morning and I plan to do 1-2 minutes during lunch and 1-2 minutes before I go to bed. </div>
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Who's going to join us in this quest for a great core? You don't have to do five minutes, especially if you haven't done a minute of planks before. I have done one minute and wanted to push myself. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpgow-g2GTgpGRVJ6PA83e_j5edaLLRMMnSaVc-7h4l3Oc7BOPLJ4iNX52vFUCBihYcEKYyV2VtcSXkD3GXcWv_56tCnB_0Z8FrQNBxE8gQnd5G3a5d7IJWrgPwkSlsXFZkxw2N2L0Ckg/s1600/plankingwithcat1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpgow-g2GTgpGRVJ6PA83e_j5edaLLRMMnSaVc-7h4l3Oc7BOPLJ4iNX52vFUCBihYcEKYyV2VtcSXkD3GXcWv_56tCnB_0Z8FrQNBxE8gQnd5G3a5d7IJWrgPwkSlsXFZkxw2N2L0Ckg/s1600/plankingwithcat1.jpg" height="227" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>The cat has the right idea.</em></td></tr>
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Let me know in the comments if you are taking on the challenge and keep me updated. I will probably have a halfway update post and a finisher update post. I realize some days will be harder than others. </div>
KWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01048289769679231707noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3380665352321254858.post-31468864229016169992014-07-01T13:51:00.002-05:002014-07-01T13:55:15.940-05:002014 Hot Undies Run Recap and Return to a Fun Run<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiehvYeZG29nItUV99bdjoJVALqlFiLMu3kLoB719qjb3x8Upg-rfAZyr_jfmiAB0h5lzifFoH_lVMn6MhhZvCXPUs9BiWhfIa8lGWNI9lXyvd9hPtRnGdtf2gVOzC24Rd9nmBAJTZAG50/s1600/2014-Hot-Undies-Run-Logo-300x186.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiehvYeZG29nItUV99bdjoJVALqlFiLMu3kLoB719qjb3x8Upg-rfAZyr_jfmiAB0h5lzifFoH_lVMn6MhhZvCXPUs9BiWhfIa8lGWNI9lXyvd9hPtRnGdtf2gVOzC24Rd9nmBAJTZAG50/s1600/2014-Hot-Undies-Run-Logo-300x186.png" /></a></div>
The <a href="http://www.ffprunningclubs.org/ffp-event/2014-hot-undies-run/">Hot Undies Run</a> (check out <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2011/08/hot-undies-run-2011-update.html">2011</a> and my most popular post, <a href="http://runkwrun.blogspot.com/2012/07/2012-hot-undies-run-recap.html">2012</a>) is one of my favorite runs of the year, because we are encouraged to wear less clothes, it has beer, and it's just straight fun. And it's all for a great cause. Although, it's called hot for a reason. It's in the middle of the day in June. Hot is actually an understatement. <br />
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I missed it last year, but thankfully at the last minute, my friend Elizabeth wanted to try it out. I couldn't stop her. We went to the store a couple of days before and finally settled on a gay pride theme since it was Gay Pride Houston week. Little did we know that we actually got more comments on us celebrating Mexico or a fiesta and Elizabeth was asked if she was a Chiquita banana girl. Only one person said gay pride to us as we were running. So, our theme officially became Gay Pride FIESTA!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0tgk2LI-3Q7fqbtzXgKNu383pQ2JG7C2te7nVCZj00oW3AjT-kHAP3kkaRVvgvxbmvLi5dm1yNNHw9AIGptz6G_pQ6uS0p0AGD03B45LavVI9t87QUEfbKA9FRHRXT4Hut5hgJI8vfB4/s1600/IMG_5695.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0tgk2LI-3Q7fqbtzXgKNu383pQ2JG7C2te7nVCZj00oW3AjT-kHAP3kkaRVvgvxbmvLi5dm1yNNHw9AIGptz6G_pQ6uS0p0AGD03B45LavVI9t87QUEfbKA9FRHRXT4Hut5hgJI8vfB4/s1600/IMG_5695.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>This senorita needs to lay out by the pool just a little bit more. </em></td></tr>
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Unfortunately, I came down with my normal pharyngitis and was sick. I wasn't contagious, but sick and exhausted. I didn't really get to enjoy myself like I usually do...with a few pints, but oh well. It still was a blast. <br />
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Elizabeth and I turned in our new kids undies packages for more raffle tickets and stood around just people watching. It was her first time and I assured her that people would be in underwear. However, there were less people than in 2012 and more people in regular running clothes. Next year, it will be different. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_JD75z9yBP1ZGIvCdof3Hd7ol9gBL7ZLITLI-uNmZKhsTMfsryQPplQk1RaRr1E2MkFWEVmQXMvhiWq2W5A2YxkA5noluUHtkDNJ-AWkk76ofH43nphdeKOd98jhC7gBdvoggN2BK9Bg/s1600/IMG_5673.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_JD75z9yBP1ZGIvCdof3Hd7ol9gBL7ZLITLI-uNmZKhsTMfsryQPplQk1RaRr1E2MkFWEVmQXMvhiWq2W5A2YxkA5noluUHtkDNJ-AWkk76ofH43nphdeKOd98jhC7gBdvoggN2BK9Bg/s1600/IMG_5673.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>It took me awhile, but these were stickers and not tats.</em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ylTCFu-rwuoSBsEjFYEsAobOpFP9zzRTzvpjp2ATM_YxRSkJLxi-8OHjTOIdPwy-7CnZPyFed2vrNktrUdCNHLAUM0vAbJcPdThP24PJyX0wocobyV73uoUNrPh0hUDtIadSF9taLEg/s1600/IMG_5674.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1ylTCFu-rwuoSBsEjFYEsAobOpFP9zzRTzvpjp2ATM_YxRSkJLxi-8OHjTOIdPwy-7CnZPyFed2vrNktrUdCNHLAUM0vAbJcPdThP24PJyX0wocobyV73uoUNrPh0hUDtIadSF9taLEg/s1600/IMG_5674.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Elizabeth and I getting ready to run.</em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFUd7ELA_m5oOjDDnYzMlude-90r3973QCOdF9tGl_YDwFsG1E_2p6fcWEQzsjN3PcHc1BPiMkzG__zWW3Q5VqV9vT6p50yz1dAxcCmuUBVcifK_EluAIQ1oY6ZA0YgYENOflDGTE-Ur0/s1600/IMG_5675.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFUd7ELA_m5oOjDDnYzMlude-90r3973QCOdF9tGl_YDwFsG1E_2p6fcWEQzsjN3PcHc1BPiMkzG__zWW3Q5VqV9vT6p50yz1dAxcCmuUBVcifK_EluAIQ1oY6ZA0YgYENOflDGTE-Ur0/s1600/IMG_5675.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <em>We run into this guy, Bernie everywhere. Seriously, more tanning! </em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5FGRhrQ8YFSZYiWmh9eZz5CBtk-nGXAE2JM2OIOJWFNj46wGrBmelTuW9C8QSbTOqjtIYiA45GYQPTO_xDprKie0udnpa_JfMn4ET7yeSFMsVAiCP9ZHlDpcKDmPDh8xjpOEWZbSrsDg/s1600/IMG_5679.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5FGRhrQ8YFSZYiWmh9eZz5CBtk-nGXAE2JM2OIOJWFNj46wGrBmelTuW9C8QSbTOqjtIYiA45GYQPTO_xDprKie0udnpa_JfMn4ET7yeSFMsVAiCP9ZHlDpcKDmPDh8xjpOEWZbSrsDg/s1600/IMG_5679.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Getting ready to start. Look at all those undies.</em></td></tr>
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And then it was time to start the race. Did I mention that it was hot? Well, it was. I have to also mention that it was stormy the entire time, but not around our running route. I was a little torn by this, because when it rains, it gets even hotter and more mosquitos come out. However, I was so ready for some drops. At least it was cloudy. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu1zMAy_LhtouDiWR_qaLLFADuoJle9pWw80s3oBpLCFhlkqtvN2X2PZ1vRKkhoXzU_GoHR-xh3Ki9ifllbr49Y9QWsznPsfm6mehxq87AcsTax_dU4D4V7WE7aaq40j92WOgPW8ARhq8/s1600/IMG_5681.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu1zMAy_LhtouDiWR_qaLLFADuoJle9pWw80s3oBpLCFhlkqtvN2X2PZ1vRKkhoXzU_GoHR-xh3Ki9ifllbr49Y9QWsznPsfm6mehxq87AcsTax_dU4D4V7WE7aaq40j92WOgPW8ARhq8/s1600/IMG_5681.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>She was a Buzz Lightyear.</em></td></tr>
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I did run the entire way to Wahala, but I slowed a great deal. I basically just kept an eye on Elizabeth. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnSkJzCcLokxen299d7_52t-mxLrVdnGrw_JM4lxFhSuIVFhkwCKwNk0ywm9yiPeBkASsaPO2qiqicKP-f2RUyzadzL95nER1H90zufSyD6Az3M0Zp7M1Kikuzyn8YMAphtoVG7mi_MM0/s1600/IMG_5683.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnSkJzCcLokxen299d7_52t-mxLrVdnGrw_JM4lxFhSuIVFhkwCKwNk0ywm9yiPeBkASsaPO2qiqicKP-f2RUyzadzL95nER1H90zufSyD6Az3M0Zp7M1Kikuzyn8YMAphtoVG7mi_MM0/s1600/IMG_5683.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Elizabeth and I at the Wahala stopping point in Rice University.</em></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIyvGqEOCEVpIf6l7E3pJhgWUoWH3i287kWX0XT7kTr-pjdVri1yMPLPwiOxyOCGCQdER4Y4LaOWW9ZyUsQV-GRp48syTksy57cGsv8XzZxRHlwWP23EwkrnJmVOJMh40AJw5dcv1Twwg/s1600/IMG_5685.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIyvGqEOCEVpIf6l7E3pJhgWUoWH3i287kWX0XT7kTr-pjdVri1yMPLPwiOxyOCGCQdER4Y4LaOWW9ZyUsQV-GRp48syTksy57cGsv8XzZxRHlwWP23EwkrnJmVOJMh40AJw5dcv1Twwg/s1600/IMG_5685.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Since I wasn't drinking any beer, I didn't get in line for it. I also had my water bottle handy and was just sucking that down dry. <br />
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And then it was time to go again. We didn't really have a reason to stick around. But this break gave me enough time for my body to catch up and basically decide it was ready to shut down. I had a hard time breathing. Consequently, I had to walk more than usual, which sucks since this is only a two mile run. But there was nothing I could do. I couldn't push my body anymore than where it was at and I was lucky that I had the energy to even run at all. <br />
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Eventually, we made it back to the finish line where we hung out for a bit and decided to just go home (again, we weren't drinking and didn't feel like hanging out anymore). I also forgot to mention that we parked at Rice and had a long warmup and cool down walk. So, that was nice. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgeg08r0SQewEbutkL81N2R8sr146wKlOyqA0x8grcpyuGgPZYOCwWAzc0_D6uPNg0dtmpzT4B5BQABfBH-qMv_fO-0bXAtfqPQiOmA3HfMDdkwMTn4hOPqgUkXjVuQQK9BpjdiKpuT_Q/s1600/IMG_5696.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgeg08r0SQewEbutkL81N2R8sr146wKlOyqA0x8grcpyuGgPZYOCwWAzc0_D6uPNg0dtmpzT4B5BQABfBH-qMv_fO-0bXAtfqPQiOmA3HfMDdkwMTn4hOPqgUkXjVuQQK9BpjdiKpuT_Q/s1600/IMG_5696.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>We asked the nice cop to take our picture with the sign. Unfortunately, some other runners saw that and asked for his help, too. </em></td></tr>
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My body pretty much died when I got home, but I had a good time with what I could do. Elizabeth and I got a lot of compliments on our outfit and surprisingly, the undies worked out great. They stayed in place the whole time and they were quite comfortable. These are some pictures from <a href="http://blog.chron.com/iseehou/2014/06/2014-hot-undies-run-in-rice-village/#24686103=0&24687101=0">Houston Chronicle</a>. </div>
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Through this run, Elizabeth and I have decided to start a planks challenge. We want to do five minutes a day of planks and we are starting tomorrow. I will have an updated post tomorrow and hope you can take on the challenge with us. </div>
KWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01048289769679231707noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3380665352321254858.post-79068577373048800062014-06-30T09:51:00.001-05:002014-06-30T09:51:07.248-05:00Things I Learned From My First Marathon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWAS2AkNqG2gxtCq-bcVOb6-On5DsTOCj0ayQoxf8QPcgTWOP8PeLdtOD6arw0k3JHTziZfnO23GYR0KfsXKc7EUZynR71cKeeUFiuyVRiJ0H3kH1Htt5NcCzt0QseBX1eRHrekL0Ird0/s1600/funny-baba-haha-so-we-meet-again.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWAS2AkNqG2gxtCq-bcVOb6-On5DsTOCj0ayQoxf8QPcgTWOP8PeLdtOD6arw0k3JHTziZfnO23GYR0KfsXKc7EUZynR71cKeeUFiuyVRiJ0H3kH1Htt5NcCzt0QseBX1eRHrekL0Ird0/s1600/funny-baba-haha-so-we-meet-again.jpg" height="237" width="320" /></a></div>
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It's been a month since my marathon and I have had some time to reflect about it. Mainly, I have been thinking about the things I need to do in order to have an improved overall experience in the <a href="http://route66marathon.com/marathon/">Route 66 Marathon</a>. These include the following:<br />
<ul>
<li>I need to get faster. I'm working on things with Coach Jim and may even sign up for the <a href="https://www.kenyanway.com/">Kenyan Way</a>. I'm being told that I may run the entire thing instead of doing intervals. EEK! But I'm looking for 5 hours, 30 minutes goal and 10:30/mile pace. If I get to 10:30, I will be well under that overall goal. </li>
<li>Stick to how I trained. During my half marathon, I ate a light pasta dinner and had a few things for lunch. But I did just fine and had no problems. I took some advice and had a pasta lunch and salmon for dinner the night before the marathon. The pasta lunch was not great and may have contributed to digestive issues the next day. And I didn't feel like the salmon properly filled my tank if you know what I mean. Also, I ate breakfast two hours before instead of an hour and didn't eat my banana before the race. I was hungry when I started the race. </li>
<li>I overhydrated myself. I grabbed two water bottles each time I went through a water station. I felt nauseous after awhile. Eventually, I went down to one bottle and lost the nausea. I didn't think this was a thing until I read on <a href="http://katieaune.com/grand-canyon-day-3/">Katie Aune's blog</a> about the same issue. I was amazed to find out that someone had the exact same thing as myself.</li>
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<em>After an early lunch, we realized that Jessy, the teenage girl in the group, was suffering from some sort of heat exhaustion. She was dizzy and shaky and even threw up. It was quite scary. We realized later that she may actually have been suffering from hyponatremia, when drinking too much water leads to the dilution of sodium in the body. She drank nearly 3 liters of water during the hike in an attempt to avoid dehydration, but without food or electrolytes to go with all that water, it had the reverse effect.</em></div>
<ul>
<li>I need to clean up my eating the day before, because I had some serious bathroom issues starting around mile five or six. </li>
<li>Starting out at a slower pace for the first few miles to get me warmed up is better than guns blazing out of the start gate. Thankfully, I noticed this early on and corrected myself. </li>
<li>I need to bring toilet paper with you either for my runny nose or if the port-o-potty's run out of toilet paper.</li>
<li>I liked the GUs (strawberry kiwi or orange ones only) a great deal better than the chews. The blocks were nice, too. But the energy chews did not work for me at all. Also, I may train with those bonks or whatever they are called. </li>
<li>I was so glad that Jim was there to take my jacket. Next time, I'm not going to be afraid to leave it behind in the hotel room before heading out for my run. </li>
<li>Watching a movie and relaxing the day before saved my legs for the marathon. </li>
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KWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01048289769679231707noreply@blogger.com4