Blogging the Menu: Starting Over at Day 1

Whassup, bitches?  Guess what?  It's NOT another race recap (my next one isn't until 6/22).  I'm starting over at Day 1 here for two reasons:

1. I've been partially off the wagon and eating stupid with all the travel, etc for the last 2 weeks.
2. I'm too fucking lazy to count the days from my last menu post.

I'm starting week 3 of my sub-2 half training plan this week and I'm not going to reach that goal if I continue to eat stupid.  I've remained pretty Paleo (except for ummm....beer) with a couple of lapses that I paid for with fatigue and gut issues (bagel at 3am because I'm bored=heartburn for 36 hours) but I lapsed with Zone. My eating has been relatively clean, but haphazard.  2 hard boiled eggs and a RxBar do not a meal make.

My challenges have been travel (which isn't as hard to deal with as one might think, if you're willing to be a little hungry in airports-but it does mess up meal planning at home) and the third shift.  I find that when I plan out meals and pack for the night as though it were the day I end up eating all the food I brought AND a bunch of random stupid shit I don't need.  I discovered that I'm not actually hungry during the night shift, I'm just fatigued (or bored or anxious) or in need of a mental break.  Even if I sleep very well and don't feel tired at the beginning of my shift, my body hits a spell between 2 and 4am that sets me down a path of compulsive consumption.  It could be fruit, or coffee with coconut milk, or beef sticks, or eggs...I can't eat enough even though I'm not physically hungry. I'm working on it with a few mindfulness exercises, and I'm learning what does and doesn't work for overnight fueling.  I may just eat before sleeping, have a snack upon waking, eat dinner with the family and just not eat overnight.  We'll see.

On to the menu!

I made eggs and bacon for the kids this morning (to a chorus of "Eggs again?!?  We always have to have eggs!!) they also had toast, applesauce, and juice.  The applesauce (we buy the unsweetened stuff) looked really good, so I had some.  I wanted some slivered almonds for the top, but we're out (goddamn it).

Basic.  Good.

Tossed down a few snap peas later in the morning.  Mostly because I was hot and they're cold.

Sweet 'n Crunchy.

Lunch was BLTs.  I fucking love BLTs.  They taste like summer.  And bacon.  I obviously don't eat bread, so mine were more like BLTacos with homemade mayo.  When I put down my plate, my daughter observed "That's almost like a BLT."  To which I replied "No, that's the quintessential BLT.  You're having a BLTonT."  My sons were mostly having a B.  Because L and T are not acceptable foods.

I had two.  I don't need your judgement.

We took the smalls to the Zoo this afternoon.  I grabbed a quick snack before we left.  Prunes and macadamia nuts, because they were handy (and filling).

I love prunes.  You should, too.

I had a frozen lemonade at the Zoo (a small one).  It was delicious.  My phone was off.  Oops.

Dinner was grilled out, of course.  I think it's against the law not to grill your dinner on Memorial Day.  We brutally forced the children to eat asparagus.  One whole spear each, which created more angst than a teen vampire saga.  Eventually they all tried it, and two of them liked it (it's not the first time they've had it).  Much steak was eaten by all.  I had a beautiful tenderloin filet cooked to just the medium side of rare by my beloved husband.  

Meat and veg.  Simple and beautiful.

After supper we washed several layers of dirt and sunscreen off the spawn and put them to bed.  I am now enjoying apple almond butter cocktail as a little bedtime snack.  

Fair and balanced.

I didn't do the Memorial Day Murph this year, as my husband was off work and we were in need of a little family time.  I hope everyone who did has a good place to hang and groan for the next few days.  

Tomorrow I'm off to the box for 5:15am (it's been so long since I've been in, I hope I can find the place), and then I'm giving a presentation to some high school students on being a Pharmacist.  (RUN!  RUN AWAY!!)  After that I have a 90 minute run with intervals, then an afternoon with the kiddles while my husband has training.  Tomorrow is also our 8th wedding anniversary.  We're going out for dinner and then...we don't know.  We have three kids and full time jobs.  What do people do for fun?  Bowling?  Movies?  Pull into a parking lot and sleep?  We usually end up grocery shopping.  

Thank-you to all our active duty servicepersons and veterans.  Your efforts and sacrifices are appreciated.

Race Recap: Soldier Field 10 Mile

Woo hoo!  I've reached the end of my May races!  I'm deliberately avoiding the fact that I had to cancel my trip to Des Moines for the Dam to Dam because it makes me sad to think about it!

Today was the Soldier Field 10 Mile.  I've never done this one before (this year was the 11th running), but I've heard good things so I figured what the hell.  Chicago is generally an easy drive from here, and the registration fee for early birds was quite low.  The same day I registered, I booked a hotel room on Michigan Ave, just off Grant Park.  I did NOT want to deal with parking pre-race.  It wasn't "cheap", but it wasn't super pricey, and if you're travelling with a friend or three it would be more than reasonable.

Last night I drove down to our urban neighbor to the south.  That shit should take 3 hours maximum with the way I drive (I've made O'Hare from my house in under 2:20).  It took over FOUR HOURS.  The entire stretch of I-94 between Milwaukee and Half Day Road should be napalmed into non-existence.  That is the most horrible concrete wasteland on the planet.  Constantly torn to shit, crashes left and right, and absolutely nothing to fucking look at while you sit in bumper to bumper traffic.  Grrrrrrrr.

Upon finally reaching Chicago, the Edens Expressway was the Edens Crawlway so I said fuck it and just got off on a random street and found my way to Lakeshore Drive.  I made it to Fleet Feet for packet pick-up with 40 minutes to spare.  Fortunately it was very organized and trouble free and I was in my hotel room stuffing my face with dinner about 20 minutes later.

So enough about the traffic.  The race.  It was, in a word:  Awesome.  Seriously, it was extraordinarily orderly.  Everything was laid out for the participant in the emails leading up to the race, the guide provided at packet pickup and by helpful announcements at the start.  There are a billion corrals and 2 distinct waves of runners that are sent out onto the course, but it was done so smoothly you'd never realize there were 10,000-odd runners involved.

Pre-race selfie.  It was bright.

I had a Ragnar teammate text me before the corrals closed so I walked down to chat with him before the start.  It was nice to see a familiar face.  I have no problem doing races alone, but it's cool to see your runner friends.  On the way down to meet him I swear on a stack of fucking Bibles that I saw John Oliver run by.  If it wasn't him then it was his evil twin because that dude was dead on right down to the glasses and teeth.  I wish I'd yelled out "Hey!  John!" to see if he turned, because then this selfie would be me and motherfucking John Oliver.

Museum Campus was lined with these.

My corral.  Shit was bright.

They do shit up big for Memorial Day at this one.  They presented a flag to a war widow (who subsequently jumped into a corral and ran the race), they played Taps for the fallen (on the trumpet, real-like), and gave a nice speech about service and freedom.  All of the vets and active duty military were asked to raise their hands in the corrals.  There were a LOT of them.  It was pretty cool.

One thing I really liked about this set up was that each corral was released onto the course separately, 2-5 minutes apart.  That meant each corral got to be up front at the start line, and each corral got it's own start horn.  Being a back-of-the-packer I never get to be on the start line, and that press of people shoving for the front is a real downer.  None of that here.  We all proceeded to the start line in a friendly, orderly way and got our moment in the sun.

I could almost touch it!!

The race director kept up some chatter during all these starts.  It was funny and friendly.  I dug it.  He gave each corral a countdown, too.  The other bonus of this stagger-start was no jockeying for position after you start running.  Plenty of room for everyone, zero dodging.  

You take off out of the Soldier Field parking lot and run down Lakeshore drive for 4.8ish miles before turning back onto the Lakefront Trail.  I'm not a fan of out and back, but this wasn't really as you are running two separate routes, even if you can see the leaders.  The trip down on Lakeshore wasn't super thrilling scenery-wise, but it was pretty damn thrilling for me as my first 3 mile splits were 9:38, 9:18, and 9:25.  I PR'd my goddamn 5k during a 10 mile race!  

The turnaround and trip back is where this race really shines.  It is WOW from the turn until the finish.

Say it with me:  WOOOOOOOOOOOOW

It was a perfect, perfect day.  50ish at the start and sunny with a lovely cool breeze off the lake.  I did the first 6 miles super fast (for me, probably not for you) and PR'd my 10k.  Then I blew up.  Not exactly sure why.  I ate as planned, but my guts were messed up and I ended up walking a lot before mile 7.  Around mile 8 my right hip got a little cranky, so I stopped to stretch it out.  Then it was press on to the finish.

The course retraces itself up Museum Campus Dr and then turns into the field.

Into the underbelly.

Through the player's tunnel.

And onto the field for the 50-yard finish.

I was pleased with my overall time, considering how craptastic the middle miles were from a pace standpoint.  Overall pace average was 10:33/mile (well, based on my watch-who knows what my chip time is).

I totally saved it.

After the finish, the medals and water are handed out by active duty service members, which is pretty neat.  You get the chance to thank them for their service, up close and personal.

After the finish, you get funneled off the field and into the concourse where you're further directed to several exits.  I didn't partake in the post-race festivities as I had to hightail it home right away, but there was free beer and music and it seemed like it would be a nice shin-dig.  On the way out of the stadium you're handed a "Runner Refresh" bag with a banana, a Clif Bar and a package of fruit snacks inside.  It was a nice little tote bag and the banana was well timed.  I liked that I didn't have to fight for a much handled piece of fruit.  I walked out of the stadium and back into Grant Park to my hotel.  I stopped on the 11th St walkway to take a shot of the field.  It's space-shippy.  I'm not a huge fan of the external remodel.  Nice on the inside.

The Metra tracks are so pretty.

And turning around, a shot of the hotel from the same spot.  The Essex Inn.  The location was perfect.  I was able to get coffee and some eats on my way to the stadium, it was about a 1 mile walk which was a nice warm-up, and walking a mile afterwards was a fantastic way to stay loose after finishing.

I was on the 11th floor.

I would highly recommend this race.  Weather is obviously not something that can be controlled, but it was such a perfect day.  The registration was reasonable, the race shirt was a nice navy tech (women's cut!!) tee, and the medal was neat.  But more than that, the course was spectacular.  Everything was so organized and seamless.  I don't think I've ever run a race where transitions were so fluid.  The volunteers were fantastic on the course, there were plenty of water stops and portajohns.  A local high school drumline entertained at one point, and each water stop was well stocked and well run.  

I'll be doing this one again.  Maybe for the 15th running, and I'm bringing my husband next time around.   This would be a great way to kick off Memorial Day weekend in the city, and if you're not ready for a half marathon but would still like a medal (I'm a sucker for a medal) this would be a great "gateway drug" for you.

If you can manage not to kill anyone or drive your car off a bridge on I-94 south of Milwaukee.

No make-up, except for the 3D Fabulash mascara I got from Leah B's party.  I put it on on Friday and

it made it through a day and a night and a 10 mile race with no flaking or smudging.

There, Leah, you made my blog :)

Race Recap: Cellcom GB Half

Oops, I ran another half after a third shift.  And it went well.  Here's my race report, because I know you're really interested.

I left the hospital this morning at 7am and hustled to the west side and Lambeau field.  It was a little surreal. This year the marathon started an hour before the half so there was a lot less congestion as I approached the stadium. Oneida is still heavily under construction, along with the Lombardi side of the stadium so there were barely any people on the "front" side of Lambeau.  I went through the concourse to the Ridge side and dropped off my bag.  As is my custom, I promptly got in line for the portojohn.  Unfortunately for me, the odd U shaped arrangement meant a lot of confusion and at 5 minutes to gun time there was no way I was getting to pee.  So I went to the corral and hoped for the best.

For once the weather was good.  It wasn't brutally hot or pouring rain or so windy it was like getting repeatedly punched in the face.  I was pretty happy with 50s and partly cloudy.

A bunch of people I don't know.  And the arch.  Waaaaaay up there.

It took me three full minutes to cross the start line.  I love how people get all riled when the horn sounds and pack together.  I actually feel a little bad for the ones that try to run right away.  Take it easy, people, just walk to the timing pad-you'll be a lot less frustrated.

I decided early on that I wasn't going to dodge during the first miles.  You know what I mean.  People always line up in the wrong corral, or decide that 400m into the race is the right time to slow to a walk in the literal middle of the fucking road two abreast.  I could just shake people like this.  If you need to walk, that's totally cool.  But maybe you could move to the side of the road? You know, because there are 7,000 people trying to go this exact way right now?  Bleh. I just took a deep breath and followed the current around them...and it was fine.

At any rate, I was breathing easy and feeling pretty damn great.  I made the first 5 miles at a respectable clip, and then I started looking for a place to pee.  I skipped a couple of stops because the lines were long, and around the halfway point I couldn't wait any longer.  I hopped off the course and into a very, very long line for the john.  Sadly, once I'd stopped moving the urge to pee became overwhelming so I was stuck.

See?  This was after about 3 minutes in line.

I knew I wasn't going to PR today, but the first 6+ miles had gone so well that I was hoping to go sub-2:20. This little stop kind of kicked that in the nuts for me, so instead I decided just to just enjoy the day and have a little fun.

I chatted with some people around me, soaked up some sun, and around mile 8.5?  Popsicles!

Red flavor!

I can't remember the last time I had one of these.  It was delicious.  I walked a bit and ate a little, then ran, then walked a bit more and finished it up.  Popsicles.  Fucking genius.

The course changed this year, and I liked the change.  I like turns on a race course, it makes you feel like you're making progress.  There were enough turns and enough little up-and-downs to keep it interesting.  I liked approaching Lambeau from Valley View instead of Oneida.  The old race course spent the last 3 miles basically running through industrial park.  Flat, no shade, depressing scenery, and a weird little down and back before the final push to the stadium that used to just piss me right off.  This year the last bit was through a nice tree lined neighborhood.  Winning.

We ran down into Lambeau, and I didn't get bottlenecked this year.  The year I PR'd at this race I spent something line 2 minutes walking and standing in the tunnel.  I was HOT.  This year I did a little waiting at the mouth of the stadium, but no more than a few seconds.  

Into the belly of the beast.

We ran the opposite direction from last time, too...I think.

Spectators in the new part of the bowl.

I love running into Lambeau because after bashing around on 12 miles of concrete, you get to run on some nice squishy track stuff for a bit.  The bummer about the new route is that after coming out of Lambeau you have to run uphill slightly to the finish.  Only 400m or so, but holy shit it felt hard.  After the finish, I got my bag and found some friends that finished a couple of minutes ahead of me.

Holy shit my feet are huge.

Miller sponsored the event this year.  That is fucking sad.  In years past, Titletown Brewery has brewed a special 26.2 ale for the after event (and that shit is deeeeeelicious).  This year I had a Third Shift, because Third Shift.  Also my other choice was Miller Light, and no.  Just no.  

My post race reward.  Floppies, brats, beer, and cookies.

I need to get a new pair of shoes.  These babies are my favorites, but the mileage is racking up and since I'm a big fat fatty, I am hard on minimalist/neutral shoes.  Off to Zappos I go.  

So.  In conclusion.  The new route was great, it was a beautiful day, I had a great time, and I got a 2:25 and a nifty medal for my trouble.  Then I went home, collapsed into bed, and slept until 8:30pm...just in time to get up and head to work.  

Congratulations to all my friends who ran the half and the full today!  You are all awesome!  I loved seeing pictures and posts from everyone who ran and came out to spectate.  Thanks to everyone who came out to cheer and offer encouragement.  It means more than you know.  

I've done a lot of these races (and I'm not done yet, not by a long shot), and they are always fun.  Even the shitty ones are fun.  If you think you can't be a runner, you're wrong.  Give it a try.  It's a hell of a thing to run 13.1 (or 26.2) miles with 10,000 people (or 200 people, or 2000 people).  It's addicting.  

Also you get to have beer guilt free.

Blogging the Menu: Day I'm Too Lazy to Count

So today I'm setting off on a new adventure.  I'm going to make a run at a sub-2 half.  How am I going to do this you might ask?  I hired a running coach.  Well, more like an endurance coach.  I know him through CrossFit, and I know he's a hard-core endurance athlete.  I also know he just started a new business venture.  So I shot him a Facebook message and asked if he'd be willing to help a mediocre middle aged athlete go from lackadaisical half-asser to sub-2 half marathoner and disciplined CrossFitter.

Weirdly, he said okay.  So I get a custom plan based on my training/racing history, my goals, my work schedule, and my availability for training.  I also get advice from someone who gets the whole culty CF thing on how to do both successfully so that one kind of training doesn't compromise the other...and so I can do both without sucking or getting injured.

Today was the first day of my training plan and I already had to juggle it a bit.  I was supposed to do a 90 minute run today (warm-up, cool down, and intervals based on heart rate zones) and go to CF tomorrow.  Unfortunately, the hubs works tomorrow and that means that CF is up in the air depending on what the WOD is and what his shift is.  I knew I could go to the box today for sure, so I did.  I'll do my 90 minutes tomorrow.  No harm done.  I get my workouts a week at a time which is oddly exciting.  I can only see 7 days into the future, so I don't have any time to get anxious or overthink anything.

So in addition to looking at pictures of my boring ass food, now you'll have to read my droning rehashing of my training.  You lucky sons of bitches.

On to the menu!
Pre-WOD was a banana.  You know what that looks like.  And if you don't, then fuck you.
Breakfast was banana pancakes and bacon. I made the pancakes with 2 eggs to up the protein content and treated myself to some grass fed butter and maple syrup.  A big cup of black coffee made it a happy morning indeed.  I had a good workout this morning.  I did squat reps at 100lbs, which is the most I've ever used for a multi-round, multi-rep skill session.  That felt good.

Om nom nom nom.

I had an RxBar as a late morning snack.  I wasn't precisely hungry, but I had some shopping to do with the boys and I didn't want to go to Costco on an empty stomach.  That's the sort of thing that shitty sample eating and $500 Vitamix blender purchases are made of.

I bought about $300 worth of produce, cured meat, awesome cheese, and coffee (and sunscreen, and hair products, and lady-time specific paper products).  Costco has the most awesome fruit and veggies.  Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, bananas, brussels sprouts, broccoli, asparagus, french beans, snap peas, pineapple...they all landed in my cart.  I also got a giant bag of prunes (don't judge, that shit is nature's candy).  My one complaint?  Why the fuck do dried cherries need to be sweetened?!?!?!  Who do I have to kill to get some unsweetened dried cherries in this town?

After coming home in the rain, I unloaded everything and got the kids set up with leftovers.  Then I made myself a fantastic platter of cured meats, leftover antipasto salad, olives, manchego, and berries.  It was utterly decadent and wonderful.  I got a 2-pack of prosciutto and a bag of asparagus.  You see where I'm going with that.  

GET IN MAH BELLY!

The rain let up long enough to walk to get the girl child from school, which was good, because this dog is fucking apeshit when it rains.  She could care less about thunder and lightening, but trying to get her to pee outside in the rain is like trying to balance an elephant on a beachball.  It's HARD.  

Dinner tonight was simple roasted chicken and roasted broccoli.  Since I got so much beautiful produce, this week will be meat and veg week for dinners.  Steaks, roasts, burgers...all things that go great with crunchy greens.  I also got scallops at Costco, so there will be bacon wrapped awesome at some point as well.

Like diet food, only with olive oil.

This evening I'm enjoying a little pink wine and raspberries.  This moscato has been in the fridge for ages, so I figured it was as good a time as any to drink it.  I limited myself to a bowl of berries instead of eating the whole damn package.

Baby steps to self control.

I won an entry to a Spartan race from the Running to Remember raffle.  I've decided on the Miller Park event.  Spartan races are expensive as shit.  Seriously, more than a marathon for a 3 mile obstacle race.  I'll do the free one, because free, but I seriously doubt I'll be forking over $165 in the future for another.  I also won a copy of the book Spartan Up, which I am looking forward to reading.  I've decided that if there's an obstacle that requires jumping blindly into water I'm going to skip it.  If I fuck up my ankle or knee, my athletic career is over...why risk it?

Oh, if you want to check out my new running coach and his new business, you can find him on Facebook at B'n Fit or at www.nickburgraff.com His rate is reasonable, and he'll set you up with your goals and skills in mind!  

Here's to breaking down barriers!  Sub-2, I'm coming for you!

Ragnar Recap: #safetythird

This weekend I completed my sixth Ragnar Relay.  This time it was Ragnar Cape Cod.  This was a sponsored team, specifically by Nuun Hydration.  The fast and dirty is the course was great and we had a fucking awesome time.  See?  The fun made itself.

The muppet leg warmers were the brainchild of the team Captain.  You can pick him out in this picture by his coconut bra.  I wasn't sure about them at first, but apparently people fucking love fuzzy shit.  Seriously.  I got more comments and compliments on my furry green calves and the associated outfits than I ever have for getting dressed up like a normal person or trying to look pretty.  To quote one of my temmates "We're bringing people joy with our muppets."  #wannapetmymuppet

This Ragnar groups was a varied and interesting as the others I've been on.  I knew 4 of the six people in my van (5 if you count myself, but do any of us really know ourselves?) and everyone else was a new friend not yet made.  In true Ragnar form, the team was a mixture of every kind of profession you can imagine and even included a world-class triathlete.  I have met more awesome people through Ragnar than anywhere else, with the exception of CrossFit (because those people are pretty damn awesome and our box team is totally going to THE GAMES and that's really off topic).

This race runs from Hull to Provincetown, MA.  It runs through fantastic old neighborhoods with incredible old trees, beautiful flowers, and houses that were built when the country was new.  We landed in Boston on Thursday and promptly met up with two men in tutus and a woman with a hula hoop and hit the town for some drinks.

The Blueberry Collins was delicious.  I may have had 3.

Once we'd had some lunch (I had haddock with vegetables) and plenty of social lubrication, we went for a little walk along the harbor.  When we returned, lo and behold we had a flat tire.  I should mention that Ragnars never go smoothly.  There is always, always a wrinkle.  A bad storm that delays flights until the 11th hour, family emergencies that cause runners to drop out, illness, injury, the rental car agency running out of vans, extreme heat, extreme cold, altitude sickness, etc.  Part of a Ragnar is rolling with the punches and coming up with solutions.  It helps to have useful people in your group when these situations arise. When a tire goes flat, it helps to have a man in a tutu.

See? Useful.

We got the van squared away pretty much just in time to head to the North End for the team dinner.  We ate at a restaurant just down the street from the Old North Church.  Italian, but with enough non-pasta options to keep me honest.  

We had a nice meal and met the folks we'd be spending the next 36 hours in close quarters with and headed to the hotel for some shut-eye.  

I was in Van 1 this time around.  My Ragnars have been split 50/50 between Van 1 and Van 2.  I think I can fairly say at this point that I prefer Van 1.  I like starting early in the morning vs. sleeping in and heading out later in the day.  I get antsy waiting around.

The temps were damn near perfect.  55 degrees and overcast with a few light sprinkles.  My first leg was only 2.4 miles and I clocked my first mile at 9:17.  That is tooooo faaaaaast.  If I only had that 2.4 to do I likely could have gone balls to the wall for the remainder, but with 2 more legs (10 more miles) and 24 hours without sleep in my immediate future?  Yeah.  No.  Mile 2 was a 10:17, much more realistic.  We continued to kick ass and take names for the remainder of the morning, after which we handed off to Van 2 and broke for lunch.  We wend to a place called Haddad's and I had lobster chowder, bacon wrapped scallops, home made potato chips, and one fried pickle chip (just one, because they looked fantastic.  I was not disappointed.)

Perfect.

We headed to the next exchange for a little rest and recuperation.  It was along a canal trail which allowed us to watch the anchor runners come in.  It was a very picturesque location.

I have no idea who this is.  She just happened to work well in the frame.

Drew and Emily were stretching on the slight incline up to the railroad tracks.  It looked for all the world like they were mooning incoming runners.

I fart in your general direction.

Before taking the hand off we went on an adventure involving a roundabout (called a Rotary in MA) and met numerous Massholes on the road (not my term-the waitress at Haddad's introduced us to that one-but I used it a lot).  Anyplace where the roadside signs have to remind drivers to "Use Yah Blinkah!" has many remedial drivers.  Once we were "active" again, it was time for some dark running.  My night hand off happened at around 9pm and I was off into the pitch dark for a 5.2 mile jaunt up a hill.  

The town of Sandwich has a no headphones ordinance.  I had to run uphill, in the dark, with no music.  Worst part?  I had that stupid ass motherfucking Frozen song running through my head and no way to kill it.  NO.  I DO NOT WANT TO BUILD A GODDAMN SNOWMAN.  My vanmates oh-so-helpfully played the song for me right as I started.  I spent 5 miles converting the lyrics to many cruel and vulgar alternatives.  I ran that fucking hill.  I did not walk at all.  I finished that leg well ahead of schedule and sprinted out the end to beat a girl who killed me and I subsequently zombied.  She thought she was going to edge me out at the end.  She was wrong.

We wrapped up the night legs at a good clip and headed to the next major exchange for some shut eye and an indoor bathroom.  While waiting for said indoor shitter, we discovered that women were using the 3 (THREE!) stalls to CHANGE CLOTHES.  The woman behind me in line (clearly from Boston, probably around 50 years old) was LIVID upon learning this.  She began hollering into the bathroom "Ah you shitting me?  Ah you seeeeriously changing yah clothes IN THA STAHHL? That is SO RUDE!  Ah'm gonnah shit my pants out heeyah.  Yah ain't got anything the rest of us don't have!  Get ovah yahself!"  It was wicked hilarious.  Where did I change clothes, you might ask?  In the parking lot.  Next to the van.  I'm 36 years old and I've had three kids.  Get an eyeful. #rugbyup

My third leg started at 5am, so I was running as the sun came up.  The third leg was pretty, but it felt a lot harder than the first two.  I will admit to walking a bit of the last climb.  I didn't need to be a hero at that point, and still finished ahead of projected pace.  I wore my muppet legs and brought joy to the people.

After Van 1 finished up our work we found a breakfast spot with cocktails.

The place was called Laura and Tony's Kitchen.

There was a Rachel Ray review on the front of the building (which kind of looked abandoned, but was hopping with Ragnarians and locals).  $3 Mimosas and Bloody Marys.  They make their own mix!  And there were lots of from scratch baked goods (that I didn't eat).  They were pretty accommodating to our teammate with Celiac as well, which makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.  I won't lie.  After this breakfast and 90 minutes of sleep in the preceding 24 hours?  I was...silly.

We proceeded to the finish line in P-town for post race festivities.  The finish line is below the Pilgrim Tower with the eating/drinking/relaxing area above the town.

Picturesque doesn't begin to describe it.

We finished as a group around 2:15pm (just shy of 30 hours total) and went into Provincetown for cocktails and sightseeing.  It's a combination of cute and kitsch that I guess you'd expect from a seaside tourist town.  I got lots of looks and comments on my outfit (they probably thought I was a drag queen.  Big feet, too tall, mini-skirt, and muppet legs.  I bummed some maple fudge off a teammate (soooooooo delicious) and we headed back to the van.  A couple of vanmates got held up, so Susan taught me to hula hoop, and Emily and I practiced handstands in the grass by the parking lot.  I don't have a shot of the handstands, but here's a little clip of the hooping.  In my defense, I got it pretty much right away and had been doing it for a bit before Em got this video!

Hmmm...I hope this works.

This race was a hoot.  The course was great, the team was great, the weather was great.  I felt strong the whole time.  We ate well and drank well and had a #fuckingblast.

What's with the hashtags? Let's just say everything is funnier at 2am.

#hashtag

#ilikedick

#safetythird

#ragnarroyalty

#wannapetmymuppet

I can't wait for Ragnar #7...Adirondacks.

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers.  

And a big giant congratulations to my CrossFit family for making it to the Big Show in California.  Proud doesn't begin to describe how I feel.