… Big Peach Sizzler 2011 Race Recap …

I just may have lost my brain but because I have run this race the past 2 years I decided why the heck not and ran it again this year.  I love everything Big Peach and I have always liked this race so even though I knew I was not prepared nor would I be on race day I decided to run it just to see how it would go and how I would be able to handle 6.2 miles.

 

Saturday I had a few errands to run around the Buckhead area and I slipped into Big Peach to pick up my race number and packet.  I like having my number and shoe tag before the race so I do not have anything to worry about.  Sunday night I got my race outfit and gear ready for the next morning and Monday morning I was up bright and early  (after hitting the snooze button about 6 times) to let the dogs out, to grab something quick and easy to eat and then head to Chamblee to run 6.2 long miles. (The past 2 years I lived basically at the starting line, but we moved so I had to drive there this year.) 

The race… it went as well as I expected it to and I expected it to be unpleasant.  No lie, I woke up with a cramp behind my knee that I just could not shake (I’d like to blame Mulligan and him taking up the whole bed for that one…).  I decided to just take the race slow, walk when I needed to walk and run when I could.  I lined up on the right side and in the middle of the pack and was off.  Mile 1 was good.  The hill wasn’t hard (thanks Blast) and Mile 2 went well too (minus the bigger hill that I got 75% up and then took a walk break). Tropical Storm Lee decided to ran on us starting around mile 2 (for me) so needless to say it was a rainy race.  I found a good steady groove around mile 3 but with that said I was doing a methodical walk/run and ran more when the song got me going.  My body started to hurt around mile 4/mile 4.5 but I was kind of picking people off and passing people which as fine in my book.  Mile 5 was the hardest and I was so happy to see the finish line partially because my body hurt and partially because I was wet.

In years past I had complained about water stops not being stocked and that was not the case this year.  I think out of the past 3 years I have run it – this year went the smoothest.  The post race party/expo thing was kind of a cluster, but I will blame that on the fact that they had to move it underground so it was more crowded than it had been in the past.  Truthfully I grabbed my shirt and bolted because the parking deck underground was H-O-T and I needed air and away from stinky runners.  The shirts are a bright neon no cars can say they didn’t see me coming orange (worst than traffic cones) but I will still rock it from time to time.

Once again… Big Peach put on a great race.  =D

Finishing time: 1:15 Average Pace: 12:03

Blast900 -- review number two.

I know I reviewed Blast900 a few months back.  But I feel like I did not give it justice.  I had gone once and took to my blog talking about it.  By no means am I an expert or a pro at it -- in fact I still struggle every single time I go -- but I feel like I can give it a better "review" now that I have gone 4 or 5 times.

I thought by showing a video you may get a MUCH better understanding of what goes on at Blast900.  It is not an easy hour long workout and it really is for people who want to be pushed and want to work.  But if you stop reading here I will let you know that I 100% recommend it.

Blast can and will seriously kick your butt.  The nice thing about it is you work 100% at your own pace but with a push.  When on the treadmill you work at a runner, jogger, or walker pace and me ... yeah I start as a jogger and then rotate between walker and jogger ... but when "walking" ... it is not a stroll in the park it's a power, must get to the sale at the mall walk.  The ultimate goal - to burn the 900 calories, but I highly doubt I have ever actually burned 900 calories.  You rotate between the treadmill (running, sprints, crazy steep hills) and the floor (core work, arms, back, weights, bands, balls, if it can torture you - they have it) -- it is killer fast interval work.  Each class is 1 hour and each "block" is a certain length of time.  Most recently for me it has been 5 minute blocks (5 minutes on the treadmill, 5 on floor, 5 on treadmill, 5 on floor ... got it?) but there have been 10 minute blocks and shorter than 5 minutes.  Last night... we did 1 minute on the treadmill, 1 minute of work around the treadmill... 1 minute back on 1 minute off (hello pain).  

Each time I go I ask myself why I keep doing this to myself.  I have never sweat so much when working out.  But I keep going back because I know that I get an amazing workout there whether I burn the 900 calories or not.  What I really like about it is that the instructors (as tough as they are) don't really call you out for slacking - they gently nudge you to say I see you and there is something about their way of saying it or looking at you that you feel like you're letting your parents down so you up your speed or you don't hold onto the treadmill for dear life (even if you stop holding on for just 5 seconds HA!).  The people who teach the classes are just positive and peppy and there is something about the music that drowns you out. 

Every week and workout is different so I never know what pain I am stepping into, but that is kinda nice.  I am REALLY hoping that this tones me for my wedding and gets me faster and stronger for my running.  I never know exactly how many miles I run each time I am there so I guess around 2.5 since my treadmill always says 4+ .... but since we keep them running when we're on the floor I never really know.  But I know the sprints (which I'd like to thank Richard for giving me the confidence to actually SPRINT) and the crazy hills will get me stronger and hopefully faster.  I will report back after my half marathon in October!

The first class is always free so if you're in Atlanta and have not yet tried it out or if you are passing through for business and want something new -- they have locations in both Buckhead and Dunwoody.  Tim Tebow even did Blast when he was in town a few months back.  And... of course let them know that I referred you and report back on how you like it! :o)

POM Wonderful review.

A few weeks back I got an email from Ryan at POM Wonderful telling me that he came across my blog & was enjoying looking at it/reading it and he wanted to know if I would be interested in a case of POM Wonderful Pomegranate juice. Even before Ryan approaching me I had a deep love of POM and their products but I really did not know too much about them or their beverages other than they were (a) super tasty and (b) good for you. But of course, him offering up a free case of POM Pomegranate juice was something I could not turn down. After thinking about it, I realized that even though I love pomegranate everything I have never bought or drank a bottle of straight pomegranate juice and I has always stuck to their teas... so this was a good opportunity to try something new and fresh.

A little about POM: POM Wonderful is the only company that grows, harvests, processes, and ships their own pomegranates. They grow their own pomegranates in California’s San Joaquin Valley, pick it by hand, squeeze it and manufacture their own bottles! All of this is for quality control. Numerous independent laboratory tests have shown that POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice has superior antioxidant content, ounce for ounce, compared to other juices and beverages.

And my review: To be honest, when I took my first swig (and first bottle) I thought that it super tart and I was not too sure about it. But since I had a free case and Kyle was not interested in it, I decided to give it another whirl and after drinking it and drinking it I really do like it. At first sip, it has a tart taste followed by a bitter taste, but I learned you cannot chug it. It is a product and a juice that you can (and need to) savor and enjoy in small bits. it kind of has a cranberry/grape taste to it - it's unique and i like it. Ryan who initially approached me mentioned that he likes making the smoothies post workout, but i never did try that so I can't tell you if I agree with him or not. but i do know that pomegranate has great health benefits and i would continue to drink it. it's just a bit pricey, that's the main downfall.

other uses: smoothies. pomegranate martinis. cupcakes. there are a bunch of recipes on their website here ...and if once i invite sweets back into my life i want to try and make the cupcakes.
Where to purchase: i know you can get it at the some grocery stores in the refrigerated section and some gas stations, but here is the store locator so you can find a store close to you.



but POM i do miss your glass containers for the teas. I have about 5 in my cabinet and I would love more.

ShamRock 'N Roll 10k

Note to self: when sick and barely able to breathe .... running a 10k is not the best decision. A 5k maybe, yes even. A 10k ... it is doable but around mile 4 (at least for me) breathing may become a challenge. :o) ...but only the strong survive right?!

Erin and I ran the 6th annual ShamRock 'N Roll 10k to benefit the Junior League of Atlanta this past Sunday morning and both her and I were all sorts of a mess. Erin had quite the night at a wedding shower with lots of adult beverages and for the past 3 days I have been trying to get over a massive head cold. Needless to say we survived to talk about it and Erin once again rocked the road race and had to wait at the finish for me.

Honestly, I kind of have mixed reviews on the race... I would give it an 8 out of 10 (which is good). The course was fairly easy, we ran the same 5k loop twice. Which to me is fine, except I hate knowing when the big hills are coming up. There was only 1 really unfriendly hill (and if I was hill trained it probably wouldn't have been unfriendly) and it was heading up Northside back to 17th. I also did get passed by the motorcycle and the 10k winner .... rock on .... nothing tells you pick up the pace by someone finishing their 10k in a little over 30 minutes and you're back at the start getting ready for loop numero dos. Atlantic Station & the surrounding area is like a maze, they really could have varied up the course for the 10k'ers and still had us finish at the same end point as the 5k'ers. Honestly, I thought the course was not that bad. Atlantic Station is a fairly pretty area so it was nice to look at (...if that even matters to people) and for the most part the course was flat. It did have a downhill start and finish and I LOVE the word downhill and running downhill. :o) Don't we all. I was (and still am) confused by the timing chip. They did not have a designated start or thing to cross over to get your chip time, but they scanned your race number at the end, which made my official finishing time different than my actual finishing time. ....But I did not start the race when the gun went off so my time obviously is not accurate. Since there was no official start I had no idea where to start my Garmin, so I guessed. You would just think as a Peachtree Qualifier they would have a much better system in place. But, oh well. My Garmin read the race as 6.34 miles ... which is longer than the standard 6.22 .... but I blame it on the unofficial start and shaky finish. Atlanta's finest in some areas were less than stellar. I think they were having a hard time judging people's pace but wanted to keep the traffic moving. At times I wondered if I was going to be playing chicken with a Saturn, but luckily there was no car to human contact. It was a pet friendly race which is awesome, I love dogs, but I do not love dogs who are not controlled when racing. My dog is a total ass clown, I know to not bring him to races. Granted, I would say 8 out of 10 dogs were awesome running pals ... but I got by 2 puppies who did not know how to run with their owner. But hey .... they're puppies .... I 100% understand. The race shirt is awesome. Bright blue and funky. I got my size, but they were once again out the mediums so Erin had to settle for a smaller size. You would think with preregistration they would have some idea on how many shirts they needed. I really cannot wait to wear it. The "after party" was not so much ... most people cleared out real quick. But then again, I never stand around either. Honestly, what is most important is that I think everyone had fun. The race was well organized (despite running out of Medium shirts) and I really have no complaints.

On another note -- I have been having major calf cramping lately no matter how much I stretch and pull my calves. I had to stop just shy of the 3.2 mark to stretch them out one more time. And it is normally around the 3 mile mark that they start giving me problems. On most of my recent daily runs I have had to stretch out my calves at most intersections. It is just annoying. And I think the tight calves is causing my foot dozing off problem. Yes, my foot (mainly my right one) has been falling asleep and getting tingly mid run lately. It irks me and bothers me, but I think the tight calves are playing a major major part. But then again, I am not a doctor or a physical therapist so my tight calves and lazy sleepy feet could be completely unrelated.

Onto ING next Sunday. Oddly, I am not that thrilled about it. Lets hope my calves and feet don't give me too many problems. I would love to have a smooth and easy run but I suspect it will be tough. I have heard it is a rough course with lots of hills and the hills is what seems to trigger the issues. Oi. This shall be fun!! On top of it, I have a really bad chest and head cold that I just cannot seem to kick. Which makes breathing more difficult than it should be. I shall survive. If I don't PR - who cares. It is another 13.1 on my belt. 2 more than some people have!

On a side note: my thoughts go out to Mark Austry's family. He collapsed this Sunday after completing the Rock and Roll Dallas Half Marathon and sadly passed away. Take the time to tell your loved ones that you love them. Life really is too short.

Racevine - the runner's need to know database.

We all know that when I stumble across something awesome I just have to share with my fellow runners and well, I stumbled again. Recently I was looking for course and elevation maps and race reviews and stumbled across this page called Racevine. Basically it is a huge database of a bunch of races (everything from 5ks to Ironmans) in which people like you and me can go in and put in honest reviews of how a race went. The main idea behind the site is for real runners to put their honest review of races they have participated in to help other runners prepare for that same race or decide if they want to add it to their race calendar. You can rate how clearly the race was marked, if there were enough water stops, port-a-potties, shuttles etc. If you have ANY questions before race morning (which many people do) ... this is like the mecca of race knowledge. It can also help you plan out your race schedule... Looking for a race in Michigan in May? ...Racevine will give you all sorts of options. Are you going to be in California for a month but want to run a 10k. Racevine will clue you in on events in the area. I am the runner who wants NO surprises on race day. I want to know that there are oranges at mile 19 and that if you're not there in 3 hours you're not gonna get one. And well Racevine will tell me just that.

Well, Racevine is doing a little competition to add reviews to their already extensive database. Between March 10th and April 7th, if you contribute a review on Racevine you are automatically eligible to win some goodies. They have teamed up with some AWESOME partners and here is what’s up for grabs:

To help you get into more races they’re giving away FREE entries into the TriFREAKS triathlon series, See Jane Half Marathon, ZOOMA Colorado Half Marathon, Richmond Multisports series and the Estes Park Marathon. And to help you prepare, train and complete those races, they’re giving away schwag and other cool stuff from Lululemon Athletica, City Running Tours, Enduro Shark, XOOD, Fluid, Soigneur, TRX, Brooke Benlifer – RD, and Ellasport.

Happy reviewing, learning and hopefully winning!