2016 Spring Lake 5 recap

Hi.

Happy Sunday. I ran the Spring Lake 5 yesterday. It was the 40th anniversary of the race. That’s a lot of years! The race is held in Spring Lake, New Jersey which is on the Jersey Shore.

IMG_6590While the race doesn’t start until 8:30am you have to arrive fairly early to park, usually around 7am. Normally that would mean me heading out at about 6:20 (from Mr. SOTSS’s house) but yesterday started out even earlier. I left about 45 minutes earlier  because Lisa’s Jeep was having some technical difficulties the night before so we made a last minute plan that involved her trekking via subway from Brooklyn to Penn Station and then another train to New Jersey near Mr. SOTSS’ house where I scooped her up and then we traveled down to the race together. While I’m sorry about the Jeep it was actually awesome that we had the 45 minute ride in each direction to chat. We haven’t been able to do much running together and had lots to catch up on. (like 5 months worth!) (P.S. her Jeep issue is most likely a short in the ignition which isn’t too hard or expensive to fix. Fingers crossed!).

We were super early arriving at 6:45am. But by the time we walked to the start area tent to get our shirts and other swag and then walked back to drop it all to the car we then met up with her cousin Bill who is actually the UPS driver for the area of Spring Lake (which is such a hoot because he’s like the mayor! Everyone knows him) and then we met up with my friend Jane and said a quick hello to Elvia too.

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Jane and me on the beach before the start

Ultimately we were all hanging out by the corrals about 40 minutes before race time and just casually chit chatted. I like not being rushed on race morning and I really like when the social aspect of the race is almost more important than the race itself 🙂

corral group selfie

corral group selfie

A sea of runners

A sea of runners

Jane was dressed for Memorial Day weekend with her all-american shorts :)

Jane was dressed for Memorial Day weekend with her all-american shorts 🙂

Getting ready to start

Getting ready to start

There were over 10,000 runners and while they had pace signs up to help the runners (and walkers) line up appropriately they didn’t do a wave start which meant it was super crowded for the first mile or 2. Interestingly my fastest two splits were miles 1 and 2. I was keeping a 9:30 pace. But I knew at the halfway point that the heat was getting to me already and I slowed down a little more with each mile.

It was HOT yesterday. Even at the start it was already 75 degrees and probably 80 when we finished. There was very little shade on the course which meant the sun really beat down on us. The local fire dept trucks were spraying their hoses out on the course which was awesome.

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Rutgers represent!

Rutgers represent!

And there is so much crowd support at this race. I love it! Lots of bands playing and neighbors out cheering us on.

I am proud of myself for running the entire time with the exception of walking through 2 water stops because if this wasn’t a race (with a medal waiting for me at the finish) I would have probably quit running and just walked back to my car.

I finished in 51:12 with an average pace of 10:15. (Overall: 3646 of 10290 • F40-44: 170 of 714) Not too shabby for me. I’m guessing if it were a 55-60 degree day I’d have come in closer to 49-50 minutes but really, my finish time wasn’t important in the least. 

Loved the medal. It was pretty and Springy

Loved the medal. It was pretty and Springy

These orange slices were the bomb!

These orange slices were the bomb!

After the race Lisa her cousin and I had brunch and then I took Lisa back to the train station for her trek home. I spent the rest of the day mostly indoors.

We all like air conditioning over 95 degrees

We all like air conditioning over 95 degrees

IMG_3237This morning I met my other friend Lisa for brunch and now I’m relaxing on the sofa before I tackle some freelance work and some chores.

Say hello to my blueberry belgian waffle with lemon curd and best iced coffee i've had in a while.

Say hello to my blueberry waffle with lemon curd and best iced coffee i’ve had in a while.

Tonight I’m headed down to the “Jersey Shore” to play some mini-golf and enjoy some other amusements on the boardwalk with Mr. SOTSS and his girls. Still hard to believe it’s not 4th of July weekend because it feels so darn summery.

I hope you are enjoying your weekend.

TGIF! Let the weekend begin!

Seriously….I feel like my eyes need to be propped open with toothpicks. It’s been a long week back after my Adirondacks vacation last weekend. I’m only in week 3 of this new full-time job­‑and with the car accident, complete routine shift, and not yet really feeling like my role is defined yet at the job, I’ve been on edge, unsure, more tired than usual and just feeling a little out of sorts.  

I did manage to get in my 2 weekday runs. The first was a 3-miler on Tuesday night after work.

Post work 5k

Post work 5k

It was what felt like a lovely Summer night even though we’re still a month away from Summer. The temps in New York have been reaching 88-92 each day. Yikes #NotReadyfortheSweat

I have to say that running in the evening for a short 3 miles is perfect. Enough to get out some of the anxiety but it takes up only 30ish minutes which leaves me time for hanging with the doodle and doing some freelance work or chores. 

This morning I was up and out the door at 6am for another 3 miler. It was hot and humid and I was drenched in just 34 minutes.

Why does the color gray show sweat so much

Why does the color gray show sweat so much

Drenched!

Drenched!

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Other than running, walking the dog and drinking too much coffee the rest of my week was spent on the sofa trying to relax and regroup for the next day.

more coffee

more coffee

Strolling the neighborhood for a few miles each night.

Strolling the neighborhood for a few miles each night.

I’ve been dvr-ing Ellen and watching it at night and I’ve been loving that. 

On Wednesday, after work I drove straight to the mall to get a birthday gift for Mr. SOTSS’ daughter. She’s going to be 13! While I was there I saw there was a Nathan’s in the food court and just couldn’t resist. Those fries are my absolute favorite. 

I heart Nathan's fries!

I heart Nathan’s fries!

I’ve got a super busy Memorial Day weekend starting with the Spring Lake 5 tomorrow morning. I can’t believe I’m actually going to be running. Two years ago I registered but got injured and ended up taking Duncan down with me to spectate which was so much fun.

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I also met Mr. SOTSS for our second date later that day. We wanted the dogs to meet and walked around a park by my house. It started to rain and Duncan was annoyed because he hates walking in the rain. I remember turning around and whispering to him “C’mon Duncan, we’re on a date!” 

Post date

My loyal “wingman”

 I had so much fun spectating that I went again last year to do the same.

he would rather spectate me on the sidelines. LOL.

he would rather spectate me on the sidelines. LOL.

The race is 5 miles and I don’t run a ton of races that distance. My current PR is 49:10 (9:50 per mile pace) which is from 2011. The weather will be warm and as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I’m just feeling the effects of the transition to working full time in an office again so I really have no expectations or goals for the race other than to see and hug my running peeps. I miss them!

The rest of the weekend will be a back and forth between hanging with Mr. SOTSS and his daughters for fun stuff and home to get some freelance work done and get some chores out of the way. I’m also planning on meeting up with another friend for brunch and of course cuddling as much as I can with my furr kid.

This was the face that said goodbye to me this morning

This was the face that said goodbye to me this morning

I hope you all enjoy your weekend as well. 

What’s the weather by you today?

Any exciting weekend plans?

Hi. I’m back from a 4-day weekend getaway in the Adirondacks.

trout-house-dock

Mr SOTSS and I (and Duncan and Chester too!) took a road trip.

my lap-mate

my lap-mate

Chester napping in the back

Chester napping in the back

Since we had the dogs (and since I get hangry if I don’t stop to eat during any drive more than 3 hours) we stopped in Kingston, NY on the drive up for a little lunch. We spotted this great spot with outdoor seating which was perfect since we had the dogs in tow.stone-soup

We arrived at the Trout House Village Resort in the late afternoon. It’s on the northern part of Lake George in Hague, NY and offers many individual log cabins, as well as a more traditional inn. Pet friendly too! We stayed in one of the log cabins called the “Ethan Allen Patio”.trout-house-village-resort

Our digs

Our digs

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at the park adjacent to the resort

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Being silly at the park 🙂

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Duncan loves benches

After getting the car unpacked and walking the dogs, we headed up to Ticonderoga (about 15 min away) to the WalMart for some groceries to stock the cabin which had a full kitchen. And we saw not one but 2 different rainbows!

One of our favorite walking destinations was this little park on the lake

One of our favorite walking destinations was this little park on the lake

Rainbow 2

Rainbow 1

Rainbow 1

Rainbow 2

More »

Hi there and Happy Wednesday.

Things are moving along and my Subaru is being repaired. They said it might even be ready to be picked up before the week is out! In the meantime I’ve rented a car to get to and from work and life carries on.

My new morning ritual. Turn on computer, sip coffee and have a few handfuls of Peanut M&Ms. Clearly not the healthiest choice

My new morning ritual. Turn on computer, sip coffee and have a few handfuls of Peanut M&Ms. Clearly not the healthiest choice

I went for a run on Monday night just after sunset and about a mile and a half into the run Mr. SOTSS called. I normally don’t run with my phone for short runs but since it was going to be dark I took it with me just to be safe. I’ve never answered a phone call while running before but I knew I had to answer because Monday was a special day. It marked 2 years to the day that Mr. SOTSS and I had our first date in a Starbucks in Manhattan. I got a side stitch at one point, so I walked a few blocks. But once it subsided I picked it up again.

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Yesterday was my first stressful day at the office so after work, since I had to pick up a few items at the store, I randomly grabbed People magazine. I figured that between some playtime with Duncan and perusing a mindless magazine I’d be able to #let-it-go.

mindless reading and a little "tug"

mindless reading and a little “tug”

There's just no way to remain stressed when this static electricity eared doodle gives you that face

There’s just no way to remain stressed when this static electricity eared doodle gives you that face

Ok now on to the serious stuff.

This morning I ran a few miles in honor of a very special little girl.

IMG_2902If you read this post about my meaningful miles at the NYC Marathon you know the story. Abbie, the daughter of my former High School friend was struck by a car and killed tragically while crossing the street a year ago today. His family continues to keep her memory alive through random acts of kindness. So with Abbie’s favorite color being purple, I decided to bring these Hershey Kisses to the office this morning and place a couple on each of my team’s desks. #RandomActsofKindness4Abbie #never4getAbbieZ

For Abbie

For Abbie

Feel free to visit this beautiful memorial page on Facebook

So if you’re reading this today, maybe there’s some way for you to act kindly, randomly, to someone? 

Have a great day!