Monday, June 20, 2011

Trails, Water & New Neoprene

How was your weekend??
If you are a Daddy then I want to wish you a (belated) very Happy Fathers Day!!

It was a great weekend here in Maine. On Friday morning I ran with Lola in the jogger-9 wonderful miles. My Friday morning trail runs are becoming one of my favorite training days for sure! I have been running on this really amazing trail that is wide, flat and cool-thanks to the shade of the trees. Some days it is buggy but nothing a little Skin-So-Soft bug spray can't help-plus it makes me run faster right? I am slow with the jogger but heck, I am easily pushing an extra 60lbs...but it allows me to run without the worry of traffic, we get to see all kinds of stuff like chipmunks, squirrels, caterpillars and snakes! Plus, I can let Lola out of the jogger now and then to run with me and she likes to throw sticks into the many ponds we pass on our way. I am loving trail running and I have scoped out many new trails to run (joggerless).

The Trail Chiks in action:









Saturday I finally got my behind into a body of water that is NOT a pool for an open water swim--first of the season not counting my race last weekend. On a cold, foggy morning the last thing I wanted to do was get into water. I was not looking forward to swimming. I was dreading it actually and kept complaining to my friend, Marc about it on the drive to the pond. (As nice as he is, I am surprised he did not slap some tape over my mouth with all the complaining I was doing-thanks for your patience!) The start of the swim was slow and it took me a while to warm up and find my groove but once I did, I enjoyed it. Then I remembered why I love OWS vs. pool swimming. After swimming for a little over an hour, we ran a couple hill repeats (2 miles) and called it a day.

Saturday's Swim Scene

I need a new wetsuit--the one I have is a tad too big and I was surprised at just how much water came gushing out of it at the Pirate when I took it off. This was confirmed yet again on Saturday when another 400 gallons of water came spilling out. Pulling all the extra water around will certainly slow ya down, right??
I guess it is a good thing I scored a new one off Slowtwitch.com last week (and it was in brand new condition too!)
Lucky me!! The mailman delivered a big box to me on Saturday afternoon and I knew it was my new neoprene.

Not so lucky for me? It is a size small and while it fits, getting into it was....a wiggling act! Especially getting it up over my hips--looks like I have my OWN project wetsuit (remember this post?) But I love the feel of the new wetsuit and I think I want to make some cuts --I want to trim the calves and the arms. Gotta admit, I am scared to take some scissors to it. Any advice to a newbie neoprene cutter??

Sunday was an easy bike ride (18.5 miles) followed by a 3.2 mile run. Another beautiful Maine morning along the beach-we stopped at one point and just admired the ocean inlet where there were lobster boats anchored, the sun shining and the sounds of the ocean birds. One more reason to love where I live.

Did you enter my Tough Chik contest??

I was going to close this contest at midnight last night but I am feeling very nice after a fabulous weekend and I am going to leave it open for a few more days.

Wanna earn an extra entry?? Guess my finish time of my Run for Cash 5k coming up on Saturday. It's a small downhill at the start and the rest of the course is a series of short uphill climbs.



Did you vote for the best pee story?

16 comments:

fancy nancy said...

Lola is such a cutie!! I am trying to scope out some rail trails in my area just for a change of pace!

Teamarcia said...

Adorable pics of the girl chicks! How great Lola will tolerate 9--my girls would never go that long.
My prediction for your race is 40:11

ltlindian said...

extra entry guess--23:30

advice on the cutting--just like carpenters:

measure twice, cut once. :)

Finallyfit2011 said...

Ok we MUST run this trail together! Pretty please! I won't have an extra jogger but maybe if we get up early enough?

My extra entry guess is 24.10!!!

Love you & see you in a couple weeks!

Jason said...

Sound like an awesomely fantabulous saucy weekend....yeah that is my newest flavor....

Lola Rocks, just like her mom.

A Prelude To... said...

She's just TOO cute!
My prediction is 27:38.

Penny said...

Your little girl is a doll. Love all the pic's. I guess 23.10

Big Daddy Diesel said...

My first OWS of the season was this weekend, I hate every second of it, but at least its done and out of the way

Karien P. said...

Extra entry guess: 22:40!

Running With The Girls said...

9 miles with a jogger! Wow! 5 miles is painful for me. I guess I better get out there and practice more. :)

My guess for the 5k - 24:04

Quinton J said...

that run that you and Lola enjoyed looked amazing. Loved those photos!

HD said...

Lovely trail! Lola looks like she's having a blast :)

My guess is 26:20 for your 5K. Good luck!

RunningFromCancer said...

WOW - hill repeats AFTER an hour of swimming! And mile hill repeats at that! holy cow!
I am so impressed with all the tri athletes I follow - it just adds such an amazing fitness level to add swimming to the mix. ;-)
Your daughter is adorable and I am sure that she enjoys her time with her mum.

Unknown said...

Sounds like a great weekend! That trail looks so fun - what a great time for you and Lola together! :)

I wish I had some advice on the neoprene cutting. Maybe you should google it! ;)

Unknown said...

Oh... and I'm thinking you'll run a 26:30 on Saturday. Good luck!!!

Jamie said...

Do you and Lola do winnie the pooh-style stick races?! (drop a stick off one end of a bridge and run to the other side and see which one comes under the bridge first)

I dont know why, but those were my favorite when I was little.