What The...???

WARNING: Some images are not suitable for all readers. Today's post is PG13

Ok, so I got sucked into Words with Friends last night and well, in my quest to see if a word was "real" I stumbled across this.....the first WHAT THE??? of the day.

JAZZLE YOUR VAG

Vajazzling

Vaginal adornment?! I heard about this a little while ago and thought it was a joke. Its real and Im convinced a lot of chicks are going to add this experience to their goddamn bucket lists. Apparently the procedure costs $50.00 + at a spa... Eff that if it becomes popular enough maybe Ill just open a vajazzle shop in my garage. My price would be $9.99 - using quality rhinestones and my glue gun Ill clitter up your c section scar so nicely youll be the envy of every hooker in the trailer park. Hmm... might do a little penazzling myself but instead of bling Ill use sharks teeth.

Come on! Bling for your bojingo?! This is the worst idea of life. We over here at the Artificial Vagina ({}) know a little about ladies parts and promise you that if you get this itll just look like you have shiny crabs

~Frank Breaker

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In other What The...??? news, luckily I did not pee in my pants during the run Saturday as I would have surely suffered another Crotchsicle* episode like I did at the MidWinter Classic 10 Miler. Oh so this was posted on the Race the Runways page, if you thought I was exaggerating about the run, I wasn't. 

*crotchsicle-when a tiny bit of leaked urine freezes onto your CWX compression tights leaving a beautiful pattern of icicles on your crotch because it is too freaking cold out.
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Lots of sweaty training this weekend and once again, I am suffering from GSC.
What is GSC?
Garmin Strap Chafing.

This happened in Florida too. The 910 strap is so sharp, it literally digs in and slices up my skin! 

In the top photo you can actually see the white scar from the first one...

OUCH.

What the....

perhaps it is the bony part of my sternum not really helping matters...

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MORE What The...

I discovered this delicious little tidbit of news from a year ago from my friend, Leslie on her FB feed.

Nutella pays $3M for totally making us think it's healthy

4/27/2012

Luscious Nutella is taking a beating today as its scrumptious reputation goes down the tubes in a cascade of hazelnut and chocolate deliciousness. In an unsurprising development, confectionary maker Ferrero has agreed to pay out $3 million in two class-action lawsuit settlements to suckers, er, consumers who actually believed the company's sugar-coated ads claiming that Nutella was a healthy food suitable to ply children with before school. That cash might be best spent teaching folks with an insatiable sweet tooth to read, since the nutrition label clearly lists the treat's 200 calories per serving, along with its 11 grams of fat -- the equivalent of a 3 Musketeers candy bar. Who knows, maybe they're devouring those for breakfast, too.

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So what's making you shake your head today and go "What the....???"

Wind & Whoopie Pies

About a month ago, signed up for the Race the Runways half marathon and signed the hubbster up for the 5k and figured we'd have a fun day of running together and I would just do whatever Coach told me to do regarding the run (race or train) and Casey could get another race under his belt.

What I liked about this race was the medal.

race swag, sweet medal!

What I also liked was that it is hosted on the (now defunct) Brunswick Naval Air Base and a portion of the run in completed on the runway of the base. How ironic that this would be what I liked least about this race...

Initially the weather was predicting 40's and rain. Not ideal for running. Then the forecast changed to 30's and sunny. Then the day before cold and windy.
For once, the meteorologist was right...but it least it wasn't raining, right?

On the road

Coach had a pretty specific plan laid out for the run and it was indeed a training run on tap, mostly aerobic heart rate zones. So definitely just a training day for me!

Casey, on the other hand, was heading into this race with goals to beat his last 5k time.

My friend, Katelyn, was going to running too so we made plans to meet up there. She was also running as a training day too so we thought if our HR zones and pace worked out, we could run together!

Honestly, it was so cold and windy (22* and sustained winds of 20mph with gusts up to 50mph) if I had not just driven an hour here, if I did not want that cool airplane medal and if I did not have Katelyn to run with, there is NO WAY IN HECK I would have run in those conditions for a training day.

In the warmth of the car--no long warm up run would happen!

Casey wanted a good warm up for his 5k (can't blame him!) so he said good bye to us and headed into the frigid wind and cold...while we hit out in the car for a while longer!

Finally, we got out and did a little jogging, a little huddling, and a little shivering waiting for the gun to go off!! I realized that I left my iPod in the car (oh well) and was glad once again to have company to run today!

Video of the start, you can hear the wind!

The 5k and the Half starts together and then we split off in different directions. The first bit of the run was fine, the wind was to our backs and then about a mile and a half in...there it was.

WIND

Cold, bitter, hard blowing wind. Relentless...so I just watched my heart rate and adjusted my pace accordingly, keeping things in check. Once we got to the tarmac (runway) that's when things just got downright silly. The giant wall of wind was just pushing against you! My heart rate shot up to the 150's even though I was barely running a 10 minute mile. The wind was stinging my face and a couple times, it made it kind of hard to breathe!

But we just kept chugging along, I'd check with Katelyn to make sure she was in her zones and I'd check mine. We hit the part where there is a double loop to run and you pass the aid stations with water, gel and gatorade. On the second loop, I walked the aid station to get in some fluids (I can't run and drink from a cup without spilling it...I did not want spillage all over me on this freezing day) and as I WALKED up to the volunteer to get a cup, he spilled the entire cup of Gatorade down the front of me, my entire right leg soaked. AWESOME. I really, really wanted a wet leg on this cold and windy day!! ha ha ha (not really) but whatever, it's not like  he did it on purpose.

Katelyn and I had a couple laughs over the weird mile markers because of the double loop (oh, mile 11 already...oh, no. Only mile 7...) and we were both pretty done with battling the cold and the wind by the time we were done with the loop and the last 2 miles did go by pretty quick.

Another friend, Mike, was there as a photographer and I got to see his smiling face on the course a couple times too. He was somewhere in that last 2 mile stretch and so Katelyn and I had to bust a move for some sweet pics! Can't wait to see those!

Finally, we could hear the PA system and cheers so we knew the finish wasn't far. I recall Katelyn saying something like "oh, it's not windy here" and I was like "shhhh, you are going to jinx us!" SURE ENOUGH. Two feet later--whammo!! more wind.

Round the corner and there it was...THE FINISH LINE. Honestly, this was an "slow and easy" run but I felt worked!! Running slow can be more painful than running fast (or at least that's how if felt on this day). I was never so happy to see a finish line and even contemplated doing cartwheels if I would not kick anyone in the head...

Awwwwsome! DONE :)

DONE! I got my cool medal, a solar blanket and a WHOOPIE PIE!!


The company, Wicked Whoopies, donated 1,200 whoopie pies to all finishers> YUMMMMO!

two cold girls!!

While I did not race yesterday, this was actually a really essential training day. Normally, I would not have run outside in those conditions. So yesterday was mental toughness training and character building day! I smiled the whole time and made sure to thank volunteers along the way. I am sure they were freezing their buns off out there!!

I will definitely return to this race next year and chase a new half mary PR!!
And enjoy another whoppie pie!!


HUGE CONGRATS to Mr. Small who ran his butt to another 5k PR, shaving another :33 off his time and in that wind!! 22:40 for a 7:17/pace. Nice work Casey!!

Perspective & TRI-Mania Boston

This weekend I had the opportunity to attend the TRI-Mania Expo in Boston with my Rev3 teammates, old (ling time Rev3/Trakkers team veteran and "big bro" Jamie, and second year vets Jordan and Ryan) and new (Laura)! Last year was pretty cool and I had a blast working the Rev3 booth and talking with everyone and meeting new friends IRL (in real life) that I had been socializing with in social media for quite some time...so as a second year Team Rev3 "veteran" myself, I knew this year would be even more fun! Plus, Rev3 Race Director extraordinaire, Eric Opdyke, would be joining us.

The team was registered for the "Team Challenge" which were a series of events through out the day; a run in the morning, a relay swim at lunch time and a time trail CompuTrainer bike session in the afternoon. When I first found out about the team challenge, I was stoked! I could not wait to compete in the time trial and was really looking forward to that event.

Laura, Ryan, Jordan and me

As the Expo approached however, I started to get really nervous and anxious about the whole Team Challenge thing. I am just not "fast" right now and that is not what my training is about at the moment. I also found out that due to a family commitment, I would have to leave the expo early afternoon, thus unable to compete in the bike time trial (my strength). So I would be running and swimming with the team...ugh.

I don't care so much about my own personal times right now, as witnessed by my 5k run time at Kerrymen Pub 5k last weekend--my focus is on my training and not these fun little races right now. But when my times are a reflection on the TEAM...especially when your teammates are super-freaking-fast even NOW, in March.

Jordan, surrounded by awesome

Let's see, there's Jordan who runs like a 12 minute half marathon (ok, so really 1:22 but might as well be 12 minutes to me) and we've got Laura, who is not only awesome in all ways NOT triathlon but has raced her way to Kona, 70.3 Worlds and BQ'd like it was easy, after a broken pelvis. Ryan is no slouch either...that boy can ride a bike and run pretty dang fast. Plus, the boys take this stuff pretty seriously.

What about Jamie? Ahh, the J-man. JBalls. Jamie had an unfortunate accident this winter skiing and he is currently running around with a broken back. Lucky for us, Jamie was well enough to join us for the day at the Expo, but there would be no racing for Jamie this weekend. It is a blessing he is up and walking. PERIOD>

Rev3Love

Thinking about my fast teammates and how I did not want to drag down the team average really bothered me. Stressed me out. Made me feel SOO anxious. I was actually dreading the whole thing. At least if I could participate in the bike time trial, I could save myself a little dignity since I can ride a bike...

I expressed my concerned to Laura and Jamie and as usual, Big Bro Jamie really gave me some perspective:

Hey Jen, you can run. Be happy about that. 

*reality slapped me in the face*

Here I was stressed out about time when my teammate was recovering from a broken back. That really took some of the stress off and put things in perspective.
It's funny, Jamie is quite a few years younger than me, but I always look up to him and have an immense amount of respect for what he has to say. You rock JBalls!!

 Laura said that she wasn't feeling very fast that day either as she had been nursing a cold so we agreed to run together since the day was about TEAM UNITY and not times as far as she was concerned. I really appreciated that she was gonna run with me. We invited to BOYS to run with us but they declined (duh!).

With no warm-up to speak of (does 1 lap count?) Laura and I lined up together to run the nearly-3 mile Team Challenge Run. Since Laura and I would run together, I ditched the music (how rude would THAT be?) and we ran. The weather was strange. It was cold but sunny and if you were protected from the wind, it wasn't that bad...then we rounded this corner and was like *SMACK* with this wall of wind!

We finished holding hands (how romantic??) and averaged a pace of 7:27 for the run. Oh, did I mention I had to stop to tie my shoe? rookie mistake! SO, it was Faster than Kerrymen last weekend but with a lower heart race. It was really cool that Laura ran with me and now I was feeling relaxed.

Here's Jordan running...smart girl, that Rinny drafting off him. Crazy Jordan, running half naked in that cold...but I guess when you run that fast, being out in the elements for just a few minutes isn't so bad.

 &

Ryan Rounding the corner on the last lap around campus

After the run, we got to chat with Rinny. She asked about our missing teammate, Jordan and she was quite disappointed that he took off after the run (he was probably getting dressed). Rinny is as cute as a button and just as nice as she is cute! She was doing well in the Boston cold for all the warm weather she's been in lately.

Then it was time to swim.

My favorite pic of the day!

I found out that the swim was going to be done relay style, each of our four team members swimming 200 yards each. Easy enough. BUT...it was a dive start! eeek. Laura and I kind of laughed and had a mini-freakout since neither one of us does a diving start. So I moved my goggles under my swim cap and thought about the form I'd seen the swim team use. I did two dive starts and did a quick swim warm up. SUCCESS. awesome. NO ISSUES.

doing my best impersonation of a seal upon exit
of the MIT pool during the warm up

When it came time for me to go

arms straight & snug to ears, head tucked...

the goggles flipped right over. I tried to adjust them while swimming but no such luck. They were back on me but filled with water. That's not gonna work so at the wall, I adjusted them. Good enough...finish swimming.

All in all it was a great day and I got to hang out with people I really enjoy being around. Plus, I got to know my cool-awesome new teammate, Laura, a bit better. Now that she has relocated to the Northeast from Hawaii, we are definitely going to get some time in training together! Plus, she rides the same bike as I do--A beautiful Quintana Roo cd0.1--so how can she NOT be awesome?? Looks we will be driving to Rev3 Knoxville together and you know THAT is going to be one heck of a drive~

As I was leaving the expo, someone called my name.

It was Dutch!! And he was with DDAthlete, another friend from cyberspace!

IT was really cool to finally meet THESE TWO rockstars IRL and we will be meeting up again at Rev3 Quassy. Looks like DD has some revenge on those hills too!

Talkin' Turkey #EnduranceFoodies

Today I'm talking Turkey.
Ok, not literally...but we are gonna get all Turkish on you today.

When I asked Jason at Cook Train Eat Race to participate in the Mediterranean Cuisine #EnduranceFoodies Blog Carnival, I had no idea what country I could get and put my name in the hat for several different countries in the Mediterrenean region; some I knew a bit about and others I know not a single thing, but thought it would be fun to learn.

I ended up with the country TURKEY for the #EnduranceFoodies fun fest! When I started reading about the country of Turkey, I discovered that Turkish cuisine is largely vegetable based in most regions of the country. I was familiar with some dishes such as kebabs but did you know that red lentil soup is popular for breakfast? Me either! I'd totally have lentil soup for breakfast and will be giving this soup a go!

I am a huge hummus fan and we have this on hand at all times. Store bought, homemade, etc. Everyone in this house loves it! It is so easy to make yourself and more economical. Plus, this is one ingredient in my favorite post-hard-day-of-training-recovery meal, a GIANT veggie sandwich (as I talked about earlier this month!!). There is something so satisfying about the layer of flavors and textures and the saltiness of my "sammy", I knew I had to go this direction with the recipe.

Hummus bi Tahina
(Turkish Hummus)

1 large can of chickpeas (I chose organic)
*save a couple whole chickpeas for garnish
1/3 cup sesame tahini
2 large lemons, juiced
1/2 cup* of good quality olive oil
*(more or less may be needed depending on the consistency of the hummus you prefer)
2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
salt to taste

garnish:
(I use)
crushed red chili pepper
chopped cilantro

other options:
chopped parsley
paprika
roasted peppers

Drain (reserve the liquid) and rinse the chickpeas and put into a food processor. Add your tahini, juice from the lemons, chopped garlic and a pinch of salt. Process and slowly add the olive oil while blending. Keep blending until everything reaches a smooth, creamy consistency. You may use some of the liquid from the can of chickpeas in addition to the olive oil to bring the hummus to a smooth consistency.

Garnish with chickpeas, chopped cilantro, a sprinkle of crushed red chili peppers and a drizzle of olive oil. I like to let mine sit for a bit to let the flavors blend.

This recipe can easily be doubled. Store any leftovers in the fridge, covered.

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How do I make my favorite recovery Veggie Sammy? You can find one version here but there is always lots of green (spinach, baby lettuces, sprouts), crunch (cuke slices, carrots, red peppers), salty sour pickles and hot from hot sauce, sriracha, or jalapenos and cool creaminess from hummus! I love to add avocado not only for the taste and creamy texture but for the good fats that we need to aid in recovery.

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The other participants in the blog carnival along with their country of choice are as follows:

March 18th

Meg – Lebanon - http://gillmergirl.com

March 19th

Lindsay – Greece - Hummus Flat Bread

Lacy – Israel -  Raisin And Nut Quinoa Bowl

March 20th

Adrienne – Morocco – Chickpea Tagine And Carrot Salad

Donna – Tunisia - Seafood Stew With Quinoa

March21st

Victoria – Egypt - http://obligatorytriblog.blogspot.com/

Jen – Turkey - RIGHT HERE!

March 22nd

Laurie – Albania - http://Outdooradventurecanada.com

Brittany - Spain - http://brittsblogging.wordpress.com

She Says: It's all about E-Motion

I have long been a fan of the Pearl iZUMi running shoes.
Even before I was lucky enough to be on the Rev3 Team and got to work with them as a team sponsor.

As seen here in Spring 2011 when the Streak II was released

Shortly after the Steak II became part of my shoe repertoire, I tried the tri specific shoe, the ISO Transition and did a majority of my triathlons in that very model in the 2011 season.

I once again rocked the ISO Transition in the 2012 season, as seen here on the Rev3 Maine course.

In January at the Rev3 Team Summit, we had the pleasure of touring the Pearl iZUMi headquarters.
While there, the team was introduced to the VERY NEW line of shoes that PI launched called
E:MOTION

 Inspired by Efficiency, Designed for Motion (EM)

One big bag of colorful sneaks!

The new shoe line is completely different from the previous shoes.
The designs are new.
The names have changed.
There are more options.

This is the new E:Motion Tri N1 (men's) and I just love the colors!

Women's Health magazine even listed the new Pearl Izumi E:Motion Road N2 as one of the 7 Best Running Sneakers

So what is so different about the new Pearl iZUMi line? The thing that stood out to me the most was Dynamic Offset.

So what exactly IS dynamic offset anyway? Well this video does a great job at illustrating it...

The height difference between the heel and ball of foot is continually changing as the foot moves through out the stride. 

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The wait is finally over! The new E:Motion line launched recently and is available on their website and in stores at select retailers such as RunningWarehouse.com and Fleet Feet and more.

I just ordered these and I cannot wait to get my toes in them!! Tim DeBoom was at the PI headquarters the day we were there and it was great to hear him talk about how involved he is in the development of the products.




Working with 2x Ironman® World Champion Tim DeBoom, the Project E:Motion Tri N 2 was built to meet the harsh demands of Kona. The TRI N 2 is the long course model. The Seamless Upper gives chafe-free, sockless comfort while the E:Motion platform provides a smooth, fast transitioning ride all the way down Ali’i Drive.





I will be sure to let you know how awesome these are once I get my little big feet into them!

Kerrymen Pub 5k

Not Racing.

Yesterday was pretty cool, it was the first time I have ever "raced" with the hubby at the Kerrymen Pub 5k. I have to put "race" in quotes because I chose not to race it yesterday, opting to keep my focus on the big picture (thank you Michelle Ford) which is my training schedule. 

What am I training for? A handful of Rev3 Half's and the big dance, Rev3 Cedar Point Full in Sept.

It was a pretty full week of training with a long bike with some strength work on Saturday and Sunday was a long run after the 5k. Sweet. Never done THAT before...but I do whatever Sharpie tells me to do (I'm submissive like that! ha...probably the only time in my life that I am).

Last year I went into this race to race and seeking a sub-22, which I missed by :25 seconds but walked away from that with a shiny new PR of 22:24. At the time, I was disappointed that I did not meet my goal and I did not appreciate the fact that I ran hard and gave it my all. This year I had initially wanted to chase that 21:xx minute clock again but realistically, this is not what my training is about right now. It really wasn't that important to me and that long run was important to me...so I made the decision to run the race and keep the focus on my training run.  

This is a pretty big event for a local 5k, about 1200 runners and a ton of people participate in the walk, Mary's Walk. The event is a fundraiser for Maine Cancer Fund and the race is in honor of a local woman, Mary Kerry, who died of cancer and this is the route she used to walk daily. This is the 15th year of the race and there were 3,000 people registered for the event!

We parked about a half mile away from the start and got out to warm up. It was rather cold for March (28*)  and there was a bitter cold wind but it was sunny! I really wanted to wear something cute, like a glittery green running skirt and knee socks but I don't have anything like...so I rocked my blue Rev3 gear with a smile (and three layers under it!).

Casey and I warmed up for a bit and then we found Marc, who was also running today. We ran a bit and lined up for the start. Then we found Jon, a friend of Casey's and one of the athletes I have been working with since the fall.

This race shuts down half of Route 1 through town and seeds the start by your run time (I love this!) but with that many people running there is always a delay to get moving.

Ready...set....GO!

 I started with Marc and Casey and the first mile was a very comfortable 7:20 and then you round the corner and head right into a wind and a slight incline for a bit. Round another corner and there is a water stop to the left and where I got jammed up...as I eased out to the right, a group of young runners blocked me. Around another corner and another slight incline...and WIND! My pace dropped to 7:40 for the second mile, around another corner and into the home stretch.

because it would not be a race without at tongue out pic, right??

running happy here, almost done!

I had been running with a local tri friend, Kim for a bit and I was just watching her run-so gazelle like! She's got these long, lean legs and she appeared to be just floating along...run, run, run. I had not seen Casey or Marc in a bit and I was just chugging along when I felt a tap on my shoulder at mile 2.5. It was Casey!! I smiled at him and we ran together for a bit and as we got a tad closer to the finish, with about a .25 mile to go, he took off...and then Marc ran past me, chasing after Casey and he was on a mission! I could tell he was out for blood and did NOT want Casey to finish before him. I just kept running, watch Casey just GO towards the finish with Marc going after him. I think I was smiling and laughing a bit but proud at the same time.

Marc on his way to a +1 min PR

Double PR!! Jon by 4+ mins and Casey by 1:30

Casey finished in 23:16 (smashing his previous 5k time by more than a minute and a half)

Marc finished in 23:24 (another awesome PR!! by over a minute!)

Me? I finished in 23:46 (I was predicting a 23:30 finish) 

Jon finished in 28:52 (the biggest PR of the day by more than 4 minutes!!)

I was so psyched to see the three of them get huge PR's!! One proud Coach for sure!

The wind was blowing and I was cold...it was time to get moving and get my training run done so it was time to say goodbye to everyone and get going.

Later on as I was checking out the official results. I had run today at a comfortably-hard effort that was more in line with how I would pace a 10k, I certainly did not put the pedal to the metal today...and as I checked the results I was a bit bummed. A "comfortably-hard" effort had placed me 8th in my age group! Now if I had pushed it today, could I have snagged an AG award?? Who knows...but would that have brought me any closer to my goals? Probably not...in addition to the 5k today, I got an additional easy 9 miles on the books and THAT is what is going to get me closer to my goals today.

Regardless, it was a super fun day and I am proud of my guys for crushing it out there!!