Sunday, August 1, 2010

runnin' with the devil

just kidding! i wasn't running with the devil; we don't get along all that well. actually I was running with an angel...a Tri-Angel to be exact! Meet Heidi (aka: Tri-Angel), my guest running partner for my long run on friday. CLICK HERE to visit her awesome blog. she is one of the first blogs i started following when i first started mine back at the end of december. i highly recommend her blog as she is highly entertaining and does some really neat events in New Orleans where she has set up shop for a while. better yet, here are her own words from her blog profile:

Runner turned triathlete, future Doctor of Physical Therapy, and spinning instructor. Lover of snowboarding, surfing, yoga, cosmos, hot pink, and can't forget my hottie aviator and mini-wieners! Join me in my venture as I haphazardly juggle life and this crazy Ironman training. I thank God every day I am able to participate in this great sport we call triathlon!

as luck would have it for me, heidi was in town to visit her hub's family so we hatched a plan to meet up for whatever training we could coordinate. it just so happened we both needed to get our long run in for the week so that was the plan for friday morning. heidi also happens to be training for her first IM race...IM Florida on November 6th so we are about 2 weeks apart in our training, which worked out very nicely. thankfully she is a super early bird like me so there was no twisting her arm to meet me at 5:30am. my long run was 15 miles and hers was about 12.5 so i ended up doing the last couple of miles solo and that was the hardest of all the miles but i was just so tickled to have someone who could run my pace and yack the entire time with me. we never ran out of things to talk about either...blogging, blog guilt (not having enough time to blog or comment on other blogs), our part time jobs of training for a 140.6 mile race, our training philosophies, the cool bloggers we already follow and recommending blogs to each other that we should be reading. this blog world of ours is incredible...nuf said. love you all!

the coolest part about having a guest athlete with me is that i get to show them all the beauty i get to experience on a daily basis whether running or biking...not swimming because the pool is not a thing of beauty to me, only a thing of necessity. so without further ado, some pics of the last part of our run. some of these will look familiar to my elder followers when i did a picture post way back when after one of my afternoon runs.

fire road heading into the park
smooth pavement after the fire road heading to another off road trail

the water station with cold water to drench ourselves in

another beautiful fire road we ran on

beautiful pond we passed on our way to and from the park
as much as i love running alone, it is a lot of fun running with a friend or two. i will say this, good running (and cycling) friends are very hard to come by.

after we finished our hard work for the day, we came back to my crib and let the flip cam roll while we goofed off in the back patio area. here are a few more of our pics:

in other training news...had an awesome weekend of riding. 93 miles in the hills yesterday with a heat index of 109! today we did a flat 50 and i am starting to feel like i've turned a corner in my training....the only way i know how to describe it is that when the heat gets turned on high and the mileage is high, and i've been at it for hours, i still feel very strong. i know you all know what i'm talking about, right? it's just a really good feeling. you know you're doing something right.

some more fun news...i signed up to do this: Ragnar Relay. according to the website description, it is 12 runners, 2 vans, 24 hours, 200 mile(ish) relay race where you run, drive, sleep, repeat. i think it will be a perfect event following the 140.6 Great Floridian race on October 23rd. i'm very aware of the post race blues so this will be my way of heading it off before it can set in. here is a great description of the florida central ragnar relay i will be doing from November 19th thru the 20th:

This 191 mile adventure-fest will push you and 11 pals from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean. Starting in Clearwater and finishing in Daytona Beach this relay offers runners a unique opportunity to run across the state of Florida as it passes through the shoreline towns of Palm Harbor, Tarpon Springs, New Port Richey, and the horse country of the Ocala National Forest. The race (and your stamina) wraps up within earshot of the roaring engines of the Daytona 500 and the crashing waves of the Atlantic Ocean.

our team is sponsored by Feet First a very cool running store in Tampa and St. Pete. they have been around for over 20 years and know their stuff. so has anyone else out there done one of these ragnar relays? if so, please give me some details.

i think that's all i've got for now. congrats to Kevin at Ironman by thirty and to Matt at Staying Strong and Positive and his bride, Heather O who did their first 70.3 -Whirlpool IM 70.3 Steelhead yesterday. i know many others raced some sprint distances this weekend and i'm making my way to your blogs to catch up.

much love and PEACE OUT!

22 comments:

  1. You two crazy chics look like fun to hang out with!!

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  2. Looks so awesome!! You guys must have had a blast! AND you are right, running friends are hard to come by!

    VERY cool that as the heat and mileage go up, you feel strong!

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  3. Hi Kristine,
    Your running route looks absolutely wonderful! I think it is awesome that you got to run with another Tri girl like yourself:) Running with someone always makes the time go by faster too!

    I have never seen a park that has a water station!?! How cool is that:) Keep it up Lady!

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  4. Looks like you had a great weekend of training!!!

    And I second your good running/riding partners. All of mine live out of state so we don't ride at all - except virtually!

    Have a great week and keep up the training!

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  5. You two look great together. I love the water station. I feel lucky if I find a working fountain!

    Registering for the relay is a great idea. I'm already looking at late November/December races too for the same reason.

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  6. Those pictures are great! It looks like you two had a lot of fun together! It must have been awesome to have someone to do your long run with.
    Have fun at the relay! I've never done one, but I've heard they are a lot of fun...exhausting, but fun! :)

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  7. Great pics! The Ragnar sounds like a lot of fun, we have one up here from Lacrosse to Mpls I know a few that have done it.

    Nice training!

    -Derek

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  8. The pics are quite cool. Some serious training as well, nicely done!!

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  9. The run looks beautiful. Watch out for gators.
    I'm with you, it is amazing what some consistent rides in the heat will do for your training. Getting acclimated to that sort of thing can be difficult.

    Following up 140.6 with a 200 mile relay race. Yeah. that seems normal. Have you thought about taking up quilting?

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  10. Thanks for the shout out!

    We both had an amazing racing experience when all is said and done.

    You are crazy girl. Simple as that haha! Great job nailing those workouts with your heat down there, and even cooler that they provide cold water for you guys?! I need a park like that!!!

    Cool pics too, you have some sweet trails to run on and its not all pavement/city miles, which makes the sport that much more enjoyable.

    keep up the awesome work! Can't wait for your race day :)

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  11. What an awesome weekend!

    Meeting other bloggers is so much fun and training with them is even more!

    Your relay sounds like it will be a blast, you better still be blogging then so we can hear about it!

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  12. Meeting bloggers is soooo fun

    And the both of you are speed demons!!!

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  13. FUN! I love all the pictures, too, thanks for sharing. I wish I looked that energetic after a 15 mile run! I'm looking forward to hearing all about the Ragnar. Some friends and I were going to do it this year but then had some scheduling conflicts. Once of the runner swaps is right by my house so I'll def be out there cheering you on!

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  14. That looks so fun! Can I come run with you guys next time?

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  15. Ever since I read your title, I cannot get that song runnin with the devil" by Van Halen outta my head!

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  16. thanx for letting me hang girly! sooo fun :) have a good week and good luck in the pool!

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  17. Best of luck to you at the Great Floridian! I did it last year (it was my 3rd 140.6) and it ROCKED! The bike is a bitch and the run is a blast. I placed 2nd in my age group. Best of luck to you - I am excited to see what you think of the course. :)

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  18. Yah...looks like fun, I love to run with buddies too..:)

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  19. Look at you two Ironwoman cuties!! Nice and buff and ready to rock those races!!! I will definitey hit her site! I don't run with people very often but when I do it's a welcome reprieve. I also did the CO Outward Bound relay last year and had a total blast - I hope you do, too! They are exhausting but oh so fun. I had to give it up this year until I get this heel thing figured out :(.

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  20. I love all the pics! You guys looked like you had a great time together! I can't wait to me up with some of my blogger buddies.

    Good Luck with RAGNEr!

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  21. Randomly found your blog and enjoyed reading about your expereinces... I'm also training for my first IM -- Louisville on Aug. 29. Good luck with your training and I look forward to reading more!

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