Twenty Mile Bike Ride

Protein Pancakes with blueberries with a peanut butter yogurt topping

I started out this past Sunday making protein pancakes with Evan. We added some frozen blueberries to them and mixed up some peanut butter powder with yogurt to top them off. They were a little bit too dry but overall a pretty satisfying breakfast!

Woo! Stats!

Afterwards I set out on a twenty mile bike ride. I chose to follow a route I had attempted to run back when I was training for NJ. I wasn't feeling the run that day though and ended up stopping at mile 17 and catching a ride back to my house. I decided to ride it in reverse so that I would have more right turns and wouldn't have to cross as many roads.

My favorite

There are little creatures in there

At first I took the ride pretty seriously, trying to go fast... then I realized what a gorgeous day it was and I started just enjoying it. I even stopped a few times for pictures. The route took me past some farms and lots of wooded areas. I love that I can ride five minutes away from my house and be out on beautiful country roads.

While riding I focused on smooth shifting and I am definitely improving, especially on hills. I now no longer dread going up pretty steep ones. I may go REALLY slow but I at least know that I will make it... eventually. I am still having some issues when I was try to downshift major gears (or whatever they are called). Often when I went from 3 to 2 it would get messed up and I'd have to downshift into 1 to fix it...which then meant that I prematurely downshifted and was stuck practically crawling up the hill.

Overall, the ride was great. My legs definitely got a workout but I wasn't overly tired or sore. Now that I've adjusted my bike seat and handles my ride is much more comfortable. I like that I can see little improvements every time I head out on the bike. The one thing I am learning is that I need to get clipless pedals. The standard pedals I have now are pretty inefficient.

 When I got home I ended up gardening for a little while and then Evan and I went out to pick up ingredients for dinner. We had grilled shrimp marinated in a cilantro garlic mixture and haddock that was grilled on a cedar plank. It was very good. I am more and more surprised by Mr. Dudzik every day. Eating fish? Whoa!

This was definitely a perfect way to spend a sunny Sunday.

The Novo Nordisk New Jersey Marathon Recap, Part II

RACE DAY!

Despite that stupid wedding party's best efforts, I woke up ten minutes before my alarm went off and felt good! Because I laid everything out the night before it took no time at all to get ready. I tried to eat my english muffin but without it being toasted it was pretty nasty. I ate half before declaring defeat.

Melissa and Aubrey dropped me off near the start so I didn't have to worry about parking. That was great because at go time there were so many people still trying to park that the start was delayed 10 minutes! I made a quick pit stop and headed to my corral. Everything was really well organized and relaxed (at least for me)!

11,000 Runners

There were 11,000 runners there that morning, only 2000 ran the full marathon. This was a huge race compared to my first marathon (the Adirondack Distance Festival).

I can see the start!

I loved the start of this race. Since it is at the Monmouth Race Track they made the "Call to Post" for each wave and sent us off with "First Call" being played on the bugle by Monmouth's recently retired bugler. It didn't take long to get to the start even though there were so many runners and I was in the second to last corral (I really need to get faster!).

Miles 1-5:

I focused on starting out slow, conserving energy, and fueling properly. I didn't intend to go out with a pace group but I thought I could start with the 4:40 group and then speed up at the end to hit my goal time. (Spoiler alert: That didn't happen.)

The first few miles were lots of fairly quick turns and that early in the race it was really crowded. I had to work pretty hard to just keep up with the 4:40 group. I didn't talk but I listened to the conversations from the pacers, they were pretty amusing. The pace felt good though and I was happy. One snag I hit was that quite early on I had to stop because my shoe came untied. That never happens! Spring was starting to really show in New Jersey so I was pretty distracted by looking at all the flowers. The weather was perfect for this race: bright, sunny... it was little on the hot side but we had a light, very cool breeze most of the time so I never felt over heated. 

How DARE they?!

Miles 6-10:

This part was when I kept thinking.... where's the ocean? I guess I sorta knew what the course route looked like but I thought we reached ocean views a lot faster. For most of these miles we were looping through neighborhoods. They were pretty neighborhoods though! I loved going over the little bridges in this stretch. I was a little worried about such a flat course, a lot of people don't like them, but I thought it was FABULOUS! I love my New Hampshire hills but I'll take flat, flat coastline any day!

Around mile 9 we entered a very depressed area with tons of boarded up shops (same place where I am running through all the cups). I don't know if it was an area that just never recovered after Sandy or if it was always like that but it was definitely very sad to run through.

I got to see Aubrey and Melissa for the first time at the mile 9 water stop! Yay! I had been watching for them very carefully and didn't want to miss saying hi. My grandma was excitedly following my progress from home and when Aubrey posted this picture on Instagram, she was outraged that the town would leave all those cups there before the race for the runners to trip on! My dad had to explain that it was not the town, but the RUNNERS who had dropped all the cups. I love my GMa!

Miles 11-15:

Shortly after mile 10 I needed to make a pit stop. I pretty much needed to go right from the start but I kept putting it off. I thought the line at mile 11 looked OK so I pulled away from the 4:40 group. I was wrong. That stop cost me 7-8 minutes, most of that time was spent in line. Once I got back on the road I knew I was not going to be able to catch back up to the 4:40 group. This kinda upset me and caused me to lose concentration for quite a few miles.

So focused...

It was half way between miles 11 and 12 that we lost the half marathoners. SO many split off for the half, the rest of us ended up being quiet spread out. It was also at mile 12 that we ran around Lake Takanassee. I wouldn't exactly call it a lake... but they do. At this point I was able to see that the 4:40-er's were already half way around the lake when I had just started. Farewell pace group!

Miles 16-20:

It was really miles 15-17 that I really struggled. I was feeling hot and a little out of breath so I was taking lots of walking breaks. At this point I kept thinking... where's the friggin' turn around? I guess I really didn't know the route. I really didn't realize how many little detours around lakes there were and how far it was to the turn around.

Miles 18 through 20 were pretty cool. You went around another little lake and down a few small side streets to a pavilion for the turn around! Woo! On my way back (finally) I ran by a man who had one running prosthetic leg. He looked like he was in some pain but I think he is amazing for running a marathon with one. I couldn't even imagine what that must be like.

I got a little boost from being on the way back and I ended catching up with a guy named Hector. He was going a nice, steady pace. Something I could handle. I told him this and asked if he would mind if I ran with him. We didn't talk much, just kept running and occasionally checking in with each other, he'd ask if I was still there and I'd respond. We ran together for a couple of miles and it REALLY helped me get my rhythm back. I am incredibly grateful for meeting up with him. I probably would have walked a lot more otherwise. I was pretty bummed but somehow the race photographers didn't get a single picture of us running together.

Part of the race was on an actual boardwalk and while that sounds cool, I did not enjoy it. The boards were uneven and my left foot was not feeling great. Around mile twenty we actually followed the board walk through the Asbury Park Casino. It was pretty neat and was also the most shade we got for the entire run.

Miles 21-25:

I doused myself with water. That isn't sweat!

These miles were as close to the shore as we could get. It was hot but we were still getting a fairly cool breeze from the ocean and it was nothing we had to fight against. This road also had some of the biggest mansions I've ever seen so I was able to distract myself fairly well by picking out my favorites.

I was still running with Hector when the 5:10 group caught up with us. I told Hector I couldn't let them pass me and that I would see him at the finish. I kept up with the 5:10 group until I saw Aubrey and Melissa and then fell back a little bit to run with them. It was really nice to see them again. After about a quarter mile I told them I was going to get back to the 5:10-ers and they said they would see me at the finish!

I caught back up to the group easily enough and actually started pulling ahead. I ended up speeding up quite a bit in the last 3ish miles. I constantly thought you can do anything for three miles... you can do anything for two and a half miles, etc. It worked. I went from a 12 mile pace down to an 8:54 at the finish.

At this point in the race we were all tired but thanks to my little boost I was able to pass quite a few people here! Each person I passed gave me more determination to go for the next. This might have been my favorite part of the race. 

Am I Running or Dancing?

The Last Stretch:

As I was coming up to the finish line a photographer was waving me over frantically pointing at Aubrey and Melissa. I ran over and was able to high five both Aubrey and Melissa (with the photographer practically in my face).

Mutant. Arm.

Unfortunately my little detour allowed the girl I had passed a minute or two before to catch up and pass me! I all out sprinted (and grew mutant arms) to catch up with her and was just a step behind her when we ran through the finish. I looked it up and I ended up having the better time by just 6/10 of a second. So close!

And she's across the line!

Upright and smiling!

I found the girl that raced me to the finish and told her that was a great push at the end and then I went to collect my medal and water. I headed out of the finishing chute, found Aubrey and Melissa and promptly plopped down on the grass. I was done.

I think that this was a GREAT race. I bought all of my race photos because (as you can see) I was smiling in every single picture. I may have missed my target time by a half hour but I don't think I could have done any better. I had an absolutely wonderful time and I was ridiculously happy. The race was very well organized, staffed, and supplied. The volunteers were amazing. I could go on and on.

Would I run this marathon again? DEFINITELY! I am probably not signing up next year only because I have too many other races to tackle.

Would I recommend this race to a friend? Already have!

Now that I have done two marathons I feel like I can claim the title of "Marathoner". For some reason I wouldn't call myself a marathoner with only one race under my belt. It didn't feel right... but now that's not a problem!

Digging in!

After the race my sister and I said goodbye to Melissa and I helped navigate back home. We drove up to the Tappan Zee Bridge instead of going through the NYC again, thank goodness. Even though I was definitely hurting I was able to stay awake for the drive home and I was fairly mobile. I spent the night in CT and had a wonderful dinner with my family. By Monday I was probably 80% recovered! I don't know if it is that I am getting used to running long distances or perhaps it is the 1st Endurance Ultragen recovery drink that I take after... but I felt pretty awesome after the race.

I also wanted to say that I could not have had such an amazing time if it was for my Curb Crew Aubrey and Melissa!

Change

Quick post.

Since I have never made a single post related to knitting I think that this blog needed a change.

I have switched to fitwhit.net. I love running, swimming, biking, and the husband and I have been getting into health eating so I think it is FITting. Har Har!

Updates to my page will be in the works. I'm just lazy so I expect the logo thing to stay knitwhit for a while.

Also, I cannot take credit for this idea. I said knitwhit.net and a friend misheard it as fitwhit and thought that was cool.

Ok, back to drinking wine and making dinner. (Tonight is not a healthy night!)

The Novo Nordisk New Jersey Marathon Recap, Part I

I did it!

Results: 5:07:32

Place: 1649/1918

Division Place: 126/140

Pace: 11:24

I did it! Marathon number two is complete!

Once again I am going to break this trip up into two posts. One for the days leading up to the marathon and one for the race itself. I have much to say (and many, MANY pictures) about the trip down, it was hilarious and awesome. If you don't care about the pre-race festivities you stink feel free to move onto Part II.

No dogs were strangled while capturing this picture!

I left work early on Thursday and drove down to CT to break up the trip a little. My WONDERFUL parents agreed to watch the dogs while my sister and I were in New Jersey. This not only took a load off my mind, but probably saved me $300+ in boarding fees! The dogs had a GREAT time and were spoiled nonstop. They got a 4 mile walk on Friday and were outside all day Saturday and Sunday. My parents loved them and my dad actually bonded a bit with my little Isis. She followed him everywhere and when he sat down she was instantly in his lap. :) She is the sweetest little pit pup I've ever met!

On Friday my amazing sister, Aubrey, offered to drive us down to NJ. We left around at noon, thinking that we'd be able to stop for lunch and get to the inn in about 4.5 hours and be able to hit up the expo that night. Well, the GPS had other plans. We should have noticed right away that she was taking us down 95S the whole way. I wasn't super familiar with that area so I figured we'd cut across and take the Tappan Zee at some point. After a few failed attempts we stopped for lunch in Bridgeport (much to my sisters dismay) at a little diner. Despite the fairly sketchy neighborhood that diner was pretty nice. It was the cleanest diner I have ever set foot in. I had a grilled cheese and Aubrey had a BLT.

Get your free Municipal WASTE sample!

Once we got back on the road we started getting more worried about the route. We ended up taking the the Cross Bronx Express to the George Washington Bridge. What a TERRIBLE idea. We were stuck in bumper to bumper traffic for probably an hour and a half. Most of the time we were completely boxed in by semis, we did have a fun time trying to figure out what those free samples were... I just googled it... it's municipal waste. Ew!! Moving on... we finally got through the city and over the bridge, but unfortunately it was almost 7PM and the expo was closing. We decided to postpone going to the expo until the next morning and headed to the Molly Pitcher Inn.

Delicious pot stickers

We dropped all of our stuff in our TINY hotel room and grabbed a cab to have dinner at The Bistro at Red Bank. It was a very cute restaurant. We didn't realize it prior to being seated but they only sold wine by the bottle from a specific NJ vineyard (Alba) or allowed you to BYOB. We split a bottle of piiiiinooooooooot nooooiiiiiirrrrr, which was delicious! I had Kobe Beef Pot Stickers and a pear gorgonzola salad. Not gonna lie, I spent the whole night looking at New Jerseyans like they were an alien species. They really are not. They are normal people. I didn't see a single orange spray tan! Before heading back to the inn we decided to go next door and grab a beer at Robinson's Ale House. I had the house ale which was Flying Fish Ale - brewed in Somerdale, NJ. (Lot's of ale's in that last sentence.)

Saturday morning we slept in a little bit and had breakfast at the inn. It was a buffet and I had an omelet (with everything they had!), bacon, a tiny waffle, a muffin, and fruit. It was a good way to start the morning. We got ready and headed to the expo to get my bib.

The expo was at the start of the race at the Monmouth Park Race Track. On the way in to park they made you drive by the long line of port-a-potties. They went on forever! I was taking a picture as one guy walked around the car to go into a port-a-potty. I just said "oh! hello" and then laughed like a lunatic. Then I took that video.

Gettin' taped

After we got my bib and shirt (there is a picture of the shirt at the very top of this post) we walked around and looked at the merchandise. I didn't end up buying anything for myself but Aubrey got a hat to wear at the race the next day and we bought my mom some pain relief cream made with all natural ingredients. The last thing I wanted to do was to see if there was someone who could apply KT Tape for me. I've never used it before but I figured it couldn't hurt and my foot could use all the help I could give it. I'll write more about the KT Tape in the actual race report but overall I don't think it did anything except make me look funny at dinner that night.

So happy!

Love the crest!

After the expo we went back to the inn and waited for Melissa to arrive. Once she got to our room we headed back out and walked to downtown Red Bank for lunch at Robinson's Ale House. I had grilled cheese (again) and tomato bisque. I also tried another Flying Fish beer - the IPA. It was really good! I behaved and only had one beer with lunch and followed it with a ton of water. I drank a LOT of water this weekend. We walked around Red Bank a little and shopped. Stopped in at a puppy store and fell in love with a tiny little French Bulldog. I would have brought him home if I could have (Evan would have killed me).

Everything's ready to go!

When we got back to the Inn the first thing I wanted to do was lay out all of my gear so I wouldn't have to scramble around the next morning. This was a lot of fun. I had all of my gear, my watch was charging, and I had breakfast (english muffin and almond butter) on the nightstand next to the bed. It made getting ready the next morning pretty easy.

It matches my dress!

Next up on the itinerary was to get dressed up to drive to Montclair, NJ to meet my Uncle Jonathan and his wife Leslie for dinner. Thank goodness my KT Tape matched my dress! On the way we stopped at Target for some athletic tape, english muffins, and a sleeping bag. The room at the inn was so tiny that it was against fire code to bring in a cot so poor Melissa had to sleep on the floor!

We drove to UJ and Leslie's house for prosecco and hors d'oeuvres and had a nice tour of the house. It's a beautiful house in a pretty private neighborhood. We also got to see their dog Hunter (I can't believe I didn't get a picture of him!). He is the sweetest lab I've ever met.

We went out to my uncles country club for dinner. It was a beautiful night and the food was excellent. I had fish tacos as an appetizer and beer-braised chicken with pierogies and onions for a entree. (I ate a LOT of food.)  Aubrey, Melissa, and I followed that up with cookies and milk for dessert. I was a good girl and only had one glass of cab with dinner. :P We had a really nice time out with my uncle and Leslie. They were very sweet to meet up with us while I was down there.

On our way back to the inn we took a little detour to visit the 9/11 memorial that looks out at New York City. The picture doesn't do it justice. You could see the new World Trade Center. That is quite an impressive building.

We arrived back at the inn around 11 and the only thing left to note is that there was a wedding going on that night and people were up VERY late smoking and talking loudly right outside our window. It woke us all up and my sister had to call down to the front to get them to quiet down. Then the party continued to talk loudly in the halls and slam doors all night. Not cool!

Next up: RACE DAY!

* Credit for almost all of these pictures goes to my sister, Aubrey! I am glad she was taking pictures otherwise this would be a pretty boring post!