Greenhorn AR (Part 2) and Bachelorette Party

Seems like forever ago that we did the Greenhorn Adventure Race (and I promised a Part 2). I have still been feeling pretty overwhelmed with my new job.


It is more about me figuring out if I am cut out for "management". While it is the next logical step in most people's minds - I need to feel personally satisfied in my job and doing the actual work gives me that more than telling someone what to do. So, there may be some tough conversations coming up in the next few days.


But...back to the adventure race...the pictures from the race were disappointing. There were no pictures of us during the run OR the bike.


The run was extremely tough and more like a steep hike up a mountain at times. We went straight up 2400 feet to the top of a mountain!! What goes up, must come down - so we decided to take a "short-cut" trail down, which was marked - extremely difficult.


They weren't joking. It was basically STRAIGHT DOWN with rocks and sticks and pricker bushes. People were falling and I had to watch every step very carefully. Luckily, we made it down in one piece.


Kevin and I eventually checked the map and decided to follow a stream down the rest of the mountain. That was fun and exciting, since we were basically making our own trail, but our legs and arms took a beating from all the pricker bushes.


We eventually found our way to the canoes and maneuvered over (through wind) to the first checkpoint on the lake. Notice all the boats behind us - we were doing pretty good - and hadn't killed each other yet. ;)


The canoe was almost tipping over in the picture below because Kevin liked to shift his weight with each stroke of his paddle, but overall we were working well as a team.
It was a tough mountain bike course but I think this is where we were most prepared. I felt strong on my bike, so Kevin and I were able to pass a bunch of people. The course felt easy and fun - with a few rough patches. Me and my muddy mountain bike are below - after the race.Once we racked our bikes, we had one last checkpoint to hit before we could finish. It was about 200 yards off the shore in the middle of the lake. You could either swim or paddle on a inner tube to reach it. We originally started out swimming. The water was 52 degrees. I repeat - the water was 52 degrees. We sulked back to shore and grabbed inner tubes.Well, Kevin sulked back in and I ran in as fast as I could. ha. It was really hard to paddle out on an inner tube. I ended up falling off into the 52 degree water. It was hilarious and really cold. BRRRR.


I figured I would get there faster by swimming, so I just went with it at that point. Kevin was already ahead of me and as long as we were 100 yards from each other - he could get the checkpoint and come back to me.I came out of the water laughing as we made our way to the finish line. This adventure race stuff is a blast.


Anyone notice my bloody finger in the picture below? (sorry if it grosses anyone out) Somehow I slit it on something while in the water....
We did it!! The most exciting thing is that a few days later, when they posted the results....we found out that Kevin and I placed 8th out of 39 co-ed duo teams!!


I thought that was pretty darn good for our first one...so we are already planning how we will place in the top 3 next year. Preferably #1.


I have been doing some other fun stuff recently too. This past weekend, I headed to the beach to celebrate my friend, Erica's, bachelorette party weekend!
We took some fun shots....and I hung out with this guy below a little too much.
Jeremiah Weed - Sweet Tea Vodka which I mixed with Crystal Light Lemonade. It is the most refreshing drink!
The entire group at dinner Saturday night. We headed to a place called - Castaways. I chose two appetizers as my meal. Seared Scallops w/ spinach and tomatoes in a citrus sauce. Oh man - this was SO good. I ate every bite and tried to drink as much of the sauce as I could.
Jerk seasoned, grilled chicken fingers, which I couldn't even finish. They were spicy and perfectly cooked.
After dinner, we hopped into a limo to head up to Dewey Beach to go out for the night. It was a blast!!! But...that's all for now folks...I am exhausted.


Oh - I have decided NOT to do the Baltimore Marathon this year. I just don't think I could take it on this summer. BUT, I do plan to train for the half marathon!


This Saturday - I am riding in the Tour de Cure Bike Ride to benefit Diabetes. I am on my father's team - Bagel Bikers. I decided to do the 50k (31 miles) bike ride, so hopefully it will go ok since I haven't been on my road bike since last year's ride. oopsie. :)


Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend and HAPPY MOTHER's DAY!!!

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Greenhorn Adventure Race - Recap, Part 1

Let me start by saying how much fun I had competing in my FIRST Adventure Race. I emphasize the FIRST part because I plan on doing many more. Kevin and I had a blast doing this race together and are already planning our training for next year. Two words - HILL WORKOUTS.


Backing up a bit...Friday, Kevin and I drove out to Cumberland, MD - which is about two and a half hours west of Baltimore on Friday afternoon and had a great dinner in downtown Cumberland. We found this cute little Italian place, Ristorante Ottaviani, and were lucky enough to score a table by the window. What great, summer-like weather we had in this area over the weekend!


Fresh Italian bread was immediately brought to our table and served with olive oil and fresh parmesan for dipping.We started with a house salad served with a Romano Vinaigrette, which they were kind enough to split on two plates for us.The menu was extensive, so there was a good amount of time spent looking through all of the options.I decided on the Capesante con Pesto which was Pan seared scallops with a pesto and fresh tomatoes served over linguine.It was just OK and after eating all the scallops, I picked at the linguine because the sauce wasn't as flavorful as I had hoped.Afterwards, we walked over to City Creamery for homemade ice cream. I decided on a small cup of their flavor of the day - Take 5 - after the candy bar. It was scrumptious.


I forgot to mention that after reading about the race equipment required (on our drive out there) - we realized we both needed whistles. Our time would be penalized if we didn't have them for the race. We were lucky enough to find a dollar store downtown where we each got a whistle for a $1. These would come in handy later..


RACE DAY


Check-in started at 7am the morning of the race, so we decided to grab breakfast in the hotel restaurant, which opened at 6:30am. No pictures, but I had a full breakfast, since the race didn't start until 10am. Egg and Cheese on a bagel, fresh fruit, and coffee.


The race took place in Rocky Gap State Park, which is home to the Rocky Gap Lodge & Resort. It is absolutely gorgeous there. The temperature was supposed to get up into the mid - upper 80s, so we knew we had to have plenty of water. We each planned to wear our camelback hydration packs for the entire race. After receiving the rules of the race, we headed to the transition area to rack our bikes and set up all of our gear: helmet, gloves, more water, change of socks, and cherry energy jelly beans.


About an hour later, we received our map, which laid out all of the checkpoints on the course. The entire race was going to be 14-16 miles total - running/trekking, mountain biking, and paddling.At this point, I felt overwhelmed and nervous. I mean - we had no idea where we were and had never been on these trails! We only had an hour and a half to map out our OWN course. Basically, each team was designing their own race!


The main rules:

• You had to hit all 6 numbered checkpoints in numerical order.
• You could visit colored checkpoints at any time, but must go to 6 out of 8 colored checkpoints.
• Each of the numbered and colored checkpoints had rules associated with them. For example, you could only trek/run to Checkpoint 1 (CP1).
• You didn't have to use the trails and could go off course to find shortcuts.
  

For the next hour or so, Kevin and I mapped out our course of attack. Once we got through this and had our course mapped out, I felt more confident and knew we would make it and were going to have a blast. Kevin carried the list above and our map the entire way in a ziploc bag attached to his camelback. Since I was our team navigator, I could easily grab it off his back when we needed to refer to the map.


Around 9am, I was hungry and ate a Lemon/Vanilla/Cashew Clif Nectar bar to make sure I had enough energy. At 9:50am, all of the teams headed to the start, but it was crazy to think that people were going to be headed off in all different directions!!


Before we knew it - it was 10am and we were OFF....


Part 2...will be coming as soon as the race pictures and results are posted. I really want to show you the pictures of the course as I talk about it. We didn't carry a camera, but I wish we had so I would have pictures to share now.


As a side note: My new job is going great, but I am very busy since I am new and trying to learn everything. The days are flying by and I am loving it, but it doesn't leave much downtime during the day.


I will be back as soon as the photos and results are posted!!! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend...

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