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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Highlights/Lowlights

It has been a rainy mess in Baltimore for the past few days and that means I have felt pretty "blah". Weather has a way of doing that to my mood. Thank goodness the sun is out today in full force and it is supposed to be a great weekend.


Eats


Some food highlights and lowlights from the past few days....


The other day I was talking to Kevin on the way home from work and was in a foul mood because of the traffic that occurs when rainy weather hits this area. I was also hungry. That can be a bad combo for me. I came home and found this...
This guy is good. :) Whole wheat pita w/ cashew butter, honey, and chocolate chip smiley face.


Lunch yesterday was supposed to be Shrimp Summer Rolls from Trader Joes refrigerated section. They were horrible. It said they were good for another two weeks or something, but the lettuce inside was brown and the shrimp was slimey. yuck.
Dinner last night was seared scallops and steamed brussels w/ garlic. Oh and a small amount of leftover rice noodles w/ peanut sauce, but they looked like brains, so I left that picture out.

I picked up the Green Tea flavor of Mochi from Trader Joes and am sorry to say they were SO bad. It tasted like freezer burn, so I am thinking it had been sitting for awhile. The outside rice doughy stuff was hard - and it should be stretchy and gooey. ughh. I still ate it for some reason that I can not explain.

I tried a new flavor of CLIF nectar bars - Cherry Pomegranate. I love the nectar bars - big chunks of nuts all throughout and a great chewy texture.
The ripest mango I have ever eaten was consumed today. They were on sale for 99 cents each, so I bought one. Is that even good? I don't buy them enough to know.

But seriously, so sweet and juicy - my desk is a sticky mess now. Oh well, my last day is tomorrow. ha!

Workouts

I decided the take the week off from running to try and let my hamstring rest a little bit so I can make the best decision about whether to do a marathon this year. Also, I am competing in my first Adventure race next weekend, so I want my hamstring to be ready!

I have been doing other forms of cardio (arc trainer, biking, rowing) as well as more lifting than usual.

Saturday, Kevin and I have plans to do a run and then rent a canoe to practice our skills (or see if we have any) for the adventure race. It should be comical.

Other

Tonight is the Baltimore Blogger Meetup @ Abbey Burger Bistro in Federal Hill. Be there at 6pm. I cant wait to meet some of you!

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I'm Baaaack! (11.03.2008)

So this weekend was fun and relaxing at the same time. I didnt get much computer time, so this is my first post in November!

Saturday started out with a walk in the park with oscar and then a ton of cleaning. Later on, I had a fun afternoon/evening with my sister! We went shopping, had dinner, and then saw a movie. After a TON of shopping (my feet hurt), dinner was a delicious one at The Tomato Palace in Columbia, MD.

We each ordered a glass of wine (pinot grigio for me) and then we decided to split the meatball and polenta appetizer. This was SO delicious and after splitting this, we realized that we should have just ordered salads as our entrees.

Especially because they bought a plate of these hot, garlicy, bread knots to our table. whoa.

I had ordered the roasted chicken special with peppers, onions, sweet potato, tomatoes over linguine. It was HUGE and just OK. The chicken was perfectly cooked, but I barely put a dent in this.

My sis ordered sole over spinach linguine with a white wine sauce w/ tomatoes and capers. I LOVED her dish and had more bites of this than mine.

We went to see The Changeling and it was a mistake. Horrible movie - we both hated it. I had a completely different expectation of the movie and felt like it was such a downer. If you are thinking about seeing it - I say wait for it to come out on video so you dont spend as much $$ on it!

Sunday AM was my last longer run before the Harrisburg Marathon which is THIS COMING WEEKEND! oh man - I cant believe I am doing this, but hopefully the weather is OK and I can beat my PR. But, I want to just enjoy it and not put TOO much pressure on myself in case it isnt my day and I cant beat my PR. I will be happy with a finish too!

I ran a little under 7 miles on and my feet and legs all felt pretty good. I am a little worried about my right hamstring because I still "feel" it. It is not like it is a pain, but it just feels tight. The first two miles were in the park with Oscar, then I dropped him off at home and ran down to the water/inner harbor and ran through fells point and over to harbor east area before turning around. My time was 1 hour and 7 mins. (I actually wore my watch!)

The rest of Sunday was spent doing some much needed laundry, resting, playing with Lucy and Oscar. Later on, we took a trip to Whole Foods and came back with some very good stuff.

Dinner on Sunday night consisted of chicken and vegetable potstickers from whole foods, edamame, and a multigrain rice/shrimp/california roll. Here is my plate before eating...

...but, I could only eat two of the sushi rolls - just wasnt into them - which is weird. I did eat the potstickers and edamame, which both were amazing. I have a potsticker obsession lately.

Breakfast this morning (monday) was a great oatmeal combo:

• 1/2 c oats
• 1/2 c skim milk
• raisins
• almonds
• 1/2 banana, sliced
• spoonful of almond butter (I got some more - thank goodness)
• drizzle of maple syrup (I have a heavy hand with this and need to start measuring!)
  

(I really do love having oatmeal in the morning and want to thank all the wonderful food bloggers out there who inspired me to try it again and start coming up with combinations I enjoy. I hadnt had oatmeal since I was little, up until a few months ago. It is such a quick, easy, hot thing to put together. I am loving how it keeps me full for so long in the morning too!)

Morning snack (had around 10:30am) was a Lemon, Vanilla, Cashew Nectar bar. love these. Lunch today will be Channa Masala with a spoonful of fage mixed in and a piece of naan bread. Afternoon snack will be the rest of the fage with pineapples and pumpkin granola mixed in.

Fresh pineapple from whole foods. I used my new pineapple corer (from my mom) and it worked great!

I almost forgot that Oscar dressed up for Halloween! He decided to rock out two different wigs.

The first is a more classic blond bob...but he likes to keep it messy.

The second is a little spunky shag cut. :) (check out that tongue...aww)

Hope everyone is off to a good start this week!

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Today's Recap (10.20.2008)

For the first time EVER, I feel like my morning oatmeal picture was semi-neat and normal looking, so I wanted to share. This was also an amazing, and simple combo:

1/2 c oats
1/2 c skim milk
raisins
almonds
sugar-free maple syrup
spoonful of almond butter
Here is my cute pumpkin I picked up from the farm yesterday - making my oatmeal look more festive.OH - i almost forgot - today, I tried a Nectar Lemon, Vanilla, Cashew bar after seeing it in one of Erin's posts and it was AMAZING. I savored every single bite!! (picture is borrowed from the CLIF website, didnt think they would mind since I am giving kudos to their product!)I picked up a veggie sandwich from Catonsville Gourmet for lunch and it was incredible. Veggie patty with cucumbers, spinach, tomato, sprouts, and a wasabi aioli on wheat toast. Sorry, no picture.

Tonight's run was an 4 mile tempo run! The speed part was completely unexpected! Kevin was on his bike and Oscar was on the leash with me. Oscar didnt want to lose kevin, so he was dragging me for the entire 4 miles. Seriously, I was going faster than ever before, but my legs felts strong, the weather was perfect and afterwards I felt great. It is amazing how I was starting to get comfortable with a pace and then when i change it up, I surprise myself. I guess i need to push myself more often!

Dinner was a delicious combo of grilled chicken with garlic and wine marinade topped with muenster cheese and sauteed zucchini. I also whipped up some pine nut couscous and roasted brussels sprouts. I think I might have perfected the brussels! I drizzled with evoo and balsamic and then roasted for about 20 mins at 450 degrees, stirring once. Hope everyone has a great night!

*Lucy update: My little kitten is hiding behind the desk in the extra bedroom, but I got down on the floor and was putting pieces of food out for her - and she was coming closer and closer to me to eat them! Oscar is very interested and also very scared. He hasnt had the best experiences with cats and is scared to death. I have a feeling that their interactions are going to be better than tv in a few months! :)

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