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My Ramblings on The Syracuse Half Marathon

3/23/2015

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There were 3 things I was totally prepared for this weekend when I headed out to run the Syracuse Half:

1. It was going to be increadibly cold. 
2. It was going to hurt (I was running with a cracked rib and I hadn't run more then a mile in months)
3. I was going to be slow... really slow. There woudld be no PR anywhere in my future. 

Going in with those expectations left me with two goals: Finish and have fun. What I didn't expect was to face obstacles that had never even crossed my mind. Both were weather related and both bugged the crap out of me for a bunch of miles.  

The first thing had to do with my water and the second with my music, both things I've come to kind of depend on during a long run. 


The first thing that happened was that 1 mile in I went to take a sip of water and discovered that my water line had completely frozen. Completely. In fact if I squished my bite valve ice came out. In less then 10 minute I went from having flowing water to carrying around a slushy. For me this was huge. I tend to sip constantly during a race. I dehydrate quick and this has been my best solution. It also allows me to just keep on truckin' past water stops, and when you are slow, every second counts. Suddenly I had no water and I've never done a half marathon only drinking water at stops. My plan had to readjust fast and I'd be lying if I said I didn't spend the rest of the race worrying about water and dehydration. In fact I stopped for water at every table and hit up the port-a-potties more often then usual jsut to make sure I was keeping hydrated. I stopped my watch whenever I stood in line because I was surious how much time I was going to lose. My watch time had me finishing right under 3 hours, my official time was 3:15, which means I lost almost 20 minutes getting water and waiting in bathroom lines. I wasn't running for time or anything, but it was interesting to see how much time those things cost. 

The second thing the cold weather attacked was my phone. I keep in my vest pocket and at mile 5 it just shut down completely. At first I thought the battery died, but what really happened was it got so cold it couldn't function anymore. So I ran the last 8 hours without any tunes. Whicch left me a ton of time to think about my frozen water. 

Still, these are minor things. I managed to finish the race, It ended up being a beautiful (if brutaly cold) day, and I met some runners along the way that I had a blast running with. Especially a girl at the end who asked me to run it in with her. It was her first half marathon, and she wasn't sure she would make it. So when we saw the finish line we ran in together and we talked about what to do after the race (smile for the camera, walk it off and grab as much free food as you want). It reminded me of what a great running community we live in! I was also super proud of my co-worker who finished his first half at this race. It was a lot of training, but he did great. It was also nice to have someone to hobble around at work with on Monday. 

I'm not sure I'd do this race again and road running in the city isn't really my cup of tea, but it was a wonderfully organized race, the post-race party was a blast and medal was fabulous. If you are looking for a half to do, this is a great one! 
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My Ramblings on The Royal We Preview

3/9/2015

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About the Authors
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Go Fug Yourself
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When I saw that I had the opportunity to get the first part of The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan (the geniuses behind Go Fug Yourself) I jumped on it. I will admit that I was hesitant when I first heard about the subject for this book, it seemed too "ripped from the headlines" and I worried that it would be cheesy instead of funny. However, I loved the other books that these authors put out, so I was willing to give it a go. I'm really glad I did. Cocks and Morgan aren't breaking any new paths here, but when you write in a way that is entertaining, you don't really need to. The first 7 chapters were snappy and sassy and I immediately was all in for Bex and Nick to get together. I was also extremely happy that the book didn't dive right into that as the main plot. It's much more about a girl who is away from home for the first time, and on top of that is thrown into the royal inner circle (by virtue of a dorm room location) without much preparation. When I hit the end of chapter 7 I was bummed because I wanted more right then. Cocks and Morgan managed to take a well trod storyline and make it fun and interesting. I can't wait until April 7th when the full book comes out and I can see what happens next.

Summary:
American Rebecca Porter was never one for fairy tales. Her twin sister, Lacey, has always been the romantic who fantasized about glamour and royalty, fame and fortune. Yet it's Bex who seeks adventure at Oxford and finds herself living down the hall from Prince Nicholas, Great Britain's future king. And when Bex can't resist falling for Nick, the person behind the prince, it propels her into a world she did not expect to inhabit, under a spotlight she is not prepared to face.

Dating Nick immerses Bex in ritzy society, dazzling ski trips, and dinners at Kensington Palace with him and his charming, troublesome brother, Freddie. But the relationship also comes with unimaginable baggage: hysterical tabloids, Nick's sparkling and far more suitable ex-girlfriends, and a royal family whose private life is much thornier and more tragic than anyone on the outside knows. The pressures are almost too much to bear, as Bex struggles to reconcile the man she loves with the monarch he's fated to become.

Which is how she gets into trouble.

Now, on the eve of the wedding of the century, Bex is faced with whether everything she's sacrificed for love-her career, her home, her family, maybe even herself-will have been for nothing.
(from goodreads)
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    Home of the ramblings of an avid reader. In my spare time I also run, ride, teach, go on adventures and get into shenanigans. 

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    2022 Reading Challenge
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