Frosty’s 5k (Surf n’ Santa 10 miler)
Good afternoon! I hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday morning. Can you believe we’re nearly halfway through December!?
To celebrate the holiday season in my own crazy way, I participated in Frosty’s 5K last weekend (Dec. 3rd). They just started the Surf n’ Santa 10 miler last year, but I haven’t been trained for it either year. Luckily they added the 5k this year so I did get to participate.
In our reusable race bags, we got this technical t-shirt and a Santa hat.
I got to the race early enough to pick up my race packet and drop it back at my car with enough time so I wasn’t stressed, but not so much that I got anxious or cold.
I took some time to snap photos…
I wanted to PR this race so I made sure everything was in order the night before. Garmin charging, clothes laid out, etc., etc.
Despite this, my Garmin died just a couple of minutes in, and with it my hopes of PR’ing. I guess it got knocked off the charger at some point during the night.
Look! Both feet off the ground!!
There wasn’t anything too exciting about the race course. It started outside the convention center and ended INSIDE the convention center. It was at the oceanfront, but we never went on the boardwalk, which was fine with me. It would have been windy and chilly this time of year.
Towards the end, I focused on a girl with a t-shirt that said “ODU Crew Team” and focused on staying with her and maybe passing her. I didn’t think it was going to happen, but she ended up stopping to walk with just over a tenth of a mile to go!!! I win, I win!! 
I ended up finishing in 30:15…only about 20 seconds shy of a PR. If only I’d had my Garmin. 
Sweet race medal, though!!!!
Saturday ended up being a day filled with all kind of Christmas fun because after resting up post-race, I met the girls at Sara’s for a Lia Sophia party and then headed to Amore for dinner and an ornament exchange.
Check out the awesome ornament I got from Betsy!! A flapper girl! I’ll show a closeup soon when I post pics of our Christmas tree and my favorite ornaments.
And, of course, a group shot with Santa who also happened to be having dinner that evening.
All in all, a great start to the holiday season!! Can’t wait for more parties and celebrations!
How about you? What are you looking forward to this holiday season?
A Race, a Turkey, and a Trip
Good afternoon!! Long time no “see.” I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! Ours was pretty fantastic.
Kim and Keenan came down to stay with us for Thanksgiving, which I really appreciated given that otherwise I wouldn’t have had much of a reason to cook a full-on Thanksgiving meal.
But before the cooking could begin, we had to burn some calories!!
Josh, myself, Kim, and Keenan were all registered for the OneLife Fitness Turkey Derby 5k. Josh ended up not doing it because I had screwed up and thought he was off the night before. Not so. He worked until 6:30AM and hit the hay as soon as he got home so he could enjoy Thanksgiving before going back to work at 10PM.
Kim and Keenan registered online, but I’m cheap so I mailed mine in on the Monday before Thanksgiving. Considering it was only going one city over I wasn’t too worried about it getting there in time, and then wasn’t all worried about it because I got a confirmation e-mail from a different race in the same city, that I mailed at the same time. (P.S. I really appreciate races that provide mail-in registration rather than having to pay the online fees).
Apparently, I SHOULD have been worried, though, because they didn’t have my registration and the whole set-up was completely disorganized. They ended up giving me some random leftover race bibs and having me fill out and sign the waiver again.
So, that was resolved fairly easily and then we just had a little time kill while trying to stay warm before the race started. Eventually it did start and I went out with a vague goal to try and PR. I was a little worried about this goal when I realized it was a trail race. Guess I should’ve looked at the course map.
I was doing pretty well and thinking I might be able to do it when disaster struck… in the form of the finish line. I crossed it with a distance of 2.74 miles on my Garmin. Yes, they had managed to make the course short by .36 miles or more than 10% short of the distance it should have been. I was more than a little ticked off. HOW do you screw it up that badly??
Though stewing over the crappy-ness of the race, I still managed to get picture of Keenan and Kim crossing the finish line.
In addition to all the other ineptness associated with this race, I noticed today that in the race results my age is listed as 35 (I’m 31) and Josh has a finishing time of 25:07. Odd since he was at home in bed.
My official time is 26:57 and it ticks me off that this is going to show up in AthLinks as a PR for FOREVER, because I will never truly run a 5K that fast.
You can be sure I’ve sent along a nice, long e-mail to the race director.
Anywho…back to Turkey day… {I don’t have a lot of pictures because the lighting in my house is awful. )
When we got back to the house after the race it was cooking time!! Keenan was in charge of pumpkin pie, green bean casserole, and the turkey. I was in charge of pecan pie, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and gravy. Josh was in charge of deviled eggs. Kim was in charge of alcoholic beverages. LOL
We started on the pies first thing so we could get them done and get the turkey in the oven. I found this pecan pie recipe online: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pecan-pie-v/ and it turned out great!! Interestingly, I realized halfway through making it, that it doesn’t require corn syrup. I couldn’t taste any difference in the finished product. Surely it’s got to be better for you this way, right? 
Again, I don’t have any other pictures, which is a shame because it was a fantastic spread and the house looked lovely with the fireplace lit (for ambiance, it was 70 degrees on Thanksgiving and I was dying!), candles on the table, and good friends all around. In addition to Kim and Keenan we had two other friends Ken and Jordan (our roommate) and after dinner Betsy and James stopped by which was a lovely surprise.
Josh chillin’ by the fireplace
With the arrival of Betsy and James, thus began a weekend of this:
Cards Against Humanity is apparently a more adult, fun version of Apples to Apples. I’ve never played A2A, but had a blast playing CAH all weekend.
After a weekend of lazing about and relaxing with friends, I had to pack up and head to Orlando for a conference. My flight left at 6:30AM on Sunday, which got me in before 9AM. Luckily that was prefect timing for my friend Catherine (my maid of honor) to come up and show me a good time around Disney.
We didn’t actually go to any of the parks, but we did have brunch at one of the resorts. I didn’t take pictures of all my food (because I don’t do that anymore), but I had to share this waffle.
In order to justify the $30 pp (!!!) cost, they send around some of the characters for photo ops.
Goofy and I
Catherine and Minnie
After brunch we walked around the boardwalk for a little shopping and sightseeing. I don’t know if you know this or not, but I lived in Florida for 11 years (Naples 1994-1998 and Pensacola 1998-2003). I kind’ve miss scenery like this.
After our walk we headed to the outlet mall because we couldn’t think of what else to do. In retrospect I shouldn’t have been so cheap and we should have gone to the Harry Potter Theme Park. Oh, well. Hindsight and all that.
Random skywriting
Around 3PM, Catherine and I parted ways and I headed to my aunt and uncle’s house about an hour outside of Orlando in Geneva. They live in the boonies in a long cabin with a pond. It’s awesome!! I hadn’t seen or spoken to them much since the last time I was out that way which was 6 or 7 years ago. I forgot how much I loved being around them. They are such genuinely warm and caring people.
I hung around with them until a little after 7PM and enjoyed a fantastic dinner of homemade chicken and dumplings and key lime pie. After saying good bye I drove back to my hotel and zonked out. I’d been up since 4AM!!
The rest of the week isn’t particularly interesting and I don’t have any pictures. Just day after day of the conference. I did have dinner with a couple of former bosses who were also attending the conference, but that’s about it. I’m happy to report that I went for a run one morning and a gym workout another evening.
Speaking of gym…that’s where I need to be headed right now! Talk to you later!
Wounded Warrior 5K
Just wanted to give a quick recap of the Wounded Warrior 5k that Josh and I ran on Sunday before I left for New York. We woke up around 5:45 or so so we could get my bags packed in the car and make it down to the race.
Of course, as soon as we parked I realized I needed to go to the bathroom. Luckily, Josh knew a secret spot where I could use a nice, warm indoor bathroom instead of the porta potty.
We arrived just as the half marathoners took off at 7AM and still had 30 minutes to kill. Luckily we ran into Todd, one of Josh’s co-workers, and hung out with him until the race started.
BTW: I know they look like tough guys, but they were shivering. It was cold!!!
Not my most flattering running outfit ever.
I know this is a terrible photo, but the woman on the podium is Anne Audain, a New Zealander and world record setter who was born with deformities in both her feet. She gave us a pep talk before the race.
Right on time at 7:30AM we set off. I kept telling Josh to slow down and not wear himself out because for some reason I didn’t wear my Garmin so I had no idea what our pace was.
Turns out, Josh didn’t need my advice. LOL I think this was the perfect first race for him because all his police co-workers were directing traffic so every time he saw one (and they were everywhere!) he picked up his pace and was showing off. He had SO much energy!!
This was not my best race ever. I was struggling a little bit and wasn’t really trying to push it. To be honest, I think if Josh hadn’t had me there with him he would have finished a lot f aster.
He tried to hold my hand as we ”neared” the finish line, but I was a total beyotch and shook him off. I really DID want to hold hands as we crossed, but he grabbed my hand a good tenth of a mile out and I couldn’t run that far like that. He ended up sprinting ahead of me and finishing in 31:49!!
I finished four seconds later at 31:53.
Best part of this race??? Awesome medals!
My collection is growing!!!
We’re doing a Turkey Trot Thursday morning at 9:45AM. Poor Josh! I thought he was off the night before, but he actually has to work until 6:30 AM and OF COURSE the race us a late starter. Boo!!
I’ve also just signed up for the Surf & Santa 5K. Well, it’s actually a 10 miler, but they added a 5k this year and they give out medals!!! I LOVE MEDALS!!
P.S. Thanks Todd for stick around and cheering us on at the Finish line!!
New York, New York
So I’ve been back from New York for a couple of days now, but I’m just now getting around to compiling the photos for a post.
Sunday
Sunday morning Josh and I got up early to run the Wounded Warrior 5K. That’s a story for another post, but let’s just say he did fantastic and I’m super proud! I was worried I was being crazy for running a 5k at 7:30 and needing to be on a plane at 10:15, but it worked out perfectly. I brought a change of clothes to the airport and was perfectly presentable when I made it to the Big Apple.
I met my mom at the hotel and we immediately found some grub and then hightailed it to the Seaport to get on the ferry to Liberty Island and Ellis Island. Of course it turned out we were supposed to be in Battery Park instead so we had a short walk back the way we came. We had no problems getting on the ferry and were soon on our way to see some awesome history.
We chose not to get off at Liberty Island because the monument wasn’t open to the public. The photo op was enough so we just rode on through to Ellis Island.
I’m not one for museums, but there is a lot of wonderful exhibits and information at Ellis Island. I highly recommend stopping there next time you’re in New York. The ferry ride to both islands is only $13 per person.
When we arrived back in Battery Park we had a hard time getting a cab and ended up walking straight into Occupy Wall Street.
We eventually found a cab and were able to grab our bags and officially check into the hotel. Check out the view!
Not sure what that is? How about now…?
Monday
I had training scheduled every day until 4:30 so it was always dark by the time we could do anything together. Since there isn’t a whole lot of sightseeing to be done safely in the dark we schedule shows for every night. Monday night we went to Radio City Music Hall to see the Rockettes in the Christmas Spectacular.
The lobby was decorated beautifully for Christmas!! LOVED the Christmas tree chandelier.
Here’s a quick video of one of my favorite parts, the toy soldiers!
The iconic dance!!
I definitely suggest going to see the Rockettes just once in your life!! It was a fun, family friendly show and I loved saying I saw the Rockettes and sat in Radio City Music Hall.
After the show we walked around a bit.
Saint Patrick’s Cathedral
The Christmas windows at Henri Bendels
Trees lit up around Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center skating rink
Tuesday
Tuesday night my friend Tanya came in to the city and met us at Artisinal Bistro. Of course, my camera died the night before and I forgot to pack an extra battery or charger so I don’t have many photos of the rest of the trip except what I took with my phone.
After dinner we went to the Shubert Theater to see Memphis. OMG!! It was SO good! I absolutely loved it! The music was upbeat and the acting was wonderful. The were plenty of hilarious moments, as well as unexpected *gasp* ones.
(Source)
(Source)
Seriously people…if you get a chance to see it…DO!!
After the show we wandered around in Times Square a little before heading back to the hotel.
We passed the Top of the Rock (where you can look out over the whole city) and decided since the weather was supposed to turn ugly the next night that we had better take advantage. It was pricey (about $50 for both of us), but definitely a once in a lifetime thing.
The weather was so nice that I was perfectly comfortable in my blazer, jeans, and boots. No jacket necessary.
Wednesday
Wednesday night was our last night in the city. My mom was leaving the next morning and I was flying out the next evening after my training. We were contemplating seeing another show, but weren’t sure we wanted to spend the money.
As luck would have it, my brother called that morning wanting to gift us tickets to a show as our Christmas presents.
And that’s how we got to see….WICKED!!
My brother recommended it and we took his advice. I’m so glad we did! It was totally different than Memphis or Rock of Ages (which I saw a couple of years ago) in that the music is quieter and more about telling the story. My mom appreciated being able to better understand what they were singing.
After Wicked we pretty much went back to the hotel and crashed. We had walked all the way to the theater in the rain (it took us a while to find someone selling umbrellas) trying to find a restaurant that turned out to be closed. We ended up at the next Italian restaurant we could find and noshed on our meals while we dried out. Luckily for us it turned out the theater was one block straight in front of us when we came out of the restaurant.
Thursday
Thursday was fairly uneventful. My mom left around 8AM for the airport and I headed to training around 9:30AM. I left directly after training via town car because I was told there was zero chance I’d get a cab to take me to the airport during rush hour (it was 5PM). It took about 90 minutes to get to the airport and another 30 minute or so to get checked in an through security. I then played with the iPads at Croque Madame (JFK airport) while waiting for my flight.
I was SO happy to see Josh waiting for me at the airport. He was supposed to work that night, but took it off to be with me since he was leaving the next morning to road trip with his dad. Otherwise I wouldn’t have seen him for more than 5 minutes before tomorrow night!!
So that’s my Big Apple trip!! Loved seeing it all decorated for Christmas.
Evidence of a Crazy Week
Good evening! I only have a few minutes since I’m packing to leave for New York tomorrow, but I wanted to drop in and say hello. It’s been a crazy week.
Exhibit 1: Norfolk Police Department expels Occupy Norfolk from the park where they’d been camping for a month. This is only relevant because my building is next to the park. On a funny note, later in the evening Josh and I were walking past the park as a protester was being arrested for trespassing (being in the park after dark) and another one yelled “Is this where you want your tax dollars to go?” My answer: “Yes! Considering my husband is a Norfolk Police Officer.” LOL
Exhibit 2: I spent most of the week 90% sure I was pregnant only to get my period yesterday. Bummer.
Exhibit 3: Josh and I are running his first 5k tomorrow!!! I”m so excited. Best part of the expo was the ice sculpture runner.
Exhibit 4: I finally finished redoing the tables I bought way back at the beginning of the summer (well, technically I’ve only finished one, but the other will be done when I can pick up some more paint next weekend when I get back).
Before
After
I think I MAYBE spent $100 to refinish both tables and they’re pretty awesome. I bought them on craigslist knowing I would repaint them. I realized I had to come up with a new plan for the tops when I saw that they were veneer. I found some glass tile at Lowe’s on sale for $1 per 12 in. sheet and inspiration hit. I LOVE them, but they don’t work all that well in our living room yet. Too tall. But, we’re planning on getting a new couch soon so we’ll be able to work around them.
Exhibit 5: I’ve been bitten by the jewelry making bug (via Pinterest). Tonight’s creation was my best yet, and it only took a couple of hours to make.
Well, that’s it for now. As I said I’ve got a race at 7:30, a flight at 10:15, and a tour of the Statue of Liberty after lunch!! What an exciting day!
Changing Churches: How do you choose?
I don’t really have anything exciting to post about, but I had some time to kill so I thought I’d pop in.
Josh and I had a pretty uneventful weekend, the most exciting part being Mel’s 30th birthday party. I love getting together with friends!! It’s always the highlight of my week.
On Sunday Josh and I went to a new church to check it out. We’ve been contemplating changing churches for a while now, but I had too many obligations until recently to be able to do so. We wanted something closer to home so we could be more involved during the week and Josh could attend more. Two weeks ago we went to the Methodist church that is walking distance from our house. We had such high hopes because they seem really active and it’s so convenient. Unfortunately there didn’t appear to be anyone our age there, but pastor wasn’t even there (on vacation) so I’m not sure how accurate our experience was.
This past Sunday we attended a different Methodist church that is still quite close, but not walking distance. Just like the other one the attendance was pretty abysmal (and I thought our current church was struggling!), but there were some younger people (including the pastor and his wife). We really enjoyed it, but just wish there was a larger congregation.
I’m avoiding the huge mega-churches, but I think to be fair we may try one before we settle on anything. I just don’t like the idea of going to a church so big that I wouldn’t know if my neighbor or colleague also attends (I’ve seen that happen). I am very much stuck on Methodist and traditional and it has really saddened me to see how much they’re struggling (at least around here).
Not much going on other than that. I caught Josh’s cold, but still managed to run 2.5 miles today and do Stage 1A, Workout B of the New Rules of Weighlifting for Women. Now all I want to do is go home, put on my favorite pair of sweatpants (my husband keeps threatening to make them “disappear”), and eat some delicious Chicken, Rice, and Mushroom soup made with a team effort between Josh and I last night.
So what are YOUR thoughts on church? If you go to church, what helped you choose one?
Where I’ve Been and Where I’m Going
Where I’ve Been:
1) In the time since I started my blogging hiatus I’ve done a Warrior Dash, a 9/11 5K, and a Sprint Triathlon.
Warrior Dash Virginia
Richmond Sprint Triathlon
2) Josh and I took a road trip to West Virginia and had a blast with some beautiful scenery.
Dinosaur World
Seneca Rocks
Waterfall
3) TWO of the Girl’s Night ladies (Kim & Jen) are pregnant!! (Hi ladies! )
4) Josh turned 30!
5) Josh and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary (3 years married, 10 years together).
6) I’ve become addicted to Pinterest.
7) I’ve been to Kansas City and then to McDonough (twice!).
Where I’m Going:
1) Traveling to NYC for work Nov. 13th – 17th. Josh can’t come, so my mom is meeting me there. I am SO excited! You have no idea.
2) Not looking forward to Thanksgiving because all of our family that lives nearby are going to my in-laws since my SIL’s boyfriend’s parents are coming down there. We can’t go because Josh is working. I don’t know if I’ll even bother to cook. I’m bummed.
2) Josh is doing is first 5k on November 13th and I’m doing it with him. Somehow I’m going to run a 5k at 7:30 am and then be on a plane by 10:15 am. I apologize in advance if you’re on that flight. I plan on bringing my clothes to the airport and changing in the bathroom. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. No way am I missing his first 5k.
3) Traveling to Orlando for work Nov. 27-Dec. 1st. Looking forward to meeting up with some friends and family.
4) Josh and I have started trying to make a baby. I know I shouldn’t put this out there for a million reasons, most importantly because if things don’t go as planned I’ll get tired of people asking about it. But, I know myself and I want to talk about it. Don’t expect me to announce pregnancy before the 12-14 wk mark, but I am putting it out there that we’re trying.
>We’ve been trying for all of about 6 weeks and I’ve already managed to diagnose myself with all manner of dysfunctions including, but not limited to a thyroid disorder and short luteal phase. This is what happens when you start paying close attention to what’s going on with your body. You start noticing things and then googling. (I’m sure it’s horribly insensitive to all those dealing with true infertility issues, but I’m not going to apologize for my feelings.)
I think that’s a pretty good update! Anything I missed? What have YOU been up to?
Making the Move
If you went to LovinLosing.com and ended up here it’s because I’ve redirected that site to this one. If everything works out I’ll buy the .com domain for this blog so it’ll be easier for you to get to and I’ll also try to import the LovinLosing posts. For now, though, I’m going to stick to the free site.
Make sure to update your readers, bookmarks, and/or e-mail subscriptions to this one.
Now, on to the good stuff…
I hope you’re all doing well! I’m not going to apologize for my absence because….well…I’m not sorry! I needed the time to reassess how I felt about blogging and the direction I wanted to go in.
After about 6 weeks off I definitely found myself still writing posts in my head and being sad about all the events I’d missed blogging about and wouldn’t be able to go back and reflect on. I was going for runs and thinking of new blog names in my head (I hope you like it!).
I don’t have any plans to try to catch up because that would be to stressful. The only past event I made end up blogging about is my sprint triathlon, though no promises. I only plan to blog a couple of times a week, but I’m not going to stick to any kind of schedule because I know myself better than that (and you should, too, by now! ).
I’ll write another post soon actually updating you a little on my life, but for now…Welcome to AdMEYERing Life!!
