Stadium Run

The Scarlet Knight!!!

Even though my triathlon has come and gone I have still been picking some races to do in the off season just to stick with my training. One f these races was the Stadium Run hosted by Rutgers University. It was a quick 2.5 miles throughout the football stadium. Up and down the numerous ramp levels and round and round until you finally ended on the field running through the endzone while they throw you a football. Thankfully I caught my football and didn't look like a dumdum. After the run you had the chance to tour the Rutgers Football teams gym. the gym is state of the art and even has turf inside. The tour then ended in the mini football museum which houses all the different trophies and bowl rings etc... It was a fun event and I will likely do it again in the future.

Crazy Turf Grass inside the Gym

Pretending to be a Football Player

Hickory Run

I remember when I was a kid I loved the summer. I couldn't wait for school to end and for the temperatures to rise so I could spend all my time outside swimming. Once I turned 16 I got my lifeguard certification so I could spend my whole summer sweltering in the sun. However, over the years Fall has definitely become my favorite season. I no longer look forward to the sweltering heat of summer, in fact I dread it. maybe it all started when I moved to Alaska or did all my Antarctic field work, but a sunny crisp Fall day are my favorites now.

As the Fall leaves were hitting their peak I wanted to get out for some camping and hiking. A few years ago I went to Hickory Run in Kidder, PA for the first time and I loved the miles and miles of trails up there. So off I went for a quick weekend getaway. Kona loves being outside and was even happier when one of our trails ran next to a stream he could take a quick dip in. The colors were beautiful! Unfortunately, the peace and quiet went far too quickly and soon it was time to return to the real world.

Hiking with my best friend!

Enjoying the afternoon sunshine!

Happy Fall Everyone!

Time to Tri

Back in May I made the decision that I wanted to do my first Triathlon. I was lacking motivation to just go work out and figured this would be a good goal to work towards. I convinced my friend Kaycee to sign up with me and together we registered for the Clam Man sprint triathlon, the first weekend of October. This gave us plenty of time to train and to help with motivation we picked at least one race each month leading up to the Clam Man.

Our first race was the first of three in the Splash and Dash series held on Long Beach Island. Each race was held on the last Wednesday of every month in June, July and August. Each race consisted of a 1/4mile swim followed by a 5K run. These were nice for practicing transitions as well as open water swimming. The first one in June proved to be a rough swim with a lot of wind chop but during the next two the bay was pretty flat and calm.

The Color Run took place in Philadelphia at the beginning of July. I highly recommend this 5K to anyone because it is really laid back and so much fun. We had a small group of coworkers all register for this race and we had a blast running it. I will definitely be doing this race again in the future!

Nice and Clean Before the Color Run.

After all the Color Fun!!!

On the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum

Sunrise on race morning!

As summer came to an end it was time to really focus on the Clam Man Triathlon! Unfortunately the week before the race I had a horrible stomach bug that lasted a week. So I barely had my strength come race day. One of my goals all along was to finish the race in under two hours.

The glorious FINISH Line

On race day I added another goal of not crapping my pants!!! It was a painfully early morning and with a very empty tummy to ensure no bathroom accidents I got ready to race. I came out of the water ranked 17 out of 72 and was psyched. But I am not a very good land mammal and with a killer head wind I slowly started to drop back during the 12mile Bike ride followed by the 5K Run. But in the end I completed both of my goals and am already looking forward to the next race season. Until then its time to keep training!