Adventures in Romance

Just like your fitness routine, it's easy for your love life to get stale. 

Maybe you've just met your significant other, and you have no clue what activities to do together beyond the usual dinner and a movie.  Or, maybe you've been a couple for years, and you've fallen into a rut, relying on the same old date night favorites. 

Like embracing a Yoga asana when you're normally a CrossFit addict, sometimes you just gotta shake things up.

But where do you start? 

Wit & Whistle blogger Amanda Wright has created a fantastic worksheet to help you and your special someone find a new hobby you'll both be passionate about.  She calls it the Hobby Compatibility Quiz and Creative Dating Guide.  Despite the long-winded title, it's a fast and friendly checklist of just about every possible activity you can think of - or Google.

From beatboxing to belly dancing, home brewing to hula hooping, water gardening to woodworking - and everything in between - you're bound to find something here to inspire and keep things fresh.

Independence Streak

In the spirit of our founding fathers, I exercised my freedom to pound the pavement this 4th of July.  It was my second 4th of July race, and my first race wearing a costume.  Inspired by a running costume post at Life's a Wheeze,  I picked up a tank top and leggings at Walmart.  I paired them with a blue and silver star tiara from Party City and a white tutu from a "naughty Alice" Halloween costume.

At the last minute, my husband Mike remembered that we had a red, white and blue dog shirt for Sadie.

Desert Sky Adventures gave the inaugural 4th of July 5K Blast a nice twist by doing it at night.  It started at 7 p.m., right before sunset, on the Western Beltway Trail behind the Roadrunner Saloon.   My brother-in-law Patrick joined us, making it a real family affair.

I was a little apprehensive about running while wearing extra stuff.  I do a lot of obstacle racing, in which costumes are also quite popular.  I tend to avoid them for those events, though, because they can get caught on ropes and nets and weighed down by mud.  Happily, there were no equipment malfunctions except for my tiara occasionally falling off.  That's an easy fix: bobby pins!

The race had some challenges with a hill going and coming to get over the bridge spanning the highway.  Nothing too extreme, thankfully.

Somehow, the time and location made the race an extra festive experience.  It didn't hurt that beer and $2 tacos were awaiting us at the finish line.  Not to mention a super cool medal/bottle opener!

Rockin' Rabbit 5K

 

 

 

 

By now, you've probably learned that I love races with a unique element to them, whether it's a one-of-a-kind medal or terrific props or an unusual location.  Lake Mead isn't particularly unusual; it's not rare to run alongside a ;pretty body of water.  But, it's not every day that you get to run through historic land railroad tunnels.

In early April, I ran through those tunnels for the first time when I did the Rockin' Rabbit 5K.  We parked at the Hacienda Hotel & Casino and were shuttled to the start line.  The first half of the run was on a slight incline, which meant coming back was slightly downhill... always a nice way to finish a race.

It was nifty inside the tunnel but hard to see the ground with sunglasses on.  Good thing the trail was well groomed!  The views of Lake Mead, both coming and going, were gorgeous.

The registation fee benefited Hope 4 Lives, a non-profit dedicating to helping others with the fight against breast cancer, Aids, and other life-threatening diseases.  I love running in support of a cause.  It's a win-win all the way around: enjoying the great outdoors, getting some exercise, and helping out the community.

In the spirit of the event, I rocked a pair of fuzzy pink rabbit ears.  I also rocked my time; I PRd at the Rockin' Rabbit, beating my previous best time by ten seconds per mile!

Words to live by

"She believed she could, so she did."

Indeed.

Terminal 3 10K

Photo courtesy of McCarran International Airport

McCarran International Airport opened its new $2.4 billion Terminal 3 on June 27, and the month of June was devoted to a series of special events for the big occasion.  The first of those was the Terminal 3 Fun Run, 5K and 10K, which took place on June 2.  Nearly 900 of us enjoyed the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to run on the miles of new roads around the terminal that would never again be open to foot traffic.  Proceeds benefitted at-risk children in Clark County.

This event had the largest array of pre- and post-race snacks I've ever seen. I was amazed to see a food station offering lettuce wraps, filled with ground beef, before the race started.  I cannot eat before a race because I get sick to my stomach, even with something as mild as a protein bar.  The thought of consuming spicy meat before running made me queasy, so I gave that table wide berth.  I did, however, load up after the race and had a ton of goodies to enjoy later at home. :)

This event was also one of the hottest I have ever done.  When I finally checked the temperature on my iPhone weather app, I discovered it was only 88 degrees.  It felt like 110!  The fresh, deep, dark blacktop, not having been grayed by the elements yet, must have been reflecting heat back up. 

I had a great time doing this race, but I wish I'd had a chance to check out the terminal more.  McCarran has created a terrific media kit that showcases the art and architecture of the expansion, so I have a sense of what I missed.  I'll be sure to check it out all when I finally get a chance to transit through that terminal.

Diva Feva 5K

I'm a sucker for clever names.  That's why I wanted to run the Diva Feva 5K.  Well, that and the fact that the race location was just minutes from my house.  Convenience should never be underrated!

This race got off to a very rocky start before we ever lined up. Packet pick-up was a debacle.  The hours got changed at the last minute, and the organizer sent all-caps emails stressing her lack of liability if you were picking up for friends.  I really didn't think it was that big a deal; I've never known anyone to scam packets or anything like that, especially for a small race like this.  Clearly, this race group was new and needed to chill a little.  

I was chill as I opened the door into Road Runner on Cheyenne the day before the race to retrieve my bib, t-shirt and the other race goodies. Packet pick-up is normally a simple thing, taking only a few minutes, and I didn't expect this one to be any different.  An hour later, my chill had been replaced by copious amounts of sweat as the air conditioner struggled to keep up with 30 of us crammed into the petite store, waiting for the organizer to arrive.  The woman handling timing for the event, who was apparently helping out with registration, had been there promptly and looked more and more chagrinned as the minutes ticked by.

When the organizer finally walked in, there was no word of apology or thanks for our patience.  She just set up her stuff and started registering us. The skirt that was promised as part of our registration had not arrived, so we were instructed to ask for race day.  It was only as we were handed our bibs and bags that she expressed regret for the delay.  A lot of people were questioning how the race was going to go the next day.

Driving to the park, I cast off my concerns from the night before, and I was glad I did.  Although they were out of my size skirt when I checked in, I was offered a very nice pair of running shorts as a replacement.  Glittery pink foam tiaras were provided to add sparkle to our run.  There were refreshments and music, and the race started basically on time.  When making announcements, the organizer apologized for the prior issues and told us it would not happen again.  I believe her and will do another race with her outfit.

Instead of a medal, we received a pink certificate. It was a neat idea, but I'm not inclined to frame it and put it on the wall.  I'm thinking of scanning it in, shrinking it down, and laminating it into a medal of my own creation.  That's what a diva would do, right?

Groovefest 2012 Run for the Music Quarter Marathon

  

On Saturday, June 23rd, I completed my first quarter marathon.

(Psst...it's not much longer than a 10K, but calling it a "quarter marathon" sounds a lot more impressive!) 

It was an accomplishment that wasn't supposed to happen, but a last-minute change of plans made it possible.

There's a saying in General Aviation:  Travel by small plane is great when it doesn't matter when you get there.  The reason for that is that small planes are highly affected by weather, as are their pilots.  My husband Mike is a VFR pilot, meaning he's trained only to fly by sight, not by instruments.  So, if the weather is bad, our journey may be delayed or cancelled entirely. It requires a "go with the flow" mentality and the ability to quickly find other exciting things to do.

Our original plans for the weekend were super fun.  We were going to fly from Vegas to the airport in Camarillo, California, where they were hosting a 5K obstacle race entertainingly called Mudapalooza. Our pilot friends Gary and Elaine live in Camarillo and stow both their planes at the airport.  They, along with Mike, were going to enjoy VIP spectator seats at the event so they could all watch me make a fool of myself in style.

The California coast is generally socked in with fog in the morning, which doesn't seem like a big problem.  Just land there in the afternoon, right?  Um, not quite.  Vegas has its own weather challenges.  At this time of year, it gets very hot very fast and stays that way most of the day.  Wind is also a factor.  Those gusts aren't just potentially dangerous; they also make for very turbulent flight.  Keep your vomit bags handy!

Bottom line: between the heat, the wind and the cloud cover on the coast, we couldn't get ourselves to Camarillo safely or comfortably by air.

Mudapalooza at Camarillo was out, but we weren't giving up on finding adventure somewhere else.

Cedar City, Utah, is only an hour or so north of Vegas by DA40, versus the two and a half hours it takes to reach Camarillo, and there's no fog.  The deal was sealed when I learned that there were still spots available in the Groovefest Run for the Music Quarter Marathon.  This 6.6-mile race included a half-mile underground segment with disco balls, glow sticks, and music.  Oh yeah! DISCO BALLS!! 

Race day kicked off with a missing shuttle bus driver, causing us to start the quarter marathon about 20 minutes late.  Then came news that the dirt-packed entrance to the underground portion was flooded and tricky to navigate.  I didn't mind; I got some mud in after all!  The disco balls were miniaturized and scarce, but they dimly lit our paths as groovy 70s singles echoed in the concrete corridor.  It was nifty catching glimpses of colorful graffiti while running through the darkened space.  The tunnel opened onto a pretty two-lane path set through green hills on the right and gentle slopes with rooftops on the left.  The scenery was so pretty, such a nice contrast to the desert vistas in Vegas.  There was even a live musical duo strumming guitars toward the end of the race.

It was a great race.  I earned another one-of-a-kind medal - a CD imprinted with the Groovefest logo - to add to my collection, and I can now say that I've run underground and with disco lights!