Confessions of an Amateur Athlete

Today was the inaugural meeting of Arizona's "Run, Eat, Tweet"!  A social meet-up/run for local runners with a social media problem.  Or is it the other way around? ;-) We met up at South Mountain to start our run by 6:30.  It was already blazing hot!  But we're desert runners, we're pretty tough! Introductions weren't awkward, it just took a few moments to learn everyones REAL names... instead of our instagram handles. LOL. We took off at everyones own pace, and it was a loop run, so as people got in the distance they wanted, they could turn around or push on.  And of course, we did what all social runners do.... snapped tons of fun pics and selfies! :) We also swapped our own running stories, future goals, upcoming races, fueling advice.... all the topics we've bonded through with social media, but was ten times better in person. Three of us insane runners decided to do the full loop, and by the end we were hurting fo

It was a HOT 20 Miler this weekend!!! *HOT* doesn't even describe it!  I started at 6:30am but it was already into the high 80's at that point.  And by the time I ended, it was skyrocketing past 100+.  I felt like Johnny Storm from Fantastic Four, just minus the speed! (yes, I'm a comic book geek) I took the pup out for the first few miles just so she could get some exercise in before the triple digits hit.  Even SHE was getting too hot already, and the sun wasn't even blaring YET! Nevertheless, it was slow, it was hot, but I got it done! A lot of people ask me how I survive training Arizona's relentless summer temps.  You can check out some of my tips here:  Surviving the Hellish Heat  saltsticks.com But for the most part, I made sure I had extra water, and ran a route where I could fill up at fountains when I needed.  Also, I had my hat doused in cold water, and salt sticks to keep my electrolytes up.   Afterwar

PART TWO (CLICK HERE FOR PART ONE) The Fast and Fabulous was off!  Green was the first loop and the shortest (3.3 miles) and our first runner, Trent is super fast.  So there wasn't a lot of time to relax for me, since I was runner #2!  I took a couple of "getting geared up" pics... then headed over to the Transition tent. While waiting for your next runner, volunteers give you a slap bracelet for the loop you are running next.  There's no passing of the bracelet like in the Regular Ragnar.  Instead, you simply pass off the race belt with your bib and chip on it.  The colored slap bracelets are there to help course volunteers make sure you're on the right loop. The weather had been perfect, except for the threatening clouds that tempted rain.  Fortunately the rain stayed away and our first loops we all ran in shorts and t-shirts. Trent came in and it was on to the Yellow Loop for me! A 4.1 Mile route with a climb over 8500 ft! I