Columbus

2010-2011 YakTrax Sponsored Athlete

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If you read my blog for any length of time, you’ll quickly pick up that I run and that I run all year long.

If you’re clever, you’ll put two and two together realizing that I live in Columbus, Ohio and running all year long means I’m running in:

  • Snow
  • Ice
  • Cold-ass temperatures

I don’t swear a lot on the blog partly for professional reasons and partly because I know it turns some people off (though I don’t understand it, I respect it).  However some situations really do call for the need of a curse word.  Running outside when the temp or windchill is in the single digits, is one of those times.

Another thing that you’ll pick up reading my blog is that I love my YakTrax.  Love them.  Without them I would not be running outside in the winter.

A few months ago I noticed that YakTrax was running a contest on their Facebook Page, all you had to do to enter was submit a picture that showed why you should be considred to be a sponsored athlete.

Oh I submitted a picture alright.  Of me running through a bunch of snow from my first race ever.

Next thing I know YakTrax contacted me to tell me that I got picked! I am one of YakTrax’s Sponsored Atheltes for the 2010-2011 Winter Season.

YaY!!

What's this mom?“What’s this mom?”

As a YakTrax sponsored athlete I get to try out all of YakTrax products and they also included some hand warmers to get me through the winter season.

Not pictured are the YakTrax XRT’s which are a little more intense of a product that would be great for trail running or trail hiking.  I will be receiving those shortly.

I’m a sponsored athlete until March of 2011 and all I have to do is check in with YakTrax and keep them updated on my training.

The YakTrax arrived just in time because Christmas morning I woke up to fresh powder for my morning run.  Under all that fresh snow is packed down ice.  The roads in my hood don’t get salted or plowed. I don’t know why but they don’t which means that I’m usually running on snow and ice all winter long.

Quick glimpse of my new YakTrax Pros that I wore for my run.  Don’t mind the timing chip still on my shoes.

The YakTrax Pro’s have a strap going across the top of the shoe that provides a little bit more structure to help keep the YakTrax in place.  These updated YakTrax are a tad different than the ones I had been using and these new ones are a lot easier to put on.  They stretch a little easier and there is more of a grip in the back that aids in sliding them on.

I’m totally prepared for winter running now! Let’s get it done!

What about you, are you still running and training outside this winter?

Disclaimer: I’m a YakTrax Sponsored Athlete for 2010-2011 Winter Season. YakTrax sent me these products for free and in exchange I’m to post about my winter training. The opinions, comments, and thoughts on my training and the YakTrax products are all my own.

2010 Flying Feather

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For whatever reason I am really in to racing this winter season.  I’m constantly looking for races to run and this year I took a look at some Thanksgiving day races.  I would be running anyway so why not run a fun race?

I took a look around and found The Flying Feather which is a 4 mile run on Thanksgiving day and the bonus is that it is literally 10 minutes from my house.  Score!

But more importantly, what made me decide to run this race was the finish swag.  Not only would I be getting a medal but I would also be getting a bottle of wine.

Yes!

The wine is also one that Scott and I really enjoy.  It’s a lovely mild red that won’t break the bank, Beaujolais-Villages! This was by Georges Duboeuf (we typically buy Louis Jadot).

I picked up my race packet the week before and I have to tell you that this race has the best swag! Not only did I get a shirt, but a sample of lotion, gloves, a winter hat, small bottle of whiskey, and then of course the medal and wine at the finish.

Heck yeah!

I was nervous about this race.  Not because of the race but because of the weather!  Wednesday afternoon it started raining and raining really hard.  It wasn’t stopping and was not supposed to pass our area until Friday.  Thursday morning I woke up to pouring rain.  It was also cold and damp.  I watched the weather and tracked the race page to see if the race would be cancelled.

No dice.

I wasn’t about to bail because um, I wanted that bottle of wine.

Scott and I got there about 1/2 an hour before start time.  We walked to the race area and hung around until start time.  It was cold and still raining but thankfully not that hard.

This race was huge!  There were 3.500 people running and that doesn’t include the kids that were there for the Gobbler Chase before hand.

Eventually it was time to get moving!  The rain stopped which was perfect because running in the rain stinks.  I still can’t believe how many people were out on Thanksgiving day to run a race!  Plus all of the supporters taking pictures and cheering everyone on.

Even though there were so many people running the race, it surprisingly wasn’t that congested.  I didn’t feel squished nor did I feel like I was fighting and clawing my way out of the pack to get my pace going.

This picture shows so much!  You can get an idea of how wet everything was and how many people were actually running the race.  We’re taking up the entire road!  You can also see all the spectators bundled up because it was cold!

The weather was a little odd because it was cold but it was only in the 40s so it wasn’t too cold.  However since there was so much rain it was damp and that’s what made things really cold if you were just standing around.

Running was a whole other story and eventually I got hot!  I unzipped my hoodie and pushed up the sleeves as much as I could.  I also took off my gloves and stuffed them in my bra.  I looked really lopsided!  I didn’t really care though, my only concern was that I hoped it wouldn’t chafe.

The start of the race was on a road but then we headed right into a park and the majority of the race took place there.  It was a paved path and made for a lovely run through some wooded sections.

There was one water station at the 2 mile mark and that was the first indicator of how far we’d gone.

Scott said I caught him off guard and showed up at the finish earlier than he thought.  Ha!  I finished the race around 38 minutes.

Don’t under estimate my motivation to run for a bottle of wine.

Bonus, we got to see our friends, Emily and Jim!  Remember them from last week?  They were running this race too and amazingly enough we were able to find each other and meet up at the end.

I have to say that this race is really a great race to run on Thanksgiving day.  It’s short, a 4 mile run which makes it the perfect length.  You are getting some exercise in before the big day but it isn’t a super long amount which means you get more time to spend with loved ones.

Plus it’s a fun race! Everyone (well almost, you naturally have the folks who are actually trying to compete) is there to have a good time and just have fun!  Everybody is in good spirits and you get a bottle of wine at the finish!  If you are around next year, you should give this Thanksgiving day race a run.

Huge Thanks goes out to the best husband ever!

He goes to all my races, sometimes standing around for hours while I run.  He’s gotten up at 5am on days that he normally sleeps till noon.  He’s stood out in the rain, the cold, the heat, and the snow just to get some pictures of me running and to be there for me at the finish.

I think he might have caught the bug though, he said next year he’ll run this one with me. :D

2010 Muddy Feet Trail Race

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It was Thursday of last week that I learned about the Muddy Feet trail race that was happening on Saturday.  I was talking on Twitter about trail running and about another race I have planned for next month.  My twitter friend, Emily, said that she didn’t think the race was a trail race per say but just went around the perimeter of the park.

Well that’s kind of a bummer, right?  She said she and her husband were running the Muddy Feet trail run on Saturday and it was on an actual trail.

I totally signed up.

I may or may not be addicted to trail running which may or may not be the reason why I signed up right away at the last minute.

We are lucky here in Columbus because we not only have a thriving bustling city but we also have parks and water very close by.  This race was taking place at Alum Creek and there were two distances to pick from,  4.5 miles or 6.5 miles.

You know which one I picked.

Scott and I were determined to not be a hot mess for this race and we almost succeeded!  I totally forgot something which I’ll mention soon.

Saturday was an extremely foggy morning with a weather advisory out for most of the morning.  It was the densest fog I have seen so far during my time here in Ohio.

We arrived early and used the bathroom which you can see behind me in the first picture.  Basically the bathroom is a fancy outhouse.  Three stalls, no lights, and a smell to knock you on your ass.  It was a bit chilly and since I had 1/2 an hour before the race started we went back to the car to sit.

About 15 minutes till start time I headed back to the bathroom and discovered that if you used the stall closest to the door, the smell wasn’t so bad thanks to fresh air blowing in.  I also had to wrestle with my pants because the strings knotted up.  I did a quick warmup jog around the parking lot and then headed to the start.  Check out that fog!

We were told that there would be two water stations but I didn’t hear the details on those.  The cap was 400 people for the race but I’m pretty sure there were not 400 people entered.  I don’t know how many people were there but it was a small race, probably the smallest I have run in so far.

It wasn’t long after we crossed the start and headed down the trail that I realized what I forgot, my watch!  Doh!  This meant I had no concept of time or pace at all during my run.

Emily said that it could be really muddy so I made sure to wear my old winter running pants and old grungy socks.  My shoes I didn’t worry about since I’m heading into winter, they are going to get snow and salt gunk on them anyway.

About 5 minutes or so in to the race, we circled back around past the start.  Scott and I didn’t think we’d see each other again so he headed back to the car already and I missed him.  I was a little bummed out but understood.  Plus if you weren’t running, it was really cold outside because the fog made things damp.

The trail run was great!  It was all grass trails with rolling hills sprinkled throughout.  It wasn’t as intense as the Buckeye Classic but still a challenging course.  Where Highbanks had trails that were gravel and dirt and packed earth, Alum creek was straight grass trails.  However there were leaves everywhere making things slippery if you didn’t pay attention.  There were also lots of tree roots and branches to watch out for.  There were drain pipes, dips, and holes to jump over, and big tire grooves that made it impossible to get even footing.

You were constantly watching your balance, making sure you didn’t slip or tumble downhill, and pushing yourself up the hills.  The trail was pretty wide so there was no worries about feeling squished.

I felt like I was running really slowly but the upside to trail running is that pace doesn’t matter because you are dealing with so many other things, pace goes out the window.

I was behind two girls for the first half of the race.  The pace was decent and so I paced them until the first water station.  It was at the point where the 4.5ers split from the 6.5ers.  They were running the 4.5 and were gone at the split.  A lot of people were gone at the split actually.  After that point I was mostly running by myself.  There were two girls behind me and a fella in front of me but we were all spread pretty far apart.

Even though the start had been really cold, I got hot during the run!  OY! I unzipped my sweatshirt as much as I could.  My running bib was attached so I couldn’t take off the sweatshirt.  I pushed up my sleeves and eventually took off my gloves.  I had to carry those since I didn’t have anywhere to stash them.  That was annoying but what can you do?  Push on through!

Finally came up on the second water station and I asked what mile we were at.  He said it was about the 5.2 mile mark.  Whooo!  Not too much farther and I would have my second trail run of the season (my third in my running career) under my belt.

There were a few more hills and then a lovely long flat section in an open field.  As I circled back around into the woods a guy came running past telling me the finish was less than a quarter mile away.

Whooo!

Yeah so close!

Then I spotted Scott and our friends, Emily and Jim standing on the sidelines.

When I spotted my finish time you could have knocked me over with a feather.  6.5 trail miles completed in 1:10, hell yeah!

Then I got more surprises once I crossed the finish line.

The person congratulating me at the finish was actually a Daily Mile friend, Rebecca!  We even live in the same town but haven’t had a chance to meet before now.  She works for Premier races on the weekends doing the time.  Nice, right?

Or course she caught me right at the finish so it took my brain a second to realize that I was having a conversation.  Ha!

My surprises weren’t finished yet!  She told me I won a prize!

I placed third in my age group.  Whoooo!  That’s my first ever prize I won at a race!

I walked over to where everyone was standing and chatted with them for a bit.  Emily and Jim are Twitter friends turn real-life friends and the bonus is that they are runners too!

We were all getting cold and headed off back to our cars to get back home.

No medal for this race so you get a picture of me with my chocolate soymilk in my snazzy JayRobb travel bottle that I won from Kim’s site.

If you’re looking to get into trail running or want to try out a race to see if you like it, I highly recommend running Muddy Feet.  Not only do you get to choose your distance but the trail is great for an intro into trail running.

Will I run it again?  For sure!

2010 Buckeye Classic

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The Buckeye Classic is a 10K trail race that I stumbled across a few weeks ago and decided to sign up for.  I love 10Ks, probably my favorite to race and I wish that Columbus had more of them.  We either have a ton of 5Ks in the spring/summer or they are halfs.  In the summer when my mileage is higher, I don’t want to sacrifice a long run for a 5K race.  In the winter when my mileage is lower and it’s a lot colder, running 5ks and four milers are perfect!  You get to race and you’re not out in the cold very long.

10Ks are great for summer, fall, and early winter racing!  Please Columbus, put on more 10Ks!

Anyway, I saw this race was a trail race and decided to go for it.  Then for some reason I got it stuck in my head that it was going to be all paved trail running.

Rest assured that it was in fact NOT all paved.  In fact the paved parts were few and far between.  This was a hardcore trail race.  I say hardcore because to me it was hardcore.  I don’t run on trails, like, at all.  I run in my neighborhood so running through the woods, over bridges, down and up steep-ass hills is pretty intense for me.

And that’s how trail racing is, intense!  If you have the chance to run one I highly recommend giving it a try!  We can talk more about trail runs in another post though, let’s get to the recap!

Would you believe that Scott and I were another hot mess for this race?  It’s like we’ve lost all racing sensibilities!    We wanted to leave by 8am because the race started at 9am and the course was about 1/2 an hour away to the north.  I wanted to have plenty of time to hit the restroom and then try and meetup with my Twitter Friend, Jess.  We’ve been trying to meet for ages  and our schedules just were not syncing up.  Finally we realized we were both running this race and set out plans to meet before the race started.

Well Scott and I didn’t leave at 8am though it was close.  We got just down the road from the house when I realized that I forgot my bib!  Yikes!  So we had to turn around and get that.  On the way back to the house, Scott realized we forgot the chocolate soymilk for after the race.  We were off to a great start.

We made it to the park and were directed on where to park the car.  We had a good walk ahead of us it seemed and thankfully we passed some restrooms on the way.  We each made a quick stop and then kept on walking.  Scott asked if we should run and I said we should be fine.  Coming up to an intersection where the park ranger was directing traffic, we asked how far away the start was and she said about a mile down the road.

Holy crap!

So yeah we ran to the start.  I made it to the start with two minutes to spare.  Quick kisses to Scott and I started working my way through the crowd so I could inch my way up to the front.

As I was moving through the crowd, I heard my name and turned to find Jess!  Yeah!  We found each other after all!  We chatted and then it was time to get moving.  This was a small race, 550 people but I still wanted to work my way through the crowd and break free a bit.

I took off and started running in the grass passing everyone that I could.  If you click on the picture you’ll see lil’ old me on the far right side.

Scott and I weren’t sure if we would see each other until the end because the course map was a little unclear about that.  However I saw him again right away, maybe a mile in?

I was surprised to see Scott so soon!  And then this is when the race got hard.  We headed deep into the woods and we got there by going up.

I blew on by Scott not realizing what was ahead of me.

A huge hill.  We crossed a bridge and started the climb to the top which you can’t see at all from this picture but trust me it was big.  It was at this point that I realized I got myself into a very challenging race.  I also told myself that I should have had a bigger pre-race snack to help through this course.

The course took us all over the place and there were lots of hills along the way.  Some big and some small.  The small ones were rolling, you’d go up, then down, then back up again.

At one point during the race we came along some steps.  Yikes!  This was after going up and then down a rather large hill.  Steps?!  I took those slowly and I’m proud to say that was the only time I was going at like a walking pace.

The one big downside to this race is that there were no mile markers at all until you got to the three mile point and someone was there directing the runners.  This was because we were at a crossover so runners were both coming and going.  Admittedly running past runners who already covered the area you’re about to head into can be a tad of a motivational killer.  You just have to suck it up and keep going.

Once I reached that crossover point again, there was a guy standing there telling us we just reached 4 miles and I knew that couldn’t be right.  The area we just covered was LONG and I knew we ran more than a mile!  I asked a runner behind me if I heard that guy right and she said that he was wrong and we were at about 4.5 miles.

I still felt like we had been running longer!  At the finish Scott said that point was just shy of the five mile mark.  Aha!  I knew it!

That area finished with us coming down a huge hill and I heard the music from the start area so I thought we were close to finishing.  I knew I was going to see Scott again and I was ready to knock this race out and be done.

Coming down that hill felt amazing so I was giving it my all!

Then I spotted Scott!  YaY!  If you compare this picture to the first one of me waving, you can tell that in this one I’m tired.  Ha!  I was ready to be done running the trails!

Little did I know that I wasn’t done nor was I close to being done.

WHAT?!!

You know how much of a buzz kill that is?  We had like another 1.5 miles to go before we were done.

Yes that’s right! At least it was all flat and mostly paved but still dang.

The finish shoot was right in front of me and I gave it everything that I had left in me.  I saw Scott on the side but just blew past him.  The only thing on my mind was finishing strong!

Hooray the finish line!  I was so happy to be done!

After I was done the first thing I did was look for Scott.  Since I saw him on the side, I knew he was close by.  Then I remembered to get my medal!

Yeah!!

I loved everything about this race.  Yes it was hard but that is exactly what I loved about it.  I felt amazing when I was done, totally had a runner’s high which I don’t get at all unless I do sprints.  The downside is that there are no mile markers so you can start to wonder if you’ll ever make the finish.  I think with a GPS device though that would be helpful or running it with a buddy.

It was chilly so it was perfect trail running weather because tackling all those hills works up a sweat!

It worked out that I had to run about a mile to the start because it helped warmed my legs up.  Had I started with no warm-up, I think I would have struggled more with those hills.

I went into this race with zero expectations other than to have a good time.  I didn’t care what my pace was because it’s a trail race which I’m not used to running therefore my pace is already going to be off.  Going into a race expecting nothing is like being free of constraints.  You don’t have anything weighing over your head and you aren’t constantly checking your watch to determine your pace.  You are just running for the pure joy of running and having a great experience.

I think I might start approaching all my races this way from now on.  I have a much better time!

I would race this again in a heartbeat and I’m already trying to recruit others.  Wanna run it with me next year?  If you say yes, I’ll hold you to it!

Tis the Season

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It’s officially started, the Winter Racing Season for 2010-11 is here!  I had my first race of the season today and it was amazing and hard and fun.  It was a trail race through one of the many parks around Columbus and I had a blast.

The race was called The Buckeye Classic and it was a 10K.  A 10K trail race is no joke gang!  It was put on by M3S sports and I love when they do races!

Why?

Because you always get a finishers medal!

It doesn’t matter what distance the race is, there will be a medal waiting for you at the end.  This was a small race, 550 people, which is how most winter races are.  Only the determined or the crazy (kidding!) attempt racing in the winter.

Full recap coming soon!

Rocks and I chat about the race and how it was a little challenging.  And just for kicks….

Here’s Rocky’s best Dramatic Chipmunk pose.  He’s doing a pretty good job!

Catch you later gang, off to stuff my face with some Sunday Breakfast!

Get Your Turkey 2010

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For those of us in the US, it’s that time of year again, Thanksgiving!

You all know I am a big advocate of local foods!  This means turkeys too!  Support your local farmers and purchase a turkey that not only do you know where it was raised but you know how it was raised and treated.

This year I’m putting together a list of places I know of that you can purchase locally raised turkeys for your Thanksgiving table.

Poultry and Game at North Market has Bowman and Landes turkeys.

We’ve gotten our turkeys here now for the past five years.  They’ve always been excellent, decently priced, and great tasting turkeys.  They do turkeys of all sizes and also just breasts if you are feeding a small crowd.

Hills Market has Bowman and Landes turkeys along with Tea Hill Organic Farm turkeys.

One of my twitter friends just told me that The Anderson’s is also doing free-range veggie fed Turkeys this year.

For even more Turkey information, check out Rachel’s post on a few other places to get the goods for your Thanksgiving this year!

Looking for some inspiration this Thanksgiving?  Check out these links!

Thanksgiving on a budget

Tips for hosting and being a guest at Thanksgiving

And we can’t have Thanksgiving without wine, here’s some tips on buying wine for the holidays from Food and Wine.

Hooray for Thanksgiving!

Spotlight Columbus: Market District in Kingsdale

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Part I of my experience at The Market District at Kingsdale can be found here.

Even though Scott and I have lived in Columbus for almost 5 years now, it was only about two years ago that we started exploring it more and expanding our knowledge.  I’m still learning my way around this great city and as I learn, I want to pass along what I find to you.  Perhaps some of these things you already know about and maybe some of them will be new to you.  Either way, we can share in the adventure together!

My first topic for Spotlight Columbus is about the new Market District that just opened up in Kingsdale which is in the Upper Arlington section of the Columbus Suburbs.  I was contacted by the media relations group for the Market District asking me to be their guest at the grand opening of the brand new and first Ohio location.

Market District is a division of Giant Eagle.  Being from the Pittsburgh area, I’m very familiar with Giant Eagle (that I sometimes refer to as Big Bird), their products and their stores.  The Market District part of Giant Eagle is their brand of higher end and higher quality foods at an affordable price.  That part I knew, however, I did not know that the Market District has since gone through some growing phases and has developed into it’s own grocery store which strives to bring high quality and healthy foods to the consumers.

This post is going to be about the store, how it’s divided up and what it has offer its customers.

What struck me first about this new store is the size.  It is gigantic.  I thought the new Whole Foods on Sawmill was big, but it’s small potatoes compared to Market District.  This is like Whole Foods and Giant Eagle had a baby because this store is the best of both worlds.

Despite it’s size, it isn’t overwhelming and is divided up smartly and efficiently. The entire second level of the store is for dining in.  It has plenty of seating, along with a small conference room area, and comfortable chairs and couches for a more relaxed feel.  They also provide napkins, condiments, silverware, and complimentary water to cover all your dining needs.  Even magazines to browse while you eat!

It would make a great place to have a business meeting because it’s quiet, comfortable, and plenty of eating and drinking options for everyone.

Prepared Foods

The upstairs provides a great view of the prepared foods section down below and while that might sound strange, it’s actually really nice to look at!  It gives you a chance to check things out and also people watch.

The prepared foods section is enormous and is by far the best I’ve seen yet.

There is a coffee bar with in-house roasted coffee beans.  They have specials and regular coffee to offer.  Next to that is a juice and smoothie bar.  I had a smoothie from there and it was delicious.

In the middle of the prepared foods section is two cold bars and a hot bar.

This is picture taken from the second story eating level of one of the cold bars.  Awesome right?  They have everything you could want on your salad including beans and KALE! Okay maybe I’m the only one excited about kale but it’s not a green you see often on salad bars.

The hot bar contains things like chicken, potatoes, and other hot style dishes.

There is also a soup bar offering four soups for the day and on the soup bar are condiments for your soup, like different kinds of cheeses, sour cream and green onions.  That’s putting a lot of thought not only into the design of the space but also taking into consideration of what customers are going to want with their meals.

There’s a pizza station with handmade dough and the pizza is cooked in a wood-fired oven.  They offer the pizzas in small personal sizes.  You can purchase one or four at a time.  Four is great for a family or two hungry OHC staff members.  They have any toppings you could want and hopefully will also be offering some whole wheat crust soon.  I asked and they said they were going to have some soon.

That’s pretty standard food stuffs but Market District goes beyond that.  There’s also a crepe and Belgium waffle station.  A rosti station, which is a Swiss dish made with shredded potatoes.  There’s a tandoori station, and an Asian street foods station.  Also another salad station where they will create and toss up salads for you.

Then there is another section that has more dinner meal type foods, like crab cakes, pasta dishes, meatloaves and things like that.

Other Food Stations:

Past the prepared foods section is the bakery where there is everything from breads to donuts and bagels made in-house.  There’s a gelato station with in-house made gelato.

There’s a candy section and also a nut section.  The nuts are roasted in house and there are many different kinds to pick from.  There’s also a nut butter station with almond and peanut butters to be dished up and poured into containers.

Bakery:

The Market District does a lot of in-house bread baking.  They have loads of different kinds and varieties of breads, including whole wheat baguettes!   That was the first time I came across something like that.  They do in-house donuts and bagels as well.  Lots of breakfast items to pick from along with rolls and buns to make your own dozen.  There is even a pretty intense pastry section with cakes, cookies, and other delights.

Meat and Seafood:

If you purchase meat from the grocery store, Market District has a huge selection to pick from.  They offer not only the staples, but higher end things as well like great quality venison and elk.  If you don’t know how to cook a particular cut, they will offer tips, suggestions, and recipes to you as well.

Even though we are not huge meat eaters here at the HQ, I have to admit the meat case was pretty impressive.  They even had odd things like rattlesnake.  I’ve never had either of those things before!

They also carry lamb from Elysian Farms which is considered the best lamb in the country AND it’s actually local to Pittsburgh which makes it pretty darn close to us as well.

Market District also has a lovely seafood case which offers  a great variety of seafood of all types, to pick from.

The Market District also has something that I have yet to see in any other kind of grocery store.

A demo kitchen!  There are cooks there all day long cooking things for you to sample.  Recipes are passed out as well.  If you have any cooking questions, whether it’s a recipe question, a meat question, or a question about technique, you can take it to the demo kitchen for help.  That’s pretty cool, right?

The demo kitchen will also be host to several celeb-chefs throughout the year.  Check the website for a list of events!

I don’t mind telling you that one of the things I love about living in Ohio is the fact that I can purchase beer, wine, and sometimes alcohol in the grocery store.  It might sound normal to you, but not all states allow such a thing.  Growing up in PA with its weird restrictions makes Ohio look like a godsend.

Market District has an extensive wine selection and also a great craft beer selection.  The wine section boasts another feature, a machine that lets you sample wine!  You purchase what looks like a debit card and add money to it when you buy it.  Then you walk up to the sample stations, swipe your card and pick which wine you want and the amount of pour you want (1oz and 2oz for example).  Fun right?  I know some wine bars do this but to have this in the store is amazing!  Plus you can pour a sample to have with dinner if you are dining in which is very clever.

There are a few cold cases in the wine area which hold cheese and crackers for you to quickly put together a cheese plate.  Or they also have premade cheese plates ready to go with dried fruit and nuts as well.  That’s pretty handy if you’re looking to quickly pick up a bottle of wine and some cheese for a party you’re attending or hosting!

Produce:

The produce section of the Market District is pretty amazing.  It’s huge and contains just about everything you can want from fresh fruit to fancy mushrooms, to whole sugar canes.  They have organic produce throughout and also a section with pre-cut veggies if you need just a touch for a recipe.

The produce section is where I spend most of my time while shopping (this is why I don’t do Trader Joe’s, it’s all packaged food and no fresh stuff) and is key for me.  If a store doesn’t have a great produce section, I’m not shopping there.  Market District, while there are a few things I use that they don’t carry (like large bags of carrots, 2lbs doesn’t cut it for this sister), they have just about everything else I use and seek out.

While the produce section was one of my favorites, my absolute fave is…..

Cheese:

The cheese section!  Over 400 different types of cheeses including their own aging room.  Boo-ya!  I love cheese with all my whittle heart, so after produce this is my favorite section of the store.  The workers are more than happy to let you sample cheese.  In fact they pretty much demand it, that you sample before you buy.  Isn’t that refreshing?

I was snapping pictures when the worker on the right of the pic, see his apron?  Came over to yell at me.  Told me picture taking was totally unacceptable.  I asked if he was sure and he radioed someone who told him it was fine, “but if I find out otherwise I’ll come find you while you’re shopping to let you know!”   Um, okay.

Then he did.  I didn’t get very far before he marched right over to me and told me to stop taking pictures.  I asked what the policy was and he said it was so competitors don’t steal their ideas.

Oh?

Even telling him I was a local blogger doing a story on the store did nothing.  I was shut down.  So that’s the last picture I have and I don’t get to show the other wonderful things Market District has to offer like a great charcuterie case where there is another aging locker.

A fantastic anti-pasta bar that blows all others out of the water.

A great olive oil and vinegar bar where you can fill up bottles with flavored olive oils and balsamic vinegars.  I bought a peach white balsamic that is light and crisp and fantastic.

I would show you pictures of that but I can’t.

Cause I got yelled at. ;)

That’s all the fancy stuff and of course Market District has the regular stuff too, like normal grocery aisles and a deli counter.

It’s pretty much a huge awesome store with organic and all-natural stuff mixed in with the regular everyday stuff.  If you haven’t been yet, I totally encourage you to go and check it out.

Event: Grand Opening of Market District at Kingsdale

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I’ve been working on this post for quite sometime and have finally come to the conclusion that it needs to be broken up into two parts.  Otherwise it was way too long and I don’t want my dear readers to have to sift through a novel of a post.  Therefore, my experience with the new Market District at Kingsdale is going to be explained in two parts.  The first will talk about the event I attended and the second will talk more in-depth about the store and what it has to offer our city of Columbus, Ohio.

I was contacted by Donna, who is head of online marketing at Giant Eagle, inviting me to attend the Grand Opening event of the new Market District.  I had heard a few rumblings about this store coming to Ohio a little over the summer but really didn’t think much about it.  When I was contacted about the grand opening, I was more than excited to get a chance to see the store firsthand on opening day and to be considered a VIP guest!

The itinerary was jam packed and lasted the majority of the day.  I was surprised by that and was wondering how that would work but they did keep us busy all day!

I arrived at the store at 9am and was greeted right away by Donna.  She offered to treat me to a drink while we waited for the other bloggers to arrive.

I already had my fill of coffee that morning, but I did spy a hot spiced apple cider on the menu so I ordered that.  It was so yummy!  Piping hot and full of fall flavor.

We headed upstairs to the new dining area and into a small conference room.  I met up with the other bloggers that were in attendance.

Lisa from Restaurant Widow

Becke from Columbus Foodie

Wendy from Celiacs in the House

Each link is to their recap of the event.

They had breakfast waiting for us upstairs but since I had a huge bowl of oats before leaving, I passed on breakfast.  It looked amazing though, fresh fruit, smoked salmon, bagels, and donuts.  Wendy asked if there were any Gluten-Free bagels and they went in search to find her one.  Not only did they find some, but they heated them up in the pizza oven for her.

They made sure to change gloves, use a different paddle, and place it on foil while it toasted.

That’s hospitality!

During breakfast, us bloggers chatted a bit about blogging and of course food because we all love food!

Once breakfast passed, we were taken downstairs, through the produce section and over to the new demo kitchen.  There a stage was set up for the press event about the grand opening.

I had never been to a press event before so it was interesting to see those sitting in the audience and all the cameras in the background recording everything for news bits later in the day.  After some of the big wigs from Giant Eagle spoke, Ted Strickland, the Governor gave a speech about the new store and the jobs it brought to Central Ohio.

After Gov. Strickland, next up was one of Columbus’s biggest fans.

I bet you didn’t know that, did you? Yes, Adam Richman has been to Columbus many times and considers it one of his favorite cities.  He gave a speech about the new store and the amazing amount of food and opportunities it is bringing with it.

After Adam spoke there was the official ribbon cutting ceremony and then the media event was over.  We were taken back upstairs to the conference area and got a chance to have a small chat with Mr. Richman before he was ushered off for his other duties of the day.  He was very nice, very chatty, and extremely down to earth.  I was impressed, honestly.

Once Adam was off, we were given gift cards and told to have whatever we wanted for lunch.  I wanted to attack the salad bar!

They have two gigantic cold bars and I wanted to dig into some veggie goodness!

I had a salad and also a smoothie from the smoothie/juice bar.  Not many grocery stores have a juice bar and I was extremely happy to see such an offering!  I created my own juice with:

  • Orange and pineapple juice
  • Banana and peaches
  • Organic yogurt

It was tasty and hit the spot with my nice fresh salad.

We got a chance to chat some more during lunch and were able to chat with the marketing group as well.  They are all about embracing local resources and talking with locals to get feedback on how to make the store the best it can be.  That is a reassuring thing to know because when a company wants to connect with the community, the community is more willing to support and stand by it.

After lunch, we were given an in-depth tour of the entire store by Market District’s head chef, John Gruver.  He walked us through the store giving us the rundown on the foods that the store provides, not only in the prepared foods section but also throughout the store.

He was such a trooper taking on four food bloggers full of questions about everything!  We walked around that store probably for at least an hour and a half learning, asking, and chatting.  Plus the store is huge so it takes quite some time to get through it!

After our tour, our time at the store was over.  While I was waiting for Scott to pick me up, I browsed the wine and beer section.  I took pictures and I made notes of beers I would like to try in the future.  I’m sure people thought I was a bit odd standing there with my notebook!

The marketing folks made sure we didn’t leave empty-handed though, and gave us a nice swag bag on our way out!

Yum!

It was a long day but I had a blast and I’m happy to have gotten a chance to see and learn about the store first hand.

Stay tuned for an OHC tour of the store!

Disclaimer: Market District invited me to the event, fed me, and provided me with a goodie bag. I was not paid or compensated for this review.  My opinion is my own.

Experiencing My First Race Expo

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When I found out that there was an actual race expo attached to the Columbus Marathon, I become very excited!  To me this proved that this race was a biggie and I had such great expectations heading into the expo.

Admittedly, all previous races that I have raced, the race packets have been nothing worth noting. They came with the bib, course map if you’re lucky, and maybe a coupon to someplace.  Typically it just contained ads though.

My success rate with race shirts is not stellar.  One I didn’t get because they didn’t have my size.  They said they would mail it out to me but once I saw how ugly it was (for real, it was the color of dirty dish water), I kindly passed.

Most of them are men’s sizes (because we know women don’t run races right?) so they don’t fit me anyway.  I give those to Scott.

I finally got one that was a nice blue color but wearing it for anything longer than a short run isn’t a good idea.  But still, a race shirt for me! YaY!

All that to say, since this race had it’s very own expo I assumed a lot of things about the situation.

  • I thought our race packets would have some serious cool swag in it.
  • We would get an awesome T-shirt.
  • The expo would be kickass full of great running products and lots of free samples to try out.

This was my very first running expo EVER!  Seeing so many other bloggers talk about expos had me drooling to finally get a chance to attend one myself.  How could I not get excited when I saw what all these other bloggers have gotten not just in their packets but also got a chance to see at the expo?

When the time finally came to head over to pick up my packet I was practically skipping the entire way!

In complete honesty, I have to say that my excitement bubble got busted pretty much as soon as I walked in the door.

The first section I hit was a huge set up from Second Sole who not only were selling running gear but also gear that had Columbus Marathon Logo on it, which I thought was pretty cool.  I was looking at the women’s gear and it was nice but nothing that really caught my eye.  Then I saw sweatshirts with 13.1 on them and had to have one of those!  They were all men’s though, which I found a bit odd.  Maybe it’s because I was there late on day two of the expo, that most of the selection was picked over?

I set aside the sweatshirt I was going to purchase and walked through the rest of the expo which took us, maybe 10 minutes?

I’m being generous.

I stopped at another running gear booth because they had some really nice things out.  Sadly nothing in my size.  Bummer!  I turned around a say a huge wall of 26.2 gear but no 13.1.

Hmph.

Continued walking and saw a two booths that had funny shirts.  One booth was One More Mile.  There was a shirt I wanted but again couldn’t find it in the style I was looking for.  Then another booth but it either focused on 26.2 or being a mom runner.

I’m neither of those things.

I got to the end and picked up my race packet which had nothing.  I had to look through it like twice just to make sure.  Just some ads for other races like Disney (because Disney doesn’t get nearly enough hype as it is) and a coupon for Cap City (that was nice!).  I headed over to show my bib for t-shirt pickup and was handed a bright pink technical tee.

Greeeaaaatttt.

The fellas?  Oh they got blue.  The marathoners?  Oh they got sleek black.  Us halfers that just happen to be girls?  Pink!  Because all girls just love pink, you know.

We walked back through the expo and found some cold weather gear for Scott.  Then I got my sweatshirt and we met up with Heather quick.

Then we were outties and off to run other errands for the day.

I walked away really disappointed.  Not only was there basically nothing going on, the half marathon seemed like it didn’t even exist.  Everyone and everything was focused on the full.  Hey, I get it, running a marathon is a big deal but running a half isn’t small potatoes.  13.1 miles is a long way too.

I realize how much of a Negative Nancy I sound but maybe my expectations were too high?  I just thought for as big as this race was and the fact that it is also a Boston Qualifying race, that this expo would be rocking.  I expected to be overwhelmed with stuff as opposed to being underwhelmed and a little frustrated.

Some day I’ll get a race packet full of goodies.  I’ll get a race shirt that is awesome. I’ll get to attend an expo that just blows my mind.

A girl can dream right?

2010 Columbus Marathon

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I’m calling this The Race That Shouldn’t Have Been, because seriously everything that shouldn’t happen before a big race happened.

This is also a really long post, full of reflections, backstory, and recap.  I hope you stick around but I understand if you do not.

This was my first time running the Columbus Marathon and my second attempt.  For the record, I run halfs, I do not run fulls.  More on that in a future post, today we are focused on this race recap.

The Columbus Marathon is a full marathon and a half marathon.  This is also a qualifying marathon for those interested in trying to obtain the magical BQ.  For Columbus, Ohio, this race is A BIG DEAL.  There are a total of 15,000 participants and thousands of spectators and supporters.  Just think big.

I tried to run it last year but a previous injury kept me sidelined.

This year I was determined to run it.

Then Lori told me she was coming up to run it and that’s when I started getting excited!  Then I found out Heather was running it too, and I got even more excited!  Friends coming into town to race is full of awesome.

I was nervous about this race though.

I raced a half in May and kept my miles up through out the summer.  I was running 12 miles for my long runs but I was slightly less confident for this race.  I let my running slack a bit later in the summer and let my strength training slide considerably.

Scott and I have become so busy working on different projects that martial arts training has gone down the tubes as well.  While I had consistent long runs with no issue, my week day runs were short and nothing to write home about.  Long runs are good but week day runs are your bread and butter as a runner.  That’s where your conditioning and strength get developed and help you through your races.  With mine having gone down, I had some doubts.

My last long run before the race I ran really well and had no issues.  This gave me the confidence boost and let me know that I could run this race. My goal was to walk away injury free and with possibly another PR under my belt.  Would that happen with my decreased miles and training? Only way to find out was to suck it up and do it.

So begins the saga of The Race That Shouldn’t Have Been.

Indicator #1: Lori called me Friday night to tell me she wouldn’t be able to come up.  She had been battling a cold for some time which turned out to be bronchitis.  Then she caught something else on top of that!  Not racing was the best decision.  This bummed me out because I wanted to see her but I wouldn’t have run in her position either.  I totally understood.

Indicator #2: My race routine goes like this:

  • A week before the race, cut out all and any alcohol.
  • Eat as clean as possible.
  • Taper.
  • Stuff my face the night before the race.
  • Get plenty of rest.

The week leading up to this race, all of that went out the window.  I probably had a glass of this and a sip of that all week long except for Friday and Saturday night.  I did eat really clean so that’s a plus.  I tapered alright, so that’s a plus too.

Stuff my face and get plenty of rest?  Didn’t happen.

Saturday Scott and I headed over to the Expo to pick up my packet and to meet Heather quickly since she and family just got in town.  I had a huge bowl of oats for breakfast but never ate lunch.  I wasn’t hungry and then we were at the expo most of the afternoon so there was no chance to eat.  After the expo we went grocery shopping, after that was over, I finally started to get hungry.

This was dinner time.  Whoops!  I had dinner, then I had an apple, and then I had a pita with PB.  I hoped for the best that this would give me enough fuel to race.

I headed to bed early but slept like crap because I had big time butterflies.  Five AM came really quickly and when I woke up I was starving.

Not a good sign.

Normally, early in the morning, it’s all I can do to choke down some food.  Waking up starving? Trouble.  I had two large pieces of oatmeal bread with PB and honey.  I hoped I would be okay.

Indicator #3: I like to get to races with plenty of time for me to use the potty, Scott to take some prerace pictures, and me to line up at the start.

The plan for this race was to possibly meet up with Heather for some pictures and then line up for the start. I was going to try and catch up to her since I was in the corral behind her.  We didn’t leave for the race until late and the exit for downtown was all backed up along the highway.

I was going to be late.

I didn’t get to see Heather and there are no before the race pictures except for the one above as I’m trying to hurry to the start line.  The only upside is that I didn’t have to wait in line to use the potty only because every one else had started the race.

I started the race at the very back of the pack.

Indicator #4: I didn’t dress properly for the weather conditions.

I thought it was going to be cold, and then when I was outside for Rocky’s morning potty run it was warmer than I thought.  I knew once the sun fully came up it would be even warmer.  I decided to wear capris and a long sleeved shirt.  I brought a sweatshirt to wear to the race and after.

I went against my gut instinct telling me that downtown would be colder and windier.  I thought it would be alright.

Wrong.  I was freezing when I got downtown and it was very windy. My teeth were chattering uncontrollably.   I had to keep my sweatshirt with me because I was so cold.   I knew this would become problematic though because eventually I was going to have to fight with it.

(I’m in the white hat, fuschia top, black capris right behind this chick in the pink)

The first section of the race I was battling just trying to climb my way out of the back of the pack and get some leg room to be able to run my pace.  After about two miles in, I knew I had to ditch the sweatshirt.  I had to stop to tie it around my waist.  I didn’t zipper it first, just tied it and started running.

Then I had to stop AGAIN because the zipper kept smacking me in the leg.  Yeah I’m not about to put up with that for 13 miles, thanks.  I fixed it and was on my way.  If you know me, then you know I hate stopping when running.  It messes up my rhythm and takes me a while to recover.   I make exceptions for water breaks but that’s it.  Having to deal with a sweatshirt that I shouldn’t have been dealing with anyway was frustrating.

Trying to run out of a large pack of people who are all clustered together was also frustrating.  I bumped into and was bumped by so many people I eventually just got numb about it.  No use spending energy being upset right?  Focus on getting out of the pack.  Sometimes I could go in the middle but found that if I stayed to the far left, I could pass people a lot easier and have a lot less obstacles.

Bonus? Getting to high five some spectators!

I did alright but I never really got out of the pack or found my real pace.  I also never saw Heather.  I looked for her as I was coming up on people but never saw her.

Indicator #5: Scott is the planner in the family.  Even for my races.  I don’t even look at the course map.  I just go and everything is a surprise.  Scott pours over course maps, the alloted parking areas, plans the route to and from the race.  And tells me where we will meet up again during the race.

None of that happened for this race.  I knew nothing and didn’t even know if I would see him again.

I looked for him every time I saw a large crowd of spectators but I never thought I would find him since my main focus was, say it with me, breaking outta the pack.

But then I saw him, YaY!!  That was a great surprise!  He was between miles 8 and 9.  So you can see, even this far in the race I’m still trying to break free.

I did alright running wise.  Nothing was bothering me and only occasionally I would get a side stitch for a little bit.  This happened when I had to slow down my pace because I couldn’t get around and through groups of people.  Once I was able to up my pace again and get my breathing regulated I was alright.

I took many water breaks.  In the cooler weather when I run at home, I don’t take water or walk breaks.  So when I run a 2 hour 12 miler, that’s cause I’m not stopping.  With water breaks at races I know that’s going to affect my time some and I’m okay with that.  I didn’t expect to take as many water breaks as I did but I listened to my body and it’s needs.  I was already asking it to do something on low fuel, the least I could do was keep it hydrated, right?

The Columbus Marathon was great with their water stations, there was one what seemed like almost every mile but it I think it was actually at every other mile.  My only suggestion is not to use plastic cups for water because racers need to be able to pinch the cups so water doesn’t run down our faces.

There were bands and music along the entire course which helped keep us motivated, entertained, and moving.

The music and the spectators were the best parts.  The spectators were great giving lots of high fives, cheering, and sporting funny signs.

Around the mile 10 mark, I was very thankful there were only three miles left before I was done.  Because I was ready to BE DONE.

I was also starting to fad a bit and started to panic just a tad.  Because I had nothing on me.  No fuel because I don’t fuel during runs.  Longer than a half?  I would need to fuel but for a half I do not.  Because, you know, I fuel up well the day before.

Ahem.

I had no idea what I was going to do.  No way was I going to attempt a GU from an aid station because I had no idea how that would react on my stomach.  I assumed not well.  I didn’t want a Gatorade since it has HFCS and I don’t care for sports drinks in general but thought that might be my only choice by this point.

Then some amazing guy was standing on the side with a big plate of gummie bears for the runners.

Savior!

Gummie bears I’ve had before and used for fuel.  Gummie bears would not upset my stomach.  Gummie bears would get me through this race.

Next stop was a water station where I had some water and then headed home towards the finish.

When I saw the mile 12 marker, I trucked it.  I knew I had it in me to give it my all for the last mile and I busted out.

Then I hit it.  The huge hill that’s at the end of the half portion.  Okay, what?  I don’t know why, but this seems common here, to put big hills in at the end of the race.  This race already had it’s fair share of hills that I powered through like a champ.  But this one at mile 12?  I had to slow down a tad.

After that it was a straight down hill run to the finish.

I figured Scott was going to be in the crowd somewhere but I did not look for him.  No my focus was on finishing this dang race and salvaging what was left of what I hoped would be a PR.

I just ran.  And RAN to the finish.

I crossed the finish line at 2:19 which for half races is a new PR.  My previous race this May, I finished at 2:25.

The finishers corral was a bit of a clustermuck.  People getting their medals, stopping for pictures, and then people jamming up the lines for food.  I try not to get annoyed but you know how it goes.

I was tired, cold, and hungry.  I wanted to find my husband, stretch, and jet.  I had no idea how he was going to see me because it was crazy crowded.  I was going to find a spot to stretch and wait till he saw me.  It didn’t take that long though before we met up!  He tracked me from the finish line!

I ran over to that lamp post so I could stretch my calves out because that last hill killed them.  You can’t tell in the picture but my lips were blue because it was dang cold!  Also?  That’s my, “Can we blow this joint and go home now?” face.  Tuck that bit of knowledge away for future reference. You might need it some day.

Closing Thoughts:

Positive:

  • I’m glad that I ran this race and that I finished this race strong.  It makes the Columbus Marathon 13.1 sweatshirt (in men’s because Second Sole didn’t have stuff like that for women. Just pointing that out.) I bought for myself all the more rewarding.
  • Plenty of water stations and potty stations throughout the entire race.  If you are ever concerned about fuel or bathrooms, this is the race for you.
  • Spectators and the bands are fun! A nice constant motivation along the way.
  • Great race to run just for fun and to run with someone.

Other Thoughts:

  • It’s a BIG race with a lot of people.  I think if you’re really trying to set a new PR or possibly get a BQ, maybe this isn’t the best race for that.  It is just too crowded with runners the entire time.  I’ve spoken with Heather who started on time, she said she had the same problem that it was very congested the entire time.  There were even places were I almost had to walk because the road got narrow and everyone was trying to squeeze through.  You don’t want that during a race!
  • No hills at the end! Come on, coordinators cut us some slack.
  • Don’t cut the bananas in half, leave them whole.  Cut in half makes them harder to peel and leaves your hands all messy.

I have lots of other thoughts but this is already long enough as it is and took me ages to write!

Congrats to all the runners because everyone did an amazing job!  Hooray!