Farmer's Market Fridays - 7/26/13

Yes, it's almost August and this is my first Farmer's Market post of the summer.  Why the delay?  Let me explain.  I could say I've been out of town on Fridays this summer and haven't gone to the market.  Which is mostly true.  However, the real reason is that the Dearborn Farmer's and Artisan Market has been a real disappointment this year.  It is under new management and many of the vendors from previous years are not back.  I went about a month ago and there was only one produce vendor.  ONE.  If you ask me, a farmer's market needs to have more than bread, cookies, jams, soap, and crafty items.  Those things are fine to have (you know I LOVE my soap!) but they have to be in addition to fresh fruits and vegetables.  After that I didn't go back. 

Today I decided to give it another chance.  Well, mostly I wanted to buy soap (shocking, I know) but I figured I'd take a look around and see what else was there.  It was better than last month but still not good.  In total there were 5 produce vendors - 3 selling vegetables, 1 selling fruit, and 1 selling both vegetables and fruit.  The rest were artisans with bread and cookies, pies, plates, candles, jewelery, wooden boxes, jams, and wired art.  The Dearborn Animal Shelter had dog cookies and Oakwood Hospital was doing free blood pressure screening.  Binell Bros. were sharpening knives.  All that is fine and good but only 5 produce vendors?  Seriously?  And my favorite, Farmer Glen, didn't come back this year with his "no spray" carrots and parsnips.  He's been a stand-by since year one. 

I did pick up some cherries, a bunch of kale, and one cucumber.  And my Cellar Door Soaps, of course.  Today's selections were Patchouli Bergamot, Cherries Jubilee, and Jaguar Fever. 

The Dearborn Farmer's Market has always been small but it had been growing from year to year.  Until this year.  Now there are significantly fewer vendors and with that you inevitably have fewer customers.  There are extended market hours - until 3pm instead of 1pm - but it doesn't sound like that's helping to swell the crowds.  Or bring in the vendors.

I'm not sure what's going to happen to our market next year.  Unless they can get more produce vendors, I don't see how they will be sustainable as a farmer's market.  I'd love to see Dearborn turn it around and make a go of it.  Sadly, I think they may have lost this season but my hope is that next season will be better.  

What do you love about your local farmers market? 

On the Run: Great Lakes Relay 2013

This weekend I had the honor of running with The World's Most Interesting Team for The Great Lakes Relay (GLR).  (You can read more about GLR and how I got on the team in my last post.)  When I say I had the honor, I truly mean that.  I couldn't have asked for a better team.  And captain.  We all got along well together, were fiercely competitive, laughed a lot, and above all had fun.  And to see my teammates racing as hard as they do is something that I strive to do.  I was among the elite.  

There are two categories for GLR - open and mixed.  The World's Most Interesting Team was a mixed team, made up of 6 men - Brad, Derek, Scot, Brian, Dave, John - and 4 women - Mikelle, Mary Beth, Kim, and myself.  We also had Mike along for support, which was super helpful, especially when one of our vehicles broke down!

GLR certainly isn't for everyone.  Hell, I can hardly believe I did it!  6 races in 3 days.  6 HARD races.  Up at 4 a.m.  Rain, sun, bugs, dirt, mud.  Pooping in the woods.  Although, pooping in the woods is way better than many port-a-potty situations I've been in!  haha!

I'll do my best to recap my experience at GLR.  I can't share everything with you, however, because what happens at GLR stays at GLR!  (wink wink)


Food

Breakfast - Quaker oatmeal cups

Snacks - bananas (3/day), Clif Mojo Bars (1/day), Clif Builder Bars (1/day), apples (1/day)

Dinner - quinoa salad, garden salad, Larabar (Thursday), Subway veggie sub, Baked Lays, Larabar (Friday and Saturday), Black Bean and Portabella Burger, fries (Sunday at North Point Brewing Co. in Traverse City)


Day 1

My first leg of the relay almost started out very badly.  We got to my leg, I got ready, warmed up, and then we were just hanging out.  We had an ETA on Kim coming in but then I sort of lost track of time.  I should have been at the exchange waiting but I wasn't.  All a sudden, Mary Beth saw Kim coming down the way.  OMG!  I ran!  I ran to the exchange, turned my Garmin on to find satellites, and turned around just as Kim got there.  And I was off!  Phew, that was way too close!  Rookie mistake.

My first leg was straightforward and relatively easy until the the last mile or so.  That's when I hit a gravel road with some steep grades.  It was a good challenge, though, and a great leg to start the day.

I first ran at 7:15 a.m.  It was already hot and humid and only getting worse.  It started to storm on and off later in the day and the humidity was unbearable.  Steam was rising off the roads.  Temps were in the 80's.  The sun came back out and baked us some more.  Everyone was miserable.  At no point was it good running weather by any stretch of the imagination.

My second leg of the day was around 1:00.  The heat and humidity definitely slowed me down.  As did the muddy roads after all the rain.  And some hills.  I'm not gonna lie.  It was rough.  Thankfully I had vehicle support on this leg, which meant that one of our SUVs could drive the leg with me.  My teammates would stop every 1/2 mile or so to offer water and cheer me on.  At the end I couldn't stomach anything but having water poured over my back felt great!  (My time and pace are estimates on Leg A-12 because I forgot to stop my Garmin and had to estimate based on my mile splits.  I think I was delirious from the heat!)

Leg A-4

• Distance - 5.1 miles
• Time - 37:01
• Pace - 7:10 min/mile

Leg A-12

• Distance - 4.45 miles
• Time - 32:30 (est.)
• Pace - 7:18 min/mile (est.)

Day 2

Almost all the legs on Day 2 were on the Shore to Shore Trail.  This was the hardest and most stressful day of the GLR.  At least for me.  I woke up with knots in my stomach and was more anxious for my legs than for any race I'd ever run.  Maybe by now I'd finally realized what I'd gotten myself into!

Staying on the trail isn't as easy as it sounds.  It is marked with blue dots that you need to constantly look for.  If you go too long without seeing a blue dot, you better back up and find one.  Even though you run with your directions, there are lots of places where it looks like the trail splits.  Sometimes there's a blue arrow pointing you in the right direction.  Usually there isn't. 

Aside from the "blue dot" mantra going through your brain, there's the trail itself.  It's narrow as all get-up.  Basically a mountain bike trail that at some places would be too tight to place both feet side by side.  Not that I could even see my feet during my first run of the day.  The trail was overgrown with brush so I was running blind (and of course I wasn't wearing my glasses so I was doubly blind!).  I could feel rocks and branches underfoot.  Sometimes I had to jump over branches.  At one point I had to climb a log that was blocking my path.  I got a wicked nasty cut on my thigh from a raspberry bramble and lots of little scratches on my ankles and shins.  The woods are brutal!

So on Day 2, I had to slow down and run smart, figuring it was better to have a slower pace than end up with a twisted ankle and be out for the rest of the race.  Or go tearing though the woods and get lost.  I did well on my first leg.  I didn't fall or get lost.  I hesitated in the clearing before seeing the trail-head, but I didn't lose too much time.

On my second leg I thought I got off the trail.  I was running really well when I came to a road.  My directions didn't say I would come to a road so I panicked.  I backtracked 0.1 mile to check for a blue dot to confirm I was on track.  Then I retraced my steps, crossed the road, and saw a blue dot.  I was so mad for doubting myself and costing my team an extra 0.2 mile.  Plus it shook my confidence for the remainder of that leg.  And you can see it in my pace.  I didn't get lost but I still felt like I screwed up.  And this was one of the easy legs!  I was relieved to be done running for the day, especially since it meant the end of the trails.  I love trail running for the beauty and adventure but the stress was killing me!

Leg B-5

• Distance - 5.7 miles
• Time - 47:15
• Pace - 8:04 min/mile

Leg B-15

• Distance - 3.6 miles
• Time - 32:53
• Pace - 8:22 min/mile

Day 3

I was happy to have shorter legs on Day 3; however, I knew that shorter didn't mean easier.  Not in the GLR.  I was going to have to give it my all, down to my very last race.

My last two legs were both on the road but not like any roads I'm used to running.  They were sandy, dusty, rocky, and bumpy.  It was a challenge to find good footing.  I had cars driving by dusting me even more.  Hardly pleasant.  But on the upside, both routes were straight shots so there was no chance of getting lost!

I ran my ass off on those last two legs.  Straight up sprints to the finish.  The last one in particular.  I was exhausted.  I was starving.  I couldn't breath.  But I pushed to the end.  And it felt amazing to have finished GLR!

Leg C-8

• Distance - 2.9 miles
• Time -20:53
• Pace - 7:12 min/mile

Leg C-16

• Distance - 2.5 miles
• Time - 17:59
• Pace - 7:08 min/mile 

The BIG Finish and Results

The race ended at Empire Beach near Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes.  The whole team was there to see Scot finish the Glory Leg and some of the team ran him in.  I took a picture and cheered him on.  It was incredible to be a part of it all! 

Our team came in 4th, just 13 seconds ahead of the 5th place team.  Talk about close!  But we did it!  And we all got sweet ceramic steins because we placed in the top 5.  

Everybody partied on the beach with pizza and drinks.  Some people went in the lake but it was too cold for me.  We took a lot of great pics and just hung out with our teammates and the other teams that we'd seen along the way at all the exchanges.  We went to the awards ceremony and then before I knew it, it was time to say out good-byes.  Just days before, these 9 people were complete strangers to me.  After 3 straight days of living and running together, we were leaving as friends.  I had so many mixed feelings going into GLR but it turned out to be the best racing experience of my life.  I would do it again in a heartbeat, especially with this team.  Run thirsty, my friends!

The World's Most Interesting Team

Gearing up for GLR

Up until a month ago, I had never even heard of the Great Lakes Relay (GLR) and 2 days from now I'll be running in it!  I sort of fell into it because a friend knew some people who needed a woman for their mixed team.  I didn't know anything about the relay, nor did I know anyone on the team but was assured they were fast and fun.  I Googled the race and figured it sounded like a fun opportunity.  So without too much thought other than I was free that weekend, I said said yes.  What the hell, right?

After I said yes and started to really think about what a relay race in the middle of the woods might entail - bugs, pooping in the woods, eating vegan up north, 2 runs a day, little sleep, the possibility of getting lost.  And I'm doing this with 9 people whom I've never met??  What the hell, right?!!

When I met with some of my team members I started to feel a little better.  They were great!  Seriously.  And they've all done GLR before so they explained it well and offered helpful advice.  But wow, are they FAST!  (I'm talking Martian Marathon-winning fast.  I'm talking 15-minute 5K fast.  YEAH.)  So I am a little intimidated!  haha.  But it's good because I need to be running with fast runners to help me push my pace.  

The way the relay works, each team member has to run 24 miles over the course of the three days.  I have 2 legs each day.  Each leg has a map and turn by turn directions that we will hang onto as we run.  Thankfully my legs are pretty straightforward without too many confusing twists and turns (my biggest fear is getting lost and going miles out of my way!  Ask people.  It's happened.). 

Just to be safe, however, I figured this was a great excuse to buy myself a Garmin!  I've always used a Polar heart rate monitor and Nike+ on my iPod for pace and distance; however, the distance on Nike+ isn't very accurate.  And I never look at my iPod while I'm running anyway.  I just look at the end to see how my overall run went.  This way I can gauge my pace as I'm running.  So not only will it be useful for the race this weekend in terms of GPS, it will be very useful for my training purposes as work toward my BQ in October.

Also for this weekend I picked up a new hat, some running sunglasses, a couple more of my favorite Under Armour tank tops, and some new shoes.  Okay, so the new shoes aren't for the race.  They're for after the race.  And I didn't actually need them.  (wink wink)

You're probably wondering what I'm going to be eating this weekend.  I'm hoping I'll be able to eat my Quaker oatmeal cups for breakfast (peach almond and apple walnut are vegan) because they'll be easy to take along in the car.  For pre- and post-run snacks and lunch, I'll have ALT Bars, Clif Builder bars (not my usual thing but they are vegan and I'll need the protein), Clif MOJO bars, apples and bananas.  The team plans on doing dinner at a local burger joint but if there's nothing vegan there (very likely) I found there's a Subway close to the hotel.  I'll do a veggie sub Friday and Saturday.

To hydrate?  Just lots of water.  I usually can't do Gatorate (my stomach doesn't handle it too well) but I did buy some Coco Hydro packets that are each the equivalent of 2 coconuts.  Maybe I'll have these after each of my runs.

All my clothes are laid out but I still have some packing to do.  Expect a full GLR report next week!

Have you done or are you doing GLR?
 

Summer Soaps from Cellar Door Soap & Skin

Seriously, where is the summer going?!  I know I've been delinquent in general here on the blog, but this post specifically is one that I've been wanting to do since May.  Yes, MAY.  So yeah, it's a little late and some of these soaps might be gone.  But if so, worry not because they have so many to choose from!  I honestly cannot keep up with all the soaps that Cellar Door has been putting out.  Every time I turn around there's another amazing new scent.  And you know how I have a hard time exercising restraint when it comes to soap!  Especially new soap.  And limited edition soap?  Uh oh.

Here are a few really great ones from the summer collection (that I haven't used and/or given away yet):

And this is obviously my FAVORITE from the summer collection.  But I didn't have to tell you that, did I?  (wink, wink)

I also really liked Grass Stain and Tomato Vine.  Both were fresh, clean outdoorsy scents.

Some other great soaps I want to hoard in my closet are Yuzu (grapefruit), Patchouli Bergamot (smells more bergamot than patchouli), and Lemon Verbena.  Just to name a few, of course!

Check out Cellar Door on Facebook to find your favorite soap!  You can also order online.  But I recommend going to the market and getting your nose right up to the soap.  That's what I do!

What is your favorite summer scent?

Detroit Marathon Countdown: 15 Weeks

I'm a few weeks into my plan and I'm finding the hardest part of following a training plan is following a training plan.  As I've said many times before, I've never trained for a race.  I just run.  (Not that I was running when I did my first half but that's beside the point.)

So when I say I'm not following my plan, it's not as if I'm not running almost every day.  It's just that I'm not following the mileage as it's laid out.  Take this week, for example.  I  swapped my Saturday and Sunday mileage because I did a 6-mile group run at RUNdetroit on Saturday.  My 5-mile Sunday run didn't happen because of some (ahem) unforeseen circumstances Saturday night involving red wine.  Rest day.

Because I rested on Sunday I needed to get my 5 miles in on Monday, which is generally a cross-training day.  I did both.  Can't miss my cycle!  Tuesday I was supposed to do 3 but now that my running buddy Julie is recovered from a hamstring injury, we're back to doing our 6-mile run.  Wednesday was supposed to be 6 but because I would also be running in Boot Camp, I only did 4.  Today was supposed to be 3 but again I ran 6 with Julie. 

So in general, it isn't that I'm running less than I'm supposed to be running.  I'm actually running more.  But not so much that I'm overdoing it.  I think it's okay during the week if I'm not super disciplined about the exact number of miles but on the weekend I have to be sure I get in the long runs.  This weekend I have 11, which will be my longest training run.  Ever.  Since, ya know, I've never trained before.  Anyone know a good 1/2 marathon I can just sign up for on Sunday instead?

Read previous Detroit Marathon Countdown posts - 17 Weeks