When given the opportunity to participate in the Food Blogger Cookie Swap, I jumped on it!  I decided to finally share one of my closely guarded recipes.  And although it is a very simple recipe, it is always a crowd pleaser.  It is also one of my no-fail recipes.  It is really hard to mess up these cookies.  They come out looking perfect every time!

Molasses Cookies
Adapted from “A Taste of Heaven” (Westview Baptist Church Cookbook, Kingston Springs, TN)
Makes about 7-8 dozen

4 cups flour
2 cups sugar (plus extra in a bowl or plate for rolling)
1 1/3 cup oil
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup molasses
4 tsp baking soda
1+ tsp (plus a pinch or two*) salt
2 tsp cinnamon (plus extra to taste*)
2 tsp ginger (plus extra if you prefer more of a gingerbread cookie*)

Preheat oven to 300°.

Mix all ingredients until fully incorporated.  It will all stick together in clumps in the bowl.  Scoop out a chunk of dough and roll into a 1″ ball in your hands.  Then roll the dough ball in sugar, coating evenly.  Place on cookie sheet covered with parchment paper about 2″ apart.

Bake for 10-12 minutes (12-14 for airbake cookie sheets).  After about 1/2 time, rotate cookie sheet and sprinkle extra sugar on top of cookies.  Do not overbake the cookies, they will get really hard if you do.  Bake until the tops just start to crack open.  Remove immediately and transfer to wire cooling rack.

*TIPS:

• I like to add extra salt, cinnamon, and ginger to the recipe to taste.  An extra pinch of salt or two gives it a nice sweet and salty taste.
• This is easily cut in half for about 3-4 dozen cookies.
• If you overbake, the cookies will get hard like gingersnaps, which you may prefer that texture.  But if they get too hard, put them in a container with a slice of apple for a day or so to rehydrate them.
• The cookies will continue to bake a while on the cookie sheet after you remove from the oven.  Keep this in mind since you take them out a little underdone, but also don’t leave them on too long or they will get crispy.
• Let the cookie sheet cool a little between batches for a more even batch.  I alternate cookie sheets to allow for this.
• Your palms will get a nice exfoliation and moisturizing from the oil and sugar as you wash off the cookie from your hands.
• Church cookbooks are incredible gems for recipe inspiration.  They are usually collections of recipes from the church members for tried and true recipes.  It’s like digging into someone’s recipe box.

So, I thought, why not have a Helpful Hints for all my athlete readers!  We all know I love to find cheap and easy ways to get my exercise on, and if you’re a triathlete you know how obscenely expensive it can get quickly.  Here are a few ways to make your lives easier and maybe save a little cash for that next race registration. (sorry I haven’t found a way to make those easier!)

Warm-up clothes
We are all familiar with the that long, dark, cold walk to the start line of a race.  The sun hasn’t risen, but you’ve  stretched and want to keep your muscles warm, but you also know as soon as the race gets going and the sun comes up it’s going to get warmer quickly.  You hate to overdress, you hate to let your muscles freeze (and risk injury) before the race, and you don’t want to leave behind your favorite jacket or track pants.  Go to Goodwill.  Pick up a pair of $4-5 pants and a sweatshirt.  While it may not be the most stylish, who cares, you’re not keeping it or wearing it again. (BONUS: if you look like a crazy homeless person you’ll psych out your competition!)  Then just before race start, discard the clothes and most large races collect the throwaway clothes and donate to needy charities!

TIPS:
* If you’re small like me, you can get away with buying girls or boys clothes in L or XL.  They’re about a $1-2 cheaper.  Kids are so much bigger nowadays that you’d be surprised what fits!
* Go on the first Saturday of anymonth.  The ENTIRE store is 50% off.  Hint: Go this Saturday and stock up for your next race!
* Look around at the signs.  The price tags are color coded and each day has a specific color associated with it that is 50% off.  So, if today is an orange day, go and ahead and get picky and look only at the orange tagged clothes.

Keeping your bike dry
You’re ready to head to the triathlon and it looks like rain.  Or you’ve racked your bike in transition and you hate morning dew on your seat and drivetrain.  You can get a special cover or try to finagle a sheet (that will only soak through) or plastic grocery bags that aren’t big enough.  Or you can use a dry cleaning bag or those plastic bags that UPS uses to leave boxes on your porch so they don’t get wet.  Usually they are clear, long and very large, so they cover a lot of area and you can still see (and recognize) your bike underneath.  They aren’t very thick so if you need to rip them to fit around something they will.  And you’re recycling!  You don’t have to waste a brand new trash bag that is opaque and too think to rip on its own.  I save these bags as I get them and fold them up really small and store them in my transition bag for that you-never-know situation.  Then you also have them in there if you need them to take home muddy, sweaty, wet, etc clothes or gear after the race.  Also see Space Blanket below for another tip.

Keep yourself dry
This one is a well-known tip, but you can use those same bags above to keep yourself dry before or during  a running race.  These bags are clear so race officials can see your bib number.  Always keep these on hand, you never know.

Salt
Do you use salt during a race?  I’ve only discovered this year as I was training for Philly just how helpful salt can be if you get dehydrated easily, or get GI distress during a race or training.  You can buy the really expensive salt tablets, or risk carrying pretzels with you and hope they don’t upset your stomach further.  Or you can just take the little salt packets from restaurants.  You know the salt/pepper paper packets that come with your to-go order?  Snag a few of those the next time you’re out.  Stuff them in your shorts, your Spi-Belt, or inside your Sport Beans bag (like I do).  Rip one open and either dump it into your mouth or a little bit on your hand and lick it off like a tequila shot.

Space Blanket/Heat Sheet
However you like to call it, these bizarre foil sheets can be your best friend after a race.  But don’t toss it once you’ve regulated your body temperature, they have a lot of uses even after you got that awesome PR!  Use it as a drop cloth for painting.  Use it to cover plants outside during a frost.  Lay it across your back seat or trunk of your car to protect the interior from dirt, pets, or bike grease.  Use it with rubber bands to cover your bike to keep it from getting wet (see above).  Save it for after a smaller local race that may not have the extra funds to provide them.

Wet Shoes
I have run my fair share of races in pouring rain and massive thunderstorms.  (Thanks crazyass unpredictable Nashville weather!)  Waiting for shoes to dry on their own is an enormous hassle, and you really don’t want to toss those expensive neutral-cushioned, lightweight, performance trainers (or whatever) into the dryer to bounce around and warp the lasts.  You can either buy one of these products, or you can just take some good old fashioned newspaper and stuff it into your shoes.  Newspaper is incredibly absorbent and will pull that dampness right out.  Just be sure to check your shoes and change out the paper as it gets saturated until your shoes have dried.

Icing injuries
You really put in some awesome speedwork on the track tonight.  Or maybe this morning’s ride had some crazy hills.  Or maybe you took a tumble getting out of the pool and bruised your tailbone.  Whatever the reason, we all know that ice is our best friend to help sore muscles and injuries.  But it’s really hard to get a baggy of ice to comfortably sit on an injury or mold around a joint.  Enter frozen veggies.  Buy the cheapest bag of corn (kernels only!) or peas.  The tiny veggies mold perfectly around your intended icing area for a more comfortable recovery.  Also, you can refreeze these bags for use over and over.  I think my bag of frozen corn that I use is several years old, still works!  Just be sure to inform others in your household that THAT bag of veggies is NOT to be used for dinner!

What are some cool, easy tips that you use?

So, I signed up and since I had never been to Philly before, booked a 5 day trip to see the city as well.  More on that in a later pt. 2 post, but let me just tell you, thank goodness I was running 13 miles that weekend because OMG THE FOOD!!!  I returned only half as fat than I would have if I hadn’t run.  So, stay tuned for that post.

And back to the running.  I hit up the Race Expo the day it opened and wow, it was one of the best expos I’ve seen. Very big, lots of freebies, great companies.  And the swag bag was awesome too. Nice reusable bag, loved the mesh panel, and a whole box of Cliff Crunch Bars, yes I said BOX, not just one bar, but an entire box of 10 bars!

While at the expo, I stopped by the Runner’s World booth and saw they were having a shakeout run with Bart Yasso on Saturday morning.  I wasn’t planning on running any before the race but I couldn’t pass up this opportunity!  So, I got up early and ran with one of my sport’s greats!  How cool is that?! I also got to see some cool parts of the city and the race course, and meet a couple people including some of the editors at Runner’s World, one of my favorite magazines!

Sunday morning: The day of the race.  With a VERY early wake up call for that 7am start time with the starting line a mile from my hotel.  I had laid out my clothes and gear the night before, so getting dressed was easy.  At about 6:15, I started trekking with the masses in the dark towards the race start.  I stood in line for a portapotty for a long time, but as the race was getting started, I just couldn’t wait for the 40 people in front of me to empty their bladders and convinced myself it was just nerves and I didn’t need to go after all.  I  dropped my stuff at gear check and found my corral.  Within a few minutes I was inching my way to the start line and I was off.

I knew that I would be stuck in a crowd for the first mile, so I didn’t stress out too much about my pace for the first mile, trying to take advantage of open pockets when I could.  However, I was able to maintain a decent pace for the first few miles despite the crowds.  I used a pace band from Cliff bars for the first time and that was great, less need to do math in my head and I could just focus on running and breathing.

Although it is very big race, I was able to move away from large packs after a couple miles.  It was only on a couple places where the road is fairly narrow, and the spectators outnumbered the racers was it crowded again.  I even ran into one of the runners I met during the run with Bart Yasso.  He and his wife were both running the marathon.  He seemed to be doing well at that point, I stopped to say hi and wish him luck.

Although Philly is a flat course, I heard rumors about a hill around miles 7-10.  There was a “blip” of a hill at mile 7 over a bridge, but I’m from Tennessee and I hardly noticed it.  Once I hit the true hill at mile 9, I definitely noticed it.  It wasn’t an awful hill, just a little long, but not too steep, but after running 9 miles you’re going to notice any terrain changes.  I made it up the hill without walking (yeah, high five!), and was looking forward to the downhill that was sure to follow.  I think the downhill did me in more than the uphill.  It was a pretty steep downhill, and I usually love to let gravity pull me down and make up some momentum I lost on the uphill.  But this downhill had several sharp turns that forced me to brake my pace and burn up some quads strength and energy.

Usually at some point during mile 11 of a half, I hit a mini-wall.  I walk.  And I keep telling myself this is stupid and I want to go home.  Over. And. Over.  I can’t say I didn’t have some of those thoughts, but I didn’t walk dammit!  In fact for the first time, I hardly walked during the race.  Only a couple paces during a water stop, but that’s it! And then when I see the Mile 12 marker, I know I only have to run 1 mile and surely I can do that, already ran 12. I can run 1 mile in my sleep!

Heading towards the finish, there are about 500 signs warning the full marathoners to go left and half finish is on the right.  Of course this is for the last mile or two.  I appreciated the notice and help in breaking up the crowds of runners so we didn’t cut each other off at the last minute, but it was a little confusing, thinking I was closer to the finish than I was.  But as I saw the back of the Art Museum, and the slight waterfall my friend Bill gave me a heads up to look for, I knew I was close.  I did hate the slight uphill heading towards the last couple tenths of a mile before the finish, but I was so close.

And I did it! I got a new PR and a sub-2:00 Half Marathon!  My final time was 1:57:18.   That’s a PR of 18 minutes!!

We ran through some really great parts of Philly.  Seeing the historical sites,  going through University City, past the Philly Zoo, start and finish by the Art Museum (and the Rocky Statue!).  We had perfect weather, and I was able to run in my favorite shorts and a short sleeve shirt, hi-40s – mid 50s, no rain and partly cloudy blue skies.

PROS
This is a great race that I recommend to anyone wanting to PR.  I think most people I know PR’d or at least had a decent race.  There is plenty of crowd support on the entire course.  There is plenty of interesting things to look at to distract you from the miles you’re putting under those shoes.  Friendly racers, this isn’t a crazy competitive race where people are trying to take each other out.  Plenty of water stops.

CONS
I didn’t see any mile markers until mile 7.  I’m not sure if this is because the course was crowded with spectators and/or racers and I just didn’t see them or there were so few.  I think I only saw about 3-4 total mile markers, thank goodness for my Garmin.  It seemed very random how the water stops were set up.  In some places it was only on the right, some only on the left and some on both sides.  It was a little chaotic when a water stop snuck up on you and you had to quickly dart to one side or dodge other runners in need of hydration.  There were a couple places the race got really crowded, but not so awful I ever had to walk.  I never heard the Rocky Theme.  I had heard you hear it nonstop at the start and finish, but I never heard it.  Oh well, could be worse things to complain about!

And some of my favorite points along the race unrelated to running:

• Right around mile 1 the Philadelphia Eagle (from the NFL team) was handing out High Fives!  Yeah, I went for it!!
• Awesome spectator signs:
  “Toenails are Overrated!”
  “WTF! Worst Parade Ever!”
  “Keep Running, Zombies Behind”
  and my favorite: “You’re a better running mate than Sarah Palin!”
• The hot chicken broth after the finish.  What brilliant soul came up with this?  I don’t eat chicken and don’t really have interest in chicken broth, but OMGITWASSOGOOD!  You finish the race, sweaty, a little chilled and dehydrated…just what you need, something hot, liquid, and full of sodium!  It was made of magic and unicorns!  I think I told the guy handing it out that he was the smartest man ever about 75 times.  I’m pretty sure he was creeped out.

An early Fall run with 16mph winds = running into a blizzard of red and gold leaves and they are freed from their summertime holder by the blustery-ness of the morning.

(yes, I made that word up)  How was your run this week?  I’m officially on taper now.  Let the crazies begin.

What race you might ask?  Well I’ve been a busy little athlete this summer and fall, with tons of races!  My big race I’m training for is the Philadelphia Half Marathon.  I’ve developed some crazy speed over the summer, and my goal is to break 2 hours! That’s another PR by more than 15 minutes.  I think I can do it, I’ve been training on pace for the past few months.  I really think all the triathlon cross training has really helped my speed.  Extra strength from the biking, and learning to breathe while swimming (and not just whenever you want, like in running) has increased my lung strength.

Normally I only do about 3-4 races a year, tops.  Usually one big race, a half marathon, then maybe a couple training races, and of course the Boulevard Bolt on Thanksgiving.  This year, with all the triathlons and the wealth of fun different races I’ve done quite a bit.  Here’s my rundown from this year, some completed, a few more to go:

May 15: Ramblin’ Rose Women’s Triathlon (Nashville) – My 1st triathlon! Loved it so much, very well organized.

May 29: GJCC Memorial Day Triathlon (Nashville) – hated the bike course and had my first run-in with a jackass in a car on a major highway.

June 19: Music City Du Run Run Duathlon (Nashville) – massive storm rolled in during the race and was really scary, but at least not blazing hot like most years, and I totally chicked my guy friend who also ran it. (He hates me now.)

July 30: Yazoo Barely a 4k Beer Run (Nashville) – My favorite local brewery basically found an excuse for a bunch of beer drinkers to get up early on a Saturday, run 2.4 miles, then drink a lot of beer, before 9am.  (Chicked my friend again, he still hates me.)

August 27: Cedars of Lebanon Triathlon (Lebanon, TN) – Really tough bike course, but I trained on it and felt good. This was my goal sprint tri for the season.

September 17: Warrior Dash (Manchester, TN) – 3.15 miles of running and obstacles, dressed like 80′s Ke$ha with my friend Bunny! Tougher than I expected, but lots of fun!

October 1: Shelby Bottoms Boogie 15k (Nashville) – I PR’d on this course by 13 minutes!

October 16: Yazoo Big Wheel Championships (Nashville) – My favorite local brewery hosted a grownup size tricycle race.  (Didn’t chick my friend’s team, because we felt he needed a little confidence boost, so we tied him.)

October 29: Zombie Buffet 5k (Nashville) – Zombies chasing runners on a 5k course.  Yeah, I’m going to be a zombie and I want your BRAINS!!

November 20: Philadelphia Half Marathon – This is my goal race for the year, hoping to break 2 hours.  After I registered, I found out a lot of people I know online are also running it.  Can’t wait!

November 24: Boulevard Bolt (Nashville) – This is my traditional Thanksgiving Day race.  5 miles in the morning and you can eat whatever you want for Thanksgiving.  It may also be my first run after the Half.

So yeah, that’s quite a lot in one year, much less 7 months, for me at least.  What’s in store for next year?  I’m bumping up to Olympic distance in triathlons (with the goal of 70.3 Half Ironman in 2 years!).  So I’ll definitely have some more sprint tri’s and one or two Oly’s, maybe an Endurance Distance too.  I plan to run the Ramblin’ Rose again if they bring it back, because I loved it so much and it sparked my love of tri’s.  I’m thinking about Hooping the Half Marathon again in the Spring with the Hooping for Hope ladies.  Every year I keep saying I’m going to do the Louisville Triple Crown (a 5k, 10k, and 10 miler), so I’m going to try to work them in next year too.  Then to pick out my goal Fall/Winter Half Marathon.  Will I be able to get into the St. Jude in Memphis before it sells out on me again?  Or will I return to Detroit for the Detroit Free Press Half Marathon?

So some evil person the fabulous people at Her Nashville Magazine and The Nashville Scene are putting together an event that makes my pre-diabeetus kick in just from reading it called “Sugar Rush.”  If you’re in Nashville next week, you should really get your ticket (they’re selling out fast!) and get your sugar coma on!

These are really some of the best of the best of Nashville’s (and the country’s!) confectioners!  Here’s the best part, you get to try them all, then vote for the best!! And tickets are only $10! And that includes 2 drink tickets, that’s worth the price of a ticket for 2 drinks in this town alone, much less for the sugar overload you can experience.

So get your ticket now, and feed your sugar fiend!

Last weekend, I had a fantastic dinner party planned, and I was in charge of making dessert.  The only request was that it had to be chocolate and very dark chocolate at that.  I love my chocolate dark, so I had no problem working on this task.  After much drool-worthy painstaking research, I came across this recipe.  The richness of the chocolate, paired with the intense molten center made it impossible to finish one on your own.  I recommend sharing these, or making in much smaller oven-safe containers.  For those of you with any gluten issues, the good news is this is gluten free!  I opted to serve this warm dessert with some spumoni gelato from our local Bravo Gelato to pair the hot and cold with the cake texture and the molten center.

And make sure you have a napkin ready, because I was telling my friend Tabbulous about the recipe while she viewed the picture on my phone, and she threatened to lick my phone!  You might need to wipe off your computer screen.

Baked Chocolate Pudding (Gluten Free)
adapted from Jamie Oliver recipe

4 120z oven safe ramekins (or 6-8 smaller ramekins)
1 ice cube tray

16-17.5 oz high quality dark chocolate. (minimum 70% cocoa solids, I used Green & Black’s 85%)
1/2 cup hot very strong coffee or hot espresso
1 stick + 1 Tbsp of butter, plus extra for greasing ramekins
6 eggs, separated
1 cup + 2 Tbsp of sugar
3.5 oz almond meal
3.5 oz rice flour

Brew the coffee/espresso, then melt 4.5oz chocolate (about 1.5 bars of a 3.5oz Green & Black’s) with the coffee.  Very dark chocolate won’t melt entirely with the coffee, so after mixing, I microwaved the mixture for 30 seconds at a time while stirring until totally mixed.  Pour chocolate coffee mixture into ice cube tray and freeze until hard.**

Grease the ramekins with butter and place in the fridge (to keep from melting) until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Melt remaining chocolate with the butter in a bowl over a pot of boiling water, constantly stirring.  The chocolate  will melt faster than the butter, but keep stirring until mixed.  Allow the chocolate butter mixture to cool so as not to cook the remaining ingredients.  I placed it in the fridge for a few minutes, but don’t let it get cold and harden.  Whisk the egg yolks and fold into the chocolate butter mixture.  Add almond meal and rice flour and stir/whisk by hand until fully mixed.  Your mixture should look a lot like brownie batter.

Whisk egg whites with sugar until stiff in a separate large bowl with a stick blender or hand mixer with a whisk attachment.  Note, I recommend begin whisking the egg whites and slowly add sugar.  I whisked them together and my mixture looked more like marshmallow cream rather than meringue.  I don’t think it made a huge difference in taste or texture, but next time I will opt for this method.

Fold the chocolate mixture into the egg whites gently until completely  mixed.  Spoon the chocolate pudding mixture into the ramekins, filling about 1/3-1/2 full.  Push one of the chocolate coffee ice cubes into the pudding mixture, with the narrow portion of the cube towards the bottom of the ramekin.  Spoon the remaining portion of the pudding over the ice cube until fully covered.

Bake 18-20 minutes.  A toothpick inserted in the side will indicate if done, but do not insert in the middle as it will always be gooey and yummy.  Carefully turn ramekin upside down and remove baked pudding while still hot.  If you allow the pudding to cool, even while still warm, it will stick to the bottom and may break apart.  Serve immediately while still warm.

** Bonus – use the extra chocolate coffee ice cubes in your coffee or hot milk the next morning!

Enjoy!

Apple Cider Hot Toddy

Spiced Cider (I prefer Trader Joe’s)
Caramel
Turbinado Sugar
Whiskey (preferably Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey!)

Heat the cider.
Rim a mug with caramel.
Dip the caramel rimmed mug in turbinado sugar.
Add a dollop of caramel to the bottom of the mug.
Pour the heated cider in the mug.
Top off with whiskey.

• Advice from the perspective of the significant other
• Advice from the perspective of the athlete  (The main link is broken, here is a cached link until it is fixed.)

These are both really great articles with great advice.  But it’s not just the significant other who needs advice, triathletes also need to know how to assimilate into non-endurance society.  So, I thought I’d take a stab at giving triathletes (and other athletic types) advice for successfully being a significant other.  I am by no means an expert, but these are things that I have always struggled with personally.  Some of this advice also goes for your regular relationships and friendships with people in the real world.

1.  There are other things to talk about besides training and racing.  Yes, I know that most of your time is spent training, eating, training, sleeping, training, etc. in that order, but the rest of the world doesn’t revolve around your sport.  If they ask, go ahead spill.  But if you’ve been talking for 10 minutes straight without follow up questions or feedback, it’s too much.

→ But tell them your training schedule.  Don’t bore them with the details (see #1).  But let them know where you’re going, what time, how long you’ll be gone, and who will be with you.  This is a common courtesy, but a great safety precaution for you too.

2.  A little friendly competition is great, but don’t make the other person miserable by making everything a race to the best.  There is something to be said for just having fun.  And sometimes if you let the other person win a little, they’re more likely to play with you again if you do.

3.  Training is NOT a date or quality time together.  Races are NOT vacations.  Yes you are busy, yes training takes up a lot of time,  yes you can travel to cool places for races.  But these are things that are for YOU.  Not your significant other.  Every now and then, someone may want to join you for a run or bike ride, or come cheer you on at a race.  But that is a lot of pressure on the other person to keep up on your training pace.  And it’s the other person’s vacation too, so if they want to travel to a race too great, but make sure you plan a proper vacation together. No racing, training, crazy bedtimes/wake up calls, weird nutrition requirements.

4.  Enjoy it if you’ve picked someone who is also somewhat athletic.  They’ll understand more of what you’re going through.  They might want to join you for training every now and then (but see #3 above!) and are less likely to get bored or annoyed with your training/racing chatter (see #1 above).  Plus 2 athletes together – you both look great naked. (see #5)

5.  Enjoy your intimate time with your significant other.  You’ve trained really hard, show off that sexy athlete body!  And every athlete deserves a little release now and then.  Plenty of studies have shown that it can help athletic performance (stress relief anyone?).  And athletes are just better at it, we’ve got the endurance and all the blood is pumping properly to the all the right parts.  Don’t ever train so hard that you’re “too tired.”

6.  It’s ok to have weaknesses.  Yeah, you’re a badass who can run/bike/swim/whatever for hours on end and still kickbox and sweat it out in hot yoga.  But you actually cannot do EVERYthing.  It’s ok to ask for help. It’s ok to have a breakdown now and then.  It’s ok to cry even when you’re not in physical pain.  While it may be hard to show a vulnerable side, it’s actually refreshing to others to know that you aren’t actually superman and that they feel needed.

7.  Make time for the other person.  While this seems obvious, it’s probably the most neglected.  I’ve always said you don’t “find” time for training, you “make” time for it.  The same goes true for your relationships.  Just as you’re making time for your training in your precious schedule, you need to make time for the important people in your life.  Striking that balance is very difficult.  You can always buy another bike if you wreck it, but you can’t buy another friend/lover/relationship.

→ And go out of your way to do special things for them.  If they’ve stuck it out through all this with you, they deserve a medal like the one you get at the end of a race.  Think of all the Friday/Saturday nights you’ve gone to bed early, leaving them to either retire early or spend the evening alone.  And all the early morning training sessions where your perky 5am alarm woke them up.  The hours spent alone while you’re out on a brick, instead of a date together.  The hours spent alone while you’re recovering after a long run (no they don’t always want to nap with you in the middle of the day).  And the encouragement they’ve provided in training and cheering on race day.  That’s pretty incredible.  Buy them flowers.  Cook them dinner.  Ask them about what they’re interested in. (But do not relate it back to racing, and do not cut them off after 10 minutes, let them prattle on and pretend you’re interested, that’s what they do!)  Take them to a movie.  Take them on vacation.  Be intimate.  Do something spontaneous.

8.  Find a good athlete buddy.  Someone who will go out on your training runs with you, who may want to do the same races as you.  Someone you can talk to for hours on end about cadence, negative splits, snot rockets, chub rub, wetsuit strippers*, blisters, nutrition and digestion issues, bricks, etc.  This person will be a benefit to your relationship, as you can eliminate some of issues above (#1, #3).  Just make sure you don’t spend more time with this person than your significant other that they are neglected (see #7) or they become jealous of your training buddy.

9.  Clean yourself up.  Yeah, you’re hardcore and sweat.  But honestly it’s gross.  We see it as a badge of honor.  Others see it as disgusting.  Make sure you take time to shower and freshen up before trying to spend time with other people.  Shave, get a pedicure, remove that sunscreen/Body Glide/Sweat/Gu stickiness/HooHa Ride Glide/bike grease/chlorine/Sharpie-TriTat number from your body.  They will thank you.  Trust me on this one.  Clean up your space too.  Whether your significant other lives with you or not, do not clutter your space with all your gear, swag, medals, nutrition, workout clothes.

10.  Remember above all else, you’re still just a human.  Unless you’re an elite athlete with 6 figure endorsements, you still have to function in society like everyone else.  Yes, your sport makes up an important part of your life, but you can’t marry it (though some would love to try/tri – bad I know!).  You still have to go to work or school.  You still have to pay bills.  You still have to carry on a conversation like a normal person.  You still have to love and be loved like a normal person.

If I were to write a book of the past couple years, I think I’d make that the title.  But for now, I’ll just chronicle my findings here.  So, without further ado, I have new Dinos to share with you!

The first one is on the side of a local paper stand just outside one of my favorite local coffee shops.  Turn your head to the side, and there he is, in the freestyle hand drawn flavor.

The second is in a funky little neighborhood situated between the hood, the fancy pants neighborhood, the colleges, and the music industry.  On a little pole just next to the sidewalk sits one of the elusive Dino stickers.  (What I wouldn’t do to get my hands one of those myself!)  Thanks to a friend for telling me about this one.

I think I have another one stored on an old phone.  If I can figure out how to get that one off of the phone, I’ll post it soon too.  Enjoy your holiday weekend!