Gull Lake Triathlon

I talk to Kelly probably all day every day and one of our recent conversations went like this. 
Kelly - Im thinking of doing Gull Lake Triathlon
Me - when is it?
Kelly - end of June
Me - Im coming!
I enjoy racing, travelling and seeing corners of America I wouldnt normally see on a family vacation, so Im always thrilled when Kelly lets me invite myself along.

We left a very rainy Tinley Park to drive to Hickory Corners in Michigan. Three hours and a Panera Bread later we arrived and headed on a reconnaissance to figure out the logistics of race location parking and moving all of our gear to the transition area. After that we checked into our hotel and the less said about that the better.

Morning came very quickly, far too quickly for me in fact, I only had 3 hours sleep bah. Im pretty sure that was due to the one hour time change and keeping one eye on our hotel room door.

We headed to the tri, parked up and walked 1/4 of a mile to transition to drop off our gear and get marked up. Olympic wave was due to set off at 7.45am and I had already planned to DNF on the swim due to my very sore foot.  I watched the swimmers, including Kelly, get counted into the water and then set off and hit the first two buoys before I hit the bathrooms and headed into transition to change my shoes and grab my bike.

I watched all the swimmers come in and leave and grew a little concerned for Kelly when she didnt return with the majority, I knew she wasnt a particularly slow swimmer so I expect she went off course a little. We'll never know. I waited for Kelly to come in just to be sure she was OK before setting off a couple of minutes before her.

Kelly passed me on the bike and yelled she wanted to make up some time which was fine with me, I was already shattered from lack of sleep. When we checked the triathlon place out the night before we had driven apart of the bike course which was incredibly bumpy and covered with pot holes. When I hit the first half mile point I spotted two drink bottles on the ground, one was a pink - KELLY's! She had lost all of her hydration in the first half mile. I tried to catch her to give her my spare bottle but she was already gone. DAMMIT

The bike course was rolling to say the least. It actually reminded me of a half marathon I did in Wisconsin. Thankfully Mother nature was kind to us, no heat, no humidity and more importantly NO HEADWIND. I tackled the hills the best that I could and it wasnt pretty. At mile 22 we passed a cemetery and I actually chose my plot. Mile 24 couldnt come fast enough. I did see one girl take a wrong turn on the course and thanked God it wasnt me. 

 
I headed to the finish line and racked my bike, Kelly was already out on her last leg of the tri, a 6.2 mile run, and I waited at the finish for her to come in.

The post race food consisted of french toast and breakfast burritos, very yummy, and I was really glad of it after having no fuel on the bike. It wasnt long until Kelly was back and after her quick dip in the lake, we waited for her age group award.

The triathlon closed down very quickly after that and I felt for those who were still finishing. If your bike was still hanging on a rack it was promptly laid on the floor while the racks were dismantled, so we  headed home but not without stopping for coffee.

Verdict: $75 race fee. A fairly small but highly competitive tri. Lots of tri teams and expensive kit.

Pros Good race event communications, nice race shirt, bike course was well marked, good race day organisation.

Cons I didnt win one but Kelly did and the medal looked cheap and of 5k quality, no bathrooms on the bike or run course, no aid on the bike course, no mile markers, first come first served parking.

Other Notes: the nearest hotel is 10 mins away but avoid at all costs. Gull Lake Inn.

Living with chronic pain.

Go to sleep foot

Its been six months since my foot surgery, progress is slow and in the mean time Im still dealing with my other pain symptoms. I had my second round of Shockwave therapy today and it didnt go as well as the first, Im feeling a little bruised. Dr Vittori had trouble numbing my foot due to scarring in the ankles. I waited almost 45 minutes for my foot to fall asleep and when it did it was in places which werent going to be treated - pah. When I left the office my foot was completely awake, oh well, one more treatment to go and I will have completed the full course.

At my first appointment, Dr Vittori asked me if Id ever tried a compound topical for my neuropathy symptoms, I have but it was a long time ago and it didnt work because I really needed nerve release surgery instead, which I didnt know at the time. 

So what is a compound topical?

A compound topical is a mix of several ingredients which treat different symptoms in the same area where the topical(lotion) is applied. For neuropathy sufferers this can be a great help as we get pain, tingling and burning in the same place at the same time.

So why chose a compound topical? well the pros far outway the cons. The compound can be tailored specifically to the patients needs, it also eliminates the need for oral medications which a lot of the time have nasty side effects. A compound also eliminates any unnecessary ingredients which patients may be allergic to and its a perfect solution for patients who have trouble swallowing pills. The only con I have read about is that the topical can sometimes cause skin irritation. 



So whats the magic ingredients? Well I can only speak for my own and Im happy to share.

1. Ketamine - This medicine is a type of anesthetic.
2. Diclofenac - This medicine is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) and treats pain and swelling.
3. Baclofen - This medicine is a muscle relaxer and treats muscle spasms.
4. Bupivicaine - This medicine is used to prevent or relieve pain.
5. Cycloprine - This medicine treats pain and stiffness caused by muscle spasms
6. Gabapentine - This medication treats pain
7. Ibruprofen - This medication treats inflammation and pain.

I have pain 24/7 and I relied heavily on Cymbalta for the past three years before going cold turkey and coming off it in March. It took me 3 weeks to recover from the withdrawal side effects and my neuropathy pains instantly increased, so I relied on icing to help ease my symptoms. 

I now apply my topical three times a day and although its very early days, so far so good, this compound definitely takes the edge off my pain and I cannot thank Dr Vittori enough for the script. I was lucky to only have to pay $25 and the rest of the cost was picked up by my insurance.

Dr Vittori's facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/VittoriFootAnkleFanPage?fref=ts

Win a minion :)

Hi, I’m Jenny’s English friend, Louise and I’m a glass addict.

Jen obviously wanted a break because she asked me to write up a guest piece for her blog about what I do.

I began by making jewelry as a hobby about six years ago. Pretty soon I’d made so much that I didn’t have room for it so I started to give it away. I had so many ideas that I wanted beads in different styles and colours but I couldn’t always find what I was looking for. Then I got impatient. So I started reading articles online and discovered lampworking. It sounded scary. Gas, fire, hot glass. Undeterred, I got a starter kit for Christmas and I read lots of books. I was terrified the day I turned my torch on for the first time so much so that I didn’t do it again for a few weeks. But for the last four years I’ve played and practiced. I’ve wasted a lot of glass, time and probably money, but I’ve had so much fun. It’s only recently that I’ve dared to start calling myself a lampwork artist. “Ok” I hear you ask “So what’s that?” Well basically I melt glass for a living and make it into cool/cute stuff. In case you’re still none the wiser, I’ll try to explain – this time with the aid of pictures. A picture says a thousand words after all...

In case you’re wondering, my workspace is in the garage – bare walls/concrete floor - there’s very little out there that I can damage. This is my torch. This is where I melt glass. It’s also where I melt my fingers and burn holes in my clothes, but enough about that... The glass I use comes in different coloured rods. Don’t tell my husband, but I have thousands of these rods stashed away in a cabinet and it doesn’t matter how much I have, I’ll always want more.

So to the actual melting... Mostly I make beads with holes, known as “on mandrel”. A mandrel is just a rod of stainless steel that comes in different sizes depending on the width of the hole you want through your bead. Wrapping molten glass onto steel would mean it was stuck there forever so the mandrels have to be dipped into a sort of liquid clay called “bead release”. This is left to dry and then the fun begins. 

The rod of glass is gradually introduced into the flame – gradually is the key here. Too fast and the glass can “shock” which results in red hot shards popping off and flying all over the place. It’s a known fact among lampworkers that if you have bare arms or are wearing a new top, the popping hot glass will find that part of you and burn right through it. I have the holey sweaters and burn-scarred skin to prove it!

Once the glass is glowing hot, it’s time to wind it slowly onto the prepared mandrel. (I apologise that there is no picture to accompany the winding on of the glass – I was my own photographer today and I did try, but it’s impossible to capture this process with only two hands).

This is the best I could do – a shortly after winding on pic. Mine looks a bit wonky at this stage, but gravity can be your greatest friend here (or your worst enemy). The idea is to get the bead hot and then rotate it outside the flame so that the glass distributes evenly.

Once you get to this stage you can do all sorts of different things with your bead. There is an endless amount of tools, presses and gadgets available to help you achieve the look you want. You can shape it, mash it, decorate it, roll it in silver – the world is your oyster. It doesn’t have to be round either, it can be any shape you want, it’s just about manipulating the glass gently. I’ve probably made it sound easy but it’s not, at least not to begin with. I’m not sure if practice ever really makes perfect, but it sure does help.

Once the bead is finished it needs to be annealed. Put simply this just means heating and then gradually cooling to remove or prevent internal stress. If left in the open air, the outside of the bead will cool faster than the inside and depending on the size, it could cause the bead to break. A lot of beads (especially the cheap, mass produced ones) are not annealed and prone to breakage. This is my kiln and all my beads all go straight into here. 

That’s enough of the technical (boring) stuff. Here are some examples of the kind of pretty things that have emerged from the red hot little box. (His name is Anthony btw – because the make is a Chili Pepper kiln).

Some beads/jewelry made by my own fair hand:

Button Brooches

Minions

Snow Leopard squares

Eastern Pendants

Lotus bracelet

Glass Menagerie

and yes, they do have butts!

Thanks for reading! I hope you’re still awake. If you want to see more of my glassy stuff, head here:

https://www.facebook.com/thejewelleryhall

http://www.thejewelleryhall.com/ 

I’d be so grateful if you would “like” my page.

Jenny has very kindly said I can do a little giveaway to accompany my ramblings, but for now thank you for reading :)


GIVEAWAY

My favourite! favourite! kids movie is Despicable Me and to celebrate Despicable Me 2 we have a giveaway of the adorable handmade minions.

Heres what you do:
1. Follow my blog www.crumpetsblog.com and post a comment about your favourite bit of Despicable Me

2. Visit, like, share https://www.facebook.com/thejewelleryhall?fref=ts

 
3. Share my facebook post about this giveaway.

Simple right? The winner of all 4 minions will be announced tomorrow at 9am(ish) :)

Race around the World - Tinley Park Duathlon

This was my 3rd year competing and the forecast was a hot one. Thankfully not as hot as last year which was just ridiculous, but I tried to prepare Emma all week by demanding encouraging her to drink more than she usually does. It didnt work! I still cant run, so I chose to do this event as a team with Emma running and me biking.

We arrived (after a donut pit stop) bright and early and the participants were already buzzing around. Parking can sometimes be an issue, but this year it seemed more people had biked there, especially local residents.

I had collected our packet the day before from Together We Cope (17010 Oak Park Avenue) because Emma can stress me enough without arriving fully prepared. We waited in line to have Emma stretched out by Drs Dino and Marie Pappas from the Center for Integrated Medicine in Tinley. 

The weather was already warming up but sadly Emma wasnt :-/ After stretches it was time to start. 

Ems lined up with the rest of the 39 and under women and headed off to run the first leg of her 2 mile run. She hit the aid table and spotted her school gym teacher so she was very pleased. 1st 2mile leg 24:29.5, 12:15 :-)

As she headed into transition I set off to do my bike stretch. The first half was rough with a strong head wind which had me thinking of quitting the first 5 miles. It was only when I turned onto Volmer did it ease up and let me enjoy the ride. I did expel a lot of energy passing 4 deep riders. My bike 11 miles 39.10

I headed back into transition to tag Emma to start running her second leg of 2 miles. Off she went. The temp was even hotter by now and I was worried about her when she was slow to return. 

I headed out to walk her back into the finish line and was thrilled to see Aby and  Amanda had run out to find her. A few over-heating tears and she made it through her second 2 mile leg. 2nd leg 36:45.6, 18:23 minute mile.

I was really happy and proud of Emma for finishing her first 4 miler. I wish they would have given finisher medals because Im pretty sure her duathloning days are over.  

Verdict:  Fun, family duathlon.  http://tinleyparkduathlon.com/

From their facebook

Sunday, June 23rd, 2013. 2mi Run 11mi Bike 2mi Run

The Race Around The World Duathlon was started in 2001 with the goal of becoming the largest multisport event in the south suburbs. With the help of numerous volunteers, the race committee has accomplished this goal and continues to produce a great race for the community.

The event consists of a 2 mile run, 11 mile bike, 2 mile run throughout scenic Tinley Park and the surrounding Forest Preserve area.
A portion of the proceeds will benefit the local charity, Together We Cope. Together We Cope is a Tinley Park homeless prevention agency that provides assistance to area families. Visit them at http://togetherwecope.org/.

Race for Life 5k

When someone asks if you'll do a Race for Life with them, the answer should always be "yes". It's a fun, short race in aid of Cancer Research UK and because they're held all over the UK, there's usually one local to you.

If, however, you ask ME to do a Race for Life with you then, well.... true competitive spirit kicks in. "Oh yes, I'll run that," as any runner would say. I am however no longer a runner. Not after the Chicago Marathon 2012 and certainly not after being diagnosed with Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction a month later.

I'd woken up with pain down both legs that morning, which didn't bode well at all. The hotel bed was soft and I'd put the pain down to that. I think I knew that something was really wrong though and that's why I visited my chiropractor not long after getting home.

She took one look at my feet and basically ended any running career I had there and then. My left foot was the worse, and her diagnosis explained pain I'd had for years. When I started running however, I'd dismissed it as training pain. I hadn't stretched off sufficiently, or was even overdoing it by running too much.
When I decided I was going to RUN the Race for Life, I started training in secret. This way I would only disappoint myself if I ended up walking in the end. I told very few people of my plans. I started treadmill running on Sunday mornings and basically built up from there. I couldn't run the full distance at the beginning and certainly not at a good pace.

Slowly I built up until I could make the distance. I was disappointed to realise that I wasn't going to make my 10 minute mile again and settled on a 12-13 minute/mile. I was after all lucky to be running at all.

During this time, I ran briefly on concrete whilst I was away for a weekend doing a parachute jump. That went OK, but I deliberately kept it short.

One week before the Race, I had to get my run in but it was a warm day and likely to be sweltering in the gym. I made the mistake of running on concrete. I had pain in both legs almost immediately and pulled up quickly, eventually walking home with tight and painful calves.

I couldn't believe I'd done it, after being so careful. I didn't run again and told everyone I would definitely be walking the race. I was pissed off to say the least.

Wednesday 19 June - the day of the Race
I had a normal day at work. I kept one eye on the weather which was pointless as the race was that evening and some 30 odd miles away. I guess nerves were setting in. I sat carefully in my chair all day, not wanting to bring on pain, icing on and off and deciding not to risk a walk at lunchtime in crappy shoes. Stressful periods of working didn't help but finally at 2.55pm, I raced down to the kitchen to put my ice packs in the freezer before preparing to leave for home.

Not thinking, I leaned over the fridge door to open the small freezer door inside - and everything in my left hip twanged.

I couldn't believe it. I'd done it again. Actually, it wasn't my fault. My SIJD was that bad, anything could make it worse. Slowly I walked back to my desk, got my stuff, got changed and left. Earlier in the day both my chiropractor and chi running coach had suggested I resort to walking the race. I knew it was all on grass, but not knowing the area I thought that could've meant anything. Track? Trail? Oh well, walking wouldn't be so bad I guessed.

Home, changed, play list sorted, and we were off. It was suddenly blazing hot - in the UK, at 6.30pm in the evening? Typical. I'd drank my normal 8 cups of water throughout the day and felt hydrated enough. I'd planned and stuck to a carefully laid out eating plan. It was now or never.

I didn't have an incredible amount of pain in either hip, foot or leg so when the announcer told us to get into our groups, I turned my back on the walkers and headed for the joggers. I knew there was no point going with the runners. I would just get demoralised. The joggers I could stick with, particularly considering the heat and the fact that most of the joggers didn't look like they actually did much jogging.

And we were off. And I was running. No substantial calf pain. Nothing mega in my hips or back. Taking it steady nonetheless with the heat and crowds around me.

It was all soft grass. It was similar to a school playing field with one major incline about a third of the way round. We had to make two laps, although it felt more like a big figure of 8 than anything.

I wasn't looking at my time on the way round, instead looking at my calorie burn go up. Not sure why. I guess I wasn't really thinking of the time at all, half expecting that it would actually take me longer. I kept going. It was fricking hot, too hot, with no shade at all and every now and then a glimpse of the road show and supporters waiting for us at the finish line.

I encouraged as many women on the way round as I could, patting the walkers on the back to get them going again, although no-one did the same to me. It didn't matter. I ran a whole lot with one woman - Kerry - and spoke to her afterwards too, although I'll probably never see her again. :/

I was very glad to get to the end, if only to get out of the heat. I wasn't particularly dehydrated, but needed a drink. I took my headphones off as I approached the finish so I could hear the crowd. Chicago, it wasn't but they did their best.Darren was waiting for me in the crowd, taking photos although I didn't see him until after I'd finished. My time? 38:08 minutes. I'd shaved a good minute off my training time on the treadmill.

I stuffed down the chocolate twinkie thing and tipped some of a bottle of water over my head. Then, the coveted bling. Ah yes, the medal. "Is this chocolate?" I asked. I'm still running for it, I guess.
 
Verdict 

Cost: 15GBP - a steal and for a great cause
Pros: Mile markers, finisher medal
Cons: No aid stations

Shockwave therapy

Im having post op problems with my surgery foot, a lot of problems and to be honest its pissing me off. My recent problem is reacting to the hardware in the two tendons in my arch.

My foot surgeon immediately put me back in my boot to rest the tendons. Which causes a multitude of other problems in the rest of the foot. We discussed steroid injections and a few other things and eventually it was decided that I would have shock wave therapy. 

Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT) is a noninvasive surgical procedure that uses sound waves to stimulate healing in some physical disorders, including plantar fasciitis. "Extracorporeal" means "outside of the body" and refers to the way the therapy is applied. Because there is no incision, ESWT offers two main advantages over traditional surgical methods: fewer potential complications and a faster return to normal activity. ESWT has been used extensively for several years to treat plantar fasciitis and other disorders. http://www.weil4feet.com/patients/education/shockwave-therapy.php

X marks the spot

15 mins later my foot is snoring

I arrived at Dr Vittori's office straight from my regular foot physical therapy. After examination I had two numbing injections and waited until my foot was good and asleep. Im not a huge fan of having my feet numbed, I never know how my nerves will react when they wake up.

Dr Vittori was kind enough to let me take pictures as he was performing the procedure. http://www.vittorifootclinic.com/

Once good and numbed Dr Vittori could start. It was very similar to an ultrasound, completely pain free and took around 10 minutes. The machine did startle me though because it sounded like a pneumatic drill.

I will be having 3 treatments over 3 weeks for maximum benefit and I have no exercise restrictions. 

Dr Vittori explained that pro sports players had the procedure often because it is non-invasive.

I was told the nerve numbing injection would last around 4 hours so I was very wobbly when it was time to leave. 

Thankfully my foot woke up around 7.30pm and my neuropathy was no worse than it usually is.

Verdict.

Pros: Non invasive, fast, easy, no restrictions

Cons: You may have to pay out of pocket for the procedure, if you dont like needles you wont like being numbed, if you arent numbed then you might have to have a lower frequency and you may not get as good a result.

Raging Waves, Yorkville

Elizabeth, Emmas friend and Emma

Thank you Groupon for entertaining my kids!

I bought this Groupon for Raging Waves waterpark in Yorkville probably a month ago when it first became available. I remember purchasing the same deal last year and never went so I made the conscious decision NOT to miss the deadline.

If you are lucky to be tall enough to go on all the rides general admission costs just short of $30 each for you. 

Thanks to Groupon I paid $14 each, a huge saving especially on a family of 4. Hubs unfortunately couldnt make it due to having stitches in his finger which he wasnt allowed to get wet.

My girls and hubs are water park experts and Raging Waves certainly doesnt disappoint. Theres something for every age group.

Theres body and raft slides and an option to avoid the lines by renting your own inflatable tube for $5. Fortunately today the park was very quiet and we didnt need to rent a tube. Personally I didnt want to be dealing with 3 inflatable tubes when the girls ditched me to go and do something else.

The park includes a sea lion show which runs every two hours but my girls were too busy to watch it and so I didnt get to see it either. I have to say the wave pool was their favourite place to hang out all day but my eldest daughter was very pleased when the younger girls decided to go on the Boomerang, a toilet bowl flush style ride with three of them in a raft. Looked pretty hairy!!!

Wave pool

Avoid the sun, rent a cabana

Verdict.

Cost: Groupon /Living social deal made it affordable for me. Explore the website for family deals.
Travel: Relatively easy to find :)
Experience: A heck of a lot of fun, some walking and some shade issues. The catering is typical water park fast food and no outside food is allowed in for special dietary needs.

Who Says I Can't?

Take a team of Chicago Running Bloggers, a Muddy Monk and 320ish runners and what do you have? Run for Boston 5k in Libertyville, IL. And while the other bloggers are writing about their race day experience (read here here and here) I thought I'd touch on the Who Says I cant? foundation.

I would not have missed today for anything even though I was horribly tired at 5am, when my alarm went off. I drove an hour to Independence Grove Forest Preserve to help set up for the race. Set up went very smoothly, there was an abundance of volunteers and the weeks worth of organizational emails we received, ensured we knew where we should be, when we should be there and what we needed to do. Thanks Maggie.

The race went off without a hitch and while we were waiting for the winner I chatted to Jothy Rosenberg founder of Who Says I can't? foundation.

Taken from the Who Says I Cant website

"Jothy Rosenberg is an above knee amputee caused by osteosarcoma 39 years ago in 1973. Three years later the cancer metastasized and 2/5 of his lungs had to be removed. A course of chemotherapy -- only just out in clinical use in 1976 -- is probably why he is still here today. He went on to get a PhD in computer science, to author 2 technical books, to found 6 high tech companies, to ride in the Pan-Masscahusetts Challenge bike-a-thon supporting the Dana-Farber cancer institute 7 times, to swim 16 times from Alcatraz to San Francisco to support Boston Healthcare for the Homeless, and to participate in many other sports and fundraising activities." (Taken from the Who Says I Can't? facebook page.)

Jothy Rosenberg and I actually have something in common, we both suffer from neuropathic pain but Jothy's pain is in the toes which he doesnt have. Seems strange right? well yes and no. Phantom Limb syndrome is very real. Jothy explained that as we were standing and talking he was actually wiggling his missing toes.

A phantom limb is the sensation that an amputated or missing limb (even an organ, like the appendix) is still attached to the body and is moving appropriately with other body parts. Approximately 60 to 80% of individuals with an amputation experience phantom sensations in their amputated limb, and the majority of the sensations are painful. (Wikipedia)

As Jothy and I stand in the rain waiting for the runners to finish he explains that the brain maps out the entire body's nerve system at the age of 2 years and that after that time its very hard for the body to forget them, hence the sensation and the pain.

My own normal neuropathic pain is very hard to treat even with being able to ice my limbs or massage them to help relieve my symptoms. I cant imagine how difficult it is to live with pain in a foot which you dont have. :(

Todays race raised funds go towards Jothys foundation "Who Says I Can't?" and ultimately onto helping those who suffered amputations as a result of the bombings at the Boston Marathon this year. Jothys aim is to help those affected carry on their active or extreme sport lifestyles. 

For further information on Jothys foundation visit the official website.

 Media reports on Jothy's achievements

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/brookline/2011/08/on_biking_the_amazing_story_of.html

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/08/23/extreme-athlete-with-one-leg-one-lung-inspires-others/

My friend Kelly

My good friend, partner in baking crime and blogging inspiration Kelly Janowski or Kelly the Culinarian to friends is having an awesome year and, I feel, leaving me behind(whatever). We do chat all day every day, unless shes travelling with hubs or biking 40 miles, but I feel Ive been missing out on my Kelly time so I sent her a few catch up questions just to remind her I'm here :-)  Enjoy.

The hubs!!! Tim

 
Hi! So how are you after your Ragnar weekend? I'm feeling tired and a combination of never wanting to do that again and curiously considering what other locations they offer.

How long has Ragnar been on your bucket list? My RBF (running best friend) MacKenna did it last year and said it was amazing, so I was considering it when I got an e-mail from another blogger that they were looking for a teammate. It was meant to be!

Making a mess in my kitchen!

Im excited to be a part of the Run for Boston 5k, Kate, yourself and the Chicago Running Bloggers are putting together. Just how difficult is it to put on a race? It's more details than I ever thought possible, and I'm only seeing a snippet of it. Thankfully, we have the assistance of Muddy Monk handling the logistics. Even so, we had to research and secure sponsors to underwrite the cost of the event, in addition to finding vendors for refreshments and securing permits. I hope every runner has an awesome experience.

Which part of racing is new for you this year? Double training every day is something new to me.

No Cinderella that shoe wont fit!

Hows the blogging going? Whats the best/worst part of blogging for you? Finding something new every day can be quite challenging.

When you arent racing, blogging or baking what do you like to do? Sleep and read. It's tough.

And whats next? I'm doing Iron Girl this weekend, Gull Lake at the end of the Month and then onto the Racine Half Ironman!

Lizzies-Out-of-the-Loop-Looks

 

Schools out, Summers in!

 Cotton denim summer dress with applique

Pink cropped cardigan

Coordinating lace ballet flats

Peacock necklace and flower headband.

  

Stache ON!

Black faux leather jacket - Target

Pink and grey stripe tank - Target

Grey cardigan  - Discovery

Grey with black polkadot jeggings - Discovery

Casual Sunday 
You can tell by the weather outside that I had no plans to leave the house :)

Pink v-neck hoody - Discovery

Zebra tank - Discovery

Flower pattern jeggings - Discovery

Monday Madness 
Up 20 minutes later than I should be, I threw this together.

Grey with sparkly decal knit - Target

Grey jeggings - Discovery

Moustache ring - Amazon

Its in the mix
Mix up your patterns.

Burnt red faux leather jacket - Target

Skinny grey jeggings - Discovery

Purple sequin knit - Target

Beige knee high boots - Discovery

Zebra scarf - Amazon

Zebra headband - Claire's

Outfits from a 12 year old fashionista.