USA BMX Gold Cup weekend

First rule of a crazy couple weeks: breathe. That, and don’t forget to pack the necessary gear.
Two weeks ago (Sept. 17th & 18th) was our Gold Cup Southern Central Finals. Snacks and drinks were bought, the cooler was stocked with plenty of ice, the car and bike was washed and shined, and everything under the sun was thrown haphazardly in the eggplant colored behemoth that is my roller luggage. The drive to De Soto, a small town about 45 minutes South of Dallas was a dream of a road trip. Good music was on, (pop was traded for classic rock) the sun was shining, and the Blue Beast got a whopping 45 mpg. (Yay for being an adult and caring about gas mileage!) I made it to the track, signed up at the USA BMX trailer, checked out the layout, and said hi to people I haven’t seen in a while. Being at Metroplex BMX felt so surreal. The last time I was at the track was 2005 or 6, when I used to come ride on Saturday nights and then camp out for the like the little weirdo I was. I went through that college party phase, but give me a chill outdoorsy activity on a Saturday night over babysitting drunken idiots at a club any day. It was such an amazing feeling to be back at a place I had loved so much. After checking out the race that afternoon, I checked in to my hotel and scoped out the local food offerings.

Coming to a major competition after not having ridden in the last month and a half, and being pretty much incapacitated due to allergies for the last two weeks was a bit worrying. Cue nervous looking cartoon person wringing hands while sweating bullets, anxiously searching left and right for a way out. Yikes. Plan of the weekend—hold your s#*t together, try your hardest, and have fun. Solid plan.
Practice on Saturday was a blast! It was so much fun to get out there and be active again, not to mention I absolutely love doing gates. Your version of a Monday night football party is my version of gates. Yep, I know it’s weird. I’m okay with that. Fast forward to the actual races— Saturday and Sunday I had 4 other women in my moto. I got 3rd each race each day, and it was awesome to chase the 1st and 2nd place girls (one had come all the way from New Mexico to race). I also came to the realization that I needed to train. A lot. And hard. And starting yesterday. 😛 New solid plan. 

I loved getting to see some people that I never usually get to see, and being outside on a weekend like that was a blessing. It was pretty hot out, so I drank my weight in water and Powerade and went back to the cooler in between motos to happily dunk the bottom half of my arms in the ice.
The track itself is in a large semi covered enclosure, and located in Grimes Park. Both days just about every baseball and soccer field was in use, but there was plenty of parking. The park itself is gorgeous and I wish we had something like it in my area. Everything was so beautiful and I wish that I had taken more pictures of the park and fields.

Oh! And did I mention? With my points going into the weekend from the previous two Gold Cup qualifiers and the final two races, I got lucky and ended up with the Gold Cup #1 plate in my 20” class!!! Woohoo!! I got a cute jacket and a number plate, and a burger and frozen lemonade from Sonic on the way home. Hold you s%*t together mission complete. J
I hope everyone’s having a MAAAAHHHHVALOUS day!

Happy Labor Day!

Gooooood mooooorning- from the comfort of my bed and a bunch of allergy pills and Day Quil! I hope everyone’s Labor Day is starting with a bang. I have been laying around the house in a daze since yesterday, trying to fight off whatever crazy allergies these fronts have decided to swing our way in anticipation of fall (and yes, pumpkin spiced errythang!). Not too much fun, but on the bright side I just might get to finish off some old Vapo Rub that expired in ’99. Not to mention that a day off work is still fun. 

(Some September flowery goodness)

So back to it being Labor Day…the day of crazy retail sales and the ever present throngs of crazy parking lot driving mall shoppers, ready at a moment’s notice to willingly elbow you over the last pair of Feetures socks. I mean, come on, those things never go on sale. Forgiven. That being said, I’m a girl who likes to shop for the necessities in relative peace, so malls most days are not for me. I did find some pretty cool steals online though, which was pretty perfect considering I did not have to go anywhere near a retail establishment. Yay! 

ThredUp.com has recently been my go-to place to find secondhand clothing that looks pretty close to brand new. While I love casual clothes, who wants to spend lots of hard earned money dressing for work? So with that in mind I have scored some pretty cool fall stuff that can transition to a work ready outfit for a fraction of the price. Their shipping takes awhile, but my wallet is totally cool with that. I got a few pieces this weekend, including a brand new Nicole Miller blue maxi dress for 11$, some super tall Steve Madden gold gladiator sandals for 13$, and a beautiful new Anthropologie dress for 18$. Not to mention saved an extra 20% off as well (CELEBRATE20) for Labor Day!:) Shopping on a budget can be challenging, but this site makes it so much easier. 

The other site I visited is Oiselle. Oiselle running clothes are definitely amazing and super high quality, but with those student loans and regular adulting duties taking priority, my Oiselle obsession is relegated to a Christmas or birthday wish list. Until today. Code LABORDAY will get you an additional 40% off of all sale items (today only). I got to score some cute olive colored shorts, one of those tanks with a built in bra (the design on it is a close up of a molecule–thus fulfilling my slight obsession with reading about anything physics related–I can now represent my nerdiness while out in public on a park trail, think whole new level of cool-take that Sheldon!), and last but not least a long sleeve lime colored top with some cute flying birds on it I have been coveting since last year. 

Being stuck in bed with allergies is no bueno, but Saturday I did get to complete my long run of 6 miles. After the heat of this summer, I’m trying to rebuild my mileage again. It was so much fun running through my favorite park trail, and at 80 degrees it was surprisingly cool out. I’m thinking they might have to redirect part of the path though…flooding is no joke!

Being out in nature is so much fun, not to mention therapeutic. I can think through things that are going on in my life, and usually by the time I’m done I’ve worked things out, set a plan, and am tired and happy! 

Everyone have a happy Labor Day! Time for me to take a Benadryl and kick some allergy butt!