Cycle to the Moon!

Earlier this year, as part of Pittsburgh's Bike Fest, I participated in a biking challenge called Cycle to the Moon.  Cycle to the Moon was designed by Pittsburgh's bike share system, Healthy Ride, to be a celebration of bikes, bikesharing, and the beautiful city of Pittsburgh!  Registered riders were issued a free 24 hours of bike rental, and then challenged to use the Healthy Ride bikes to visit all 50 stations within a 24 hour period of their choice.  There were also "constellations" consisting of 10 or 25 stations on a 4-15 mile ride, depending on the constellation.  Of course, I wanted to go big or go home and opted to visit all 50 stations which meant a roughly 30 mile ride.

Oh, and one of the most important details - the challenge is called Cycle to the Moon because all who complete the challenge will have their name and photo literally sent to the moon in the Pittsburgh Bicentennial time capsule!  How cool is that?  I'm still holding out hope that my person will have the chance to travel to the moon one day, but having my name and likeness there is a good place to start.

Riders could visit stations in any order, and I chose to start at 42nd and Penn in Upper Lawrenceville next to the Children's Hospital.  That station is just a couple blocks walk from my husband's work, so it was convenient to ride in with him.  Added bonus: it's at the top of a giant, steep hill from the next closest stop, so it meant I could strategically cut a climb out of my ride by starting there!

As always, one of my favorite things about events like this is getting to explore my city.  As it turns out, I did a bit more "exploring" than intended in East Liberty as I took a couple of wrong turns, and also missed a couple stations and had to double back on myself.  Oops!  East Liberty used to be one of my stomping grounds when I was a Pitt student, but it turns out that I don't remember all it's nooks and crannies, especially with so many new additions in the area like Bakery Square and the Ace Hotel.  The cool thing about being lost, though, is getting to see all of these beautiful new parts of Pittsburgh up close and personal.

I made about 10 wrong turns cutting up from East Liberty to find the station at Penn and N Fairmount, which is especially funny to me since it's about half a mile down the road from where I started.

Fortunately, by the time I made it to Walnut Street in Shadyside, I was back in familiar territory, and knew I would be for the rest of the ride.  I even stopped to rest and drink some water across from one of my most familiar places - the Apple Store!

By the time I made it to Oakland, I was ready for some lunch.  The East End of the course had provided only mild hills, and very cool temperatures in the morning hours, but I had been at it long enough that I was not only hungry, but also craving some time in the air conditioning!  I decided to dock my bike at Frew Street and Schenley Drive station and head to Phipps Conservatory for a bite to eat.

Phipps, in addition to being a beautiful place to view flowers, trees, and other plants, has a pretty delightful cafe with lots of light, healthy fare.  I lunched on a turkey and siracha berry jam panini with brussels sprout slaw.  Yum, yum, yum!

Lunch had me reinvigorated and ready to tackle the remainder of the course.  From Oakland, I decided to head to the South Side, and coasted down the steep hill of Bates Street towards the Hot Metal Bridge, ready to cross another of Pittsburgh's beautiful rivers in search of the next few stations.

The South Side is always a pleasant ride.  Carson Street and its parallels are straight and flat.  In fact, this stretch of Carson Street boasts itself as the flattest mile on course during the Pittsburgh marathon.  There were 5 Healthy Ride stations in the South Side, all roughly along the main drag of Carson.  The South Side, just like East Liberty, Shadyside, and Oakland before it, also supports cyclists with plentiful bike lanes and signage reminding motorists to "share the road."

From the South Side, I took the 10th Street Bridge back over the Monongahela, and prepared to visit the Downtown stations.  At the end of the bridge, I used the Armstrong Tunnel to cut under the hill housing Duquesne University.  I have no idea whether bikes are allowed to ride on the street in the tunnel, but it seemed like a bad idea so I dismounted and walked it on the sidewalk.  Among the many strange mysteries of Pittsburgh, Armstrong is about the only tunnel I know to feature a pedestrian sidewalk.

I stopped to consult the map on my phone after leaving the tunnel.  All I had left to visit were the stations in Downtown, the North Side, the Strip, and Lower Lawrenceville, right?  WRONG.  I made a glaring omission by trying to forge my own course.  I had forgotten that there is one, lone station in the Hill District, and the very tip top of Center Avenue.  I was going to have to climb about 250 feet up from Consol Energy Center to make my one missing stop at Center and Kirkpatrick.

I was absolutely exhausted after climbing up into the aptly-named Hill District, however, I was happy to remember that what goes up must come down!  Flying back down the hill towards town certainly felt refreshing and well-deserved!

After my almost-omission of the Hill, I was happy to find that visiting the Downtown stations was almost completely unceremonious.  Nothing crazy happened.  None got lost along the way.  No news felt like good news.  At this point, I had 40 stations down, and 10 to go.  4 in the North Side, 4 in the Strip District, and 2 in Lower Lawrenceville.

The 4 North Side stations are kinda out on their own little island compared to the rest of the Healthy Ride locations, but I am always happy to cross the Allegheny towards one of my favorite city neighborhoods, especially on the all-time coolest bike lane on by all-time favorite bridge.  The Roberto Clemente (6th Street) Bridge celebrates biking as well as the Pirates' all-time great outfielder with these awesome graphics of Roberto biking while dressed in his uniform.

Visiting the North Side stations also proved uneventful as I cycled past two adjacent to PNC park then made the mild climb up to stations near CCAC and the Mexican War Streets.  I crossed back over Clemente, this time serving as the final bridge on my course, and counted down just as I do at the end of a long run.  44 down, 6 to go.

The straightaway of Penn and Butler in the Strip District and Lawrenceville served as the final portion of my course.  These sections of town are typically easy to ride, though I realized as I entered the busiest area of the Strip that I was going the wrong way!  The Healthy Ride Stations were located along Penn Ave, however, the flow of Traffic on Penn is inbound only, and I was going the opposite way.  Let's just say I was a little creative with how I rode through this neighborhood, sometimes on the sidewalk, sometimes on the street, and sometimes dismounted and pushing the bike.  Kids, probably don't try this at home.

Finally, I made it to the Doughboy statue and bared left on Butler Street (yes, with the proper flow of traffic now) to visit the final two stations at 37th and 42nd Streets.

Finally!  Locked my bike at the Butler and 42nd Street station, took a big swig of water, and cheesed for the camera.  I'm going to the moon!

I so enjoyed this challenge and many thanks to the folks at Healthy Ride for designing it!  The feeling of pride accomplishing something like this, and the unique way to enjoy my city are two of the main reasons I run, hike, and ride!  And, well, the fact that I can say that my photo will be on the moon is just the icing on the cake.  Hopefully I will find something similarly fun during next year's bike fest.  Until then, ride, yinzers, ride!

Challenges Accepted: 3 Fitness Challenges for the Achievement-HuntingAthlete

For the last three weeks, I haven't done much in the neighborhood of running.  I haven't gone for many runs, I haven't made many plans for future runs, and I haven't written about running.  Theoretically, it's wise to take several weeks off after completing a marathon.  It's also easy for me to lose some motivation when there's not a finish line or shiny new bling at the end of the training cycle.  Yes, I run because I love it.  I love the chance to step away from the busyness of life and spend some time to myself on the road or the trail.  But I'm also an achievement hunter.  The runs feel all the sweeter when there's a challenge to attain.

Will run for bling, badges, and bragging rights.

I do have a fall marathon on the calendar, but my official training calendar for the Marine Corps Marathon doesn't start until June 9th.  In the interim, I've discovered a trio of challenges to add some purpose to my workouts.



The National Bike Challenge

This is the second year I've been involved with the National Bike Challenge.  While some apps and games have a variety of complex rules, the premise of this bike challenge is almost too simple - ride as many miles as you wish, and record them.  The challenge becomes even easier for smartphone users as it partners with the app Endomondo to track your miles while you ride.

From the website of the Rust Belt Battle.  Oh, and Cleveland?  You're going DOWN!

My favorite thing about the National Bike Challenge isn't its ease, or the fact that it encourages me to cross-train; my favorite thing is the additional local challenge, the Rust Belt Battle between Pittsburgh and Cleveland cyclists.  Lots of cities encourage their own local challenges, which track miles the same way.  Not only is a bit of hometown pride at stake, but local Pittsburgh bar OTB Bicycle Cafe allows riders to earn free pints of beer and soft drinks when they reach certain milage milestones.  Will ride for beer!

Awesome bike bell from Bike Pittsburgh's Bike to Work Day member swag bags!

The National Bike Challenge officially started 3 weeks ago on May 1st, but it lasts through the end of September.  There's still plenty of time to join and to log those miles for both personal and city pride.


The Lose-It Cardio Challenge

Another app-based challenge, the Cardio Challenge is tracked though the Lose It smartphone app.  The app acts as a journal for users to record the calories they consume in their daily food and drink as well as the calories they burn during exercise.  The premise is similar to other apps such as My Fitness Pal and Livestrong.  The unique thing about Lose It is that it incorporates challenges where users are encouraged to focus on specific behaviors from eating more vegetables to sleeping more hours at night.  The Cardio Challenge rewards participants with a point every time they burn their body weight in calories.  Users can participate in whatever type of cardio they like from running to mowing the lawn, power yoga to playing drums, cycling to skydiving.  Lose It allows participants to add activities manually, or to sync several apps and fitness trackers including the Fitbit, Nike Fuel Band, UP by Jawbobe, the Map my Run app, the Runkeeper app, and the Nike Plus Running app.

Horseback Riding - Roughly 300 calories burned per hour.

Football - Approximately 550 calories burned per hour.

The Cardio Challenge is hosted by my employer in partnership with Lose It.  While this particular challenge is not open to the public, there are dozens of similar challenges available to join.  A team challenge, The Cardio Challenge has me allying with 3 of my coworkers in friendly competition to get more points than groups of our peers.  That's my favorite thing about this challenge - there's nothing like some friendly trash-talking each day at work to motivate me to get more and more points!

My team, The Best Team Ever, is standing in 3rd place.  Ben Not Allowed and #riding Keith's coattails?  We're coming for you!

This particular challenge is not open to the public, as it requires a private access code from my employer, but the Lose It app hosts dozens of challenges each month, with varying start dates and methods of point accumulation.


The Runner's World Summer Run Streak

Like the Bike Challenge and the Cardio Challenge, the Summer Run Streak enjoys an extremely simple premise.  From Memorial Day to the Fourth of July, participants commit to running at least one mile each day.  This adds up to 40 consecutive days of running.  Aren't runners supposed to take days off to rest during their training programs?  This is true, but most programs suggest that runners who are otherwise healthy can complete these types of streaks as long as a couple of runs each week are recovery runs with a slow pace and short milage.  I'd never dream of running hard and fast for 40 days straight, but each time Runners World sponsors a Run Streak, I'm compelled to challenge myself with the streak.

The Run Streak does bleed into my first weeks of Marine Corps Marathon training, but I think that getting out the door each day for short runs will help me to build both a physical and a mental baseline for the remainder of my training calendar.  Like the other challenges, this one makes tracking runs super easy through the Map My Run and Map My Fitness apps.  I suppose that committing to 3 app-based challenges also means I'm about to resign myself to a summer of poor battery life in my poor iPhone, but I suppose that's the price I'll pay.

Summer's the time for beer, baseball, and streaking! 

The Runner's World Summer Run Streak starts Memorial Day, May 26th.  Runners can pledge to complete the challenge here and can share their successes with other streakers with the hashtag #RWRunStreak on social media for the duration of the challenge.


Join me in my quest for fitness challenge glory!  Hopefully, I can keep up with all of these over the next few months.  Surely I don't need any other challenges on my plate, but I'd love to hear about any other challenges floating around out there in the fitness community.

Pittsburgh Marathon Expo

Among the most exciting parts of participating in a medium or large race is attending the expo.  While it doesn't have the slickness of a Nike Women's Expotique or the sheer enormity of a RunDisney extravaganza, Pittsburgh puts on a pretty good show complete with everything from massages to a speaker series to live spin classes.

The expo opened at 11:00 this morning.  11:00 on a Friday seemed like a reasonable time to go, a time that would be relatively uncrowded and drama free.  Needless to say, I was surprised when I turned the corner on Liberty Ave towards the Convention Center to face this:

Is this the line for Space Mountain?

Kennywood opens this weekend.  Could this be the line for the Potato Patch?

Despite the fact that the expo was advertised to open at 11:00, runners waited in queue until 11:20 to be let in.  A last minute volunteer shortage?  Some sort of snafu with bibs or shirts?  Nobody seemed to know.  For a medium-sized race field, this was a positively Disney-sized line!

Eventually, doors opened.  After heading to the right and grabbing bibs and shirts, the expo cleverly winds runners through a sea of vendors before we could retrieve goodie bags and race shirts on the far side of the Convention Center. This was my second Pgh Marathon expo, so I had a sense of what vendors to expect.   

So many yinzer-approved choices at Fresh Factory!

The Yinzer crowd was predictably thick at Fresh Factory, where I snagged a new shirt to be worn at the pet walk tomorrow.   A ton of apparel was available from other vendors including local shops like True Runner and 'Burgh-headquartered sporting goods superstore Dick's.  

The Dick's Sporting Goods pop-up shop on a mock Pittsburgh bridge.

Dick's Sporting Goods set up their pop-up shop on a "bridge" modeled after Pittsburgh's three sisters bridges over the Allegheny River.  The mock bridge was an aesthetic highlight of the expo and will no doubt win the award for "Most Instagrammed" feature.  Dick's also sold the official marathon gear, manufactured by Asics.  Personally, I had mixed feelings about the selection.  The women's gear appeared to be mostly pink, purple, and geared toward the half-marathon.  I assure you, I wasn't too thrilled about this.  However, on the men's side of things, I found a shirt that I loved both the design and the fit of.

Running up the incline is probably easier than running into Oakland in mile 12.

A lot of the features at the expo were expected - t-shirt sales, massages, info for other races.  There was one thing this year that was new and fairly interesting.  Dormont (and soon to be South Side) cycling studio Club Cycle set up a cycling studio in the expo and held classes throughout the day!  Their unique concept involves spin classes underscored by a live DJ where cyclists track the stats of their ride real-time on a digital scoreboard.  Once I'm recovered from the race, Club Cycle is definitely on my to-do list.

Cycling class with instructor Stacie and DJ Bill Bara

There were a ton of other activities.  I didn't attend the speaker series, but I did talk for a while with members of the NuGo pace team about pacing strategies, got the skinny from the Garmin rep on their family of watches (there may be a Forerunner 220 in my future), and enjoyed a deep discount on the EQT 10-miler and the Liberty Mile by registering at the Expo.  Other highlights included the modern Expo standard wall of all runners' names as well as the Every Runner Has a Reason wall where runners used metallic markers to pen their personal reasons for running.

Haley Buchanan - That's me!

An inspirational note on the #RunFor wall

And a mouth-watering one!  I too run for booze milkshakes!

In the end, I learned some things, I bought some things, and I generally got geared up for this weekend's races.  However, as is always the case, there is someone else in my life that got the lion's share of the swag.  Thanks to the Pet Walk's generous goodie bag and the cornucopia of canine treats at the Purina Pro Plan booth, someone's got a lot of new treats and toys in his life:

This isn't even all of his loot.

I will wear bandana if I can has treats!

Have a great race weekend everyone!