Awesome Weekend in So Many Ways

What a great weekend!

I was planning a weekend filled with fun - probably too much fun, so I asked our coach what I should do about our planned 8 mile run on Saturday morning. Our family was going to a hotel with friends/neighbors on Friday night, and I just knew too much alcohol would probably be involved and a very late night, considering no one had to drive home. And Saturday night was our big LLS benefit with Tim Mahoney, so I knew I would be in no shape to run on Sunday, either. Our coach told me to switch Monday's run for Saturday's run if I could - run 3 miles on Saturday and the 8 on Monday; otherwise, just take the weekend off and run 8 on Monday.

The kids had a blast at the mini water park, and we adults had a good time both in the pool and pool side. The kids were up late, and by the time I laid down with Griffin at about 11:00 to put him to bed, I was pretty tired myself. I didn't mean to, but I fell asleep and never made it back out to our little party!

Needless to say, I didn't have an excuse not to run on Saturday, so I mapped out 8 miles at http://www.mapmyrun.com/ and set off. Since I've never run 8 miles before, I really wasn't sure how I'd do. I know that our hill workout was supposedly 7.5 miles last weekend - and that monster HILL 3x to boot - but since I never officially confirmed that number I am not 100% positive.

I am happy to say that I ran those 8 miles. And I felt good doing it. Cardiovascularly, I felt great. It's my legs that took a beating. As soon as I was done running, I think they turned to jelly. I had to come home and get ready for the big TIM MAHONEY BENEFIT. The night we've been waiting for and planning for. Getting dressed, my calves hurt. So I decided to wear my running shoes out last night. Hey, they were comfortable!

The show was so much fun, and it was a sell-out - I heard there were plenty of people who didn't get in - what a bummer! I had a lot of fun getting up on stage with Tim and making my announcements because deep inside I'm a rock star myself - just without the song-writing and singing skills. :) We sold our remaining TV raffle tickets and some glow-in-the-dark bracelets. And Tim auctioned off the autographed guitar. I had no idea going in how much that would bring, but we were lucky it was a crazy night at the Basement, because it fetched $1150!

All told with the raffle, bracelets and guitar - minus our expenses (our cost for the bracelets, the TV), Jeni and I each made about $1150. I have some raffle tickets that haven't been paid for yet so I'll take the loss if they aren't paid as Jeni didn't sell any on "credit". With those donations, I have raised about $2750 for LLS. So, $1050 until I reach my goal of $3800. Getting closer! :)

You know what I like best about that picture of us with Tim Mahoney and the winner of the auction? That my belly is hanging out. Nice! What happened there?

The Big Switch

I don't know for sure, but I don't think anyone's going to care that I've switched half marathons. Originally scheduled to run in San Diego on May 31st, but now I changed to the Seattle RnR half marathon in June.

I have a couple of reasons for switching, one being financial. While I am commited to raising the same amount - $3800 - I have another 3-4 weeks to do so. My biggest reason, however, is that most of the gang on my team is running Seattle. And I want to run with the team! :)

Oh, and this gives me an additional month to train. The Seattle course is much hillier (!) than the San Diego course, so I'll need that extra month!

Today ran the hilly 3-mile course around my neighborhood. Ran with my friendly neighbor Susan. Man, the difference between that and running on the treadmill yesterday! With the wind and the hills, it's like a totally different run - for me, anyway!

Holy Crap That Was Tiring!

I knew going into it this morning that it was gonna be tough. Although our schedule said 4 miles, coach had told me on Wednesday that we'd be doing hills. So it was with a great deal of apprehension that I drove to Normandale Lake for our run.

What I didn't know, and what no one knew, is that not only would it be hills, it would be the most horrifyingly terribly tiring hill in the world.

And the schedule wasn't completely wrong. We DID run 4 miles. However, that 4 miles didn't take into account the hill training. And we had to run up that hill (and down again, obviously) 3 times. And that added on extra distance - 3 EXTRA MILES, half of which was UPHILL. Did I mention that the hill was steep? The sign said 9% grade, which meant nothing to me, but when I told Kyle after I'd gotten home, he told me that when he was driving in the mountains with his sister years ago it was like 7-8%. SO IT WAS REALLY STEEP.

Man that was tiring. My calves are feeling it, definitely.

The Bug?

Have I caught the running "bug"? If I'm feeling sorta disappointed that today is a "rest/stretch" day so I'm not supposed to run... does that mean I've got it? Runners? Help me out here.

Last night the team did 5 miles at Lake Calhoun. I felt great the whole 5 miles. I think those Gu thingies work, because I ate one of those "Chocolate Outrage!" Gu's, and I had lots and lots of energy for that run. Coincidence?

My Love Affair with Cheese

So I've been running/working out for about 1 month now. Not a lot of time, I know, but enough time, you'd think, to see some "results".

Now, one could argue that I AM seeing results. After all, I can run a lot further now than when I started. Which is great.

But I'm wondering, what about the mushy middle stuff? What about shedding a couple o' pounds? I'm not greedy, I'm not looking for a drastic weight loss or anything. I'm only looking to lose about 5 pounds, but the scale has stubbornly remained unchanged.

I am forced to concede that it might, just might, be the cheese. Cheese and I go way way back together. Cheese is always there for me, and knows how much I love it. I see cheese way too often and I know it's not good for me to spend so much time with cheese. One might say I'm addicted to cheese.

Cheese goes by a lot of different names, but cheese doesn't fool me. I love cheese pretty much no matter what cheese chooses to call itself: Brie, Camembert, Monterey Jack, Cheddar, Feta, Havarti, Gouda, Bleu, Gorgonzola, Parmesan, Edam, Swiss... just to name just a few. And cheese usually brings a friend, Chips.

Ask me what I'll never give up. I think you already know.

Uphill and Into the Wind

It's been a really good running weekend. The weather has been fantastic, as all my Minnesota friends know. On Saturday I ran the 100% Irish for a Day 5K at Lake Harriet, which was my very first event ever. I'm happy to say that while I didn't win - or even come close to winning, obviously - I ran perfectly respectable 10 minute miles. That's perfectly respectable in my world, anyway.

I wasn't able to make practice this morning because Maryn had a cousin, Avery, sleep over. Actually, I think Avery is my second cousin, so I don't know what that makes her to Maryn - all that stuff gets confusing beyond the first cousin thing. So I mapped out a 5 miles route here in the Shack (Shakopee). It's pretty hilly right by my house, and I had heard that the Monument - where team practice was today - is hilly, so I figure I've done a comparable run.

Miles 3 and 4 were mostly uphill, so those were hard. What made them even more difficult is I was heading South, which was right into the wind. But I've decided that I'm not a quitter. So I just kept on going. And I did it!

I start just about every run thinking I can't do it, and then I prove myself wrong. I need to get to that point where I start every run KNOWING I can do it. Considering I have only been running for 26 days, I am not complaining! :) Happiness!

In Honor of Gracie and Others

Gracie Theis

In remission since January 2007

Sometimes I forget when I'm running and fundraising who I'm doing it for. Of course, I am running for me too - I want to improve my health and fitness just as much as the next person. But I'm not raising money for me. It's for Gracie, and people like her.

Just Another Day, Only Colder

Today was a bit disappointing, because practice was cancelled due to the wind chill or something like that. Oh well. It gave us time to do our "photo shoot", which was actually just Kyle taking pictures of Jeni and me for the Shakopee newspaper. We're going to be part of a story about our honored teammate, Gracie Theis. It's a long story how this came to be... okay, the truth is, I suggested the story to the newspaper, and after some conversations back and forth the editor assigned a reporter to it, and it's a go. As I've said, it may be the only reputable way that Jeni and I are ever going to get our names in the paper. :)

Anyway, so I had to run the three miles indoors tonight because of the bitter winds. I dislike treadmills, but there were a couple of actually decent looking guys at the gym tonight, so it had some benefits.

Grateful

I had a difficult week last week. And when I say difficult, what I really mean is awesome. Because, my week, while busy for me, was full of things that I WANT to do. And looking back and reading what I wrote, it is RIDICULOUS that I would complain about all the things I am fortunate enough to be able to do.

So, what I want to say is I'm grateful. I have a great life, with a great family, and great friends and neighbors. I have a solid community and fantastic opportunities and everything else a person could wish for. Truly, I do.

Last week I was a big ol' dope. Sorry about that.

Things Do Get Better

After Thursday's "yucky" day, I was sure I'd do the run again on Friday to make up for it, even though I was only scheduled for 30 minutes of cross training.

Well, guess what? I didn't do it. In fact, I didn't do ANYTHING on Friday!!!!

One might say I was falling down the slippery slope into the "do nothing" abyss, but the good news is: No, I didn't. Instead, I went to Lifetime with Kyle on Saturday, my actual scheduled rest day, and did the stair machine as well as some treadmill. Worked up a very sweaty sweat, I tell you! I actually DRIPPED. :)

So this morning, it being daylight savings and all, 6:30 am came really early. Early because my body really thought it was 5:30, which is what it had been the day before. Well, y'all know how daylight savings works, I'm sure. :) I made my Kashi oatmeal and got ready for the 8:00 am run at Lake Calhoun. Today's weather was really nice so there were no concerns about freezing my fingers off or anything like that (for once!).

Driving to these training runs, I get a very nervous, kinda sick feeling in my tummy. Today we were scheduled to run 6 miles, and as you know, I ain't never run 6 miles! Today's route was around Lake Calhoun to Lake of the Isles and back. As it turns out, the route is 6.5 miles, and since I ran the whole darn way, I have a new personal distance record! Whoo hoo!

This coming weekend I am going to run a 5K at Lake Harriet, called 100% Irish For A Day. I figured it would be fun to do a few small races before the big day, to kind of see what it might be like. Also, I have discovered from running around the lakes that I do not like the feeling of having someone run behind me. It's creepy and I want to keep looking back to see who it is. I realize I'm going to have to get over that in order to do any events, unless I plan to always take last place - I guess that would work too.

A Yucky Day

Today was a terrible run day. Last night's run with Kyle at Lake Harriet was actually good. We ran 4 miles, but we had to push ourselves over a couple of long stretches. I don't know if those extra bursts really tired me out or if it was the gluttonous anniversary meal we enjoyed at Salut afterwards, but my legs are seriously tired today. Probably both of those things, plus the bad idea of bringing Henry along for the run today, because I basically threw in the towel at 2-1/2 miles. Fighting Henry from chasing around the other dogs in the neighborhood was energy I just didn't have to spare on this day!

So, today was my worst run yet. We were supposed to go 3 miles. Feeling guilty. I might have to do more than 30 minutes cross training tomorrow...

Running with the Wolf

Today is my 9 year wedding anniversary! And, to celebrate, as I said yesterday, Kyle and I are going to my team training to run around Lake Harriet (plus a little extra - total 4 miles).

Now, Kyle and I have never run together. So, I'm actually pretty nervous about running with him. Just watch, tonight will be the night I am struck down by some stabbing pain, or afflicted with breathing problems, or something equally debilitating. On the night I want to do my best.

Spending my anniversary with Kyle running around the lake: $0. Catching a quick dinner after our run: Around $40. Paying the babysitter: Around $30. Still wanting to impress my husband after 9 years of marriage? Priceless.

Full Disclosure

Okay. That post earlier today we can call my "Complaining Blog" or "Woe is Me Blog". I could delete it, but that wouldn't be honest - and I am above all things going to be honest!

I don't know if it is genetic or environmental or what it is, but I have always been one big quitter. Okay, with one notable exception - but that's the one thing I've NEEDED to quit for a long long time. Yes, I know - my inability to quit has really been "quitting the quitting". I just have never had that "stick-to-it-ness" that some people have, which is a really huge regret of mine. My husband has it, which I greatly admire, and I have been hoping that some of it will rub off on me.

Today I ran the 4 miles. I did it. And I have to keep on making myself stick to the program, because I really don't want to be a quitter anymore!

I really cannot understand why some people think running 4 miles is easy. I truly truly don't. Maybe it's because I've never been a runner, and so I've never gotten to that point. That would be such a great feeling - to run 4 or 5 miles and think, "Wow. That was really easy!"

Anyway, forget all that stuff about me having too much on my plate. For me, it's a challenge and a learning experience to get it all done. I know I can do it. For you, Kyle, just as much as me.

Where's the Balance?

It's official. I have taken on WAY TOO MUCH. Yes, again. I have a tendency to do nothing for months, then try to do EVERYTHING all at once.

So there's the training. It doesn't take that long most days, about 45 minutes. But add on top of that my homework. The philosophy is SO time consuming, and I have a paper on democracy, an exam, and reading all due this week. My biology isn't as bad, but still I have reading and a shorter paper to write by Friday. The housework has taken a back seat - okay, the housework is no longer even in the car! - but I have the Pampered Chef fundraising party at my house on Saturday, so I need to clean this week. And, it's my 9th wedding anniversary tomorrow night. Luckily, men don't seem to care so much about those things, so Kyle has agreed to spend our anniversary at my team training running around Lake Harriet with me! :)

I feel badly for my kids, because I just don't have very much time to be in the moment with them. My mind is swimming with all the things I need to do. Add on top of that my raging case of PMS the last few days, plus nicotine withdrawal (yes, I quit smoking again), and I am a basket case.

So, where's the balance? Kyle says I need to find it. If you see it, please let me know asap!