A ran a little late today since I couldn't fine my shoes. Katie and Christy were kind enough to wait for me after I yelled at them through my car window. Luckily for me they were running the route where I saw them. Good for them for leaving at 5:00! I always knew they were abided by the law despite what Christy said during the run.

I have actually had a couple of good runs since my last post. I ran a leisurely run on Thanksgiving day with Shiner. Leisurely - because I got to sleep late - I didn't run until 10:00 and because the pace was a little slow with all the futzing with Shiner and the leash as well as being pulled in the opposite direction for a squirrel! (nice run on sentence!)

Yesterday ended up being a long run. I 'ran' into Rhonda at the beginning of her run and midway through mine. Since I had her motivating me a long, I was able to go long as I had hoped too. Shiner did well too and still had energy at the end! A nice change of pace running with Rhonda - a whole new world of untouched topics kept us busy while we ran.

I believe I posted this video before, but I saw it again and am wondering if Shiner will ever do this.... dreaming about catching Bella someday.

Run #2

Today was Shiner's second run with the group and his first run with Belle. It went relatively well especially once we let Belle lead and I ran behind with Shiner. It was enjoyable for me because Shiner was doing a sled dog imitation trying to catch up with that cutie Belle. I am sure he is feeling life is unfair since after all that hard work he never got to play with her. Another one of my children who will be saying "You're so mean!" in dog speak.

It was a good run with the Cousins and Jill. A Thanksgiving run is planned for tomorrow. Hopefully we won't be running in snow.

Success so far.

Today was Shiner's first day of running with the group. I am sure I was more nervous then he was. It was probably good that Bryan didn't get a deer (at least that is her STORY for not showing this morning) so Christy and Bella weren't able to be there. It gave Shiner a chance to get acquainted with the routine without the distraction of a cute girl and the mental trauma of realizing that he can no longer adequately show her how much he loves her.

Thankfully he is not a sled dog wanna be. Absolutely no pulling. Plus since it was dark he couldn't see squirrels so no leaping after them. I did use his "no pull" harness and the few times he did see something he quickly got turned around. Worked great.

Maybe my sister-in-law is right that is original name "Miles" is appropriate for a dog in our family.

Leakers

There were a couple of leakers this morning! And to make it even worse, one of them missed out on getting her Girl Scout Cookies!

Here is a nice little cartoon... complete with snot rocket!

Back in Sparta

A great group run with almost everyone this morning. It appears that the temperature has dipped to the point that calling of the dreadmill can no longer be resisted by certain members of our group. We will see them in spring!

Running along the cozy streets of Sparta wasn't quite the same as running through Central Park. It would be great to live in a city with such a great park. Of course if I lived there I couldn't afford to be within running distance of the park! So I guess the path along Beaver Creek will have to satisfy me.

While in NYC I also got to experience one of my worst dreadmill experiences every. I won't bore you with the details except to say that I only ran 2 miles and the people on the elevator afterwards were not happy with my new perfume - "profuse body sweat". Although I have to give them credit - no New York F bombs or similar language was directed my way. Of course, since I was in a hotel they probably were just visitors not true New Yorkers.

Veterans Day

Don't forget to honor and thank those who have served our country.... even if it is Mike.

Running Top Ten

I am running short on time this morning, but I mentioned this during our run this morning, so I figured I had better share it.

Missed Out!

I learned this morning that I missed out on Rhonda running with the morning group! I hope you come again!

A good morning run with the Cousins this morning. Christy actually set her alarm right so she was there. The bad karma from complaining about her fellow runners not showing up finally has worn off!

When I first saw the following clip it said that it was BEER that got destroyed. Everyone (except Beerhater) will be relieved to know it was hard liquor. Whew.... I was panicked there for a moment.

Bummer

Packers lost today - BUMMER. Even more so DH was at the game... sucks being at a game that they lose at, especially losing to the Vikings (Wendy - I DON'T want to hear it), especially with Farve playing. Yes - I actually WATCHED the game. I suppose DH will now blame me for the loss since it was the one thing different from other games.... they have won up to now... right...;-)

It a glum mood I turned towards the Internet. I have been feeling a bit bored with it lately. I currently don't have any sites I like to go to and see "what's up". I learned a good thing and a bad thing. The bad thing is that people have a lot more imaginative blog names than mine. Creativity is not my thing (but organization is!). The good thing is that there are a lot of running blogs out there that have not had a post in an awfully long time. Although I have been known to have some good gaps between posts, I have been blogging since December 30, 2006. So, coming up on 3 years! Wow! Time flies! Those who run marathons with me know how consistent I am... even if I don't want to be.

I didn't find any new interesting blogs... so if anyone knows of any, let me know....

Tempted

I was very tempted to call Bryan last night and say "It looks like it is going to be raining, so I am not planning on running." But since last time we had planned to run, I did almost the same thing, I knew I would be opening myself up to endless grief. So, I opted to waited to see if it was actually raining in the morning before I called and bailed.

Unfortunately, when I stepped outside it was NOT raining. So much for getting to sleep late on a non school day! I had a hard time believing my themometer too.... 58 degrees! Couldn't be! So I am so glad I didn't do a preemptive bail otherwise I would have missed out on one of the last warm runs of the year... which is what happened to the THREE people who stood up Christy at 5:00 am! Shame, Shame... I think you will be getting tricked instead of treated this Halloween!

So it was another nice run with Bryan. Today's topic was buying and maintaining cars. I learned a lot. Thanks Bryan.

Warning

A warning to our running group:

Beware of when Elyse and Mike start talking football!

This morning was an enjoyable run until E and M started talking football... our pace ended up being 8:45!

It has been awhile

Wow! I didn't realize how long it had been since I last posted! I have run since Oct 10th! But not much. Last week the morning run got rained out 3 times! I was convinced by Kwik Trip gal to go running with her and one of the Cousins on Thursday evening. As usual, dreaded doing it, but was glad I did.

The raining weather must have gotten to everyone because today was a big group, everyone except for Jenny and Wendy. We did a spontaneous new route that got everyone in the mood for Halloween (dark and scary). It was nice to have the big group again... I left feeling very happy and thankful!

Firsts

Today was one of firsts.

It was my first run after the marathon. My legs felt good and I felt pretty good too. My hamstring still twinges, but it hasn't caused a problem yet, just worry.

It was my first run EVER with my college roommate Wendi. She has gotten the running bug! (big sly grin here!) When I talked to her late in summer she mentioned doing a 5K together. THEN the next time I talked to her she said she had just run a 10 miler!!! Sneaky Women!

It was great to share the love of running with her along the lake shore of Milwaukee. Maybe that is why my first run after the marathon didn't seem so bad. I was just enjoying the moment being with one of my best friends in life while doing something so great! And just LOVING it! One more thing we can share together.

Twin Cities Race Report

It is time to report on the Twin Cities Marathon! Great weather, amazing spectators. The spectators are second only to Chicago. There was hardly a place on the whole course where there wasn't someone cheering you on. The course truly has to be the most beautiful urban course. It takes you through many parks and all of the grand old houses of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The course itself was truly challenging.

I knew that there was a 2 mile long long hill starting about mile 21. So, around mile 15 I started telling myself to just put in good miles until then and then have the goal of getting up the hill without stopping. It was very, very hard though. It hit just as I was starting to struggle. I am surprised I didn't get pulled out of the race by medical for going a little looping. I started breaking the course into smaller, manageable chunks such as ... the next stop light.... the bright green sign..... the light green tree.... followed by "I can do this, I can do this". Unfortunately for all those around me... I was not saying this in my head, but out loud and I found that I got louder as it got harder. I caught a couple of side long glances from fellow runners.... who I might add I was passing.

As always I found myself at the point where I thought "Who the F**** cares how fast I do this race. I knew I wasn't going to PR... which makes it hard for me mentally and I thought I wasn't going to be close to my past 3 marathons of 4:09. But I have to admit the illusion of the 2 mile down hill helped me work through it.

I say illusion because their idea of downhill is MUCH different than mine! True, when I reached the last half mile it was downhill, which was great. But earlier when I could see the heads and shoulders of runners several blocks ahead, I wanted to stop and yell "Where is the downhill?!?" Sandy said she saw a women stop at somewhere in mile 24-25 and yell "Where the hell is the finish" I can totally sympathize with her!

The post race was good, but when they isn't beer then it will never be the perfect post race party. The Salty Nutrolls were fantastic! I think that is now a favorite post race treat for me, replacing the cinnamon sugar donut holes at Whistlestop. The T-shirts were technical long sleeve which is always nice. I was disappointed that I couldn't find a decent race t-shirt at the expo. It looked like they were sold out.

My foot held up very well, my left hamstring didn't give me much problem. My right quad got pretty tight and I was afraid that it would start cramping, but it didn't. When I was going down the home stretch my quads felt very tight and I was just hoping they wouldn't seize up before I crossed the finish line and thankfully they didn't. Plus they didn't right after the finish line either. The day after the race my foot feels real good and my quads are sore like they normally are. I can go downstairs the right direction, but it isn't pretty.

All in all I would do Twin Cities again, but try and enjoy the race and surroundings much more. Something I struggle to do at every race. After the race when we are discussing what we saw, I never see anything. This is a race that it would be fun to relax and take it as a long run and not worry about time.