2:30 at 4:30

Yes, Jill and I met at 4:30 to run our 2:30 long run. A little sticky today, but it went fairly well. Kristy and Elyse kindly waited for at at 5:00. Then they dumped us (just kidding) and Christy and Judy came with.

OMG - I almost forgot the best thing - GARAGE SALES! Yes, Friday mornings is garage sale day and today it paid off to be our running at 6:30! From over a block away I saw the old fashion aluminum web lawn chairs. I have been looking for them for my mom! Later I realized that it was a bit early for them to be open - but they were just standing around and looking open - so it didn't even dawn on me. Or maybe I conveniently forgot about the time of day - either way SCORE! I think now on Friday's we will do interval runs to each garage sale and rest time will be when we are looking at what's for sale. However, we will have to get them to open up their garages before the usual 8:00. Not a problem.

Getting Foggier

A group of 6 today! I another nice cool run, but I am pretty sure it got foggier as we ran - must of been all that heavy breathing we were doing. As I have said before, the intervals seem to be paying off. I was able to do a 8:39 pace run today. Yes, I was pushing it, but it wasn't too bad considering our pace normally is between 9:00-9:15. Thanks to Katie for running the last half with me!

The only problem with running faster than the group is that Mike has plenty of opportunity to tell stories about me. Believe me - they are all untrue! I will have to plan those faster runs for when he isn't running!

Lessons learned about fellow runners

Hmmm... not sure what to put as a title to this post. There are too many options, I guess I will see what hits me when I finish.

Quite the group this morning! EIGHT!!! Walgreens is going to think it has to open earlier because of all the cars in the parking lot. Or people are going to think they are missing some HUGE back to school sale. You would think that the Sparta Newspaper would have noticed this phenomenon and had a feature article on us! Oh, Wait, it is the Sparta Newspaper.

A nice interval run this morning, well nice might not be the word of choice, but we did do it faster than we ever have before! (Ah! the joys of having a Garmin!) Our shirts for Chicago will have to refer to speed in some way. Which reminds me... has anyone come up with what we should put on our Chicago shirts?

Saw Mike running all by himself on Friday afternoon. It made my heart sink. Not because he was running alone, but it was evident that he has not learned anything from us - running related that is. We know he has learned a lot about women! It was 90+ degrees, sunny and humid and here he was running with a BLACK baseball cap (the regular kind - no technical fabric in sight) and a COTTON t-shirt. Since he didn't have any water with him, he must have been using the cotton shirt as a sponge that he could wring out for water as needed. Yeah, that must be it. We know how much he hates spending money on the essential running stuff - like water bottles.

Lastly, Jill - our lovely Kwik Trip gal. I had the joy of experiencing a whole day at Noah's Ark with her. Yes, I do mean joy. She likes to pretend she is a timid girl, but let me tell you... all she needs is a little, make that tiny push and she is up for anything. She was making a great show of never going down the "Point of No Return" but given how quickly she launched herself down the ride I think she really had done it before. You know Jill, she just likes getting all the attention.

Okay, that is it - still not sure of the title...

Conversion?

For the second Friday in a row, Judy showed up for the morning run. Plus at the end she said to me "I can now understand the appeal of getting it done and beating the heat". I don't know folks, we may have a conversion! It just shows that miracles do happen.

Still a sticky run this morning, but much more enjoyable since it wasn't an interval or pace run. This was good since I have the end of the week exhaustion. Last night I was looking at the poll to see if the "always there" people were running, so if I bailed, Judy would have someone to run with. Of course, if I did give into that temptation I would be headed down a slippery slope, so I was there - but NOT with bells on!

Recovering from the shock

I realized that I was still recovering from the shock of seeing Judy at 4:30 on Friday morning when Sheri pointed out that I hadn't mentioned her in my Friday blog. I am not sure if it made Judy's day when everyone arriving said "Judy! Your here at 4:30 a.m.!!!" Maybe we will pull her over to mornings!

I think Sandy may have had a brain fart this morning - 4 days of running in a row will do that to you. Luckily Christy showed up to run at the correct spot - the pool. Sandy was supposed to run and assured me she would, but she never showed. When Christy and I ran by Walgreens on the loop back we saw her van - at least we think it was her van since it was gray. So, although she was at the wrong starting spot hats off to her for still going on her own!

So a little non running related information. Nate, Ben and a friend all discovered a ground hornets nest this weekend. Ben got 3 stings on the chest, the friend one on the foot and Nate got the worst of it with 3 on the face. The swelling got progressively bad throughout the day and night. A picture is worth a thousand words, so here it is:

He has a chunk of banana in his mouth which makes his cheek look swollen too, but it is not. Helps with getting a little more sympathy though!

Dumb and Dumber or Dedicated and More Dedicated?

First long run of the Chicago Marathon training plan! Of course we had to start it all out at the insane hour of 4:30. Sandy, Jill, Jenny and I. We looped back and picked up Mike and Elyse at 5:00. No donuts - big BUMMER. I didn't see any of the o.j., milk or coffee (aka Diet Mtn Dew) either which I heard later was hidden some where in a white SUV.

Jill and I should get the 'Larry' award. After dropping off the 5:00ers, we headed out for our last 45 minutes. The clouds to the east look ominous, but we kept positive thoughts. Well, Sandy only kept her positive thoughts until the end of the park loop and then she was outta of there. Some flash of light - I think it is was a firefly - made her nervous. A block later, Jenny also headed out - apparently fireflies were out in force. So the new thing I learned today is that and in addition to dogs, Jenny is also apparently very afraid of fireflies.

Jill and I kept on going. We were doing the stampede route backwards (Do we ever do it the right way?). When we were on the lower part of North St. it started to rain. By the time we were making the turn on to Thayer it was an all out downpour, but the sky looked lighter to the east and I didn't think it would last much longer. On the hill on Main, I learned the second lesson of the day - it could rain harder. At this point our shoes became lakes - but we were actually enjoying it. And if Jill says she wasn't - then she is proving once again what a devious person she is. Every once in a while we would get a nice flash that would like our way.

I am sure the male drivers really appreciated those flashes of lightening considering my soaked WHITE tank top (with built in support) and my light green shorts that are very transparent when soaked (Lesson #3 for the day).

So, if it rains at Chicago Jill and I will be the only ones prepared for it! Ha!

We ended up with 2:10 and 13.5 miles and a good story.

Catching up

CKristies, Elyse and I ran and Jenny caught up. No wonder she always comes in at the last minute - she knows she runs fast enough to catch up with us. Good thing too because today we did the new route which she hasn't run yet!

I struggled with motivation to swim today. Luckily for me and unluckily for Shelia she was there to play "catch the other swimmer". A good hard and short workout which fit the bill today.

Good Job!

I made a surprise visit to morning running group this morning. In other words, I wasn't signed up to run - much to Jill's frustration. True to her friendship to Mike, she showed despite being sick and not getting to bed early. She didn't want to leave him hanging. Plus, in addition to making her get out of bed unnecessarily, I had us run intervals. She earns today's medal for "Most Effort".

Jenny also dropped in unexpectedly. Don't ask me what is going on with her and Mike since they were in their own little "fast runners" world.

Here is some inspirations for those of us 40 and over (I am NOT over forty yet!) and those Young's who inspire to be as great as us....

An article on Dana Torres’s who is 41, mother of one and just qualified for her 5th Olympics and not just by the skin of her teeth. Torres won the women's 50-meter freestyle eclipsing the U.S. record she set the previous day in the semifinals. Of course if I had a head coach, a sprint coach, a strength coach, two stretchers, two masseuses, a chiropractor and a nanny, I would be going to the Olympics too. Okay, maybe just to watch.

Sandy is Back and Wendy is Missing!

Sandy returned today. How's your knee doing? I shortened the new route for her - you know I am always thinking of my fellow runners! This includes Christy - since I came with a new route! I hope you are all thinking "What have I done for her (Allison, not Christy!) lately? A good 5.58 at a 8.59 pace - see you doubting Thomases (I mean Mikes) Intervals do work!

Sandy returned and Wendy disappeared. Something about a bad back. Hmmmm....I think that is a new excuse for her. Is someone helping her come up with excuses - Jill???? Just kidding Wendy.... as I say - teasing means we love you - unless you are Mike of course! Of course, I must give credit where credit is due - Mike is the only male not to drop off the face of Sparta after finishing his marathon.

We also learned that we have an elite in our midst! Kristy got first at the Ontario race this weekend! I am sure the field of competitors was HUGE, so it was quite an achievement! She was even kind enough to direct wayward runners on the right course. I know it will surprise you that Ontario assumed that everyone had run it before, therefore didn't do a real thorough job of marking the course.

Another new runner!

We have had a windfall of new runners in the past month! Today Elyse (Ah-Lees) joined us! She is a teacher which means she has summers off. Understandably this makes getting up at 5:00 not very appealing for her, but we hope that she will join us whenever we run a little later and on weekends. We will be kind until the school year starts and then we will be sending her viscous e-mails demanding to know why she is not joining us! We are always eager to have newbies who lend new life to the group and who have never heard our tired old stories. Plus, that also means we don't have to listen to Mike all the time.

I think the group needs a get a little training on how to best welcome people into the group and make them feel welcome, valued and appreciated. I don't think running all the hills possible such as BC and Tower is a good way to do this, no matter what Kwik Trip gal thinks. Apparently Kwik Trip's philosophy is to have the veterans pretend that they work this hard all the time so that when new employees join they feel intimidated and naively do whatever the HR department tells them to do - you know the "Fear of God" method.

Loving Summer

A beautiful morning - again! Less humidity too! Apparently the natives are getting restless... I heard a lot of under-the-breath whispers about "THIS route AGAIN!" Apparently the pool route needs some alternatives... We'll see what I come up with... maybe one with roller coaster hill in it. hee, hee, hee. It really is flat!

I JUST figured it out! Christy was telling us that there is a bear that lives up in my next of the woods. Actually, what she was saying is that she doesn't want to run up the hill on Jefferson! We really need to get her some help with her passive aggressiveness! Luckily we are on to her and next week we will do a hill workout - just for her. It is called reverse psychology!

Intervals Day 2

Swimming has been cutting into my posting time, so I am a bit behind. Yesterday we Jenny, Wendy and I ran intervals. Well, I should say they ran intervals and I ran behind them. Katie and Kristy were very patient with me running ahead of them and then falling behind them - 8 times! It definitely gets the heart pumping. It was a struggle at the start and at the end! I know I worked harder because swimming afterwards was a bit harder than usual. I do enjoy swimming in the morning. The water is the right temperature and it is so peaceful at that time of morning.

Today was a whole new group of people, the cousins and Kwik Trip Gal. KTG has been saying she wants to run intervals, so I did her bidding today - despite all the grousing from the cousins - one in particular and you know who that is! It actually felt easier today. It does feel good when you are done - really! It does! Of course, Mike wouldn't know, since he just ran fast enough to keep up with us. A lot of chit chatting going on for someone who was supposed to be running fast!

Blogging in the summertime

Well, I am afraid that I have not been blogging much. I have been swimming after running which meas swimming is taking over the time that I normally blogged. Plus, I just haven't been able to find anything humorous to share with all of you! I don't think it is my funny bone being broken - I think it is just the world enjoying summer and not having time for posting things.

What are the odds of that?
However, I must say that it is thrilling to get 2 new runners who also happen to continue the 'e' ending requirement - Kristy and Katie - which now brings us to to 7 morning runners whose name end with the 'eee' sound and two more (one alumni and one newbie (hopefully)) whose name end in 'e' but not the 'eeee' sound. And as usual there are the two who are always standouts - me and Jill. She and I might have to start our own running group!

Lastly, in case you hadn't noticed, a long overdue new quote is featured above.

Back from Esat Glacier!

Always a nice way to return from vacation - go on a 1.5 hour run! You would think after a week off that your body would be all ready to run - not. It still is on vacation! Of course, it doesn't help to run with speed demons Wendy and Jenny either! It was a fantastically beautiful morning. I felt sorry for all those people sleeping and missing it. At least that is what I am telling myself now! Looking forward to getting into the weekly routine again.