Donuts?

I was patiently waiting by my car after the run, waiting for Tom to run around the corner carrying a box of donuts. After all, if you patronize an establishment such as Tom did this morning, I believe Mrs. Manners would say that you should purchase a product produced by that establishment. Given the type of service Tom was expecting, I would assume he would do the right thing and buy a whole box of donuts. But alas, I needed to get going and couldn't hang around and wait. Maybe running with a box of donuts slowed him down.

A wonderful 60 degrees this morning! I blame my slow running on not being acclimated yet.

Another run done

A good morning run with Jack and the cousins. We did the industrial loop backwards and it seemed to go so fast. A bit chillier this morning. Mike obviously adapts to warm weather quickly. Monday he was wearing shorts. Today when it was 8 degrees colder he was wearing sweats and a stocking cap!

Good luck to the runners doing their long run today. It looks like you are going to have a beautiful day. Let us know if you are celebrating with a beer afterwards. We will come and join you so you can tell us how good it feels to be done!

Shorts - 2008

It was above 50 degrees this morning so I wore shorts. First time (outside) in 2008. I checked 2007 and the first time I wore shorts was March 26 (and 27)! Now it will be interesting to see if we can keep on wearing them! After the winter we had, we deserve to wear shorts for the next 6 months!

Mike and were the only ones brave enough to show our white legs. I figure it is one more way to stay safe - the car lights glaring off my legs. Of course, for Mike it is a safety hazard since people are so intent staring at his "nice calves" (not the moo kind) that they might actually have an accident due to inattentive driving! Mike would like you to believe that he is embarrassed by this attention, but every time he wears shorts he tells us a story about how someone - usually not of the opposite sex - notices his nice calves.

However, I am willing to put up with him, as long has he doesn't show up looking like this:

Whew!

Yes! The last pace run in over and it went well! We ended up with an average pace of 8:59/mile! It felt so much better than the last pace run! Apparently it did for Tom, Mike and Jill since they sprinted the last block! It was good conditions - just below 50 degrees, not much wind. At one point it got quite misty and I was afraid rain was going to start, but it held off. The best news was when I got home and learned that I didn't have to rush of to a cold, wet soccer field for 2 hours! The day is starting out on the right foot!

Geez - I almost forgot! Jim joined us for 13 miles too! Of course, we had to dress alike for the occasion, but it was an accident - a mere coincidence. Really, it was! We enjoyed the experience so much that we decided to do it at GB. We have already picked out our outfits, except they might be in Lycra instead of denim. At the very least we will have a good chance of being a featured photo!

Windy but good

A good run with Sandy and Jill this morning. I was dreading it in the middle of the night when the howling wind woke me up. On our long run this weekend, I think I did learn one thing and that is not to fight the wind. When I got hit with a blast I found myself hunkering down and fighting into it. I tried to relax and not do that and it worked. I think I was using a lot of energy just 'fighting' it. Sometimes, like when you are faced with a strong, steady wind, you just have to say this is life and this is this run and not try it beat it. So, I used that mentality this morning on the one stretch where we headed into the wind and it seemed to work. So, lesson learned!

And despite the wind we had a good run. I mixed in some hill work (running faster up the hills on our route) and tried dot pick it up at the end. It was good to see that I can still run faster than a 9:00/mile.

Good Thing

Tom showed up this morning to run with CU Gals, Kwik Trip girl (sounds like a super hero doesn't it?) and me. It was a good thing too, because with all the running we have been doing together we are starting to run out of things to talk about on those long run. I had started to search for some "new blood" and had found this guy. Don't you think he would be the perfect person to have along on a long run? I only hope I don't sound like this after the marathon - it would be possible.

He Who Shall Not Be Named - Again

He who shall not be named shall not be named in this blog again until he runs with us again. We saw him running twice TWICE this morning! He was kind enough to give us a wave. He must have had his pink Ipod turned down since he did respond to a hello. Although, apparently not low enough because he didn't respond to any our our kind remarks after he had passed. I know that after hearing about Jill's experience of listening to wresting stories for 2 hours during Friday's run we have more fun without you! Really! We do!

Monday Mornings

A blustery morning with CU Gals, Jenny and one of the cousins. We were all feeling our pace run at the beginning. Jenny and CU Gals decided not to run long and I didn't get any takers on my suggestion to do hills. Hmmmm . Wonder why?

By the end of the run everyone must have been feeling better because, CU Gals and Jenny decided to go another 1.5 and I came home and surprised myself by doing a mile speed work on the dreadmill. I think I was able to do it because I could tell myself it would be over in less than 9 minutes. I didn't bail even when I found my Ipod out of battery power!

So, due to my extra work out - no additional humor today.

Tom

There you go Tom, I mentioned you in the blog. I just want to make sure you life is complete.

Now, that that is over - Mike and I ran our 14 mile pace run this morning. We achieved a 9:02/mile pace. Man, it was a struggle for me. Mike was very patient with my sudden needs to stop and have a drink of water, which conveniently would happen as we were going up a hill. To our credit though, we took a hilly route. I think of it as the Judy route, since it was on of my first long runs and I was with Judy and it goes out by her house. A loop around town with BC thrown in and then out 16 to old 16 to the end and then down that county road to the railroad tracks and back along the interstate. It was a little hard to see the potholes and cracks in the road that early in the morning, but no twisted ankles.

Remember to have Larry in your thoughts and prayers today since it surgery day. I am confident he will come out of the surgery with a smile on his face and some sly comment to Judy.

However, no matter how bad you feel after a surgery or after a hard run, you probably don't feel as bad as this guy. Although he remembered to get his beer - so it couldn't have been that bad.

April Fools

No prizes today for best April Fools day joke. I guess the wind was bad enough. I fully expected Mike to have something up his sleeve, but nope! I was so disappointed that even though it is April Fools - I have no interesting tidbit of information or humor to share today.

However, I learned once again how much you discover about your friends when you are enduring a 3 hour run with them. Sandy and I had many deep and soulful discussions during our 19 miles together. She told me a goal of her and even though I promised to keep it a secret, I found it too inspiring not to share. If you ask her, she will definitely deny it, but she intends to really step up her fitness regime. Ultra? 50 state member? Ironman? "What could it be?", you ask. Well - as they say - a picture says a thousand words, so here is her goal:

Congrats to Judy, Larry and David

Congratulations to Judy and David for finishing another marathon and doing well despite the conditions! And to Larry too for his Half finish! Not many people can say they did that a week before hip surgery!

A good Monday morning run with Cousins, Jenny and Sandy. Warm and no rain.

Just one little rant not related to running. Last night we watched No Country for Old Men. It won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Picture. I have decided that since all movies are so predictable these days that in order to get a "Best Picture" award it has to make absolutely no sense. It had potential to be a great movie and I was eagerly awaiting for the great ending to tie it all together! As I realized the minutes were ticking closer and closer to the end end of the movie I became more and more amazed that they were going to produce a great ending in so little time. Then the movie suddenly ended. Jim and I just looked at each other in disbelief and shook our heads. Nothing like going from anticipation to frustration to make you not like a movie! I think we will just stick to the mind numbing simple movies. Apparently, we don't have the culture to appreciate the good ones!

Monday's are always hard, so sometimes it helps to start the day with a little laughter. Make sure you watch it all the way through....

Good Run

3 hours and 19.04 miles later I can say that it was a good run. I got initiated into the "Features" run today and despite some of the horror stories I had heard about it, it went well. The conditions were ideal with the wind at our backs and sun to keep us warm. Sandy and I plug along and were able to keep the conversation up even at the end. No tears, no swearing and no childbirth stories.

Good Job to everyone! Sandy, Wendy, Bryan, Julianne and Jenny!
Kudos to Sheri, Al, Russ and Mark!!!
And forever gratefulness to Dan for being a GREAT sag wagon! What luxury!

I am feeling really really good! Yeah!

Before the rain

Kwik Trip Girl, Cousins, CU Gals and I got the run in before it started raining too hard. The CU Gals must be feeling good since this is the second day in a row they went long!

Sorry, short post this morning. I guess the run took all my energy!

Back

Tough run this morning. A perfect storm... recovering from a cold, not dressing warm enough (it is officially Spring after all!), getting used to central time again and getting up at 4:30 for the first time in over a week. Whew. I even had to sit in my car for a minute or two and gather my strength!

What are the signs of a heart attack? Yeah - I can just hear Mike now - "Well, you know you are 40...."

Time for some positive thoughts and a spring picture: