Pleasant Surprise

Christy and I got a pleasant surprise this morning when Katie came careening into the parking lot. Good thing she was late getting up or else she would have noticed the temperature and not come. I am surprised she didn't turn the car around when she saw the middle school clock say 12 below zero, especially since we wouldn't have known the difference since she wasn't signed up. What dedication you have Katie - it is dedication - right?

As you can imagine it was a cold run. Plus my Yaktrax broke a wire. I was expecting it since the wires were starting to break. They are several years old, so I suppose it is time for a new pair. Off to the Internet.....

1200 mies

Today I passed my goal of running 1200 miles in a year. I realized that in 2006 I had 1,276 miles which surprised me considering this year I trained for and ran TWO marathons. I wonder if I can get 73 miles in before the end of the year to beat my previous record. I am not sure I really care or not, especially with snow on the ground. NOT my ideal running condition!

Ran today with Judy, Jenny and Bryan. The let me join them since 'i' is close to 'y'. I am the only one with out a 'y' in my name although technically I believe Jenny is Jennifer. It was warmer, but running in about 2 inches of snow is never any fun. I like to go longer on Saturdays, but today I was good with 5.

Brrr

Another cold morning. Elyse and I braved it though. It seemed like the coldest morning to date. Good thing I put my warmer tights on and took my warmer gloves.

GOOD LUCK to Kwik Trip Gal who is running the Las Vegas Marathon this weekend. Oh - and good luck to Arnie too! We can't wait to hear about it!

Did it.

It was one of those runs where I just had to tell myself "You are out here and that is what is important". A struggle to say the least. Luckily for Christy I decided to ignore a cold that seems to be lurking and came. Jill bailed for some reason - something about cold and tapering for a marathon. Poor, Poor excuses. So thanks to Christy for hanging in there with me this morning. I must add that several people have been wondering where Mike has disappeared to. Apparently Jill finally pushed him over his limits.

A good day for Yak Trax and these....

Finally! Someone has tried to address the problem of cold jiggly buns! Not the jiggly part, just the cold part, but when it is cold the jiggly is more noticeable (and painful!). I could have used these today!

I found them while breezing (no pun intended) through Mile Marker Sports catalog.

They are called Northwind Unders and claim to be the perfect cold weather unders with 3SP front panel for windproof protection. At $35.00 they may be a good thing to add to your Christmas list. If you get them, let me know how you like them! Yes, they do have a men's version also.





Katie, Elyse and I braved the elements today. I never think it is bad once I get out there. The wind was brutal but was from the North, so we didn't get the full brunt of it too many times. I struggled being low on energy still from stomach flu and not eating much yesterday, but it still feels good to have gotten out there and it was a lot more enjoyable with others.

Not our dog. Not our dog.

We had two new running partners join us today. One was invited and one was not. Christy brought Bella along for her first run with the group. She did great. I think the sales of Vislas will go up in the Sparta area, but we need a breeder that is not 6 hours away! Our second uninvited visitor was a mutt puppy from some where in the Rusk Ave neighborhood. We aren't sure though - that is just where he joined us. I thought he would get bored, outside her normal range or find some delicious Thanksgiving leftovers in some one's garbage. For once I was wrong! He ran with us up Rusk, around Margaret, back down Rusk (we were foolishly thinking he might find himself near home and go back), down Pine, and back downtown where last I saw him. He had spotted Elyse running off toward home and took off after her (I was safely in my car). I guess we will find out on Monday if the Johnson's have a new dog.

I survived my post stomach flu run. The dog seemed to slow our pace down, which I enjoyed! Jim now informs me he thinks he is getting it too. Hmmm probably won't be going out tonight.

954

954 feet is the total amount of elevation we climbed this morning! And a total of 5.8 miles. Yes, that's right - we did a HILL work out this morning. Sorry Jill, just couldn't wait until Wednesday.

I wish I had a digital voice recorder at the end when Christy said, "Despite what you heard during the run, that is exactly what my butt needed." It was somewhat interesting to learn all the different expressions of exasperation, especially when we took a turn that meant more hills, not taking the easy way back to Walgreens.

I think I have a new goal - being able to run the entire route - even up Torrey View.

Hump Day

It was hard to roll out of bed today - like any day! A good run with Christy, Jenny, Elyse and Jill. We got to hear all about Elyse's recent saga in her professional life and on the other end of the spectrum we heard about Jill's recent saga in the Mosh Pit at the Buck Cherry concert. Who says this small town doesn't have much diversity!

Unfortunately Jill, Elyse and I were too busy talking because we let the speed demons lead. No wait, that wasn't it. Elyse had to tie her shoe. It wasn't that we are slow. Nope. Those darn shoes!

Studies

I read the following with interest:

A recent British study involving a small number of chocoholics found that the simple act of walking reduced cravings for this cocoa derived delight. Walking briskly for 15 minutes not only reduced the blood pressure of study participants, but it reduced their cravings as well.

Hmmm... I think the trick to walking to reduce chocolate cravings is the fact that they were walking AWAY from the chocolate. "just walk away, just walk away, just walk away".

A good run this morning with Katie, Jenny and Christy. Elyse is out with a cold, so don't worry Jill, you didn't miss hearing any of the latest in the school drama. I know you will be relieved. Something to get you through the day after the Buck Cherry concert last night. I know we will all have to talk louder during our runs so you can hear us.

Hmmm...

Hmmm... I have been having a hard time coming up with interesting things to talk about here. I guess that reflects my overall attitude about running right now.

The Onion reported on a retired marathon runner who found a new "high". It is tempting....

Old School

We had to go "old school" today. My Garmin's battery was out and Elyse's turn off 8 feet into the run. Not a good day to do it because I had new route "antsy pants". Or maybe it is the momentum of the election - I need "CHANGE". Unfortunately, as with almost all change, it was hard. We started up Jefferson, so we did the hilly route over to BC. Jenny kept on wanting to add more hills in by I looked out for the rest of the group and said no, no, no. Of course, it was purely for selfish reasons, I just want to make sure that people keep on coming on Monday mornings. If we make it more hellish than just getting up early on Monday morning, people will never come!

So, with out Garmins, I had to drive the route afterwards to get the mileage.

Yeah, right! Not THAT old school. I went to my route website and plotted it out. 5.73. Correction - a HILLY 5.73! So, let's call it 6.0!

Better than last time

Well, for all you who bailed this morning or who weren't motivated enough to get out of bed even though you weren't signed up (Mike) - you missed a wonderful run with Kwik Trip Gal and myself. Luckily, I decided to change my running schedule and run today instead of tomorrow, although Jill probably wasn't happy to see she could turn around and go back to bed.

We ended up getting the unusual and joyful (not really) opportunity to run in cold rain for the last 1/2 mile of the run. It wasn't quite the experience it was this summer - it was 30 degrees colder, it wasn't lightening, dark and no honks from passing cars (I was wearing black this time).
The good news is that tomorrow I get to be snuggled in my bed while you all are out running! Hmmmm.. Jill seemed to rub off on me today. I am in a spiteful mood despite it being Friday.

Turf Wars

I was a little worried when I drove into Walgreen's this morning. There were 4 strange cars sitting there. At first I thought maybe I had my dates wrong and it was the day after Thanksgiving. Last year on that day there were people lined up outside the door waiting to get a head start on shopping deals. That freaked me out for different reasons.... Anyway, given the 60 degree weather, I figured I probably had the date right or if I had it wrong it was June (wishful thinking). No, it wasn't new runners either (wishful thinking again). The consensus was they were doing inventory. Not very funny for a job or for storytelling.

A tired run for me this morning. Even though I slept well last night, the two previous nights on not sleeping caught up with me. But the good news is that the election is over and the post game analysis will finally start to dwindle. It will right? please, please, please.

Last of the warm weather

Today was probably the last balmy run - 60 degrees! Makes you feel like it will go on for ever, but unfortunately my fellow "buzz killl" runners were telling me that snow is forecasted on Friday. Ugh.

We survived the Norwalk half marathon this weekend. Here is how I would compare it with Chicago.

Chicago - more cowbells
Norwalk - more cows
Chicago - more people
Norwalk - more cows
Chicago - sweet smell of the city and Lake Michigan
Norwalk - sweet smell of cow poop
Chicago - 30 tables at an aid station
Norwalk - 1 table
Chicago - Free Beer
Norwalk - Beer - $2 (this one is for you Christy and Mike)