Vacation stories

It was a good day to run since Christy was back from her first vacation in Mexico. So there were a lot of stories to tell! Plus, Jenny has emerged from her winter hibernation.

I think it is time to change our tactics on bringing people into our cult. I learned this weekend that people we have tried to get to join us are secretly worshiping behind our backs. On Sunday morning I went for a run with my sister-in-law. We were on BC when I saw a figure running toward us. Of course, the first thing I thought was, "I wonder who this is running and do I know them?". As they drew closer, I realized I did know them but it was a WALKER! Yes, you read right.. a morning WALKER who was RUNNING. Oh, she tried to feign innocence by saying "I only run on Sundays." but we all know how that is... you start worshiping in secret, on back roads, and then suddenly you are running marathons.

12 mile pace run

We did a 12 mile pace run at a 8:30 pace... yeah that's right..... Well, we can say whatever we want since I had a Garmin malfunction. I got the first 6 miles which was a 8:50 pace.. but I somehow hit the stop button again shortly after starting the second loop. Of course I was struggling to begin with since I was using Jim's old Garmin since mine was out of battery. Once again proving Christy's belief that Garmin's are always out of battery.

Thanks again to Mike and Jill for running! Mike did a great job of keeping the conversation going and Jill did a good job of swearing under her breath instead of yelling at me for going to fast!

Hills return

The spring weather got in to my bones yesterday... making me in the mood for hills. Well, actually I am never in the mood for hills, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Or maybe it was payback for all those people who thought they were being smart by not running with me on Monday thinking I would want to do intervals. HAH! Fooled you!

I realized today that we have a pretty good complement of runners.

We have a Physical Therapist and two nurses to help us with our injuries
a Dietitian to help with what foods we should eat
a Speech Pathologist to help us learn how to speak when it is so cold out that our lips freeze
a Workers Comp person to tell us how we can attribute our running injuries to work
a bank person to show us how to get loans to pay for our running shoes and entry fees
a purchaser to tell us where to get the best deals (I had to THINK on that one Mike!)
Now we just need a podiatrist and a massage therapist and we have it made!

Afternoon run

I discovered today that I am no longer an afternoon runner. It was a beautiful day despite a strong wind, but the first mile was hard. I felt like I was back in my newbie days since I had to mentally chant to myself "It gets better after the first mile. It gets better after the first mile". It did take awhile, but it greatly improved when I ran into Mike who was also ready. And nice guy that he is, he joined me for the next 3 miles. That or he knew he was in deep doo doo since he had abandoned me this morning and yet, here he is running. Hmmmm... apparently 8 more hours helped his knees recover.

It did turn into a good run.. despite feeling like I was struggling I had a good pace. So, I was pleased at the end, but not enough to go back to afternoon running.

Saturday thoughts

I think I will be thinking this on Saturday. I got it from Running is Funny blog:

Ode to Advil

Oh, Advil Liqui-Gels, your 200mg of solubilized ibuprofen whisk away my cares and restore my creaking joints to relative normalcy. Not since Jack traded his cow for some magic beans have such little tablets brought so much comfort. Along with sugar and caffeine, you comprise the master runner food pyramid. While younger runners look to better shoes, vitamins, hydration, altitude training, etc., for improvement, I look to you, Advil, to get me to the next starting line.

Is it over??

A glorious 4 degrees this morning! Ugh! The only thought that got me out of bed was "This HAS to be the last of it!". Plus it was my last run with Christy before she headed out on her warm vacation. Oh, and Mike was with us too.

Here are some ideas for future races that I saw in the Running is Funny blog. I think there is one calling to Arnie... guess which one!

Buffalo’s Shamrock Run features a beer tent – at the start. Last year, about 200 runners who showed up never quite made it to the starting line, and another 300 started, but didn’t finish, because the route went past five saloons.

Winners of the Napa Valley Marathon receive their weight in wine.

It will get easier

We did our first interval run of the season. I have to remind myself that they will get easier and hopefully faster as we do them. I wonder if there is any "FUN" way to do intervals. Hmmm.. sounds like a Internet search. I wonder how many hits I will find?

Mystery.... there are some vandals lurking around Walgreens in the morning and they only target Mike. Two mornings in a row Mike has returned to find "ice boulders" on his windshield. I believe "ice boulders" is a scientific name... someone mentioned they learned it on the Discovery Channel. Anyway... if we looked closely there were the initials HWMNBN scratch in it.

Not a good Monday

I love Wisconsin, I love Wisconsin, I love Wisconsin, I love Wisconsin.

So, not a great Monday run. First the dreaded time change. Although it wasn't too bad. Apparently Sandy had a hard time with it though since she didn't show. Or maybe she was getting back at me for taking her on a longer run than she really wanted on Saturday. Plus, leaving her to run alone the last 2 miles - even though it was her idea. Wendy and I broke "the code" with that one.

Two - the conditions.. maybe another reason why Sandy didn't show. (Did I mention that Sandy didn't show this morning?). The slushy ruts had turned rock hard OR it was sandy snow... not fun to run in. Hard on feet and ankles.

Three - Elyse lost one of her icestablizers and of course it was the first time she had worn them. I think it went off and went looking for Sandy (Did I mention that Sandy didn't show this morning?) since we tracked all the way back to Rusk Street and didn't find it. Hopefully Elyse will find it when the sun shows itself.

The good news is that I just check the weather and the weekend weather forecast is better than Elyse's sources. It is supposed to be seasonably warm not zero. One less thing to dread this week!

Dream of Running?

You gotta check out this video.

I had two thoughts:

1. I hope no one in our group has dreams like this about running. He is actually turning around to make some smart comment to the people running behind him, not biting at something chasing him.
2. Maybe it would be a GOOD thing to have dreams like this. Imagine all the calories you would burn while sleeping! I compare it to the envy I feel for bears who give birth while in hibernation. How cool would that be... go to sleep, wake up and you have a baby. No pain, just sleep.
   

Hmmmm

I did post on Wednesday, but I must not have saved it. So, here is what it said.

Ran with Mike today. I could tell he had a birthday recently. We talked a lot about cholesterol levels. He is getting old, all he wants to talk about is medical problems. We might have to push him out of the running group when he turns 40. It will become too depressing to run with him.

Steamboat running

I have been doing good while on vacation. I have run every day so far, although I think I will take tomorrow off. I have concentrated on speed not distance which makes it easier. I set the time for 30 minutes in the interval program. I am a wimp, setting it a the lowest level, but my pace is much faster than normal. I figure that a faster pace is good enough that I don't need to do it at ridiculous incline also. I do make sure I get 3.5 miles in. It is short enough that it doesn't seem like a major ordeal, but hard enough that I feel I have accomplished something.

Skiing has been great. Great weather.. sunny and warm. Today is supposed to be warm, but no sun and light snow.

First Pace Run

I thought I was not going to run today because of the cold weather and Jill was with me until Beerhatter said she was still going to. (Editors note: I was going to use her real name until this happened) Beerhater is a sneaky one. She has somehow set up her e-mail to come to us a day late. So, she "innocently" sent Jill and I e-mail last night saying she was not going to run. Of course, I didn't get it until this morning when I was dressed and ready to go. Oh, she will have a excuse/story but remember you can't trust beerhaters.

So, a change is past practices.... I have to THANK Jill for running today. It was truly a nice run. The 7.6 miles went very quickly despite the enormous amount of dread I was feeling at the start.

Weatherman wrong

Well I was happy to see that the weatherman was wrong. Only a little bit of snow and it was wet so easy to run on, although not easy to drive down my hill. Plus it was WARM and the wind hadn't started blowing yet. A nice run with Christy, Katie and Tom.

Tom wanted me to point out I was a little late. It is just his way of telling me that he was glad I was there.

I have been trying to find something to post and I did find something, but Mike is gone, so it won't be as funny. I will leave you wondering what it could be......

About Time.

I am only posting because Jill asked me too. She wanted the last post that was all about her to get bumped down. I was a little hurt it wasn't because she was waiting for the next version of inspired and humorous writing. I think I will get over it.

I have to admit that she is right. My last post was Feb 4th... way to long to be silent. So, I have run the past two days. Thursday was a little alarming, the wind was strong which reminded me of what we have to look forward to in the coming months. I tried to remember to "not fight it" which does help, but I would rather that it wasn't windy.

Today was not so windy and I feel spring in the air even though it wasn't that warm. I guess it is the lack of snow and ice. It is so nice to run with little fear of slipping or tripping.. Of course, Katie needs to worry about that whether or not there is snow on the ground!

Tomorrow is the first long run! Do I hear cheering?