Merry Christmas!

And happy birthday to my mom! This photo was taken at Lapham Peak in Delafield, WI. Lighted ski trails-brilliant!

Happy Solstice!

Temperature: 3 degrees
Windchill: -35F
Having the entire park to myself as I ski on the shortest and possibly the most beautiful day of the year: priceless
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Yikes!

If you check the map below, someone from Wasilla, AK has visited my blog.

Bacon & Tofu are appalled.

Oh sh*t! Broken bindings!

"Bacon! This is tragic! Broken ski bindings!"

"I'll help by carrying the broken pieces to REI so we can get new bindings!"

"Bacon, you idiot! What are you doing with that? And why is there a penguin on my head??"

Just before I fell down...

New ski boots

So little boy's feet grew. That should not be surprising as he's grown at least six inches since freshman year. And yet, I am surprised, by his big feet and by the cost of two pairs of ski boots (one for classic, one for skate). He is paying half, though, and pointed out that he's spending 10% of his net worth on this purchase. He was also practically giddy yesterday after practice because his feet weren't cramped, frozen and uncomfortable. I told him that I expected to hear about some heat wins this season!

We had about four inches of SNOW last night, so not only did I get to shovel, but I get to ski at lunch!! Yeah!

More from Bacon & Tofu

"This is all your fault, Bacon!! I'm gonna smash you even flatter!" (Sensitivity training was apparently unsuccessful)

Verbal reprimand from the boss for inappropriate workplace conduct.

Argh! What is it??

"Ha ha!"
"Bacon! You're going to pay for this!!"

These are the people in your neighborhood...

In your neighborhood, in your neighborhood. Oh, these are the people in your neighborhood: the people that you meet, when you're walking down the street, the people that you meet each day!


Monsieur Tofu and Mr Bacon: bendable and lots of fun wherever fun is needed. Like at work.


Tofu & Bacon in a workplace altercation.


Tofu & Bacon at a mandatory sensitivity training.

1500 miles

Huh. I've run 1500 miles this year, as of yesterday. That seems like a fair distance.

I really should have listened to myself and remembered how much running sucked after last year's marathon. I should have taken a whole month off instead of trying to ramp back up. I don't really know what the problem is, perhaps the combination of 8 new pounds, a strained left Achilles tendon, a tight left ITB and piriformis and the general lethargy that early winter brings. We've also gotten the new Minnesota snow (a dusting to a coating) that turns lots of surfaces slippery and hazardous for this clumsy runner.

At this point, running a 50k next April is realistically not going to happen. I was in a lot of pain on Saturday after a slow 5 miles with little boy. Yesterday's 3 on the TM was alright, I stopped to stretch several times, but my foot hurts today. If things get better in the next month - I'm going to do a very slow easing back into running sort of schedule - I'll consider a spring marathon. All the cool kids are doing it, after all. Perhaps then an ultra towards the fall will work out.

I've actually gotten some communication from Big Boy in the past couple of weeks, which makes me both happy and sad. Happy cuz I get to hear from him, but sad because it makes me realize how much I miss him.

Not even on the bus

And everything goes round and round, round and round, round and round...

Yes, it's my third time with vertigo and I'm loving every minute of it. It started on Friday, so perhaps by this weekend it will have abated. It's worst in the shower (no glasses, have to keep a hand on the wall at all times) and in my cube (something about everything being grey, I think). It's most noticeable when I try to read (work), think (work) or walk down a grey hallway (work). I hate that I'm not really able to be particularly effective at work, yet I don't feel sick enough to stay home.

Given that I had a cold this weekend (still have a gross sounding cough) and slept for 14 hours on Friday night, it's quite apparent that I'm not 100%. I didn't run over the weekend, for obvious reasons, but I managed 3 this morning without too much difficulty (either breathing-wise or falling-down-cuz-the-world-is-moving-in-unexpected-ways-wise).

I'm worried that the pup might have something going on. She's put on 9 lbs. in the past year (despite cutting back on her food) and isn't as muscular as she once was (despite her running with me 18 to 30 miles per week); one of the three liver enzymes is elevated (ALT is at 444, normal range: 14-151); and yesterday she started limping upon getting up(which resolves itself after she stretches some and moves around for a couple of minutes), though it doesn't seem that she could have injured herself. She's 8 1/2 or so. I'd hate for this to be Cushing's. She'll have more blood work done next month.

November blahs

It's November, and although I'm delighted with the outcome of the presidential election, I'm still on tenterhooks about Minnesota's Senate race. Let the recount begin!

Running has been hit and miss, mostly miss. Things haven't felt right, my left foot has been bothering me and it's so dark and cold in the morning. I'm experimenting with trying to get up at a consistent time, so no more trying to fit in a run at 4am on early morning orchestra days. That means that I'm going to try to run M W F Sat Sun, which gives me a four day in a row stretch. We'll see how that goes.

In other news, little boy was hit by a truck two weeks ago while riding his bike to school. Despite being broadsided, he is ok for the most part. There is some lingering pain and he is on light duty as far as ski practice goes. But it could have been so much worse. We are still trying to get the police report. They gave us a hard time about it the first time we went to get it. Next time, I'll be little boy's attorney, not his mom. Grrrrrrr.

Update

Hours worked as election judge: 15
New voters I registered: 450
Tally coming out dead on (1599 ballots): priceless

VOTE!

Just not in my precinct! Ack! It's crazy, crazy busy at 06-08 in St. Paul. I'm a registration judge, so I get to help people fill out same-day registration forms and check their IDs (and send them to another precinct if they're in the wrong place). We'd gone through 2 pads of reg. forms by 12:30 when I left for my break. Lots of lines, both to get in when the polls opened at 7 and for ballots once we started moving people inside the gym. I've only run across one or two people who were ummm... dissatisfied with the process. Everyone has been really excited to vote and willing to write their names 4 times in order to register. Several people have left and come back with the proper ID when they didn't have it the first time.

I got up at 4:00 so that Sky & I could run five. I'm glad I did, I was awake anyway, but I'm going to be so tired.

The only election gossip I have is from my own polling place and it's secondhand. A woman went to get her I Voted sticker (she voted early) and there was some private security guard lurking around trying to get into the school because he was "hired to be there." By whom, we don't know. The head judge in our precinct kicked him out (100 feet away from the polling place, thankyouverymuch). Apparently, there had been five complaints already about this guy by 9:00 am. Weird. I wonder if it'll be on the news. Not that I'll see it.

Break is almost over. If there's anything interesting, I'll mobile-blog it. But really, just lots of filling out forms.

Gravity

Happy Halloween!

Now get out & run!



I'll be running this race... and *sigh* I've seen the course and I'll probably come in last. But that's ok, cuz there are prizes for the last four!

With apologies to Aimee Mann

Forty-one today
What a thing to say
Drinking Guinness in the afternoon
Taking shelter in the black cocoon...

So far, the family has forgotten, but kickrunners, Facebook and my coworkers have not. And I have to renew my driver's license after work or I'll be all illegal.

More racing

little boy ran Jack's Race 5k this morning. His CC coach won the race.

I ran 7 when we got home. It was 45 and windy, so naturally I overdressed. I tried out a new chiropractor on Friday to address my piriformis issues that I don't want to get any worse. She is good! I was much more comfortable running (surprised to find I ran a 9:20 pace), but my hip definitely needs more stretching. If I'm actually going to run the Freedom 10 mile next week, I probably ought to register!

I'm glad someone is keeping tabs on my boy

He doesn't call, he doesn't write. But at least someone takes Big Boy's picture from time to time and posts it on Facebook. Thanks, Tenley!

Sorry blog, I've neglected you

In favor of Facebook, which I'm too old for, but which makes it so easy to post random things without having to think about it much. Plus the fact that Blogger Mobile does not work at all...

I have pix from last night's Section 4AA cross country race. I'm going to election judge training tonight, so if I can coordinate all the after work and after school details, maybe I can get them up here.

Some pictures

I'm back to running a little after the marathon. Technically, I haven't stopped running at all, because I've kept to the schedule that's on the right. Five miles this morning went fine, but wow was it ever cold. I had to wear a winter top that luckily has thumb holes so that the sleeves can be half mittens! Brrrr! My quads feel fine, but my left hamstring is still a little stiff. Day off tomorrow and we'll see how 6 goes on Saturday.

little boy's CC team won their conference on Tuesday.

ST. PAUL CITY CHAMPIONSHIPS (5K)

At Como Park

Central 23, Como Park 66, Highland Park 69, Johnson 92, Arlington 127, Harding 152, Humboldt incomplete. Medalist—Kemal Jarso, Central, 16:09

little boy ran a PR 17:04 on this race. It was really exciting to watch. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera and I'm still figuring out the camera on my new phone, so I have no pictures but mental ones. So here are some pix from last weekend's races.

Whistlestop 2008

Well, it was 20 degrees warmer at the start (49, not 29 like last year) and I was overdressed. It was also a lot sunnier than they'd predicted. It was unpleasant when we hit the sunny parts of the trail and it was almost 70 by the time I finished.

There was one guy running his own private ultra. He'd started in Ashland at 3am and had run to Iron River (where the race starts). I saw him show up before the race started and pick up his gear bag. I guess he ran all the way back to Ashland with us, but I never saw him again. There was a guy close by me at the start who dropped and did 12 push ups. Twelve? Why? I didn't want to make him feel bad, or I'd have dropped and done 40 or so.

Yes, I was shooting for a 3:50. I had a pace band that gave me 8:44 miles, which based on my last several races was a realistic goal. I didn't hit the wall, nor did the wheels really fall off. I was carrying a water bottle (I think I should learn to do without that) but my shot bloks were making me feel gross after mile 17 or so and I spit out the last one at mile 21. My right calf was crampy from about mile 22 onward, but it wasn't particularly painful. After awhile, I just couldn't make myself go any faster. I started losing time after mile 21 and by mile 24 I was three minutes behind my pace band and I knew I couldn't make it up.

little boy showed up around mile 23 to cheer me up and run me in. He'd won the 10k race and told me about it as I tried to speed up (but couldn't). He did his best as cheerleader, but I finally told him that I knew I couldn't run a 6 minute mile, so I would be happy breaking four hours and that would be good enough. And it was.

I managed to keep passing people over the last 10k. There were two guys running ahead of me that little boy kept trying to cajole me into reeling in. I thought it just wasn't going to happen, especially as those mile markers kept seeming farther and farther away! I never saw mile 26. little boy took off to watch me finish just about as I passed those two guys and could hear the finish line hooting and hollering. I passed another two people and actually managed a half hearted sprint to the finish. Splits below.

1 - 8:23
2 - 8:25
3 - 8:37
4 - 8:40
5 - 8:44
6 - 8:50
7 - 8:46
8 - 9:03 (water bottle)
9 - 8:25
10 - 8:37
11 - 8:33
12 - 8:42
13 - 8:48
14 - 8:48
15 - 9:16 (water bottle)
16 - 8:57
17 - 9:01
18 - 8:46
19 - 8:52
20 - 8:43
21 - 9:03
22 - 9:28 (water bottle)
23 - 9:48
24 - 9:41
25 - 9:29
26 - 9:36
0.2 - 8:08 pace

Chip time - 3:55:55.

I ran this course as my first marathon last year in 4:03:11. I think if I get my fueling figured out and run a race on pavement as opposed to gravel trails, I could go faster.

All in all, I feel much better about this race than I did last year. I felt so crappy and discouraged last year that I swore I'd never run a marathon again. I had also managed to tweak my achilles enough to make running painful for several months following the marathon.

After I finished, little boy & I walked back to the car so I could see his trophy and change out of my shoes. The we walked a couple of blocks to Lake Superior and I sat in the lake for ten minutes. The lake is definitely colder than a plain old cold water bath, as my legs were numb within about three minutes! We wandered back up to the beer tent and I re-carbed myself with a couple of beers and some pretzels.

We spent another night in Ashland and this morning took a little 2 mile run together. My left hammy is a little cranky and my quads are telling me that I did something yesterday! I loosened up on the run, though. We drove to Bayfield and walked around some, then headed to Duluth for some Hell's Kitchen brunch. It always seems to take forEVER to drive back home from Duluth.

little boy's report on the 10k follows:


Well, my race was very fast. I saw Mom off on her bus, and waited around downtown Ashland for another hour, checking out the competition. I was a little intimidated by the college boys that I saw but found out that they were running the 5k (top finish time 17:54). So I got on the first bus and got to the start about 7 minutes later (much less waiting than last year for the 1/2), then I went for a warm-up run for 10 minutes, and went through the regular warm-up drills I do for CC. Strangely no one else was doing anything to warm-up, hmm... maybe I was the weird one. At the start I see the real competition, a Duluth Running guy, and a pot-belly guy, both looked way older than me (I guessed ~25), they both looked fast so I figured that I would stay with them for the first couple then drop off if it was too fast.


The Splits:

1-5:45 (a bit excited)
2-6:01
3-6:00
4-6:08
5-5:54
6.2-7:10 (5:58 pace)

Total: 37:01.1, chip time 36:58.12, average pace 5:57

So, it turns out that DuluthRunning and PotBelly were not that fast; only DuluthRunning stayed with me in the first 1.7, then I must have psyched him out when I started talking to him:

I asked "have you done this one before?"
"yeah, I've done the 1/2 and 10k before, you?"
"Oh yeah, I did the 1/2 last year, but decided that it was a bit too much for me, so I signed up for the 10k this year"
"really, how'd you do?"
"I got 15th overall"
"wow thats pretty good"
"yeah for my debut"

He then dropped back, and I sped up a little and ran alone for the next 4 miles. I looked back a few times and he seemed to stay in the same place for 2 miles, then he started slowing down and by the end he was 37 seconds behind me. It was really cool to pass most of the 5k walkers and the really slow runners. I was so fast that the announcers didn't even know that I was a 10k'er.

I waited around for 2 more hours for awards, then I high-tailed out back to the course to cheer on Mom!

Taper Not-So-Madness

Taper is ok this time. Mostly I'm restless and a little bored and have phantom pain. I wasn't really loving getting up at 4am, so that part is good. The 50k training I have planned emphasizes LONG runs on the weekends and mostly 4s, 5s and 6s during the week, so in the cold, dark winter I will be out the door on orchestra mornings at 4:30. Hmm... Oh well.

I'm playing with my new phone, which is going to lead to me staying up too late.

Picture day

I got my 15 in this morning. It was alright.

First, for Big Boy:


Next, I got a couple of decent Brandi Carlile pix when we saw her at the State Fair.






little boy's first day of school:


little boy running in today's Roy Griak Invitational:


he got spiked in the knee:

Just keep swimming...

I'm not even sure what my new title is. General Supervision Compliance Coordinator/Rulemaking Coordinator/Hearing Coordinator/Complaint Investigator/Due Process Specialist? Take your pick, I do all of them now. Breaking my "studiously avoid talking about my job" rule, I think I'll take just a minute to talk about it. The guy who's leaving? For whom we had that most awesome potluck on Wednesday? I got his job. Oh, and I still have my old job, too. Not that it's a bad thing, I totally dig not being bored and learning new stuff. And it's law-talkin' stuff, too, so that's very exciting. But it's a lot at once, and being mindful of the fact that this is a temporary enhancement of job duties, I don't really want to f**k it up too much. Luckily, our admin staff knows a lot about what I'm supposed to be doing for hearing coordination and my part has to do with law-talkin' and computer related stuff, so I think that will be alright. The old part of my job I've managed to do competently for almost two years, so I'm not worried about that. But the complaint investigation part (which my boss told me I wouldn't have to do for awhile yet - I guess "awhile" means a week, which I'll keep in mind the next time I invite her to a party) is still a mystery, but hey! I've got a complaint already. So I'll just keep swimming...

Apropos of nothing, I think I really need a haircut. I haven't had one since April or May.

Now?

Suddenly, I'm getting blisters. I have never, repeat never, in the nearly 4 years of my running odyssey had problems with blisters. In the past week, four of them. In different places, with different shoes & socks. Grrrrr. Why now?

little boy had a cross country meet yesterday (on our side of town, even!). Not his fastest race, but it was a grade by grade meet and he got second place for Juniors and 7th overall. We got out of there just before the thunderstorms hit. An inch and a half of rain is a lot!

We're having a work party for a departing coworker today. I made pumpkin chowder and my rulemaking buddies & I are putting on a chocolate fountain. The chocolate fountain is an experiment. Never has anything as fancy been done at a work potluck in my two years here. But, departing coworker is a chocolate freak, so we're pulling out all the stops for him.

4 a.m. certainly is early

Very little time, must get little boy to early morning orchestra. I had to get up at 4 in order to get my 9 miles in, but I got 'em done. It was really warm (high 60s) and really humid with a little bit of rain and some lightning in the southern sky.

I wonder how I'll be doing about 4 this afternoon?

Also, I haven't been able to sleep for *&%&^% the past two days. I slept fine on Saturday... so I don't think it was the 22 miler. But sheesh! I have to sleep!

Oops

Does anyone remember awhile back when I accidentally ran 9 miles? You know, forgot to turn around at the right place and ended up running longer than I'd intended? Oops, I did it again. So, I got in 60 miles for the week (well, if you count the extra little bits here and there, Garmin says I actually ran 61.45 miles this week). And today's pace was well under 10:00 mpm. My right quad is a little bit sore, but my feets feel good and so does everything else. I also did Week 5 Day 3 of the 100 push up challenge again and a whole bunch of sit ups. I think I'm done for the day. Lots of sitting around is planned and perhaps a nap.

I feel good about this week and not nearly as apprehensive as I was a year ago at this time (walked into a desk and whacked my knee all to hell which led to my skipping the last 20 miler I had on the schedule). I got my head around 18 miles last year, but the two 20 milers I did really kicked my butt. Also, in the marathon, just past 20 miles is when my hips freaked out and locked up, leading to 6 miles of OUCH. That's mostly the reason I chose to run a 20 miler and two 22 milers this time around. It seems like I've had more long runs for this training cycle.

June: two 18 milers (last year: RUSSIA!)
July: two 18 milers (last year: one 18 miler)
August: a 20 miler, a 22 miler, and two races - 5K & half mary (last year: one 20 miler and two 16 milers)
September: a 22 miler, a 15 miler, and two races - half mary & 10 mile (last year: one 20 miler and one 16 miler)

In the past month, I've had to skip two midweek runs (an 11 and a 9), but it doesn't seem to have hurt the long run, which is what this is all about.

I think I also like taking the day off (or biking) the day before a long run and the longer recovery run the day after the long run. Last year, I ran long on Saturdays and spent the rest of the weekend in a coma. I think the extra miles when my legs are already tired will prove to be good for me. Also, they're practice for the 50K training I've got lined up starting in December (24 miles on Saturday and 12 miles on Sunday, anyone? ok, that's not until February).

And how's that for posting meaningless statistics about my running?

22.6

Is not 26.2, but it's my last long long run before the marathon. I tried really hard not to psyche myself out, what with being sick earlier this week... I kept telling myself, it's just 22 miles, the last long run before taper, just 2 laps of 6 miles and 2 laps of 5 miles and you're done.

Stream of consciousness on a long run:

I started off at 8:30, after dropping little boy off at school for his cross country meet in the suburbs (his team got second place, coming after the suburban team that's ranked second in the state, he ran a 17:51 for 5K, not a PR but he felt really relaxed and like he could run another one at a faster pace again). I ran the first 6 mile lap with just a bottle of electrolyte drink and the dog. I dropped the dog off and picked up my mp3 player, some shot bloks and more electrolyte stuff. Another 6 mile lap and I felt really happy during the whole thing, thinking that I didn't have to run that particular lap again, just a shorter one. Stopped off at home, more electrolytes, more shot bloks. 5 mile lap... ugh, the first two miles aren't shaded at all, I forgot about that. Still feeling good though, because a woman passed me about my 2 mile mark and I thought, huh, I can take her. So I did. I sped up just a little, lengthened my stride and blew past her and on up a hill. I spent most of this lap thinking that I only had to do it over again and that it would be just fine, no problem at all. Back home again, more electrolytes and out the door. Last lap. Only 5 miles. I can totally do this. I've already run 17 and a quarter and I feel good. Oh, it's hot in the sun, but that breeze is nice. Just up this icky steep hill one more time and then I don't have to do it again. Up this long hill and then I get to run in the grass again. Hmmm... only two more miles until home. Can I get up the final hill at a decent pace after 21 miles? Have I got anything left? Up the hill at an 8:14 pace. Oh yeah, I got something left. But I'm tired now and I'd really like to be home. Down the last hill, now around the south side of the lake and just over half a mile to home. I'm still not plodding along... Hmmm... this is pretty good.

Cold water bath, hot shower, pick up little boy at school, snack, meet imaginary running buddies for coffee... home again. Big Boy wrote another blog post (it's down there at Lenin & the Bolsheviks). This was a little frantic, perhaps I should consider eating more. Legs really feel pretty good. I have 8 miles on the schedule for tomorrow, bringing this week's total to 59.

And an adventure on Monday.

Ugh

I woke up in the middle of the night with cold sweats & a completely unhappy stomach. I believe coworker K is trying to kill me with that nasty virus she had on Monday by trying to pass it off as food poisoning and then surreptitiously infecting me. (j/k, K! Hold down the fort while I'm gone!)

Anyway, after a couple of hours of nonsleep and stomach issues, the headache set in. Viruses! Fun! New features! I managed to call my boss, but only after completely losing the ability to work a cell phone and calling not only her home, but her cell too, and finally looking at my phone in confusion and dialing the darn office number. That pretty much convinced me that staying home was the better part of valor. Can you imaging trying to practice law when you can't even work your cell phone? Hello malpractice!

Mmmmm... crackers. And when the 4 crackers in the house ran out, I had some Grey-Ham crackers (totally funny Nordic woman doing a cooking show this past weekend, called graham crackers "Grey Ham" crackers!! Funny! Weird! Am I delirious now?). And ginger tea. And yes, coffee. I thought that perhaps my headache would abate somewhat if I had some caffeine in me. Uh, no. Don't you just love the feeling of being hungry and nauseous at the same time? Me too! I'm going to try and force myself to sleep some pretty soon.

On a completely unrelated note, this is not a good week to be sick and unable to eat. This is the last big running week before the marathon (I could have put "big running week" in caps and not been exaggerating). I was supposed to do a tempo run today and that ain't happening, people.

On another unrelated note, check out Big Boy's blog over on the BlogRoll on the right. He updated! With details! About what he's going and stuff! I know, I know, only my mom & I are particularly interested, but it is actually interesting. And there's a Borat reference in there, too.

Crash! and a run in the woods

Well, it had to happen sometime, given how klutzy I am. I went off a curb on my way home on Friday and crashed my bike. Since my feet were in toeclips, I just sort of fell over to the right. Right knee, right arm, oh, and my head. First thing I thought was WOW am I glad I'm wearing a helmet! I'd have knocked myself out otherwise.

So I skipped my run yesterday and was a vegetable. I even took a nap. My arm and my hand hurt, but despite all the blood from my knee (I landed on the end of my tibia, as usual), it felt ok.

Today's adventure was the Harmon Farms 10 Mile Trail Run. Ummm... and it is actually trail - singletrack through the woods with hills, hairpin turns, rocks, mud, meandering, tree roots... As soon as I saw what the trail consisted of my PR idea of 8:00 mpm went out the window. I figured I'd be lucky to average 9:00 mpm, let alone average near marathon pace. Nothing hurt, but I did have sort of a headache through the whole thing. I had a hard time figuring pace because Garmin got lost several times under tree cover and then decided to be overly optimistic to make up for it. So I just ran comfortably hard. The sumac was beautiful - bright red and almost glowing because the sky was completely overcast. I had a couple of close calls when my feet decided they didn't want to pay attention, but no wipe outs, no twisted or sprained ankles. I stopped three times for water and walked myself through the water stop.

I didn't stick around for the results, but the snacks were really good. I was happy with my time - 1:26:26, for an average pace of 8:39. Actually a little too fast, but I'll take it.

Bikey

I rode my bike again to work today. It's harder to coordinate during the school year because little boy needs to be picked up after practice and meets (buses leave after school lets out at 2:00). We're experimenting with both of us biking on Fridays. It's easier for me, I think, because I don't have to run on Fridays and I only have a 6 1/2 mile commute. little boy has to go almost 8 (he is taller, stronger and 25 years younger, however).

I really like biking to work, despite feeling a little out of practice after not having done it for 2 weeks. It was in the 50s this morning and it wasn't terribly bright today, so I wore my vest with the flashy light on the back (I'm a great one for flashy). little boy has to leave earlier than I do because school starts at 7:30 (work starts at 8:30 for me). I found an extra flashy light for the back of his bag and told him to turn on his bike light. I didn't actually go look at his bike, so I'm hoping that he just did what his unreasonable-overprotective mother ordered. (I can't help it, not only is he half of my genetic legacy, but I like the kid too much to see him splattered all over the road by a careless homicidal driver.)

17:20

17:20 is little boy's new PR for the 5K! Grade by grade cross country meet was yesterday at Como Park. He finished 4th in the 11th grade boys' race. That's a 5:35 minutes per mile average and over 30 second improvement over his best time last year. Yikes. That boy is getting fast!

I'm on my second repeat of week 5 of the 100 push up challenge. I also repeated week 4 three times, so I'm on my 8th week of doing push ups. Today was 15+15+14+14+12+12+10+30, with 45 seconds of rest between sets, for a total of 122. I also ran 9 easy this morning. I woke up before the alarm at 5, out the door by 5:15. Dark, dark, dark! My new headlamp is awesome. Sky ran the first 6 with me. When I dropped her off, I still needed my flashy light so the cars could see me, but I was able to see the ground by that time and didn't need the headlamp on.

Running in a tunnel

I figured I needed a little more practice running on rail-to-trail type stuff, so I signed up for the Elroy Tunnel Trails Half Marathon. I thought that Elroy was a little closer to home that it actually is. When I mapped it on Friday, the Google told me that it would take 3 hours and 15 minutes to drive there. Ummm...ok. This is a point-to-point race, so the bus would take us from the finish area to the start, and that bus was set to leave at 8am. So, I set my alarm for 4:10am and forced myself to go to sleep at 8:30 (it wasn't that hard, trust me). The alarm woke me up in the middle of a really weird dream and I stumbled around the house gathering up last minute things and making myself some breakfast.

Then - on the road! It was an uneventful trip. Despite having lived in Wisconsin for a tad over 20 years, I'd never been to this particular section of the state. It's lots of rolling hills, some cliffs, nice smooth county roads, farms with cows & horses. I was a little stressed about getting to the park on time to catch the bus, but I made it by 7:45. The race director was a little nervous because this was the first year that they'd put on a half marathon.

This was probably the smallest race I've ever run - 68 people. The line up at the start was on the far side of County Road A (in the town of Hustler across the street from some Amish ladies selling stuff) and we had to cross the street as we started. So the race director had to wait until there was no traffic and then he shot the starting gun. I started towards the front of the pack, but there were so few people that there really wasn't much of a pack. I took off feeling just fine, no hip issues, no foot issues, breathing strong but without difficulty and the running felt easy. I settled in behind two people running together. I gathered from their conversation that the woman was in her 40s and I got it in my head that I had to beat her (she said that her PR for the marathon was 3:49). I didn't see too many women who I thought were in my age group. For the women anyway, this was a young race.

I hit the first mile in 8:15. Oh, a little fast, maybe I'll slow down a little. The tunnel (just before the 4 mile mark) looked fine as you entered, you could see the other end. They handed out flashlights at the start of the tunnel and I didn't even think I'd need it until about a hundred feet in. It really was very, very dark in there! The flashlight didn't even help very much. I watched the group ahead of me (4 people who were about at the same pace and another two people who were running together and had just passed me a mile back, but stayed in sight for the whole race) and their flashlight beams helped keep me in the middle of the tunnel. Out of the tunnel - whew! It got a little claustrophobic and scary in there.

More running. The weather was great, started in the high 50s and ended in the low 60s, but it was humid. The trails were shaded, but the short section on road between the trails was totally exposed, sunny, hot and windy. The volunteers were just awesome. They had water/gatorade stops about every mile and a half. I experimented with black cherry clif shot bloks, but after about 4 of them I decided my stomach didn't like them. The 40something woman and the guy running with her had stopped for water just before the tunnel but I didn't so I was ahead of them and stayed ahead of them for the rest of the race. I think it took until about mile 7 before I couldn't hear the guy's footsteps in the distance, though. I kept trying to catch up to the two kids ahead of me but I just couldn't do it. The section of the race that was between the Omaha trail and the Elroy-Sparta Trail was hilly and of course I felt whiny about that. But, my pace didn't slack on that mile, in fact, it was faster! By the time I was running mile 13, I managed to pass two of the people in that pack of four I'd been chasing the entire race. You had to run a lap of the park (about 0.4 miles) to finish, I glanced down at my Garmin and saw 1:48:xx... This was the only part of the race where I felt like I was giving as much as I could.

Over all, I definitely didn't feel like I was going all out on this race. I was shooting for 8:35 to 8:45 miles, but at 8 miles it looked like I could get a PR out of this, so I kept up the pace. At 12 miles it looked like I might be able to break 1:50, so I poured it on. I didn't realize how much until I looked at my splits once I finally got home. I now share Nettie's appreciation for small races - I took second place in my age group. Here are my splits:

1 - 8:15
2 - 8:34
3 - 8:41 (the tunnel was in this mile)
4 - 8:37
5 - 8:32
6 - 8:04
7 - 8:28
8 - 8:26
9 - 8:36
10 - 8:16 (the hilly road section)
11 - 8:38
12 - 8:32
13 - 7:42
0.1 - 0:35

1:50:04. Average pace - 8:24. My previous PR for this distance was Madison in May - 1:58:41.

I took a day off

I didn't run 11 miles yesterday. That's the first run I've missed and not made up in a long time. My hip feels only slightly off this morning, so I think it was the right decision. We'll see how everything feels at tomorrow's half. I originally planned to shoot for a PR in the 1:45 to 1:50 range, but I don't think I want to push it. I think instead, the wiser thing to do would be run the last 8 miles at projected marathon pace. Then, on the 14th when I run that 10 mile race, I'll see how things are feeling and if all is well, I'll shoot for a PR at 10 miles.

little boy is adapting to back-to-school. He says the best thing about it is looking over all the heads of people in the hallways and nodding to the other tall guys whose heads are also above the crowd. The boy is about 6'1 or so, but his school has a high population of Hmong students, who are not known for height.

At work, I'm frantically trying to get an answer written to all the comments received before the hearing. Nothing much new came up at the hearing on Wednesday. Happily, the people who testified were a little more cogent than some of the comments I've gotten so far.

I haven't heard much from Big Boy, but I spent Labor Day cleaning out many years of accumulated stuff from his closet. It took me 8 hours. I filled the back of the Subaru with stuff to donate to Goodwill and completely filled the trash bin with, well, trash. I scored this photo from one of Big Boy's coworkers who posted it on Facebook. Big Boy is on the far right.

That was dumb

My left foot was hurting, so I got some new insoles for this pair of shoes that has basically nothing for insoles. Ran 11 miles in them yesterday. Heel feels fine, right hip hurts now. Not smart. It feels like it could get as bad as my hip has gotten in the past, but not if I'm careful. All the stuff surrounding my hip is a little goofy, but not painful today. I ran 9 on the treadmill. I tried for tempo, but I was just too tired, so I ran easy.

And I ditched the insoles.

Nothing to see here, move along

SO & I went to the State Fair last night. Now, being from different states, we each have our own opinion about the other's home state fair (Wisconsin's is far superior, I mean, an entire building devoted to cream puffs? It's no contest). We got to see Brandi Carlile, who was playing on the free stage. This was the first time either of us had seen her live. Wow. We're going again tonight (she's playing both nights).

I wimped out on my 18 mile run last Saturday. I'd intended to run 12 at home and then 6 more with my buddies J & M. However, Jen's relay team was running behind schedule and the rules disallowed friend runners, so that sort of blew that idea. But I had a really nice 12 miles, so I left it at that. On Sunday I went 9, also quite nice. It's amazing what 20 degrees cooler & less humid will do for a run. 9 this morning also, and I'm a little pressed for time cuz I slept late!

I tried to advance to week 5 of the 100 push up challenge, but I couldn't. I'll repeat week 4 column 2 again, because column 3 tried to kill me yesterday. It's about 6 weeks out from the marathon, so I've started a 100 crunch challenge (if only that involved, say, potato chips or breakfast cereal, but alas), using column 3 of the 100 push up challenge. Today was 10+10+8+6+7=41. I'm not doing the rests in between sets, it's more like a lay down on the floor and regroup, then start again. I'll do the crunch challenge on Tuesdays, Thursdays & Sundays. I can't imagine doing more things after long runs on Saturdays!

Oh, and it rained again in my cube yesterday. The maintenance guys were up in the ceiling and one of them spilled whatever is holding back the deluge up there all over my desk and me. Nice! The rulemaking records are boxed on the opposite side of my cube, so they're still safe. I love my cube, I just wish it wouldn't rain. The selection of vacant cubes is unappealing and I couldn't as successfully be codependent on my coworker (neighbor, running buddy, pet sitter) K.

So, it rained in my cube yesterday

Whine. Aside from being hideously busy yesterday multitasking in a way I haven't had to in awhile, it rained in my cube. As luck would have it, I have an umbrella set up on my desk (to shield me from a no-longer-in-existence evil fluorescent light) and I grabbed it, covering me, my coworker S, and two rulemaking records. The rain was then diverted into coworker K's cube, and she quickly grabbed a wastebasket to catch the deluge. All the stuff from that side of my cube is in boxes on the dry half of my cube now. Fun! I wonder what color mold grows in the ceiling above those suspended tiles...

Day off from running today, but Week 4 Day 3 (repeat, but now in column 2) of the 100 push up challenge. 25+19+19+17+25=105. I will admit to doing the last set of 25 as knee push ups, but my form was good for them, so I'm not docking myself any points. I'll do the max out test on Sunday to see what column I fit into for next week and if I'm ready for the dreaded Week 5.

My imaginary running buddy J is running the Ragnar Relay this weekend. M & I are going to join her for her last leg, which goes to the finish! Very exciting. I've reconsidered my long run tomorrow in light of this. I think I'll go 12 in the morning and then run BigG's last leg of the relay (almost 6), and that will get me to about 18. I've been really tired this week, and I have a 22 miler on the schedule for next weekend, so this is probably a wise move.

I've got Big Boy's Arctic photos organized on the computer, I'll post some this weekend. He went up there with a camera loaded with marathon pix from 2007, random cat pix, evidence of his 2007 Bloodvein Buccaneers Nor'wester trip of 2007, little boy's Chicago orchestra trip pix... They didn't take up too much room, I think I had a 2 gig card on that camera, but still...

Owie

So I ran tempo this morning. It's been HOT here, so I was a wimp and pulled out the treadmill. The goal was a mile each warm up & cool down, with 8 miles at an 8:20 pace. Umm... close, but not quite. I ran 8 miles in 1:07:01, for an 8:22 pace.

Then, push ups. I'm repeating week 4 of the 100 push up challenge, but using column 2 instead of column 1. That meant for today: 22+17+17+15+max (at least 20, I did 25) = 96. Oy. Easy 9 miles tomorrow, then a day off. Not a moment too soon!

I got an email from Big Boy in the wee hours of the morning. They feed him ok, he is the second youngest person in the group (but has the most outdoors experience), there is a girl there who majored in Russian in college (so he has someone to talk to! but he says he speaks better than she does), the cabins are small, and they are planning a hiking trip for an upcoming weekend. So I didn't send him off to some weird cannibal cult in the mountains. Deep breath.

Triathlon fun?

So. I ran the running leg of a sprint triathlon today and it was ok.

I was up too late because of a certain network and a certain historic sporting event.

Then I got up too early (5am) because I just sent my baby (aka Big Boy) off to California for AmeriCorps.

Oh yeah, and I ran 20 miles yesterday.

Had a cappuccino, ran a mile over to the park. Met up with my swimmer and my biker. We were one of eight all-female teams.

It was a mad house, but really fun to watch. And, I only had 1/3 of the responsibility, which was a bonus.

K swam the half mile in 14:52, which was the second fastest of the female team swimmers.

S biked the 12 miles in 38:33, which was second fastest of the female team bikers.

I ran the 5k in 23:05, which was the fastest of the female team runners (by a minute and 38 seconds). My splits weren't as bad as I thought:

1 - 7:24
2 - 7:27
3 - 7:24
0.1 - 0:41

Ugh, it was hot in the sun.

Our overall time was 1:18:02, and we came in first of the female teams (the team in second place was 1:24:41). Nice debut for a tri-team!

Then I ran a mile home and we all went out for breakfast. Then I took a nap. Big Boy arrived safely at LAX, found the correct bus, and is currently on the train to San Bernardino.

Big changes for Big Boy

Big Boy was offered an Americorps position beginning on August 18th and going through January. He's flying out tomorrow morning to Los Angeles. Here are the details on his project.

The Forest Recovery Team is working on a fire fuel reduction project in the San Bernardino National Forest. The project entails the elimination of hazardous fuels from the forest, restoring habitat in recently burned areas and repairing and maintaining hiking trails. The Forest Recovery Team is provided professional training from the U.S. Forest Service in areas including forestry resource management, conservation restoration, erosion control, and slash removal. Prospective members should be individuals interested in pursuing opportunities in wildland firefighting, environmental heritage or forest stewardship. The Forest Recovery Team Members live in a camp-like setting for a 900-hour commitment, after which an Education Award of $2,362.50 is available. A living allowance of $5,000.00 is offered, with meals and lodging. The camp's accommodations are cabins, which house from four to six Members each. Each cabin offers single beds and shared bathrooms for each Member. There is also Internet access, satellite TV and plenty of recreational opportunities from skiing in the winter to fishing, biking and hiking in the summer. The camp is located at approximately 6,000 feet in the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains near the base of the tallest mountain peak--San Gorgonio--in southern California!


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FRT corpsmembers are one of the primary providers of preventative and restoration services on the Forest. Their services include clearing, by burning or chipping, fire fuel. FRT service activities also include constructing water bars on trails to mitigate rutting, performing tread work on some of the more heavily used trails, installing trail signage, even realignment of trailheads. Recreation and resource issues have also been addressed: FRT members have been and will continue to be utilized on Forest-related projects such as carpentry, building maintenance and repair; landscaping at Forest Service facilities; gate and fence erection and maintenance in burned areas and in high-impact public areas; installation of signs at abandoned mines; and, construction of walkways, stairways, and dock structures in picnic areas, around lakes and along streams. Additionally, FRT corpsmembers will plant tree seedlings and native shrubs whenever weather and other conditions permit.

Garmin got lost

My Virtual Partner got lost again on this morning's tempo run. It was extremely foggy (couldn't see across the lake) so that may have had an impact on Garmin's navigational skillz.

So, again, even though Garmin told me that I did not meet my goal (insert sad frowny face here), it had cheated me out of more than half a mile of running (when it got lost). So, the plan for today was a mile each warm up & cool down, and in between 7 miles at tempo, which for today was 8:20. Here are my splits:

1 - 7:50
2 - 8:21
3 - 8:07
4 - 8:21
5 - 8:08
6 - 9:03
7 - 8:25

Total tempo time - 58:15, average pace - 8:20. Take that, Garmin gods!

I'm having a nice mini-vacation in the middle of the week. Although I went to a meeting this morning after running and then dropping off little boy at cross country practice (oh, and he wanted me to say that I neglected to mention that the run he was on while up at camp was a 14 mile run), my mom is up here from Milwaukee and we're getting Big Boy ready for his next adventure.

My Boy's back in town!

We left for camp on Saturday morning at 5. little boy snoozed a bit, I drank a lot of coffee. We stopped for donuts in Grand Marais and headed up the Gunflint Trail.

Big Boy's group was the first into camp just after 2. The ever-exuberant engages had told the parents sitting on the kitchen dock to "hide" and "don't make any noise." Contrary to our previous parental experiences at camp, this was (yes, now I'm Yoda). The boys waved at us as they passed by on the pontoon and they looked a little confused as to why we parents weren't snapping pictures and hooting and hollering.

We all headed up to the dining hall to await our boys. little boy was across the lake on a long run and I wasn't sure when he was going to get back. The Copperminers came up the stairs, looking dazed and confused and although Taylor's mom hugged Big Boy before I did, I didn't take her out at the knees or anything. We chatted for awhile and looked at the map in the dining hall and ate the best kettle corn I've ever had and then little boy was there and oh, Big Boy had a beard (much better than last year's). Then the Copperminers were off to get checked out by the nurse and sauna and get cleaned up for the banquet at 6. The food was excellent and the four groups who'd been out on long trips and their associated families all went down to the point for a bonfire and end of camp skits that each group puts on. After that, back up to the dining hall for more stories about their adventures. I managed to stay awake for both boys' groups stores, but I was falling asleep during the first girls' group stories and I knew there'd be no way I would be anything but unconscious for the last girls' group story. So, I headed up to bed as discreetly as possible. Good thing my headlamp worked this time. There was more than a half moon, but wow it's dark up there. I stopped for a bit on a bench and watched the sky for a little while, until I started falling asleep again. Then I headed up to the cabin and fell asleep. At least until the other 19 people I shared the cabin with came in and every single one of them let the screen door slam.

Next morning, we had breakfast and lots of coffee, the best scones I've had in quite awhile. little boy had been an honorary engage for the evening, so he'd ended up staying awake for 23 hours and then getting 4 or so hours of sleep. Big Boy hadn't fared much better, the long trippers shared pictures and stories until after 1:30am. Long good byes were said, but we stayed back until after lunch. Big Boy took me on a short paddle (with a short paddle, there are 15 groups out and equipment supply is low!) to one end of Bearskin Lake and back to camp. We finally left around 2:30 and headed back to civilization.

Part of our trip back included taking a look at some property outside of Two Harbors. I won't be making an offer. It's priced way too high and, well, the description following is what I emailed to a friend of mine.

The land was just a little too raw. The county road was great, even though the section where the property is located off of is gravel. The logging road up to the cabin was less so, but was fine until the last mile to the cabin, which I shouldn’t have driven in the Jetta. Even in the Subaru, I’d have had to drive no faster than 5 mph. At the gravel pad that allowed me to park and an opportunity turn the car around, we headed off to the cabin.

After a mile of hiking, where we crossed a stream on a “bridge” made of rotting plywood, we got to a high rocky point (think those big exposed rocks that actually make up the land near Lake Superior) we got to the cabin. It has a relatively newer roof, but the 90’s era door & windows were cut in badly and not hung level or plumb. Once inside, the cross beam logs that hold up the roof were only 2 inches above little boy’s head. The wood stove might not have killed us with carbon monoxide if it didn’t burn down the cabin first.

Although advertised as looking down on the river, we couldn’t see the river from the clearing where the cabin was located, nor could we hike down to it. Too much underbrush, no trail to speak of. I’m not entirely sure how the owner uses this for hunting – there are no trails but the state-maintained snowmobile trails which are adjacent to the parcel, if you could even find them. The last time the land was surveyed was 1967.

Something between this and a condo on the lake is what I’m looking for. I don’t want to have to buy a truck (or a Hummer, that would have got us almost up to the cabin), a four-wheeler, a snowmobile, and have to pay for an actual gravel road to be put in. Eh. Plus the county was logging 2 miles away on an adjacent parcel.

I’m not all that disappointed. I was a little worried about parting with that much cash.

Final Arctic trip update

8/7: Kugluktuk to Winnipeg on Canadian North Airlines
Our flight takes us from Kugluktuk to Yellowknife to Calgary to Edmonton to Winnipeg. Four transfers! Click on the map to make it bigger and see how far they are flying.

8/8 – 8/9: Winnipeg to Menogyn by van

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Seventh Arctic trip update

8/6 – 8/7: Days 38 – 39 On Trail
Kugluktuk
We’ll spend a couple days here to explore the town and meet some of the people living there. Last summer, the Hommes and Femmes groups did a community-paddling clinic in Baker Lake, and I’m hoping we’ll be able to do the same.

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The town is right on the peninsula in the upper right corner of the picture. The Coppermine River looks really big when you're zoomed in this close!

19 today

Not me, of course. Big Boy, somewhere in Nunavut, Canada, on the Coppermine River, turns 19 today.

I ran a half marathon with two of my best imaginary running buddies today. It was sunny and the newly paved sections of road seemed especially hot. But, the sprinklers were fabulous and whoever put out that cooler full of baggies of ice has my vote for emperor of the universe (for a day, anyway). It wasn't a PR day by any means, so our motto was "If you can't run fast, and you aren't running pretty, you may as well run together." At least, I think that's what it was. So we did run the entire thing together. SO and her sister (visiting from Wyoming) came out to cheer us on and we saw them three times on the course. I missed them at the finish, though. Too happy to be done, I guess.

Some slimeballs beat up a woman late Thursday night (late as in after midnight) in the park near my house where I run. With baseball bats. I'm sure the police will be fast to solve this crime, just like they worked so hard to solve those sexual assaults from last year (one psycho still running free). I don't mean to knock the cops, who have difficult jobs, but it seems that law enforcement isn't real stringent here on the east side of St. Paul. They're just not enthusiastic about it over here.

I am setting up an appointment to look at some property up north. I've been threatening to do this for years now, but it seems like the market might be in my favor this year. We'll see.

July totals and a graph!

I ran 9 this morning, consisting of my usual 6 mile loop plus a short 1.5 mile spur out (& then back) with the dog. It was warm & humid again this morning, but all in all it wasn't too bad. Now that I've ditched the heart rate monitor, my easy runs are falling in the 10:00 to 10:15 mpm range, which is fine with me.

Here's a graph of my running mileage by month for the past year. That winter slump was, um, slumpy. Oh, and most of those runs that are color-coded "Easy" in the beginning of this year were actually treadmill runs. I was too lazy to make each run that specific when I was entering in all of the old data.

Sixth Arctic trip update

Hit the X in the upper right corner of the helpful info box on the Rocky Defile so that you can actually see the picture!

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7/30 – 8/5: Days 31 – 37 On Trail
The Coppermine River from Rocky Defile to Kugluktuk on the Arctic Ocean
Our last section of the river includes a few sights, including the confluence with the Kendall River, Franklin’s Route to the Great Bear Lake, and Bloody Falls, a National Historic Site.

"Sir John Franklin, Royal Navy, with Dr. John Richardson, a few Canadian voyageurs, Indian hunters and two Inuit interpreters descended into the Mackenzie in two boats to the Great Bear Lake where they built Fort Franklin near the egress of the Great Bear River and spent the winter. Franklin and Kendall descended the Mackenzie River to its mouth and returned to Fort Franklin. In the spring of 1826, using four mahogany longboats, they embarked for the Arctic Ocean. Richardson and Kendall went east as far as the Coppermine River to map the coast. Richardson then returned with Franklin and Back, exploring west, discovered and named Herschel Island. They returned up-river to Great Bear Lake where they wintered, returning up the Mackenzie in 1827, where Franklin discovered and named the Peel River.

"The historic Coppermine River is one of the most popular of Arctic canoeing rivers. Used for millennia in the lower reaches by the Inuit, once called by others the Copper Eskimo, and by the Dene on the upper river, the river was first seen in 1771 by a European, Samuel Hearne, on his epic overland journey from Fort Prince of Wales at the mouth of the Churchill River.

"The Coppermine rises at Lac de Gras in the center of the Barrens, swings northwest to lengthy Point Lake, passes through a forested area and winds northward through hug rock outcroppings and great clay banks all the way to Coronation Gulf. Historically, the Coppermine was reached by laborious upstream or winter travel from Great Slave Lake, up the Snare, Yellowknife, or other rivers, usually passing through Winter Lake and finally crossing the height of land. The lower river was usually reached by crossing ridges from Great Bear Lake, up the Dease, over to Dismal Lakes and down the Kendall, a tributary of the Coppermine. Recently, however, most canoeists fly into the mid-river lakes from Yellowknife." From Canoeing North into the Unknown: A Record of River Travel 1874-1974 by Bruce W. Hodgins and Gwyneth Hoyle.


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They're going a long way on this section of the trip. Amazing how fast you can go downstream on a single river!

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Kugluktuk is at the mouth of the Coppermine River, in the upper right corner of this picture.

You've got mail

I finally got a letter from Big Boy. Here's where he was ten days ago, on July 17th, awaiting the group's food drop.


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That's the northeast corner of Grenville Lake. The letter must have come back with the float plane pilot. The stamp wasn't even canceled, so I don't know for sure when it was mailed. Zoom around on the map for awhile. They'd come almost 300 miles from their starting point and had another 300 or so to go to get to Kugluktuk.

Gone again

little boy hopped on the bus back to camp this morning. He's going to work for another week up there. I'm sad. I miss him and I'm jealous that he's going to be up there while I have to attend to the business of being a bill-paying grown-up. I also really miss Big Boy.

18 yesterday was fine. Hot, but fine. I finished 50 minutes faster than the 18 miler I ran last month. 8 this morning after dropping little boy off at the bus. It was hot and I felt very sluggish, but the pace was decent. Although I have my heart rate monitor back now, I'm reluctant to start using it again. The snail pace was starting to get to me. I may use it solely for recovery runs after my long runs. The chafing thing is becoming an issue, too. Any way I can avoid it, I'm going to. I got all my runs logged in at RunningAhead, so the totals to the right are semi-accurate. If I tossed in all the 0.45 here and 0.08 there that my Garmin reports to me, the totals, of course, would be different (larger, I rounded down). Let's keep our fingers crossed that this site doesn't go defunct, cuz I can't face entering all that stuff in again! It's too much!! And I'm really close to having run 4,000 miles. Another couple of weeks and I'll cross that border.

You may have noticed

A couple of new sidebars on the ol' weblog. First, I'm doing the 100 pushup challenge with a dozen or so of my closest running buddies (and coworker K is in on it, too, with her hubby C). I'd gotten up to doing 20 knee pushups (aka girl pushups for those whom it doesn't offend), but couldn't manage more than one full plank pushup, and face it, I like schedules. I finished week one today.

Then, under "how far i've run" I've got a new running log that will actually interface with my blog. I'm trying to get back in the habit of double-logging my runs, which isn't really the hard part. What's difficult is getting all the old info into that format, which involves entering each run all over again (and I've been running for 3 1/2 years, there's a lot of information!) because my Garmin software won't talk nicely to the RunningAhead website. I had saved my 2005 running log from the defunct coolrunning site and that uploaded just fine. I have all of 2008 logged and half of 2007. Another year and a half of entries and we'll have a real total for all my miles run.

Finally, there's Bike2Benefits, yet another log-your-workout site. They promised me something free and to let me enter a drawing for more free stuff if I signed up and logged my bike commutes to work. "Just bicycle to work or to a transit stop once a week over eight weeks instead of driving alone." I had to back track on this one, too, since I started biking to work in June.

Total miles by bicycle: 117

Estimated cost savings: $26.91

Estimated CO2 reduced: 115.34 lbs.

Air quality pollution reduced: 4.67 lbs.

I'm not biking today because I get to pick up little boy from the bus after work! And I won't bike next Monday because I have another dentist appointment. But next Friday's commute will be my 8th consecutive week, plus I still have all of August. We'll see if I can convince little boy to bike to school on Mondays and Fridays for awhile and maybe I can keep this up until the first week of October or so.

I can't wait for little boy to tell me more about this:



Photos courtesy of Jesse, the handsome young man taking the paddle from little boy in the middle picture.

Fifth Arctic trip update

7/24 – 7/29: Days 23 – 30 On Trail
The Coppermine River from the Hepburn River Confluence to Rocky Defile
The Coppermine River in this area is fast moving, mostly swift water with little or no whitewater, depending on conditions. Most groups report fast travel here across the border into Nunavut Territory and through the “Big Bend.” Rocky Defile is a huge canyon.

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You can clearly see the Coppermine River in the map above. The map marker A is supposed to be close to the Rocky Defile.

Another day another tempo run

I was glad that it was relatively cool out this morning. SO had to be in New Market by 5:30, so she left way early. I hauled my carcass out of bed at 5:20 and sort of lurched around for awhile putting on running clothes. Since Sky wasn't real happy with the last 8 mile run we did together, I left her home (I couldn't hear any howling as I left, but it may have started when I was down the block). I'm not neglecting her, she got to run 6 with me yesterday, and had enough energy to play like a goofball with our friend T who came over for supper last night. We had a fire and everything. The bees were out, but mosquitoes didn't really make an appearance.

Today's assignment: warm up for a mile, then run 6 miles at an 8:25 pace, then cool down a mile. Here's how it went:

1 - 10:54
2 - 8:03
3 - 8:08
4 - 7:57
5 - 8:38
6 - 8:12
7 - 8:21
8 - 10:54

I raced that little creep who lives in my Garmin and he claimed that I lost. So I was bummed out on the mile home because I thought that there's no way I'll be able to finish what I've started this year if I can't even do a simple tempo run, one that I could do last year (well, I am hauling around about 15 pounds more than I was at this time last year, but still). Um. I think not. I think he got lost along the way and wanted me to participate in his "I lost the satellite" off-course wanderings. Average tempo pace - 8:13. Overall average pace - 8:53.

Then, day 2 of the 100 pushup challenge, which went just fine. Bobcat was confused about the whole thing and meowed at me, thinking perhaps that filling his food bowl would prevent me from continuing on this quest.