beer | artist & athlete | a glimpse into real life, Heidi style

We’ve had a very fun rest of our weekend. The UP Builders Show was VERY busy on Saturday. I’m pretty sure that we were the busiest booth there!

After the show, we stopped in at a local hot spot, Blackrocks Brewery. They had several (creatively-named!) beers on tap, and all the locals were drinking out of these awesome clay mugs. After an hour there, we headed over to BWW for dinner. It was right across from our hotel, so we could walk back. I had almost forgotten that we were in Michigan until I realized that they had Bell’s beer on tap. Well, hello, Two-Hearted! 😀

Even with losing an hour to the daylight savings time change, we got up early and headed to the lake so I could run a few miles on the shore. Lake Superior is beautiful! As I looked out on the water, I half-expected to see the white dotted line that separates US waters from Canadian waters. 🙂

The show was held at the Superior Dome, which looks awesome, and the UP residents are very proud of it. They informed me that it is the largest wooden dome in the world!

We had a great time up in the UP. It was our first trip up there, and everyone was so friendly! It turns out that there are a TON of Packer and Brewer fans up there. The Packers even had an event at the dome on their Championship tour.
Before we left on Friday morning, I noticed that my beloved Suunto had a blank screen. We picked up a new battery on Friday night, and I was praying that the battery was the problem, and nothing else! The Suunto Lumi is an awesome watch, and I love it, but the band breaks all the time. I’ve had to replace it twice, and I didn’t want to have to replace the whole watch. During the drive to MI, I began to wonder if my watch just gave up under the pressure of both the change of time zones and the change of daylight savings. Luckily, it was just the battery!

We got home late last night night, and I was so happy to be in my own bed. I slept 15 hours and woke up this afternoon! I’ve been sleeping a lot, so I’m going to mention that at my next thyroid appointment. I worked our home into shape and Brian and I grilled out for the first time this year! Chicken for him, Boca burger on a salad for me. 🙂

Miles this year: 104

We’ve had a snowy week here in Stevens Point. Lots of heavy, wet snow!
I ran outside on one of those snowy days. I have been battling a cold all week, and I really wanted to make some soup, but I was out of my favorite gobbetti noodles. Since the roads were dangerous, I thought I’d just run over to the co-op to pick them up. Some of the sidewalks were clear, and some of the roads were plowed, but there was almost never a clear path. It was a run-turned-core workout to stay upright. 🙂

I carried the noodles home like Donald Driver carries the football, and I even got some words of encouragement from Robert Terrell as he drove by! 🙂 I guess I have a recognizable ponytail.

My cold pretty much knocked me out of commission for a couple days, so I was resting at home, trying to get well in time for the Point Bock Run. I woke up yesterday morning feeling pretty bad, but wanted to race anyway. Luckily, there are were so many of my friends running that my mood was lifted as we waited at the start line. I saw George right as we were about to begin- and he was sporting an O’so hat.

The weather was pretty chilly- it was around 30 degrees but with winds at 15 mph. The roads were clear but wet, so I didn’t have any traction problems… In fact, the sound of other runners with their snow cleats hitting the road was so distracting! I was aiming for a pace just under 9 min/mile, and I was right on the money for the first three miles. That was no small feat, since the beginning of the race seemed really clogged with walkers and slow runners. I may have started too far back in the pack for my pace, but I spent the first two miles weaving in and out of people, dodging snot rockets, and trying to be polite. I cheered for Breeda, Rick, Thomas, Mary, and many other friends as we crossed paths at the turnaround. I also saw Casey, the incredible man that was the focus of the charity entries this year… He was rocking the course in his wheelchair and we were all cheering for him. (It reminded me of my mantra from last year: I run because I CAN.)
::GROSS WARNING:: As my body started warming up, my sinuses started draining down the back of my throat and I started to get really sick to my stomach. My self talk changed from, “Just keep it up and you’ll meet your goal and set a PR” to “Screw the PR, don’t embarrass yourself and puke. Whatever you do, don’t puke. You’re a marathoner, for crying out loud. DO NOT PUKE.” I made a decision to slow down and go easy on my poor tummy. One of my favorite parts of any race is the very end, where lots of spectators are cheering and the end is in sight. My “coach” and friend, Nancy, was standing with Brian, yelling my name, and the Terrell family was there, shouting for me, too. 😀 I came in with a time of 46:24, which is, indeed, a PR, but my biggest achievement was not yakking on the course. I loved my breakfast quinoa, but I didn’t want to see it again. 🙂
As I walked over to grab a banana and a beer, I ran into Alicia, my neighbor from my childhood home. (Volkman St, represent!) Wow, we’ve grown up! I bet our mothers are proud. 🙂

One of my favorite parts of this race is that I am literally surrounded by friends. George, Robert and Pam, Amber, Avery, Joe, Sondra and Jon, Kim and Joel and Thomas, Nancy and Rick, Breeda, Tawnya, Brad and Katie, Scott, Michelle and Wally, Nick, Julie and Dan, Adam, Alicia, Jay, Josh, Mary… So many, I can’t even remember everyone. I love it!

All in all, it was a good race, but I was happy to come home to a hot shower and some hot tea. 🙂 Brian headed over to the Nowinski home to bottle up some homebrew, and a bunch of our friends showed up for dinner. Fresh bread bowls and homemade soup! Joe wins the chef-of-the-day award for his sweet potato chili. Yum!!
We went over to O’so to celebrate a good race and visit Marc, Katina, and Katie. Kenny, Tom, and Dan came out to visit. Awesome reunion of friends!

Congratulations, Bock runners. 🙂

Miles this year: 83.5

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