Tag Archives: running

April 4, 2012 · 6:15 pm

Chicago- we meet again.

Hey, guys and gals. I’ve had an adventurous couple days. I left Brian at home with the pups to go to Chicago and hear both my friend, Raffi, and Keith Jarrett play. 🙂
Don’t worry, I baked Brian a batch of super thick brownies before I left. At least I know he won’t starve!

I was already feeling homesick before I left, so I brought company for the trip- Brownie, the first teddy bear that Brian ever got me.

Brownie is a build-a-bear who has seen better days. He’s well-loved, especially when Brian is working nights and I sleep alone. Don’t judge!
We headed south to Madtown then over and through MKE. Love Miller Park! Don’t worry, Mom, I was stopped in traffic when I took these photos. 🙂

I talked to my mom during the counties where I’m still allowed to talk and drive. I brought my “office phone” for the drive. I got some strange looks from passing cars!

Upon my arrival, I was greeted by my AWESOME cousins, Michael and Rex.

After catching up and eating a dinner (I love comfort foods like risotto!), my aunt Maureen and I headed downtown to catch Raffi’s Chicago debut at the Chicago Symphony Center. He played Rhapsody in Blue, and rocked it. I am proud to know him! He earned himself a standing ovation with his outstanding musicianship. 😀

What a beautiful facility! I’m looking forward to heading back over there tonight to hear Keith Jarrett. 🙂
I woke up kind of late and took my thyroid pill, caught up on the news, and ate some breakfast. My cold has sort of progressed to residing in my lungs, which kind of stinks. My cough sounds awful- it almost sounds like I’m suffocating. Other than that… the Chicago Sun-Times and toast with Nutella? Awesome way to start my day. I intended on knocking out 10 miles, but the cold made running a little tricky. I ended up only getting in 7, but considering how miserable I was with my cold, I’m pretty happy with that.
Interesting things that I love about running in Chicago:
1) the flowers are blooming! Tulips and lilacs and a bunch of late spring flowers. It’s a little bizarre, but it makes the air smell lovely!

2) Unfamiliar but awesome street signs. Just when I was kind of wimping out due to my cold, I found a street sign with the last name of a friend of mine who is an incredibly fast runner. Think ‘elite start’ kind of fast.

I saw that sign and thought, oh jeez, stop being a wimp. That sign was a little reminder of Brad- and I’m sure he wouldn’t wimp out on a seven mile run. It gave me a little extra oomph. 🙂
3) Fabulous people. I saw an elderly woman wearing totally blinged out sunglasses walking a tiny dog and smiling, and I saw a bunch of people at a bus stop who all smiled at me as I ran by. One guy even gave me a thumbs up!
4) Alleys. Talk about needing to keep on top of your game- if you blow past one of these, you might get run over. Sure, most people seem to honk as they’re approaching intersections in an alley, but I’d rather be safe than a Heidi-pancake!

5) City architecture. Building up, instead of out. I love tall houses with little gates, and there are a TON of them in the neighborhoods here. 🙂

6) Big churches. Older cities with big populations= older, bigger churches. St. Ben’s is where I go to church when I’m down here, and it’s where my cousins all went/go to school.

7) Public transportation. People are always going somewhere, and it helps me stay motivated to keep moving. You know how proud I am when I take the L anywhere and don’t get lost. 😀

8) Having to wait to cross the street. On days like today, my lungs were SO happy to have those short breaks at stop lights. Plus, in all seriousness, most of the time, you absolutely must wait to cross, or you’ll get hit by a car.

9) Cool murals, and to a lesser extent, graffiti. I like artwork. I don’t like defacing property, but sometimes the graffiti demonstrates serious talent.

I finished my run, made it home safely, and had a good time.

I love that place because the sign looks all sparkly in the sun (and it reminded me of Brian, since he pointed it out to me the last time we were here).

Sure, I never made it to the lake… This is as close as I got:

I couldn’t figure out how to cross Lakeshore Drive! 😦
That’s all for now. Time to go help with dinner, then head to the concert 🙂

Miles this year: 166

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March 30, 2012 · 11:56 am

Running: the fun stuff, then the serious stuff.

I have a LOT weighing on my mind today. The last couple days have been pretty darn great. The temperatures cooled a bit to be more seasonal, and I had a few great running days in a row.
Awesome things to note: the co-op has my favorite mint tea on sale! I left a little bit for other people, but bought a bunch myself.

Luke was working, and we had a few laughs over the Great Quinoa Shortage of 2012, a.k.a. they’re still out.

Yesterday morning, I had a coffee date with my friend Jen, from high school. She is still as adorable as ever, and she’s in the midst of planning a beautiful wedding to her longtime love, Josh. She’s in town to do some clinical work or something over at Marshfield clinic, so I grabbed her for coffee while she was in my neck of the woods. It turns out that yesterday was her birthday! Happy Birthday, Jen! 🙂
After that lovely coffee date, I did something semi-stupid. I decided to start eating chia seeds, so I put a whole tablespoon in my yogurt. A tablespoon is a normal serving, but probably not the best to start with on your first day, right before a run. Danny stopped over so we could log a few miles together. He’s from Nashville, so it was extra awesome to catch up with him.

Hmm, I should have called this week ‘Reuniting with Far-away Friends Week’ or something. 🙂 Danny was kind enough to slow his normal 5 min/mile to my 9:30 min/mile… With a few walk breaks. I’m not going to lie, I thought I might lose those chia seeds a few times. Luckily, I’d rather die than embarrass myself by puking during a regular run (especially in front of people!), so I held it together. 7 miles of catching up with Danny: check.

One of the things that Danny and I talked about is something that has just been on my mind constantly lately. Thanks to Danny for letting me air my grievances during our run 🙂
It has to do with speed, especially when it comes to slower runners. I’ll preface this by saying that while I am continually getting faster, I know that I am by no means a fast runner. A couple years ago, I ran DePere’s Noodleini 15K in the Athena division. Athena (for women) and Clydesdale (for men) are weight-based divisions- opposed to age-group divisions. The reasoning behind offering these categories as competitive options seems to make sense; it is more comparable for a 170-pound woman to race against another 170-pound woman, compared to a 170-pound woman racing against a 110-pound woman, even if they are the same age. Until that Noodleini race, I’d never placed in my age group. In fact, I was so far down the list, compared to other 20-29 year olds, that I often didn’t even look at my actual placement. I was simply interested in my official time, improving my race times, and competing with myself. Once I crossed the finish line, I finished second in the Athena division. I got this TROPHY!

It was the first time that I’d gotten a trophy for an athletic event (I can put it next to all my hordes of MathCounts, music, and dance awards…). That race lit a new competitive fire in my heart- and I’d never felt that as a runner. I saw my name with a single digit placement next to it. It felt like some sort of small miracle.

A few quick Google searches later, I realized that the majority of serious runners sort of consider those weight-based divisions to be a joke. I read a lot of opinions saying that all runners should race against each other, regardless of weight- and if the heavier runners think it’s unfair, then we should just lose some weight. While I still have body fat to lose, I am a pretty muscular girl, and I like it that way! I love being able to load my kayak on my car by myself, and help hold drywall during remodeling, and hold my own in a push-up contest. The runners in the weight-based divisions are often tall, broad-shouldered, muscular athletes. Take a peek at the times on that race’s division winners- those racers are fast! The Clydesdale men continually impress me with their speed. Racing in Athena and Clydesdale are by no means a piece of cake.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not overly offended by the opinions of other runners. Everyone is entitled to one! I just wonder if continuing to race in Athena categories is a mistake. I do realize that if I’m upset that my times are slow, and if I’m convinced that it’s because I’m lugging around a 160 pound body- I’m the only one who can change that. The only thing I know for sure right now is that I registered to run the Oshkosh 1/2 in Athena, and I’ve never felt so motivated to train for speed. I want to add another trophy to my rack of medals. 🙂

Enough serious stuff. Back to yesterday…
After a quick shower and some photo sorting, I made a delicious lunch. I was going to have a chicken salad, but then I decided to skip the leafy greens and just put everything I like in a bowl. Sounds reasonable, right? Chicken, onions, tomatoes, spicy mustard, Sriracha sauce, red grapes, walnuts, snap peas, a little tiny bit of mayo, and a bunch of spices. That disappeared faster than the fraud on my checking account last week.
(PS Chase is GREAT at catching that stuff!)

I forgot to take a photo of Dale and I rehearsing last night. I’ll post a video soon, then you can catch a glimpse of this ‘dancing’ that I do. I’ll have proof soon. 😀

I was all set to head home from dancing and go straight to bed when Brian text me to let me know that after a somewhat hilarious afternoon at the driving range, Kenny and Brian were drowning their sorrows at Rustys, and I was invited. I can’t pass that up. I mean, come on, look at their bloody marys…

I got mine with the garlic, but passed on the beef stick. With the beef, that beverage is more like a meal replacement than a night cap. 🙂 Thanks, boys, for the good times last night.

This morning, I finished editing some photos, and I’m getting ready to run some errands before a lunch date with my photo mentor.
As you can see, I’m hard at work.

There are so many of my favorite things happening in that photo. Breakfast, Monica’s vlog “Ask a Monican,” a pedicure (I went with blue this week!), and my marimba. Thus, the view from my couch on this dreary Friday morning.

If you’ve got something to say about weight- v. age- based divisions, please chime in! I’d love to hear some feedback. Thanks, y’all! 😀 Have a great weekend!

Miles this year: 159

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Tagged as Athena, bloody mary, co-op, friends, racing, running, tea

March 27, 2012 · 4:05 am

Moving the shed!

Oh, the excitement! As I mentioned earlier this week, we prepped the back yard for moving the shed. On Saturday evening, some friends came over to help!

We did it! Thanks, Ben, Mary, and Joe, for helping us lift, and thanks to Katie for taking pictures. I do love documenting our home remodeling project. Luckily for us, they stayed for a cookout and bonfire.

Katie and Ben ❤

Mary and Joe ❤

Christy and Devon ❤

Logan and Heidi <3……. Oh wait. I wanted to give Logan a kiss, but he was having none of that nonsense. Thanks to Nic for bringing our cutest dinner guest. 🙂
I have to mention the wild goose chase that happened when Abbie took a leap of faith through the backdoor when Logan had it open. We were all scrambling around the neighborhood, trying to catch her. What a little stinker!

…but I can’t stay mad at that cute little face.
On Sunday afternoon, I planted all the lilies that I’d pulled out of the back corner of our property, and I planted some more herbs in my herb planters.

We also got to eat lunch outside! I made a pretty darn delicious chicken salad, and Brian had a brat and a hamburger. Goodbye, comfort foods of winter, and hello, summer favorites!

I took advantage of the beautiful weather and rode my cruiser to teach dance lessons this week.

Have I mentioned that I seriously love teaching those lessons?! I’m still learning to be a teacher, so I’m more of a demonstrator, problem solver, and solid partner- but I help Dale however I can.
I started off today by resigning myself to the idea of having a cold. I’ve been pretending to be well for a few days, but my cold has officially made itself known. 😦 ::sniffle:: After a rushed morning of photo business and banking, I had a couple hours of solid rehearsal with Dale tonight. I love that feeling of progress. 🙂
I’ll leave you with a quote that I found when reading O magazine (Thanks, mom! I love hand-me-down magazines!!!). I don’t personally care for some of Kanye’s more public moments of unprofessionalism, but the man does seem to know how to be successful in his business!

I better get to bed- two photo shoots tomorrow will keep me busy!

Miles this year: 144

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March 23, 2012 · 8:17 pm

C’est Français, Monsieur!

Brian is hilarious. Yesterday, we were in a discussion about tulle. Well- I was in a discussion, haha. I was blabbering on about ball dresses, and Brian was half listening. 😀 I asked Brian to spell tulle, and he said, “T-H-U-L-E.” I giggled, and told him Thule was was rack system. He asked for the language of origin, and I said, “C’est Français, Monsieur.” Brian’s response? “Français, Monsieur.” hahaha. Get it? C’est sounds like “say.” 😀
In other news, I had more food photo shoots this week. Steak, anyone? Yummmmm.

Brian and I started Operation: Clean Up Backyard. We’re moving our shed to the back corner of our property, and putting in a little patio area where the shed is now. I’m so excited! We started by cleaning out the back corner- it was full of years of leaves, old Christmas trees, and brush. There was also some garbage from the previous owners, a few stray shingles from last year’s windstorm, and a bunch of random lava rocks. I did a lot of the raking as Brian dug out about 10 trees that had planted themselves a few years ago. I transplanted a bunch of day lilies to our big flower bed, too. After four trips to the yard waste drop off site, we had a clean slate to work with. We started raking the ground to be level, and put in four pavers to support the corners of the shed. We’re hoping to move the shed tomorrow, with the help of some of our guy friends.
Before:

After:

I had a great long run today. I woke up to Brian brewing me a pot of coffee, and he stopped at the store on the way home to pick up two kinds of Jolly Ranchers!

It was raining when I woke up, so I delayed my run a little bit so I could start out with dry feet. I fueled with chomps, Swedish Fish, and Jolly Ranchers today. My friends over at Starbucks filled up my water for me at mile 9. There’s nothing as crazy as walking into a coffeeshop all sweaty just to get water. 🙂 Special thanks to those guys! I was feeling a little on the slow side, but that’s the point of a LSD. I turned around out in Crossroads Commons- halfway through, I was in good spirits!

There are just two sizable hills on my route today- the hill on 10 by Iverson and the hill on Brilowski over the train tracks.

It was indeed, a LSD, but I feel good, still energetic, and not completely wasted. I’ll take it! 🙂

Miles this year: 138

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Tagged as candy, landscaping, LSD, photos, running

March 22, 2012 · 1:34 am

I’m my own boss!

I’ve had a fun week with some fun photo shoots. I had a great time over at Adventure 212, taking photos in the Bistro. I also got some delicious snacks while I was there!

I came home and took a beautiful run. Here, in bizarro Wisconsin, it was almost 80 degrees, and the daffodils were blooming. Exhibit A:

Brian and I ended up getting the Sam’s Club membership. I’m not particularly fond of Walmart, and I know they’re the same, but they have seriously good deals on things we buy.
I woke up to the birds singing loudly. Come on, nature… just a few more minutes? It’s like having an alarm clock without a snooze button.
Luckily, I stocked our fridge with some of my favorite fruits- blackberries, mango, and grapes- so I had something to look forward to when I peeled myself out of bed. Well, the fruit… And a hot cup of coffee 🙂

Our puppies wanted some, too 🙂 Now that I’m spending more time working from home, I get to spend more time with my favorite girls. <;;3

I’m so happy that the weather is so wonderful. It makes commuting by bike so much more pleasant! I rode to the inspector’s office to talk to him about building permits (backyard patio to come, yay!), and to the bank, and the co-op. Imagine my dismay when I discovered that the co-op was out of quinoa!!!! I was lucky to have two of my favorite co-op employees there- Noah and Matt. Noah suggested that I try amaranth instead of quinoa, and Matt reassured me that the quinoa comes in tomorrow. 🙂 I rode home and made a salad with steamed sweet potato, chickpeas, amaranth, onions, cilantro, red wine vinegar, and olive oil, plus a bunch of my favorite dried spices. Yum!

Brian and I worked in the yard for a while this afternoon, and then I finished planting my seeds. I used a Sharpie to poke the holes, just like my grammy taught me! 😀

My herbs are coming in nicely from seed, but my real shining stars are my mint and my chives. They are growing quickly in the garden! I think I’ll be drinking mojitos by the weekend!

Miles this year: 122

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March 20, 2012 · 1:17 am

St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago and my last day in the world of coffee

Brian and I had an awesome weekend together 🙂
We headed down to Chicago on Friday afternoon. Two weekends in a row with a long drive…

We made a quick pit stop in Johnson Creek at the Coach store to get a fix for my broken zipper pull on my fave handbag. Once we finally made it to Chicago (after crazy traffic in both in Milwaukee and coming into IL), we dropped off our luggage at my aunt Maureen’s house and headed over to Tank. Sushi= one more reason to love Fridays in Lent!

Once we were nice and full, we walked over to the closest L stop. We went on a little excursion downtown. I love taking the train- the more I take it, the better I get at navigating the city. We stopped at Ghirardelli and picked up enough chocolate to last us a year. On the way back to the L, I saw a frozen yogurt shop. You know the kind- the flavors are in soft serve machines and come with tons of toppings 🙂 I picked plain and berry yogurt with lots of fruit on top!

When we got back to Maureen’s house, we got to catch up with the whole family. 🙂 Late to bed, early to rise? I got up extra early on Saturday to go for a quick run. I love running in Chicago. 🙂
After a quick shower and getting dressed, I headed to Maureen’s salon to watch her get her hair done. Her stylist, Erik, at Salon Buzz is such a riot. A very funny guy and incredibly nice. I sipped on some of their cucumber lime water while waiting, and enjoyed people watching! 😀
Next stop? Picking up the rest of the family and heading over to the Hibernian float in the St. Patrick’s day parade. We had a great time…

Look at our view from the parade route! How cool. It was SO unusually hot out there- the daffodils were all blooming, and it was a beach party on the lake… complete with bikinis and beach volleyball. How bizarre! (thank you, OMC.)
After the parade, we walked back to the car and headed over to the Hibernian party. It was nice to see my family, including my dad, Tom, Tommy, Mickey, Eileen, Killeen, Steph, and of course, my uncles and cousin who “star” in the McGowans.

They were so great! The played a bunch of traditional Irish tunes, some great danceable classics, and even a cover of Mumford and Sons’ “Little Lion Man.” Love it!

Isn’t my cousin Tommy adorable? We made a date to go to Six Flags this summer.
We left the Hibernian party and hopped on a trolley with our family and friends.

Ashley, Max, Brian, Rex and I all squeezed in the back row of the trolley. 🙂 We went to a bunch of places, including Burke’s, an awesome bar owned by my cousins Brendan and Kevin. If you are over in Edgewater, check them out! Of course, we enjoyed a few Irish car bombs…

After our trolley ride was over, the 20-somethings headed over to Wrigleyville. It was like one giant street party- the roads were closed and people were everywhere! It was over an hour wait to get into any place, so my cousins took me to get my favorite Chicago food…

A Chicago dog has never tasted so good. I finished it just in time to watch the guy at the table next to us blow chunks all over. Awesome. I got to hail a cab, which was quite exciting. All that practicing in Central Wisconsin paid off, haha. Brian helped me out with his ridiculously loud whistle. That whistle is handy if I ever get lost in a crowd, that’s for sure. 🙂
We slept nice and late on Sunday, but were on the road at 11. After a quick stop at Whole Foods (oh my gosh, I forgot my bag. Get a manager!), we were on the road. The traffic was fine until we got to Milwaukee. There were two crazy accidents… One was an 8 car pileup with a semi, and the second one involved a driver getting shot while driving and crashing on the highway. All three lanes were closed. We were stuck there for a while while ten emergency vehicles flew past me on the shoulder. Eventually, the police ended up having us all back up and turn around. Have you ever driven the wrong way on the highway? We have!

I made it home just in time to rush to teach dance lessons. I love the huge group we have for West Coast swing. Our beginner foxtrot students are doing well, too!
This morning was my last shift at Starbucks. So many of my regulars were there to say goodbye. Ken, a dog-loving West-coast regular gave me a sweet card! I didn’t even cry when I left. So proud of myself! Of course, I headed right to the nail salon after my shift to have my nails done. I missed that- when working at Starbucks, the employees aren’t allowed to have their nails painted. Then again, we also aren’t allowed to have artificial hair colors or visible tattoos. ~~Bring on the hot pink streaks and arm sleeves! I’m thinking tribal, haha.~~
I came home, worked on my updated business plan for a while, and took a glorious nap. Brian woke me up with a kiss, a bouquet of flowers, and a delicious, healthy dinner. He’s so amazing… I’m in love.
I’m looking forward to a great run in beautiful weather tomorrow, a photo shoot over at Adventure 212, and checking out Sam’s Club with Brian. We’re looking into getting a membership. Any thoughts?

Miles this year: 113.5

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Tagged as beer, Chicago, running, sushi, traveling, wine

March 13, 2012 · 7:33 pm

Spring has arrived!

The weather has been unseasonal. Awesome, but incredibly unusual. I went running outside today and heard lots of birds, crunched on lots of sand, and didn’t see any snow. I wore a skirt and a tank top. It’s 55 degrees outside! I’m a happy camper.

I’m working on a daily schedule for myself, now that I’ll be able to devote more time to Photographic Memories, LLC by The Oberstadts. It’s going to be a great learning process as I work to balance photos, the business side of photos, and training. I’ll post more about leaving Starbucks later. Anyway, I finished up two sets of engagement photos this morning, and found this little gem.

I crawled up in that doorway to scope out the space for Bobbi and Kenny’s engagement photos. It ended up being a really neat spot!
I dug out my rake and started lightly raking my yard and picking up sticks. With this weather, we’ll need to have an Oberstadt bonfire soon! Spring fever is hitting hard… Cleaning, decorating, landscaping. Woo hoo!

Miles this year: 110.5

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March 13, 2012 · 2:00 am

Nuts, Lake Superior, driving, and sleeping.

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

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Tagged as beer, running, The Almond Tree, Travel

March 9, 2012 · 9:43 pm

Hello, UP!

What a whirlwind week over here.
One of my favorite “guilty pleasure” running bloggers, Skinny Runner, posted my story about Rachael. I wrote up a little thing about how running can help overcome hard times and depression, and SR thought it was a worthy thing to share with her readers. As a result, I ended up with 1,400 extra readers on my blog this week. Hello, visitors! 😀
I had a super fun long run with Kim on Thursday.

She joined me for the first nine, and I finished up with five more. The run ended up being pretty quick for me on such a windy day! I had windburnt cheeks after that run. 😦

Brian and I got up early this morning and headed up to Marquette, MI for the UP Builders Show. We’re running the booth for our good friends, Kristi and Jon at The Almond Tree.
It was a loooooooong drive in the car.

Hey! Welcome to Michigan!!!

The UP is really beautiful this time of year! I loved all the snow on the trees, looking at all the drifts, and the HUGE rocks.

Off I go… The “builders” will be arriving soon, and I hope they’re hungry! 😀

Miles this year: 100.5

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Tagged as Almond Tree, LSD, photos, running

March 4, 2012 · 6:41 pm

Winter running, FINALLY!

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!

Tag Archives: running

Chicago- we meet again.

Running: the fun stuff, then the serious stuff.

Moving the shed!

C’est Français, Monsieur!

I’m my own boss!

St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago and my last day in the world of coffee

Spring has arrived!

Nuts, Lake Superior, driving, and sleeping.

Hello, UP!

Winter running, FINALLY!

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