Being of weak mind, body and spirit

Mrs. Bickerson shared this quote with me.

I will now be the gazelle.

The seriously hunted gazelle.

Always surprising

This past Saturday, our little running trio, had our first 20 mile training run.  T-odd is The Pace Guy with his super duper Garmin 405, it usually tells us we are not going fast enough and/or that our predetermined route is too f*&%)#& short.

And so, on this day, at mile 19 we knew we needed more.  When we got to what should have been the finish we still needed another 1/2 mile.  We decided to just keep going until the almighty Garmin hit 20.  Seriously, passing what you think should be your stopping point is painful, if you are in pain or not.

So for the next 1/2 mile I am asking “Are we done yet?”, “It’s gotta be close!”  “T-odd, seriously, are we there yet?”  Laura, per usual,  is quiet and stoic and most certainly not complaining.  So we continue, T-odd kept telling us we were close and calling out distances, which by this point I couldn’t even decifer.

We turned the corner and started running up a hill, I continue to complain and couldn’t believe we were not done yet.  T-odd is running about 3 feet ahead of Laura and I when he says, “Ok, that’s it…done…20!”

On his word, I stop.

Until Laura snaps and starts yelling…MARY, MARY…RUN, KEEP RUNNING, YOU HAVE TO RUN TO TODD!

And for the rest of the way to the car we laughed at the insanity in her voice and the fact that I really did want to stop 3 feet short but thanks to her, I didn’t.

Just one week ago

Last weekend’s long run:  15.5 miles of joy, happiness, excitment and disbelief that I was back at the long runs and feeling this good.

This weekend’s long run:  16.72 miles of hell, back pain, ankle pain, sluggishness, negativity, and wanting to walk at only 5 miles into the run.

Oh the sweet ups and downs of training.

Ready…Set…GOOOOOOOOO!

Today starts my first day of triathlon training for the 2009 season.  Enough of the slacking off, drinking too much on Tuesday nights for no reason and eating whole boxes of Girl Scout cookies.

So I have decided to make a few changes.  I’ve increased my training a level this year to level 2.  (level 1-for those short on time or newbies, level 2-those who think they can be at least a little bit competitive in their age group, level 3-are people who have no life outside of working, working out and then obsessing about their races, times, heart rates, power output and wattage)  We will see where it gets me, if anywhere.

The other change to this year’s training is that our marathon is a whole month earlier.  That may or may not be a good thing.  We are also trying to go for a specific time, which is a little bit different than in my past attempts at running/enjoying marathons.  I pretty much know that this isn’t going to be one of those fun runs.

All that said, no more excusses to stop after thre miles for coffee or just blow off the swim.  It is written down and when it is written down on my to do list, it gets crossed off…or else.

This first week looks like this (this includes mileage for marathon training too):

• Monday:  Off  (I love starting this way)
• Tuesday:  run: 8-10 miles marathon pace, swim: 6×25 yard sprints (plus warm-up, cool down, drills)
• Wednesday:  bike:  8×30 second sprints
• Thursday:  swim: distance to be determined, run:6-8 miles and hills
• Friday:  bike: 50 minutes
• Saturday:  swim: 800 yards, run:  14-16 miles
• Sunday:  brick:  35 min. bike and 10 min. run

Off to the races.

Bad hoodoo

Today was the kick off to marathon training with a 5 to 7 mile run.

Unfortunately I had a bad start.  I had to stop at a little under three miles due to twisting my ankle on a rock that I couldn’t see because the defrost on my eyeballs were not working due to the seriously negative windchill.  I don’t think I have sworn than many times in a row, that loudly, in a long time.

Usually I am not smart enough to stop running.  Today, with the cold and the ankle, I think it was wise, no matter if it is the first day or not.

I’m just going to put this out to the universe…I do not have a good feeling about this marathon.  This hiccup doesn’t help.  With my bunion still being burdensome, I fear serious pain in my future.  I have no idea how I am going to finish this race in the time I want in any kind of good physical condition.

So, since I’ve said it here, I now must give it away.

Go away bad thoughts…BE GONE!

SUCK IT old man winter

I think I have done it.  I think I have done the dumbest thing to date since college.

Our sweet little state has not seen temperatures this cold in five years.  This morning at 5:00 am the temperature was -20 and the windchill was -40.

Some of our running group decided the night before to run, even though our normal cut off is -20 windchill.  I mean really, at what point does it even matter as long as you are dressed right?

So this morning we found out.  And we found out it was not too bad.  In fact, with the exception of the darkness, silence (except the wind) and overwhelming feeling of desolation (it would have been a great back drop for the movie The Road) it was great.

What do you wear in -40 windchill?

Here is what I decided on:

• winter hat
• 2 face masks
• Vaseline on my exposed eye skin
• tops: 1 thermal, 1 smart wool tank, 1 fleece jacket, 1 wind resistant jacket and Adam’s shell just in case
• bottoms:  wind shorts, tights and my sub zero pants
• 2 pairs of smart wool socks
• gloves: 1 pair thin wool and 1 pair heavy mittens
• running shoes

Take that winter.

This morning’s run

Megan’s virgin cold weather run

Big M (the woman in red) is the newest addition to our running group. She use to run on her treadmill during the winter months…until she met us.

Nice work everyone, -15 wind chill is not so bad after all.

The white haze in the photo is the heat from my hand, I could not get away from it.

Crazy Cold

So our little running group has a cold cut off…it is -20 wind chill.  And this morning, depending on what web site you decided to look at, we hit it.

Since I’ve been having a little bit of a motivational issue as of late, I was actually looking forward to the cold.  Seriously, you do have to be a bit off to do it, but once you have, you feel like you can brave the world AND WIN.

Needless to say, at 5:01 am we were all emailing back and forth in a frenzy and we decided to bag it.

All except Todd and he lives to tell the tale.

A dog smelling its own ass

After my run on Tuesday morning, I walked down to Adam’s office to say good morning and chat for a little while.

Me:  Hi hon, I’m home.

Adam:  How was your run?

Me:  Good (my nose now up in the air sniffing around).

Adam:  What…do you smell something?  I really can’t smell anything, which is one reason Adam and I get along so well.

Me:  Yeah, it smells like something died down here.

Adam:  Really, like what?

Me:  I don’t know, but it stinks.

Adam:  Is it you?

Me:  NO!  It’s not me.

10 minutes later, Adam comes up to the kitchen after finishing his work.

Me:  Hey, I figured it out.

Adam:  You figured out what stinks?

Me:  Yeah, you’re right…IT’S TOTALLY ME!

Marathon…check

Wow, all I have to say is…that was one fun marathon.

The night before the race our little running group went to Duluth to pick up our race packets.  We found the perfect shirts for the kids as they lined up on the streets of Duluth to cheer us on.  They read, “My mom is faster than your mom.”

We had dinner at Hell’s Kitchen.  Todd could not decide, so went with waffles AND spaghetti.  That should just about do it.

Rise and shine, 5:00 am.  All this early morning training paid off, we got up on time.

A quick shot before we catch the bus to the start line.  Can you see the nerves starting to surface?

Almost as quick as it started, it was over.  The day could not have been more beautiful.  The best part was sharing it with friends.

To Miss Erika, thanks to you for allowing me to run my trap for 4 hours and 37 minutes by your side, I am so happy we could share this experience.  Congratulations!

To Todd, way to go.  The first one is hard…you only get a better handle on it from here.

To Laura, welcome back!  Nice work on the marathon come back after three kids, I can’t wait to see what next year has in store.

To Jen, we missed you.

To Adam and my kids, thank you for always supporting me in my insane endeavors.  To see your faces on the race course is what sustains me…I love you.