First 5K

Frankly, I was surprised we made it around the lake in under an hour. Hope has never run farther than the kids do in gym and we had never run together. She was amazing. And she says she'll never ever do it again.

Too cold in mid May

We had to account for windchill this morning when figuring out what to wear on our morning run. It was windy around the lakes. Check out those white caps! Fantasizing about food started around mile 8. What I really wanted -- a dark beer and a cinnamon roll -- I did not get but the omelet Gary made for me was pretty dang good.

Saturday long run

Saturday long run
Originally uploaded by WkHanson08.

It was worst 11 miles Emily and I have run together.

The Best Worst Run of All Award still goes to the Las Vegas Marathon when Andrea and I ran in headwinds, sleet, and 50 mph gusts that knocked over the porto-pots for 26 miles. That one was great.

But Saturday was bad. Half the distance was in 4-5 inch deep snow hiding slippery ice. The wind picked up on Lake Calhoun and stayed strong all the way. Rudy the "I should be a sled dog" was plagued by ice in his paws so much so that we ended up carrying him part of the way. Emily's hands started to freeze pretty bad so she had to run the last mile with hands tucked in her armpits. I thought I was okay but when I got home I couldn't get warm and ended up sitting in the bathroom in my sleeping bag with my hair dryer blasting heat into it.

It was painful and tiring and the whole time we were out there we were wishing we were not out there. Strangely, the worst run beats not running almost all of the time.

But I enjoyed not running very, very much this morning.

Running on empty

Ha ha. Ooh, that's a clever title. See, my GPS device was out of juice for the run this morning. So I was "running on empty" just like the song. Get it? Get it?

We actually had a good run but I've become a little bit too excited about putting my data -- my s.l.o.w. running data -- on my computer when I get home. So there's a hole in the calendar for 2/18/09. I'll get over it, I suppose.

Speaking of running, you know how I like to talk about food all of the time? Having a southern girl running buddy makes for delicious conversation about food every morning. While I miss not having Andrea around every day so we can plan our next trip to the the nearest pasta bar/manicotti buffet, listening to Emily tell me all about red velvet cupcakes, cheesy grits souffle, and chocolate sauce-covered biscuits for breakfast takes the sting out of being awake and running on icy sidewalks at 5 a.m.

Race report

1. Don't trust the pace team leaders. We weren't running with them, but I passed the 4 hr. 40 min. man (I finished 5 hr. 3 min.) who was shuffling down the road with his pace sign hanging low at around mile 21. He did not look like he was having a good time.

2. I saw a car with a bumper sticker that read: "This machine kills fascists," which reminded me of this which is a great movie with an even better soundtrack.

3. While the "oldest golf course in the city of Sacramento" is an okay way to sell a marathon I can say from first-hand experience it's not all that thrilling.

4. The Governator did not make an appearance.

5. The Bay Area is beautiful in October.

6. It was most awesome to be with my friend no matter the circumstances.

7. I've never had two more delicious Pepsis than I did after the race.

8. Feeling perky about Twin Cities 2009!

Pack

Adding three dogs to the early morning run increases the feeling of safety and fun exponentially, in spite of having to deal with the dog poo. Sometimes you just got to pick up the poop and keep chugging on.

Spooky lamp behavior

There is a streetlight in the neighborhood that turns itself on when we run past it at 0.5 miles and turns itself off when we run past it again on our way home between 45 and 55 minutes later.

It's freaking me out!

26.2

Kudos to Karen and her awesome Boston time. You rocked! Now you can rest. (And have a beer with Derek.)

Dream run

Tonight I ran with Peggy. 4 miles. No leash. It was the realization of a dream. I never thought I would have the patience to teach a dog to heel, let alone run beside me without a leash attached. But we did it. She loved it as much as I did.

600 below

Dateline: Duluth

How cold is it?

It is so cold that we are forced to wear hats and mittens in order to go down the tube slides and body slides because the 10' sections that extend outside the building have FROZEN SOLID! (Almost.)

Note to Mary: The water park is located on Lemon-drop Hill. Thinking about you and marathon fun that awaits!

Lost/Found: Do you have a screw loose?

Found on my run today

Hope
Hank

So glad

Can you imagine qualifying to run the Boston Marathon this year and training, traveling, and then tuning in to this weather forecast tonight in your hotel?

Nor'easter

Tonight I am thankful to be the slow runner that I am. (I know at least one of our choir members qualified to run it this year. Oy, that would stink so bad.)

More here: Runners' advisory

My kind of race

ISU Doughnut Run

Jane Fonda

She starred in my dream last night as Hope's kindergarten teacher whom I never bothered to introduce myself to until the end of the school year at Carnival Night. By the way, the PTO had gone all out last night and had installed a chairlift ride outside the school building. That part of the dream was fun. The chastising treatment I got all night from Ms. Fonda for not participating in my child's education was not.

I will try to shake those bad vibes with a run this morning with Peggy...OUTSIDE! Whoo Hoo! It's warm and sunny today!

Mr. B and his music (cont.)

The morning run with Peggy today was highlighted by lots of new tunes thanks again to Mr. Bickerson and his library music obsession. (He made a special playlist of all the tunes with the word "lounge" in the album title, for example.) So there I was, coming down the homestretch with Peggy when this beauty came to the top of the queue:

"I'm Not Lisa," by Jessie Colter

Seen on our run

My sherpa, Peggy

She's not carrying my stuff; she's pulling ME.



Aside from the intense pain of her leash squeezing my liver, spleen, and intestines in two, (there's nothing gentle about her Gentle Leader), a run with this dog is quite fun.

Facing the music

Marathon number 10 will have to wait. I'm just too ill-prepared to expect to finish on time and be ready to sing. There were five inspirational stories about marathon participants in the Star Tribune this morning. One runner experienced the lack of motivation I have experienced the past year and described how he finished just ahead of the sweeper vehicle in 2004. I don't want that to be me. I want to run the next one with a decent amount of training and a deficit of bunion pain. I am sad about being a quitter. Nevertheless, I will be cheering on Mary, Adam, and Jen here in Minnesota, and Arnold in Cali.

It's not all sad. Look what Mr. Bickerson found in the garden to cheer me up: Jimmy Eggplante, the last (probably) gift from the garden.

Marathon finish

Do we even look like we're moving?

Waiting to start the run

This is the before picture of Arnold and me waiting on the bus at 7 a.m. There was an extremely peppy lady (I think her runner's high kicked in well before the start of the race) sitting on the bus in front of us so we asked her to snap our picture.