Monster Birthdays

Yesterday morning, birthday girls Nat and Mary, Marcia, Gary, me, Brenda, Heather and Jill all ran in one of the Monster events. Nat did the 1/2 marathon; the rest of us did the 10-miler.

The morning was plenty "crisp" (a Minnesota-way to say "cold") and windy, but the events were very fun.

Although none of us had the same sort of fantastic finish as our friend Steve, we were all happy to have finished and happier to go out to eat after the race.

I ran pretty well for where I am with my running. After struggling to "fall in love" with it again, I really am enjoying being out there and am feeling like I'm getting stronger.

I ran from mile 1.5 to 6 with Heather, Brenda and Jill, who were running each mile to the mile marker and then taking a 1 minute walk break. This pushed my pattern of LSD 6/1 a bit, which was good for me.

At mile 6 I dropped back a bit and took a couple extra walk breaks, but still finished in under 2 hours (barely), which was my goal.



After the race, we all went out for a quick breakfast. Hubby, Marcia's hubby Marty and Mary's love, Tom joined us.

I brought some cupcakes for dessert to help celebrate birthdays. (The real reason is that I love cake and will look for any and every excuse to eat it.... -- no really, it is because I love my friends and wanted them to feel special and so I could eat cake.... No, really....)






Re: Ironman stuff:

No swimming for the week. I was under the weather for a few days and didn't make it in to the pool. Nat and I will start going to a Masters swim group in a couple weeks, so that will help keep me get in to a pattern.

I finally set up my bike trainer and spent a whopping full HOUR on it last week. That was much tougher than I thought. Plan is to be on it three times in the coming week.

I am sure there will be a week/day/moment when these words will come back to haunt me, but I sort of wish I was really in training already. I'm getting antzy and lazy. (Anxious to start and feeling like taking a nap, all at the same time.)

That every happen to you?

Reality

Happy New Year to all!

Hubby and I spent an incredibly quiet night at home bringing in 2009.

We were hoping to be able to rent a movie from our Cable provider, but the service was down yesterday. So we flipped between football, "Saving Private Ryan", a show focused on former people that were on episodes of "Made" and "True Life", and "bringin' in the New Year in NYC" shows on CNN, NBC and ABC.

Yawn.

It was really nice to be cuddly on the couch -- don' t get me wrong. It was just a little sleepy, which is really want I wanted to do at about 9:00 pm.

I was convinced to stay awake until 12:04 am, when I went to bed and Hubby, who had indulged in a little 12-year old scotch, found "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" on a t.v. channel and stayed awake to watch it until 3:30 am.

I ran the Polar 10K with my running pals Marcia, Gary and Mary this morning.

The race was a rude reminder that the holidays are over and it is time to get back to Reality.

I ran a great 5k on Thanksgiving day and have really been very slug like ever since. Barely laced up my shoes once; put in minimal miles (except for walking to the fridge); ate sugar as if it was going out of style.

I could really tell during the race. I was slow, sluggish, winded. A long, long cry from where I was in August after Pigman 1/2 iron...

BUT, the course was pretty, I had a great time with my friends and I got through it.

I also bumped in to a friend of mind from grade school /high school that I've recently re-met on Facebook...Tom I.

I joined Facebook (FB) late last fall and have been having some fun finding old friends, like Tom. I didn't know he was running the race today, so it was fun to recognize his picture from FB and to see him in-person. We ran the first mile together and caught up (in-between my wheezing).

---
So 2009 is here -- full of CHANGE (1/20/09!) and opportunities and a successful reintroduction to Training and eating healthier..

I wish health for every one.

I wish for a year were things settle down and we all get back to "normal".

I wish peace for all.

I wish rockin' PRs for all my running/tri friends.

I wish that we all have fun starring in our very own Reality shows...

I live for the future....

The future 2009 racing season, that is.

I never really know if I should say racing season or if I should say event season.

I don't really race per se. I'm happy to participate and to have a "decent" time (translate: not last).

Racing sounds cooler though, and these days, it is all about the cool.

As in COOL temperatures.

Like freezing.

Literally.

With snow and ice and all those wintery things I really don't care for.

Welcome to December in Minnesota.

We got about 2 inches of snow last night, which meant when I woke up to go run 8 miles with my friends, I ended up looking out the window, then getting back in to bed and going back to sleepy-land for a few more hours.

Two inches really isn't much snow; I've run in worse conditions. I just couldn't really do it this morning.

Rational: "I'm not really in training right now, so why not nestle in for a little snoozy-pooh?"

Needed: A reminder that winter will end -- days will grow longer (only 16 days till THAT happens!) -- and my 2009 season will be here before I know it!

I've got my race calendar pretty much figured out and I've registered for most the events that I want to do.

Vacation Sports is offering half-priced entrance fees to people that register in December for their 2009 events.

That represents big-deal savings!

I signed up for two of their tris (New Bri ($32.50) and St. Paul Olympic ($42.50); There is a third I want to sign up for, but there is a problem with the event link.

I will probably sign up for Urban Wildland 1/2 marathon again in 2009 and some friends and I may try our luck by entering in to the New York City Marathon lottery.

I enjoyed running NYC marathon in 2007 and would love to run it again with my awesome running partners.

I also reserved a room at the Wisconsin Memorial Union for Sunday, September 13th -- the day of IronMan Wisconsin. The plan is to volunteer at the 2009 event and then, the next day, register for the 2010 race...

Just thinking of an IronMan in 2010 should get me through winter 2009....

Cold, Dark and Lazy

Those three words pretty much sum it all up for me these days.

It is really cold here -- much colder than normal. I'm really not enjoying it -- but I have to admit that, because the cold has hit sooner than expected, I'm not as "prepared" as I should be.

Sure, I packed away my tee shirts and my cotton, comfortable summer outfits and am wearing my turtlenecks and layers. But I haven't yet switched from panty hose or knee highs to tights and long underwear. (Who ever invented CuddleDuds is a genius!). So, I'm pretty much freezing all the time.

I finally got out my Uggs and my mittens, but some how in the depths of my delusional thinking, I haven't quite come to terms that will not be 70-degrees again before the holidays.

Sigh...

It gets dark at about 5:00 pm. Just in time for me watch about 45 minutes of the news before I want to fall into a deeeeeeep sleeeeeep.

This drive to hibernate makes working out a little tough.... Sort of hard to do any pace work or hill work from a prone position under the covers...

What can I say...

--

I can happily report that Hubby and I spent some quality time last weekend at IKEA. We finally bought a number of bookshelves and storage cubicles to help get our house in order.

We have been trying to declutter the house and our lives. It feels pretty good to let go of some of the stuff we've been holding on to -- donating some stuff; recycling a lot of stuff; just letting go.

I've also registered for a couple other events: The Thanksgiving Day 5K -- a HUGE event held in downtown Minneapolis and the Lake Minnetonka Triathlon,scheduled for June 20th. The tri is close to home -- looks like a fun course -- and will be another race to help prepare for Chisago 1/2 Iron.

Yes, Nat and I will be doing another 1/2 Iron next summer. Our friend Gary will be joining us in the fun...

Lots to look forward to --