Tom Woo's Triathlon Run Photos

RochesterFest Tri 2008

Rochesterfest Triathlon, June 29

Fun, and very full day! Started at 5:30 am when I reported for duty at the triathlon--chip handout and body marking. Then I watched the goings-on. There was a lot of nervous apprehension amongst some of the new triathletes, especially about the swim. The waiting is the hardest part before any event. Once you get under way, you just do what you've trained your body to do and the nervousness just vanishes once that gun goes off.

I took almost 200 photos today. Posted the ones that I thought would be of general interest. It was fun watching the swim. I believe I heard the announcer say that recent Century H.S. grad Alex Kiel had the fastest swim in about 17 minutes. I also like seeing all those fancy bikes. Lots and lots of bucks in equipment in that transition area. They had a pretty stiff north wind to deal with which meant that going out on the bike would be a challenge. Didn't see too much of the run. (Had to get to church and serve lunch to 343 people. Busy day. I was beat when I got home. Promptly took an hour and a half nap.)

Congrats to Mark Carey who came in 4th in the Olympic distance. Chris Koch came back to the transition area quite early and racked his bike and was just kind of wandering around. I asked him what was up. Rear hub problems. (Ted said it sounded like cone nut problems.) Bummer. Poor guy. As he said, tough race season. He's training for a 50K and I believe a 50-miler (run) later in the season along with Rob Mitchell.

From Mike Schmitt: Donut Run 5K I've heard of this race before. Time is subtracted for each Krispy Kreme eaten during the race.

Just saw Tyson Gay run 9:68 ( or something close ) for the 100m. Unfortunately, there was too much wind otherwise it would have been a world record. Michael Phelps also just set a world record (swimming) in the 400 IM at the trials.

After posting the above photos, went for a run. Who did I see? Tom Woo. Tom was at the Tri on the run segment and took photos. When he gets them posted, I'll try to add some to the slideshow. Tom was doing a two-a-day, having run with Tom O'Leary in Byron this morning. Randy McKeeman went by on the bike a bit later.

Eric (my son) passed his Minnesota insurance license exam. ;-) Good job, Eric.

On tap for tomorrow? Strawberries! Which means jam as well. Yum. I should make some bread to go with it.

Talk at you later. Ha det bra. (That's Norwegian: literally, have it good.)

Yes, I am just as slow as I thought

(Click on photo collage for a larger view0

I thought there was a very nice turnout today for the Spartan 5K. Probably 50-75. I'll post results after I get them from Brett. Brendan Sherman won with a 17:10. I thought I'd run a 22:something. What did I run? 22:something (22:45 on my watch). Guess I should have told myself that I'd run a 19:something, no?? HA!! We did get rain pretty much the whole race, but actually it felt good. I'd run down to Mayo H.S. (3.7 miles) and was going to run home, but got a ride from Tom Woo due to the heavy rain. Thanks, Tom. I owe you a cookie or two. ;-) RTC members spotted at the race: Jim Hebl family, Tom Woo, Couser family, Harry and Will Hoffman, Josh Erwin. Thank you, Tom Woo, for the photo of me. I had been trying to catch this young guy in the blue shirt. Can't even remember if I did. And I was trying to stay ahead of Harry Hoffman. I look like I'm in pain. I probably was.


Met a new fellow runner ... Noah Retka. He had a confession to make--he's an avid reader of my blog. Yes!! That's certainly bloggable. Here's Noah, who just ran Grandma's marathon (sub-3:30) last weekend. Introduce yourself should you see him at a local race (or volunteering at the tri tomorrow).
John Shonyo said there were 8 Off-Season Striders this morning at Dunn Brothers. Next week, we're back at the RAC parking lot at 7:00 am. 10 miles. Or so.

Sounds like an exciting women's 10,000m last night at the Olympic trials. Representing the U.S. will be: Shalane Flanagan, Kara Goucher (Duluth, MN connection) and Amy Yoder Begley. Katie McGregor came in fourth (Team USA Minnesota). Final today in the women's 100m which is super competitive. Photo from NBC Olympics Tonight: 7-8 pm on NBC.

Lots of things on sale at the adidas outlet. Of particular interest to some might be the official Boston Marathon apparel. About a 30% discount.

Want to try something new? Try geocaching , a treasure hunt of sorts. You need a GPS receiver, an Internet connection and the energy to hit the trail. Look up nearby caches, enter the coordinates in your GPS and go find them. I typed in zip code 55902 and got 968 hits. Might be a fun activity for the whole family. Kind of like orienteering, which uses a compass.

Ah ... it's pouring rain again. And Ted is out on his new bike which he doesn't want to get dirty. ;-( Guess he'll be spending some quality time with a rag when he gets home. I look forward to seeing all those cool-looking road/tri bikes at the triathlon tomorrow. Always gives me the itch to get out on the bike. With the unpredictable skies today I think my strawberry picking will have to wait until Monday. But I'm very happy to be getting some precipitation on my thirsty garden.

I'm thinking of going down to Decorah, IA for the Elvelopet 5K and 15K on July 26. Anyone who might want to car pool, let me know. It's an hour 15 down there. Nordic Fest (annual Norwegian celebration) is that weekend as well. Uff da!

Want some environmentally friendly socks? Check out Fox Sox . They're made in Osage, IA (quite near Decorah) and are made from corn kernels spun into Ingeo fiber blended with recycled polyster, nylon and Spandex. They're eco-friendly in that the Ingeo fiber decomposes after about 47 days in a landfill, unlike other manmade fibers. Available at Fleet Farm. I have a fun pink pair with white hearts. My son Eric has some that are kind of army green and he really likes them. Calls them his 'corn socks'.

Well, that's all I know for today.

"Be cheerful! Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important."

Finally ... Friday!!

Long week for me. Looking forward to the weekend!

Received an email this week from the folks with the Pigman Triathlon. The little town of Palo, IA has been hit very hard by the recent floods. From John Snitko: I spoke to a city official a few days ago to find out how best we could support them in this time of need. Their number one need is volunteers to help with the clean up process. Please contact John Burianek at 319-350-2684 if you are able to volunteer some of your time. John can be found at 110 Freeze Court in Palo. Not everyone can volunteer. If you would like to make a donation they are asking for gift cards from Hyvee, Lowes, Menards, Sams Club and Wal Mart. These are all businesses that are close to Palo. Of course a check will work too. The Pigman will match the first $1,000 of gift cards and or dollars that are donated. The easiest way to handle this is to send the gift cards and or checks to the Pigman Triathlon. I will make sure the funds and gift cards get to the right people. My mailing address is John Snitko, 939 Grand Avenue Court, Marion, IA 52302.

Olympic Track & Field Trials on TV tonight. 11pm. USA network. Women's 10,000m final is on the docket for this evening. BTW: Winona's Garrett Heath has qualified to run the 1500m which takes place later in the week. Here's a photo of Garrett running the Section 1 cross country meet in Owatonna from 2003. To Garett's right is Ben Puhl (Century, U of M).


Here's an article from the Duluth News Tribune about the new heat policy which was in effect for this year's race. With what happened last year at Chicago and Twin Cities, I'd imagine they'd be looking at doing something similar. I hope.

Thank you to: Mike Schmitt (who also hosted), Larry Pederson (who also ran out and got tape), Tom O'Leary, Lin Gentling, Jean Murray, Ruth Murray for assembling the newsletter last night. Should be in the mail today. I'm hoping that September I'll actually be able to help. (I've not been able to help once this year yet.)

Congratulations to Steve DeBoer who now has more than 125,000 lifetime running miles. More info on running streaks on Run Every Day.

Coming for July and August: CardioVision 2020 presents Walk & Win 2008!Walk & Win is a walking program for the entire Rochester community. Simply walk or carry out similar moderate-intensity activities at least 30 minutes a day, five or more days a week. If you do 30 minutes of activity, mark it down on the Walk and Win card. After you fill out each physical activity card, send it in for the chance at a grand prize at the end of the campaign. The more cards you send in, the greater your chance of winning a grand prize. See the Cardiovision 2020 website for more details. Also, every Wednesday from 12:15 to 1:00 p.m., there will be an organized walks sponsored by our supporting organizations. The first walk, sponsored by the Rochester Honkers, will take place on Wednesday, July 2, at 12:15 p.m. in front of the Government Center. Join us for a walk to receive a free bottle of water and the chance for a prize drawing which will feature free adult Rochester Honkers baseball tickets.

Looking for a way to get your kids active? June 28th @ 12 pm - The Mutual of Omaha Drive, Chip & Putt Junior ChallengeThe Drive, Chip & Putt Junior Challenge, the world’s largest junior golf program, will swing into Rochester. Boys and girls ages 7-14 are invited to hit the links of Willow Creek Golf Course, 1700 48th St. SW. The event is free and fun for kids of all skill levels. Competitors will be divided into four age groups and will compete in driving, chipping and putting competitions. Multiple prizes will be awarded in each age group. Participants can pre-register at The Golf Channel or at the golf course.

That's it! Gotta run! You will probably see me at the Spartan 5K Spartan 5K in the morning ... Join me! I'll probably run over and then run home, so it won't be fast!

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy. They are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." --Marcel Proust

Cheers!

Just a couple of things ...

Just a reminder that the RTC News will be assembled at Mike Schmitt's house tonight at 6:30 pm. 3415 Chalet Drive NW. Be there, or be square!

Rochesterfest Triathlon is in need of volunteers, especially course marshals. If you can help, please contact Renee Erickson Time commitment: roughly 8 - 11 am on Sunday, June 29.

That's it. Off to work.

Toodle-oo!

Hot, hot, hot!

How you feeling? (Hot hot hot)
How you feeling? (Hot hot hot)
How you feeling? (Hot hot hot)
How you feeling? (Hot hot hot)
--from Hot, Hot, Hot (Buster Poindexter)

Yeah, it's definitely summertime out there today. But I'm not complaining. Well ... maybe just a little. ;-) It was a sticky, sweaty run this morning. I prefer it a bit less humid. Fifth day in a row for running for me, which hasn't happened in literally years. Since before back surgery for sure. I was dragging by the time I had to run home. I ran down to the Y (2 miles) for the 5:15 AM run thinking it'd be the 6-mile route we'd be doing. I was wrong. We did the 10.3 mile route which left me with 14.3 miles and VERY tired legs.

Trying hard now
it's so hard now
trying hard now

Getting strong now
won't be long now
getting strong now

Gonna fly now
flying high now
gonna fly, fly, fly... Gonna Fly Now (Bill Conti)

Never did end up flying, nor did I feel strong. Tomorrow and Friday I'll be back on the bike. Lisa found two quarters this morning. Ka-ching! Way to go, eagle-eye Lisa! Spotted out doing a bit of yard work--Dave Morrill.

Good crowds for All Comers last night. The 50m races took 45 minutes. We could sure use a couple more volunteers. We were sweating it just before 6:00. We need people to hand out purple participation ribbons to kids that run but don't place 1st, 2nd or 3rd. Not rocket science. And a lot of fun. Plus you get to make a mark on their hands with a marker, which is the best part of the evening for a lot of these kids. Cheap thrills! I usually do the smiley face thing, which seems to be pretty popular. Anyway, please consider helping out. Two weeks left. Just show up. Purple (ribbon) people are usually only in demand the first hour or so until most everyone has their first race under their belt.

I met up with Priscilla Smith ...

on my way down to the track (I ran down). So she turned and walked with me for a couple minutes. I believe the two of us will be carpooling down to Stewie for the July 4 Stewartville Summerfest 3- or 5-mile races. If you'd like to ride with us, just shoot me an email. The more the merrier. Those races are great fun, BTW.

139 hits here yesterday! Zowie! I'm feeling the need to keep this little blog worthwhile and interesting. Greatly appreciate your interest. ;-) I appreciate getting links and tidbits of info from readers as well. Here's another from Mike Schmitt: Surplus Boston Marathon T-shirts Put to Good Use. Thanks, Mike.

Entries are starting to trickle in for the TreadMan Duathlon on September 27. (5K run--32K bike--5Krun). It's not too early to register (hint, hint), or to volunteer. Third annual this year. We hope you'll join us (along with TriRochester and RASC) out in Douglas on September 27.

Thursday at precisely 10:00 am, $25 gift cards for Victoria's for $12.50 on Rochester Deals for Less You have to bid right at 10:00 or you'll miss out!

Spirit of the Marathon (movie) gear and posters available at Marathon Movie site . The DVD will be released this fall. There are still a few US showings scheduled for the balance of the year. Good movie. Worth seeing.

Spotted running yesterday on County 22 ... Gina Sundsmo.

Track & Field: US Olympic Trials from Eugene, OR on television. Double check your local listings.

6/27/08 11:00 PM USA
6/28/08 7:00 PM NBC
6/29/08 6:00 PM NBC
6/30/08 10:00 PM USA
7/3/08 10:00 PM USA
7/4/08 10:00 PM USA
7/5/08 4:00 PM NBC
7/6/08 7:00 PM NBC

At Running Room : Buy asics 2130s and receive a free pair of asics 2100 socks. While supply lasts. You can still use the 20% off coupon in the Running Room eMagazine through the end of the month!

What's new in the Saxman household? Eric returned from 10 days in the cities taking a class to get licensed to sell insurance (summer internship). Need life, home or car insurance? Give me a jingle and I'll have Eric contact you. ;-) He'd be much obliged, I'm sure.

Re-did my front door wreath this afternoon. It was looking pretty bedragled.

My peas are just over waist high and the pods are filling in. I'll be shelling peas in the near future. Could use a nice gentle inch or so of rain. Lawn is getting dry as well. Harvest the first 2 heads of broccoli yesterday.

Ran across this little joke, which I think is several years old. Inflation would inflate the quoted prices a bit.

A man staggered into his house panting and exhausted. "What happened, honey?" inquired his wife. "It's a great new idea I have," he gasped. "I ran all the way home behind the bus and saved fifty cents!" "That wasn't very bright," replied his wife. "Why didn't you run behind a taxi and save three dollars?" . ;-)

Thought for the day: "Timely good deeds are nicer than afterthoughts. The smallest good deed is better than the grandest intention."

Ciao.

All Comers June 24

All Comers collage

Click on collage for a larger version.

All Comers' video clip

More photos tomorrow. I'm tired. ;-)

It's feeling like summer out there!

And that should bring a good crowd to All Comers' tonight! 6:00 pm, Soldier's Field track. We can always use more volunteers so please feel free to stop by and help--ribbon hander-outers and long jump pit crew are what's needed. Thanks! I believe I'll run down there this evening.

Another new PR--144 hits yesterday! W-w-w-w-wow!! I'm hoping this doesn't go to my head or anything...but really...thank you so much for stopping by my little corner of the world on a regular basis. I'll do my best to keep it interesting.

Isn't this just a beautiful baby?


It's Anna Helen, John and Lucy Shonyo's brand new granddaughter, born on Saturday. Very precious. Newborn babies are so wonderful. And I'd say these look like some pretty proud grandparents.

Quote from John: "I'm telling you, it was exhausting waiting for that girl to be born!" HA!!

The RTC Newsletter, July edition, will be assembled at Mike Schmitt's house at 6:30 on Thursday. Mike's address is: 3415 Chalet Dr NW. All are welcome to pitch in! It's actually kind of fun when you get going...the more help, the faster it gets done.

Off-Season Striders will run from Dunn Brothers/Elton Hills at 7:30 am Saturday. This will be the swan song for the OSS spring 2008. The group will resume running on October 11 after the Twin Cities Marathon. Route map I'm toying with running the Spartan 5K I so don't like to run 5Ks (pain the whole time) but I would like to support the cause. I'm also not sure I want to know how slow I run a K these days. Hmmmm ... what to do ...

Heard this on the news this am: Sports bra saves US hiker stranded in German Alps

Here's a "Rochesterfest food" clip from KTTC yesterday evening. Check out the shirt that Jay Kepson from VIGOR is wearing ... Hint: August 23, 2008.

Rochesterfest medallion clues:

Clue #2 - Tuesday, June 24th
If you find where I land your payday’s half a grand. I’m safely above being mired.
To find me is tough, I’m a diamond in the rough. You can easily see I am tired.
Whilst silver and hake guide your side of the lake, it’s longer than winter to walk.
Now you know the side of the city divide, to the edges might be where to stalk.
---------------
Clue #1 - Monday, June 23rd
By hook or by crook, it is all where you look for this 2008 Festing Treasure.
Unknown and unseen, far from public’s cropped green where the sport of this quest will have measure.
The path’s not too bale and it’s clear as the trail. This year it’s the best of the times.
Got it made in the shade, young and old do parade near a pool built for Rochester’s climes.

When I read the Monday clue, I was thinking Soldier's Field, bike path. After Tuesday's clue, I have no clue! Unless it's somewhere out on the rough for one of the golf course holes. Hmmmm....

I'll go back and revisit some and add a few new of my dozen random questions, the answers being my own:

What did you have for breakfast today? Oatmeal (old-fashioned rolled oats) with walnuts, blueberries and a banana.

What book are you reading? The Wedding Officer for book club tomorrow. I've got 200+ pages left. It's not gonna get read in time ...

What shoes are you currently running in? Asics 2130s.

Eye color? Blue.

Hair color? Naturally? At this point in my life, grey. Unnaturally? Or in my younger years--blonde.

How long have you been running? 10 years. I was a late bloomer.

Siblings? Younger sister and step-sister, younger brother and step-brother.

Favorite vacation? Woods and/or mountains. Doesn't matter where. Spent a summer in Norway as a teenager. Loved it. Estes Park, CO is also wonderful.

Favorite ice cream flavor? Wow. That's a tough question, Renee! Probably vanilla with some kind of topping like hot fudge. Favorite ice cream treat--DQ chocolate dipped cone.

Town where you attended high school? Downers Grove, IL. Attended North H.S.

Last movie you watched? I don't watch many movies, but I think it was Hairspray or Ratatouille (both on video).

Next race? Stewartville Summerfest 5-mile, unless I run the Spartan 5K on Saturday!

Well, I guess that's it for today. Thought for the day: "If you have accomplished all that you planned for your life, you have not planned enough!"

Heigh ho, heigh ho, it's off to All Comers' I go!

Quarry Hill slideshow, Sunday, June 22

Mac Attack, June 22

Zumbrota Covered Bridge, June 21

Quarry Hill photos, Sunday, June 22

Learning how to use Picasa. Thank you Lionel Cheng! Click on the grid for a larger version.

Spectacular!

It's a beautiful day
Don't let it get away
It's a beautiful day ...

from Beautiful Day, U2

Oh, it just doesn't get any better than this, does it? Sunny, 76, slight breeze, low humidity. Wonderful. The attorney that I work for is out of town for a couple of days so I have been able to enjoy the day fully, save for handling a real estate sale this afternoon. Was able to run with the Y "guys" (Priscilla Smith and I are included in "guys") at noon. 8 of us. (Priscilla and I were in the 'lead' at this point. ;-) Girls rule. ;-)

Very nice run. Brought cookies for the birthday boy K.C. Reed. (He gave me permission to mention this.) Then I ran down to the library to pick up a couple of books and snapped a photo of the Rochesterfest food vendor area. It looked like they did lots of business today!

115 hits here yesterday. Awesome! And on a weekend no less. Still working on getting photos posted. I may have to try photobucket.com from another computer in the house and see if that's more successful. Thank you Brandon Bungum and Nina Bren for your kind blog comments at the weekend's events. Brandon will be running his first marathon--TCM--this fall. I encouraged him to run with a training group at least for the 18-20 milers. It goes so much better running with others and having support. 8:30 Sundays at Running Room, 7:00 at the RAC Saturdays beginning July 5.

New nutrition at Running Room: eLoad caps, eDiscs and lemonade flavored PowerBar gel blasts. I tried the blasts. Quite good. Similar to Clif Bloks but they don't get stuck in my teeth. Only 99 cents.

From David Sletten: 15% discount at One More Mile with code RUC1326. I've not yet checked out what's available on the site.

The July RTC newsletter will be assembled at Mike Schmitt's house on Thursday evening. Look for more details later both here and on the RTC website. Thank you in advance for those who are able to help. My evenings are all booked up this week ...

Bill Nevala could use help stuffing the Rochesterfest Triathlon bags on Thursday at 6 pm at his home, 71 River Court NE. Phone number is 507-206-4294.

Here's a link from John Shonyo about barefoot runner Dean Laiti from the Twin Cities: Some tough looking soles! Me, I think I'll stick with shoes. Not sure how I'd run with rigid orthotics without shoes! John reports that about 10 ran with the Off-Season Striders on Saturday, which was great considering all the other things going on.

From Chris O'Brien: Letter to the editor regarding the trail system. Congrats to Chris on running her first half marathon on Saturday.

The Mac Attack went very well yesterday. Lovely weather for that event, which can be hotter than blazes. Ian Lanza was the overall/men's winner ...

and Christy Colbenson won for the women. Good to see Dave Morrill ...

back on the roads. The race runs right in front of his lovely home on the lake. Pat Brown ...

from Lewiston ran the race the day after running Grandma's marathon! After Ted and I were done volunteering (Ted was lead cyclist) we went to Bakers' Square for dinner compliments of someone, but don't know who. Ted found a gift card out in the country on a bike ride and brought it home and checked the balance online. $20. I resisted pie. ;-)

Chris O'Brien and Mario Minelli both saw the Illini 4000 bikers on their way to Owatonna yesterday. Chris lives on the route, Mario was cycling the opposite direction. Speaking of the Minelli family ... Mario's little guy Jace, age 7, ran a 26:51 5K at the Mac Attack! That's fantastic! There were lots of 10 & under kids running.

Well, time to think about supper and I'll get some Zumbrota, Sunday Quarry Hill run and Mac Attack photos posted later.

Toodle-ooo!!

What a weekend

First of all, congratulations to all Grandma's marathon or half marathon runners. From the sounds of it, the weather gods cooperated this year. Ever the diligent reporter, I'm hoping that there are some marathon stories for the newsletter out there. Here's a link to the lodging situation in Duluth for the marathon weekend. Precisely the reason I've never run Grandma's. Thank you Mike Schmitt for the link.

Went down to my garden on Friday to water and weed. (Potatoes and peas pictured again. Colorado potato beetles are doing their thing with my potato plants, namely DEVOURING THEM! I've already spent many hours picking them off the plants. Yuck. The really tiny ones, or the bright orange eggs which they lay underneath leaves, I just squish with my fingers. Double yuck.) On the way down, spotted some runners running down Fox Valley Drive. Origin: Unknown.

I had a wedding this weekend, so made my way over to church on Friday evening for the rehearsal. I get to church and I see some people in matching biking jerseys carrying their bikes into church. Hmmm... What's with this? I decided to investigate after the rehearsal. I went downstairs and I see bikes. Lots of bikes.

And shoes. And helmets. And water bottles. And wet clothes hanging on the railings.

It turns out they're a group of 20 students riding 4000 miles to raise $ for cancer. I knew that the Illini were from University of Illinois, and they're from the Champaign-Urbana campus. Their journey is taking them 72 days from New York to San Diego. They're staying mainly in churches and try to get food donated when they stop. They were hoping to connect with Mayo, hence the stop in Rochester rather than the Twin Cities. But that fell through at the last minute. But they enjoyed their stay in Rochester. Their website Illini 4000 indicates that stopping here was one of the best decisions thus far on their trip as we really live up to our "Minnesota nice" reputation. :-) When I got home, I of course made a batch of cookies for them. I delivered them the next morning before leaving for Zumbrota, along with our Explore Minnesota Bikways maps as they hadn't plotted their route to their next stop, Owatonna, at that point. I suggested north out of Byron on 5, west on 16, north on 56, west on 19/20 past Rice Lake then into Owatonna. I called Paul Christian to give him the scoop in case the P-B wanted to do a story. I stopped by this morning on my run as they were getting ready to depart ...

and that was indeed the route they were taking. They use a dry erase board for route directions each day. Great group of kids. Very friendly. They were looking for directions to a movie theater on Friday night. Well, that's easy. Just get over to 63 and drive a few miles south. The theaters are off to the east at the 48th St exit. Well, they have to get around everywhere by bike so THAT wasn't going to work very well, riding bikes down Broadway/63 in the evening. Other plans had to be made. They were also in search of a birthday cake as one of the riders was celebrating a birthday that day. I directed them to HyVee or Cub Foods. I'm really rambling here ... but it was great to meet up with them. Very worthy cause. If you feel inclined to donate (they're raised $58,000 thus far), you can do that on their website.

Saturday was the 10K up in Zumbrota. Fun race. I thought that just a bit of the 10K would be on the trails, but actually most of it was on (dirt) trail. But it was shaded in the woods so that helped keep it cool. Much larger crowd than was expected--about 300 runners between the two races. Congrats to Marie Boyd who won the 10K for the women and I believe she was third overall behind Travis Beniak and Andrew Petz. Several RTC members brought home age group medals. Congrats to all for running well. I'd do that one again. I just wish I was running faster.

I was at church all day Saturday so decided to just stay and attend church services on Saturday evening, leaving today free for a morning run and momentarily I'll be off to volunteer at the Mac Attack. Lovely, lovely morning. Ran out to Quarry Hill and ran the east side trails and then the west side trails. Took 63 photos. But photobucket isn't cooperating today and I'm unable to make slideshows. I'll post when it's cooperating once again. Just over 14 miles of running pleasure.

Well, I better get ready to go. I hope this post is somewhat coherent.

Cheers.

Laura and Kristin ... before the mile video clip

It's been a wonderful week

What a great weather week. What a change. Here's a report from Heidi Keller-Miler (MDRA) from Duluth: MDRA Office Manager Heidi just sent along this info from Duluth, where she's setting up for the Grandma's expo:"I have never felt it so warm and humid at 10 am before, supposed to be cooler tomorrow but a perfect day today for hanging out. Get up here early -one lane traffic coming into Duluth is going to be a nightmare."There you have it. Leave early & hydrate well." (From runminnesota.blogspot.com) Looks like about a 50 degree low, 75 degree high. Today? 80 to 85. Yikes.

113 hits here yesterday. Yee ha!! (I just discovered that if your right hand is one key off on a keyboard, 'hits' becomes 'guts'. Fun facts to know and tell ...)

I forgot to mention that the 5K/10K in Zumbrota on Saturday are being run in memory of avid runner Jane Nigon who was killed in a car accident earlier in the year and ran Fetzer last year and I'm sure has run other RTC races. It's also a benefit for the Pioneer Trail Association. Hope to see lots of you up there.

Off-Season Striders have a 12.61 mile route planned for Saturday: Map Water stops at Jeans house and my house. There are always ways to make it shorter or longer. 7:30 @ Panera South.

Sunday brings the Mac Attack 5K. Probably lots of familiar faces there as well. I'll be working registration and finish line. LOTS of familiar faces at the finish line, for sure. It's usually the same crew year after year.

Help is still needed for the triathlon on June 29 (early 7:00 am start). Contact volunteer coordinator Renee Erickson at funevents08@gmail.com if you can help out.

I believe today is the spring solstice, so we are having the most daylight we'll have until this time next year, i.e. the days will be getting shorter from now on. That's kind of a sobering fact after the winter and spring we've just experienced. Could have the first frost in 3 months.

I got a postcard from Sterling Fruit Farms. Strawberry picking will be June 20-July 10, Mon-Sat 8 to 7. East on county 9, north a couple miles on county 11. On the right. It's jam-making time! Or pie!

Have a wonderful weekend.

All Comers June 17

My 100th Post!

An anniversary of sorts, I guess. The 99th anniversary of my first post? Whatever. Here it is ... not much today.

First of all, I hope the weather cooperates this year for those running Grandma's events. You're due for some decent running weather.

Great fun once again at All Comers on Tuesday. I have more pictures to post. Hopefully I'll get that done some time today. Good turnout for the mile. Lots of sub-7 minute milers. Joey Keillor ran a terrific mile once again, on a cinder track with no one to push him. I scurried home to post the results. If there is a misspelling or error, please let me know. FYI ... Brendan Sherman, who finished second, did not wear a number so his time is not posted. I've got about a 5-second movie clip of Kristin and Laura but have not figured out how to post it yet. But there's GOT to be a way. Foot held up pretty well. It was a bit tender after the mile, but good enough for a run yesterday. Only when there's some unplanned external rotation does it hurt, so I 'tread carefully' as they say.

Here's a link to the proposed new (non-paved) trail system being developed for Essex Park. The RASC folks have done a terrific job with the proposal and I'm sure they'll do a terrific job with the trail as well if Quarry Hill is indication of their efforts.

Matt and I did a little landscaping project in the back yard yesterday and today. We tore out some plastic edging and put in some rock. It looks very nice and it's great to have it off my things to do list.

I told Matt it was great to see something complete that was just a 'pie in the sky' idea. He looked at me kind of strange and said he'd never heard the expression 'pie in the sky' before. I don't know if it's a generational or regional difference. Kind of like when I told Orrin Knutson 'see you in the funny pages'. Jodi at the Y just kind of snickered and said she'd never heard that one before. I think I'm REALLY getting old...

Well, there's a planned BLOGGER outage at 4:00 pm and it's 3:51, so I guess I'll post and work on the All Comers slideshow.

Hope to see some of you in Zumbrota on Saturday! From the back yard a minute or so ago:

Tally ho.

All Comers mile. More photos later.

A new PR!!

Thanks largely due to John Shonyo's "Mud Princess (Jean Murray)" email of yesterday, I hit a new one-day hit total on my blog --- 116! Whoo hoo! Y'all come back now, hear??!!

Tonight at 5:30 p.m. is the RTC All Comers Mile, which is part of both the regular RTC Grand Prix Series and the Youth Grand Prix Series. And it's free. The regular All Comers' meet will start at the conclusion of the mile. My foot is feeling pretty good. I'd planned to run, then decided I couldn't after Sunday, now ... who knows. I'll decide at 5:29. And don't forget ... we can always use volunteers. The weather is spectacular. Come out and enjoy it!

Generic emails are now working on the RTC website. See the Contact page.

As I ventured up to Sam's Club yesterday after work for my bi-weekly shopping trip (keeping these 19- and 21-year old guys fed is a challenge) I noticed that the bike trail from about the County 22 overpass over to the west frontage road has been resurfaced. It really needed it. Thank you Park & Rec.

Tirunesh Dibaba from Ethiopia set the women's Indoor 5K world record recently(14:27.42). Here's a video clip. Amazing.



Off-Season Striders will be running 12.5 miles on Saturday morning, starting at Panera South. Here's the route. I'll be running the 10K in Zumbrota, but will be providing a water stop at my house. If anyone is interesting in carpooling up to Zumbrota, let me know. We'll all be spending $8-10 in gas just to drive up and back ...


An RTC member was assaulted on the Slatterly bike path yesterday in the middle of the afternoon. Unprovoked. And she was running with someone else! Be as careful as you can out there.


Spotted this morning running on 9th St SE (I was stopping at church to drop of something): Dave Hillman and Ron (nice shirt) Giles.

Have a SUPER Tuesday!

I've gone and done it again

Lynn and Daryl Saari, Ann-Kristin Gjertsen, Jean Murray and myself went for a run out in Oxbow Park this morning. First thing we were greeted with ... water, up to a foot deep across the trail. Daryl went right through without hesitation, followed pretty quickly by Lynn and then Ann-Kristin. Jean and I hesitated a moment and then we followed as well. Might as well just get it over with! It was pretty muddy out there and at one point the muck sucked a shoe right off my foot. At about 3.8 miles, I rolled my ankle/foot. Great. Here we go again. I was able to run it in, but it's pretty sore now. Not much swelling but tender. So it's yet another day of RICE--rest, ice, compression, elevation. My dad did remind me today that I am almost 50 and hinted that maybe I am too old for this running stuff. ;-) NOT!!

Bad luck? Black cloud? Just plain old klutz? Who knows. It's a temporary setback. I'll get through it and be back. But it does leave me wondering ... What next?

Enjoy the beautiful (Father's) day.

Super Saturday

Beauty of a day out there! Great weather this morning for our 9-mile run. There were about 17-18 of us out there. Thank you to Kristin Zhao for the water stop at her home.

Tomorrow, some of us are off to Oxbow park for a 5-mile run. We're leaving Rochester at 8:00 and should be out there at 8:15 or so. Meet at the main parking lot, second left after entering (headquarters for the old Aviary Trail run). Anyone is welcome to join us. If my sources are correct, I believe there will be rhubarb cake for a post-run treat. ;-)

Several people have asked me this week how my husband Ted is doing after his bout with pneumonia. Very well. Doesn't cough much any more and is back on his racing bike ...

which is the truest test for how he's feeling. (He just said he's 98%.) Still doesn't have the lung capacity he did before the pneumonia, but he's getting there. Thank you for asking.

I had a little brainstorm this week while I was out running Wednesday morning. I was thinking about All Comers and thought it might be fun to have an RTC mascot named Strider who would wander around the infield during meets (as well as at other events) goofing around with the kids, taking advantage of photo ops, etc. The board seemed to like the idea, so I went home and investigated. I found that mascot costumes are EXPENSIVE (several hundred to several thousand dollars). I used google and eBay to see what was available. I was thinking a costume that looked like a person/runner rather than an animal, which are more generally available. Here's a link to a head only, which would work (it's pictured on a baseball player) but it's expensive $795. I thought I'd post this in case a reader had a source for mascots, or someone who might know how to make one, etc. If you do, please contact me. Thanks.

I volunteered to help early at the triathlon on June 29 (church activities later in the morning). I will be helping with late packet pickup and then ... body marking. Writing numbers on participants bodies. I could have fun with that (smiley emoticons, etc.) but I won't. I'll be good. I promise. ;-)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and again, Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there. Back to the newsletter for me ...

Happy Father's Day a bit early to all the dad's out there. Hope your loved ones treat you to a special day. That includes my wonderful dad who lives down in Florida. Love him to pieces. And my wonderful husband ... I think he deserves his favorite treat--chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.

I'm not a bit superstitious so I won't say anything about it being Friday the 13th today. It's just another day. And I'm glad it's the end of the week. I've not had more than an hour or so free each day all week. I'm ready to tackle the clutter in this house ...

I've recruited Judy Weller and Suzanne LaPalm (and working on one other) to run the Wild Goose Chase 30K out in Milan, MN on August 2. All my relatives live out that direction. It looks to be very small and low-key and that's just what I'm looking for this year. Should be a fun little girls' get-away.

I'll be running with the Off-Season Striders (including Ann-Kristin Gjertsen!) on Saturday and running the trails at Oxbow on Sunday morning with Judy Weller, Lynn Saari and possibly Ann-Kristin and Espen. If you'd like to join us, give me a holler and I'll give you the low down. It's great that there's a chance we'll have a dry weekend.

My friend Kathy left me the biggest rhubarb I've ever seen! She also left me a bag of fresh asparagus from her garden (she lives on a farm outside Chatfield). Wonderful stuff. I believe there will be rhubarb something or other being produced in my kitchen in the near future.

Spotted running up in Fox Hill last night as I was returning home from the RTC board meeting, Tom Woo. My camera is always at the ready!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Yes, I'm still alive ...

... it's just a really, really busy week. I've got 10 minutes before I leave for work so I'll start on a post and continue later as time permits.

First of all, the weather. While we may complain that it puts a snag in our training or picnic plans, or this, that or the other thing, we don't have to look far to hear of people losing their lives, their homes or their livlihoods because of the weather. Let us count our blessings. And pray for an end to the rain.

For some reason, Wheels and Heels 10K in Stewartville/Ironwood Springs never made it on the RTC calendar. It's being held on Saturday. Here's a snippet from an email from Bob Bardwell: June 14th (this Saturday) 8:30 am, the WHEELS AND HEELS OF FIRE 10k event. Come to Pizza Ranch on the north side of Stewartville, register before the event. You can bike, walk, run, wheel, rollerblade and just have a great time. Proceeds are for the National Wheelchair Sports Camp. You can check http://www.ironwoodsprings.com/ and probably get more information (I've not got the time right now) or contact Bob Bardwell .

Off Season Striders will be running from Dunn Bros. on Elton Hills at 7:30 am on Saturday. The route is 9 miles. Coffee and comaraderie afterwards (don't have spell check on Blogger and hope I spelled that rihgt. Ha. That was on purpose ...)

RTC Board meeting this evening, 6:00-7:30 at the conference room at the RAC. All are welcome. I'm bringing treats and I'll have to scrounge up something. I have some cookies in the freezer which will have to suffice for the sweet part of the treats. Savory ... probably some fresh veggies or something. One item to be discussed this evening is renaming the RTC. Should be an interesting discussion.

Cooking Light on Monday was very tasty. Faves? Somehow, dessert is always a winner in my book. No surprise there. Our creamy chocolate dessert certainly was a favorite. Nice contrast between the crunchy, nutty crust and the smooth, creamy top. The gingered rhubarb chutney was also a big hit. Margo served it over brie and we spead that on PK's homemade naan. Her first attempt at yeast bread since high school. She hit a home run. It was excellent. She made a (double) batch of plain and a (double) batch of cardamom and then cooked them on her Big Green Egg (smoker). Phenomenal. Everything was good, actually. But those two were probably my favorites, followed by the green beans and potatoes.

I've got confirmation directly from the party involved that Joey Keillor will be running the All Comers mile again on Tuesday. Last year he blew the field away with a 4:29.65 mile.

Just heard this on the radio (KROC AM, 1340):
06/12/2008 - ROCH TEEN RAPED ON BIKE PATH
Kim David/KROC AM News
Rochester police investigators are looking for the man who attacked and raped a city teenager yesterday - in broad daylight and on a public walking trail. Police Captain Brian Winters says the 15-year old was walking on the path near the south side of the Highway 14/52 interchange around 4:15 p.m. when she says the man came up from behind and began choking her. The teen says she became incapacitated and the man dragged her off the trail and raped her. She says the man also showed her a knife before he left. She was able to use her cellphone and call 911 after he left and officer took her to St. Mary's for treatment. She describes the man as white with a heavy build and in his 40's. Winters says the public is being asked to contact the department right away if anyone else is aware of a similar incident. He says he is especially concerned about the attack because it happened in a public setting during a busy time of the day.

Keep your wits about you when running. Probably not a bad idea to carry a phone and not run alone if that's feasible. This was right in the middle of the afternoon. I've certainly run that trail, and at many different times of day.

New at Running Room, men's running shorts with mesh pockets across the top back. Great for storing gels, etc. Instructors still needed for 10-mile run clinic and 1/2 marathon walk clinic.

From Mike Schmitt: Shoes with soles made partially from rice husks Certainly a more sustainable resource than petroleum-based products! Thanks for the link, Mike.

The Power of the Purse luncheon on Tuesday was great. Food at the Kahler, not so good. Nastiest chicken salad I've ever eaten. Speaker, excellent. Jeannette Wells is the author of The Glass Castle. Both my husband I really enjoyed the book. She and her siblings are all doing well, for those who've read it. Her mom is living in Jeannette's back yard in a mobile home and doesn't sound like she's changed much. ;-)

Ann-Kristin, Jean, Laura and I ran about 4 miles this morning. Afterward, Jean showd A-K and I around the DAHLC. What a spectular facility. The nicest I've ever seen. I'd seen the Anodover YMCA when I went up for a personal training certification and I thought that was nice. Whew. I hadn't seen anything yet. Spotted at DAHLC, Deb Thomford. ;-)

Well, I've lots to do and am behind on just about everything in life right now. Must move along.

Cheers.

More All Comers Photos June 10

All Comers June 10

Cooking Light June 9