Unsettled

That's how I feel today. I just feel out of sorts. Off. The 25K did not go well. As I was "running", I was thinking of all the different titles I could use for this post--"Grandma's Revisited". "An Off Day at the Office". "Ugh. Bugs.". There were lots of possibilities.

The lowdown ... and it was low: 2:09:43 (8:21 pace) 83rd female out of 329 and 8th in my age group out of 28. Certainly not what I was hoping for. The problem ... those darn leg cramps. Most likely brought on by the heat/humidity and not being well hydrated. I do not perform well in the heat. Never have. And most likely never will. It was very foggy on the drive up, so I knew the humidity was high. I don't know what the temp was, but it didn't take long for my clothes to be drenched with sweat and they stayed that way until I finally changed more than an hour after I finished. I also felt slightly dizzy for much of the race. The first 10K went OK (45:00) but shortly after that, the wheels came off. Just before mile 7 on a downhill, they started. First in the right calf and eventually in both. I don't know how many times I had to stop, stretch and walk, but considering I had 8.5+ miles of it, I'd say at least 50 times as sometimes I could only run about 20 feet before I had to stop again. Ugly. After about mile 9 I just couldn't wait for it all to be over. I just wanted to quit (I ran right by my car at about mile 12). 4 people commented to me that it felt like Grandma's marathon all over again. I guess I would concur. Not the way I wanted to finish the USATF circuit season. I feel like I really let my race team gals down. Also, the gnats were really bad. I had them in my eyes, nose and mouth. We all had them all over us at the finish! Neck, arms, face, ... Yuck!!

I guess I'm glad I finished ...

Saw several familiar faces up there: Joey Keillor (ran very well), John, Sabrena

and Anna Resman;

Peg Arnold, Andy and Jenny, Cathy Torgerson, Lisa Pelowski at the Running Room water stop; Francine LaPage; and last but not least, Eric Saxman.

Got home and immediately plunked down on the couch. I was really tired on the drive home. Dangerously so, actually. Then I mowed the lawn. Still sticky out there. And the ground is so very, very dry. There are big 1/4" cracks in the soil. We really, really need some rain.

Tomorrow I'm going to pick up a Cannondale bike to test ride. I'll let you know how it goes.

Vikings won today. Hip, hip, hooray!!

Kit Hawkins asked me to post this: Join me in a trashy treck on the trail around Soldiers Field this Thursday, September 17. Our mission is to enjoy some fresh air and commaraderie while we clean up the bike trail along Broadway and Hywy 14. We will meet in the park on the east side of Soldier's Field across from Snappy Stop at 5:30 PM. Bags and gloves will be provided.Our length of trail for clean up goes from the park to HyVee South. It won't take long and when we have completed our mission we will treck over to O'Neils for rehydration and refueling.Any questions, please contact the trashmeister, Kit, at hawkit2@msn.com.Thanks so much. I hope to see you on Thursday!

Also, just a reminder that the Mayo Open Cross Country 5K is this Thursday, not last Thursday as printed on the hard copy calendars. See you there! I hope I can redeem myself after today, though it's a tough race.

Quote for the day: "The tiniest dewdrop hanging from a blade of grass in the morning is big enough to reflect the sunshine and blue of the sky."

Toodles!!