WOW!!!

I've got to start this post by giving out a huge HIP, HIP, HOORAY!! Tom O'Leary ran a specacular 3:04 marathon today in Eau Claire on a warm and windy day. That was good enough for third overall finisher. And a P.R. I am sooooooo happy for him, and soooooo proud of him!!Wow, wow, wow!! And kudos to Bri, Paul, Tom W. for their finishes as well. A marathon run, and an age-group placing for Tom W., are all reasons to celebrate. You guys ROCK!

One more marathon tidbit ... Dave Phillips just told me that he is running Outer Banks in November. As am I. As a 50th b-day celebratory weekend. :-)

Here are a few pix from Tom Woo from the 15K yesterday. Thanks, Tom!

That belly hasn't seen daylight in a while...

My day was spent in the very pleasant company of Andy, Roger and Trevor. The guys wanted to go up to St. Joe and run the last 10 miles of the Lake Wobegon Trail marathon course which we will all traverse next Saturday at 7 bells. We all gathered at Trevor's house in Pine Island...

before hitting the road to the north and west.

We stopped at a gas station somewhere on I-94 to the NW of the cities ...

Me and Trevor

and Andy and Trevor were contemplating the merits, or lack thereof, of those energy booster thingamajigs.

Soon we were on Peach St. to the west of Avon, and I dumped the guys on the trail :-0 ... well, not exactly ...

and I made my way back to St. Joe to run back towards them, so we'd have the car at the Lake Wobegon marathon finish line. On the way, I stopped at the Holiday Station in St. Joe hoping to find some of my St. Cloud River Runner buddies. I was in luck!! I found ...

Pam, Donnie, Roger, Kalli, Rick, Paul

Denny, Cindy, Pat, Yvette, ??

Denny, me, Pat

And Roger experienced his first "Renee's Cookie". (p.s. Thank you Roger for the nice post on the River Runners website.) Then I was off to join them on the Lake Wobegon Trail.

I have a really hard time tapering. I just do NOT like taper weeks. I feel like I'm getting fat, and I like to start my day with a good workout. Every day. Anyway, I kept looking down at my Garmin ... 7:18 pace ... 7:13 ... and 7:11 at 2.6 miles. Yikes. SLOW DOWN, girl. You've got another marathon on Saturday!! A few miles later we arrived at the marathon finish line.

All good. The guys are PSYCHED and ready to roll. I am so excited for them to run this one and really look forward to our road trip next weekend.

On the way back to Rochester, we stopped at the Nelson Bros. restaurant & bakery at the Clearwater Travel Plaza. It's a very popular place to stop on I-94 and for very good reason. Their amazingly HUGE and delicious pastries ...

I had a delicious turkey sandwich on multi-grain bread. We all agreed that the sandwiches were absolutely first rate. I could eat only half of it. I swear it was taller than it was wide.

It was a super fun way to spend a morning. In the company of my running buddies. And good friends. :-)

When I got home, I made cookies for the Cookie of the Month Club guys (and gal). They get delivered to the Y at noon on Monday.

Quote for the day ... some lyrics.

"The wind is moving
But I am standing still
A life of pages
Waiting to be filled

A heart that's hopeful
A head that's full of dreams
But this becoming
Is harder than it seems

Feels like I'm
Looking for a reason
Roamin' through the night to find
My place in this world..." --A Place in this World, Michael W. Smith

Good night.