TC10, Take 2



Paul, me, Mary, Tom (Tom O' photo)

 Back to yesterday's TCM/TC10. I've chatted with a few people today and have a few more success stories. Eric Woodford's 3:09:31 was a PR by over a minute. Congrats, Eric!! You now have that elusive sub-3:10 under your belt. What next?? Trevor's 3:21:25 was his second fastest marathon ever. Super run!! Maureen Hogan is going to Boston, and Kristin Zhao is "going to try to go" to Boston after qualifying yesterday. I hope she/they join the ever-growing band of Boston-bound from Roch.

So ... after the race, there is a veritable sea of runners in the finish area ...

collecting their heat blankets, shirts,

 drop bags, bananas, water, chicken broth and whatever else they had for post-race food.

After I collected my stuff I went to my car (literally steps from the finish line in my secret parking area where I park for free every year : ) to get some warm clothes. Then it was back to the meeting area where I met up with Paul, Tom and Mary.

Looks like Paul doesn't like that Greek yogurt!! Actually, he did like it. I just captured his face at a most inopportune moment. : ) Sorry Paul. The boys (Melby, Tom O' and Woo) and I went off to their car so they could change ... right in the middle of the parking lot!! O'Leary's makeshift changing room was the space between the two car doors. Very private indeed.

Melby made do with his jacket zipped up around his "privates". It seemed to work reasonably well for him. What a hoot. : )

The first order of business, after the change, was a cold one. They certainly came prepared.

Shortly thereafter, John Shonyo wandered by for a cookie.

Then the Three Amigos and I ...

made our way up toward the St. Paul Cathedral and the huge American flag to stand at the 26-mile mark to watch and cheer for our friends.

The winner had a pretty huge margin of victory.

We were stationed right by the ING tent and they had all sorts of freebies ...

of which we took full advantage.

Shortly after that, the first female finisher flew by.

Then it was our hero, Andy Hemenway flying by along with the others in the sub-3 club. (Andy is on the left.) This was a huge PR for him. 16 or 17 minutes I think. Super race!!

Next, Trevor.

Maureen Hogan wandered by after her super marathon!! I had a big hug for her. : )

On the way back to our vehicles, we saw Will, Eric and Maddie Woodford sitting on the bridge. Eric was giving those 3:09 legs a well-deserved break!!

We decided on Applebee's in West St. Paul for a late lunch.

I'm getting back on the healthy eating bandwagon (I ate half a cookie today and then felt terribly guilty and threw the other half in the garbage disposal ... and then got on the Stairmaster for an hour) so I ate one of the low-cal options. Some kind of Oriental Chicken Salad.

That brought an end to my 2010 TC10 experience. All in all, it was fun. Disappointing on the running front, but fun. I am VERY happy for everyone else's successes!! And that made it a good weekend indeed.

At the expo, USATF had some 2009 Runners' Yearbooks. They were free since they were last year's model, and I thought I'd take a look at the page listing the top 45-49 year old women runners in Minnesota last year. Shocker ... my name was in there. #9 on the list of top 10. That made me happy.

Four of us from our River Runners masters female race team made the list (Wanda, Lisa, Cindy and myself). I think that's pretty impressive.

Jeff P. and Trevor are doing a 50K ultra on October 30. They're working on Andy as well. It's called Surf the Murph. There's a 25K and 50-miler as well. Good luck with that, guys. : )

Lots more photos on the Team R.E.D. site. Here's a link to Tom Woo's TCM photos.


Erin, me (BAD hair), Tom O', Paul

 The numbers are growing for the breakfast run at my house on Saturday. You're all welcome to attend! If you're thinking of coming, drop me an email so I make enough food. But if you don't RSVP, come on over anyway. 2026 Kal Lane SW, Rochester. 7:30 am run followed by breakfast. I'll have routes of varying distances.  You're welcome to walk or run or skip exercise all together. : ) Whatever trips your trigger. Friends and family welcome.

Morning workout: hamstring exercises and an hour in the pool. Did the same thing Saturday. Then like I said ... an hour on the Stairmaster. Tomorrow I hope to finally get in that bike ride. There's just stuff I had to get done around the house.

At noon, I dropped off the Cookies of the Month to some of the recipients.


Jim Martinson, Dan Edwards, KC Reed, Don Gabrielson

  Jim Martinson just got back from a 3 week vacation in China. Their daughter is living over there. He's also a cookie thief!!

I made another batch of cookies this afternoon, for various reasons this week. I need to update my 2010 cookie count by 32 + 56 + 33 + 33 = 154.

Very busy week this week, including a Rochester Half Marathon wrap-up meeting this evening. I'll continue with the rest of my week in tomorrow's post.

Sweet dreams.