TreadMan 2008

Photos, photos, photos (took 222 of them today). Let's get it started ...

TreadMan 2008. Wow. Everything went so well. Registration at Running Room worked out great. Comfortable, fun place to hang out for 4 hours. Especially when you get to share a Veggie Lovers pizza with Peg and Wally Arnold. And Wally even promised me I could drive his brand new BMW Z4 sometime. Whoo hoo!! I call that 'test driving fabulousness' for sure.

Friday morning at first light I went out and ran the 5K courses carrying my trusty can of yellow spray chalk for good measure. Went fine. Last year they'd just graded the gravel road. This year the gravel was a bit loose. Not much we can do about that. For my 2 mile markers on the 65th Street, which is gravel, I decided I'd spray the weeds along side the road as spraying gravel doesn't work so well. So this morning I'm out there with the cones and what do I discover? They mowed yesterday!! But I did manage to find my markings nevertheless. Whew.

A huge thank you to Bill Nevala of WIN Multisports (who will be taking over TreadMan next year--maybe I can participate!!) for the use of a lot of his equipment and to to Bill, Henry, Andy, Chris, Rob for marking and doing a lot of the setup last night while I held down the (quiet) fort at registration. It made this morning so very much easier.

Some of these are quite blurry. I didn't realize my camera battery was dying ... I thought we had more spectators this year, even though our numbers were down a bit. (Lots of no shows this year for some reason.)

A huge thank you to ALL the volunteers who make these events possible. It's one thing to put on a running race (my other race ... Fetzer 20K in mid-April ... be there!) but a multi-sport event adds another level of ... well, just about everything. Timing, equipment, volunteers, you name it. Kudos to all our wonderful volunteers!!

Steve Eckdah of Northwoods Orchard had sent me an email yesterday morning. 1) He reads my blog. For some reason it always give me a little thrill when someone lets me know that. 2) He offered all the participants the opportunity to come out the the orchard (on 75th Ave and 75th St NW, just west of Douglas, but before 'the hill') and pick an apple after the race. I decided this would be a great thing to do after the event, so I stopped out after we were all packed up. I'll post separately on this tomorrow. I'm tiring of this right now. ;-)

I came home, right home, unloaded the 'stuff' that stays at home vs. the RTC shed, and promptly collapsed on the couch. Face down (pretty much). Came to about 4:00 PM and Ted and I hauled the supplies back to the RTC shed and then stopped at Chipotle for our free burritos. I don't frequent Chipotle ... I'd been there once before and had a salad. They gave me the default sauce (red?). It was so hot, I couldn't even taste the food and hadn't been back since. But I had no desire to be on my feet in the kitchen today, so off to Chipotle it was. I opted for a chicken burrito. This thing was huge. I ate half and saved the rest for lunch tomorow. Quite good, I might say. The volunteers and participants seemed quite eager to snag their free grub post-haste after the event. Thank you Chipotle for your generosity.

For some humor from StevenCX from Mpls. you can read his account of his go at the TreadMan today. He did quite well, by the way. :D And I must give kudos to Kerry Rosane, who finished 8th female today, 6 weeks after giving birth to son # 2, Bo (he's adorable). I remember 6 weeks post-partum and a bike seat wasn't anywhere on my radar. Great job, Kerry. You rock!

It's been a great three years for TreadMan for Henry, John and I. It's bittersweet letting it go, but we think it's the right thing to do for the success of the event. It's been a good run (and bike). Thank you again to all of you who have shared the journey with us either as participants or invaluable volunteers. In absolute terms, some will always be more 'successful' than others. But I consider everyone who was out there today a success. Some achieved their success with fancy equipment, others with heavier, sturdier bikes and without cleated bike shoes, aero bars or disc wheels (and maybe a touch of gear envy). Some, perhaps many, completed their first multi-sport event today. Or last year. Or the year before. Some made it up Genoa hill for the first time without having to stop and walk. Some competed for the win. Some competed for the finish. You all have a story. Good for ALL of you for sharing the roads and trails (and trials). It was a wonderful day.

Tomorrow, it's my last short long run (huh?) before TCM next weekend. It seems a cool down, back to seasonal temps, is in the offing for next week. Let's hope it lasts into and through next weekend. Some of us have unfinished business this year after a brutal TCM last year.

Well, the Post-Bulletin and the couch seem to be calling my name. Ratherly loudly at that.

Thought for the day: "The heart that gives, gathers." --Marianne Moore

Whew! It's been a busy week for me. But things are shaping up very nicely for the TreadMan Duathlon on Saturday. Henry will be marking, and sweeping, the bike course tomorrow evening. Bill Nevala, Chris Koch, Rob Mitchell and Andy Shulha will be putting up the fencing around the transition area tomorrow evening. I just have to mark the bike course tomorrow morning, pick up the Great Harvest race rolls after 2 pm, then be at Running Room for registration ready to roll at 4:00. I believe I even have time to bake cookies tonight. :-) Best of luck to Mario Minelli who's competing in the World AG Duathlon in Rimini, Italy on Sunday morning. I'm sure his heart will be back here at TreadMan. HA!!

From Peg Arnold: This years Medtronics Twin Cities Marathon expo is expected to be bigger and better! To help the Running Room do their part to make it the best, we are looking for volunteers to help us set up our expo booth and after the event take it down. This is usually a really fun time. You get a sneak peak at the expo, you get to meet and work with your favorite Running Room team members and there is usually food and drink provided as well! If this sounds like fun to you, please let me know and we will get you signed up! We need help on Thursday October 2 from 2pm to 6pm possibly later and again on Saturday evening from 7pm until approximately 10:30pm. Please let me know if you are able to help us with this BIG project! (I volunteered to work noon to 2PM at the Running Room booth at the expo. I think it will be fun. ;-)

Mint Chocolate GU is back in stock at Running Room. One of my favorite flavors. Get your marathon gels while your favorite flavor is still in stock ... And the 20% off coupon in the e-Magazine is still good through September 30. Choose your own sale day!

RTC's very own Judy Weller was pictured in 'The Main Event' in the Post-Bulletin at the conclusion of her 2008 100K for Kids run, her annual fundraising run for the Boys & Girls Club. Thank you to Paul Christian for running the Fox Cities photo that I sent him (and thanks for Marilee Hardyman for sending it to me)!

From John Resman: It's time for the Section 1A High School Cross Country Championships. The top individuals and teams from this meet will participate in the state high school cross country meet. Many of the smaller high schools in southeastern Minnesota participate in this meet.
The Section 1A meet is organized by the Rochester Track Club and will be held on Thursday, October 23rd at the Northern Hills Golf Course in Rochester with the first race at 4:00 pm. The meet relies heavily on the volunteer support of many people, and your help in the past in making this a high quality event is appreciated. I'll need volunteers to arrive at the golf course by 3:30 PM and spend about 2 hours at the meet. Please email John Resman if you are able to help out. (I've helped at this meet for several years. It's great fun.)

Former Olympian, and Minnesota native Carrie Tollefson is a spokeswoman for Minnesota Grown. She's got a Minnesota Grown website with lots of her bio info, TV ads, etc. Support your local growers!!

I contacted KTTC about Henry Walker and Michael O'Connor doing their 190-mile roller ski from St. Paul to Duluth. They said they were interested and might even be contacting their affiliates in the cities and Duluth. Stay tuned. ;-)

Wednesday morning, I decided to sleep past 4:40 AM run from home. I wanted to explore the new bike path in the Interlachen neighborhood. I was very impressed. It's just short of 2 miles, and runs along water the whole way. It was dark when I left, and slightly foggy, but I took some photos anyway.

Well, some cookies are awaiting me in the kitchen. They're still in the form of butter, sugar, flour, eggs, etc. :-)

Live long and prosper. See you at the TreadMan. GO TWINS!!

Rochester Rocks!!

Rochester cleaned up in the female results at the Fox Cities marathon yesterday!! RTC members Mary Chestolowski placed second overall with a 2:58 (her goal was to break 3:00), Marilee Hardyman was fourth or fifth with a 3:14 (her goal was to break 3:15--she has the fourth place award, but race results list her as fifth), Laura Lenz with a 3:56 (her goal was to break 4:00), and Kit Hawkins, who's been injured, finished with a 4:36 (on her birthday). Excellent running ladies. Pictured above are Laura, Kit, Marilee and Mary.

Also on the roads yesterday were some RTC IronGirls: (left to right) Chris Kujath, Sandra Dalquist (who took first in her age division on her birthday), and Chris O'Brien. They completed the IronGirl Duathlon in the cities (2 mile run, 22 hilly miles on the bike followed by another 2 mile run).

FYI: Pete Martin is due (ha!) to become a grandfather tomorrow, Tuesday. :D It's a girl.

Duluth native and 5000M and 10000M Olympian Kara Goucher, who will be running TC10, will be making her marathon debut at New York in November.

Happy first day of autumn, by the way. What beautiful weather. We're keeping our fingers crossed that it holds, as predicted, for the TreadMan Duathlon. Things are coming together nicely. Lots of people coming from the cities, which is great for Rochester. Thank you to everyone who has volunteered to help out. There are still open spots if you want to 'do the du'. You know the event is getting close when you lay awake at night composing 'to do' lists in your head and you feel like your head is going to spin off during the daylight hours. :D

My son Eric has posted some new photos of the ultra modern Arts & Sciences Center in Valencia, Spain near to the home where he is staying. He went to a pro European football (our soccer) game and had a blast.

Here's a funny tidbit: I was working at Running Room last week. A customer came in and asked if it was me picking up trash around the golf course the week or so before. I said that it probably was. She said she thought maybe I was doing it as part of a work release, or Sentenced to Serve, program. HA!! I said no, that the RTC was responsible for picking up trash in that location. I guess I just must have that convicted felon look ...

I see the Halloween candy is in the stores. My dilema is always: Do I buy stuff I like (think chocolate)? Or stuff I don't like (so I don't eat it)? I went with the "don't like" option--some sour, chewy stuff (Air Heads?) that's basically sugar, artificial color and flavoring, stabilizers, gums and lots of stuff I probably couldn't pronounce. Yum?? Not so much.

The Twins win Sunday. The Vikings win Sunday. The Gophers win Saturday. Mayo beats JM in football on Friday. It was a good sports weekend! Congrats to RTC member Joann Johnson for winning the 6" Subway sub during the Gopher game on KROC AM. ;-)

Thought for the day: "To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides." --David Viscott

May you all love, and be loved in return.

You know you're getting old when ...

... you can't remember what you did, or should have done, in the past 5 minutes. OK. I'm standing in the shower, thinking, and all of a sudden I can't remember if I've already shampooed my hair!! Shampoo or no shampoo. That was the question. I feel it. It feels like it's clean, but I don't know for sure. Oh my. Serious loss of brain cells, memory, attention, consciousness, whatever. So to be on the safe side, I shampooed again. I guess I just better live a little bit more in the moment instead of in la-la land. At least when I'm in the shower. ;D

4 local gals (and possibly others I don't know about) are running the Fox Cities Marathon tomorrow: Mary Chestolowski, Marilee Hardyman, Laura Lenz, and Kit Hawkins. You go, girls!! Hope y'all have a very good run! Leaving this next week for Oslo, Norway to run the Oslo marathon next weekend are Jean Murray (bringing George) and John Shonyo (bringing Lucy). Looks like it's been consistently cool there, so hope they have wonderful running weather! Look forward to hearing all about it.

70 runners/walkers turned out for the inaugural I Move @ Work day at IBM yesterday. I think this is a great turnout! This was held in conjunction with the RRCA Run @ Work day. Thank you to Mike Schmitt for making the IBM event happen.

I made a room reservation at the Cranberry County Lodge in Tomah, WI for the weekend of the inaugural Rails to Trails events on November 2. Don't know what I'll be running for sure, but plan to run something. Sounds like there are several from Rochester who will be participating in the events.

Well, I didn't know what my morning was going to bring in terms of a run, if any. I woke up feeling pretty good, but just didn't know if running from the RAC was a good idea. If I started not feeling so good, I might possibly have a long walk back, or a wait for a ride. So I decided I'd run from home, hoping to get 16 miles in, just running around the bottom of the hill keeping myself within about a mile of home.

So I set out a little after 7:00 AM in my usual counterclockwise direction beginning on County 22 at the base of Fox Valley Dr SW. As I was coming down 22, I could see the marathon training group approaching 2nd and then turning onto 2nd St. Approaching me from behind were Henry Walker and Michael O'Connor.

I guess Henry told Michael "that's Renee" and Michael asked how he knew from so far away. Henry said he recognized my stride. How true that is ... so many times you don't need to see a face or even a head to identify a fellow runner. Anyway, they were out for a 5-hour roller ski, training for their state capital to Duluth ski in a few weeks. Today they were going up to Pine Island, over to Mantorville, ... I was happy to see them. Such nice guys and very talented skiers.

Here's more info on their ski:

St. Paul to Duluth Rollerski for the Red CrossWhat you say - did they not learn from last year?, have they lost their marbles again? The answer is, unfortunately, yes. Against my better judgement (can't speak for Walker's), Henry Walker and myself have agreed to do another fund raiser for the Red Cross - rollerskiing from the Capitol Building in St. Paul to Duluth on October 4th and 5th. Full details are on the RASC ski page at: http://rasc.multisportsystems.com/page/show/6912-skiAll donations should be made payable to the American Red Cross and sent to Michael O'Connor at 518 24th Street SW, Rochester, MN 55902. Please include name and address in all donations so that the Red cross can send you a receipt.

Tom O'Leary was at water stop 1. He's baaaaack! It's great to see him on the roads again. ;-) I then got the lowdown on the morning's route from Pete. I just have to pause here and say a very big THANK YOU to Pete Martin for being out there for us, week after week, marking the course on Friday, getting volunteers set up with their supplies on Saturday morning, going over the route, and of late, staffing a couple of water stops for us. He is our HERO!! We are really indebted to him. :D

So. I decided since they were going to be running in the Bamber Valley, Soldier's Field area, I'd follow some of the course, take photos (click!) and eventually make my way home. So it was up the west 52 frontage road and then over to Bamber Valley. Most had already been through the water stop, so I ran opposite their route and got photos and made my way eventually to Soldier's Field. By then, my tank was empty. Several pieces of toast, animal crackers and a banana yesterday did not quite cut it for long run fuel. I was dragging. So I went up through the Pill Hill neighborhood.

And the now infamous 9th Avenue SW hill. I decided to go down. Then went up a different side of the hill to the Plummer House grounds and back down the old (chained off) back road and then back up 9th Ave SW. Gotta love, or at least appreciate, those Pill Hill hills. :D

Want a garage and want to keep the tree? No problem?

Then I went over 52 and decided I wanted to get to at least 16 miles, so I went down the west 52 frontage road (again!) and down to, and up through, Baihly Woodlands. And who should be outside, but Shirley (yes, Mrs. Tom) Woo with a Chester Woods Trail Run hat on.

So I stopped to talk to her for a while (that mile was 23:16!). She gave me a cold Gatorade. Oh my, did that taste good. It was gone by the time I got home (after talking colleges with a neighbor for about 15 minutes). I was glad the clock still said AM by the time I got home. It took about as long as 22 miles did last week, but I did take 67 pictures and do a lot of talking!! Glad to be done. 17.00 miles. Not a hundreth more. ;-)

When I got home, I went and picked more green beans, some broccoli, sugar snaps and red peppers. The beans have lost about 95% of their foliage but they're still producing. Stubborn little plants!

Remember, there's a sale this weekend at Running Room: 20% off clothing, 15% off shoes!!

Thought for the day: "It is one of the most beautiful compensations in life...that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself." --Ralph Waldo Emerson

Run @ Work Day

It's Run @ Work Day today (RRCA program). If you're able, it would be great if you could spend a minimum of 20-30 minutes during the day, getting out for a walk or run. There will be runners at the Y at noon today and there is a program at IBM as well. See the RTC website for more information. It certainly won't be the weather keeping you from moving. It's beautiful this week.

Sale at Running Room: This weekend, 20% off all regular-price apparel and 15% off all regular-price footwear. It's a great time to stock up on shoes or treat yourself to a new outfit! 711 S. Broadway.

Thank you to John Dinusson for keeping me posted on the TreadMan duathlon bike course condition. There has been road construction on county road 3 and I am happy to report, thanks to John, that the second layer of asphalt has been laid and the course should be in very good condition. We could still use a couple of volunteers on Saturday, September 27. Please contact Sarah Shonyo if you're able to help out. Volunteers receive socks, cinch bag and the opportunity to stop by Chipotle Mexican Grille the day of the event for a free burrito, bowl, salad or tacos. Registrants receive these same items. Chair massages will also be available at the event. Complete info at TreadMan site.

Trophies for the Bear Creek 5 Prediction Run have arrived and Chris says that they match the lap throws perfectly! Anyone can win a trophy in this fun event. Just depends on how well you know your predicted pace.

RTC board member Tom O'Leary was featured in Vikings Vent on Monday in the Post-Bulletin. Maybe now that Gus has replace Tarvaris, the offense will actually score some points! We can only hope. Should be a tough game this weekend vs. Carolina.

I went to Sekapp's orchard on Wednesday and got some delicious sweet corn, chestnut crab apples and delicata squash. I also made plum jam. The corn was still delicious and tender. Sterling Fruit Farms (Lowell Sterling in the phone book) will have concord grapes for picking next week (for juice, jelly, jam, etc.).

Well, I may be done with long group runs for this season. The 27th is TreadMan so I'll miss that one for sure. Yesterday I was very much under the weather and started feeling like I was actually going to live about 1 AM this morning, but don't know that I will feel up to attempting a 16-miler tomorrow. I guess I'll see how I feel in the morning.

Thought for the day: "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything."

Have a wonderful weekend!

pizzagonewild.com

We (my cooking club, significant others and others) had a wonderful make-your-own-pizza party last night at a friend's house, where the pizzas were cooked on an outdoor wood-fired oven--cooking time 2 minutes as the oven is 900 degrees. Though we were kept inside due to the drizzle and eventually rain, we still had a rip-roarin' wonderful good time. We all ate more than we should have, I do believe. My fave? The chicken, red pepper and jalapeno creation from Ed Hayes. No sauce, just some olive oil. Fabulous.

Beverage run: We have a long over-due beverage run this week. Hope you can make it! Lets meet in the parking lot of Dos Amigos on 4th St SW at 5:30pm. We'll start with getting 4-6 easy miles in, then hopefully settle down on the deck at Dos for a toast or two. If you would, please let me know if you plan to attend.

Essex park trail system: Exciting work is taking place up at Essex Park (NW Rochester) in preparation for new running/hiking/skiing trails. Lots more information, opportunities for fund-raising and photos on the RASC (Rochester Active Sports Club) webpage.

Speaking of new trails, there is a new paved bike path in the Cascade Lake area of Rochester. My husband went exploring it after I noticed the connection point to the existing trails at the highway 14/52 interchange. Ted says you can also get on the trail on the west edge of the Mayo parking lot on 2nd St SW near the new fire station/Avalon Cove and in the neighborhood opposite 3rd St NW (which goes into Country Club Manor) on county 22. I think I'll take a run down there one of these beautiful days.

RTC's own Larry Pederson (board member, stair climb, Chester Woods) has been spotted on YouTube talking up hills in SW Rochester. ;-)

We're now going to have complimentary chair massages for all TreadMan Duathlon participants and volunteers. Hope to see you there.

My son Eric posted some photos of Toledo, Spain. I'm jealous. I wish I was there with him! These are the first photos I've ever known him to take in his entire life. But he did great. ;-) He's doing great, and purchased a phone handling the entire transaction in Spanish. That's the idea when you're studying in Spain!

You know the saying 'busy as a bee'? Yesterday I was mowing the lawn and noticed several humongous ant hills. Well, I must say that an equally true saying would be 'busy as an ant'. They are hard little workers, to be sure. As I was mowing, Ted was cutting up green beans for me to freeze. No gender stereotypes in this household!!

Later in the day I went to Aldi for milk. I was perusing the produce and this guy says to me (I had shorts on), 'runner or walker?' Excuse me? 'Are you a runner or a walker?' I replied, 'runner'. He asked me how many miles that day (Sunday) and I said zero as I ran 22 the day before and was recovering. He said that 15 months ago he weighed 511 pounds and now weighed something just over 200, and he was pretty tall. He'd lost 300 pounds in 15 months! I told him that was fantastic--about the equivalent of two people. And it really is fantastic. Good for him!!

The fall colors are advancing on my hydrangeas. Have a wonderful day!

Thought for the day: "Sometimes in the winds of change we find our true direction."

Some days you have it ...

... and some days you don't.

Slow down, you move too fast.
You got to make the morning last.
Just kicking down the cobble stones.
Looking for fun and feelin' groovy.
Hello lamppost,
What cha knowing?
I've come to watch your flowers growing.
Ain't cha got no rhymes for me?
Doot-in' doo-doo,
Feelin' groovy.

Got no deeds to do,
No promises to keep.
I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep.
Let the morning time drop all its petals on me.
Life, I love you,
All is groovy.
--59th Street Bridge Song, Simon and Garfunkel Play it

It was groovy. For about 15 miles. Then the wheels fell off. I probably started off too fast, for one thing. And it was very humid. But whatever the reason, it was a challenging run for what seemed to be most of us. Our 3 mile loop out at Bear Creek turned out to be 5.35 miles, so the course was long. Pete gave us 'permission' to come in on 2nd St SW instead of the prescribed course. :-) Thank you, Peter!! Well, I got to talking and totally spaced out that early turn and continued on. At about 16.5 miles, I started cramping, told Roger to go ahead and it started getting pretty ugly. I ended up going the whole route for 22 miles (I had 21.9, Roger had 22.1 so we'll call it 22). Had I turned with the masses, I'd have had 20.5 which would have been much more pleasant. :-) Oh, WELLLLL!! I got the miles in even if they weren't pretty at the end.

Thank you Sharon Johnston for the Johnston Honey . My challenge this week, and I've chosen to accept it, is to come up with treats for next week's long run that utilize honey. :-)

TreadMan Duathlon update. John Dinusson rode the course this morning and reports: I just returned from biking North of Douglas ( County Road (3) ) which now has complete layer of asphalt and is in good shape. I talked with workmen who were laying down shoulders and they informed me that they plan to add another layer possibly this coming week. Very good news indeed. Thank you, John, for the update. We can still use volunteers and there is still time to register. It's for all abilities--give it a try! September 27. 5k run--32k bike--5k run. Solo or team. Want to run but need a cyclist? Contact me and I'll work on finding you a partner. It's been done in the past. ;-)

Congratulations to Trevor Distad for setting a 10 minute P.R. at the Square Lake Tri. That being the case, he signed up for Iron Man Wisconsin/Madison next year. Go Trevor!!

Well, that's it for today!

Thought for the day: "Courage does not always roar. Sometimes it is a quiet voice at the end of the day, saying ... 'I will try again tomorrow'." --Mary Ann Radmacher