River Runners Run @ Rick's

Back ... I Hope

I decided to run this morning. I've been pushing it on the bike and needed to use some different muscles. I had a REALLY good ride yesterday.

The humidity and temp had dropped, there was a 2 mph wind from the west, so I decided to ride my northerly loop through Salem Corners, Byron, Pine Island, Douglas before work. I left just before six thinking I was cutting it pretty close on time (it's about 42 miles) in order to be cleaned up, fed, and at work by 9:00. But yahoo ... I had 15 minutes to spare when I got home. Really felt good. 42.44 miles. Best ride ever on that course by .7 mph (average speed). There's a huge difference between say 16.0 and 18.0 mph for an average speed and a HUGE difference between 18.0 and 20.0 mph. So I was happy. Tom Woo asked me the fastest speed at which I've ever taken a photo. I didn't know for sure ... probably 24 mph or so ... always on the flats or uphill though, never going downhill. Too dangerous. So yesterday I took a photo on County 5 as I approached the stop sign on County 3.  So that's my new PR for "speed on the flats while taking a photo". 25.0 mph.

Back to my morning run. 7.21 miles (my around the hill loop). It felt so good to be running without pain. It was muggy though. By mile 6 sweat was flying off my fingertips. So I'm hoping that I continue with some running and possibly even get into shape before the end of the year. John Shonyo mentioned he's doing the Minneapolis Duathlon the end of August. I'm thinking maybe I'll sign up ...

My photo was published in Bike Rumor yesterday with a link to my blog. Kinda cool ... there are some pretty impressive photos out there (mine NOT included). Helped Dawn L. B. look at bikes yesterday. She's still pondering a purchase.

Good luck and have fun to everyone running in the Warrior Dash this weekend. Sounds very ... interesting ... muddy .... challenging ... and like a whole lot of fun. :-)

Gotta run ...

Of Onesies and Twosies ...

I decided to ride again this morning. It was pretty breezy from the south, but otherwise not a bad morning. Certainly less humid than yesterday. I left at sunrise. 40.07 miles.

I think we are losing 1 or 2 minutes of daylight each day or so. Sunrise is definitely getting later. I brought ... 1 90-calorie granola bar and 2 water bottles. Only 1 red-winged blackbird came in for a landing on my helmet, but 2 dogs chased me. What an adrenaline rush. It was way south on county 3 and I saw them tearing out of the yard toward the road. My thoughts ... will they run in front of the bike and I'm going down? Will they nip at my foot or leg? Will they just run alongside and bark? I didn't know. So I put the hammer down and outpedaled them. Required me going 23 mph into the wind. Ugh. The first digit in my speed was always a 1 going south or west, but it was sweet to see it switch to a 2 going east and (especially) north. I saw 3 other cyclists, going the other direction. I gave a little wave to each of them as I always do. One returned my wave, the other 2 didn't. Still don't understand. Even a nod acknowledging the greeting would be fine. I'd say 20% of less of cyclists return my greeting. Dislike.

There's a website that has a bike "pic of the day" http://www.bikerumor.com/pic-of-the-day/ An editor emailed today that one of mine would be used this week along with a link to my blog. Sweet. :-)

Congrats to Matt and Sawra who are brand new parents of beautiful little Maya. And congrats to Joe and Sara who will be parents for the fifth time in February. :-)

This afternoon I went to the pool to swim for an hour. Got talking to the guy in the next lane (for way too long). He was from FL. He said this weather was worse than Florida. I heard on the radio that the heat index in Moorhead was 130 yesterday, the highest ever recorded in Minnesota. Enough already. But tomorrow does sound better. All the summer camp kids were in the pool and I was afraid they were going to jump on those of us swimming in the lap lanes. A few did jump in but luckily no one landed on us. :-)

I picked some more tart cherries this afternoon and made a batch of jam.

Cherry jam is definitely one of my favorites. I felt like having more than a salad for supper. I've been pretty hungry all day. So I made some butternut squash ravioli and sauteed it with some peppers, onion and basil (I wish I had some fresh sage ... that would have been better). But it was tasty.

There is a juggling convention going on in town this weekend. This morning a runner was attempting to set a 5K "joggling" world record. Larry Pederson took a few photos. Joey Keillor was his pacer (good pick). He was on pace for the first few miles, but wasn't successful in his record attempt. Kudos for trying!

I had my second PT appointment this afternoon. He gave me more bright pink kinesiotape

and said to continue stretching and strengthening and let pain (hopefully none!) be my guide while running. Ice if necessary. Back off if necessary.

Enough for today. Enjoy the rest of your today and all of your tomorrow.

Good night ..............

Grateful

There is much I have to be grateful for ...

• That I have an air-conditioned home. I can't imagine how miserable it'd be without it.
• That I don't work outdoors for a living. In the heat of the day, it's almost hard to breathe. The air is so heavy. This weather just takes the wind out of my sails.
• That I have a nice bike to ride. I'm enjoying it so very much and on days this it's much preferable to running. I rode 43.53 miles this morning and it was VERY foggy. My glasses kept fogging up and I came home with wet shoes. The sweat wasn't evaporating and was running down my legs into my shoes. I think I pushed a little too hard (passed two different guys ... one passed me again; the other didn't. :-)
  
  

• That Jerry Goodrich has been the official starter at the All Comers' meets for the last 30 years. Yes, that's right. 30 years. It just wouldn't be the same without that booming voice, the tie-dyed shirts and that ragged red hat. THANK YOU Jerry!

• That there is always enough food on the table. More than enough actually. Yesterday evening I worked the distribution shift at Community Food Response. Leftover food from stores and restaurants (Trader Joe's donates LOTS of food) is given to those who show up on M-W-F every week at Bethel Lutheran Church. It's not a need-based organization, but those that show up are needy. We work in the kitchen behind a counter. Two little girls put their hands on the counter and peered up at us in the kitchen. I just felt sad looking at their pretty blue eyes ... wishing that they didn't have to be there ... hoping that they had a home to go to ... and that it was air conditioned. But I will never know.
• Thankful for any little measure of success in my life. I received my Boston Marathon finisher's book and certificate in the mail yesterday. I haven't even opened it. I wasn't terribly pleased with my time so seeing the time, in print, isn't a big thrill for me. But I am happy that I can run and that I have been fortunate to run Boston many times. One thing I didn't know until Rick posted it on Facebook on Sunday ... that I held the state record for the mile for 49-year old females (5:59 gun time ... 5:56 chip time ... I should have lined up a little closer to the front I guess!) until Sunday morning when Wanda bettered it. WTG Wanda!! You are running so well. :-)

Well, enough for today. Until tomorrow then ...

What Can You Say?

It's miserable out there. Sultry. Sauna-like. Steamy. Sticky. And it's going to stay that way for several more days. The meteoroligists are having a field day with all these numbers ... dew points in the mid-80s, "feels like" 118, and on KROC AM they said that the only place on earth with higher humidity is the Amazon rain forest. Whoa. So ... this was supper, as it is about 90% of the time.

This afternoon I went over to some friend' house to pick (tart) cherries. What a coup. The tree is full. I got two partial pails picked, but then gave up as it was just way too miserable to be outside. I stripped down to my sports bra and running shorts and the sweat was just running off me. And I was basically just standing there.

Yesterday morning I ran 4 miles with Jean, Laura, Tom and Dave (and John joined us for coffee afterwards).

It was my come-back run after a 2 1/2 week layoff. No problems. No pain. :-) All good. I haven't tried running today (yet). It's just way too miserable out there. Maybe tomorrow. BTW: My run-a-mile-a-day-for-the-year streak is broken. I didn't get it done on Saturday. Didn't have a good day. No excuses. Oh well. Spent the ENTIRE rest of the day yesterday working on/in this house. It's looking pretty good. Still a few more things to get done before it's showable (I have perfectionist qualities, I admit) but I'm pretty close. Today's workout: lift and swim an hour.

I'm sporting some unique tan lines these days due to biking ...

Due to my biking gloves

.. and the removal of my kinesiotape.

You can sign up for the Med-City Marathon or Half Marathon today (and through Tuesday now) for $30 for 2012 in celebration of race director Peg and Wally Arnold's 30th wedding anniversary today. Sign up at http://www.medcitymarathon.com/

The RTC Annual Picnic is Thursday, August 25 at Soldier's Field Park (east shelter) at 6:00 PM. Bring a dish to pass. The RTC will provide table service and beverages. I plan to be there, so you can pretty much count on cookies as well. :-)

I had the weirdest thing happen on Facebook early this morning. As soon as I got on, I got a chat message from a FB friend that said she wasn't doing well, went to London on the spur of the moment, got mugged at gun point and they took her phone, credit cards and cash and she needed my help. She needed some money to settle the hotel bill. Well, I was getting suspicious. The words weren't sounding like my friend (some typos) so I asked a question that would identify her. The "person" responded with someone's name, but it wasn't the right name. But it was the name of the person who'd posted most recently on my news feed. And these people don't know each other. Freaked me out. I turned around to make sure no one was looking over my shoulder. Anyway, my friend's account had been hacked. I've had a few weird things happen on FB, but nothing interactive like that. Beware.

Stay cool ... if that's possible.

Sticky

Headed out this morning for a longish ride, thinking I'd ride 50 or so (Hayfield and back as there was a south wind). Long story short, it turned into 100.59 pretty sticky miles. And it left me absolutely famished. I was hungry all afternoon and evening. Just couldn't stay sated.

Brad Kautz doing his long run, headed for county 104

My camera got a lens error AGAIN at 12 miles so I didn't get many pictures. But yesterday, this was a soybean field. Today it's a lake.

This creek on county 3 was way over the banks.

Not much in the mood to post more this evening. There are some folks running from Panera South at 7 AM Sunday if you're inclined to join them.

Good night.

Why Is It ...

... that the first thing I do when I get home after sitting on my bike for a couple of hours is sit down?? Hmmm ... sad but true! I rode 40.37 miles this morning. Thankfully I got done before the rains came. It was actually mostly sunny at the time, but muggy. You could tell something was brewing in the atmosphere.

Still wearing the hot pink kinesiotape

It was my SC, RD, HF loop but I turned west on 117 just south of town and rode out to 104 and back in on 25 which added another 3 to 3.5 to my route, making it 40. I lose the nice fast downhill on county 8 but don't have to deal with the traffic at the Salem Road/County 8 intersection. So I might do that route more often.

... that plants can grow so happily in a crack on a curb, with no fertilizer, sporadic water, intense heat, abuse in general ...

but the asters that I plant in my garden just wither and die despite all the TLC I give them?

... that I just want to change a light bulb, and this has to happen?? It's a brand new bulb. It didn't work when I put it in the first time, so switched another one out and figured out it wasn't a short in the socket. But in trying to put in the other socket, this happened.

Just adds something more to my Things To Do list, which seems to grow by the day despite getting lots of other things accomplished.

... that a room looks so much bigger with no furniture in it??

Had the carpets cleaned by ServiceMaster today. :-) They were in and out, just like that!! They're taking a while to dry with all the moisture in the air so I have all the ceiling fans running and the furnace fan running continuously. The family room carpet is new, so all the stuff from the living room will sit in the family room 'til tomorrow sometime. I want the carpets to be 100% dry before putting anything back on them.

... that there wasn't a plate on this outlet? Or one just like it in the office? I don't know, but now there is. :-)

... that I'm not running yet?? Well, two weeks are up and I apparently have the go-ahead to start running. But I haven't yet. I'm still afraid to run I guess. Something or other, for the most part, has hurt while running for the last 11 months. And my brain still associates running with pain, both for myself running and even watching others run. So, I've not had a burning desire to get out (running) on the roads just yet. My brain hasn't worked through the reset yet.

... that some days I swim extra slow?? Don't know, but yesterday was one of them. I count every stroke on every length and the last couple of swims I'd been taking 2-3 strokes off every length. But yesterday I was back to my super-slow-swimming-style. :-( And my shoulders and triceps were tired. :-( But ... this too shall pass. I hope.

... that Team R.E.D. always has fun no matter what?? Cuz they're a great group of people, that's why. Last night the plan was to put together some playground equipment in a newly adopted park in Byron, but the city got to it first, so we were out of work. Tom O' decided that we might as well go ahead with the Eat/Drink part of the evening and add in the Run/(Walk) as well. So we gathered at Dan and Amy's house for a loop through Byron and then gathered back at their home for a potluck. Thank you so much for hosting!!

It never hurts to eat dessert first!

There was an exciting beanbag toss match going on with the Melby kids too. They're pretty good tossers!!

Annette was in charge of beanbag retrievel and target placement

... that Sunday has to be so hot?? Mike Ewen is organizing an 85 (or so) mile bike ride for 9 or 10 o'clock Sunday morning. I'd sure like to join them. But the forecast is for 98 degrees with an associated heat advisory. I don't do so well in the heat, and I don't know if I could keep up with them. So ... not sure whether I should ride or not. I'll keep thinking about it.

Well, I will close with some Runners' Commandments that were posted on the Runners Anonymous FB page:

1. Don't make running your life, make it part of your life.
2. Don't compare yourself to other runners.
3. When standing in starting lines, remind yourself how fortunate you are to be there.
4. Don't always run alone.
5. Don't always run with people.
6. The best runs sometimes come on the days you didn't feel like running.
7. All runners are equal; some are just faster than others.
8. There are no short cuts to run excellence.
9. Look at hills as opportunities to pass people.
10. Don't try to out run dogs.
11. With out goals, training has no purpose.
12. Go for broke, but prepare to be broken.
13. Runners who never fail are runners who never tried anything great.
14. Running is simple. Don't make it complicated.
 
Go. Be. Do.