What an Ordeal

Ran my "longish" run yesterday. Glad I don't have to do it tomorrow. And this is why ...

I stashed my phone, my camera, a credit card, a banana and a handful of Quaker granola bars in my back pocket and headed SE. I met ...

Tom, Darrin, Jeremy, Scott, Mike and ...

Joe for a century (100+ miles) ride this morning at the Ewen's home at 8 bells. Six guys on tri bikes, 5 of them training for Ironman Wisconsin in Sepember and one gal on a road bike. Yikes. What was I thinking? I planned to hang with them as long as I could hoping to get to 100 miles.

Our planned route took us through Eyota, Elba, Altura, Utica, St. Charles. We headed out toward county 9 on the bike path behind Mayo HS.

We turned south on highway 42 and rode south until it intersected highway 52 where we took a fuel break.

It was drizzly/foggy/rainy. We turned around and retraced our path back to Eyota where we stopped at the Cenex/Eyota Market.

Note: They sell Gatorade only in 32 oz bottles there and have no energy/granola bars. Only candy bars. We then rode back to county 9 and headed east. At about 35 miles ... in the rain ... a flat rear tire. DRAT! So I stopped, took off the wheel, got out my tire lever and spare tube and changed the flat. Want to be intimidated gals? Change a flat rear tire in the rain with six guys watching you! One of them even wanted to time me. Not. So. Much ... thank you! My little hand pump just wasn't putting enough air in the tire. Thank you Mike for the CO2 cartridge. I'm going to get one of those now. Along with a couple more tubes. Three, actually. It was quite the day ...

So, we continued east in the rain/spray and turned north on 10 and then east on 2. I believe it stopped raining somewhere in this stretch. We stopped in Elba for another fuel stop after a nice long downhill into the beautiful Whitewater Valley. Note: Very good selection of energy bars/granola bars/Salted Nut Rolls and cold 20 oz. Gatorade here.

Less than a mile outside Elba, Mike flatted. Front wheel. Lucky guy. Much easier and cleaner than the rear tire. Also, no rain at this point.

Feeling like I wanted to get a head start up the long hill so as to not hold them up, I said I'd get going and meet them in a few miles. I made it up the hill, through Altura and down across US 14 and hadn't seen them yet. Well, I'd apparently glanced at the map too quickly as I continued straight across 14 instead of turning right on 14. I got a few miles down then road and was then heading east but I knew we should be done heading east. So I checked my map again, determined I was off course and rode back to 14 and then into Utica. By this time (60 miles) I was losing some mental toughness and wanted to be done. I'm not familiar with these roads. I checked the map and it looked like county 9 kept going east and was called "Bethany" back where it crossed 33 so I rode back to where I'd come from looking for it. Found it, but it was gravel and a dead end. DRAT. So I headed back to Utica AGAIN. I really wanted to be done. Eric was bringing his girlfriend down from the cities for dinner (for us to meet her for the first time) and I wanted to get home. So I decided to just ride back to Roch on US14. Not a great decision. There's a lot of fast traffic on that road, and a lot of junk on the shoulder even though it's a nice wide shoulder. I also had 25 continuous miles of head winds in front of me. Losing more mental toughness at this point. Just west of Chester Woods Park, at 90.66 miles, the rear tire flatted AGAIN. DRAT.

Out of tubes. Thought I had a patch kit, but didn't. Called Matt. No answer. Called Eric. They were in the middle of Oxbow Park (where he used to work) on a gator, but yes they could come rescue me. I also posted a photo and my plight on Facebook. Thank you to all of you that responded and called. Thank you to the 4 motorists who stopped as well. A big Thank You! to Peg, Wally and Dan for driving all the way out there to rescue me too. Eric had more room in his vehicle so he took me home. Those of you that know me well know I'm pretty determined. So when I got home tube number 3 went on the bike and off I went to Salem Corners (almost anyway ... top of the last hill) to finish up the century ride. 103.10 miles.

Third century ride this year (112, 100, 103). What an ordeal. Glad to be off the bike. My bike is a muddy, dirty, sandy mess (which makes me crazy). And it's time for bed.

BTW: I really like Eric's girlfriend. If I get permission, I will post a pic.

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

Nothing to Talk About But the Weather

Not too much bloggable in my life right now, but there's always a little to share I guess. Workouts ... yesterday morning, 10 mile run and lifted (sore triceps today), 20 mile bike in the evening. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful evening, just as today is and was. This morning, I felt like I needed to give my legs a break, so I ran 5 miles and swam for an hour. Was going to go for a bike ride this evening, but time got away from me.

Jen, Jean, Kevin and I met with with MNDot, the city and the RPD regarding traffic control for the Rochester Half Marathon. Thanks to everyone for cooperating ... we are good on the current course for this year. But we will most likely be mixing things up a bit for next year. We still need course marshals. If you can help out, please email jean at runintojean@gmail.com

Saturday morning, I'm riding a 100-110 mile course with Scott and Mike Ewen and probably another person or two. The loop will take us through Eyota, Whitewater, Elba, Altura, Utica, Troy, St Charles and back to Rochester. If you'd like to ride along, let me know! That means I'll do my long run either tomorrow or Sunday. Going to have tired legs on Monday either way.

On the way to Stockholm, WI on Monday I decided I'd like to explore the little towns on the Wisconsin side of the river/Lake Pepin. So Matt and I might try to do that on bike. It's a 70-mile ride. If we don't get to it, I'll take a Friday and drive it. Just something I want to get done before I run out of chances.

Matt is student teaching at JM high school (band). Very large band this year. About 150 students, 30 playing percussion!! Matt said that they've called for 15 cymbals on one piece. BANG!!!

That's all I know. Time to get back to life as I know it.

Good night.

Life

This is an email sent to me by my step-mom, a very special person in my life. Some of them make me cry. I think it makes for a fitting post for today ...

Life
We never get what we want,
We never want what we get,
We never have what we like,
We never like what we have.
And still we live & love.
That's life...

The best kind of friends,
Is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with,
Never say a word,
And then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had.

It's true that we don't know
What we've got until it's gone,
But it's also true that we don't know
What we've been missing until it arrives..

Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they'll love you back!
Don't expect love in return;
Just wait for it to grow in their heart,
But if it doesn't, be content it grew in yours.

It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone,
An hour to like someone,
And a day to love someone,
But it takes a lifetime to forget someone.
 
Don't go for looks; they can deceive.
Don't go for wealth; even that fades away.
Go for someone who makes you smile,
Because it takes only a smile to
Make a dark day seems bright.
Find the one that makes your heart smile!

May you have
Enough happiness to make you sweet,
Enough trials to make you strong,
Enough sorrow to keep you human,
And enough hope to make you happy.
 
Always put yourself in others' shoes.
If you feel that it hurts you,
It probably hurts the other person, too.
 
The happiest of people
Don't necessarily have the best of everything;
They just make the most of everything that comes along their way.
Happiness lies for
Those who cry,
Those who hurt,
Those who have searched,
And those who have tried,
For only they can appreciate the importance of people
Who have touched their lives.
 
When you were born, you were crying
And everyone around you was smiling.
Live your life so that when you die,
You're the one who is smiling
And everyone around you is crying.

That's Life ...

Pizza, Pizza!!

Spent a wonderful afternoon and evening with friends.

We left Rochester at 4 PM for A to Z Bakery & Produce outside Stockholm, WI for pizza.

We'd heard it was very popular, but really had no idea just how popular. There were cars lining both sides of the road leading to the farm. And when we arrived on the grounds there were people picnicing everywhere and a long line, and a long wait (1 hour 35 minutes) for the pizza. We were order number 183. But it was worth it!! The weather was wonderful, the pizza was delicious, the company was outstanding ... and the outing was perfect. Here it is in pictures ...

On The Run

Last night we toasted Kelly's birthday (yesterday). Happy Birthday Kelly!! We miss you!!

And we sang a quick Happy Birthday! to Laura (Sunday).

We were at Margo's home.

I brought bread and homemade cherry jam.

Surprisingly, I think my favorite were the Smoked Stuffed Jalapenos!!

I'll be 'on the run' so to speak again this afternoon/evening. Not literally, but going with 3 or 4 friends to A to Z Bakery and Produce near Stockholm, WI for pizza this evening. You have to bring literally everything but the pizza ... chairs, tables (if you want), place settings, sides, beverages. I found the blog of someone that had been there and it looks great! It was also written up in Minnesota Monthly last issue. I'll be sure to take LOTS of photos! It's only open on Tuesdays 5 to 8 so we're getting an early start as I guess it gets crowded and it's supposed to be a nice, though windy, day.

Yesterday morning I rode 40.24 miles, my southerly loop. The sunrise was beautiful.

Here was my Facebook post when I got back: "‎40.24 mile ride this morning. .4 mph faster avg speed than same route on Thursday. :-) Came upon a horrific scene on county road 117. A car on it's roof, front end wrapped around a telephone pole, airbags deployed, roof caved in, steam coming out of the front end. A young man standing there on his phone. I stopped (police not even there yet) and asked if anyone was inside. He said, No ... just me. I'm OK. I told him how lucky he was to be alive. He has no idea how lucky." It shook me up. First off, I was glad he was OK. Secondly, glad I didn't see it happen. Thirdly, had I ridden by a few minutes early that vehicle could have hit me in the process of flipping. Scary. Lucky.

This morning, I'll run. I need to lift and swim one of these days. It's been a week now.

Hoping the stock market stops the freefall soon. Also scary.

Well, time to get busy. Enjoy your day.

Cooking Light August 2011

Thank you for hosting a wonderful meal Margo!! Happy Birthday Kelly (today)! Happy Birthday Laura (yesterday)!

Runnin' Road Trip

I thought I had enough left in my legs to at least run a 9-mile loop with some of the MN Running Wild runners up in Minneapolis, so at 5:45 AM I headed north on highway 52 to the Stone Arch Bridge on West River Road.

Stone Arch Bridge

Guthrie Theater; Gold Medal Four

St. Anthony Falls

Mill Ruins

I'm guessing 25-30 runners gathered for either 9- or 20-mile routes. Most opted for 20, but that would have really been pushing it for me. I started out with the "Kenyans" (Don Sullivan and company) at 7:30'ish pace. But at about 4 miles, that proved to be a mistake and I backed off. My hill-weary legs were feeling the early hills and too-fast pace for the day. I took the Lake Street Bridge to complete the loop down West River Road. Then I walked/ran the Stone Arch Bridge/Heritage Trail ...

for a total of 11.11 miles. They were a fun and welcoming group!! They have a Facebook page.

I'd gotten an email from Don Sullivan (center of the above photo) after the Lake Wobegon Trail marathon, which he won. That's how I got connected with this group.

After the run about a dozen of us went to the Longfellow Grill (after I got myself thoroughly lost trying to get there!). I had Oatmeal Flapjacks which were very good and very filling. I could only eat 3 1/2 out of 4. Everyone's meals looked delicious. The Minneapolis version of Team R.E.D. was out on the patio. They had a buffet, a keg of beer ... quite the deal. I guess they really do it up!!

Tomorrow is our monthly Cooking Light meal. On the menu:

Renee: Bread
Laura: Wine
Pam: Grilled Stuffed Jalapenos (p. 85)
Mary: Grilled Vegetable Gazpacho (p. 82)
Kathryn: Stone Fruit Cobbler (p. 124)
Margo: Bombay Shrimp Curry with Coconut Rice (p. 34)
Barbara: Market Salad with Goat Cheese and Champagne-Shallot Vinaigrette (p. 142)
Diane: Sesame-Soy Green Beans (p. 32)

Sounds delicious as usual.
 
Good night.