JerBear Shares

A New Love + Marathon Pace Run

2012-01-23T10:00:00.001-06:00

I've recently gotten in to audiobooks. This is kind of a big deal for me. I've always thought audiobooks were kind of... [whispers] cheating. Don't get me wrong, an audiobook is so.much.better than no book at all, but since I'm a pretty crazy fast reader, there was never really a reason to pick up an audiobook instead of a book.

I remember back when I was in college and my brother called me asking for some book recommendations. After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I rattled off some titles I thought he'd enjoy, likely The DaVinci Code as I'd just recently devoured it. You see, my brother, six years my senior, was the awesome athlete of the family. I was the brain. We both dabbled in each other's specialty, he'd destroy some Jeopardy! categories, and I'd make All-Conference honors for volleyball, but for the most part we knew our rolls. So when he asked me this question I got super excited!

ZOMGICANDISCUSSBOOKSWITHMYBROTHERTHISISTHEGREATESTDAYOFMYLIFE!

Turns out, with his new job, he was on the road a lot, and he found that audiobooks helped him pass the time. Yay brother.

Fast forward to me, or rather just bring the attention back to me [me me me!]. I picked up an audiobook from the library a couple of weeks back just to see if it'd be possible to listen to it at work. Outside of the attrocious acting in the audiobook, it was kind of awesome. I liked it so much that I continued to listen on my short commute home. And then kept listening while I was cleaning my apartment when I got home. And even loaded it to my iPod shuffle for my long run. By then the annoying accents and ooooemmmmmgeeeeeeee-ness of the book were more tolerable and I was really enjoying myself!

Since then I've finished two other books and have a few more on hold at the library. If you're interested in trying, I would recommend a pretty "light and/or fluffy" read because I find it hard to be stopped in the middle of something I'm intently concentrating on. Also, for running, I think it'd be better for easy runs/general aerobic runs/parts of long runs. When you're really concentrating on your pace/form/whatevs it's pretty hard to follow the book too.

Look at me combining all my loves in to one thing. Last year I discovered reading books on the treadmill. This year I take my books in my ears on my long runs. Next year I'll probably have a chip implanted in my head so I can read the book in front of my face but still view the running paths beyond that.

Crap. That's an amazing idea!! BRB, heading to the patent office asap!
________

This weekend I tackled my first long run with miles at marathon pace. Naturally we got dumped on with snow, and were under a wind advisory, so gym it was. I hate running on the treadmill. But I also know that attempting to run fast on loose slow would've equated to about 10:30 minute miles. Not exactly MP. I had 13 miles to do with 8 at marathon pace.

Essentially I convinced my brain I had a 5 mile GA run and then an 8 mile MP run so I didn't lose my sanity. Jeopardy came on shortly after my MP miles got going, and while I can't do math while I run, I can still run some Jeopardy categories. Good to know.

Finished 13.1 miles in 2:00:21. Marathon pace miles were:

6. 9:04
7. 9:05
8. 9:05
9. 8:56
10. 8:57
11. 8:56
12. 8:51
13. 8:42
.1 :50

Averaging 8:57 pace. Whoot!

And of course my IT bands are pissy now. :)

Hair Decisions

2012-01-17T23:06:00.001-06:00

In keeping up with my 2012 goals, I did ab work yesterday en route to Operation: Alba Abs (even in the off season) or OAAeitos for short, and my core is still crying so I'd say that's a success. I also successfully avoided my 8 miler all the live long day, so I was forced to hit the treadmill today because apparently winter has decided to come (see temps now below zero, barf).

Luckily the 8 miles didn't take too terribly long. They were supposed to be general aerobic miles (meaning: slow down let's get this heart super efficient, eh? Apparently my training program is a Canadian). I read a book (one of the Pretty Little Liars, so trashy but so good!) and when I got bored with that, I listened to the new Bush CD. I kind of really like it, fyi. The last 2 miles of the run had 10x100 m strides in it, so that spiced things up a bit. Managed to rock those little suckers in 6:58-7:03. And now I'm slightly dreading my ten miler scheduled for tomorrow, because *shockingly* it's supposed to be -10* before I go to work. While 8 wasn't too terrible, another 10 about 12 hours later might suckkkkk.

And in non-running news, I need your advice! I'm getting my hairs did on Thursday and I'm torn about what to do. I always do the same hair style, so I like to change the color up a bit. But usually I don't. Because I'm a wuss like that. Here are my current thoughts:
A)

(source)

Top pic only. I know it's just different lighting for the bottom pic, but I'm trying to get away from the blonde. Being a curly haired gal, your hair is already dry, no sense making it dryer (you hear that Jeri from 3 months ago that decided "ZOMG I SHOULD PUT A BUNCH OF BLONDE HIGHLIGHTS IN MY HAIR!" Uh... no. You shouldn't.... jk)

Or B)

I've had this pic saved on my computer forever. Just looooooove it. Doesn't hurt that her hair is super shiny/healthy/fabo.

Some things to consider:

Red tends to fade like crazy and this girl cannot afford to go in as often as she should (read: usually 3 months, 4 on occasion....).
It's winter so I'm pretty pale. Even when I'm tan I tend to be a pinky-tan. So I'd prefer that the color doesn't make me MORE pink, ya know?

Ok please weigh in, ~~and then send over some monies to cover the bill~~. Wait!? Who wrote that?!?! ;) No worries, I'm sure I'll have found my long sought sugar daddy by then, ya know.... Thursday.... Phew.

Four Eyes + Broken Heart

2012-01-16T16:47:00.001-06:00

If you follow football at all, you know that my heart has a major sad. Green Bay lost last night, and... I'm still tore up about it. And likely will be until August when pre-season rolls around. On the bright side, I will have an extra 3 1/2 hours of my life per week to study with. Nope that doesn't help.

Moving on.

Because I was in a state of mourning today (and last night, and likely the rest of the ~~week, month~~, again until August) I did some retail therapy to soothe my wounds. I've been saying I'm going to get a new pair of eyeglasses for the last 3 years or so. I don't have vision insurance at work, so I've been saving my pennies (dollars in my Health Savings Account), but every time I get a nice little stash of money saved up in there I have some sort of medical bill that eats it up. Annoying. Finally after checking my balance last week, coupled with a Groupon I bought that was $50 for $200 worth of lens+frames I could do it!

My current specs are from 2002 (the last pair my mother was willing to buy me when I was in high school, which is understandable) and they are more than a little beat up. The last couple of months I haven't been able to wear them at all because my eyes are so messed up. I thought I had an eye infection of sorts, but turns out my blind eyes are just blinder (or to be fair, my blind eye...ol' lefty... is even blinder). You know those people that brag about being legally blind? Well that's what my vision was BEFORE this eye change. I'm so awesome.

Anywhosits, armed with 17 different forms of payment and coupon options I hit the store today. Naturally this was after spending the entire morning scouring their online eyeglass selection and sending the links of the ones I liked to Kimi for her review. Speaking of, have you met Kimi? Because if you haven't, she's my twin. I'd planned to get glasses similar to hers because she looks gorg in them, and obviously then I would too. All plans were set in to motion until I arrived in the store and was met head on by their new Kate Spade section.

My bank account started to cry.

Trying on glasses is my favorite thing. They're so fun. And cute! And now that I'm beyond the anxiety ridden four eyes complex of my youth I actually like them. Before I knew it I had 12 different glasses that I liked and had to begin the narrowing process. For a few seconds, I considered taking part in their buy one get one promo... in ADDITION to my groupon'd pair. And then I quickly remembered that I'm not made of money.

When I asked for a quote on my lenses I almost died of a heart attack. Remember me mentioning that I'm blind? Well I have to get reduced lenses so they fit in frames, which isn't cheap. Like... at all. But then I reminded myself

And it was all good. One hour later and my new glasses were ready to go. Pretty happy I decided against a Kate Spade birthday bag. I much prefer the four eyes instead.

And in running news, I knocked out week 1 of marathon training. Only 17 more to go. I had the worst long run of my life on Saturday. Apparently eating a mountain worth of goat cheese the night before *cough when you're lactose intolerant cough* is a bad idea, who knew? It wasn't pretty to say the least.

2012 Goals

2012-01-11T06:00:00.000-06:00

I prefer goals to resolutions, and I've been sitting on this post for a little while to make sure I'm not forgetting anything, but finally here are my goals for 2012.

Running

Run a sub-4 marathon.
Run 200 miles in a month.
Run 1500 miles for the year.
Run a sub 1:50 half marathon.
Break 49 in a 10k.
Finally nab the 22:xx 5k.
Run 100 miles in each month. Surprisingly tough. I always end up under in December.

**see right.... oh hai failed time goals for 2010 annnnnnd 2011.... uff**

Fitness

For the love of God develop a weight routine. Even if that means getting a personal trainer for a session or two.
Practice yoga more. Attend all the studios in town so you don't have that "first timer fear" holding you back from going when you have time and gift certificates to attend!
Remember to do core work outside of bikini season. It'll make you a stronger runner.
Remember your daily vitamins...uh...daily.

Brain

Maintain a 4.0 for grad school.
Don't get overwhelmed by the stress of school (particularly spring 2012 and summer 2012, as I've been told they're intense). Continue to be thrilled that you're following your dream.
Read 52 books. I read 61 in 2011, but I was only in school for 4 months. I think one a week is a tough enough goal with that factored in.
Don't let my "to-read" list on goodreads exceed 200 books. It's currently at 170ish. So I need to finish at roughly the same rate as I add them to that list.
Don't start anymore book series until the currently started ones are completed: Pretty Little Liars (7/11), Dexter (1/5), Sookie Stackhouse (7/11), Uglies (3/4), Matched (2/3), Divergent (1/3).

Personal

Keep a more organized and tidy apartment to further ready myself for future pug bestie(s).
Keep plugging away at the 101 in 1001 project.
Complete Project 365.
Plan a fall 2013 graduation vacation present and start setting aside $$ for it asap. I'm toggling between the Athens Marathon or the Goofy Challenge. Quite the difference, I know.
Man up and get your wisdom teeth removed. (eep!)

_______________

First run of marathon training last night; 8 miles with 4 at tempo pace. Knocked out the tempo miles in 8:32, 8:14, 8:13, 7:55. Sadly I think this many have been one of my last "yayzies I'm wearing shorts in the winter time" runs. The cold and snow and winds a'comin'. Drat.

2011 By the Numbers: 2,045.59

2012-01-10T06:00:00.000-06:00

I did a similar post last year and it was a lot of fun, so I figured I should bring it back for 2011!

Miles ran: 1333.6

Miles away from my goal: 266.4

Miles away from last year's mileage: 31.6 oops!

Miles per week average: 25.65

Miles per month average: 111.13

Total number of runs: 209

Miles per run average: 6.38

Time spent running: 8 days 20 hours

Marathons: 2

Half Marathons: 3

10 mile: 0

10K: 2

Times I said I'd never do a 10k: Countless

5 mile: 1

5K: 2

1 mile: 1

PRs accomplished: 3. Damn you 26.2!

Pairs of shoes purchased: 5

Hotel nights booked: 7

Flights taken: 1

Race road trips taken: 4

Number of runners met: 7. Susan (finally after being bloggy BFFs forever), Lisa (who dominated her first marathon in Fargoooo), Erika (who kindly let me, a stranger at that time, crash at her place for TCM weekend), Karla (who is my new fave local running buddy), and her hubby John (who's a crazy fast runner in town), Shawn (who's awesome despite the fact that he likes the Vikings), Hannah (who is insanely adorable and made my weekend by referring to Erika, Susan, and I as "big time running bloggers"), and I'm sure there are others, but I'm struggling to decipher 2010 from 2011 at this point. :)

People I'm still bummed I didn't meet: 1. Katie

Runner BFF Race Weekend Reunions: 1

States crossed off my "run a race in every state" list: 2--North Dakota and Pennsylvania

Awesome Race Photos garnered: Countless at the Philly Marathon. I think we got 30-40.

Dear God I can't believe you'd post those race pics on the internet: 0? I don't remember any this year. WIN!

Cute boys encountered on the bike trail: 0-3. Only because Kyle isn't an avid runner... yet. jk, that was cheesy. We all know I'm not gung ho about scrawny runner boys, but I did see a pack of 3 beefy ex-college football player type (ie: my type) running together with fuel belts on. Granted it was towards the end of a super hot long run, so perhaps it was a mirage.

Number of times Megan and I wished Jenn was with us for a race week: 3 for 3.

Number of sub 4 crash and burn attempts: 1

Number of times I was proud of my racing efforts: 3

Number of times Kyle ran with me: 3

Brookings Marathon Training

2012-01-09T06:00:00.001-06:00

According to Einstein, the definition of insanity is performing the same act and expecting different results.

FYI: I had this poster on my wall through high school and most of college. I kind of love it.

In regards to the marathon, I have now completed 4 marathons with roughly the same results. All 4 attempts have had similar training programs. Short, 10-14 weeks, because I have serious training A.D.D. and my body has a tendency to break down and most of them have been constructed from the Runners World training programs. I dabbled with the Pfitz program for Philadelphia, but only the last 5 weeks of it.

For the Brookings Marathon, I'm throwing myself in to it headfirst. 18 weeks of training seems like a long g.d. time to train for one event that'll last less than 240 minutes. However, I know that my main weakness, other than my ability to stay healthy, is my endurance, so I can use all the concentrated help I can get.

The Pfitz training program breaks the training up in to 4 mesocycles leading up to race day. Endurance building is a huge focus of the training, and a majority of the workouts are based on heart rate. I'll also be putting in a good chunk of miles. Usually more miles = more broken Jeri, but I'm hoping I've got that under control. Miles make champions, I think the famous Angry Runner once said. And while I'll never be a champion at 26.2 i wouldn't mind feeling like one with a monster PR. I just tallied up the planned miles from today to May 12th, and I have 801.2 miles on deck. Uff da. It's go time!

18 weeks starts TODAY!

I'm Great Under Pressure

2012-01-07T13:05:00.001-06:00

I've had an interesting past couple of days.

Wednesday night I threw a pizza in to the oven as I was showering after my run because I was capital S-Starving. When the timer went off, I went to check the pizza and to set the oven temp on broil, when I realized that a small piece of wax paper had may its way in to the oven (I'm guessing it got stuck to the bottom of the pizza pan) and was burning nicely in the bottom of it. Cue Jeri being struck with fear and panic as her top three fears include: fire, flying, and lightning. However, when confronted with catastrophic events, I am always very very calm and level headed, and this time was no different (must be all the practice I have during my dreams when I'm being chased, etc. and have to outsmart the bad guys to get away, thanks anxiety, you're a real peach!). I grabbed a pot holder to shield my hand, and swiped at the paper to remove it from the oven. Most of it came off in the pot holder and engulfed that in to flames...yes, in my hand, and the remainder went up in flames and quickly turned to soot. I attempted to smother the flame without burning myself, and thankfully I was successful. I'm guessing our burn nurses aren't nearly as cute as Susan, so I could go without visiting them, thankyouvermuch.

As soon as I was out of crises way, I had a delightful little panic attack where I couldn't breathe for a couple of minutes. Thank God it was AFTER I was out of harms way and not upon seeing the flames, because... that could've been bad.

Moving on to Thursday night, Kyle had been complaining all day of an ear ache and head ache, and I thought he was just using them as an excuse to get out of running with me. But he ended up running with me, so I didn't think too much of it. Until he woke up in the middle of the night and said that his ear was all crusty. Gross. Then from the bathroom I hear, "Uh... apparently I'm bleeding..." Since he was acting calm I didn't think too much of it, until he came back to the bedroom and looked at the pillow. My pillow, that was now covered in blood. Now I'm not a doctor, but I think that anytime you're bleeding out of YOUR FREAKIN' HEAD it's probably not a good thing.

I start asking him how he's feeling, if his ear hurts, if he's dizzy, etc. And then go to town on google. Most of the results show that it's likely an infection or a ruptured ear drum that are causing the bleeding, and typically antibiotics are prescribed. Being the giant hypochondriac that I am, I ignore the postings that talk about tumors, and don't relay that information to Kyle. He goes back to sleep after promising that he'll go to acute care as soon as they open in the morning. Me, certain that he's going to fall asleep and never wake up, spends the rest of the night laying in bed with one hand on him making sure he's still breathing.

Luckily, it wasn't anything major and my diagnosis was fairly correct (remind me again why I didn't continue on the doctoral path.... oh yeah... biology suckkkkkked), and I had further proof that I'm great undah presshah! (please sing that last line for correct effect.)

And now today I have my long run that I'm doing a stellar job of avoiding. But if someone is having issues on the bike trail, I'll be prepared to take charge of the situation, and then immediately sink in to a pile of non-functioning goo once the issue is fixed. Neat.

Edited to add: Naturally this is only referring to emergency situations. When it comes to racing/running, or hell any sporting events at all I tend to crumble under pressure. Just so we have things clear on that front. ;)

Shorts in January FTW

2012-01-05T22:13:00.001-06:00

Hello chafing my old friend....
You've come to destroy my thighs again....
(to be song to the tune of Simon and Garfunkel's The Sounds of Silence).

I think I may have figured out a very important component to inner thigh chafage: I only chafe when I'm not pouring sweat. Ergo, my sweat is equal to, if not greater than Body Glide in awesomeness, and I should bottle it up and market it. Screw Scarves for PRs, we're talking JerBear Shares Her Sparkly Sweat (for a nominal fee, obvs).
_____________

I finally got out for my first run of 2012 yesterday. Just savoring the big ol' goose egg in my running log as long as possible I guess. However, when the temp was still in the 40's at 8pm, I had no choice but to head out for some miles. My legs were still pretty tight from my long run since I had failed to do a shake out run the day after... or any run at all until Wednesday, and my left calve was sir cranky pants. The last mile and a half my legs finally felt good.

But even better, I got to run in shorts! In January! At night time! It was kind of amazing.

And tonight I got some company on the first couple of my run when Kyle wanted to join me. Yippee! Even better news was that he thought it was a lot easier than last week's run. I think I'm going to keep a training log of Kyle's runs and surprise him with something cool when he gets to 100 miles. I remember how big of a deal it was when I hit 100 miles the first time I started tracking my mileage. And I still have the Fossil watch I bought myself as a reward. And the Brett Favre Jersey for the 200th mile. Ha.

I had planned to just do some easy miles, but then realized I wouldn't have a hard run this week outside of my long run. Since the route is fairly hilly, I decided I would run the hills hard and recover on the downhills and straightaways. It was actually pretty fun and was enough variety that it kept my mind entertained. And I swear to you, some of those hills were like 4-5 blocks long. That's a big hill for this "I heart running on the prairie" girl. I managed to average a 9:05 on the solo portion of my run.

Edited to add: After I hit publish I realized this was my 500th post. I think I had planned to do something special for it, for you all, but obviously I didn't. Remind me in a month, maybe I'll do a random something since I suck.

A Look Back Over 2011

2012-01-03T08:00:00.000-06:00

As I've mentioned previously, 2011 was one of the best years yet. And what kind of blogger would I be if I didn't recap the crap out of it?

January

I rang in the new year with a guy I'd know for a few weeks.

I then Santa surprised me with a trip down to visit Jenn in Houston. We cheered on Green Bay to a playoff victory....

Went for a long run in shorty mc-short-short shorts.....

....and piano barred it up in cutesy dresses (yes in January).

Upon my arrival home from Houston I spent the next 6 days cramming for the GRE. FUNSIES!

February

My boys won the Superbowl, and I still have a permagrin because of it.

March

I tackled the Irishman challenge--5m, 5k, and 1 mile races. It was cold. And painfully windy. And the Guinness I drank in between the 5m and 5k caused me to run my first ever buzzed race!

Speaking of Guinness.... I celebrated my favorite holiday the best way I know how.

And then promptly ditched out on the 20 miler I had scheduled for the next day. Oopsies.

April

I ran my coldest/windiest/smartest race and was rewarded with a PR for my efforts.

My parents came and were uber paparazzi/cheering crew along the route. It was amazing.

I got my acceptance in to grad school for Library and Information Science at the University of Alabama. ROLL TIDE ROLL!

May

I ran my first ever 10k, after vowing to never do one.

I surprised myself with a better than expected race time, and a new fave race distance.

Booty shorts FTW!

And my photog bff Kathryn took amazing pics of me.

Channeling my inner Zooey Deschanel obvs.

Fargo marathon marked another sub-4 flop.

June

I spent a weekend in the cities with my bff Sheana.

I proved that I can't take more than one cutesy photo in a row. My bad.

And we found a Germanfest.

July

My favorite little man came to South Dakota to visit.

And I didn't want to let him go back home to Texas. :(

And after declaring my love for the 10k distance, I declared my intense hatred for attempting it in 95% humidity. Guys.. I can SWIM a 10k uber fast. ;)

August

I raced my only 5k of the year and PR'd. I was bummed because the course was short, and it would've still been a PR (obviously by a lesser margin) if it was accurate.

And I made my first trip to Tuscaloosa, AL for grad school orientation. I almost melted. Alabama in August is no joke kids.

September

I had major PR plans for the Sioux Falls half and those went out the window due to IT band issues. I finished anyway, marking my 7th consecutive year of running it.

October

I traveled to the cities to spectate the Twin Cities Marathon and meet the super sweet and speedy Susan!

She brought me this sweet shirt, and even ran slow with me. And to thank her, I almost busted my skull on the run. Oy.

And she destroyed her race. Obvs.

I tried to redeem my fall half marathon failure in Fargo, only to learn a very valuable lesson: food poisoning is not proper pre-race protocol. But beyond that, it was a super fun weekend with Megan!

November

Running besties reunion in Philly!

If one of us poops, we all poop!*

*Glad we decided that before the race.

Happiest I've ever looked after running 25 miles.

Marathon #4 is complete. TEAM AWESOME.

December

I celebrated my 28th birthday with a giant lunchtime birthday marg.

I contemplated buying this hat for Bama game days.....

And after a long day of shopping, I walked away with this little buddy.

After shopping it was time to refuel again with my favorite gals.

And to stick my mouth on all of the cotton candy. It's mah birfday, I do whad i whant!

3 of the reasons my birthday was the best: Jenn+Megan+FOOD

Cotton candy feather plume FTmfW.

And I rang in the new year with a new friend from 2011.....

and that one guy I started the year with.

I don't know how 2012 could get any better, but I'm willing to make a go at it!

December Running and Life in Review

2012-01-02T08:00:00.000-06:00

December In Review

Total Miles: 61 down from 101 last month.

Total Time: 9:46:53 down from 16:19:26

Total Runs:

Highest weekly mileage:

12/26/2011-1/1/2012 28 4:28:55 I've yet to get my run in for today, so it'll be a smidge higher than that,

but it's January so that doesn't really count anyway.

Favorite run: The 2.22 miles that Kyle ran with me this week. Collectively now... awwwww. After saying he wanted to start running with me a couple of weeks ago, he finally did this week. He said I was in a crummy mood so he thought it'd cheer me up. What a guy. We went the farthest he ever has with me (we usually do 1.75-2 miles) and I was pretty stinkin' proud of him. Doing the run/walk thing he almost ran 2 miles in all. **immediately scans the local running calendars for goal 5ks to run with him**

Most hardcore run: My tempo run this week. It wasn't really *that* hardcore because I hadn't really planned on doing it, thus not able to psych myself out about it prior to the run. I had 6 miles to run and after my 2 mile warm up I wanted to pick up the pace for a bit. Since I haven't done any speedwork outside of some striders, I thought it was be abysmal at best. The first "tempo" mile was a 8:48 and it sucked. But like it always does, it got so much easier after the first tempo mile. I decided I'd shoot for my remaining miles to be in the 8:30s, 8:20s, and 8:10s. 8:48, 8:20, 8:09, 7:52

And my heart rate only started creeping to the upper levels of my tempo HR zone at the end of the 6th mile. Maybe there's something to this heart rate training, eh?

Favorite race: zero.

Bike Miles: 14.6! I biked! Look at me a-cross trainin'! My achilles was being a turd and I needed some endorphins.

Favorite Jams: I've just been listening to my playlist from Philly. Any new tunes out there I need to explore?

My subpar training in December can be explained by a) burnout b) possible injury on the horizon and c) too much fun stuff going on.

To recap my life, because I've really been slacking on the blog (which I'm sure no one is really concerned about):

I finished my first semester of grad school. And I knocked out a 4.0. What's that, I already bragged about this? Well now I've bragged about it twice.
I got to spend some quality time with my lover Jenn. We celebrated her loverboy's, little bro's (got that?) 21st birthday.

For some reason, the only picture I have documenting the night is to show off the sweet shirt that she got me for my birthday. L-o-v-e. For reals.

And then I had the most delightful Christmas I can remember in a really long time. I got spoiled, I got to do some spoiling, win win all around. True story: I wish i was richy rich and could just buy people gifts all the time, but I'm not so I look forward to the once a year that I set aside money to do that.
Followed swiftly by the best birthday ever. I'd like to think that Jenn flew back to the states just to attend my 28th birthday. Please don't tell me otherwise. More pics to come in a further post, I'm sure.

I finally started to get some decent mileage in this past week, including an impromptu progression tempo run that ended with a sub-8 mile, and my first double digit run since Philly, with 12 miles knocked out yesterday. I know I keep saying "I'm back" but perhaps I really am now.
Last night I got to ring in the new year with some of my favorite people. Many thanks to this guy who helped to make 2011 one of the best years yet!

2011 Goals: Win, Lose, or Draw?

2012-01-01T12:41:00.001-06:00

I, along with the rest of the blog world, threw out some lofty goals a mere 365-ish days ago. Some were a bust, and some were a giant win. Shall we take a gander?

Running and Fitness

Break 4 hours in the marathon

FAIL. But not for lack of trying. 2012 will be there year for this.

Run a sub 1:50 half marathon

Close but no cigar. Like 57 seconds close. But honestly, I could not have ran a stitch faster than I did that day. I dry heaved for about 8 minutes after crossing the finish line, if that's any indicator.

Run a 5k in 22:xx

FAIL. Again. I was somewhat close on this, but it was on a short course. I also only raced one 5k this year. What the heck? who am I?

Become a mentally tough runner

I count this one as a win. I had a couple of races this year that I wanted to give up on for pain/injuries/potential diarrheal explosions on the race course (Fargo half food poisoning, I'm looking at you here...), but didn't. But there's still plenty of room for improvement!

Practice yoga more regularly (either alone or at a studio)

Fail. Although I have bought some groupons and fitness class passes to make this a go for 2012. Baby steps, obvs.

Find new running buddies!

Success! I ran with a running group a couple of times and went on some running dates with Dailymile friends.

Stay injury free

Fail. Better luck next year!

Run 1600 miles for the year

Holy crap, this was my goal? Way fail. I think halfway through the year I settled on 1400, and I didn't even swing that.

Lift regularly (regularly is a loose term here FYI)

Fail of epic proportions. Although I have asked Kyle to come with me to the gym to help me get a weight routine going. I've also toyed with doing a personal training session or two with the trainer at my gym who runs marathons and does tris. Baby steps. Again.

Personal Goals

Get in to a Master's program for Library Science

Success! Roll Tide Roll!

Join a book club

Success! I attended a few put on by the public library. And then my work schedule switched to two nights a week and my class schedule was the other two nights. Maybe by the time I'm done with school I can be leading the book clubs. ;)

Join a Stitch and Bitch group

Fail. Again the local group met on my work night. Bummer.

Continue to find fun crafty ways to utilize my creative side

Fail. All my limited free time is taken up by running and reading. Crafting will have to wait another 5 semesters. That's ok with me.

No more truck driver mouth (no offense to any (?) truck drivers who may read my blog)

I'd say I'm better with this. It tends to flair up after I hang out with Jenn. ;)

Take more photos (rekindle photo project: Project 52!)

WIN! All done! (Once I post the last few pics to my blog!)

Average more scarf sales per month than in 2010

Fail. Although I rarely advertised because I had so little time to crochet.

Live and love life

One of the best years ever. Major success!

So what did we learn here? Anything running related, I bombed at, and anything that enhanced me as an individual I succeeded. Hmm... ok then. Here's to 2012!

Best Books of 2011

2011-12-30T20:51:00.000-06:00

In 2010 I set a goal for myself to read one book per week in 2011. When I got accepted in to grad school, I realized that my reading "for fun" time might be disappearing, so I picked up the pace. This summer I created quite the book goal cushion for myself, and I completed my goal in early November with 7 weeks to spare.

Now, I know most of you are here for my running antics, but I'd be a bad future librarian if I didn't inspire you to pick up a book in 2012. The following are my favorite books that I read in 2011 (please note, this isn't a "best of 2011 list, because a good chunk of them have been out longer than just this year). Also, as you can tell from my list, my preferred reading genres are young adult, running, fiction, and some chick lit sprinkled in for good measure.

Young Adult

To say that I devoured The Hunger Games books is an understatement. I really loved them, and loved the main character Katniss, even if her role has come under some scrutinize for the somewhat obnoxious love triangle, woe is me, stuff.

Just when I thought I couldn't get more sucked in to the young adult, dystopian world genre, along came Divergent. Another book I flew through and quickly became my favorite of the genre. And by genre I'm stating that as favorite dystopian novel, and favorite YA novel of 2011.

But to be sure, I did have to read Delirium, which was almost on par with the Hunger Games in awesomeness. I'm looking forward to the direction that both series will take.

I was definitely not expecting the intensity of The Book Thief from a YA novel. Such an emotional book, I kept having to remind myself that it wasn't an adult book. Incredibly good, but very emotionally draining.

Running

Advanced Marathoning is on most runner's shelves. I'd scanned it previously and realized the programs were too advanced for me, but noted that I definitely wanted to tackle them in the future. When I mentioned that I was thinking of doing a fall marathon, Danielle sent me my very own copy. We've become almost inseparable since then.

Fiction

The Story of Beautiful Girl is a book that brought me to crippling sobs. It is a beautifully written, heart-wrenching novel that is a must-read. Definitely one of my favorite books of all time.

I would go so far to say that The Night Circus is one of my favorite books read in 2011. Such whimsy and amazingness. One of the first times I've finished a book and hoped it'd be made in to a movie, because I'm not sure my imagination did it justice.

I feel like I was one of the last people to read The Room . My sister in law kept asking if I had read it, so I finally did, and wow. Definitely worth the time. It's told in the perspective of a little boy who's whole world is a tiny room. Very intense.

Again, I'm probably one of the last people to read Water for Elephants. I swear I started to read it a few years ago, and I could not get in to it, but when I picked it up, it wasn't the same book I was thinking of. I read it because the movie was coming out and knew I'd see it at some point. I was super sucked in to the circus and the love story.

I was not expecting what I got out of So Much Pretty. It was a lot darker than I had anticipated, and maybe that's why I liked it so much. It caught me off-guard.

The Housekeeper and the Professor is one of the first books I read in 2011, so the details are a bit hazy, but I remember that I loved it. I read it for a book club at the downtown library, and then was ill the day it was discussed. I should probably re-read it to remember why I gave it 5 stars. Or you should read it and remind me.

I really loved The Discovery of Witches but felt like the ending was so up in the air. And then I realized it was written as a trilogy. And then I felt dumb. Lots of supernatural fun and intrigue. Can't wait for the rest of the books to roll out. I do think it had a bit of a slow start, so beware of that.

There are many other books that made away with 4 stars, so feel free to check out my "Bookworm Page" for a full list of books.

Disclosure: If you click on the book and buy the book from Amazon, I get like a fraction of a penny. ;)

The Time I Fell Off the Foam Roller

2011-12-20T21:18:00.002-06:00

I got home from work tonight and was putzing around getting ready for my run. I sat down on the foam roller and sent out a "help me!" tweet regarding what the heck to wear in "feels like" 20 degree temps. I remember what to wear in crazy cold and above freezing.... the middle... not so much.

Well.........
a) none of you jerks responded back to me because obviously you don't care if I freeze my petunias off

and

b) it wouldn't have mattered anyway, because by the time I actually got out the door it was REALLY 24 degrees, and with the windchill it was 13 or something insane like that.

But still, next time I throw out a HALP tweet, you'd all better respond lickity split like, kapeesh?

Anywho, while catching up on my twitter feed (and waiting for you turd faces to NOT respond to me...yup! still bitter about it!) I decided to get my foam roll on. Since I'm getting back in the running thing my foam roller and I need to become besticles yet again. I started off rolling my butt. And then moved on to my upper butt/hip area. All the while scrolling through my phone a-catchin' up on the twitterz. When.....

WHAM!

I rolled right off the foam roller and smucked my head on my couch.

And immediately tweeted about it. Duh.

And then got back on and continued to check the twittahz because I obviously don't learn lessons.

Moral of the story: sometimes multi-tasking is good. Other times it can cause you to crack your skull. And yet other times still you just feel like a ding dong and then announce it to twitter (and shortly there after...the blog world.)

Holiday Wishlist + Back on Track

2011-12-18T16:47:00.000-06:00

A few weeks back, Kyle asked me what I wanted for Christmas/Birthday. To which I replied, "WTH? Don't you follow my blog??!?! I have a list 2x a month for Chrissakes..." And then he pressed my mute button. Or he would've if I came with one.

This is essentially the cutest of the cute. I'm a cardigan wearing fool. I've often joked that I only want to be a librarian, because I already dress like one. This is crazy expensive for a cardi, but you guys... it SPARKLES aka it's meant for me and my glitter fart self.

Buy it here.

I don't own an Alabama hoodie. When I was doing damage at the Alabama bookstore I was sporting two underarm sweat marks, and some significant backsweat, so a hoodie was the farthest thing from my mind. Turns out, it's still the arctic tundra back at home, and this would come in handy. Plus it's freakin cute.

Buy it here.

One of the people I follow on Twitter posted this bag as their Xmas gift to themselves. So immediately I needed it. Kyle let me wear my new Lululemon jacket out on Saturday night (our one year anniversary....awwwww) to which I replied, neat so this must be my anniversary gift, you can get me this bag for Xmas! That... didn't go over well.

Buy it here.

Speaking of my new Lululemon jacket, I won't be getting any of the above items, because I already got this beauty.

And I already know that my mom picked out (with my extreme assistance) the two most awesome gifts for my birthmas, so we can probably ignore this post all together. But just in case I get a huge anonymous check for birthmas, I'd like to have an idea of what to get myself. Moving on.... ;)

I adore this scarf. I need to learn to knit, asap. Just not as many options crocheting!

Buy it here.

And this would've been my dream gift as a kid.... annnnd I'd still love it.

Buy it here.

And finally these amazing tights.

Buy it here.

___________________
Moving on to the running front, I've gotten back on track this week. I did an easy 5 miler and a 5 miler that included some heart rate testing. Very interesting stuff. And I managed my first "long run" in the last month knocking out 8 miles today. No worries, the 8 miles was essentially more difficult than the 26.2 miles in Philly. Someone remind me of this next time I take a little time off from running. Oy.

I had to take walk breaks on my run today to get my heart rate to come down, and that didn't really help. But at least it was a super gorgeous day out. Capris and a long sleeve at the end of December? Sign me up! I was bummed to see two dudes in shorts, but since they were wearing jackets, stocking hats, and gloves I figured I win for net least amount of running clothes. Yes, it's a contest.

The Sweetest Words

2011-12-15T07:52:00.000-06:00

The other night Kyle asked me a question I've been waiting forever for him to ask:

Will you create a running training program for me?

I squealed and shrieked. And then started spouting out of a multitude of questions. And then I think I freaked him out. Baby steps, Jerbear.

As you may have noticed, I fell off the blog wagon after posting my grand goal for the rest of the month/year. And that's because I fell off the running wagon as well. I had some pain in my foot that I started to affectionately refer to as my "stress fracture foot" and after a couple of runs sans knee strap my knee was feeling wonky. Couple that with upcoming finals, one of which that was 40% of my final grade (NBD, I'm just having a panic attack thinking about it now!), and some possible burn out on the horizon, I decided to put running on the back burner for a bit.

I was a little concerned when I wasn't missing running. At all. I was sleeping in on my late days at work. I was sleeping in on the weekend. It was... kind of amazing. I was also studying my little booty off during every second of free time, and it was great not to have to stress about fitting in an hour of running in my already crammed day.

But Saturday I took my tough final, and Saturday night I celebrated, as I think is necessary. And Sunday I rewarded myself with a run. Just a measly 3 miler. But it was nice. And then I watched Green Bay put up another tally in the win column. GO PACK GO!

Monday I woke up with more knee annoyance, and I was pissssssssssed. I complained to Kyle that "I JUST WANT TO GO FOR A RUN G.D. IT!" And he said... good. Finally. And he was right. FINALLY I was excited to get back in to it.

I did a lot of foam rolling on Monday and Tuesday, and knocked out an easy 5 miler with strides on Wednesday morning. Granted my "easy" heart rate isn't quite what it was pre-Philly. But apparently endurance eating doesn't equate to endurance running. Wish you all would've told me that... jerks.

And tomorrow is me and Kyle's running date. And I'm pretty excited about it. Since I'm not begging him to run with me, as has been the case the 3 other times he's ran with me, and it's him requesting it, I think it's a good sign that he's excited to do it.

And as for my first semester of grad school, unofficially knocked out a 4.0, while working full time and training for two half marathons and a full marathon. ::gives herself 3 gold stars and 2 successive pats on the back:: ROLL TIDE!

P.S. Have you met my niece? She's kind of beautiful, no? Takes after her auntie obvs. ;)

The Votes Are In

2011-12-01T17:30:00.000-06:00

The ballots are closed.

All smear campaigns have been put to bed.

With the Philadelphia Marathon completed, that marks the end of my 2011 racing season, and thus the end of Danielle and my CHALLENGE! Since I need a 4:21 something er other and ran a 4:26 something or other, she is the clear champion.

Congratulations to Danielle!

(at least she's reppin' TEAM GREEN!)

Interesting fun fact: As I was checking out my garmin stats, I happened to catch the "moving time" count on the site, so assumedly the times we were "using the facilities" or "waiting for others to use the facilities" the ol' garmin was not ticking away. What's that time, you ask? 4:19.

Well...shit.

Literally.

:)

I'd be up for a rematch in 2012. It was a delight to be your competitor while also being one of your biggest fans. :D

Runner in Real Life + November in Review

2011-11-29T18:52:00.001-06:00

I have spent far too much time running in cold and allergy season.

Yesterday, while leaving the post office, my nose started running. Without giving it much thought, I looked over my shoulder to make sure there was no one "in range" and almost let a snot rocket fly.....while dressed in nice work attire. Granted I live in South Dakota, so perhaps people would just assume I'm a farm kid (no offense farm kids, but I learned to "farmer blow" from you).

Oy. Glad I caught myself.

After logging my run on Monday I realized I'd be 2.3 miles short of 100 for the month, and clearly I could not have that happen. I did some quick rearranging and squeezed in a short 2.3 on Tuesday before class. Phew. Crisis averted! And then I was a dumb dumb and accidentally ran 6 miles on Wednesday instead of 5, because I was too lazy to map out a run. Whatever.......

My knees have been a bit annoyed this week, so I'm icing and rolling like crazy to get things back to normal. After perusing the Philly race photos, I'm surprised my left knee works at all. The foot plant I was sporting to (I'm assuming) alleviate the pressure/pain on my blood-blister-sporting-pinky toe was atrocious. It almost hurts just to LOOK at the pics. Ouch.

Speaking of pics... here's one to tide you over for a smidge....

November In Review

Total Miles: 101 down from 170.7 last month. (119.7 miles from November 2010.)

Total Time: 16:19:26 down from 26:54:05. (18:02:34 last November.)

Total Runs: 15. Not bad for being sick for a week, and then taking 5 days off after the marathon. Avg. 6.73 miles/run.

Highest weekly mileage:

11/14/2011 — 11/20/2011:

39.2 Mi

6:28:49

Favorite run: I was enjoying a monster day of running high when I ran a speedy 3 miler followed by another 3 miler 3 hours later. Two-a-day domination? Why not.

Most hardcore run: Yikes... I didn't really have a hardcore run. My last scheduled tempo run was during my sick week, so it would appear that other than the previously mentioned speedy 3 miler, I didn't do any hardcore runs, other than some mid-week double digit runs, which I heart.

Favorite race: Philadelphia Marathon. Hands down. Almost tied with my fave race ever.... :D

Bike Miles: 0.

Favorite Jams: Glee's Adele mash up. l-o-v-e. Doesn't hurt that I have a monster Santana crush. Mmmm.

Back to it

2011-11-29T06:00:00.000-06:00

My legs and mind were ready to run days before my toe would allow. I was shuffling along in dress shoes with no socks (in 30 degrees some mornings, brr!) because any extra friction on my shoe caused extreme pain. I had to drain my toe's blisters daily. Barf. Finally Thursday I was all set to enjoy our 60 degree Thanksgiving day for a run in the sun. And then my parents dropped me off at my place and I realized that my cell phone was in the back seat of their car. Fail.

Instead of getting my nice little spring weather frolic in, I had to jump in my car and chase them down the interstate. By some grace of God, I managed to see them pull off to get gas about 30 miles south of my city, and could retrieve my phone, instead of following them all the way home-home, only to turn around and drive back. Once I got back to town, I was so hungry and crabby that a run was the last thing on my mind.

But since I wasn't able to get in a run, I wasn't able to commit to a super fun 5k on Friday night. A bunch of my runner friends were doing the Jingle Bell 5k, and were dressing up as Santa and his reindeer, decked out in battery pack Christmas lights. I'm cheap, and just could not justify spending $35 and possibly being injured in a 5k, because I wasn't smart enough to make sure my legs were okay beforehand.

While they were running, I got a nice leisurely 3.5 mile run in and everything seemed ok.

Sunday I got a nice 6 miler in, with what could be one of the last days I can run sans coat. Judging by everyone else out running, I probably should've been wearing one too, but it was nice in the sun (but I froze in the shade, holy brr!).

My next round of training starts the 2nd week of January, and Shawn had recommended that until I start up, I should really focus on some good base building. Try to rack up the miles, but to do so at recovery or general aerobic heart rate zones. He also recommended that I do a max heart rate test so I know my exact zones instead of my rough guestimation.

I created a pre-training program (because that's what all normal people do) based on Pfitz post marathon plan, and then a couple more weeks tacked on, and put it on the fridge on Sunday. After logging my 6 mile run, I realized that I needed 141.7 miles to hit my goal of 1400 miles for the year. That averaged out to 28.7/week which seemed.... tough but doable. So I quickly consulted the fridge to see that from November 28th-December 31st, I have 142 miles planned.

Interesting how things like that work out, eh? :)

Philadelphia Marathon Weekend

2011-11-25T18:41:00.001-06:00

You're all thoroughly briefed on how the Philadelphia Marathon went down, but that was only a mere 4 1/2 hours of our awesome Philly Reunion weekend! Come along for all the fun details!

Megan and I traveled together from SoDak to Philly. We took advantage of the BOGO Starbucks offer from 2-5 in the Mpls airport, even though we had to visit two separate Starbucks to do so. I think I would've gone nutzo on the cashier who tried to tell us we need a coupon if there hadn't been another one approximately 17 feet away. Then I finally got to meet Shawn! We've ran at least one of the same races, and have meant to meet up at least 4-5 times when I've been in the cities for fun or race weekends, but it just hasn't happened. Go figure, he'd be on my flight to Philly. That worked out quite swell.

Once we landed in Philly we set out to find JENN! We were freaking out because the arrival signs weren't showing her flight, and the one that was showing a flight from Atlanta wasn't set to get in until 11. GAH! Finally as we decided to head towards baggage claim we saw her. Lots of squealing ensued. I mean... LOTS. OF. SQUEALING. It was obnoxious.

We were all starving so we hit the Hard Rock Cafe that was right next to our hotel. Starving girls order a ginormous sampler platter right? Right. But then our actual orders came out... and our stomachs started to cry. I've never wasted so much food. And because we didn't have a fridge in our hotel, I just had to wave goodbye to it.

Not kidding, there wasn't a crumb left of the apps but I probably ate 2 bites of my burger. FAIL! I apologize to the starving children all over the world. :(

As we were having a grand old time catching up, a super loud rock band took stage. Since we're not proficient in sign language, morse code or telepathy, we just awkwardly sat and looked at each other... and the stage... and then would hurriedly try to get in a convo in between songs.

We're just not that in to you... sorry.

We decided to hightail it out of there and enjoy some vino in our hotel lounge. Because two bottles of wine on top of two beers is perfect marathon fuel. It's been a while since I've laughed SO HARD. I love these girls and it was so great to catch up with Jenn. Just not the same to babble through email. After some drinks we finally went to bed, but it was like a grade school slumber party. We talked and talked and talked. And after about an hour, Jenn and I realized that Megan was no longer participating in the convo. Oooops. Sorry sleeping beauty! But of course we just kept talking.

After finally crashing at 2am, 9 came around pretty darn early. And because we all assumed someone else had set an alarm, it's a good thing we just magically woke up at 9. We got ready and hit up the expo. We stayed about 1 1/2 blocks from the expo which was awesome.

Can you tell I didn't get enough beauty sleep? Uff da.

I got 99 problems but a BIB ain't one!

That song was in my head... all week. #annoying

#hashtaginreallife

Ready to rock Philly!

Who looks this chic for a race expo? Jenn... betch.... ;)

Race bib EEEEEEEE!

Oh hai Hal!

Hey Jenn! Go pose by those balloons. YES! Perfect!

Photographer gold right here, no worries.

Yes, we'll take the escalator, thankyouverymuch.

I love that they're head tilting in completely opposite directions. Makes me dizzy. :)

My baby niece was due the weekend of the race, and I just knew she'd make her appearance on race day. I secretly thought she'd arrive as we were crossing the finish line, but she showed up a few hours after. I found this super cute onesie, and had to snatch it up!

After the expo and a quick bite to eat, we hit the streets for a quick shake out run. We wanted to run to the race start to get our bearings for the next morning, and see exactly how far it was from our hotel. Jenn's garmin took 1200 years to find a satellite so it made time for a photo op.

And 900 stop lights en route to the start line also made time for photo ops.

Finish line pic! Yes, I'm wearing some of the brightest clothes I own, why do you ask?

In case it ended with a photo finish, we were practicing our sprinter leans.

Ok, now I'm getting cold.

After our two mile run, we somehow ended up shopping.... in our running clothes. We hit up H&M, Lululemon (I'd never been, shocker alert!), and a running store. Somehow my bank account came away unscathed. We walked back to our hotel but my legs were killing me. We'd been on our feet pretty much non-stop since 9am. Uh oh. My calves were super knotted up, so I tried to foam roll them in to submission...... :/

Dinner time! We had planned to order italian food to go from Maggio's across the street, but the wait on to-go food was a trillion hours, so we went to the restaurant in our hotel. It wasn't anything special, but we did match for dinner so that's a plus.

And I had to order dessert, because I wasn't in love with my meal. And oh my goodness, it made up for the lackluster dinner. Smores sundae... you have my heart.

And then we ran the race. And my calves STILL felt like crap. Super duper tight and obnoxious, and I kept waiting for them to cramp up during the race because they hurt SO BAD walking around the day before. But nada. Three cheers for the legs.

The past month and a half many many emails were exchanged about our training and this race. And one of the main topics was post-race mexican food. It's a Jenn & Megan tradition, and one I was happy to be a part of. Somehow no photos were taken of the mexican food.

But no worries, shortly there after it was time for MOAR FOOD. We were less than impressed when the sushi bar in the hotel told us they were closed due to low capacity in the hotel, because that meant I had to put on real shoes to trek around town for food.

Disgusting note: I thought I had a monster bloody toe for the last hour and a half of the race. My left pinky felt really wet and super ouchy. I assumed my toenail finally came off. When we got back from the race, I took off my sock and was surprised that it wasn't bright red. But my toe... was not pretty. It was blood blister on top of blood blister on top of blood blister, with only my tiny sliver of a toenail not engorged. **shudders** I immediately performed surgery, but it was throbbing. Luckily Jenn let me borrow some shoes that had a little bit more room to try to make my toe happy. Needless to say, the walk to the sushi place was.... not the most fun I'd had all day.

My purty dates for the ~~evening~~ weekend!

Mmm beer.

Some rolls. I housed some sushi before I could be bothered to take a photo of that.

After stuffing ourselves silly, we stumbled (literally in my not-quite-properly-walking state) to an Irish bar. The only other people in there were also wearing marathon medals, so we felt like we were at home. I pooh poohed Jenn's request for a Blue Moon, and made her drink an Irish beer, because that's what friends are for. :)

A random photo re-enactment of our race finish. We all were super careful about crossing all timing mats together so people who were tracking us would get exactly the same splits, yet somehow Megan finished a second behind us. So Jenn and I are #1 and she's #2. It seemed funnier/more clever after a couple of beers...

Marathons+beer.

These are a few of my favorite things........

The lovely ladies.

Me re-enacting how awkward I look in any self-taken photo (see above). And Megan showing off her awesome broken runner pose. Possibly my fave photo of the weekend. Jk.

I miss her. Why'd we let her leave again???

Milk and cookies. Mmm.

My friends are prettier than yours. Fact.

We tried to make a night of it, but after a whole lot of not sleeping for the weekend, and a good 4 1/2 hours of running earlier in the day, we were out like lights. Heh heh. Jenn had to get up so early, I'm not 100% sure I gave her a proper goodbye, but thankfully she'll be back in the states for a bit for the holidays.

Buh bye Philadelphia! Perhaps we'll see you again next year!

Race Report: Philadelphia Marathon

2011-11-21T18:22:00.001-06:00

Sunday morning we were up and at em at 5am. Actually, that's a bold faced lie. It was so cold in our hotel room, that no one would/could get out of bed. Finally Jenn was a soldier and braved out from underneath the covers to turn on the heat. Since we were about a mile from the race start, we planned to stay at our hotel as long as possible to utilize a bathroom with no lines. At about 6:30 we took off to the race. While walking to the race start I realized I had to pee....badly. And not just the... hmmm do I have to pee nerves. All lines were a gazillion people deep, and I was panicking. We decided we'd rather start in a later wave if necessary than stop during the race (bahahah, this is called foreshadowing people). We all got in and out in record time (after waiting 10 minutes PER PERSON who was in front of us, seriously people get in and get out, we got a race to run!) and made our way to our corral. Lucky us, we still managed to get back in our spots. PR in portapotties to start the day! WIN!

Once our wave was getting ready to start we all got super amped up that we were racing together and then we were off. The crowd was super congested for the first mile, and we all agreed it was probably best so that we didn't go out too fast. Before too long Jenn had decided she needed a bathroom, so began the quest of finding a port-a-potty. Soon after my bladder gave me a salute as well. So much for the emergency bathroom break before the race. We ran for at least 5 miles without finding a bathroom, and finally broke off the course and into an open Starbucks to use their facilities. I'm a gold card member, so I'm sure it's ok. ;)

Thank you SB, not only for providing me with my beloved PSLs, but also for not making me wet my tempo shorts.

1. 10:12
2. 9:44
3. 9:51
4. 9:57
5. 9:56
6. 10:22

The crowds were awesome. The race was still pretty packed, but it was fairly easy for us to bob and weave as a trio. We were all trying to keep our pace in the realm of 9:40-10 minutes, but we were really thrown off by the bathroom break time. We never discussed it, but it was pretty much decided that we wouldn't bother trying to "make up time" and would hopefully be able to do so during the final stretch of the race.

7. 9:26
8. 9:58

We got the eyes from Jenn and we knew that bathroom stop #2 was coming up. Luckily we didn't have very long to wait until some port a potties appeared. Unfortunately since there'd been so few leading up to that point, the lines were loooooooooong. If we're stopped, might as well have a photo shoot, right? Megan and I did some stretching while Jenn did her business and we were off again.

Shortly after this point was the "hard" part of the race. There were a couple of hills from miles 7-10 and we tackled them like champs. We stopped our chatty cathyness and just focused on going up up up. Once we got to the top, everyone around us all started cheering like we'd just won the marathon for dominating the hill. The racers were so much fun. :)

9. 12:33
10. 9:57
11. 9:49

This is clearly my cutest angle.

Not too far after mile 7 I remembered that Neal was going to be at mile 7 on the left hand side of the road. I expressed my sadness that I had forgotten to look for him, and the conversation bubble was still floating above my head when I saw him! YAYZIES! Since I always do destination races for marathons, I never get to experience crowd support from people I know, so this was awesome and gave me a HUGE boost of spirits.

12. 9:48
13. 9:47

I was surprised that the half-full portion of the course didn't put a damper on my spirits. Usually I get a little hohum realizing that I'm not even halfway done, but we were still with a huge crowd of people. I noted our half split 2:15, and said that we were negative splitting this B!tc# which none of us have ever done in a marathon. For the rest of the race, we got to see everyone who was ahead of us hauling booty towards the end of the race. We cheered on the lead runners, and especially the super speedy chickies out front. I noted that while I didn't feel like I was going slightly downhill, it looked like they were heading uphill, and hoped it wouldn't feel like a mountain for the final few miles.

The best water stop was the Lululemon stop which had music BLARING. We all started singing and run-dancing (yeah, it's a thing) to Beyonce's Who Runs the World. We went across a bridge and down a hill and started doubling back. And I was confused...... no way this was the turn around of the race... (I knew it was essentially an out and back for the last half). Once we re-crossed the bridge we were back on our way away from the finish line. At various points during the 2nd half, each of us took our turn with feeling tired and feeling crazy strong. When Jenn's knees started hurting a bit, Megan was charging up the little rollers like the energizer bunny. We were definitely feeding off each other when we needed some extra energy.

14. 9:34
15. 9:53
16. 9:47

From about mile 16 I started feeling really hungry. I was GUing every 4.5 miles, which was the plan, and drinking water at every station, but I just wanted food. I spotted a sign that said "BEER HERE" and my eyes must've lit up, because the person holding it shouted out, "Yeah JERI wants some beer!" and I did. My stomach had been a little rumbly and usually beer settles it, so I had a little shot glass of it. It was kind of amazing. Nice dark brew. MMMM. I was riding such a high, and told Megan and Jenn that when I started to hurt to remind me that, "duh, it's supposed to hurt. you're running a marathon!" I know I can be a whiny brat when I'm hurting, so I thought some pre-emptive attention would help me.

17. 9:50
18. 10:25
19. 11:05
20. 10:32

When we finally got to the turn around of the race, we were all pretty psyched. Less than a 10k to go, we can run 10ks in our sleep! We started digging in just a bit more until my stomach dropped. Uh oh. Luckily within about 30 seconds there was a CVS pharmacy along the route. Thanks for letting me sprint through your store and use your bano guys! Apparently Jenn and Megan had a little photo shoot outside while they were waiting. And we were back on track.

It had gotten pretty sunny, and we were now facing it head on. Luckily, the temps were fairly mild, and the humidity was nice and low. We all decided to put in our headphones finally at around miles 21 or 22 to help give us an extra boost. I kept doing math on how long we had left to run, because that keeps me from thinking about running. We were passing so many people. I was hoping the Philly site would have that neat-o graphic of how many people you passed during the last 5k/10k, because I don't remember one person going by us. Is that what happens when you run a negative split? Huh...interesting... :P

21. 10:57
22. 10:22
23. 9:37

The last 5-6 miles I started snowballing on to the world's largest runner's high. I had been enjoying the race previously, and being my sparkle farts self exclaiming how much fun I was having, but in the back of my mind I was telling myself to enjoy it now, because it's standard for my body to fail me. Once we got to less than an hour of running I realized that even if I did endure some major pain, I could hopefully fight through it for that amount of time. And when I realized I wasn't going to get hurt you couldn't wipe the smile off of my face!

Which was evidenced by the photos that Neal managed to snag at mile 25. Seriously, you'd think we were just getting going on this race, not 4:20+ minutes in to it!

jazz hands!

Megan's to the left, no worries!

extreme left foot placement due to blood blisters upon blood blisters on my left pinky toe. :/

Both Jenn and I had been doing our long runs with a fast finish and were itching to let loose, but we could tell Megan was hurting. At one point she yelled out that she thought her hip might fall off if we started to kick too soon. I told her not to worry, because I'd carry her hip if necessary. That's what friends are for, ya know? :) We kept making her chase us just a little bit, because we knew we were going to score her a MONSTER PR. "just keep swimming" was a mantra that I threw out repeatedly.

The final stretch was amazing. There were so many people lining the finishing stretch, and because our names were on our bibs, I heard my name over and over again and I was just beaming. I spotted a nice open spot a little bit in front of us and told Jenn and Megan that we needed to get THERE immediately because that would be optimal placement for our finishing photo.

We were hauling booty and grabbed hands and took the most obnoxious hands in the air, cheshire cat style smiling finisher photo.

24. 9:37
25. 9:42
26. 9:15
.54 4:41 (8:36 pace) <--tangent FAIL, holy moley!

Our finishing time was 4:26:51. Not my best, and not my worst, but by far my least painful and most fun. Jenn mentioned it in her report, but post-race I said that without a doubt, this race running step for step with these two girls and supporting each other through it to the end was way more fulfilling that running a PR on my own would've been. It's pretty rare in life that you get an opportunity to run a race like this at the last minute with your friends, one of which who currently resides on the other side of the world, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

According to my garmin, our average moving pace (meaning sans potty breaks) was 9:47, and our loose goal at the start was 9:40 pace, so I'd say that's a win. Because... you know... shit happens. :)

Philadelphia Marathon Goals

2011-11-18T08:00:00.000-06:00

When I started training for Philly 6 short weeks ago, I knew that the race was going to be a lot more relaxed then previous marathons. My co-worker joked that I would probably PR in the race because I was taking all of the pressure off myself, and my body wasn’t going to be super beat up like it is after normal 12-14 week training cycles.

My training has gone… awesome. My long runs have been strong, and I’ve felt pretty darn healthy (minus the monster cold from last week). The weather forecast should be cooler and cloudy (ie: jerbear running perfection), and I’ll be toeing the line with two of my favorite running gals.

Normally I’m mega-bitch during taper. Obsessing, obsessing, obsessing. Kyle commented that I should do more marathons “for fun” because I’m a lot less looney tunes this go around, and I must agree.

Our goal for the race: have fun, run hard, and take a ridiculous hand in hand finishing photo.

Based on our cumulative training, I’m not sure what our finishing time will be. I think a sub 4:10 is not out of the question for these legs of mine (PR is 4:12, so that would be STELLAR!). Under 4:21:31 would put me ahead of Danielle in our challenge. Primarily, I don’t want to have a body part fall apart and have to gimp run/walk the last 10-13 miles. Spoiler alert: that blows.

After this weekend marathon #4 will be under my belt!

Back from the Dead

2011-11-15T09:17:00.001-06:00

Last week I managed to get in a whopping 5 miles. For the week. Hello megataper. Rest assured, I did get an awesome workout blowing my nose and hacking up a lung all week long. I also spent a considerable amount of time looking at the inside of my eyelids all weekend.

Not exactly the best way to spend two weeks before a marathon, but I refused to still be sick while trying to run 26.2 miles. That’s hard enough on its own, you know?

With that being said, I believe I’m on the mend. Sunday everything finally started pouring out of me (gross visual, eh?). I attempted to do ab work and yoga, and almost drown myself in my snot. Boogers… I haz em. Luckily my slacker status gave me plenty of time to watch season 7 of Weeds. No, not get uber ahead in my grad school classes, or even start my paper that’s due the day I get home from Philly. But watching Weeds. Priorities, etc.

Because of my sicky status last week, I committed Packer fan blasphemy last night. I ran during the game. Oh the horror. I know. Stupid me was soooooooo tired Monday morning that I convinced myself to sleep in instead of run (I don’t work until 11 on Mondays) because I could just do it after work. Naturally when I finally woke up I realized that the Packers were playing after work, and that I screwed myself over royally. I even tried to find a radio station app for my phone so I could listen to the game while I ran, but then the stupid thing died before I got home. Oh well, at least GB still pulled out a monster win, and I was able to catch the last quarter. Phew.

[insert Jerbear's 9-0 dance here. spoiler alert: it's pretty SAWEET!]

I did 6 miles in 57 some minutes. I managed to fall zero times in the super dark uneven sidewalk areas, but my pace was definitely reflecting my “tippy toe” running strategy.

IT’S MOTHER EFFING MARATHON WEEK!

Race goals to come...shortly!

If anyone is interested in tracking me on Sunday, feel free to sign up here.

If you need my bib number, let me know. I probably shouldn't broadcast my personal info on this here public blog (even though you could probably figure it out anyway with a few brain cells... oy, I think I just offended my dumb stalkers.... craaaaaaaaaap!)

Annual Race Budget

2011-11-09T12:25:00.002-06:00

With all of the talk about marathons for 2012 already going on over here, I’m left in a little bit of a tizzy regarding the moolah. If I get in to the New York City Marathon, I will be spending some serious coin on the flight out there, race fee, and some fun money to enjoy the sites/take Susan out for drinks and food for housing me. J As I’m currently bored in taper-town, I’m scouting out other races to put on my schedule for the spring, but am a bit hesitant.

Do any of you give yourself an annual budget for races? And stick to it??

I have a spreadsheet of all the races I consider for the upcoming year. One of the columns is the race fee, so I could easily see how much I spend on races from year to year. And my running log has a place for the cost of the shoe, so I’m able to tally up that total as well. Throw in gas for road trips to not-so-local races, hotel stays, and flights….. and this can be a freakin’ expensive ~~obsession~~ “hobby.” And this is completely ignoring the fact that most times I see running clothes in kelly green I’m forced to snatch them up!

Being the credit counselor that I am, I’m half tempted to do some tallying and set a budget for 2012, but the tallying part frightens me a bit, even though I didn’t make any major race trips for 2011. Running and racing is the one thing that I spend money on outside of my living expenses. I don’t really want to have to put a cap on the races that I do, but maybe I should.

For past years, I’ve had some unspoken rules that I’ve adhered to. If I do a fall and spring marathon, one has to be local or drivable. I’ve lucked out and shared the gas costs and hotel costs with Megan for a lot of these races. Usually the destination race doubles as a vacation (ie: Vegassssssss shenanigans and Dallas to see my fam). I usually don’t give too much thought to half marathons because the price is fairly cheap, and they are usually pretty local. I think the smaller races, 5ks and 10ks can get me in to trouble. $30 every other weekend can really add up (not that I raced that frequently in 2011, but 2010 I sure did)! One rule that I loosely imposed for gas reasons is that I wouldn’t spend more time driving to a race than I would on the race course.

Are there any other suggestions that have worked? Keep in mind I make peanuts at my non-profit job, and am going to school full time as well so the “go get another job you whiny ding dong!” suggestion is not applicable at this time

Do running sugar daddies exist?!??! :P

__________________

I ran 5 miles this morning with zero pain. So my mini-freak out has passed. I think I was probably be overly cautious with the 2 rest days, but when you break as much as I do, it doesn't hurt to be cautious. 11 days til Philly!

Taper in Bullet Points

2011-11-08T10:32:00.000-06:00

I’m feeling lazy, so please enjoy my life and running update via bullet points, aka the laziest blog post format there is.

· I saw 7 deer on my run on Friday night. That’s almost a 1 mile: 1 deer ratio. Zero of them ran away from me. They have obviously learned that I am friend and not foe. Please refer to me as the deer whisperer henceforth.

· I spent most of this weekend cozied up in my bed reading young adult fiction books. I wouldn’t have it any other way. The only time I wasn’t in my bed was when I was:

o At work

o Running

o Watching football

· Speaking of watching football, I went out to watch the Bama v. LSU game on Saturday night. And it was so boring snoring that I wished I was in bed reading a young adult fiction book. True story: I’m not yet a diehard Bama fan. I’m working on it. Another thing that should be worked on? The kicker’s FG skills. Perhaps take a minute from dumbbell curls and work on it, mmmmk? Interesting fun fact: This is the first time I've done my hair in a month. Obvs photo documentation needed to occur.

· The Packers game almost killed me. I don’t like close games. They give me anxiety. Most things in life give me anxiety. Kyle laying next to me snoring his face off didn’t help said anxiety. Yes, I woke him up, convinced if he slept it’d be the reason they lost (I deem him a GB good luck charm for some silly reason) and I knew I’d hold a grudge for HIM marring our (yes, our) perfect season.

Clearly after a close win, the most obvious thing to do is take cheery pictures of yourself while you wait for that one guy to wake up to watch The League and Sunny with you. You don't know how badly I want to include the pic I took of him in my green and gold headband while he was snoozing, but I think that's grounds for relationship termination.

· In taper crazy update, I’m not running. I have a weird knot in my calf after this weekend. I’m giving it a couple of days of rest, ice, beating the ever loving $#!t out of with a foam roller/rolling pin, so it’s a-ok for Philly. At first I freaked out, but now I’m pretty confident it’ll be good to go soon. Because freaking out doesn’t help, did you know that?

· Also, since I haven’t ran, I’m cranky. Just sour. I’ve learned that ice cream gives me the same happy endorphins that running does. So naturally I ate some right out of the carton with Kyle last night until my intestines started protesting.

· And obsessive weather forecast stalking has begun. Three out of four sites call for no rain. Clearly accuweather.com is on my $#!t list. My current BFF weather site is weatherforyou.com that states it’ll be a high of 43 (aka Jeri is cool as a cucumber). And since our race shirts are long sleeved, I’d prefer the coldest option possible.

· P.S. Are shirts are kind of amazing. You will not be able to miss us running.

Speedy Two a Day + Weekly Wishlist

2011-11-04T10:09:00.001-05:00

This week has been a struggle for me. I just staretd my taper, but my mileage isn't really cut all that much, which I'm ok with since training has lasted approximately 6 seconds. Unfortunately, almost all of my miles come this weekend, so I FEEL like I'm tapering like crazy. Three miles on Monday, tempo run turned 4 mile pause to dry heave on the side of the bike trail. And when I don't run I don't sleep. GAH.

Finally Thursday night I set out to make up some of my missed miles from being sicky. Since 6 of the missed miles were supposed to be at tempo, I decided to do a fast 3 for run #1. Ok, technically I was going to do a one mile warm up and then 2 miles fast. But I failed at a warm up mile.
8:19
7:41
7:43

Someone remind me of this workout when I'm whining about mile repeats at a slighter faster speed but with JOG BREAKS IN BETWEEN THEM. Geez Louise, I'm a wussy sometimes.

I sat through class, letting my muscles get all sorts of cold and tight, and then when we were dismissed I hit the streets for another 3 miles. It got me thinking. What if you could go run every time you had a few minutes to spare. How many miles could you get in during the day? (assuming you could sit in your own sweat/stench throughout the day, obvs.) I bet a lot. I'm not going to try, that's for sure.

I did another 3 miles in 27:39 for a pace of 9:12. A bit faster than my normal easy pace, but my legs were lovin' it.

This weekend I have a poop ton of miles to run, and then the taper really gets going next week. Rumor has it, Jenn, Megan, and my Philly marathon race day shirts are in, and spoiler alert: you won't be able to miss us on the course. YAYZIES!

Buy it here.
I think beanies are just a little bit useless around these parts. I mean, if I'm wearing something on my head, it will be covering my ears, my ginormo forehead, and 3/4 of my face, because sweet Jesus it's cold. But if I lived somewhere it was "pretend" cold, I'd totally rock this.

Buy it here.
I sure hope someone was able to take advantage of the Kate Spade sale yesterday. Because I sure didn't. Love this yellow bag. Pretty safe to assume that if I can stash away enough $$$ that a yellow Kate handbag will be mine this spring.

Buy it here.

If this delightly little 'arry Pottah mug showed up in my Christmas stocking (yes I have a Christmas stocking, quit judging my Holiday CHEER AND WONDERMENT!) I wouldn't be upset.

Kinvara Stockpile

2011-11-03T12:32:00.001-05:00

I pulled my last pair of new Saucony Kinvaras out of my shoe inventory the week before the Fargo HM half. I stocked up on shoes during some monster Memorial weekend sales. Without giving it too much thought, I assumed that these shoes would last me until Christmas where I could stockpile some more shoes for holiday sales. Uh...wrong. 3 weeks later, these poor shoes already have close to 150 on them, and only get about 300-350.

When the Angriest of Runners tweeted about running warehouse's sale on Kinvaras I was all aboard. I found the pink shoes I've been coveting, and a yellow and green pair. Sadly the yellow and green weren't on sale. Until I added them both to my cart and realized that the sale vs. non-sale were only $5 different! Come to mama. Oh and then I managed to find an ADDITIONAL coupon code because I'm a b.a. online shopper.

The office receptionist called me Tuesday morning to let me know I had a package. In her message she said, "I'm guessing they're running shoes!" Apparently I'm predictable.

Such a beautiful sight.

Behold. Their beauty.

And on to important questions: Which pair do I wear for Philly?!?!?

Marathon Schedule 2012

2011-11-02T13:04:00.000-05:00

I’m a very type A person. I like to have a plan. And it always has to be the most efficient and well thought out plan. So when my spring marathon plans somersaulted last week, I was in a tizzy. Emails were sent to all running buddies to see what their plans were. I like to optimize my marathon weekend fun by joining up with runner friends.

My first plan was Grandma’s. Kyle has been asking when I’m going to do it (presumably so he can have an excuse to go feeshing in Duluth) and I thought Krista was going to be doing it. And since it’s so late, I could do a half marathon in May as part of my training…..say… in Brookings! When Krista confirmed she wasn’t running it, I moved on.

Lincoln? Drivable distance for my parents (maybe) and I could probably wrangle Angie to do it. But meh. Wasn’t really too excited about it.

So then I landed back on Brookings. But as the full. It’s a very small course. Like 400 for the full and half. But it’d be cheap. Just gas to get there and a cheap-o registration fee, and shacking up with Megan. And the money for Mexican food and margs afterwards, obvs. And I thought that surely my parents and Kyle could be spectator extraordinaires. BINGO.

This is how I landed on the decision to do my first marathon in South Dakota. Might as well be at home when I land my first marathon time that starts with a 3. J

Naturally after deciding on spring 2012, my mind started to work toward fall 2012. Since I’ll be doing things el cheap-o this spring, perhaps I could spend some $$ this fall.

Think BIG: NYC.

I think I’m going to enter the NYC Marathon lottery. I think I’ve convinced myself that the ideal time for me to run a marathon is in November/December, as it’s typically cooler, and I’m able to train for the majority of it during the fall when it’s cooler. AKA I don’t drown from my sweat. Visiting NYC is on my 101 in 1001 days list, and I’m sure I’ll need another Susan fix in a year. J

If I don’t get in, I think my back up marathon will be Dallas White Rock. I did the half in 2009, and it was a blast. Plus I need to go down and visit the family, since I have a new niece arriving in 2 ½ weeks. I secretly want her to be born at the same time I’m finishing Philly. Is that too much to ask? Naaaaaaaaw.

So that’s my plan for the next year. Who’s joining me???

October in Review + 20 Miler for Philly

2011-11-01T10:28:00.001-05:00

October In Review

Total Miles: 170.7 up from 121.2 last month. (151.2 miles from October 2010.) Highest mileage month of the year, and second highest ever! (Highest was April 2010). Heck ya! This includes a mini taper the first week in October since I raced a half. WHOO!

Total Time: 26:54:05 up from 18:56:33. (23:52:41 last October.)

Total Runs: 23 for an average of 7.42/run.

Highest weekly mileage:

10/24/2011 — 10/30/2011:

50.0 Mi

7:59:30

My second 50 mile week ever. :D

Favorite run: My mid-week double digit run. See below.

Most hardcore run: Either my 8 mile run with 4 at tempo, or my 600 m intervals. I managed to find some sub 7 speed in these ol' legs of mine. So that was fun. Apparently I failed to blog about the intervals. Meh. Just imagine greatness, I guess. :P

Favorite race: Fargo FM half marathon. Well, half of it was good. So perhaps I should say the Fargo quarter marathon. :)

Bike Miles: 0. I thought about it, does that count? Between 8 hours of running, and a gazillion hours of school + work, biking is just not happening. And that's sad because its still nice enough to do it. Sorry Princess Leia.

Favorite Jams: Beyonce's Love on Top.

________________

So quick recap of last week since I was too lazy to blog apparently, I did intervals. They were fast (for me) the recoveries were slow (for me). Interval paces on the 600s were in the 6:30s-6:40s. Heyo!

And on to my favorite run of the month, the 11 miler on Thursday. After doing 8 miles, the night before with some speedy 600s, I was concerned my legs would be d-e-a-d. But I didn't have class, due to fall break, so I was going to take full advantage and get my run in while crunching around on some fallen leaves. I was prepared to take the run slow, since the name of the game is injury free, but my legs weren't having it. I was in the 9:20s for most of the run with a low HR. I'm sure the 46 degrees didn't hurt the cause. And yes, I was the only one out there in shorts and a tee. Hey, I put on a tee shirt, not like I'm crazy wearing a tanktop! The last few miles were a little scary since the sun had completely set. I also slowed down since I always seem to fall, and the odds of this only increase when it's dark. :/

I did 11 miles in 1:44:13 for a pace of 9:29.

Friday I somehow convinced Kyle to join me for part of my recovery run. I did 2.5 miles without him and then he joined me for the last 1.5 miles. We ran for about 4-5 minutes, then took a walk break, and repeated until we were done. A dude in vibrams sprinted past us on a walk break, and that lit a fire under Kyle. Of course that next running stretch had to be in the 8:30s. Come on dude, this is my RECOVERY RUN. But it was fun to have his company, and he didn't throw me in the river when we got there, so overall, I'd say that's a win!

Saturday morning was the last (and only) 20 miler of Philly training. Eep! After a glorious 11 hours of sleep (yes, seriously), I finally rolled out of bed and hit the trails. I was bummed that I was too lazy to get up early, because the trick or treat trail run was going on, and I meant to intersect with the route and cheer my friends on. Grr.

After putting in 30 miles in a few short days, my legs were trashed from the start. Which is good, I suppose. Nothing wrong with getting in some major miles on super tired legs. Mental toughness, I'm chasin' ya! The first 5 miles were pretty pokey and in to the wind, which sucked. Especially because weather.com had told me the wind was to be a light 3 mph breeze. Liars.

I finally got some pep in my step about an hour in (probably didn't hurt that the wind was at my back) and decided to add some difficulty to my run (you know, because 20 miles isn't hard enough) and added a long hill in the middle of it. I heard there are about 2 decent hills in Philly, so might as well get a little practice since I suck at them. Adding pain to the current... uh... pain.... is the awful smell blowing over from the meat packing plant. It. Was. Terrible. I could taste the crap. And of course this is right by our penitentiary, so I was on high alert for an escapees. So much fun.

When I finally hit ten miles and turned around, I was assaulted by the wind, yet again. And the smell of the meat packing plant. Barf. Luckily I had some downhill miles to attend to. After the downhills, life started to suck. I always seem to lose some steam during the middle 3rd of a run. The wind wasn't helping. Somehow I managed to kick up the pace a little bit during the final 3 miles to finish strong. Not my fastest 20 miler, but definitely my most consistent. And I finished feeling like I could easily run for another hour, which I haven't always been able to say at the end of a 20 miler. I hit 9:20 and 8:40 for miles 19 and 20.

I did 20 miles in 3:12:34 for a pace of 9:38.

And apparently I took a total of 2 photos this weekend, but they were important hydrating photos, so enjoy.

Sunday morning mimosas.

Me: How much do you think you'll drink? What size champagne should I get?

KK: Jeri... it's 10am, I'm not going to drink. Get whatever you want.

And then Sunday night I had the grossest beer ever to wrap up the Old Chicago Halloween mini-tour. If I wanted apple juice, I'd order apple juice. Ick.

My cheezhead haz a sad.

2011-10-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday as I was boppin' around twitter, I happened on a registration announcement from the Cellcom Marathon, and a notice of the course changing. Naturally I clicked on it and was saddened to read this:

"The courses have not been finalized for 2012, but the course has typically had a net elevation change around four feet. There is one major change planned for the route this season. Due to the construction scheduled for the south end zone of Lambeau Field, the 2012 Cellcom Green Bay Marathon routes need to be altered and will not take a lap around Lambeau Field during the final mile.

“The Cellcom Green Bay Marathon is an event that draws in the whole community and the Packer organization really enjoys being a part of the excitement,” said Aaron Popkey, manager of corporate communications for the Green Bay Packers, “We worked hard to find a way with the construction to get the runners through the stadium and weren’t successful for 2012. We look forward to having the course return to the inside of Lambeau Field in 2013.”

So I'm bummed, but I won't be running Green Bay in 2012. But it's on the schedule for 2013.

Now here is the time when you tell me what spring race you're running and bribe me with ice cream to come run with you............. and GO!

Philly Training + Running Buddy

2011-10-25T09:12:00.000-05:00

Since I’m planning to run Philly with these two fine ladies, I’m making it a point to try to run with people. News flash: I really like running alone. Running with people is hard for me. Even in high school track when there were girls that were similar speed as me, I just preferred to chase the boys (real shocker there) than run with the girls. It’s hard. I’m always concerned that I’m slowing them down. Or I’m concerned that I’m not getting the most out of a long run if it’s not the exact pace I want to be/feel like I should be running. Unless you’re running with your exact pace twin, it just ends up being too much stress.

Well last weekend, I had a date for my 16 miler, but because of our alma mater’s homecoming festivities, and my need to sleep in, plans didn’t work out. Which brought me to this past weekend. I had 18 on the schedule, and had emailed Karla to see if she wanted to join me for part of it. Karla and I have pretty similar race times, and she just destroyed her first full in the Twin Cities a few weeks ago. She usually runs her long runs a smidge faster than me, but since she’s not actually training for anything, I hoped she’d be ok running a little pokier. J Of course I was surprised when she said she’d be up for the whole shebang! I was doubly thrilled when she was on board for a late morning start! Dear Fall, Your cool temps are amazing. Don’t ever leave me.

When we started off, it was 37 degrees, and I knew I looked like a fool in a tank and shorts, but I also knew I’d warm up quickly. Karla’s daughter recently joined the Dailymile and wanted to log some miles, so she joined us on her bike. Around mile 4, her daughter got picked up by her hubby and we continued to just run and chat and chat and run. We navigated through some construction to get down to the Falls, and the miles were just flying by. Turns out, the nice part about a running buddy, is your brain has other stimulation outside of looking at your pace/time/distance/heart rate. Who would’ve thought!?!?! The first time I feel like I really looked at my watch was 13.33 miles. That’s not a bad distance to zone out for!

Normally when I run with somebody, I run a lot slower, because talking throws off my breathing rhythm, and I pretty much feel like I’m going to die. But not Saturday. I’m not sure who the one pushing the pace was, but we were comfortably in the 9:15-9:25 range for most of the run.

Around mile 14 we both started feeling a little tired. Luckily for me I had a GU to take at mile 12, and it kicked in around mile 15. Not so luckily for Karla, she left her GU with her daughter’s bike. She also started to have some tummy problems. Poor thing. At mile 16, we parted ways, and I took off like a cannon. I have never had a second wind like that in a long run, and I owe it all to the GU Roctane. Blueberry Pomegranite, my fave. Mmmmm.

Since I was feeling strong, I decided to do a “faster finish” long run. It felt great to run that strong after having 16 miles on your legs. 8:58 and 8:41. Whoo!

Sadly, due to our weaving through the construction areas to get to Falls Park, I must’ve over estimated how much distance we had left, because I finished my run a half mile from home. I like to cool down, and all, but I was out of water and thirsty. And I swear to you, a G.D. horsefly followed me the entire ½ mile home, landing on me and annoying the poo out of me.

I did 18 miles in 2:48:33 for a pace of 9:21. Other than our mile walk/running through construction areas (9:56) and our slowed down pace to fight Karla’s tummy issue (9:32) we were cruisin’!

After logging my 3 mile recovery run on Sunday (which sucked, hard), I was so thrilled to see that I was on the top of my dailymile board! I know a lot of my friends a lot more miles than me, but I think the ones doing monster training are running NYC and have started their taper, so I win by default. And I'll take it. To be honest, 40+ mile weeks are a big deal for me, because my body always seems to start breaking down at the 40 mile point. So three cheers to 45 and no issues (**knocks on wood**).

And just for fun, I was trying out a new filter for a camera app I downloaded and managed to get this gem of a photo after it's 27 rapid fire flashes. I kind of love how terribly great it is.

Weekly Wishlist: All That Glitters is Gold

2011-10-20T09:21:00.000-05:00

When I woke up yesterday I could not drag myself out of bed. It was 22 degrees with wind chill, and the winds were a-blowin'. Plus I had already convinced myself that my tempo run was hard/scary. I rolled back over, vowing that I would hit the gym after work to do it. As you've witnessed by my spill running with Susan, I'm a klutz. And I will not allow myself to run fast at night when it's dark. Much too high of chance of falling and breaking a hip.

After work I hit the gym in tempo workout appropriate gear.

What is that? You might ask.

Black tank top, and green shorts with various shades of green. Meaning: I can have the worst swass and swoob, and NO ONE WILL KNOW IT.

Definitely necessary, as I could've wrung out my top and bottom when I was done.

Anyway, I scoured the magazine rack for trashy mags, as I like to read them during my warm up and cool down miles and there WERE NONE. Ugh, this run is going to suck.

I had 8 miles to do, with the middle 4 at tempo/15k pace.

The start of the warm up....sucked. I haven't ran on a treadmill for awhile, and I was reminded that I don't really like it. My knees felt creaky and I was annoyed I didn't have any trashy gossip mags!

But then it got better. When I started my tempo miles, I started on the low end of the goal pace (8:08-8:29). And then kept bumping up the speed every 1/2 mile or so. I was shocked when I had a mile and a half left and wasn't dying, and my HR was only a couple of beats higher than it was during the warm up miles. YIPPEE! During the last mile I bumped up the speed faster than pace, just to get my HR up to where it should be for tempo runs. I had Jason's voice in my ear, "Your tempo runs should only be about 4 miles, but FASTER!" Ok fine. Faster it is.

I finished and I was grinning ear to ear. Usually I'm hunched over trying to get my breath back after struggling to hit the slow end of my tempo pace. I felt like I could've run a few more miles at that pace (which duh, if I can run a 10k at a faster pace than that, I don't know WHY tempo runs freak me out so much. D-u-m-b.)

Then I had a leisurely 2 mile cool down. And continued to shower the treadmill with sweat.

I did 8 miles in 1:10:54 for a pace of 8:51.
My tempo miles were: 8:24, 8:17, 8:09, 7:55. For an average of 8:11.
And my average HR was 160!

Cloud 9? I iz a-ridin' on it.
_________________________________
I would not consider myself much of a "girly girl" but my goodness, do I love a good sparkleWith that being said, I was the little girl who would put on every single broach and clip-on earring of my gradnma's and wear it around the house. Hmmm... I wonder if those broaches are still around somewhere. They were kind of fab. Anywho.....I thought I'd do a fun "themed" weekly wishlist to show off some cute sparkley/glittery goodness.

Buy it here.

Not full on sparkle, but just enough to make it cute.

Buy it here.

I think this is just the perfect amount of sparkle to wear over a cardi or sweater....

Buy it here.

If I wasn't still carrying around a coin purse that I got as a birthday party favor in 2nd grade, this would be an instant buy. Ok, jk, I wouldn't pay $55 for a coin purse. The thought is nice though.

Buy it here.

Ignore the price tag, this is obviously something I'll never get. ($8k!) But the designer's name is JERI, which is so uncommon, that I think it's a sign that I need a pug asap I may have taken this as a "sign from the universe." More on that later...perhaps.

Buy it here.

Not sure in what world this would be a good accent pillow, maybe a super glitzy little girls room, but it totally has my attention.

Buy it here.

While an "all over" glitter handbag would be a BIT much for me. I like that this has just the hint of awesomeness and pizazz.

Buy it Here.

I originally had a sequin mini from Express on this list, but it sold out, and made me sad. So this one is way out of my price range, but equally as cute. P.S. Where was all this cute gold stuff when I was desperately searching for my golden birthday?!?!? Harumph.

Signs From the Universe: A Pug Tale

2011-10-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I was going through my facebook feed , trying to make myself tired enough to fall asleep. While doing so, I happened upon the most adorable creature on the planet. His name is Joey. Of course, I woke Kyle up from a dead slumber to show him pictures of my new love.

Love at first sight?

I now know it exists.

I put the little puggle bug out of my mind, because I told myself NO PUG until I finish with grad school. I do not have the time.

But the more pictures they posted of him (he’s at a pug shelter in Nebraska) the more my heart melted. I started to scheme. My apartment doesn’t allow pets, could I find one that would? Yes! And it’s owned by the same company as the one I live in, so I wouldn’t have to pay a fee to break the lease.

But it’s more expensive. And a major deposit for the dog. Plus the adoption fee for the dog. Plus the cost of owning a dog. No problem! Kyle and I will just move in together. What better reason for co-habitation! Come to me my puggle friend.

In case you were wondering, this is exactly how my mind works when someone suggests I come run a race with them. I work out HOW it can all come to be, without looking at any of the downsides.

After sending my mom pictures of her new grandpug, I started realizing the flaws. And I got extremely sad. “I shouldn’t adopt Joey, should I?” I said to Kyle with crocodile sized tears running down my face. “Probably not….”

And then came the signs from the universe. Do any of you pay attention to these? The silly little signs that URGE you to make major life decisions (yes, I know. I lead a SUPER tough life, in that my MAJOR life decision is pug ownership. EAD. J)

First was the ring. The adorable pug ring I saw on outblush. With the designer JERI. I mean really.

Next, I went to my local library to grab some books, and there was a wall of magazines to take for free. Naturally there was one all about PUGS, that I snatched up.

While on my 18 mile run on Saturday, I ran by the dog park, and there were not one, but two pugs running around having the greatest afternoon of their lives. I wish I would’ve been doing a non-important run, I would’ve gone and played with them.

And the fact that I realized that our pups names would rhyme, that pretty much sealed the deal, eh? (Kyle’s dog is Zooey).

Le sigh. So no pug. For now. But I think I’ve realized that I can’t wait until I’m done with school, so the wheels have been set in motion. Not to mention that Joey’s picture is still the background on my Droid…. And the screensaver on Kyle’s iPhone (that I put on there, but that’s neither here nor there).

Why you no adopt me Jerbear?

Marathon Training: Occasionally, I'm dumb.

2011-10-18T13:00:00.000-05:00

This marathon training cycle is….interesting.

a) It’s 6 weeks long

b) It’s a modification of the Pfitz 55 plan (I’m usually a VERY loyal Runners World training program for 26.2)

c) It’s not a ZOMG I MUST PR effort

d) And my Tuesdays and Thursdays are pretty much maxed out for time

With all these variables factored in, it was pretty interesting and challenging to create my marathon training program. First attempt I threw in Pfitz training runs around my 5k and 10k races I had scheduled for October and called it good. My co-worker took one look at it, (I had a 5k on Saturday and 18 miler on Sunday, then the following week a 10k on Saturday and a 20 miler on Sunday) and said, “I thought your goal for this training cycle was to NOT get injured???” Uh… oh. Ooops! But I’ll run the long runs sloooooooooooooooow, I promise.

I then forwarded my training program to Jason. The all knowing runner buddy/coach/friend. He usually can edit my training program to minimize my odds of getting hurt, AND I get my way. Sadly, this time…. Was a no go. He didn’t outright call me an idiot, but he could’ve, and I wouldn’t have been mad. So sadly I scrapped my races for October. Sniffle. There are so few 10ks around here when it’s not a bazillion degrees and eleventy million percent humidity. I had a single tear. L

With past training schedules, I like to have a rest day before my long runs and after. But I’m not allowed as much “freedom” with my training with grad school thrown in. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I work from 8am-5pm, hustle booty home, and have class from 6-9pm. I could run SUPER early before work, or late after work, but they’d need to be on the treadmill for safety. And I’m banking all my treadmill runs for the arctic tundra weather. So I’ve included 2-4 mile “sanity runs” for those days, or just opted for a rest day.

Of course, this means that my Mondays and Wednesdays have the bulk of my mileage. Like this past Monday. Approximately 48 hours after doing my 16 mile, I had an 11 mile on my schedule. Uff. Since this training program is SHORT, I thought some mid-long runs would be key to help me build up my endurance (which is, admittedly, my weakness). I figured as long as I kept the pace and the heart rate slow and low, I would be a-ok.

And slow I did (for me, nothing wrong with a 10mm, for the record). The first 5 miles were right around a ten minute pace. And my heart rate was in the higher range of where it should be for my mid and long runs. Magically (or what felt like magically) at about 4.5/5 miles my legs started to feel great, and my heart rate dropped (by a good 15-20 beats). And with that my pace dropped easily in to the 9:20s and lower. I smile-ran the last 6 miles like you had just treated me with a big bowl of my favorite ice cream and told me it was lactose free. It didn’t hurt that it was chilly (aka my favorite running weather) at 41 degrees. Also, there's something very b.a. about running a double digit run before work on a weekday.

I ended up with 11 miles in 1:45:42 for a pace of 9:36. Average HR: 155.

And on the injury front, I feel like I am making significant strides (heh…. Running joke….. heh… punny) towards staying injury free. Kyle is officially jealous of the quality time I’m spending with Frank (my foam roller) and I am constantly focusing on my form during my training runs. With the exception of speed workouts when the only thought I can entertain is “OMG please don’t die. This hurts. Heart, don’t explode!” But yeah, other than that…. Totally concentrating on my form.

And I think it’s working/helping. After my long run, I had some soreness in my IT bands and quads, but a teeny tiny fraction in comparison to previous long runs. And my hamstrings and calves seem to be tired, which I’m deeming a good thing, as apparently I never really used those muscles previously for running. Uh… ooops.

To solidify my already stellar day, I got a package from a giveaway I won from Kimi! Naturally I had to wear it as soon as I got done with work. And a photo shoot had to take place. Mostly because Kyle thought it was funny to pretend to take pictures of the tv rather than me. Too bad he didn't get a shot of the death glare I was giving him 75% of the time.

**I knocked on wood while writing this post, please do me a favor and knock on wood while/after reading as well. Thanks. **

Weekend Musings

2011-10-17T19:45:00.001-05:00

This weekend was… intense. And fun. And stressful. Ok, mostly intense and stressful.

Friday I skidaddled out of my office at 5 bells to go hit the bike trails to get in my 6 miler. It was cold, and my legs felt amazing. I ran a speedy (for me) “easy” pace at a nice and low HR INTO THE WIND (well the last 3 miles of it were anyway). I was on cloud 9 a bit. I brought my handheld along…. I know… I know… on a SIX MILER, but I have been insanely dehydrated all week long, and I figured this would help me get a jump start on hydrating for my long run the next day.

I did 6 miles in 56:30 for a pace of 9:25. Average HR: 151.

And then I got to meet up with Miss Megan and a bunch of her lady friends for drinks and dinner. Ok, drink. Singular. Sad. And because it was National Dessert Day, I had to celebrate it. Sadly the dessert was pretty hohum. I didn’t finish it. (This happens approx. never in my life. Or now, has happened approx. once.)

After downing twice as much water as beer (again, tear) I headed home to watch some Shrek with Kyle. Interesting fun fact: I think Kyle looks like Shrek on occasion. He doesn’t like this comparison, but I think it’s HILARIOUS. 7am came and went, and I was still a-snoozin’. Good thing it’s finally cool around here, because I didn’t head out for my run until almost noon. Oops.

Attention: 16 miles is a long freakin’ way to run. Last time I ran that far was during the Fargo Marathon. And it sucked. J

When I started out running my heart rate was crazy high, and my breathing was all wonky. I’ve been feeling not quite 100% lately, so I’m not sure if it’s a cold/allergies/whatev. I stopped to walk during my GU breaks, and had to refill my handheld 3 times (that’s 55 oz of liquid in 2 ½ hours if anyone is keeping track at home) trying to get my heart rate down. Finally about halfway through the run, my breathing seemed to get “normal” and my HR chilled the eff out. And it was pretty enjoyable.

I did 16 miles in 2:33:55 for a pace of 9:37. Average HR: 160. (High end of my long run range).

And then I planted myself in my chair and studied. And took breaks to get Redrossa pizza and a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte because I was nodding off in said chair. And then I had to take my first midterm of my grad school career. And I think it went well, but my brain was shot for the rest of the weekend.

And I watched zero football this weekend, which makes me want to punch a kitten. And I love kittens.

Fargo Race Photos

2011-10-14T09:09:00.000-05:00

For some reason I totally forgot that I should be waiting and excited for race pics from Saturday's race. The Sioux Falls half pics were so attrocious (not me obvs, but the quality of pics) I've pushed them out of my mind. But I was excited to see some come through last night. So without further ado.

New. Favorite. Obnoxious. Running. Photo.

This was before my bonk. Can you have a bonk in a half? Because I'm certain that's what it would feel like.

This is in the 11-12 mile range I think. So that means the smile is fake.

But ZOMG how cute are my new emergency tempo shorts?

Answer: super cute.

The guy in blue pulled away in the last mile, but I caught him during my 25 second kick. Bahah.

At the finish line with Megan.

This weekend I have my first long run that's over a half marathon, since.... oh... the Fargo Marathon. NBD. I'm hoping the weather's nice and I can just zone and enjoy the great fall weather for 16 miles. Or I'll cry and curse Jenn's name for tricking me in to signing up for Philly. jk. She didn't trick me at all, I just prefer to have a scapegoat. :)

Hello lover....

2011-10-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

I learned a very important lesson last Friday night. No it was not, “do not eat any form of seafood the night before races,” but I should also file that one away in my cranium. I learned that the stick (or in my case the rolling pin) and the foam roller are not created equal. WTF! I started using my rolling pin over 2 years ago to help work out the issues in my IT band, assuming it did the same thing the foam roller did.

Until I tried out Megan’s on Friday. I’ve been rolling like a crazy person since the Sioux Falls half, because I’m just so. GD. Sick. Of. being. Hurt. After rolling religiously all week long, I hopped on her foam roller and was shocked that I still had muscles to roll out! There were even a couple of spots near my knee that I’ve never been able to get a response out of from the rolling pin that were causing TEARS with the foam roller. I rolled until I could roll no more (ok, really, I just couldn’t handle the pain anymore).

After completing Fargo pain free, my mission was to procure a new foam roller—stat!

I hit up the local sporting goods store, and after hitting on some hottie in the hunting and fishing section (hubba hubba!) I had my new love!

We’ve already gotten in a couple of fights (meaning I’ve rolled twice and she made me cry. Yes. A she. I imagine my foam roller to be a bit of an S&M chick with a whip!) but I’m willing to do whatever it takes to keep me from getting hurt every time I turn around.

_______________

So with my big ZOMG MARATHON announcement out, I started marathon training on Monday. I’m doing a 6 week Pfitz inspired plan that’ll hopefully get me 26.2 miles in one piece. Wednesday’s workout was one I’d never done before 1,000m intervals. Seems easy enough, right? I mean, at least it’s not 1600m intervals, because those are a bigger B than my whip-crackin’ foam roller!

I was wrong.

They weren’t fun.

I had 9 miles to do with 5x1000m. The recovery was stated at 50-90% of the time it takes you to complete your interval. So naturally I skewed on the 90% side.

I did a 2 mile warm up and then got to work on some repeats.

4:50 - Felt like I was playing “catch up.” Usually I go out to fast and struggle to maintain. For some reason an 8:15 pace “felt” like 7:30s.

4:50 - Much better.

4:43 - Cruisin’ along. What’s that? Sideache. Noooooooooooo! I only have 48 seconds to go! That’s not long. Let’s countdown. Pinching my stride while hauling now. Longest 48 seconds of my life.

5:05 - From the first steps my sideache was back. I toggled between slowing down to 8ish pace to get it to subside, and then hustling back, where it’d return.

Thought about calling it a day but decided I’d attempt to “toughen up” and do my 5^th one.

5:10 - Apparently I was pooped. No energy. No speed left.

And a two mile cooldown. Who’s bright idea was it to put a speed workout in a 9 mile run?!?!?

I did 9 miles in 1:25:22 for a pace of 9:29.

My repeats averaged a pace of 7:49.

The three that I didn’t die during averaged 7:39.

I was pretty ok with the workout until I calculated my total time for the 5k of speedwork and realized that it’s slower than almost all my 5k times for the past two years. AND THOSE ARE WITHOUT 4ISH MINUTE BREAKS IN BETWEEN. SHEESH. Granted I was having my garmin clock .63 miles instead of .625, so that totally makes it ok right?!?! :P

Oh well. Guess I’m glad I’m running a marathon and not a 5k, eh?

Marathon?

2011-10-12T07:00:00.000-05:00

What seems like a thousand years ago, Jenn had asked if I was interested in running the Philadelphia Marathon. Since (at this time) I was pretty committed to the Mankato Marathon, and knowing my high incidence of injury after marathons I had to decline. And then her trip back home ended up getting cancelled.

Well imagine my surprise when she decided she'd come back anyway to run the race, and ZOMG I SHOULD TOTALLY COME! I was in! To spectate! Because 26.2 miles hurts.

But of course my brain wasn't satisfied with that, so before I knew it.........

Oops!

So I guess I'm training for a marathon now.....

My mom's response: MAKE SURE YOU TAKE YOUR VITAMINS SO YOU STOP FALLING APART DURING THESE RACES!

Yes, it was shouted... Or that's just the volume of my mom's voice. Also mine. Oh hai genes. :)

Fargo Weekend

2011-10-11T11:00:00.000-05:00

Megan and I got in to Fargo after being pushed north the entire drive by the wind. What's that 50mph winds? Thanks for being today and yesterday instead of tomorrow. Sweet Louisiana! We headed straight to pick up our packets at the Civic Center. It was a smaller pick up, but they did have some running clothes and GUs for sale, thankfully since I only had one at home. When we realized the clothes was 50% off, we really got to work. I found a sweet saucony tank for $9 and a pair of saucony (I think... I've already forgotten) nice heavy running tights (eew, I want to forget winter is coming) for $22--originally $90!

From there we checked in to our hotel, and laughed when we realized that the finish line was literally next to our hotel parking lot. Next stop was our romantic pre-race restaurant Toscano. We went there before Fargooooooooooo Marathon last spring, and we were seated in our "usual" booth.

I ordered a delicious looking mix of asparagus, artichokes, mushrooms and tomatoes in a white wine sauce with shrimp, scallops, and lobster tail. It came with a super gross flaky puff pastry which I didn't eat. It. Was. Amazing. (It also almost killed my intestines.)

Before I knew it'd destroy my soul.

Next it was back to the hotel to chill and get ready for the race. After puttzing around getting my playlist ready, I decided to lay out (and still pick out) my race day outfit. I pulled out my 3 shirts, and started to worry when I couldn't find my shorts. Uh yeah... I didn't pack them. A quick call to Scheels, and we had approximately 40 minutes to succeed in Operation: Nike Tempo Short Recon. Megan may have shouted out, "Out of our way! We're on a very important tempo short mission!"

I took a minute to ooh and ahh over the ferris wheel in the middle of the store, and then found the tempo shorts of my dreams. Or close enough. And I found a super sweet green and gold sparkly head band for Packers spectating. WIN!

And then it was time to relax and put my feet up. For real. My legs were swollen. Compression socks on! Legs up on the wall! Twitter feed catch up!

Saturday after the race, we showered up and sought out some delicious mexican food. We tried to keep the consumption on the low end so we'd have room for delicious beers during the pub crawl. Yes, this race was centered around Oktoberfest in Fargo, and we were all about that. We started walking for downtown and could not figure out where we were supposed to go to start the pub crawl. We finally found the center of the Oktoberfest and the bar nearby and learned that we were supposed to end our night there. Well poop. We grabbed a beer, and watched the weiner dog races.

We started hoofing it to the other bars on the list.... realizing that we had circled around most of them on our quest to find the pub crawl. GD it! There were a number of times that we remarked that we wish we had our garmins with us to track our walking miles. Surprise! We learned that bar #5 was actually the bar IN OUR HOTEL. Meaning WE COULD'VE STARTED THERE! AND HIT ALL THE OTHER BARS IN THE CORRECT ORDER ON THE WAY TO THE FINISHING BAR. Ugh... failures. At least we were getting some walking in to loosen up our legs!

At the very last bar (well second to last, but last bar we needed "punched" on our card), the bartender casually said, "you know they've been out of medals for the last few hours right?"

what.

the.

eff.

Anger. Until we learned there was a sweet dance party going on, and we were delighted to join in. Everyone else was dressed in traditional German garb, and it was all sorts of swell. Again, I must note: It's REALLY nice not to feel injured after a race. :D

A pub crawl "medaler" let us borrow his medal so we could take a "double medal" photo. Apparently we just get a completion grade. Wah. At about 11pm we decided to find some food and call it a night. At one point, someone ran through a chained off area and didn't realize that there was a chain around her waist, and pulling posts along behind her for...quite... a while. It may or may not have been me. Don't ask why I was running. I couldn't tell you. Oh wait... RACE WEEKEND DUH!

Race Report: Fargo FM Half Marathon

2011-10-10T10:12:00.000-05:00

We started our Saturday morning at 6:45am (yay late start and starting line literally outside our door). Instead of jumping out of bed, I wanted to go back to sleep and not run. Making matters worse, I had been having serious GI issues all night long, and the morning was even worse. I tried to eat some toast and a luna bar, but they were making me gag. This should be fun! :)

We headed to the start and I continued to feel like crap. TMI alert: If there was an award for most bathroom visits in a 12 hour span, the award would've gone to me. I laid down for awhile, rubbing my stomach, hoping it'd chill out. I started to get worried..... there's NO WAY I could race with my stomach as upset as it was, and the clock was ticking. I was concerned I was going to post my first DNS......

This is my "please don't poop yourself" smile.

Finally with about 10 minutes to the race start, I made my last bathroom visit, and the stomach cramps subsided. Praise the Lord! (is it wrong the praise the lord for pooping to stop? that's a little weird, I must say....) Megan and I lined up at the start line and discussed our race plans. I decided I'd run "comfortably hard" for the first 8-10 miles, and then all out BTTW race the final 3-5 miles. That's usually my best strategy for races. Apparently we lined up WAY TOO FAR BACK because there was some massive dodging and weaving for most of the first mile. I settled in to a comfortable pace, and at first glance, I realized that comfortable was 8:30. Hell ya! Maybe a PR would be a possibility! I did some quick math and realized that if I could run 8:30s for the first 8 miles, and 8 for the last 5 I could have my sub 1:50. Work time!

There were a TON OF TURNS on the course. I knew it was going to be hard to not run WAAAAAAAY over 13.1, so I tried to run the best tangents that I could. I was randomly getting side stitches very frequently for the first hour of the race. I'd get one, control my breathing and get it to go away, run for another couple minutes and I'd have another. Whenever I'm dehydrated running, I tend to get side stitches. Given my dehydrated state, I knew I had to do some serious water gulping at the water stations.

1. 8:30
2. 8:29
3. 8:31

Around mile 3 I realized I was starving. I took my first GU a mile and a half early and was worried that I was going to screw myself over for the rest of the race, but since I had nothing in my stomach I was on the verge of E... at mile 3. Oy. Luckily for me, there was a surprise GU station at mile 5 to replenish my stash. I've probably never thanked a volunteer as profusely as I did there.

4. 8:37
5. 8:27
6. 8:41

About an hour in to the race, my side stitches subsided, but I started to lose some steam big time. I took another GU at 6.5 hoping that'd help (I normally GU about every 5 or so miles, so I hoped it wouldn't mess with my stomach further). I tried to just zone out and keeping on truckin'.

7. 8:45
8. 8:53
9. 9:00

I continued on, counting down to the next GU break at mile 10, hoping that would give me the final boost I'd need to finish strong. I knew that we'd be running right by the finish line at mile 11, and that'd be slightly disheartening. I kept my brain busy calculating what I'd need to run the remaining miles in to get a skin-of-my-teeth-PR. At mile 12 I did get a little surge and picked it up slightly (presumably from the GU). I started calculating the minutes I had left of running (usually helps me mentally) and kept telling my body to "PLEASE START YOUR KICK NOW!" Spoiler alert: my body didn't listen.

10. 8:58
11. 9:13

There was an out and back section around 11 and 12 miles were I looked for Megan. I didn't see her, so I was worried she might be having some issues with her knee. She was looking for me, and was afraid I was in a port a potty somewhere along the course. We're worriers apparently. Good news was that we weren't very far apart so that's why we weren't seeing each other. The final mile was in to the wind, and that made me lose my will to live slightly. Especially when I noticed there was a dude behind me using me as a wind block. He passed me at the finish. You're welcome for that dude. My watch hit 13 and I still didn't see the finish line. WTF?!?!? I turned the corner and BAM! There it was. Oh. Insert 15 seconds of hauling ass here.

12. 8:59
13. 9:21
.11 :46 (7:01 pace)

Yes, I posted my slowest mile of the day last. Oops!

I ran 13.11 miles in 1:55:17.

Field Placement:	254 / 727 (34.9%)
Age group:	25 – 29
Group Placement:	14 / 76 (18.4%)
Gender Placement:	90 / 411 (21.9%)

Before too long Megan was in with her 2nd fastest half marathon time and grinning ear to ear. Yayzies! We both remarked about how nice it was to finish a race and not be limping with an injury. WIN US!

Definitely not my best race, or my best effort, but I'm happy enough given how the previous 12 hours played out. The race could've been a mess (quite literally). I ran really well and just ran out of fuel way way early. But I finished the race, and did so injury free, so that's good enough for now. :)

September in Review + Devil's Workout

2011-10-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

September In Review

Total Miles: 121.2 up from 114.5 last month. (86.1 miles from September 2010.) Oh hai similar injury post SF half.... we see each other again....

Total Time: 18:56:33 up from 18:04:30 last month. (13:18:55 last September.)

Total Runs: 19 for an average of 6.38/run.

Highest weekly mileage:

9/26/2011 — 10/2/2011:

35.1 Mi

5:28:01

Favorite run: My 13.1 training run where my time was almost the same as the SF half time. :P It felt effortless and the weather was gorgeous. And I ran through my old stomping grounds, which is always fun.

Most hardcore run: I always loathe mile repeats and tempo runs that are longer than about 4 miles, so I felt pretty b.a. when I knocked out my 3 x1600 m repeats and 7 mile run with 5 at tempo (in which I hit 1000 miles for the year without realizing it... so yeah... that's fun...)

Favorite race: It didn't turn out at all like I expected, and in hindsight, I probably should've dropped out of the race, but I finished my 7th consecutive Sioux Falls half marathon, and only 3rd time going sub-2. So I'll take it.
Bike Miles: 25. Yay. Only because of semi-injury. Boo.

Favorite Jams: My heart's a stereo. I've been listening to it on repeat for interval workouts. LOVE.

_____________

Speaking of mile repeats, I had more to take care of on Monday. When I was looking at my training program before starting the run I realized, "neat-o I haven't taken a rest day in a week, this should be fun!" Luckily because it's race week I only had 2 x1600 m repeats on the schedule which doesn't seem as scary as 3+. The goal pace of 7:37 was slightly daunting, however.

Not sure what's got in to me lately, but I knocked those puppies out in 7:30 and 7:29, and definitely had enough gas for more. Bring on Fargo! Oh yeah... I'm racing tomorrow. So fingers crossed for me, eh?

And in horribly bad race photo news, here are some of the train wreck shots from the Sioux Falls half.

So yeah........ it was just a smidge warm...........

Twin Cities Marathon: Spectating Report

2011-10-06T09:03:00.000-05:00

Sunday morning arrived quickly and with the BLARING of Susan's cell phone alarm. It was...jarring... to say the least, but it's her rodeo. <--that was my motto for the weekend. We were up and at 'em and ready to get on the road before too long.

True story: I was almost as nervous about driving Susan to the Metrodome as she was about running a super speedy 26.2! Ok not really, but I was super nervous about me getting us lost and her being late/rushed. YIKES! PRESSURE! Naturally we got there with no problem, but I did manage to get turned around on my way back to the house. ahhh yes.... that's more like it Jerbear.

I had time to sip some Caribou while waiting for Erika's mom to return, and soon we were off to Lake Calhoun to spectate around 4.5 miles. It was such a gorgeous crisp fall morning, and for about 26 seconds I was jealous of those runners. But then I remembered.... 26.2 miles is a LONG WAY TO RUN!

We chatted with some of the spectators around us and soon enough the lead runners were upon us. I love watching elite runners because they just look so effortless! And not too far behind were the women. Girl power---channeling my inner spice girl, NBD.

I was concerned that I was going to miss Susan, until I heard her yelling and waving wildly in the distance. I started screaming my face off while trying to take as many pics as possible. FYI this is difficult. She looked like she was flying, but was running just as effortless of the speedy mcspeederson’s leading the race.

From there I tried to keep my eyes peeled for some other runners I knew racing, but stupid me, I had no idea what they were wearing, and it’s freakin’ hard to pick someone out of those crowds of people. Before long, I heard my name and realized Karla was cruising through, well ahead of the 4 hour group, and was looking good! I was too slow to snag a pic of her.

Next it was time to meet up with Erika to stake out mile 17 of the course. At first we thought we could see Susan at the halfway mark, but the girl is so fast you don’t have a lot of time to get from point A to point B! When we got to the course, I realized that we had chosen a spectating spot along with another crew of Green Bay Packer fans. Yes….this is where I belong. :)

While looking for Susan, I saw Christopher, another DailyMile friend looking strong and bright (your yellow was easy to pick out!).

Finally we saw Susan jazz-handing it up down the slight decline. She was flyyyyyyyyyyyying.

Next we tried to go near mile 21/22 to hopefully see her again before the finish, but they were so packed with cars that we couldn’t find anywhere to park. With some quick mental math, we knew we wouldn’t have much time to sprint to the course to see her, so we sadly, carried on to the finish line. As we were walking up to the finish line, we heard the announcer cheering on the ladies who were shooting for an OT qualifying time. INSANE! We found a decent spot to spectate and yelled and screamed for all the runners.

It was getting close to 3:15:00 and we realized we didn’t know what time Susan actually started the race! The text I had gotten confirming she started was at 8:13am. Surely it hadn’t taken her that long, had it?? The thought bubble was still hovering over my head when we saw her flyyyyyyyyying down the finishing stretch. Depending on when she started, I knew she’d be close to a PR and couldn’t help but to scream my face off for her (duh, SHE CAN’T HEAR YOU!) and then silently cursed the volunteer who was obstructing my finishing photos. :)

Shortly after Susan came through I saw Chris cruising in to the finish line. YAY! Go Chris!

We met up with Susan and got to hear all about her race (make sure to check out her race report!).

As I was logging on to the tracking page to see how Karla did I heard the announcer over the loud speaker saying her name as she finished. I see a sub-4 marathon chaser/running buddy for the spring!

I think one of the coolest things about watching the finish of a marathon is seeing all the chicas who don't have the "typical teeny tiny runner body" crushing 3:10 marathons. Granted, I'll never be that fast, but to see someone who's essentially built like me cruise through in 3:30 gives me hope that I can keep working my booty off (although not literally) and be that speedy someday too.

After some chillin’ and a shower for the marathoner, it was time for me to hit the road and bid the gals adieu. I’m already plotting when we can meet up for another race weekend!

Busted out my ol' cheerleading skillz to make this sweet sign. :)

When I rolled in to town, I just wanted to curl up in my bed and sleep. ~~Snuggling~~ sleeping on a futon with a buddy all weekend as a very light sleeper, I was tired, to say the least. But I laced up my shoes and hit the bike trail for my run.

a) My legs, particularly my ankles, were very swollen from spectating. For some reason when I walk/stand a lot I get massive cankles. It’s so freakin’ weird. I’m guessing that driving home probably didn’t help.

b) My knee was super swollen (from my spill). The fluid would bounce up and down with every step I took. It didn’t hurt but it felt weird. I almost felt like I needed a sports bra for my knee!

It wasn’t the most fun I’ve ever had while running, but managed to make it through 5 miles in 48:52 for a pace of 9:47.

1000 miles + Twin Cities Marathon Expo

2011-10-05T13:50:00.000-05:00

My ideal start to a weekend is a Friday off, and cool morning temps for a tempo run. Ok, just kidding, I will probably dread tempo runs until the day I die, but the cool temps make it not quite so terrible. Plus, I knew as soon as I was done, it was off to see SUSAN in the Cities! Yippee!!

I had 7 miles with 5 at goal tempo pace of 8:15.
1. 9:39
2. 8:15
3. 8:11
4. 8:13
5. 8:15
6. 8:04
7. 9:15

7 miles in 59:54 for an average pace of 8:34. Average tempo pace was 8:11!

Yes, I do think that would be the definition of "killed it." :) Usually I lose my mind on tempo runs, so I gave myself a free pass to "pat myself on the back." According to DailyMile, apparently I had side stitches during miles 2 and 4 but I've already long since forgotten about that, I guess. Hmm....

When I got home and was logging my run I realized that I had hit 1000 miles for the year. That’s like icing on top of an already delicious and decadent cake (ie: right up my alley…..mmm). Of course I had to google stalk myself to see when I hit it last year….. 8 days sooner. S.O.B……

After I was showered up and packed it was off to the Cities. I’m known for getting lost while traveling, and assumed this adventure would be no different. Imagine my surprise when I arrived at Erika’s doorstep without having to use a single minute of my “30 minute I’m bound to get lost” cushion!

I finally got to meet Susan, and she’s just as nice/fun/goofy as she seems on her blog, aka she’s a big fun dork like me! (I mean that as the highest level of complement, Susan, promise!) We went to find some foooooooooooood and then hit up the Twin Cities Marathon Expo.

When we got to the expo, Susan had wrangled us some VIP passes for the weekend along with invitations to the reception on Friday night. Race/run with Susan and you become a big deal, good to know! We grabbed Susan’s bib and were immediately reminded of her running blogger celebrity status when the volunteer asked her if she was Nurse on the Run. Seriously… it was too awesome. Not to be outdone, 2 or 3 other readers came up to her while we were at the expo to introduce themselves. It was seriously so cool.

photo borrowed from Susan, taken by me, so I figure it evens out. :)

After not depleting my bank account (I have no idea who I was this weekend, I didn’t spend $$$$$$$$ it was crazy), we hit up the reception and realized that it was primarily for vendors partnered with the marathon events and elite runners. I’m willing to bet I have the slowest marathon time of the group…. FYI. While there we ran in to Hannah who handles the social media for Twin Cities in Motion and asked to take a pic with us “big time running bloggers.” Thanks for the ego stroke Hannah! Also, thanks for the new blog to add to my reader!

quick! who has longer hippie hair? me or susan?!? :)

Saturday we had planned to lounge around to rest up for the big event, so the only thing on our agenda was Susan’s shake out run. Yikes. Susan’s “easy” run = my 5k race pace. Should be interesting….. :/ She hooked me up with this sweet I <3 Sweat shirt, but secretly I think mine should say I = sweat, so naturally we had to match during our run.

We started off the run and I realized she wasn’t going to kill me, thankfully, and we chatted away. Until I hit a speed bump. Literally. No denying that I’m a klutz. FYI this is why I’ll never be a trail runner. I wish I would’ve had the fall on video because I’m guessing it was INTENSE (=hilarious). We continued on, but I think Susan was afraid I was trying to kill myself to get out of running with her, because our pace slowed a bit. Ha.

uh...oops. ouch.

We did 3.06 miles in 27:54 for a pace of 9:08. Thanks for hanging with me!