running's my favorite

Hey peeps! Long time, no blog.

So, I've been trucking along, loving our new house, walking a lot, working even more, running a few races and trying to resist the siren call of gluten-filled goodies.

Did I mention that I got a 5k PR with my non-running, non-training plan? No? I haven't mentioned that yet?  Well.......

I got a PR! It was in the Women Run the Cities 5k. (I was signed up for the 10 mile but I downgraded due to my joints, blah, blah, blah....) Anywhoo, I have no idea how the hell it happened but I'll take it. Look, here's a picture!

I've run some other races too, a few trail races, some new ones I haven't run before.... all with the goal of having fun, seeing running friends and finishing.

Here's a little collage of my running exploits since my last post.  (Ok, maybe "collage" isn't exactly the right word; its more of a collection of photos.) Here goes!

Women Rock 10k in August. Yeah, it's another race that I downgraded in distance, but whatever. At least I got out there!

Muscle Milk Woodsy. My favorite trail race. The hills of Murphy Hanrehan park kick my ass every time!

Monster Dash 10 Mile.  I loved this woman's shirt! 

Salomon Autumn Trail Series #4. I'm digging the trail races.

Urban Wildland 5k. It was the husband's first sub-30 5k!

Run for the Apples 5 mile run through an apple orchard. I met all these women on the internet. Seriously.  I love the internet!

Before and after at the Monster Dash 10 mile. Yes, those are turkeys on our heads. And I got to wear the skull arm sleeves that I couldn't wear last year. Bonus!  

As another bonus, the friend that I ran with (and who purchased our awesome turkey hats) is a midwife. So I knew that if my uterus fell out mid-race, I'd have a professional by my side, and would suffer no ill effects.  Plus, she's an absolute blast and one of my favorite people in the world, so I knew it would be a fun 10 miles.

Speaking of the midwife - she invited me to run the Fargo Marathon with her next spring.  My response? I did what any rational, reasonable person who has been backing off on distances all year would do - I signed up for the marathon.  

I never said I was smart.  What can I say?  Running's my favorite!

it's two, two, two posts in one!

It was a blue shirt weekend!

So I'll just cut to the chase:

Last weekend was a two race weekend.  AND a two PR weekend!!!

I'll try to make this (relatively) short and sweet, since I'm so far behind in my blogging.  I really need to catch up on things.  Oh, who am I kidding?  I'm not exactly a pro at brevity. Let's just let it go and see how things end up, shall we?

I haven't done my week 12 training recap yet, but I can tell you right now, "training" was pretty much non-existent that week. I had another SUPER tough workweek - I knew it would be - so I gave myself permission to run or not run, just do whatever I could, and not bitch myself out about it or feel like a failure if I didn't get any running done.

Anywhoo...... Friday rolled around and I hadn't run once. I knew I had a hilly half marathon on Sunday, and I wanted to get a few easy and relaxing miles in on Saturday. And I was really in the mood to run through some mud.  So I decided to run the Down & Dirty Women's 8k Trail race again. I had so much fun running it last year - it was my first ever trail race!

Down & Dirty Hills

Ummm, yeah......it was hillier than I remembered.

That little climber at mile 2?  That was tough!  I just tried to relax, enjoy the scenery and not fall and hurt myself. Success!!

Saturday's Down & Dirty Women's 8k Trail Race.Can you
spot the keys and iPhone carefully concealed in my SpiBelt? 

I had a great time!  The weather was perfect, the course was lush and green, and it was the perfect antidote to an incredibly stressful week. I was a happy runner!

And when I was done, I saw that I shaved 6:20 off last year's time!  How fun is that!?!?!  (48:06 official time. Last year I did this same course in 54:26.) Whoo hoo!!

GarminElectra's report:

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	48:13.0	4.87	9:54
1	9:47.5	1.00	9:47
2	10:11.6	1.00	10:12
3	9:57.0	1.00	9:57
4	9:54.8	1.00	9:55
5	8:22.1	0.87	9:40

It was fun to see a bunch of running friends and it was especially fun to be able to go out and have a joyful trail run after a crazy week. My only complaint it that it wasn't muddy enough. I wanted to get dirty!

=======================================

On to race #2:  Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon.

Yeah, this one was kinda hilly, too.

The hills of the Lake Minnetonka half marathon.  

My butt was already feeling the effects of the previous day's race.

Another perfect day for running, weather-wise.  Rain, heavy rain, was in the forecast so I figured I was in for my third soaking wet half marathon in three weeks.  But it turned out that the third time was a charm - it was raining hard when I left my house - and the running gods were smiling upon me as got closer to the start line of the race as the rain lightened to a drizzle and then stopped and stayed away for the entire race! It was an hour drive so I had lots of time to obsess over what I was going to wear - my thriller jacket..... or  a long sleeve shirt...... or maybe I would just throw caution to the wind and go all  crazy and just wear a short sleeved shirt with nothing else to protect me from the elements.  (Yeah, I brought all that stuff with me so I could decide at the last minute.)  Aren't I just so daring and living on the edge and crap?  Wild thing!!

She's almost as tall as I am!
Amazon women.

I ran with a co-worker for part of the race.  We discovered we were running the same race on Friday, realized we run similar paces (although she has a faster PR than I do), and we were both running solo.  We decided to meet up and start together and if one of us was feeling good we'd just run our own race. It was fun to run with her!  We're both new to the company so we had lots of stories to share.  We stayed together for the first nine miles and then I lost her.  I thought she was alongside me but it was some other chick in the same color shirt.  Didn't see her again until the end.  Racing side note: I did some laundry on Saturday (including my running clothes from the race) and pulled things out to wear on Sunday and of course it was the EXACT SAME outfit I wore on Saturday.  Not a huge deal other than the photo ops showing me needing some variety in my clothing....... Yeah, I'm all about the details folks.

Anywhoo, talk about an absolutely GORGEOUS course!  We ran through some beautiful neighborhoods, and of course we ran along Lake Minnetonka, and up and down several hills. There were some hills on that course.  Did I mention the hills?  No?  It was a hilly course.  And though it didn't rain, it was HUMID. I was sweating buckets.  My pony tail was soaking when when I was done.  From sweat.  If it had been hot and sunny, it would have been a totally different race for me.  But it wasn't hot or sunny, and this race ended up being my fastest half-marathon to date!!  2:10:50 official time.  That's a PR, pumpkin!! And I did it in humid conditions and on a hilly course!!!  I kept the wheels on for the entire race this time, too.

I am strong like bull.

Here's the view from splitsville:

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	2:10:24.9	13.15	9:55
1	10:17.7	1.00	10:18
2	9:55.2	1.00	9:55
3	9:59.5	1.00	9:59
4	9:49.6	1.00	9:50
5	9:46.3	1.00	9:46
6	10:05.9	1.00	10:06
7	9:51.6	1.00	9:52
8	10:00.1	1.00	10:00
9	10:02.6	1.00	10:03
10	9:35.1	1.00	9:35
11	10:09.5	1.00	10:10
12	9:57.3	1.00	9:57
13	9:37.6	1.00	9:38
14	1:17.0	0.15	8:19

So there it is.  (Not a horribly long post, is it??)
Two days, two races, two PRs.  What a fun weekend!! 

better late than never

I figured I should post my Muscle Milk Woodsy race report - the race was September 17.  Just a few weeks ago, right?  My tardiness is not a reflection on the race - I loved all five hilly miles! - it's more of a reflection on my laziness.

This was one hilly-ass course.

Anywhoo..... this was my first real experience with trail running.  (After running this baby, that 8k trail run I did in May on the gentle rolling hills of Lake Elmo Park Reserve was nothing!) The husband and I ran it and let me tell you, this course was TOUGH, even the "experienced" trail runners were bitching about it.  Lots of steep inclines and declines, loose rocks & sticks..... it could have been treacherous but being such a slow runner kept the balance in my favor.  I totally loved the toughness of this course.  Who knew I was such a fan of hills?  I have to say, I was really digging the challenge.   It wasn't easy, but when I was done, I felt like I'd really DONE something, you know?

Running with the husband.  There was a camera on the trail,
(a wildlife-type camera!). Being the focused athletes
that we are,  we never even saw it.

There were two distance options - 5 miles and 9 miles.  I'm glad we chose the 5 mile race.  I think 9 miles on those hills would have been too much.  (Remember, I was only running a bit due to my wonky ankle.  I probably shouldn't have run this race but.... oh well.).

One of the coolest parts of the race was the group of Marines running with full rucksacks (30-50 pounds) who did the full nine miles. We passed a few of them at the end of the first mile - one of the guys was really struggling - two of his teammates were with him and one of the guys was asking him if he wanted to quit or give up his pack to someone else in the groups.  He yelled out, "No, sir!!" and the other guy said, "Then get moving up this hill!"  The rest of the group must have waited for him because they finished as a team, lead by two flag bearers.  It was really cool to see.

I am a member of the coveted Woodsy Pack because I was
one of the first 100 people to sign up for the race.  That
meant I got even more free shit.  Score!!

Oh, and there was free stuff!  You know how I love my freebies!  I got some Wigwam socks that are really comfy, and the race swag was pretty sweet, too.  And, the FOOD.  Best post-race food I've ever had.  Big sandwiches, fresh fruit, huge cookies, and BEER!  I had my first ever post-race beer (first ever AT the race, anyway).  It was delicious!

So that's about it.  If they hold this race again next year, I'm definitely signing up.  And I'm going to do the full nine miles next time.  Gotta test myself and see if I have the cojones to handle it.

Do you have any cojones-testing plans in your future?  Let's hear 'em! (The plans, not the cojones.)

redemption! chapter 1

Turns out apples right after running don't seem to agree
with my delicate ecosystem.  But the half-eaten apple
looks cool on the shirt, doesn't it?

Ah, sweet redemption. The Run for the Apples 5 mile race was today, and I did it - I showed up for the race!!  <cue the choir> It probably helped that the husband ran the race, too.  That always increases my odds of getting where I'm supposed to be on time.  Last year, if you recall, I was running it solo and my dipshit tendencies trumped any organizational skills I may possess.

So anywhoo, showing up was my only goal for today and I'm pleased to say that not only did I show up for the race, I ran it as well.  So I think that means I exceeded my own expectations.  Well done, Nora, well done!

I wore my snazzy trail shoes and I could see the other runners looking at me so enviously, all of them thinking to themselves "Man, a chick with shoes that awesome just has to be crazy fast."  But you know me, I like to keep 'em guessing, and I think it's bad form to be a show-off, so I went at my usual pace.  Garmin Electra (despite being the temperamental and untrustworthy beyoch that she can be) showed up too, and managed to stay awake for the entire run.  Here are my splits:

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	53:00.0	5.00	10:35.4
1	10:59.2	1.00	10:59.2
2	10:43.9	1.00	10:43.9
3	10:42.1	1.00	10:42.1
4	10:38.9	1.00	10:38.9
5	9:53.5	1.00	9:53.5
6	:2.2	0.00	7:57.3

Not too bad, eh?  And those splits are negative, princess!  I'll take it, especially since I've done lots of fast walking but very little actual running over the last few months.

With the husband after the race.
Eyes open and my nose is clean as a whistle!

The course was fun, back and forth through the orchard, pumpkin patch, strawberry fields, the corn maze, and some short bursts on the nearby road.  The only thing I didn't like was - because there was so much back-and-forthing - we could see all the runners waaaaayyyy ahead of us.  (I like my position in the pack to be a little more of a mystery to me.)  But it was an absolutely PERFECT Minnesota October morning, deep blue sunny skies, no wind, temps in the high 30's...... a fantastic day for a run.  I was freezing before the race started but warmed up right away and had stripped down to my tank top before the end of the second mile.

So that's it peeps! redemption! chapter 2 (Monster Dash 10 mile, where my goal is to NOT walk through the finish chute) coming up next weekend....  I'm running it solo so here's hoping I show up for it.

Oh, one more thing.  Remember my envy of the woman who could blow snot rockets?  And that, despite my envy, there was no way I would EVER do that in public?  Well, never say never, people.....desperate times call for desperate measures.  My nose was running like a faucet out there today - after four uses my one tired little kleenex was spent so I was blowing snot rockets like a pro.