Well helllloo bloggies (and non-bloggies sister mom dad roomie that I know are reading). On this MONDAY night I hope you all had a wonderful (or at least a step above terrible) start to your week!

Mondays and I have a love/hate relationship goin’ on. Love em’ because I have one of my favorite classes (Human Anatomy for Kinesiology majors), we get 4,000 yards done in the pool first thing in the morning, and there is $1 coffee at Caribou (which I actually no longer partake in now that I don’t drive to school.. but it definitely always made my day!), and Somer is the spin instructor on Monday nights she pretty much kick SASS. Hate em’ because it means there are still 4 days left of the work/school week, I have my least favorite (though easiest) class, I am reminded that I think I’m allergic to chlorine, and the fact that Monday’s come after Sunday – a day of which could not possibly be any better. (haha oh wow – how’s that for a throwback post?

This Monday is lookin’ pretty darn  good to me. I just got home from the gym where I got to sweat it out on the xrunner with my favorite gym buddy, got in a solid 10 min. core sesh, AND got through all my PT exercises for my glute muscles. And now, I write to you from the oversized-heaven-on-a-box-spring.

Please note all the necessary accessories in the photo:

1. multiple sources of hydration (Sleepytime tea in huge green mug, earth friendly metal water bottle #1, not so earth friendly but free water bottle #2)
2. the McMac. I can’t imagine ever going back to a PC now… ( <3 iCal!! )
3. the pain stick, also referred to as the roller of doom. Important enough that it warrants itself a spot in bed.
4. new cell phone!!
5. and the made-for-blogging-in-bed backrest pillow god I got from my godfather. Thank youuuu!

Nothing could make this look more appealing to me. Unless dinner were on a little TV tray next to me, but it’s cookin’ in the oven so that will have to wait. Oh… well maybe looking at it from this point of view…:

Grey’s. My dear Grey’s. (Please excuse the calfs that look exactly like drumsticks which is exactly why I am a vegetarian…) This dang TV that is in such a convenient location doesn’t even work!! Haha it plugs in.. but no TV. I got one of the federal coupons for getting a digital converter box, but I have no idea what I’m looking for at the store so I have been putting off going to get one. Not like I couldn’t just ask “Hi, my name is [blank]” at Target Boutique and be pointed in the right direction. Grey’s Anatomy is the ONE show that I’m dedicated to and still enjoy watching (except the news.. what a granny!) and I’m finally all caught up with this new season after being gone the last FOUR Thursday nights in a row. Honestly.. who plans team meetings on Thursday nights at 8:00? Don’t they know I have something important to do?! Hence #5 reason to dislike Mondays – THREE DAYS until Grey’s!

Anyways, I promise, there was a point to this post. Having to refer back to my title tells me I’ve gotten a little off track. Lo siento!

That would be the across-the-street view from my bus stop this morning. I think God knocked over his sugar bowl when he was making his cup o’ coffee this morning. I have no other way to describe 2.4″ on OCTOBER 12th. Jeeeez. We set a new record for snowfall today in the good ol’ MiniApple. Woooo. ?!

Sweet dreams? I had a dream the other night that I won a crazy blog giveaway. And I’m pretty sure this blog giveaway doesn’t even exist.. because at the end of the dream I ended up in the Natatorium with my tri team handing out muffins. Mmm yep. But there was a ton of sweet stuff in that dream that I WISH I was winning! If anyone wants to jot down what I dreamt I won, and then make a Sperly-just-for-you-Greatest-Giveaway-EVER.. let me know. Haha and I promise that wasn’t just a fakey-flakey way to segue into THIS, but now that I’m talking about giveaways…

Holy smokes! So many going on. First of all… I would really appreciate it if you all would enter MY FIRST GIVEAWAY! As of right now, I wouldn’t exactly call the competition for winning “steep.” And come onnnn kids.. I know who is reading my blog. I can see incoming links. The majority of you are either food bloggers who happen to run, or run bloggers who happen to very much enjoy food. Chances are you already have a photo posted of one of your favorite fall flavas, and you know the recipe off the top of your head. We don’t need to be talking Gourmet Magazine or anything here. And I may add that a certain variety of bars that a certain variety of [ALL OF] you happen to enjoy very much so was on sale this weekend at my lovely local grocery store. And that certain variety of goodness may have happened to make its way into my package of goodies. Still plenty of time left to enter my giveaway, but it would reassure me on my first one if you did it sooner rather than later!

Hah.. now that I’m done begging… here are some other sweet thangs that are givin away sweet thangs:

OneFrugalFoodie and her DairyFree basket of deliciousness…

RunToTheFinish and the sickest (in a very good way) arm sleeves…

Miss Missy who’s Maintain’ away and her Silk goodness…

SeeJessRun and her eco cool bag…

The Experimentarian’s apple goodies galore…

RunToTheFinish goes gluten free with Gilbert’s…

Oh my lord I know there are how many more..? Looking at my history I can’t even keep track of where I’ve been.

The timer just went off on my delicious dinner bubbling away in the oven, so it is of utmost importance that I get to that, but I just wanted to touch base real quick on the injury front. I have been a VERY good girl with this no running business. Maybe a bitchy very good girl at times, but I have followed my orders. To turn the frown upside down here, there are several POSITIVE posts that I feel should be made regarding my injury, running injuries in general, and whathave you. Given that I have gone through this twice, as well as two other stress fractures in each fibula, I know some things about XT. I have also had a great medical team and coaches behind me all the way, insuring that I don’t eff up my injury even worse. If anyone is interested, I want to do a post about cross training for runners > injury prevention > core strength for runners > swim workouts > bike workouts > the whole deal. Would that be helpful to anyone or would I just be writing to myself here? Let me know what you are interested in learning about!

Let me know…

Enter my giveaway…

Have a lovely evening!

Yours truly,
-E

Hey kids. Well.. this is a post that no one wants to write (maybe no one wants to read?! Haha.. sorry), but I figured I better write it before the marathon. Not like you guys are hanging on my every move here, but maybe someone wants to know.

After my last post, I was still undecided about what I was going to do about the Marathon. For anyone who just stumbled onto this blog or for new readers to the blog.. quick run down: Twin Cities Marathon is this Sunday (Oct. 4th).. I’m registered to run, trained to run, and wanting to run. And I’m not running. I found out last Friday that I re-fractured my femoral neck.. a fracture that I was dealing with almost exactly a year ago from today. Actually.. it’s sort of scary – everything is happening basically a year in parallel. I had surgery last December, and healed/rehabbed, or so I thought, started training for TC in July.. and found out about the fracture 9 days before the marathon. Sweet.

So now we should all be on the same page here I think..

SO. As you can imagine, I was pretty distraught after the phone call from my doctor. Clearly the fracture was a big deal, but honestly, I was most concerned about what I was going to do about the marathon. I had tons of questions for my doctor.. questions for myself.. my mind was just jumping all over the board. At the time I was writing my last post, I think my mindset was something like this:

No running until race day, run the marathon but don’t race it, don’t run after the marathon until the fracture heals. 

And yes – every time I wrote that or told somebody that was what I was planning, I realized how ridiculous it sounded. Here are the main flaws I see now with that problem:

1. I trained to race, not run. Would I really be happy just running a marathon when I knew I wasn’t giving it my best?
2. Would I even enjoy the race? My mind would be pretty much consumed about what was going on in my body.. would my hip be worse? What if it broke through the pins? Why am I doing this?
3. I am already a week into healing. If I run the marathon.. it’s just that much longer until I heal. And probably extra because a marathon isn’t exactly the same as just going for a 5 mile run. 
4. I would be knowingly going against the advice of all my doctors, PTs, and surgeons. What makes me think I know better than them? 
5. Just say I ran, and my hip did fracture through the pins. We’re talking total hip replacement. I don’t think you see too many competitive 20something runners with a hip replacement. (This thought brought up an interesting point about athletes with prosthesis.. but then I realized where my mind was really headed.. is running THIS marathon really so important to me that I’d rather lose my leg? Um…)

I know there are other factors that went into deciding against that plan.. but these are the major issues I found. After talking more with my medical team about the real risks.. I realized that I’m too smart for that. 

So then, my game plan as of now:

Go to expo (check), go to marathon to cheer on all friends running it, go to PT (check) and continue it weekly, see new young-adult hip specialist.

The hip specialist that I’m trying to get in with is apparently just that.. pretty dang “special”. He was wayyy booked out, and I can’t get in to see him until sometime in NOVEMBER. I took the appointment, but asked to be put on a cancellations list so that hopefully I can get in sooner. Going to the expo today was fun, because hello – marathon expos are always fun, but it was also HARD. To be honest, I definitely had my mind made up at one point that, eff it, I was just going to run. But I was able to talk myself down from that and get my feet grounded again. The marathon is on Sunday, and I’m going to spend the morning with my mom going to a couple points on the course to go cheer. 

I. Will. Get. Through. This.

On a brighter note.. I have been doing some fun stuff to keep my mind occupied. Like school doesn’t do enough of that! And I got to see my dad yesterday – he had a layover in Minneapolis (that turned into an overnight in Minneapolis.. lovely weather!) and it was SO nice to get to see him, even if it was only for such a short time. Training wise, I have had some really good rides.. at least my biking can only get stronger during this time. That goes the same for swimming too. We had our first team dinner of the season last week.. and that was a ton of fun! It was a potluck deal.. and I brought.. POPCHIPS!

They were definitely a hit. Two other people brought tortilla chips or regular potato chips, and those bags weren’t even opened! Haha I was nervous people wouldn’t like them because they’re “healthy”.. but there weren’t even crumbs left in the bags at the end of the night, so I take that as a sign that they were thoroughly enjoyed!

Oh.. p.s. This is clearly not that timeline post I was talking about. I have like half of it written.. and then I guess life got in the way and I never came back to it. Sorry! I will probably still post it just for my own sake. And for now my friends, I have to say goodnight. I am going out for ice cream, and then getting back home EARLY for Spinnergy tomorrow morning. Sorry for a mostly-downer post, but it is part of life, and there’s no way around it!

Hope everyone has a good night and a great weekend.

-E

I’m not sayin’ its an excuse for going AWOL on you guys, but I just wanted some proof to back me up – this chick has been BUSY. My last post was over a week ago, and the days have just been going by so dang fast! In addition to anything on the ToDo list, I’ve had class, training, we had a yard sale this weekend, work, and work #2. Luckily, my trusty iCal has helped keep me on top of the game.

Like I said.. no excuses though.

So anyways, now that the school year is underway, I wanted to share with you guys my schedule, and how I fit running/training into that. I have talked to some med students here that I know are runners, or people who are in residencies, and asked them the same thing. Not gonna lie – sometimes it scares me to think I could find myself already in scrubs at 5:00am, working all day, studying, and before I know it it’s 11:00pm. I think of that and the image that comes up in my mind is this blood-shot med student (OOOMG. Do not go type that into flickr.) decked in scrubs, falling asleep over a text book. Well, I don’t have to worry about that yet because I’m still working on undergrad, and then oh yeah – I still have to get in to med school! Haha.. I’ll worry about it when the time comes. So without further ado, here is my current class schedule:

Every semester up until this point I have alway had a 3 day weekend – either Monday or Friday off. Honestly though, I feel like this is the BEST schedule I have ever had, and especially for training purposes. Because that’s why I’m going to school.. to train.. right? If you can’t see.. my earliest class starts at 11:15 M/T/W/TH, and I don’t start until 1:25 on F. I’m done with class at 3:25 M/W/TH/F, and done by 12:30 on T!! I also have two nice little breaks on M and TH in between classes. Wednesdays are my packed day,  but honestly, it’s still not that bad. These are the classes I’m taking this semester:

So then what about school? Because that IS what I am here to do. As much as I joke around about it, school is my number one priority. Scary as it may be to think about not getting to do what I want to do when I hit med school.. or even now.. I just gotta suck it up! There are days when I have had to just say forget it – you’re not getting a run in today. As much as my running (and now, slowly but surely, my biking and swimming) is my one grounding element in my life, there are times when you have to sacrifice and make adjustments. This has been a good challenge for me and my type A++ self – learning to accommodate! Maybe I don’t have time for the 8 miles that I wanted, but I can still fit in 5 – then I can still do the 5! I come from a very black and white/all or none mind set.. and this is good practice for getting ready for real life, when you don’t always get to be the one in charge.
 

Ohhh wow. I just looked down at my hands as I started to type, and WTH my cuticles are all torn up!? Granted I did just get out of the pool, and that always makes them look worse, but what happened? That only used to happen when I had to break down cardboard boxes a lot at work…

Random. Sorry.

So. I am writing to you from the 114A Express bus – U of MN to Uptown, and wherever it goes after that. I am on my way home from school.. and I am not in my car.. and it feels SO good.

I have officially become a bike/bus student commuter. My lil Accord is still sitting out front, but I am making every effort to only use it when there is no other option. This whole summer I have done really well with eliminating/minimizing/combining car trips, walking when possible, biking when possible, and carpooling if it’s an option. It’s one of those things that just makes me smile.. I can’t help it! It’s kind of like when you’re going to a race at 5 in the morning, and anyone else out on the highway you know is going to the race too because they have their 26.2 sticker on their bumper, or their bike with aero bars on the back of the car. C’mon.. you know you’re sitting there behind the wheel with a hugh jass grin on your face! 

I feel like I’m being introduced to a whole new club being a bike commuter. You see “regulars” on the path at the same time each day… people get to know you at the bike shop en route. And then the bus.. there are DEFINITELY regulars there. (cough** and some cute ones at that **cough) 

I’ve talked before about the environment being really important to me. I wouldn’t have included “recycle” in the name of my blog if I didn’t care about it. (Ok.. so maybe not on the same level as tatting “I Love Alfonzo” on your hip, but close!) Unnecessary has been my signature word for so long, and it still is. Lately I have become really aware of gas prices, time wasted in a car, the sheer NUMBER of cars out on the road, and that is what I want to talk about today.

[ETA: I'm at home now... quick bus ride!]

BIKE COMMUTING

Bike commuting has so many benefits! Aside from the “insider’s club” mentioned above, I can name so many more:

• you’re obviously helping cut down on pollution – each and every gallon of gas we burn leads to about 20 pounds of CO2 gas in the air, and that contributes to the crazy climate change business we have going on. 
• Want to know what you’re gonna burn on your bike? Calories. Want to know what’s going to be heating up? YOU, because you’re going to get crazy toned legs. 
• What about money saved? A typical U.S. family spends about $8000 per year operating a car. A  bike requires no gas, no oil changes, no new tires, and maybe a $50 tune up. You can even get PAID to bike – the government started a program with some companies that reimburses employees who bike commute! If you’re interested in this program, check out this site from the League of American Bicyclists.

BUS COMMUTING

I’ll just start right off again with all the benefits of riding public transportation:

• Again, the big obvious one – helping cut down on gas emissions that are harmful to our environment. The average Twin Cities driver releases about 2.6 tons of green house gasses each year when they drive to and from work.  (Source.) Um.. I’d rather not! And that’s just ONE person. Take that, times every other Joe-Schmoe-why-won’t-this-traffic-go sitting next to you.. and you have a very. very. large number. 
• Minneapolis now has HYBRID busses! 28% better fuel efficiency.. quiet.. and clean! 
• No questioning whether or not you’ll go outside after work and be snowed in. 
• No more scrapping ice off your windshields. 
• No more parking tickets. 
• No more expired tabs. 
• No more running out of gas on the high way.
• No more speeding tickets (hey.. if the bus driver does it, not my problem!!)
• Nooo more! 

I <3 Minneapolis!!

The fact that I have these options – public transportation and paved bike pathways or bike lanes around my city – makes me so grateful!! It is definitely not something I take for granted, because I have been in plenty of cities where there is no such thing as city bus, biking is used only when there are training wheels attached, and not much longer there after, the closest anything is a good 15 minute drive, there just really aren’t many other options besides using your car! Minneapolis for sure has a few areas in which we could improve our public transportation system (and we’re working on it – hellooo more lightrail!) but for my needs at this time, the bus routes we have and the bike paths are sufficient, and they get me where I need to go. I would LOVE if the Lightrail was extended to go up to St. Cloud so I could visit family without driving, but I have a feeling it will happen some day. 

What is your public transportation system like where you live? Do you use it? Do you walk or bike places instead of drive? I feel like because this my blog falls into the health/wellness category, answers are more likely to be YES than if I were to ask the general public. But that’s great! And if you don’t or haven’t started trying to cut back on your automobileage.. I challenge you to ask yourself why? What can I (you…) do to start taking those steps? If you’re stuck.. here is a site that offers some great TIPS!

 Well.. I could go on and on about this issue for a really long time, so I think I’ll cut it here. I hope you guys don’t mind reading a little non-running post every now and then.. although now that I think about it, RUNNING is a great alternative transportation option too!! Hahha.. a little hard to get those textbooks to school though.  And because I’m not sure how to even write a complete post without mentioning what isss going on running wise – tomorrow is my LAST 20 miler before TCM! A huge group of us is starting at mile 6 and running the last 20 of the marathon course. It should be fantastic. (Ignoring the 5:30 wake up call.. I don’t like that so much.) Know how I’m getting to the start? BIKING. Know how I’m getting home? CARPOOLING!

Rockstar.

Seeee ya soon peeps! 

-E

Well… I said I was racing a lot this year, and I wasn’t lyin’! On Labor day I did not one, but two races – the Victory Memorial 10K and 5K – ohhh yes – enter the double headers. This was not your run of the mill lil race – there was some SERIOUS runnin’ going on. Lots of very. competitive. runners. Luckily though, not so many in my age group.

But looking at the results only proves my birthday fear – I will not be so highly ranked once I move up into the next age group! Check out the RESULTS and you’ll see what I mean! For the 10K WOMEN, the top time in the age group ahead of me (20-24) was a freaking amazing finish by Amy Lyons with a time of 36:31. That’s a 5:53 average pace!! Annnd.. look just down a little and there is a new Minnesota record – a 41:12 (6:38 avg) for a 55 year old!! She finished 3 places ahead of me, and MAN was she looking strong! 

So my race: I ran the 10K in 41:33 (6:41 avg pace), which was good enough to get me 20th overall, and 1st in my age group! I won’t even tell you about the 5K, because race it – I did not. I was under the impression that the 10K awards were after the 5K, so I thought WTH, I’ll do the 5K as a cool down. It was only 5 extra bucks for the double header, so I paid, got a 2nd number, and hopped to it! I was running with two other ladies from  one of my training groups who had also run the 10K, and were were running pretty easy. Then at mile  2.5, Jackie reminded me that there was a prize for best overall combined time for anyone doubling that day, and she suggested I go for it. So with only half a mile left, I kicked it up a bit and ran in with an average of 7:20. Unfortunately, I wasn’t elligible for the double-header category since I wasn’t preregistered for both. But apparently there were no 19 and under females running the 5K faster than I did, because I took that age group too!

getting my gift certificates!

OK.. enough about races – I’m going to give you the whole shebang in photos, and get to homework! I have two posts that I really want to get out, but I thought I better post this before it’s like a month later!

The rest of team MED (which is now MED-B) also ran the 10K!

Gettin' pumped pre-10K

Stretchin out the muscles pre-5K

Two of the ladies and I.. oh J, sorry

Bringin in the 5K

And that is that my friends! I honestly had no expectations going into this race.. I legit went to bed at 1:15 because I was hanging out with the guys downstairs, and I woke up at 6:00. But hey – adversity training, right? 

No more races (that I know of!) until TWIN CITIES MARATHON which is only 24 days away! I have my last 20 miler this Saturday which I’m super pumped for, and then I belllieve I’m headed up to watch/cheer/volunteer at the Square Lake Triathlon. Several of my TEAMMATES are competing in the half course! More on that to come…

And one quick word – SCHOOOOL. ?!?! Ahhh! Back at it. I am having some class scheduling/changing/dropping/switching difficulties ATM, but other than that, good stuff. Feels great to be back!

Love you all, and see you soon.

-E

p.s. I feel like cookies would be a very very good pre/post run fuel! And perfect for being on the go at school!

Goooood lord. It is only like 3:45 and I swear it feels like 8:00! It’s not that I really feel tired, but it has definitely been a long day! Here we go.. start to finish! The St. Croix Valley Triathon:

I decided not to go out to Hudson last night. For some reason I had in my mind that it took like an hour and a half to get there.. but then I put it in googleMaps and it said it only took 40 minutes. So I nixed the plans with my mom’s friend (where I was planning on staying overnight) and decided I’d just drive out in the morning. It was a early morning! I haven’t seen 4:30am in a looong time. But it was well worth it – my mom’s friend has a dog, and I have allergies, and that wouldn’t have been a good idea the night before a race!

So I was out the door by 5:15, stopped for coffee (I had my coffee pot all set up to brew this morning.. but I set it for 5PM instead of 5am! doh!!) and was on my way! It was pitch black when I left, but I got to watch the sun rise as I was driving east to Hudson! SO PRETTY! Hhaha annnnd.. I swear the only people out on the roads at that time were people going to the tri! Every  car I saw had a racing bike on the back or a TriHarder bumper sticker… it made me smile every time!

 Got there, got my transition area all set up, got my packet, my “small” shirt (which goes down to my knees… who makes these!?) and got tatted…

and then had a while to wait for the start. I was nervous because my feet and hands were COLD. I’ve always had bad circulation.. but i was thinking if they’re cold now and I haven’t even touched the water yet.. then I’m in trouble! The water even looked cold!

The race started at 7:30, but since I was in wave 5 (women 29 and under) I didn’t start until like 7:45. There were some competitive looking girls out there.. but at this race they didn’t mark your age on your calf like they usually do, so I couldn’t tell who I was up against! Maybe a good thing… 

The gun went off and so did we. The water was actually not bad - I think it was probably about 70°.. so the water temperature was not the problem. Especially because I did this in more clothes than I did Green Lake… I was wearing a full length tri top and shorts. Little teeny shorts.. but shorts none the less. Honestly though.. I think I panicked a bit in the lake. Open water swimming is really different than swimming in a pool.. and the sighting thing just wasn’t working for me today. I had to breast stroke a bit in the beginning just to calm myself down, and by the time I reached the turn around bouey I was pretty much fine. It definitely slowed my swim time down though!

Thennnn the bike. I have two conflicting factors here when I try to compare to my last tri: 1. I was on a much better/faster bike. 2. I. was. FREEZING. I said the water temperature wasn’t a problem.. but the air temperature was. It was still too early for the sun to shine on the road, so the air temp was still like 55°. Take that, plus being soaking wet, plus going 22 mph = froze my ass off. Hahha I can’t wait to see the pictures from the professional photographer.. my face was like locked in one position that I’m sure was disgusting very attractive… I’ll have to wait and see. 

And then, my love – the run. This was a 4 mile run.. where as Green Lake was just a 5K. I actually like this run way better though. And finally my face and arms and core warmed up because the sun was finally peaking through! My legs from the knees down though were just numb.. it was ridiculous! But I knew they were still attached, and damnit, they had a job to do, so I got to it. I definitely started out slower than usual, but ended up picking it up a lot at the 2 mile turn around. My time out was 15:42 (!!! wtf) and coming back it was 13:44. All for a grand average pace of 7:21 (according to Gomer). Which for me.. is still ridiculously slow for a 4 mile run. But with frozen feet and being a newbie up and coming triathlete, I’ll take it. My friend Cyndi is the only other person I knew up there… she is from the Splashers team I train with (hard core name.. no?) and she is a great athlete! She says she is not a runner.. but I told her that is the great amazing thing about individual sports. You can be whatever you want to be. You can improve, and it’s easy to forget that sometimes! I love this lady’s attitude. She is definitely kick ass and will help remind you that you are too!

My total time was something along the lines of 1:20:xx… PickleEvents does the chip timing and they haven’t posted the results online yet. What I can say is that despite feeling like it wasn’t my best race.. it definitely wasn’t.. I took 2nd in my age group (and contradictory to my age-group-upgrade-fears, would have taken 2nd in the 20-25 devision too). I came home with an amazing medal engraved with St. Croix Valley Tri a .. stop watch? Mmm yep. Not kidding. Note to Race Director.. hopefully you’ll see this somehow – I LOVED your race. Everything. But a stop watch? Even Green Lake did medals.. they were just dog tags engraved but actually I like that the best! Then you can actually wear it without looking like you’re trying to be a show off. I can promise you that I wont be wearing my St. Croix Valley stop watch out to dinner tonight. My mom actually said she needs one for school, so…. !! 

The after celebration was nice – it was a Luau theme so they had leis and pineapple and what not.. but the main “event” for the food was pulled pork. I am not one of those PITA vegetarians, but I would have appreciated sommmme sort of meat-free option! I wasn’t kidding about the shirt being huge.. and I hate that because half the point of doing a race is to get free shirts.. and I like to be able to WEAR them! Here is me, trying to jump up on my couch before Photo Booth counts down…

Please ignore the crazed look on my face.. and I promise. I am completely G rated in posting this.. there are shorts on under there! And Chad.. this is all for you buddy – the shorts:

I was actually looking for racing buns.. but no where keeps them in stock! They’re mostly for team orders.. so this was the closest I could get. And I LOVE them. And bought two pairs.

I met my mom and some family friends at Dunn Bros on my way home. It was really nice to see them all.. and MAN was I ready for a cup of coffee!! That brings me to here.. all done with a triathlon before 9:30am and saying now what? for the rest of the day! I think I am meeting up with someone to buy the calc book I need for this year (craigslist – in case I go missing) (Kidding!! Sorta… =/ ) and then I think I am going to go spend the rest of the day helping my mom set up for our YARD SALE we are having in two weeks. So this my friends concludes my St Croix Valley Tri race report, and overall I’d say it was a success. If I’m in town, I’ll be back there next year!

I’m out!

See you soon love bugs. Race on Monday.. school starts Tuesday! YIKES! Live it up while you can!

I want to get the rest of my Philly trip posted, because I literally have like FIVE posts that I want to do (some of them I already have written!) but they’re all backing up! Plus, I have some special events coming up this weekend (St. Croix Valley Tri, Victory Memorial 10K) that I’m sure are going to get some photo action…

So without further delay, here is the wrap up post to my Philadelphia trip – written on the air plain to Minneapolis! I did it in iWeb when I still had hopes of a iWeb/WordPress marriage. No such luck. Thank you who ever invented Copy -> Paste.

Well my friends, my trip to the City of Brotherly Love has come to an end. I currently sitting on one of the smallest planes I have ever ridden on [edit edit] and I am ready to be home. 

Highlights of my trip:

DAD! I don’t need to say much more than that

Getting to see my sister and her husband on Saturday

A 15 mile run on Sunday along the Schulkyll River, el padre en tow on bike

A trip to REI where I got a nice tri top and some wind proof biking gloves (on sale!!)

Picnic dinners/lunches out on the river

A 6 mile run in the monsoon rain on Saturday

Getting to see where my dad lives, works, and has his new life in Philly

Here are some photos of our [way too short] trip:

el padre y yo after my/our 15 miler on the Schuylkill River

downtown Philly skyline – pretty! 

Dinner at Marathon Grill (v. good!) followed by a reallly good Gelato place! 

It was a good food night. I was happy!

What’s in store when I get back:

Work – jobs #1 & #2

Getting books

St. Croix Valley tri on Saturday

Victory Memorial 10K on Monday

School starts Tuesday

Sleep?! Please!?

More to come later peeps. Seeeya.

Hello hello mis amigos. I am writing a quick “tide over” post before I head off to the airport. I am going to PHILADELPHIA to see my dad! He moved there in December.. and I haven’t been out to see him there yet. I have actually never even been to Philadelphia before! Been to Pennsylvania, but not the city of brotherly love. (Is that the right phrase.. or am I completely making that up?)

Quick running update:

I am currently alternating between coffee, Powerade, and water. I did my third 20+ miler of this “season” (haha.. I never know what to refer to it as! This Twin-Cities-training? This period? Season works for me), and it felt fine. I ran it way slower than I did my last 20 miler because that is just the pace of the group I was with, and their company is worth way more to me than proving I can run sub 8s for a long training run. I ran into this situation two years ago when I was training for Med City – running with a group that is slower than my pace – but I seemed to do just fine when I ran a 3:19, so hopefully that trend will carry through!

My upcoming schedule for running/racing looks a little like this:

• September 5th – St. Croix Valley Triathlon
• September 12th – the Capitol Run – 20+ mile training run
• September 20th – October 4th – Taper time
• October 4th – Twin Cities Marathon!
• October (3oth or 23rd?) – Monster Dash Half Marathon
• November XX – Turkey Trot 5K
• January XX – Winter Carnival Frozen Half Marathon
• April XX – Boston 2010

I don’t know what other little races will pop in there.. but I usually do a few 5Ks just for fun (like the Turkey Trot! I think there’s a Jingle Bell 5K too…) so we’ll see. I also need to look at my budget because I’ve spent more this year on races than I have on the past. I don’t know that I’ve necessarily raced more,  but they have definitely been more expensive races. Especially with triathlons – that is not a cheep sport! Luckily, I’ve found ways to cut costs here and there (carpooling, sharing hotels, discounted bike shoes, etc.) but that is a whole ‘nother future post!

I promise – my Ragnar Post will be published soon! I made a photobook of the whole event.. so I’ve been putting a lot of time into that instead of writing up the dang recap! I leave you with photo of me n’ Rilo – my mom and I were getting a little carried away with sports mode on her camera I’m bringin’ the McMac along to Philly, so maybe I’ll get a post up while I’m there! Otherwise, catch you when I get back!

-E

I’m not quite ready to post my Ragnar race recap just yet, but I can say WOW it was so much fun! I am 50% exhausted and 50% still pumped! We are already planning next year’s race. In the mean time… I’ll leave you with this:

When I was trying to think of everything I needed to bring along for the Ragnar Relay.. I felt like I kept forgetting things, or thinking of new things! The whole trip I found myself saying, “I wish I would have thought of that!” I had searched on Ragnar’s site for a “packing list”, but all I came up with were some suggestions of a few food items, and the mandatory items you needed to run (reflective vest, headlamps, etc.)

I’m putting this list up so that if anyone else is googling trying to find a Ragnar packing list, they might stumble upon this and I can be of help! Of course not all of these things are necessary, and some of them are just personal preference items that I wanted to have along, but at least it’s a good place to start!

CLOTHES:

• Running top (3 – one for each leg)
• Running shorts (3 – one for each leg)
• Socks (3 pairs)
• Shoes (I recommend 2 pairs in case it is raining during one of your legs)
• Sports bras (3)
• COMFY CLOTHES (to wear in between legs)
• Sweatshirt
• Sweatpants
• T-shirt
• Flip flops
• Hat/visor
• Running belt
• Jacket or windbreaker

COSMETICS:

• Baby wipes
• Deodorant
• IcyHot
• Ibuprofin
• Inhaler (if you have asthma)
• Contact case / solution / glasses (if you wear them)
• Hair brush (hair gets super tangled in the humidity)
• Bandaids
• TUMS
• Toothpaste / toothbrush (your teeth start to feel furry after all that Gatorade)
• Shampoo / soap (several of the major exchanges have OUTDOOR showers. Read: cold)

ETC:

• Garmin/watch
• Cell phone
• RACE BIBLE (at least 2 copies – one per van)
• Reflective vests (2+ – Mandatory. At least one per van, but they get sweaty – I would bring your own)
• Head lamps (2+ – see above)
• Flashers for back side (2+ – see above)
• Camera & batteries
• iPod
• Sleeping bag or blanket
• Pillow (though you’re not going to be getting much sleep!) 
• Ear plugs (see above)
• Money
• FOOD & BEVERAGE (see below)
• Swiss army knife
• First aid kit
• Towel
• Glow sticks
• Sidewalk chalk (to write on the road ahead of your runners.. it’s so fun to see a message to kick a$$ when you’re dying on mile 7 trying to peak the hill!)
• Book / magazine (I brought them.. but honestly you’re having too much fun with your team to have time to read)
• Walkie Talkies (if you want em’… cell phone coverage is spotty)
• Cooler
• Sharpie (I wanted it.. I feel like it’s always a good thing to have along!)
• Window paint markers (for your van)
• Safety pins (for pinning on numbers.. taking care of blisters.. you get the picture)

my lovely artwork

FOOD & BEVERAGE:

• Water bottles (bring more than you think you’ll need. You’ll need them.)
• Gatorade or Powerade
• Bananas
• Bagels
• Peanut butter
• Apples
• Grapes
• Bars (clif/power/granola/etc.)
• Gu/Sports beans/Shot Blocks/etc.
• Raisinettes
• Cereal
• String cheese
• Crackers
• Gum
• Trail mix
• Pretzels
• COFFEE (you don’t need to have it with you, but if you are one of those people who need coffee to keep going, make sure you have a plan of where you will get it!)

the goodie bag

Like I said, some of these things are just things I wanted to have along for personal comfort. You obviously don’t need chalk to write on the road, but it is something I wish I had brought along when I saw “Kick It In!!” written on the road ahead of me! 

I’m off to bed mis amigos. I started my first leg at like 3:00 yesterday afternoon, ran somewhere around midnight, and finished my last leg at like 9:00 this morning (Saturday). There were probably about 3 hours of sporadic sleep thrown in there.. and as far as I’m concerned, it feels like its already Tuesday. 

And I wouldn’t trade it for the world!

Want to get this up super fast.. intended on actually posting about it before I left, but you know how that goes! 

Tomorrow at 7am I’m off to go relay it up from WI to MN – the Ragnar Great River Relay! (Actually.. it is starting in Winona MN this year due to some construction or something, crossing over to WI, and then ending in Minneapolis.) We’re a regular 12 person team.. no ultras here this year! I’m super excited but to be honest the logistics of the whole thing are kinda stressing me out. Either way, I know it will be a ton of fun! I have enough food to feed an army (of one.. ME!), 3 sets of running clothes, 2 pairs of shoes, my camera, 8 batteries and 2 flash cards, and a crapload more! 

I promise many many photos and a full recap when I get back! Have a great weekend everyone!

-E