Happy Birthday to Me!

Well, hello!

So, I hit the big 2-6 later this week. However, I have already received a few birthday gifts of note from the ever-awesome Coach Mom.

The first: I was registered to run the National Cherry Festival of Races 15K. I've ran their 5K plenty of times, but never made the jump to the big one until this year.

The 15K is most notorious for the climb up "Mount McKinley". Not the real one, obviously, but this is a nearly mile-long climb up the hill on McKinley road, and it just happens to fall right around the halfway point of the race. Oddly enough, this is where I felt the best during this event. I took off like a rocket at the start (yay, forgetting my watch!) and was starting to bonk just a little at this point. Got to the hill, didn't walk at all, felt OK on the climb, threw up 2 rock on fists when I hit the top, coasted down... and then the bonk hit hard. Oh, and did I mention that it was already pushing 80 at this point and humid as heck? Considering the lack of summer we had to that point in Duluth, I wasn't ready for that. I took water and was sprayed with it every chance I had, but I way missed my goal of breaking 1:15 and finished in what was a disappointing 1:19:28.
Yes, I did just say I was disappointed with a race where I averaged an 8:33 pace. What a difference a year makes, eh?
The second came a few days later. I've now run 2 half marathons and earned this, so it was time to get my feet:

Yup! I went and got inked! Coach Mom and Assistant Coach Little Sister both have the same tattoo on the same spot of their right leg, so we all match. It stung a bit, but it was nowhere near as bad as I thought it was going to be.
And, the third present?

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Another half, another go at the course that started it all, another shot to break 1:45. 9/3/11. Let's do this! Also doing this: Coach Mom, Assistant Coach Little Sister, and my Little Bro! It will be his first, and I'm so proud of him!! :)

In other news, in my ongoing quest to "race the crap" out of the summer (as one of my co-workers put it), I took on Northern Minnesota's oldest road race, the Park Point 5 Miler. 

This race should not have gone as well as it did. For starters, I had spent 11 hours the day before on planes and buses coming back from Traverse City to Duluth. While I was in TC, I had been running with the newly formed Traverse Area Running Club, and had just done a 9.5 mile interval workout the morning before flying home. Then, after a short night's sleep, I spent race day at work. Finally, just as race time approached, the cool day turned warm and sticky. I told Brandon to start watching for me around 7:10PM, or around the 40:00 minute mark, as I wasn't expecting things to go well.

37 minutes and 52 seconds later, I crossed the finish line. Boom. Despite the negatives, I feel that I sufficiently rocked that race's face right off. I didn't feel awesome at all, but I'm quite proud of that time all things considered. 

So, yeah. I'm thinking I'm going to take a bit of a hiatus on the racing front until Marquette (though it is hard to turn down a comped entry, believe you me.) I want to break 1:45 so bad I can taste it, and I want to be as fresh and well trained as I can. If there's anywhere that I can hit that, it's Marquette. Here's hoping the weather is a bit nicer this year.

That's all I've got for now. Have fun, kids!

Checking in...

Hello, blogland!

I know, it's been another extended hiatus. However, June has been just a bit crazy for me. For part of that, I have one thing to blame:

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No, not running it, but working it. Working at a running store during an event like that = 60 hour work week. We had a series of booths at the Expo. While those were some long days, they were super fun and I enjoyed them and talking with a lot of really interesting people and telling them about some interesting shoes. (Vibram Five Fingers and Newtons.) And, for my trouble, I may or may not have walked away with a pair of slick shoes of my very own:

(Thanks, Justin!)

The Newton Distancia U Lightweight Universal Trainer. Or, as I've started calling them, my "Holy crap are these things bright pink" shoes. I've only taken them out once so far, as Newtons usually require a bit of an adjustment period, but so far? Not a bad shoe.

Speaking of shoes, I think things are starting to get a bit out of hand here: 

Clockwise from top: my current trainers (Mizuno Wave Inspire 7), my on-deck trainers (same), my Nikes I was given to try (Lunarglide+), the aforementioned Newtons, my now-retired Asics Foundations, and my racing shoes (Asics DS Racer 8). 

Yeah. Three I have been given as part of my job, one was a gift, and the other two I have purchased myself (like when I found out the Foundations were causing me to supinate and giving me IT band issues). But in 6 months time, I've gone from hoping I'll get shoes for Christmas because otherwise I wouldn't be able to afford them to having shoes coming out of my ears. Do I remind myself how lucky I am? Every freaking day, multiple times a day.

Anyway, Grandma's, between the Expo, the store, and the race watching party we held there was a crazy weekend. I'm glad I've finally witnessed the hullabaloo, and I think I'm going to throw my name in the hat for the half next year, despite the whole "Oh, hey, I'm getting married the following weekend" thing.

In other news, I spent a bit of time this month recovering from the awesomeness that was Bayshore. I'm starting to pick things back up a bit in prep for the Cherry Fest 15K. My first 15! Usually I do the 5K--it'll be a nice change of pace, and I'm excited.

I was curious what I could do for a 5K these days though, so last weekend I did one-- the Midnight Sun Midnight Run. This was SO much fun! It was a perfect summer night--clear, a little cool but comfortable outside. It was right along the Lakewalk, my primary training grounds, so my familiarity with the terrain made up for the lack of light. I felt fantastic, even with the odd start time completely throwing off my pre-race groove, and I ran a HUGE PR. My official race time (gun time, not chip time) was 22:58, but my watch time was 22:43. Either time is a massive PR and my first 22. :) I'm pretty excited.

So, that's what's going on here. What's up with you all?

So, uh... hi

Hi, everyone.

Yes, I know it has been just over 2 months since I have posted anything besides an absurd number of tweets and DailyMile posts. I've lost count of the number of times I have thought, "OK, today's the day--I will dust off the blog and get back to it," and then found myself otherwise distracted. (And, if it is another 2 months before you see another post from me, blame Angry Birds Chrome. Eeeegad is that addicting.)

So... what has gone down in the last 2 months and change here?

For one, a couple of awesome races:

The top one is the Goldy's Run 10 miler in Minneapolis, MN on April 9. Brandon and I were in the Cities for the 2011 College Hockey Frozen Four, and this was my little way of making sure I still got my run in while I was there. I also treated it as a tempo run, trying to see if I could hang at an 8:30 pace. I did that and then some--my official chip time was 1:22:44. I was just a bit happy. :) The finish was awesome--they brought you around TCF Bank Stadium (Home of the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers), and you crossed the finish line at the 50 yard line, with your finish shown up on the JumboTron and your name announced. So, awesome... even if my finish line shot got blocked by some lady.
The bottom one is me coming down the home stretch for the Bayshore Half. If you remember, my goal was to take 10 minutes off my Marquette time, so 1:52:55. I DESTROYED that--1:48:51. The best part of that race? Running with my mom for the first 8 miles. If you would have told me a year ago that would have happened, I wouldn't have believed it. Despite being wet and slightly cold, it was an absolutely amazing morning.

Oh, and the awesome singlet I'm wearing in those photos? Well, the store I work at has a all-inclusive racing team, and the staff is included on this team (the main objective is to be represented by people who reflect the sport positively by being active and a positive presence at racing events.) . :) So, I'm on a racing team.

And, that job at the store? Well, I had my first review after about 2 months (usually that happens at 3, but they wanted to get mine taken care of). The long and short of it: I nailed the training and probationary period. Now, I'm in the process of being trained to be an assistant manager, taking over that around 8/1. I'll be taking on a lot of new roles, including employee training, community outreach and marketing, coordinating clinics and "spike nights" with local high school teams, among other things. Pretty excited? You bet. :)

And, to close--the numbers:
March mileage total: 103 miles
April mileage total: 110.4 miles
May mileage total: 102.4 miles

Yeah, my first 3 triple-digit months. :)
2011 mileage total to date: 435.7 miles. Yes, I am 15 miles shy of matching my 2010 total.

So, if there's anyone who still is following this little bloggy-guy... what's new and good with you?

8 days a week...

Hi, all!

As most of you know, my training plan was written by my mom, referred to on the blog as Coach Mom. The key to my training plan was flexibility--there's one day on my plan per week that is just blank. That day can be a day to make up a missed run, or to cross train, or to rest, whatever I need to do.

Sometimes, though, I burn through all the flex days, and I'm left with mileage to make up. This week is an example of one of those times.
It comes with a pretty interesting story, though!

Last week, my fiance's alma mater made the Women's Division II Basketball national championship game. He was a big follower of the team for the majority of his time in undergrad, and has still followed them post-graduation. When they won the semi's, I knew he would try to go to Missouri for the game.
Sure enough, I got a text as I was getting off work Thursday night telling me he hadn't found anyone to go with him, but he was going anyway. A voice in the back of my head started yelling at me to go with him, just in case something happened along the way, so he wouldn't be alone. 2 hours later, we were on the road headed to Ames, IA to stay with a friend along the way.
3 hours later, just north of Albert Lea, MN, my premonition started to come true. One by one, the electronics in the car began to shut off, and the next thing we knew we were dead along the side of Interstate 35. As far as he knew, his insurance didn't have roadside assistance. Thank goodness for my AAA--he called them and we got towed in to town and taken to a cheap but thankfully warm and clean hotel. We learned the next morning that the alternator needed replacing, and the guys at the repair shop got us fixed and on the road very quickly! 6 hours, and 1 stop in Ames to pick up our friend (who now was coming with us), we made it to St. Joseph, MO to watch the game.
While Tech lost the game, the environment was incredible. SO many alums, families, friends, and even current students made the trip--it was like being back in Houghton again!
After the sad defeat, we hit the road to make the trip straight through back to Duluth. We tried to switch off drivers and sleep, but neither of us slept much. We made it home at 6:30am, I took a brief nap, then I was off to work at 10. All in all, it was a 36 hour, 4 state, 1 new alternator, 1 new battery, and 3 bags of Swedish Fish adventure. Despite the lack of a national championship, it was completely worth it. We won't always be able to make spontaneous plans like this, so we need to do it while we can!

Now, to tie this back in to running: my original plan was to run my long run on Friday (10 miles) and my last short run (4 miles) on Saturday. Obviously, there wasn't a chance to get 10 in on Friday (or, at least I didn't think there would be--I never banked on our random stop!) While I brought running clothes with me to work and meant to run on Saturday, it just wasn't going to happen. On an hour and a half of sleep and having just worked a 7 hour non-stop shift, I looked and felt kind of like this:

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It just wouldn't have been smart, so I went home and crashed.

I did make up the 10 miler yesterday, but that left the 4 mile run... what to do with that? Well, I have just decided that today is the 8th day of the week, and I made up the 4 this morning. It doesn't matter WHEN I get the runs in. What matters is that I get them in, and after today, I have. Now, on to next/this week!

Recaps:

Sunday 3/27: What. A. Beautiful. Morning! After nearly 12 hours of sleep, I felt rested and recovered from the road trip. I was having some stomach issues, though, so I opted to walk to the Lakewalk and run from there, rather than driving to my starting point from my last long run. That way, if I had to call off the run, Brandon would have the car to come pick me up. Thankfully, once I got out and going I felt fine. The run felt great, the sunshine felt great, and it was awesome to get another 10 under my belt. You know what else felt great? A hot shower and compression socks after the fact. I am officially in love with those ugly socks. 10 miles, untimed.

Monday 3/28: Make up day! I made up the missed 4 on the Y treadmill. Nothing really spectacular, just 3.5 miles easy, and then a practice kick, where I gradually increased the speed. 4 miles in 35:47.

Time to get some food and head in to work! Have a great day, all!

Boom!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Children of all ages, I have an announcement:

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Upon completion of today's run, I have hit 200 miles for the year. Last year, I hit this milestone on July 22, so I got here 4 months faster than last year. :) I still have a long way to go to double last year's yearly total of 450, but I'm definitely on a good pace to get there. 

I'm also on pace to have this be my biggest mileage month ever, as I'm already a full 10 miles over my previous record of 70, and I still have a full week to go, including a 10 miler later this week. I can't lie, this makes me pretty darn happy. 

Recaps:

Saturday 3/19: After work, I headed out on to the LakeWalk. Nothing special, just a nice, relaxed, easy run. I felt good, no real soreness from the previous day's long run. 4 miles, untimed.

Monday 3/21: I wasted a gorgeous day and ran on the Y treadmill. Blech. Meant to do 6, but realized I wasn't going to have the time. I also tried to hurry the 6 along by throwing in 400's at an 8:00 pace. Dumb? Probably. Fun? In a sick way, yes. Was I tired the rest of the day at work? You betcha. 4 miles in 33:53.

Wednesday 3/23: I really did mean to run yesterday with the training group at work, but the wind was just too heinous for me. They went anyway, I wussed out and hit the treadmill this morning. I felt pretty flat--no gas in the tank, really. Despite this feeling, I did a tempo run: 1 mile warm-up, 4 miles at just above goal pace (8:27), 1 cool down with a practice kick at the end. 6 miles in 51:33. 

I'm pretty pleased with how things have been going. :)

Sorry for the short post. I hope things are going well for everyone reading this! 

Have fun, all!

Recaps, and I Deserve It!

So, I've become terrible at blogging. It was so much easier when I wasn't working! Not that I would go back to that for anything--I love my job so much, and I learned during the few months leading up to being hired at the store that the stay-at-home thing is not for me. I will respect anyone who takes that path, but it is definitely not mine.
Life is pretty good at the moment! I've hit my stride at the store, I think. I'm definitely still a rookie and I'm still definitely learning, but I'm still enjoying the environment and getting to know both the team and the customers. We had a great event at the store this past weekend, I'll talk about that more in my recaps.
So, with no further ado...

Run recaps:
Thurs 3/10-- I did a practice run for the Pub Shuffle with my bosses and their dog. This was just a super easy jog, really, mostly done in the name of learning the route. 3.7 (?) miles.
Friday 3/11-- the first double digit run of the year! I had to go super early because we had another road trip adventure planned for that day. The run went very well, it was your quintessential long slow distance. I also tried a new energy gel, as my beloved Gu gave me a ringing headache the week before. I tried the Gold flavor of Honey Stingers, and I was really pleased with these. It was just honey, so it didn't have the unappealing texture I've found gels to have, and it didn't give me the caffeine headache or nausea I would get from other gels. I will probably use these again! I also got to see a new part of the LakeWalk, which really made the middle 4 miles go by quicker. Mistake made: I didn't have my traditional red PowerAde waiting, I didn't take in any fluids on the run (my bike crew opted to sleep in...), and I waited faaaaar too long to eat anything after the fact. 10 miles.
Sunday 3/13--The 1st annual DRC Shamrock Pub Shuffle! I signed up for this event last month, and when I did that I never would have thought I would be a part of it the way I was! The non-competitive event went in 4 waves--7 min/mi, 9 min/mi, 11 min/mi, and walkers. I helped lead the 9 group, which was huuge! All in all, the event went so well, and nearly $2000 was raised to help build a handicap accessible baseball field in West Duluth. Add in the fun time I had afterwards with my co-workers, and we have the recipe for a great day. 2.9 miles
Week total 3/7-3/13: 26.7 miles. Biggest week ever, accomplished!
Monday 3/14--Back to the Y, time for a... fartlek? I guess... I'm horrible with the terminology. Basically, I did 4 2:00 surges at an 8:14 pace during my run, and the rest was done at about an 8:40 or 8:50 pace. I felt kind of flat in the last 1.5, and I really wanted to stop, but I didn't. 6 miles in 52:46.
Tuesday 3/15--again at the Y, tempo run time! Mile 1 was at 8:34 pace, the last 3 were at 8:27 with a slight kick at the end. All in all, I felt pretty good! 4 miles in 33:59.
Today's run--today is my day off for the week, so I took the chance to get my long run in. I made a classic rookie mistake today. I felt fantastic, so I took off like my hair was on fire, and by about 1.25 miles, I was pretty tapped. I reminded myself that long runs are not done for time or speed, and I slowed down. I would have slowed down anyway, but I made a mindful effort to slow down. I saw a fox along the trail, and about 34509834 awesomely cute dogs, and a kid on a hotel balcony singing his heart out, and I capped it all off with a trip to Caribou Coffee. A great morning, all in all. 8.2 miles in 1:22:53.

I'm on track for another big month for me! After today's run, I'm at 66.9 miles, which is a 5K shy of tying my biggest. As I have a 4 miler on the docket for the weekend, I'll have topped my biggest mileage with a full week and a half to go. That's actually kind of awesome.

I leave you with this--the shoes I will be receiving shortly:

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Aren't they pretty? Meet the Saucony Mirage, a lightweight stability trainer. I have been told it would be great for short runs, speed training, and races.

Now, I can't lie... there's a voice in the back of my head asking me if someone who is only planning on hitting 1:50 in a half really needs a shoe specifically for racing. It's not like I'm an Olympian or anything. But, every time I hear that voice, I mentally smack that doubter and think, "Midpack runners are just as deserving of nice things!" I will get a lot of use from these shoes--in 5Ks, in halves, short runs. Me getting these shoes is not a bad thing, it's not a waste, it's fantastic. 

Have a great weekend, all! :)

A, B, C!

Hi, all!

I've seen this alphabet thing floating around, and I thought it would be fun! So, with no further ado...

Age: 25

Bed size: Queen! We just got a new, real bed, and it is unreal how comfortable it is!

Chore you dislike: DISHES! I loathe doing dishes, yet I always am the one who ends up doing them. Bleeechhh...

Dogs: None :( our lease says no. My family has always had dogs, though, and I'd love to have one someday when we're somewhere that allows it.

Essential start to your day: coffee, and usually one round with the snooze button.

Favorite color: My default answer has always been blue, but I don't know. I'm partial to my school colors, green and gold.

Gold or silver: Generally silver, but my engagement ring is gold, and I wouldn't change it for the world.

Height: 5'3" if I stand up perfectly straight. I'm a short one.

Instruments you play: Once upon a time, I played the flute and piccolo. I don't really play anymore, even though I still call myself a flute player. I'd love to learn guitar, too.

Job title: Sales Associate

Kids: None for the foreseeable future. "Not ready for kids" is really the understatement of the century in my case.

Live: Duluth, MN. It still feels strange to not say "Michigan".

Mom's name: "Coach Mom" ;)

Nickname: my family calls me Fifi. A lot of my other friends call me Diva, a play off of a username I have on a forum I frequent.

Overnight hospital stay: not since birth. *knocks on wood*

Pet peeves: purposeful rudeness, singing during introductions, not pushing in chairs and other small forms of cleaning up after oneself.

Quote from a movie: It's so much better just to watch it:

Righty or lefty: Right handed for writing, pretty ambidextrous for most other things.

Siblings: one of each, both younger

Time you wake up: 6:45 most days.

Underwear: yes, I have been known to wear it...

Vegetables you don't like: cauliflower, raw broccoli

What makes you run late: the internet, usually.

Xrays you had: teeth and my wrist.

Yummy food you make: Sweet Potato Fries! I also make some pretty killer oatmeal ;) I have an awesome stir fry recipe that I haven't made in years because the fiance doesn't care for it, I don't think. :(

Zoo animal favorites: don't really have one, I just love animals!