We went to Murphy-Hanrehan park today and did a 4.2 mile loop. Great for birding, even with a dog. I got to see a red-headed woodpecker, which I had never seen before, as well as a veery, an eastern bluebird, many red winged blackbirds, and a goldfinch. Oops, I forgot about the great blue heron. Guinness even saw that one, flying above us toward the lake. We scared something out of some bushes, as well, but I only saw the tail and couldn’t figure out what it was. I had to stop and walk a few times due to the HILLS, and wanting to see the birds, but it was a good run nonetheless. The ticks are horrible here this year, and I found two on me when we stopped, and one on the dog. Yuck. …and it’s only going to get worse…the mosquitoes have not hatched yet…
Monthly Archive for May, 2007
San Antonio, TX USA
83F/28C 17:28
Minneapolis, MN USA
84F/29C 17:28
We ran at Afton, where our 15k in July will be. Rough stuff. My legs are quite fatigued. We ended up running about 7.5, which was about right. I would have liked to do more mileage, but with the humidity, 7.5 was a good amount. There is one hill (okay, lots of hills) that we consider to be the bane of our existence. The thorn in our side. The Rice Krispy in the cat’s paw pads. The damn thing is vertical, I swear. My summer goal for two summers now is to be able to run that son of a gun and not have to walk any of it. It ain’t happenin’ any time soon. Best part…we saw a cat when we were leaving. No wildlife or anything. Just a cat. An orange tabby. heh.
Maclovio forcasted thunderstorms for the entire weekend…well it hardly rained all day today. It was just another usual warm muggy day. I decided to go for a short run in the late afternoon, 2 miles into my run, the monsoons arrived - well not really, but we did get a hearty rain that lasted for a whole half hour! 
It was so muggy before the rain, I was already drenched in sweat so the rain made absolutely no difference in my appearance. Can you believe 3 different people driving along my path stopped to offer me shelter from the rain in their cars?!? Two ladies, a couple in a minivan with their 500 kids, and an older couple…they were afraid I would catch a “resfriado“. Maybe Texas really is the friendly state…. Thanks, but no thanks…I honestly enjoy running in the rain. It was a good run.
I did not run them WELL, but I ran them without stopping. I am feeling antsy about being able to handle the hills in the Afton 25k, so G and I went to Hyland and did the dog trail twice. It’s still only about 4 miles, but the hills are pretty much nonstop and relatively steep (thank you, glaciers) for Minnesota. I’m thinking about going to Nerstrand State Park this weekend. I apparently had great timing - I finished around 11a.m. and it started raining and storming this afternoon, and we were under a tornado warning until 3p.m. I might be riding my bike to tonight’s She Runs meeting if it’s a little clearer. I figure I have a wonderful poncho from the Paris marathon that I can use to stay dry, right? It’s high time I used it.
Song in my head today: Here You Come Again by Dolly Parton. Random.
I had a great run at the Beach to Bay relay marathon this weekend. I ran the 3rd leg (the infamous bridge) which is 4.4 miles long in just under 40 minutes. It wasn’t as bad a leg as it’s been made out to be, but it was hot. Technically it wasn’t as hot as it’s been in the past, but running next to the water on an elevated concrete bridge on a sunny day sure makes it feel like a scorcher! We had a good team, Jason pulled through, but I missed Sally & Lumpy. For some reason, as a team, we just can’t seem to break the 4 hour mark. One of our team members was in a car accident just 2 days before the marathon. He was ok, but the doc recommended that he not run…. We’re glad he didn’t back out because there is no way we could have found a replacement, but he had to walk his 4 mile leg. Regardless, we still finished in a decent time of 4:39. Maybe next year…Sally, Lumpy, you guys in?
Some of the She Runs/Girls on the Run folks went down to Red Wing today to take part in their GOTR 5k. I’ve never run a slower time, but enjoyed myself so much. We even had time to network/schmooze/connect during this race. What a hoot. And a holler.
side note: I’m trying to lose 2% body fat by the fall. No specific date. Cheer me on. I need more lean body mass if I want to be faster and healthier. I’m 36 and worried about getting older and unhealthy.
I was out trail running again, with Guinness, being cautious due to the previous injury, and I FELL. I kind of wish someone had been there to see it, because it had to be ridiculously funny. I must have caught my toe on something, and just flat out biffed it. Right on my face. Luckily, I did not land on anything sharp or protruding, just packed dirt. I barely even scraped my hands. I did hear an audible WUMPH! as all of my air got knocked out upon impact. Then, of course, Guinness got really excited that I was on the ground, and decided she would try to keep running even though we were attached at my waist. Idiot. I felt kind of dumb, to say the least, and was quite glad that I did not hurt myself at all. Then I proceeded to run an extra mile, because the course I had plotted had trail closings and I had to run the horse trail. What a day. I’m still laughing now as I sit here typing. This is the wonderful hands-free leash that I use, by the way. I give it a four paw rating.
I had forgotten how hot a mid-afternoon run could be. I decided to go for a run yesterday afternoon . I figured it was probably best to “re-acclimate” since I’ve got the Beach to Bay relay coming up this weekend! It kind of snuck up on me…in the back of my mind I knew that I’d be running this race about a month after Paris, but I didn’t realize the month was up! Can you believe exactly a month ago we ran the Paris Marathon?!? Anyways, my run went suprisingly well despite the heat & humidity…even felt good enough afterwards to hit some tennis balls with punxsk8erdude & Pita!Â
Yep, I did it. I broke down, and jumped on the running skort bandwagon. I couldn’t help it. I just knew that it would go so well with my tiara and glitter sunglasses. I tested out the one I had purchased yesterday in a quick run this morning. The run went well, the skort did not. The elastic is not very tight, so it slid down my rear and I had to pull it up every few seconds until I just set the whole thing lower down on my waist. Not something I want to have to mess with during a race. So, today I bought the next size down. Tested it out in the store this morning before we opened. You know, while I was doing stock. (I did it on my 1st break, I swear!!)
I will be wearing said skort, tiara, and sunglasses in a race in Red Wing -yes, the shoe place!! Lumpy and I and some other She Runs folks are going down to run the Girls on the Run 5k and attempt to meet and chat with some of the folks who run their program. We’re still on track for starting GOTR by this fall, we think. That’s it for my quick note. Goin’ to bed early, and runnin’ even earlier.
