The day started at about 5am (3:30am for those of us that had some trouble sleeping). And it was a good day. A good day to post…
- As The Sally pointed out, she had a GREAT race! I’m glad about that. She deserved one. And perhaps this race is the culmunation and a fitting finale to the summer that she has endured/enjoyed.
- And The Sally’s success today, along with her words and strikingly apt comments about the Big Woods race, encouraged me to finally go out and have a run on my own. Well, I took DAWG with me, but it was on my own. Just a little 4-5 miler to get me back in the game to get ready for the Big Woods Half.
- Hmmm…seem to have lost my train of thought…well…
- I guess the big news today was a marketing/promotions push for The She Runs. We had a booth at the race today and, well, Lumpy played salesperson. Hopefully, something will pay off.
That said, it just was a good day, and a wonderful cap to what is essentially the end of summer here on the northern end of I-35.
I did 10 miles in 1:29:59. Ha! They have me listed as 207, but I’m actually 205, because my time was faster than the two gals listed as 205 and 206. Not sure I get it, but that’s okay. I’m glad I’ve been running trail…there were lots of slow, steady hill climbs (which I LOVE LOVE LOVE), and the weather was perfect…50s and drizzle. She Runs may have also recruited a crap ton of volunteers and possibly some more girls! I don’t want to write much…I’m pretty tired.
On to 12 with Toots!
“Plunge boldly into the thick of life, and seize it where you will, it is always interesting.” Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” T. S. Eliot
Guinness and I did one of our faster 3 milers. It reassured me that I’m not totally falling apart yet, and may have some motor left for the next couple of races. I don’t have much to post about running, but I have some quotes today. I’m running in a 10 mile race tomorrow and sitting at a table for She Runs. We’re giving away information and ponytail holders. I’m hoping we actually recruit GIRLS and not just all coaches and board members!
Most men take the straight and narrow. A few take the road less traveled. I chose to cut through the woods. -Unknown
The footing was really atrocious. I loved it. I really like Cross Country; you’re one with the mud. -Lynn Jennings
It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness. -Seneca
Okay, so I was thinking about this off and on all day and thought perhaps we could have some fun with it. On various and sundry trips, meet and greet thingies, ex ed classes, etc., I have had to come up with some silly names for myself. I will now honor you, the viewer, with them. You must also reply in comments with your equivalent names. Please.
1. General nickname - Sally.
2. Pro wrestling name - The Nasty Fuzzhead.
3. Roller derby name - Ann R. Key
4. Band name - I have a lot of these, so here’s just a few…Flying Debris, Gaylord Descending (or Rising), Smashed Buttcheeks, The Mary Stacys.
5. The title of the book of your life - ( have a few again)…Life in the Key of G, Joseph D and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Life, Have You Seen the Heeland Coos?
6. Alter ego - Brooke Fiona Callahan. Believe me, I have a back story to it. It’s a long drive from Schaumburg to Chicago.
7. Superhero and power - Juke Box Hero. I can stop crime with the single downstroke of a power chord.
Apparently this is the new 4:00 p.m. I’ve gotten up the last two days and run with Guinness in the dark, oh so dark, and have enjoyed myself immensely. It’s also just nice to know when I get home in the afternoon that I can do a short walk with her and rest. Resting is gooooooooood. I’m pretty sure I’m running a 10 mile race this weekend, as well as sitting at an info table, selling She Runs. I don’t plan on doing well, I just want the mileage.
I have no idea how the other runners in the dark can see. I am the only person who is ever wearing a headlamp. I’ve posted before about how dark it is around certain legs of Lake Harriet. I think if I didn’t wear the headlamp, there’d be a great chance that I would trip and fall. It’s crazy. I don’t get it. People are dumb. Here’s my headlamp…the Petzl Tikka Plus. I love how lightweight it is and the fact that it has a strobe setting.
NOT A CAT!! I borrowed another dog today. One of She Runs girls has a German short haired pointer, and I had mentioned I would love to run with her through the summer. It turns out I wasn’t home all summer, so after many fits, starts, phone tag, etc., today I finally took her out. Trainer G came along (she’s the Daddy to my Cesar Millan), and we worked on Lily. Since she’s such a smart breed, she was mostly trained within 15 minutes. We have some kinks to work out (like training her not to run right in front of me across my path), and a few other things, but this promises to be much, much fun. Photos to come, once I take some!
I had a running buddy for today’s long run…I’m not sure he’ll ever come running with me again because I’m pretty sure I talked his ear off. :) You see, unless I’m actually in a race, for the most part, I train by my self…except for the time I ran Afton with Sally and Lumpy, I’ve always run my longer weekend long runs completely alone. So it was nice to have someone to chat with during the long 14 miles…except like I mentioned earlier, I did most of the chatting.
Anyway, let’s call my running buddy, Spechter. Spechter is a co-worker friend who is actually training for his debut marathon which happens to be the ING New York City Marathon coming up in November. We both put our name in for the lottery…he got in, I did not. We’re two weeks apart in our training for our repective marathons and we just happen to have similar long runs to do this weekend. He’s naturally a good and fast runner but he’s recovering from an injury. He was forced to run at my pace - I’m sure that under normal/non-injured circumstances my pace would have held him back a bit - but it was good for his recovery otherwise he probably would have added to the strain of his injury by going “all out” (Spechter, you know I’m right).
It was a beautiful cool morning with a most magnificent sunrise (don’t see those too often - I’m usually all about the sunsets). I was doing great until the last 1 1/2 miles when I really started to feel the warmer temperatures. My right calf muscle and gluteus (that’s right) started to cramp. I stopped and walked about 10-15 steps, felt a little better, then ran to catch up with Spechter. Then we came to the final stretch - less than a mile to the finish and I just could not do it…I was starting to cramp up again. I continued to run a little further then I made the mistake of looking up ahead toward the finish and I saw it - The Hill. I’m sure it was only about a quarter mile climb, but it felt more like a half a mile. I tried to run it and “finish strong”…Spechter even went into “supportive runner” mode to help me get through the climb, but I could not do it. I told Spechter to go ahead and I walked most of the hill finishing about 1 1/2 minutes behind him.
I drove straight to Woodlawn Park near chez moi to run my final mile (I actually had a 15 miler scheduled). It was treacherous and totally unproductive. I should have just called it quits and gone home. I finished the mile, got home, showered, ate, then I started to feel sick. Stomach cramps, aches, and a tremendous headache. I took some aspirin, vegged in front of the TV, and then slept it off. Dehydration? I don’t know, I felt like I was drinking enough (ran with my CamelBack). I also had an energy bar mid run (maybe I should have probably taken the Gu instead for the electrolytes). I’m thinking maybe it was sunstroke…?
Women’s Center
Courtney Martin, “Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters”
Author/journalist Courtney E. Martin presents a lecture “Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters,” about her book of the same name. Filled with information from expert psychologists and hundreds of interviews with women with eating disorders, Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters is a wake-up call to women of all ages and races to recognize the epidemic of eating disorders and what it’s doing to them, their daughters, friends, and relatives. Courtney Martin argues passionately that women must commit themselves to developing new attitudes about their bodies, and redirect the negative energy they spend on denying themselves contentment in order to become re-engaged with the possibilities of a better life.
Reception and book-signing follows the lecture.
6:30pm, 25 Mondale Hall (Law School)
FFI: Women’s Center, women@umn.edu
I just became friends with a gal on FaceBook that I have been thinking about since high school. Neither she nor I ever fit in, but she moved away sophmore year, I believe. I do not trust my own memory, because I would like to black out most of my “formative years.” Most of the time that I have spent before my 27-29th years, I would like to discount and act like they didn’t really mean anything, and that they were a test track for the rest of my life. I have hated myself, my ex-husband, my past, but there are a few people that I have not hated…those who were of “my people,” but I did not know it at the time…if you are reading, Nikki, you were one of those people, and I have thought about you this whole damn time, and I have wondered how much I hurt you, and if I gave you anything at all. You gave me a lot, even if you didn’t know.
Lumpy and I have joined the huddled masses. I’m worried. I want to put everything there that I’m not willing to put here. The big problem is that I LOVE my anonymity. I love that I have “mystery” here at TAS. I want t-shirts that say WWTASD???!!!??? I want silhouette shots of Toots and Sally turned into graphics. At Facebook, everyone knows me, there’s no joke, there’s no incognito-ness. There’s no sense of fun at myself. Okay, that’s always there.
I guess I just love the freedom of Toots and Sally and how we allow me to put all my feelings out here without me having to worry about the jerk who’ll make fun of me, or how my photo will end up on “hot or not” or some shit like that. I love that I can be bare here and expose how I really feel. Generally, that is how I live, and the people that I have told about TAS are people that I feel can deal with the “real me.” Not that I don’t live my truth daily, but sometimes my posts are hard for me to write, and hard for me to let people read. I don’t feel like Facebook will allow me this freedom. Soooo, I’ve jumped on board, but somewhat unwillingly, somewhat grudgingly. But I will be there, and there will A CRAP TON of photos. I guess there’s the redemption for me. So, enjoy, but realize that my most sincere thoughts will always be reserved for the front of Sally, and the truth she allows me.
