The Continuing Adventures of Toots and Sally: Two Women. One Marathon. A Dream.
Oh…Hmmm…I don’t have a kingdom…but I got my MUD anyhow!
As The Sally wrote, the Tri-Loppet is my new favoritish race. This is my first, official, bicycle race. AWESOME! That’s all I can say.
Every time I saw a puddle I just had to ride through it… It was muddy. It was hot. I thought I might puke. It was FUN!
If your mountain bike isn’t covered in MUD…then you ain’t having a good time….
More photos after the break…
From one of my favorite series of books:
Some memories you don’t want to put words on . . . because that would change them.
Suppose, for instance, you gave a savage a helicopter ride. The experience would be rich and vivid for him. If on his return to his village, he told friends he had been in a little cave of ice that flew like a bird, at first his memories would still be true, and different from what he said–but the more times he told or rethought the sotry, the more “helicopter” would become “flying ice cave” . . . which, after all, is a lesser thing.
By naming the inexpressible; you lose it.
–Edison Ripsborn
’nuff said. for now.
…I live several hundred miles north of any of the other two…
Oh, I’ll post about my 20 miler in a few…
I did my 18 miler this past weekend. Yes, my schedule is a little off. 20 this next weekend. No rest for the weary.
Well, it was a tough run. The heat was increasing. The Sun was present. And I managed to set up a mental battle for myself. That was the kicker. I fought it. And I finally had to give up the weather ninja and get all Jedi. Yeah, I had to face myself and…well…I wasn’t really winning. Perhaps shades of Paris were dwelling in my soul. (I know–FORGET PARIS!) I tired to defeat the inner Weather Ninja that just wanted 30-40°F less…whatever…
It wasn’t working. I tried to call upon Yoda JoeJer, (yeah, all’ya’all need to read the old stuff) but he was not there to help me. (And that is OK.) I tried all my silly little Jedi Mind Games. They finally got me to the point of meeting up with Sally. Master Sally, that is…
Yes, Master Salley, accept your fate…
She pulled me through my last four six miles. I really appreciate it. You pushed me when I needed to be pushed. “Do or do not…there is no try.”
I’m trying to look forward to the 20 this weekend…
Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it
-Sir Isaac Newton: Principia Mathematica Philosophiae Naturalis
Lumpy translates this into running in the form of “do not stop!” No, really, don’t stop. Sure, walk through water/food breaks. Walk through intersections. (Okay, sometimes yo have to stop at the intersection–rather than “jogging” in place and looking like twit of the year) But in general, don’t stop. Stay in motion.
I took a new route for my 13 miles today. At mile 8ish I decided to stop, sit down at the north side of Cedar Lake, and take in the view. I had a moment of feclempt. My body said keep going. My mind said, enjoy the view, it’ll be alright.
Thustly, Newton’s First Law of Motion. An outside force–my mind–acted upon a body in motion–my body. Needless to say, getting back into the groove for the last 5 was a scoshi difficult. The 15MPH headwind didn’t help either.
I defeted myself at mile 12.5…but manage to at least run the last .3 miles and finish at the Elf Door.
Wait wait…there’s more…
Continue reading ‘Thirteen miles of Newton’s First Law of Motion’
My five miler was fairly smooth. GPS gave me 9:44/mi, but I think that’s because of the down hill sections. 
I had few things to think about on this run…
RANT: Wind–in my face and colder that I expected.
RANT: Why is it the people who live in the Million-Dollar-Houses along the lake can not clear their sidewalks of ice? Seriously…
RANT: I know it is stupid Valentines Day, but the two twits making out in the middle of the running path and blocking the stairs should go get a hotel room. Better yet, just get out of my way.
RAVE: The lake paths are clear of all ice.
RANT: Learn to control your yappy little dog.
RAVE: I like running with the sun at my back. I get all focused on watching my shadow.
RANT: Dawg isn’t a husky.
RAVE: Dawg isn’t a husky.
RAVE: Contacts–no fogged glasses.
RANT: Contacts–no protection from the sun.
RANT: Wind–at my back and no longer cooling me off.
RAVE: I get to post about all these rants and raves.
UPDATED #1:
RAVE: Park Police officer who made someone put their dawg on lead. Yeah…deal with it.
Today is going to be another in a long string of days that make me want to run not want to run want to run. Yeah, it is a battle between:
“Been there: Done that” vs. “Yippee…COLD!”
I’ve posted about this before. Today, it is currently -10°F. Wind chills are expected to be -25°F to -35°F for most of the day. Not uncommon.
Truth is that it all comes down to planning and proper clothing choices. All topics we’ve covered before, so I won’t bore all’ya’all with the details again. That’s what the site search is for. I will rant about one particular aspect–face coverings.
Having to wear something covering your face is a self induced asthma attack. It is like altitude training, without any of the benefit. Feh…but, you get to look like a Ninja.
I think today is going to be a fine day for a run.
Trust me. I’m a weather Ninja.
Lumpy’s Guide to Not Training for a Race – Three Quick and Easy Steps:
Lumpy is guilty as charged. The Big Woods Half is up in the air for Lumpy. That’s the result of being a master at how not to train for a race.
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…
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.
On Sunday, 8/24/08, I was back at The Great Minnesota Get Together for my yearly gig. And well, just like last year I was inclined to partake of the very very special State Fair Fare…this year’s results:
