Weekend Recap

I got up and went to the gym with Emily at 6am this morning.

Pitch Black.

We finished our workout and left the gym at 7am.

Still Pitch Black.

I don't think I've ever said this before, but I'm looking forward to daylight savings time.

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Yesterday was cold and rainy and windy and snowy. Nearly everyone I know made some comment about Ohhhhhh the snoooooow and I can't belieeeeeeve it's snowing in Octooooober...

I? Went out for a six mile run. Granted, the snow had stopped at that point...but it still made me feel hardcore. I had just been feeling "off" on Sunday...I think it's because this was the first weekend since FEBRUARY where I didn't have to do a long run. So I went out for six and immediately felt like myself again.

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Or maybe the reason I didn't feel like myself was because my body took a beating the night before...

Margaret had her annual Oktoberfest party...this year's twist was that it was also a costume party.

The usual cast of characters was in attendance. Time for roll call.

Jager bombs? Present.

Jello shots? Present.

"Mary Catherine Gallagher" drinking beer from the boot?


I am all kinds of classy

Present.

I Saw The Sign

So last night I went to the Aquatennial celebration in downtown Minneapolis with a bunch of friends.

And I brought a friend with. A male friend. A male friend that is currently holding my romantic interest.

We had a great time. Good laughs, good people watching, good times.

My friends approved of Mr. Romantic Interest.

The night wound down, and we went to our respective homes.

So I was getting ready for bed. I brushed my teeth and washed my face. And managed to knock my hand mirror from the counter onto the floor.

It broke.

Is this a bad sign?? Am I destined to have seven years of bad dating luck??

Or maybe it's just a sign that I need to spend less time looking at the back of my head in the mirror...

I'm Melllllllllting!!

I got home from work.

Put on the running gear.

Stepped outside.

And instantly, my skin melted off of my body.

95 degrees.

A sane person would turn around and lounge in their air conditioned apartment.

I am not that person.

I headed out and ran 3 miles.

The first mile wasn't bad. It was mostly shaded, and while the gusting wind was in my face, at least it kept me cool.

The second mile was tougher. I walked. But I didn't feel too bad about it. The running paths were missing the usual crowd of running crazies. I guess some people have the sense to avoid running when it's this hot.

The third mile was brutal. Checked out the heart rate. 191!! Yikes. My anaerobic threshold is 184. More walking. But I finished strong.

Mother Nature: 1
Allison: 0

Ahhhh, the joys of a Minnesota summer.


7/11/08
Mile 1: 10:32
Mile 2: 11:10
Mile 3: 11:23

Average pace: 11:02
Total time: 33:06
Average HR: 180 (DUDE!)

Three words to describe this run: Hot, Hotter, Hottest

Duluth Retreat: Part Two

I seem to have a penchant for two-part stories lately.

Because the story of the 22-miler doesn't end there.

After we finished the run, 10 of us hopped into a van and drove to one of Lake Superior's beaches. So we could take a dip in the lake...to ice our legs.

Fun fact: Lake Superior's average temperature is 40 degrees F. BRRRR.

I'd believe it. Because CRAP IN A HAT. I was in up to my ankles and was ready to throw in the towel. COLD. But I took a deep breath and kept wading...until I was in up to my waist. I just knew that my glutes needed to be iced.

After chillin' on the beach for awhile, we decided we should probably refuel our tanks. With margaritas and mexican food. Ole! I waded into the lake wearing my running capris, so I was anxious to change clothes. We dropped off some of our group at the restaurant, and the rest of us headed back to put on dry clothes. No showers allowed yet. Thank god we were seated outside...who wants to sit next to ten runners that just ran 20+ miles??

After lunch, I checked my watch. 4:30pm. Where did the day go??

We headed back to the hotel, and I took a nice steamy shower. I discovered that the sun causes burning. Hmmm. Who knew? (Please let the record state that I did apply sunblock before the run)


Apparently the sun also causes me to make lame-ass hand gestures.


When I wear skirts to work, I can hear the people walking behind me snickering.

We flipped on the TV and I promptly fell asleep to Sex and The City reruns. Exhausted.

But my time in the dream world was cut short. Because it was time for dinner. The 35 of us headed out for some grub...and then out for some dancing. And drinking. And debautchering.

Yes, we had fun by the fluid ounce. I happened to see some pictures on someone's camera...but they haven't emailed them to me yet, so let me sketch an interpretation of what I saw:


Censored to protect the innocent guilty

Yes, $5 pitchers of Long Islands = liquid satan.

Note to self: don't mention that your glutes are sore in the presence of drunk men. They WILL start massaging your ass.

We shook our money makers until the wee hours. Runners know how to party. Everyone from our group was on the dance floor - from age 21 to 50-something. We partied like rock stars. We Had A Blast. And remember how my throat felt a little sore when I woke up earlier that day? By 10pm, my voice was gone. The drinking, singing, shouting and merrymaking had taken a toll on my larynx. My voice was cracking and I sounded like a 13-year-old boy. Really attractive, I'm sure.

At about...1:55am, we decided it was time to tap out. We called a cab, headed back to the hotel, and fell into a deep and blissful sleep.

DAMN it was a fun night.

Grueling

On Thursday, the weather started to suck. Sleet, snow, freezing rain, the works. Who wants to run in that? Not this girl. So I took the day off.

The crap continued through Friday, so I sucked it up, and for the first time in ages, I hopped on (buh...buhhh...bummmmmmm)the treadmill. For two measly miles. Do you know what sucks? Running On The Treadmill. I also did a strength workout so I didn't feel like a complete slacker.

Saturday rolled around. My alarm went off at 7am. I looked out the window and could see tree branches being whipped around violently by the wind...amidst some snow flurries.

Did I mention I had an 18-miler on the schedule?

I called one of the girls in my running group and after some thoughtful consideration (and checking out weather.com to discover that the wind speed was 28mph), we decided to do the long run on Sunday (forecast: 50 and sunny).

Best. Decision. Ever.

But I still needed to get a few more miles in, so I ended up going out for a short "steady" run. I rarely use profanity (ha!), but Holy Shit. Holy Mother-Fucking Shit. Holy Mother-Fucking Shit Crap Ass Whore Bitch. It was in the top three worst runs of my life. The wind was unbearable. It was snowing and the flakes were stinging my face and eyes. I couldn't see. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't get in the groove. I couldn't I couldn't Icouldn'ticouldnt. Yeah, I also had a crappy attitude.

I lost the, "I can do it!" mindset and it was replaced with "Who gives a shit?" As I was going dead on into the wind, I met one of the other crazies that was braving the elements. I must have looked near death, because she chirpingly said "keep on going!" It took much self restraint to keep from shouting "Shut the F' up - the wind is at your back!!" (Dude! Breathe. She's just being nice! I swear I'm not that much of a bitch in real life. Well, not usually).

Anyway. I finished with three miles (right around my goal pace of 10:30) and have never been happier to be finished with a run.

4/12/08
Mile 1: 10:15
Mile 2: 10:37
Mile 3: 10:26

Average pace: 10:26
Total time: 31:20
Average HR: 167

Three words to describe this run: Hell, Crap, Suck

NOT How I Wanted To Start My Monday

Is this an early April Fools joke?!?

Not What I Wanted To Come Home To

I'm back in Minnesota.

I was hoping to come home to a beautiful spring day.



I miss Colorado.

Irish For A Day 10-mile - Race Report

You KNOW I PRed that bitch. Offical time: 1:39:13 - 83 seconds faster than my previous 10-miler. Woot!

I have to credit today's PR to yesterday's "carb loading". I use the term carb loading loosely, because I decided that I would just eat whatever crap I felt like, under the guise that I was carb loading. It started out okay...but quickly spiraled out of control.

Pasta for lunch. Sure, that's legit.
A rice krispy bar for dessert. Okay...
Pizza for dinner. Questionable.
Ice cream. Seriously??
Brownie batter. You've got to be kidding me.

But whatever. It worked.

Quite honestly, the race wasn't very interesting. Not very bloggable. There weren't many spectators, but there were a few runners in crazy outfits. I saw a few leprechaun costumes and a green afro, but that was about it.

I paced myself pretty well and dressed perfectly. I used my race number strap for the first time today (I always thought I'd look like a toolbox wearing it with a tank in my summer races so I never wore it before) and it really came in handy - I started the run with a light jacket but when the sun came out in full force at mile 4 it needed to be removed. And ta-da! I peeled off the jacket...and didn't have to worry about my number being pinned to different sides of the zipper or tying my jacket around my waist in a way that my number was still visible. Pretty handy.

Yes, that was my excitement for the race.

Anyway. Great race. I felt strong. And at the end, I enjoyed my favorite part of Minneapolis races: Salted Nut Rolls.



Mile 1: 10:07
Mile 2: 9:53
Mile 3: 10:05
Mile 4: 9:53
Mile 5: 9:57
Mile 6: 9:59
Mile 7: 10:01
Mile 8: 9:54
Mile 9: 9:39
Mile 10: 9:13

Average pace: 9:56
Total time: 1:39:13
Average HR: 168

Three words to describe this run: Perfecty-Paced, Quiet, Irish!

Edited to add offical chip time. Mile splits are from the Garmin and may not add up to official time.

Fo' Drizzle

I went skiing today.

Ugh. I have a love/hate relationship with hate Minnesota skiing. I love skiing - there is nothing better than being outdoors, breathing crisp mountain air. There is no crisp mountain air in Minnesota.

It could have been a beautiful day - it was nearly 40 degrees - but it was raining.

Which meant the snow was the consistency of mashed potatoes.

Which meant that seats on the chair lift were wet.

Which meant that my goggle lens was wet and I couldn't see.

Which meant that the rusty water droplets from the lift dripped onto my white coat.

Which meant Em and I skied for about an hour before throwing in the towel.

I'm glad we went - I hadn't been skiing since January 1 - so it was good to get back on the skis, especially because I'm going to Colorado in Two Weeks. Two weeks!! I can't wait! It was nice to be on the snow and to see that my body still remembers how to ski. It was also nice to hop in Em's warm car after a few runs and head out to grab some ice cream. Maybe I'm not as hardcore as I like to think.

*This post title comes from a lame joke...Why does Snoop carry an umbrella? Fo' Drizzle.

Brrrrr...

It was about 40 degrees yesterday. The snow was melting. There were puddles covering the ground. It really was a beautiful day. And I felt like I was wasting my day by not running outside. I had spring fever.

And in true Minnesota fashion, it is -1 today. Yesterday's melted snow and puddles have turned into glare ice. The fever has broken and all is back to normal. It's winter.

Silence is Golden

My life has been crazy lately. I have a ridiculous day at work, only to come home and have a ridiculous amount of things to do. It is driving me crazy.

One thing that was bothering me was that my apartment was a mess. Trashed. Complete Disaster Area. But I could never find the time to do a Big Fat Cleaning session. You know who came and saved the day, right? Mom. Mom and Dad came up to visit for my birthday (and to see the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - LOVE). They arrived on Saturday and Mom and I busted our humps to get my apartment back to a sparkling condition. It's amazing how coming home to a clean apartment makes me feel just a little bit more in control.

Work is still pretty chaotic, but I'm surviving. I've started doing yoga over lunch on Monday and Wednesday. I will admit that it does add a little bit of stress to my day because class is an hour so I have to take an extra long lunch, but in the end it is worth it. I'm hoping that I stick with this - I forgot how great I feel after yoga. And my body? It is slowly starting to remember how to be bendy. My legs are especially tight, but I can already tell that they're loosening up a bit.

And I'm ready to start my Pre-Marathon-Training-Training and I want to run outside and I can't (aka won't) because DUDE. It has been obscenely cold lately (I got back from the bars on Friday night to discover that it was 12 DEGREES BELOW ZERO while we were standing around, hailing a cab. GAH) and I'm no Steve. I don't run outside when the windchill is -24. I'm ready for this crap Minnesota weather to move along.

And I am officially tired of hearing myself whine (hence the lack of posts lately)...so it's time for the happy-action-fun-time section of this post.

My life rocks because:

My parents are fantastic. They drive up for a relaxing visit...and I put them to work. And they still love me!!

I saw Avenue Q and Joseph this month. I heart musicals.

I got a pedicure and now my feet are beeeeautiful.

The hot neighbor called last week. I like talking to hot people (That's why I like talking to YOU. You're hot!).

I signed up for Grandma's marathon.

I went dancing with the girls this weekend. I love shaking my groove thang.

I booked a February trip to Boston to visit my "sisters" and the Annual March Colorado Ski Trip plans are in the works. Yay for vacations!!

I hit the shoe jackpot a few weeks ago - I got three pairs for under $30 total(including a pair of pointy purple patent pumps (say that three times fast!)). Scandalous!

The Sucky Commute From Hell

I was reminded yesterday why I Hate Winter.

Minneapolis had some winter storm action yesterday afternoon/evening (Note to self: Buy snow tires). I left work 30 minutes early, knowing that the roads would suck and that traffic would be slower than normal. I had no idea what was in store.

Because it took me One Hour And Fifty Seven Minutes to get home from work yesterday.

1:57.

My commute? IS NINE MILES.

I CAN RUN FASTER THAN THIS. I was driving 13-minute miles. Ridiculous!!

First Snow

I'd heard rumors of other Minnesotans having snow sightings this year, but I had missed them so far. Until today.

I went out for lunch with Emily...and there it was. Snow. Bitter, whipping winds and a few tiny, prickly, stinging snowflakes. Like a slap in the face.

Winter? It's nearing.

And then after work, I was in my car flipping through radio stations. And I heard a song that made me stop dead in my tracks.

I'mmmmmmm dreeeeeeaming...of a whiiiiiite...Christmas...

WHAT??? It's November 14. You've GOT to be kidding me.

Leave The Weather Alone!

Check out Steve's plea to Mother Nature...as a fellow Minnesotan, I can't agree more.

I'm Okay

A bridge collapsed in Minneapolis during rush hour today. The bridge was about 5 miles from my apartment. So far, 9 have been reported dead, 60 injured and 20 missing. And the numbers keep climbing.

I just have a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. I can't even put what I'm feeling into words. I've been on that bridge. My friends have been on that bridge. My family has been on that bridge. I am so, so thankful that my friends and family are safe. But I know not everyone is this lucky. I can't help but think of my fellow Minneapolisanites that are affected by this tragedy.

So my thoughts and, more importantly, my prayers are with the victims and their families and friends.

Torchlight 5k recap

Dude! I totally forgot to recap the Torchlight 5k. I'm behind the times. It was a week ago!

So, yeah. Hmmm. 5k. Last week. Funny how the detailed memories escape so quickly.

It was a really humid day. It felt like I was breathing underwater. The conditions were not idea.

I ran with E and I am so glad I did. I felt like she was pushing me through the entire race. I wanted to slow down so many times, but she just kept on chugging like the Little Engine That Could. I had no choice but to keep up. I knew I could physically run that fast - it's not like we were breaking world records or anything - I was just having trouble keeping in the game mentally. It was amazing - I found eleventy billion reasons why I should slow down. It's hot! It's humid! I need a pedicure! It's hard running on cobblestone! I'm thirsty! I need a haircut! My tank is rubbing on my shoulders!

But somehow we made it through. I would have definitely ran slower if she weren't there...I just wasn't feeling the run. Thanks, E!!

But looking back, it was a fun run. I loved running through the streets of downtown Minneapolis. I loved being in the throng of people at the finish. I loved having every inch of me covered in sweat after busting my ass. I loved eating Great Harvest bread at the finish. That's some good honey wheat!!

Anyway. Splits:

Mile 1: 10:09
Mile 2: 10:21
Mile 3: 10:20
Mile 3.1: 1:10

For a solid 32 flat. Which beat my goal of 33:51 by a cool 1:51.

An open letter to the City of Minneapolis

Dear City of Minneapolis,

As you know, we got about a foot of snow two weekends ago - the brunt of it falling on Saturday night. By 8:30 on Sunday morning, the street in front my apartment still had a foot of snow on it...but the Lake Calhoun running path was plowed.



A week later, we got about a foot of snow - the brunt of it falling on Thursday night and Friday morning. By Friday afternoon, again, the Lake Calhoun running path was plowed.

So thank you. You do an excellent job of keeping the running/biking paths cleared. You understand that health and fitness is important. You make it easy to stay in shape.

So I'd appreciate it if you'd go ahead and close down the Ben and Jerry's by my apartment. And make it illegal to sell ice cream and/or cookies in stores. That? Would make Minneapolis (or maybe just me) MUCH healthier.

Sincerely,
Allison