Another day, another mouse...

Another morning with a mouse fight! This time, it was alive and cornered by my cats. Why me? Greg will be home in 2 shorts days. Couldn't the mice wait until then?

I moved the dog's food away from the wall, to give the cats access to the mouse. The chase was on, until the mouse hid behind a cabinet in the dinning room. After moving the cabinet from the wall, I realized it was hollow underneath, and the mouse was hiding there.

I had been texting Greg with updates up until this point. He called me to give me some advice. I said that I just wanted this to end, when the mouse shot out into the dinning room. I screamed like Jason from Friday the 13th was coming for me. I'm sure this felt really good on Greg's ears. I told him the mouse was out and I had to go, then I tossed my phone on the coffee table.

After 2 minutes of screaming bloody murder, I finally trapped the mouse and chucked it off the deck. I tried to pour a cup of coffee to calm down before calling Greg back, but was just to shaky. I reached for my phone and saw that he was still on the line. I hung up for some reason, but called him right back. Yup, he heard the whole thing. I felt so bad for him, and so embarrassed at the same time.

I was worn out after that 45 minute battle. I had a day out planned with one of my girlfriends, so I put off my 50 minute run until this afternoon. At 4:30pm, I hit the road. It was a great 3.5 miles, but then I had horrible cramps. I had to stop and walk slowly home. I'm very disappointed that I only got 34 minutes in, but tomorrow is a new day.

We'll see what the mice bring tomorrow. Hopefully, the house will be mouse free in the morning, and I can go for a good bike ride around noon. It should be a good day.

Fastest 5K EVER!!!!!

I just ran the Boo Run Run Run 5K at Harriet Island, in St Paul, this morning. It was a great morning. The sun finally came out, and the ice had just melted from the path. It was a balmy 34 degrees with light winds.

The course took us all along the Mississippi River. It was beautiful. There were many people running in costume along the way. In fact, Lael and I had on cat ears, painted on noses and whiskers, and had tails.

I decided to push myself a bit harder than normal. Why not? I'm used to running 5 miles now, so I should have extra energy for a 5K.

The half way point came much sooner than I thought. We turned around and headed back to the park again. I passed Lael shortly after I turned around, and it was great to see a smiling face in the crowd.

I tried to keep my pace up. I felt myself slowing down, but I picked it back up. I turned a corner and saw the finish line. The Wild Hockey Team mascot, Nordi, was there giving me a high five! Then, I saw the clock... it said 26:30! Holy crap!

Lael's husband, Mike, and her daughter, Celia, were at the end. I told them she wasn't far behind me. So, we kept a look out. A few minutes later, there she was. She finished in 31:20! We both bettered our best times by quite a bit.

I couldn't believe my time though. So, I used my runwalkjog website to see if it was close to a 5K course. Then, I looked at the race's website, and said the run was certified. That tells me it was a 5K.

I still can't quite believe it though. I'm not sure it really was a 5K. I don't really want to believe it either. I want to make sure my 1.5 mile run in 2 weeks is good. I don't want to be disappointed when it isn't 12:30. I really would be happy if it was under 15 minutes. I need to keep that goal in mind. The bigger goal right now is my 1/2 marathon.

Even if it wasn't a full 5K, it was darn close. Any time under 30 minutes is a record for me. So, I'm still thrilled with my performance today!

Great Run Day!

Today was a 50 minute scheduled run on the 1/2 marathon training program. I didn't have high hopes for this run. My legs felt a little heavy after my 10K on Saturday. I also had a tough morning.

I found yet another mouse head in my dinning room! It's a very similar story to yesterday, so please refer to the previous post for further info on the horror of it all. Oh, I found it by accidentally kicking it. My foot still feels odd. UGH!

Back to the run... I had 2 girlfriends over during lunch to make our first batch of apple wine. Very fun, but it did put off my running until the afternoon. This wasn't so bad, because it the weather was finally nice. So, an afternoon run would be beautiful and not cold.

I hit the road at 5pm, and the temperatures were in the mid 50s. Not too bad, seeing as most of October has been full of rainy and 40 degree days.

My run felt slow. I hadn't been running very fast lately. I ignored my watch at the 1 mile point and kept moving on. At the 1.5 mile point I had run 14:45! Holy cow! I'd run under 10 minute miles!

I kept on moving. I tried to keep my pace constant, pushing myself up the hills and loving the downhills. At the 5K point I'd run it in 31:30. Maybe a bit slower, but pretty good. So, I kept moving. I finished my 50 minutes at what I thought was 5 miles. I then went to this cool new website: http://www.walkjogrun.net/ to plot my course and see how far I really went.

I ran 5.12 miles in 50 minutes! I can't believe it! I feel so powerful right now! This is amazing. I'm running faster than I did 10 years ago. This is wonderful! I can't wait to see what my 1.5 mile time will be in November!

The death of a mouse...

Like most mornings at home, I came down from my bedroom looking for the cats. Boomer was curled up on the love seat taking a nap. I thought this was a good sign.

I looked briefly for Thunder, but didn't see her. Also a good sign. I let out Skeeter, and waited for him to return for his breakfast. That's when Thunder miraculously appeared. I have no idea where she was, but she showed up in the middle of the floor.

I fed the dog, and made some coffee. I'm in the middle of a sewing project, so there are a lot of fabric scraps under my dinning room table. However, there was a grey piece under the table that caught my eye.

I'd been nervous about grey fuzz for about a year. Greg told me about seeing a piece of mouse skull, last winter, on our dinning room floor. I've been waiting to see the remains one day.

As with last week, I was too tired to look at it. Again, I figured that ignoring it was my best option. After 1/2 hour, I got my coffee and realized I needed to check it out and see if it was mouse. As I got closer, I swore I saw whiskers and and eye. UGH!

I still wasn't ready to deal with it. So, I ate my breakfast, took a shower, and went to church. I should have been paying attention to the wonderful sermon, but I kept thinking about that grey fuzz. I knew I had to deal with it when I got home. However, I was hoping Skeeter would have dealt with it for me. I just didn't want to see it.

When I got home, I grabbed a wad of paper towels and headed to the fuzz. AHHHHHHH! It was a head! AAHHHHHHHH!

What did I do? I ran into the kitchen and called Greg. He suggested that I get a shovel and sweep it in to the shovel and toss it out of the house. So, off to the garage I went. I emerged with a long handle shovel and the garage broom. I didn't want mouse guts on my kitchen broom!

I took a few deep breaths, and went in for the sweep. It was nasty and bloody! There was a tail too! AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Skeeter ran to a corner, because he thought my screams were brought on by him. See, I was letting the cats know that they really didn't make me happy right then. They didn't care.

So, after about 30 seconds, the head and tail were on the shovel and out of the house I went. I threw them off the deck, hoping a raccoon or ferrell cat will like the remains as a treat, so that I don't have to see them again.

Did I put the shovel back? Nope, it's still on the deck with the broom. They are tainted now. OK, not really, but I just don't want to think about it anymore.

This is only the beginning of mouse season. I'm dreading this season. I'm sure that by the end of the winter I will be able to deal with all of this just a little bit better.

Have I made it clear that I HATE mice?

Big Woods 10K Trail Run

Today, I ran my first 10K in over ten years! The next step up on mileage will be my longest ever.

A few weeks ago, I invited Lael to do the Big Woods Run with me. I wanted to do the 10K and she wanted to do the 5K. Not a problem. In fact, I think it may have been the best thing for both of us. I got my distance training in and Lael got to see her best 5K time ever!

We showed up at the UCC Church in Faribault, MN at about 8:20am. We got our numbers, Lael's first number ever, and picked up our shirts. Then, Lael went off to her bus. The 5K people were bused to their start in the woods. The rest of us started at the church, with all races ending at the same spot.

The first mile felt good, but fast. I was moving pretty quickly. What was going on? Then it hit me... it was all down hill. Oh no! That meant, it was 1 mile uphill to the finish! No time to worry, only run!

At 1.2 miles, we entered the woods. As we got there, the first 5K people were leaving the woods. The trails were only wide enough for 2 people, 3 if they squeezed. I was worried that we would be passing all of the 5K people on the way in. Well, a little while later we split off for the rest of our run.

It was a beautiful run in the oaks, elms and maple trees. The path was a bit muddy, due to our rainy October. There were leaves littering the trail. There were also a few roots sticking up along the path. After a quick trip, with no fall, I realized I needed to watch where I was going.

It felt pretty good. At 4 miles, there was a steep downhill. It was so steep that I was almost walking. This is not a good sign. I learned at RAGBRAI, what goes down comes back up. We crossed a small creek, turned a corner and there it was, the hill! This hill had steps! It was a slow climb up, but I still did not walk.

5 miles later, and we emerged from the woods. I was on the home stretch, and headed to that mile long uphill. Just as I was about to reach the finish, I looked up and saw a bouncing woman with her hands in the air. It was Lael! How lucky am I? She looked great and had a smile from ear to ear!

The finish was good, and I felt like I still had some energy. I think I can do 8 miles in 2 weeks.

My time was 1:06. Not too bad. At the Savannah Bridge 10K Bridge Run in 1999 my time was 1:12. I thought I was in good shape then too.

Lael did so good herself! I'm so happy and proud of her. She kicked butt! Next Saturday we are doing the Boo Run in St Paul. It's a great 5K around Lake Harriet. We all dress up in costume for it too. I can't wait!

6 MILES!!!

I ran 6 miles today! This is the first time I've run that distance since May 1999! Holy cow!

I was nervous about this run after my toe started to ache again. Taking my wise husband's advice, I took yesterday off. It really helped me out. I also taped my toes together for extra support, and took plenty of Motrin yesterday. The toes felt great!

One more hurdle though... the weather. It was 36 degrees when I set out to run at 12:30pm. It was cold! However, there is pretty much no wind out there today, so it wasn't too bad. Plus, I just got my really cool winter running clothes. I wore my running tech t-shirt, my light fleece shirt and a wind breaker. The new pants are pretty cool too. They actually warm up from your body heat and still wick away sweat.

We also bought a new water bottle belt. It is a wide Velcro elastic belt with 2 small bottles that are on the back. It doesn't jiggle or rub on my back. It also holds just enough water, and solves the water issue for runs over 5 miles. I really liked it. We'll see what Greg thinks about it this week.

What an amazing day. I feel like I could have fun at least 1 more mile. I can't wait to see how far I can go. This running stuff is addictive!

Toes of pain!

I decided to try to do some yoga for my cross training today. I thought it would be great to stretch out my muscles, and strengthen my core. It sounded like a great idea.

Remember back though, I broke my toe about 6 weeks ago on my dogs bone. It hasn't bothered me in weeks. I thought it was all better.

So 20 minutes in, I strike the pose shown here. My toes ached. I thought I'd push through. However, you need your toes for yoga, and mine were not happy.

The thought of running 6 miles tomorrow on bad toes made me stop yoga at 25 minutes. This stinks!

I then went outside to clean out my gardens. I cut back all the leaves from my plants to make the spring growth healthier and greener. It was a great time out there, cold, but good. However, 3 hours after yoga, my toe still ached.

I talked to Greg about this and he suggested I wait and do my run on Sunday. If I run tomorrow, I may just make it worse. Taking a day off sounds like it will be best in the long run. My toes are taped back together, and I'm back on Motrin. Sunday looks like it will be a much better day.

MOUSE!

By popular demand... here is the tale of my morning. UGH! (This is not a picture of THE mouse, just a Yahoo mouse)

I've had a feeling for a few weeks that this day would come. Each morning, as I come downstairs from my slumber, I look for my two lovely cats. See, if they are sleeping on the couch, all will be well. If I don't see them, my morning it going to be tough.

This morning, I didn't see them in the living room. I rounded the corner to let the dog out, and spotted the cats. They were both looking at the dog food, which we store under our kitchen counter in a Rubbermaid tub. I had a feeling that they'd cornered a mouse. I took a deep breath and walked past them. I wasn't ready to deal with this yet. I woke Skeeter up, let him out, then waited for him to return for his breakfast. This process is normally very fast, because my lab mix dog feels like he never gets to eat. By morning, he's just starving, or so he says. Anyway, he didn't come back right away. I waited a few minutes and decided to make coffee instead.

Why make coffee at a time like this? My little girl cat, Thunder, had come up to say hello. Maybe there isn't a mouse I thought. However, Boomer, my boy cat, was still interested in the food box. Boomer isn't a deadly hunter, and has a bit of kitten ADD. So, if he pays attention to anything for more than 5 seconds, it's big. Again, I decided to ignore this and go to make coffee. I needed something to deal with this and a beer wasn't in order yet.

25 minutes after I woke up, the dog decided to finally come in for breakfast. I'm happy to feed him, but it means dealing with his food box. At this point, Thunder is now laying on top of his food container. Not a good sign. What do I do now? I shoe her off the box and feed the dog. I then left to send my husband an IM to let him know of my concerns about a mouse being in the house.

Skeeter is done eating in 30 seconds flat and back in the living room to say good morning. Now, I hear the cats scratching at the food box. OK, I can't ignore this anymore. So, I stand up, take a few breaths, tie my pj pants tight, and head in for battle. At this point, my palms are dry, but my feet are sweating. Odd.

I move the dog's water and food bowls out of the battle field. I bravely (yes bravely) reach in and pull the food box away from the wall, so the cats can flush out the mouse. Amazingly enough, out shoots a field mouse. Both cats begin the chase.

It's quickly apparent that this mouse is not moving very fast. This battle must have been going on well before I woke up. It just isn't running around the house like a normal mouse. I may be able to catch this thing pretty quickly. So, I grab a paper bowl for my trap. The cats are batting the mouse around, who stands up on his hind legs to show the cats it isn't afraid. Thunder then gives that mouse a huge smack so it tumbles and lands on it's back. Then, I see, the mouse's hind legs are hurt. OK, so now I know it won't be running up my leg anytime soon. I grab my bowl and toss it on the mouse. Then I grab a folder, slide it under the bowl, and head outside. I tossed that little injured mouse pretty far off my deck.

I came back inside and took a big breath. Skeeter the Wonder Dog ran up to tell me how brave I was. Actually, I think he just wanted an ear scratch, but I like to think he knew I saved him from death by field mouse.

The house is now mouse free! OK, it's an old house and never quite mouse free, but I'm going with the mouse free thoughts. It helps me sleep at night.

Inspiration

There have been so many references to inspiration in my life recently. So much so that I felt inspired to to write about what inspires me.

FRIENDS! I'm so lucky to have an amazing group of friends who help keep me going.

Tina has such determination and perseverance. She wanted to get her masters degree, it was a huge goal for her. She worked so hard, and got her masters with honors. She is amazing! She shows me that you can get anything you want if you work for it.

Kait works so hard in so many ways. Her workouts are amazing. She can do so much. With a goal in mind, she finished a half iron man triathlon last summer. Amazing!

Lael has inspired me since high school. She has so much heart and determination. She is always there for me, whenever I need her. She listens to my every worry and pain. She is an amazing support in my life! She's a mom, a wife, a lawyer and now an athlete. She's balancing all aspects of her life so well. She has things in perspective, and knows what is truly important in life. She just gives me so much joy!

Kari is my biggest inspiration right now. She has nudged me along for years. 2 years ago she mentioned the Danskin triathlon to me. I never thought I could do anything like that, but she did. So, after a few months I said yes and off we went. Both Danskin Tris were amazing! I learned so much about myself. She never doubted me, even when I did. She always encouraged me, even when I might not have deserved it. After a week of biking across Iowa, I saw that I can do any physical activity I want. She was such a huge support that week, and so much fun to be around. She showed me that these events are supposed to be fun, and to take advantage of the fun times. Now, we're on our way to our first 1/2 marathon in December. I never thought I'd be doing something like this. She inspires me to push further and further. She is amazing!

FAMILY! I have an amazing family.

My dad has shown me that being loyal and a good friend can get you anywhere. He also told me that I could do and be anything I wanted. He never told me I couldn't do something. He is always excited to hear about my new adventures.

My brother perseveres over all sorts of hard times. Sometimes I think if Bill didn't have bad luck he wouldn't have any luck at all. However, he keeps moving forward. He is an amazing father and makes her his priority. He's made tough choices to make Scout's life better. He really is a wonderful dad.

My sister is a fabulous friend with a huge heart. She is a natural teacher who inspires her students everyday. I wish my math teachers would have been like her. She give so much of herself. She works with the swim teams, volunteers and church and spends her summers at an orphanage in Colombia. She truly makes the world a better place. I wish I could be more like my sister Dawn.

My mom is one of my best friends. She always listens to my rants. She gives me advice that has helped me make the best decisions I can in all aspects of my life. She has so much patience. She is loyal to her friends and family. She has drive and determination. She is an 8+ year breast cancer survivor. Her treatments were tough, but she never said poor me. She is amazing!

MY HUSBAND! Greg is my best friend in the whole world. I could write so much about how wonderful he is, but that is for another post. He inspires me through his unending support. He tells me I can do anything, and he believes it. When I want to do something, he's all in. He never tells me no, or I can't. He has a huge smile and hug for me when I accomplish something big. He's the first person I want to tell about my accomplishments. Now, he's decided to run the 1/2 marathon with me in December. He never was a runner, and is starting from the beginning. He's making huge improvements each week. Soon, he'll be passing me, and I can't wait. He inspires me to keep going, to keep pushing myself, to never give up. His enormous love for me is more than I could ask for, and I'm so grateful he loves me. I am so lucky to be married to Superman!

Running Success!

Happy Fall! I thought this picture captured what this Fall day is like right now in Minnesota. It's cloudy and windy here. It's also in the mid 40s after 2 days of rain. I didn't think it was the best day to run outside.

So, indoors I went. It's homecoming at Carleton College today. The big game is against the hated St Olaf, our in town rivals. Everyone is at the game, so the gym was pretty empty!

My first mile was at a 10 minute pace. I was pretty happy with that. 2 days earlier, at the same gym, I ran a 10:30 pace. Things just felt good. Only 1 other person was on the track, a college girl on lane 3. I run in lane 4 by the way.

At 1.5 miles I ran it at 15 minutes! Yeah me! I figure during my AF testing I can easily cut off 30 seconds due to adrenaline.

After my 1.5 mile point, the college girl caught up to me. She passed, but didn't stay to far ahead. In fact, in 2 laps, I passed her again. We traded places about every lap, because she would go inside 1 more lane, cutting her distance. It takes 7.6 laps for 1 mile in lane 4, 7.8 laps in lane 3, and 8 laps in 2. She really helped me keep my pace up.

At 2 miles, I was at 20 minutes. Could this really be happening? Am I keeping a constant pace? Well, at 2.5 miles I was at 25 minutes. It seemed to be true.

At 3 miles, I had run for 30 minutes! Yeah me! I was a wonderful consistent pace run. I don't think I've ever kept my pace for longer than 1/2 mile. It is amazing! I'm so happy. It was a great confidence boost.

I may be a runner yet!