Grey Ghost Run

This year, Greg and I decided to run the Anoka, MN Grey Ghost Run. Anoka is the Halloween capital of the world! That and it is just north of my home town of Coon Rapids. The timing of the run seemed perfect for our training, giving us one more taste of a group run before the big 1/2 marathon.

This run was different from others that I've done. It started at 12:50pm. An odd time, but it did make sense. The Grande Day Parade began at 1:00pm. How does this make sense? The first mile of our route was the parade route. We began the parade. How crazy is that?

There were so many people in funky costumes in the race. I saw a ton of cats, teenage mutant ninja turtles, and Matrix dudes (odd). The best was a group of 6 basketball player, complete with a hoop on wheels. They looked like a great 80's vintage team with fabulous wigs!

There were about 1500 people running this day, so the start was chaos. Greg and I had decided early on the run our own race, and not with each other. It was a great decision, because we lost each other about 50 feet into the race. My family was about 1/2 mile down the road, so it was exciting to know we'd see them along the way. However, they only saw me because I yelled at them. They did find Greg though.

The first mile was GREAT! There were so many people cheering us on, and high fiving the runners. It really pumped me up! Beginning mile 2, the crowd disappeared. We left the parade route and hit the neighborhoods. Then, the hills came up. It was a very hilly 2 miles. Just past the 2 mile point, we turned back around to head to our finish line. About 1 minute after my turn around, there was Greg! I still can't believe we saw each other. He was doing so well.

The end was just as chaotic as the beginning. They had 3 corrals to collect our run numbers. They girls collecting the numbers were moving slow, and the line dragged. This is not what I needed after running a hilly race. I went from pushing it at the end, to a dead stop. Not good! The line moved so slow, that I missed Greg's big finish. I'm just glad he suggested I bring my phone with me. I never would have found him without it.

I finished in 30:15, and Greg finished in 32:20. It was a good run, and even better when I consider that I didn't train much last week because I was down with a cold that sucked the life out of me. I'm still pretty happy with my time.

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!