Great River Ragnar Relay

Great River Ragnar Relay 2010
Wow now that was an experience!  Last weekend Mark and I participated in the Ragnar Relay with our team "Java Junkies"   If you want to read more about what the relay is, here's the Webpage, I won't write it all out for you other than it's a 12 person relay team, split into two vans of 6 people running from Winona, MN to Minneapolis, MN.   Our van consisted of the two of us, my friend Mandy, Mark's friend Steve, Mark's brother Michael and his wife Cari.

The Girls

The Boys

While it was a bit like herding cats for me to get the team going when we got to the start area, our van 2 saw our first runner Brady take off and then we had about a 5-6 hour wait until we started.   Luckily we found this cute restaurant with awesome food and awesome service in Alma, WI called "Kate and Gracie's".  I highly recommend you give this one a try.  It's in an old building right on the main drag through town (don't blink, you'll miss it) but the service was fantastic and the food was great.   Not just a little greasy spoon bar type place like you normally find in these area.

I was the first runner in our van and started out around 5pm or so on Friday.  Unfortunately the sun showed up right about that time and it go thick and hot!  My run was 6.2 miles with about mile 2-3 being straight up!  Good lord I was nearly crawling to crest this damn thing!  I was so happy to see my van at the top and get some food/drink.  

The next mile was all a decent slope downhill in the shade.  WEEE!!!! I was flying down that part!  It felt great!  Last mile and a half or so flattened out and was in the wide open sun so I was toast by time I got done and sweating enough for the whole team.   I think that's my first time finishing a run and slamming and entire bottle of water in about 10 seconds.

6.2 Miles 4:50pm Friday - Very Hard - 1:03:06 HR - 184)

My second leg was at 3:40am.   Mark and I got about 3 hours of sleep on a blanket in the grass before I had to get ready to run again.   Running at night was weird!  Especially considering some spots of my 3.2 miles was dense fog!  Made for an interesting halo around me from my headlamp :-P   This run was relatively flat but the thick air made breathing a litte moe labored but all and all this was the best leg since it was the flattest and coolest!

3.2 Miles 3:40am Saturday - Easy - 27:06 (HR - 178)

My third and final leg was about noon on Saturday and luckily for me the clouds were still holding back the hot sun.  It was great that we got to spend a few hours at the exchange area which was at a Lifetime Fitness so Mark and I went in, got soak in the hot tub, showered and rolled out our legs before my last run.  I wanted to push a little on this one since it was my last leg but lack of sleep was definitely playing a part in how well I was running.  Plus we were in the heart of Woodbury and I actually had to stop for 4 different stop lights during my course.   The hardest part of this leg was around the halfway point when I was running up this gradual hill through a boring business park/industrial type area and instead of just going straight up the road, we were moved onto the winding path which made the stretch longer to get to the top of the hill.

3.7 miles 12:00pm Saturday - Moderate - 30:36 (HR-174)

I feel like I did ok overall.  Always wish I was faster but oh well.   We had a great time and I give a lot of credit to Steve and Cari, our final two runners for making it through some seriously hot sun and hilly terrain to finish up the race :)  

Back to front, left to right:
Cari, Michael, Dawn, Dan, Melissa, Rich, Mandy
Mark, Myself, Steve (missing is Lance and Brady)

A good number of our team are already talking about plans to race next year in the Madison to Chicago Ragnar on June 3-4th.   We would also make it a birthday trip for me since I turn 30 on June 7th (bleh!!)

Healthy eating?
Yeah that has gone out the window lately.  I've felt kinda sluggish lately because I've been consciously eating a lot of crap.  Crappy foods just taste better but I hate feeling weighed down and fat.   So yeah, still trying to kick my own arse into a different rhythm.  

Going to the State Fair this Saturday probably isn't going to help on that front but I am excited to go every year.   We will be going over to Leinie's Lodge to see Tonic-Sol-Fa perform.  They are one of my favorite groups and very entertaining.  Then we have to get through packet pick-up for the Duathlon on Sunday and then go to our first pre-season home game for the Vikings in the evening.  Yes folks, it's time for football again!! :)

The Mpls Duathlon
is on Sunday and as of right now that will be our last multi-sport race of the season.   We haven't been on our bikes nearly enough but I'll survive.   We've had the greatest of intentions to get out more for BRicks but seems like the evenings get filled up so quickly and we've been too comfy to get out of bed in the early AM.  I love working out in the cool mornings but it's also the best time to have the windows open curled up in bed!

Wedding planning? 
Well we are working on reserving our rooms at the hotel and hope to gather the money to book our flights soon as well.   Keep in mind we need to fly and hotel ourselves and our film guys so it's a little more expensive but definitely worth it to have them there to capture our wedding.  Actually through blogging and the wedding contest, I have met a few different couples that I am looking forward to meeting out in Vegas.  Our blogger friends, Team Baby Dinosaur will be out there running the half marathon and also a trail running couple that voted for us and I've been emailing with is doing their first road marathon. It's fun that the social media can introduce us to new people and we will get a chance to meet on our wedding day :) My next project is working on finding a place to get our visors embroidered and get the vail figured out.  

Anyone have any cute ideas for attaching a veil to my SweatVac visor?  I'll be wearing it for the whole marathon.

Geocachers
If you are reading this blog, be sure to check out our #Geocache365 on our Life More Complete Blog or follow us on Twitter.  We started the cache a day for 365 days challenge :)

Legends 5k and My First Annual 29th Birthday

Seems like I'm on a two week posting routine.   Honestly I think about writing just about every other day but by time I get home and have time, the mental energy is gone to sit in front of the computer. 

Let's get the 'blahs' out of the way first.

Work:

Don't get me totally wrong, I love what I do, I just can't stand WHERE I have to do it.  I knew it would be hard for me to transition back into an office again but now that the weather is nice, it's sucking the life out of me.  Have to stand up if I want to see out the window, none of the windows open, the other people in the office chew their food like they were born in a god damn barn and I live off frozen meals or cans of soup.    I know I could get out and walk or whatever for a break but it's isn't as refreshing as you think walking up and down Washington Ave by yourself.   And not to mention all the driving I have to do while Mark and I continue to have to maintain two houses.  I literally get only minutes outside in the fresh air before it gets dark.  Otherwise I'm in my office or my carThere may be a day in the future where I can spend some days working from home and that will help and I desperately hope that when we get our own office, I have a window I can open right next to my desk!! I'm not an indoors person and I got to have my home office and my windows and my kitties and my run breaks all the time for over 3 years so lately my routine is doing nothing but severely depressing me. Bleh....ok moving on....

Memorial Weekend:

Mark and I had a ton of garage sale items on my parent's sale again this year.  I was super excited that I sold my road bike before the sale even opened.   Listed it on the Craig's List ad and a guy responded Tuesday, came out to see it Wednesday night and paid cash.   I couldn't believe both of our old mtn bikes and my road by were sold by the end of day 1 :) 

Memorial Day we went to the Gunther's House for their "Mixed Up Tri / BBQ party"   They were doing a group ride, transition, group run, transition, group swim.   We opted to sleep in a bit and skip the bike but we got there in time for a 5.5ish mile run and then a swim across the bay (about 2/3 mi).   It was our first time getting back in the lake this year so it was nice to get back in and get used to lake swimming again.

ALARC Legends 5k

We planned for this race to be our last "tune-up" leading up to the William A Irvin 5k (our goal race).   We knew it was a smaller race and the way things had been going at the other small 5ks we have been doing, we knew there was a chance to place well again.   Especially since there was a partnered 10k which a lot of the faster runners there were doing.  I was focused on my overall time but I knew it was going to be hard to get a fast time since this course was hilly and we've been racing flat courses until now.   The first few hills shot my heartrate up pretty high but we got on the limestone trail before mile 1 and stayed on it until about 2.75 maybe.   My body calmed down a bit from the hills once I was on flat ground for a bit and I realized I was first place female. (sweet! but will it last.....)  Somewhere around mile 2 I could definitely feel I was losing steam and the HR wasn't coming down from 190.  The last .2 or so was back up a somewhat small grade and then to the finish.   There was no "push" into the finish but I still managed to cross as the first female and landed a time of 23:58 - AVG hr 186.

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Minneapolis Marathon:

We volunteered as course marshals for this event the day after Legends.  We might run the 5k event they have here next year but we'll see.  (I have a bit of an issue with the group that runs this but I'll keep that to myself.) We were around mile 4.5 which was perfect.  We got to see everyone go by and then we were off to chase down Mark's brother Michael as he was running his first full marathon.   We saw him right around the wall of mile 20 and then again at the finish.   He did awesome!   I know he really wanted a 4hr marathon, I did too when I ran my first one but it's harder than you think and the sun came out to heat him up midway through the race which didn't help anyone I don't think.  I always look back at my first marathon, not happy with my time but I try to remember all the things it taught me and apply them to my endurance runs.

My First Annual 29th Birthday:
We started the celebration by going out with our Groupon coupon to Forepaugh's Restaurant in St. Paul.  It was this great old house converted to a fancy restaurant.  We picked up a cool geocache in the area before our reservation but I'll talk about that in my post on our "A Life More Complete" blog.

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The morning of my birthday was just another morning, followed by just another work day.   First time in years I went to work on my birthday.   Would have taken the day off but trying to preserve the vacation days for the wedding :)   Thanks to my birthday showing up on all my "friends" Facebook accounts I got a ton of bday wishes on there all day long which was great.  Also a few phone calls and text and emails :)   That evening we went out for dinner with my parents at Houlihans.   I was uber excited that I got a DSW gift card from Onyx the cat, an Olive Garden gift card from mom and dad and the best of all....Mark got me a gift card to Sanctuary Salon Spa to get my hair done!!!!  OMG you have NO idea how badly my hair has been needing a makeover.   Long story short, I made it all of two days before I made an appointment for my fancy new 'do.  Love it!!    I also got a great Fuschia plant from Mark so now my patio actually has color :)

 

Wedding:

Things are still progressing on the wedding front.   Throwing $$ in all directions but things are slowly coming together.   I think I'll start trying to be more consistent and post wedding updates only on our "A Life More Complete" blog and/or the wedding webpage on The Knot.com.  If you all follow me on Twitter, I usually send out a note when I update either of these pages.

Training:

Has still been pretty much run focused and even that has been suffering due to lack of time/energy lately.  My bike is being picked up from the shop tonight probably.   Had the crank arms looked at and basically they said the true fix is to buy new ones ($170-ish) but for now the temp fix is lots of lock-tite.  Sigh.....

Masters swim is now offering outdoor evening swims at the New Hope pool Tues/Thurs nights so starting next week we are going to try for that option the next two months and see if that is better on our schedule.  I think we can stay up later much easier than we can get up earlier while we are still doing the two house thing.

Next up:

This weekend we have the Manitou Triathlon.  That should be interesting considering we haven't really done any bricks and only one lake swim.   I think our multisport season this year is going to be based around fun and not speed.  And I guess that's ok. buy my competitive subconscious tends to make me feel crappy about not being in top shape for tri's this year.

Week 2 Update - And Multisport Expo / InStep 5k

So first thing yesterday morning we did our check on how the weight loss is going. I was excited to see a drop of 4 pounds after only losing 1 last week. Mark was quick to say "I told you so" since he's been telling me since last week that I would surely see a change. Yes honey, you were right and I feel better now actually seeing the change :) Looks like he and I might be flip flopping weeks. He loses more one week, I lose more the next. Works for me as long as there IS a loss of something.

Plus I've been feeling much better physically. The first week to 10 days was torturous on my physical and mental energy. I had stomach pains and just felt like not moving, I was OUT of energy. But the past few days I've been feeling much better. I think my body is finally in a rhythm with my new eating habits. (excluding Sunday when driving home after the 5k race in the morning and a full afternoon of caching I thought my body was going to shut down I felt so crappy and hungry!) It dawned on me today that what I'm eating during the day too has taken a drastic change for the better. Before, my foods were WAY excessive in calories and carbs. Today I looked down at what I packed for food and was pleased to know I was happy bringing an apple, clementine, raspberry yogurt with pomegranate seeds and a little leftover cornbread stuffing to get me through the day.

So back to recap this weekend.....

Mark and I were extremely impressed by the Multisport Expo we attended in Milwaukee this past weekend. Below are a bunch of pictures of what they all had going on. There were a lot of high profile vendors, great speakers and fun activities. I even ran into a couple of the Midwest USAT council members that had booths there and we all agreed it's crazy that USAT didn't have a presence there. I got to meet the Event Director, Hank, to briefly discuss online registration but I also connected with him that I would hopefully be able to bring USAT to this expo next year and spread the word to Twin Cities clubs about this event and the bike time trials. To be at something like this and NOT see Gear West red everywhere was just odd :-P I promised to pass the word along to Kevin at GW.
Here are some pics from the Expo

A view of some of the booths

The endless pool available to try

The portable showers :)

Team Bike Time Trials

Saturday night we took it easy. Mark picked up take out from TGI Fridays and a bottle of wine. We did some geocaching queries and then relaxed in the spa tub for quite awhile. It's so rare we get a relaxing evening since we spend a lot of time driving back and forth to care for his dogs and my kitties.

The next morning we got up to run the Instep 5k going on at the Expo.

Super cute puppy that ran the course

There were a few hundred runners there and it was a great course. Through the WI State Fair Park and around the Milwaukee Mile Race Track.

Here's me passing the Cattle Barn

Nearly perfectly flat so it was a perfect benchmark race to log for the beginning of my season. I didn't push hard but I didn't slow up either. Mark, as always, encouraged me along and I'm sure contributed to me being faster than I would have by myself. I was very content knowing I can mark the start of my run season with a 5k time of 27:20 (8:48 min/mile) and an avg HR of 179. Feeling like my 7:30 min/mile pace is actually reachable by mid-June although I know it's going to be a tough road to shave off 4 minutes.

Post race with my cup of pretzels

Here we are in front of the main park sign

After the race, we spent the afternoon geocaching through the area before heading home mid-afternoon. We will get the write up of the fun caches we picked up on our "A Life More Complete" blog soon.

Other updates - I've been going to Beginning Jazz dance classes at Zenon on Tuesday nights and that has been a lot of fun. I really miss dance. Although I have found I still suck at double turns :-P

We have Core/Speed with ALARC tonight which has proven to be a great addition to our weekly workouts.

Diet Update and the 2010 Great Lakes Multisport Expo

This week has gone pretty well but I must say that my body has not been happy with this diet.   My doctor swears I'm not diabetic (two people in my family are) but with how crappy I feel sometimes when I'm really hungry I have to figure something is off.   Tired, headaches...just lethargic.   Bleh.....   But to try and combat that, I've been attempting to stretch out my eating during the day as much as possible as to not have massive gaps in between munching.   Monday we went to Core/Speed after work and I felt like my body was going to shut down.   Luckily Mark was full of energy and felt fine but part of me wanted to knock him over and steal some of that energy for myself.  It was awful....

And to add insult to injury, he shows a noticable change at our one week "weigh in" and I only drop 1.5 pounds.   The problem being that I have been flexing between 153-156 for months now so for it to go from 155 last week to 153.5 this week felt like I made no progress through all those days that I felt crappy.  One week down, 11 to go.  Sigh.... hopefully next week will show better results.

We are headed out to Milwaukee this weekend for the 2010 Great Lakes Multisport Expo.   I actually found out about this at work since I was researching RACC and attempting to contact them and see if I could convince them to try ZapEvent for their online registrations.   They actually put on the event and considering it's going to be full of race director's and event info, Mark and I figured it would be a fun reason to get away for a few days, check out more events to possibly participate in and network a bit for my work. 

While we're there, we will of course take the opportunity to:

1) Geocache the Milwaukee area

2) SLEEP IN!! without being woken up by dogs or cats (but please note I will miss them dearly while we're gone :)

3) Run in the Instep 5k Race Against Childhood Cancer on Sunday morning

The Geocaching piece will be documented in our "A Life More Complete" blog so check there over the weekend for details on our adventures and finds.   We are bringing a few of our new 2010 Coffee Love Pathtags along so drop in the area.

Farewell for now....