This is the first time in months I have two consecutive workdays w/o anything planned for the evening... It can only mean one thing - floorball season is over
''What will happen if I run up the hills? Ah, volcano muscle soreness!!'' (c) Margaret
''Who needs quads anyway!?'' (c) Damaris
Boston Marathon guys' finish... OMG! I feel for the guy who ended up second... Does anyone know the pace split for last 200 or 400m?
Liz, babyE has a mullet? That's funny!
Back to Excels!
Morning! In the office today, sigh. I have 4 miles tonight.
Elina, I will need a picture of said mullet, you know...
Damaris
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Did 4 miles walk/run with my buddy. I missed running and chatting w her. So glad she's back! Had to slow down as I was driving back to the house for a doe on the road. We also saw four sand hill cranes this morning driving in.
Visited w DD and SIL last night. Ann Marie was having dinner, carrots and mac n cheese. She wears a rubber/plastic bib that has a large pocket at the bottom to catch the food she drops. Their weimaraner, Gracie, has figured out that the pocket is full of food and she will gently poke her head under the high chair tray and lick out the food!!! What a stinker!! Gracie is really putting on some weight, so DD is having to cut back on her dog food to account for all the food she gets from Ann Marie. lol
Mid term eval was rescheduled AGAIN for today....see what happens. At least she told me everything was fine this time so I don't need to worry, but still---get it over with!!
Good morning! I have speedwork on the schedule, but am debating whether or not to do it. Basically it's 8x400 at about the speed I ran the last two miles of the half in, so I kind of did a MP workout, a tempo run and speedwork all at once on Sunday. I don't want to hurt myself on the 400s, but I'm feeling good.....I guess I'll go out and start but if anything starts hurting I'll just run the rest of it easy. It's a nice day and my legs are itching to run after a rest day yesterday. Today's big chores are to make some phone calls (and you know how much I hate making phone calls) and getting groceries. Whee.
Boston yesterday, that men's finish was amazing. Almost everyone I was following had a pretty bad slowdown. When the rain stopped it got hot and humid, or so I've been told. My neighbor was on pace for a 2:45. Our other neighbor posted a video of him running up Heartbreak Hill and he looked great. But once he got through the hills he started cramping pretty bad. I watched his pace drop down into the 10s, then a 19 minute mile, finally rallying for a 14 minute final mile. He still finished in 3:14, which is amazing, but he was pretty dejected. I was getting texts from the neighbor that was there, then finally from him that said "Karen that was so hard. I cramped up so bad I couldn't run." So I told him the conditions got pretty bad and the only people I knew that didn't slowdown a lot were those that have run a ton of marathons and several Bostons (this is only his second marathon, after running 2:52 in Houston). And I told him I was proud of him for continuing on and finishing and getting the Boston medal around his neck. And that his cheering section up there (wife, neighbors) I'm sure was pretty damn proud of him too.
Those of you on Strava, the top American male is on Strava and he got a bunch of course records yesterday, including the CR for the "Boston Marathon" segment. Amazing to check out his splits and his training - I started following him. He's "Scott Faubs" if you want to check it out.
Kathryn, I hope you're feeling better today!
Sandy, I hope the root canal went well and was pain free.
Susan, that is hilarious about Gracie figuring out the bib pocket! Hope the eval goes well today. Geez, I just hope the eval goes today!
Liz, you were talking spring marathons the other day. If Boston doesn't happen for me (or maybe even if it does), I am toying with the idea of Myrtle Beach next March. I ran the half back in 2008, I think. It was a nice race, hotels were super cheap. And SC is one of the few eastern states I don't yet have. Enjoy your evening with your brother and SIL and of course baby E.
Laura, you crack me up - so awful I hid it on Strava! Now that's a crappy run. But you know why, so no worries. I can't believe you're still getting snow.
HCK, ugh on all the new taxes. I don't miss that after 15 years in Maryland. Although our property taxes are pretty high here since we don't have state income taxes.
Coaching testimonial: "Not saying my workout was hard but KAREN IS EVIL."
Upcoming races: Hennepin Hundred - October 2024
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Running with the Turtles
Happy end of floorball season! I am now officially tapering for GC. Yay. Sunday's long run was tough, besides being a tough workout (13 miles with 6 at goal pace) the weather did not cooperate. It was barely 30 degrees, cloudy, with 20 mph winds. I was trying to keep around an 8:45 pace for the HMP miles, into the wind it was hard to run a 9:00 mile, with the wind I was in the low 8's. It was exhausting though, I thought my legs were going to fall off for the last mile. I was so frozen when I was done also. It's been awhile since I've been that cold. But it is done! Today's workout was 3x8 min at 10K pace and it was a walk in the park. I ended up getting 2 work calls during the weekend and took the day off yesterday. I had a couple of appointments (one was a massage!) and had to take the kids to the dentist anyway.
Elina, congrats on finishing up the floorball season and starting marathon training!
Damaris, enjoy the 4! Nice running this weekend!
Sue, glad you had a nice run with your RB! Haha, Gracie sounds cute! I walked my friend's dogs yesterday and afterwards one of the dogs was eating mud in the backyard! I was thinking, WTH? I texted my friend about it and apparently it is normal for that dog.
Laura, funny about hiding your run on Strava! The crappy runs happen. Nice running this weekend! That wind was tough!
Kat, it is devastating about Notre Dame. I never got the chance to visit! It was on my list!
Sandy, I hope the root canal went well! As well as they can go. We got a couple inches of snow on Sunday. It was a pretty miserable day. DD had a friend over Saturday night and she ended up staying Sunday night also. Mainly because I didn't want to leave the house to take her home. Of course, yesterday was 50, sunny with no wind. An awesome day. Why it couldn't be that way for my long run, I don't know. I had a friend running Boston who posted on FB that she was struggling at the end, bonked, run/walking, thinking about her kids to make it through, blah blah blah. She still finished in under 3:45!
Karen, London, Toledo, pretty similar... Awesome race this weekend! So sweet that your baby runners cheered you! Cable is such a rip-off. I have to do something different. Personally, I hardly watch any TV. Haha, I like your friend's picture on the plane!
Carol, I've done the inline skate marathon in Duluth twice, which follows the route for Grandma's. My friend ran Grandma's last year. It can be hard to get accomodations, so you will want to do that far in advance if you decide to run it.
Lizzie, nice miles! Glad you survived the storms! They can be scary, we get tornado warnings here too. 6 months will go by fast! It is hard to believe, but not so hard to believe. DD got about 4 hours of sleep during her sleepover on Friday night. She was so exhausted on Saturday. Then she had to play soccer in cold windy weather. She napped for about 3 hours after that! Wrapped in about 3 blankets. They were working on the siding on our house, pounding on the walls and she slept right through it.
Lori, sorry about DS not feeling well for the race. 20 miles is a big deal! Nice job!
Margaret, nice 10K this weekend. Love the pics!
Cathy
Oh yeah--we are cable free at the new house. We have firestick, amazon prime, and an antenna that needs to be hooked up. Trying to figure out how to find news on the firestick. What do y'all watch? Once the antenna is installed, we should have all we need. We don't watch much, but I do miss the news.
WINE o'clock somewhere!
Elina, I hope you enjoy your free time after work.
Damaris, here is to a quick day for you.
Sue, I see lots of chubby dogs who have toddlers in the house! Glad your RB is back.
Karen, I hate phone calls too, especially work ones. Don't know why, but it gives me anxiety.
Cathy, maybe not anywhere in the near future, but it sounds like the cathedral itself was largely spared. I was reading some of the treasures were OK.
I still pay through the nose for cable. But I agree, it is highway robbery.
Got out for a short "stroll." It was pretty slow, and pretty short. Friday I am going to try for a longer "stroll," or gasp, even a run/walk!!! (Rain tomorrow, hair coloring Thurs.) Even with shorty shorts (I felt half naked as I normally wear long compression shorts/skirt), my leg was really sore. Self inflicted... Who choses to have a million little needles shoved into ones body?
Work was a chaotic mess yesterday - one emergency after another. I was done and stressed halfway through the day. Even the very proficient/speedy doctor cut off more walk ins. I tried not having my afternoon coffee and I paid dearly for it.
K
Kettle Moraine - June 2024
Beast of Burden - August 2024
Hennepin Hundred - Oct 2024
Javelina Jundred - Oct 2024
Xfinity being what it is, my options were $112/month for 400mbps internet only (which is what we have now and I certainly don't want to go down in speed) or $95/month for 1000/mbps internet and basic TV (like 10 channels). So while we haven't quite cut the cord, we now have "hardly any" TV. I have to take the extra cable boxes back tomorrow. The guy thanked me for being nice and pleasant - said a lot of people call and are angry. I didn't point out that they brought that on themselves by the way they handled this sort of thing when people first started doing it. He still tried to get me to consider switching cell phone service to them or home security or keeping a landline, but when I said no, he moved on.
Cathy, welcome to the land of taper! That last HMP workout sounds brutal in that weather. Your friend's horrible race is a BQ-10 for us 50somethings! I may have posted a few years back about a crappy marathon where I bonked, had to walk a bunch, had a miserable poorly executed race, and oh yeah, PR'd by like 8 minutes at the time and ran a 3:41. What I wouldn't give for a 3:41 now!
Kathryn, yes, phone anxiety is real! I don't get it either, nothing bad happens, but still, just making those calls is hard to do. Nice job getting out there in your shorty shorts!
Xfinity being what it is, my options were $112/month for 400mbps internet only (which is what we have now and I certainly don't want to go down in speed) or $95/month for 1000/mbps internet and basic TV (like 10 channels). So while we haven't quite cut the cord, we now have "hardly any" TV. I have to take the extra cable boxes back tomorrow. The guy thanked me for being nice and pleasant - said a lot of people call and are angry. I didn't point out that they brought that on themselves by the way they handled this sort of thing when people first started doing it. He still tried to get me to consider switching cell phone service to them or home security or keeping a landline, but when I said no, he moved on. Cathy, welcome to the land of taper! That last HMP workout sounds brutal in that weather. Your friend's horrible race is a BQ-10 for us 50somethings! I may have posted a few years back about a crappy marathon where I bonked, had to walk a bunch, had a miserable poorly executed race, and oh yeah, PR'd by like 8 minutes at the time and ran a 3:41. What I wouldn't give for a 3:41 now! Kathryn, yes, phone anxiety is real! I don't get it either, nothing bad happens, but still, just making those calls is hard to do. Nice job getting out there in your shorty shorts!
This is one of the reasons why we went to UVerse. Plus in my city, Xfinity declines to improve their hardware and software and we spent many weekends with no internet (internet so slow nothing would upload). Not surprised at how Xfinity responded since they sucked in my experience (Comcast sucks).
We have Uverse with like all premium channels. Netflix is boring for us because we don't watch many shoes (mostly the ones in HBO and Starz) and their movies are super behind so we canceled after a couple of years. I love having 50 movies to watch at any hour while on the TM, lol. It's an investment in my well-being, ha.
Survived the root canal. Wasn't really that bad for almost 2 hours in the chair. Whew. Apparently the tooth had 4 roots and the last little one took a damn long time. A little sore now but nothing dreadful. Had a horrible headache when my alarm went off at o' dark thirty so opted for more sleep. Beauty of WFH after dentist is I ran 5 at lunch. In shorts! First time all year. Was pretty speedy (for me), too. Not sure if it was the sunshine, the rush to get back to the work, the enormous amount of coffee or what but I'll take it.
Karen - dang that "bundling" will get ya. But, hey, you got the cost down and speed up so I call that a win! I'm not sure that I have phone "anxiety" per se but I just don't like talking to strangers, in general. Sometimes. For example, was NOT in the mood to talk to hair dresser on Sat. Also, was not jazzed to talk with dental hygienist yesterday. I was probably the worst since I was just giving them one word answers while they were working hard to keep a convo. If only I had the gumption to just say "please let's just sit here in peace while you do your work."
Kat - nice job getting out for your "stroll" in the Daisy Duke's! Do you catch my reference? hee hee. Sorry work was such a nightmare yesterday. Hope the tat is healing nicely!
Sue - that is soooooooooo stinkin' cute and funny about Gracie! Smart pup. That's great you have your RB back in action. I still have local tv so I watch news on that. Though, I have seen apps for news channels on the Stick. I've been watching Catastrophe on Prime. It's about an American guy who has a fling with a British woman and they have a baby and make it work. It's hilarious and probably rated PG13 or more at times but I love it. 4 seasons with short 30min episodes. I've also watched a couple lame-o movies lately so I won't necessarily recommend those haha
Lizzie - nope, no trip to Bis for root canal. I actually haven't even talked to him about it. They have been busy traveling and such. This one is gonna hit the pocket book pretty hard. Awww baby E sounds so cute! A future Caps player maybe? hee hee. Hope your travels went well and you are enjoying a lovely evening with the fam. Hey, new running route for the morning to look forward to, too! Fun!
Laura - ugh on the shaky feeling run! I swear that only happens in the afternoons (on the rare RARE occasions I have experienced such). Weird because it never happens early morning when there's been no fuel for 12 hours! haha we are getting rain tomorrow and Thursday, too.
Cathy - oh man, KILLER HMP run on Sunday! You are SO going to crush GC. Are you going to get some magic shoes as well? It was stinkin cold all weekend. Now, today, oh man, it's a sunbathing day! Until the rain comes tomorrow. Still snow here. I had to dodge some piles on the paths since the city didn't plow last week. Hopefully they are all gone tomorrow. Sorry for the work calls but good on you for taking yesterday. Man, your friend and my friends sound like they had very similar experiences at Boston! I haven't talked to them but based on splits, they bonked and one finished in 3:48 and the other in 4:01. Sounds like it got warm and muggy. Oh man, DD must have been EXHAUSTED after her lack of sleep and cold game and then to sleep through the siding?! Is she doing that series this year?
Damaris - ugh on being in the office. Hope your day went fast! Only 4 mi for you?? That smells like a taper to me
Elina - thanks for starting us off! What ever will you do with two evenings off in a row?? Welcome to marathon training!! Super excited to follow your progress. Oh, hey maybe you should give us a visitor report
. Elina - Enjoy your free evenings! I’m sure you appreciate a break in floorball season.
Susan - That is hilarious about Gracie! Those bins are great tho. Hope you did get that evaluation over. Nice run with RB!
Karen - I was tracking a few people in Boston, too...and they had same kind of paces at the end, I wondered what the deal was. I hate making phone calls, too. Which shoes are the magic shoes???
Cathy - yay for taper!!! You have had a great training cycle! Do you have a goal in mind for GC? Thanks for info on Grandmas. I watched a video of the course last night...I’m sure the lake is beautiful to follow, but I think I will hold off until fall for marathon.
Kat - Ouch on the tatto and your leg! I bet it is sore. Hoping it settles down for you.
Damarias - Hope you get your run in! TM???
Sandy - Ugh, on the root canal. 2 hours... Nice that you got a good run in tho!
Dreary and rainey here. All the snow melted. Did a run with RB in the drizzle this morning. Love to get that done and feel good all day.
Carol
Susan - I met “bibs”..not bins...
Carol, heat indexes have been in the 90s for weeks. I won’t see the outside here until next year. Toledo is my first outdoors run in weeks. Looking forward to that.
So, I should never go to the office because between the mold, the asbestos that supposedly does not exist but it needs to be remediated every so often, and the fucking elevators that close on you and hit your patella and now the patella is fucking painful!
I could still run, thankfully, but taking my RD today to ice the fucking bruise that feels like it goes all the way down to my bone.
And today is Day 2 of taper. Hope I survive the rest.