Thursday, December 2, 2010

Berbee Derby


I started out my Thanksgiving Day burning up the road at the Berbee Derby, a huge Madison race of thousands of people... really, really fast people. I ran the 10K event after running very few miles all fall. I sluffed out 12 miles in mid November and a few four miles each week after.

My goal was to break 74 minutes: just under 12 minute miles. I actually finished in 1:08:18- a blistering 10:59 pace. All-in-all, I was very pleased. You can blame Andy for the fact that I don't have any pictures! It was C-O-L-D!

I had the flu this week. Who's to say what's to blame...????

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Where the Hell Have I Been?


It's been an embarrassingly long time. For crying out loud, we haven't even posted the damn Gobi (half) marathon pictures on here. I should make it a goal to run at least one event every month. But, I know how I am, and that will never happen. So, enjoy this post while it lasts-- it's a good one!

On Halloween, I did the Madison Mud Run with some friends.

After a lot of begging, pleading (and probably crying on their end) we ended up with a great group of seven misfits. Why I look like I'm half in the bag, I have no idea. The bench we were standing on was wobbly...Anyway, the woman on the right in the back row was the only other person who wanted to do it initially. She and I recruited everyone else.

Our costume theme was "death angels." That meant wings, tutus and a red/black color scheme. Everything else was up for grabs. These are my colleagues from work, Angela and Will, who braved it with me. Naturally, Angela agreed first. Will's initial response was "F@!* NO I won't do it." Of course, I'm pretty sure he enjoyed it the most-- at least the costume part.

Of course it was FREEZING at the time of the start. I was outvoted, and my team opted to accept a 5-minute penalty to avoid having to run through the waist deep water. I'm embarrassed to even type that-- we were death angels. What was the worst that could have possibly happened? Oh yeah, we got booed at the water crossing.

Obstacles consisted of: jumping over hay bales, crawling through tubes, and an inflatable slide (my personal favorite).








Oh yes, of course there was the mud pit.







Some of us embraced the mud more than others, but we all made it through. I got a wing caught in the final rope and almost broke my neck, but all in all, we had a great time. One of Angela's other children is interested in running with us at the next event, and Mr. F@!* NO is already trying to get us to agree on costumes for May. At one point he said something about swimsuits, but I'm vetoing that one now...







Lastly I cannot finish without any injury report. While this is almost to shameful to write, it actually makes it all the better. Naturally I had no chance in hell of making it unassisted over the SIX FOOT WALL. The woman standing by it refused to give me a "leg up"-- but shoved me over by heaving my butt straight up into the wall. The result, the bruise below (located daintily on my inner thigh). It's actually pitch black in color, and you get an idea of the size by the quarter I put next to it. So, not only did my fat thigh jam into the wall once, but TWICE. I would guess the reverberations were felt a mile down course--. At least I managed to keep my pants from falling down upon leaving the mud pit. I guess that counts for something.

Monday, August 16, 2010

If Only Pain Really Did = Gain...

This past week was a huge disappointment... Surprisingly, I actually put a minimal amount of effort into it, too!

I had two short training runs this week (one of two miles and one of three) and a disastrously failed attempt at a long run. I left Sunday morning at 5 a.m. with the plan of going 21 miles.

I made it 5...mostly walking...

.. and wound up in so much agony that it made my 18-miler day look like a cake walk.

Yes, I'm out of shape. I also have been battling a recurrence of the scourge. What was it it you called it? Ah, yes. Scurvy.

I should have known when I woke up and my eyes had nice hard little bumps under them that my shingles were fighting to come back. They've been trying to for about two weeks now, I think. My face has been hurting and burning like a bastard... usually an indication that all is not so well.

My plan is try a few more training runs and give it another shot this weekend.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Sad Week for me too...

I ran (if you can call it that) ONCE for three miles.

That was I-T.

Friday, August 6, 2010

Sunday, 8 August

ANOTHER sad week...

Saturday- 60 Minutes (7.93 km = approx. 5 miles)

Sunday, 1 August

Blah- 2 short runs:

Wednesday: 2 Miles (18:44)
Sunday: Approx. 3.5 Miles SLOWLY!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

...in other news

Today I got my photo taken for my Chinese visa. It was one of those forehead slap moments where I realized I was going to need one, and I had one working day left before I leave for Chicago to get the damn thing. Naturally, I looked like crap today, so the picture actually looks alright. A LOT better than my passport photo, which looks like I've eaten a kitten and can't quite choke it down...

...in other news... last week (the week of July 26) was not exactly a record breaker in terms of exercise. I attended one BodyPump class and did two miles one other day. I had intended to go for more, but my stomach was not happy (probably because I've been eating everything in sight and THEN complaining about it).

Maybe this week will be better, though I doubt it. I'm off to take a load of Andy's junk to Red Wing this Thursday and Friday. That's just enough to throw my routine off. Oh wait, what routine?