Saturday, April 3, 2010

The Mojo Is Back!

After my crappy running experience I am happy to report that I have moved on!! I headed out my door Thursday with a smile on my face, a new positive attitude and bells on my shoes! I went and busted out a six miler at a 8:30 minute mile pace!! The mojo is back...thank goodness:) After I got back from my run I did my push-up challenge. I wish that I could say that it is getting easier...it is not:( Friday I took off from running but completed my push-ups for the week!! I am done until Monday:) I drove into St. Cloud this morning to meet the St. Cloud River Runners for my Saturday morning group run. Above is the picture taken this morning...click here for a larger version. The run started off at The Meeting Grounds coffee shop in St. Cloud. I got there at about 6:30 with the help of Nikki. Map quest directions were a little off and I was having a hard time finding this place. I called Nikki and she met me at Perkins. I then followed her just a few blocks to where we needed to be:) I was so close! I wanted to get eleven to fourteen miles in for the day. I ran with Nikki and Heather for the first portion of my morning run:) I just wanted to run an easy pace and Nikki was a great leader. We ran three miles before we stopped at Coborns for a bathroom break:) Okay, it was me not we! I felt so much better after the break and we were off again. We just ran around St. Cloud on the roads and over bridges:) Nikki was a great leader/coach and kept Heather and I on task!! At about mile 8.25 we met Pam and Denny. They were going a little faster than what we were. Denny said, "Come on let's go!" Honestly, I was a little tired but I really attempted to pick up the pace and try to stay with Denny. Nikki and Pam wanted to run a little more and add a bit more to their run. This is where we seperated. Denny and I ran together for the last .75 of our nine mile run. Running with Denny was good for me. He is so much taller and faster but I wanted to keep up with him, darn it!! He challenged me and helped me to finish strong:) Thank you, Denny!
Here is Heather, Nikki and me. This is after we got back from the first part of our run.

This is a picture of Denny and me:)

I took a few random pictures of the group before we went out on our second run.

For the second part of our run there were two choices. Some people did seven miles and another group of us did five miles. Here is a picture of us heading out at 8 AM. For this portion of the run I ran with Cathy, Buddy, John, Paul and Judy. I was a little tired but was fine until about mile four. Mile five was a little tough...John and I ran back together. Thank God he was with me because I had no idea where we were:) After we got back we all had breakfast at The Meeting Grounds. I had a bowl of build your own oatmeal with blueberries and white chocolate:) Mmmm!
Here is another picture of me and Denny! We sat at the same table and were able to chat over breakfast. Denny is the nicest man and he has agreed to be my new running dad!

This is a picture of Wanda and Buddy. They are both pretty darn cool and each of them have run in so many marathons. Wanda's marathon PR is an amazing 3:11!! I love it that they are a married couple who both feel passionate about running:) You can see that Buddy is wearing a Little Falls Flyers sweatshirt...he was giving me crap about graduating from Rocori High School:) The Spartans and the Flyers were pretty big rivals:) Buddy, you can give me a hard time all you want...I have a good sense of humor!
This last pic. is of me and Nikki:) I had a great time this morning and was very happy to get my fourteen miles in! Thank you St. Cloud River Runners...you all rock!! You have already helped me so much! When I got home I took a shower and took a two hour nap:) I did a few things around the house and went shopping. At five o'clock I went out on a easy three miler:) Total miles for the day...seventeen:) I am really proud of myself! Seventeen miles in one day is huge for me. I just need to keep it up and continue to build on the miles! Hopefully if I get my act together I will be ready for a marathon in the fall:)
I hope that everyone has a great weekend and Happy Easter!!
Tara is hosting a Ryder Eyewear giveaway..go check out her blog!!
Marcia is hosting a Chia Seed giveaway!
Misszippi is hosting a Runervals DVD giveaway!
Tricia is hosting a kettleworx giveaway!
Angie is hosting a Nuun giveaway!

47 comments:

  1. congrats on feeling good about what you're doing ... that's great! HAppy EASTER!!!

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  2. So glad you got your mojo back and what a nice group of people! Great job on the miles :)

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  3. I'm glad SOMEBODY had a good run today! I was not one of them. Post to follow...

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  4. Happy Easter! Glad your mojo is back. May i join that running group? Beautiful pictures.

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  5. Let's tap that mojo and keep on keeping on!

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  6. Love that the mojo's back...that's a lot of miles in one day!!! :) Great job Julie!

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  7. Glad your mojo returned. I guess it just took a day off. Nice pics of you and your running group. So after running 14 miles, you still felt obligated to run another 3 miles later on?! Have a Happy Easter!

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  8. Yay. One bad run is just that...one.bad.run. Glad you were able to move on

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  9. Congratulations for finishing strongly your training :) I'm glad to hear that you moved on! It's a nice running group :) Those are great photos of you with your friends!
    Enjoy this Easter weekend!

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  10. Yah for you! Looks like a fun group of peeps ...some fun pics.

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  11. Hooray for getting your running mojo back! It sounds like you had a great run. How fun to run with such awesome people too! Have a great weekend. :)

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  12. So glad to hear you are back at it and happy with your runs!! Enjoy the holiday!

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  13. Nice! Can you please send some of that mojo my way? Motivation has been at an all time low...

    What's with all the outerwear? Must be below 60 or something. (Just kidding! That's when we break out the coats here in Southern California. Yes - we're wimps....)

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  14. Good for you! Now you need to bottle those positive feelings so when you need them again they will be easy to find! Cheers!

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  15. 17 miles in one day is great. Why does the running group do two runs? For people starting at different times? I have not run more than once a day very often. Last year I did it when I was training for a relay where I would run three legs. The group sounds like a lot of fun.

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  16. Nice to hear you felt better and got your mojo back. Sounds like you had a great time with the group again.

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  17. What a great way to get 14 miles in! Your group looks like so much fun and it sounds like you really inspire each other. Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

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  18. I new you'd get your mojo back! Great job on 17 miles! You keep that up and you will definitely be ready for a marathon in the fall. I am so happy for you that you joined the St Cloud River running group. You really seem to enjoy your runs with the group and that always makes running a bit less like work.

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  19. gettin the mojo back...that's what it's all about. I'm attempting to try to find mine post hawaii/tri race. it'll come. I just have to be a lil' patient.
    and love all your running pics. and they make me appreciate how dang cold it is by you!

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  20. YIPPEE for MOJO! I love your running group..I wish I could find one near me!

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  21. Thanks for giving me a little more info on the group runs! They sound like a ton of fun!

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  22. Yay! So glad your run went well today!!
    I wish I had a running group - what a blessing!

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  23. Happy Easter, Julie! Smiles, bells, and 8:30's capped off by mojo is all good!!! :-) Keep up the hard work, the good fun, and have a wonderful week!
    Kathleen

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  24. Congrats on the great mileage! Sounds like a really fun group to run with. I run w/a Saturday morning group, and it's great for motivation & for meeting new people.

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  25. Heh. I knew you'd get it back. Keep the faith, Julie!

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  26. I really enjoyed reading this. I think it is great that they take a group pic every week. You are doing so well. Your post gave me motivation for my running this week. I'll start tomorrow after being sick for a few days. Have a good day Julie!

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  27. Hi Julie! I'm trying to catch up on all of my fave blogs since I was gone all last week. I'm so sorry to hear that you had a bad running experience, but super happy that your mojo is back!

    We all have our good days and then days when we just want to quit, so keep on getting back out there!

    Congrats on your 17 miles in one day! HUGE accomplishment!

    I hope you and your family had a great Easter weekend!

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  28. It looks like you've made some cool friends in this group, congrats on having the mojo back and the 17 miles!!!!!

    that oatmeal sounded mighty tasty!!!

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  29. That is awesome! 17 miles in a day! I am very jealous!

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  30. Hi, Julie! I love how in hindsight you can appreciate bad days because when you have a good one, it's extra sweet!

    You're doing great with this Group. Seventeen miles in one day is huge for anyone. It's a big accomplishment and you should be proud of yourself.

    Happy Monday:)

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  31. So glad to hear that your run went better. I love the running group. It seems like such a motivating way to get those longer runs in.

    Glad the mojo is back for you!!!

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  32. This is great, Julie! You are going to get faster if you keep running with fast people. It is always easier to get outside of your comfort zone when running with a group! Loved the pics!

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  33. Sunny Julie is back, good to hear you've found a great running group. Well done for your miles today, looking forward to hearing more about the marathon plans. RB.

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  34. look at all your running pals, Julie...wow!!! You are just the friendliest soul on this planet, I swear by that!! You got in some wicked miles this weekend, I'm sooo happy you got the mojo back and running well again!! You are getting so super speedy, girl! You'll be out there PRing everything in sight soon!!! Hugs, Julie. Oh, and I wish you could go to Boston, too...we NEED a cheerleader!!!!

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  35. Mojo always comes back.

    If you don't have bad runs, then you are
    1 - not running enough
    2 - not trying hard enough often enough

    Kind of like my comments for DNF. If you don't got one, you aint' racin' enough.

    Running should be a joy, not a job. When you get a chance, check out Stu Mittleman's "Slow Burn". While a lot of it is contrary to my approach right now, Stu's approach is incredibly refreshing. AND, he has some SERIOUS mojo to back it up.

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  36. you sure got in a lot of runs in one day! that's a lot of laundry/showers! :) love all the pics of your new runner friends.

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  37. Great long run - glad the mojo is back! You will know that St. Cloud course pretty well. :)

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  38. yay for the return of your mojo! Now if only mine would show up before 4/19.
    I did get your email, thx!

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  39. Way to go! Congrats on finding a posse...

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  40. 17 miles is tremendous, and having some great peeps to run with makes it even better! Well done!!

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  41. Thanks Sweet Friend for your support and cheers!!

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  42. Wow! What a huge group of runners. Very cool! Sounds like so much fun to be around so many people who love to run!

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  43. Your group looks so fun! But, I will admit, I got a bit of a chill seeing how much you guys were all dressed up! Burrrrrrrr.

    Gosh, you must have some pretty speedy runners in your group - a 3:11 PR!?!? Wowza.

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  44. Glad you got your mojo back! Great job on getting in all the miles!

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  45. Thanks for commenting on my blog!

    It looks like you have a nice group to run with. Great job on all those miles over the weekend!

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  46. Sounds like you had a smashing Easter. It must be wonderful to run with such a large group, drawing strength and inspiration from each other. I'd give anything at the moment to be able to run fourteen miles!
    Run far, run fast.

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