Julie's Running Blog

The Warrior Dash Race Report!

2011-07-25T20:44:00.058-05:00

Hi everyone! Sunday I experienced my first Warrior Dash race! Oh my goodness, we had an absolute blast! I made the trip with two of the coolest people....my co-workers Stefanie and Laura. Stefanie and I work side by side every day at the medical center's women's imaging department. We both work as mammo technologists and perform breast imaging procedures. We have so much in common including fitness. I am a runner and Stefanie is a fitness competitor. One day at work I got an e-mail from the people at the Warrior Dash asking for possible competitors for the famous race. I said, "Hey Stef let's do this!" She looked at me like I was a little crazy and said, "I don't know Julie....I will think about it." I then said, "Alright, you have until tomorrow sista! But...you know you are so doing this with me!" The next day we ended up registering together and signed up to be in the 4pm wave on Sunday. Our co-worker Laura came with us to be our cheerleader and photographer:) Thank you Laura! We love you! Laura and I have known each other for years. She is my mentor and I first met her when I was a mammo student at the University of Minnesota Breast Center. Laura is the best supervisor ever....she gives me days off when I need them for very important things! Laura also reads my blog and has been following it from day one! I sort of look at her like the older sister I never had:) We all met up in our work parking lot and drove almost an hour to the Afton Alps Ski Resort in Hastings. I parked my van in a huge corn field and walked up to catch the bus that would drive us to the start line.

I was all smiles and super excited! This is a picture of my personal photographer Laura:)

Stefanie and I on the bus. LOL, this was the best out of about 8 windy pictures....no such thing as perfect!

Many runners donated their race shoes after the race for a great charity....including Stefanie! We picked up our race packets, t-shirts and warrior horns! Yea! Warrior horns!

Pinning our race bibs on. Putting our timing chips on our shoes.

Two tough Chicas ready to rock and roll!

As I mentioned earlier, Laura reads my blog and knows I like to take random pictures of interesting people or things. Check out this guy!!

I love it! Dudes racing in dresses! Stefanie and I checking out the runners from an earlier wave making their way down to the finisher's corral.

Here are a few pictures of us hanging out waiting for our 4pm wave to start.

Stefanie, Laura and me:) Stefanie and I finally in line for the race.

We may or may not of been discussing our strategy for the race:) Ha ha! We just wanted to finish in one piece, not cuts, no blood, no puking or broken bones! Our goal was to finish under an hour and have fun! We got this one!

Right before the start.

Stefanie and I placed ourselves in the middle of the pack. We started off at an easy steady pace. Everything was going great for a few short minutes. Our first real obstacle was this big ass hill! Holy cow it was brutal! So many people ended up walking up all of it or some of it. We walked up about half of it. There were so many obstacles to make our way through, under or over but the hardest in my opinion was the crazy monster hills! You have to remember that the course was set on a ski resort. After making it up that big daddy of a hill we continued on with a slow jog....nice and easy. Before we knew it we had a few obstacles to tackle. I think the first one was the treacherous typhoon. WOW!!!! This one shocked the hell out of us! I knew it was coming but didn't expect it to be as fierce! The wall of water and gale force winds was absolutely stunning! As in...I can't breathe! I was smacked in the face with the strong and stinging water mixed with powerful winds! I kept on thinking, when and the hell am I going to make it all of the way through this one! Once we made it through I couldn't stop laughing! We looked like drowned rats and I was still so shocked....laughing only seemed natural:) We had several more super fun obstacles to take on. There was a scrap yard course, a few walls to climb & get over, and planks to make our way across. There was one or two of the climbing walls where I was holding on for dear life. I do not like heights and was a little scared but kept on moving. Stefanie and I made our way through most of the obstacles like rock stars and had a ton of fun. The race was well organized and there were tons of volunteers greeting us with smiles! The course continued and we made our way at an easy and steady pace. We ran through a sand pit and a few very muddy running paths. There were several up and down hills with rough road, tree roots and rocks to watch out for. Finally we made our way up the last hill and saw the petrifying plunge water slide! Yay! The joy of knowing we were almost done! We continued our way down the slide and ran up to the fire pits...two of them:) Piece of cake!

Me and Stefanie approaching the fire pits.

After the second fire pit we had to get on our stomachs and crawl through mud while working our way under barbed wire! Good Lord! It was so gross and smelly! I got so much mud under my shirt and in my sports bra....so gross! We got out of the mud pit and ran together over the finish line!!!

There you have it....Stefanie and Julie out of the pit but covered in mud!

We were both laughing and excited because we were done! We were also both thinking we have got to do this again next year!

Woo hoo! We are warriors! We did it! We finished our very first Warrior Dash! There was no cuts, blood, puking or broken bones! We came in well under an hour and had fun too...mission accomplished!

After the race and eating a banana we headed to the hoses to get some of the mud off of us. We must of spent at least 10 minutes getting hosed off. The water felt amazing and I am pretty sure the two guys hosing people off were enjoying their jobs:) There were tons of Chicas taking off their shirts and getting showered off wearing their sport bras. I may or may not of lifted my shirt up to get some of the yuck out of there:)

Here we are sort of clean.

Stefanie and I are still smiling!

All I can say is that it was so refreshing to do a non-serious race! The Warrior Dash was so much fun! I am so very glad that I did it and we are planning on doing it again next year for sure! Happy running, biking, swimming, lifting and surfing! Cheers to you all!

Next Race On The Books...The Warrior Dash!

2011-07-03T12:37:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone! A few days ago I took the plunge! I went online and registered for the Warrior Dash in Minnesota! I was a pain in the butt and finally talked my co-worker Stefanie into running it with me. She totally caved under the pressure! I am super excited for this one!

The Warrior Dash is described as America's most insane race with 11 obsticales from hell!

1) Petrifying Plunge...Slosh down a slippery slope!

2) Tunnels of terror...Burrow through the black tunnels!

3) Great Warrior Wall...Conquer the wooden barricade!

4) Cliff Hanger...Rappel down the steep ravine!

5) Hay Fever...Hustle up and over giant straw bales!

6) Junk Yard Jump...Stampede through the scrap yard!

7) Sand Trap...Trek through the mounds of sand!

8) Cargo Climb...Maneuver over the cargo nets!

9) Santan's Slope...Skid down the muddy slope!

10) Warrior Roast...Leap over the warrior fires!

11) Muddy Mayhem...Scramble beneath barbed wire as you near the finish!

Doesn't this sound pretty freaking fun? Yes, I do realize that this will be challenging as hell but I am up for it! Totally feeling like a tough chick now! I need to figure out how I can bring a camera with and not destroy it. Suggestions? Looking forward to catching up on everyone's blogs! I know I have been MIA for a few months now but my life is still crazy! Missing my blogger peeps and can't wait to see what you have all been up to:)

Happy running, biking, swimming, lifting and surfing! Cheers to you all!

Grandma's Half Race Report!

2011-06-22T21:17:00.032-05:00

Hi everyone! I am finally posting about this past weekend's Grandma's half marathon! Better late than never...right? I woke up at 3:15AM on Saturday morning because the transportation bus started at 4:45AM. Being the prompt and highly organized person that I am....figured that I would get there early. I ended up walking from my hotel to the bus station. I would estimate that it was less than a mile which normally wouldn't be that big of a deal but it was raining. I ended up getting wet before even getting on the bus. Yea, that sucked. On the bus ride I noticed that several runners were very prepared and had garbage bags for rain gear or...here is a theory...there were the runners who actually had running rain gear! I didn't get the memo on the chance of rain! Crap!

The bus ride to the start line seemed to go quicker than last year. I was kind of hoping it would take longer. I knew that there wouldn't be any protection from the rain and I had 90 minutes before the start. What to do? Oh, what to do? I'll tell you what I did, I went into the first biffy that I could find:) That first picture is a good shot of the very cool necklaces that I wore for the occasion. One of them is a runner girl that I got from my very dear co-worker Laura for a Chrismas gift. Love it! The second necklace is a charm that has the word believe on it. Last year at Grandma's I met Kara Goucher at the expo and she wrote, "Always believe Julie!" on my program! It has kind of been my running mantra ever since:) I took another picture of me in the biffy just to channel the Steve Stenzel in me! I texted my hubby and instructed him to bring warm and dry clothes for after the race. I also texted a few close friends letting them know about my rainy weather start situation.

After hanging out in the biffy for a few minutes I decided to trek out into the cold and rain. Brr! We all huddled together hoping to keep dry and warm. Unfortunately, that did not happen.

Eventually I walked to the start line. Check out how wet everyone is and look to the left of the picture...runners with rain gear:)

I placed myself behind the 2:00 pacer. I figured this was a safe for me. Last year I ran with the 1:50 pacer for the first 5 or 6 miles and was pretty much toast. I have not been running as many halfs this year and figured this would be the best place for me.

Here is a shot of all of the runners in front of me.

Here is a picture of all of the runners behind me.

Standing in line waiting for the race to start was pretty miserable. I was so cold and almost completely wet. So not fun. I kept on hoping that the race would just start already. Finally people started to move and the line shuffled ahead! The first miles were a little packed but after mile 3 things started to thin out a bit.

We had light rain during the first few miles but at least I was running so it wasn't so bad. I warmed up and felt alright. After mile 3 I left my pacer and moved ahead because I was feeling pretty good.

I stopped to take this shot of me with Lake Superior in the background. I did get several strange looks from people but did also hear someone say they thought taking a camera with was a great idea! After mile 5 I knew I would have to make a biffy stop because my stomach was cramping and I felt like crap. I wasted at least 3 to 4 minutes with this pit stop. I quickly got back on track and just ran a steady pace not really paying attention to my Garmin.

It was at mile 8 that I ran into this guy! I was running and minding my own business...day dreaming about my own little dangerous life and world! All of a sudden I heard someone say, "Julie!" It was Derek my Minneapolis blogger friend! We stopped for a photo opportunity! In other words, I forced Derek to stop and take a picture with me:) He was so nice and we had a great time running together! I have to tell you that I have met so many of my blogger friends and truly feel blessed because everyone has been so freaking awesome....including Derek!

We ran together and chatted about our lives, our training, my lack of training, Derek's amazing TRI that he did the week before and how I was going to make it through this race without puking! The run for me had it's ups and downs. I had a mile that was great and the next would feel like crap. I don't know what and the hell is going on with me. Derek was told several times to move ahead without me! I felt so bad because this man can run a 1:30 half and I was busting butt to try to finish under 2. He told me that he was taking it easy because of the TRI he did the week before but I still felt guilty.We ran side by side...sometimes we chatted and sometimes there was silence. He chatted with me and instructed me to keep a good form when things got tough. He reminded me to keep breathing and to stay relaxed. We kicked butt up Lemon Drop Hill! This is one time when I was actually looking at my Garmin...8:15 to 8:20! For me this is speedy considering we had a challenging hill! Derek kept me on track. I really don't know if I would of taken that hill so well without his help. When we hit mile 11 I knew tht I would need to make another pit stop. We ran and once we hit mile 12 I spotted an open biffy. I told Derek to move on and I would be fine. I ran into the biffy and this time maybe only wasted a minute. I ran out and headed down the road to flipping see Derek waiting for me! Really!!! We continued on and had about a mile left. We hit a bridge with a slight hill and I felt like crap! I felt like I wanted to walk to stop from puking. Derek just told me to keep it up...keep running...breathe easy. Piece of cake is what he said:) We ran down the road that leads to the turn by the big William Irving ship and I felt so nauseous! I said, "Umm, Derek I got to stop, I feel like I am going to puke." Derek stopped and walked about 20 to 30 seconds with me. We started running again and I saw the bridge that my college boy was on. My son came to Duluth to watch his mama run! I was so excited that he came and loved that he wanted to cheer me on! Eventually Derek and I ran down the home stretch. There was a really cool song playing and it was so perfect for an end of a race! Too bad I can't tell you what it was:) I can't remember....runner's memory loss! Derek, do you remember what song was playing when we came up to the finish line? Update...song was called Ain't No Mountain High Enough by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell! Such an awesome song to listen to during the last stretch of a race! Derek and I finished the race and the clock said 2:02 something. I was crushed! I really wanted to make it under 2! I know that the time was gun time but I had no idea how long it took to get to the start mats. Derek and I picked up our medals, t-shirts and then ate some post race food. I was so tired and so damn hungry! This is a new development for me...usually I can never eat after a race. I had no problem eating after this one:) Derek was great and I appreciate the fact that he put up with me for miles 8 through 13.1 of this half marathon! Derek, you are the only reason I finished with the time that I did!

After finishing my race I ran into Carly! Carly is another Minnesota blogger who actually volunteered. Carly is also very sweet! It was fun to chat with her for a few minutes:)

Me and college boy after the race. I am still freezing my butt off but he made sure I stayed warm:) Such a good son!

Another picture of me and my college boy! I love this kid so much!

LOL! This is another random picture of me that college boy snapped. You can see how windy it was that day! Check out the waves in the background!

I really like the medal a lot and the t-shirt is one of the best that I have received so far! This half marathon was challenging for sure but it was a good race. It was fun and memorable for so many reasons! Duluth did not disappoint and I am happy with how I did considering all of my circumstances:)Final time 1:59:41!Yay! Under 2 hours baby!!! I didn't know what my gun time was but it was enough to get me under 2! Thank you to Derek for being my runnersitter!

Happy running, biking, swimming, lifting and surfing! Cheers to you all!

Duluth Here I Come! Grandma's Half Marathon Is Waiting!

2011-06-17T13:25:00.002-05:00

Currently packing my bags and getting ready to leave for Duluth. Tomorrow morning at 6:30 AM I am running in Grandma's half marathon! Looking forward to getting out of the burbs and heading up north. Good news! College boy is coming with! He decided he wanted to come and watch me run!!! I am so excited and super happy:) This weekend should be fun! Many of my St. Cloud River Runner peeps will be there as well as some of my blogger friends. Do I have any goals for tomorrow's race? Absolutely not! Well, I guess I want to cross the finish line. I am still not training as much as I should but will be happy to finish and just be out running:) I will be taking tons of pictures and have a great race report when I return. Looking forward to catching up on my blogs and seeing what everyone has been up to.

Happy running, biking, swimming, lifting and surfing! Cheers to you all!

The Old Glory Run 5K Race Report!

2011-05-22T19:33:00.014-05:00

On Saturday morning I drove to Cold Spring, Minnesota to run in my second 5K of the season. The city of Cold Spring is where I graduated from high school so it holds a special place in my heart. I registered to run in a wonderful race called the Old Glory Run. It is a race where all of the proceedes go the help local veterans who served to protect our country. It is a great cause and I was happy to run.

If you look at this picture above you can see it was raining. The weather was not the best but it did not hinder the outcome of runners and support for this great cause. I was standing under the coffee tent when I took this picture. It was all good because I was able to people watch and chit chat with other runners wanting coffee:)

After a few minutes of waiting under the tent I noticed my very good friend Jean! Jean and I ran track together in high school. We actually ran on several of the same relay teams. It was so nice to see her and catch up. I love this picture!

The race started at 11 AM and a few minutes before we all headed to the start line. This picture shows my view of the people behind me. When I was waiting in line I noticed several of my St. Cloud River Runner peeps who were also running. This run was my first 5K ever two years ago. I remember how nervous I was not knowing how it would go or how I would do. That first 5K was a tough one. It was challenging for sure....big time sucking air and heart rate explosions....not good:) It was kind of weird because I was not nervous for this run and that never happens. I felt calm and at peace with myself. In a few minutes we were off and the race started. I was just running on how I felt. I didn't feel like I started off too fast. My breathing and heart rate felt fine. There were several huge puddles to dodge along the route. After getting my feet wet going through the second huge puddle I just didn't care anymore. Oh what the hell! LOL! My feet were totally soaked:) Oh well, it was just a quick 5K and I would live. Mile one went by and my Garmin read 7:20 and all was good. The course went through the city of Cold Spring. There were a few little hills and several turns. Mile two went by and I didn't look at my garmin. I just kept running trying to keep a steady pace. In my mind I didn't think that I was running any faster than last week. Actually I was expecting around the same time or slower than last week because of the rain and puddles. Along the race route I heard a few people yell, "Go Julie!" I found this interesting...out of all of the people running who and the hell is going to recognize me? Thanks for the cheers Sue and Brian!! I continued on the last mile remembering that the home stretch is a long street leading down to the baseball field finish. I looked at the road I was running on and knew I only had a little more to go before this last stretch. I was feeling okay and picked it up a bit. I took the left hand turn that led me down to the finish. I ran the same pace that last stretch and could see the finish. Eventually I could see the clock....holy cow....23:25 and a little left to go! I picked it up and finally crossed the finish. I am pretty sure I was smiling:)

After catching my breath and grabbing a water I bumped into a few of my running group peeps. From left to right we have Lyndon, Dave, me and Curt.

A little later I ran into one of my very best friends from high school. Clare ran her first 5K and did awesome! She walked part of it and still had a great time. I was able to chat with a few more people that I graduated with before checking for my results. I walked over to the results board and was shocked to see that my final time was 23:31 and it was enough to give me third place for my age group again!!

After the awards cremony I got one more picture of Curt and his son Kyle. They both also had age group wins. It was a good day and a little rain never hurts:) It gives us character and makes us stronger. I will take a little rain over hot and humid any day!

My final stats are.....final time 23:31

I placed 85 out of 1017.

I placed 16 out of 660 women.

I placed 3 out of 114 for my age group.
Happy running, biking, swimming, lifting and surfing! Cheers to you all!

Another Local 5K Race Report.

2011-05-14T20:55:00.012-05:00

This morning I ran in the Maple Grove 5K. Damn, it was a chilly morning once again. When the heck is Minnesota going to see spring? The weather we have been having is just crazy...this morning it was 43 degrees when I pulled into the school parking lot. I stayed in my van as long as possible because I was wearing shorts. Brrr!!!
There was also a half marathon going on this morning and it was scheduled to start fifteen minutes before the 5K. I stood in the Football stands and watched the start. There were just over 700 runners making there way around the high school track.

Eventually the 5K runners made our way to the start line. There were 317 of us total. I lined up closer to the front than I do with the bigger races. I noticed a woman checking her running watch and I realized that I had not started mine! Crap!! I started my Garmin hoping that I would be able to pick up a satellite ASAP! I started casual conversation with that woman. We chatted for a few minutes. She told me that today was her first 5K of the season. I asked her what type of pace she was looking to run and she told me a seven minute mile. I laughed and told her I would be watching her back for most of the race:) This nice woman ended up winning the race for the females! The race official started the race and we were off. The first mile went by just fine. I was feeling okay but not fabulous. I didn't really have any time goals other than to finish under 25 minutes. Last year when I ran this my time was 23:50 and I took home second place for my age group. At the mile marker I looked down at my Garmin and it showed that my time was 7:47. Last year I did the first mile just under seven minutes. The course is one of my favorite 5K courses because it is very flat and fast. I continued to run and before I knew it I came up to the mile two marker. I never looked at my Garmin after that first time. I just wanted to run it on how I felt. It was okay. I know I wasn't busting butt and cheek but I was keeping a steady pace. The last mile was pretty tough. I am so used to running a half marathon pace that this 5K business was a little tough for this under trained runner. Note to self....must train more...must do speed drills! Run fast to be fast:) The final stretch of the race was to finish around the high school track. Last year I was feeling great and kicked it at the end. I had flash backs to my wonderful track days:) This year I was just fine keeping my steady pace and didn't feel the need to make myself puke. Not puking is always good:)

Final stats...

Final time...24:51.

I finished 28 out of 317 total.

I finished 10 out of 231 women.

I finished 3 out of 39 for my age group.
This was not my fasted and not my slowest. I finished around where I thought I would...no surprises today.

It was so cold out there that as soon as the award ceremony was over I left ASAP. My hubby took pictures of me at home.

Next week I am running another 5K called the Old Glory Run. Hoping to do a little better...must do speed drills:)

Happy running, biking, swimming, lifting and surfing! Cheers to you all!

The Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon Race Report.

2011-05-02T10:04:00.023-05:00

Well, I finished my first race of the season! Yesterday morning I got up at 5:30 to get ready for the Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon. I was planning on wearing my purple running singlet, black Nike running shorts and a light jacket. I quick ran upstairs and grabbed my Nike running pants....just in case. That was the best decision I have ever made! I drove to the Wayzata Bay Center and parked my van. There were other runners still picking up their race packets. I noticed that everyone was dressed like they were running in the freaking winter. People had running pants, jackets, hats and gloves. I started to get nervous because I knew I would be underdressed and freazing my butt off for thirteen miles! God, I should of known better! I do live in Minnesota. I picked up my running pants and decided to put them on in one of the restrooms in the mall. I ran into my blogger friend Tim who was also running. He was dressed in layers and prepared for cold weather running. I spoke with him for a few minutes and quickly put on my running pants. I went back into my van and searched for a sweatshirt or something....no luck! I needed to have at least one more layer on the top for me to be safe. Not going to happen! I did however, find a pair of running gloves in my trunk and my jacket had a hood. It was thirty something and the wind gusts were between 20 to 30 miles an hour. It was going to be ugly.

I have not run anything over six miles since November. My last half marathon was the Monster Dash. I took the winter off from running and have only recently been running two times a week. One of my runs is three to four miles and the other is just six. I was not trained for this and had no business running a half as my first run of the season. I figured I would finish somewhere between 2:15 to 2:20. Last year I ran this and finished in 1:54. I decided to put myself between the 2:05 and 2:10 pacers and wing it.

I started off really slow. It was cold and windy and at times there were snowflakes dancing around. Unbelievable! Shocker.... it is May! Last year it was so beautiful and the weather was perfect for running.

The first water stop was at around mile three and I felt okay. I walked through it and started up slowly again. The runners were all pretty quiet and it seemed like we were all in our own little worlds.

This was the last picture that I took during the race. My camera died on me....go figure. I have not used my blogging camera for some time and I forgot to check the battery before leaving. Bummer! The course was pretty and made it's way around the lovely Lake Minnetonka. It was hard to appreciate it because of the crappy weather. Miles four, five and six went by and I was feeling fine. I picked up my pace a little and wondered when I would start feeling it. You know, sucking air and muscle spasms:) It really never happened. Since I was not racing this one I really had time to think about everything. It was my time. I listened to my feet hitting the pavement, the other runners making their way and the wind blowing. I thought about my family, my friends, and life in general. It was during this race that I remembered why I run. I run because it makes me happy. Here I am this forty-one year old "okay" runner. I am not an elite runner and I do not get age group wins at every race that I run. I run because it is part of me and I love it! Yes, there are moments that are tough and times when I wonder why I put my body through it. There is something about the feeling I get when my feet move to my own groove and my body goes with it! Harmony...that is what it is. It is the feeling I get when I finally make my way across that finish line! It is joy and feeling of accomplishment! I have not felt that joy in such a long time. I continued on and made my way mile after mile. It was at mile 12 where my body started to get tired. I was running the gravel path that was the start of the last mile. This is the path where I left my pacers last year and picked up my pace to PR. I was not feeling that spunk and energy. I was tired and really just wanted to be done. I honestly started to think about walking. Whenever I think of walking, I always think of my running dad (Denny). Denny gave me some advice after my first marathon. He told me that I need to keep moving and push through the pain, negative thoughts and challenging moments. I heard Denny's voice say, "Come on Julie, let's go!" I imagined that he was running in front of me and that I was attempting to keep up with him. I did not stop to walk during that last mile....I kept moving. Keep in mind, I was not sprinting in...I am sure I looked pretty pathetic and my running form sucked! The point is that I didn't stop. I made my way up to the finisher's shoot and crossed that finish line! As I was making my way up to the finish I saw my blogger friend Beth's husband Mike. He yelled, "Go Julie!" I didn't get a chance to talk to Mike or Beth after the race...next year guys:) Half marathon number one....done! Final time 2:01:13! I will take it! In two weeks I have the Maple Grove 5K. I think I am more terrified for that one than I was for the Lake Minnetonka Half. I am not ready to be busting butt in a 5K!!!

Happy running, biking, swimming, lifting and surfing! Cheers to you all!

I Am Back! Running A Half Marathon Tomorrow!

2011-04-30T13:49:00.006-05:00

Hi Everyone! I have missed you all and it is good to be back! I am sure that all of you are wondering what and the hell happened to me. Well, sometimes life just happens. We all have times where we need to take something and set it on the back burner. I have not been running a ton but signed up for a half marathon several months ago. I am running in the Lake Minnetonka half marathon in the morning. I ran this race last year and it was the half marathon of my personal best PR. I loved this race and it will always hold a dear spot close to my heart. I actually have no business running this since I have not run anything over six miles lately! Ha ha, I must love pain or be really stupid:) My plan is to run it slow and treat it as a training run. Hey, if I am jogging I will get better pictures....right! So tomorrow I am lacing up my beloved Asics and trekking into the world of running adventure and possibly painful moments:) Keep your fingers crossed that I have nice weather and finish in one piece!!!

Happy running, biking, swimming, lifting and surfing!! Cheers to you all!

Big Time Runner's Funk! God, It Sucks!

2011-03-02T07:50:00.006-06:00

Hi everyone! Yes, I know that I have been MIA for over a month. I have been going through the biggest running funk that I have ever experienced in my life. I ran the Polar Dash on January first and then attempted to start training for the Lake Wobegon Trail Marathon. This marathon is scheduled in early May. Life at my house has been pretty nuts with my hubby working insane hours and my two younger kids busy with sports activities. I am transporting them places every single night of the week. There are nights where I get home at 9 PM. Sometimes when I think about how cranky I have been...the big "B" word comes to mind. I hate feeling that way! I know that if I really wanted to make running a priority that I would find a way to make it work. My options would be getting up at 3:30 Am or staying up super late to do mill runs. Neither one of these seems appealing to me:) Crap! No one said that life would be perfect all of the time....damn, I am due for some of that perfection any day now:)

I have been getting e-mails over the past few months about Grandma's Half Marathon. I wasn't sure if I wanted to run it again this year. This past Friday I got the last reminder e-mail saying that it was the last day to register for the lottery. I figured it was worth a try but didn't expect to get in again this year. Monday morning when I went to work and checked my e-mails I saw that it was confirmed. I was picked to run Grandma's half!! Maybe this is a sign to get off of my butt and start training for real! The good news is that the days are getting longer and we are finally in freaking March! Yes, it is the little things in life....like March in Minnesota!

My next race is in a few weeks. I am running the Get Lucky! 7 K just like I did last year. It is one of the races in the Team Ortho series that I really love! It was one of my top three out of the twenty something races that I ran last year:)

I am looking forward to getting back into blogging! I will be searching for motivation to help me to get back into the swing of things:) Help!

Happy running, biking, swimming, lifting and surfing! Cheers to you all!

Yes, I Am Still Alive!

2011-01-26T08:15:00.003-06:00

Hi everyone! It has been twenty-five days since my last post....Holy cow! This is the longest amount of time that I have let sneak by without posting. I miss you all and feel so out of the loop not knowing what is going on with your running. I have been so crazy busy with work and family stuff that it has been nearly impossible to post or to comment. I am running my kids to their sport activities every night and usually do not get home until 8:30 to 9 PM. My daughter has b-ball practice and games to attend and my little guy is doing swimming & skating lessons. I am exhausted when I get home...this is before I can even get a run in:)

I have officially started my spring marathon training. I am currently in week two of my plan and things are going slow and painful. Damn, I wish I could say that I feel great and my running is awesome. Not so much! I am only running three times a week and two of those runs have been on the mill. Anyone who has been reading my blog for some time knows that I absolutely hate the mill!!! God, give me outside running any day....well, maybe not in the frigid below zero temps that we had last week here in Minnesota. I have to draw the line somewhere and that is way too cold for this girl!

I have to start running more and getting back into the groove. I know that it will come but it just takes a little time to get lost fitness back. I am kicking myself in the butt every day for taking such a long running break....never again! Today I am scheduled to run six miles and I will do this outside. Keeping my fingers crossed for a run that feels amazing!:) Wish me luck:)

Happy running, biking, swimming, lifting and surfing! Cheers to you all!

The Team Ortho Polar Dash 5K Race Report!

2011-01-01T18:45:00.019-06:00

God, there is nothing like getting up on a New Years day in the freaking cold and running a race! This morning I ran in the Team Ortho Polar Dash 5K. I thought that I had signed up to run the 10K. When I opened up my race packet and pulled out my bib it had a 5K printed on it:) All I am going to say is....blessing in disguise!!!! Your blogger friend Julie is so out of shape! Good Lord, remind me never to take a full month off of running...ever again:) I mean it!

Mr. Julie was kind enough to drop me off and as soon as I got there I headed to the warming tents. It was packed and I had to wait a few minutes before I actually made it inside! Holy cow, it was so cold! My toes felt like they were going to fall off! Brr!

When there was about five minutes to the start many of us started walking to the start line.

This is where I decided to start. The pacers were actually for the 10K runners but I would be able to run with this guy for at least a mile and a half or so. I am so out of shape and have not run one single mile in over a month! I knew it was going to be ugly....it was:)

I ran into Mike who is my blogger buddy Beth's hubby:) They are heading off to Florida to run in the Goofy races next weekend. Mike is a super fast runner who was taking it easy because of running next week. Beth, I am so sorry that I missed you! Hope to see you soon:)

I stayed with my pacer for most of the first half of my race. I was okay in the beginning but the farther I ran the more terrible I felt! So many random thoughts bounced through my head. Why and the hell did you not run once during this last month? Are you stupid? Surely you knew this would really suck! God this sucks! Who's idea was it to drink three glasses of champagne last night? Umm, your's...remember...you thought that since the race was at 11AM you would have nothing to worry about. Whatever!

Damn, where is the turn around? It is a good thing I didn't run in the 10K:) This sucks bad enough! Do you remember when six miles seemed like nothing? Hell, do you remember when 3.1 miles seemed like nothing? Are you stupid? Man, I should of put myself with the nine minute pacer. Just suck it up and run!

Thank God! Turn around and mostly down hill:) Slow and easy pace...no sprinting involved today. Just keep moving...one foot in front of the other. Oh crap, a woman is passing me! It is okay...she is way younger, fitter, faster and looks like a freaking rock star! Next year no drinking!!! Next year there will be no freaking month long running break!

I survived! It was an ugly race but I am glad I ran! Yes, I know I look like crap...I felt like it too! I think tomorrow I am going to run six miles...slower pace:)

Walking back to my car with hot chocolate. It is the little things in life that make running a 5K in Minnesota during the month of January worth it:)
Here are my official race stats....

Final time 25:54, 8:20 per mile.

I placed 81 out of 972 total runners.

I placed 18 out of 614 female runners.

I placed 4 out of 92 in my age group.

Happy running, biking, swimming, lifting and surfing! Cheers to you all!

Wishing you and your families a wonderful New Year:)

Happy New Year! Yes, I am still here!

2010-12-29T19:26:00.005-06:00

Greetings fellow bloggers! I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday. My Christmas holiday was fantastic! As much as I enjoyed Christmas, I am honestly looking forward to my life getting back to normal. The last few weeks have been nuts! I have been a huge slacker and a very bad blogger. Both running and blogging have been put on the back burner due to the busy holiday season. The good news is that is going to change starting January 1st:)

I did receive my secret Santa gift in the mail a few weeks ago! Thank you Adam!! Adam sent me the movie, Spirit Of The Marathon. I love my gift and have watched it twice! Thank you to Jill for setting up the blogger gift exchange....it was an awesome idea and a wonderful way to share some blogger love:)

Good news! I have a race on January 1st called the Polar Dash. It is in the Team Ortho series of races and I ran this one last year. It was cold but fun:) Beth, I hope to see you there! Hopefully we will not get another snow storm like they are predicting...like we need more snow:)

I have one more bit of news to share! I am pretty excited....I have decided to run a spring marathon! I am going to do the Lake Wobegon Trail Marathon in May! One thing that I should mention is that Wobegon is not a true trail race. It is a ten foot wide asphalt bike trail. The course is flat and fast. Last year I was a volunteer for this marathon and know that several of the runners came from out of state hoping to BQ. Training will start in January. I have taken almost a month off from running and know that I have lost fitness. I am so not looking forward to those first few weeks of training! Can we say sore muscles and massive sucking air attacks!?! God, I can't wait:) I would really love to run this next marathon in four hours or less. I need to shave nine minutes off of my Twin Cities marathon time. Hopefully with proper training and a few more longer runs I will be able to pull it off. Wobegon is a smaller marathon and there will not be pacers. I am so fortunate to have found a personal pacer:) Thank you Mark! Mark is a St. Cloud River runner who has qualified for Boston and is using Wobegon as a longer training run for another marathon. My four hour goal will seem like a walk in the park for him:)

My next post will be the Polar Dash race report! Yay! It has been so long since I have posted a race report. I promise to take tons of pictures....keep your fingers crossed that Minnesota will not be blasted with another winter snow storm! I want to run:)

Happy running, biking, swimming, lifting and surfing! Cheers to you all! May you all have a fantastic New Year!

I Am Back With A Tag! A Reason To Post!

2010-12-12T19:48:00.005-06:00

Greetings everyone! I am finally sitting down to post after a week of blogging vacation. Last week was nuts, I was left with limited computer time. This weekend the Minnesota metro area was pounded with 20 inches of snow! Holy cow! I was supposed to run in a 5K yesterday morning....never happened:) My hubby had to snowblow our driveway three times! Good news, I was able to get the heck out of my culdesac and go shopping today:) I did some serious damage...I have yet to tell Mr. Julie how much money I spent!

I was recently tagged by Misszippy to answer a few questions about running. I was pretty excited because now I have something to blog about!

1) Do you prefer winter or summer running? This is a tough one to answer. I enjoy running in the cooler temperatures but winter running in Minnesota is challenging because of the layering of running clothes. The snow and ice makes me go slower than normal...not falling on my ass is always good. Summer running is nice because I can go out with shorts, a running shirt and shoes. I do hate running in the heat and humidity....I really hate it! Yuck! However, running in the heat and humidity is good for conditioning and helps for when it is the perfect temperature. It makes me feel like I am kicking it:) Did I answer the question? Yea, I am not sure about that one.

2) What has been your toughest race to date? Hands down, the Gopher to Badger Half Marathon. It was so freaking hot and humid that day! I felt like total crap and wondered if I would ever finish. I did finish it with a time of 2:02:45...not too bad considering the crazy weather elements. Running this race and living through it made me realize that I could run a marathon and finish with a respectable time.

3) What are your running goals for 2011? I would like to run a sub 4 marathon. It would be great to PR in a few of the other distances too. I have raced in 21 races this year. I think that next year I will cut the number of my races down and train more. I hope to do more running with my running group....they will keep me honest and working hard:)

4) Do you have any other passions in life? I love to travel, learning about history and other cultures. I also love to meet people:) I consider myself a friendly and outgoing person. I love and enjoy stimulating conversation with just about anyone.

5) If you could live anywhere, where would it be? Oh, this is an easy one, I would love to live in California wine country or somewhere in Montana. I have been to wine country several times and always have a fabulous time. The weather is so nice and perfect for running. Montana is also so gorgeous and peaceful. We took a family vacation there a few years ago and had a blast...great memories! Internationally, I would love to live in Italy. I have always had a thing with Italy. When I was a little girl I would go to the library and spend hours looking at pictures of the beautiful places and sites to see. Currently, I love watching movies that are set in Italy:)

If there is anyone who would like to be tagged and do this too...knock yourself out! You are all tagged:)

Happy running, biking, swimming, lifting and surfing! Cheers to you all!

P And Stefano's Virtual Race Reports!

2010-11-29T22:02:00.026-06:00

Hi everyone! I ran finally ran my two virtual races yesterday afternoon!! So I went out and had a little running action in Maple Grove:)

I ran in Stefano's Black Knight Army 10 K and P's not your average adventure virtual run.

Let's face it, I am a bit of a slacker lately. I ran both of them back to back:)

Stefano's race clothing consisted of black Nike running pants and a black running jacket. I also ran in a black hat and black gloves...it is getting colder in Minnesota:)

I decided to go on the Rice Lake trails and head around the lake. First off I ran out of my neighborhood and across Weaver Lake Road.

I ran down Weaver Lake Road and turned onto the running trails that were still snow covered. It was 37 degrees and the trails were slushy in some spots....icy in others.

I ran almost two miles before heading up this hill. At the top of this hill I ran into a fellow Maple Grove runner who I met once before on a different run around this same lake. Joe and I met at the end of May...we both were running on these very trails and ended up chatting and running together. He spotted me and asked if I wanted to join him on a run. I agreed and we were off:)

Joe ran the Minneapolis Marathon the same day that I did the half. He ended up getting hurt and is still in recovery mode. We ran steady and slow....easy enough to hold a conversation without sucking air:)

We stopped at the half way point and I snapped a picture. Stefano, notice that Joe is wearing black too!

I snapped this picture of the sunset over Rice Lake. Beautiful and peaceful:)

We ran around the lake and enjoyed stimulating conversation....all about running. The time went by so fast that before we knew it we had to part ways. Joe turned up the path to take him home and I continued on my way around the last part of the lake.

When I reached my 10 K distance I ran for one more mile. I decided to run a mile for P's not your average adventure. I wish that I could say that I had all of this saved energy and that I was able to bust out a seven minute mile. Not so much....I did muster enough gusto to run a 8:30 last mile:) My theme for P's adventure was a party mile on the pavement! Yes, it was snowy and slushy but a party all the same! P's birthday was weeks ago...better late than never! Happy Birthday P!!

Once I got to my door step I checked out my Garmin for 10 K stats. I ran Stefano's Black Knight Army 10 K in 57 minutes. Not my fastest 10 K but memorable for sure:) I, Lady Julie enjoyed Stefano's 10 K without ever sucking air!! Yay! I have only ran in two 10 K races and both of them were high on the sucking air scale:) Lady Julie ran easy, steady, smooth and I didn't fall on my ass...success!!!

Happy running, biking, swimming, lifting and surfing! Cheers to you all!

The Anoka Jingle Bell Run 5K Race Report!

2010-11-27T21:48:00.006-06:00

Hi everyone! I am back from a little blogging break. Thank you to everyone who left me kind comments on my last post. I appreciate it more than you know. Life has been so incredibly busy between work, kid's activities and everything else. I have not been running much because of the lack of time. I also think that I needed a little break to recharge and refresh. This morning I drove into Anoka to run in the Jingle Bell 5K. I ran this race last year and was able to pull a 2nd place age group win:) I knew that today would be challenging because of my lack of training and the colder temperatures.

This picture was taken in the field house where my bib and t-shirt pickup was. I was bib number 277!! Lucky girl, my favorite number is seven:) I attempted to take more pictures but my camera's battery died....nice ! Once I got home, I put a new battery in. I noticed that my almost five year old got a hold of my camera. There were several pictures of our computer.....he was watching Spiderman on Netflix:) There was also about 20 pictures of himself....no wonder the battery died!

The race started at 10 AM and it was about 15 degrees. I knew that I would warm up once I actually started running. There were a little over 300 runners and I positioned myself in the middle of the pack. Once we were off it took a few minutes to get positioned where I wanted to be. The course is a pretty one that runs along a river. We ran on dirt-snow packed and paved trails. There was snow on the ground and a few areas with icy patches. I felt alright running with a first mile time of 7:16. I was a little surprised because I felt like I was moving much slower than that. There were several rolling hills that I remembered well from last year:) Mile two was a little slower than the first because I was feeling kind of crappy. This is what I get for not running much over the past three weeks! Yuck, I felt a little like puking..and slowed down more. The good news is that only four people past me...all men:) The last half mile was the hardest and I felt like I was moving at snails pace. I saw the clock and it said 24:50 something. I stopped my Garmin and it read 24:40. I went online to check my stats and there were none for me! WTH! I am not sure what happened but it looks like I never ran! Bummer! The race was not chip timed and the volunteers had us tear off the bottom part of our bibs. I looked at the stats and noticed that according to the clock and my Garmin I took 2nd place for my age group:) It is a good thing that they did not give out medals or I would of been disappointed. Oh well, there are bigger tragedies in life.

Tomorrow I am running two virtual races. I am running P's birthday virtual run and Sefano's Black Knight Army 10K! Hopefully I will have those race reports posted soon:)

Happy running, biking, swimming, lifting and surfing! Cheers to you all!

Tomorrow I will catch up on reading blogs and commenting:)

Quick Post......

2010-11-18T06:44:00.003-06:00

Hi everyone! I know that I have not posted in a few days. I have not been able to keep up with my favorite blogs or have been commenting. I am sorry. Sadly, we had a sudden death in the family. Family life has been crazy and I have been getting home late every night this week. I will be posting tomorrow.

Happy running, biking, swimming, lifting and surfing! Cheers to you all!

We Finally Got The White Stuff!!

2010-11-13T10:11:00.012-06:00

I woke up this morning and looked out my window....this was my view. We are supposed to get a total of 4 to 8 inches! It is still snowing. Kay and I shoveled the driveway because Mr. Julie is out of town. Sadly, I do not have a clue how to start the snowblower! Damn!

Here are a few more pictures. It looks like I will have to take out all of my winter running gear again.

Today Kay and I were planning on going to the mall to do some shopping:) Hopefully the roads will be clear...otherwise we are stuck in the house. I promise that I will get caught up on blogging sometime today:)

Happy running, biking, swimming, lifting and surfing! Cheers to you all!

Running Group Lost In Big Lake!

2010-11-10T18:02:00.035-06:00

Okay, so I didn't get around to posting last night:( Sorry, better late than never. So here goes....the story about a bunch of running group girls getting lost in Big Lake! Yes Jamoosh, Big Lake is an actual lake but it is also a town. We were not lost in the big body of water....we were lost in the town. By the way, your comment cracked me up:)

Saturday morning I drove about 30 minutes to the town of Big Lake, Minnesota. Valerie is one of my St. Cloud River Runner peeps (Isn't she adorable?) and she was kind enough to host this past Saturday's breakfast run. I made it to her house at about 7:35 AM and planned on getting in on the 8 O'clock run. When I walked into her house she was talking to Paul and Gary who were not running but showed up to chat and get in on the group picture. They were going to go to the state cross country meet to watch my running dad's (Denny's)grandsons run in the state meet. Apparently distance running runs in the family. Denny's grandsons are talented athletes who have had an impressive running season. Val is pictured above...she is taking time off from running due to a femur stress fracture. She ran an amazing Twin Cities marathon in 3:17....super fast PR!! Go Val!

This is Pat our official photographer:)

This is Al...another group runner.

A few of the gang before our run.

Linda and Denise:)

Me and Deb:)

After taking our group picture we headed off into Val's hood. Val lives basically across from Big Lake in a gorgeous area of the town Big Lake. There were so many charming houses and pretty scenery. We ran for about two miles before breaking into running groups. A few of the runners took a different route due to the miles that were needed for training. Many members of my running group are doing the Outer Banks marathon this weekend and are in taper mode. I was thinking about running an easy four miles. The group was going on a six mile run and I figured two extra miles wasn't going to kill me. When we hit the lake we broke away from a few of the other runners and hit the trail system. Val gave us a little map so all was good:) The trail system was really nice. We ran through areas with houses, ponds, woods and even old farmland.

This is Cindy, both Cindy and her husband Donnie share the job of presidency for the running club. Cindy is an amazing runner who has super speedy times! I dream of times like hers:) The trail system was full of little trails. There were plenty of opportunities to get on the wrong trail. Somewhere along the line we got messed up! We ran, ran and ran but didn't end up where we were supposed to:) Where and the heck are we? We took out the map and didn't have a clue! The map had several bodies of water....one of them was Big Lake and we were not anywhere close to that. We ran past an old farm and figured something was not right. After running past the old farm we ran up to a highway that was not on the map. Oh crap! Hmm? What way do we go? I am so directionally challenged and have been lost before on a trail run:) Different story for a different day. Let's just say that my daughter Kay was just a little pissed at me for getting us lost and turning our little three miler into a seven miler! So back to this being lost thing.....we decided to run down that highway and then take a right . Surely that road would take us back to Val's.

This is where we ended up. Hmm, is this on the map? Do you see this road listed on the map...anywhere? Umm....no. Crap! I took this picture of Cathy, Linda, Aneta and Deb:)

Here is another picture of the girls comparing both maps. Deb, Cindy, Cathy, Aneta and Linda:)

We stayed on the road that took us into the new development that was shown on that billboard. Look what we found...how cute is this? Cindy and Linda got into the car and took a moment for a photo opportunity:)

Looking good ladies! We contiunued on and ran for a ways and knew that we would have to turn soon. We did see the water tower and got pretty excited! Just follow the water tower. After running a little longer we lost the water tower!?! What the heck! Where did it go? Aneta wanted to turn left and Cindy wanted to turn right. We turned right and ran a little more before deciding to turn into another little neighborhood. I heard someone say, "I didn't know we were going to run a marathon today!" God, I hope not:) Eventually we ran into a nice man walking his dogs and asked for help. He looked at the map and scratched his head. He turned the map several times looking for something that looked familiar to him. Finally he said, "All you have to do is go straight ahead and hook back onto the trail system and that will take you back to Big Lake." Yay!! We were all pretty excited! We got back on the trail system and were back on track! Cathy noticed some interesting art (X-rated) that was painted on the trails and remembered it from before:) We finally made it to Big Lake (actual lake) and ran on the sidewalk next to the lake for a few miles. It was so pretty but very windy.

Once we saw this I knew that Val's house was just around the lake and to the left! Oh happy day....we made it! After making it back to Val's we enjoyed a nice breakfast:) I showed Val the pictures of our run. She looked at them and said, "Where and the heck were you? " Umm...lost somewhere in Big Lake but so glad to be back! My Garmin showed that we ran just under nine miles. We ran an extra three miles for the morning...not so bad...it could of been worse.

This is a picture of Amy, she ran with the other group....the group that didn't get lost:)

Aneta:)

Deb and me:) I had a wonderful time with my running group...getting lost was a little adventure! I am so glad that I joined this running group because they are all awesome people, great athletes and wonderful friends. There is always good times, stimulating conversation and plenty of laughs on every breakfast run:) Good luck to everyone running this weekend!! Run fast and have fun! I can't wait to hear all about it:)

Happy running, biking, swimming, lifting and surfing! Cheers to you all!

Stacey is hosting a SIGVARIS Recovery Socks giveaway!

Historiadora on the Run is hosting a $60 CSN giftcard giveaway!

Marcia is hosting a SIGVARIS Recovery Socks giveaway!

Julie the Hotlegs Runner is hosting a Bondi Band giveaway!

Thank You Stefano and Giorgio!!!!

2010-11-09T06:33:00.019-06:00

Hi everyone! Wow, it has been over a week since my last blog post! I have been crazy busy with life in general. My kids activities keep me going and Kay's homework keeps her on the computer late. Unfortunately, blogging has been put on the back burner again. I try to get a few minutes of blogging in the morning and then again when I get home from work:) Last week I made a trip to the post office to pick up a package from Italy!!! Yay!! I received these amazing running shirts from my dear friends Giorgio and Stefano! Thank you so much! I appreciate your kindness. I love them! They have little reflective designs on them, which will be helpful when it gets darker:)

Stefano heads up the Black Knight Army running group in Italy. I have been named Lady Julie:) I love it! Giorgio also runs in the Black Knight Army. Both Stefano and Giorgio run in many different races all over Italy. They are so lucky to live in such a beautiful country:) I love reading about all of their running adventures! Many of the races they enter give wine away as part of the swag! Nice:) I started to read Giorgio's blog shortly after I started blogging a little less than a year ago. Shortly after becoming one of Giorgio's followers I found Stefano's blog through Giorgio:) I love finding new friends who live in different countries. I also read blogs from England, France, Holland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. I love all of these blogs because we all share the same passion for running or have other special connections! At any rate, I feel blessed to have met these wonderful people through blogging! You all know who you are....love you all:)

Here I am wearing the lovely yellow shirt from Giorgio. Thank you Giorgio:)

This is me wearing the very nice navy blue shirt from Stefano. Thank you Stefano:)

I went running this weekend with the St. Cloud River Runners and will post later tonight on that. Lets just say we had a little adventure! We ended up getting lost some where in Big Lake! More on that later........

Happy running, biking, swimming, lifting and surfing! Cheers to you all!

Marcia is hosting a SIGVARIS Recovery Socks giveaway!

Historiadora on the Run is hosting a $60 CSN giftcard giveaway!

The Team Ortho Monster Dash Half Marathon Race Report!

2010-10-30T18:15:00.051-05:00

This morning I ran in the Team Ortho Monster Dash half marathon. I woke up at 5AM to get ready and then drove into Minneapolis to the Lake Nokomis start.

I scored a parking spot right across from where the bag drop area was located.

I walked up to the start line about 20 minutes before the actual start to see if I could see another Minnesota blogger who would be starting with the speedy front runners. No luck, Gregg, hopefully I will see you at another future race:) I wasn't sure how today's race was going to go considering last weekend's training run was a big fail. I knew it would not be a PR day but hoped for the best.

I lined myself up with the 1:55 pacer Tim. I figured that I would try to stay with him as long as possible and then fall back and run with the 2 hour pacer if I needed. Eventually after a few minutes the race started. Within the first few minutes I had the same girl step on the back of my shoes three times. I know that I have accidentally done this to another runner too. I did not do it three times. I was a little annoyed and ended up speeding a little ahead of the pacer to avoid getting hit again. I think she wanted to be right next to Tim:)

I felt okay the first four or five miles. I didn't feel fantastic and I would never say that I was in my groove. I was moving and not in pain:)

After I hit mile six I was feeling that yucky feeling again. It wasn't as bad as last weekend but I could tell that I would need to slow down. I walked through a water stop and lost my pacer and pace group. I stayed a little behind them for about a mile.

The course was very scenic and I tried to stay focused on the gorgeous views and my fellow runners. Many runners dressed in costumes:) I was very impressed with many people's creativity! I found myself laughing several times! My favorite costume hands down was a pregnant guy wearing a pink dress and blond wig! He adjusted his tummy and wig many times. Great humor! I don't know how anyone was able to run in a wig for the entire 13 miles. Wearing a wig would of drove me bonkers!

Mile seven was a rough one for me. There was a pretty long and challenging hill that kicked my butt. I was sucking some big time air! Shortly after getting over this hill a very nice woman was running past me and asked me if I was Julie. I said, "Yes, I am Julie." She told me that she reads my blog. I asked her how she found it and she told me that she found it through Rambling Renee's blog:) Renee is a fellow St. Cloud River Runner who lives in Rochester. She is an amazing runner and has been a PR machine! Renee has been nursing a toe injury but is getting back in the groove! I am always so flattered when people recognize me from reading my blog. It also amazes me how many non-bloggers read it. Shortly after this nice woman Katy ran by me and wished me good luck, I started to struggle and feel the mental pain.

I took a very short 30 second walk break. I was feeling low on energy agian and honestly started to wonder if I would be able to finish. WTH! Really? I was feeling so down in the dumps that I was thinking about not finishing! I started to think about what my running dad Denny told me. He told me that when we struggle it is mostly mental and that we have to know that other people/runners are tired too. We have to tough it out and continue on:) I talked to Denny last weekend and we spoke about my marathon and those last 6 horrid miles. He told me that next time I run a marathon I will shorten my time by not walking as much and dealing with the mental challenges that come my way. He also mentioned to me that I better train more and get my long runs in:) He he! Isn't that just like a dad? Well, after thinking about this coversation I started running again.

These guys were awesome! I told them I liked their costumes and they told me never again!! It was hard to run in those bad boys:)

The last few miles were hard and I kept running. The 2 hour pacer never passed me...woo hoo! I finished but not in 1:55. Finishing is winning...right Jill! After I crossed the finish line I got my metal and got in line to get water. When I was waiting in line Beth came up to me and said hi! I was so excited to see her! We met at my very first half marathon. We both ran in the St. Paul Securian Half:)

Beth was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and had a double mastectomy at the end of September. This is something that she has posted in her blog. She is doing great and looks fantastic:) Both Beth and her husband Mike are the nicest people and I feel so fortunate to have met them. I am in awe of Beth's courage and strength! She was given the okay from her doctor to run and ran in the Monster 5K today! Go Beth!

After talking to Beth I went to the bag pick-up. I then walked around for a bit and took a few pictures. I was bummed that I didn't see Minnesota bloggers Heather and Julie:(

Oh, and one thing that I would like to mention is that I am using this race as my virtual Pink Dress Run hosted by my blogger friend Fran. October is breast cancer awareness month.....what a better way to show support than by sporting pink! The only rule was to wear pink and choose your distance. So I wore a pink shirt and a weird version of pink sweat shirt:) Fran is from Holland and lives close to Amsterdam. She and I have the same obsession with high heel shoes and perfume:) Stop by her blog and say hi!

Here are just a few random pictures of runners in their costumes.

I love this!

Okay, check out this line! I got in line for the shuttle bus at 11 AM. There must be some mistake! Seriously, there is no way that this is really the line.....it wasn't moving! If you enlarge this picture you can see that the line turns left and continues up the block and then some!

Still waiting and taking more pictures. I waited in line for almost two hours! We found out that there were only two buses!!!!! We were all so cranky and cold after waiting for that ridiculous amount of time! Finally...a bus!! Oh crap it is not my bus! Wait a little more....

These are the people behind me. Can you believe this? Many smart people had cell phones and were able to call taxi cabs. I was not one of those smart people:)

Woo hoo, this is my bus:) I finally made it home by 2:30. I stopped at Chipotle in Maple Grove for a post race meal! There is nothing like a little Chipotle after a longer run:)

I checked my final stats....

Final time..... 1:58:49.

I placed 1481 out of 3563 total runners.

I placed 636 out of 2122 female runners.

I placed 86 out of 282 for my age group.

Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!

Still Recovering!

2010-10-26T06:55:00.006-05:00

Hi everyone! I am playing a little catch up from the weekend. Saturday I drove into St. Cloud to run with my running group. I was really looking forward to it because it had been such a long time since I had ran with them. My plan was to run eight miles. I thought that I could break it up by running four before our 8 o'clock picture and then going out again and running another four. I pulled into the parking lot at 6:45 AM and spotted Deb and Paul. Deb asked me if I would be ready to go soon. I put on my visor, locked my car and was ready to roll! Deb and Paul are training for a marathon and it was their 20 mile day. This seemed perfect to me because I wanted to go at a slower pace. We started running and I knew it wasn't going to be a great run for me. I felt like total crap! I know that it takes time to recover from a marathon but I honestly thought I would be back to normal by now. Part of my problem was that I needed to use the bathroom and there was none. We ran by a grocery store and I was so tempted to make a pit-stop....I didn't want to make them stop so I continued on. Big mistake! The farther we went the worse I felt. My legs are feeling strong and I had no issues with them but I started to get that icky feeling again. It reminds me of when I ran Grandma's and the Team Ortho half. My stomach was messing with me and I hurt. Deb was chatting as usual:) I was not talking as much as I normally would because I was attempting to just big girl up and run through the yuck! The loop that we ran was seven miles....the longest seven miles I have run in a long time. I really needed to use a bathroom and so many times felt the urge to stop and walk. Well, that never happened because I toughed it out. We had less than a mile left when we stopped at a Perkin's to use the bathroom! Oh happy day! The joy of a bathroom:) We ran back to the Meeting Grounds for the group picture. I knew that my next run was not going to be long. Most people were planning on doing another seven to four. I started running again and felt no better. My plan was to turn around at the mile mark and make my way back. Yep, after mile one I turned around and slowly headed back to the parking lot. I was so done! I ran a total of nine miles on Saturday.

I went home and felt terrible the entire day. Seriously, I had been doing so good! I have had no real GI issues since July. I don't know, I feel like my body is telling me to slow down again! WTH! I have a half marathon on Saturday and I don't know how that is going to turn out! It could get ugly! I wil just have to play it my ear and see how I feel!

How long does it take to recover from a marathon? I am just a little frustrated and want my great running days back!

Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!

What I Have To Look Forward To....Fall And Winter Racing Schedule!

2010-10-20T20:56:00.014-05:00

I am back. We did get a new computer....woo hoo! We ended up getting another PC with the understanding that I would get a MAC...possibly for Christmas:) This whole having one computer thing is getting old. It is hard when there are three people in the family who would all like dibs on the internet for different reasons.

* As far as the running goes I have been taking it easy. This week I have had a four mile and six mile run. My legs feel great but my energy level is not back to 100%.

* Today was my day off and I went in a had my hair done. I am a happy girl:)

* Kay's cross country season is offically over. She had a great year and improved so much. She now currently has two fall b-ball leagues going on. Her high school try-outs are in November.

* This Saturday I am heading into St. Cloud to run with my running group! It has been at least two months since I have run with them. I am looking forward to a Saturday breakfast run with my St. Cloud River Runner peeps:)

* I have been putting my fall and winter racing schedule together. So far it looks like this.....

The Monster Dash Half...10-30-10
The Anoka Jingle Bell Run 5K 11-28-10
The Snow Flake Shuffle 5K 12-11-10
The Polar Dash 10K 01-01-11
The St. Paul Securian Half 01-23-11

I am hoping to catch up on blogs and see what everyone has been up to:) I have read a few amazing race reports! Congrats to all of you who ran like the wind:) Congrats to Slomo, Glenn, Johann, Judi, Adam, Aimee, Marcia, Anna Maria, The Boy Scout, Rad Runner, Lam, Anita, Nickie, Kate, P, Angie, Julie, Kellie, Henniemavis, Running Fox and Brett! I know that I am forgetting some runners. If I remember more I will come back and add to my list:)

Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!

Rest In Peace Personal Computer!

2010-10-17T12:56:00.003-05:00

Hi Everyone! Just a quick post to let you all know that our computer has seen better days! We have been having issues with it for months. I am sitting at our library right now writing this post:) We are shopping for a new computer and it might be a few days until we make a final decision. I would love to go and get one right now but my hubby is one of those guys who needs to research everything:) Hopefully I will be able to post and comment in a few days. Until then, happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!

The Autumn Woods Classic 5K Trail Run Race Report!

2010-10-09T19:15:00.022-05:00

Today was my first run since my marathon. The only thing that I have done this week is yard work and one two mile walk. This morning Kay and I headed out to the Elm Creek Park Reserve in Maple Grove for the annual 5K, 10K and kids 1K races.

Kay's cross country team volunteered for today's races and she ended up working at the t-shirt distribution table:)

The Autumn Woods Classic 5K attracted 759 runners/walkers. Here is a picture of the people behind me just a few minutes before the start.

Here is the view of the runners in front of me. The 5K race starts out on a paved trail and then later turns onto a dirt and grass road. There is also a pretty big section of rolling grass hills before changing back to the paved trail. It is a tough course with many rolling hills. My time last year was 24:04. I knew there would be no PRing today and I just wanted to finish under 25 minutes. When we heard the horn....we were off! Oh my goodness, I started out way to fast! I got caught up in the excitement of the start and buzzed along with the front runners. Mistake! Mile one 7:10! My legs felt okay but my energy level was not up to snuff.

This portion of the race was a little before mile one. See Mike, my pictures can turn out blurry too:)

This is the portion of the run that was on the dirt and grass road. I was not feeling so great here. I was starting to get thirsty and really wanted to start walking! What the heck....walking before mile two and the water stop!?! Do you see that little boy in front of me? Yep, he was a great runner and super cute! This little super stud runner and I were neck and neck for about 400 meters. After the end of this road we turned to the left onto the grass portion of the course. This is where the water stop was and I needed water ASAP! I was feeling a little light headed and was so thirsty. I got in line for the water and had my eye on the cup. This little speed rocket charged in front of me and I ended up slowing down so I wouldn't run into him. I ended up biting the big one in the wet grass! I slid a few feet and thought....you have freaking got to be kidding! Thank God there was hardly anyone other than the two guys behind me and the water stop people that witnessed this:) I quickly got up grabbed another cup of water and went on my merry way! This was a tough run and I did not feel the greatest. The marathon must have taken so much out of me because this easy little 5K seemed so challenging to me. The last mile I was out of gas and running on empty. Just keep moving...keep your feet moving and you will eventually get to the finish line. The last portion of the race is up hill and not fun. Last year I charged up that hill...this year...not so much:) I will say that not one single woman passed me during the whole race. There were 6 guys that passed me including little super stud:) All of the speedy girls charged out before me in the beginning of the race.

This is what the entire park looked like. The trees were gorgeous and I enjoyed looking at all of the beautiful fall scenery.

After my race was over I found out that I actually took 2nd place for my age group! My time is about 40 seconds slower than last year. Here are my stats....

Final time 24:45.

I placed 72 out of 759.

My little man ran in the kids 1K race and was so excited to get his race bib! They seperated the age groups for the kids and he ran with the four year olds. They were expecting 400 kids to be running so I am very happy that they broke it down into age groups. I would say that there were maybe 40 to 50 four year olds running:)

Here he is right after the start:) He was in 3rd place for so much of the race! We think he might have taken fourth. It is hard to say because he ended up passing a few in the five year old age group and there were parents running with their kids. He had a blast and it was so much fun for us to watch him charging along!

Look at my little runner in his swim trunks:) He wanted to have shorts with the mesh inside like my running shorts do. He grabbed his swimming trunks and said they were now his running shorts:) After the race all of the kids got finish ribbons and a pumpkin! Score! What else does a kid need? Nothing:)

Last Saturday we met my college boy for a football game at the University of Minnesota! My college boy and I are both Gophers:) It had been some time since we had seen him. We texted him and met him in the concession area. My hubby purchased food for him and it was like Christmas morning:) The joy of free food for the college student! Oh, the little things in life!

Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!

I want to let everyone know how sorry I am for my lack of commenting this week. I have been feeling a little bit of the post marathon blues. Hopefully I will be back to my cheerful self soon:)

The Twin Cities Marathon Race Report!

2010-10-04T08:29:00.071-05:00

Hi Everyone! I slept like total crap last night and had to take some ibuprofen because my upper legs were screaming in protest! My calves felt great....other than being a little sore I think I am doing pretty well. I promised you a race report so here it is:)

I woke up at 4 Am Sunday morning to get ready for the marathon. I had all sorts of thoughts swimming through my mind. Many of them were on the lines of...OMG, I am running my first marathon today! I was both excited and nervous! As many of you know, I stopped marathon training in week five of my plan because of the GI issues I was having. I took several weeks off from hard training and toned back my 6 runs a week to 3 runs a week. I ran the Gopher to Badger half marathon in that crazy heat. I figured if I can do this....surely I can run a fall full marathon. I had already signed up for the Get Ready To Rock 20 mile race and planned to use that as a test. I had three weeks of long runs consisting of a 16, 17 and 18 mile run before my 2o mile race. I look at the original Hal's training plan that I was doing and see that I have missed so many miles of training:( I think if I had not been running so many half marathons my results yesterday would of been different. By becoming a half marathon junkie I gave myself a fantastic base for a marathon newbie.

I drove into Minneapolis and found a parking spot about three blocks from the Metrodome. I walked to the dome and walked around for a few minutes. I used the rest room and parked myself on the floor right across from it. I took out my marathon guide and looked at the map of the course and pace times. I found a few of my fellow SCRR peeps:) Paul, Rick, Cindy and Denise were just hanging out before their 10 mile race.

Cathy came along as a cheerleader:)

I ran into Jeri a South Dakota blogger who was running the TC 10 mile run:) I sat and talked to her for several minutes....she is such a sweetheart! Seeing Jeri made me feel very old as she is young and beautiful! Jeri, I hope that the race went well for you! I will be seeing you again at the Earth Day half marathon in 2011:)

I also ran into another SCRR (Curt) who was going to try his hardest to BQ in the TC marathon! Check out the corral #1 sticker in the corner of his bib! Fantastic news... he did it! Congrats to you Curt:)

I met Heather who is another blogger from Minnesota! We sat in the dome and talked until we heard the announcement that we needed to make our way to the start line. We had to laugh when we saw that we were both wearing old ugly race shirts. The plan was to just toss them once we were warm enough. My shirt is actually turned inside out...super ugly! Heather also made me feel old because yes, she is younger than me...she has gorgeous eyes, not a single wrinkle and she had a cooler race outfit:) Derek, just so you know, we walked around looking for you. We were bummed that we couldn't find you before the race:(

Heather and I made our way to the start line. I told her that I wanted to start somewhere between the 4:15 and 4:30 pacers. We walked up and positioned ourselves right next the the 4:15 pacers. This is a picture of the people behind us 10 minutes before the start.

Way over by the fence is the 4:15 pacer:)

The Metrodome.

Here is a picture of the people in front of us. I was pretty nervous those few minutes before the start. I kept on looking at Heather and she always had a smile on her face:) Thank you for keeping me calm Heather! I am so glad we were able to start out together. We slowly made out way to the start and I had my Garmin all ready to go. I run over the mats and hit start......I look down at my Garmin and the only thing that is displayed is the time! WTH! OMG! Why? Why can't I be like every other runner and not have issues with the Garmin. I had no distance or pace screen displayed. I would wait until I saw the first clock and then just start it again. I stayed with the pacer for the first mile. I just couldn't see myself running this pace and was feeling like I was holding back too much. I moved ahead of the pacer and ran nice and easy.

The crowds were awesome as I ran down the streets of Minneapolis! There was tons of cow-bell and all of the runners were happy and filled with positive energy:)

The one thing that drove me total bonkers was my spibelt was not cooperating! I had 5 gels and a powerbar flopping around and hitting me in the stomach! My bladder was telling me that I needed to stop! Crap! I am not even at mile 3 and I need to make a Biffy stop! I passed one set because they were in use but was able to snag another one a little later. In and out....most likely less than a minute:)

Once we were off of the streets Minneapolis we made our way around the lakes. OMG! I was in heaven, it is so beautiful! It was here where I got rid of my ugly shirt and tossed it aside. Running through this area was amazing! Not only was it pretty with the lakes and trees but it was full of fans cheering. I was in awe of the support that complete strangers were giving me:)

When I hit mile marker 9 I remembered that I was going to start my Garmin over again so I could know what pace I was going at. I turned off my Garmin and started it back up....it took a few minutes for the thing to start working, grrrr! Miles 1 through 13 were a piece of cake. I ran easy and felt great.

The day was perfect for running, the sun was shining and the temperature was fantastic! I love running in 50 to 60 degree weather:)

I actually caught up with the 4:00 pacers and ran with them for miles 14 and 15. I was starting to get a little tired and I had several gels in my tummy that were starting to bother me. I knew that I would have to make a Biffy stop soon.

Score...Biffy sighting up ahead! Okay, so here goes...my Biffy number two story....are you ready? I stand in line with a few people in front of me and a few people behind me. I wait, wait and wait. Finally my turn! I run into the Biffy and lock the door. I am just about done when someone attempts to open my Biffy! He pulled on the door one more time and the door came flying open! OMG! Let's just say he did not get a butt shot...he got a full frontal! He slammed the door back shut and I started laughing! Only me...this crap only happens to me:) I heard him say..don't worry I didn't see anything! Yea, right! I finish up, put my sunglasses back on, open the door and hope to God I don't see him later:)

Miles 18, 19 and 20 seemed to take forever. I was feeling okay but not great. I was telling myself that I already ran a 20 mile run and that I could do this. Keep the feet moving!

Mile 20...just six miles left! Some where between mile 21 and 22 my right hammy started to scream. I was in serious pain and needed to pull over and stretch. It hurt so bad and I started to cry. Why now? I walked for a few minutes and decided to try running again. It still hurt and I must of looked pretty pathetic running with a limp.

The Summit Avenue stretch was amazing! The crowds were awesome and the positive energy was wonderful. Summit Avenue was also hard as hell and a mental challenge for me. The last few miles on Summit are uphill! Oh joy! I was hurting and not doing so great. I really wanted to keep running the whole way but I just couldn't. I promised myself that I would listen to my body. I needed to slow down. I walked so much of Summit Avenue:(

I am not happy here...yep, I am walking. I have heard from so many people about the big bad wall. As I walked I thought about my time and what it would be. I had no real goals in mind. Seriously, I just wanted to finish the race. Maybe it was the competitive athlete in me but deep down I guess I did care about my time. I wanted to finish in under 4:30 but knew in my heart that I could do it under 4:15. Okay Julie, time to suck it up! Just a four more miles and it is over! I started running again.

I am so glad that there was music playing from time to time because it helped me stay moving and motivated! I took water at all of the water stops and went through all of my gels. I ended up walking a few more times. I looked at my Garmin and said, "Okay you can walk for 30 seconds and then you have to start up again." When my Garmin reached 30 seconds, I said, "Okay 40 seconds:)" There was a man who saw me walking. He looked at me and looked at his watch. He said, "Now would be a good time to start running!" "Make it count!" Yep, you guessed it, I started running again:) I was hoping that I wouldn't have to use the Biffy again. Not so lucky:) One more quick stop and I was on the road again.

I saw this and thought....I have got to be getting closer. Just keep moving Julie! I felt like I was moving at snails pace...super slow! When I was at the top of the hill and saw the Capital I was so happy! I knew that I was going to finish soon!

You can see the Capital in the back and the big flag is the finish line! I was smiling when running that last stretch of the race! I still didn't have a clue what my time would end up being. It didn't matter...I was going to finish this race!

This last stretch was the most emotional part of the race for me! OMG! When I cross this line I am going to be able to call myself a marathoner! Never in a million years at this time last year would I have believed that I would ever run in a marathon!

People were screaming and I started to pick up my pace a little. I passed a few people but basically just ran in easy.

When I saw the clock it said 4:12 something but I have no idea what it said when I crossed the finish line! I ran those last few feet and through my arms up in the air! I did it! I finished! I finished my first marathon! I took a few steps and got my medal. The lady put it around my neck and I walked over to a fence, put my head down and started to cry. Big tears rolled down my cheeks. I was so thrilled:) Running a marathon is hard work! Not only was I physically tired, I felt emotionally drained too! I am so proud of my accomplishment and happy for finishing my first marathon. I was also very sad that no one from my family was there to share it with me. It was a bitter-sweet moment for me.

Shortly after I finished I ran into Katy. Katy is someone that I remember from the Get Ready To Rock 20 mile race. I asked her if she ran it and she said yes. She told me that she read my blog...I forgot to ask how she found it. Katy did great today and I would of never guessed that she just had a baby a few months ago:)

After the race I drank a cup of the blue stuff, two cups of chicken broth and a bottle of water. I also ate a banana. I walked over to where the bag check was and sat in the grass. I was hurting pretty bad. I got up and stretched my legs out but it was not helping. I thought about finding the massage tent to see if I could have someone work on my sore legs.

I did run into Kalli who is a SCRR...she finished with an awesome time of 3:17:) Go Kalli!

I walked around for a few minutes taking pictures. I then walked up to the Capital to catch a bus back to the Metrodome:) I was tired and really wanted to take a shower and go to bed.

Here are my final stats......

Final time 4:09:45.

I placed 3,843 out of 8,211 actual finishers.

I placed 1,145 out of 3,394 women.

I placed 143 out of 422 for my age group.

Will I ever run another marathon you ask? Hell yes! One thing that I will say is I can only see myself doing one of these bad boys a year:) Thanks again for all of your support and encouragement! Jill thanks for being a super fan! I am so glad that you were able to track my time because the computer wouldn't give me my information until this morning. It was almost like I didn't run the race. So many people attempted to get my stats and were not successful as well. You rock Jill!

Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!

Next on my things to do...take care of my lawn and catch up on blogs:)

I Did It! My first Marathon Done!

2010-10-03T17:16:00.006-05:00

Hi Everyone! This is just a quick post to update you on my performance in the Twin Cities Marathon! I am no longer a 26.2 virgin:) Woo hoo!!!!!!!!

After three Biffy stops and numerous times walking...here it is!

Final Time....4:09:45!

More to come later! I am tired, sore and need a nap:)

What an awesome marathon! It was perfect running weather with the best course ever! Fans were cheering for us the entire 26.2!

I have to say that the hardest part was the last six miles! Good Lord! I will have all of the crazy details for you later:) Some very entertaining...some not so much!

Thank you! Thank you and thank you for all of your wonderful comments and support! I appreciate it so much! Running bloggers are the best:)

FYI:I Am Running A Marathon This Weekend!

2010-09-29T19:10:00.006-05:00

Hi everyone! It is officially time for me to come clean! I have been keeping a secret for a long time:) I took myself off hold for running the Twin Cities Marathon! I am sure that some of you might have figured that some thing was up when my 20 mile race recap was posted. I know Jill and Heather suspected it....I could tell from the comments that I got and have been getting. My plan was to keep it secret until after the race. I just can't do that....keeping this secret has been torture for me! I ran that 20 miler to see if I could do it and feel confident enough to go the full 26.2! I think that I can do it! I am ready for that challenge and will run on Sunday. I promise that I will run it smart and easy!

This is what I am going to be wearing race day! I really want to let people know that I am running because I hope to see other Minnesota bloggers there:) Oh, and Jeri! There are several members of my running group who are running the Twin Cities 10 mile! If you are reading this and see me on race day, please, send me tons of cow-bell! Unfortunately, not a single person from my family will be cheering me on for my first marathon:( Long story...not getting into it in this blog post. I could use all of the support and positive race vibes that I can get! Can you help a newbie out? This will most likely be my last post until after the race! I hope to have tons of fantastic pictures and a great race recap:)

Minnesota bloggers and running group peeps...please look for me! I would love to see you all! Good luck to everyone running on Sunday!

Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!

Oh, one more thing, bloggers from Vegas are awesome!

Women Run The Cities 10 Mile Race Report!

2010-09-26T15:45:00.018-05:00

Hi everyone! This morning I drove to Minneapolis to run in the Women Run The Cities 10 mile race. Packet pickup began at 6:30 AM and I wanted to make sure that I had a great parking place:) I scored and found a spot right on Minnehaha Ave! It was a little cooler this morning with a temerature of 42 degrees! This is the coolest temps that I have run in since early spring. I am not complaining, (Chris) I just wish that I had dressed a little warmer for the hour before the race actually started. I was freezing my butt off:)

Before the race started I ran into my high school friend Pam. Pam is the person who got me hooked on running races last year:)

In my last blog post I expressed that I would not be able to pull it together to match my time from last year. I had a great run last fall and came in with a final time of 1:23. I received a confirmation e-mail from Anderson Race Management stating that there would be pacers this year:) You all know how much I love my pacers! I decided to go with the 8:30 pacer scheduled to come in at 1:25. I figured that I could run with her until I needed to slow down and then just do my own thing. This is pacer Taren. She was my pacer for the Gopher To Badger Half Marathon in Stillwater:)

This is my view of the people in front of me about 10 minutes before the start. There were several people who made there way to the front before the start. Oh crap, the picture of the people behind me....I forgot to flipping post:( Sorry folks, I am not starting over. There were tons of people behind me. Basically, when the race started we all just moved up and took off. We did great with keeping time and ran nice and steady.

This is a little after mile one. The course was set on the roads close to Minnehaha Park. Even though it was 42 degrees at the start, I was ready to take off my jacket after five minutes. It was at this point where I realized that I forgot to start my Garmin! What is my deal? Seriously, is it my ADD coming back to haunt me? It was perfect running weather...even better than last year. Last year's temp was 62 degrees at the start. Miles two and three just buzzed by and I made a mental note that at mile four there was a hell of a hill! We ran down the hill and all was great! We were feeling awesome and the strides were so easy. At the turn around we had to look up at that crazy hill that we needed to get back up. Taren told us all what to do and we tried to get the perfect up-hill form. We cruised up the hill but my breathing was out of control. Taren gave me a few breathing tricks and with in about 45 seconds I felt great. I skipped the first two water stops...can you believe it? Mile five went by and when we got to mile six Taren said we needed to slow down. I can't believe that I did this...but I looked at her and said,"I am going to keep going at this pace." I slowly left Taren and my running pace group behind. I made a mental note to myself, just four miles left....let's see what you got! I made my way up a little roller and turned to go across this bridge. There is something about running on bridges that I love. The view was amazing and I was feeling super energized.

The sun was shining and I could see several trees on the bank of the river that were starting to change colors:) Miles eight and nine went well. Every time I looked down at my Garmin my pace remained between 7:30 and 7:50! When I saw the mile nine marker I was so excited! One freaking mile left! I ran steady and strong...I was feeling incredible! I could see the turn that led to the finish line! I had no idea what my time was going to be, I just knew that it would be under 1:25. Coming up the finisher's chute I saw the clock and I was in awe:) No freaking way...this must be a mistake...really?

After my pacer Taren came through I wanted to get a picture of us together. (She is 18 weeks pregnant and so cute:) I also thanked her for helping me with the hill and giving me great breathing recovery tricks.

I also ran into Pam again and had a picture taken with her. She did fantastic and finished in 1:14! So what was my final time?

My final time was 1:19:18! This is a 7:56 minute mile! I placed 89 out of 941 runners:) Can we say a four minute PR!!! It is amazing what cooler temps have done for me. Today my running just clicked:) I felt awesome after the run and have gained my confidence back. Today life is good:)

Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!

What Have I Been Up To & What Is Next?

2010-09-22T10:49:00.002-05:00

Hi Everyone! This is going to be short and sweet! After my 20 mile run I took one day off and got right back into my shorter 4 to 7 mile runs. My legs actually felt pretty darn good the next day. I was expecting to be very sore and possibly experience some after shock cramping. I felt great and was able to bust out a 5.5 mile and kept up a 7:58 pace! Where and the hell did that come from? Maybe the cooler temps are making it easier for me:) At any rate, I am loving it! Good-bye to heat and humidity:) This week I have gone out on two easy shorter runs. I ran these both slower than normal and kept up a 9:15 pace. This mornings run was a little rough...I was low on energy.

This weekend I am running in a fantastic 10 mile race in Minneapolis. It is called Women Run The Cities....this means no guys allowed! I loved this race last year and had a blast! It was my first and only ten mile race up until this weekend. I remember thinking, will I be able to make it the whole ten miles? I ran it easy or so I thought...my final time was 1:23! I was so thrilled and happy with my performance. I know that I will not be able to do as well as I did last year. I have not been running any of the shorter races and have lost a little of my speed. That is what happens when you become a half marathon junkie:) My plan for this weekend is to run it easy and hopefully be able to finish it in 1:30 or less:)

Well, that is all that I have for now! Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!

Get Ready To Rock 20 Mile Race Report!

2010-09-11T16:12:00.030-05:00

Hi everyone! I would like to apologize for being a bad blogger as of late! Life has been so hectic and busy that I feel like my head is going to spin off! There are several reasons for my lack of blogging. First of all, work has been so crazy and when I get home...I am spent! I am tired and still need to make time for a few runs each week. Secondly, my daughter Kay has cross country practice every night after school and I am her transportation. She has also had a few weeks of drivers training. Kay now has her driver's permit:) God, please help me! I have also lost my computer rights because my hubby has taken it over with his 6 fantasy football teams! Last weekend I ran a 17 miler and it went okay. I was pretty tired after mile ten. I stopped at a SA to purchase a water and to take a bathroom break. I continued on and did the final seven. This morning I ran my first 20 miler race! I ran the Get Ready To Rock 20 miler in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. The picture above is me with my pacers Scott and Juli:) I was pondering what pace group to go with. I looked at the 10 minute, the 9:30 and the 9 minute mile paces. When I run my half marathons I usually can finish in a little under that 9 minute mile pace. It was my plan to run this bad boy easy....one of the pacers talked me into the 9:30 pace with a goal time of 3:10.

There was also a 5K and 10K race going on this morning. Oh boy, I can't believe that I am typing this...I was actually a little chilly before the start. It was in the low 60's, cloudy and a bit windy.

The Minnesota Pacers before the race. I love this pacing group and have used them for several of my past half marathons! They are the best:)

This was my view of the people in front of me about 5 minutes before the start. The 10K and 20 mile racers started out together.

This is the view of the runners behind me. We were told to start our watches at the gun. We moved up a few feet and we were off! The first few miles were along roads in White Bear Lake.

It was right before mile 5 that the 10K runners took a different road. The 20 mile group started to make our way around Bald Eagle Lake for the first time. We had to run around the lake twice:)

I was pretty quiet just listening to the other runners chat. I was trying to get in my happy running place:) I was thinking positive thoughts and secretly hoping that this would be a good run for me. There was part of me that was scared to death of the potential GI disaster! I was thinking about what my doctor told me about the possibility of another blood clot and what that could do to me. I knew that I would have to take this one slow and listen to my body.

Mile six was where I experienced my first little wall. WTH! This was mile six not mile 15 or 16! I kept on going and the wall went away after a few minutes. We were keeping perfect time and all was well! I needed to make a Biffy stop at mile 8 and ran ahead so that I could have an easier time catching back up to my group. I did have to wait in line...but thankfully...not long:) I busted butt and cheek to catch up to my group:)

Here they are:) It took me a few minutes to recover from my little sprint....about 400 meters:) At mile 13 we ran around the lake once. We needed to go around one more time....Oh Lordy! I was doing pretty good and feeling fine. I made sure to walk through all of the water stops and took my gel at mile 5, 10, 15 and 18.

Here is my pacer Juli:)

I ran a little ahead to get a picture of who was left of my group at mile 18:) This was where my second little wall hit. I hurt my ankle earlier this week..stupid me! I was walking into my parent's garage with my sunglasses on and couldn't see a damn thing! I ended up walking into cement steps and fell onto the steps crushing my left ankle! I am still black and blue and a tad bit swollen. My ankle started to throb but I wasn't going to stop! My pacers kept up conversation and I was able to get through my little wall within a minute or two:) At mile 19 they both encouraged anyone who was left in our group to move ahead and finish before our goal time of 3:10. I made my move at about mile 19.5....I didn't go all gang busters, I just picked it up a bit:) When I made that right hand turn into the final stetch I was smiling:) I was almost done with my first 20 mile race and I was going to finish a little under my goal! I ran into the finisher's chute and I could see the clock:) It read 3:08 something! It must have taken me some time to run to the finish mats because my final time turned out to be 3:09 flat. Wouldn't you know...I flipping forgot to stop my Garmin again!!! I drank a whole bottle of water and slowly walked over to the table with post race food. I was hurting....my legs were cramping up and I had to take at least 15 minutes to stretch! Holy crap, I can honestly say that my legs have never cramped that bad after a race!

After the race I caught up with blogger Mark again! He finished before me and came in a little under his goal time too:)

After I got home I turned on my hose and ran cold water over my legs for about 15 minutes:) I felt so much better after a good soaking and I plan on doing this after all of my longer runs.

Official stats...

Final Time...3:09

I placed 122 out of 210.

I placed 12 out of 23 for my age group.

Now, I have blogs to catch up on! Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all:)

Mama Goes Masters Virtual Race Report And A Bike Ride!

2010-08-29T17:55:00.010-05:00

Greetings fellow bloggers and loyal readers! Holy cow, it has been a whole week since I have posted again! I need more time...seriously! MCM Mama turned the big 40 on August 25th and to celebrate she put on a virtual race. I decided to do the 4 mile run and did it on Thursday evening after I got home from work. I changed into my running clothes, put on my visor, sunglasses and Garmin and headed out the door. I really didn't have a plan, I just figured that I would run two miles and turn around and come back. I ran down my street to Weaver Lake road and into the MG trail system. I made my way down the path and took the path to Rice Lake. I wasn't looking at my Garmin and didn't really want to make this one a fast run. I just ran easy and steady. When I hit the two mile mark I turned around and headed back. Here are my stats.

mile one, 8:35
Mile two, 8:37
Mile three, 8:42
mile four, 8:24

Happy Birthday Mama!

I have been getting about four runs in a week. Most of my runs are anywhere from three to six miles. I am also getting at least one long run in on weekends. Yesterday I ran six miles and this morning I ran fifteen. I was not moving fast...trust me:) I woke up at 5AM only to fall back asleep until 5:30. I then forced my butt out of bed! I really do love running in the morning because everything is so peaceful and it is cooler. I am doing Jamoosh's Hard Core Club training and it is flipping harder than hell! I am doing it twice a week and I am hurting pretty bad! I sort of feel like I felt when I first started Jeff's 100 push-up challenge:) Not good! The good news is that I will eventually get used to it and my muscles will thank me some day soon!

I took this baby out this afternoon for a ride around Rice Lake. I have been test driving bikes:) I am so torn...I still have not found the perfect bike. When I purchase a bike it has to feel like it was made for me. Sadly, no such luck! I need help! I would like to do a few duathlons but also would like a bike that I can ride for fun. I need a bike that serves both purposes:) The sales man told me that this bike would do the trick. He also told me not to expect to win a duathlon with this bike. I started laughing and said, "Trust me, even if I had one of those fancy Tri bikes...I still would have no chance of winning a du!" This bike is on sale for $530.

Holy cow! Does that really say $8,299.99!?!

It is the one in the middle:) I am going back on Wednesday and will try a few more but they are more money! Yikes! I know that there is a bike for me somewhere...I just need to find it:)

Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all:)

A Few Vacation Pics & A Race Report!

2010-08-22T15:17:00.028-05:00

Hi Everyone! I know that I have been MIA for a week but life has been crazy busy as always! We are back from vacationing for a few days in Duluth! Actually, we arrived back home Wednesday evening and I had to go back to work for Thursday and Friday. Work has been super busy too! I have been pretty tired when I get home.....unfortunately, blogging has been put on the back burner. We spent all of our vacation days at the Larsmont Cottages on Lake Superior. We rented a three bedroom cottage instead of staying in various hotels. It was such a great hit with the whole family....we will go back again next year! It was absolutely gorgeous and I wish that we had a few more days to enjoy Duluth and time away from our normal hectic life style:) Here are a few random pictures.

College boy was only able to spend two days with us due to his work schedule. College boy is sporting his new haircut:) His hair was much longer but he wanted to grow it out so that he could have a stupid and ugly looking mullet for We Fest! We Fest is a country music festival in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. He went camping with a bunch of his friends and thought that it would be hilarious to have his haircut in the mullet style! I just about fell over when he came home looking like Billy Ray Cyrus in his achy breaky days:) I couldn't believe that he actually paid someone money to cut his hair like that! Yes, I did take pictures.....I will spare you the visual pain by not posting them:) (Thank God he had it cut as soon as he got back from his trip!) Funny thing...he swears he was a chick magnet...I highly doubt that! Another funny thing....he doesn't even really listen to country music. I wasn't born yesterday, I know why he went...I just prefer not to think about it.

This was our view looking out of the master suite. Every morning after my run I would sit in one of those chairs and chill for about an hour. It was so peaceful and relaxing.

This picture was taken in Grand Marais, Minnesota. The kids spent about two hours on this beach skipping rocks. Josh's record is ten skips and Kay's was six:)

Kay and I took out this bad boy:) Oh my goodness, we laughed the whole time riding this baby! After we were done riding this bike we both took out mountain bikes and went for a five mile ride. We sort of had a contest to see who could make it back first. Both Kay and my hubby just assumed that Kay would win because her legs are rock solid. Let me tell you....I smoked her! I can't wait to get my bike:)

Yesterday I ran in a local Maple Grove 3.75 mile race for charity. It is a run that goes around Rice Lake. This is a challenging race full of hills. Oh joy, it was humid and the bugs were terrible! There were about 130 people who participated and I would say that at least 40 people walked.

Final time 29:16

12 out of 130 overall

3rd for women

1st for my age group

Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all:)

Runners Fuel is hosting an Inperspire "be vibrant" towels giveaway!

Anne Marie is hosting a $150 Athleta giftcard!

Angie is hosting a Huge Urban Assault and New Belgium Brewery gear giveaway for 5 winners!

Pam is hosting a Sweaty Bands giveaway!

MCM Mama is hosting a $60 CSN giftcard giveaway!

Marcia is hosting a compression sock giveaway!

Suzy is hosting a Softlips giveaway!

The Gopher To Badger Half Marathon Race Report!

2010-08-14T20:44:00.020-05:00

Hi everyone! I ran another half marathon today! I ran in the Gopher To Badger Half and my daughter Kay ran the 5K. The half marathon started in Stillwater, Minnesota and ended in Hudson, Wisconsin. My hubby dropped me off by the start line and then drove Kay to her 5K start. I was one of the first runners there....just the way I like it:) I had the chance to use the Biffy and walk around some before the buses started arriving. There were 1,300 people registered to run today. (Note...only 736 actually crossed the finish line!)

I knew that Mark was also running today but didn't know if I would see him. Mark runs at a much faster pace than I do and there were alot of people there. Guess what? I got to meet Mark:) He came up to me and we were able to talk for several minutes before the race. Mark is a really nice guy and I am glad that I had the chance to meet him. Those of you who have been reading my blog know how much I enjoy the races. One of the reasons that I enjoy them so much is because I have been lucky to meet many of my blogger friends in person! Mark had plans to finish in under 1:45...so out of my pace zone:) I wished him good luck and he went off to find his running group friends. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted the Minnesota Pacers....AKA...pacer dudes:) I saw Allan who paced me for my PR at the Lake Minnetonka Half. He said, "Julie, I am pacing the 1:50 group, are you running with me?" I told him that I really didn't think that was possible for today but I hoped he would be pacing another 1:50 half sometime in the future:)

Once it was time to line up for the start I had to decide where I was going to place myself. I went back and forth between the 1:55 and 2:00 pacers. I settled on the 1:55 pacer and figured that I could always fall back if needed.

I am pretty sure that is pacer Sam. He was one of the guys who helped me find the start line for the Red White and Boom Half:)

This picture was taken just about ten minutes before the start. I could tell it was going to be a hot one. Everyone was talking about the weather and how today's run would be challenging in the heat. I was a little nervous because I know that I do not perform well in the heat.

Once the race started I positioned myself right next to the 1:55 pacer and tried to settle into a nice steady pace. The first portion of the race was okay in terms of the heat. Miles one, two and three were just fine. Once I hit mile four I knew I was in for a hellish run. It was starting to get hot and there was no shade. I stayed with my pacer until mile five....I just couldn't muster up enough energy to stay with her. She had been talking to me off and on those first five miles and told me that miles six through nine were the worst. Mile six was up hill and miles seven, eight and nine were out on the highway with no shade! Crap! I slowed down and made my way up the hill at mile six. It sucked big time! People were already starting to walk. I told myself, just make it to the top of the hill and then if you need to you can take a little walk break:) OMG, the hill wasn't any bigger than the ones that I run on in Maple Grove but the heat and humidity was terrible! Once I hit the top of the hill I slowed down and started to walk. A man behind me said, "Oh, don't stop, I was using you for pacing." I was like, "What? You don't want to use me for pacing...I am crashing out here!" He told me that he had been following me since mile three. He passed me and I walked for about thirty seconds. I figured that I would big girl up and continue on jogging (slowly).

I then ran on this road for freaking ever! Okay, well it wasn't freaking forever, it just felt like it! It went until almost mile nine. It was at mile eight where pacer Sam and the 2:00 group passed me. I really had no idea how the rest of this race was going to be. I was hot and feeling like total crap.

Oh joy, it was a water stop with a sprinkler hose:) There were water stops every two miles and I always took two cups and walked through. After grabbing my water and sucking it down, I set my camera down and had the girl spray me down. It was wonderful!

I picked up my camera and continued on. Mile ten was okay because there was at least a little shade at times.

Once I hit the bridge I was actually feeling pretty good. I ended up passing several runners on this bridge:) Mile twelve was alright but I know I was moving slower than what I was on the bridge. I was out in the sun and it was feeling hot again. I hit the last water stop and couldn't believe all of the people walking. Just keep moving...keep the feet moving...just a little farther and I am done:) OMG, when and the hell am I going to see the flipping finish line? I caught up to the guy in front of me and started small talk because I knew it would keep my mind off of the mental pain that I was in. We joked about how much fun this race was:) We were both dripping with sweat and hotter than hell! We ran the last half mile in together and I ended up passing him. Did I have energy to sprint in? Umm, that would be a high negative! There was absolutely no sprinting involved today! I saw Mr. Julie and heard him yell, "Go Jules!" I was moving at snails pace and finally crossed the finish line:) Oh happy day! I was done! Kay and my little guy were waiting for me and we walked over so that I could go through the snack line.

As I mentioned earlier, Kay ran the 5K. She was thrilled to take almost a minute off of her time from last week's race. She is pretty confindent that she will be able to PR with a few more races. She enjoyed the 5K course and loved running over the bridge:)

Here I am...hot, tired and ready to take a nap:)

I looked up my stats and my official final time was 2:02:45. This is not a PR...I am okay with my time because this was a tough race. It was hot, humid and I walked a few times:) It is all good, this race was character building and a great training run/experience.

After the race I caught up with Mark and Kay took this picture of us:) Mark was able to bring it and came in under his goal! I don't know how and the heck you did it with today's temps and blazing sun! Mark, hopefully I will see you at a few more races this year!

Happy running, biking swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!

My family and I are leaving for our summer vacation and I will not have computer and internet use. I will catch up on everyone's blogs when I return:)

Pam is hosting a Sweaty Bands giveaway!

Marcia is hosting a compression sock giveaway!

The Granite City 5K Race Report!

2010-08-08T10:59:00.018-05:00

My daughter Kay and I drove up to St. Cloud to run in a 5K that was put on by the St. Cloud River Runners. The Granite City 5K is a small race that attracted almost 200 runners. We arrived at Heritage Park at 7:15 AM. We walked to the check in tent and registered for the run. It was raining so we walked back to the car to wait a little bit to see if the rain would taper off. Sitting in the car I was able to see tons of fellow River Runners who were either running in the 5K or manning their spots to volunteer:) Here is a picture of me and my friend Deb....she had already ran nine miles earlier in the morning! She was running the 5K as a part of her training run. Before the run fellow River Runners Yvette and George asked if I wanted to warm up. We ended up just doing a mile and coming back about ten minutes before race start. During the warm up we made note of the course. It was going to be challenging because it was not a typical road race. The course was set in Heritage Park made up of a mix of asphalt trails, gravel trails and mostly grass. It was wet and muddy:) We were cautiously watching our steps because there were several places in the course where the surface was uneven. I remember running this course last year and it was a tough one. George made a comment about how this was not a race to try to PR in:) So true!

Here are just a few random shots that I took before the race. Notice the umbrellas in the picture:) It was raining during our race.

Yvette is the runner in the pink running shirt and black hat:)

Cathy and Edda are in this picture. This picture was taken as our race director was giving us instructions and information about the course.

George is the guy in blue taking a picture of his kids who also ran in yesterday's race. Kay and I talked about what our goal time would be and we agreed that we were both going to come in under 26 minutes. We were joking before the race because neither one of us are really in any shape to be racing a 5K:) I have been running half marathons all spring and summer....not really working on speed! Kay has been doing basketball camps and track camps. She has gone on a few of the high school cross country practice runs where they just go out on easy two milers:) She has also ran with me a few times...easy running and slow pace. We placed ourselves in the middle of the pack and took off after the voice command start. We stayed together for the first mile and kept a decent steady pace. Kay was keeping up and doing well running pretty much right next to me. After the mile marker she fell back a bit but I kept looking back and she was always just a little behind me. I kept on running at an easy pace...I made note to myself that I was never sucking air:) Last year I sucked air the entire race....LOL! Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a blurr of blue and knew that it was Kay. She stayed just a step behind me. I kept on talking to her telling her that she was doing well and that we were keeping up a respectable pace. It was at mile two when I figured out that the blurr of blue was not Kay and that I had been talking to a stranger over the last mile:) She must of thought that I was a nut:) I thought that she was my daughter so I was telling her to watch her step, take quick little steps up the grassy hill and other random stuff! Well, blurr of blue passed me and I turned around to see Kay still behind me. I slowed down and kept looking back every few minutes. She gave me the I am so annoyed with you look and stop turning around to look at me glare:) She gave me the hand signal to move on without her and yelled, "Just go mom, I don't need a babysitter!" Alrightly then, I only had about a half of a mile left and just kept up the same pace until I could hear people and made the last turn and ran up the final stretch. I then kicked it into gear and sprinted it in hard:) After walking through the finisher's corral I heard Pat and Mark yell, "Julie we didn't get your finishing picture...for some reason it didn't work." At first I thought that they were kidding. Mark was smiling and shaking his head:) Just after turning around I noticed that Kay had already finished and was sitting on the ground looking like death:) According to my Garmin made our goal of coming in under 26 minutes!

Here is Kay...thrilled to be done:)

Here is a shot of Deb and Gene.

This is photographer Pat and his helper Mark. I went over to talk to them and they did tell me that I would have to run through again for a finish picture:)

I gave Kay all of my things and ran through the final stretch one more time:) Pat asked me when I finished and I told him just to put me somewhere in the middle. Pat, if you are reading this my daughter is thrilled that it looks like she finished before me....you are her new best friend:)

After grabbing a water, banana and cookie Kay and I just waited for the awards ceremony. After the awards were given out we headed to the tent to take a look at the results. I was curious to see who took third place for my age group. There are two very speedy girls in my age group who took first and second place.....Kalli 20:30 and Lisa with a time of 21:23! Kalli was looking at the results too and we started chatting. I asked her who took third for our age group and she said that the winner was not here and must of left after the race. We looked at the board and figured out that it was me who took third! Kalli walked over to one of the volunteers and explained that I didn't hear my name being called. She then gave me my third place age group medal:) This was my second to worst 5K time...I finished in 25:23. Kay finished about 35 seconds after me with a final time of 25:58! We both were happy to come in under 26 minutes but also want to shave time off of our 5K race by the end of the season. My PR is 23:10 and Kay's PR is 24:03....can we say speed workouts:)

This picture was taken after we got home:) My little man wanted to be in the picture too!

Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!

The winner of my giveaway is Running Through Phoenix! Congrats to you:) Please e-mail me your address at jkaiser4 at fairview.org and I will mail it to you ASAP! Welcome to all new followers! Please leave me a comment and I will make it to your blogs as soon as I can!

MCM Mama is hosting a $60 CSN giftcard!

Wes is hosting a Anti-Monkey Butt giveaway!

The Winner Of My Giveaway Is.....

2010-08-07T22:51:00.005-05:00

Hi Everyone! This is just a quick post tonight but I wanted to announce the winner to my recent giveaway:)

Congrats to Running Through Phoenix! E-mail me with your address at jkaiser4 at fairview.org and I will get it out in the mail ASAP:)

Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway and welcome to all new followers! Please leave me a comment and I will make my way to your blogs as soon as I can:)

My daughter and I ran a 5K today! It was one of the slowest 5K races of mine to date. I was lucky enough to get third place for my age group:) Full report tomorrow....I am going to bed right now!

Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!

Catch Up And Another Giveaway!

2010-08-01T15:26:00.021-05:00

Hi everyone! Another crazy week in the books! I can't believe that the weekend is almost over! I have to admit this cutting back on my running thing is bugging me. I know that this is something that I must do for now and that my health is more important than the miles I am logging. I am really listening to my body but I feel like the biggest slacker. I used to run at least five to six times a week and now I am only running three to four. My Napa to Sonoma Half was fantastic and I don't think that I have ever felt better running during a race. Lately, my last few runs have been sucking rocks! I am just not feeling it! I don't know if it because I am still playing catch up with my rest or if it is something else. At any rate, my normal 6 mile training runs are staying at a 8:45 to 9:00 minute mile pace. This is slower than my race pace for a 10K but I just feel blah during these runs. This picture was taken before my 6 mile run yesterday. It was 76 degrees but super humid! Yuck! I wanted to show Pam at Thirty Schmirty that yes, I look like crap after runs:) Clearly by looking at this next picture you will see that Julie sweats too!

I wish that my daughter was home so that you could see my shirt. She could of taken this picture instead of me:) I was dripping with sweat because of the high humidity! I want to run in California again, darn it! A girl can dream!

This past week I have spent so much time looking at possible races to do for the rest of the summer and fall. I have not updated my future race list because I am not sure what to do. Everyone who has been reading my blog knows how much I love racing! When I get it all figured out I will share with you my final plans:) I did go to a bike shop yesterday...going to another one on Wednesday. Hopefully a new bike will help me with some of my cross training and maybe spice up my routines:) It is possible that my new bike will have to come with me to one of my future races! Oh settle down you Tri studs....there is no way and hell I am doing a Tri! It is my understanding that swimming is a must in a Tri! Julie and swimming = a very funny joke:) I wouldn't mind attempting a duathlon sometime in the near future! How exciting is that?

It is time for another giveaway! A few weeks ago I reached 200 followers and decided to do another giveaway:) This giveaway features......

1) Foam Roller

2) 3 packs of Sports Beans

3) 3 PowerBar Bars

4) 4 PowerBar Gels (Strawberry Banana) my favorite:)

5) Nuun Tablets Lemon Lime Flavor

6) Body Glide

To enter this giveaway all that you have to do is tell me that you are a follower! For a second entry you can link this giveaway to your blog. I will post the winner to this giveaway on Saturday August 7th:) Good luck!

Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!

Molly is hosting a $60 CSN giftcard giveaway!

Suzy is hosting a $50 CSN giftcard giveaway!

Anne Marie is hosting a Scape Athletic Sunblock giveaway!

MissZippy is hosting a Kara Goucher signed t-shirt giveaway!

Rad Runner is hosting a Reed's Ginger Chews giveaway!

Lindsay is hosting a Breakfast and Truvia giveaway!

Always A Reason To Run is hosting a $40 CSN giftcard giveaway!

Racing Dawn is hosting a $15 iTunes giftcard giveaway!

Holly is hosting a $40 CSN giftcard giveaway!

Molly is hosting a Run Like A Girl giveaway!

Molly is hosting a fuel belt giveaway!

The 5K Race That Never Happened!

2010-07-25T18:46:00.027-05:00

Hi everyone! It is me MIA and bad blogger Julie:) This past week was a little crazy due to getting back into groove after our trip to San Francisco and wine country. My plans this weekend included a local 5K race. I was going to run the Crystal Frolics 5K with my daughter. The race was scheduled for 8 AM on Saturday morning. I had every intention of running this race! For real:) Well, sadly, it never happened:( I have been running a little ragged for the past few days. Work has been really busy and I have been coming home with headaches and complete exhaustion. I went to bed at 9 PM on Thursday and I fell asleep on Friday at 5:30PM! I slept until 9 PM and ate a bowl of soup. I ended up going right back to bed. I set my alarm for 5:30 and slept right through it! (So did my hubby!) Oh crap! By the time I got up it was 7:30 AM and it was too late to make it to the race. Maybe I just needed to take this weekend off:) My daughter and I ended up going on a four mile run in one of Maple Grove's Park Preserves on Saturday afternoon. It kicked our butts! It was so hot and humid and we were both looking like death:) We toughed it out and finished our challenging and hilly run. I also went out this morning and did a five miler.....this run also kicked my ass:)

Here are a few pictures from my trip.....

San Francisco has such a fantastic Farmer's Market! I really think that Minneapolis has a great one....but...San Fran's puts Minneapolis's to shame! Did I really just type this?

The day that we went to the Golden Gate Bridge it was super foggy but it was so fun to walk around and check things out:) It made me think about all of the runners who would be crossing this bridge today during the San Francisco Marathon!

On the way back from wine country we stopped off at one of my favorite spots in California! The Muir Woods were spectacular and we ended up walking three and a half miles through the park:)

Well, this is all that I have for now:) Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!

Rad Runner is hosting a Reed's Ginger Chew giveaway!

MissZippy is hosting a Kara Goucher signed t-shirt giveaway!

Lindsay is hosting a Breakfast and Truvia giveaway!

Always A Reason To Run is hosting a $40 CSN giftcard giveaway!
Racing Dawn is hosting a $15 iTunes giftcard giveaway!
MissZippy is hosting a Ryder sunglasses giveaway!

Oz is hosting a $50 CSN giftcard giveaway!

James is hosting a $40 CSN giftcard giveaway!

Adam is hosting a $40 CSN giftcard giveaway!

Holly is hosting a $40 CSN giftcard giveaway!

Molly is hosting a Run Like A Girl giveaway!

Marcia is hosting a $60 CSN giftcard giveaway!

Angie is hosting a mantra t-shirt giveaway!

MissZippy is hosting a $40 CSN giftcard giveaway!

The Napa To Sonoma Half Marathon Race Report!

2010-07-20T20:45:00.065-05:00

Hi everyone! It just took me 45 minutes to upload all of my pictures into this post! I will try to keep this short and sweet:) Do you believe me? Sunday morning I got up at 3:45 and got ready for my Napa to Sonoma half. Mr. Julie drove me to the Sonoma high school where the bus would drive me to the Cuvaision Carneros Estate start in Napa. Mr. Julie pulled into the parking lot and we were the first car....shocker, I know! I noticed that there were several people walking on the streets, making their way to the line of buses. I ended up taking a seat on the first bus and after sitting there for 5 minutes it took off with all ten of us:) It was still dark outside at 5:15 AM but I could still see the light layer of fog dancing over rows and rows of grape vines. It was so pretty to look at. The bus ride to the start was so much faster than the drive to the start of Grandma's half marathon in Duluth. The bus driver let us out and we walked up the very long driveway. It was so calm and peaceful. I started to take a few pictures but my camera was having issues with not having enough light.

You can see more people making their way up the long driveway.

These first pictures were taken early in the morning. If you look real close you can see blogger Tim in the right hand side of this picture. I was busy snapping pictures and when I turned around he said, "Hi, are you Julie?" I said, "Yes, I am Julie." I was so excited to see my blogger friend Tim who lives in the bay area of California!

I told him that I wanted a picture of us. I looked around and spotted a woman who looked like she was just standing around. I asked her if she wouldn't mind taking a picture of us. She was not happy and I knew that I made a mistake by picking her. She told me that she was busy waiting for someone and that she didn't want to walk around to take a picture. I told her that she could just take it right here. I gave her my camera and started to explain how to take the picture. She snapped at me saying, "I know how to work a camera....I don't need instructions!" I said, "Alrighty then...just take the picture." I looked at Tim giving him the I can't believe she just got snippy with me look! He smiled and said nothing:) She took the picture and I said thank you. Actually, if you look at my face in this picture you can tell that I am annoyed as hell:)

Tim was kind enough to take this one of me:)

Tim and I had at least 30 minutes to chat and just take in the breathtaking views! It was about 55 degrees early on but I would say it got up to 60 degrees by the start.

This was taken about 20 minutes before the start.

Tim and I decided to walk down to where the start line was. We were both curious if there were pace time markers so we would have an idea where to start. Tim knew that he was going to try to do about a 1:50 half and I was thinking of running a 2:10 finish.

This is about 15 minutes before the start. The area that is shown in this picture filled in later and we were packed in pretty tight.

This is a picture of all of the people in back of us. There was supposed to be 3,000 runners...there were actually 2,634 finishers. Tim and I started off together slowly making our way to the start line. The first portion of the run was a steep down hill followed by a sharp left hand turn and a daddy of a hill. Since there were no pace markers there were several different running abilities scattered all over. The hill was a little tough as I am not great at the people zig zagging and passing. Tim was an expert at this and I saw him making his way up the hill so much faster than me. After Tim made it up the hill that was the last time that I saw him until the finish. Once I was up the hill things got a little better and the runners started to thin out.

I have to tell you all that the feeling that I had when running this race was calm and safe. I was in awe of the beauty around me and just tried to soak it all in. It was very quiet running those first few miles and I was in heaven!

I was running not really caring about my pace. I felt fine and I ran smart by listening to my body. I did look down at my garmin several times within the first three miles. Most of the time my garmin read 7:40 to 8:30. I thought to myself, you better watch it...you are going to crash and not have the energy to finish strong.

Looking out ahead of me there was a sea of runners making their way down and up the road. This course was full of rollers but they were totally doable to me. Maple Grove is full of hills so they didn't bother me.

I think this was about somewhere between mile two and three. I love this picture....I stopped , turned around and took this amazing view of the runners behind me. If you enlarge this picture you can see that this road winds and turns. Look at all of the runners so far back down this windy road. It made me feel pretty good to know that even if I wasn't a front runner, I still considered myself to be somewhere in the front of the pack:)

I stopped and walked through every water station. I took my fuel gel at mile four and mile nine. I never felt like I was pushing myself, I just ran steady and easy. I was a little worried because my miles have been cut back so much. I felt fantastic when I was running and I was happy!

Shortly after hitting water stop number five, we were all at a stand still. We had to wait for traffic to move across the highway. I really don't know how long we were standing there. I was just taking it all in. People were chatting with the police officers and watching the cars drive by. A woman behind me was getting a little restless and said we have been waiting here for almost a minute. I really didn't care:) Finally we were off running again.

The temperature was perfect for running. Living in Minnesota I am so used to the heat and humidity. Yuck! Running in wine country was a dream compared to what I normally have to put up with! I was in heaven:)

It was mile ten where I saw my hubby taking my picture and cheering for me:) He asked me if I felt okay and I nodded. He then said, "Don't you think you are going a little fast?" I said, "No way, I am feeling great!" I had a huge smile on my face and Mr. Julie just shook his head:)

I ran the last three miles with this woman from Canada. We chatted and the time just flew by:)

When there was about a mile left I looked at my garmin and knew that I was going to come in under the two hour mark! I was elated:) I took that last right hand turn and headed down the final stretch. I passed my new friend from Canada and continued on steady and strong. When I saw the clock I threw up my arms in joy and smiled like a fool! I was happy! I heard the announcer say, " Here is runner Julie from Maple Grove, Minnesota!" People were cheering and I got the biggest running high of my life! This was even better then when I got my half marathon PR! I ran a half marathon a few minutes shy of my PR and I felt flipping fantastic every step of the way! I didn't feel like getting sick, I never had to use the Biffy and my feet didn't hurt! I was fine.....I was better than fine:) I am pretty sure that a tear drop fell down my cheek and that has never happened during a finish....ever!

Okay, my booty looks like Jay Lo's! Look what running does...I got my track ghetto booty back:) I am wearing my new Asics running singlet and skirt. I took a chance and wore it for the first time during this race. It was so comfy and I was flipping lucky! I broke a very important runner's law by wearing something brand new to a race:)

Tim was able to see me finish and was surprised...he was expecting to see me in about twelve minutes:) I introduced him to my hubby and had him take a post race picture of us:) We all chatted for a few minutes. I have been so blessed to meet so many of my blogger friends at races:) Tim, it was great to meet you...who knows...maybe I will see you next year!

Here I am with my wine glass! Did I drink any wine you may ask? Hell yes!

Here I am sporting the race t-shirt:)

Okay, so here are my official stats....

Final time...1:58:45 with an average pace of 9:00.

I placed 615 out of 2634 overall! Yes, this means that over 2,000 people finished after me:)

I placed 296 out of 1,863 women:)

I placed 53 out of 311 for my age group!

I absolutely loved this race! If there is anyone who is maybe thinking about doing it but not sure....I say flipping sign up! You will not be sorry! This race took place in one of the most beautiful places in California! This race is not crazy big so it is enjoyable! There is just something about it....something almost spiritual:) It is hard to explain but I can tell you that I am already bugging my hubby about next year! If I run this again next year I am going out with Anne Marie after the race...so that I can drink:) Anne Marie just did the Vineman Tri...you should check out her blog and read her race report! She did awesome:)

After the race we went back to the hotel to get cleaned up. We then went vineyard hopping and had a blast:) I love California and can really see myself living in wine country someday!

Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!

MissZippy is hosting a Ryder's sunglasses giveaway!

Oz is hosting a $50 CSN giftcard giveaway!

Aimee is hosting her first all of her favorite things giveaway....very cool!

James is hosting a $40 GSN giftcard giveaway!

Adam is hosting a $40 CSN giftcard giveaway!

Holly is hosting a $40 CSN giftcard giveaway!

Molly is hosting a Run Like A Girl giveaway!

Marcia is hosting a $60 CSN giftcard giveaway!

Angie is hosting a mantra t-shirt giveaway!

Rad Runner is hosting an ALO clothing giveaway!

Thomas is hosting a ROAD ID giveaway!

MissZippy is hosting a $40 CSN giftcard giveaway!

I Am Back From California....Napa To Sonoma Half Race Report Coming Soon!

2010-07-19T22:27:00.005-05:00

Hi everyone, I just got back about a hour ago and I am pretty tired. I just wanted to let everyone know that I had such a great time in California! Wine country was gorgeous and the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon is currently ranking as my favorite half marathon to date:)

I will have a full race report tomorrow evening after work! Here is a hint of how I did....faster than I hoped and I felt fantastic the entire race! I am still sporting the biggest smile on my face! I feel like I have been disconnected from the blogger world and I can't wait to see what everyone has been up to! I will be spending a few hours tomorrow playing catch up:)

Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!

San Francisco and Wine Country Here I Come!

2010-07-15T19:41:00.011-05:00

I just wanted everyone to know that I will be MIA until late Monday afternoon. Mr. Julie and I are heading out tomorrow morning for San Francisco. We will be picking up my race packet early and then have an exciting night out on the town planned:) Saturday we are driving to Sonoma to get settled into our very nice hotel. My plan is to hit the expo and then just relax. After the half marathon on Sunday morning we are off to go vineyard hopping! My wish for this half marathon is to run a relaxed and slower than pace run. I am thinking about coming in at 2:10 or so...we will see. I know that I will really piss my hubby off if I go faster than that and my co-worker will kill me! I value my life so I am just going to have a fun and enjoyable run through wine country:) I have two cameras ready to roll!

Anne Marie, I wish that we could do a meet up...maybe another time. Good luck with your race, I am sure you are going to do great! Good luck to all of the other people racing this weekend! I am looking forward to reading all of the race reports:)

Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!
Pam is hosting a Sweaty Bands giveaway!
Rad Runner is hosting an ALO clothing giveaway!
Adam is hosting a CEP sock/sleeve and $60 giveaway!
Thomas is hosting a ROAD ID giveaway!
MissZippy is hosting a $40 CSN giftcard giveaway!
Anne is hosting a $60 CSN giftcard giveaway!

Taking It Easy....Well Sort Of

2010-07-10T13:15:00.027-05:00

Hi everyone! I am happy to report that I have been behaving myself and taking it easy.....well, taking it easy according to me. Earlier this week I was able to do a bloggie meet up with one of my blogger friends from New York! I met Suzy and her husband ADP for a nice dinner in Minneapolis. We met at a cute and charming bar & grill called Eli's. I would highly recommend it to everyone! It is known as the Loring Park area's best kept secret! I found it to be a diamond in the rough. The service was outstanding and the food absolutely delicious!

Suzy and me:)

Suzy and me again:)

This is ADP and Suzy. We met and enjoyed a drink together before sitting down to eat dinner. Suzy and her husband are both very charming, we enjoyed fantastic & stimulating conversation! They are both very outgoing and charismatic:) Suzy, if you ever come to my neck of the woods again, please let me know! I would love to do a meet-up again! ADP, you are invited too:)

I really wanted to tone down my workouts for the week and take it easy on myself. I think that I did a pretty good job. This week's training schedule looked like this.

Sunday....Red White and Boom Half Marathon 13.2 miles.

Monday, off.

Tuesday.....an easy 2.5 miler at a 9 minute pace.

Wednesday....an easy 4 miler at a 9 minute pace.

Thursday, I will call this cross training day. I cut my lawn and this task takes one hour:)

Friday, off.

Saturday, an 8 miler at a 9:10 minute pace.

This morning I headed up to St. Cloud to run with my running group. Today's breakfast run was hosted by Denny, (AKA my running dad) and his wife Carol. They have a lovely home on the river with breathtaking views:) I met Deb at the park and we ventured out on a four miler, running on the trails next to the river. We headed back to Denny and Carol's house for our group picture. After chatting a bit with the group we started out on our second run. Deb and I ran another four miler. This second run was a little more challenging than the first because it was getting so darn hot. We ran by Whitney Park and Deb spotted that the baseball field had sprinklers on! Oh happy day:) We stopped to run through the sprinklers and cooled down! I was loving it and felt refreshed enough to continue on! I told Deb that I was bummed that my camera's battery died...this was definitely a Kodak moment:) After our run, I quick got into my van. I drove down the street to the nearest gas station to purchase batteries for my camera. Julie and a camera that doesn't work is just wrong! You all know how much I love taking pictures:)

After we all got back from our runs we returned to Denny's house for our breakfast! Here are several pictures that I took this morning.

Nikki and Deb.

Deb and me.

Nikki and me.

I took a few pictures of this amazing view of the river! This was taken just off of Denny's deck.... Denny and Carol get to look at every single day:)

So beautiful and peaceful:)

My running folks....Denny and Carol:)

Denny, me and Carol.

Next weekend my hubby and I are heading out to California! I am running in the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon and looking forward to it:) Hopefully if everything works out I will be running a few shorter races with my blogger pals Average A and Julie. The MDRA is hosting Wednesday evening races in the month of July! We get to run by Minnehaha Park....one of my favorite spots to run in Minnesota:) With in the next few days I will also be signing up for a few 5Ks to run for the months of July and August. I know of two races that I will be running in September. I did both of these runs last year and had a blast. The first is the Bolder Dash 10K and the other is Women Run the Cities 10 miler. Don't worry, I promise that I am not going to go all gang busters with these runs! I am going to listen to my body and use them as training runs. I still need to wait for clearance from my doctor to run full force. So far I have not had any other GI episodes but will continue to remain cautious when running.

Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!

Rad Runner is hosting an ALO clothing giveaway!

Adam is hosting a CEP sock/sleeve and $60 giveaway!

Thomas is hosting a ROAD ID giveaway!

MissZippy is hosting a $40 CSN giftcard giveaway!

Pam is hosting a Sweaty Bands giveaway!

Anne is hosting a $60 CSN giftcard giveaway!

The Red White And Boom Race Report!

2010-07-05T10:42:00.024-05:00

This is a picture of my running group after the Red White and Boom Half Marathon. We went to Hell's Kitchen for breakfast:)

I would like to take a moment to thank all of you for leaving me those wonderful and supportive comments! I was overwhelmed and tears came to my eyes as I read them. I really do love each and everyone of you and appreciate your kind words and well wishes. This is a hard time for me but having such a great support system makes it easier:)

I call this picture...me and the boys:) Arvid, Rick, me, Ron, Paul and Tim. Well, I survived the Red White and Boom Half Marathon! I got up yesterday morning at 3:30 AM so that I could get ready and have enough time to drive into St. Paul. I was planning on meeting my team for group pictures at 5:15 AM. I drove to St. Paul and found a parking spot in a lot across from a big ramp. I pinned on my racing bib, gathered my things and started walking down the street I thought that I was supposed to be on. After walking a few blocks it was clear to me I was not going in the right direction. Have I ever mentioned that I am directionally challenged? Seriously, I am the worst and I drive my hubby absolutely bonkers! I looked at my watch and started to panic because it was 5:05 AM and I needed to meet my group at 5:15! Yikes! I must of looked like a sorry soul because two cars drove up and the owner of the first car rolled down his window and yelled, "Hey, good luck today!" I yelled back, "Do you know how to get to the start line?" The nice gentleman in the second car yelled, "Matt, give her a ride!" Matt told me to get in and I was so happy to have a personal ride to the start:) It turns out that Matt and Sam were both pacers for the race! God, I love pacers! Matt dropped me off right at the Team Up tent and wished me good luck again. I thanked him and went on my merry way. Within a few minutes people started to show up and I saw my running team. After they picked up their racing packets we walked to the Team Up tent and had our pictures taken. It was pretty busy and the photographers were shuffling running groups in one after the other. I met Average A by the tent and spoke with her for a few minutes. We were both planning on taking it easy today. We decided to at least start out together by the 10 minute mile pacers.

Me and Tim.

Mark and me.

This is my view of the people in front of me about ten minutes before the start. It was 85 degrees and super humid already! I knew that this was not going to be a fun one and I was so glad that I brought my hydration belt. There were only four water stops and I knew that I would need more than that. After taking a few pictures I headed to the start line and found the 9:55 minute mile pacer girls:) I have seen both Tanya and Becca at several of the half marathons this season:) I met Tanya at Earth Day and talked to her for a long time at the Minneapolis Team Ortho expo. I met Becca at the pacer booth for the Lake Minnetonka half. I looked around for A and did not see her anywhere....I figured that I would eventually see her somewhere along the course.

Here is my view of the people behind me.

Tanya took this picture of me right before the start. My plan for the run was to take it easy and do a jog/walk program. I figured that I would stay with my pacer girls for a few miles and then walk a few minutes. I would just listen to my body and make sure that I never felt like I was pushing it. I stayed with my pacer girls and the 9:55 pace seemed so slow but it was nice.

This picture was taken a little after the start. Sorry about the crappy pictures but because of the humidity and my running, there is motion. The first two miles went by and it was so hot and humid. Yuck! It looked cloudy and we knew the rain was coming. It was somewhere between mile 2.5 and 3 miles where it started to rain. It actually felt good....I was thanking the running Gods for cooling me off!

It was at about mile three where I noticed Speedo Steve out on the sidewalk taking pictures. I yelled Steve and waved. He yelled, "Go Julie!" I attempted to take his picture but it was just a blurry mess! After I saw Steve I told the nice woman next to me that Steve is a famous Minnesota blogger. I told her what a Tri stud that he is and that he has an awesome blog with a huge following. She noticed my St. Cloud River Runner's shirt and asked me if I knew Kathy. Kathy is also a member of the St. Cloud River Runner's. I told her that yes, I have met Kathy. She then asked me if I was the Julie with the running blog. It turns out she has read my blog too:) At mile five there was a water stop and I decided it was time to rest. This would be my first walking part. I took my gel and drank my water slowly. It felt great to stop and walk for a few minutes. Eventually, I continued on and within a few minutes I spotted A running with her friend Pablo! I pulled up next to her and we chatted, slowly running together. We jogged for a mile or so and then took walking breaks. There were two big ass hills....we walked up both:) It was so much fun chatting with A and her friend Pablo. The time and the miles just flew by and I was totally relaxed! It was at mile eight where I realized that I did not once have the need to use a Biffy or felt like getting sick! Mile nine rolled along and Pablo needed to slow down but urged A and I to continue on.

Here is a shot of A as we were running through a tunnel. A and I moved ahead continuing with our slow pace. At mile ten A needed to stop at the Biffy. There was a line but we were hoping that it would move quickly. I continued on knowing that she would catch up to me. I looked down at my Garmin and I think that I might of accidentally stopped the timer! Crap, why am I always having issues with my Garmin durning races? Whatever! Does it really matter anyway. I started to run with a man who looked like he could of been a football player. He was twenty something and listening to music. He was at least 6 feet 2 inches tall:) We ran side by side for the next two miles. I kept looking back to see if A was on her way. I did see a few runners with the same color shirt as her but no A. Mile twelve finally came and I was feeling good. I decided to turn up the speed a bit. I left my football player running companion waving and wishing him good luck. He nooded and smiled:) I took it up to a 9 minute mile pace and ran steady and relaxed. When I reached the last 400 meters I turned it up a little more running strong and steady. I would not say that I was sprinting but I was moving. I could see the finish line and I was smiling:)

My final time was 2:17:33. This turned out to be a 10:30 minute pace....not so bad considering I walked so much of it:) It took me 23 minutes longer than my PR! This was my slowest half marathon in the books but I am okay with it. I did not ever feel like I had to stop and use the Biffy or did I feel like getting sick! I would say that this was a successful race! Finishing is winning....right Jill?

After the race I went to the Team Up tent for some watermelon and ice cream! Good stuff:) I met A again a little later....turns out she finished shortly after me! I took her over to meet my running team and she took a few pictures. Unfortunately, I am not able to open the file:(

This picture was actually taken this morning. I needed to have at least one picture of me with the bling:)

Do you remember a few posts back how I mentioned that I had gone through a bit of good luck with winning blogger giveaways? I won a few blogger giveaways again! My socks arrived from MCM Mama and I also received a Starbuck's giftcard from Shannon! Thanks ladies!

I am going to leave you with a picture of my boys. Here is my college boy and my little guy. We went to the Como Park Zoo on Saturday and we all had a blast! This was at the end of our day and little guy is a little tired, crabby and sugar maxed:)

Also, a big thank you goes out to my St. Cloud River Runner's team! Thank you so much for being so kind and not being worried about my time. You are all such amazing runners and I am proud to run with you ! You have made me feel welcome since day one and I appreciate it! I had a so much fun at both the race and the breakfast! Never a dull moment:) You all rock!

Happy running, biking, swimming, and lifting! Cheers to you all:)

Anne is hosting a $60 CSN giftcard giveaway!

News To Share And It Sucks!

2010-07-02T18:00:00.005-05:00

I have been MIA to Blogland for a few days longer than I would of liked. Unfortunately, my life has been crazy busy and it is difficult to keep up with everything. I have something to share regarding my running. Sadly, things are going to change and not to my liking. I have been wondering if I should share this news or to keep this part of my life private. I feel like I owe it to everyone to be honest because this is a running blog. This blog has been wonderful for me and I love each and everyone of my blogger friends. Blogging has been such a great resource for support and encouragement. All of you who have been faithfully reading my blog know all about my GI issues that I have been dealing with for the past few months. My GI issues actually started back in 2002 when I went back to college for the second time. I was one of those type A geeks who had to get straight A's. My stomach was very sensitive and I suffered from test anxiety. I was a nervous wreck and my GI system proved it! So here goes.........

I have been keeping up with my marathon training this week. I ran every single scheduled run until last night. Wednesday I went on a six miler and I ran it hard but not race pace. This six miler was full of rolling hills but it was nothing that I havn't done before. I came back from my run and I was hot and sweaty. I took a few minutes to cool off and went upstairs to take a shower. My day went on normal and I was feeling fine. This next part might gross people out and I am sorry but I am just keeping it real. I had to use the bathroom and I passed a blood clot! It scared the crap out of me! It scared me so much that I saw my life flash before my eyes! I went on with my evening attempting to act as normal as possible. I did not want to freak out in front of my family. I did not sleep well that evening and went to work yesterday a complete freaking mess! I spoke with one of the radiologists that I work with and told him everything. I was in tears and looked into his eyes searching for words of encouragement. Maybe I was looking for hope, I don't know. He looked at me calmly and said, "Julie, I think that you need to stop running. Your running is what is causing your GI issues and deep down you know it." Holy crap...not what I wanted to hear! He went on to tell me something that made me feel a little better. He told me that my GI problems did not sound like colon cancer. My radiologist is not a GI specialist but he is a smart man. I respect his opinions and appreciated his honesty. He then advised me to make an appointment to see a specialist as soon as possible. I called my insurance company to see if I could find a specialist who was in my network. They were kind and gave me the information that I needed. I looked at this number I had written down on my post-it and then looked at the clock. It was lunch time....I would wait until later. In the mean time I called a runner friend who had also dealt with GI issues in the past. She was able to answer a few of my questions and helped me settle down a little. After lunch I called the specialist and he personally answered the phone. I am sure that I sounded totally freaked out, even with my best efforts to stay calm. He asked me questions and for details about my history. I told him everything that he wanted to know. I asked him what the next step was. He said that I should schedule a colonoscopy for the future. Woo hoo! Not what I wanted to hear! He then told me that I needed to stop running. I said, "Are you being serious?" He said, "Yes, I am being serious." I said, "You don't understand! Running is such a passion for me...it is so much a part of who I am. I do not want to stop running, please don't make me stop." He went on to say, "If you do not stop running you should at the least cut way back. Your running is causing such a stress on your organs. You are not getting enough oxygen and you are getting the classic runner's diahrrea along with a blood clot." He told me that my intestine's blood vessels are rubbing against each other and making clots. My specialist basically said running a marathon could kill me. He advised me to forget that and stick to the shorter distances. I explained to him that I have two future half marathons on my running schedule. He paused and replied, "You must go so much slower than your normal pace and walk part of it." I agreed....I was so afraid that he would tell me to drop my half marathons too. I have a half marathon on Sunday and I am running it with my St. Cloud River Runners team. I also have the Napa to Sonoma half coming up in a few weeks. I registered for this one when it first opened up and I have been looking forward to it since last summer. I am going to finish these two final half marathons even if I have to walk in! After I have my colonoscopy there will be more information and he will review the results. If things get better with my taking it easy I will know that it is really the running that is causing my problems.

So there you have it.....I am not running my marathon that I had coming up in October. I have to cut way back in order to keep running! This news just sucks but I know that it is what is best for me and my health. I am taking the high road, as hard as it is:) My plan is to run in a few 5Ks this summer with my daughter and train with her for her cross country season. I promise all of you that I will behave myself and not push it! Oh, and by the way, I am purchasing a flipping bike....my doctor suggested it:) I am going to need the advice of all my Tri bloggy friends about what kind of bike to purchase!

So, I am going to jog/walk my half on Sunday and have a great race report for you all! I promise:) I am taking tons of pictures:) I will just be moving so much slower than usual.....but at least I will be moving!

Happy running, biking,swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!

Week Three Of Marathon Training...Check!

2010-06-26T21:43:00.026-05:00

Yes, I know that it has been one full week since my last post! Holy cow! This week went by so fast!

This morning I got up early to drive into St. Cloud to run with my running group. I arrived at the park at 6:30 AM and waited until 7 AM to meet Deb and Nikki. Deb and I waited a few minutes for Nikki and did not see her so we headed off down the road. A few minutes into our run we heard Nikki coming up from behind us....Nikki parked in a different parking lot and we missed her! Sorry Nikki! We continued on and my first run ended up being almost 4 miles.

After our first run we waited for the other runners to get there so that we could take our group picture. Here is Deb, Kathy and Denny.

This is Brian:)

I was so happy to see that Denny (AKA, my running dad) was also running this morning!

Our photographer Pat:)

After we took our group picture we headed out for our second run. I ran with Denny for the first part and then later with Deb and her friend Kathy. We ended up going about 3 and a half miles. My total for the morning was 7 and a half miles.

After our run we had an oatmeal pancake breakfast. Here is Chef Arvid sampling his creation:) They were so good!

Deb and I after eating those fantastic pancakes:)

I was really tired this week but I did get all of my workouts and runs in. There were a few days where I was moving just a little bit slower than normal. This is what my training plan looked like for the week. Keep in mind that there are modifications due to running Grandma's half last weekend.

Sat....Grandma's Half Marathon, 13.2 miles.

Sunday....off. I did cut our lawn:)

Monday...6 easy miles.

Tuesday...6 easy miles.

Wednesday...6 easy miles.

Thursday...off, I really needed a rest. I do believe that after work I enjoyed a nice glass of wine!

Friday...off.

Saturday...7 and a half miles with my running group.

Sunday, I have an 11 miler on my schedule.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that it does not rain like crazy tomorrow. I am not thrilled about possibly doing 11 miles on my mill!

Oops, I forgot about this picture of me and Arvid:)

I have been very lucky over the past few weeks! First, I received a t-shirt from Italy in the mail:) Thank you Stefano! About one week later I received a P.F. CHANG'S giftcard from my blogger friend Pam:) We just happen to have a P.F. CHANG'S right here in Maple Grove! Thank you Pam! A few days later, another package came in the mail from Rad Runner! I was the winner of her Peaceful Mountain product giveaway:) Thank you Rad Runner! I love these products and so does my daughter...she is making me purchase some just for her! A few days after my Peaceful Mountain products came, I scored a Last Mile Brewing bottle opener from Jamoosh! Woo hoo, a bottle opener for sampling more unique kinds of beer:) Thanks Jamoosh! I love getting good stuff in the mail! I also really appreciate how lucky and blessed that I have been! I would like to take a moment to welcome all of my new followers! I now have over 200 followers:) I am in total awe that so many people are reading my blog...thank you!! I will be hosting another very cool blogger giveaway soon! Stay tuned:)

I am getting kicked off of the computer again! Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!

Rad Runner is hosting a Wrist Cuff giveaway!
Age Group Rocks is hosting a Bondi Band giveaway!

MCM Mama is hosting a Ryder sunglasses giveaway!

Angie is hosting a Nuun hydration and Spibelt giveaway!

Marcia is hosting a Scape sunscreen giveaway!

Grandma's Half Marathon Race Report!

2010-06-20T15:43:00.060-05:00

I have officially experienced my first Grandma's Half Marathon race!! Warning to Jamoosh and Rock Star....this is most likely my longest race report to date:) Sorry! First, I want to say that I had a complete blast:) This past weekend was so much fun that I have decided to for sure try to do this race again. If I do not get into the half marathon I just might consider doing the full. Mr. Julie drove us to Duluth and took a back road to get there so we made it without any annoying grid lock:) The first thing on my agenda was to go to the race expo to see Kara Goucher! She was one of the guest speakers and we made it just in time:) Kara spoke to us all about her personal running story and experiences. She was amazing and it was really interesting to listen to her talk about her running history. She shared with us her feelings on her success and also her running challenges/demons. It was so refreshing to hear that even a super star runner like Kara has off days and running funks.

After Kara was done talking she sat at this table and welcomed any fans to come get autographs and pictures. You must know that I got in that line as fast as my legs would take me. I think I had to wait about ten minutes to meet her:) I forgot my running magazines with her picture on the covers so I had her sign my race program. She wrote.....Julie, Always Believe! Kara Goucher:) I forgot to take a picture of this but will maybe add to my next post.

Well, here we are! Yes, that is me standing next to an adorable pregnant Kara Goucher:) She is so down to earth and sweet. Meeting her was one of my highlights of this entire Grandma's experience.

After meeting Kara I was on my way to pick up my racing packet and bib when I ran into these cool runner dudes:) Arvid and Gary are in my St. Cloud River Runners running group. Arvid was there to cheer people on and to take pictures. Gary's son was running in the full marathon and he was there to show his support:) I was very surprised to see these guys...another highlight!

After leaving the expo Mr. Julie and I were very hungry so we decided to go to Old Chicago for dinner. The beer in the picture was a sampler that my hubby ordered. He made me try the first one on the left:) I fell in love!

This stuff was sooooo good! I was shocked that it was a beer...it tasted smooth and sweeter than a normal beer.

My new love is called Ace Pear Cider! Mr. Julie had a good laugh at this one because in his mind it really wasn't a beer. I went up to the bar and asked the bartender if it was a beer and he said yes:) I told my hubby that the bartender said it was a beer and he just shook his head:) What do you think Jamoosh and MCM Mama? I knew that I would be back post race for a few of these babies!

When we were still eating dinner my friend Pam and her hubby came up to our table to chat with us for a bit. Pam is my friend from high school who talked me into running my first 5K:)

As we were leaving Old Chicago I ran into Average A....I was shocked to see her! Average A just ran in the Minneapolis Marathon two weeks ago! She told me she was running the full marathon! WTH!! Can we say crazy running queen:) I was so happy to see her and hoped that I would be able to see her finish and talk to her after the race. After dinner we walked back to the hotel and I went to bed. I did not sleep well at all. I really have issues sleeping in hotel beds and never sleep soundly:( The transportation buses started to leave at 4:45 AM to take runners up to the start line. I made sure that I was up at 3:30 AM and ready to go.

Here I am with my race bib....number F 357! Woo hoo, there is a seven in the number and the F stands for fast:)

Here I am with Mr. Julie as I waited for the next bus to pull up.

Do I look nervous? I was starting to get nervous and I wasn't anywhere near the start line! On the bus ride I sat next to a young man who was running his first half marathon. We chatted for a little bit on the ride. The farther the bus drove the calmer the runners seemed to be. You could hear a pin drop that it was so quiet! That darn bus ride seemed to take forever! Finally I looked at my bus partner and said, "What the hell? We have been driving forever, there is no way that we have not been driving for thirteen miles!" He told me that he was thinking the same thing. Finally the bus turned on some little road and we pulled up to the starting point.

I got off of the bus and this was my view at 5:10 AM! This is Lake Superior before the sun decided to make an appearance.

This is the first portion of the road to the start. I walked up this road and took it all in. There were already hundreds of runners there. Several were stretching and others were checking their bags. It was calm and quiet....too quiet for me! I was starting to get nervous again.

Here is another picture of Lake Superior.

This was so early in the morning that there were no lines for the Biffys:) Believe me that changed in a hurry!

I was standing on the road when Pam came up to me:) I was so happy to see her and being able to talk to her calmed me down a little. I asked her if she knew how many people were running in the half and she told me 6,000. This is the biggest race that I have competed in to date!

I walked up to where I thought I should be standing for pacing. I placed myself between the 1:50 and 2:00 pace slots. There were no pacers to been seen at that time. This is a view of the people in front of me. Check out where the actual start is....way up there!

This is what I saw when I turned around! There were even people standing behind the balloons in the back.

There was a 1:50 pacer and his name was Andy. I really wanted there to be a 1:55 pacer but not today:( I decided to go with Andy and just try to keep up with him. We could see that the runners in front of us were moving forward and it was time to boogie! Things were crazy for the first few miles and it was so hard to stay with Andy! There were so many people moving slower and I struggled with staying with him from the get go! At about mile two I was running right behind him and I wanted to check our distance out on my Garmin. Holy crap! I flipping forgot to start my Garmin!! Grrr! Usually I forget to stop the darn thing after the race so this was a first for me. I was not happy with myself:( We were moving along pretty good and I tried to stay relaxed.

This picture was taken at about mile three. I was already warm and sticky and hoped for a nice breeze to cool me off. I stayed with Andy until mile five because I once again started to have GI issues. I also felt sick to my stomach! So here I am at mile five and feeling like total crap yet again! WTH is going on with me? I struggled until I spotted a Biffy....I had to wait in line:( It was right at this time where I started to doubt if I could ever run in a full marathon. I thought about not being able to run in a half without making Biffy stops and dealing with my stomach issues. I asked my radiologist what she thought about my stomach problems and she thinks that I am putting so much stress of my body that my organs are not getting enough oxygen. Because of the lack of oxygen my body wants to get rid of all of my toxins. This has been happening for sometime now and I think it is time for me to go and see a specialist. I want to train and race without dealing with the stress of having to make bathroom stops during all of my longer races. After my Biffy turn I continued on and my pacer Andy was no where to be seen:( I continued on solo. At the 10K point I was feeling sick again. I stopped and walked through every single water stop after this point. I felt like I was moving so slow. In my mind I told myself to keep moving at a steady pace and try to stay positive. This was very difficult to do. Here I was running in Grandma's Half Marathon...one of the most beautiful courses to date and I wasn't even enjoying the scenery. I was concentrating on just making it through another race. Mile eight, nine, and ten were unremarkable. I do not remember anything other than attempting to survive. There were spectators cheering and it was hard for me to smile. Lemon Drop Hill was not as bad as I thought that it would be but there was some nasty wind. There was one group of UMD college guys cheering runners on and they made me laugh:) I needed them...thanks guys! They were singing songs and cheering for the runners! Go runners! Beer here! Girl in pink Fila shirt, do you want a beer? No she can't have a beer...she is running! Go girl in pink Fila shirt! When I hit Fitger's I knew that there was about two miles left and I was feeling a little tired. I saw my hubby and he yelled, "Go Jules, you are hanging on to a 1:57 finish...keep up your pace and you will come in under two hours!" I looked at him and he was smiling as I was suffering through the last portion of my race. I told myself...you can do this...keep up this pace! Keep your feet moving and you will get through this tough time! Those last two miles were so hard for me! Just keep moving! Keep your feet moving! When I passed the Radisson hotel I saw that the finish line was near. I thought that it was close....I was warned about taking these crazy turns before the finish. Oh my God was that annoying! One more turn and I was on the home stretch:) Okay Julie, you need to pick up the pace! I started to run faster and I could hear the people cheering. I kept my eye on the balloons and the finish line until finally I crossed it! I didn't see the clocks so I had no idea what my finish time was. There was a guy in front of me who said he finished in 1:57 something. I was hoping that I was able to finish close to his time. I continued to walk forward and was presented with my medal:) I was so freaking hot and actually walked through this cool shower:) I have to tell you... it felt wonderful!

I then picked up my finishers t-shirt and walked into the after race food area. Absolutely nothing looked good. My stomach would not allow me to eat a thing directly after the race. I drank a bottle of water and then had a small cup of orange juice.

I slowly walked over to where the family members could meet up with the runners. It is there that I found my hubby waiting for me:)

I know that I look terrible but I was still not feeling the greatest.

Here I am sporting my new bling:)

We walked around for about thirty minutes and then waited for the marathon runners to come in.

I watched the winner come across and continued to cheer for runners until the 3:10 time mark. I was not feeling well and needed to take a shower. After my shower we went back and watched the finishers from the 3:55 to the 4:45 finish time. I was able to see a few of my fellow SCRRs come across the finish as well as Average A:)

When I was walking around I ran into someone that I went to high school with. He yelled, "Hey Julie!" This is my friend Dean who I met in seventh grade. We were in the same home economics class and made pancakes and muffins together:) My hubby took two pictures...Dean is not smiling in this picture.

Dean is smiling in this picture but my hair is hanging down in my face:) No such thing as perfect:)

When I was talking to Dean I saw Kalli and I had to take a photo opportunity:) Kalli is another SCRR who ran in the full marathon. Kalli was so excited because she PRd!! She ran this marathon with an amazing time of 3:14!! Woo hoo! Go Kalli:)

As I promised, we went back to Old Chicago for lunch and I enjoyed few of my new favorite beers:) No, there is not Bud Light in that cup...it is Ace Pear Cider:) I also really like the Killian's Irish Red:)

We then walked back to the results area to check out my time. WTH, 1:58 something! I was so bummed:( At that time I did not know that the times posted were gun times.

We walked around the canal and took in the sights.

It was about seven o'clock when we headed back to Old Chicago for more beer:) I spotted Renee sitting with her Rochester running group. I introduced Renee to Mr. Julie and he took our picture.

I then went over and got to meet her crazy running group! The scary thing was that they called me blogger girl! A few of them read my blog:) I know that they were being truthful because they knew that I adopted Denny as my new running dad! These guys are absolutely nuts...but in a good way:) I think that my hubby found them very entertaining and wanted to drink with them for the rest of the night.

The shirts say...Run, Eat, Drink. 2 Out of 3 Aint Bad! I love it!

The city of Duluth was one big party for the entire night! It was crazy! We purchased tickets for entry into the big tent where we could drink and listen to a few bands. Mr. Julie and I walked around and did listen to one of the bands. They were great and played really good rock music! I love my ACDC! It was getting pretty crowded so we left and went to Little Angie's for a late dinner. After we had dinner I was spent and needed to go to bed ASAP. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit my pillow:) This morning we ate breakfast outside of our hotel with gorgeous views of Lake Superior. We drove home after breakfast and made it back in two and a half hours.

When I got home I checked Grandma's web page for my official race stats......

Final time 1:56:48!

I placed 1706 out of 5828 runners.

I placed 618 out of 3308 female runners.

I placed 58 out of 295 women in my age group.

I did not get my 1:50 goal but for all of my stomach issues as of late, I am okay with my time.

Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!

I know that I am behind on blogging and I am so sorry. I will try to get caught up on everyone's blogs:) Also, welcome to all new followers...leave me a comment and I will make a trip to your blogs as soon as I can!

MCM Mama is hosting a Ryder sunglasses giveaway!

Duluth Or Bust....Grandma's Here I Come!

2010-06-17T21:07:00.006-05:00

Well, I am attempting to be all organized and pack everything needed for my little trip up to Duluth, Minnesota for Grandma's half marathon! We are planning on heading out tomorrow at noon:) I hope that the road construction is at a minimum and that we make it there in a timely manner. I am pretty darn excited for my very first Grandma's experience! It is a beautiful course right along Lake Superior. I promise to take lots of gorgeous pictures to share in my race recap! I want to really enjoy running this one and plan to soak it all in. My main goal is to have a great time...drinking may or may not be involved post race:) Just kidding, drinking will absolutely be involved! I hear that it is one big party! Perhaps a post race beer will be on my agenda. I need to make Jamoosh and MCM Mama proud:)

My race starts at 6:30 AM on Saturday:) Please send me run fast vibes...a little cow bell would be nice too!

My next post will be Sunday afternoon. Good luck to everyone else running this weekend! Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!

Marcia is hosting a Scape sunscreen giveaway!
Rad Runner is hosting a Peaceful Mountain product and a Veagan cookie giveaway!
Angie is hosting a Nuun hydration and Spibelt giveaway!
Sarah is hosting a Bondi Bands giveaway!

Life Has Been Crazy!

2010-06-13T17:51:00.008-05:00

Wow, has it really been one full week since my last post? We have been very busy this past week and it was difficult to find time to post, read blogs and comment. I am so far behind and I promise I will catch up on everyone's blogs when I have a chance:)

I decided to go with Hal Higdon's marathon training guide for my first marathon. I will be following the Intermediate I plan and hope that it will be a good fit for me. It is actually an eighteen week program that I am making a seventeen week plan. I will put in a few minor modifications when needed. This is what my week one looked like....

Sunday....The Team Ortho Half Marathon....13.1 miles.

Monday... cross training, cutting the lawn and an easy one mile run.

Tuesday....a three miler.

Wednesday...off due to Kay's track awards dinner.

Thursday...off due to a friend from works baby shower.

Friday...a eight mile run to make up for two days off.

Saturday....a five mile run.

Sunday....a nine mile run. Yes, I am flipping tired!! I am going to sleep well tonight:)

Today for my nine miler I went out on a new running route. I ventured off to the Fish Lake Park running trails. I was really surprised with how many rolling hills that there were. They kicked my butt! I brought my hydration water belt and two packs of gel. I stopped for a walk break at the four mile point. When I got home after my run and looked at the data in my Garmin I was shocked to see that I actually kept up a 9:10 minute pace!?! Not really sure how this happened:) I felt like I was moving snails pace. I really enjoyed running this new route and will run again in the future.

Like I mentioned earlier Kay had her awards dinner on Wednesday evening. I am so proud of her and am happy to report that she did letter as an eighth grader! Kay also was presented with the Rookie Of The Year award for her jumping:) The coaches all had so many nice things to say about her. I am a proud mama and just had to share this exciting news. Kay is also starting cross country in a few weeks. They start training in the summer so that they are conditioned by the fall. Kay is a sprinter but wants to stay in shape for basketball and thinks that cross country will help her to stay active and focused:)

Next weekend is Grandma's Half Marathon and I can't wait! I will most likely post one more time before I head to Duluth on Friday for the expo:)

Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to all of you!

I will post giveaways soon:)

Here is a picture of Kay with her letter and other award:)
Marcia is hosting a Scape sunscreen giveaway!
Rad Runner is hosting a Peaceful Mountain Product giveaway!
Angie is hosting a nuun hydration and spibelt giveaway!

Sarah is hosting a Bondi Bands Giveaway!

Shannon is hosting a $15 Starbuck's giftcard giveaway!

Rad Runner is hosting a Veagan Cookie giveaway!

Amanda is hosting a yummy chocolate and a $80 CSN giftcard giveaway!

The Team Ortho Half Marathon Report!

2010-06-06T19:29:00.007-05:00

Hi everyone, I just got up from a really long nap! I ran in the Team Ortho Half Marathon this morning and it totally wiped me out! Let me just say right now that I have had better races.

Saturday morning I headed off to the race expo to pick up my bib and race packet . I arrived there at 10:15 AM and it was already packed!

This is what this years t-shirt looks like....I really love the color:)

This was my one purchase of the day. I was checking out all of the expo retail shops and found this shirt! I couldn't resist! It had my name written all over it! I have many comments on my last post with people telling me that I am in several of the Team Ortho's Face Book Page. There were four photographers volunteering taking pictures of the packet pickup/expo. I had a woman photographer following me throughout my stay. She told me that I should check out the web page for several pictures that she took of me:) There is a picture of me that is very similar to the one above.

I did not sleep well last night and I kept waking up every hour on the hour:( My alarm went off at 4 AM....I was not in the mood to get up! I was still so tired and I had to force myself to move my butt! After my shower I felt a little better. I drove into Minneapolis with hopes of scoring a cheap parking spot close to the Depot/race start and finish. I scored! I drove into a little parking lot very close to a Caribou Coffee and 1 block from the Depot! I was elated to find out that my parking for the morning would only be $1.50:)

Just look at my bib number...7587! There are two sevens in it and seven just happens to be my favorite number! Does this mean that I have a double lucky bib? Well, if you read my first paragraph, you already know the answer to this question.

I stopped off at the Depot where I used the Biffs and then people watched for a bit.

This picture is of my new friend Brenda:) We met in the parking lot and ended up talking about 30 minutes. Brenda ran in the full marathon and told me what to expect for the half.

This picture was taken about 20 minutes to the start.

Here I am in line...I went back in forth between the 1:50 and 1:55 pacers. Part of me thought it would be better to go with Scott the 1:55 pacer but he was doing the full and would leave me at mile 9. Mike led the 1:50 group. I really wanted to stay with him for the entire race and hoped for the best:)

This is a picture of all of the runners in front of me. Both the half and full marathoners started together. We shuffled up to the start and we were off. The first two miles went fine and I felt okay. I had no problem staying with Mike and the rest of the group. Mile three rolled along and I started to feel nauseous! Crap and what the hell! No! Do not feel sick! Just keep going and breath....just breath. It was getting warm and there were just way too many people for there to be any airflow. I stopped at all of the water stops and drank every drop. Mile four I was still with Mike and we were on schedule. I struggled with feeling like getting sick and having a slight headache.

It was at mile four and a half where I knew that I would absolutely need a bathroom break. OMG, my GI system was doing a darn good number on me! I was hoping for a Biffy sighting ASAP! I really can't tell you where I spotted the Biffs but I had to stand in line! There were two other guys in line:( I don't even want to think about the minutes that ticked away with this first stop. It was so damn hot in that Biff and I honestly felt like passing out. Once I got back outside I felt a little better. I continued on....I lost my pacer:( I pretty much knew that I was on my own now and that just sucked!

I really tried to stay positive and kept on thinking...just enjoy the run...don't worry about your time. Yea, that wasn't working. It was a tough run for me and I knew it was going to be a battle just getting to the finish.

I actually started to take my first fuel gel at mile three and it was gone before mile four. I am thinking that I lost my second gel during my bathroom break. I was messing with my Spibelt and forgot to zip it shut! When I noticed this I was so bummed because I knew that I would never make it without my second pack. I continued on...down the hills and up the hills. This course was harder for me than the Lake Minnetonka half. I would like to do it again minus all of my issues. I continued to grab water at every station. Sometimes I grabbed two cups and just inhaled them. I was dehydrated and needed fuel. After I hit mile eight I knew that I need to use the Biffs again. My next Biffy stop I didn't have to wait in line but I just watched the minutes tick by. For the past few weeks I have been dealing with GI issues and it is an on again off again thing. It was so frustrating and it was hard to keep a good attitude. When I finally made it to the turn around I knew that I had a little more than three miles. The thing that sucked was that the last portion of the run was uphill! Yes, my favorite! Just keep moving...quick little steps! Some nice man yelled, "Go Julie, you are almost done...just around the corner!" I forgot that my name was on my bib:) Just hearing someone yell my name and cheer for me was a huge energy booster! I attempted to run faster and I know that I wasn't sprinting in...I really wanted to be but it just wasn't going to happen for this race. After I crossed the finish line I pulled over to the side for a few minutes...I was spent! I must of looked like it because a woman wanted to know if I needed medical attention. Really? Do I look that bad? After about ten minutes I continued down the line and picked up my finishers medal! God, I love bling:)

Well, I finished!

I went on the web page to find my official running stats and they looked like this.......

Officail finish time 2:00:15

I placed 1003 out of 3355 runners.

I placed 465 out of 2196 female runners.

I placed 58 out of 292 for my age group.

I did not PR today but I finished! My 1:50 PR race will have to come another day:)

I stayed around to watch the marathoners finish! I cheered for all of the runners until I saw my blogger friend Average A come down the shoot! She did awesome!

Average A is adorable and so nice! I was so glad that I stayed and had the chance to meet her:) Congrats on your first marathon!

Well, that is all I have for now. I am so far behind blogging and I will do my best to catch up! Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting:) Cheers to you all! I will link in giveaways as soon as I get a chance:)

Shannon is hosting a $15 Starbucks giveaway!

Rad Runner is hosting a Vegan Cookies giveaway!

Kovas is hosting a Heart Smart Diabetes Kitchen Cookbook giveaway!

Molly is hosting a Drymax socks giveaway!

Amanda is hosting a yummy chocolate and a $80 CSN giftcard giveaway!

It Is A T-Shirt Kind Of Post!

2010-06-04T21:29:00.009-05:00

It is a t-shirt kind of post for sure! I am so excited because I got this awesome shirt in the mail from Italy! Yes, that is right, I said Italy! One of my Italian blogger friends sent me a cool Race for the Cure t-shirt from a race that he didn't run in. Stefano, thank you so much! This is such a big deal for me as I am a big fan of all things Italian:) I have two Italian blogger friends named Stefano and Giorgio. They are both so nice and I enjoy reading both of their blogs:) They are both members of the Black Knight Army! If you want to find out more about this fantastic running group you will need to visit their blogs:) Let them both know that I sent you...they both love comments:)

This next t-shirt is one of my favorite t-shirts that I purchased from my friend Nikki. Nikki is a SCRR who ran in the Boston Marathon. She took several St. Cloud River Runners t-shirts to Boston with her and had Ryan Hall sign them:) Well I scored one of them! My college boy asked me if he could cut off the sleeves and use this t-shirt as a workout shirt. I asked him if he valued his life:)

I thought that I might give you a track girl update. Sectionals did not go as well as we hoped. Kay did not jump to her ability and unfortunately did not place in the top ten. I saw two of her jumps and her approach looked off to me. This first picture is of her track coach attempting to give her a pep talk and trying to get her to settle down.

This is actually one of her practice runs. After her third jump she just broke down and started crying. She felt like she let her coaches down. I reminded her that she still has four years to run track and that she should feel pretty proud of herself for getting to run varsity as an eighth grader. I also reminded her that she lettered:) She is the type of athlete that always puts 110% into everything that she does...she knew what she was capable of jumping and that is why she was so frustrated. She has her end of season track dinner next week and then the following week cross country starts!

This last picture is of me in my very cool St. Cloud River Runners running tank compliments of Kalli:) Thank you Kalli, I feel like I am a real River Runner now!

As for my running this week...

Tuesday...6 mile run close to race pace.

Wednesday...easy 9 mile. I was attacked by a flipping bird running around Rice Lake! It scared the crap out of me! Apparently there are signs around the lake that I have never noticed....Beware of the Birds! Seriously, WTH! I have never had issues with the freaking birds before!

Thursday...6 mile run.

Friday...easy 3 miler.

Tomorrow I am going to Minneapolis to pick up my race packet for Sunday's Team Ortho Half Marathon. I have no idea what pacers I am going to run with and will not know until race morning. My blogger buddy Nate is pacing the 1:45 pace group...that might be just a wee bit fast for me:) Do me a favor and send me out some run fast vibes at 7 AM! I am hoping to see Rachel who is also running the half marathon. Average A is running the full marathon and I am planning on watching her cross the finish line! Good luck to you ladies:)

Happy running, swimming, biking and lifting:) Cheers to you all!

Molly is hosting a Drymax socks giveaway!

Amanda is hosting a yummy chocolate giveaway!

Amanda is hosting a $80 CSN giftcard giveaway!

Misszippy is hosting a Somnio jacket giveaway!

Angie is hosting a compression socks giveaway!