for allison...

my one faithful blog reader ;) (and inspiration to try this run-grandma's-26.2-mile-race)

quite honestly i know of one colleague who reads and comments, and my family in arizona. oh, and Jeremi, an awesome mom to 3 year old twins, who share a birthday with my 3 year old awesome neighbor & her mom Stacy (who also reads sometimes)....outside of that? my dh maybe once a while. but that's about it.

so thanks to my 6 faithful readers. thanks for even reading this sludge called 'jd's thoughts'...

i've not done the greatest in the facebook diet...i'm trying. Diets are hard. but blogging? i'm apparently very into that lately...

tonight, i'm watching the Grand Ole Opry Live as i type. only 2 people i know would think this is any sort of cool. but i'm down with how much of a country bumpkin i am....dwight yoakam is on at the moment...

also tonight? i completed something that 97% of the general populous would NEVER find enjoyable, let alone take part in.

i? wish it had been this beautiful...


it wasn't that pretty. but it felt *awesome* when we were done. even more so since we were completing this workout alone, on a high school track, in a cold rain. we being ally, coach ruth, myself, and wanda, a 46 year old grandmother of two who started any sort of exercise at age 45. she is training for her first marathon in may. her first half was just last october. and fun fact? (thanks Al, for letting me use your wordage. often.) wanda was in my blogging class last fall. crazy small world. it was wanda's first workout with us, and speedwork wednesdays are never easy. but she handled it awesomely and we tried to make her feel as welcome as possible during our EIGHT miles in a cold steady most-of-the-time rain. (right, i mentioned that part ;)

that? might equal *insanity* to some, or most of the human race. but as is well known in the running community, you never know what weather will be dealt your way on race day, so it's a good idea to train in anything. and thankfully? minnesota just so happens to *have* everything in the weather dept....so we're all good there. had it started lightning, we would have been safe and headed in.

but we kept going. it's what you do. or at least what these girls do. and i hope that stands for something somewhere somehow. peace...

you know you're a crazy runner when...

you run these. (JJ Hill mansion steps in a beautiful area of historic St Paul)


14 times.


177 stairs. one trip up, every step. next trip up. every other. repeat.


with a big deep breather in between each set up and set down...what doesn't kill you makes you stronger...

some days...

you just gotta pull yourself up by the boot straps and keep goin...

work's almost set.

and while i'll miss wearing the comfy clothes each day (ie jeans), i'm ready for the routine or regular work again...

marathon training is continuing...53 days or something like that left til race day.

last weekend I ran a half marathon here in the Cities. I set a personal record time, but quite honestly it about killed me and wasn't my plan. ALWAYS GO WITH THE PLAN. i didn't follow my own advice.

here's a few other random notes:
*dinner with friends? always amazing. whether just a few or a whole flock. here or there or anywhere. might be time to plan...
*gummy bears? great running snacks
*Twitter? completely not my thing. i tried and i just can't get into it.
*Facebook? more my thing, but i find in interesting that in some instances it enhances some friendships and in some i think it inhibits. so i'm going on a facebook diet. i'm on it too much. and unlike a lot of folks, i don't worry about folks from my past finding me. a) i've hidden myself pretty well and b) i don't have anyone from the past that would freak my freak. mostly? it's a craze that i think will eventually wane, and i still 100% prefer my friends in person than online only.
*pets getting older = worry.
*dreams. i have had some very vivid ones lately. about a certain personal topic. i guess i'm going to go with the 'be careful what you wish for' school of thoughts for now...

time to run...

surrounding...

yourself with good people?

people who care and are great friends?

that's the best thing in life to not ever take for granted...

have a wonderful week!

how to train for a marathon...

step one. start running.

step two. see step one.


that's pretty much what life has been lately.

i've conquered the 15 and 16 mile distances.

this weekend it's time for a half marathon (yes another one. and one on may 9. and one on may 24. and on the other weeks? it's running 17, 19, 22 miles. is it june 20th yet?

no?

well good. i'm not quite ready. but eating like a horse and my witching hours of waking up at 3:30 am for no reason are back :( bah humbug.


in addition to that, i've been big time nesting in the new library space that is home for a year.

my work space looks like this.


we've been very busy getting the whole new 20,000 sq foot space set up and it's looking really really nice! we open may 2nd, and i have no doubt by then we'll be spot on...

until then, it's time to relax while i'm actually sitting still...

yikes...

i'm off to run the longest run ever in about an hour.

on a beautiful rail trail that runs from st paul to stillwater.

today's mileage?

15.

next saturday?

16.

may 2nd?

17.

may 16th?

19.

may 30th?

22 miles up in duluth as a 'practice' run...all but the final 4 miles of the marathon route.

the weeks in between are 13 milers on saturdays.

i hear i won't die during thie process.

i'll believe that at the end when the medal is on my neck. until then? i'm pretty freaked out. and taking it one day (and yes, mile) at a time...

i'm now officially in the 'great unknown' of training. new mileage that i've never even attempted before. the folks who train for a marathon *alone* still blow my mind. they are superheroes. i am just as thankful to have a group that i know is there for me and will be counting on me to show up on these long run saturdays...so off i go...

have a great easter weekend ~

isn't it ironic?

the reasons for thie post...gail, jeff, allison & kate


ironic in the part where my last post was i had no running mojo.

really, i didn't.

and then this past weekend, mark and i went to DC to visit my best friend of 30 years and her family and while i was out there, i took part in a 12,000+ runners 10 mile race during cherry blossom festivities...

mark had never seen DC, so he had a blast looking at history at every turn...and he met baby kate, who at age 18 months was one of gail's kids he'd never even met before. allison, my goddaughter is now 4 1/2 and i hadn't been out to visit since 2007.

and i? had the best race EVER on sunday 4.5.09. even alone. i usually totally gel best with my girls and team. great karma, everyone right there.

but seeing now that in the past 3 months i've run 2 big races out of state and with no one but my iPod to stick with my pace the whole time, i've learned about myself and my pacing...

for a 10 mile race, i knew what my goal was, pace wise and finish time. i made my goal, set a personal best for that distance, and to please my coach and my ally, i finished in negative splits....which means my last 2 miles were my fastest miles....

HOWEVER. in less than 3 months i am slated to run 26.2. for those that suck at math as much as i do, that's 16.2 MORE miles than i ran with HUGE confidence 2 days ago.

but for the race that I just finished, it rocked...

and here are some photos from the race and the trip to celebrate the cherry blossoms in dc at this time of year. which are not overrated one bit. it rained friday. it rained part of monday. and those 2 days in the middle we were in DC? perfection.

sometimes? it just works out in one's favor.

the album:

the awakening statue at national harbor


the tidal basin near jefferson's memorial


gail and the bouncer mark


cherry blossoms were at their gorgeous peak


katherine elizabeth riegel, age 18 months


after the race...it was SO crowded it's amazing that i found gail, jeff & mark again...


the finish line...for what it's worth, i finished in 1:43..


just after crossing the line *and* finding mark


heading TO the start. sun has just risen, about 53 degrees...perfect.

peace...
~jd