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 ~

let the countdowns be shown...

here's what's on tap....(hmmmmm, besides beer...this week's tap beer at work is Moose Drool Ale)

*27 days until the DC Cherry Blossom 10 mile race

*47 days until the Get in Gear 10K, here in Mpls

*60 days until the Fargo Marathon (runnin' the half)

*75 days until the Stillwater Marathon (runnin' the half)

*102 days until Grandma's Marathon. the whole. big. long. race.

my plan? no injuries, taking care of myself, and not being stupid. (ie streaking across a yellow light to try and make it and tweaking a knee or a foot in the process. dumb dumb dumb...)

perspective...

it's sunday night. about 10:30...

this will be my earliest bedtime in about 4 days....

i spent the weekend with the runner girls at friend kim's family cabin about 100 miles north of here.

no, it wasn't on the north shore. yes, i love the north shore, but i do love exploring *different* areas if the situation arises....

there were 8 of us up there total most of the weekend, but ally, kim and i enjoyed the pleasure of heading up there on our own on thursday night, and everyone else joined us between friday & saturday evenings....

we had much girl bonding...(no, sorry, no pillow fights ;) including talk about running, next year's races, and more than anything *RELAXING*. we knitted. we watched 7 movies over 3 days. and yes, we ran. some of us a few miles more than others depending on how we felt. I got in almost 11 miles in, and for all the bitchin' and whining i did about it before hand, it went pretty darn well....(i can get whiney...is that a shocker?? hahaha~)

i am very very close to making it official that as of january 15, 2009, i will register for grandma's full marathon in duluth on june 20, 2009.

but i'm not quite there yet. i still can't put my head or mental prowess around just how long and taxing both mentally and physically that will be.

and, seriously, i have to talk to the workplace about this. training for a full 26.2 race WILL affect my work schedule, and for all practical purposes, i have to talk to the bosses about how to make this possible. if they say it just won't work, well, then i'm out...

i had an amazingly laid back weekend with the girls, and after all of the miles, sweat & tears we shared over the past 9 months of training, traveling and racing, it was soooooo welcome to just be together hanging out, talking, eating, drinking and being together (outside of a workout or two). i did miss mark, and it always feels weird to not have him around, but this weekend it was all girls all the time, and i counted my blessings to have such amazing friends in my life. not just in running, but on many fronts.

there's not a whole heckofa lot to blog about lately, so stay warm as winter descends upon us and if anything blog worthy pops up, i'll post it. but until then i think i might start a new diet of sorts...and limit my time online. believe it or not. happy november....~jd