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...

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

for the friends & family...

ugh. enough work.

that last post took a lot of my evening. why?

because in true jennifer fashion i multitasked my way through a work project, online, on my night off.

caught up with a few folks on facebook.

researched travel links for the work thing.

cooked dinner.

texted mark (he's outta town singin').

not much is super new here.

the library closes in it's current condition a week from today.

april first, we box up all of my department (something i am in charge of, whoo boy! it's going to go very smoothly and quick i predict since i have awesome coworkers...) and moving day is april 9th. (once we box up the kids dept, we of course box up the *rest* of our 20,000 square foot library).

last weekend, 3 co-library-gals and i went to a cabin. martha's folks own it, and we had a restful few days despite dreary march weather. i even got my 12 mile solo run in on saturday morning and had to forgo on the wine friday evening in prep for that. of all nights i was the designated driver girl, and we stayed in ;) the cabin was part of a lodge property near crosslake, mn. which is just a hop, skip and a jump from brainerd, hence babe as our backdrop.

here's the crew. we only talked about libraryland for a small portion of the trip.
from left to right...martha, lisa (yeah, it stinks her eyes are closed :(, me & carol...


we drank some vino.

we sang in a bar. (i apparently sing loud...it's the only way i know how ;)

we met the local legion folk.

we tried to go to a meat raffle but got the night wrong.

we had copious amounts of food.

we found an awesome 2nd hand store.

we soaked in the hottub at midnight. martha ran there barefoot (the building was close, but still! wet frozen muddy ground and she was like a kenyan in a race!)

good times. we hope to repeat it down the line if possible...

so happy spring to you all, as it looks like the times-are-a-changin'...

86 days and counting to the marathon of my life.
~jd

this week...

coming to a sky near you...


(a stunning but cold eclipse from about a year ago)



(up in the arrowhead region)

full moon. one of the most beautiful things mother nature gives us.

it also makes little children and infants cry more.

it's true.

i noticed it in the 3 hours in a row i was at the kids desk today at work.

still? it's part of the job, and giving a sympathetic eye towards the parents, or trying to make the kids feel better with a hi or a bye-bye wave if they're leaving, or anything small to try and make it better makes *me* feel like maybe i'm helping...a trick i learned recently was to use bubbles or maracas near the crying child to distract them. gotta go to target to get those ;)

on the running thing...the foot for this runner girl is apparently better. thank. goodness.

an interesting thought popped into my head today.

i've heard this vaguely in other running stories....does running define who you are? does it define your life more than anything else?

it's funny. if folks ask what i do, it's a 50-50 shot of the context and whether 'librarian' or 'i run' comes out first.

if i couldn't run, what would i do? (cry, be depressed, whine a lot more)

if i couldn't run, i realize life wouldn't end. but boy would it be hard. it would be like a part of me wasn't breathing right.

injuries happen. this i know. (do you hear the knocking on wood here? loudly..)

but will anything keep me from my dreams if at all possible?

no.

so does running define me or my life? yes.

but only a part of it.

another interesting query....is running a religion? or an addiction?

you make the call that's right for you....(of course this is a shout out to my runnin' faithful)

peace ~ jd

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...)

what i did in 2008...

(outside of workin' many hours and traveling unrelated to running...)







i ran like i didn't know i could.

in my first 'real' season as part of a running team, i earned 5 medals (there are 6 in the picture...one was for dragon boat paddling, 2nd place! and hey it's still a race, and still a medal :)

i ran in 12 races. from 5K to my first, second and third half marathons.

with a dozen amazing women on my team.

i just unearthed my pile of race bibs tonight and was curious how many races i had run since i picked this sport up in january 2006.

overall i've run 23 races total in my career so far.

11 of those were in 2006 and 2007 *combined*.

clearly 2008 was it's own creature and boy did i find a calling...without even realizing how i'd take to the sport. i never knew i had it in me.

so in 2009. my first big race is january 25th, on the island of maui.

then in april i go to DC to a) see my best friend gail & family and b) to run a 10 mile race.

and as i've declared, and sat down with the coach and the CJ at breakfast today to plan it all out, i will be a marathoner as of june.

and i started an official tally of how many miles i run this entire year. something i've never really kept track of.

today was 7 and it was one of my best workouts, especially alone, EVER.

the next posting will return to the regularly scheduled program sans running....

work has a major upcoming change happenin. it's going to be a very interesting next 14 months in library land...

happy new year to everyone near and far! ~jd

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

weekend recap...

one of my favorite shots from the trip. i never take a camera with, but this race i felt really needed the camera present. i absolutely love fall & the woods overall...

and while i'm not wholly unhappy with myself with this race's results, i'm not thrilled either.

finished my last big race of the year (that i've planned).

i was consistent. i did run well for almost all of the race. but i also tanked on the same bleeping last 2 miles that i've tanked on in the 2 previous half marathons i completed. lack of energy, side stitch, where-the-bleep-is-the-finish-line-since-i-don't-know-this-course???

while i realize that the majority of the world's population are not distance runners, and yes, it's great to just complete this milestone, it's still frustrating when you let the brain win, and let your guard down enough and you fail yourself. or walk when you know you should push through. running is *SO* mental. and i have more work to do...

i tend to not get over things very easily, as a few of my friends have pointed out recently. hard to hear? yes, in fact when it's said right to my face it ticks me off like a spark to a match. but i know they're right. sigh. i'm pretty passionate about a lot of things, and i tend to take things too hard and care too much, which honest to god really can mess with me at times. i hate it. but it makes me who i am so i have to figure out how to spin that and make it work in my *favor* for once. or more often...

overall, big picture of the weekend as a whole? it *WAS* a good weekend~ AMAZING colors! beautiful course! almost all wide flat awesome trail...2 girls finished the full marathon, 4 of us the half. one of my friends had a runner's worst nightmare....had to pull out of the marathon race due to pushing herself too hard..made herself sick...she was really hoping to qualify for the boston marathon. a MAJOR goal for many experienced runners. She was crushed to have to pull out at mile 17, but she and Allycat have another marathon in 6 days (yes really!) so she did the right thing by pulling herself out. (no other choice really other than walking the remaining 9 miles back, which of course no one would really want to do, esp after being sick).

met some new people, spent time bonding as runners and great girlfriends, and ran into some familiar surprise faces you didn't know you'd see up at this particular race. (one of my regular's at ursula's was there which was a great surprise!)

i packed exactly TWO pairs of shoes. my asics and my ariat cowboy boots. that's it. that is the least amount of shoes i believe i have ever packed. on top of that? my two absolute favorite pairs...and it was great to see more cowboy boots & hats on local's at the brewery place than not. i think i'd do well in a small town...

a few pictures....they're pretty big files so click em to make em bigger if you wish...

the start of the half marathon in moquah...


the first mile...on a beautiful morning...


right before the final half mile...are we in wisconsin or what? pointing folks who use the trail to the nearby bar :) had to take a photo of that...


the first four half marathon finishers...


marathoners ally & karen icing in the mother lake...which it might look really silly to wear all that garb on your body to just soak your lower legs in icy water, but it really does help them stay warm in the right places...


allison & i at the post race brewery dinner....good beer, great friends, a photo or two..


on top of being disappointed in my finish is my post-vacation funk. and the plan that i have no races on the books, no major vacation plans for the future and that all feels wrong. almost stifling. and somehow lonely. which is probably just lame to write...

i sometimes feel like i get tired of planning trips or getaways all the time, but i almost always have something on the books to look forward to. since i have no real races planned, the running is going into a much more relaxed pattern. no more super long workouts. no more strict plans for so many miles per week...not until next training season in march. oh i'll still run 3-4 times a week, but if i miss a day or two or three, it'll be *okay*.

now we're in the thick of music season, so mark is gone almost every night during the week between music rehearsals or gigs, and working full time retail. so it'll be a lot of solo time hanging out at home, and it's time to break out the knitting and put some of my creative powers to work to make some christmas gifts. i can actually read more books (such a novel idea for a librarian).

to end on a glass-half-full kinda note, i AM proud of my accomplishments and goals that i did attain in the past 7-8 months. and here is the bling, all 5 medals, that make great reminders in my daily routine that every step, every mile, every race, good or bad, were worth it. ~jd

one more...

race. of the 'season'. running season pretty much goes may-october as far as big time races go....boston, fargo, grandma's, twin cities, chicago, san francisco, new york, marine corp to drop a few big time names...

this weekend me & da girls are running the whistlestop in ashland, WI.


3 peeps are doing the whole big 26.2, 4 of us are doing the 13.1 (by this point i'm sure you know which group i'm in ;)

ashland, for those that don't know, is near bayfield, way up on that little jutting out point of the state..beautiful part of WI. lots of fall colors at this time of year (hoo-ray!) and unlike last weekend, it's not supposed to rain that i read anywhere. and if it does, well, i've learned i can run in that too...


as a kid i went camping many summers with mom & dad & bro @ copper falls state park, in mellen, a small town about 30 min south of ashland, so i have had a good attachment to northern wisconsin for a long time.

i have no plans to pr this weekend (ie set a personal record) but you never know....i plan to run strong, finish well and rush back to shower and change so i can welcome home my marathon ladies @ the finish....

our hotel has a waterpark. can i tell you how old i last was when i went to a waterpark? probably 18, the summer my best high school friends and i jetted to disney world right after graduation...so suffice it to say, it's been a long time ;) but coach rudi is bringing her kids, and heck, even growd-ups need to unwind and the waterpark might just be the icing on the cake of an amazingly fun and challenging weekend ~ so better be sure i pack some kind of pool wear in addition to the running gear and man, i hope they have enough of the 'kiss my caboose' shorts they're selling at the marathon, cuz jd would love a pair of those bad boys ;)

more pics about the whole shebang sometime next week....peace & love, ~jd

a must see...

for anyone who knows a runner or *is* a runner....



this just came out yesterday....

it is phenomenal.

yes, it's about running. it highlights 2 novices, 1 regular 70ish gent, and 2 elite runners who train to complete (and win) the Chicago Marathon in 2005.

Seeing as a) I am a runner, b) I am running a half marathon this weekend, and c) The Chicago Marathon is this weekend, I wanted to plug this film. And watch it again too. It was in theaters for limited release earlier in the year...

I've begged our library system to order it.

And if I ever watch this the night before things like Grandma's Marathon opens for registration, I will, without a doubt, register.

I am not yet ready to eat my words, but a marathon just might be in my future...dream big. ~jd

race day....the best yet...

first, and foremost, i had hoped for some fun pics to add to this post.

no dice. you'll read soon why not.

this morning started early.

4:45am or so...didn't sleep well as it was the night before race day.

'6000 people in my race' race day, in the hometown no less.

for some reason i was a little freaked about it....turned out to be my best race. ever. yep, i PR'd. set a personal record. 1:43:12. last time i ran a 10 mile my time was 5 minutes slower...so any kind of PR is one that i'll take....

despite 1.5 miles or so of cold hard rain at the finish...still a stellar day..

i ran the whole race with my amazing teammate (and she just so happens to live 2 blocks from me) Cindy..

we carpooled together with team member Val to the Kelly Inn in St Paul...

caught the school bus to the Dome near the start. fretted about how a steady rain was evident on the drive over the to Dome. hoped it would stop.

waited around the dome for a good 30-40 minutes and then it was time to find our corral. think cattle. 3 corrals. 3 sets of many many humans crammed into these starting areas that are fenced off.

finally, our wave, the last, was able to start....yay! we're off. except that there are so many people running that it takes a solid 2 miles or more to really get any room to spread out comfortably.

big cheers went up as we ran under the new 35W bridge (which prior to that i had yet to even drive over)...and we were soon a good 3-4 miles into the race...

it was awesome to run the race with Cindy. We played off each other's strengths really well, kept each other company and it was just a great time all around. we both said over and over we would never be where we are as runners if we hadn't joined our run club, and we are so SO thankful for our coaches working with us to make us competent, educated and successful runners....

3 times we saw our fellow runner gals, Allison, Karen, Claudia & Rudi at various viewing spots along Summit...having fans be there in person will do nothing but get you more motivated to get through another mile....so thanks girls! Ally, loved the sign! SO you!

the miles continued to flew by, and as they did the skies got a little bit darker....finally, by just after mile 8, the drizzle started. lightly at first of course, and then, with about 1.5 left, the skies opened into a really steady rain. by this point i was pretty chilled....and the rain didn't help.

but regardless of that, the finish to the race, soggy or not, was *awesome*. There was the end of Summit Ave, with Garrison Keillor walking to his house...'hi Garrison!' then the Catherdral looming in all of it's glory with the church bells striking 9am was right around the corner...

then the beautifully magnificent downhill into the finish area, complete with a ginormous American flag hoisted between two fire trucks...rain or no rain, i had my game face on with a smile no less, my legs were flying, and it was my best finish ever....

then we stopped running. give me that mylar blanket. now. holy cold to the bone! still smiling, still just being in the elements, literally....but it took a solid few hours to warm up! so the camera was in my sweats bag, and with the rain, there was just no reason to take pictures....sadly.

so was it the perfect day? yes and no. but overall, yet another thing that makes me feel that all of this work is worth it and that if you have a goal, all of that hard work pays off big time...

after the race we went to one of my favorite breakfast spots ever for corn pancakes, and then i took a huge nap. bliss.

one week from tonight I return from my last race of the season...hoping it goes just as well, even if it's 3.1 miles longer than today....

it's a full week for this runner girl. i turn into computer teaching girl for a few nights leading library patrons who wish to know more about Facebook & blogging through the paces....

so for now, that's all she wrote...~jd

another medal, another challenge, another nap..

this is all about my first duathlon. if you have no interest in reading this, then i won't be offended. i won't even know! so thanks for stopping by and i'll write about non-jock-y stuff next time...

so. i did it. :)

time out. today had another amazing event going on in memory of a woman who used to live in MN with her beloved, and moved out to LA a few years ago. sadly, Liz Logelin passed away in March right after her daughter was born. Today was the first ever Liz Logelin Memorial 5K, held by her dh Matt, and due to my previous plan to do the duathlon I stuck to that plan. but I thought of Matt & Liz & Maddie often on my ride....blessings, Matt, and hope your 5K went wonderfully!)

so....
the iron girl duathlon.

it's like a triathlon but without the swimming part.

as has been covered before, i don't know how to do this. yet. by next summer i plan to know.

today's duathlon was run 2 miles, bike 22, run 2.

and Iron Girl is for all women. 900+ of us. *including* Rena, my job swap anchor girl :) said a quick hello to her and to Diana Pierce, another KARE11 girl. and apparently this is the largest women's only duathlon in the nation....kinda cool.

anyway...(ADOS, right?)

woke up at 4:!5. didn't need the alarm as usual. woke up *earlier* than the 5 bells i had hoped for.

got myself ready, checked the news online, ate the proverbial pre-race banana, drank water, yada yada.

got to bloomington around 6:30am. i wasn't nervous per se, but i wasn't all calm either. just kinda 'what am i in for? how will this go?'

got my bike to the transition area. learned about drafting and other official terms and rules that i'd need to follow during the race.

felt like a total imposter...'why am i here? how did they let a novice like me in?'

but all went well.

Val found me right away. YAY! a familiar face! we were supposed to have 5 teamgirls of mine doing this event, but due to life's occurrences, only Val & I could do it.


she helped show me how to get my bike into the really crowded rack and then it was almost time for the start. (okay the below photo doesn't make it look that full, but believe me, they were! this was taken pretty early into pre-race set up...)


Aflac was the major sponsor, so instead of a horn for the start of each wave group there was a really loud AFLAC! duck sound. kinda different but fun...

First 2 miles were the warm up.....finished in about 20 min....

then, time to find the bike, put on the helmet, put on the gloves, figure out my new borrowed pedal basket clip things and off i go.

i didn't mean to, but i kinda left Val back during the bike part, but she had told me on the run part that i should just go....our bikes were pretty far apart in transition and she hasn't ridden lately at all, and i've done some training, albeit just some.

so i did the bike part (2 laps of 11 miles with some pretty good hills! my arss is still barkin at me!) solo and then got back to transition to take off the helmet, put on the visor and run my noodly legs for 2 more miles.

somehow i ran just shy of 9 minute miles for the last 2. how on earth i did that i don't know. i felt like i was s-l-o-g-g-i-n-g....like barely running.

then the finish line! HOO-RAY.



I got my medal, i got my Aflac duck sponge to soak off some of the salty skin i had goin, and waited at the finish to greet Val.

then it was time to eat!! good spread, found a few friends Val knew, and capped my first duathlon experience with another medal for my collection.


It was a gorgeous day, perfect weather, beautiful course and something i really really want to do again....ANYBODY can do this. The last finisher came through with a time of 3:30, almost 90 min past when I finished. but she got a rousing ovation from all of us cheering her and her friend on and it was actully really emotional to welcome them to the finish line! hung out for a little while longer, took some snapshots, and then packed up to head home.


now it's time to n-a-p.

i earned it today. monday will be here before i know it and it's back to the rat race of library life (which is a-okay!)...peace, ~jd

what to do at 5am?

*yawn*
well post a little i guess...

yesterday one of our little neighborhood breakfast spots was turned into a hollywood set....Joel & Ethan Coen (the geniuses behind Fargo and No Country For Old Men) are shooting for a few days at the Keys Cafe about 2 miles from our house. lots of 1960s cars around as I guess the film is set in '67....so that was cool to drive by a few times...

LibraryLand is good...looking forward to the time coming up in early winter when it looks likely our building will close and pack up to move to a temporary locale for a year while they build an entire upstairs onto our building. I look forward to jeans jeans jeans and good hard work. Our county board still has some big decisions to approve, and once that's done next month (we hope!) the ball really starts rolling...it's been really interesting to be part of the redesign committee and see how major projects like this take shape.

RunningWorld is going well. less than 2 weeks til the first of 3 big races this fall...the team and i have set dates for our post-races fall retreat, and it looks likely it's going to be at our friend Kim's cabin, which I have heard nothing but great things about....on a lake, brand new home, campfires outside.....heaven basically. and right after my birthday...way to ring in 35 :)



and looking forward to some harvest time this upcoming weekend....one of my favorite little local wineries hosts anybody who wants to bring in the grapes every weekend in September to come out and do so. Nan, the owner who I adore, is awesome and she gets local chefs to come and make lots of yummy food (usually big huge pots of soup and other easy to feed a crowd meals) to feed the folks who want to help a small farmer/vinter out. It's great fun and will keep me occupied while Mark is off in Paris for a week singing.

so I should try and nod off again if possible before heading to storytime in a few hours. The chill has returned to the early morning hours here in MN and we fired up the pellet stove for warmth for the first time this season just yesterday....hi to Dad & Leesa and those family far away who I don't see often enough....be well. ~Jen

summer turns to fall....

literally in about 4 hours.

left the house this morning to head to work...jungle feel outside. hot. humid. HU-MID.

leave the library for lunch....rain has since occurred and the temp is at least 15 degrees cooler.

aaaaaaahh..

also, i turn the page of the calendar to start a new month of stats in my running log.

August left me with these numbers:

Miles run: 109.7
Miles biked: 22.0
Grand total: 129.7

Time it took for all of this: 21:20:17

For someone who 3 years ago had never run a mile, to me, it's amazing to see this on paper. I'm still just an average Jane. Who happened to fall into the laps of an amazingly supportive and stellar group of women at a local gym a year ago, who have helped get me over some major goals since then. More to come....thanks, sistas~ couldn't/wouldn't have done it without all ya'll...

3 more major events for me racing wise in 2008 coming up in the next 6 weeks, then it's break time for a while. that doesn't mean no running, it just means cutting back without having to start over again next January. Iron Girl Duathlon in 19 days; TC 10 on Oct 5th and Whistlestop Half Marathon on Oct 13th. yeehaw! Time to groove it back to the workplace....~jd

tis the season...

changes are in the air....

literally. it was 52 when i woke up today. brrrrr. feels great to snuggle under the covers, but it's harder to rise early when it's darker and colder :( also means longer clothes needed to run :( well that's part of living where there actually *are* four seasons, and for the most part i do like that...

on the upswing it's time for this:



fat free yummy goodness :)

big run in the morning....longest ever is planned. 14 miles. we'll see....Gateway Trail, here I come....

to update a previous post last week, the palm trees & sandy vacation for winter will happen, just in a different location. no Cruise to Run this coming year, but Maui instead with Gram. :) just nailing down which half marathon to work that around :) there are 2...one Jan 25th and one Feb 7th. why not tie a warm sandy trip to another medal for my collection? do the run, and then *relax* for DAYS afterwards....bring me my umbrella drink :)

have a great labor day weekend! ~jd

my 2nd hometown team...

well, as has been said before, i'm a cubs fan. they are still doing phenomenally well.
don't wanna jinx it...

my 2nd hometown team is the Twins...(no, i'm not just saying that...)

and i haven't been to the dome in years (almost 10).


a girl and her dad going to the game...

i was offered free tickets that a friend couldn't use for today's game.

and after today's fun time, i'd love to go back :)

really good seats along the 3rd base line.

my amazing friends and neighbors, stacy, travis & 2 year old maddie, were gracious enough to drive me and we all had a 'root root root for the hometeam!' time....


by the time we sat down at the top of the 3rd inning, it was 5-0 Twins, which Travis celebrated as we walked in...

enjoy the photos...


my first 'baby neighba'..who's now 2 and will be a big sister this winter...


madalyn in her element...and her dad's element :)


this guy was the epitome of a beer vendor i thought....


once stacy brought in the popcorn, maddie could not stop eating it...


the last inning....no nap, but the trusty thumb helped keep Maddie awake all the way home...she was super well behaved and had a great time too~

after running 13 miles this morning on my own, having a lot of solo time to think and get through a 2.5 hour workout, the joy of being with friends all afternoon was wonderful. (mark would have joined us, but as is the habit with his music schedule, it conflicted exactly with game time :(

have a good week everyone...~jd

my dam hill report...

there's this workout that our club does twice a year. once in april, once in august.

it's called the dam hill as we start out running a 5.5 mile warm up from the ford parkway bridge in st paul down to lake street, cross and come back, and finish up on the mpls side by the dam near the ford plant.

it's traditionally an 'all club' run, which means most local lifetime fitness run clubs are invited to take part.

turnout this time around wasn't quite as strong as april, but still about 75 folks turned out (or so i think)...

i got to the gym. looked around. saw one of my club members. coach was part of the whole lead-the-workout shebang so she didn't run the whole thing. where is the rest of my team?!?!? my confidence when it comes to running solo ain't the greatest. so i hooked up with cindy, and then in walks allison huzzah! 2 other roseville runners!

allison then tells me pretty immediately that carmen the garmin had died on the way over :( this is a big deal to those of us attached strongly to our running technology. it's like a limb is missing.... and like a security blanket, something you learn to love and depend on....

so here i was with mine and i was able to give allison most of her times throughout our run together. this nifty piece of technology breaks down each mile and averages the pace and then gives a lovely total at the end. so our times looked like this:
mile 1: 10:51
mile 2: 10:32
mile 3: 8:53 (sorry to be so personal, but i had to biffy stop so i hauled to catch up!)
mile 4: 9:50
mile 5: 9:52
dam hill starts about mile 5.5
mile 6: 10:53
mile 7: 11:22
mile 8: 12:48 (serious things like running backwards uphill, hands above your head uphill, hands behind your back uphill....it's *hard* but totally effective!!)
mile 9: 11:34
mile 10: 11:51 (back to the gym)
total: 1:50:23, 10.13 miles

allison went 5.5 miles back after the workout...me? just 1 mile. allison has finished a marathon. i have not. (yet????) allison is one of my superhero teammates and friends (as is cindy who i will become an iron girl with in september!) that make life so much better.

speaking of iron girl, i biked it in today to work. then i will bike it to the gym. run 5-7 miles. then bike it back home. and my garmin's at 50% battery. hope Jorge lasts through the day (yes most of us have named our toys.. ~jd

ps can i just tell you the high i get from either a new people weekly or runners world magazine in my mailbox???? my drugs of choice i tell you :) got the new RW yesterday and had to pry myself away from it to get to work! we get to cuddle up together at lunch today. sweetness~

surprise!

a few months back a coworker asked if anyone would trade weekends with her for aug 2nd/9th.

since i've asked for similar favors in the past, i offered up the trade to help pay it forward.
i didn't have anything going on this weekend....

so when i noticed about a month ago that the 'tall ships' were coming into duluth, and that mark is a big fan of boats, especially this author's series of books involving many tall ships, i thought up a secret plan.

so even though we just got back from the northland on monday, i got mark to take today off and didn't tell him what was up.

just drove north early this morning.

pulled up to the traffic halt on I-35 even before the DECC exit, (where the ships were moored) and saw an incredibly long long line of people (hundreds maybe even 1000). whoa. i'm sure this was a surprise to everyone, including the event folks.

it was.

but we forged ahead around 11am, waiting in lines of cars to just park.

then we proceeded to buy tickets (no line for that) and got in the anaconda length x 100 sized line to see the ships.


everyone was in good spirits despite the wait. had our sunblock & water, there was a nice breeze and you just got to know your neigbhors as time went on....

1 hour.

2 hours.

by hour 3, someone with a bullhorn came out to say that at the point in the line we had just reached, we'd have another 3 hours before being able to board the ship Niagra. just one ship. it was the largest so it had the longest line, but the other 2 ships on display had lines as well.

um. okay. my original thought was 'visit ships for a few hours, do the canal park thing, get a picnic lunch and find a great shady spot and laze the rest of the day away by the mother lake'.

we both felt (and after hearing from someone in front of us, who left her husband in line while she and their small kids waited in a shorter line for another boat, that all you get to do is walk a circle around the deck of the boats and then de-board) that we'd kinda had enough and seeing as we were only there for the day, it was time to just move on.



so we walked to the ships, took some pictures, and proceeded to find our picnic lunch at 2pm. we almost started with some of my favorite fair food, but i needed something 'real' first before rich n creamy dots....but i agree wholeheartedly with the sign's message :)


while we pic-a-nicked, my coach called. nice surprise there ~ my coach and i have become extremely close in the past 6 months talking about all aspects of life (esp outside of running.) she informed me that apparently 2 other Lifetime run clubs locally have blogs for their teams. she kindly asked if i would be our new blogger girl for our team and of course i said 'why sure.' so it looks like i'll be authoring, like, a *real* blog representing some of my closest friends and teammates. uh-oh. wonder if she asked any of them ;)

so all in all a good day, but a surprise all around , not just on mark's part. and honestly, i have never seen SO many people in duluth. ever. to me there were more people than Grandma's Marathon weekend, but the paper scoffs at that it looks like. Oh, and speaking of Grandma's, i am officially in next year's half marathon based on that smokin' 1 mile race i took part in a week ago. s-t-o-k-e-d am i about this. i loved every part of that race this year! well this is a way long enough blog post. time to hush up now....
~ runnin blogger girl, ~jd

teaching old dogs new tricks....

just got back into town....

here's a short report from the weekend away.

found my lake.


found my fire.


found my fearless-ness (for a girl who doesn't swim i take to water sports pretty readily).

mark told me for the first time this weekend that he admires my being fearless. i had no idea he thought that of me


and became part of a team and met 19 people in one day i had never seen before. (through a fellow runner who was on the team that I *do* know) sorry that there aren't any pictures of the actual dragon boats. i blanked on that. but follow this link....did i mention we took 3rd out of 15 teams and got a medal for our efforts in 3 heats of racing?? runner girl, fire girl, paddle girl ~

this weekend i learned:
how to paddle as part of a 20 member dragon boat team.


that mark likes everything bagels with butter, never cream cheese. (i've known him 9 years and never knew this until today.)

that favorite hats maybe should have your name & phone number in them if they become left in a beautiful small town. (mark's got lost the day of the races :(



that otters close up to your canoe are just as freaking cute as on land.

and that vacations are really awesome. that's a no brainer. and now i'm off to work at one job, while still on vacation at the other. peace ~jd