High Cliff Race Report 2009

The first REALLY FUN part of the summer has officially happened. High Cliff Triathlon was this weekend. I knew at least 3 Brand New Triathletes taking part in this years festivities and I was so happy to be able to have cheered them and the 'veteran' athletes on.

Friday night we had a pre-race pow wow at my house. Dez (aka- my partner in crime with all things triathlon/marathon related) showed up from Waupaca and my friend Angie with the 'newbie-no-more' Jesse... her husband (and kids). We partook in the pre race 'carbo loading' with pasta salads and pizza.

I was thinking of having a kids tri, but we had so much fun just talking that it never came about... but we did watch the Fox Tri Club video with Mr. Peter Victor himself playing the 'Super Athlete'. Good Stuff. We laughed our butts off!!
That video is from 2 years ago and I did not realize how much I have changed since then. WOW!
I would love to do that every year!

Saturday Morning I got to High Cliff just after 6am and felt so rushed, we met Ang and she told us that Jesse already had TWO flat tires! He was panicking a bit running around looking for a new tube! Luckily he found Mark (aka: King of Tuesday night rides) who gave Jesse a new tube for his bike.
While Dez set up in transition, I talked to Jesse, and found out he had ALSO lost a pedal, but that was found by someone and he was able to get it back on. That was MORE THAN ENOUGH drama for the day and he didn't even get wet yet!

I sported my Firecracker T-shirt from last year and flip flops as I ran around with camera in hand trying to get all the pic's for everyone. That was tiring but SO FUN!

I didn't know until later that night but someone I went to school with did the half IRONMAN for his first ever race!! HOW CRAZY IS THAT! He not only finished he did amazing!!!

Oh yeah, and by the way...
Jesse ROCKED High Cliff... finishing in under 2 hrs.
Dez shot right thru.... finishing in just over 2 hrs.
Dr Al, did great (of Course) ... finishing just behind Jesse.
Tammy (Dr Al's nurse) was hoping for an under 3 hr finish and SHE DID BETTER THAN THAT!

WAY TO GO HIGH CLIFF FINISHERS!!! YAY!!!

I am sorry if this is a duplicate, but if you have not seen the pictures from the High Cliff Tri, I highly recommend it. (Turn up your volume!) Great pics!

Go Here
or
http://picasaweb.google.com/duners2/Movies#5349995646317199090

Journey's Race Report

After I began to pack for my half Marathon this weekend I rechecked the weather for Eagle River.
Crap.....
Thursday it said a high of 50 with a chance of rain.
Friday it was saying 40's with a chance of SNOW.
Crappity crap, crap, crap.
.........
I added a few extra items like mittens, stocking hat and more shirts to layer, while hoping to not need them. I drove up there Friday night, meeting a friend, Dez at the hotel. She did her first tri the same year as I did and now she was doing her first half the same year too!
..........
We woke up at the hotel that morning to the sound of rain chunks hitting our window. I cringed as we peaked outside. As we began breakfast it slowly faded, pretty soon it was just a mist.

As we walked to our car we tried using reverse psychology to talk ourselves into not freezing. It was in the low 30's as we boarded a bus to take us to the begining of the race. By the time we arrived, flurries were now falling.

They had some music playing to help us get our heart pumping so we would not be so cold. I watched in amazement as people seemed unfazed by the lack of clothing some of them had. BRRRR!

Just after the first place full marathon finisher, Dean (using a hand powered chair), passed us we started our half marathon. That was one hour and fifteen minutes after the full marathon started.

It took place on some of the most curvy wooded roads I know. It was great, overall. For your enjoyment... my thoughts during the milage...

Mile 1: Dang... I should have used the port-a-potty.
Grrr. Nervous bladder...
I think I am warming up. Yay!..
cough...
really not swine flu people....
Mile 2: Hmmm. Ok, I am getting warm.
What the heck? Is that maybe the sun??...
ok gloves are coming off! ... cough, cough....
Mile 3: Ok. Now is the time to lose the tri fox winter hat, but I will leave the running hat on. (Don't worry Dr Al, I tucked it in my waist... I didn't lose it) ....
Wow, some old people are fast! REALLY FAST!... Only 3 miles down, no problem... I feel great! Nice temps... hack.... cough... I like this speed, I am going to stick with Dez for a while...
Mile 4: Ok, now my bladder really needs a break!....Gee, this seems a bit more hilly than the elevation had said on the website.... hmmmm.... I LOVE THIS SONG... glad to have my ipod! (Thanks Sara!)...bark.... cough.... Those guys are obvisiously the marathoners.... I bet they hate us....
Mile 5: I would love to see a port-a-potty about now... ohhhhh! yay!! potty!!! Only 2 people in line, no problem... I will just have some water while I wait.... Um, this is taking a while.... Why on earth do they only have one potty??? How long it this going to take? FINALLY!!!....cough.... cough.....
Mile 6: Ok, one top layer is gone.... (I took off my long sleeve T and wrapped it around my waist.) Ouch.... I am getting stiff.... That took way too long! ... Now to catch up with Dez.. What I was lapped by a powerwalker?? See Ya.... Wow, no shirt and cut off jeans for a marathon in the 30's... go man go!....
Mile 7: Wow... these hills just seemed so small on the computer.... that can't be right... Oh, is that Dezz? Breathe. You can slow down soon... Ok buddy, you should have to wait like me for the potty man.... geez, I have 3 boys I don't need to see that now!.... Guys have it way to easy.... ouch... I better take in my GU.... Yay! Dez!!
Mile 8: Water and GU... Yay GU!!! .....Whew... the last big hill says the girl on the bike... it must be true!! Yay! .... ok, i *cough* REALLY hate this cough.
Mile 9: Only 5 more miles..... I know some people are finished already... Glad these roads are curvy.... That old lady has been in front of us for a while... she is doing great... hate my cough....
Mile 10: Is that a new cramp? Whatever.... Yep that is a new one.... just think of all the calories you are using.... Old lady is still there!... Nice work woman!...
Mile 11: These roads are getting not so curvy.... hey, this is beginning to look familiar....cough...cough.. at least my butt doesn't hurt...AT ALL.
Mile 12: This so sucks.... why do I do this?... Dez is doing great....legs feel like lead.... really? .... are these roads getting longer??? grrrr....
Mile 13: Ok... I just want to stop.... ow....cramping in abdomen sucks..... damn cough. Maybe I pulled something with my cough... how do people do this for 26.2 miles?... just .... want... to ... stop.... or .... at least transported.... wait... do I hear the finish line?
Mile 13.1: Woo Hoo! I can do this! Almost there I hear people. We are getting close. There it is!! Wooo hooo!!! Scream people scream!!! Oh.... there are my kids and Duner!!! Yay!! Where is that timing mat? Yesssssss!!!! Oh, breathing is hard to do...stupid cramp.... I am so happy to see my family!!!
+++++++++++++++++++++++
No awards (obviously!). But I did manage to PR by 10 minutes, jerky stick, beer opener, shampoo, soap, t-shirt and a nice medal. I will take it.
==============
It really was a great race, fun times thru the entire event, at the hotel, and registration... I loved doing this race. I don't know if I want to do it every year, but I was a true Journey... properly named.
I am still in awe of people that do these things after 56 miles on a bike and 30 plus minutes of swimming... OR MORE.... AMAZING, Just AMAZING!!!

Oh Boy! er... Joy!

This weekend is the official opening of 'Inland Fishing' aka Trout fishing in Wisconsin... as every year Duner loves to make a weekend of it and go fishing and camp out. He talks about it for WEEKS and gets so excited. Since he was working til 10pm on Friday, I was the lucky person to get everything ready for the big trip. Food, Bedding, Tent and cookware were all piled in the garage with the help of some very excited boys...Zeb and Reece. Brock did not want to go with. He is not so much the outdoors type.
So Friday after work we ate supper at a newer place called LUCKYS. It was Grazies Italian Grill, but now it is more variety type place with burgers, fish, steaks, some Italian and Pizza. A pub like atmosphere but also with a 'family' type dining area (smoke free!). We headed for the family dining room and that is when the kids FELL IN LOVE with the place.... yes. IN. LOVE. At one end of the dining hall is 5 Huge flat screen tv's with either an X-box, PS3 or some other game system attached to it. Each one with controls and diffrent games on them... Guitar Hero, Madden 09 are the only two I knew. Reece gave it a '2 THUMBS UP'. Brock said it was ' FIVE STARS!'. Zeb said this was 'so cool'. All of them said 'We have to come here again!'
Me? Personally it was the HAND DIPPED BEER BATTERED CHEESE CURDS that will bring me back. Have you ever been to the county fair? Have you paid way to much for those all too yummy morsels of soft, squishy SAVORY grease balls? I have! I figured it was a once a year deal right? Well NO MORE... I will have to try and avoid those suckers at this place. We ordered a batch and between Brock and I we almost ate the ENTIRE THING! Yep... BAD. Very. Bad. *sigh* ~guilt...guilt~
Ok... so now I am finished with work... I worked 10 hours today at the Y. I have only one of my kids... but 2 of the neighbor kids spending the night. Hmmm. Let's see, so I lost 2 kids... then I pick up 2 more. Kind of like nothing really changed... except, they are older and don't plug the toilet with too much TP and leave stuff laying all over. Good times. ~ : ]
It was cute. Brock called me today to see if he could go over to his friends house and said " Hey Mom, know what? I actally enjoy picking up the house when my brothers aren't here. I have been doing MORE than what you asked me to! I even moved things around rather then go around them!".

Only 7 more days til Journey's Half Marathon in Eagle River. Duner and the boys are going to head up to cheer me across the finish line. If you have nothing to do feel free to come on up and join 'em!
If I ever stop with these various butt and leg cramps I am hoping to come in at 2hrs and 15 minutes. I did my last long 12 miler last Saturday, but over did it with 400 lunges and 100 crunches. I was fine that day, but I couldn't walk right til Tuesday. I was on my way to Baskin Robbins for some ICE CREAM THERAPY (~what? you haven't heard of that??) when I pulled into the parking spot and noticed a Max Muscle store. As I struggled to exit the truck, I decided to ask them for some recommendations for relieving the pain in my lower body. (Do you know how many muscles in your lower body you actually USE TO ROLLL OVER IN BED?? LOTS!! Believe me I know!) Anyhoo, One hour and $$$$$ later he tells me the joys of protein shakes and glutemine. I tried 2 different kinds of protein shakes and wasn't so hungry for the ice cream. I didn't need those extra fat calories anyway...

I had a 4 mile tempo run on Thursday that my butt cramp was aimed and ready to fire the entire time. It ended being a pretty crappy tempo run, but I did it. Tomorrow I have a 6 mile long run on the agenda, and today my left hamstring decided to act up on me. What did I do to deserve this? I STRETCH!! Really!! Come on!!!! Wish me luck!

Spring has SPRUNG!

I can not tell you how happy I was this weekend. The sunshine and warmth was a welcome and missed feeling. I had to work all through most of it but I lucked out on Saturday and only had to work a half day, so I was lucky enough to get my 11 mile run in AND take my youngest to his first soccer practice ever. He was super excited.
----
My run was enjoyed with my oldest son for the first 2 miles. He joined me on his bike as I ran. I warned him I would not be able to talk much. He was ok with that. He said he wanted to join me with the Fox Cities Half marathon in September. I had a killer tempo run on Thursday, so I was a bit nervous about my long run for Saturday. I had maintained a pace of 9:40 for 6 miles on Thursday. I was supposed to maintain a pace of 10:52 for all 11 miles. I didn't study my route for mile markers and I wasn't sure how slow or fast I was going. I was sweating a lot. I never realized how sweat can turn into sand as it dries on your face. I would wipe off some sweat only to feel pain. It was almost too warm for me, but I was delighted to have kept a pace of 10: 40!! for the 11 miles. I will be researching new hydration fuel for my next Long run, 12 miles next saturday... I am in the midst of 'HELL' week for me. I put in almost 30 miles last week. This week consists of a 4+ speed workout, 8 mile tempo run and a 12 mile Long run... Then begins the wonderful taper....ahhhh... oh, yeah! I guess could be worse... I could be running the Boston Marathon on Monday.... : ) Good Luck Jaynie and Alan!!
~ Then begins full on soccer season! I just learned on Saturday that between my 2 kids in soccer I will either be a practice or soccer games every Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for a good long while.... but I am looking forward to it! I love to see my kids outside and moving instead of sitting on their butts!! Have a Great Week... I will see you after HELL WEEK! (Maybe)

Random Thoughts

Today I debated about doing a 10 mile indoor run, but given the temp said it felt like 26 degrees and my allergies are kicking in (not to mention 17 mph wind) I opted for an indoor run. All 10 miles. Indoor. run. slowly.

These were my random thoughts for your viewing pleasure...

Ok. Here I go.

Only 0.38 of a mile? Is this thing broken?

Lets slow this thing down a bit and see if that helps.

Ok, since my i-pod is low on battery if it dies ANY TIME during this run I will just take that as a sign from God that I need to stop.

Ok, ANY TIME can happen soon.

*sniffle* grrr. Allergies. *sniffle*

I will just leave the machine running, jump off and grab a tissue... I mean, I am still moving right?

This is better than running out in the cold wind.

i-pod can die at anytime.

Woo hoo! Almost 4 miles in.

Oh! Good Song!! Crank up the machine!!

Bummer song over, but *Yay* slowin' down.

Oh Yay! ANOTHER good song!!

Woo Hoo! 5 treadmill miles done, now to the track for the last 5.

Now, don't forget to click. (my lap counter)

Okay people it says JOG for a reason. If you want to walk move your feet to the WALK lane.

Hey, I am the only one running... I will just use the run lane til the faster runners come.

Ok. Back to the Jog Lane now. Grrr.

did I click?

Slow person. going around. grrr.

i-pod die. please.

slow person. going around. grrr.

*sniffle*

slow person. going around. grrr.

I clicked right?

slow person. going around. grrr.

slow person... GEEEZ... are you not done yet!!!

lovely MORE SLOW PEOPLE.

now more FAST RUNNERS.

I would be ok, if you stopped i-pod.

Ok. Only 40 more laps to go. ( Was 57.5)

*sniffle*

Ok time to change direction people.

(look at watch) *sign* it will be nice when I only have 10 laps to go.

*sniffle* grrr. stop and blow your nose.

opps, I missed my stop, one more lap. *sniffle*

at least i have a nice breeze as I run up here.

did I click? How is this i-pod still working? It said low battery MILES ago!

Water break.

What??? I forgot to restart my watch?? I missed like 11 minutes?
How did I not check my watch for that long?

Hey! We lost the Fast runners and slow people! Yay!

Ok, *sniffle* and water break.

Only 22 laps left.

Oh!! Good Song again!!

Weee!~

Ok... only 10 laps. I should be achy right?

Stretching will feel good!

I am done!
Ok, now to figure out my time since I missed 11 minutes. Grrr.

Pouring Down

They say when it rains it pours...

Drop one... Our Durango decided it hates us. Both Driver and passenger windows are not working. In fact, we have duct tape on the Driver side, and a metal hanger holding up the passenger side.... I know, Classy!!

Drop two... Our Saturn, that we just bought in August, needed $3000 worth of repair (according to the Saturn dealership)... Thermostat, wheel bearing, and AWD shaft. Nice. I. Know. But Good news! The dealer we bought it from - not Saturn- is going to pay half (even though we did NOT have the warranty) doing the repair at his shop... Yay!

Drop three... Duner is off of overtime... I knew it would not last forever, but it sure lasted longer than many companies around here. They have taken emplyees off their 24/7 rotation. They are taking volunteers for lay off, and working M-F 40 hrs only.

Drop four... My work (a health care facility) is no longer matching our 403b (aka 401k). And is delaying our annual raises due to the economy. *sigh* At least we have our jobs, Right?

Drop five... I am quickly losing steam as my half marathon is approaching... I need some NICE weather to help me want to get out there and RUN! *Reece told me the other day "Mom, since you've been back it has been all cold and dreary." Um, thanks Reece. Do you mean weather or ambience? -he meant weather... Really!

Drop six... We woke up today with NO HOT WATER. Lovely. You don't know how much you use it til it is gone.

Then again, water helps things grow too!

Grow one... After almost 2 months with out it I should be getting my Saturn back tomorrow! (Cross your fingers!)
Grow two... We are getting our Durango fixed hopefully this week.
Grow three... All of my boys are healthy and growing quickly. Reece and Zeb have started Soccer practices. We have high hopes this year!
Grow four... I was lucky enough to have a M. A. S. S. A. G. E today... I can't tell you how nice that was. She said she found some knots... go figure. Knots!
Grow five... We were able to finish some long overdue projects in the basement this past week... all molding is 99.9% done, and Brock's window is framed in. (Amazing how much that warms up the room!)
Grow Six... Thanks to the hot water heater repair (under warrenty) I had the guy quickly put in a water shut off that we needed for a outside faucet we enclosed.
Grow Seven... I had the best presents given to me today. Zebbie wrapped up .27 cents and a bunch of paper money and gave it to me. FOR NO REASON! Love it! He knows how to treat a girl!
Grow Eight.... After removing the boys from Cable TV for a quarter the grades have improved. Not to mention somebodys attitude too!

I have more to be thankful for than not. I am one lucky Mother.

We managed a peak at Fremont Street to Check out the large screen over head. I hope you have access to this video. If not, go to wienandt.blogspot.com and check it out. The very ending is the best.

Day 4

Wednesday we slept in a bit after such a late show last night with Blue Man Group. As we walked back to our car we passed MANY people celebrating the luck of the Irish, to the point of intoxication. It was about midnight when we left the show, so many on the strip were pretty wasted. One of them was getting frisked by the police.

One thing that I don't like here is the amount of nudity thrown in your face. It is really every where. Every night there are at least 30 plus people on the strip handing out cards with women on them like baseball cards. Then they get discarded on the walkway for all including the kids that are there to freely see. And there is NOTHING left to the imagination. Don't get me wrong, if you like that great... but geez.... even it out a bit...why are there NO GUYS on those things!

That and all the trash all over the city. On one corner, there is a 3 ft of trash and bottles between a chain link fence and stone pillars,

But other than that It has been pretty nice. We learned how to avoid the beggars.

So we decided to see Titanic exhibit, Carrot Top and Zumanity Wednesday. We are driving back from Hoover Dam. It was interesting to see. We did a quick tour because we had a security point that made the last 4 miles take about 45 minutes. Yep. I could have ran faster than that.

Titanic was cool, Carrot Top was Fun and Zumanity was... um.... different... Not sure if I like the cirque shows so much. Loved Penn & Teller! Blue Man Group got a bit long...I liked the Price is Right Live, once I knew I was not going to be pulled up on stage. (Whew!) Duner was called up to contestants row, but was out bid by one dollar on a guitar. Grrr. He could have played plinko if he would have won.

Thursday is bowling at 8:30pm, so we are just hanging out at the hotel and pool. We are taking it easy. I am getting in a 5 mile run, then we are going to Hooters Pool, because ours had to shut down the day after we got here to fix the drain to be compliant with the new federal regulations. At least we can use the Hooters pool/ hot tub. I guess I better go hop on the Treadmill before it gets up to 83 degrees today.

Las Vegas Day 2 and 3

Day 2 and 3.

Monday we spent the early hours at a ticket seller to get tickets for Penn & Teller, Blue Man Group and we also got some discounts on dinner at Planet Hollywood. This particular retailer has a VIP line that you can use if you purchased your tickets the day before, rather than stay in a line for an hour. (Yay!)
We also stopped by a grocery store to get some beverages and fruit for our room.
We were pretty tired yet from our flight. Getting up at 3 am just does not help your system. We spent a lot of Sunday napping and some of Monday.
Our show for P&T was for 9pm. We weren't sure how traffic would be so we got about 5pm and began to head over there. We had a rental and it was actually really easy to do. We found ourselves killing time at a Starbucks nearby the Penn & Teller Theater.

We just finished a sandwich when I glanced over and they were coming out of the theater. So I quickly grabbed my camera and headed out of the Theater and they actually stopped for me.
I thought that was great!

We had a great time at the show and afterward they hung out so we could get pictures with them...


Tuesday we used the VIP line at the Ticket place to purchase some more for Bodies Exhibit, Titanic and the Price is Right LIVE.
We hurried to the Luxor hotel to check out BODIES. I had seen a similar exhibit in Tampa with my sister, so I was a bit disappointed with this one. I think the one in Tampa was better, but Duner liked it.
We left there, grabbed some lunch and headed over the Bally's Hotel for The Price is Right LIVE. That was when we saw this little number for Zeb.


Then we just happened upon the statues that come alive in one of the hotels. They just had finished and were leaving to the escalators.


We killed time watching the Treasure Island Pirate (Siren) Show. We also found the Mirage Volcano, which I managed to get on video... in the video you hear a siren, but that was not part of the show. A firetruck just happened to drive by at that time.

Las Vegas Day 1

My Oldest is officially 14. He is now able to work part time in limited areas, he can now use the lifestyle center at the Y by himself, and he can now pump my gas in the freezing weather. (YES!) Ok, so maybe that last part I added, but I am SO glad to have a gas boy. *wait -- that did not sound right.**
Ok.
Given that I was able to do my speed run earlier in the day we were able to work in Brock's favorite new place to eat in the valley here. FUDDRUCKERS. He loved it. The place just opened up last Monday, but they were doing pretty good. There was probably 70 people there and we got there about 5pm! After a short wait we ordered and found our seat. I tried to get a nice pic of Brock but that is next to impossible when he was giddy with delight.
He had gotten a package from my sister, a game for the Wii, but I was making him wait to open til his birthday on Tuesday. He asked me everyday if he could open it. I let him have only one guess as to watch she got him, but it was wrong, so I didn't let him open it any earlier.
Tuesday we had the classes at the YMCA, so we didn't have much time, but I picked up a nice cheese cake for his birthday cake. He REALLY likes his strength class at the Y, there is a really nice looking girl in it. He is looking to impress as many as possible.
Tonight I had to do a 4 mile tempo run and he begged to join me at the Y. Cool! Ok! I thought. Then we got there. He changes his pants and heads to the vending area. (??) I begin my workout on the treadmill (so I could make sure I was maintaining my pace) and I didn't see him for the first 3 miles. At about 3.25 miles he hops on the treadmill next to me and begins to talk my ear off while he jogs, even though I have my ipod in. Short time later he hops off. That was quick, I thought. He said he had to go to the bathroom and would be back. I looked at the distance on the machine.... it said 0.14. What?? That's all? I didn't see him again till I was almost done. Then he worked on all the weight machines, mainly for his arms.
After my cool down I move to the wall to stretch and he magically appears telling me how sore his arms are and how much he LOVES to 'workout'.
I think his mouth did most of the work.
But I am glad to see that I am not the only one in my family that is using our membership. Willingly!

The next big thing.

It has been officially 2 weeks since the Florida adventure and life has just FLOWN BY! It took almost a week to get back in the grove, two weeks to get my house in order and laundry caught up, now I found myself preparing for the next 'big run'. Officially I begin my 'new' training schedule on Monday for my May 9th Journey's Half Marathon in Eagle River.

It will involve some speed runs, tempo runs and just LONG runs.
Speed runs --Monday's-- are basically 1/4 mile sprints (aka 400's) with jogs between for recovery. Monday will be 4 x 400's. (so just over a mile of running) at a pace that is 75 seconds faster than my Half Marathon Pace. Basically 9 minute miles... yikes!
9:07 for 400's (1/4 mile sprint)
9:17 for 800's (1/2 mile sprint)
9:42 for 1600's (1 mile SPRINT)
Tempo runs-- Wednesday's-- are from two miles to eight miles--at faster than normal training pace, or 15 seconds faster than my targeted half-marathon pace.
My Targeted marathon pace is 10:22 (that equals a finish of 2hrs and 15 minutes). I finished in 15 minutes more than that last time.
Long Runs -- Saturday's -- The Runners World website said this "Without the strong, steady, endurance-boosting long run, speed workouts and tempo runs would gradually wear you down. Start at seven miles and work up to 12, long enough to give you that all-important "mileage confidence" for race day."
What I love is you need to run at 30 seconds SLOWER per mile than your marathon pace for the long runs. Which makes them more enjoyable.
Sample Long Run: 10 miles
Long Run Pace: HMPace + 30 seconds per mile

Now that is your education in Runners Talk for the day!

I have Reece and Brock in some classes at the Y. Reece has been in the Fit and Fun classes (basically gym class) for 8 wks now but will go for 6 more, and Brock is now in the Strength and Conditioning class so he will be able to use the Lifestyle center (aka...workout room) will the rest of us boys and girls. I could n't find much during that time for Zeb to go to otherwise I would have put him in a class. Zeb and I will read some Junie B. Jones, First Grader books while we wait during that time, so it is all good. He LOVES those books. For fun last night I took him to Barnes and Noble and he got to pick out 2 'Junie' books, since Brock and Reece were at Ski Club.

Brock is really excited because he is going to do the Fox Cities Half Marathon with me in September. I was going to have him join me in May, but I want to do more training outside with him.

Now my weeks will be...
Sunday--Swim day... maybe... (I might do my swims on Mondays with the Master Swimmers in our Tri club.)
Monday--Zumba, Speed Runs. Maybe Masters Swim...
Tuesday-- Spin Class....
Wednesday-- Tempo runs.....
Thursday-- Spin Class....
Friday-- OFF...
Saturday-- Long Runs.

But thats ok... I like to eat and I will be able to do that once again.

Florida Day 3/ Race Day

This pic was our 'pre race' photo. We were leaving our hotel room at 5am (4 am CST) to head to the start line.
We got there in time to use the port-a-potty, and stretch. We met up with Dr Al and his beautiful wife Jaynie. They were taking it easy today and they still kicked our butts!!!
When we first took off it was DARK. Some people had head lamps on, the race crew did set up some portable lights to direct us through some residential neighborhoods. All around us people had watches, ipods and garmins beeping. (Telling them when to run and walk.)
I kept thinking my watch alarm was going off.
Shortly after we pass the 4 or 5 mile mark we met the FIRST PLACE HALF MARATHON FINISHER on his way back to the start.
Yes. Insane.
We hadn't even made it to the bridge yet!

I was surprsed by how many old people (including Dr Al~ just kidding!) were doing the race. We finally turned for the bridge. I was a little worried about that but the climb kind of felt good. It stretched my muscles out and the down was really nice for my speed. I kept close to Sara for the first half, but then on my last climb up the bridge she slowed to walk, but my hips were too sore. I needed to keep moving. Shortly after my 'power song' came on my ipod. (Girlfriend by Avril Lange) That song has a perfect pick up beat for me.

After the bridge I took the GU I had in my pocket slowed to swallow it down with some water. After that I only slowed to drink water. (I can't drink and run) I was suprised to be passing people. I was usually the one being passed.

One neighbor cut up a bunch of apples and strawberries for us runners!! How Sweet! There were loads of people cheering, it helped push through the screams from my left leg. My ankle was the first to let me know it was not happy, then my calf at mile 11 was asking me to stop. I was taking water everytime. I switched to Gatorade. My finish time was just over 2 hrs and 30 minutes, but I took my time in the begining and just tried to take it all in and.... Have fun! (Really!) We couldn't find Dr Al and Jaynie at the end of the Race because they were already getting a free Massage!! (Lucky!) Dr Al had a REALLY LONG ONE, he kept schmoozing the guy to get a longer one.

After the race we came back to our hotel and CRASHED. We both showered and slept. That felt great. We wobbled a bit and took something for the pain, then ate lunch at a place called Big Al's. It is a complete guys place, we learned. Duner would have LOVED IT. One wall alone had 5 TV's on it. All on Sports channels. I enjoys BBQ ribs and chicken. Yum!
Then we decided to drive to Siesta Key Beach and check that out. I was glad to see "low Hazard' conditions and not "marine life hazard".
I heard about how great this beach is and it truly is like walking on baby powder, VERY fine white sand. No shells. Nice. We may go there tomorrow before we leave again.

It was overcast today, so we will see about getting some rays.



As you can see it was a bit chilly. But still beautiful, actually busy too!

The sand was so fine it held the shoe imprint details.













And then we relaxed by the pool. It too was a bit chilly, but felt good on the muscles. it was heated at 87 degrees. Spent some time in the hot tub too.

Ahhhhh. It feels good to be done.

I can't believe I fly back tomorrow. We will see if my flights go better. I hope so. I have layovers of less than one hour each time, so that doesn't leave much time for error. Yikes!

Before we leave we are going to check out Body Worlds in Tampa.

Florida Day 2

Today's post will be one of pictures... so if you can not see 'em, you may not be disappointed, but this will hamper your enjoyment.
You better check my blog directly... Ok, so why are my feet in the first picture? Because that is how they look BEFORE Myakka River State park... and....

This is them after... note the lovely open blister on the side of my right foot.
Yeah.
That felt great! Tryin' to beat up the feet PRIOR TO THE RACE.

These are black vultures. They are everywhere in this park. One park person said 4 years ago when the river flooded, there were about 3000 of them eating the dead fish that were lost on the shore.
Oh and those long black things are alligtors. Yep, Hanging out with the vultures. I think there was 5 of them. This park also has a problem with wild boars. Yep. Specifically 2000, roaming the park. They just had a trapper come in this year and he got out 1000 of them... They are trying to get down to 60. We didn't see any of them though.
This bridge is our halfway point for the run tomorrow. Yep, begining at mile 5 we will run up, down, up and down this sucker then go back 5 miles again. Delightful? No?
We took a tour through the State Park on an airboat, we saw this Mommy and Daddy (if you look close you can see a baby at the feet of Mommy on the right.) Thankfully the 14 ft Alligator that calls this area home was hiding on us. *Whew* (The tour guide said his name is Fred)

My sister on the canopy walkway that they built in 2000. You climb a staircase 35-40 feet in the air, then walk on this wood and wire walkway across to another tower that you can climb up to 70 feet. The second tower was more like the one at High Cliff State Park.
This was one of the first Alligators we saw going into the park. It was hanging out across the narrow river from a fisherman who described his fishing as 'slow' today. Hmmmm.
One of my favorite pics from yesterday. Ahhh. Just take me away.
No this is not a business.
No it is not a hospital or institution...
it is someone's SUMMER/ VACATION home! I know insane. It is rumored to be the founder of IAM's pet food. I think somebody is overpricing the product just a bit.
Well, that ends your tour of Florida for the day, Check back next time for our tales of terror from the track followed by beach time bliss... ahhhh.
Have a great night!

Florida Day 1

Today I woke up by 9:30. I couldn't sleep. Yep. 5 hours after going to sleep. I laid in bed for 15 minutes then I walked down to get some breakfast. Our hotel has breakfast included. I didn't want to wake up Sara so I tried to be quiet. I was amazed at how warm it was out side already. Shortly after I came back she woke up. We had plans for lunch so we had to leave by 11am or so.
We met Dr. Al, who showed us the sights of St. Armands Circle and notable places nearby. There is lots of history in this area. Mainly the Ringling Circus kind. We ate at a burger shack near a bridge that we are running over. We discussed the race plan, when to get there, when and what to eat, what to wear (of course!) and checked out some cool finishers medals from last year.
After we left Dr Al, my sister and I walked along Lido Key. The water was beautiful but cool. Our feet were pumiced by all the tons of bits of broken shells on the shore.
We headed back to the hotel and waited for the race packet pick up at 4pm. I had picked up a camera just before I left Appleton, but the memory card it came with only holds 10 pictures so after downloading them, we stopped by the convention center to shop and pick up our packets. Here is all the shwag I picked up:

We tried to stop by Bonefish Grill for Supper, but the parking lot was full, so we ended up at Captain Curts Crab Shack and Oyster Bar. I had WORLD CHAMPION clam chowder,grilled shrimp and roasted red potatoes. It was pretty good.
Now we are back in the hotel room watching O Brother, Where art thou on TV. We love that movie. Then we are calling it an early night. We are tired.

Waiting

Duner drove me out to the airport and dropped my off by 9:15am, since he was on nights last night I didn't expect him to sit and wait with me. My flight was supposed to leave at 10:40 but it ended up not leaving til almost 1pm. At least A-town has free internet. Yay! I was able to watch a movie on Netflix to kill time. No word on why they were delayed but when we got to Detroit it was very WINDY. I was wondering what kind of pilot we had til I saw a flag straight out on a pole.

I got some lunch from Quiznos here in the Detroit airport and played on the internet. I got on my 2nd of 3 flights with only a 40 minute delay we were off. I believe our plane was held up waiting for a passenger from a connecting flight. We made up some time in the air because we were only 10 minutes late when we got to Memphis.
I was supposed to have only an hour lay over in Memphis.

Oh, we got on the plane about the right time.
We got up in the air about the right time.
About 40 minutes into the 1 hour and 25 minute flight the pilot announces "Due to some pressure problems that we can't seem to fix, we can not clime more than 10000 feet, so have to turn back to Memphis and fix the problem."
You can imagine the delight in the passengers at that announcement. I was lucky enough to sit next to a man that enjoyed his alcohol, and knew everything.
I scrabbled to send a text message to my sister who was waiting for me in Tampa at the Airport, but I was not able to get a signal. By the time we got back to Memphis it was 9:30 CST. It was so hard to keep track of the time zones yesterday. I was in 4.
Wisconsin CST.
Michigan EST.
Tennesse CST.
Florida EST.
NWA gave us snacks and let us leave the plane, I had been traveling for 12 hours and was not going to sit around anymore. I began to walk laps. I learned a lot from the crew by over hearing things.
When we landed we got a new pilot and co-pilot. They were 'illeagal' and were not able to fly again that night. They also decided to send the flight crew home as well, It takes 2 hrs for the new crew to arrive. They said they called them when we were still in the air. At first my arrival time at Tampa was supposed to be 10:30pmEST, then moved to 12:12am EST (after we first landed back in Memphis) then it became 1:37am EST. I arrived in TAMPA at 2am EST. Only 3 1/2 hours after I was supposed to in a heavy fog. Thankfully they rewarded our time delay with a $100 credit voucher, I haven't read it too close but you can bet I will try to use it when I can!
I kept calling our hotel to let them know how late we were, we pulled in to the parking lot about 4 am EST, and by 4:20 we were in bed.

Holding Pattern

So, I am up at 5 am for no real reason. Just that I can not sleep.

In 5 hours I board a plane for Detroit, only to sit for about 5 hours there, then go on to Florida. (Thank God for Netflix! I will be able to watch movies instantly while I wait.) I keep going over in my head some last minute things I need to do. Like bring Reece's Cello to Grandma's and Zebs eye medicine (for some lovely impetigo) that he developed to Grandma's as well.

My sister arrived there and said that it was a humid 74 degrees in Tampa yesterday. Sure beats 30 degrees and cloudy up here.

I am all checked in. Just waiting to leave.
Oh yeah, the kids are getting up. Time to get them ready for School.

My lil' Marathoner...

Every Tuesday night I bring Reece to the Y for Fit-n-Fun class. I signed him up without his approval because it is a frigid winter and he was sitting on the computer more than any other kids we have.
We are about 3 weeks into that class and tonight, Brock decided he wanted to tag along with me to the Y.

'Ok. Sure." I said. Kinda surprised. He is generally not active but he wanted to walk/run the track.
I said " If you go, I am running my 2 miles today at the Y. So you will have to watch Zeb on the Track til I am done."
"Ok" he said.

Hmmmm.

I wasn't getting to excited about it I figured it was a one time thing. While I ran my miles, Brock walked and ran with Zeb. Everytime I passed them they tried to keep up with me for a bit, then they would stop. By 20 minutes, I finished I took Zeb and we headed downstairs to watch Reece for the next 25 minutes.
Brock asked to keep walking the track til Reece gets finished. Sure No Problem.

When he finished, Brock came up to me and said " I bet I could get some girls if I can do that track for a long time".

Now he is GETTING IT!! This is MY THING. Of course, I promptly said...

"Why don't you do a half marathon with me? Fox Cities Marathon is in September, why not do it with me?" I said.
"Ok, but I'll walk some." he said. Then he asked about the class they have at the Y to be allowed into the lifestyle center. He is 13 (almost 14) but has to be 15 to be able to be in the Lifestyle center. We walked to the front desk and I showed him the class discription and the dates and times of the class. He was bummed because I can't sign him up til after the Half Marathon in February, but he wants to continue to walk/run the track with me.

YEEESSSS!!! Finally!!

It only took 4 years of Triathlons and Marathon to get one of my kids truly into it on their own terms! Ok, the posibility of girls probably helped too, but still!!

Unexpected.

Unexpected #1
Brock has been playing with a friends PS3 lately and is consumed with the urge to pick up one of those babies and one particular game. Something with Zombies and things that I really don't like Zeb to see. AND, since we just got them a Wii for Christmas, I will not be getting the PS3 anytime soon... if he continues to bring it up, he will not have one til he is 18 and can buy it himself.
Unexpected #2
I have been plugging away at the training for the marathon. I was thinking I had to do 7 miles on Thursday, but afterwards, I found out it was six. opps. he. he. Thats ok. I was really impressed with my time. One hour and seven minutes. I have a stopwatch that I use for my laps, and I was able to run a mile in 9:30. I wanted to make sure I didn't mess up, so I hopped on the treadmil for a mile and sure enough I was actually doing that well. Now, I have been running for 3 years with VERY LITTLE improvement on my time, I am not exactly sure what I am doing but yay! That is over 30 second improvement and I wasn't pushing really hard to get it done. I did only one mile on the treadmill. I really like to feel the breeze as I run the track... it helps cool me down.
Unexpected #3
Not too long ago we had a meeting at work and my manager had mentioned something about a position they are creating for Training Specialist. It is full time, more money and more traveling and you train old and new employees on the 'better' ways to do things. It sounded interesting so I applied. I don't want full time, but if the hours are 4 ten hour days that wouldn't be so bad. I managed to get a phone interview for Tuesday , but we will see how that will go. I hate interviews. I am not holding my breath.
Unexpected #4
Today we shut the clinic down due to a ill MD, and no coverage.
That was a great surprise considering, the kids already were off due to a half day of school. So, Duner and I took them to Tom's Drive in for Lunch and to see the movie Hotel for Dogs. Cute movie.
Now, I must head to bed, I have to work a double shift at they Y tomorrow. FUN!