Boo!

My little monster has gone trick-or-treating ... grrrrr.

Somebody forwarded this little quote so I thought I'd pass it along.

Times sure have changed, but the message still resonates with me.

Have our goals, aspirations and expectation of ourselves really changed all that much?

"You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence. You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves"

--Rev. William J. H. Boetcker (thanks for the correction, P. !)

PR for Bobby!!

The whole fam damily came out to do the Monster Dash 5K around Lake Harriet on Saturday. Bobby has wanted to get under 30 minutes all year and he did this weekend! Woo-hoot! His net time was around 29:42 - not sure what his gross time was, but he was so excited!

Below is the fam with Laura, Greg and Zurich. Laura would be the hippie chick. ;-)

Below is Bobby on pace for his PR.

Here we are at the finish - that's Ally's Monster "Grrr". She came in around 45 minutes.

This is a view of Lake Calhoun - an adjacent City Lake to the one we ran around (Harriet). Minneapolis is called the City of Lakes because we do indeed have these beautiful lakes right in the center of the city. It was a gorgeous day.

Fall in Minnesota

Here are some recent pics from The Upper Midwest. Soon to be referred to as The Tundra.

Pics from Whistlestop Marathon in Ashland, Wisconsin:

Guy, Marty, me, Diane, Holly, Chae, Merrilee before the race. We really did have trees this bright for the whole marathon. Only once we were on the trail there were lots of reds and oranges displayed as bouquets nestled in with the balsams. It was gorgeous.

After the race we drove over to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for a GREAT Italian dinner.

Holly, me, Chae, Diane, Merilee and Guy. Marty went home after the race but Guy stayed as our man-guest for Girls Weekend. He said he would do Girls Weekend anytime!

Bobby invited his 5th grade class over for a Fall Harvest Party. Sixteen kids came and it was so much fun! We went on a trail hike in the back yard, collected interesting stuff for a contest with cool prizes. (Stacea won with her big hairy mushroom; second place was a truly perfect fall leaf). We played games like apple toss, ate pizza, played flashlight games after dark and made s'mores at the firepit. It was about 62 degrees and clear - a perfect fall day.

Yesterday Bobby and Ally and I hit the trails again - the leaves have really fallen - but that in itself is pretty as it looks like a golden carpet in the woods.

Saturday ten of us went on the Ride For Pie. It's a 65 mile HILLY ride along the St. Croix River -  to the most amazing bakery, where we all ate pumpkin pie and then biked back. Andy got a flat in his rear tire; then a flat in his front tire 2 miles later (seriously); then another flat in his front in another 2 miles (TOTALLY serious). He ran out of supplies, so IrongirlNyhus had to go get the car and pick him up! It was a 6 1/2 hour ride with the stops and hills, but it was so pretty!!

Finally, yesterday Susan and I were out on our 6am run and saw 4 shooting stars. We couldn't believe it! So I got home and googled the stargazing page and lo-and-behold it's a charted meteor shower. Only TODAY (the 21st) is supposes to be the really good viewing day, in the  morning and in the south. So Bob and I got the kids up at 5:30 this morning, got all bundled up and watched the sky for an hour and a half before school. We each saw at least 8 or 10 shooting stars... the first ever for Bobby and Ally -- they were so excited! I will be running again tomorrow so if it's clear, maybe I will see some more. Cool!

Redemption

Yesterday's Whistlestop Marathon went better for me. From the start I wanted to just take what the day brought me, mile by mile. Last weekend's TCMarathon left me feeling unsure and out of control. But I did feel better the second half of TCM, and managed to negative split by about a half hour. 

Anyway, here are my splits from yesterday at Whistlestop (also a negative split!):

1- 10:26

2- 9:23

3- 9:20

4- 9:19

5- 9:29

6- 9:13

7- 9:09

8- 9:19

9- 9:06

10- 9:16

11- 8:55

12- 8:48

13- 9:17

14- 9:04

15- 9:04

16- 9:40

17- 9:14

18- 9:34

19- 8:44

20- 8:35

21- 8:37

22- 8:55

23- 8:42

24- 9:20

25- 8:50

26.2- 10:24

Total time - 3:59:53

For my age group, the Boston qualifier is 4:00:59.  ;-)

I ran with a guy named Tom almost the entire way. I was wearing my FCA-Endurance Team(Fellowship of Christian Athletes)  jersey, and when we passed one other guy who said, "love your shirt!", Tom and I had the opportunity to talk faith a little. He studies lots of religions so it was really interesting and the miles clicked off one by one. I told him that I like endurance sports because I can bring Jesus with me out there and He keeps me company when it's great as well as when it sucks. About the halfway mark, when I was still feeling great, I quietly said a prayer that "if You want to finish this marathon with me, it'd be great to go under 4 hours. But if that's not the Plan, just bring me in feeling good, ok? Amen."

Looking at how fast I got at the end, I can only think that power came from somewhere outside of me. 

Any which way you read it, it was a great race for me and I'm not even sore. (Don't hate me for that, ok?)

I had so much fun with the friends I went with - hugs to Holly, Chae, Diane, Merilee (p.s. - Merilee - you over paid for gas so I owe you some money), Guy, and Marty - you guys are awesome! I also got to see Trimama at the prerace dinner and we did start together, but separated right away. She is going to do great at AZ IM  in a few weeks. Can't wait to follow you and Merilee!!!

Yea!!! Boston! After 29 marathons, I am finally qualified!!!

Twin Cities Marathon

Well, the first half sucked because I could NOT control my heartrate (191 - 230 when I ran; back down to 129 or so when I walked). And did I mention rain? Oh, yeah - pouring. Like, completely and totally pouring rain with thunder and everything. Some people were trying to run around the puddles and others were just jumping in them and singing songs. Anyway, I spent much of the first half hanging with the 5:00 folks, freaking out while my chest exploded in arrythmia.

But after about mile 12 I felt much better (suddenly) and ran strong the rest of the way in. So my first half was 2:29; second half 2:05, for a final of 4:34. So it was my personal worst for TCM, but I guess that I just have to take what the day brings me, and be thankful for that. Right Commodore?

It was awesome seeing Steve in a Speedo and the rest of his Animal Farm. Pharmie, I missed you altogether, so I hope you put up your race report soon!

Jumper did his first marathon - woo-hoot! And considering he pretty much took the summer off of training after his crash, he should be very happy! You're a marathoner, Tim!

Sarah, Laura's sister, whom I usually run with, did her PR for Twin Cities - great job Sarah!

Thanks IronGreg, IronGirlNyhus, Betty and IronZurich for cheering! And Susan, Laurie and Margeaux; and Terri and Erin for coming out, too in the pouring rain to cheer - you guys were the best and it was awesome to see you out there!

I am heading over to Wisconsin tomorrow for the Whistlestop Marathon on Saturday. Hopefully I will have better luck there.

Mac Server

Any Mac users out there who have not received any emails for the last 24 hours?

I am receiving them on my PC via MediaCom, but nothing on my iPhone or Mac frm MobilMe...

I even sent myself an email from the other side of the house and it left the PC just fine, but has not been received in this room yet... hmmmmm.

How cute is this one?

... and it's red corduroy on the back. So adorable.

Thank you to Sheila for your donation to Kona Shelley's fundraiser!

I think I may have to make one of these for myself someday...