SingletrackJenny

Is spring here?

2011-02-12T15:13:00.002-06:00

Ahhh! Temperatures have soared into the 20's out here in sunny Minnesota! Guy and I are in Rochester for the weekend with Bobby and Ally - Ally is swimming in the President's Day "A" Meet. Not doing really well - she was home two days this week with a 102+ temperature, but now she just has a really bad cold. She has swum in 3 events so far (will be 7 total), and all were slower than her qualifying times. But that's ok. We are still really proud of her just for getting here. Go Ally! We love you so much! UPDATE 5:00 p.m.... Ally just swam the 100 yard breaststroke in a Championship Qualifying PR!!!!

Anyway, this morning at dawn we headed out, intending to run 15 miles on the Douglas Trail. It was nicely packed by the snowmobilers, but it was still a lot of work: a good ankle-strengthening work-out for ultra runners, and I do say that like it's a good thing! So we hopped on and off the trail, running on the streets as well as on sidewalks in and around the old neighborhoods. It was SO nice outside that we ended up with 18 miles~! Yea!

We were especially proud of ourselves because we've been running just a fraction of the miles we used to over these last 10 months with all the changes in our lives that needed tending to. It hasn't been easy, as we've had to work our way back from SCRATCH. Like, we struggled with our first 3 and 4 mile runs on the dreadmill. But after today, our confidence is back, and WE are back, baby!

We used to be "marathon-ready," even "Ironman-ready" all year round (I did 5 Ironman triathlons and over 20 marathons in 2 1/2 years), but we completely lost all that conditioning in the strange year we look back and call "2010." It's been a long road back. So we really, really needed that confidence-building run, and today we got it.

In two weeks, Guy is heading down with some buddies to Oklahoma to do a 50K on Saturday and a trail marathon on Sunday - 57 miles in two days... sounds like old times, honey! Have fun and good luck!

Hope you all got your long runs in this beautiful weekend! We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us!

Training for Chippewa

2011-02-08T21:34:00.001-06:00

Ok, what's my identity here? It started as an Ironman training blog, then an ultra running blog, then an I Love Jesus blog... now I think it's time to blend all these things that are or were important to me and start blogging again!

It's just been such a weird year, 2010... death in the family, the settlement of bills, the reorganization of all the household "stuff", knowing what stuff to throw out, and what to keep - both tangible and intangible. So much just had to GO. It was a shocking, freeing, revealing year. And here's what I ended up with:

- A man who loves me so much more than I ever thought I could be loved.
- Kids who love me - still - even though they are 10 and 12 and I hear that this is the stage where they start to pull away, but I have really lucked out - they still think (and tell us) that they are the luckiest kids in the world cause they have us for parents. I am so thankful I get to be their mom and I tell them everyday!
- An extended family who loves us - including cousins, aunts, sisters-in-law, and Grandparents who go overboard making sure my kids feel treasured.
- We are so blessed.

Deep breath. Now that I have all those comforts, I can get back to training. So here is what is planned:

Guy and I are registered for several races in 2011 - starting with Chippewa 50K in April, Superior 50 mile in May, and Grandma's marathon in June. We took some time off and had to work our way back up the milage charts, but I am up to 11 and Guy is up to 13. I can leisurely work my way up to race day in April...

...But in a couple of weeks Guy has to be back up to 50K cause he and a couple of trail runner buddies are doing a crazy road trip race-weekend in Oklahoma that is a 50K on Saturday followed by a road marathon on Sunday. Now that is jumping back in the saddle. Glad I am staying home watching kids!

I've been treadmilling most of my runs as we have had a lot of snow, like pretty much everyone else in the USA. I can't wait to get back outside - and back on TRAILS. Chae, who is doing Chippewa with us, has been keeping her miles up, too, and we'll all be ready come April.

Gonna feel good to actually pin on a real race bib again.

More gifts... 206...

2011-01-09T19:40:00.001-06:00

206). Listening to Guy talk on the phone to his old friend Doug, who lives in Charlotte. He and Doug have been friends for ages. I hope we get to see them this summer. Guy has relationships that go so far back, and that says so much for what kind of person he is - that people still want to be friends with him over the decades.
207). Love.
208). Wishing I could let go easier.
209). Today's sermon at Plymouth Covenant Church was about realizing that your ONLY, ONE true thing that will satisfy you is a relationship with Jesus. That is a comfort to know the answer. To like, the biggest question mankind has ever asked.
210). What will bring you contentedness? I have tried placing that on people, on accomplishments, on things, etc. And none has brought me the contentedness that my relationship with Jesus has brought.
211). Finally "getting it" that it really IS all about Jesus. You don't have to keep wondering and looking!
212). Knowing and fully accepting that He is the one! That even though I screw up often, He knows my heart, He knows I try, He knows I will NEVER be perfect, and He still , STILL loves me.
213). It is a gift that I keep getting blessed beyond anything I ever prayed for, or even thought of.
214). That anyone who reads this, only needs to get quiet, listen to the silence, ask for Jesus to reveal Himself, and THERE HE IS. Seriously - that is all it takes. There He is. Talk to Him! He loves it! And trust me, you will, too!
215). It is a gift that I am making a comeback in running. We are up to 8 miles as of yesterday - woo-hoot!!
216). That our (10-13 year old) kids think 70's music is cool. They were pulling it up on their laptops in the kitchen on Friday, and as the music would start, Guy and I would name the tunes! And it would SOOOO take us back to high school! It was the best family night ever.
217). Taking a nap this afternoon for 90 minutes.
218). A clean house.
219). A clean kitchen counter.
220). The sound of our kids laughing. We took them all to see Triple Espresso last night at the old Loring Theatre. They had no idea what it was about, so I just told them I'd give them 5 bucks if they could go through the whole show and not laugh. Eager for 5 bucks, they were CERTAIN they could collect. Bobby had both hands on his cheeks, for the first few lines, and kept looking over at me to see if I saw him laughing, but after about 5 minutes he just smiled at me and said no way - I lose this one!
221). Watching our kids TOTALLY cracking up, like leaning forward and back in their seats, laughing - is a priceless gift.
222). The fact that I first saw this show before I even HAD kids, and it's been running so long that now we have teenagers who loved it.
223). That ANYONE can make shadow figures as funny as the character Bobby Bean did in the show last night.
224). Having two washers and dryers. Laundry for 5 students/ workers/athletes can pile up pretty fast, and you can get twice as much done!
225). That Bobby loves reading The Message Bible for pleasure.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-26T17:17:00.002-06:00

This has been the most lovely and love-filled Christmas I remember in my entire life. It was like a Hallmark made for TV movie.

It started on the 22nd, actually, when we were all unpacking groceries in the kitchen after a delightful (and delicious) trip to Costco, (the Center of the Universe, according to Jaynee and now me, too!) Guy just looked at me, and in front of all our kids, asked if I'd make him the happiest man on the planet and marry him. The kids were excited, I was excited, and I said yes, of course. He put a REALLY pretty ring on my finger, where it will stay the rest of my life. I am so excited to marry him! He is my true love, and is the most caring, loving, gentle, patient and kind man I have ever known. Even if we are simply doing chores, or sorting mail, or flipping channels, I just LOVE being with him, and near him. Try not to gag, but we sometimes just look at each other over our readers and smile. His eyes sparkle when he looks at me, and my heart just pounds. Ally says, "blech!" Bobby interrupts our hugs and says, "you guys are the cutest couple ever!" and steals his own hug away from Guy or me. So anyway, Ally wants us to get married on a cruise, Pod wants us to get married in Duluth where we met, and Bobby just says, "tomorrow!"

After we got engaged on the 22nd. Honey, thank you for not making me wait until Christmas!

So here we are. Engaged! At last! It has been a long strange trip getting here, but we arrived in one piece, and the kids couldn't be more thrilled. Nor could we. I love you, Guy. Thank you so much for loving me and loving us.

Guy has this great, non-dysfunctional family. They have a schedule of family events all year long, around all the holidays. They're like a pot-luck, loved-filled, happy, series of gatherings. We went to his parents' house for Christmas Eve. His mom made spaghetti and his sister Pam made lasagna. (So delish that I had both, but it's the holidays, and what fun would New Years be if I didn't need to lose a couple pounds?!) We sipped wine, told stories, listened to all the kids and cousins laughing. Then we opened presents. Oh. My. Gosh. Do his parents do "presents"... wow. The kids were in total awe and amazement. Every single item on their lists was under Grandma and Grandpa's tree. And then some. They both kept saying, "this is the best Christmas ever!!"

So we had this great Christmas Eve. Like I said earlier, The kids got everything they had on their lists. But when we got into the car to go home, Bobby grabbed my shoulder from the back seat and said, "Mom, I got everything I ever wanted for Christmas." I said, "I know! I can't believe you got an XBox 360 from Grandma and Grandpa!!" He said, "no, what I mean is I got a real family. That is so much better than all the presents. I always wanted that. And nobody was drunk or high, either."

It was so sweet. Bittersweet. He has said this at least two more times since that day. It's so sad that, until Guy came around, I had not been able to provide that for him. I think he has friends at school who have these normal, amazing, extended families, and they hang out with their cousins and do stuff with them... and I guess Bobby always secretly pined for it. Now he has it. I don't think we could have lucked out like this, with all the kids' relationships and instant love for one another, without Divine intervention. There is just no way that it was just chance that they all get along so well.

On Christmas Day we opened our own gifts to each other at our house:

Pod gave me the running headphones I desperately wanted! Thanks, Pod!!!!! I have the worst-shaped ears for ear buds and they fall out constantly and I whine about it constantly, but now I have the kind that hangs behind your neck. Phew. Thanks, Pod!

Bobby really wanted a new study NIV - the kind Guy has - so we gave him his own for Christmas. He was really pumped 'cause we also put tabs on the fringes for easy reference!

Hugs all around for Bobby getting the Bible he wanted.

Ally and Pod probably sharing a laugh about the crazy, insane amount of Justin Bieber items Ally got for Christmas.

... And then we went to Guy's sister Lisa's house, for you guessed it - more pot-luck and fellowship. We ate her awesome ham and green beans, watched a movie, the kids hung out, and then we got in the car to go home and again Bobby said, "I have a family!!" Grinning so wide that surely his face had to be sore.

When Guy and I sit and marvel at it, we know that these kids will grow up together, calling and texting each other, visiting each other at college, being in each other's weddings, godparents to each other's kids... It is so beautiful. And we are so undeserving, and so incredibly thankful.

Today, the 26th, we slept kinda late, went to church, hung out, and then our own "little family" went snowshoeing.

Family portrait.

Pod and Bobby taking a rest at the gazebo.

Boys and Sticks. It's a universal picture. You could insert your own kids here. ;-)

So here we are, chilling out (chil-axing as Ally calls it) and thinking about how blessed we are. Guy and I rescued each other. Not with the timing that the textbooks would have liked, and we made mistakes like everyone does. Maybe more. But we did the best we could, and the best we knew how to do at the time, and we landed in a peaceful, blessed place. I wish there were words to express our gratitude. God had a plan for us. Not so much just for Guy and me, but a peaceful, fulfilling, blessed, comfortable place for Bobby and Ally and Pod.

As Bobby and Ally kept saying, "It was the best Christmas ever."

A Thousand Gifts, pg 5

2010-12-19T19:05:00.000-06:00

Doing this Thousand Gift exercise is incredible. It makes me feel so incredibly blessed. I would never have all this love in my life, all this peace, all this joy, if I were going it alone. I have a Savior. And all the gifts He showers on me are in ADDITION to that. I just shake my head, weep a little, and give thanks. I could never thank Him enough.

181). My kids each day. I have them in my life every single day. It wasn't going to be that way. I was going to have to fight for them.
182. My kids' love for me. Even though they are 10 and 12, they still want to hug, kiss, snuggle, and laugh with me every day.
183). Bobby telling me I am the best mom ever. And he tells me this every day. It's like he never gets tired of it.
184). The blessing that Ally STILL hasn't hit the snotty stage. I hear it from other girls her age and think to myself, "What a gift, that that isn't happening to us." I was snotty to my own mom for at least ten years, so I surely don't deserve Ally.
185). Bobby holding my right hand all through church this morning.
186). And Guy holding my left.
187). Having to let the love fill up to my eyes, and the tears of joy just spill down my face, because both hands were busy being held.
188). Guy being so crafty for a guy. Right now he is putting chapter tabs on the new Bible that we are giving Bobby for Christmas. (He wants to have the same Study one that Guy uses.) And his man-ish gear-head's hands can nimbly affix those teeny little sticky tabs, 'cause he wants Bobby to love his new Bible.
189). Watching Guy wrap Christmas presents, after he demanded everyone keep away. He really gets into Christmas and it is so cool! He makes really pretty bows and is very careful about the ribbon.
190). Going for a coffee date and just sitting, talking, and holding hands for an hour.
191). Finding out this week that the cells that "looked like basal cell carcinoma" were actually only "benign lichenoid keratosis."
192). Knowing that the still-painful biopsy and pending nasty scar are a reminder that once again, my Savior came through for me.
193). Geico insurance commercials.
194). Watching Bobby swim at practice yesterday.
195). Pearson's Salted Nut Roll Bars.
196). Homemade nut roll bars.
197). Taking a nap for 90 minutes in the middle of the day.
198). Going headlamp snowshoeing at night with the kids and listening to them talk about how cool it is.
199). Kissing Guy with my eyes open.
200). Bobby seeing us hugging, and breaking us apart so he could take a turn hugging Guy.
201). Getting invited to go night snowshoeing on the winter solstice - I hope it's not too cold! But it will be very neat!!
202). The bracelet that Ally just made and came to show me. Teal beads of oval and round shapes.
203). Her sweet little kiss just now.
204). And her little hug and "Aw, I love you Mommy" when she saw I typed that.
205). Street rod tv shows that Guy watches when he's chilling out.
206). Being in my pajamas since 5:30 pm.

A Thousand Gifts, pg 4

2010-12-05T19:54:00.000-06:00

151). Snowshoe-ing with the kids and having Bobby say no less than three times, "I love this!"
152). Christmas carols.
153). Seeing an owl with a 6-foot wingspan flying through the trees (how can they DO that?) after hearing him half an hour earlier, but now knowing where he was until he took off flying above us.
154). Painting supplies.
155). Coffee with Baileys in it.
156). Salted nut roll bars.
157). Pants that still fit during the holidays.
158). Getting juicy sweet oranges during the winter cause somebody brings them all the way from the southern hemisphere for us to enjoy them up here in Minnesota in December.
159). Swimming in the same lane with my kids yesterday for a 1+ hour workout cause we're all about the same speed now.
160). Realizing that Bobby was sand-bagging the whole workout just to be with me. The last 50 yards he pulled ahead and started racing me, and in only 50 yards, beat me by more than two full body lengths. What the...?! When did THAT happen!? ;-) I was really gunning it, too!
161). Ally's fashion sense.
162). Watching Guy make his own Christmas bows. They are beautiful and so full and fluffy!
163). Comfortable yet stylish boots.
164). The sound of my kids laughter.
165). Thinking about Jesus, as a man, living among his peers 2000 years ago. He had friends, a job, got blisters when he outgrew his sandals, and surely smashed his thumb a few times with a hammer at work. But He was special. He was the Son of our God. Immanuel, God with us. How amazing it must have been to know him.
166). Knowing Him anyway, 2000 years later, even though I can't actually see Him. I feel Him like He really is here.
161). Neosporin and bandaids.
162). Gazing as a stranger's 16 month old baby at Dunn Bros and remembering my kids being that age like it was just yesterday.
163). 3-D movies
164). Watching little kids at the mall today as they met Father Christmas who was milling around, talking to the kids and handing our trinkets.
165). Writing my own notes from Santa to my kids when they were little, and they were so certain Santa had written them.
166). Not having to "be" Santa anymore, and have to wait up on Christmas Eve until the kids went to sleep, and then start putting toys together from 11:00 to 2:00 am.
167). Electric toasters.
168). Still being able to smell my fabric softener even after wearing an outfit all day long.
169). The contrast of white snow and black, leafless tree trunks and branches.
170). Brave men and women who keep the rest of us safe: police officers, firefighters, military personnel.
171). Pine and holly Christmas decorations that smell like the real thing.
172). Down blankets.
173). The unseen guys who plow the roads before I go to work.
174). The energetic feeling I get when I walk into Lifetime, even before I step on the treadmill or sit at a machine.
175). Actually appreciating climatic seasons we have here. Even the sub-zero days and 90+ degree days have their purpose. I may complain at the extremes, but I am nonetheless amazed by the gift.
176). The feel of breeze on my face.
177). Popcorn with real butter and parmesan cheese sprinkled on it.
178). Going to bed early, so I can chill with a Sudoku puzzle before I turn the light out.
179). Being comfortable enough in my head and my heart to sleep soundly.
180). Watching street performers do crazy tricks. For a living.

A Thousand Gifts, pg 3

2010-11-26T06:55:00.000-06:00

101). Getting up before everyone else, and listening to the silence.
102). And then listening harder and it sounds noisy! Like the furnace, the hum of a computer, the coffee maker...
103). Good coffee.
104). Sipping it out of a shared mug with the one you love.
105). Being thankful for all these gifts. You can actually FEEL thankfulness in your heart if you're sensitive to it.
106). Watching movies on the couches with Guy and the kids the last two nights.
107). TV.
108). Books.
109). My journal which I have kept since the kids were little. It is filled with the unedited story of my life. Love it or hate it, it's just a chronicle, and I am thankful for my own strengths.
110). Funny anecdotes about stuff my kids said. Like when Ally was just learning to talk, when I would say, "I love you!" she would respond with, "I love me, too!"She'd cock her head a little to the side, sort of like a reassurance. It was so cute!
111). The fact that Bobby talks at all. He didn't talk until he was almost 4 years old.
112). Which made me think something was terribly wrong, but it wasn't.
113). He's actually just brilliant.
114). That Bobby could explain to me the difference between the Theory of Relativity and the Theory of Special Relativity when he was in 2nd grade. "Quanta are just little tiny packets of energy, Mom."
115). Paved roads.
116). Red maples.
117). Taking a scenic drive in the fall and looking at the leaves.
118). Or a scenic run, or on the bikes.
119). When Guy and I had a picnic in the parking lot, on the asphalt, at Lake Rebecca last summer. Spread out a plaid blanket, ate cheese and crusty bread, and shared a Summit.
120). That no matter where I am with him, I feel like I'm at home.
121). Fine smelling cleaning products.
122). Pine scented candles at Christmas time.
123). Red toenail polish.
124). Being able to remember my dreams almost every night.
125). Watching people I care about, succeed. Like following people on Ironmanlive when they qualify for Kona, and just wishing I were there to see them smile! Or how I felt when my boss Darin get promoted. I still miss his humor!
126). That I can get back up again when I get knocked down.
127). That cuts heal eventually.
128). The canvas which is the sky, that God paints every morning and every evening. Our God can PAINT!!!
129). Hot chocolate with marshmallows.
130). Picking your own apples.
131). Walking down to the farmers market in Medina to get peppers, and then holding a bag of veggies in one hand, and each other's in the other hand, all the way home.
132). The old blogging days when we'd get to know each other by our words alone, then meet up at some race in a cool location.
133). Staying in touch with some of them!
134). Meeting someone as passionate about God as I am.
135). And freely talking about it.
136). Praying with my eyes open.
137). Being moved to tears every week by worship music.
138). Feeling God's presence.
139). Knowing that God knows that I try, and still loves me when I get it wrong.
140). Electricity. Our power went out for a full day recently - so inconvenient! but enlightening, too.
141). Actually getting pregnant and having Ally AFTER having ectopic pregnancies in both tubes.
142). Becoming a Christian a few years ago.
143). Standing on a bridge over a river and watching the water flow downstream.
144). Dropping leaves in it and watching them disappear.
145). Doing that with your kids just on a steam in the woods in back of the house.
146). Treasure hunting with a metal detector.
147). Panning for gold. ("I'm not addicted! I can quit whenever I want!" "Honey, you said that two hours ago."
148). Lucky Charms. And how they put in more marshmallows so you never run out anymore.
149). Lasik
150). Cute reading classes for when the lasik doesn't work anymore.

A Thousand Gifts, page 2

2010-11-25T12:31:00.000-06:00

51). Reading the things Bobby and Ally just wrote down when I asked them to write 10 things they were thankful for. Bobby wrote 11 and Ally couldn't stop 'til she hit 37. Which was "make-up.":-)
52). The smell of roasting turkey in the oven, all basted with aromatic herbs that Guy stuffed it with.
53). Living someplace where it goes unnoticed when you end sentences with prepositions.
54). My daughter's sweet hand on my back as I type this.
55). The enormous complexity of my eyeballs, and that they WORK. God, sheesh, how did you DO that??!!
56). Thinking about my 10th grade English teacher, Joan Howard, and how I still think of her almost every week.
57). Kim Basala and how she is so love-filled and fun. A smile from her sweet face can heal all wounds.
58). A selection of climate-appropriate clothes that I can select from each day.
59). Hobbies, like:
60). Sewing
61). ...painting,
62). ...running,
63). ...mountain biking,
64). ...tri-biking,
65). ...swimming in lakes with my son (Ally will probably join in this summer)
66). and canoeing with my kids
67). Fresh, clean sheets
68). Watching Guy smile at me without actually moving his mouth.
69). Listening to the leaves rustle on the quaking aspens in the back yard
70). French Park, Wild Meadows, and Baker Park trails.
71). The "block" button on Facebook so you don't even have to know if the mean people are still talking about you! Even though they haven't spoken to you personally in over a year.
72). The person who invented those wooden blinds where you just have to pull that string and they go up, or down, evenly! and you can lock them them in any position.
73). Automobiles
74). Fax machines were awesome when they came out, but now we can just...
75). Scan things! Like pictures and documents
76). Just how incredibly smart, smart phones are.
77). Bill Gates
78). black tinted mulch
79). gas powered lawn mowers
80). The sweet sound of Guy's greeting, as he just walked into the kitchen where I am sitting and said, "Hi, Honey."
81). Bibles with tabs or cut-outs so you know where the chapters are.
82). New International Version.
83). The tiny little taste I just had of Guy's homemade orange-zested cranberry sauce.
84). That he made enough to put on turkey sandwiches for the next few days. It is seriously de-LISH.
85). Pretty fabric
86). Being blessed with straight teeth.
87). Seeing that my kids got my teeth.
88). Minty toothpaste
89). smart wool socks
90). tinted windows (like in your car) on my house so that the rooms don't get too hot, and the furniture doesn't fade
90). Sneaking into Guy's sock drawer, trying on the engagement ring he's getting ready to give me, and not getting in trouble when I get caught. (hey! get outa there!!)
91). Being certain about saying, "yes."
92). Not having to work today - just spin, cook, relax with family, sip at a glass of chardonnay
93). Keeping an orchid alive.
94). The Chronicles of Narnia
95). When they have pickled beets on the salad bar.
96). Spinach
97). Blue cheese
98). Popcorn with butter
99). KTIS ministry radio.
100). Peace in my life.

Oh, my gosh! This is so fun! THERE IS TREASURE AND GIFTS EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Thousand Gifts

2010-11-24T16:31:00.003-06:00

I just stumbled upon a blog from a fellow blogger's blogging buddy. It's called A Thousand Gifts. Basically you write down a thousand gifts... I think it's a beautiful idea! I am going to start right now.

1). The millions of snowflakes gently falling onto the deck furniture outside my kitchen window right now.
2). The sound of my kids' voices while they watch funny youtube videos in the next room.
3). The unending love and amazing Grace from my Savior.
4). The fact that He forgives me for not listing #3 first, when now that I think about it, it certainly should be #1!
5). The love showered on me from my soulmate, Guy. He truly possesses all the Fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22.
6). Those being Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Those are ALL incredible gifts.
7). The fact that I can read and write.
8). The fact that my children can, as well.
9). The fact that, while my soul didn't do anything to deserve it, and it was only by the Grace of God, that I was born in a free country.
10). That I enjoy climate control pretty much everywhere I go. Not too hot, not too cold.
11). People with a sense of humor who make me laugh.
12). I have a small handful of friends who have stuck with me through thick and thin.
13). That when I screw up, and I do a lot, I am given the opportunity to apologize and make it "right" again.
14). That we can disagree in America without getting shot, stoned, or burned with acid.
15). That my kids have a Christ-centered school that they love where they can express their faith openly.
16). Watching my kids singing along, hands raised, words memorized, to the worship songs at the Starfield concert a couple weeks ago.
17). That Guy surprised us with tickets to it. He is so thoughtful and romantic!
18). Gosh how I love Starfield.
19). And Chris Tomlin.
20). And the Newsboys.
21). And Toby Mac.
22). And how these bands have AWESOME running music that stirs your soul and supercharges your feet and you don't have to wait for it to "kick in" like you do with Gu or PowerGel.
23). That Guys parents are coming tomorrow for Thanksgiving dinner.
24). That Guy's family has welcomed me and my kids like we were family all along.
25). People who trust God alone to be the judge.
26). That we are shown love and mercy by Him every day.
27). That He gets up every day and pursues ME, just forgettable ol' Jenny Moore. The God of the Universe seeks me! Can you believe that?! I am nothing, and He already has everything, but He still loves me enough to pursue me. I'm not "nothing" to Him. It's mind boggling.
28). That I have my health.
29). The white clouds moving across deep blue skies in June.
30). Watching tall, amber grasses blow in the wind.
31). My mountain bike.
32). Superior hiking Trail.
33). People who have artistic skill to make woven rugs, sturdy enough for walking on everyday and they look beautiful and pleasing year after year, anyway.
34). That I have a job.
35). That I understand compassion and can give freely, and I LIKE to, even when nobody else knows about it.
36). Twisted-peppermint scented lotion and body wash from Bath and Body Works.
37). That I can go to a number of spouts and get clean, microbe-free drinking water without even having to go outside or walk to a stream.
38). Silence.
39). People who I can be silent with, and it isn't awkward.
40). Guy's kisses. He kisses me like he loves me.
41). The way I can actually "see" Guy's soul when I look in his eyes.
42). That Guy SO fills my own heart with love, that I sometimes wish I could climb inside him for a day, to see what he sees, hear what he hears, and feel him talking.
43). Holding hands.
44). Watching friends I love, repeatedly and unfailingly and gracefully, take the "high road" when people are harsh and difficult with them. Carrie - I rarely get to see you, but you have no idea how much you inspire me.
45). The way Bobby just jumped up and ran to hug Guy when he walked in the door from work just now.
46). Seeing how much Guy loved it.
47). Seeing how much my kids like peace.
48). Honesty and Truthfulness.
49). Knowing the difference between genuineness and acting.
50). Realizing that genuineness is actually easier!

That is 50 already, and they just RATTLED off the keyboard all by themselves. I will take this challenge - it's fun! I think I will hit #1,000 before the end of 2010.

Who wants to join me?

Thank God for FCA posts :-)

2010-10-20T08:24:00.000-05:00

I am so thankful that I get these in my email every day. They bring me comfort and bring me close to God. I wouldn't want to worship a god who jut saw my sins and condemned me and gave me no hope for a future. I wouldn't believe in that god. I would believe in "myself" or in nothingness.

Mine is a god who loves, who asks us to love others, who shows mercy, who asks us to show mercy. He gives us a playbook, and we get most of the plays and try harder on the ones we have failed at. But He loves us and knows our hearts, and knows we try. He is never finished coaching us.

Many people go about their days, getting closer to a god who holds OTHERS accountable, but not themselves. In my opinion, then that god IS you.

I choose to let God be God. I am in no position to condemn anyone. I'm busy working on myself, and there is, and always will be lots of work to do!

Is God keeping score?
Tuesday, October 19th, 2010
READY:
“LORD, if You considered sins, Lord, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness so that You may be revered.”
- Psalm 130:3-4

SET:
As a young baseball player, I found myself on the losing end of a lot of games. Many times my team had the mindset of losers, and our attitudes showed that we had lost the game long before the seventh inning. We went through the motions to the finish, but we were defeated long before the end of the game.

Perhaps many of us live as if God were keeping score, as if He has His own scoreboard with everyone’s name on it. One side lists “Good Works” and the other “Sins/Bad Things.” Can you imagine if eternal life depended on being perfect or trying to make sure all our good outweighed our bad? We would be like my little league team: living in defeat with no hope.
As a believer in Christ, are you tempted to think God is keeping score—that you have to do better in order for Him to love you? We may know intellectually that we are forgiven, but let’s think about the way we live. It’s normal for us to try to “prove ourselves” in life, especially in athletics. Perhaps you play or played for a coach you could never please. Breaking news! God is not keeping score, at least not for those who have put their faith in Him and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Psalm 130:4 says, “But with You there is forgiveness so that You may be revered.” Think about someone who showed you mercy. Maybe a coach or teacher who chose not to give you what you deserved. How did that make you feel? That is our God! If God were counting our iniquities, as the Psalmist says in verse 3, “who could stand?” We would suffer the ultimate defeat with no hope of eternal life! But Romans 5:8 says, “But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”
Why did Jesus die? Because we were hopeless losers, dead in our transgressions and sins, behind on the spiritual scoreboard by thousands of runs we could never erase. But God, in His mercy, sent His one and only Son to die in our place. We win! And the victory results in reverence or worship of Him. He wants our hearts and is merciful and compassionate to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now that you know it, go out and live like a winner in Christ!

GO:
1. Can you think of an act of mercy you have received from a coach? How did you respond?
2. As an athlete or coach, have you ever been on a team with a losing attitude? How did you break a losing mindset? What difference does a winning mindset make on your team?
3. How can we practically live in a winning mindset with the assurance that God has forgiven us and is not keeping score?

WORKOUT:
1 Corinthians 15:57
Ephesians 2:8-10

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Derrill Martin is an FCA Area Director in St. Charles, Missouri. Click Here to check out his website

FCA DAILY IMPACT PLAY 10-15, 2010

2010-10-15T14:29:00.002-05:00

Each day I get an email from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Today's was good enough to post on my blog, which I have been neglecting like a fading campfire, too. But the fire I like to keep stoking is the one within, which has grown warmer and more dynamic than ever.
Thank you, Jesus, for loving me, for showing me true love, for blessing me again and again and again. You are the way, the truth, and the life!
I am forever undeserving; and I need YOU, not the other way around, yet your love for me is blazing. Well, just so you know, Jesus, I love you back. More and more and more. You are the best comforter, the best listener, the best provider, the best rock to cling to, the best protector from darkness.

Here's the FCA message: I hope you like it and let your own fire start burning again for Jesus. He is also pursuing YOU every day. He loves you. Let Him!

"Without wood, fire goes out…”
-Proverbs 26:20a

SET:
Fall has always been a wonderful season for me. I love the leaves crunching and the beauty of the harvest sunsets. I enjoy sweatshirts and sweatpants and the warmth of an outdoor fire. In fact, campfires are one of my favorite things. I love the sound, the smell and the fellowship that usually comes with a good campfire.

Recently, this short, yet powerful, verse from Proverbs caught my attention. Proverbs 26:20a says, “Without wood, fire goes out.” Don’t you just love how the Bible can be so simple yet so profound?
When I read this verse, I thought, “Duh! Of course a fire dies out without wood.” And then the Lord rumbled inside my heart. He seemed to ask, “What are you fueling your fire with?” It was a great moment of conviction.
To keep our fire for the Lord, we must continually fuel it with good things—solid pieces of wood that will sustain our fire for Him.

At times, my fuel is like a dead twig. Am I lying? Gossiping? Having negative thoughts? Am I trying to fuel the fire with activities and duties for God instead of just getting to know Him better?

As an athlete or coach, am I fueling my fire with stats and scores instead of simply deepening my spiritual intimacy with the Lord through competition?
Each of us has to face these and many other issues in our own lives. But what I find amazing about the Lord is that He wants us to give Him all of our firewood, no matter how rotten, wet or small it might be. With it, He will bless each of us with a fire to warm the cold places in our hearts, a peace to calm our souls, and a comfort to know that when we give Christ our all He will enlighten us through His grace and mercy.
Today, may each of us give our fuel to the Lord, in whatever shape it may be and know that it will spark God’s great plan in our life!

GO:
1. What is fueling your spiritual fire?
2. Are you concerned that your offerings aren’t good enough for God?
3. Read the parable of the talents in Matthew 25. What does this say to you about your personal offering to God? How does He want you to use what He’s given you?

WORKOUT:
Jeremiah 29:13
Matthew 25:14-30
Hebrews 11:6
1 Peter 3:11

And today's "I'm moving forward" comeback is...

2010-05-20T16:53:00.000-05:00

Yesterday's maiden ride left me sore along my sides. THAT's how out of shape I am.

So this morning I did 20 pushups. I'm not revealing if I did it all at once or not, but it was close. ;-)

Lana - I would love to do a trail run with you - what should we do?

First Road bike ride in 2010!

2010-05-19T21:51:00.000-05:00

... finally FINALLY got outside for a ride. It's been the most beautiful weather in MN this spring and I see thousands of runners and bikers out and get jealous. Today I was one of them!
Stefanie, who we carpool with for swim team, drove the kids to practice, so Guy and I had an hour or so to ride before we had to go pick them all up. We rode up to Fletcher and back from Medina - it was lovely. I can't wait to get my bike legs back and start doing it regularly.
I'm still swamped every day with paperwork, near-daily surprises in the mailbox, and I sell Coke at gas stations, so on a nice day like we've been having lately, the sales can double on Coke and Powerade and vitaminwater... so it's been SO busy.

But I got my butt on my bike and rode.

Ahhhhhhh.

First run in....

2010-05-16T13:36:00.000-05:00

... weeks and weeks. I joined my nieghbor Susan and all the other ladies from kettlebell class for a 5 mile run. I think it was just the right distance for my fist day back. It's a gorgeous day here in MN today - about 70 degrees, clear, gently breezy. We think we averaged about 9:40's, so I guess I can say that in two months you don't atually lose much speed. But I do admit I was ready to stop when we did.

Then the kids and I went to church at the later service. It was about how we are all sinners, every last one of us. We all need a Savior. I am so thankful I have one!

When we got home, Guy was back form running the Superior 50K. I wished so much I could have done it. But I hear it was very muddy... Guy actually lost a shoe in the mud, and had to run almost an hour to the next aid station with one shoe. How lame he felt sitting there, poking in the mud with a stick and trying to locate the shoe before giving up! See what I mean about trail running being a different kind of adventure? I don't know of anyone who ever ran out of their shoe and lost it. Ha!

Well, hello there....

2010-05-15T09:14:00.006-05:00

Hi. Remember me?

I used to blog every couple of weeks on this site? Well, that was when I was a stay-at-home mom/ housewife/ triathlete/ marathon runner. Everything, every one of those roles and identifying characteristics has changed since those days.

The stay-at-home mom part changed in March of 2009. My husband, being in real estate (new custom homes) watched the business dwindle from about 40 houses a year to 16 and then to 12, and then 12 again. We watched the bank accounts deplete at warp speed. So I had to go back to work. I found a fantastic position with Coca Cola - love my boss, love his boss, love HIS boss... and I have six account managers who report to me and I love them like younger brothers. We sell Coke (and Powerade, vitaminwater, smartwater, V8, FUZE, NOS and Full Throttle, etc.) products to the convenience retail channel: gas stations, drug stores and liquor stores mostly. The pace is fast and the people are fun. I love working there. But it certainly cut into my mom time since I am already at my desk in Eagan before my kids even wake up, and I get home two hours after their school day ends. This was a big change because I had taken my kids to school and picked them up every day since they were 17 months old going to Montessori; on up through 4th and 6th grade. I'd volunteered in their classrooms and at their schools for nine years. That's a long time and I will forever treasure those hours and days and weeks. I love my kids more than I ever knew I could love. And they love me back. I hear from all my friends that these days are numbered as they will be entering "those dark teenage years" soon, but for now we are still remarkably close. Even my 12-year old son still wants to sit in my lap when we watch TV and sleep in my bed at night. So going back to work changed my motherhood experience dramatically. But you do what you have to do, and if I have to work, I sure like working at Coke!

The housewife part changed when Bob died suddenly in March. The kids and I were on vacation in South Dakota when Bob's girlfriend called us to tell us what happened. Yes, I said Bob's girlfriend. Most of my close friends knew that Bob and I had a difficult marriage, troubled for 15 years by demons and indiscretions. But we tried to hold it together "for the kids" like a lot of couples do. But at a certain point you just don't want to stay together any more. That is where we were, but we had never actually filed anything official. But he was dating a lovely woman, Julie, who started out as just his running partner, and I was dating Guy. Yes, my running partner. So there you go. Some, or maybe most of you will stop reading here because I am a disgusting sinner and you can't bring yourself to hear another word from me. It's ok. Most of my old "friends" no longer talk to me, either (some can't even look), so it's not like you are gonna hurt my feelings. But for those of you who want to hear the rest, I'll keep typing.

Bob knew about Guy, and hated him, and I knew about Julie, but hadn't met her. I just knew she made Bob happy, and she was inspiring him to lose weight and get in shape, and I was thankful for those things. Actually he was at his lowest weight since long before I even met him in 1993. I met Julie for the first time when she generously volunteered to help me make Bob's funeral arrangements. I was a little surprised when I first saw her because she looks just like me, and even runs marathons! But she is lovely. Lovely. So kind and friendly and thoughtful and fun. My kids adore her and she genuinely cares about all of us, even me. It is an unlikely friendship, I realize that, but I honestly can't think of anything I don't like about her. I am thankful she is in our lives and I hope we will remain friends. She has been a tremendous help to me throughout all of this, and a wonderful support to my kids.

She was with Bob when he died. They were on a short five mile run. At the start of the run Bob told her he felt a little light-headed, but he also said that he hadn't eaten lunch, so they just kept running. When they were only about 3 blocks from Julie's house, he suddenly fell forward and collapsed on the sidewalk. She helped him sit up, and he asked, "How did I get down here?" She said, "well, you fainted. Are you OK? you've scraped your knees a bit, but we can get that cleaned up." The Bob said, "I can't believe that happened." And those were his last words. He then sort of lurched back to the sidewalk. Julie checked right away and he had no pulse. I won't even try to imagine or describe what the next few moments were like for her while cars pulled over and all kinds of people appeared and the paramedics arrived and worked on Bob, but what I can do is pray that she is comforted by Jesus, the only One who can comfort her, and the One who Bob is with now. But if you are one who prays, please join me in including comfort for Julie in our prayers. Also, please get your heart scanned. Bob never had a chest pain prior to his heart attack, and his autopsy revealed that he was 100% blocked in one artery, 75% blocked in another, and one chamber of his heart was grossly enlarged, from overcompensating and working extra hard to channel blood around those blockages.

That obviously is the biggest change. I also used to be a triathlete and a compulsive marathoner. I did five Ironmans in 2 1/2 years, as well as a many local short course races, and collected many pieces of Age Group podium hardware. I was hanging out with people who I thought were fun and we shared countless laughs; it was all good. I also had tallied up over 30 marathons... but at a certain point I thought, sheesh, how many Ironmans do you need to do, and how many marathons, before you kinda want to see what else there is to do that's cool?
I knew some other marathoners and Ironmen (Helen, Kami, Pam, Tanya, Crazy Eric, and Guy) who had gone the next step and started doing something called Ultra running. It's running, but it's on single track trails in the woods, it's much less "supported," and it's anything longer than a marathon. I did my first ultra up and down the trails at Afton Ski Area, a 50K (about 32 miles). Even the courses vary in length because since they are on these skinny hiking trails in forests, the finish line is "anywhere near, but at least as long as" ...50K. Or 50 mile. Or 100K. Or 100 mile. Anyway, at Afton, I finished really strong (4th masters I recall) and decided to try the next distance which would be a 50 MILE race. That was Superior Hiking trail up north of Duluth, and rated 5 out of 5 in difficulty. The 70 runners who finished it came from all over the world to do it and the accompanying 100 miler. I finished 2nd in Women's Masters, and was hooked. I LOVE it out there. It is beautiful, it is quiet, it is the forest critters (which actually scare me), it's scrambling over rocks and trees and streams and it is a whole new challenge. Three weeks after Superior all the skin peeled off my feet. But nevertheless I signed up for another one a few weeks after that, and improved my time by over an hour.

As an Ironman, I also used to spend 3 hours each weekend going on a long bike ride. Seeing that I had loved the trails so much, Guy, and my Bible study leader/ friend from Fellowship of Christian Athletes Jeremy Baker, suggested I try mountain biking. Jeremy owned a bike shop so he ordered something for me, got me all set up and I started hitting the trails on my bike instead of the road every weekend. I loved it for many of the same reasons I loved the trail running. It seriously is a whole other sport.

Another change is that my kids are getting older. Bobby is 12 now and Ally is nine. They are both on the Blue Team for Mach 3 Flyers Swim Team, which means they have practice 5 nights a week for 90 minutes. Back in the day, I used to run once a week in the evening with the running club, but those have become swim team nights.

Speaking of the kids, they are doing well. I almost hesitate to say that because I know it makes many of you uncomfortable to hear that they are doing well. I had posted some pictures on FB of them a couple weeks after Bob died and they were smiling. I was glad to see them smiling and thought it would be nice for others to see that they are doing ok. But I quickly got quite an earful of flack about "what the hell are you thinking - posting happy kid pictures so soon after their dad died" comments, but I have to let that go. I guess you can't please these people hold onto a deluded belief they know me, my kids, and Bob better than any of us knew ourselves or each other, even though we lived under the same roof for 15 years. I can tell you this: those of us who lived under this roof knew the life behind our front doors. Us and God and no one else. Not you. You weren't here. But like I said, you have to let these things and these people just go. But the kids ARE doing well, and I'm GLAD for that. Sorry, but it's true. I am glad they are doing well. They will obviously miss their dad, and there is no question that he loved them, and it is very, very sad that Bob died. But Bob had finally found someone he loved, something and someone that I never could do or be for him. Even from our first few months of marriage, it was never just the two of us. On our honeymoon he revealed the truth about C. And then it was L. But that's just what it was. And he's at peace now. He died doing what he loved, and with the woman that he truly loved. It would have been nice if things were different for us, but it wasn't different. It just was what it was. It's strange but the kids' teachers seem puzzled when they comment every week on how well Bobby and Ally are doing. I'm not sure why there is such perplexity, but I do have to believe that God wraps his arms around all of us and has a much greater knowledge of the why's and wherefor's of the journey we are on.

And I guess I will leave it at that. I trust God's hand, I trust God's will, I know he loves all of us. You. Bob. Julie and Guy. My kids. And even me.

Romans 3:38 Please look is up. It's a good one and it has comforted me everyday. Even the days I can't understand.

So here we are May 15, 2010 and everything, everything about my life has changed. My responsibilities at home, my job, my friends, my sports and hobbies --- all of it changed. But I will still say life is good, and God is good.

October 10, 2009

2009-10-10T09:11:00.080-05:00

Superior 50 Miler.

So I told you all already that I felt like I needed to try the next big thing. I loved marathon - still do. I loved Ironman - still do. I loved time trial bike racing - still do. But I missed that underlying FEAR - kind of a "driving" fear - that I am unsure of myself or my ability, or that I can actually DO a particular thing. That uncertainty is kind of a sick draw, perhaps, but it's in me so there you go.

A year ago a group of us (Merilee, Diane, Marty, Chae, Holly, Kari, Guy and I) did the Whistlestop Marathon up in Ashland, Wisconsin. It's on a gravel trail, completely in the forest. As we sat around at dinner, we drew up on napkins what we were going to do next. We talked about joining Marathon Maniacs (a group you can belong to if you do back-to-back marathons - I've done 4 in 5 weekends so I'm good there) or the 50-States Club (you can join when you've done 10 states). I still may join those groups but it's not "scary" for me; it's just fun.

Well, into fall and winter, my running partner Guy started trail running more with Helen and the Igors, Kami, Tanya, Normal Eric and Crazy Erik - all former marathon and Ironman friends of ours. He kept tellling me how much I'd love it. So as spring rolled around, he and I signed up for the Trail Mix 25K with Becca and Maggie. I've done it a couple times with those (super fun) sisters, and it's been hard for me. It felt like all my energy dissipated into the grass while I ran and I felt slow and weak. I was ready for it to be over long before we actually finished and --- wait a sec!! -- it was HARD for me -- I wondered if I could finish an even LONGER trail run.

And so began the quest to attempt long distance trail running. I started going to the Hyland ski jump to do hill training with Guy and the others. I could barely make it up the ski lift once. But we'd do between five and ten reps, just running as far as I could, then walking the rest of the way up (which I have to say was equally hard), run all the way down, then back up. It was GREAT training.

When Guy did the Chippewa 50K (31.5 miles) in the spring with Helen, Kami and Normal Eric (all of them seasoned trail runners), all I heard from Guy was "That was the single hardest thing I've ever done. I swear I could not have gone another yard. You've gotta try it"

That was all I needed to hear - sign me up for something!! So I signed up for the Afton 50K. It was local and many of my friends were doing it (or the 25K). Guy and I started out together, but it was 4th of July, and hot, and by mile 18 Guy was overheated and TOAST, so I ran ahead. (Love ya, Guy, but... see ya at the finish!) I felt great the whole way, negative splitting and finishing 11th overall woman, and 4th in my division (Masters - ok, now you all know I'm 47, not the 24 you thought I was).

Helen and Tanya and Crazy Erik and Kevin were all at the finish and they were so proud of me! I learned that Helen won - she wins a lot. Helen if you read this I have to tell you I am so proud of you, too! I remember way, way back in the day when you were slow as me and we used to run on the roads together back when Dan Finanger was our coach, and then I remember taking pics of you when you did your first Ironman, and how proud of you I was then... and now look at you - you are so inspiring and so strong and such an encouragement to everyone around you. You've become something of a legend in the ultra world, yet you are the same sweet, grounded person.

Anyway, I loved Afton 50K, but didn't get that "I-wonder-if-I-can-even-finish-this-thing" FEAR. So Guy and I signed up for the Superior 50 MILE trail run. When we went up there to do a 25 mile training run, boy did I have my hat handed to me. This is no normal, level, gravel trail. It's boulder scrambling, it's clinging onto trees, it's running through grasses that are as high as your underarms and you can't see the rocky terrain that your delicate feet and ankles are even running on, it's way up north in the middle of nowhere - no other humans, no cell service, sketchy-if-any Garmin reception, bears and other critters... if you sprained your ankle or got mauled by a bear, I honestly do not know how you'd get back to your car. It's scary. It was just what I was looking for. ;-)

RACE DAY
So Guy and I arrive, check in, get our gear bags dropped off and head over to the Athlete Meeting the night before. As we are looking around, I do see a small number of people we know including another trail-newbie, former-Ironman named Chad Milner. We chat for a bit and I start to pick up on the fact that, Bored Ironmen Seek The Trails. Other than Chad, Vale and the rest of the former marathoner/Ironmen friends from home, I don't know anyone. (yeah - that's the hardest part to believe :-)). We look around and I KNOW we're not at Ironman or a road marathon. There is no sea of vendors, no expo, no sound system playing Eye of the Tiger, no shaved legs, no hotel banquet room with free food for the meeting, etc.
I ask Guy if I should ask for a show of hands of all the Republicans. He laughs. It's just a different crowd. Not a bad crowd, just kind of a Bohemian crowd. I may be totally off on that, but it's the impression I got. I've never seen beards that reach your chest at Ironman, and that is definitely common on the trails.

We learn that there are 75 people registered for the 50 mile race and that there is one bus (capacity 42) to drive us all to the start. We sit two and three to a seat and some people had to stand for the 50 mile ride in the morning. I was thankful that some people decided to drive themselves to the start. Guy and I sleep some more on the early morning drive. When we get to the start line, it is 6:00 a.m., pitch black, there is no artificial lighting, there are two ancient outhouses without toilet paper, and that's it. I don't want to sound all high maintenance and stuff, but, well... maybe I am a little high maintenance.

There is no singing of the National Anthem, there is no announcer getting us all pumped up... it's just the race director in his foot-long beard and headlamp telling us, "OK, Go!"

And we were off. That's it. Very simple. Very different.

The trail was single track the whole way, so we started in trains of runners. But everybody was very friendly and every now and then the front runners would shout out, "anyone wanna pass?" and then you had an opportunity to say, "yes, please." Everybody is very polite and welcoming to newbies.

The first aid station was at the 8 mile mark. I'm only carrying one bottle because in my mind I'm thinking that's about an hour or so. Uh, no. It takes about two hours or so to cover 8 miles of trail. Guy had two water bottles, one in each hand, and I was thankful for that because he shared his second bottle with me. (Those of you who remember that I had heart surgery in October of 2007 know that I can't get dehydrated or else my heart starts freaking out. I still have a spot about the size of a quarter on the back wall of my heart that interrupts my electrical system and rhythm. I've learned that keeping well-hydrated at ALL times has improved the situation. Anyway, I'm not sure if Guy's just really nice, or if he figured sharing his water with me was a better option than having to wait for paramedics in the middle of nowhere for a few hours until somebody missed us.) So back to my story, I was glad to see the aid station. There were fabulous volunteers with sandwiches, potatoes, chips, candies... I totally wanted to stick around longer! But we changed into dry socks and we were on our way.

When we started on our second leg, we were either ahead of or behind our long train of runners and found ourselves alone the rest of the day. It was beautiful and peaceful. And hilly and rocky and craggy! By about mile 15 (about 4 hours into the race) Guy and I are both struggling. His hamstring was pulling really badly, and my knee is KILLing me on the downhills, which by now we are walking sideways. I was wondering why I felt I needed to test myself. Wasn't I a good enough athlete already? I cry "uncle!" and wonder what the HELL I am even doing here.

And then I realize I have THIRTY-FIVE more miles to go.

Look at this pic to the left - Can you see how steep these climbs are?? This guy got here by climbing the rocks on the left side of the picture, not that grassy place on the right... you climb over the boulders. I'm completely serious.

At mile 17 Guy knows he has to DNF. I know he has to, too. This is a guy who never feels any pain, and I can hear him behind me quietly grunting from time to time. And did I tell you the terrain was rocky? Well, we both repeatedly fell. When he'd fall and then take a long, long pause before getting up... well, I just knew (for a couple hours by now) that he was in serious trouble.

At the 21 mile station he reluctantly pulled out of the race. He gave me his extra water bottle (I canNOT even tell you how I would be grateful for that the rest of the day.)
I hugged him good-bye very quickly, and ran ahead before he could see that I was crying, and thinking, "How am I going to finish this by myself? He's the one who knows where all our gear is, he's the one who knows what I should change into, he's the one who read the map and knows how far to each aid station and how long it will take to get there and where the big climbs are and how many miles between them, etc. Besides, I am truly, truly terrified of bears (honestly - I have reccurrent dreams of bears jumping out of forests and pushing me off my bike or cornering me in places I can't escape from) and there are millions of them in this forest and I am completely alone now and if I get mauled, no one, no one will ever know. I will just be dragged off the trail and eaten and I hope I bleed to death with the first swipe so I don't KNOW I'm being eaten and won't my kids miss me terribly and will they be OK growing up without a mom, and will the members of Medina Country Club forever talk about "poor Jenny Moore who was eaten by a bear and how her poor kids grew up without a mom." (UGH!!! Could you imagine having these kinds of thoughts for the rest of the day???? Or worse -- running with someone who's having these thoughts all day?? Guy was LUCKY he pulled out of the race! Someone save me from myself and my silly phobia!!! ;-)

Anyway, I hit the fourth or fifth aid station in the late afternoon and saw a familiar face - it was Steve Quick who is a friend of Guy's. I met him at the Afton 50K. He remembered me and was asking how I was doing and he was getting me food and filling my water bottles - Thank you Steve!! - and I was telling him it was harder than I thought and I was asking him if he thought I was going to make the cut-off and he was confident I would and I really can't remember anything else other than I felt less alone because I actually recognized somebody. It had already been a long, long day, alone out there. And now it was raining and it was muddy and there was no where to run but in the muddy singletrack, in soaking wet muddy feet.

I made the cut off at 5:45 p.m. At 7:00 p.m. they pull you from the race. From this point on I knew I was golden. Heck, I could walk the rest of the way if I wanted to. I had stubbed my left big toe no fewer than 30 times at this point so I DID consider walking in, but it was going to get dark soon, and in the dark I wouldn't even SEE the bear before he grabbed me off the trail. So I ran.

I ran, and ran, and ran.

As dusk approached every tree trunk or shadow was a bear. In front of me, to my left, behind me, to my right. I was seriously making myself crazy by now. I was re-stubbing my left toe repeatedly and ... well, let me explain it this way -- the first time I stubbed it, it completely lifted the nail from the nail bed. I wanted to scream. Now try to imagine how that toe felt all the subsequent 45 times I stubbed it. But I scrambled on. Stumbling, stubbing, falling, getting back up... I am certain I looked crazed but I just had to get to the finish line. It was completely pitch dark by now and I'm tired and I'm crying and I'm trying NOT to cry because it just made it hard to breathe and I was figuring Oberg mountain had to be about a 40-50 degree climb -- all I know is it's much steeper than the stairs in my house -- and it just went on, and on, and on, and on.

When I saw a bonfire in the distance I knew that had to be the hotel. That had to be it. It had to be over. I hit a gravel trail and suddenly a body appeared in front of me and it was not a bear - it was a friendly man whose voice was telling me it's between a quarter and a half a mile. I sprinted. I sprinted right past the little turn to the finish. (Remember how I told you earlier that trail races are really low key and I'm really high maintenance? Well, I kinda need a volunteer or somebody to tell me in the darkness where to turn.) I was following some guy who kept assuring me we were going the right way, even as the hotel bonfire got farther and farther away until I couldn't see it anymore. I finally turned around and headed back. This guy and I ended up running an extra mile or so.

But when I realized I was back on track and it was REALLY almost over, he and I both sprinted to the finish and ended up with a 13:50:00. It was over! I saw people!! Suddenly Helen (who won the marathon after staying up to 3am pacing Normal Eric in the 100 miler - Helen you are truly amazing) was there hugging me and taking my picture and there was Crazy Erik and Laura and Vale (who won the 50 miler!!), and the race director's wife was giving me my medal... and then finally I saw Guy who hobbled over and gave me a big hug. I was so happy to see him after separating in the forest in what seemed like DAYS ago.

I had a sandwich and a beer and then later found out that I finished 2nd in my division (Masters) and got a plaque. Finishing was enough - podium was just icing.

We watched the other finishers come straggling in for a little while - let me tell you most of the people who did the 100 miler looked like complete zombies. I absolutely cannot fathom how they did that. Crazy Erik did it in 36 hours. I was so proud of him! Although I can tell you that he later woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, passed out and hit his face on the sink or the toilet. He struggled to drive home the next day. Laura (his squeeze) escorted him home safely though.

So there you have it. Ultra trail running is NOT road marathoning. I'm glad I did it. I will do another.

October 31st there is a 50 miler here in the suburbs. With cell service, and medical professionals just a phone call away, and no bears.

I'm in.

T-minus four days to Superior 50 miler!

2009-09-08T05:43:00.000-05:00

Ok I admit I'm nervous. But excited at the same time.
When Guy and I did 25 miles of the actual course a couple weeks ago, the conditions were perfect (sunny, crisp, cool - ok freezing at the finish, but we learned from that!)... and now the forecast for race day is 45 at the start, 40% chance of rain, going up to 60 during the day, and 50 degrees at the finish. That'll feel pretty cold if we've been soaking wet for 15 hours!
So now all our planning needs to be adjusted for more warn dry clothes, more attention to chafing products, more attention to our clothes being in waterproof containers...
According to our pace times on our trial day, we ran 15 minute miles during the day. We were HAULING ass because it was getting dark and we needed to get to the headlamps and long sleeves that we'd stashed in the grass at the checkpoint. So based on that pace, we are scheduled to arrive at the last cutoff (43.2 miles) at 6:00 p.m. Anyone who arrives there after 7:00 p.m. is pulled from the course with a DNF. So we only have one hour to spare. That's cutting it a little close for me but it is what it is! You just can't go any faster. If you think 15 minute miles is slow -- you'll be impressed to know that the best we could do once it got dark was 21 minute miles.... this is a whole different animal from road running!

Above is our team photo from the 24 hour mountain bike race. The first two on the left are Reese and Laurie - they did the two person co-ed team - they came in 3rd place. The four to the right are my team - Kraig, Chuck, me and Guy. We did the 4-person coed team and we also placed 3rd in our division.

24 hours at Afton on Team NewMart

2009-08-30T09:57:00.012-05:00

My confidence exceeds my ability. That is my personal lesson for this weekend as I did my first mountain bike race.

Friday afternoon I headed over to Afton Ski Area with my training partner, Guy, to meet up with the rest of our team and get our campsite/ pit area set up and staged. We found Chuck (our team captain and a customer of mine - he owns a couple convenience stores called NewMart, and one of my account managers is his Coke rep) and Kraig already set up. So we set up our tent next to theirs on the hard gravel. The weather was cool and it felt more like a fall weekend than a late summer weekend. I was a little nervous because I only learned how to mountain bike 6 or 8 weeks ago. I later learned from the other mountain bikers that this is one of, if not THE, toughest mountain bike course in the whole state.

The race started at 5pm and I rode the first loop. Basically, each team (or solo rider) does as many loops of a nine-mile course as you can in 24 hours; the one who does the most loops wins.

It's at the ski area, so you pedal up and down the mountain along the single track bush-whacking trails, and traverse across the ski runs. Up and down and over; up and down and over; up and down and over. The switchbacks are very tight and steep. Taking them too fast scares the living daylights out of you because you can see how steep the fall is at the immediate edge of the track you are trying to ride in. But if you take them too slow, you tip over and then you have to push your bike up. If you take them way too slow, you tip over and tumble down the mountain.. Thankfully, there are lots of bushes and saplings to break most of your fall, so I never fell more than 20 or so feet down. But I fell down repeatedly. I actually cried at one point.

I should describe the fall because it's kind of interesting. It starts out in really slow motion. You definitely have time to pray. But the impact(s) come much faster and your bike falls over and over with you. Eventually you realize that one of the crash landings has forced your feet to clip out of your pedals and at some point you stop moving. You assess the damage to your limbs and butt and if they're all still there you thank God; now you just have to find your bike. Which is tricky at night if your headlamp comes unplugged during the fall and you can't figure out how to plug it back in because it's DARK out. Then you climb back up through through the brush, dragging your bike, and relocate the trail. Then you push your bike up the mountain, along the the very track that was so steep you fell off of it, to a place level enough to remount. You might have to straighten your saddle and handlebars, but you're good to go.

When you make it back to the bottom, you tag off with a teammate and then you can rest for 3 hours. And so it goes all night and all the next day.

Our team ended up finishing in 3rd place (out of 4 teams), so we did collect some nice schwag.

This morning I got up feeling like I've been beat up by the roller derby team. I have bruises everywhere: my triceps, hips, quads, kneecaps, shins, shoulders... even my coolie took a beating when I was bombing down a hill, couldn't get clipped back in, and so my legs were flying and I was bouncing off my saddle. Seriously. This is what I assume it feels like the day after for boxers, only it's all-over. I don't do contact sports! I didn't even play basketball or volleyball! But there is something alluring about these trails and I WILL go back out again.

I didn't bring a camera, but I think my teammates have some pics. If I get them I'll share them.

I was looking for the next challenge after marathon and Ironman and I definitely think I found it!

It's ultra trail running and mountain biking. Both of these are pushing me where I have never, ever, ever been. I have had to dig deeper. If I don't, there is no sag wagon on the side of the road; there is no cell service; there is no hollering for help; there is no biking over to the gas station for Powerade or other fuel. It is JUST YOU out there.

It's my new passion, and my first step in my attempt to master it is to change my name to SingletrackJenny. Ya like it?

August 2, 2009

2009-08-02T20:29:00.003-05:00

Where has Jenny Moore been???

I haven't posted in weeks and weeks, But I raced my first triathlon in a YEAR last weekend. It was the Chisago Half Ironman. I placed second in my age group, which is the same placement I had at this race the last three years, so I guess I am happy about that. Ya know you can't ever complain about podium finishes! But I was particularly pleased that I PR'd this time. Last year I PR'd here with a 5:18; this year I PR'd again with my first ever sub-5 hour -- a 4:59:28. Naturally I was pumped about that! I had a bunch of friends racing it, and my trail running partner taking pictures, so it was a perfect day from the course as well as from the sidelines! My bike split registered 21.0 mph over the 56 miles and my half marathon was 1:49 - also a PR for that distance on any course - stand-alone or in a multisport race for me.

I have only one more triathlon on my calendar - Ironman Cozumel in November. After that I only have Ironman Wisconsin in 2010. I think this time I mean it when I say I'm ready to move on to the next big thing, which for me is trail ultras and mountain biking. I have LOVED triathlon and the people and I will maintain many, many friendships. I'm not selling my tri bike (because I WANT to keep it -- even though it's a piece of dinosaur shit all-aluminum-with-a-bad-to-begin-with-but-now-chipped-too-paint-job-with-650-wheels-heck-it-never-even-fit-me-properly bike), but I am going to keep it and just hang it in my garage for a while and give my SWEET mountain bike some wheel-time.

Speaking of my sweet mountain bike, it's a Giant XTC and I got it at Brickyard Bikes in Chaska MN. Jeremy Baker is the owner and a serious gear-head/ bike-mechanic kind of guy who also heads up our Fellowship of Christian Athletes in the western suburbs. GREAT guy, GREAT shop. He gave me a GREAT deal and GREAT fitting and I am in love with my Giant XTC bike in a way that I am almost embarrassed to write about. Give me a minute until I'll compose myself, re-open my eyes and continue posting.

OK.

Deep breathing.

Final heavy sigh.

I'm good.

Let me just say I love my bike. I love the mountain bike trails. I love how there are boulders the size of microwaves and severed heads in the middle of these dirty single-track trails and you just kind of hop over them as you go along. The trees on either side of the trail give you maybe 30 inches clearance and your handlebars take up about 24 inches of that. And you are twisting and turning and going fast on various terrain like pineneedles and dust and mud and grass and holes where turltles laid their eggs and slabs of granite. I have bruises I can't show people and scrapes on my arms and shins.

It. Is. Cool.

It just is.

And you have to check for ticks when you get home.

My first race will be at the end of August. It's called "24 hours at Afton"' and teams of four ride a nine mile loop at the ski area and whichever team makes the most loops wins. I have Guy (my trail training partner who has been mountain biking for 30 years), my customer Chuck (super serious mountain biker who travels all over the country to race) and his best friend Kraig (who is even more serious than HE is) on my team. Yeah - I asked myself the same question - what are they doing with Jenny Moore, right??? I have NO IDEA!!! But they invited me and I said yes and I'm going to love it I am sure! So I have been on my bike FIVE times and I still think I'll be ready. Ready enough to let them "carry" me anyway!

RUNNING

I think I have 11 or 12 marathon-or-longer races this year, but they, too are morphing into trails rather than road. Yesterday I did a 30 mile gravel-trail run for charity. It started out as 28 miles, but ended up at 29.8, so we had to run the extra .2 to make it an even number. (Don't even start - you know you would have run the extra too because you are just as anal as I am!)

And a couple weeks before that I ran the Afton Trail Run 50K - it was awesome!!!! It was 12,000 feet of climbing - up and down and up and down... It took me 6 hours and 10 minutes. But I LOVED it. Trail running is so different from road marathoning - there are a bunch of hippies who do it! Shirtless guys with long beards, and there is no "corralling" of athletes at the start - everybody just sort of shows up at the trail head and the race director says, "OK, everyone have a good race.... Go!" No national anthem, no balloons to run under, no chute of picture-taking family members.

It's different.

It just IS.

But I still have Twin Cities Marathon and the Des Moines Marathon this year -- they are part of my training plan for Ironman Cozumel.

But my A race for the year will be the Superior 50 mile Trail Run in September. It's FIVE points of contact in some places - two hands, two feet, and your butt -- as you scale car-sized boulders. It's crossing streams on fallen trees and clinging to brush so you don't slide off the mountain. From what I hear we should be happy to hold a steady 14-minute mile. How fun does that sound?!?!?! We will cover much of the course in the dark, so I need some nighttime trail runs to prepare. Last year 35 people finished it. There is also a 100 miler for those of you who didn't get enough!

Bedtime for me. If anybody still even reads this blog, thanks! You can more easily keep up with me on Facebook.....

xoxoxo

Jenny

May 17, 2009

2009-05-17T08:05:00.008-05:00

Gorgeous weekend here in Minneapolis.

Yesterday it was way too cool and breezy to bike .... OK, "gusty" and 29 degree windchill, so we switched the bike and the run and that was a great choice. So Saturday, my running partner Guy and I drove over to Afton Ski Area to run 19.5 miles of trails. It was beautiful! Especially the single-track snowshoeing trails. Had to check for ticks when I got home, but small price to pay for running smack dab in the middle of nature. ;-) Now I know why Carrie always gets out on the trails - it's a completely separate sport from road running.

And while I find it much more difficult than road running, I am definitely getting better. Yesterday I felt 100% more confident than I did last week, so that is good.

I am also back in the pool - honestly! It's been almost three months since my last swim. But I went on Thursday for 33 minutes, and today for 40 minutes. I feel a little awkward, but it'll come back.

Today it was 60 degrees and clear with mild winds, so we rode 72 miles. We were joined by Julie and Cathy (who is between me and Jen L, below):

....who both raced the Gear West Duathlon this morning... they did great!! Julie came in 6th place overall, and Cathy WON! She and Marlo were in a foot race to the finish, and Cathy just out-chipped her... by .001 seconds. Seriously! I'm so happy for both of you! Way to go.

So AFTER their race, they joined us for about 25 miles of our ride. We were a pack of fourteen at the start, and 5 at the 72 mile mark (where I bailed.) Then Jen and Erik went ahead and did the last 28 miles for an even 100. Good job everybody!!

(Below are Julie, Jen and Erik)

Between playing with the kids, helping Ally sew a dress, running trails, swimming laps, biking, doing chores, going to church, having a nice dinner at the country club and sleeping, the weekend flew by. It always does.

Have a good one everybody.

xoxoxo

Tonight's Run

2009-05-11T20:23:00.004-05:00

Tonight I went for a trail run with my iPod. And no people -- very, very weird for me!

Bobby had a headache, so he bailed on me; jPod had a choir concert in which he had a solo, so he bailed. And of course Guy had to go with jPod because he's his DAD. But I actually enjoyed the solitude for a change. I'd loaded up a bunch of new songs and the time just flew by.

Much as I love marathoning, the rest of my run training will likely be on trails for the rest of the season because I am doing my first ultras this year - a 50K in July and a 50 miler in September... both on mountains, and both on trails. Anyway, trail running is NOTHING like road running. It's so much harder and so much slower! And any conditioning I thought I had on the roads does not translate to the trails. I went just over 8 miles and it took me about 1:22, for an average speed of 10:58.... and I though I was working hard!

But it is also prettier:

... and it smells nicer...

... and the creeks have little animals running around near them...

But it's just so technically foreign. Here are a few things I learned so far:

1). All your energy dissipates into the dirt or wood chips or grass, so you have to work harder for a push-off every step.

2). Going downhill is an exercise in lowering your center of gravity and using your big quad muscles to support you. If you allow your feet to take the impact... well, lets just say I didn't have to do that more than once or twice. (youch!!) You also have to LIFT your knees a little even though you are stepping LOWER. Hard to explain, but it softens your landing.

3). You trail shoes can't fit like your road shoes. All that roomy comfort I enjoy in my road shoes will leave me with blistery feet, I can tell that already.

4). Roomy shoes also means that you will actually step right out of your shoes on the uphills.

5). You can't take your eyes off the ground unless you're not afraid of tripping or jamming your toes ..... because you really don't know what's underneath all those leaves.

6). It's really pretty out there.

That's what I know so far. If I think of any other gems of trail running tips, I will pass them along!

Goodnight everybody. xoxoxo

Fargo Marathon and Mother's Day

2009-05-10T16:04:00.011-05:00

Friday

... was a busy day at work and I was feeling nervous ALL day. Like if-I-held-out-my-hand-it-was-shaking, kind of nervous. I'm not sure why: maybe because I had only slept about 3.5 hours that night because Bobby had a school project that he'd neglected until Thursday night and needed my help for, so I was helping him while actually trying to concentrate on what I needed to pack for Fargo, I had a bunch of reports to collect data for and submit before leaving work on Friday, and I had wanted to duck out early as possible so I wouldn't get caught in a bunch of Fishing Opener traffic, and I needed to meet IronGreg on the highway somewhere on the way out of town because IronLaura had forgotten her running shoes and we had races on Saturday, and my "tire air pressure" light was on in my Tahoe. Arghhh! So many balls in the air! But I did manage somehow to get it all finished and was on the road at 2:35 p.m.

Laura and I stayed at her mom Betty's house. As soon as I got there we went to the grocery and liquor stores and then just hung out at the house.

Exhale.

Ahhhh - the medicinal benefits of Summit Pale Ale, talking and chilling out.

And laughing. I don't know why, but we can laugh about everything, including (ok maybe especially) ourselves. We were falling off the chairs at one point. Ask Laura to tell you about the neighbor's dog; and the story about Greg at the IHOP. OMIGOSH - especially the IHOP story. ("[ringing cell phone] Can you please bring me some paper towels?") I can hardly type this I'm still laughing so hard. It is the best story. And "Brian's shoes". Sigh. Laughter is good. Especially in light of all else that's been going on in the past few months. I love you so much, Laura!

Saturday

Fargo Marathon

So we got to the FargoDome about 30 minutes before the start. IronKaren (and baby Violet on board!!) and Betty sherpa'd all our gear and cheered us on.

Lots of Laura's friends from Fargo also ran the half marathon. Here is Krysta - you may remember her from the wedding pictures. She was a bridesmaid back in November at Laura and Greg's wedding.

It was a great day for a run. 40 degrees and cloudy, breezy, but not gusty. The course was two loops and fast. All my friends had bailed on the full marathon due to injury, pregnancy, new job etc., so I was running alone. This was my 30th marathon and I can't remember EVER running by myself! But a flurry of txt messages from my cool, collected, always-says-just-the-right-thing running partner at home, Guy, as well as a bunch of others calmed me down and I put my game face on. It looked like a great day to go for a Boston Qualifier. I prayed at the start, the gun went off and so did I.

I felt great from the first mile. At about the 4th I started running with a soldier carrying a flag. We got to talking and I told him about Robert, one of our tight circle of friends whom I ran Fargo with last year, but who is in Basra right now. I was going to ask if I could carry the flag for a bit in his honor, but then he told me that his friend was just killed in Iraq and he was carrying the flag for HIM. So I just started crying and I think he felt bad and then he promised that MY soldier would come home but I just said I was really sorry and then backed off and let him run ahead instead. I can't cry and run. And Robert IS coming home. He just is. I can't even go there.

One of my account managers, Dustin, was there and cheered for me a couple of times, and I saw Karen and Betty a couple times. But otherwise, it was quiet. Here are my splits. They look pretty consistent, eh???:

1). 9:14

2). 9:15

3). 9:18

4). 9:02

5). 8:56

6). 8:50

7). 8:58

8). 8:56

9). 9:07

10). 9:07

11). 9:00

12). 8:59

13). 8:57

14). 8:54

15). 9:38 (lightening fast potty stop)

16). 9:00

17). 9:02

18). 8:52

19). 8:48

20). 9:03

21). 9:00

22). 9:12

23). 9:07

24). 8:57

25). 8:49

26.2). 10:38

Total 3:56:54

So that's a BQ, and my personal best ever for this distance. I felt great all the way to the finish.

Here are a couple of friends I ran into on the course: Jonny Jensen (in green), is the the trainer who hosts the inSANE spin classes I've posted about.

After the race we took showers and then headed out to a barbecue at Krysta's house with a bunch of other friends who raced the half or full.

... and I had my first Wonder Woman shots. I need to get the recipe because they are great! It's "X-rated" (whatever that is) and some kind of blue energy drink, so it's purple, but so dang TASTY. I think I sipped at three of them.... between rum-and-Cokes, Jason's homemade beer, and a Mike's Hard Lemonade that we toasted Robert with (that's his beverage of choice). We went to a concert at the FargoDome to listen to a cover band - they were good, but I don't remember their name. It was getting to be a long day, so we went home and straight to bed.

Sunday

Then I drove home this morning a little hungover. But what a great race! It couldn't have gone any better for me. I received lots of Mother's Day txts and calls, and when I got home I was so happy to see my kids!!! They were sleeping out in the tent in the back yard, but they were thrilled I was home. They and Bob gave me a new blender, a couple of plants, and Bobby had written me a prayer. I also got flowers, candy and a card from Robert in Iraq. Debbie Clift and I are like his two moms - always looking after him, trying to set him up, sending him cookies and videos, etc. That was so sweet of him to remember us! I hope you are all writing him. His address is on his facebook page.

Anyway, Ally ended up at a friend's house and Bobby and I laid out in the tent for about an hour just snuggling and talking. The cool breeze was blowing through the screens and we just talked. I can't believe I have an eleven year old son. I love him so much and feel so blessed by so many wonderful people and so "much" in my life. Sometimes it's easy to get frustrated and disappointed with the usual stuff I struggle with, but all I really need to do is look in my kid's eyes from time to time and the whole world makes sense again.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms. And thank you so much to all of you who thought of me today.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxxo

May 2, 2009

2009-05-02T13:30:00.002-05:00

WORK

Well, the one thing I have to say about going back to work is that the weeks just FLY by. I can't believe I've been with Coca Cola for 6 weeks already.

It's a blast.

The people are top drawer - every one of them from the VP to the managers to the drivers to the merchandisers -- everyone who touches our product in whatever role, does so because they WANT to. The culture is that of a team and everybody wants to win. And they also want each other to win. Seriously, I keep thinking something must be up because there is no way any corporation could have assembled such a fun, competitively friendly group of winners all under one roof. People are working; I'm not saying it's all playtime, but all day you hear people laughing and having fun while they are aggressively pursuing the competition and opening new accounts. I could not love a job more than the one I have.

Below is my boss on the left, and his (our) boss on the far right. In the bike clothes is Chuck, the owner of one of our best convenience retail accounts, NewMart/ Marathon Gas in Eagan. He is a big shot mountain biker and was out on a training ride and stopped by. See? Everyone's always having fun at Coke! How many of your clients choose "your office" as their destination on a training ride???!!!

I rode with Chuck and his family and friends in the MN Ironman Bike Ride last weekend. Below is a pic of me on Chuck's brother's bike -- he actually rode this baby in the race.... eliciting laughs and smiles from everyone who passed us. It was about 40 degrees and pouring rain, but it was still fun. Sort of like being on the Survivor show. I mean, there were buckets of near freezing water pouring on our heads for 3 hours. But I'm still glad I did it!

TRAIL RUNNING

I will be doing my first Ultra trail runs this year (31 mile and 50 mile), so I'm working on getting a lot of training on that terrain. Road running totally doesn't translate! Becca, Maggie, Guy and I did the 25K Trail Mix a couple weeks ago and it was so hard! It's really hilly, and the spring from your steps dissipates into the grass or dirt, so I find it very difficult. Not that Guy wanted to intimidate me, but he did tell me that the terrain for our upcoming trail races is way WAY more technical than Trail Mix. So I am doing more trails to prepare.

Below are Bobby and jPod, who joined me on a one hour run last week. Guy had just returned from his Ultra Marathon in Chippewa and was recovering, so he just walked the trails with his camera, but the boys and I ran. We have a really beautiful park system here in Minnesota. This is at Wolsfeld Woods in Orono.

Speaking of jPod, he's a hockey goalie (that season is just wrapping up now) and he had a great game last night.... at least 45 saves! Way to go jPod!!! Here he is enjoying a very wise selection for his recovery drink. It's what all the best athletes drink and of course it's made and owned by Coca Cola. ;-) Thanks, Jeremy. You can have your dollar now.

BIKING

Friday night I rode with Cathy and the crew from the Lifetime Bike Club. This is me with Normal Eric. (We already have a Crazy Eric in our club, so when this Eric joined we had to name him Normal Eric. I think he's OK with it). Anyway, he and Guy ran the Chippewa Ultra last weekend together. He's also a great biker and I'm riding with him tomorrow (Sunday for 3 hours).

Today (Saturday) I rode with 5 girlfriends for 53 miles. It took us 3:03 of ride time, but almost 4 hours total because we stopped at gas stations to refuel, and Laura had to fix a flat. Was a beautiful day!! I was pretty beat because I did a one hour kettleball class beforehand (it's way too hard for me!!) Anyway, our ride was great - our fastest 5-mile split was 21.8 mph!

Now I am heading to a trunk show for some much needed shopping, then off to IronTim and IronKaren's house for a barbecue. Feels like it's summer already.

Have a great day everybody.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Good job, Bobby!!

2009-04-20T20:23:00.002-05:00

OK, I just can't believe how fast Bobby is getting. Here are his splits from his 10K training run tonight:

1- 10:12

2 - 10:01

3 - 10:18

4 - 9:51

5 - 9:17

6 - 9:10

.2 - 1:32

TOTAL: 1:00:24

... and he's only 10 years old. Nice negative split, son!

Surprise visit from Robert!!

2009-04-19T10:24:00.007-05:00

Robert came home for a couple of days!

He's been in Washington state for two months, training and otherwise preparing to re-deploy back to Iraq for his second tour of duty. We've really missed him, so it was awesome to have him here, even if only for a couple days.

Here he is flanked by his two Minnesota "moms"... Debbie Clift and me.

... here he is with one of his training partners, Anthony. He's from Kenya and he is way too fast for me to train with, but he is the coolest guy ever and one day we are going to climb Kilimanjaro together. He and Robert are good friends.

... Me with one of the best friends I have ever ever ever had, Holland. She and I are both training for the 50 mile trail ultra with Guy.

... Guy, me and Andrew, Holly's hubba.

... and Jennifer, Robert, Debbie, and my hubba, Bob.

I love this picture... me and Robert with Terri and Erin. Erin just went back to work this week, so now Terri has no one to train with. We'll see how she handles being alone because the three of us have spent and insane amount of time together!!! I still love you, Terri!

Then on Saturday, Guy, Becca, Maggie and I ran the 25K Trail Mix race in Bloomington. It was great practice for Moose Mountain because it was really hilly and had a little single track on the course. Guy kept reminding me that although it was better than doing just another pavement or road run, that the ultra will be "much, much more technical." Which was disappointing because I thought the Trail Mix was WAY hard and now I am feeling much less confident about the Moose Mountain ultra!

...here we are at the start, with our friend Dave Smith:

... and on top of the ski jump hill...

We finished in 2:40:00 - which is by no means speedy, but like I said, it was really hard!

Then Guy and I headed over to coffee with the rest of the running club to say our last goodbyes to Robert before he got taken to the airport to head back to the base.

... and that's when it just hit me (again) like a slug to the stomach and I just got so sad. I know he's brave and incredibly smart and very well trained and all that. But I just don't like where he's going. Some of the meanest people in the history of the world live there and they don't just "not like him", but they want to kill him. And all he (and his fellow soldiers) wants to do over there is hand the good Iraqi guys back their country. But all it takes is one sniper with nothing to lose -- and there are thousands of them with nothing to lose -- and without giving Robert even a second thought they could just take him away from me. He's like a brother to me and the "fun" uncle to my kids and we love him so much.

Then as I was driving Guy home, Robert was at my house gathering up his gear and saying bye to Ally and Bobby and they called just crying so hard... like they were in a panic... and there of course is nothing I can do... I can't make him stay, and I can't make them not be afraid. He's got a job to do and it just is what it is. But I think when they see him in his uniform the danger just seems so much more imminent.

Robert texted last night to say he arrived safely. I had to tell him that Ally had gone into his room an hour earlier and had taken the civilian shirt he had been wearing while he was here, and that she was sleeping with it. He said she was really upset when he left, and that she could have his shirt.

Tuesday he turns off his phone.

Wednesday he flies to Kuwait.

Two hundred ninety six days to go.

Omigosh that was GREAT.

2009-04-14T19:48:00.004-05:00

It's been a long time.

A really long time.

Too long.

Months, I am sure.

Which is kind of sad, but around here it just is what it is.

But I'm back... WE are back!

Tonight it was so powerful and thrilling that I was absolutely spent.

The kind of spent where you just collapse, panting, flushed. Thighs quivering. Definitely glowing. And you just can't get that grin off your face, no matter how hard you try!

Kevin, Terri and me.

Working it in such perfect rhythm that we didn't even have to talk to each other; we just knew when to speed up and slow down; when to lead and when to follow.

After an hour and a half we were ecstatic to finish up.

Together.

Because everybody knows it's more fun when you finish at the same time.

OK, you can get your heads out of the gutter, you perverts. ;-)

It was our first hard outdoor bike ride! I missed you guys and it's so great to be "back in the saddle" with you again. We averaged 20 mph on the rolling hills, and it's only our first real day out that wasn't just a leisure ride.

It was aMAzing

Monday night run

2009-04-13T20:56:00.005-05:00

OK so you know the boys (Bobby and jPod) are tallying their miles in advance of the Deadwood South Dakota Kids' Marathon... So tonight we logged 6 miles of trail running. Which took us almost two hours!!!

Because first we had to stop at the zip line for a couple of runs...

... and then we had to rest at the cross-country trailhead at Wayzata High School...

... and climb an old deer stand...

... and watch the WHS lacrosse practice...

... and chill out in the boys' carpeted luxury fort (Guy)...

... Jeremy and Bobby in the fort...

... finally, finally we ran the rest of the way home.

So we did actually log our miles sometime after the sunset. It was getting cold so it was good to get back. And eat sliced oranges. The big juicy ones from Cub Foods.

I swear, it is the coolest thing how well our boys get along; they are like identical kids. At one point Bobby said, "I wish Jeremy were my brother instead of Ally" (which made jPod just beam). OK, maybe that wasn't totally cool because Ally is actually a pretty good sister and we're going to keep her ;-) ... but nevertheless, Bobby's never said that about any of his other friends; and he's got some great top-drawer friends.

Life is good.

Easter Weekend, part II

2009-04-12T12:24:00.005-05:00

Last night the Pettises came over for dinner. Our kids had been playing together all day.

After dinner, the boys allowed us to see the fort they'd been working on:

... check it out - they even put carpeting (moss) on the floor of it!

Bobby and Jeremy showing us where they harvested the moss from... tricky not to fall in the water retrieving it..

And here's Guy my running partner.

... and here are the parents: Susan and Guy, and Bob and me.

Happy Easter everybody - there may be a part III coming, as a bunch of triathletes are coming over later today for a bike ride. This has been the best weekend ever!

xoxoxox

Jenny

Easter Weekend Underway...

2009-04-11T14:25:00.008-05:00

Well, spring has finally arrived in Minnesota - we are hoping to see 60 degrees today - let me tell you it. is. gorgeous. out there today!

Yesterday was Good Friday so the Holmeses and Jenn and Laura came over with all the kids. We made homemade pizzas and then watched The Passion of the Christ. Not an easy movie to watch, and not all the kids took part. But Bobby did and a couple of Trimama's and Taconite's watched as well. It is so powerful and difficult and sad and wonderful and probably a much more accurate depiction of Jesus' final hours than the pared down version from Sunday school. I am amazed everyday by the sacrifice He made for me. Something I could never, ever earn. He is indeed the one true "shepherd of my heart" and my life. Forever.

Which are the words from a song from Guy's running playlist. Which song, you'll have to ask Guy. ;-) He and I got up early this morning for a three-loop run of 7 miles + 7 more + 5 more = a total of 19. First let me tell you the weather was great. We started shortly after the full moon set, watched and listened as the early morning sun woke up the birds, and we just talked for the first 7 miles. I love running with Guy. We would have been best friends if we knew each other in 4th or 5th grade. I KNOW that. ;-) Then for the second 7, Laura and Zurich joined us and the three of us listened to our coordinated playlists - this is my new favorite way to run: to share our lists with each other in advance, then press play at the same time so we could rock out to the same tunes.

We dropped Laura and Zurich and picked up Susan (and Alice her dog) and Margo for the final five. Alice is a bit out of shape from the winter, so we slowed it down a bit for the last loop. But I was happy with that - never have to twist my arm to slow down. ;-) We dropped them off and then Guy and I ran back home for a total of 19 miles.

1- 9:14

2- 9:18

3- 9:13

4- 9:04

5- 9:10

6- 9:21

7- 9:29

8- 9:34

9- 9:50

10- 9:32

11- 9:25

12- 9:14

13- 9:06

14- 9:02

15- 9:40

16- 10:20

17- 10:14

18- 10:10

19- 10:11

TOTAL - 3:01:24

A perfect morning... but it gets even better from here! Laura took a shower at my house, and called IronGreg while Guy and I were finishing up, so he came over with fresh eggs and orange juice and made all of us omelettes! They were awesome! I love Greg. He is the BEST. Mine had three eggs, sausage and cheese and mushrooms and red bell peppers... mmmm - it was GREAT.

So Guy left shortly afterward to bring the jPod over to play with Bobby. Our boys are building a fort in the woods behind my house. Apparently jPod thinks they should insulate it for winter ;-) ... how can you not love and be grateful for the chance to just be around the imaginations of your kids?! They are so precious to me.

So I'm doing housework for a couple hours now; then Ally and I are going to fly a kite while the boys work on their fort. (They won't let her help with the fort because it's for boys only and she isn't even allowed to know exactly where it is. Neither am I.)

Have a blessed Easter weekend everybody.

Hallelujah. He is Risen.

In case you ever wondered what a bunch of Jesus freaks look like, here are a few of us from last night!

xoxoxo

Dream Date last night

2009-04-07T19:36:00.003-05:00

Last night Bobby accompanied me for the Club Run. We ran 5.8 miles in 1:03:00. I was so proud of him! He stayed with me the whole time and didn't run ahead -- just paced himself from the git-go. He's only 10 years old, and I know I never ran that far until I was 39 years old and had recently accepted my now-infamous [drunken] double-dog-dare to run a marathon.

It has been a dream of mine since I became a mom that I would someday run with my children, and now I am doing that with my son. I was so happy running next to Bobby that I felt like crying. (Yeah, I know - I am a total crybaby - but I really did!)

The jPod and Guy ran, too. The boys are tallying up their milage prior to the Deadwood Marathon in June. All the kids who tally up 25 miles before race day, get to run the last 1.2 miles of the marathon, and then receive finisher medals for the Kids' Marathon. Isn't that a cool idea?

So Bobby and jPod and working toward that goal.

How totally cool is that. Life is good.

xoxoxo

April 5, 2009

2009-04-05T08:32:00.007-05:00

Work update
I had another great week at Coke, working with one of our Lead Account Managers. Don't know how he feels about being on my blog, so we'll leave him nameless for now. ;-) We've got a big Trade Tour this week with the UPPER upper echelon visiting our market so in addition to maintaining our current business, (I have 600 stores in my district) we are dressing up the stores that are featured on the tour with crisp displays. Friday was an office day, so I was lucky to have a couple of hours to sit with my notes, laptop and reports, and got to sort out all I've been learning, as well as try out the 10,000 tools I have at my disposal. I am a visual person, and visual learner, so I really needed that time to matrix in my head these tools and details that are pertinent to me being able to do this job.

I will love it. That much I know is true.

Long Run

This weekend I had a taper week, so at Beth's suggestion, UltraGuy and I signed up for a 25K (15.5 miles) in and around Hopkins. It was really hilly but very nice. We all ran together for much of it, but Guy and I gradually pulled away from Beth who was chatting, I mean running with a guy named Noah or Nowell, only to learn that she later ditched him and had to run alone - I'm sorry, friend!!! Beth ran a bit over 5 miles before the race so she could get in a 20 miler - good job!!!

Here we are at the start.

Guy and I ended up averaging 9:38's which I think is great considering the hills and the number of them we had to walk up. ;-)

Saturday night

Laura and Greg hosted a barbecue at their new place, which is adorable. It's bright and sunny (just like them ;-)), and is on Gray's Bay on Lake Minnetonka. So the kids were out on the dock with long sticks, trying to reeeeeeeeach and pull in the last thin slabs of lake ice so they could break them on the sidewalk. (Don't you just still kind of wish you were 8 and 10?) I was so certain somebody was going to go in the water and I'd have to retrieve them. It's shallow enough not to be scary, but I wouldn't want to jump in it and have to drive home freezing and muddy. It was great seeing everybody - Tim and Karen, TriNick, and Jenn Weeks. Jenn made a homemade squash soup that was amazing. She's like our group's resident gourmet chef. Between her and Bob, we should all be fed and happy in no time.

This morning.

I slept in this morning and here's why - the fresh snow makes the world so peaceful. So this is the view from my bedroom window this spring morning in Minnesota. It's pretty, but enough's enough, ya know??

I will be heading off to church in a bit with the kids. Bob's going to hit the early service so he can try to catch up with us later. He's working with some buyers on the final design of their house plan (they're putting an awesome sport court in the house, which is very cool and fairly common nowadays around here, but requires some specialty construction codes and it has to be right, obviously, without compromising the style and flow of the rest of the house) and hopefully he will wrap that up without having to work all day... because the Pettises are coming over!

We are planning a multi-family vacation in June, not too dissimilar to the vacation we took last year with the Grays and Holmeses :

....to Washington State last summer (after Ironman Coeur D'Alene):

Guy's been busy finding links and attractions and we're going to sort through and try to get a cabin reserved. Their son Jeremy is the kid who runs 5Ks with Bobby. It will be a couple days on either side of the Deadwood Marathon in South Dakota. So we are plotting Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills later today.

Have a great day everybody.

xoxoxoxo

Perfect Weekend

2009-03-31T18:18:00.011-05:00

I'm a couple days late, but I just have to post that I had the best weekend ever.

Friday after work, (those of you who haven't read lately, I did get the job at Coke and finished my second [great] week there, so when I say after work that's because I have a job now...) I met Susan, Lori, and Carla at Medina Country Club for a quick drink. We all used to run together a couple times a week, we've taken the winter off, and now I can only hope I ever get to run with my girls again! But we had a nice toast and it was great to see them!

Yes, what you see in the picture is correct -- Susan has pulled out prescription drugs to be washed down with a dirty martini.

Please don't try this at home.

Anyway, after a while, Bob dropped off Ally at the club so we could have a little mother-daughter dinner. Amazing how when you only have one kid at a time, there is no fighting, and just lots of talking and bonding. I love her.

Then on Saturday I got up early early and ran just under 21 miles with my good friend UltraGuy. We began in chilly darkness under the stars, then listened as the first birds woke up, and kept running as the sun rose and our world come alive. It was awesome! The miles wore on, as we knew they would, but we were prepared with our iPods. I'd loaded his favorite running playlist, and he'd loaded mine, so we listened song-by-song to each other's faves for the last couple of hours. We went nice and slow and took stretching breaks, and a gas station break and wound up averaging 10:20's. I played with the kids a while, then at night headed over to my good friend Jill's house for a runner/triathlete party. I love you guys! Thanks Jill!

Here I am with IronLaura...

... and Renee and Russ and Dana and Paul... all of us "Puke-and-Rally" teammates from the Colorado Relay...

Then on Sunday morning, Bob and the kids and I met Laura and Greg at church (and you all know how much I LOVE Pastor Dan - feel free to download this week's sermon - just click on the MEDIA tab, then the AUDIO tab, then the date March 29).

And that night Laura, Greg, Bobby, Ally and I headed down to the Excel Center to see Chris Tomlin -- it was a great concert! Honestly, there is no greater joy in my life than watching my children rock out to great Christian music, praising their God.

The one thing I didn't do this weekend was laundry. Better get on that...

xoxo

Today..

2009-03-21T18:19:00.002-05:00

IronNick, UltraGuy and I did a nice 17 miler this morning - resting up for next weekend's 20 miler. It was beautiful out today - just a touch of frost on the ground when we started at 7:00, and definitely over 35 degrees by the time we finished. Here are our splits:

1- 9:58

2 - 9:38

3 - 9:33

4 - 9:32

5 - 9:19

6 - 9:17

7 - 9:20

8 - 9:53

9 - 10:21

10 - 9:43

11 - 10:15

12 - 9:50

13 - 9:46

14 - 9:37

15 - 10:20

16 - 12:01

17 - 10:34

Our splits were very steady, but we did take a couple of breaks to stretch UltraGuy's ache-y butt. Well, he calls it his paraformis (or pair-of-aces?) but it still just means ache-y butt to me. I think he was just trying to impress Nick and me with his knowledge of Latin in the early, early hours of dawn. ;-) But anyway, he's got lots of ultra stuff on his race calendar and there is no gain in inflaming that nerve or muscle early in the season. I hope you feel better buddy - Holly and I are counting on you getting us up Moose Mountain for our own first ultras later this season, so take care of your butt!

The kids and Bob and I are now heading over to Dia and Jen's house for a tri club party - I'll bring my camera. I will post some pics, and hopefully get some cookies made to send to Robert along with another group card. We all miss you so much, friend! Thirty six days down, only 329 to go. I hope you know we are thinking of you everyday.

Week in review

2009-03-20T19:26:00.003-05:00

Well, I started at Coke this week - and I love it! They gave me a sweet office with windows and even said I can decorate it -- I wonder if they know what I do for a hobby?!?! In a week there will be custom draperies, wainscoting, a lovely floor lamp and reading chair, a hand-knotted persian rug, maybe a tapestry for the wall behind my desk... ;-)

Everyone is really nice - from the drivers to the manager of the whole bottling facility. Who, by the way, told me yesterday that Dasani is the hydration sponsor for the Stillwater Marathon on May 24th. He said he was running it and asked me to run it with with him, so of course I said sure. ;-) So now I have seven marathons between May and November... and one of those is a 50-mile ultra and another is in an Ironman -- my running legs will be is top shape!

Tomorrow I run 17 or 18 with the LTF Running Club - and maybe Trimama will join us at some point. It got cold again, so I either have to start spinning again, or bundle up.

I'll try to remember to bring my Garmin tomorrow so I can post splits. Hope you are all enjoying the change of season - hopefully it will change here, too, soon.

Training update

2009-03-14T22:27:00.004-05:00

Today Nick, Terri, Erin and I did our long run. I ended up going a bit extra and did 20 miles at about 9:40's. I'm glad to have that first long run under my belt as I've got all long races left for the year. I felt great the whole run, but my calves are screaming because....

On Thursday night I did Johnnie Jensen's spin workout - it's inSANE. It was two hours long, a wattage based class with steady holding drills at 250 watts, high gear sprints from a dead stop (like large chain ring in front - I ride a 55 tooth - and 12 in back) - get to 250 watts and then hold the wattage for 10 seconds, then brake to stop and do it again... for eight minute sets. The sweat was dripping off my EVERYTHING -- ping, ping, ping, ping. Every half hour we'd dismount and take a race-transition speed "break" by running the stairs - two flights per lap, 20 laps... not just running, but HOPPING on two feet all the way up two flights, running down; then two laps lunge-walking every-other-step, then running back down. Twenty. Laps. Then back to the bikes for more wattage work. We did 60 stair laps, then for our last "break" we did lunges up and down the hallway. I'm guessing it was at least 72 lunges. And then back on the bikes. It was CRAZY.

Which is why I can't wait to go back next week.

;-)

But the hopping of the stairwell left my calves really tight, so after running 20 today, I think my legs are screaming for a break.

But it's going to be 60 degrees tomorrow so Terri and I (and maybe Erin) are going to get at least an hour on our bikes outside. Nick -- I'll call you in the morning -- Vamanos!!

On a sad note, Amanda the lamb died at the age of one week. Apparently her mom abandoned her because something was indeed wrong with her. On the 6th day, she stopped eating, and the vet put her to sleep on the 7th. What a short life for such a sweet girl. But she got a lot of love and attention from all her people friends, and she sure gave a lot of love to us. Rest in peace, sweet Amanda.

Bobby had his final game today for basketball. They ended up in fourth place overall, and they lost to Heritage's team (Bobby plays for our church, not for his school, Heritage). So he played against a bunch of 5th graders in his class. It was a close game that we lost by only two points. Bobby said that while it would have been awesome to win, it was better to lose to a bunch of friends than to lose to a bunch of jerks.

He's right. And it was fun cheering for both teams at the game!

Amanda and Coke

2009-03-06T22:09:00.007-06:00

Meet Amanda - she's three days old! She's a little lamb that Jenn rescued after her mother rejected her. She'll be going to live on Jenn's parents' farm tomorrow. She's adorable! The kids got to bottle feed her and it was so cool! She's so sweet. (So is the lamb.)

She's wearing a diaper. (the lamb.) ;-)

Nick, you are such a natural with that bottle - te-he-he.

IronLaura, Ally, Bobby and Amanda-the-Lamb. Isn't she adorable?

... of course what night would be complete without a little RockBand? Here are Bobby, Ally, and Tony trying not to get boo'ed off the stage...

And finally - finally! -- Yes, I did get the position at Coke! It is official as soon as I pass the drug test and the background check, which are next week. But Dan (my boss's boss) called today to let me know so that I didn't have to go through the weekend without having heard from him. Good thing I don't have any felonies on my record.

xoxoxo

7:00 a.m. running the downtown lakes - starting at Calhoun Executive Center - be there!!

Dad's 80th Birthday

2009-03-06T10:13:00.008-06:00

Last weekend the kids and I went to Chicago for the weekend to celebrate my dad's 80th birthday. All four of us kids were there, along with 4 of their grandkids and one grandkid-in-law and one significant other. It was nice to see everyone since we rarely get together all at once.

This is my mom, brother Rick, Dad, sister Katie in the back row, and in front is my brother Dave, and Bobby and Ally and Chubs the boxer.

This is at the restaurant - Bobby and Ally are being tempted and spoiled with [virgin] hurricanes. My parents are both from New Orleans.

This is my brother Rick, my mom, me, my dad (notice he is standing up - he had a stroke three years ago but he can get out of his wheelchair now and took a few steps for us), and Bobby, Ally, and my little brother Dave.

This is my mom - after chowing at dinner the night before, we also had brunch at my niece's house on Sunday.

Dave, me and Bobby.

Back in Minneapolis, I burned off some of those calories with a kitchen spin. Here are me, Nick, Dia, Laura and Erik rocking out to the hip tunes of Coach Troy. (not! don't you wish we could plug our own music onto his DVD's -- it's horrible, horrible music!)

... and then everybody left. If you're not spinning all winter long in Minnesota, you will rue those first spring rides. This is a great way to keep your "bike legs," AND stay in touch with your buddies. I love my training group. You guys make it fun and make it all worthwhile! xoxoxox

On a final note, I did my 17 miler this week (averaged 9:25's), followed by about 8 miles (recovery) the next day, so my running legs are getting in shape too. T-minus 64 days to Fargo Marathon!

Motivation

2009-03-03T13:19:00.002-06:00

What motivates you? Sometimes it's a friendly challenge. Not that anybody could ever accuse me of smack-talkin' my teammates, but Darren Olsen there's no way, no WAY you can beat me on the swim contest. Better luck tomorrow catching up, dude. I put in 3100 yards today of quality... and I mean QUALITY strokes. My face was read for at least two hours afterward. See you at the spin tonight. That'll be me in the front row. As in, just ahead of you. ;-)

Sometimes we are motivated by music. Below is my latest Running Music Playlist. It is about an hour long. Feel free to download all or part of it - but if you load up the whole list, I promise these tunes will have you rocking your cadence and posting splits that are spot on. Plus, I personally guarantee that you will feel like a million bucks afterward.

Enjoy.

1 - Since U Been Gone -- Kelly Clarkson

2 - Something Beautiful -- Newsboys

3 - In Wonder -- Newsboys

4 - The Mission -- Newsboys

5 - I am Free -- Newsboys (THE best running song ever recorded, BTW)

6 - Give you Glory -- Jeremy Camp

7 - Made to Love -- tobyMac

8 - I'm for You -- tobyMac

9 - Ignition -- tobyMac (place this song where you need to really be jump-started)

10 - Gone -- Kelly Clarkson

11 - Coming up to Breathe -- Mercy Me

12 - Behind these hazel eyes -- Kelly Clarkson

13 - Your Love is Better than Life -- Newsboys

14 - Testify to Love -- Avalon

15 - Keep on Shinin' - Third Day

16 -- Lose My Soul -- tobyMac

That pesky virtue, Patience...

2009-02-27T15:44:00.003-06:00

Well, I heard from Coke this afternoon... telling me that I need to wait another week. Dang! I was SO... hoping it was an "offer call!"

But I suppose I could look at this waiting period as an opportunity to hone my patience skills while the paperwork gets properly shuffled. But I would be lyin' if I said I wasn't even a teeny bit worried that I won't get an offer. Because you never know - on Monday somebody up top may say "okay fellas, there's gonna be a hiring freeze" or "the president's nephew is moving to Minneapolis and wants a job"... or anything, really.

Breathe.

Patience.

I can do this.

Breathe again.

This job would be a blast and I really, really want it. The people I met are GREAT - I'd hang out with these people in real life, they are a TEAM, they're funny, they love what they do, they sell Coca Cola everyday, ya know? what's not to love?

So anyway, the kids and I are heading to Chicago tomorrow for my dad's 80th birthday party. We'll have dinner Saturday night at a restaurant, brunch Sunday morning at my niece's, then come home. In and out.

Fortunately, I did my long run on Tuesday:

1- 9:28

2- 9:26

3- 9:24

4- 9:24

5- 9:26

6- 9:32

7- 9:33

8- 9:20

9- 9:10

10- 8:59

11- 9:11

12- 9:10

13- 9:33

14- 9:21

I will likely spin tomorrow morning with the FCA Endurance Team at Brickyard Bikes in Chaska.

xoxo

Swim challenge

2009-02-26T11:59:00.004-06:00

Like me, my spin training buddy Darren, has also been struggling to get his butt in the pool lately, so we have challenged each other to 15 swims between now and the end of March. It works out to be 2 or more per week.

So today after lifting with Beth, Brenda and Chris, I got in and swam a few yards. The water was really warm, making me feel so sluggish - but at least I got in there. I think I get lazy about the swim because I already know how to swim, and I am "fast enough", and even on an oceanic Ironman it's only an hour or so of the whole day... so even if I work really hard, I may only slice 5 minutes off my day, so what's the point? In an Olympic race I may shave off a mere 60 seconds - so big deal!

Whereas, when you look at the run portion of this multisport, I have no fewer than 6 marathons on the calendar (and one's an ultra - a 50 mile trail race called Moose Mountain - lots of craggy, rocky, single-track - AWESOME!!! bring it!!!), so I feel like there's more purpose to getting my speed work, hills and long runs in.

Arghhh - but I can't let Darren win the swim challenge, so I'll be up bright and early tomorrow counting strokes and flip turns. Game on!

Robert updated his FB page yesterday, so here he is (center) in Fort Lewis, WA with a couple buddies. They will be there a few more weeks before mobilizing back to the Middle East.

Ally's been baking him treats and they've been txt-ing. It's so cute. He's like a favorite uncle to them, and a little brother to me, so we miss him a lot.

On the Coca Cola front (yeah - that's who I've been interviewing with), I had another great day with them yesterday. I can talk openly about it now because as of today I officially pulled my hat out of the ring with the other company(s) I had been talking to. I just didn't have a passion for them, and felt it was wrong not to come clean with that.

I should hear something one way or the other tomorrow from Coke. I totally believe in their products, I USE their products, share their philosophy, and embrace their declared "culture". I have a lot to offer them, and I want to be on this team. Even if I am not selected, I still think I did the right thing pulling my name from my back-ups. But I don't have an offer yet, so keep those vibes, karma, and prayers coming!

We are having ANOTHER blizzard right now (what the ???), so I am going to get the kids from school early now - have a great day everybody.

Anybody want to ski tomorrow? Helen? Denny? You guys back in town??

xoxo

What a difference a day makes.

2009-02-24T15:29:00.004-06:00

We had quite a swing in temperature - a 43 degree swing to be precise - and so today I ran 14 or so miles outside, wearing in a running skirt. Average was a steady 9:22's. It was 38 degrees and beautiful - sunny, breezy - perfect. I don't often run alone, so I cranked up the iTunes and did a two loop course near my house. Anyone who wants my running playlist, email me at ironjenny@mac.com, and I'll send it right over.

Ten weeks and counting to my first marathon of the summer - Fargo Marathon! I've already posted why I love this race, but I really do. After Fargo I have (the inaugural) Minneapolis Marathon, and then June 7th I've got Deadwood in South Dakota. Another favorite.

Last time I did Deadwood, Holly and I stayed in the haunted Bullock Hotel Annex. I hope this time I get to hear and see strange things. Holly heard stuff last visit there, but but didn't bother waking me up, which is why she only a second-ring best friend now.

Darren's coming over for a kitchen spin tonight, so I better get cracking at the kids' homework.

Don't forget to send me all your best vibes, karma, or prayers for my four hour "meeting" with "andasmile" tomorrow.

Enjoy the warm weather today!!

Speed workout

2009-02-23T13:45:00.003-06:00

It was -5 degrees this morning, so Beth and I did speed work at the Dome. I forgot how much I like speed work - it really makes the time go by so fast.

We did these laps - a dome lap is 1/5 mile:

3 - warm up (10:00 ish)

1 - marathon pace (9:30 ish)

1 - fast (8:30)

1 - 9:30

2 - 8:20 ish

1 - 9:30

3 - 8:15 ish

1 - 9:30

1 - 8:15

1 - 9:30

2 - 8:15

1 - 9:30

3 - 7:55

1 - 9:30

I really was haulin' for the last fast 3-lapper and it felt great. The dome is about 50 degrees and it's on ground rubber pellets, so it feels awesome to run in there.

Afterward, I had to rush still sweating, out the door to get to Bible study with my neighbors. I love this one - it's a Beth Moore and we are studying the book of Daniel. It really hits home and I love her courses.

This afternoon I am hitting some stores and talking to the [plural nouns] so I can have all my ducks in a row for my [number]th [noun] with ["and a smile"]. I [adverb] [adverb] [verb] this [noun]!

;-)

xoxoxo

Jenny

Let it snow!

2009-02-21T18:21:00.007-06:00

Last night we got another 4 inches of fresh snow - now I wish I had registered for the American Birkebeiner (34 mile cross country ski race) this year because the race is tomorrow and the conditions are perfect!!!

But I did get up early to meet Guy at 6:30 this morning to run a few extra miles before meeting the rest of the group at 7:30. Here is a pic just before the sun rose and made everything all shiny and bright.

Nothing had been plowed except the road between the park entrance and the beach, so we just ran back and forth to the lake. Sounds horribly boring, but it wasn't! - it's a winding road with beautiful forest and ski trails on either side, and everything was covered with snow and we got to watch the sunrise through the trees... so it worked. We had aimed for 15 or so miles, but only managed 11 because it was just so darn ICY... and the wind -whew. It's a hilly road down to the water and we were all just slipping and sliding all over the place - My Garmin said I burned 968 calories, but I'm fairly certain I get extra credit for the core workout of just holding myself upright. ;-)

After the run the 8 of us went to The Original Pancake House in Maple Grove. (Susan L - where are the pics??) It was my first time there and I can't say I loved it. But man, people line up outside just to get in. It's the Swedish kind of paannenkukens (I'm sure I misspelled that), which are really egg-y griddle baked cakes slathered in sugar and apples and probably cream and butter. It tasted okay, but was probably thousands of calories. Maybe I'll get on the trainer tonight. Nah - that's a lie. ;-)

Bobby's friend Jeremy, (Guy and Susan's son -- I've posted pics of them running 5k's together - they're in 5th and 6th grade) is the goalie for his hockey team, and today he got a shut-out in the tournament! Way to go Jeremy! It was his first one this season and you should have seen his teammates pounce on him after the final buzzer. They were thrilled; it was awesome. He played a really great game and they won 3-0. They play again tomorrow so maybe we'll bring our good luck and cheer him on. Gotta see what else is on the calendar, but it was a really exciting game.

Have a good night everybody!

xoxoxo

p.s. - if you are running with Gear West tomorrow at 8:00 - call me.

Training update, etc.

2009-02-20T14:29:00.004-06:00

Yesterday Beth and I ran 13 from her house - it was windy and freezing but we figured it was supposed to snow today, so we toughed it out and as it turns out it was gorgeous today! Oh well - made us tough. ;-) She's the best running hostess - even packed us each a little cooler with gatorade and gel with a little note on top so no one would steal them.

Tomorrow the long run (gearing up to the May marathons) will end with breakfast at the pancake house with the team. [Yeessssssss]. Holly and I will likely start early to get in a few extra miles, so anyone wanting to join us should call by 6:00a.m. If you are coming for breakfast, speak up now so we have the reservation number right!

Marty

Has ANYONE seen Marty Slater? We last saw him after the finish at Whistlestop in Ashland Wisconsin last October, and haven't heard from him since. Holly and Guy have called and called and he hasn't returned them, so I am getting worried. In the last 6 years he's never just dropped off the face of the planet... except that time he went to Ireland for work for a few weeks... so I'm sending out an APB on him.

IronRobert's been gone a week and we really miss him. Even Bob was weepy when he cleaned his room and changed the sheets. Robert's been like a family member and we really miss having him around. Nobody is as good as he is at Rock Band so I don't even go down there anymore - we suck!!

HAve a great day everyone - xoxo

Godspeed to Maj. Robert V. Younger

2009-02-13T15:35:00.009-06:00

Friday the 13th. Lucky or unlucky? I'm banking that it's just another day... so I'll take what the day brings me and then make what I can of it.

It was still dark when the kids and I left to take IronRobert to the armory this morning. He and his fellow troops left today for (re)deployment to Iraq. They'll remain stateside for a couple months before they mobilize, but we won't be able to see him or visit. Seeing the soldiers all in their uniforms; their families up before the crack of dawn to say goodbye... was moving.

Actually, "moving" doesn't adequately describe it. But which words would? It's not easy to describe. You want to be cheerful and controlled, but all you really feel is scared and sad and ungrounded. And also enormously proud and thankful and angry and honored and impressed... and then you circle back to scared and sad and then your heart feels like it's being squashed and there's not quite enough oxygen in the room. We miss you already, friend. Please know we will be thinking of you always - everyday - and praying for your safety.

These are the two guys that will be working closely with Robert. I asked them to take care of him. If you pray, please add these two guys. I don't know their names, but if you just pray for "the two guys working with Robert," God will know who you mean. It sounds like a really interesting job, but it's dangerous and they need your thoughts and prayers. All the service men and women do.

We said goodbye and then the kids and I cried all the way to school.

On a brighter note, I pulled myself together and had a great meeting [when] at [where] with two [individuals] from ["and a smile"] about the [noun] . Hopefully I will have details to share in the next couple of weeks. One of the [adjective] [plural noun]s I dined with said this is like a marathon and I'm at mile 24. To those awesome friends who provided [prose] at a moment's notice, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. There is no one in the universe who has greater friends than I do, and I love you all so much!

Below is a group shot of dinner last night with IronRobert.

Have a Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

xoxoxo

January thaw arrives Jan 31; Lego League State Championship

2009-01-31T12:14:00.005-06:00

OK, you may not believe this, but it's true..... Snow is actually melting outside right now as I type. Seriously! Today it is 34 degrees -- we were just half a day shy of not seeing above freezing temps for the entire month. It's been bad and it wreaks havoc on your training and your mood.

BUT.... today Holly, Chae, Diane and I ran around Medicine Lake (7.75 miles). It was perfect out. We even heard real. live. birds. chirping.

Below is a picture we took this morning of a suburb of ice houses - if you don't know about ice fishing, it's like the state sport in MN. These houses are often beautiful inside with wall paper, flat screen tv's, sleep up to 4 comfortably, etc. It's so toasty in there that you don't even wear a coat. When you get bored, you go snowmobiling for a while (or drive your car to your real home) to get more food or (gasp) more beverages.

Ice fishing is basically a way for a guy's guy to get out of the house, hang out drinking with their buddies watching the game, and still manage to bring home fresh fish for dinner.

Here's how it works: You drop a line into a hole you auger'ed through about 20 inches of lake ice, and when a fish is on the line, the bell rings. If you have an extra hole outside your ice house and you can't hear that bell, a flag will go up if you have a fish. Isn't it ingenious? THe fish sort of catch themselves for ya.

We know guys who spend all day out in these houses on weekends.

Here are Holly, Diane and Chae - part of the lake loop is across a boardwalk through the wetlands. It's really pretty.

Last weekend was the State Tournament for Lego League. The first picture I took is of the scrolling leader-board when the Steel Claws were in first place after the first round. Their robot eventually moved down to 4th overall, but considering there were 34 teams from all over MN, (that first had to win at their respective regions), it was pretty awesome and we are so proud of them! They did win 1st place in one category, though - yea!!

Bobby's in the front holding the trophy (made of legos of course) that they won for 1st Place in Presentation. The had to invent something useful that was good for the environment and they created a Zamboni-like truck which heats and sprays a brine solution onto the MN roadways to melt ice, but not damage the foliage or pollute the nearby rivers and lakes. So their winning presentation was basically a sales pitch of their invention to the judges.

They pitched it like a newscast - Bobby was the anchorman, Josh was the field reporter who was on the scene with car crash victim Tanner, Isaac was the weatherman, and Daniel and Spencer were the featured scientists/ inventors of the Boni Ice Thawing machine.

Daniel, Spencer, Isaac, Josh, Tanner, and Bobby in front with their trophy.

Fargo Training Update

2009-01-15T11:31:00.004-06:00

FARGO MARATHON (May 9, 2009) TRAINING

OK, it was minus 27 on the way to the kids' school this morning; and minus 44 with the windchill - who can train in this [censored adjective] weather?? Luckily it was a little warmer last weekend and I did get a solid 10 miler under my belt. But with Fargo Marathon 16 weeks away, I would prefer to be running outside three times a week.

Fargo Marathon is one of my favorites because:

1). it's the perfect "Ironman's marathon" -- very early in the season, so you are prepared for the run portion of your summer Ironman and can concentrate on those 100 mile bike rides on Sundays.

2). It is flat and fast. We are talking maybe 17 feet of climbing.

3). The course is well supported and fun - you go through all kinds of neighborhoods, parks, college campuses.

4). The spectators are really friendly.

5). You do your longest training runs in the spring, so you[r training buddies] aren't sweltering and whining for 22 miles. ;-)

6). It's a small-town urban marathon, so nice, clean and inexpensive hotels with pools are right across the street from the start line. (Seriously - you walk to the start line).

7). You get a nice long sleeved performance fabric race shirt.

If you have not done this race and would like to try something up north, I LOVE this race. Come up and do it with us!!!

There are four of us doing Fargo together: Terri, Erin, Liz and me. Terri's broken elbow is getting much better, and she back in the pool - yea! No dumbbell curls yet, but she IS able to run. She's headed off to San Diego for 8 days of training, so let's try not to feel TOO sorry for her. Liz is working through her hip flexor [chronic] injury, but she's still hoping for a Boston qualifying run in Fargo. Erin has properly nursed her plantar faciitis and will start running again this week. As for me, I'm healthy, just fat. Not really REALLY fat, but fat enough that I'll have to work hard to get under 4 hours. I would like to lose ten pounds so it's easier on my old body. I haven't had any dairy for a few days, so if I stick with that I should cut some calories.

Cross training - I got back in the pool Tuesday for 3350 yards. I actually felt pretty strong considering I have only been in the pool once in the last two months. Today a gas pipe was leaking at Lifetime, so they closed the whole club before we could swim, so I will have to do something else - maybe a spinerval - instead. Speaking of which, has anybody tried Troy Jacobsen's "Suffer-O-Rama" DVD? We did it Tuesday night and it was AWESOME. It's only 50 minutes long, but great - I definitely was pushed beyond my limit and was unable to maintain the required effort until the end of the sets. Gotta get back in the saddle and try again... it's nice to find a workout that you can't quite complete.

Otherwise, I've been skiing when it's warm enough. Helen and I skated once and classic'ed once in the last week.

Here are Steve, Denny, Diane and me near Helen's house on Sunday. Classic x/c skiing is the best light cardio and you can't beat the scenery and having your friends with you. Maybe if the temps climb to zero or even warmer, I can get back out.

Happy New Year! Score: 26 to 1

2009-01-09T08:59:00.008-06:00

Like so many others, I was delighted to welcome in a new year and say goodbye to 2008 because as the money stopped flowing in, (Bob's in real estate), we lived sometimes on money transferred from our savings account/retirement funds. Worrying about money can put a damper on everything if you let it.

But I would be remiss if I allowed the money situation to overshadow the great blessings that 2008 brought in. Writing the good things down is a good exercise in keeping things in perspective.

Here are just a few, in no particular order:

1). Racing with Pamela in the beautiful wine country where I went on my honeymoon 13 years ago.

2). Watching and cheering at IM CDA with many blogger friends.

3). Going on vacation out west with the TriGreyhounds and the TaconiteBoy/Trimama families.

4). Visiting our dear friends in Iowa just riding our bikes and swimming in their pool.

5). Qualifying for Boston after 29 attempts (3:59:52)

6). Bobby's LegoLeague team qualifying for the State Championship and winning first place for programming their robot.

7). We are all healthy (enough).

8). Laura and Greg got married.

9). Tim and Karen got married.

10). Erin did her first Ironman.

11). The kids love love love their new school.

12). My children love the Lord.

13). I joined in a Bible study with a great group of girlfriends.

14). Bobby got to go to camp again.

15). Jeremy opened a new bike shop.

16). I PR'd in the half Iron distance (5:18)

17). I got a Mac.

18). My kids did well in school - only one B between the two of them.

19). Bob got to get away for a week of fishing with the guys in Canada.

20). My dad who had a stroke, took 60 steps in a row after having been in his wheelchair for two years.

21). My parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

22). Bobby got under 30 minutes in the 5K distance.

23). I am blessed with countless friends who love me and I love back.

24). [So far] we still live in this beautiful house in Wild Meadows where we walk on the private wooded trails where we can watch the deer, wild turkeys, pheasants and even a great grey owl.

25). The kids are old enough to stay home without a babysitter for short jaunts.

26). I can still swim 100 yards in under 1:10, with just a push off from the wall if I try hard.

Well, that was easy just to come up with 26 without having to think hard at all. So the score is "Life Is Good" 26 to "2008 Sucked" 1.

Are you grateful or grumpy? It's a choice, you know.

My goal for 2009 is "Practice Contentedness".

POLAR DASH

On New Year's Day we had to choose between jumping in frozen Lake Minnetonka or running the 5K. Since Bobby's friend Jeremy (son of my friend Guy) wanted to run, we ran.

Here is the start. As you can see I am not crazy for getting outside in Minnesota in the winter. I have LOTS of company:

... and here are the four of us before the start:

And here we are with about a mile to go:

We came in at 30:18, which isn't bad considering we had to run on icy snow the whole way.

Afterward, Santi hosted a make-your-own breakfast at her house where Jeremy cooked up some fabulous scrambled eggs with veggies-and-ham for me, and Bobby made pancakes for everybody.

... then Jeremy came over to play video games with Bobby. We later took a long walk in the woods:

...and the kids got so tired out that they had to lie down and eat snow:

It was a wonderful day to decide to WELCOME 2009. Please join me in PRACTICING CONTENTEDNESS in 2009!

On another topic, did I ever show you guys the mural that my girlfriend Stephany painted in my upstairs laundry room? She just asked me for a photo of it, so I thought I'd show it to you, too. It's of a beach in the Galapogos Islands where I went for my 4oth birthday a few years back. When you touch it, the lava rocks actually feel gritty - it's like it's 3-dimensional. Very cool. I pre-designed the layout of the floor tiles just for someone to paint a future mural for me and I think it turned out great.

Christmas 2008

2008-12-26T18:30:00.007-06:00

This year we stayed in town, but we had so much fun just hanging out, being with so many of our friends. IronGreg's parents came from Wisconsin, so we went over to Greg and Laura's for dinner and game night:

IronTim and IronKaren (who is pregnant!!) and Laura's dad and sister (the one I run pretty much all my marathons with - gray sweatshirt) were there, too. Here's our group photo:

On Christmas Eve we went to the midnight service and Ally and Bobby got to read the scripture and prayer and light the advent candle. They did great, and the service was beautiful.

Then on Christmas day, Greg and Laura and Greg's parents came for dinner at our house. First we went for a group hike (Laura and I classic skied), and we followed a HUGE grey owl in the woods for a while - it was so cool. I don't know how he managed to fly from tree to tree with that gigantic wingspan. I kept wondering if he was eye-ing up Zurich to determine if he should eat her.

When we got back to the house, we found that Ally was painting pink and blue streaks into Pat's (Greg's mom) hair - it's called Girl Crush hair painting and the label says it washes out in one washing but she JUST got it for Christmas so I hope it really does wash out. ;-) She and Ally really bonded it was so sweet it almost made me a bit weepy. When she was done, she also gave Pat and Laura makeovers with eyeshadow and lipliner and the works. Let me just say Ally doesn't have the steadiest hand for lipliner, but it was so cute that Pat was such a good sport!

Bobby and Ally kept calling her Grandma Pat, so we just made her their honorary grandma since they don't ever see grandparents. (My parents are in NJ and my mom basically takes care of my dad who is in a wheelchair after a debilitating stroke 3 years ago; Bob's dad passed away, and we just never see his mom). They really adored Greg's parents.

For dinner I made (yes - you read that right - I actually cooked even though I think cooking is a big waste of time -- aside from Christmas, of course. If I've got three hours, I'd rather go for a bike ride than stand around a stove drinking and stirring)... but anyway, I made a lemony-buttery, lightly garlic-y chicken with capers over angel hair pasta. It was great! Pat brought an assortment of desserts and we all ate and drank, and ate and drank, and ate ad drank... I feel so FAT that even my socks are tight - but it was all good. ;-)

This is how much we ate - this huge pile of dishes is just what didn't fit into the dishwasher -- and that left side sink is ultra deep and it's completely overflowing.

Then we played balderdash... I love that game...

... and then everybody left. It was a perfect day. Last year we went to Hawaii, but I would have to say that this year's celebration was just as beautiful because we all loved being together so much. I am truly blessed with amazing friends.

So today I get back in the saddle with working out relatively regularly. Uffda - so much rich food! I called Nick and Steve and they came over for an emergency kitchen spin, and then Nick and I also ran afterwards. Tomorrow is the Gear West team spin at the shop, and Sunday morning is the group run, and Sunday afternoon, Steve and Helen are having a x/c skiing party. Much as I enjoyed eating everything in sight, it'll feel good to actually zip my jeans up all the way again... hopefully soon.

Hope you all had a great day, too. God bless us. Every one!

'Tis the Season...

2008-12-23T18:15:00.006-06:00

... blizzards in Minnesota. It is what it is. We deal.

... and then we get outside! Here is Bobby - we are out on the trails behind the house.

... and Ally who brought along her friend Jordan.

On the last day of school, Ally's class room invited the parents to look around the room before they regaled us with carols. Here she is proud to show us that one of her papers made the penmanship bulletin board - whoo-hoot Ally!

... And Bobby's 5th grade class put on a full musical that was amazing! These kids put on a 45 minute play - memorizing all their lines and singing and dancing --- it was fanTAStic! We were so impressed.

Here he is with his friends Isaac, Mark and Ryan. I just have to say how glad I am about the school change. Bobby has so many more friends at our new school. They genuinely like him, and it is such a relief to see that he fits is so seamlessly here. He doesn't even bite his fingernails anymore. I continue to be amazed at how wise a move it was for us.

... the cast picture.

Merry Christmas to all!

The one good thing...

2008-12-16T09:53:00.007-06:00

... about the -10 degree temperatures we are "enjoying" is that it makes the snow for x/c skiing really, really fast.

Now if it were only warm enough to go out and ski...

Christmas Lights Run; Lego League Tournament

2008-12-14T15:32:00.009-06:00

Christmas Lights Run

Friday night I went to the Start Line (local running store) for a beautiful night time run around the marsh and through neighborhoods to view the Christmas lights. It was a full moon, so we really didn't even need our headlamps. Afterward, the owner, Charles, had wine and sandwiches for us. How can you NOT love Minnesotans - we definitely make the best of our less-than-desirable weather.

Out on the run. Hard to see but there is a great light display behind us:

Me with Jessie and Charles:

Post run spread at the store:

Lego League

What? You never heard of Lego League? I hadn't either until we switched schools, and Heritage Christian Academy has a team.

Bobby loves Legos, so when he learned that five other kids in his class were on the team, he decided to join and be the 6th member. It's been amazing. It's sponsored by 3M and there are 160,000 kids worldwide who participate. Here's what they do:

Build a robot (base materials are Legos) that can accomplish tasks on a field course.

You use a little computer to program your instructions and if successful, your robot will accomplish it. The course is a vinyl mat on a table, and all the teams get the same mat to practice on and to compete on. But the robots each team made varied widely, and had assorted attachments. The robot has to maneuver around the course, performing tasks, like picking up and dropping Lego people into a specific area, knocking Lego boulders off of rubber rings, pulling levers, turning out lights, etc. So these 5th graders used motion detectors, light sensors, and battery operated motors to program their robot to do all this stuff - I was so amazed and impressed.

They also had to perform a 5 minute skit about Climate change. Theirs was a TV newscast. It was great!

Next they had a head-to-head competition with the 32 other teams.

Anyway, their team is called Steel Claws, and at the tournament yesterday they won 1st Place in Programming and came in 2nd Place Overall, so they are going on to the State Tournament next month!

The boys were so excited they were jumping up and down. They really worked hard on this project.

The boys with their 1st place plaque for Programming: Daniel, bobby, Spencer, Isaac, Josh, and Tanner in front.

What a smart way for 3M to get kids inventing stuff - then 3M can hire these little geniuses in the future!

Ironman this weekend!

2008-12-11T06:00:00.004-06:00

Someone named Barry Roesler asked me to post this: (His name is familiar, but do I know this guy? Anyway, here it is...

For the 18th consecutive year, NBC will present the ultimate showdown of raw athletic competition and human perseverance -- the Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii -- on Saturday, Dec. 13, from 2:30 – 4:00 p.m. ET. The 90-minute special, a network television staple since the 1980s, has won a total of 14 Emmy Awards during the race’s illustrious history and Emmy Award winning narrator, Al Trautwig will provide the voiceover for this year’s broadcast. Please follow this link to a photo of the chaos that begins the race.

This year, among the highlighted athletes are a T6 paraplegic that was injured in a Motocross accident, a Navy SEALS member that has raised more than $300,000 for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation and a two-time terminal cancer survivor, to name a few.Below you will find a link to the trailer as well as a link to the Ironman Web site broadcast page.

Links:

Ironman Online Media Center

Ironman YouTube Trailer

Reindeer Run

2008-12-09T16:43:00.004-06:00

Guy, his son Jeremy, Ally, Bobby, Holly and Josie and I ran the Reindeer Run around Lake Harriet last weekend. It was SOOOO crowded! We never did get to really run, and had to be happy with 34:30. Jeremy started dodging the crowd and pulled ahead and finished in 33:30 and earned a $20 gift card at a running store - great job Jeremy!

Here we are huddled in the tent before the start.

Afterwards, we stopped for coffee and then headed home to get the tree up. We are fake tree people, so it goes up in about one minute. We have some ornaments that contain verses from 'Twas The Night Before Christmas, so the kids take turns reading them and hanging them.

Bobby taking a turn.

Then Robert took out his Rock Band and Guitar Hero game for his Wii, and played with Bobby and Ally.

We cracked up when Robert said, "I'm so good at this game it's embarrassing." The kids and Bob and I were duly impressed.

We did finally get some real snow! And I just learned that the country club down the road actually grooms a trail for us - I can't believe I've lived here three years and didn't know that. I'm heading over Thursday morning with my neighbor Lynn to check it out.

A Spin, a Soldier, and a Kona Qualifier

2008-12-04T09:08:00.006-06:00

Kitchen Spinning

is back in season - here are TriNick and Dia sweatin' to Coach Troy. They (and Bob and I) did a two-workout session and then had beer and beef stew. yum!

Our good friend Robert will be re-deployed in February, and since his lease was up on his condo, he's going to stay with us for a couple months. Some of you know him from IM Florida, which he did with us in '07. On past Veteran's Days, he's gone to the kids' school to visit and have them sing songs to him and many other servicemen and women. He was recently promoted to Major. Bobby and Ally love him, so obviously they are thrilled having him around.

A couple days ago he delighted them with an MRE:

That's "meal- ready to eat" for those of you civilian folks. This is an enchilada... and while it was fun to cook up (a few tablespoons of water in a mystery chemical in the outer bag heated it up in about 30 seconds - seriously), this meal was intended to be fuel, not gourmet. But Ally nonetheless was all excited about it so he gave her another one to take to school to show her class. What a hit! They were talking about chemical reactions in science, so the timing was perfect. Her teacher, Mrs. Goettsche, helped her prepare Meatballs in Marinara and they also shared the other goodies like crackers, cheese spread and gum.

Robert left yesterday morning for a couple days of training prior to deployment. I have to admit it saddened/scared me to see him in his uniform, knowing he's going back to the scariest place on earth in just a few short weeks.

On a happier note, Holly, Diane, Merilee and Iwent to General Mills for lunch with Chae (who works there). GM has the BEST corporate cafeteria and we often go there to meet Chae for lunch! This is much of the crew that I did Whistlestop with a couple months ago. I love these girls. Gigantic kudos to Merilee who qualified for Kona at Arizona a couple weeks ago with a 10:55... congrats Merilee!!!

... yeah I know I look pregnant in this picture, but I'm not, okay? ;-)

Thanksgiving Day Reunion

2008-11-30T20:27:00.011-06:00

This is Ally and Sophia (Trimama's daughter) at Target Center Thanksgiving morning.

Sophia: ALLY!

Ally: SOPHIA!

Sophia: How r u?

Ally: Awesome! How r u?

Sophia: Awesome!

Ally: What's that?

Sophia: I brought a Webkinz.

Ally: Cool! Can I see?

Sophia: Sure!

Ally: Neat.

Sophia: Thx. He can run the 5k with us.

Ally: Cool!

Sophia: LOL

Ally: LOL!

They hadn't seen each other much since our vacation in Washington state, so here is how their excited reunion went when they saw each other at the Target Center. It was so funny seeing them texting each other while they were right there. So cute. Little girls love their phones.

We all ran together until about the last few blocks or so when the Soapinator took off and finished strong... but Ally came in at 38:50 - her Personal Best! Way to go Ally! Not bad for an 8 year old!

Here she is running with Hugo and Baby Owen:

And here is a group shot after we all came in:

front: Baby Owen in the stroller, Ally and me

middle: Erik (Sarah's hubba - it was his first 5k and he was WAY ahead of everybody!), Laura's sister Sarah (who runs pretty much all my marathons with me), Kelli (Baby Owen's mom)

back: Hugo (Owen's dad), Laura the bride, Greg the groom, Christy, and TriNick in the way back.

Time to get to the best T-day dinner EVER. We ate at our church - no fighting siblings, no drunk Uncle Eds, no quibbling over the dark meat... and Pastor Dan had us all playing Bingo for "valuable" prizes, and we even had a scavenger hunt, so there was a lot of running around inside and outside the church - the perfect thing after a big meal.

After that, Laura and the bridesmaids headed back for the rehearsal while I stayed back at the house getting everything ready for the after-rehearsal party at our house. It was great! About 30 or so of Laura's and Greg's family and out of town friends came over for little sandwiches and cocktails. Greg made the most beautiful toast to Laura - everybody wanted to cry. He is such a prize!

After the guests left, Christy and Laura and I got in our pj's and talked until Laura kicked us out of her room so she could get to sleep.

After I get more pics, I'll post more about the weekend...

;-)

They did it!

2008-11-29T11:00:00.010-06:00

Iron Greg and IronLaura got married last night! I don't want to steal any thunder from pics Laura will probably want to post, so I will just give you a glimpse here:

It was a beautiful wedding - so many friends and family members came out, Laura and Greg both looked gorgeous, the weather was great. If you missed TriNight, you would have had a second chance to see all your friends at the wedding - a jillion triathletes were there.

Hugo and Kelly and 4 1/2 month old "Baby Owen" came from CA, and Christy from CT and stayed at our house. My kids just loved having the baby around, and we are so bummed that they all left this morning!!

The guests began to come to town on Tuesday and we had a great time eating, drinking and catching up, going for group runs on the trails and doing all the prep work for the event. Sure was a lot of love floating around. There are lots of great pictures on other people's cameras... hopefully I will get some of them soon.

Here is Bobby at the reception cuttin' a rug with one of the flower girls.

... and me dancing with my hubba...

... and all the kids were breakdancing:

It was really a great weekend.

Congrats to two of the nicest people I've ever been so lucky to know!

Ahhhh... the memories

2008-11-24T20:20:00.005-06:00

Here's what we used to do in Minnesota in the winter.

Where's the snow??????

:-(

I knew we were on to something...

2008-11-17T07:11:00.003-06:00

Remember when a few of us registered for Ironmans and listed our occupations as silly stuff? One time Tim was a "Leaf Raker", Joe Bobby was an "Underpants Inspektor", I was a "Smokin'Hot Nascar Wife"... etc.

I see from the list of registrants at Ironman Arizona that the trend has really taken off . Check these out...

Cat Herder

Grave Digger

Hustla!

Master Chihuahua Wrangler

Mine Sweeper

Moustache Jockey

Mullet Designer

Ninja

Pirate

Pragmatist

Prime Minister

Prospective Eccentric Billionaire

Rapper

Supreme Allied Commander

I keep wondering when Mike Reilly will start announcing them as he calls their names over the finish line. Some of these are great!

What have you been?

Tri Night - 2008

2008-11-16T08:01:00.019-06:00

Well, that was fun!

Last night a bunch of local triathletes hosted the end-of-season banquet. Once a year we get to see everyone with combed hair, and even smelling nice. Our guest speaker was the one and only Olympic triathlete Hunter Kemper. Here he is below, flanked by Jeremy Baker (one of my FCA teammates) and me.

He regaled us with his Olympic and other race stories. Hunter is hilarious.

Truly.

I would hang out with this guy in real life if he lived in my neighborhood.

He used this platform to talk about the charity he supports, A-T. It's a genetic and fatal disease which afflicts only about 500 children in the U.S. each year. The disease causes progressive loss of muscle control, immune system problems and a strikingly hight rate of cancer. He met two little girls, sisters, who both have it and they really touched his heart. They will die in their teens, unless a cure is found.

He is also a Christian (and even told the crowd that he could feel the hand of Christ on him as he raced in Beijing this summer)! I thought it was really cool that Hunter openly embraces his faith, especially since anti-Christian sentiments are what's popular, and especially harsh in the last few months. Anyway, you can read more about A-T at www.atcp.org. Help if you feel driven, as most of us did last night.

Jeremy is opening a new bike shop in Chaska, MN in January. Actually, he is taking over an existing shop, Get Your Gear, but will be changing it up a lot... it will now also offer a great assortment of super fun women's running and tri clothes. So Laura and I decided to wear some of it last night. I am in a SkirtSports running dress, with tri shorts underneath, and bolero-style arm-warmers with matching headband from Sheila Moon. Laura is in arm-warmers and headband. The fabrics are soft and wicking, they fit true to size, and they are nothing short of seriously hawt. I mean, c'mon. Just look at us. ;-)

There was also a blogger reunion of sorts: Taconite Boy, Trimama, me, Andy Mork (serious cyclist and cross-country skier), Kate Monster, and Mark Evenson. As usual Mark is hamming it up. Back in the old days we used to run "throwaway" races together, but now he's really fast, so we can't run together anymore. I mean he's really, really fast -- he even has his last name printed on the butt of his Fastskins. But I still remember when he used to stop for group pictures during races. Maybe I can dig one up and post it... te-he. Kate is also an amazing athlete by day, and they are the cutest couple EVER.

Speaking of super fast, Jen Lenarz was also there. I love this girl - like other local speedsters, (how did I not get a picture with you Jules???), like our own "Just-back-from-Kona-Cathy",

...Jen always smiles, waves and cheers for you, when she spots you on the course.

I love Minnesota. It may be cold out, but the people are so nice and fun. I love you guys!!

Ski Season begins!

2008-11-09T08:04:00.006-06:00

Yesterday I initiated ski season with a 30 minute ski on the rollers (no snow yet). Ally came along on her rollerblades.

I didn't ski at all last season due to the heart condition, but since it's not going away (and I can still run, bike and swim), I plan to ski this year.

Didn't fall, so at least I know I can still stand on them.

Laura - you want to go to Baker Park tomorrow after B/S at Shannon's?

Below is Bobby getting in a cold weather trail run/treasure hunt this week. As many of you know we switched schools this year, and I have to say it was the best thing we could have done. Last year Bobby rarely had less than 4 hours of homework, and this year he has had about one hour. Maybe a bit more on occasion, and sometimes a bit less. But he plays after school now. Really! Who knew! He enjoys the trails, he plays his Wii, he goes to friends' houses, he sits by the fire-pit with us.... he even stopped biting his fingernails. He made A's at the old school, and makes A's at the new school. But he loves his teachers and his classmates, and he's just so happy now.

Here he is showing off his loot - an old whiskey bottle that he pulled out of the stream (it still had something stinky in it - hopefully that was whiskey ;-)), a rock with cool dual colored moss on it, and a few sword-worthy sticks. We were out there until after sunset. Life is Good.

Let's make this guy famous

2008-11-04T08:39:00.005-06:00

My friend Erik was taking pics of Julie (10:32!!) at IM FL over the weekend and saw this guy with flippers on the swim. At the turnaround he dropped them in the water, exited and ran over the mat, and retrieved them when he entered for the second lap. The official said something to him, took his flippers, and THEN LET HIM CONTINUE THE SWIM. (What the...???)

Cheaters have reached an all new low. C'mon folks, Ironman is not about Cheating-to-get-there. It's about courage, strength, perseverance, and integrity. What is the world coming to????

Let's find out who this guy is and make him famous.

P.S. - Congrats again to the following Real Ironmen: Julie, Terri, Erin, Tim, Michelle, Shelly and Lana (whose time I predicted) ;-)

IM Florida

2008-11-01T15:25:00.004-05:00

Julie Hull - you are doing AWESOME!!!! What an amazing bike split and your first leg of the run is smokin'!

Terri - wow - isn't IM fun when you don't have a herniated disk? It must be like a whole other experience! Keep up your strength on the run and I will win the predicted finish time!

Erin - you're doing it!!! Can I call you IronErin yet? I hope you have your phone in your bag at the finish because I will be ringing it until you pick up!!!!

Shelley - looking good!!! You are a pro. But what is the deal with listing Accountant as your occupation? Veterans are supposed to be funny things - like Nascar Wife, or Leaf Raker, or MultiTasker... ;-)

Tim - I wish I were there to high five you on the run - you will do a great time!

Lana - Holy Smokes! Great swim. Great Bike. STill checking on your run, but you are clobbering the course!

Michelle - wow! Twenty-plus mph on your second split of the bike... and a strong swim - and you're makin' me proud with that T2 --- can't wait til you post a run split.

Boo!

2008-10-31T19:00:00.008-05:00

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!!

2008-10-27T05:48:00.006-05:00

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

2008-10-21T13:25:00.015-05:00

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

2008-10-12T17:03:00.004-05:00

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

2008-10-09T11:14:00.003-05:00

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

2008-10-02T16:46:00.002-05:00

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?

2008-10-01T10:10:00.003-05:00

... 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...

Coffee Talk, Sunday Sept. 28, 2008

2008-09-28T08:58:00.003-05:00

Jenny: I miss it.

Bob: I know.

Jenny: It was really important to me.

Bob: I know. That's why you should do it.

Jenny: It's just too expensive.

Bob: By then we'll have money again. If not, we'll have bake sales.

[kiss - kiss - hug-hug]

2008-09-24T21:18:00.003-05:00

Gosh it's gorgeous here! Today it was about 68 degrees and clear. Susan, Shannon and I ran for an hour while it was still dark out - you could see brightly, the constellations Orion and the Big Dipper. How cool!

A little later, after school drop off, Terri and Erin and I rode our bikes out to St. Michael and back.(about 35 miles) I got my first flat on a sew-up.... and I am proud to say I had it changed and on our way in EIGHT minutes. I had no idea it would actually be easier to change than a regular inner-tube tire.

Tomorrow is a swim day - we've been going about 3500 yards of assorted masters drills, sets twice a week.

Also today is the 4th day IN A ROW that I've done my pushups, situps and lunges. I just hafta do it. At my age it is SO easy to get all soft around the middle....

About races - I have two more marathons and I'll be done for 2008. I'll have to post my 2009 stuff once I start getting registered...

Here Am I

2008-09-21T13:14:00.001-05:00

This video is 10 minutes long, but it will answer a thousand questions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVN0PTnro_0

Enjoy and God Bless!

xoxo

Jenny

Here I am!

2008-09-13T05:46:00.013-05:00

.... Just been busy I guess - Here's my recap of the past several weeks:

1). My tri season is over, but I have been training anyway! I actually did two swims each of the last two weeks. Those of you who know me, know that as school was winding down, I was only swimming 3-4 times per month, then only swam in races during the summer (plus a whopping two lake swims for fun), and was struggling to get my lazy arse in the water at all. But I am baaaack! Workouts were 3300, 3700, 3200 and 3300 yards. At the end of the w/o of the third day, Jean had us do a timed 100yd sprint and I got a 1:18. Which normally I'd be bummed about. But not now - knowing that I only lost 9 seconds by being lazy for 4 months? Lazy's cool.

2). I've done 3 x 20-milers in preparation for Twin Cities Marathon next month. Am planning on 21 or 22 this weekend, since it's three-weeks-out and that is when I try to do a long-long one. I don't know - there is just something comforting about having more than 20 in my back pocket come race day.

3). Speaking of race day, I am carrying a large flag for the Special Olympics (with my friend Jen Lenarz!) and a couple others for the Twin Cities Marathon. Luckily, it will be passed between us all day, because I assume it will get pretty heavy. Jen is super super fast, so the only time in my life I will ever get to run with her is if I do this, so I am in.

4). I am also doing the Whistlestop Marathon the weekend after TCM, and I will try to go fast for that one.

5). I've been biking well - no aches and pains, but boy is my bike getting old. It squeaks and creaks and stuff, but it still gets me around. I can't wait until I can get a new one... so many Specialized Transition Pros online to drool over.... :-)

Terri and I did our secret-weapon spring-training in the pre-season and we both have been faster for it. If you want to know what our secret weapon is, I shared it in a comment with both Tri-Rob and Momo so you have to go hunt for it! But it has worked great for two summers in a row.

6). We switched schools this year and the kids are happy as pigs in mud. Bobby especially loves it. As many of you read last year, it was a painful year for us at Providence Academy, where the kids have gone since pre-K. But Heritage Christian Academy is a much better fit for us. I've been told that what we believe in is "cheap grace" but call it what you like, it works for us and we fit in much better here, so please be happy for us!

7). I took the kids to the state fair a couple weeks ago - I hadn't been in a few years. I hate the fair! It's like a sea of grossly overweight, sweating people all walking really, really slowly, eating huge buckets of cookies, gigantic greasy turkey drumsticks, 12-inch long hot dogs and cheesecake on a stick. Gross! Those who aren't eating, are smoking and drinking until their eyes are all glassy, and it's dusty and dirty - blech. But the kids wanted to go and I felt it was my parental obligation. We actually ate something called Pig-lickers: crispy bacon strips dipped in dark chocolate. Hey, when at the fair, eat the fair food, right?

It was really cool to see all the animals, though - a baby cow was born when we were there - see above pic!- and if we'd waited around just a teeny bit longer we'd have seen piglets born, too. The kids went to the Haunted House but were so scared that a guide with a flashlight had to usher them out. Ally didn't stop crying or squeezing me for at least a half hour... ;-)

9). I passed my room at Florida IM over to my friend Julie Hull - watch for her that day - she's an uber-athlete! and I requested the portion of my registration fee to be refunded, so I am really and truly not doing Florida. I'm sad, but it just is what it is. Erin and Terri will be racing, and I will have lots of other people to cheer for.

That's my update! Now I am going to head over to Greyhounds site to get the latest on his hurricane Ike reports...

I'll close out with a few family pics..

Ally figuring out how long it will take to earn enough points to get another Webkinz.

At the fair.

Snuggling up by the fire-pit.

Ally's pet Lucy the caterpillar moments before we put her outside to be free.

Twenty Days?

2008-08-23T15:39:00.002-05:00

Looks like it's been twenty days since my last post - ugh!
It's not like nothing exciting has happened - it has! - life has been going at its usual warped and chaotic speed.

I'm still training for the Twin Cities marathon in October, but that will be the last thing on my calendar. Yes, that means I am not doing Ironman Florida. Here are my top two reasons:

1). Money. I know I already spent the $500-ish on the registration fee. But I still can't see spending an additional $2000 on airport parking, bike fare, airfare, condo, rental car, etc. Bob's in real estate and if you haven't picked up a newpaper in the last year... :-(

Fortunately there are still a number of people that want million dollar (+/-) custom homes, but business is down about 50%. Seeing that I prioritize private school, staying at home, NOT tapping into our retirement money or the kids' college funds... you get the picture. I just think it would be silly to NOT tighten the budget belt.
2). I have done IM Florida twice already. And I love it! And I would like to do it again soon, but just not this year.

I know there are several people that I will miss terribly by not going, but it just is what it is, and I can't swing it.

On another note, Bob's sister Joan passed away rather unexpectedly on the 15th. She had had a liver transplant several years ago. It is quite common for the anti-rejection drugs that organ recipients take, to can cause cancer. That is what happened to Joan, and she kept it to herself for a long time. Bob's and Joan's nephew Adam is heading back to Iraq for a second tour and she didn't want everyone at his going-away party to know how sick she was. She fooled everyone, and it wasn't more than a month between her Oscar-worthy "I feel great" performance at Adam's party and her passing. She had cancer in her brain, spine, throat, liver, and pancreas. Her kidneys shut down and within a week we said goodbye to her. She will be missed very much. At her funeral, she had several friends that she's been friends with since they were all 17 and 18 and were rooming together. It says a lot about a person to have such longevity (45 years!) in friendships. Her family loved her; and no one ever heard her say an unkind word about anyone - ever. She was a good person and a kind soul who loved to laugh, and had a special affinity for children. Most importantly, she knew her savior.

Anyway, that's the important stuff. I will hopefully blog again soon, and I am so sorry that I will miss those of you who are doing IM Florida!

I love/hate when this happens...

2008-08-03T07:50:00.004-05:00

I love when this happens:

Twenty miles in the humidity and my splits were still spot on!

Yesterday I ran with Angie (a girl from the MN Tri Club, whom I'd not met before)... but it turned out she and I were exactly the same speed. It's so awesome when you are just running along chatting, not thinking, "boy I hope I'm not holding her back" or "boy I sure want to run faster". Love when that happens! So I'll put her number in with Holly, Terri and Susan, etc because it's so hard to find a running partner like that!

Our goal was to average 9:45, we averaged 9:50 instead, and here are our splits:

1 - 9:48

2- 9:36

3- 9:56

4- 9:40

5- 9:44

6- 9:48

7- 9:44

8- 9:50

9- 9:48

10- 10:22 (potty stop)

11- 9:47

12- 9:49

13- 10:00 (refill water bottles)

14- 9:36

15- 9:49

16- 10:07 (refill water)

17- 9:32

18- 9:37

19- 9:38

20- 10:11 (arrive at cars)

Total time 3:16:30 We totally would have met our goal of 9:45 if we hadn't had the potty stop. water re-filling, so I am counting it as pretty nearly spot-on.

I hate when this happens:

Leaving the phone on the bumper and then going through the car wash, not even noticing it was there until after we drove to the grocery store, shopped, and returned to the car to load them up. Arghhhhh. Not again!!!

So I ordered my new, sleeker, smaller, faster version of the iPhone which will hopefully be here in 10 days.

Chisago Half Ironman - new PR!!

2008-07-28T09:35:00.009-05:00

Yesterday I raced the half IM up in Chisago. I was really happy with my race and it was better than last year's time and is my new PR for this distance!

2007 - last year

swim - 34:04

T1 - 1:43

bike: 2:50:13

T2 - 1:12

run - 2:17:00

TOTAL - 5:44:31

2008

swim - 36:10 (OK maybe I do need to train a little)

T1 - 1:28

bike: 2:38:51 (20.9 mph)

T2 - :54

run: 2:00:57 (9:14s?)

TOTAL - 5:18:22.8!!!

I would liked to have gone 21 mph on the bike, but just missed it. But since I don't (and won't) draft, I guess I should be happy that that is how fast I can go on my own personal power, not the collective power of a pack. Speaking of which, I again was annoyed all day watching groups of 2 to 10 enjoying the bliss of believing it was THEY who were so fast, not the fact that they were in a collective wind gust.

OY! I wish that on race-packet-pick-up day, or maybe as we register on-line, that we would have to fill out a 4-question questionaire about the rules of drafting (and blocking). I have to think that yes, there are many who cheat on purpose, but perhaps also many others (especially the hoards of newbies) who don't know it's illegal, or why it's illegal. They really do just blissfully think they are somehow 30% faster on race day than when they train on their own between races. But there is still nothing like getting passed by a guy in an aero helmet, a $10K bike with a disc wheel, whizzing by with about 8 inches between him and the guy in front of him. Grrrrr. OK, take a deep breath.... ;-)

Anyway, off the soapbox.

TriMom came in from Wisconsin and stayed with me - Kim did awesome, beating her previous PR by about 45 minutes. She was shooting for a 6:30 and did a 6:24. Great job! We went to church the night before and hung out, and I just have to say what fun it is to be around her - so fun, funny, and easygoing. Not to mention smoking fast on her bike!

Lots of other bloggers were there, too - Steve in a Speedo (who did awesome in the sprint - he can run a 5K under 20 minutes after swimming and biking... wow). He didn't even wear his underwear over tights during the race! I can only imagine what it's like to be really, really fast --- well fed , well-rested and well-trained, only to have Steve fly past you, wearing a costume, (fueled by a can of spaghettios and spray-can cheese product!)--- as you are high-tailing it and feelin' proud during in your "A" race.

Bwahahahahah! ;-)

Jumper and his camera were there, with Miss Alleycat and Danielle from Iowa. Thanks Danielle for talking to me on the run - I was getting hot and tired and getting ready to start walking, just as you cruised by on your bike...

Some of my other friends that I used to just run with raced, too and - everyone did really well. It was the first half IM distance for Diane, Holly and Erin - woohoot!!

Anyway, here are a couple more pictures from yesterday - IronNick said he took a lot of good ones, too, but he hasn't loaded them yet. I'll add them after I get them.

Jumper took this one of me coming into the finish chute.

Me and Erin after the race. I came in 2nd in my age group so I got a trophy. ;-)

Me with my friend Mark (he did Phoenix marathon and Liberty Oly with Erin and me). You can see the humidity on the air - ughhhh. As Mark was dismounting after the bike yesterday he slipped off his bike shoe and crashed right in front of everyone cheering in transition. He took a bow and continued sprinting off on the run portion. Great recovery and great road rash, dude!

Vineman Report

2008-07-23T17:24:00.022-05:00

VINEMAN!!!

P and me on our practice ride.

Korbel champagne maker!

Getting ready for our wave to start.

On the bike course -- Hop Kiln winery - Bob and I went here on our honeymoon 13 years ago!

We met a really nice girl named Linda Barrett who actually raced on Lance Armstrongs wheels. Say what you want about pro cycling - I still love Lance!

The only proper way to acknowledge Lance's wheels.

Post race transition clean-up.

As you probably know Vineman was a gorgeous and perfect day! 21st Century Mom did awesome! Goal was "under 7" and she came in at 6:55 - perfect!

Here's the play-by-play:

Swim: 34:38

T1: 12:58

Bike: 3:38:53

T2: 5:18

Run: 2:23:44

Total: 6:55:33

It was a gorgeous day and if you read P's blog, you know that when we got to the Russian river, our suits not both zipped up yet, and our wave was wading into the water! You can either see that as perfect timing or extremely unsettling! But we got in just fine and still had time to wait for our wave's whistle to blow. This was only my third time in the water (at all) since school let out in June. My normal swim time for a half IM is 33 minutes, so I was only a minute slower which means I am right that "training is overrated"!

P got out of the swim after a bit and we took off on the bike. It was pleasant and cloudy and let me tell you the course was beautiful. Small country roads through wine country - past Korbel and Hop Kiln and so many other great winemakers. The bike course is mostly flat - a few very small rollers - just enough to keep it scenic - not enough to slow you down. We'd heard about the Chalk Hill hill, but were almost up to the peak of it when we realized "oh, I bet this was the famed Chalk Hill" but it was over in about 20 more seconds. A total non-event. So if you are looking for a fast fun SCENIC bike course, this is it. So fast that we saw several hot-doggers with bloody arms and knees on the run course! It's fast, but there are a lot of tight turns.

T2 was slowed down by me because I somehow lost my race bib in transition and had to get another number so that I wasn't pulled later as a bandit. Sorry P!

The run was pleasant and cool and mostly flat - a few small rollers - just enough to keep your legs fresh. We went at a comfortable 10 minute pace, and added about a minute of stops per mile (aid stations, bathroom, feeding Clif Bars to little goats on cute little farms). Speaking of aid stations, there were 14 stations on this 13 mile course (7 on the out-and-back) and they were stocked with goodies and the best volunteers you could ever meet. I love wine-people.

With 66 minutes left before the goal 7-hour mark, we had about 5 miles left, so we knew we were there, we just had to stick with it.

P was a trooper as her knee was starting to speak to her a little with 3 miles to go, but she focused on distant objects, got there and then focused on the next object. We all talk about the Mental Game, and here was P's opportunity to get to play it! So it was totally worth training for! Lucky girl!!

;-)

We crossed the finish line together (okay - I beat her by .4 seconds ;-)), and hopefully when the official pictures are loaded we will have a photo together. We had our matching outfits on (hats, too) so he may have caught us both. go to www.photo-chambers.com. They are not up as of yet, but should be soon.

P's number is 819 (mine was 745 but I lost it and I unfortunately tossed the one they replaced it with so I don't know that number that I wore on the run course) so I may have to scour the pics for my finish photo. But it was a beautiful day.

We stayed the last night back at P's ADORABLE house in Walnut Creek, had wine and cheese for dinner, and then it was homeward bound in the morning.

I am so proud of you, P! You have really done well in this sport and I hope you decide to try the full one next. Just. show. up. You are already ready. Trust me! Just go a teeny bit easier and you will see that the day just goes by. You'll still have plenty of spare time for flats or naps. I think you should show up race day for the full next month. DO IT!!!!! Can you imagine how great a memory that will be to look back on? (...."Once time I just showed up at an Ironman with my bike and raced it"...) And what a relief to have that goal behind you? Go now before you talk yourself out of it... ;-)

I got home in the afternoon, and Bobby had left that morning for camp, so I didn't get to see him off, which means Bob packed for him. Hopefully he has everything he needs! I will see him on the 26th when he returns. I miss you Bobby!

Ally had her Junior Champs meet yesterday. It's the season-ending meet for all the kids who didn't qualify for the Championships. It's a lot of fun and they give out ribbons for every heat. So Ally got two firsts, one second, and one third in her events. She had a bast! She's totally the kind of kid who likes the everyone's-a-winner policy they have at this meet. ;-)

Ally with her friend Sloan.

Bobby had qualified in 4 events for the big meet, but would never miss camp for that. He loves camp. He never gets homesick, but when he's at home he most definitely does get "campsick". He talked about it all year. It's a co-ed Christian camp and you all already know how he embraces his faith. He still wants to be in a Christian rock band when he grows up - it's the only music he listens to - and they play guitar and sing around the campfire everynight. Anyway, it's on a lake and they swim, rope-swing, go sailing, jump on this gigantic flotation toy that when you jump off a structure onto one side of it, it shoots your friend out the tube on the other end up into the air and back into the lake. Looks like a total blast. He especially liked the archery and the night games last year (he also was really excited to tell me that a couple boys from his cabin came forward and chose to dedicate their lives to Christ last summer which he thought was totally awesome), and I can't wait to hear his stories from this year.

This weekend is the Chisago half Ironman! TriMom is coming from Wisconsin, and will be staying at my house... so I'll have another race report next week.

Vineman 70.3

2008-07-19T19:06:00.002-05:00

I'm in California getting ready to do the Vineman half IM tomorrow. 21st Century Mom will be attempting her first half! woo-hoot!

Today we went for a really short ride, put our feet in the Russian River (where we'll swim) and got our race numbers. We drove the bike course, too - it's all these winding narrow streets through the vineyards and is soooo scenic! I will have my camera and should get lots of pictures.

My race number is 745. If Pamela needs support, (and she says she does!!) we will be together the whole day. (I am "racing" at Chisago Half Ironman next weekend, so it's totally OK if I do this race as "support".) Pamela's number is 819. But if she gets grumpy and sends me along, I will go on!!

My husband and I went all over this part of CA on our honeymoon 13 years ago, so it is really neat to be back here, and seeing a lot of familiar sights.

We are off to check our run stuff (two separate transition areas several miles apart) and dinner - then race starts for us at 7:18 a.m.

I'll post again later!

Assorted Catch-Up blog

2008-07-12T08:52:00.009-05:00

RUNNING

It was about 60 degrees on Wednesday and Susan, Shannon and I headed out for a run. It was so perfect! I hope it is JUST LIKE THIS for Twin Cities Marathon. It's Shannon's first one, so hopefully it will be so pleasant and cool and lightly cloudy just like today.

Anyway, I did 15 miles at a comfortable 10:15 pace. I did have to stop at home for a bathroom break, and I stopped to fill up my bottles in people's sprinklers, but the pace was comfortable and my avg HR was 134.

SWIMMING

Almost none. Two or three lake swims this summer and zero pool swims. Just can't get into swimming. Don't know why. Has this happened to any of you?

BIKING

Love to bike. Erin and I and a few others have been biking early, like 6am - and getting in a three hour ride before our kids get up. I love to bike. I still have my eye on a new Specialized Transition Pro, but lack the money now. Maybe I'll have a new ride in the fall. Otherwise, I do still like the feel of my old clunker and I am fast enough on it.

CELEBRITY SIGHTING

The Canadian Triathlon Olympic Team members biked with us on our ride last night: Simon Whitfield, Paul Tichelaar, and Colin Jenkins. They were still in town from the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon last weekend, and joined Gear West on our weekly ride of about 25 miles or so. They were awesome! so engaging and fun and they were really enjoying Minneapolis, and so excited for Beijing. They were riding along in our group of about 40 and chatting us all up. At one point Paul pulled past and ahead, so Eric and I chased him down. I rang the bell on my bike (I really do have one) and told him that there was no budging in the line. He laughed and said I had permission to write in my blog that he was drafting off me all night, and I had to pull him because his legs were weak and he was sweating. I can't wait to watch them in the Olympics on the 19th - that's the day of their race. Paul said he was going to win it, so you have to tune in!

Olympic Team members Simon Whitfield, Paul Tichelaar, and Colin Jenkins with Eric (third)

Me with Simon Whitfield - winner of the Lifetime Fitness Tri last weekend and Olympic gold medal in 2000.

KIDS

Ally slept over at Erin's house with her girls they are really such sweet girls. Ally had a blast. Bobby did a 40 minute lake swim with me and my friend Jeanne and her daughter, Margaret. I was so proud! It was a filthy lake with zero visibility and neither the depth nor the mill-foil freaked him out. Forty minutes! Wow!

CDA

I never did blog about CdA IM! We didn't have internet service at the house we rented, and then I flew up to Seattle, met my family, and headed to an island which didn't have internet (or phone!) service on most of it. So by the time I got home (plus I had surgery the day after I got back), I was swamped with laundry and unpacking and the general warp speed that my house runs on and I never got around to it. By then, everyone had written such great stories and posted such great pictures that I really had nothing new to report! But, trust me, it was such a blast and everyone did awesome. I got to meet some more bloggers, and hook up with some of my old faves.

I'm going to California this tomorrow to do Vineman Half Iron with 21st Century Mom - who called the other day to let me know that it was 105 degrees and there was smoke in the air. Hmmmmm. Should this change into a girls-weekend-at-the-mudbath-spas-in-Healdsburg? I could be talked into that!

Happy Birthday America!

2008-07-04T12:47:00.003-05:00

Since I could not say it any better, I will copy what Commodore said on his own blog this morning:

Amidst the merriment of today do not forget that in 1776, some of the greatest men this world has produced created a document that declared for the first time in history that the people of their government could pursue happiness, liberty, justice and capitalism without usurpation and with guaranteed freedom.

I love this country, our United States. Happy Birthday to the most generous country in the world. It and we have provided more food, more money and more aid to more countries than any other on this planet. We have sacrificed the lives of more of its citizens in the defense of freedom and protection of democratic values than any other nation that has ever existed.

We have provided shelter for the bereaved, the weak, the oppressed and the poor from all over the globe. We stood up to tyranny on our own soil, and our foundation of democracy has been duplicated by free-thinking people ever since; seeking to uplift themselves from colonialism and despotism.

A toast to the greatest nation on God's green earth.

As my nephew Adam prepares for his second tour of duty in Iraq, I say thank you, and let freedom ring!

No Access!

2008-06-29T15:02:00.003-05:00

I am on a beautiful island off the coast of Washington. I don't have one of those internet cards that you plug into your laptop so I have to go into town (25 minute drive)... hence the lack of posting about either the Ironman or vacation!

But I will when I get back....

For now just believe me it's all good!

Jenny

Ironman Coeur d'Alene

2008-06-21T08:29:00.003-05:00

The Ironman Village is a buzz with Bloggers this weekend in Coeur d'Alene. I finally got to meet some folks that I feel like I've know forever, like Nytro and Benny, Dread Pirate, Big and Little J...

I'm sitting here wi-fi-ing with Greyhound at the Java Coffee shop. We're going to send txt messages to Bigun, Di, Momo, TriDogMom, Trimama, 21st - GET UP! ... in a minute.... hopefully soon I'l have a group picture...

more later...

WANTED: New Friends!

2008-06-04T08:50:00.003-05:00

URGENT!!!

My phone got hit by a car Tuesday morning. No way in heck to salvage my contact list, so I have no phone numbers! If you are my friend (or want to become one) please email me your number(s)at the address below.

Thanks, Jenny

ironjenny@mac.com

Buffalo Sprint June 1st

2008-06-02T10:07:00.007-05:00

Well, my first tri of the season had its high and low points. It was a quarter mile swim, a 12 mile bike, and a 5K. Here are my splits:

Swim: 6:34

T1: 2:20

Bike: 39:42 (18-point-something mph)

T2: 1:27

Run: 24:06 (7:45's!)

Total: 1:14:06

High:

- my wetsuit fit

- the weather was beautiful

- my run was smoking fast

- my HR was a healthy-for-that-effort 161 for the run

- I was 2nd in my age group *

Low:

- I got a flat tire with about 2 miles left on the bike, so I limped in trying not to roll the wheel over the rim. (Quite tricky actually.) I was kind of bummed because I was FLYING on my bike yesterday. I know my computer is wrong (it always gives me 119 miles on a 112 mile Ironman ride, so whatever degree that math is "off", at least it's always "off" the same amount), but my read was 21.5 mph avg when I flatted on the course of flats and rollers.

- They grouped the age groups in 10-year increments instead of 5. (Wha???? My 45-49 age group was clumped together with the 40-44 women.) So I actually got bumped from 2nd place to 5th place out of 72, which was 24th out of 343 women. Dang! I coulda had hardware!

But overall, it was a great day. Erin did it with me - it was her first ever triathlon - and she did awesome! A little unnerved by all the swimmers in the water at once, but did great overall. So now she's not just a lurker, but she's a Tri-ath-a-lete Lurker! (She keeps sayin' one of these days she's going to get her own blog, but until then... BTW Lana - we saw a girl tearing up the finish chute for the Olympic Course and we both thought she looked just like you!!!!

Anyway, here in Erin getting out of the swim:

... and out on the run.

Great job Erin!!

15 seconds of fame

2008-05-29T11:02:00.003-05:00

Bobby and Ally got their names in the paper yesterday. I hope the link still opens. That's Ally in Sponge Bob bike jersey and Bobby in black.
Cute!

Cannon Falls Ride

2008-05-22T19:28:00.009-05:00

It was 63 degrees in beautiful Minnesota... so Beth, Terri, Weathergirl, Erin and I decided to go for a ride. What? There's a boy in the picture? Yeah! We talked Eric into calling in sick from work and joining us. It was awesome having you along...hopefully that back of yours that "went out" will be better in time for work tomorrow. ;-) TriNick was supposed to come, too, but called in "lazy" and went to work instead. (Nick - you missed such a great ride!)

Here we are at the trailhead.

We biked 20 miles of the scenic trail along the river to the Jenny Lind Bakery/deli. Terri delivered on her promise that it was the best food ever. We ordered sandwiches, salads and a few different bars and cakes to split up and sample. Yum. We totally have to go back in the fall when the leaves are turning. We biked past horse farms, cow farms, meadows, wetlands, and the winding river. It was gorgeous.

And then we biked back. Here we are back at the start of the Falls. It really is pretty.

What's that dot in the river?

Good lord, it's Eric. Dude, you are on a ride with a bunch of moms! Get out of there!!!

Fargo Marathon, 2008

2008-05-18T10:20:00.013-05:00

OK, I owe Katie Holmes an apology.

I was one of those people who assumed/concluded that she did not complete the NYC marathon.

I realize nobody was ever able to explain why her trainer was seen and photographed many times on the course from start to finish, wearing a several-year-old race bib and a timing chip, yet she was only spotted very late in the course, lacking any semblance of sweat or physical exhaustion, and no visible timing chip. She/they finished in 5:29; him sweaty/ her looking fresh as a daisy. I agreed with the other conspiracy theorists who believed she must have cheated.

That said, here is my race report from yesterday:

I started out with Sarah, (IrongirlNyhus' sister, with whom I have run a few other marathons) and Mark (remember him from Phoenix?) Since it was a lovely day, the course was flat, and nobody was injured, we decided to run with-or-ahead-of, the 4:00 hour (9:06 pace) group. Here are our splits:

1- 9:09, 139 heart rate

2- 9:03; 151 hr

3- 9:04; 153 hr

4- 9:10; 164 hr

5- 9:01; 153 hr

6- 9:13; 152 hr

7- 9:02; 150 hr

By mile 8 Sarah and I determined we were getting tired, breathless, and just not having fun; this feeling we were feeling isn't at all why we run, and we would likely never be able to keep up this pace, considering we hadn't completed even one training run at anything faster than 10:00 miles.

So we said good bye to Mark and he kept on trucking and Sarah and I got swallowed up into the 4:10 (9:33) pace group and started running comfortably. We were just making new friends with our new group.....

8- 9:37; 149 hr

9- 9:51; 149 hr

...when Sarah let out a gasp and said "something just happened to my knee". So we stopped to stretch a bit. She was hardly able to get started again, but limped along being a good sport until we got to a medical tent.

10- 9:57; 141 hr

11- 11:36; 140 hr

As the 4:20 and 4:30 pace groups swallowed too, us we re-set our goal for the day to "just beat Katie Holmes."

12- 11:25; 139 hr

13- 11:26; 139 hr

We got to the next medical tent who gave Sarah an ace bandage and we wrapped up her screaming knee.

"Do you need help pushing over that sign?"

14- 13:51; 137 hr

15- 11:33; 132 hr

16- 12:51; 128 hr

17- 12:42; 126 hr

18- 12:45; 124 hr

We continued run/walking, and stopped a couple times to put ice into the bandage. By now we've been on the course a long long while and started searching out barbecues for food and beer. Then we get a txt from Mark who says he's walking. We txt back - "So are we! Where are you?" We caught up to him shortly and the three of us limped in. But we had fun! We met lots of neat people, sampled Norwegian fare like "lefse" - a potatoe-y flatbread thing, cookies, and I had a hot dog.

Mark and me trying to push over a tree. Grrrrr.

19- 13:30; 124 hr

20- 13:30; 126 hr

21- 13:30; 121 hr

We saw Betty (Sarah and Laura's mom), IronGreg and Zurich a couple times who offered encouragement and a couple of great hugs and endearing face licks. (well, Zurich did anyway.)

We were sort of feeling like we'd never get to the finish line at this rate, but we rationalized our going so slow because "remember, we did have a really good workout this morning already..."

Well... True.... ;-)

22- 14:22; 124 hr

23- 14:21; 118 hr

24- 14: 23; 118 hr

By now the barbecues are smokin' and Margheritaville was serving beer and a full service of other beverages, so Sarah had a beer and I had a margherita.

We came upon Sarah and Laura's dad and he ran a little with us, but by now we were so close we just wanted to get to the FargoDome.

25- 13:01; 109 hr

26.2- 12:21; 110 hr

All said, it was a lovely morning. Aside from Mark feeling sick, and Sarah's aching knee, it was a fun way to spend the morning. Really, when can you run a marathon, attend barbecues, and post heart-rates at 109?! We still got a medal, took some great pictures, and we still beat Katie Holmes.

So now I can declare that, yes, you can finish a marathon looking fresh as a daisy. Katie did it in 5:29, and Sarah, Mark and I did it in 5:05. Fresh as a Daisy.

P.S. Laura did her personal best of 4:06 and Erin did her PR, too of 3:50. Congrats to everyone!

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T10:03:00.004-05:00

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!

I'm having a great day...

- Got up and ran 10 miles at 10:14 avg, which was comfortable enough to post an average heart rate of 138.

- A giant bald eagle flew right in front of me - maybe 30 feet in front of me, right across my path on his way to grab a fish out of Lake Calhoun, then as I was rounding the corner, he flew back into a tree with it to eat it, again right in front of me! How cool was that? It was like a front row seat on the Wild Kingdom.

- After my run I stopped in for coffee and ran into my dear friend Holly's husband Andrew.

- Then I got home and my kids had a bunch of handmade cards for me; and they gave me this for Mother's Day:

;-) sweet!!!

Bobby's birthday, biking

2008-05-03T09:48:00.017-05:00

It's still cold here - 42 today - but we are out biking anyway. Here are Beth G, Terri, Erin, and I heading out after our swim last Tuesday.

Bobby turned 10 last week, too. I can't believe it's been 10 years since the most life-altering, blessed, amazing day of my life. I was forever changed in that moment. When I think back on who I was on April 25th, and who I became on April 26th of that year - I can hardly recognize the "old" Jenny. I love being a mom! Here we are in the kitchen when Bobby woke up and realized we had decorated the kitchen and baked him a cake:

For his birthday he wanted to go see Casting Crowns play at the Excel Energy Center. We bought tickets the minute they went on sale and had really great seats. He brought two of his friends from school. At one point during the show Bobby leaned over to me and said, "This is the best birthday ever, Mom." and then he squeezed my hand. Can't beat that.

Have a great day everybody!

Outdoor training

2008-04-29T16:56:00.002-05:00

So it's 26 degrees this morning for my 6 mile run. What. Gives?

I listen to Tac and Bigun's podcast - Bigun's always bragging about his Year-round-outdoor-training-center. (read that in a griping whining jealous voice). I am so so so ready for some warm weather.

Anyway, we did run 6 miles in about an hour, and then I swam 3300 yards. Great swim workout. I love Jeanne, the girl who writes our swim workouts. Her hubba was captain of the Olympic swim team years back (and has two silver medals!), and she herself is quite an amazing swimmer - so we always have these great workouts:

---- Today our main set was a "timed" 300, followed by 10 x 100's (50 FAST as you can/ 50 easy - take 10 seconds rest after the last person in your lane finishes between each 100). After the last 100, take your 10 seconds and then do another "timed" 300 - and it has to be faster than your first 300.

So you eat up 1600 yards, but it's broken up into manageable pieces - none of which really kills you, but you know you are working hard.

Good thing I had two hours training in my pocket because this afternoon, IronGreg, IronGirlNyhus and I went to the reception place for their wedding to sample all the possible foods and desserts. So 15 entrees and 3 pieces of cake later, I have officially undone my hard work.

But I'm happy!!!! When was the last time you ate all those desserts?

Happy Happy Joy Joy

2008-04-23T13:35:00.003-05:00

This morning I ran 23 miles and my heart rate was at or below 146 the whole way. (10:38 average pace)
And a couple days ago I was sitting in the car and suddenly realized I couldn't feel my heart jumping around, so I checked my carotid and felt 20 - counted them - 20 calm, normal heartbeats in. a. row. Who knows how many normal beats there were before I started counting them??
I really believe I will get over this heart nonsense and a year from now it will all have seemed like a bad dream.
I am in the best mood right now!
Woo-hooot!

Training

2008-04-22T19:05:00.003-05:00

Well, I am back in the saddle - actually training!

Yesterday I ran an hour with Erin and Beth K, then biked an hour with Bob. This morning I swam 3300 yards, then biked hill repeats with Terri, the other Beth, and Erin. Seems like it's been ages since I got in a brick workout. Also seems like ages since I could wear shorts to bike in.

Fargo marathon is only three weeks away, so I am doing my last 20-miler tomorrow.

Chop-chop.

Trail Mix 2008

2008-04-20T11:23:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was the annual Trail Mix Run - 25K up and down the hills at Hyland Park Reserve in Bloomington. I ran with IronGreg, Becca, and her sister Maggie and my friend Diane. It was a perfect day - cool, cloudy, temps in the 40's or 50's. We took 2:33 to finish, so the pace was comfortable and steady throughout.
Lucky for us this year, the ski hill still had snow on it, so the race director re-routed us. All gentle rolling hills. Still hillier than anything I ever run, but much better that doing that ski hill.

Today Bobby has a soccer tournament at 3, 6, and 8 p.m. I'll try to get a pic or two of him as I haven't posted a lot of his pics lately.

Have a great day, everyone!

Arizona Ironman

2008-04-13T07:43:00.005-05:00

Go Commodore! Go IronBenny!

Comm's number is #854 and Benny is #441 if you want to follow them on http://www.ironmanlive.com/.
Just click on "track an athlete" - it's a tab toward the right side of the screen - and enter the race number.
Good luck friends!

Birthday swim!

2008-04-09T08:28:00.002-05:00

Happy birthday to Cyndy North who is 40! In celebration, Erin and I and our fellow mom-swimmers from the "Slow-is-the-New-Fast" club did 40 x 100's yesterday. We mixed up free, descendings, drills, stroke work, and finished with 100 fly. It wasn't all pretty, and it was long, and our fingers were prune-y, but we did it! Sadly, our group keeps getting older and these workouts keep getting longer.
I say we start celebrating with 75's...

Ahhhhhh-outside!!!!!!

2008-04-05T15:28:00.005-05:00

This afternoon I went on my first outdoor bike ride since IM Florida WAY back in November. It was 62 degrees up here in the tundra we call Minnesota. Two Gear West buddies from IM Zurich (IronCliff, and IronJesse) and a couple others rode about 28 or so miles; not sure what our average was - maybe 18 or 19 mph, but who cares???? we were outside.

I have a 20 mile run on the schedule for tomorrow, but there is an 80% chance of rain, so I may have to either run in the rain, run on the dreadmill, or reschedule.

I have decided against running the Ice Age Ultra (50 mile trail run) on May 10th. It's the weekend before Fargo Marathon, and after being sick this fall, resulting in an inability to control my heartrate, I think I should (and will) be happy just doing marathons and Ironmans. Erin (many of you met her in Phoenix at the RnR marathon) ran with me last week for my 21 miler, and she got to watch me fade and then spike up to 240 bmp twice. It's just too scary. I feel like I'm going to faint and I get weepy. I was glad she was there. Anyway, thanks for hanging with me Erin - I'm glad you are my friend! I really look forward to doing the tri's we have on the calendar this summer, and I know Lana and I will have a blast with you at your first IM in Florida. mwaaahh!

------------------------ correction ----------------------

I don't want to make it sound like "I am JUST" doing IM's and marathons. They are a long way and I do TOTALLY respect that. What I mean is that I am not going to try to do MORE than what I am already doing.

;-)

Long run; lost KEY

2008-03-31T21:10:00.002-05:00

A heartfelt "thank you" to everyone for sending kind words and thoughts our way. It was the first time Ally had lost a friend (Abbey) in the way that "they would never come back". At seven, I am sure I didn't have the first clue about death. Luckily, Ally has a solid faith and comfort in knowing Abbey is with Jesus, and what on Earth could be as amazing as that?

Long run
I got in my 20.5 miler on Wednesday (sucked, but that is just the way things go sometimes!), but felt good on my Sunday 8-miler with IronNick!

Grrrr
Today I experienced a first ---- first time losing my car key on a run. Arghhh! And of course we are having a blizzard, so even though Bob and I took out our mountain bikes and retraced my steps, the key was buried under snow. So $165 later, and 2 1/2 hours at the dealership, I have new keys to my car. Here's the funny part - I sat in my car for 90 minutes waiting for the tow truck FREEZING - remember we are having a blizzard -- only to find out later that the little black buttom on my keychain is a CAR-STARTER! I couldn't drive it without a key, but I could have had the heater on for the 90 minutes I waited! Grrr.... I've had this car starter on my keychain for two Minnesota winters.

Bring it. I deserve it. Who reads those inch thick manuals in the glove box, anyway??????

Ally and the Flu
So everybody knows that Bobby gets migraines, right? Which means he has great vomiting skills. Well, Ally hasn't thrown up in at least three years. So she wakes up on Saturday, throwing up in my BED! So I get her changed, cleaned up, etc. and put her on the couch in the great room. I soon hear the familar sound of VOMIT, and rush to the powder room, where she is holding the bucket in her hand, standing a foot in front of the toilet, hurling violently onto the floor. It is splattering on all the walls. Poor child - no well-honed puking skills. I cleaned up puke and diarrhea all day. (She also hasn't been sick often enough to discern between a fart and a shart).

But I sure love her.

Rest in peace, sweet Abbey

2008-03-27T17:53:00.004-05:00

Ally's little friend from her swim team, Abbey Taylor, was laid to rest this morning. She had much of her intestine sucked out by a pool drain last summer, and although she received a transplanted pancreas, liver and several feet of intestine, she suffered complications and died on March 20th. She was six years old.

Abbey will be greatly missed by Ally, as well as all the other girls in their lane.

Bless you, sweet girl.

Evotri

2008-03-27T11:30:00.002-05:00

Two of my favorite people are also Triathlon Bloggers. They both are in the running for Team Evotri. Please check out their blogs, but also, please vote for them both to be on the team They are both extremely worthy!

MAKE IT 2 OUTTA 3 In a coordinated effort with other Tri-Bloggers I am supporting both Commodore and TriBoomer in their combined effort to make the top three vote getters of this month's EvoTri sponsorship. Both of them are equally capable of representing their fellow age groupers and I want them to make it to the final phone call on Saturday where they will each fight for the one position on the team available right now. If you are a reader of this website and have not voted for either one of these men, now vote for both of them and push them to the final round by following these instructions. Send two emails, one for each candidate, to Vote@Evotri.com In one email write in the Subject field: http://www.commonmansyndrome.com In the second email write in the Subject field: http://triboomer.blogspot.com The top three vote gathering candidates will advance to a round of interviews by members of Team EvoTri. Voting ends at 11:59 PM on Friday, March 28, 2008

Thanks,
Jenny