Fargo Marathon, 2008

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!!!!!!

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

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

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

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

Spring Break!!; small rant; Laura gets engaged

We are traveling around the old ancestors' stomping grounds and having fun in spite of the rain. We toured the quaint little town of Fairmont, WV, the SUPER cool town of Cumberland MD (Gateway to the West!), and have now checked into our hotel in Martinsburg, WV after driving 15 miles of the Historic National Road. It was really neat to just be there knowing so many of our ancestors traveled that very road during the westward movement. It is so beautiful out here I can totally see why the Hatfields and the McCoys fought to the death over this land.

Tomorrow we visit Bunker Hill, and the old cabin of Col. Morgan Morgan, who is documented to be the first white settler west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, back in 1710. I can only imagine what it was like in his little cabin on the west side of the ridge, and having nothing but wilderness between him and the Pacific Ocean. His 2nd son Zach founded Morgantown, WV, and other sons and grandsons for generations had really interesting and historic lives. 

Some stories are of bravery and principle, some are of violence and unimaginable hatred. There are those who fought in the Revolutionary war for our liberty from the British, and there were brothers who fought against each other in the Civil War;  and then there was John Hunt Morgan, who burned homes of rival settlers while the occupant familes were asleep. I cannot imagine being a mom, living such a hard-scrabble frontier life as it is, to awaken to my cabin's roof being on fire, and my door deadbolted, unable to save my children, let alone myself or my husband. *shudder*

On a more positive note, Nathan Morgan many generations later, traveled out west to seek his fortune during the Gold Rush, only to arrive and then learn (via Pony Express) that his sister's husband had died. So he made (and survived)  a return trip in a covered wagon, to pick her and her children up to take them back to Oregon with him. Once he arrived "back home", it turned out it was "her and 60 others, too" waiting to be led in a caravan of wagons, horseback - and even on foot - to Oregon and California.  So many generations later, I and thousands more of Morgan Morgan's kin are living our own American dreams, thanks in large part to the bravery and commitment of his descendants, and my ancestors.

After I load some pictures, I'll post them. 

New Topic - is anybody besides me fed up with the "mortgage crisis"? How did we even get here? I saw a post on CNN's message board that reiterates pretty much how I feel:

Posted By: TakeCharge @ 03/13/2008 11:49:17 AM

Comment: I am so tired of the finger pointing. Consumers need to wake up and take charge of their own finances. It doesn't take a math wizard to look at your paycheck and look at your motgage payment and figure out if you can afford it. It wasn't so long ago that people used credit sparingly (there was a stigma toward borrowing money) and a borrower actually knew how and when they would repay the money. Now, Americans are charging their value meals to Visa with little thought about actually paying for it. High schools should have mandatory classes covering household finances, budgeting, balancing the checkbook and avoiding the use of credit. Our sense of entitlement (which also leads to frivilous lawsuits) and the "everybody's a winner" mentality is going to kill us as a nation. If we as a people need big brother to tell us whether we can pay for something we want to buy, we are a bunch of sheep and vulnerable to being taken over by an enemy. Americans need to wake up and take responsibility for their own actions, be accountable and have some principles. The time to get back on the path that made this nation great is NOW. Pointing the finger at someone else for your troubles is not one of the qualities that made this the most powerful nations in the world. Our presidents are not what made this one of the most powerful nations in the world. It was the ingenuity, work ethic and values of the people.

Next New Topic

Laura and Greg's engagement was a blast and I am so thrilled I was able to be a part of it.

After our 16 mile long run, and church, Laura and Bobby and I went to lunch. Laura had a 1:00 pm hair appointment so the timing was perfect... 50 minutes to kill. We ordered and ate, and just as Laura was finishing up, Bobby went to the bathroom and came back with a pink envelope and said, " This is weird. There was a note for you in the bathroom." 

After reading it, and learning that she then needed to drive to Lake Anne in Chanhassan, (the place where they first met volunteering at the Miracle Kids Triathlon), she said, " I hope I remember how to get there!" And then Bobby reaches into his pocket and said, "well, I happen to have some directions to get there". 

It was perfect! She was off to go meet IronGreg. When she got to Lake Anne, IronGreg wasn't there, but IronTim and IronKaren were with another note, a gift, and directions to the restaurant where she and Greg eat once a week. 

IronGreg wasn't there. But IronNick and Iron Dia were! And they had a little gift and another note for her instructing her to look for IronGreg at the park.

But IronGreg wasn't there either! It was Steve and Jeremy from Bible study walking Zurich. But they had another note and gift and sent her to the restaurant where she and IronGreg had their first official date.

Alas, IronGreg wasn't there, either, but Ally, I and her MOM were! Betty flew in from Fargo to be a part of the surprise. We had another note, a gift, and sent her to find Greg at Plymouth Covenant Church.

It was Pastor Dan who met her there though. He had another note, a gift, and he took some time to pray with her. At long last, he led her to the sanctuary, where  FINALLY, IronGreg waited for her. She later told us that she burst into tears at the sight of him because she'd been driving all over town hoping he'd be at the next place! 

I don't know too many details, but I did hear that he got on one knee and proposed, and she said yes. 

Sweet. She is a prize. He is a prize. I am so happy for them both!! I love you Laura and Greg!!!!!

Happy Birthday Bob and Nick!

Yesterday Bob and Nick both had their birthdays, so our tri group had a little pot-luck at our house. I love you guys!!

Happy Birthday!

IronTim and IronGirlNyhus.

Me with my hubba Bob, and TriStud's wife Helen.

TruStud and Santi talking in air quotes. (Like we "ever" do that in real life.)

I know I say it a lot, but we really do have a fun group of training buddies. We are all chomping at the bit to get outside and ride. All you warm weather types are so lucky!

Fillin' my bucket

Saturday we had a great team spin at the shop (Gear West). It was about an hour long, but what made it fun was that we interrupted Troy Jacobson a few times to do squat-jumps - you know squat down like a frog, touching the ground, then leap up and reach for the sky... sets of 15 or 10, followed by 5 pushups. We already have a rule that, if you don't like the background music on the iPod, you can change it, but if you do, then you have to drop and do 5 pushups for each song you skip over. So the hour went by really fast because we were getting out of our saddles and doing stuff we don't do a lot (not since 6th gym class, anyway).


Yesterday I ran 14.2 miles outside (temps were in the 20's!!! woo-hoo!!) and I took a steady 2:24 to complete it. I felt comfortable the whole way, no soreness the next day, taking the time to keep hydrated at the water stops - my bucket is getting filled back up, no doubt... and thank goodness. Bensen and Pischka ran, too - I love that dog!!! She is so good that she doesn't even have to be on a leash -- she just loves being with us. Then Laura and I went to church afterward, so it was a great day.



I am shopping today for trail shoes - my friend Kami, an experienced ultra marathoner, told me to get two pair - two different brands. I should alternate wearing both during training, and I'll want to change them halfway through the 50 mile race. She says that after 75% of the run, your feet will start to break down, and two different kinds of shoes will have slightly different pressure points on your feet, which will feel great. That makes perfect sense to me, and I agree that my feet do feel great up to a certain point even in a marathon, and then they do start breaking down, and I'll end up getting a blister or losing a toenail. So I will take that advice and change shoes at the 25 mile mark.



Lastly, Saturday night Bob and I and two other couples took all our kids to the Target Center to see the Matthew West, Jeremy Camp, and TobyMac concert. It was long (three bands may be one band too many!), but they loved it. Bobby stayed totally plugged in through the last song. He loves seeing these amazingly talented, "cool" rock star types, up on stage rocking out their music and being so totally filled with God's love... so much so that they want to sing about it, not be ashamed about it. TobyMac is a hip-hop rapper and even has a team of dancers on stage with him, so they really connected with all the high school and college kids in the audience. (But the lyrics are not about bitches, ho's, killing people or gang-love; it's about loving Jesus and being a good person and knowing you are completely loved even when life is hard). Throughout the night, though, these rock stars share their faith, talk about the charities that mean a lot to them, and what role God has played in their lives and it's really beautiful. It is neat to be in a room filled with thousands of other young people who are not afraid to have everyone else know that they love Jesus. The kids got to meet Matthew West afterward, and got an autograph.

The next day Bobby was up practicing his guitar. He'd love to be in a Christian band, and if that inspires him, that's great with me!

Meeting Matthew West:

... and the winner is...

Di! with a "strong" finish by Stronger, only a half hour later!!!
Comm was a good guess, but who besides TriDummy posts dead animals hanging in his garage????
As with all pillows, TriDummy custom ordered his.... I think it's going to be great in his man room.

Guess who gets this one...

Here's a deal - the first person who guesses whom this pillow is for, gets a free one! Meaning I will make it for you without requiring you make a donation to a charity first. Hint: this one goes to a certain blogger who made a recent donation to TriBoomer's site.

The Hole-y bucket

I had a really nice 13 mile run this morning - felt great from mile 1 to mile 13. Finally!

I was sick in the fall, and took too much time off, and when I got back in the swing of training, I was only getting in (maybe) 1 swim, 1 bike, 1 run, and I had given up my personal trainer. (I used to do 2x swim, 2x bike, 2x run, 2x weight training every week).

So when I did get out and run, I was weak, out of breath, and barely spoke to the people I was running with. I thought it was because I'd gained about 10 pounds. But now I think I can blame it on the Hole-y Bucket.

Training is like pouring water into a bucket that has a small hole in it. Once your bucket is filled, you can keep it filled simply by topping it off regularly. But when you take too much time off, the bucket starts to empty and you have to put in a lot of effort to fill it up again. I finally feel like my bucket is [almost] full again.

I get it now - this is how I have to spend the rest of my life. It's not like reaching any other goal, where, once you reach it, you've reached it, like ringing the bell at a rock-climbing wall, or completing an Ironman. I have achieved those things. No one can ever take that away: it won't slip away through a small hole anywhere. But the health and fitness - the training - can (and does) slip away.

I have to stay on top of my bucket's contents for the rest of my life. Get used to it. My training regimen has to be here to stay. Every week, every month, every year. Like brushing my teeth, conditioning my hair - it's gotta be just something I do.

Thank God I think it's fun.

I am not alone!!

If you have access to Men's Journal (I don't subscribe, silly, Bob does!)... check out the article on pp. 55-60 of the March 2008 edition, and you will learn all about my "heart condition". 

It sounds almost exactly like me - all the way down to the "spot" on the author's heart - only he describes his as the size of a nickel, where mine is the size of a quarter.

The other key difference is that the author only gets PVC's, where I get those, plus VT's, A-Fibs, SVT's, and Brady's --- all day, all night. While it was a relief to know it's not all that unusual, the article ends like this:

Until your heart is in the bucket, that little spot will remain a mystery."

Which isn't really the "this will go away on its own very soon" answer I was hoping for.