16th Bloggerversary Post!

 Ah, 16  years ago I began this blog. It's difficult for me to believe that 16 years have come and gone but they certainly have. I turned 56 years old a few weeks ago, we rang in 2021. What a year 2020 was. 

I had an absolutely delightful birthday week. Runs with friends, runs alone, time with family, 11 days off from work..truly delightful.

My body is healthy-I capped off last week running with a total of 65 miles and feeling strong. I haven't run that mileage since 2016 when my body retaliated after Voyageur 50 miler. 

I'm in a good place. I'm listening to my body. I'm spending time outside with those whose company I enjoy. That's living life!

Awesome 13.5 mile run with friends on New Year's Day. 

A fabulous vegan loaf of bread for my birthday gift :)

Friends on my Birthday run!

2020 was very difficult with COVID taking over the world, upon my family and friends but I've hung in there, I've trusted in God and am coming through on the other side. That's all I can do.

Cheers to 2021!  We don't know what it will bring, but we can continue to be kind and take care of ourselves. 

51K Birthday Run for 51 Years!!

 I watched the border collies play for a long time. I miss Topaz so much.


I know!  51!  How in the world did that happen? Time truly does go by way too quickly. I haven't yet realized that I turned 50 last  year. Crazy!

Last year at this time I was having foot surgery. I am so glad that is in the past!  My foot feels great. I have begun to feel little twitches of neuroma in my other foot, but it is very very minimal.

A fat ass run was scheduled for January 2 so I thought I'd run my birthday run at that time. The course was awesome. We ran at Elm Creek Singletrack in Maple Grove at the Elm Creek Park. What a fabulous trail. If you recall, I ran the Grizzle Run r there a while back during the summer which was a blast..the trails in the winter are just awesome!  The fat bikes come through and totally smooth out the snow, making the surface fabulous. I'll be back this next weekend to put in a few long runs.

A little frosty!

We began at 6 AM at the trailhead. Many were running the 11 mile route, a few were running the 50K, I was making up my 51K.

I ran the first few miles with Therese. We caught up with one another and then I had to make a pit stop. I didn't run with anyone else the remainder of the 7 hours!  We were pretty spread apart and I never really saw anyone else.  

The weather was perfect. 10F, sunny, nice snow packed trails. Lovely. After the first 11 mile loop my water hose was becoming solid. I stopped off at my car and heated it up until the water flowed through. I hopped out of my car and there was Shelley!  What a coincidence. She was out running 7 miles and we just happened to be in the lot at the same time. Fun!

I headed out for loop 2. I came across a pile of gels. There were unopen, 8 of them strewn about the trail. I kind of nudged them off of the trail and placed them all in a neat circle. I hoped that someone would claim them as their own as they came through again. I didn't see them on loop 3. As I was running along I could hear dogs barking. It was the sound of dogs barking while having fun, not in distress. I took a detour and ran toward the barking. Sure enough, I came up on Elm Creek Dog Park!  It was great. Border Collies playing frisbee, Goldens' playing fetch. I just stood there with tears in my eyes, thinking of how much I missed Topaz.

I jogged back to the trail and finished up loop 3. I just felt so grateful to be able to run again. To be able to enjoy the woods, the snow, to be pain free. It was really a great 33 miles. My feet didn't hurt me, I  just had a real blast. What a magical day.

46 Miles for 46 Years

46! The years just go by more and more quickly. Amazing.

This year my birthday run was WET! I couldn't believe it when I woke to 38F yesterday morning with rain and a high of 42 forecast for the day. Crazy.

Topaz and I began at Lake Maria State Park for a snowshoe start to the day. There is only about 9 miles of hiking/snowshoe trail and I didn't want to repeat 5 times. I would be finishing my run on road. Wet road.

It was still dark so I couldn't see the trail conditions, but I sure felt them. Soft. Real soft. The rain hadn't yet begun, just a barely able to feel it drizzle, it might have only been wet fog. My snowshoes sunk only a bit in the beginning, I was able to run the 9 miles on top of the snow most of the time. The thick tree cover and heavy fog kept the trail in OK condition most of the time. Until the fog broke, the light came through and the rain POURED upon us. Running on snowshoe in the pouring rain, I think that is a new one.

I pulled my jacket back on and was surprised that the rain wasn't soaking me to the skin. I was warmer than I liked but I didn't want to get a cold soaking. After a few more hours my snowshoes were no longer necessary. I was sinking completely to the dirt trail. Amazing. I was so glad we went skiing the day before and not today!

Once the sun came up I noticed that Topaz was digging along the trail every once in a while. He would dig a deep narrow hole, looking for something and then when I would get back to him I'd see him eating something! This happened a few times. As he was again digging in the snow I interrupted him and dug in the hole with my finger, wondering what I was going to find and bit nervous about what was going to be at the bottom of the hole. Guess what it was? M&Ms! Someone had been out on the trail and was dropping M&Ms along the way! Topaz enjoyed them. Chocolate is not good for dogs but I had already had a major chocolate episode with our last dog and knew that Topaz had not consumed enough for me to have to worry.

I headed back to the car for a change of gloves, water, SCAPS and VESPA. I had a few gels in my pocket that I was using. I am finding that I really like this VESPA. I seem to recover more quickly since I've been using it. I find that I drink more water, using more salt when using VESPA. I wasn't using Hammer Heed yesterday so the SCAPS were a good idea.

After removing my snowshoes and changing gloves and jacket I was ready to head out again. I tried to get Topaz to drink but he refused. He ate lots of melty snow and rolled in the wet snow constantly to keep himself cool. I had 24 miles in so far and decided to run upon the state park roads for a while. It felt good to run with a longer stride and to have the snowshoes off. The road was gated in spots but I had read on the park website that the blocked off roads were only prohibited to motorized vehicles.

Topaz ran in the ditch most of the time, opting for the soft wet snow instead of the hard packed snow upon the road. Many times he chased after turkey, deer and squirrel and I wouldn't see him for a while. I stopped a few times, listening for him in the woods. He just doesn't run out of energy. I was running out of energy!

By the time 46 miles was done I was beat. I was thankful that I had run Tuscobia the week prior; it made for a great training run for my birthday run! Tomorrow's Polar Dash will be s l o w recovery run as today's 10 miler was.

A birthday celebration dinner at Pittsburgh Blue last night with my family topped off the birthday day. Fabulous!

Topaz is Nine!

(I wrote this on Thursday but didn't realize I didn't post it until now!)

For Topaz's 9th birthday (edited to add:) on Thursday a 9 mile snowshoe run was scheduled. The weather was perfect for a winter day. No wind, bright sunshine and a good amount of snow.

At 4:00 sharp we left the lot and as usual, nobody had been upon the trails since I broke them. I carried my headlamp and a few gels for the run. I knew it would be dark upon our finish. It becomes pretty dark in the woods just before 5:00, with a pre-dark at about 4:45 where I need to take out my lights. I have such horrible night vision, it is very difficult for me to see in the darkening woods.

It was pretty cool to begin our run in the bright beautiful sunshine, breaking more trail, feeling the warm sun upon my back. Pretty soon the sky began to turn a pink and purple color as the red ball began to set. The moon began to rise and before I knew it we were in darkness. I put on my headlamp and continued to break trail. Before I knew it we were in total darkness. I stopped to flick off my light, to look at the stars. They they were, obliterating the darkness of the sky. Beautiful.

2 hours later were were back at the car, ready to head home. A perfect birthday run for Topaz :)

45 for 45

I decided not to drive into Minneapolis for my birthday run as I'm driving into Minneapolis this morning for the Polar Dash 10K.

Lindsey-I'm not doing the series, although I did think about it. I believe the marathon falls on the day of graduation for Tyler this year. Or the day after. I'll be volunteering at his all night grad party. I believe there was a conflict with another series I'm running as well. I love the award idea though. How cool!

So, the run. I decided to run 45 with Topaz near home. I called the Sandunes Gas station and Liquor Store to make sure they were open (duh, New Years Eve Day!) for water supplies. My friend owns the liquor store so I knew we could stop there for a while and thaw out/rehydrate and that he wouldn't mind Topaz being in the store.

We left the house on snowshoes at 4 AM. There was a full blue moon so it didn't seem that dark. I wore my headlamp, Topaz wore his booties. The moon cast shadows upon the snow. It was super beautiful. My iPhone battery charge was lost immediately in the cold temperature of 1F. Luckily I didn't need to call anyone!

We ran out of the neighborhood, down the County Road ditches onto the snowmobile trails. Every once in a while I'd remove my hat so that I could hear for any engines roaring. There weren't many snowmobilers out until mid day and they were all very nice to Topaz and I. They didn't mind us sharing their trails at all. At times we left the snowmobile trail for horse trail, cross county ski trail. The cross country skiiers were NOT very friendly. What is up with that? I made sure to stay off of their tracks, we foraged through the deep ditches. They still complained. Oh well.

As we were running into the Sandunes State Forest I saw Topaz's tail curl over his back and his hair stand up on his rough. What do you see? What do you smell? I stopped and looked around. He crouched into position and gave two coyote his eye. They were on top of a snow bank and began to follow us along, barking and yelping as we went. Topaz eventaully ignored them and we ran along.

Soon we were at the gas station where I refilled my bottles with Heed and gave Topaz water and biscuits. He was too excited to eat. He wanted to continue our run. I checked his booties, all fine. I used the bathroom and we were on our way out.

As we approached the turn around at 22 miles I looked at my watch. Only 4 hours. We'd be finished early than I anticipated if we kept this pace.

We soon came across some horse riders. They had been winter camping at Ann Lake. Brrr. They were having a great time and were very friendly. They told us that there was a pack of grey wolves along the trail but that they scampered away from the horses. Great. I didn't want to run into wolves. We would soon be on the snowmobile trails, maybe we wouldn't see them.

No, we saw them. Pretty soon I noticed BIG paw prints in the snow and blood. Jeeze. Freak me out. It was only bunny fur and blood, but still..ick. I saw the wolves across the frozen pond, the way we came through on the way out. I wasn't taking that route back. I tracked over the ditch and back onto the cross country ski trail. I decided I'd rather but up with crabby people than hungry wolves!

The temperature was cool, but I was toasty warm in all of my layers. My face was becomming sore as I was smiling and laughing so much. I would hollar out to Topaz "Topaz, look at the bald eagle!" He'd look back, 'yeah, Mom, we've seem them before". "Topaz, look at the sparkly snow!" He'd get excited with the excitement in my voice and curl his tail higher and run a little faster.

Just as I was becoming tired of my snowshoes we hit County Road 10; almost home. We walked the last mile, cooling down. I trudged through the ditches back onto Co Rd 15. Over the bridge, don't get hit by the cars, and into our neighborhood.

Home. Safe, sound and smiley! I love that I am able to run 45 miles at a drop of the hat. Fully fit and strong.

We made it home safe and sound at 9:20 hours. Only 120 PM and still a whole afternoon/evening left of the the day. Topaz ate heartily from his bowl, I took a hot shower and drank a hot cup of tea.

45 miles. Fun! Happy birthday to me.

I called Steve out at the lake to see if he wanted to see Avatar. He was up for it so when Tyler and Troy arrived home we all went to the movie. It was as good as everyone is saying that it is. Fabulous!

Well, today is the Polar Dash 10K. I better lok up directions and get dressed to run :) Have a Happy New Year!

44 for 44

44? Who me and how the hell did that happen?

Yup. I'll be 44 years old on December 30th. Because the 30th falls on a work day for me this year I was thinking I'd snowshoe 44 miles this next weekend. I snowshoed 43 last year and survived. I then did a 50 mile snowshoe the following month...

Carl sent out an email earlier this week that he would be running his birthday miles (54) today as he will be working on his birthday, the 29th. I changed my mind and decided I'd run 44; much easier :)

I also decided to begin earlier than Carl. He was starting at 6 AM, running around Harriet for 54 miles. I wanted to be back home, shower and get in grocery shopping before the boys arrived home from the Vikings game - which they won in the last seconds by 1 point! Woohoo..

If I wasn't to be home when they arrived they wouldn't want to tell me all about it with excitement and stories. I'd miss out. Yes, I was in Minneapolis running the lakes early early so that I could hear about the Vikings game as soon as they return and not after all the excitement and emotion leaves them. They will be home shortly.

I started out by running Harriet before the sun rose. There weren't too many people out running in the dark. I wore my headlamp since I had on my heavy fleece hat and wouldn't be prone to headaches. The paths were real icy but they did have a nice coating of sand upon them.

After running Harriet a few times and not seeing Carl, I decided to run the chain of 3. Harriet to Calhoun to Lake of the Isles. Lake of the Isles if my favorite to run. I like the dog park; I stopped by for a visit, I like the hockey rink and the fact that not too many run at Isles. I don't know why there are so many at Harriet, less at Calhoun and even less at Isles.

The path from Calhoun to Isles was treacherous-all ice and no sand, but well worth the Isles run. I ran the chain of 3 lakes 3 times, walking the path from Calhoun to Isles each time. I then hung out on Lake of the Isles for a few laps around before heading back and running one final lap around Harriet to see if I could find Carl, then calling it 44 miles.

I did see E Fisher and Carol Z 2 times -both times on Calhoun at different points during the day. It was fun to recognize them in all of the winter gear.

I never did see Carl!

It was cold this morning. I decided to leave my water in the car at Harriet. I didn't want to freeze my hand off with my handheld and I didn't need frozen bottles hanging off of my waist. Every 2 hours I'd stop by for a swig of water and head back out. I decided against opening any gels en route as I froze my hand off the first time. I couldn't warm up! Finally at about 30 miles I could pull my hands (double mitted hands) out of my jacket sleeves. I couldn't believe how cold I was. I never did pull my neck gaiter off of my nose!

44 miles never felt so easy though. I was done earlier than I thought (I guess I'm a bit faster than I give myself credit for) and was starving! I ate my can of tuna and apple before I even left Hennepin Avenue! I even had time to stop by REI to spend the gift certificate my sister gave me for Christmas! I wasn't sore or stiff or tired as I walked around REI. I had forgotten that I just ran 44 miles, until my sweat began to give me a chill and I looked in the mirror and it was like oh yeah, I look like I just ran 44 miles. Flushed and sweaty and bad hair. I ended up purchasing a new winter running jacket, of course. I've been wearing the same windbreaker for winter running since I first began. I wear it all seasons, just add layers during the winter. Now I have a new one :) It should last me another 10 years..

42 Miles for 42 Years

Happy Birthday to Me!

I planned a perfect way to spend the day: on the trail, running 42 miles.

I arranged for the boys to be picked up early by my sister to head to the water park for the day. Steve was going to pick up my car at the trail to have my remote starter installed. I was planning on finishing up by 1 PM, time to shower, grocery shop and get the boys hair cuts upon their return. I let my family know my wish for today was to run long and to spend the night watching movies. What a great birthday!

Cooler was packed with apples, bananas, grapes, cheese, Subway sandwich; I had lots of HEED and water; gels, dry gloves and socks.

At 4AM Topaz and I were ready to roll. The trail was wet, not even icy. At 4 AM it was already 37F outside. Crazy. Cloudy, so very dark. I had my headlamp and a hand held flashlight, spare batteries.

It was so quiet out there, quiet and extremely dark. Topaz is freaky over lights; he kept on trying to herd up my beam. Good grief! He is skittish and the dark shadows freaked him out more than once. I was quite amused while I watching him.

The hours ticked by..at 9 AM I headed out to my car and caught Steve as he was ready to leave for the shop with it. I talked him into walking a loop with me. How could he refuse? I am out there running 42, it is my birthday, all I want is for him to walk a loop with me..he did, and he enjoyed it too. Or, at least he wouldn't let on that he wasn't having a nice walk. He couldn't imagine how I could actually want to go any further, but that is one of the differences between he and I. The more I go, the more I want to go.

I piled all of my stuff from my car to his truck and then refueled and made sure Topaz took in some calories and water. We were all set for a few more hours of running.

I spent all day out there and never saw ONE other person! I am surprised that there aren't many others who use the trail, but I am sure grateful that it is quite private. Of course it began to rain quiet heavily..yeah..rain on December 30..so that probably was a deterrent for many.

We finished running right on schedule; no aches or pains, no Advil necessary. I consumed a whole Subway during the day, an apple, banana, a few gels and lots of HEED.

Home to shower and get groceries before the boys and Steve arrived home. After they arrived we fit in the hair cuts, had dinner and then it was movie time. We watched a few episodes of 24 (I bought Tyler the first 4 seasons for his Bday), Mission Impossible III and Super Size Me.

What a great day.

It's now 43 F at 10PM; it is raining cats and dogs out. Tomorrow I'm meeting some friends am the Murph for 20.07 miles of running trails. I better get to bed.