Wednesday, August 24, 2005


Some of the Big Lake Run Club members Posted by Picasa

Happy Birthday Ann! Posted by Picasa

Wednesday Night Run Club

Today I was apprehensive about Run Club. My quads were screaming, my butt was plain old sore. The DOMS had set in big time from all of the squats, lunges, extensions, ham curls I did on Monday. Then add yesterday's track workout and I was nervous.

But I love Wednesday Night Club. It is Ann's birthday today and I had recruited another run to give us a try. I had to show up.

I did, and it went just fine.

5 miles in 39:09. Lots of good friends and good conversation.

There were 4 women running tonight; a record :) Yes, it is just fine to run with the guys each week but it sure is nice when some women show up. I hope we didn't scare them off :) I think they will be back.

Saturday, August 20, 2005


Me and Topaz post run Posted by Picasa

Friday, August 19, 2005

TGIF

I haven't had to have the thought 'thank god it's Friday' for many weeks. Today I thought that thought over and over again. Back at work for the first week, after having eight weeks off, getting the classes and offices ready for school to open, eek.

Trying to get up before the crack of dawn, run, lift, bike, shower, work, meetings, kids sports, run, bike, shower, lift..whatever and to bed to do it all over again.

This takes some getting used to!

Tonight was a 7.5 mile run with Topaz on the trail. Hot, humid and I was just plain tired. I don't think my body is used to running in the late afternoon. The food that I've been eating all day is jumbling around in my stomach, I pee over and over again because by 330 I've already had 80 ounces of water and coffee and whatever else I may have consumed.

I love my fasted morning runs. No food in the tummy, don't have to worry about what to eat and what not to eat, etc.

I looked at my eating logs for the past 7 days. I consumed an average of 1734 calories which consisted of 38% carbs, 42% protein and 20% fat. I lost .10 of a pound. A great week of maintenance. I'm going to live here for a while, then try to lose another 5 or so...

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Run Club

Wednesday means Run Club night.

I always thought the runners at Run Club were a pretty awesome group of guys. I was way too timidated to ever even think of running with them. Or even speaking with them.

After I began running I entered my first race..the Big Lake 8K put on my the Big Lake Run Club. They seemed very nice, so I attended one of their Wednesday night runs.

Oh my gosh. I was ill prepared for them. Two men felt sorry for me and ran with me, at my pace, the whole 5 mile route. I think we ran 11 minute miles and it was pretty much walking for them.

I didn't go back for three years.

Now this group of men have become my very very good friends. They are still faster than I (most of them) but I am no longer intimidated by them. We even get a few women once in a while to join us.

We all begin in the front of the Big Lake High School at 6 PM. We run together for approximately 5 minutes and whooooshhhh off they go! I see their backs for the rest of the route, up the hills, around the lakes, through the town. At the end of the run they all stand in a line and clap and cheer for me.

They are a pretty awesome group.

Tonights run : 5 miles 39:30. A long way from my first Run Club night.

Sunday, August 14, 2005


Topaz chillin' Posted by Picasa

Just chillin' Posted by Picasa

Saturday, August 13, 2005

Scary Run

I was going to run a 20 mile route on the asphalt today but Topaz looked so sad that I was going to go without him, I changed my mind, grabbed Topaz and headed for the Prairie Drive Trail. This is the 7.5 gravel road loop that goes through the Wildlife Refuge; it is for automobile. They drive through the refuge.

I park my car at the visitor center, fill my water bottles with water and Hammergel Heed, grab my cell phone, Topazs' leash, keys..I'm off.

One mile into my run a guy in a brand new white Mustang goes by..no biggie. There are autos out here now and again. 15 minutes later and he drives by again. This is a 7.5 mile LOOP. Why is he driving by again? Another 15 minutes later, he drives by again and is leering out of the window. SHIT.

I can feel the hair on my arms and neck prickle. I'm listening to my intuition: this isn't good. Am I over-reacting? I call my friend Ann. Are you going to be out here to run? No, her legs are tired and she's still in bed. OK. As I'm running and talking to her I notice a pair of mens' shorts and underware in the middle of the gravel road. What the hell? Oh, maybe Mr. Mustang got out of his car to look at the Eagles and accidently kicked out a change of clothing. Maybe that is why he is driving around and around..looking for his clothes. OK, all is well now. I was over-reacting.

15 minutes later and he drives by again. I always position myself on the side of the road near the passenger side. I don't want to be near the driver. He leans over to the passenger window, rolls it down and stares..and slows down to an impossible pace. I'm at the side of the road and scared shitless. He continues on and I'm a mess.

I call home and the line is busy. I call Ann and the line is busy. Should I call the Sheriff? Am I over-reacting? No one else is driving by..maybe he's casing the place, figuring out where others are so he can get me...oh sheesh.

He drives by again. That's it. What kind of lunatic drives 40 miles in a circle like this. He's purposely scaring me. He's leering. He's awful. I call 911. I explain where I'm running, describe the car, the guy. Deputy tells me he'll send someone out to drive through and see what's going on. I tell him I was going to run 21 miles but will get to my car and get out of there.

My phone rings a few minutes later. It is the deputy. His deputy is a ways away and can't get right out there. He asks me to call him as soon as I get to my car and asks if I've seen Mr. Mustang again. No, I haven't.

OK.

I get to my car and call the deputy. I'm here safe and sound and heading out to another trail. OK. I figure that's it. The end. Who knows if I was over-reacting or not.

I get to the Blue Hill Trail for another 5 mile run to make my 20. As I'm running the phone rings. It's another deputy. He asks where I am, I tell him. He tells me that he spoke with Mr. Mustang. WHAT? You saw him? Yes, he was BACK at the Prairie Drive Trail. Oh my gosh. I would have totally lost it if I had seen him go around again. Mr. Deputy told me that Mr. Mustang has been arrested prior for indecent exposure and trespassing, that he is a 'slime ball'. He told me that he is not a sexual predator. Mr. Deputy asked Mr. Mustang why he was going around and around the Prairie Trail. He told him "I liked to look at her dogs' eyes..and her arms" Oh. My. Gawd. Mr. Deputy told Mr. Mustang to get out of there, and Mr. Deputy followed him to the County Line.

What the hell? So, was I over-reacting? I don't know.

It makes me want to run with a gun holstered around my leg.

I finished my additional 5 miles and was almost expecting to see the Mustang at the trail head.

I didn't. Thank Goodness! Ugh.

So, women runners out there: what do you carry with you while running to make you feel safe? Does anyone carry a knife, gun or weapon of some sort? How sad that we have to worry about ourselves while running by ourselves.

Friday, August 12, 2005

Last day of my Summer Vacation

Today is the last day of my summer vacation. I've had 8 weeks, yup, 8 weeks off. I've enjoyed it very, very much. I enjoyed sleeping in, getting up early, going to the lake, biking with the boys, hitting the beach and getting in excellent workouts.

Over the weekend I'll come up with a scheduled training plan. I've been able to wing it these past two months. I've climbed out of bed, ground up my Caribou French Roast, prepared my french press and relaxed before heading out for my run, biking whenever I feel the urge and hitting the gym whenever I want to.

That will all change for the next 10 months. Back to waking up at the crack of dawn (or before), jumping on the treadmill or running in the dark, running after work in the afternoon and squeezing in weight training during the busy periods at the gym.

I'm ready to go back to work. It's been a nice, lazy, enjoyable summer but I'm ready to go back to a schedule.

I would like to go back to school when the boys do (2 weeks out) but apparantly I need to be there two weeks prior. I'm really not sure why...I would prefer student contact days like some of the other office staff keep.

Today I slept in until 745, drank my coffe and hit the trail for 7.5 miles. Rode my bike for 10 miles and mowed the lawn...the same way I have spent most of the summer.

Back to reality...

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Sugar Fed Kids

I and the boys went to Valleyfair today. What a blast! I don't care much for the rides but I love the water park. After a few hours on the rides we hit the water park for a few more hours of fun in the sun. The body slides, the body boats, the tubing, the rapids; it's all so much fun!

Ty and Troy had their fill of cotton candy, dunking dots, cheese curds, pretzel and cheese, turtle sundae and french fries. I had a bite of each; that's all one needs!

Once in a while a day of sugar and fat for the boys isn't going to hurt much. As long as it isn't each week; and it isn't.

I was able to sneak out at 530 AM for a 5 mile run on the trail with Topaz and a session of weight training at the gym (chest, bi, tri) before I woke them at 800 so we could be on the road by 9.

What a great way to spend the day.

Fun in the Sun Posted by Picasa

Candy bigger than their head! Posted by Picasa

Monday, August 01, 2005


Running over the river... Posted by Picasa

The view of the Voyaguer 50. Posted by Picasa

Jo and Julie ready to run! Posted by Picasa

After the race Posted by Picasa

Sunday, July 31, 2005

Race Report..V

It was awesome, simply awesome.

Here is the race report I posted to my ultra running group:

After running the Afton 50K a few weeks ago in 6:20 I realized that I was
feeling way to good at the finish and probably should have tried to push it a
bit harder .

I have never been one to set time goals, I've only tried to finish, while
digging deep to reach the cutoffs. Some of which I couldn't reach.

I was talking with Don Clark at Afton and he suggested I try running out of
my comfort zone, try setting a time goal and see what I can do. I agreed. I
would try and run Voyaguer in 11 hours. Pretty scary to me.

Voyaguer 1 (2002) took me 14:03 (13 hour cut off), V 2 (2003) I dropped at
50K and V 3 (2004) was an 11:52 so an 11 hour finish was going to be tough.

I decided to share this goal with my friends; I felt that by sharing this
time goal with them, they would hold me accountable if I should end up crashing
on the trail. Knowing that I told friends of my 11 hour goal, that would
push me even harder to reach the goal.

Race day morning and the weather was beautiful. High of 75, sun, the stuff I
love to run in. I brought Jeffrey up to the front of the line to introduce
him to Doug Hansel and at that time the start was yelled; there we were up
with the front guys. This turned out to be a very good thing. Jeffrey and I were
following after Tom Bunk and others that we had no business running with. We
were out of our league but we kept on pushing. We were at the second aid
station within an hour! We felt good, strong, getting fatigued but figured we'd
just push on and see what would happen.

Of course I had to make a pit stop before the powerlines and I figured that
was the end of running with Jeffrey. I've never caught him after a potty
break. Well, this time was different. After aid station 7 or so we were running
together again. First time I've ever caught him!

We ran into the turn around at 5 hours; I headed back out while Jeffrey took
care of business with his drop bags.

I came up out of the aid station and fell into line with Lisa from WI. She's
finished 89 ultras, has completed the Slam and completes Ironman. It was
awesome to run with her. We ran together for 15 miles.

Lisa was slowing down and told me to head out. I did. I was feeling great. I
was eating a ton of food, drinking a lot, everything was going well. I had
visions of a 10:30 until I was running the last section through the rocks and
it took me 39 minutes! Sheesh, I never thought the bike path was going to
come. I got on the bike path and ran as fast as I could to the finish.

10:45. Wow.

This race is so much fun. After an awesome trail run there are showers,
great food and a fun awards ceremony! Big thanks to Gene and Barb and all of the
volunteers.

Thanks to so many of you for your congratulations and kind words. I sure
found myself a terrific group of friends!

Julie Berg
Big Lake

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Voyaguer 50 Mile Trail Ultra

The race will be held this Saturday. I'm trying to lay off the running a bit this week, I've been biking and even tried a few swims.

Yesterday I biked 20 miles at an easy pace-it took me 1:20-then pulled into the driveway, hopped off the bike and ran a 5 mile run with Topaz in the neighborhood. Got some looks from the neighbors when they saw me biking; then running. Kind of like 'oh oh, here she goes again'. When I first began to run marathons I would get comments like 'you ran by this morning when I was drinking my coffee, not I'm eating my lunch and you are still running' well, yeah, 30 miles takes me a while!

I'm not very good at the swimming, but have contacted a few people who are so that will be helpful.

Today I shouldn't run. I should just pack, get groceries for the family while I'm gone and relax. But I really want to run. Only a few miles? We'll see. I shouldn't.

OK, so after running the Afton 50K on July 2, and doing much better than I anticipated, I decided I'd set a time goal for V. I set a time goal of 11 hours. I'm still going to try to get an 11 hour finish. That's 50 minutes off my fastest V. I have 24 pounds less of fat now, that should help somewhat!

The weight is still 126.8 today. I've been increasing my carbs to 150-200 grams Wednesday and Thursday, Friday will be a bit higher. Carbo Load.

I contacted a friend of mine that I met while we were training for our first Marathon in 1999. While we were training for the marathon, Amy was also training for an Ironman. Wow. I talked to her yesterday. She told me the WI Ironman usually fills immediately; and they open registration 13 months in advance. So, if I'm thinking of doing IM 2007 I'll have to register in August of 06. Wow. That would give me all next summer doing spring and Olympic distance tri's, getting a feel for what I'm doing. In 2007 I'd be training for IM. Woohoo.

As far as running goals, my friend, Larry Pederson is taking over the Superior marathon and 50 mile this September; next September he'll have the 100 mile as well. I'm running the 50 again this year, next year I'll try the 100. I'm going to run that baby. It's the toughest, rockiest and most brutal trail I've ever run. 100 would be way hard. I'd need to ask for a pacer for sure. I'd like to do McNaughton too! Defend my title for first women in the 100.

Back to reality, time to focus on V!

+++++

OK, so I ran 4 miles on the trail with Topaz. Four very easy miles!

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Triathlon?

Yes, triathlon.

This past week or two I've realized that I really enjoy riding my bike! I bought a Fuji road racing bike a few years ago and only rode here and there. Running came into my life and I really didn't get into the bike very much.

Well, I've gone out on 4 15-20 mile bike rides during the past week and am loving it. I went to Eriks' Bike Shop and got a lesson on using my bike. I couldn't figure out why I was having trouble shifting (I was doing it incorrectly!) and couldn't figure out why I was losing air in my tires (again, filling incorrectly!). I bought a helmet and have been riding since.

I entered a triathlon for August 28. The link is www.pickleevents.com/events/lctri it is a .5 mile swim, 17 mile bike and 4 mile run. The swim is the biggest mystery for me. I know I can bike the distance and run the distance. I've completed a few brick workouts where I bike 10 miles, get off and immediately go for a 4-8 mile run without a problem.

I've been going to the local beach for my swim. I don't do the crawl stroke very well. I need a teacher. In HS I was on the swim team and did the breast stroke. No crawl. I went to the gym this morning and lifted legs. Asked the front desk person about a swim coach or masters swim class, she didn't have a clue. Man, we only live 40 miles from Mpls., St. Paul and you'd think we were on another planet. I can't belive there isn't a Northwest or Life Time Fitness around here. Our gyms simply suck.

I've been reading a few triathlon titles: The Triathlon Bible, Triathlon Training for Women and Going Long: Ironman Training. If I'm going to do a tri I'll eventually do an Ironman of course.

I don't know the practice of MODERATION.