Topaz Tussle

How quickly the feelings of satisfaction, happiness and optimism can change to fear, panic and dread!

Yesterday as I was driving out to the trail for a quick run before picking up Troy from baseball practice I was reading my email. Mark contacted me to let me know he had found Joan Peterson via a search online. He is a much better ‘searcher’ than I! I was so excited. I was going to call her as soon as I finished my run.

As Topaz and I began our run up the trail my friend Kevin was running toward us, just finishing his. I haven’t seen Kevin in forever and it was really nice to see him. I did feel bad that I had 20 seconds to say HI and BYE as I had to pick up Troy shortly.

I was smiling, laughing and enjoying the 70F degree weather as I ran upon the trail. As Topaz and I entered the dense pine forest I heard something running really fast in back of me. I heard the sound that Topaz usually makes when he is catching up after taking a detour into the woods, running as fast as he can, paws beating upon the trail sound, catching me. I glanced over my shoulder and there it was, a huge dog running at break neck speed toward us. I recognized him immediately as an American Pit Bull Terrier. Fu**.

Topaz was about 20 feet ahead of me so I called him back before the dog caught up to me. He could hear the alarm in my voice. He ran to my feet and sat, looking up at me. As the dog approached I said in my happy sing song voice ‘nice pup, hi pup, he’s nice, good boy Topaz’ and I was thinking to myself oh man, he’s going to go right for the neck. I released Topaz from his sit/stay and let him smell Pit Bull. Topaz’s fur was standing on end as was the Pit Bull. Oh boy. Here we go. Pit Bull latched onto Topaz’s neck, shaking him like a ragdoll back and forth. I began to scream at the dog, then lowered my voice in a disciplined manner to let go and stop. I pulled on his thick square head just below the ears and realized he was clamped down on Topaz’s fur, not his skin. I pulled and pulled, he would not release. Finally I began to kick him in the head. He let go of Topaz, there was white fur everywhere, I told Topaz “RUN”.. He looked at me, questioning my command and I realized he couldn’t see my eyes. I removed my sunglasses and said RUN again. He began to run through the woods but the damn Pit Bull was a strong sprinter. He was 10 feet in back of Topaz when I thought to myself : how far will they go, how long until he catches up and how am I going to catch up with Topaz? I thought better of my decision and called him back. This all took place in a few seconds. As Topaz came back to me and sat at my feet the Pit Bull stopped about two feet in front of Topaz. I told him to STAY, he did.

The owner arrived, splayed his body upon the Pit Bull, forcing him to the ground. He was full of apologies and I was just in shock. There was no blood. I looked at Topaz’s neck and could not believe there were no puncture wounds.

I ran upon the trail as fast as I could. I couldn’t wait to get out of there! I was shaking like a leaf, I couldn’t feel my legs and Topaz was like yeah, whatever, let’s run and have some fun.

I hope they aren’t at the trail today!

Elizabeth Rose 8K

A few months ago my friend Debbie came to tell me that her daughter, Elizabeth, was fighting stage 3 ovarian cancer. I couldn't believe it. As close as I am to ovarian cancer (mom, grandmother, aunt) I hadn't known of a case involving such a young woman. Elizabeth is 23. Elizabeth is tough, she's beautiful and she's kicking cancer's ass.

Today was our fundraiser for Elizabeth. An 8K race, much as we put on for Ann, before she passed from lymphoma.

We had a nice morning, the rain let up for the race, we had many participants. So many members of the community came out to support Elizabeth!

It was wonderful to see so many faces that I hadn't see in way too long.

Thank you so much for coming out to support Elizabeth. She has a bright strong future ahead of her :)

Run On E!

MDRA Run Classes!

This spring I will be coaching MDRA beginning women’s running classes in Maple Grove instead of Edina. I loved to coach the Edina classes, but alas, the commute just became too much of a hassle. Our class began at 6 PM and I would have to leave home by 415 to arrive on time. Two hours is too much for a 54 mile drive.

I am so glad to be able to coach the Maple Grove class. Maple Grove is only 30 minutes from home so the commute is a non-issue. I was introduced to the coaches over coffee last month and can’t wait to begin!

If you are interested please go to MDRA and register. We are meeting in the Maple Grove Senior High School, Room 255 April 7-May 26 from 6-8 PM.

We will have a blast!!

Minnepolis Marathon Training Run

Yesterday morning I headed off for St. Louis Park. The second training run for the Minneapolis Marathon/Half Marathon was going to begin at the St. Louis Park Lifetime Fitness. The distances going to be run were 6-10 miles.

As I approached the St. Louis Park area I realized how much it has changed since I used to live near the area..um, 20 years ago! How can that much time have passed? How can I be old enough to say I lived near somewhere 20 years ago?

For one thing, I used to work right off Wayzata Blvd, now known as 394. The building is still there, but the Company moved downtown, where I also worked until 8 years ago.

Steve and I bought our first home in New Hope, lived there for about 5 years before selling and building out here..in Orrock Township, 60 miles from the Minneapolis/St Paul area.

So back to the story. I'm driving around, noticing that Park Place Blvd now has much more than Park Place Hotel residing upon it's asphalt. There are now about a zillion more hotels, strip malls, townhomes, apartments .. amazing. Eventually I came across Lifetime Fitness and followed 100 other cars into the lot. I can't imagine that all of these people are here for this free training run. It's 735 so I figure there must be a popular class offering at 8 AM at the club..or something. There is plenty of parking so I find a spot and head to the club. On the way to the front door I notice the Minneapolis Marathon feathers from along the course so I know I'm at the right place.

Lifetime Fitness. OK, I have become a hick. It's huge. I sign a waiver as I am not a member, am at the club only for the free training run. I follow the arrow onto the 'turf' where we are going to meet. I pass a restaurant, a massage therapy center, a huge pool, a supplement shop..hello, this is not a mall, this is Lifetime Fitness. I see the weights area. OMG, I want to work out here. There are only a few people and hundreds upon hundreds of free weights, racks, machines..amazing. I may have to visit in a few weeks again to see what all if offered. Wow. No, this is not Anytime Fitness but I'm sure it is not $20 a month, either!

I find myself in with a mob of people, all wearing running attire, I have to be at the right location. I'm on turf. There are a bunch of cardio machines around me and a running track. Not many people using the gym but a zillion here for the training run. Posted around the turf are signs "6 miles or less" "Boston Marathon Group" "330 Marathon Goal" etc. People are milling about and I am just standing around with my jaw wide open amazed at all of these people here. I begin to notice Lifetime Fitness RunClub jackets and realize I must be at a Lifetime Fitness RunClub training run. Maybe this isn't the free training run with Team Ortho for the Mineapolis Marathon after all. Maybe I am supposed to be in a different part of the gym Oh boy.

A woman introduces herself, Lauren from Savage. She's very friendly so I begin to pepper her with questions: is this the free training run for Team Ortho of the Minneapolis Marathon? This is really FREE? There are pace leaders, coaches here, is this really FREE? There is an expo taking place after the run for cripes sake..StartLine, coaches, Garmin, etc. This is amazing. She explains to that this is the Lifetime Fitness Run Club kick off for the spring marathon training program. They meet three times a week for structured running, lectures, etc. She explains that Lifetime Fitness invited Ortho here to complete their training run with the Liftime group. Cool. I explained to her what I was doing here and asked if she knew Amy from Team Ortho, who invited me. She didn't know where she was in the sea of people at the time. We chatted a bit and I was just amazed at all of the people. There were 100's of people. Really. 100s. I realize that I have never run in a group training run as a participant before. When I first began to run I didn't realize this type of program was offered. Maybe it wasn't 12 years ago..I don't know. Not in the Big Lake area! It still isn't! I also realize that I may be an introvert...this may be to much socialization for me.

I mosied around for a few minutes, found myself approached by many others..some of which asked for an introduction of myself and then produced business cards and such. I met many people that offered services: chiro, massage therapists, trainers. There was a lot of meeting and greeting, networking going on. I was asked my blog address and if I was on facebook and linkedin. I may have been hit on a couple of times. It's been so long that I forget what that is. Strange. I went home with a pocket full of business cards.

The group was called together and an explanation was given of the route/distances. Maps were handed off, the routes consisted of the lakes, city roads, depending of the length of your run. I went off with the 6 miles or less group. It was a beautiful, crisp, sunny morning. We had one coach lead us and another at the end as sweep. The run was great, relaxed, meeting many of the runners and talking about the excitement of the first marathon with the beginners. I said over and over to enjoy the process, don't worry about next week and running 7 or 8 miles, or 13 and eventually 20. Just enjoy today! Enjoy breathing deeply, feeling the sun on your face, feeling your body move. The marathon will come, enjoy the process of getting there!

Our run was awesome. The coaches were great. The participants had a fun morning. I really had a fun time and wished I could have then tagged along with the 10 mile group. I had to be at work at 12 in St Cloud, had to stop off at home to shower so I didn't have a lot of time to hang about afterward to enjoy the Expo.

What a great way to ease into marathon training. All of the expertise is there, there are others who are matched with the runners ability and you will have someone to chat with to make the run a bit more enjoyable.

I am heading south for spring break so won't be able to make next week's run. You can get all of the details here.

Minneapolis Marathon

I've been blogging for quite a few years. As Trail Runner magazine put it "Julie Berg began blogging before everyone was blogging"; I guess that is the truth. Only recently have I noticed that bloggers are given free merchandise, services and affiliate dollars from others as an exchange in receiving publicity via the blogger. I wasn't sure how these bloggers received these freebies but I though it was pretty cool. Alas, I had never been contacted by anyone to receive anything free other than POM juice. Until this past week.

Amy of Team Ortho Foundation contacted me, asking if I was interested in a free entry to the Minneapolis Marathon as well as free shwag - fleece shirt and hat - in exchange for blogging about the training runs prior to the race. Amy read my post relating to The Polar Dash, this is how she found me. She stated that the posts I would write were not required to be positive only; that the only requirement was I would blog about them. Well, of course I agreed. I had been hoping to run the Series because as I stated earlier, I love to promote a local race and the finishing medals are top notch. Top Notch.

The Minneapolis Marathon is a new marathon which will be celebrating it's second birthday this next June. I think Minnesota really needed another marathon during the summer season.

Grandmas has been the only marathon choice for many of us in the beautiful summer months and, unfortuately, the City of Duluth has taken advantage of the runner and his/her pocketbook by price gouging. Don't get me wrong, I love Grandmas Marathon. It was my first ever marathon and I went back to run it another half dozen times. Our family would stay at the Best Western Edgewater, right on London Road. This made it so easy for for my family to watch me as I ran past. The only downfall: $$$$$. Big bucks. The hotels in the City require a three night stay. THREE NIGHTS! In 2000 it was a two night minimum. By the time I ran the race in 2006 it was three nights. Needless to say, the last time I ran Grandmas I drove up in the AM, drove back home in the PM, leaving the family behind. We easily dropped $1500 for the Grandmas weekend. It is now just too expensive for our family of four to visit Duluth during my Grandmas Marathon weekend. I now have to go solo.

So there is a new kid on the block. Team Ortho - same directors of the Polar Dash which I wrote about earlier-and was so impressed with - have put together the Minneapolis Marathon. The race is held Saturday, June 6. Early registration would get you in for $69. Price increases as time goes on.

What's real cool about the race orginaization is that they have FREE training! Yeah. FREE. Each Saturday, from tomorrow the 20th, through the end of May, you can particpate in group training runs. They will provide water, sports drink and gel. I am not kidding!

Tomorrow's run is 5 miles at 8:00. You can find directions/details here. I can't make it tomorrow but I will be there next week. I'm looking forward to it!

A coworker of mine, Rachel, ran her first marathon here last year and had a great experience. I'm looking forward to running my 40th marathon here in June.

Furry Valentines

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Coaching Updates

When I began to schedule my snowshoe classes for this winter I remember wondering if there would be any snow in February as the early winter months were pretty lean on snow.

The snow base is perfect right now. We just received another 8” of beautiful fluffy snow yesterday so the trails will be perfect.

Fortunately snowshoe classes begin this Sunday at Lake Maria State Park and will run from 1-3 PM for four weeks. I have 8 signed up and can take two more. If you are interested let me know.

I will again be coaching with MDRA this spring but instead of coaching in Edina I will be coaching in Maple Grove. I will really miss my Edina group but the commute from Big Lake to Edina became unbearable! The commute was taking me at the least 90 minutes, sometimes longer. Blech. I feel very fortunate that I am able to coach in Maple Grove, a mere 30 miles away from home.

Last week I met with the Maple Grove coaches and Heidi Miler (yeah, MILER) of MDRA to hammer out the schedule of events. I’m so excited! It will be lots of fun and is such a great opportunity to give back to the sport. Beginning runners are such a fun group to coach. If you are interested in joining our group or the Edina group see the MDRA website for further information at runmdra.org

Oh, and Heidi is a professional in the sport of triathlon and ran the Frigid 5 in about half of my time. Sweet! I didn’t try to catch her..or Kelly Keeler for that matter. But hey, coming in after these two girls as fourth age group is pretty good company to keep.

As long as I am on the subject of coaching I must congratulate my online clients who were running Rocky Raccoon last week: Mike ran a PR at the 100 mile distance! He shaved HOURS off of his prior RR time. Woohoo and Melissa and John, both of which finished their FIRST 50’s in perfect form. Way to go! You know how excited I am for each of you. Rest up, recover and then we are off to tackle the next one!

Frigid 5K

This morning I had the Frigid 5K on my schedule as part of the MDRA Grand Prix Series. The race didn't begin until 10 AM at the State Fairgrounds in St. Paul, only an hour drive away so I had a ton of time before the race to run with Topaz.

A beautiful morning! Snow snow snow and a nice mild temperature of 19F. Topaz and I began at 5 AM. I didn't go out to the snowshoe trail as I knew that would wipe me out and figured I should at least try to race the 5K in a few hours. Instead we ran the gravel roads through the refuge. I didn't realize it was snowing until I was outside and felt it fall upon my face. The sky was pretty cloudy so there was no moon shine.

A mix of jogging and running, I ran 14 miles and circled back for home. The boys were still sleeping so I was off the hook for breakfast, I decided I'd cook a nice brunch after I returned home from St. Paul.

A quick shower - otherwise I freeze to death - dry running clothes and off to the races!

Originally Valentine 5K was scheduled as the February race for the Grand Prix, but they don't time the race, so instead they decided on The Frigid 5. It was cool being on the State Fairgrounds in the winter without a million people milling around. Parking was a breeze and we were able to use the Collesium for changing/warming up.

The route was pretty flat-inside the fairgrounds-past the Cheesecurds, French Fries and Sweet Martha's Cookies! It seemed as though Troy and I were just here but it was 7 months ago. I was suprised how WINDY it was as I felt no wind in Orrock when I was running just a few hours prior.

I finished the race in 25:15. My goal was under 30; goal achieved. Made me wonder how much faster I could have gone if I hadn't run a few hours before? Probably not faster at all. Running faster causes me to gasp and get a side ache-heaven forbid I should try to run faster!

When I returned home the boys and their friends were awake and I prepared them a brunch of Belgian waffles, sausage and cinnamon rolls. They enjoyed it immensely.

Now we are off for a day at the ski hill.

Next race: Human Race 8K

Winter Carnival NOT Frozen Half

Securian Frozen Half Marathon..Double and a Half

The Securian Frozen Half Marathon that I ran today was anything but frozen! I have run the race half a dozen or more times and never have I experienced the kind of weather we had today.

RAIN!

This morning it was 34F when I left the house but it wasn't raining. There was a thin layer of ice over the driveway and Tyler and Steve's vehicles but the roads were just wet. It had rained most of the night.

The roads to St Paul were just wet-not icy, thank goodness. As I approached St Paul the temperature went up to 36F. At least the route wouldn't be slippery.

I found a parking ramp nice and close, covered, so I wouldn't have to chisel my car out of ice when I was ready to go home.

As I waited in line to use the bathroom I watched the flagging twist itself around the posts, it was incredibly windy outside. Wind at 25 mph with gusts to 35. With the warm temps it would only bring the wind chill down to the 20s. Not bad!

Last year the Frozen Half was shortened because is was -20 with a -35 wind chill. Not today!

I walked out to the start line and saw Karen Gall and Wayne Nelson. We chatted at bit, I wanted to ask Karen about the Land Between The Lakes 50 Mile Race she did last year in Kentucky. I think I may go out and run it in March. It would be nice to have a 50 mile race training run in prep for Zumbro 100 in April.

We started to run down the steep hill to Shephard, not icy at all, just steep. It began to rain, just like an April downpour. Incredible.

As I was running along I realized my feet felt awfully heavy. Not tired, fatigued heavy but just heavy. I looked down and it dawned on me that I was wearing my heavy duty Inov 8 Gortex Trail shoes. Why? I could only chuckle at myself. I have been wearing then in the snow and ice each day and didn't even think about wearing my road shoes. How weird. I remembered that my road shoes were in my car, in my gym bag. After the race I was running longer so I would stash my finish things in the car and grab my road shoes for the rest of my run. I also had on my heavy wool smartwool snowshoe sock. So not necessary!

At mile 3 or 4 I saw Steve Quick cheering on the runners. A while later I think I recognized Helen's voice. I know I saw Les out there in his snazzy tights but I lost him somewhere before I could say hello!

It was a real fun race. I decided that I should stay between the 200-210 finishers so that I would not blow up during my half marathon to 50K portion of this run. I didn't want to run too fast and not want to run a long training run. The training run was the goal. The race was to get out of the deep snow and support the area run. Road running feels good by the time the end of January comes along. Snowshoeing is getting old for me about this time of year!

At the turn around I glanced at the clock and read 2:03. Just right. The wind now hit me full in the face. The cool off was welcome, but the added resistance, not so much! There were times when I might as well had been walking against the wind, it was so strong. Runners who had light wind jackets were completely billowed out. It was a funny sight.

Water was available at 4 and 8 miles. I took a bottle at 8 miles, went to the side of the road and refilled my Heed. I was glad that I decided to carry a bottle during the race.

I think going out a person runs up more hills that coming back. I seemed to be able to cruise along more efficiently on the way back once the wind was no longer a factor.

Pretty soon I had only a mile left of the race, running away from the river and up a final real steep hill, I could see the finish line. Wayne was cheering on the side of the road, having finished.

As I finished I heard my name on the loud speaker. I glanced at the clock and read 205. Just right. A volunteer removed my chip and off I went to grab a Caribou drop my trail shoes at the car. There was no ice on my car, just rain. It began to pour as I changed out my shoes while guzzeling down my coffee.

I decided to use my pack for the remainder of my run, 19 miles. My arms were so tired! Thursday I lifted bicep/tricep for 65 minutes and was feeling it. I didn't want to carry two handhelds. Some gels, some heed and I was on my way.

Heading back out along the race course most of the runners had come in. I followed along the river and noticed a few other runners out there that I had seen earlier at the race.

I turned on my iPod and imagined it was the end of winter, a cool spring rainy day.

I hoped I would finish before the parade.I wasn't sure where it began but I thought it was going to start around 3. Before I knew it I was running toward the stop lights where I would turn to lead me back up the very steep hill again..I knew I was almost done. I looked at my Garmin 50 and sure enough..31.5 miles..almost done.

A perfect way to spend a spring like day in January!

Now I really need to put together a race schedule for 2010. Is it really already 2010?

Polar Dash Bling

Polar Dash 10K

Polar Dash 10K

My goodness, I knew it had been a long time since I've run a 10K but I didn't realize HOW long ago!

Ann Maser and I ran the Victory 10K 6 years ago. I can't believe that it has been that many years. Wow.

Today I ran the Polar Dash 10K. What a blast! I must say, this morning I asked Steve " why exactly am I driving an hour to run an hour, then driving back home for an hour ?" "Well, you haven't raced since Javelina 100 have you? You needed social interaction, you haven't run a road race since Twin Cities Marathon" Oh. I guess I had already asked him that question!

It was cold this morning. -6F in Big Lake. 5F at race start. The race didn't begin until 11AM! It gave me time to shower, clean house and run a few errands before race time.

I forgot about all of the people, parking, etc. Oh my gosh! I arrived near the race at 945-plenty of time! Well, not so. Parking lots were full and neighborhood streets were parking on one side only, narrow streets, homes very close together with driveway accesses onto the streets so you couldn't park along most of the street area. Boy, this sure doesn't happen at ultras..does it!

Finally I came across a church at Franklin Ave and River Road Terrace or something. Luckily there was one spot left! I added a few layers of clothing, changed out of my boots and into my shoes and was all set. I glanced at my Forerunner 50 and began jogging to the start. 1.4 miles I made it to the Shiners Hospital, race start. Lots of people!

Very nice start. Lots of room for everyone inside the facility plus a huge warming tent. Great organization, even pacing groups! I couldn't believe it. For a 10K?

It was even chip timed. I received my chip, an embroidered hat and gloves. Wow again. Nice stuff. Now had to jog back to my car to drop off my goodies! Out and back I went. At least I would now know the way back to the car after the race.

I lined up at the 9 minute mile group thinking I wanted to run in less than an hour. I tried not to think about tired legs and 45 miles of snowshoe running less than 24 hours prior.

The gun blared and off we went. For the most part the road was pretty clear of ice and snow and the course was plenty wide for all of the participants. There weren't too many spectators with the cold temperature! I ran along, each mile was marked with a mile marker on a huge feather-just like Twin Cities Marathon. Amazing. They spend some money to put together these Ortho races. They are really really nice.

Up hill, flatten out, up hill, when do we go downhill? I was breathing hard..well, gasping, and I wanted to go faster. How? I continued on just doing what I could.

Eventually I ran up to another pace group leader. He was leading the 852's I believe with a finish of 55. Well, I figured I'd hang here as long as I could. He began to talk about Trail Mix 50K and said that was his first ultra. I looked over and said that it was mine too, 6 years ago. We introduced ourselves and he recognized my name, my blog. He was talking and running effort sly. Me, not so much. As we made the turnaround I told him I couldn't really talk and run this pace at the same time. I told him I began ultras so I could slow down! At mile 4 I dropped back a bit, he turned around and said "Come on, famous ultrarunner, you aren't slowing down" Oh yeah, I'm slowing down.

I always kept him in my sights and wasn't too much farther behind. After mile 5 there was a huge hill. I decided to run it very slowly, not quite walking, but almost. Sheesh. Tired tired tired.

As I came into the finish I saw the clock turn to :57. My chip will show a bit less, not too much. Yippee! I made my goal of under an hour.

I walked past the finish line and saw that there were volunteers handing out medals. Medals! Medals at a 10K. I couldn't believe it. They are beautiful medals too. Huge, hanging on a lanyard with a clip. Ortho has put together 4 races and each race has a medal that will fit together into a holder, creating this big circle. Very cool. Makes me want to re look at the dates to see if I can run each race. Funny that a cool award would make me want to run the series. It does though.

What a fun race. I walked back toward the hospital, seeing Caribou Coffee, Cocoa, cookies, chips and bread on the way. Amazing.

I don't remember 10Ks being this organized and well done in the past. I'm looking forward to the next one!

I jogged back to my car, the lot almost empty. As I came up to my car a couple asked me to take their picture. They then offered to take mine. Why not?

Quickly starting my car I begin to strip off my wet clothing. I'm so glad I brought dry clothes along. Into dry clothes and heading on home. Smiling, happy that I decided to run this 10K! It really was nice to share the New Year with a big group of runners, doing what we love to do.

Happy New Year!

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!

Winter Wonderland

The past few days we've received over 12" of snow. It's been a long time since we've seen that much snow in one snowfall. I don't think the boys have even seen such a large snowfall in one period. When I was their age, growing up in Northern Minnesota, we had snowfalls like this all of the time.

Between Steve plowing the driveway, sidewalk, shoveling the roof and ice fishing; the boys sliding, skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling; and me snowshoe running, skiing and shoveling it seems that we have a constant pile of wet winter clothing and boots out in the mud room. My dryer is constantly running while drying mittens, gloves and hats. I have to say though: we love it!

This morning Topaz and I headed out for a shorter 8 mile snowshoe run. The snow is so deep that I am doing more breaking trail via hiking than running I am afraid. My heart rate was through the roof and my legs were becoming tired from high stepping the snow. It felt like going through the root section (Sonju) during the Superior Sawtooth 100 mile run! Ah, not quite!

After breaking trail to the lake we turned around and headed the 4 miles back to the car. Again, covered with snow. After a quick removal of snow and ice we headed home. I stripped off my wet clothing and put on dry shorts, bra, socks and shoes so I could hop on my treadmill and actually run for 5 miles! Topaz laid at the treadmill and watched.

The Northwoods Snowshoe Marathon is in a few weeks. I haven't decided if I'm going to run it yet again. I think I've run it the past 8 years. Hard to believe that 2 of those years we ran it in trail shoes..there was no snow in Duluth! This weekend, Duluth received 26" of snow. Wow. I am going to run the Winter Carnival 1/2 Marathon and I'd imagine I'll be at Northwoods too. It's the final year for the race and I'll probably find myself there.

Snowshoein'

Merry Christmas Eve ! (EVE)

Don't you just love it? The HOLIDAYS! I do, I do.

I love the excitement in little one's faces as I speak with them about Santa, Rudolph and presents while I'm waiting in line at the grocery store.

I love to decorate the house, bake my heart out..cookies, fudge, Waldorf Astoria Red Velvet Cake (which I just removed from the oven), lefse and a huge standing ribeye roast for dinner tomorrow. That roast cost me more than a week of groceries!

I love the excitement of the students at work. The excitement of Christmas, of Christmas Break.

I love to watch Tyler and Troy pick through the cookie platter, arrange and rearrange the presents under the tree, talk out the Christmas festivities..they love it as much as I.

It's a wonderful time.

I hope you are all enjoying the Holidays as much as I am.

I guess I took some time off here. Now going on seven years blogging and I had never taken over a week break. I guess it was time. I've been busy. Working full time at school and part time at Macy's, coaching beginning runners and my online clients, getting in my own running and lifting..and getting ready for the Holiday's.

In the past month Tyler turned 18! 18! I can't even believe it. Next week I'll turn 45! Wow. Many of my friends are turning 50+ and they are showing me that it is looking damn good :) Remember how awful I felt about turning 40? Thank goodness that business is in the past. I look forward to each year now.

I'm still enjoying the miles on the trail, on the road, wherever I can get them in. I've been snowshoe running lately. From tonight to Friday we are supposed to have 14-20 " of snow. I hope so!

Last week I went downhill skiing for the first time. It was a total blast. The boys were amazed that I didn't suck. I suck at snowboarding so they were expecting the same rate of suckage.

Thank you for all of the emails asking how I was doing and checking in, all of the Holiday wishes. I appreciate it!

Happy Holidays to all of you!

2009 Season Wrapped Up

With the 2009 race season wrapped up for me I am currently not training for anything and my next race isn't until January.

Daily runs, lifting, working, enjoying my boys, enjoying life. When I'm not racing I don't have a lot to share!

Have a fantastic Holiday Season, it is already upon us!

Javelina Jundred 100 Mile Trail Run Report

After running Javelina Jundred last year I immediately knew that I would be running it again. I hoped that I would be able to run it again in 2009. I enjoyed the race so much I really wanted to go back.

I’m so glad I was able to take part in Javelina Jundred 2009! Sometimes when high expectations are placed on an event there can be a let down, but JJ did not disappoint. The whole event was fabulous fun in the sun.

I flew into Phoenix on Friday, visiting the packet pick up at race headquarters, called Javelina Junction. By coincidence I seated myself next to Mary Croft and Wally Goettel of Minnesota. I knew they were going to be at the race but really wasn’t sure if I would recognize them. As I introduced myself to the runners on my left they overheard me on my right and introduced themselves. Small world!

The race start temperature was a balmy 49F. I wore a tank top and skirt with the Moeben sleeves I received from last year’s JJ. They were perfect! As the sunrise took place and I warmed up I was able to roll them down to my wrists. During the night I rolled them back up. What a great idea for Shannon to come up with.

I read the notes I had made from last year’s race, telling me not to bother with a flashlight at the start. I’m glad I took notes! About 5 minutes past the start the sky began to lighten up. It was going to be a beautiful day. I could feel it.

There were many runners dressed in Halloween costumes; Bumble Bees, Butterflies, Batwoman, Militia, Goddesses, Gods, it was pretty cool. I can’t imagine wearing those extra items for 30 hours. My own clothing becomes cumbersome during 100s! There was a girl who took pictures all along the course, throughout the whole race at the runners coming toward her. I carried my cameral for one loop and couldn’t wait to stash it in my drop bag.

Javelina Jundred is a 15.5 mile loop that is run alternating directions, 6 times with an additional 9 mile loop at the end for a total of 101.8 miles. The start/finish is called Javelina Junction where the huge start/finish/aid/camping/results/drop bags are placed. Coyote and Jackass Junction are the two smaller aid stations placed at 5 mile intervals. The course is a constant climb or downhill. You pretty much run up the mountain for 7 miles, run rolling hills for a mile and run down the mountain for 7 miles. There isn’t any flat trail at all. The trail is made up of sandy soils, some compacted, some loose and beachy with lots of rocks in some sections. There aren’t any roots. There isn’t any shade, it is totally exposed with a backdrop of mountains and cactus. It’s really quite pretty and so different to what I am accustomed to.

I went into the race with a few goals. One, as always, to pull out a finish, and two, to really race it, beat last year’s time of 23:15 or so. I’d try. The first loop went very well. I was feeling good, running well and I didn’t feel too warm. I went out faster than I did last year, but was still running within myself. I didn’t feel like I was overdoing it. I was keeping track of my splits and had a pace chart with me. I was sure to drink a full 24 oz of water between each aid station and while at the aid station I would gulp down another 10 oz of ice cold water. It felt refreshing and wonderful.

Nutrition: In July I began to eat an all vegan diet and by August I was eating mostly raw vegan. For Leanhorse 100 I added vegan items (oatmeal, cooked sweet potato) and had difficulty finding good food. Because I had to leave my cooler of food behind, as there wasn’t room for it in Tom and Nancy’s vehicle, I was dependant upon area supermarkets and restaurants which were not vegan/raw friendly. I wasn’t going to let that happen again. Live and learn, right? This time I made room for my Vitamix and researched markets in Scottsdale. I knew that I could find fresh produce. I bought a cheap cooler/ice packs at a Scottsdale Target so was able to mix and store my smoothies/juices before the race. I had pre-race items, race and post race items. Spinach, dates, bananas, nuts, mango, ginger root, lemon, etc. I was all set nutritionally. I decided not to use gels but rely on my raw foods instead. This would be the first time as for Leanhorse I used gels in addition to bananas and raisins. A bit scary but I wanted to test this out.

The aid stations had watermelon, bananas and oranges which I was able to use at Coyote and Jackass. I had my cooler at Javelina Headquarters, drinking smoothies every lap. They didn’t upset my stomach and gave me plenty of energy. I was a bit nervous as I hadn’t put this nutrition into practice at another 100 mile race; only training runs.

As I came into Lap 1 I was on 21 hour pace; a little fast but I felt fine. Lap 2 and 3 and I was still on pace, feeling fine. My feet didn’t hurt, I wasn’t too warm, there was plenty of ice on course. I was impressed with all that was offered as aid. I saw S Caps, crystallized ginger, ginger chews and capsules, tums, pepcid; all that one might need.

During Lap 3 the moonrise took place. It was so awesome! As the moon began to rise the coyotes began to howl. I just stood still, stunned. I heard them much more loudly this year than last. They were only a few feet away. I saw a pack of 12 and stopped dead in my tracks. I looked back and saw two men way in back of me. I waited for them. As they approached I told them I was a chicken and that I would follow them. We talked a bit and then they just trotted on down the hill and the coyotes scattered. I followed on their heels. The howling took place all night long!

At 45 miles I was starting to feel hungry. I came into JH and ate a ton of watermelon. It was so good; cold and wet. I couldn’t believe I was already at 45 miles. It didn’t seem that I had been running for so long. I was almost half way to the finish! I slurped back a spinach/banana smoothie and headed back out on the trail.

The next loop wasn’t so great. I began to feel tired and my skin was hot and chapped. I cold feel sunburn on my neck and my lips were raw. I began to talk negatively to myself and forgot that I should be celebrating the fact that I was out in beautiful Arizona, running the Javelina Jundred. Funny how things can change so quickly!

As I came into mile 60 I grabbed my iPod, hoping that the diversion would get me out of my funk. I was now on pace for 22 hours. Fine by me! I looked around to see if I could find another runner that I could hook up with but there was nobody going back out. Lots of runners dropped out at 60 miles. There were tons of them dropping. It was depressing. I had to get out of there. I walked over to my drop bag and took my headlamp and another smoothie. Before I knew it I was back out on the trails thinking about mile 75.

My music helped me, before I knew it I was having positive thoughts and ready to run hard again. I began to pass quite a few people and with each person I passed I felt a bit more motivation to go and catch the next one. It was something to engage my mind for a while. As I approached two guys running side by side they laughed at one another and told me that I was kicking their asses. I had to pass them and make sure I beat them to the finish!

I thought I could feel a vibration under my feet, upon the ground. I turned off my iPod and heard and felt this thundering noise. I just stood there, wondering what in the world was coming toward me. Pretty soon a group of 15 horses came into view! I had seen droppings from them all day long but had never had a view of them until now. They were on the trail, blocking my path. Again, I just stood there, waiting for someone else to scare them off the trail or waiting for them to leave. I wasn’t sure what to do so I began to talk with them, hoping they would soon leave. I looked back and nobody was in sight. I began to walk slowly toward them, talking to them in a sing-song voice like I do to Topaz. The just stood there looking at me, twitching their ears back and forth. I could tell they weren’t going to charge me or anything. I made sure that my light wasn’t in their eyes and slowly walked through the herd. They just twitched their ears back and forth and didn’t even pay any attention to me. I was being foolish for feeling fear.

For some reason the landscape made me feel very spiritual. I think it was the landscape that made me feel this way. I don’t know if it was the vegetation that was minimal, the mountains, the sun, the cactus, the full bright moon in the sky; or if it was the silence of the course, rarely was I running with anyone, I guess I don’t know what it was for sure, or what it was for sure. But many times I felt in awe of my surroundings and so thankful that I was able to be there, thanking whoever it was for creating such a lovely place and putting me there to enjoy it. I felt peaceful and full of joy. It was a wonderful feeling.

Mile 75 and I was tired, like sleepy tired. I normally consume Hammergel Espresso gels during 100s, and one every 30 minutes for the first 12 hours, but since I was running this one raw I was relying on whole foods only. My eyelids had become heavy and I felt like I could take a nap! There wasn’t any place to lay upon the trail as the cactus grew right to the trail-I would have to lay in pickers. No thanks. At mile 75 I decided I had to lay down for a bit. I knew that I would no longer be on pace for a PR but didn’t want to fall asleep on the trail either or while I was running. I filled up my bottle, grabbed a smoothie, a change of clothes and headed for my car. My lovely red down blanket was in my car. I set the timer on my iPhone and covered myself up. I fell asleep instantly. Before I knew it my timer was sounding and it was time to get a move on.

I wasn’t stiff at all from my rest, I felt refreshed and ready to move on out and finish up the last long lap. Oh thank god, I was ready to be done! I felt like I had new life in my legs as I ran my last long loop. I again was able to pass many people on the trail but I noticed that there were even less runners than during my last lap. So many runners go out too fast early, then burn up in the heat and have to drop. I’m just amazed at the drop rate. There was only a 40% finishing rate. Crazy.

As I came into mile 90 I was so excited. Oh, Jamil, place that necklace around my neck and let me get this party started! Jamil clasped the glow in the dark necklace upon me signifying I was on the last loop, the short loop, only 9 miles left! Amen.

I ran out of JH, passing a runner upon the trail. He began to talk in a quiet voice “Your running strong, I’m not. Your going to beat me. Oh man. Yup, your going to beat me” I just smiled and said I’d see him at the finish. I didn’t really see anyone else going out on this last loop, I saw many that were coming in to get their necklace.

As I was climbing up to Coyote I came upon Stephanie from AZ. I had seen her upon the course earlier and learned that she read my race report from last year and that this was her first 100. She asked how was it that I was passing her? I told her I had wheels upon my shoes! It was all that I could think of for a response. Congratulations, Stephanie on your first 100 mile finish! Way to go!!

I arrived Coyote for the final time, filling up my bottle with water and then headed down Tonto Tank trail for the finish. Tonto is an all downhill, sandy trail that I was able to bomb down last year. My sides were now killing me and I was lucky I could jog down the trail. Down down down I ran, the sun rising in the sky. I had hoped to finish before the sun rise but alas, I didn’t make it. I was fine with this. I ran hard, raced well and gave it what I could on this day.

My finish time was 24:38; 3rd in my age group, 7th girl of 41. What a blast! Thank you to all of the volunteers and of course Jamil, for making this race a fantastic one.

I don’t have any pain, stiffness or swelling. I was able to take Topaz for a little run this morning; I can’t believe how minimal recovery has become. I think this is due in large part to the nutrition I am currently eating. My body loves live plants!

Congratulations to all of the runners at Javelina Jundred. I feel honored to have shared the race with you!