May in Review

31 05 2012

Running Overview:

Total Mileage: 103
Miles with Sara: 74
Total Miles to date: 529
Longest Run: 13.6 miles of hot, humid, miserableness
Races: Wisconsin Half!

I feel like May went by quite quickly. I was busy a lot of the weekends, but got my runs in (most of the time). I raced early in the month and have just been keeping my mileage pretty steady. We got summer weather this month. As in two blistering hot weekends in a row. I am quite glad I was not registered for Green Bay or Madison this year.

I’m doing okay at the morning running thing, as in when I have a running date with Sara I do it. When I am supposed to go run on my own I turn my alarm off and roll over. I need to get better at this before it gets hotter.

June brings fun runs! Lots of fun runs!

First up is Ragnar 6/8-6/9
Bacon Race 5K  6/14
Rock’n'Sole Half Marathon 6/23

 


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Categories : running

Madison: My Happy Place

30 05 2012

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Categories : friends, Just Me

Ragnar Chicago: 2 weeks to go: Packing

25 05 2012

Ragnar is only two weeks away! Two weeks. I don’t know about all of you, but I am getting pretty excited. I can’t wait to see all my teammates. I can’t wait to run and be sleep deprived. I want to relive it all.

But before we get to all the fun and craziness we need to pack and organize. I am sharing my list from last year that has been adapted. Items are in no particular order. Feel free to add suggestions.

  • Running jacket/warmer layer
  • Comfy pants
  • 3 pairs of shorts (maybe capris depending on the forecast)
  • 3 shirts
  • 4 pairs of socks
  • Toothbrush/toothpaste
  • Running shoes (2)
  • Comfortable shoes/sandals
  • Medication (if needed. I always pack ibuprofen).
  • GPS
  • Camera
  • Outlet expander (very helpful if you have one. Everyone has things that need to charge).
  • Sunscreen
  • Sleeping bag(s)/blanket
  • Pillow
  • Cooler (really only 1 per van)
  • Gatorade (or drink of choice)
  • Snacks (Bring what you like, share)
  • plastic bags
  • sharpie
  • head lamp (Required)
  • flashlights (Nice to have)
  • moleskin
  • safety pins
  • cash
  • body glide
  • beach towel
  • reflective vest(s) (Required)
  • Garmin & cords
  • gallon size zip lock bags

Be smart when packing. There is a limited amount of room in the in vans and inevitably every team will have at least one serial over-packer. I put each running outfit in a zip lock bag. That makes it easy to find and when you are done running makes it so the van doesn’t stink up.

Start thinking about it. With two weeks to go there are no forecasts out there, but based on recent weather I am guessing a lot warmer than last year.


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Categories : Ragnar

Three Things Thursday: Memorial Day Weekend Edition

24 05 2012

1. My best friend is coming into town. I am elated to see her. Actually making plans for the weekend has been difficult, but it will end up being beer and food, and hopefully a trip to Madison that will include beer and food. No matter what we will have fun. We could just sit in my apartment all weekend and it would be fun. I miss her all the time.

2. I need to run long this weekend, like 14-15 miles. Marie visiting never leads to me waking up early and running. I will not make this mistake again. I want to get the run in. I will get up early and run. I swear. Related: anyone want to run on Saturday?

3. I’m getting horribly impatient waiting to move, which is something new for me. I kind of hate moving and by kind of I mean loathe. My last move didn’t go so well. The move before that was a pain in the ass. But this one, I want this one. I want to be in my new house. I want to be settled. I want it now. Instead I will wait. Instead I will plan things out. Important things like when will my housewarming party be.


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Ragnar Chicago: Under a month to go

11 05 2012

I’ve been getting a lot of hits lately for Ragnar Chicago. The race/event/adventure, whatever you want to call it, is on June 8-9 this year. Suddenly that seems very soon. This is my second year participating. Last year’s Ragnar was an awesome, awesome adventure. We all knew right away we wanted to do it again, okay that might be a lie. We all knew relatively recently after the event  that we wanted to do it again.

We formed a team again. Mixed it up, some of the same runners, some new runners. Again, there are people on my team I don’t know. I trust it will be fantastic again. We have learned. We will still panic.

Now that we are under a month we are looking closer at the details. We rented vans months ago, we have assigned and reassigned runners, people are starting to make travel plans to get to Chicago or Madison. Soon we will all be together and it will be go time.

Things to be thinking about:

  • Double check van rentals
  • Coordinate arrivals
  • Start packing lists
  • Coordinate non-personal items
  • Make sure your volunteers are set
  • Be prepared for changes
  • Be flexible
  • Get ready for all out craziness and fun
My Team
We are Team Awesome this year. Find us on twitter @TeamAwesome12. It’s guaranteed ridiculousness. Mostly on June 8-9th, but probably also in the days leading up to Ragnar.
Questions?
I welcome them all. Post in the comments and I will respond to any that I can. If you have additional advice feel free to post as well. My plan is to post a more detailed packing list as we get closer, maybe at the two week mark.
Let me know if you’re running too! What’s your team name?

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Categories : Ragnar

Race Recap: Wisconsin Half

6 05 2012

My alarm went off at 4:30am. It was dark and pouring rain. The rain was not supposed to be happening. It was not in the hourly forecast when I went to bed. I decided to ignore it and go about getting ready for the half. I quickly got dressed, made breakfast and drove over to Sara’s house to meet up with her and Tracey. We spent the entire drive down to Kenosha checking weather and looking at the storm front. We finally got out of the car and wandered over to gear check. We found Krista, Rochelle and Annie in the bathroom. Moments late we found Marty and Matt who came down to cheer everyone on.

Tracey, Sara and I headed to the start line hoping to get up to a good start position. Side note here: if you can’t run anything close to an 8-9 minute mile don’t start in the 8 min pace group. Just don’t do it. Anyways, as soon as we started running I wasn’t cold anymore. We started off nice and easy, winding around people to get into a comfortable pace. Around mile 5.5 we were suddenly heading straight into the wind. It was rough. A lovely north east wind coming off of Lake Michigan. We saw Amy at an aid station during the long out and back. I could not wait for the turn around.It never really felt like a tail wind, but it was no longer fight us. A little past mile 9 Tracey and I were both struggling to do running math, but it most definitely looked like we would go under 1:55.

Pretty sweet bling

Tracy and Sara cross at 1:54:05 and I crossed a few moments later at 1:54:17. My second fasted half marathon to date and a PR for Sara! And for Tracey this was a great test before she rocks the Rockford Marathon in two weeks. The weather was terrible as soon as we weren’t running. We all put more layers on but could not warm up. We got our post race brats and beers, but still couldn’t warm up. We found everyone else at the finish, but just couldn’t stay and cheer on any of the full marathoners. It was too miserable and cold.

I spent the rest of the day in my bathrobe and compression socks. It was glorious.

Congratulations to everyone else with great races this weekend.

Next up: Ragnar Chicago!


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Categories : friends, races

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