#deerporn

Another week down and another week closer to......ummmm......next week!!!

Contemplated a "thankful" or "gratitude" post since NO ONE on my FB is touching on any of the things they are thankful for this month.....

Jenn's quicklist ....family, running, health, friends, security, music, wine, sex, and candy. That pretty much sums it....and not necessarily in that order:)

It is WINTER in Minnesota! Snow on the ground. Cold, windy, slippery. According to my recent driving record, and in the words of my husband, I need to be CAUTIOUS in these conditions.....aka drive like an old lady..... I have ZERO incidents RUNNING on ice but slightly more than zero.. (or maybe slightly less than 10).. driving on ice...

It was deer hunting opener this weekend and I'm married to a deer hunter. He gets VERY excited for this time of year. SO excited that I receive texts like this from his deer stand.



Apparently things autocorrect to "porn" on his phone....Laughing as he just got this new phone and thinks he will just "talk" to text all of his text messages now.....I think NOT. My son LOVED spending the weekend out with his dad bathing himself in animal urine and talking about bikes and porn and corn?.....


If someone made a magazine like this, I would have one Christmas present out of the way....#deerporn

Hockey season is HERE. Oh my word, I have just finished my schedules and I seriously can't think past one day at a time. I have a daughter who plays for HS, a daughter in 14UA (no teams here so we have to travel to the metro-which is ONLY 6 hours away) and a son who's a Squirt A. I think it's like 14 practices a week at 3 different rinks ranging from 5:30 am to 9:00 pm and an ENORMOUS amount of games and travel. I'm super excited though!! Really really excited to watch them and travel with some super hockey families!!!

Running is going fairly well. I'm not running a whole lot of miles yet....Keeping things relatively unstructured until December when I will start Boston training!! I ran 10 miles at 7:39 pace earlier in the week which felt really good and then 8@ 8:08 pace which did NOT feel good at all and then 12 @7:50 with 30 minutes of that at 7:20 today. I think I will be in a pretty good place to start training. Not exactly sure of my goals other than I'm certain I want a PR:) I'm currently writing my plan so I have something official to throw away after about 4 weeks-ha! Those who know me will "get" that;) I'm going to jump back on Daily Mile here as soon as I figure out where my profile went!

I had a wonderful weekend filled with HS girls and hockey scrimmages and a little shopping trip with 2 good friends! Lots of laughs. Lots of coffee.....not much shopping as it seems we weren't the only people who thought it would be a good idea to go shopping on deer opener........just us and about 1,000,000,000 other women. No patience for this!!! My time is too valuable and better spent at Panera:)

Keeping with the random flowing randomness that is basically ALL of my posts.....

Really felt a spark when a very special friend ran a race this weekend:) A solid strong race that left me beaming for her!!! Excited to be training at the same time as her again:) And for BOSTON!

Reese had her CC banquet tonight! She received her Varsity letter as a 7th grader and just so proud of her!



So very excited to have a dear friend come to visit me in Minneapolis this weekend!!! Lots to catch up on and a chance to run around the lakes and suck down the Starbucks!!!

And that's a wrap:)

A completely random blog....7 things I'm loving right now!

1. The Brooks Utopia Softshell II. Now, I do believe this is a winter running jacket but according to Jenn's cutting edge sense of style, it also doubles as "evening wear" with a big scarf and cowboy boots:) Lots of running cowboys in Minnesota..... I haven't run in this yet in order to review it in that way but I LOVE the way it fits me and I love the print! Nice work Brooks!!


Attempted a photo here but taking a picture of myself into a mirror that is significantly shorter than me is hard-ha!



Factory Photo=Much better!!

2.HS Cross Country



What a joy this season of Cross Country was for me. My first experience with this sport!! I LOVE my daughter's spirit. Her team! Such a special year for her AND for me!



I learn a lot when I pick up the laundry and junk all over the floor in her room;) Inspired by my child when I find such treasures. I'm also laughing and thinking it's good she has fast legs since "beliveing" is not a word-ha!






3. This man.



Just enjoyed a date weekend with this guy:) 16 years of date weekends and they never get old.

4. Scarf, Hat, Mitten, Boot season!!!


I have carefully narrowed down my scarf collection to only a few that I think I will wear. I think I had some difficulty with the "narrowing down" part.....

5. THIS chapstick


Who says you can't eat chapstick.....I'm going through this stuff faster than a pack of gum. My tongue is also raw from licking my lips. A torn meniscus and a big fat ankle resulting in a stretch of ZERO miles running left me thinking it would be a good idea to leave some of the ACTUAL cake out of my diet for awhile:)

6. Perfect fall running weather!!!

I LOVE fall! Other than the nasty wind, give me COLD and crisp any day!! I've been running consistently and seeing my fitness increase here over the past couple of weeks. My pace getting a bit faster and feeling much stronger at the end of longer runs! Getting excited about challenging myself through the winter and grabbing a Boston PR at 38! Planning to do a simple weekly training update through this cycle.

7. The RINK!!!

Hockey has officially started and as a mom of 3 hockey kids, this is my winter home! Really excited for a season of traveling with friends and cheering on my kids!!!

And I could list 107 more:) Happy Sunday!!

Boston confirmation and 4 months of mumbo jumbo!

4 months into one blogpost. Hmmm-where to start. Perhaps with what is even inspiring me to write a blogpost! I started my blog in the fall of 2009 after my first marathon-TCM. I was SO passionate about running at this point and about to jump headfirst into a training cycle for Boston!! My first Boston marathon. So much excitement surrounding that for me and I found that although I had a wonderful support system, I didn't really have many people to really share in my excitement here. Most people didn't "get" it.....this "running" thing... I was seeking a community of people with a similar passion to help keep me motivated through a cold Minnesota winter. I FOUND that here!! What a very special race the Boston marathon was for me in 2010.

Jumping ahead 4 years here! Wow-4 years. I am AGAIN looking to train for the Boston marathon. I feel equally as excited at this moment!! This will be my 2nd Boston! I will have a ways to go before I begin training here but excited to once again make my way to that feeling that I felt on April 19th, 2010.

A little recap of the last 4 months!

RUNNING!!

I trained HARD through April and May. My goal was the best half marathon I could pull of in a matter of 8 weeks time. My goal race was the Intrepid Dezine Half marathon in Manitoba where I hoped to somehow get around the 1:30 mark. For the first time ever I turned over my training to someone I trusted GREATLY. A friend I met through this blog while training for the 2010 Boston marathon and a friend I will now have for life:) She took time out of her very busy personal life to write my workouts for me, listen to my feedback and put me in the best possible position to reach my goals here....

I did some SUPER workouts for me. Without a doubt, even in that short period of time, I was running faster and pushing myself harder than I've ever run. One of my hardest workouts was a 3X5K on 2 minutes rest. I've never done anything like that before!! I averaged 6:57 pace over all 3 of the 5K's. I also worked up to 6X1 mile repeats on one minute rest at 6:31 pace. I was able to run fast finish long runs like this in the same weeks I was completing 2 other hard workouts:



I also ran a very solid 10K race PR for me in the middle of training.



I believe I was trained magnificently considering the timeframe and I was in an excellent position to run a solid PR HM but it was just not meant to be this time....Race anxiety among other things seemed to get the better of me in 2 attempts. No excuses and as a result I finished my goal race in a disappointing (for ME) 1:35.

The rest of my summer seemed to go downhill in terms of running.

I ended up here:


I gave birth to an unexpected but very beautiful bouncing baby.....or perhaps I tore my meniscus.....I had it scoped on August 15th. Just as I was recovering and getting back to running....


I actually got this beauty while spectating my husband's marathon. I fell off my bike and one of the marathoners had to check and see if I was OK. Very Classy. I am now recovering from this but unfortunately my fall marathon (set to take place in 3 weeks) is not going to be something I can do this year.

Since I am in the process of showing pictures of my misfortune, I contemplated taking a picture of the poison ivy that is currently all over my ass and posting it but then again.....I wouldn't want to lose the 2 people that might still read my blog-ha! My 3rd year in a row that I haven't learned my lesson about pissing in ditches......

Moving ON!!!

A quick recap of things OTHER than MY running!!!

I had a GREAT summer! My 10 year old son was really involved with baseball this year and I had an absolute blast watching him!!


We spent a GREAT deal of time on the lake:


My son ran his first 5K:


We spend a lot of time at the beach and with family!




A trip to the zoo!


Lots of great MN evenings with the kids! Only one of these kiddos is biologically mine but I claim them both:)



I had my 20 year HS reunion!!! WOW-OLD!!!!

I headed out to Asheville, NC for a girls trip with 2 of my closest friends. Girls I know I will have in my life forever! ONE of these days, we are going to get a good picture of the 3 of us!!!!

I also snuck in a trip with my hubby of nearly 16 years. Felt like my honeymoon:)

Another fun girls trip to the Women Rock HM in St. Paul in which I was able to complete a HM only 2 weeks after surgery. Very slow and my personal worst but really a fun race for me!!

This fall I am finding myself absolutely LOVING High School Cross Country!! My daughter is now in 7th grade this year so she can finally compete! She ran her first meet on the junior high team but quickly found herself moving up and competing at the Varsity level and is currently our High School's number 3 runner. SO proud of her as she's worked very hard for this. This is SO fun for me. So exciting to see one of my kids have a passion here.


She's the inside runner



My husband ran a marathon last weekend in which I got to cheer like a madwoman. He did not get his BQ goal but boy were we proud of him! Also got a chance to spend the weekend with another VERY special friend who I met through this blog as she opened her home to us over the marathon!!

So-this is mostly a poorly written random update dump post but it takes me to present day and I had to start somewhere!!! Perhaps I will begin again:)

4 months.....Family, Boston, training, coaching, smiling!!

Wow, it's been FOREVER since I've written a blog post. Perhaps an 8 month break from any sort of race had something to do with that. Or work, or my insanely busy kids, or just the fact that I lost my desire for awhile:) Happens to the best of us. I read a lot of blogs, I've had less energy to write them these days.

Family updates:

* My oldest daughter Ryan played in the State Hockey Tournament in March which was an amazing experience. She's also played with Advanced 15 Reebok High Performance Hockey this spring which has been a great experience! Wow, some amazing talent here. She joined the track team this year and ran both the 100 and 200 and relays. We celebrated birthday #15 and also signed up for Driver's Ed. She's off to Cancun for an 8 day vacation next week, she's madly in love with a farmer (can one be madly in love at 15?). Three years and my biggest baby heads off to college! Ahh!

*My middle daughter Reese is a 6th grader who is now 1.5 inches taller than her older sister!! She had a great hockey season and was definitely my "most improved" child. She's hoping to fill her summer with 5k road races and babysitting jobs. For a 12 year old, she's doing well! Ran her personal best of 21:10 in May and only going up from here! She's heading to Carrie Tollefson's Cross Country Camp at St. Catherine's in July and is SO very excited about this! Any Minnesotan's familiar with this camp? Would love to hear what you think.

*My sweet little Max is 9 years old. He just finished his hockey season as he played for the Northern Wings team out of Duluth this spring after his regular season. He's now full boar into Cal Ripken baseball which I'm finding out is going to be as busy as hockey!! He LOVES the outdoors and spends most of his free time exploring and "protecting" our yard.


Ryan's confirmation

Personal update:

So much new for me since my last post in February! I'm still very busy with my job and my kids. I made a trip to Boston to spectate the marathon this year and spend time with some very special people in my life! I could write 5 posts about my experience there....My huge car wreck on the way to the airport to fly out, all the quality time spent with good friends, tracking people and spectating the race, my first crack at seeing Shalane and Kara in the flesh, seeing sweet Amanda's smile at mile 19 (which was truly the highlight of the race for me), the bombings and my experience with that, the weekend in general...I'll keep it simple! I stayed with my dear friend Ana Maria out in Arlington. My second trip out here SUCH a comfortable place for me to be!! Starbuck's every morning, runs on the beautiful bike path with no watches.....Lots of very special memories here for me..



Prior to Boston, I had been running, as always, but primarily easy pace and lower mileage. Just coming off an 8 month training break after a big PR marathon for me last October! NO racing and just soaking up the winter concentrating on my work and my kids!! I LOVED and treasured this time but I could feel a desire for a training focus coming back as spring was in the air!! I decided that perhaps I wanted to focus on a HM but was a little unsure of the approach I wanted to take with that.

There are a few connections I've made through blogs and a few people I've followed and been incredibly inspired by. Ana Maria is definitely one of these people. I "met" her through her blog prior to the 2010 Boston Marathon in which we were about the same pace (wish that was the case now-ha!!) and roughly the same age and training for the same race and I was IMMEDIATELY drawn to her work ethic and her matter of fact personality. I've since followed her as she trained through 2 HIM's, virtually trained with her through our own personal marathons, and watched her absolutely shatter her race times in every distance since 2010. Most fascinating to me being the progress she's made with speed and her ability to push herself to new levels there. Mark my WORDS, this woman will TEAR up the masters circuit should she decide this is something she wants. Anyway, I greatly respect her and her training knowledge. She's well researched and demonstrated and her personality type is one that can mesh with mine!! SO THEREFORE, in thinking of how I wanted to proceed with running this year, I found the only logical option was to drink too much wine in Boston and then beg Ana Maria to coach me and make me fast-ha ha! (I will say that I had thought of this 100 times before the actually intoxicated moment but was just easier to beg at that moment-ha!) Well, she said YES and herein started my current journey.

Training update:

I've been training for a HM for 5 weeks so far. I've been pushed pretty close to my limit which is SO good for me. I now sometimes carry an Ana Maria voodoo doll with me on my runs and prick her shins when I'm trying to hold long tempos.....:):) Ahh-I love that I can tell her I swear at her and she doesn't care-ha ha! That being said, I'm making PROGRESS and I can feel it!!! I LOVE the fact that I am only getting my workouts one week at a time and I LOVE that I can just trust and not think beyond the week right now. She knows me as a runner and I feel she knows what I can handle and she's been right on.

I'm running 3 key days. I have run a Hudson plan in marathon training before and definitely run some hard weeks but have generally switched to the "Jenn" plan part way through which means lots of miles but not so much quality.....Now, I'm definitely focusing more on quality. I'm running around 60 miles/week sometimes a little less.

I ran 6X1 mile at 6:31 pace this morning on 1 minute rest. This was a treadmill workout so perhaps a little different than the road (on 1.5% incline) but I've never run 6X1 miles at this pace in training ever! Booyahh. Sucked ASS while I was running it but dang, I feel good now-ha!

I've run 4 very quality tempos all outside the last 5 weeks. 6 miles@6:57, 6 miles@6:55, 7 miles@6:58 and 3X5K on 2 minute rest at 6:57 average-THIS ONE SO HARD FOR ME. I've had to dig deeper than EVER to make it through some of these runs. I've had it "in there" to run these before I think but never been able to consistently mentally push myself here. I'm finding the accountability to be SO AWESOME.

I am BEYOND grateful for this experience. Whatever happens here, there is absolutely NO DOUBT in my mind that this was the right thing for me to do right now. Amidst the shin pricking and the swearing, I've enjoyed myself immensely and I feel so blessed here!! Thank you AM:)

So, thereyahaveit:) Finally hints of summer in Minnesota and oh so ready for it!!! Bring on the next few weeks of this training and a summer of running with my hubby as he marathon trains for a BQ for 2014, and runs with my dad as he marathon trains for a BQ for 2015, and runs with my sister as we will BOTH run in Boston 2014, and runs with my daughter as I only have a couple of years left before she's too fast for me!!!! Hello family BBQ's, evening bonfires, family vacations, the lake with good friends, sister time, races, girl trips, new work adventures, yardwork!! Obviously, I'm high on endorphins from my morning run-ha! Happy long weekend all!

Wednesday thoughts on art, running, life, while attempting to stay out of the kitchen.......

No time to write a blog post but alas...here I am writing a blog post while my 9 and 12 year olds whip up dinner:) I believe shrimp lo mein is on the menu for tonight. Perhaps ambitious for these 2 but we'll see how it turns out! It's taking great restraint to stay out of the kitchen but I love having kids who can help out ....and love having a husband who will make sure it gets all cleaned up:)

Random news:

Reese's team won the district tournament this past weekend! Both her team AND Ryan's team have earned the #1 seed in their respective regional tournaments to be held in just 10 days. The winners, to STATE! Gosh, these kids have worked SO hard. Any parent of a competitive athlete knows how much WORK goes into a season. ANY competitive athlete themselves know how much work goes into a season or training cycle. It's not always easy doing all running around with these kids with their games and practices but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I'm so thankful for the life lessons my kids have learned through sports. For the way they've learned to deal with success and defeat, encouragement and criticism. For the healthy lifestyles they've adapted. For the bonds they've made with their teammates and coaches. Ahh-just really happy and thankful here today!!



I got pulled over again for like the 35th time this week. No lie.....I was driving to work and got pulled over for speeding....I got a written warning for a hotel validation parking slip covering the vin# on my dash (seriously??), my GPS obstructing my view by being mounted to the windshield near my rearview mirror. Of COURSE, I forgot my purse on the kitchen counter so I had no ID, and then couldn't find my proof of insurance in my pile of CRAP so written warnings for this too.... I'm thankful I didn't get a ticket!

I was able to meet a new friend this past weekend:) A very compatible running friend as she spanked out my 15 mile long run with me!! I'm so looking forward to training for the Twin Cities Marathon this year which I just registered for this week!!! Such an amazing race! First things first though as an October marathon is a long time away...I'm thankful for new friends, thankful I can run marathons!!!

I've not run for 3 days. My Achilles on my left leg has been bothering me and after Sunday's long run, it was more aggravated. I don't know why. I really don't know why. I almost never have problems on my left side. I'm wondering if maybe the treadmill aggravated it. I am not running high miles right now. Say like roughly 50 for an average but about 80-90% of those have been on the treadmill. (-42 Fahrenheit with the windchill this morning which explains why) Anyway, I haven't messed around with the incline or changed pace all that much in my long stretch of easy running here. I've been running at a 1-1.5 incline almost always....I do this to help compensate for wind resistance and make it more comparable to outside but now I'm wondering if even the very tiny little constant "up" grade is what's bothered me.... Hmmm-I don't know as it could be many things but I do know that this is a bit of a thorn here and I'm going to baby for a bit. Sore leg or not, I'm thankful I've had the opportunity to run on the treadmill this winter!

I recently received the most AWESOME piece of art in the mail EVER!!! I had commissioned the AMAZING Cher Odum to create a piece of ART for me to hang in my family room. A painting true to her unique and signature style!! I've been searching for something SPECIAL to hang on the wall! Not just a great big family photo that would date itself in a sense but a family portrait that I would hang right there ALWAYS and FOREVER! (Or if I moved to say somewhere warmer and more scenic, I would hang it THERE always and forever-ha ha!) Anyway, something that would constantly remind me of my family and the life we've LIVED and shared together. A conversation piece, a burst of color, a beautiful masterpiece it IS, and I couldn't be happier with it!!!!

I have yet to frame it as I JUST got it, so this is just a quick peek. My family in the center and the border filled with scenes of important things that represent our life!



You can read more about Cher's work at www.chertheart.com or find Chertheart on Facebook. There is great meaning behind her style. She does do commission work, is amazingly awesome to work with, surely an gifted gifted artist! I'm THANKFUL for the smile on my face every time I walk by and see this painting:)

So, just a few words before I go eat the masterpiece created for me for dinner! Thankful for food!!

Life, running, weather, perspective, gratitude.

Well, it's been awhile! A LONG while but I'm coming to the realization that this is just how I roll through the seasons of life....I write when I feel like writing and I don't when it becomes "work". Not that my blog is "work" but forcing words into an obligatory post is really not the direction I wanted to go with it...I've gone through many seasons with this blog. From deciding to eliminate it altogether at one point to feeling so VERY thankful to have had a place to just vent my thoughts on running, life!! This past week I've been doing a lot of thinking...about a lot of things.....because I think a lot....about things...a lot of things:) Ha! Anyway, I recently had the discussion about blogging with a new running friend who does not YET have a blog:):) She read mine which prompted me to read back through the archives myself. Wow, I really had a lot of fun with this. All this rambling about life in hickville, bragging about my kids, sometimes talking about my training, writing race reports, connecting with people with similar interests!! Making lifelong friends. It's been like a "not too personal" journal of events that I have documented!! This is actually pretty special! Although I don't have the time I once did right now, I sure have been blessed GREATLY through this blog and great for me to remember that! SO, tonight I feel like writing:) Or I feel like listing random bullets which developed as my style somewhere in 2011....

Life:

I'm working full time, MANY hours... I haven't exactly gotten a perfect system down here as far as balancing but I do feel like I've done a super job considering! I have 3 kids playing a traveling schedule of a combined 140 or more hockey games this winter. We have about 12 practices per week to haul kids to and from, we travel EVERY weekend, often in different directions and often at least a 10 hour round trip by car, usually more! Add in Confirmation, youth group, Junior volunteers, fundraising to name a few and I'm BUSY!! I still run, I manage to make some time (not as much as I would like) for those important to me and my kids sometimes eat something other than eggs and toast for supper! SUCCESS. I've been keeping my marriage TOP on my list of priorities and carving out quality uninterrupted time there. TODAY, even though I can't run anything with a 6 in front of it for fear of collapsing my lung and leaving my children motherless I feel very accomplished!

This past week, my sweet sister gave birth to a baby boy! My other sister and her husband legally became the parents of a little girl who is still in the Congo but now legally bears their last name!! Red tape red tape but SOON! And to top it off my baby sister just announced number three is on the way. I am the oldest of 6 girls and I absolutely LOVE coming from a big family. Constant excitement around here!

My kids start district playoffs this weekend!! Lots of nervous energy coming here in the next couple of weeks with my kiddos. Not putting the cart in front of the horse but both of my daughters teams have a very very good shot of making it to both the regional and then the state tournaments in their respective divisions if they play to their potential.....this means I am going to have to make choices as they are held the same weekend but in different venues. I don't want to think about missing these big moments in either of their lives! Ughh.

Running:

Since most people are more interested in running than whether or not I will get to wear a foam finger and drink concession stand coffee at Ryan's game?? or at Reese's game?? I'll move on:)

I've been running. Until last week I've been running all easy. No speed, no tempo, a little longer on the weekend but all just easy but CONSISTENT. Northern Minnesota has blessed us with some especially fun temps this winter as we've seen windchills of nearly -60 on some days and it has been BITTER much of this winter. Because it's no longer 2010 and I've gotten old and lost my BADass, I'm no longer willing to venture out into this:) The hours I have available to run are the COLDEST hours in the day and dark and icy. Finding myself blind because my eyelashes have literally frozen together solid or wearing my scary robber mask and duct tape on my shoes is just losing it's appeal....(I know, there are some of you playing air violin right now as you read this) ANYWAY, I've found myself on the treadmill A LOT. More than I like.

I've seen my pace improve since starting up after my break. I've not been wearing my Garmin much outside, (actually only 1 run on Garmin Connect in the last month!) but most of my TM runs have been averaging 7:40's now. Some slower, not many faster. I'm starting to see that my faster days are on the gym treadmills and my slower ones are on my home treadmill. Hmmm....

I'm realizing that I'm actually in pretty good shape even though I keep discrediting myself and telling myself I'm NOT. I'm not in "speed" shape yet because DUHH, I haven't run any speed, but I AM in good shape. I'm in a good good place! Last week I brought in both a little speed and tempo and will now be incorporating it regularly.

This afternoon we were blessed with 30 degree temps, a very light wind and a clear road surface which just seems so rare. Honestly, I don't remember the last time I ran with my feet touching pavement and not on ice. We don't have that nice firm packed snow that you can grip here either. No running paths in this rural country so the side of the road is either compacted ice or unpacked snow which is a problem as well (keep playing that violin:) Anyway, I started work before 5 am this morning so I would be able to run before dark and enjoy the beautiful day! I had run a double yesterday with some treadmill 1K's at the gym last night (I started but pulled the plug on a morning workout due to road surface and then a make-up workout-total miles only 9.1) so 6 miles easy on the schedule for today. I wore my Garmin, NO jacket and headed out into the sunshine!!


*I LOVE this new little weather feature on GarminConnect! COOL!*

OK-I think my home treadmill might be slow. I was running what felt comfortable and I wasn't pushing until the last 600 meters or so and my pace felt so much easier outside than it does on the treadmill. This was a great run for me. A really really great confidence builder to feel this good and look down when it was over to see these splits. I'm not comparing with the past, I'm looking at the present and this is AWESOME Jenn for how you felt! From here on out my running will change as I'm moving to a little more higher intensity, slower recovery instead of all this same pace stuff.

I've been fighting and am fighting a slight Achilles aggravation on my left leg (all my injuries before this niggle have been on my right side). It's not affecting me too much in running right now but my eye is on it and I'm thinking it's a good thing I will be moving into some warmer weather and getting off the treadmill!

Random-I think my perspective on life affects me GREATLY with running. So happy and appreciative this week. Very thankful for the special people in my life. People who support and love me no matter what. Thankful for ME. Thankful for what I have to offer. Excited to meet a new friend on Friday:) Looking forward to the next crazy month and racing season approaching!!!

Thank you for reading. Whoever is left out there. I started my blog with 4 followers for quite awhile:) Jill, you were one of them and I'm off to comment on your blog:)

Cold...and not quite as slow....

Two blogs in one week! Almost unheard of for me these days but I woke up this morning in such a good mood that I felt like writing:)

I had an unexpected weekend at home this weekend while my husband took off for Duluth with my girls. My son's home games that were postponed due to the nasty blizzard last weekend, were rescheduled at the last minute for this afternoon.....the windchill or realfeel is -57 degrees today which is of course MUCH safer for the teams traveling here than the blizzard.....I went outside this morning to grab a shovel quickly and my wet hair froze into instant icicles. I sounded like a set of windchimes when I ran back in the house. My son thought this was cool and because I'm such a good mother I proceeded to do it 2 more times. Fortunately I don't have neighbors to see me running up and down my sidewalk in Ugg boots and a robe freezing my hair into windchimes to make my son smile...

Now, I've run in nasty temps and I actually love winter running but when the windchill dips to numbers that are actually Minnesota swimwuit temps if you drop the minus sign, it is just not worth it for me to be outside. I have no desire to be that tough. Proves nothing to me. SO, as much as I don't love the treadmill, I am married to the thing until I see a lovely 0 or higher for a temp:)

Yesterday I took to the treadmill for my longest run since my marathon last October. 14 miles which was to be simply an easy run as ALL of my runs are right now and a step up from last weekend's 12. I've come off a week of fighting a bug of sorts. It didn't hit me as hard as it hit my husband but I was overly fatigued and very low on energy most of the week. Found myself sleeping EARLY and still feeling rough during the day. I really struggled on a couple of my runs but I didn't feel like I was "sick" enough to want to skip them altogether right now. I did have to cut a couple short. Times like this are when I would really just like to just be "garminless" outside and run by feel......The hard part about running on a treadmill is you HAVE to set a pace to start. This leads to an annoyance when the pace you set feels tougher than you want it to which messes with the ability to enjoy any part of the run......

ANYWAY, I set out to run my 14 miles yesterday feeling MUCH better physically. I situated my water boy in front of the TV (again because I'm a good mother) and started running. I ended up starting at an 8:27 pace which is where my legs seemed to want to go in mile one. I really just wanted to get the 14 done, whatever the pace. Treadmills are SO monotonous and I have a most impossible time running a steady pace for anything longer than .4 miles......14 miles were not sounding overly enjoyable. I managed to run along gradually picking up the pace a little bit in the first 6 miles. (48:56 at 6 mile) I was beginning to feel really good which sometimes happens when you run slow-ha! I decided at this point that I would maybe try 2X10 minutes a little faster....like 7:30 pace to break things up. I started right at the 6 mile mark at 7:30/8.0 and was surprised at how good I felt here. Just kept going and told myself I would do 2X15 minutes instead and then changed it to 2X20 minutes and when it was all said and done, I ended up running 8 miles straight across at 7:30 for 14/1:48:49/7:46 pace:) Now, this is surely no amazing run but it did not feel hard and it did a great deal for my confidence yesterday to know that #1-I can run 14 miles and #2-I'm not that slow:) I won't add #3-there was no wind and I was on a treadmill at simply 1%.

7 more this morning at 7:53.

Now, all this treadmill running has allowed me to get some running clothes that generally stay buried, some use! I save my "going out" running clothes for the gym and my "mom" shorts for my home treadmill-ha! I never match at home and I wear whatever I can find. I sometimes look at something in the "stay home" pile and think, "these are cute, why don't I wear those to the gym". Then I run in them at home and remember why....

Not exactly the sweat pattern I want going on at the gym....

So-just a random Sunday update. Feeling really optimistic about the weeks to come! Excited to watch my boy play hockey this afternoon!!! Peace:)

Slow

What's new

*I'm in week 3 of building back my base. This is humbling I tell you. Like 95 days ago or something like that I ran a marathon at 7:22 avg. pace per Garmin. Tonight I ran only one of my miles at 7:24 to see what MP felt like and my heart literally almost stopped. Yay me!! To my defense, I've run NO miles faster than 7:45 in forever. My speed has definitely taken a hit. Right now my workouts consist of a slow day, followed by a moderately slow day followed by a slow recovery day, intervals of slow, and one slow long run. To compliment my slow days, I've been spending some time in the gym making sure that if I'm going to run slow I at least look HOT doing it-ha! I'm aiming for 3 days per week here and I've stuck to it thus far!! I like to joke but I'm actually feeling stronger and better and I'm seeing improvement:) A 7:15 MP by October won't be easy but I'm quite certain I can do it:) I'm absolutely positive I will gain back more than I lost and I'm going to do it RIGHT! (**Not sure the blue corn chips or the glass of wine I'm drinking constitutes "right"..... they are natural blue corn chips though which we all know means healthy and is a free pass to eat the whole bag)

*My kids are having AWESOME hockey seasons!!!! Both girls teams are near the top of the state rankings. They both just won the Fargo International Tournament and we're off to a big tourney in Duluth this weekend and then down to Minneapolis the weekend after! A very busy month but so much fun!! I'm having such a wonderful year with the hockey moms. LOVE my crew this year! I feel so much more involved than I have in the past. Allowing myself the training break really opened me up in some ways. Good ways.

My Lucky #9!

*Completely random but laughing at a conversation in the background. My oldest daughter Ryan just booked tickets for a trip to Mexico with my sister and is chatting with her brother...

Ryan: What do you want me to bring you back?
Max: I want some shells, rocks, a shark tooth and a Mexican waiter.
Ryan: A Mexican waiter??
Max: Well, I need someone to bring me my drinks and my snacks..."

*Note to the ladies *put my son in his place-ha!

*Booked my ticket to Boston! I'm getting SO excited about this! After tracking this girl's amazing marathon PR this weekend, I am even more pumped to cheer her on along with some other dear friends! Can't wait to spend some time with some very special people in my life while I'm there!!

*I also found out I got San Diego Rock N' Roll entry with Brooks! Thank you Brooks!!!! My husband mentioned running it as well which sounded like a perfect trip! A fun race together and then a weekend away:) Yes, I think so!

Just some quick midweek tidbits:) Life is good. Life is very very good. Not going to take any of that for granted this year:)

Where I am today:)

I could write a blog on a million things.....I considered writing one of those 2012 reflective posts or possibly a 2013 goals post today but then decided that I’ve thought enough about writing it to lose interest in ACTUALLY writing it-ha! Instead, a few random things that are on the tip of my tongue today...

Things I am LOVING today!

•The Vikings beat the Packers!!!! My 4 exclamation points may be a little much as I really have no idea what’s going on in the NFL this year... We got together with some of our good Wisconsin friends today to watch the game and my competitive spirit with ALL things has now caused me to claim this team and this win as a total personal success!! I am Helga herself and these are my little perfect Viking children. So proud. So so proud-ha! Woot woot!

•Brooks Pure Cadence. I’ve given these shoes a shot the last week and I love them so far. “So far” is based on my long run of 5 miles and my mileage of 14 miles last week-ha ha!!! I have been a pretty faithful “Launch” runner but always looking for something to change things up and just never felt right in the PureFlow. The Cadence feel good and I’m excited to give them a better test outside! Hot looking shoe too:)

•Being out of shape. Unlikely thing to LOVE perhaps but I’m embracing the excitement I feel to get back INTO shape right now and this only comes from being OUT of shape-ha!!! I’m not overweight…I’ve actually lost weight lately. I’m just out of shape…..Like soft…..and squishy in a few places....the kind of soft and squishy that makes me want to break my husbands fingers off when he pinches me…. ha! Anyway, made my first trip back to the gym in forever this morning and just felt PUMPED about working out with some of my gym buddies again. Inspired, motivated!

•Starting to train with a purpose again today! I’ve taken 1/4 of a YEAR off from training by choice!!! I haven’t run with my Garmin in over a month. I haven’t run more than 3 days in a row in forever. I haven’t done any speedwork! My long runs have turned into 5 milers. I’m incredibly thankful for the PEACE I found in taking this break. So happy for the nights I spent with my family after work! Everything about this was RIGHT for me and it may become a yearly thing! I’m also incredibly thankful for how I feel TODAY, this morning, right NOW about things! My husband has asked me to please start training again so he can at least listen to training talk instead of work talk-ha! I have no plans for a race before April but I am back on a self-written schedule of sorts which I thoroughly enjoyed working on. I’ve missed this. Exactly what I knew would happen if I cut myself some slack:)


•My children and laughing at them. I laughed my daughter right to the chiropractor yesterday after this little backwards tumble while we were sledding in the forest. No lie, there was not ONE single hole on the whole hill except the one she fell into. A magnet! This made me laugh SO hard after the fact. Even when she punched me and told me I was a cruel heartless mother, I still had to turn my head and laugh some more....what a glorious blessing my kids are to me!



•Laughing.....laughing is so incredibly powerful. I love to laugh and I almost feel like I’ve lost a little of that this year. I look back and see how much I used to love to write thoughtless nothing posts on this blog and just laugh to myself. My own little laughing party! Lots of laughs all around today!

•Boot cuffs!

•People so willing to help when asked! I realize that I hate to ask for help..for so many reasons...I also realize that I LOVE the feeling I get when I can help someone else....so perhaps I’m stealing that feeling from someone by not asking:) This is my new logic anyway-ha! I could not make it through this hockey winter without people there to help me and I’m so very grateful. Thankful for a good friend stepping up this morning to help me next weekend!

•Watching Ryan play this morning. I love watching all my kids but her level of play is just so fun. They call her “the freight train” which I’m not sure is the most flattering name for a female but it’s so true. The littlest person on the ice in stature but yet she will plow through you and you can’t take her out. Tough as nails and such a competitor.

•Positive encouraging people. Infectious!! Thankful for a couple of positive encouraging training references who have been oh so helpful this week:)


Things I LOVE…..NOT so much....today

•The pace on my easy run this morning. Ishh….My HRM must be broken…..:( I can only go up from here-ha!

•THIS which is now hanging on my wall…

This little beauty is the compromise for telling my husband our kids are too expensive now to pay $700 to hang a running clothes accessory hanger stuffed deer head on our wall..... As a result, I came home to a large animal skull boiling in a big pot on my kitchen stove instead of having it taken care of at a taxidermist. Backfire....The upside, I now have 2 treadmill running partners and twice as many antlers in which to hang my crap on.

•The thought of taking down my Christmas stuff…..Sweet mama robin’s have used my Christmas wreath on my front door to make nests in..... We live in Minnesota....hmmm...

•The fact that I paid $64 for Christmas cards that are still sitting on my counter not mailed....

More "LOVES" than "Love-not so much's" today! Good day:)

Babble Bullets and Brooks!

I have presents to wrap, Christmas cards to finish, a house to paint, a party to decorate for, homework to do, paperwork to do, laundry to do, lunches to make, bills to pay, emails to return, probably a few miles to run, but somehow writing my bi-yearly blog post and sipping on a glass of wine has made it's way up to the top of my to-do list tonight:) Perhaps running the few miles would have been better BEFORE the wine...

Completely random bullets, not flowing, not in order and however they should come out.....

*I started a new job a few months ago. I LOVE it but it's certainly been keeping me busy and I've been putting a LOT of time into it with the holiday season. My son is jealous because he has to be in school all day while I play with blocks-aka pop:)

*I'm totally absorbed in hockey season!!! All 3 of my kids play and our schedule is CRAZY. I have 16 nights booked in hotels for the month of January! AHHH! Thankful I've found a roommate with kids the same age for the season to split hotel costs with!! Lots of travel but the kids are active and happy and we LOVE watching them!

*Running is a little on the backburner. I decided to release myself from training for anything specifically this winter. I wasn't sure exactly how I would handle this but it's going AWESOME so far. I LOVE to run and I will ALWAYS run but just no big ticket races on my calendar for awhile-until April actually!! I have been running anywhere from 20 to a max 40 miles per week, no speed and no schedule, just whatever I feel like doing. I have absolutely NO doubts that when I decide to start training I will be gung-ho, balls to the wall!!. I'm gung-ho about nearly EVERYTHING I put my mind to and those who know me, know this! Right now, I'm a gung-ho hockey mom and I'm thankful for the peace I'm finding in this.

*I don't think I've ever been more excited for Christmas! Such a special time of year for me. All of my sisters are home and we lounge around in PJ's and play board games and watch movies. We haul our kids to Malung to go sledding and skate on the outdoor rink and and just enjoy our time together so much! My busy life has interfered with my ability to spend as much time with my family as I would like and I'm CRAVING it! We're a CLOSE group and I'm so looking forward to some downtime next week to just love up on them!!!

*I used to love to entertain. I loved to get out the fancy dishes and do things up right every now and again. We are not a fancy family but sometimes it just feels good to put on a dress and enjoy an evening a little more on the classy side, and a little less on the redneck....Joe and I used to throw a cocktail party nearly every Christmas. It was a lot of fun but like many things it became a lot of work when life got busy (mostly because I'm a perfectionist:) and we kind of let it go. Last Monday, a good friend mentioned how much she had looked forward to that part of Christmas every year... a highlight, and it made me feel so appreciated....Joe and I ended up talking and decided to go for it and do it again next Friday! Now, as if getting my house ready and ordering in food etc.(because we live at the end of the earth) isn't enough, I decided I needed to paint the entire main floor of my house.....I have absolutely no time for this.....

*2012 has been an interesting year for me. A pretty successful year in terms of running. I'm pretty happy that I could pull out PR's in every distance that I raced this last year. I truly believe I can do the same in 2013. I will do the same:)

*Extremely honored to have been chosen again for the 4th year to represent Brooks through the Brooks ID program . Such a wonderful opportunity for such a great company!!

*2012 has also been a pretty special year for me in terms of relationships. I definitely think that this has been the BEST year of my marriage. 15 years next week:) Absolutely married to my perfect match! We laugh hard and we debate hard and we -- ---(fill in the blanks:) and we support each other no matter what. Very blessed here. I'm thankful for the blossoming friendships with some hockey moms this year. A definite camaraderie there...... I'm thankful for an ever growing relationship with my sisters.... I'm thankful for some very special friends I've met through this blog! Specifically, a trail running, fashion trendsetting superstar over there in Oregon who probably thinks I fell down an icefishing hole the last couple of weeks; a badass in Massachusetts who is actually one of the most supportive, encouraging badasses I've ever met and someone who really gets a side of me that many don't, and another free spirit absolute "GIFT" in my life that I've emotionally adopted as a sister:) I've been so thankful for opportunities to travel to Boston this past summer to spend real hands on time with a couple of these girls and then to get a chance to spend some time connecting in Minnesota last weekend with Amanda. Very VERY special to me.

Well, that was random and my wineglass is empty:) 2012 probably in the books for me but perhaps a new blogging leaf in 2013:) Peace

And I guess another month has gone by!

Random bullets from a blogging NON-superstar the last month!

*Ran a PR marathon less than a month ago but at times it seems like 2 years ago!!! Finished my marathon training cycle which was about 10 loosely structured, but strong weeks (on a solid base). Less miles than I've run in the past but feeling great and healthy!! PR's in the 800, the mile, 5K, HM and marathon in a period of about 3 months. Lots to smile about.

*I recovered from this race PROPERLY. I felt amazingly good after the fact but kept my runs short and easy for a couple of weeks and no speed. For the first time EVER, I felt complete peace in doing this. I enjoyed every run I was able to get in but did NOT feel the stress of losing my precious gains or having to maintain my fitness level..... If injury has taught me one thing, it's that my body can come back, even stronger, from a loss of fitness. It responds WELL to rest and recovery and I need this so much. A spring chicken, I no longer am!!!

*Recovery was made easier based on the fact that I have been working A LOT the last month. A LOT of very physical work. Many many hours, but by choice, and extremely satisfying for me:) I find busy-ness (always uncertain on how to spell that and much to lazy to google) often reduces my stress level. When I'm busy or preoccupied with specific intentional thought, I have less time to let my wind wander and obsess about silly things....Working full-time has honestly been a stress reliever for me. Financially, things are more relaxed with hockey season looming and I just feel a sense of purpose in certain areas... I'm really so very satisfied in many aspects of my life right now actually.... A wonderful place to be. I feel at peace and I've let go of some things that I've somehow allowed to cause issue in my life the past year. Just really really HAPPY!

*As I mentioned I've been keeping my runs fairly short. 30-40 minutes a day and then a little longer on the weekends. Reduced mileage, no stress of pace, no specific speedwork, and some other unidentified contributing factors have led to a faster overall pace especially this past week....I am NOT "training" so I have little concern about the "right" way or fast/slow or HR or anything right now for that matter! My concern is letting off a little steam and grabbing an endorphin snack for a half an hour in whatever way feels right:) Ran 4 miles in a 6:50 average the other day and a 7:19 average for 31 miles so far this week. Runs seem very different to me right now. I look at 4-6 miles as such an easy thing to accomplish in a day and I'm enjoying the way I'm viewing running in my life for this "in limbo" period.

*My initial plan was to move into training for 5k even yet this fall. I have never specifically trained for anything but a marathon and quite frankly I've always hated the 5K. I mentally struggle with this distance. It's OK if I'm using it for a marathon as a training tool because the pressure is lower but otherwise I mostly avoid it! I've really never pushed the envelope with speed though and I think I actually have more potential here than I've let myself believe. Interesting talks with a knowledgeable friend who has ran WITH me and always believed this in me led me to exploring this....That being said and regressing back to where I was initially going with this paragraph, I've decided to hold off on it for another month. The Thanksgiving season VERY busy for me with work, my kids have 12-15 hockey practices a week with games and tournaments and I think I will just hold on for one more month of doing what I'm doing before I jump back on the training wagon since I'm enjoying it!! I don't have a specific goal race in mind until a HM next spring so lots of time in there to work on and race 5K should I choose!

*For every marathon I promise myself a reward. I don't consider a PR a good enough reward... The reward has to be material-ha! When my husband gets a deer (his hobby) he gets a $700 hideous mount to hang on the wall so therefore I too deserve a reward for my hobby and the effort I put into it-ha! Kidding....kind of:):) This year I wanted a weekend away with my husband (no kids) which I got and thoroughly enjoyed last weekend and then also I splurged and bought myself a new Lululemon jacket and tights which literally cost more than my grocery budget for 3 weeks....and I have athletic HUNGRY kids....

COMPLETELY random sidenotes.

*My sister Keri is adopting a beautiful baby girl from Congo. She was in the process of adopting from Ethiopia when a child found abandoned in the capital city of Congo was just placed in her virtual arms and she felt compelled to bring her into her family. This has been an emotional and very exciting time. My family is CLOSE. I am VERY close with my 4/5 sisters.....So much going on trying to bring this baby home!! Once the paperwork is done and your WAITING child has a name and a face....it becomes impossibly difficult to play the waiting game....Keri is truly a remarkable person. A wonderful person, a wonderful writer who expresses her feelings so very well.

*My sister Christy is due the beginning of February! I'm pumped for babies!!!

*My kids are AWESOME! Loving their ages and especially loving high school humor. So blessed!

*Buying a ticket to Boston in April! Very excited to spectate and cheer on some great running friends and to actually SEE the super elites!!! Moreso however, I'm just excited for a weekend away by myself and a chance to spend some time with people who are important to me!

*Really looking forward to the hockey season! My kids are on SUPER teams this year with SUPER coaches and SUPER teammates and SUPER parents. I'm really excited to travel with my friends and cheer on my kids! Really really excited!!!

*Go VOTE!

*And next week, back to picture of my kids swinging next to animals on the swingset. The life of a redneck wife and mother in small town America during hunting season......

Jenn's PR TCM race report to the best of my memory:)

So, it's no secret I'm not a race report writer....I don't like to write race reports, I only like to READ them-ha! I do however see the value in writing my race thoughts down almost immediately after a race. When I don't, I end up with memories like my first marathon.....you know the one where I negative split while licking a lollipop all 26 miles and waving at the crowd...Never felt tired and probably could have run 15 more miles.....Hmmm....retrospect is often skewed. SO, here are my more immediate thoughts of THIS marathon!!!!

First of all for those who don't want to read all this hullaballoo, here are my results.

Official time - 3:14:48 / 7:27 pace
Overall place-596 / 8781
Gender Place - 78 / 3687
AG place - 14 / 575

Garmin Results: 3:14:49 / 26.46 miles / 7:22 pace

I posted PICTURES earlier today to make this LESS lengthy.

Pre-race morning festivities

We left our house for Minneapolis on Friday morning. We were experiencing a severe winter storm that left us with 14 inches of snow overnight, shut off our power, and made driving PAINFULLY difficult as the roads were HORRIFIC. Cars in the ditch and we did a COMPLETE 360 and barely avoided the ditch ourselves at one point. I know I'm from Minnesota and should be accustomed to crappy weather but being rural, we have a few more difficulties. My husband was out on an ATV plowing like crazy just so we could get out of our driveway. The bright side-NO snow in the forecast for the Twin Cities, just cold crisp sunny race weather! We arrived around suppertime on Friday and headed to the Expo for our packets!!

Saturday morning we went out to the Medtronic 5K/10K races to spectate and cheer on my daughter Reese as she ran the 5K. She ran super and just a great inspiring way to start a Saturday morning! Ended up meeting my sister and her husband for a pre-race supper at the Cheesecake factory in which case the waiter gave us both a slightly annoyed glance after asking for our third basket of the BROWN bread. I love this stuff!!

Race morning

We were staying in St. Paul near the finish and although a nearby hotel offered a shuttle to the start, my husband opted to drive me as it was FREEZING outside and I did not want to wait outside in line for a shuttle bus. High maintenance.... I went back and forth on what to wear....I sweat A LOT and I HATE to be too hot. The real feel temperature to start was 23 degrees and projected to hit only 42 by the time I finished the race. Shorts? Tights? Shorts? Tights? Eenie meenie, too much bread in taper perhaps, shorts look better on me than tights this morning, eenie meenie... final answer-SHORTS. Shorts, Brooks armwarmers, Brooks vest over Brooks tank, Brooks cap, Brooks earwarmer headband OVER my hat, Brooks Launches and Brooks gloves. I like Brooks:) This turned out to be PERFECT. I didn't shed the gloves until 22 and was never really too cold or too hot.

The race starts at the Mall of America field (formerly the Metrodome) in Minneapolis. This is SUPER because you can stay in the building warm until about 15 minutes before the race when you head out to your corral. I was in Corral 1 and lined myself up right around 3:25 about 30 seconds off the mat. Didn't want to start out too fast although my goal was 3:15. I stood there with a blanket wrapped around me until the 30 second warning and then tossed it off to the side and got ready to RUN!!!

First 5K

I never look at my watch in mile one. My goal was just to run as comfortably as I wanted and not worry at all about pace. I'm generally a slower starter except for last year when I was injured and decided to run a 7:09 in mile one because this made sense....???? Anyway, back to this year where I'm older and wiser. I immediately felt super. I felt like my legs felt fresh, the weather felt GOOD, everything seemed comfortable, I felt confident. My sister was also running and quickly took off ahead of me along with the 3:15 and 3:20 pace groups. No worries. Mile one clocked in at 7:52. OK-a little panic here. I felt very good but very good usually means I feel like I'm running 7:52 and I expect to see 7:30 or better....Had to reassure myself a bit that I had 25 miles left to make this up and I have been starting ALL of my training runs slow and finding it easy to pick up the pace. No need to push in any form yet because for those who have run this marathon, there is a FINE uphill in the first 5K. I went up the hill easy without pushing and shortly thereafter crossed the 5K mat in 22:30ish. Right at about 5K, I caught the 3:15 pacer and huddled in behind his left shoulder.

5K-10K

Starting to warm up here. The course heads down to the lakes here and it is truly beautiful. This marathon is taunted as the "Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in America" and I truly think it deserves this. Besides the over 300,000 spectators which FLOOD the course, the fall colors and the lakes are just beautiful. Constant red and yellow leaves on the road, constant cheering and support. Just a JOY to be out there! I stuck right on the shoulder of the 3:15 pacer as I figured he would run good tangents through this part of the course. I also thought maybe it would be wise for me just to run the whole race right like this. The pace seemed very comfortable, slow even and although I generally do NOT like running with groups, I decided at about mile 4 that this was what I was going to do. Well, then came the mile 5 water stop.... The pacer slowed down considerably and I got ahead of him. I contemplated stopping or slowing and waiting and then thought that this was just not a risk I wanted to take. I would go ahead and perhaps he would pass me back. I took my first gel at mile 5. I haven't taken one single Powerbar gel in all of training this time(I like Cliff Shot) but I decided I wanted the runnier consistency so I bought Vanilla Powerbar gels at the Expo. Crossed the 10K in about 45:10 or something like that feeling very very strong. My pace was faster than planned by this point but I felt so good and just decided to keep trying to run steady without pushing.

10K-HM

I was VERY excited that I would be seeing my family at mile 7. Always exciting for me to see my kids on the course and it gives me something to look forward to. They were on the side of the road cheering and shouting and offering Gels, water, gum! Big smiles and Reese hopped along side me for a couple of seconds! Kept moving on and hit miles 8-11 which are the most sparsely spectated of the marathon but also my favorite in terms of elevation. Short rollers. I wish I could find a whole course like this. Such a mental break for me to go up and down these small hills. I read an article on this marathon and it mentioned that many people ruin their Twin Cities Marathon in this portion of the course however as they tire out their legs while feeling good and push too hard through these little hills. I tried to remember that! I took my second gel around mile 10.5. I was not paying much attention to my Garmin or my pace band but I knew I was running significantly under 3:15 pace by this point. Some battle as to what I wanted to do but I've run this course before and knew what I was in for after mile 20. Banking time while feeling good seemed like the right approach for today. Not sure if it was, but that was my decision at this point. I crossed the HM in 1:35:11. I felt GREAT. I loved crossing the mats because I felt like I had so many personal spectators cheering for me! Some very dear friends that I knew were tracking me!!

HM-30K

As I said, I crossed the half feeling GREAT. I was beginning to do the math and knew I just needed a 1:40 to run my 3:15. 7:35ish pace and I would have my 3:15. I had only 3 miles until I would see my family again which was an easy mental breakdown for me! I noticed somewhere around 15 that I was still feeling pretty good but my pace for same effort was getting a little slower. I had my Garmin set to average lap pace and I had been seeing MANY sub 7:15's and now it was creeping a little higher. Not panicked as I wasn't struggling yet but I knew things were going to get a little tougher. Mile 16, I once again saw my screaming adoring fans-ha! Reese hopped on the course and zipped a gel into my vest pocket which I immediately decided to take and handed me some Powerade zero which I took a sip of. I came to a very short walk here to do so-my first stop of the race as I'm generally quite efficient at running through water stops and drinking on the go. I started running again and broke the race down into another 2.5 mile segment until I would cross the 30K mat. Keep going strong Jenn, your virtual cheerleaders will be waiting for you to cross;)

30K-mile 20

OK-pace slipping a bit now and although my lungs felt really really good, my legs were starting to feel the race. Memories of the hill up to Summit Ave. and then the merciless miles of gradual uphill to follow were beginning to flood my mind. I started to mentally fold a tiny bit here as my body began to feel the affects of running 20 miles at race pace. I started doing math and obsessing over 3:15. 3:15, 3:15, 3:15 even though I was still WELL ahead of this pace. Instead of thinking how FAST I could finish this race, I was thinking of how SLOW I could go to still run 3:15....

Miles 20-23

This is by far the toughest section of the course. The placement of this uphill, although not terribly steep, is very tough in a marathon. I've run Boston and I've run this course 3 times so although I'm from the flat prairie, I'm familiar with hills. This is NOT a fun one. Summit Avenue is gorgeous. The beautiful houses and the spectators are insane but nothing really makes running uphill fun. I broke the course down into .5 mile segments. Run .5 and then I could take a short walk break. I ended up walking 4 times in the next 2 miles while looking at my watch and making sure I would still run 3:15. I was tired for SURE but I was also losing a bit of a mental battle here and letting myself walk.... I passed my family again at 22 and finally shed my gloves and headband. I considered trying another gel since I hadn't had one since 16 but decided against it. At the mile 23 flag, I knew I was going to have to keep it up as 3:15 was no longer banked time. I was right on pace and I would LOSE it if I didn't keep going.

Mile 23-26.46

Ughh-OK-I'm going to run 3:15, this is not in question but I would really rather just walk off the course....I'm just tired of running. I do NOT want to run up the mile 25 hill. Uhh-ohh! My math is based on 26.2. This course will be longer. Will I be happy with 3:15:XX or do I need to break it?? Up up up the hill at 25 which is a nasty nasty little hiccup and then finally finally at about 25.6 or something the downhill to the cathedral, the HUGE American Flag and the turn to the amazing finish line with the Capital behind it in focus. RUN JENN RUN. I managed the last .46 miles in 6:40 pace as I realized I was not going to break 3:15 if I didn't bust my ass. I could hear a few voices yelling in my ear at this point;)

I am so thrilled about his race! I have absolutely NO regrets. Are there things I would do differently? Sure! This is reflection but not regret. I'm happy with the decisions I made this time and I will take them into consideration the next! I am happy to have run a 4 minute PR and I finished feeling confident that I have even more in there for the future. This is not my last marathon PR!!

We had to rush back immediately after the race yesterday as my husband got a work call that sent him traveling for the week so 7 hours in a car right after a marathon....Ughh! The bonus is that now I have a free day to relax at home. My legs feel remarkably good! This is the best I've ever felt physically I think!

Life is GOOD. So many blessings, this PR just being a teeny tiny one... I move over to a new territory with my job tomorrow and head to Coca Cola Grand Forks! I turn 37 this week as my daughter turns 12 and my husband 41. I have a winter ahead of enjoying my family and a spring ahead of finally tackling that HM as a goal! I'm excited. I'm thankful. I'm TRULY TRULY blessed.

Marathon weekend in pictures:)

My Twin Cities Marathon weekend experience from Friday to Sunday in Pictures:) Race report to follow soon!