Mom Running from Cancer

Run for Sherry Arnold

2012-02-12T18:59:00.002-06:00

Like many bloggers I have been saddened by the story of Sherry Arnold - keeping tabs on the events from Shut Up and Run - Here and always wishing for the best . . . but that was not to be. Beth, from Shut Up and Run organized a virtual run for yesterday . . . or any day we wanted . . . and I chose today. Temp's were in the low teens, with winds, bringing the windchill to zero. Chilly, but doable.

I did 3 miles with Sophie and thought about life - Sherry's life, her families life and my life.

Life is short - an often said comment. But until you face a tragedy or a serious illness, it is hard to understand and appreciate. Events like this, make us all stop and appreciate where we are in life. Good or bad - rich or poor - healthy or not . . . there is always something to be Thankful for.

Things can change in an instant - Again, you leave the house in the morning, just like every other morning, but then something happens. Something that you could have NEVER planned. I am not advocating acting like today is your last . . . but there is an aspect of organizing and making peace with things or people that is important . . . why wait until it is too late. Do it now and then ENJOY life to its fullest.

Let those that you love, know it - Tell the people around you. Show them that you love them by treating them lovingly, with respect, whether that be your spouse, your children, your neighbor or the homeless . . . doesn't everyone deserve your respect and love.

I hope and pray that Sherry's family finds a level of Peace and builds a new "normal", albeit without Sherry in person . . . but still loving the person Sherry was.

Peace and Enjoy the moment.

Some thoughts on Cancer

2012-02-05T12:40:00.003-06:00

Although the title of my blog is Mom Running from Cancer, I don't tend to talk a lot about cancer. I think a lot about cancer . . . but I don't talk a lot about it.

There is something about having had cancer that is hard to describe. It is a club that you are a member of . . . but I am not really proud to be a member. Whenever I start a post, it starts out OK, but I always delete the post prior to posting. Well not this time.

To refresh, for anyone who doesn't follow my blog closely, I was diagnosed with stage 3b Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) on Wednesday, September 8th, 2004. I started chemotherapy 8 days later on Thursday, September 16th. From there my treatment included: 1) 4 chemo treatments using A/C, 2) a right side mastectomy, 3) installation of a port under my chest skin to make infusions easier 4) 4 chemo treatments using Taxotere, 5) weekly chemo with another drug, Herceptin for 1 year and 6) 30+ days of radiation.

I have remained cancer free for the last 7 years and plan to continue living cancer free for the rest of my life. I didn't use to think that. I was convinced, based on the severity of my cancer staging and aggressiveness of Inflammatory breast cancer, that my breast cancer would return. When I was diagnosed I never once asked my Oncologist what my chances were or whether he thought I would make it. I am smart enough to know that a single individual is not a statistic and I figured that the data is available on-line so I could always look it up myself. Per cancer.gov , the 5 year survival rate for patients with IBC is between 25 and 50 percent. Trust me, these are not statistics that you want to hear out loud - the only time you want to look at statistics like that are late at night, alone, on the computer.

Today . . . I think I just might make it out of this world without breast cancer coming back . . . maybe!

Now every once in a while I allow my thoughts to head towards the possibility that, I just might live a long breast cancer free life . . . . and who knows, instead of breast cancer returning, I just might get hit by a beer truck, which if that is the case I hope it is Spotted Cow or some other small brewery . . . I would absolutely HATE to get hit by a Pabst Blue Ribbon truck.

Anyway - Here are 11 random things about cancer.

I lost ALL of the hair on my body during chemotherapy. Yup - everything.
That includes the little hairs inside your nose . . . which means when your nose runs it really runs. Those little hairs in your nostrils help slow down the drips . . . without them . . . watch out!
Chemo brain is a real issue. It is no wonder, when you consider the chemicals flowing through your body - even though there is a brain / blood barrier - you get foggy.
I hated the taste of water while I was undergoing chemo treatment. Grape Propel was about the only thing I can drink.
I received approximately 5000 centiGrays, delivered at the rate of appox. 180–200 rads per day for 28 days and then 1 week with an additional boost of 2000 centiGrays for a total of approx. 7000 centiGrays (measurement of radiation) during treatment. A standard mammogram delivers 0.2 centiGrays and a chest x-ray is 0.025 . . . Thank goodness for targeted treatment!
When my hair came back - it was grey . . . oh - wait - that probably started to happen before my diagnosis, I just didn't know it!!!!
I wish the hair on my legs would have never came back. Seems like there should be some benefit that comes from all this.
I did not have reconstructive surgery after the mastectomy. I wear a silicon prosthesis inside of my bra - I don't think anyone knows.
I love my oncologist and believe it or not, love going to see him. I get to see him every 6 months.
I believe that the drug, Herceptin was critical to my successful treatment. My Dr. started me on Herceptin, "off label". At the time, per the FDA, Herceptin was only prescribed for Stage IV, malignant breast cancers. But there were several large drug studies going on and he felt strongly that Herceptin would also benefit earlier stage cancers that expressed a Her-2 gene and started me on it. I received Herceptin weekly for 1 year. Mid way through my yearly Herceptin, the studies were called off because of the success rate. During a study, some patients receive the drug and some patients receive a placebo . . . since it was so clearly successful, they wanted to make sure that those individuals involved in the study received the drug . . . not the placebo and stopped the studies early. Lifetime had a movie, back in 2008 staring Harry Connick Jr. called "Living Proof", which chronicles the discovery and push for the drug. It is based on a book by Robert Bazell, called "Her-2, the Making of Herceptin, a Revolutionary Treatment for Breast Cancer" which is in my ibook library.
Cancer does Suck

and last but not least . . . I final comment about the news this past week . . . With the uproar regarding the Susan G. Koman organization pulling funding from Planned Parenthood facilities because they were under investigation . . . to reversing their decision . . . I am left with very confused feelings towards the organization. How about you? Were you bothered by Koman's withdrawal of funding?

Peace and

Enjoy every moment!

What I wore to work this week!

2012-02-03T20:54:00.000-06:00

Instead of showing what I wore running during the week, I thought I would show you what I wore this week to work. To be honest I think I look a little better dressed for work than before or after I run.

It was a pretty typical work week. 10+ hour days. Tuesday I had a lunch meeting and outside of that lunch meeting I ate a salad at my desk. I did sneak out at lunch on Wednesday for a 20 minute walk.
Work wise, it was a really stressful week. I am involved in lots of meetings, so getting time to actually do "work" at my desk is a luxury that I don't often get to enjoy. Thursday was one of those rare days . . . I had NO meetings and actually got a lot of work done . . . . but still have a lot more to do.

Here goes.

Monday - Black slacks - pink/peachy sweater set and scarf from Chico's.

Tuesday - Black skirt, blue sleeveless sweater with a black outer sweater. And on my feet, my favorite shoes by Think!

Wednesday - Black slacks with blue pinstripes and a blue sweater and my awesome new cowboy boots that I purchased at the F.M.Light and Sons store in Steamboat Springs. Every women needs a pair of cowboy boots.

Thursday - Brown slacks with orange shirt and orange boiler wool sweater jacket and brown Mary Jane shoes.

Friday - Jeans with a print shirt and . . . . yup . . . my cowboy boots!

How was your work week!

Peace and enjoy every moment ;-)

Random 11 things . . . my turn!

2012-02-02T22:16:00.001-06:00

I was tagged by Kimmy at My Life Running.... HERE for the Random 11 things going around the blogosphere. Last but not least I will participate.

1. Post these rules.
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
3. Answer the questions set for you in your tagger's post.
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
5. Go to their blogs and tell them you’ve tagged them
6. No stuff in the tagging section about "you are tagged if you are reading this." You legitimately have to tag 11 people!

11 randoms about me.

1. Copying Kimmy . . . I too am a morning person. I love to run while others sleep and I especially love to enjoy a hot cup of coffee in morning out on the patio is the warm morning hours of summer.
2. My eyebrows are tattooed
3. My father died from an accidental drowning when I was 9 years old.
4. I learned to drive a manual transmission using my boyfriends (now husband's) BMW.
5. I learned to drive a motorcycle and had my permit - but never got my motorcycle license.
6. In college I was a music major and then switched to accounting.
7. I get irritated with people who are too lazy to scrape their car windows off - we live in Wisconsin, carry an ice scraper!
8. I use botox on my forehead!
9. I use Restylane as a filler for my nasolabial folds and LOVE IT!
10. My indulgence is watching Mad Men on Netflix
11. I consider myself lucky to have had breast cancer

Kimmy's questions for me.....

The questions to those I tagged..

1. Whats your favorite workout?

Start the day with a 8 mile run and then hop on my road bike for a nice 30 mile ride.

2. Whats your favorite running food?

Before I run - Oatmeal with fruit and coffee, While I am running - Gu and After I run - sliced avocado with Laughing cow cheese on Sandwich thins.

3. If you could do one favorite thing what would you do?

Downhill skiing

4. Whats the perfect running temperature for you?

50-60 degrees

5. If you had a choice between doing a long run or speed work what would you pick?

Long run

6. What is your favorite holiday and why?

Thanksgiving. I like that there is no "stuff" for sale or major material stuff surrounding this holiday . . . it is such a simple idea . . . give thanks for what we have.

7. Would you go to a friend who needed you no matter what?

Yes

8. Do you like to workout inside or outside?

Run Outside wins all year long. I have my bike set up inside on my trainer, but would rather be outside.

9. What is your favorite training schedule?

Run 5 days out of 7 and be able to bike outside

10 How long have you been running?

I have been running for 20 years!!!!!

11. Why do you run?

I love the empowered feeling and the physical fitness benefits.

I am leaking out . . . Since I am clearly one of the last bloggers to participate . . . I am not going to tag people, because it seems like everyone has been tagged and responded.

Peace and Enjoy every moment!

Happenings

2012-01-28T09:40:00.000-06:00

Started typing this post and decided I would "do over" and simply bullet point my week 'cause that is about all my head will allow me to think . . . short bursts vs proper sentences.

Skied in Colorado
Hurt knee when I took a tumble
Road ski patrol toboggan down the hill (mountain)
Went to ER
Left ER with a knee brace and no more skiing
Spent lots of time Googling knee injuries
Instead of buying lift tickets . . . bought a new pair of cowboy boots
Arrived back in Madison
Tried to catch up at work after being gone a week!!!!
Met with Orthopedic Dr. - diagnosis - knee is probably going to be OK - no torn ACL
Attended my first "We Are All Mechanics" bike maintenance class on Tuesday evening
Got up Wednesday and did a run / walk combination
Got up Thursday - realized that I had been run over by a bus while I slept . . . major head cold was coming my way
Came home from work mid day on Thursday
Passed on my suite tickets for the Badger / Indiana basketball game . . . watched on TV instead
Went to work on Friday - had a really important conference call that I had to facilitate - succeeded
Came home and crashed
Saturday morning - realized that the same stupid bus that hit me Wednesday evening - backed up and ran over me AGAIN!

I hardly ever get colds . . . . so I guess this cold is payback for missing out on all of the other colds . . . . 'cause this is a doozy!

My knee!

2012-01-19T10:38:00.001-06:00

So we are currently on our annual ski vacation in Colorado. We arrived in Steamboat Springs on Saturday afternoon with the plan to ski there Sun-Wed, then drive down to Frisco, and ski at Beaver Creek, Copper and maybe A-basin, returning to Madison late Saturday. 7 full days of skiing. I was sooooo looking forward to this. Up until this week Colorado, like much of the country has not received normal snow falls this year. In Wi we have really only received 2 measurable snowfalls this season. So although there has been snow - the base of snow at the resorts is no where 'normal', but I was still excited.

We got up early on Sunday morning and headed up the Gondola at Steamboat. It was pretty chilly in the morning and the snow was crusty and icy. On my second run, things were going fine, keeping control, slowing down as necessary for the ice. Then my ski slipped out and I was not able to recover. I took a tumble, it really wasn't very violent, my bindings didn't release. Best I can remember, my knee got twisted inward and pop it went. The kids stopped right by me and asked "are you OK?".
My response, "I don't think so".

My knee didn't hurt, it simply didn't feel right. Ski patrol showed up and checked things out. Verdict was that I would ride the sled down the mountain, and go to the ER for a check.

I have always seen people getting taken off the mountain by ski patrol and thought 'wow I hope I never have to take that way down the mountain'. But on Sunday, that was my path down the mountain. I just kept praying that my patrol person, Ashley, knew what she was doing. I would be lying if I said that it wasn't a slightly scary experience. They strap you into the sled with your head pointed down the hill. It is a really strange feeling to be sliding down the hill head first and not being able to see where you are going.

Anyway, we got down, loaded into a transport vehicle, and headed to the ER. X-rays showed nothing broken or cracked. Dr. poked and twisted my knees and said that I probably either tore or sprained my ACL, but that I needed an MRI and they don't do those at ER. The popping sound is usually a dead giveaway for ACL tears. I have had slight swelling in my knee, but that is pretty much under control. I have been doing my stretching exercises, icing, taking ibuprofen and wearing a full knee brace. I have no pain what so ever.

I have an appointment with an Orthopedic Dr. next Tuesday. I am really hoping that it is a sprain not a tear - but I will have to wait to get the diagnosis.
Although I love to ski, it is something that happens once or twice a year . . . I could live without it . . . BUT I can't live without running. That is my priority!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

New Year Day Dash

2012-01-02T11:49:00.002-06:00

Our winter has been really mild so far this year. No snow :-( to speak of and temperatures in the 30's . . . maybe an evening temp in the low 20's, but those nights have been few and far between.

Well Happy January 1, 2012

Today we got hit with freezing drizzle, falling temperatures and winds at 16 mph with gusts up to 31 mph andI had registered for the New Years Day 5 mile Dash! I really questioned whether I should run when I woke up this morning and heard the wind howling. I don't mind running in the cold - but I really don't like to run when it is that windy.

But needless to say - I ran and actually had a great time.

I went back and forth about wearing my Yak Trax and finally decided not to. Much of the course had a thin glaze of ice and it was slippery - but I just wasn't sure they would do any good on such a thin glaze of ice. And I didn't want to get over confident on the ice and slip. Since I didn't wear them - I took it extremely slow over the slippery spots which was much of the first few miles. Much of the time I was off the side of the pavement, running on the frozen, icey ground - but that had better traction than the pavement. I was constantly watching the pavement and ground to make sure where my feet were going to hit. No falls or even near falls!

(falling and getting injured on New Years would NOT be the way to start the Year!!!)

There was some goof ball running as the New Year Baby - gigantic diaper and all!. When I mentioned this to my son - his comment was, well as long as he was really cruising he was probably OK. The problem was that he was NOT cruising . . . cause I passed him around mile 3 . . . and I don't cruise! ;-)

I found a local blogger buddie, Kerri before the race - looked for her after - but I didn't really stick around for long.

5 mile New Years Dash - 51:23

Mile 1 - 10:52

Mile 2 - 10:38

Mile 3 - 10:27

Mile 4 - 10:14

Mile 5 - 9:12

All negative splits - Great start to 2012!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T10:00:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

Sophie (laying) with her mum Nutmeg!

1,000 Miles for the year!

2011-12-20T08:11:00.003-06:00

Yippee! Yahoo! 2 easy miles this morning with Sophie brought me to 1,000 for the year. My goal was 1,100 this year . . . I won't make that . . . but am still happy with being over 1,000 for the second year in a row.

Still Streaking

2011-12-16T19:59:00.001-06:00

Some how
Some way
I am still streaking. I have run everyday since Thanksgiving! Granted many have been only 1 or 2 mile runs . . . but runs none the less.

I am streaking with Ann over at Twelve in Twelve HERE, based on the Runners World challenge and Tall Mom's December challenge HERE . . . two for one . . . why not!

My little streak is NOTHING compared to Shelley over at It's Just One Foot in Front of the Other HERE. Shelly is on something like 558 days and the most awesome part is that her avg miles per day is almost 8. HOLY COW! Now that is a streak . . . but I am not Shelly - so my little 30+ day streak will have to be it for me. ;-)

There have been mornings where I haven't felt like it . . . but I either got up and got out there, or actually ran after work, which isn't something that is "normal" for me. I am usually a run before I go to work person. Even on weekends, if I don't get out the door before 9 it might not happen. I am a creature of habit. I have not had many longish runs - but I have gotten a run in and for that I am glad.

Tomorrow I am planning on running 5 or 6 miles - that is a pretty long run for me!

Are you streaking?

PS - I really should be making Christmas Cookies for a cookie exchange tomorrow evening! Better get started.

Saturday Souper Bowl

2011-12-03T18:47:00.001-06:00

It is Saturday and the weather has been rainy and 40ish for most of the day. The rain did stop around 2 and I was able to get outside for a 5 mile run with Sophie. The temp felt great for a run and I immediately knew I had over dressed. I had worn my light jacket - but took that off and tied it around my waist. It was a good run - it took me about 15 minutes to clean Sophie's belly and feet - wet pavement and a lot of grit! Next time when conditions are like this I should probably think about leaving her at home - but she also loves to get her run in!

I am streaking with Twelve in Twelve - HERE, based on the Runners World challenge and Tall Mom on the Run, HERE, running every day in December. So far so good. I have run every day since Thanksgiving.

Tomorrow I will be joining Jamie, from Running Diva Mom, HERE, for part of her final 1/2 marathon for the year. She set out to do 12, one each month . . . but somewhere along the way . . . something happened. . . she is up to 15 and tomorrow will be her 16th 1/2 marathon this year. Way to go Jamie!

Anyway, back to the post title: I love to make soup in the fall and winter and today's choice is Cream of Broccoli Soup . . . hence the blog post title, Saturday Souper Bowl. This recipe is one I have been making for years. As long as I have broccoli, I always have the other ingredients. It is delish and really easy to make. This was from a restaurant in Madison called Ovens of Brittany. In the late 70's and early 80's we would go here almost daily for lunch, and enjoy a bowl of soup and a croissant. They also offered decadent breakfast muffins / rolls called Morning buns . . . buttery with lots of cinnamon and sugar - my mouth is watering, just thinking about them. Well the restaurant is long gone, but I purchased the recipe book years ago and have found some great recipes from this book.

Cream of Broccoli Soup

6 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup flour
3/4 cup finely chopped onions
1/2 cup finely chopped carrots
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
2 cups coarsely chopped broccoli stems and tops
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1 cup milk
1 cup half and half
32 oz cups vege or chicken stock (I always use chicken stock)
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper (I always use black)
2 dashes hot pepper sauce - or more ;-)

1. To make roux, melt 3 tablespoons butter in small saucepan. Stir in flour until well blended. Cook over low hear, stirring often for 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat.

2. Melt remaining 3 tablespoons butter in large, heavy pot. Add onions, carrots and celery; cook until they are just beginning to get tender. Add broccoli, basil, curry powder, paprika, thyme and celery seed; cook a few minutes longer. Meanwhile heat milk and half and half together. (I do this in the microwave)

3. Add stock to vegetables, bring to a boil, and reduce to simmer. Whisk in the roux until soup is thickened and smooth.

4. Stir in heated milk mixture, white pepper and hot pepper sauce. Simmer 10-20 minutes until flavors have blended but broccoli is not overdone.

Truth be told - today I used 2 cups of skim milk, instead of 1 cup of milk and1 cup of half and half - the soup still tasted great, maybe it isn't as rich - but still a hearty and rich flavorful soup. Personnaly I, would NEVER skimp on the butter!

Enjoy . . . maybe with a nice Chardonnay!

What I Ate Wednesday

2011-11-30T17:17:00.001-06:00

What I Ate today!

Breakfast - at my desk

Chobani Vanilla yogurt with coffee

Lunch - at my desk

Salad brought from home, made this morning

baby spinach

spring mix

carrots
yellow bell pepper
celery
shrimp
pea pods
pomegranate seeds
croutons (not added yet)
blue cheese (not added yet)

Dinner - at home
Salmon burger with roasted Asparagus

Cleaning the closet

2011-11-27T13:34:00.001-06:00

At the beginning of the year I made a pledge to myself that I was going to eliminate, reduce and cut back clothes. I had way too many.

I pledged to not buy any new clothes. Running shoes and bras were excluded. I didn't really need anything, based on my closet and didn't buy anything UNTIL my neighbor invited me to a charitable event at Chico's in October . . . I purchased a sweater set and shirt. Then when I vacationed in Florida, I purchased a black sweater and black skirt from the Black& Whilte store. Although I had pledged to not buying anything . . . I only purchased 5 items . . . so I feel pretty good about that.

The clothes in the closet were piled high - they were jammed packed - they were on the floor - they were put away in plastic storage containers under the bed and in the closet - they were packed into the dresser. These next pictures are embarrassing - but I need to show you just how bad it was.

stuffed to the gills

shirts and sweaters on upper rack

skirts and jackets on lower rack

sweaters and sweatshirts stuffed on shelves

and last but not least -tee shirts, shorts, shirts piled high on a small table and on the floor

The past couple of weeks I have been slowly but surely cleaning out the drawers and closet. It started with a drawer an evening and then about a week ago, I started on the closet. My plan was to finish it up with the 4 day week end. Well that happened today. It took a good 4 hours - hubby and I just finished loading it all into bags. ;-(

Here is a summary of what was pulled out of my drawers and closet. I admit there are still too many clothes left - but this is a good start. I also have to consider that we have extreme seasons in Wisconsin and the sweaters that I wear in the winter to stay warm - have no use in the summers.

Item	Donating

Pants	29
Jackets	14
Shirts	53
Skirts	4
Sweaters	22
Jeans	3
Shorts	12
Tee shirts	52
O/S Jackets	5
Shoes	16
running tops	7
running bottoms	4

total items	221

During the cleaning process

Clothes and bags on the floor

The finished closet - upper rack with shirts

Lower rack with sweaters, skirts and jackets

Shelves that previously were full to the brim!

Table is now visible

All stuffed into 8 kitchen garbage bags!

It took 8 tall kitchen bags to fill up . . . seeing this in bags literally makes me sick. I can not even imagine the money sitting in those bags . . . such excess . . . such waste!

I feel conflicted . . . Happy that it is cleaned up . . . Sad that there was that much stuff to be cleared out. I will be heading to Goodwill tomorrow to drop off the bags full of clothes.

I will be making another pledge for 2012 . . . I wil try and not buy any clothes again for another year.

How does your closet look?

Enjoy the moment!

Happy Thanksgiving To All!

2011-11-23T21:46:00.000-06:00

Hoping all of my blogger friends

have a wonderful

Truly Thankful Thanksgiving!

Battle of the Bays!

2011-11-19T21:55:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow my family will be traveling to Titletown, USA -

home of the Superbowl Champion football team

my team and your team

The

Green
Bay

Packers

They are playing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and we have 4 tickets. YAHOO!

the chant . . . Go Pack Go

has been going through my head all day.

Tomorrow we will be at Lambeau Field cheering on our TEAM!

Go Pack Go!

I have been rounding up Packer Gear.

My outfit will include my
Packer turtleneck
Packer earrings

Packer socks

Packer Hat to keep my ears warm
little Packer bag to carry hand warmers

and

my Reggie White jersey - #92

Cleo - will not be attending the game but wanted to check out my Packer gear!

Go Pack Go!

I could get use to this!

2011-11-19T12:59:00.000-06:00

I was in Miami for a four days at work conference. I stayed at the Epic Hotel. Corporate conferences usually get a "corporate rate" on a certain number of rooms. As long as you commit to the conference "in time" you get a room at a the hotel at a group rate. Well - based on tons of work projects going on, I didn't decide to attend this conference until about 3 weeks ago. By that time all of the group rate rooms were gone. The travel department at my company checked surrounding hotels - but were not able to find much lower rates, so they booked me into an available room at the conference hotel. I didn't really know that it would be any different than the reserved rooms - simply more expensive. Well much to my surprise when I entered my room and discovered it was a suite and it also gave me access to "club level" perks. . . . I didn't even want to attend the conference.

I don't think I can describe just how nice my room and the extras were . . . but let me try.

Separate Living room w/ couch, chair and lovely view

King size bed with floor to ceiling wrap around windows

Bathroom with separate jacuzzi tub and walk in rain shower

Patio with river view

View of Miami river from my patio

Access to the club level lounge.

This pic is of the Centrust building from the club level patio. They offer complimentary food and drinks through out the day - accessible to "club level" guests only. It was wonderful to sit out on the patio, enjoying some spring rolls and other assorted appetizers and a glass of wine. Tonight I decided to venture up to the club lounge to check it out. I am sitting outside on a beautiful patio, overlooking the city.

Beth, at Shut up and Run - HERE , posted today about going crazy while attending a day long conference - eating crappy food and not doing anything. I so agree. It is dangerous attending conferences - buffet breakfasts with sweet rolls, bacon, eggs, etc. Lunch with way too many choices and dessert - really - who needs dessert at lunch!!!. Snacks in the morning and afternoon - cookies, soda, chips and coffee . . . which I drank too much of to stay alert and warm! Why or why do they keep meeting rooms so cold . . . I am never cold . . . but froze in the meeting rooms (as did everyone else). Back to food: Evening receptions, with drinks, shrimp, crab cakes, sliced tenderloin, and too much other stuff to even mention. I go into the conference with a watchful eye on my food intake. While it would be nice to eat - eat - eat . . . I work extra hard to avoid the snacks, eat lightly at breakfast, lunch and dinner, skip desserts (really who needs cheese cake at lunch or 3:00 in the afternoon) and exercise. I got up at 5:30 figuring that I could head outside for a run - but forgot to factor in that the sun didn't rise in Miami until 6:40 - pretty much the same time as Madison. I thought it would rise earlier! So instead of heading out the door before 6, I headed down to the treadmill - got in about 3 miles and then headed outside for another 2.5 mile loop around Brickell Key and the hotel.
Wednesday morning - I ran in the morning and the temperature was 75. Thursday morning - I ran in Madison and the temperature was 22. Quite the difference.
Glad to be home - but I would have liked to stay a couple more days in the hotel and take advantage of the extras ;-)

WWW

2011-11-09T22:06:00.001-06:00

Weather

Work

Wednesday

Weather:
Today started with temperatures in the upper 30's and rain - lots of rain. When my alarm went off at 5:20 I laid there for a few minutes, listening . . . yup - that was rain on the roof. I thought - Maybe it was just a drizzle . . . nope - it was raining1 ;-( No outside run for this morning. I reset the alarm ;-) and slept for about another hour. Somewhere around mid-morning the rain went into a head to head fight with snow . . . with rain winning out downtown and snow winning out at my house. The temperature has continued to drop all day. The low for tonight is 24 - so it looks like a chilly run tomorrow morning - BUT the great news is it won't be raining ;-)

Work:
My work has been pretty stressful lately. Oh well - I deal with it pretty well and for the most part love my job - but sometimes !!!!!!! YIKES - I could use another vacation! Remember I was just in Florida at the end of October and on Sunday I am flying to Miami for 3 days to attend a conference. I plan to attend the conference - but any spare moment will be relaxing and again running outside without jackets, hats and gloves!
Besides the stresses of my job -the BIG stress that had be weighing on my mind lately has been that one of my staff was diagnosed with breast cancer in August. She had a lumpectomy and will be undergoing chemo, starting next week. This all just brings back way too many memories. I was diagnosed 7 years ago and started my treatments - chemo - surgery - radiation in September 2004. I KNOW that this is about her and her journey and her treatments . . . NOT ME - but I can't stop dredging up the fears of my journey! Everyone . . . well not everyone, but many MANY people have been saying to me - "Oh she is so lucky to report to you . . . you understand exactly what she is going through" . . . although I do understand what she is going through -

what happened to me
how I dealt with cancer
how I felt after chemo
how I felt about my mastectomy
how I still feel about my mastectomy
how I dealt with the fears
how I felt when I lost my hair
how I continue to deal with lymphedema
how I worry about my future

Was MY Journey - I have a hard time sharing - offering advice - . . . . it is just hard.

I have no wrap up of my comments / no "it will be OK" / no summary . . . these are just my feelings - good or bad and seeing my thoughts in black and white is part of my journey.

Wednesday:
Hump Day - YAHOO!

Turkey Trot 5miler

2011-11-06T12:51:00.001-06:00

I ran the local Turkey Trot this morning. Last year I did the 5k and this morning decided to do the 5mile run. Temp's were perfect - but it was a little windy. But I felt great and had a good time. No pic's. I headed down to the park at about 8:30 to register this morning, got my bib and then returned home. The park is about 5 minutes from my house and the 5k started at 10:00, while the 5mile run started at 11:00.

I was doodling around and lost track of time . . . then I realized is was 10:40, still had to gather my handheld, fill it up, and grab my ipod. Headed out the door and got in the car and my watch read 10:48. Drove down the street about 3 blocks - realized that I forgot my bib - turned around - ran into the house - grabbed my bib - found pins - pinned it on and was off again. Clock now read 10:50. As I drove I unzipped my warm up pants, so they would be ready to pull off - when I got to the stop light at 10:54 and realized it had just turned red, I figured I had time to put the car in park and took my pants off and threw them into my bag and gathered everything else up and through it in. Light turned green - turned into the park - grabbed my bag - headed to the shelter to drop my bag - jogged to the start - arrived with 2 minutes to spare! OK - that is cutting it a little too close for my comfort.

The run is a cross county path so I have to watch the ground the entire run, since there are twigs, tree roots and uneven footing. Last year I actually placed 2nd in the 5k in my age - not so lucky this year - I checked the board and I was 6th in my age group - 48:44. Although I felt great running - my time was not so great!
Oh well - it was still a fun run and I had a good time.
My lap times are as follows:
1 - 9:24
2 - 9:34
3 - 10:06
4 - 10:20
5 - 9:20
for an average pace of 9:48.

Kayak and beach day

2011-10-29T14:25:00.001-05:00

We spent the late morning kayaking around the mangrove bay, then stopped for lunch and are now on the beach. Yesterday we went shopping and then stopped for pedi's. Rains came in last evening - lots of rain. But today has turned out beautiful.

I ran 4 miles this morning in extremely HIGH humidity - yikes, I haven't ran in that much humidity since summer. I was dripping wet. I had absolutely no regrets, because when I get back to WI, I will be running in pants, gloves, hat and jacket and NO humidity! So I am going to enjoy this while it lasts.

Typing this on blogaway, which doesn't have spell checker - !!! Hoping for only a few typing mistakes!

Bonita Springs

2011-10-28T09:01:00.001-05:00

It is wonderful to be here in Florida. The weather is beautiful and the mood is relaxing. Yesterday I started the morning with walking a mile with my friend, then she turned back and I ran. I ran for 6 miles.

I stopped on the path and took a picture and now I have a palm tree growing out of my head. It was a great run. There is a path right outside of the condo which is filled with walkers and a few, very few runners.

When I got back to the condo, after showering and eating we headed to the beach. It was perfect. 80 with clouds and some sun and a lovely breeze.

Late afternoon was filled with dinner at a great seafood place. I had stuffed grouper. Yum!!!!

Life is good. So fun to be energized with two 12 yr old girls! Painting nails in shocking purple and bright pink ... shopping is always the activity of choice ... laughter and giggles. :-)

Currently sitting on the lanai overlooking the channel.

Vacation

2011-10-26T19:48:00.001-05:00

I flew into Ft Meyers this afternoon for a wonderful 5 day vacation. A friend has a condo in Bonita Springs and she invited me to join her for a little vacation. We woke up in Chicago, flew to Ft Meyers, took a taxi to the condo, stopped at the grocery store, unpacked, enjoyed a beer on the linai, sat at the pool, had some great fish tacos and are now relaxing and ready for bed.

My plan is to run tomorrow morning. No gloves, no jacket - ahhhhhhh!

Few word Wednesday - I think

2011-09-28T19:50:00.000-05:00

It has been one of those weeks.

During the entire drive home from work tonight, that occured at 7:30PM, all I could think about was . . .

Was it Wednesday or Tuesday? . . . It has been one of those weeks.

I was so glad when I finally figured out it was Wednesday.

Yea

Peace

OK this is Fall Weather!

2011-09-17T12:25:00.000-05:00

I love to run in cooler temperatures so it has been great lately. This last week we did get a little too chilly for this time of year with morning lows in the mid to upper 30's, which meant gloves and jackets - but today it was beautiful. Temp's were in the mid to upper 50's with a breeze - I felt great. I had 10 miles on the schedule again this weekend. Last 3 were suppose to be at Tempo pace. I decided to see how I felt to see what I did at the end.

First couple miles were with Sophie - warm up and getting moving sort of miles . . . and stop and sniff sort of miles ;-) Then off for 8 more miles. I felt great . . . Oh I already said that! I have to remind myself that sometimes I really do feel great running longer distances - usually it just seems like a LOT of work.

My avg pace was 9:50. Mile 6 & 7 were just over 10 min miles and then the last three were faster with the last mile at 9:18. I am happy with that.

Now for the rest of the day -

I am home alone, since my hubbie is off to Milwaukee with my oldest son to look at a new car. We bought both of our boys cars while they were in high school - he has now been out of college for 1+ years and still driving the Chevy Impala . . . with well over 110,000 miles on it and the transmission is not sounding good. This is my conservative son, so this sort of surprises me . . . he is looking at a Subaru Impreza WRX - which is a sporty souped up car! Oh well - he is young - he has a great job - and doesn't spent money easily - I am only hoping he will let me drive it! It will be manual transmission, which I haven't driven in a few years, but love it! ;-)

Off to shower - then mow the lawn - make chili - do a little cleaning - and listen to the Badger Football game.

Peace and ENJOY the moment!

Pooltime

2011-09-11T19:42:00.001-05:00

In honor of the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 I ran 10 miles this morning. While it was on my schedule, I did use the memory of that day as motivation to keep going. It still shocks me when I think back to the quick chain of events that fateful morning. I was at work and someone came by and said that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center in New York. We immediately tried to get information from the Internet, which worked for awhile, but then just wasn't quite up to the task so the radio became our primary source. Now 10 years later and it still seems unimaginable and unbelievable but something we will never forget!

This mornings Run:
The run actually went pretty good. I did the usual 2 miles with Sophie and then headed back out for 8 more miles. Temp's were great and it was a beautiful sunny morning. I finished in 1:42 for a 10:15 pace, with the last three miles at 10:06, 10:10 and 10:08 - pretty happy with that. It felt good. And although it was great for a little 10 mile run - Today was also the WI Ford Ironman event. At 7:30 pm the temp is 81 - certainly warmer than the athletes would have preferred.

K-9 Doggie Paddle fundraiser:
This afternoon my son, his girlfriend and I headed to our community pool with our dogs. This was I think the 3rd annual K-9 doggie paddle. The pool closed last weekend - but was opened today for dogs to enjoy and boy did our dogs love the water. This event is a fund raiser for the Police K-9 unit with proceeds going to support the 6 dogs and necessary training. One of the dogs was there and boy he was well behaved . . . . There were about a couple hundred other dogs in the pool - but it was not crowded.

Sophie and Nutmeg will sleep well tonight! I will too! ;-)

Sophie and Nutmeg ready, get set, go!

Sophie headed back with her ball - Nutmeg still out looking.

Getting back onto the deck was made easy with this floating platforms

Sophie and her pink ball

Even the police on horses were there to enjoy the pool.

The horses seemed to enjoy cooling their legs down in the pool.

Lunchtime Run

2011-09-09T14:00:00.000-05:00

First off: I LOVE HOT HUMID Weather . . . and I LOVE COLD and SNOW (to a point) . . . but right now we are experiencing drop dead gorgeous weather in Wisconsin. I had forgotten just how nice our fall weather could be!

The temp's have been in the mid 70's all week with nothing but pure sunshine and blue skies! Just beautiful. I realize that parts of the east coast and south have been experiencing more rain than necessary . . . but not here.

I have been following a training program getting ready for, a yet to be determined fall 1/2 marathon, since I will be on a mini vacation to Florida during the Haunted Hustle. On the schedule today was a moderate tempo run of 5 miles with 1 warm-up and 1 cool-down. Last night I stayed up too late - watching the Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers!!!! and just couldn't drag myself out of bed early enough to not only get in 7 miles but also make it to work for an 8:00 meeting. I usually get to work around 8:30, so getting there for a 8:00 meeting throws a wrench into my normal routine . . . plus getting 7 miles in . . . just wasn't going to happen this morning. I did get up and ran 2 miles with Sophie - warm-up for 1 mile and then 9:10 pace for mile 2. I decided it was so nice out that I would run the other 5 miles at lunch. I work downtown and have access to a many wonderful routes, one along the lakeshore. So I set out a little after noon. Based on my first mile . . . I must have known that I had already did my warm up mile in the morning. Mile 1 - 9:02 Mile 2 - 9:18 Mile 3 - 9:49 and Mile 4 - 9:15 and then finished with a cool down 1/2 mile at 10:15. Happy - very happy with my time.

During my cool-down mile I stopped at a little coffee shop/ restaurant for a veggie wrap to go, because one other things that I didn't get up early enough to do this morning was make my salad for lunch, headed back to the office to shower and get back to work - oh and write a little post ;-)

WI Ironman is this Sunday - it was very motivating to see competitors in the water practicing, what I assume to be, their final swim before Sunday. Good luck to all!

Our best bike ride yet! Almost ;-(

2011-08-29T21:33:00.000-05:00

Hubby Todd, oldest son Joe and I again biked to New Glarus on Saturday.

It was a drop dead BEAUTIFUL August day in WI. A 10 mile breeze out of the

north - 80 degrees and sunny. Our plan for the day was to bike to New

Glarus, 26 miles. Stop at the brewery for a couple of beers and some

pizza, then stop at the pet store where my son's girlfriend works, say hi

and then head back to Madison for a round trip of 52 miles.

Started the day drinking my favorite coffee - Bike Fuel, from Just Coffee a

local Roaster.

Remember last time we biked to New Glarus we biked through a downpour just

before arriving at the brewery. Nothing like that on Saturday. We cruised

the whole way there in beautiful weather. We again got off the bike path

and took a couple of really big hills into the brewery - they were just as

steep as last time ;-) but not getting drenched made for a much nicer

ride. The brewery has a pizza company visit the location a couple of

weekends a month and Todd had looked at the events calendar and said that

stone fired pizza would be there on Saturday. Well he was off by a day,

they were there on Sunday. Knowing that the local Subway was only a short

bike ride into town, we sent Joe into town to pick up a couple of subs.

After devouring our sub's and enjoying a couple of beers, we headed back

down the hill and into town, stopping at the pet store to say hi to Joe's

girlfriend and then proceeded to the fudge shop to pick up some Jalapeno

Fudge . . . it is really yummy . . . you take a bite and it is

chocolate . . chocolate . . chocolate . . . and then . . . spicy! Finally

ready to hit the trail and head back to Madison. We again got to walk

through the tunnel and continued through the small town of Bellville and

towards Madison. Both down and back we try to draft off each other as much

as possible. Going to New Glarus, we were averaging close to 17 miles an

hour - since we are using a mountain bike(Joe), a cross over (Todd) and a

commuter (Linda) bike over the crushed stones / dirt / gravel . . . that

seems like a pretty good pace. Coming back we were averaging close to 15

miles an hour, with a direct head wind. Just about 10 miles from Madison,

Todd, who was directly behind me, crossed over and hit my rear tire with

his front time. I felt a jerk - but kept going, while he did not. He took

quite a tumble in the brush, landing hard on his right shoulder. We

stopped and went back to him, leaving him rest for a little while. Then we

had to decide what to do - he was able to move his arm, but said that it

hurt quite a bit - but he thought he could bike. We hopped back on the

bikes and stopped a couple of times to check things out. His shoulder

continued to get tighter and more painful - so once we got to a cross road,

he stopped and waited while Joe and I continued back to the car. Joe

helped me load my bike up and then I headed back to pick up Todd and take

him to the Emergency Room. After a wait in the waiting room, a wait in the

examination room, a wait to see the Dr., a wait for the X-rays and another

wait for the Dr to return . . . the diagnosis was a broken collarbone.

They put the arm in a sling and sent us home. Just so that you don't think he

was drunk! He doesn't like beer and only had a couple of sips of my beer! I

said that maybe he should have had more to drink because it would have

relaxed him when he went flying off of his bike!

So while the ride started off GREAT and we were all having a good time -

Todd is done with biking for awhile. Hoping the healing goes well. I was

getting use to having someone to bike with - it was nice and I was very

proud of him for making the 50+ miles, especially with about 5 of them with

a broken collarbone.

On RUNNING note - I missed my Sunday morning run. Just too tired after

spending the evening in the ER. Since Monday is a rest day, I thought

about running my long run this morning - but then I would have to adjust

the other runs during the week - So I followed the plan this morning and

rested. I might pick up an extra run over the long Labor Day weekend next

week. Tuesday morning is scheduled for repeats . . . 5 X 1000 meters with

2 min rest between. I will start with 2 miles with Sophie - drop her off

and head back out for my 3+ miles of repeats. While I have done repeats

before, I usually do shorter, 400 meter repeats - I'll see how I do with

these longer repeats.

The Haunted Hustle on October 29th was my next 1/2 marathon and I wanted to

train pretty hard for it especially since I had so many hamstring /

piriformis issues over the summer and wasn't able to get the training miles

called me Friday afternoon and asked me if I wanted to join her and her

daughter at their Florida condo over the last week of October for about 5

day of relaxing at the ocean - of course this falls right over the weekend

of the Haunted Hustle. I told her I would think about it and would let her

know today. Dah! Although I really wanted to run in the Haunted Hustle -

it was a really fun run last year - it isn't like I was going to win the

race - there will be other runs. I am heading to Florida for a mini

vacation - October 26 - Oct 31. Looking at replacing the Haunted Hustle

with the ZOOMA Lake Geneva 1/2 marathon, HERE on October 22nd.

Stay tuned

Enjoy the moment!

After the Mini

2011-08-26T12:20:00.000-05:00

Saturday was the Madison Mini Marathon. I posted the recap HERE. I felt great Sunday morning - got up, took the dog for a walk / little run and went to church. Husband and I then decided to bike to Sauk City. From the park and ride where we started from in Middleton it was a 35 mile round trip bike ride. I looked up a couple different routes using Map My Ride and after some deliberation decided on the path that DID NOT include biking along State Hwy 12. This is a busy road and I didn't really think that was the best option. There is a bike path along some of the route, so we stated on a paved bike path and then turned off onto county roads. Holy cow - hills, hills and more hills. To be honest they were not too bad, but I felt pretty sorry for my husband. I bike a lot - he doesn't and he weighs a lot more than me, so it takes a lot out of him to bike up hills. Added to the hills was the STRONG wind coming out of the North / northwest - which was exactly the direction of the wind, which was blowing close to 13 mph with gusts up to 18 mph. At the summit of every hill, I would wait for my husband - we would head down the hill together and just about every time, there was another hill. We took a couple of breaks, where we stopped for water and to regroup and then kept going. He was a trooper. Once in Sauk City, we stopped and spent some time watching the Wisconsin River and then headed to find someplace to stop for a bike to eat and to figure out a different route to get home. We settled on Culver's, a local "fast food, made to order" restaurant offering sandwiches, burgers and frozen custard . . . neither of us ordered frozen custard. ;-)

We decided that we would head back to Middleton on the other route, biking on Hwy 12 for 2.3 miles. WOW oh WOW was that a different bike ride home. Granted we had the wind at our backs, which clearly make a difference, but this route was considerable flatter! We were on a bike path for about 2 miles coming out of Sauk City, then a couple of back roads for another 4 miles (with all of these being very flat to moderately rolling), then we turned onto the Hwy - which has really wide shoulders (a car width) and as long as you are mentally OK with cars buzzing by you at 55-65 mph it is OK. Once off the Hwy, another section of back road, and then we crossed over and were back on the bike path for the last 9 miles. What a difference a route makes.

It took us close to 1hr and 20 minutes to get to Sauk City and a little over 1 hr to get home. We will do this ride again - I would be fine with the hilly route - husband would like to stick to the flatter path. ;-)

On running news - I took Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off from running. I got back into the swing of things and ran both yesterday and this morning. I looked over some training plans - in preparation of the Haunted Hustle, which is my next half marathon at the end of October. I am going to actually train to cut time off of my 1/2 marathon pace. Last year I finished the Haunted Hustle in 2:07:41 and would like to break that record this year. So I need a plan - I am going to try and follow Ryan Hall's Half Marathon plan from Runners World - hardest part will be "really following it". I tend to modify things as I go - don't wake up early enough - skip that particular workout. So far so good. Although I "missed the Tuesday workout - I did both the Thursday 30-40 minute easy run . . . doing 3.8 miles in 37 minutes and this morning doing a 1m warm-up - 4 mile tempo and then 1m cool-down (cut a little short). My avg tempo pace was 9:34 for the 4 miles - pretty happy with that.

Hoping that Irene backs away from the East coast and that all the bloggers running the Hood to Coast relay on the West coast have a great time.

Those of us in the middle have a super beautiful weekend coming up. We are going out to eat with some friends tonight - taking the boat out for a little ride on the lake and then heading to Nau-ti-gal, a local restaurant on the lake for dinner. Then tomorrow it looks like we are biking to New Glarus again. Hubby picked up a New Glarus Spotted Cow t-shirt on our last trip to the brewery (I got a "I got Totally Naked at New Glarus Brewery" t-shirt (my fav beer)) but he picked up a 2XL size . . . soooooo big . . . while he isn't a small person - he isn't that large! Obviously we could drive there - but biking is so much more fun!

Looking forward to tonight's dinner with friends

tomorrows bike ride

and Sunday's long run - 8 miles

Enjoy the moment!

3rd Madison Mini Marathon

2011-08-21T19:57:00.001-05:00

This was the third running of the Madison Mini Marathon. I have run it all three years and enjoy it each and every time . . . actually liking it better each time. It doesn't get boring - maybe it is the idea of a "home field" advantage. Not like I am setting any records - but running through the streets of Madison makes me proud to call this city my home. All of the major attractions / locations that the mini travels through mean something special to me. I have no pictures from the Mini - maybe I will be lucky and actually have a NON-embarassing finish line photo - or one on the route that I can share with you when the photo's are posted.

The race was scheduled to start at 7:00 on Saturday morning. Although I don't lay things out ahead of time, I am usually calm and collected the morning of a race - but for some reason I was disorganized on Saturday morning and felt like I was running behind from the start. I headed downtown and had to stop to pick up some gatorade, while on the way to the local PDQ store, I saw a fox - right in the city. I thought this might be a sign - I was going to be fast as a fox . . . even though I didn't really get many long runs in. Well that was what I had hoped it meant.

Once I got downtown, I parked in a ramp a little ways away from the start location, so that I had a chance to walk / job to the start. As I said I was running late and heard the singing of the National Anthem from State street and still had about 3 blocks to make it to the race start. I made it to the G corral right aroung 6:55 and settled in . . . for a couple of minutes, until the anouncer came on the microphone and said that due to an approaching storm, they were going to delay the start of the race. They instructed us to go to the Memorial Union, Red Gym building or the Lakestreet parking structure. They said they would give people plenty of time to get back to the start when the race was back on. Well I headed to the Lakestreet parking garage, sat down and settled in . . . chatted with a really nice women, Kristy. The rains came - the thunder came - the wind came. We waited. Somewhere around 7:45 I left the parking structure to use the porta pottie. I figured no matter whenever we started we were going to be running in the rain, so getting a little wet didn't really matter. I headed back over the the finish area and used the facilities - then headed to the Red Gym to wait it out there. Found a spot to lean against a door, then settled in on the floor. And waited - Finally about 8:15, the race was on and we all headed to the start. Since I was really close - I did take some cover from the rain for a while, until more and more people were there. The rain continued - not too bad . . . until the start. Then it poured and as we rounded on corner the winds blewwwwwww!

The run started at 8:30 - I crossed the start at 8:33 and was off . . . slowly.
I usually don't run with my hat, unless it rains. The forecast was a chance for showers so I thought I would bring it and I was soooooo glad that I had it on to keep the rain sort of out of my eyes.

The rain subsided after a half hours, eventually the sun appeared and it was a beautiful day - full of sunshine.

Here is a list of some of the places we passed and their meaning for me.

Start: We start out at the Memorial Union. Although I didn't graduate from the UW, my husband did and I remember spending time at the Union when he was a student. We also like to stop there from the water and buy an ice cream cone. I also attended a wine tasting class there - and it was a blast.
Next up is the Capitol. Well - what can I say about the state Capitol. It is a beautiful building - located in the center of the city. When I drive to work, I look directly at the Capitol - and hey they changed the lighting to Green and Gold in honor of the Packers.
Mile 1: We then headed down State Street. Anyone who lives or has visited Madison has been to State Street. It is downhill and many runs head down this famous street.
Mile 2: We then headed near the Kohl Center, home of the UW basketball and hockey teams. And graduation site of the local high schools - so in addition to watching great basketball and hockey games - both of my sons graduated from high school at the Kohl Center.
Mile 3: We ran past the Space Science and Engineering Building (my husband works there) and then Camp Randall, home of the UW Badgers football team.
Mile 4: Passed through the Henry Vilas Zoo - this is a free zoo and I spent a lot of time there when the boys were young. Passing through the Zoo, one of the city's hospitals, St.Mary's is in view - both of my sons were born at St. Mary's.
Mile 5&6&7: Before mile 5 we enter the UW Arboretum - this is a beautiful nature preserve area. BUT I always find this a boring area for a road race - since there are very few homes - there are few spectators and isn't really anything to look at - trees - vegitation - trees - and more vegitation. Don't get me wrong - I like to run through it - but for a race - it always seems like a long way with not much to distract me. But on a hot day - it is always a cool location, due to the dampness and tree coverage. Since I have been biking more the last couple of years I am quite familar with the Arb and feel like I know where the hills are and know the turns quite well.
Mile 8 & 9: Just out of the Arb and running near the Nakoma Golf course and then though the Monroe St area. Although I have never golfed Nakoma (private course) I have walked it when son #1 golfed on the East High School golf team - it is a beautiful course. Then there is Monroe St. In my mind - this area of Madison is made famous because of the red flags that are along the intersections - pedestrians carry a flag when they cross the road. I swear they just walk - it doesn't matter whether they have a walk like or not - if they have a flag - they walk and as a driver - you slam on your brakes. Can you tell this irritates me tremendously!!!!
Mile 10: This section is mainly residential - but near Madison West - which is one of the other high schools in town - I spent a lot of time on their tennis courts with son #2.
Mile 11: Brings us to the UW CoGen Plant - my employer MGE and the UW co-own this generation plant. Next up is the UW Hospital - I spent a lot of time there with my mother (years ago) And the best part about mile 11 was looking forward to Chelsea, previously from Early Runner, HERE - BUT now from Theology and Geometry HERE. She was not running the mini - but was going to be near mile 11 cheering us on. I was so looking forward to seeing her - mile 11 is tough - so close - but still a couple miles to go. And there she was - with a poster and all!
Mile 12: Lakeshore path - cool temp's because of all of the trees - easy on your legs, because it is a dirt path - right on the shore of Lake Mendota. Whenever I run this path I remember when I was training for my one and only marathon - I ran from my house to here and stood there and looked across the lake and thought wow - I have a long ways to run home! I also say Kerri, from TutuRunner - HERE and her Team in Training friend Dano along the path - they came up behind me and were running STRONG, especially considering this was mile 12. Kerri had a great run and a PR by 5 minutes. :-)
And the FINISH: back at the Memorial Union - the crowds cheering and the best part was the Milwaukee Brewers Sausages were there and I high 5's each one of them, including the Hot Dog, the Brat, the Italian Sausage, the Polish Sausage and Kerri's favorite the Chorizo.

I saw Kerri from TutuRunner HERE, and Dano at the finish - and gave her a good hug! I had hoped to see Jamie from Running Diva Mom - HERE - but didn't see her before or after the run.

I headed for chocolate milk (YUMMMMMM) a banana and picture in the big chairs ( a mini tradition) - then off to search for co-workers.

2011 - 2:16
2010 - 2:08
2009 - 2:12
. . . so this was slower then the past two years . . . but who cares! I don't!

Sometimes it is ENJOYING the journey that counts! I had a blast and must have high 5's at least 20 people - that is a GOOD DAY!

ENJOY the MOMENT! Don't sweat the small stuff - running fast - running slow - it is all running!!!!

Recent Happenings!

2011-08-18T21:58:00.000-05:00

Happenings since my last post on July 31st

It seems like forever since I posted on my blog. Summer has been some sporadic

entries but nothing regular - so I thought I would post a summary of what I

have been up to.

House related happenings:

Fireplace replaced

Gas Insert with big boulders! So 70's

New gas fireplace with stacked stones

Side pockets for glass shelves behind the fireplace

New furniture delivered

Electrician installed accent lights and outlets for track lighting and

ceiling fan (yet to be picked out)

Walls painted - beige and light mossy green
Carpeted stairs replaced with oak hardwood stairs

Carpeted stairs replaced with . . .

. . . with hardwood

Carpet installed in family room

Carpet installed in the boys bedrooms

As of this past weekend, most things have been returned to their correct home.

Here are a couple of pictures

Biking happenings:

Biked in the MS 150 bike ride - biked 75 miles on the first day and it was

a wonderful day - average speed was 16.7 and I felt great. Sunday we woke

to rain and thunder and had a delayed start. Then ran into roads that had

recently been covered with asphalt aggregate material, we were warned the

wipe our tires down as soon as we got off those roads, but it didn't help

me - Flat tire - I was pulling shards of sharp material (glass and metal)

out of my tires! Due to delays and flat tire issue I only biked 45 miles

on day 2 for a total of 120 over the two days. It is such a well supported

ride and the people are all wonderful - even with the road issues I had a

great time.

Stopped for a beer on Saturday.

teammates at end of MS 150 bike ride (love that it looks like I am the tall one!)

Popped tubes from the crushed asphalt road.

Biked to New Glarus with husband and son again! Got caught in a DOWNPOUR -

totally soaked - but we had brought other shirts in my bag and we were able

to change when we got to the brewery - after a couple of beers and a chocolate cow, all was

good.

Continue to bike to work 2 days a week.

Boating:

Went out on the boat last Tuesday with a co-worker of my husbands and his

family. Kids tubed and he wanted to water ski, but thought I should go

first. I brought my thigh wrap, wrapped my leg tight and skied and did not

have any hamstring issues - yeah!

Me on the jet ski

Jet skied.

Yard work:

My son, with some help from me, installed stone border around my back

flower garden.

Working on the edging

completed edging along the side

edging along the back

Running:

Due to hamstring issues, my runs over the last 4 weeks have been pretty limited. I haven't wanted to PUSH it too much - but wanted to give myself the confidence that I could do

the Madison Mini on Saturday. So I have been doing 2 longish runs per week of

7 - 9 miles for the last 3 weeks. Other than that, my running has been pretty limited to usually 1 other day of 3 or 4 miles with days off in-between. Whenever I do run, I feel a twang in my

hamstring, but I get used to it by mile 2. It also causes me to take a shorter stride.

Last weekend I ran and was heading back into my neighborhood at 8 miles. I felt really good and thought about running 2 more miles, but left it at 8. I was confident that I could do 2 more and didn't think I needed to prove to myself that I could finish 13 miles.

This week I ran 4 miles on Tuesday and have been taking it easy ever since. I know that I have not adequately "trained" for the 1/2 marathon like I would have liked - but I have done some serious biking and am hoping that the cross training will pull me through.

Goals for the race: None - Last year I ran it in 2:08 and the year before 2:12. I don't think those numbers are going to happen this year. I know I MUST start slow otherwise I won't make it. I am not very good about starting a race slow - I get very caught up in the excitement and want to prove that I can keep up with those around me - but not this race - I am absolutely committed to starting out slow on Saturday for the first 3 miles and then go from there. I will start in my coral, but will be paying close attention to my garmin to make sure that I go slow.

Family Happenings:
Let me introduce you to our new kittie - Cleo

Oscar, our older cat tolerates her and Sophie our golden loves to chase her around. She is a lot of fun, but she wakes up in the middle of the night and wants attention. She comes up to your face and meows and meows and meows until you pay attention to her.

Busy summer - Happy days - Fun with family - Fun with friends - New Pets - Biking - Running - LIVING!

Enjoy the moment!

Broken Record - hamstring issues - but a good beer makes it better!

2011-07-31T11:54:00.000-05:00

Just when I was feeling better I went water skiing and twinge went my hamstring. ;-(

Friday evening was a beautiful time to be on the boat - hot, humid, low winds and almost no other boats. The family all went out of the boat to get some good water skiing in and cruise around the lake. I jumped in second and immediately on getting up on the ski's I felt a tug to my hamstring. DANG - double DANG!

I am taking it easy AGAIN for a couple days, I ran / walked 2 miles yesterday and decided to take today off. I am going for long run Monday morning and hope that it feels OK. The Madison Mini Marathon is on Aug 20th - JUST 3 weeks away and I am still committed to running. I have come to accept that it will be tough and I probably won't be running very fast - but I am just hoping that I can run it without being in pain. My mileage has been really low to almost non-existent for July, between the heat and humidity and piriformis and hamstring problems I have not put in nearly the time I had planned. When I look back over then month I only ran 7 times with the longest run happening last week with 6.65 miles. I need to work out a new plan to fit some longish runs in between now and Aug 20th . . . oh and bike 150 miles in the MS 150 bike ride, which is August 6 & 7 . . . so obviously I won't be running on either of those days. Wish there were more days in the week.

I did put in 362 miles on my bike and feel ready to tackle 150 miles next weekend. I biked to work 9 days and went on 10 training rides all in preparation of biking 75 miles on Aug 6 and 75 miles on Aug 7 in the MS 150 Bike Ride. I am really REALLY hoping that this cross training will help me out during the 1/2 marathon.

Yesterday my husband and son biked to New Glarus on the Badger State and Sugar River bike trails - it was hot and sticky - but our goal was to make it to town in time to get to the New Glarus Brewery - home of Spotted Cow and Totally Naked, to name a couple of my favorite beers made there - and we did. The brewery stops offering tastings at 4:00 and we walked in about 3:50 and were able to buy a glass and get it refilled with a second beer before they closed the doors. Since we were there I also bought a case of Totally Naked and got my son a sampler six pack with some of their other beers that he has not tried. How did we carry a case of beer on our bikes? (My son's girlfriend works in New Glarus and had our SUV with bike rack with her - we got a ride back to Madison and actually stopped at a local bar in New Glarus for a burger and fries before heading home.) I have got to say, that I can't remember the last time I ate a burger and fries and although I know I won't probably be eating another one soon - it sure did taste REALLY GOOD - YUMMMMMMM!

New Glarus Brewery - Hilltop

Joe and Todd on the front steps - it was hot and we were looking for shade!

Todd and me enjoying our brew after a 26 mile bike ride

Sample 6 pack and case of Totally Naked!

Totally Naked and a Raspberry Tart!

Since the MS 150 is a fundraising event to help find a cure for MS - I have been raising money and am including a link to my fundraising page. If you know someone suffering with MS and would like to contribute towards finding a cure - check out my page HERE and leave a donation. THANKS!

MS 150 Bike Ride Packet Pickup WINNER!

2011-07-24T13:12:00.000-05:00

Two weeks ago was our packet pickup for the MS 150 bike ride. It is hosted at a local Car Dealership - Jon Lancaster - HERE. The dealership supports the ride and uses the packet pickup as a fundraiser, with silent auction goodies, a raffled bike giveaway and free bike tune ups. Some of us met up at the dealership after work to pick up our packets and then headed out for a 20 mile bike ride . . . which was of course followed by a stop at a local bar for beer and a few munchies . . . a must after a training bike ride!

I am a sucker for any silent auction - it raises money for a cause and maybe I get lucky and win. I added my name to three silent auction packets - a really nice messenger bag and Road ID, a Planet Bike light kit and Road ID, and 2 oil changes, Muscle butter and a Road ID. Well I won two of the packets . . . Yahoo! I won the Planet Bike light kit and Road ID and the 2 oil changes, Chomper Body muscle butter, and a Road ID.

I have been wanting a Road ID and just haven't gotten around to ordering one - now I have 2 $15 gift cards and will be picking out my Road ID today and getting it ordered.

I also won the Planet Bike Blaze Superflash headlight and tail light kit - HERE. I have a flashing red light that I carry on my commuter bike but don't ride with a front light. Last Friday I biked to work and it was raining and quite dark - I realized that I should have had a front light . . . well now I have one. I plan on using it all the time on my commuter bike so cars will be able to see me better - anything to make drivers aware of your presence on the road is a good thing. These lights will definitely keep me visible when biking to and from work.

The oil changes will be very useful - the dealership is the Toyota dealer that I bought my Rav4 from and I usually take it there for work. Score - since I just had an oil change in June - these two should put me into next year before i need to pay for an oil change!

Chomper Body muscle butter - HERE, says that it is recovery lotion - and encourages blood flow to sore and tired muscles and helps rid the body of lactic acid build up. All I know is that is it really smooth feeling and smells wonderful. It has hints of peppermint, rosemary and basil and feels great when you rub it into your sore muscles.

Some of the other free goodies included NOW Energy bars, HERE, which stands for No Opportunity Wasted, a energy bar developed by Phil Keogan, host of the Amazing Race. Who knew he developed an energy bar. Actually the website was quite interesting and informative, not only about the bar, but about Phil. In 2009, he turned 40 and decided to bike across America - WOW! Pretty interesting story. And the bars are really yummy. I am not a huge energy bar person. I think you have to be careful with them, because they usually pack a lot of calories into a small package and if you aren't careful - you can eat lots of calories, without thinking you ate very much. But as a snack on the bike - they are great. I usually try to take a bar with me when I bike 30+ miles. Under 30 and no snacking! But over 30 and I need some energy mid-way through the ride. These bars are yummy - peanut and caramel flavored, they are made with gluten free rolled oats and Manuka Honey, which is only found in New Zealand. If you haven't tried them, I would certainly suggest that you pick them up.

As you can see from the picture - the goodies also included Quench gum, HERE - if you haven't tried it - there is no way of describing just how much saliva it creates when you chew. Just typing about it and thinking about it is making my mouth water.

On the Running front: I have been taking it easy - as I previously posted my hamstring, or what I thought was my hamstring has been bothering me for almost a month, to the point that is was painful to run. Well after some research, I actually think that it is really my Piriformis muscle that is causing me the problems. This last week I have been stretching it like crazy and feel pretty good. Yesterday morning I ran about 1/2 mile and today I ran 3 1/2 miles and felt great. I will continue to work back up to longer runs and will diligently stretch stretch stretch after all bike rides and runs. Scouts honor!

Peace and have a great weekend.

DANG Hamstring!

2011-07-18T12:27:00.000-05:00

My right hamstring has been making itself felt for the last month or so. Nothing major - just a constant irritant.

I finally listened and took 9 days off from running.

I had signed up for the June 14th - Movin Shoes 5k Full Moon run and decided that I would still run that race - just take it easy. No running for 9 days - as I mentioned in my last post the hamstring felt OK until mile 3, at which time it said "hey - don't forget me!" so I listened and slowed down.

After the race, it felt fine and Friday it felt fine.

Since biking never bothers my hamstring I road in the Boys and Girls Club 50 mile bike ride on Saturday and still no unusual hamstring pain. Since I am trying to train for the MS 150 bike ride, which is a Saturday and Sunday bike ride of 75 miles each day - it is important to get back on the bike the next day after a long ride.

So Sunday morning my husband and I hopped on our bikes and did a slow 7 mile ride. I then dropped him back off at home, adjusted my bike computer and hopped back on my bike for 10 more miles. Somewhere during the "hopping" onto my bike, I had to make a sudden jerky movement with my right leg and OUCH! there was that stupid hamstring laughing at me. "Ha Ha - I am still hanging around and if I want, I can make your life miserable". I continued on with the bike ride - because it doesn't hurt during biking.

Stretched afterwards, while watching the Women's World Cup :-(

This morning I got up with the hopes of running a slow 2 - 3 miles . . . but that was NOT going to happen.

The hamstring feels like it is right back where I started. DANG! So I will stay off of it for the rest of the week.

The bad news is that I have already signed up for the Madison Mini Marathon, August 20th. I am losing training and need to get some long runs in.

The good news is that we are expecting extreme heat and humidity this week, which makes running difficult for me. This morning at 6AM the temp was 81 with a dew point of 77 - which makes for 88% humidity.

So I will take this week off and work on biking and walking and icing my hamstring . . . in hopes that I can tackle a 3 mile run this weekend.

Peace

Last week of biking and ONE Run

2011-07-16T18:13:00.000-05:00

My ONE Run last week:

Since my hamstring was acting up I committed to taking a week long break from running. Hamstring certainly stopped screaming at me. On Thursday I had signed up for a local 5k, so with 8 days of rest I decided I would still run it - but make sure that I didn't push it too much. The race is called the Full Moon 5k and it starts at 9:00pm on the evening of the Full Moon. It was well run - a fun little local race - organized by my shoe store, Movin Shoes and there was a raffle at the end . . . but I didn't win anything ;-(

I didn't run with my Garmin, because it was dead - and I was actually glad that I didn't have it with me because then I wouldn't "know" my speed and I could simply run based on how I felt. There were volunteers at mile 1 & 2 yelling out the time. Mile 1 was 9:05 and mile 2 was 18:20 . . . so I kept a pretty good pace for mile 1 & 2, but then I did slow down - I knew it and I was OK with it. The final run into the park, was a pretty steep hill and my hamstring was making its presence known, so I took it EASY. Final time was29:34 . . . 5th out of 18 in my age bracket - I am OK with it and really glad that I ran. I will be doing this run again next year.

I will probably try and run a little tomorrow morning and see how the hamstring feels. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

BIKING:

As always, I bike at least two days a week to work. Thursday, was my second day of the week to bike and just like every other day, the first thing I always do is pump my tires. When I took the pump off of the stem - the air just leaked out. sppppppppppppppppp! I thought about changing the tube, but decided I would simply ride my husbands bike. So I pumped up his tires and biked to work. At the end of the day I loaded my stuff up, hopped on the bike and just as I was exiting our parking garage . . . I head that familiar sound sppppppppppppppppp - yup 2 flat tires in 1 day. Called husband, who was driving home and he stopped an picked me up. Who gets 2 flat tires on 2 different bikes on the same day!

Today, was the 50 mile Boys and Girls Club ride. I used my road bike and glad to say I had NO FLAT tires! I road with a co-worker. There were 3 "pretty" good size hills - I kept pedaling, but it was slow. We finished in 3:10 - for an average speed of 15.8. Felt strong (other than the hills - and actually I didn't feel that bad on them). It is a great fundraiser for the local chapter of the Boys and Girls club.

This afternoon, Todd (husband) and I went to a local bike shop and picked up 2 new tires for his bike, they were pretty worn and replacement tubes for his and my bike and then we changed tires and replaced tubes. I am embarrassed to say, that was the first tube I changed by myself. Next week when I bike to work I will determine if I know what I am doing.

Have a great weekend and stay cool. We have an Excessive Heat Warning - Sunday - Thursday. I just looked at the national map and it looks like we are pretty much ALL in this Heat Wave Together.

Hydrate - Hydrate - Hydrate

Peace

June is done and it is already July 8th - oh my!

2011-07-08T21:27:00.000-05:00

I have had a great couple of weeks - but just no energy or time to post. I must do better - I will do better - it tends to keep me motivated and I really enjoy tracking my thoughts and experiences.

Motto for the summer - short and sweet!

The last two weeks have been busy - here is a recap by the numbers:

5 - times I road my bike to work

75 - total miles biked to work

3 - training rides

72 - miles on training rides

6 - times I ran in the last 2 weeks

35 - miles run

1 - races run - Run to the Rhythm 5k

1 - 1st place in my age category - it wasn't fast - but it was fast enough!

1 - Favorite tree on the lake

1 - Favorite dog - Sophie on the boat

2 - times I jet skied

1 - times I water skied - this is a photo of my son - of course no one takes a picture of me, unless I request it!

200,000 - friends that watched Rhythm and Booms

818 - miles biked this year

520 - miles run this year

7 - days that I am going to take a break from running due to a pulled hamstring - I have been running in "pain" for about a month - I am going to take a week off and hope that it gets better!

1 - number of branches that broke off of our tree - the tree trimmer has been called and will be trimming the other branches on Tuesday!

Peace - have a great day!
Enjoy every moment!

Another long bike ride

2011-06-26T16:57:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I ran 7 miles in the morning and then biked 44 miles in the afternoon. Yikes - that is a lot of exercise for me for 1 day.

My run was great in the morning. Felt pretty good and ran 1.5 miles with Sophie and then dropped her off and stopped to stretch my ham string - which has been bothering me the last couple of weeks. The pain is in my right glut area and sometimes when I am sitting extends down my leg. It doesn't bother me much during a run - just feels tight - but I really pay for it afterwards, so I am upping my stretching! Hoping that helps.

Early yesterday afternoon, my son called to see if I wanted to again bike to New Glarus, his girlfriend works there, and then bike back. Last week we got a ride back to Madison - but not yesterday. I said sure. I had wanted to get a long bike ride in over the weekend so this would be it. I had wanted to bike using my road bike, but the bike trail is only paved for about 6 out of the 23 miles - the rest is crushed rock and although I debated riding my road bike, once I got on the trail again, I know that just won't work. Too many loose rocks and gravel. Last week we met at his apartment - but yesterday we met at one of the trail heads, which cut off 4 miles - so the trip to New Glarus was 23 miles. On the way we again got to go through the tunnel. It was not foggy this week, but still a really cool experience. Once we got out of the tunnel, we crossed a small bridge and I realized that the guy standing on the bridge was from Madison and used to be our neighbor. Joe and I stopped and we chatted for a while. He and his daughter were camping in New Glarus and had brought their bikes. He did a double take when I said that we had not only biked from Madison, but were also biking back . . . he asked if we were biking back TODAY? yup - That is the surprising thing. I follow many blogs and all of you do so much. I don't think it is that extraordinary to run and bike in the same day. But for many people doing any amount of exercise is work . . . more on that later.

After stopping to chat, we hopped back on our bikes and road into New Glarus and stopped at the store to check in with Chelsea. We were only there for about 1/2 hour and it was time to head back to Madison. We stopped and bought a Gatorade, filled our bottles and I grabbed a snickers. ;-) We decided to ride back on some roads, instead of the bike trail, figuring that the smooth surface would be easier biking and we thought we could cut a couple miles off of the ride. So we planned our route and took off. Oh my gosh - within 1/2 mile we faced a big hill - and then another - I tried to attack - but the hill hit right after a turn off the highway, with little warning - I shifted to the lowest gear. Usually I don't need the lowest gear, but I certainly was glad I had them yesterday. Holy cow. We followed the county road into Belleville and then hopped back on the bike path. We only cut 2 miles off the ride and paid with steep hills, but it was a great workout!

Great weekend - great workouts.

Weekend work outs

2011-06-20T07:07:00.002-05:00

Happy Father's day to all of the great fathers out there. My husband is a great dad to our two sons and is currently enjoying a fishing trip in Canada. He left Thursday morning. ;-)
Friday: I took friday off, because the electrician was scheduled to come and finish some of the electrical work in the family room. I started the day on friday with a 6 mile run - 2 miles with Sophie and 4 without. The run went well. I was back to the house around 8:30 and the electrician showed up around 9:00. Right after he left, I got ready to head out on the bike. My plan was to do a 35 mile loop on my road bike. It was a great bike ride. I did this route several times last year and my time was usually 2:45, but yesterday I completed it in 2:23 - clearly having a road bike makes a big difference. Of the 35 miles, 15 is my normal route to and from work, so there is a lot of stop signs and waiting for traffic. On the bike trail, I was seeing a lot of 17 - 20 miles per hour pace . . . my average was 14.5.
Saturday: My son and his girlfriend came over and we took the boat out on the lake. The temperature was a perfect 80. I drove the boat while my son slalom skied a couple of times. I am not the best driver, especially for pulling a slalom skier - but got him up on the first try. I was next up and headed into the water for the first time this year. My son is a great boat captain - but he tends to pull skiers a littler bit faster than I like - YIKES!!!! I got up twice - no spills - and had a great time.

We also brought the dogs on the boat and they both enjoyed a little exercise in the water. They both love their doggie life jackets. As soon as we stop the boat - Sophie wants to jump in- Nutmeg usually has to be persuaded to jump in. ;-)

We got home and enjoyed New York strips on the grill, corn on the cob, bread and the first of the season, Summer Shandy, a great beer by Leinenkugel's. ;-)

Sunday: Woke up this morning with sore shoulders. Water skiing will do that . . . especially the first time of the season. I had taken my commuter bike to the repair shop on Thursday, for a new chain and sprocket and headed down to pick it up around 10:00. I then headed over to my son's apartment. The plan was to bike from his apartment to New Glarus via the Badger State and Sugar River Bike trails. This is a 26 mile trip - with about 18 of the miles on crushed rock, which is why I used my commuter bike. My road bike would not be very stable on this surface. Biking on crushed rock / packed dirt is much harder than paved surfaces - holy cow!
The best part about the trail is that there is a tunnel on the path - the Stewart Railroad Tunnel, built in 1887 and 1200 feet long. . It isn't the longest in the state - but it claims to be the darkest . . . and I agree with that claim.
Here I am at Tunnel Rd. Here is the sign for the Tunnel.
As we approached the tunnel, you could feel the cool air coming out of the tunnel. It was also very foggy near the tunnel entrance due to the high humidity.
My son has a flash light on his key chain (otherwise we could have used the lights on our smart phones) and we used that to navigate the tunnel. Since the tunnel is not straight - there is a bend in it - you only see blackness when you look into it. Just to clarify - we walked our bikes through the tunnel. You could maybe bike through it if you had head lamps or a bike light - but it was really fun to wander through the cool darkness.

The last photo, give you a perspective of the size of the tunnel, this family was getting ready to enter the tunnel, just as we were exiting it.
After the tunnel, we only had about 5 more miles to get to New Glarus. Once in town we headed to the store where Chelsea works. We stopped at a local Subway and then loaded our bikes up and headed back to Madison.
Great weekend of exercise and fun on the water.
PS - I have just started using MarsEdit - a blog editor for Mac - I am having lots of problems with photo's - there doesn't seem to be any way to add a caption to the photo's and they are really hard to place in the text. I will give it a couple more blog posts - but I might be going back to blogger.

Bike to Work Week

2011-06-08T21:57:00.001-05:00

Short update: This week is Bike to Work Week in WI - guess I don't know if this is observed in other States during the same week.

I have been having a blast biking to and from work this week. So far I have ridden my bike Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Oh course the exercise is nice - 15 miles round trip - but the best part is that there is a stand on the bike path, located about 4 blocks from my office, that serves GREAT coffee and pastries every morning for bike to work week. The organization putting this all on also has someone there doing minor bike repairs. On Monday I had Craig check out my rear brakes - he took the cable completely out of the plastic shield, lubed it and re-attached it and adjusted the brakes.

Well - you might think that coffee and donuts on the bike path is as good as it gets . . . nope . . . it gets better . . . tomorrow is Bacon on the bike path day. Yup - they will be serving bacon!

Coffee -pastry - bacon . . . what better way to start the day!

Yea to biking to work!

Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure

2011-06-04T12:28:00.001-05:00

Done - warm and muggy - just as I predicted!

I went back and forth about using my iPod - finally decided against it - then just after I got in the car and started heading down the street, I remembered that I had forgotten my Garmin. I slowed down - and then decided to just not bother. I figured with the heat - I would just run and not worry about headphones or watches.

Pretty happy with my time - 27:40 for a 8:55 pace. Finished 6th out of 46 in my age group (51 - 60) - fyi - of the 5 women in front of my in my age group - 2 of them were also breast cancer survivors. In the Survivors group - I finished 13th - there are some pretty fast Survivors.

The Race was expecting about 14,000 people. So instead of fighting the traffic I decided to stick my bike on my car and then drive down to my office and then bike to the Race, which is about 2 miles away from my office. It worked out perfect. No traffic on the bike path, while cars were backed up to enter the Coliseum grounds.

Got to the race with no problem. Our team from MGE (my employer) was going to try and meet up outside of the Survivor's Tent. Only a few of us found each other before the race.

Here is a pic of the group - there was a team of 20 in total - but only 5 of us found each other. Next year we need to have a sign so that we can get a group photo before the race.

Here is a picture of the stuff, as described in yesterdays post, in my goody bag.

After the race, I grabbed some water and a banana, walked around a little and then grabbed my bike and headed back to my office and then home.

It was a great way to start the day!

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Tomorrow's Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure

2011-06-03T20:02:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow's Race for the Cure will be my 7th race as a breast cancer survivor. I can still remember my first Race in 2005. As you can see, my hair was just starting to come in. I had returned to work full time and had started to go to work without a scarf about a couple of weeks before. The race was on June 4th and I had finished my chemo treatments at the end of February and finished my radiation in mid April. I still had my portacath, which is installed under your skin and was used to make infusions easier on both you and the nurses. No searching for a vein - one simple stick and the nurse had direct access. Since I was receiving a chemo drug called Herceptin on a weekly basis for a year, this port stayed in until the beginning of 2006.

I was 49 years old and finished the race in 31:32.

Today I received my race bag. So as a Survivor, what is in my race goody bag? Lots of stuff!

the bag is a pink carrying bag, (reusable grocery bag) sponsored by All Comfort Services, a local heating and air conditioning company
a Warrior inspired scarf, sponsored by Ford
a bottle of water, sponsored by Enterprise Car rental
a Sobe drink
Goat's milk bar of soap
bags of raspberry tea
chap stick, sponsored by Johnson Bank
Revelon hair spray
A furry pink box, that must be to hold lip stick based on the divided insert?
Pizza coupons,
$25 off from The Diamond Center
$25 off from Pink Warrior USA
$10 off New Balance
A copy of Madison magazine
Pink Race for the Cure Survivor tee shirt
Regular Race for the Cure tee shirt
Pink Race Bib
Pink Hat sponsored by Zeta Tau Alpha Fraternity

Tomorrows race will be a HOT one! I really hate to complain about the weather - I usually simply Take what comes . . . but we have really experienced some weird weather in the mid-west this spring - it is either unseasonably cold - or unseasonably hot . . . right now we are in a "unseasonably hot couple of days" period. As I write this, I am sitting on my screen porch, the time is 7:57PM and the temperature is 89. That is not normal temperatures for WI at the beginning of June. The Normal high at this time of year is 75 - so we are way outside of the norm. Of course with these hot temperatures our dew point is also high - so that means that the temp's tomorrow morning are likely to be warm and muggy. Great! While I love hot humid weather - I don't like to run in it.

But I am going to embrace the warmth and give it all I have. I just checked tomorrows forecast and at 8:00AM, they are predicting a temperature of 75 with a humidity level of 81% . . . warm and muggy . . . I will certainly get a chance to EMBRACE the warmth.

Wish me luck - I am off to drink a big glass of water - take the dog for a short walk - drink another glass of water - head to bed (yes I turned the air conditioning on when I got home from work today).

Tomorrow, hopefully I will have wings on and will be able to fly through the race . . . not likely . . . but I can hope!

back tomorrow for a short recap!

May in the rear view mirror

2011-05-31T19:39:00.000-05:00

WOW what a month!

Total miles biked during May for sport: 157 - 7 training rides

Total miles biked during May for transport: 83 - biked to work 6 times

TOTAL miles BIKED during May: 240

TOTAL miles RUN during May: 79

Over 300 miles of exercise in the month of May - YAHOO! I realize that for some of you - that is a running only total - but for me - this was a great month of exercise!

Some of May's highlights:

Traveled to New York and back in 4 days

Participated with 32,000 other people in Bike New York - biking 58 miles

My youngest son finished his first year of college

My oldest son's girlfriend graduated from college

My oldest son is moving out on June 1 into his first apartment

Youngest son moved back home for the summer

Cleaned and waxed the boat

Ran in the Monona 20k

Youngest son signed a lease for a duplex for his second year of college

Planted my flower garden

My flowering crab trees bloomed

My tulips bloomed and were NOT eaten by rabbits

Planted my vegie garden

Tore out the fireplace

Painted the walls near the fireplace so that the mason can install the stone around the new fireplace (in progress)

Picked out new carpeting

Biked to work 6 times

Biked home from work 6 times ;-)

Took 3 bike rides with my hubby

Took 4 other training rides by myself

My favorite Witch hazel bush is flowering - although I looked up a Witch hazel bush and this is NOT that - but that is what I have called it for years!!!

Ran 18 days out of the month

Took boat out for a spin on the lake - 2x's

Took jet skis out - 2x's (sorry no pic - hard to do that while riding a jet ski)

I can't wait to see what June brings!

Brat Fest and Memorial Day weekend to do lists!

2011-05-29T12:06:00.000-05:00

Well if you are anything like me - there is a LIST of things that need to get done on Memorial Day weekend. In addition to the unofficial start of summer - there is "stuff" to get ready.

vegie gardens to plant

flowers to plant

boats to clean, inside and out

shop for new carpet

jet skies to clean

houses to clean

walls to paint

rides to bike

paths to run and

brats to be eaten.

Here in Madison . . . let me re-phrase that . . . here in Wisconsin we LOVE Brats . . . oh and especially when eaten while enjoying a beer. Trust me - nothing tastes better than a beer and a brat, especially when the brat is first simmered in beer and onions! yum.
In Madison we have a annual Brat Fest, which was started by a local grocer, and is now billed as the World's Largest Brat Fest, with much of the proceeds going to local charities. This year because of the political turmoil in Madison and Wisconsin, the Brat Fest not only is being "protested" or boycotted by many local individuals, including many of my Facebook friends. One of the PRIMARY reasons that the "Official" brat fest is being boycotted is that the Brats are provided FREE to the event by Johnsonville Brat's . . .

Political Involvement and Controversy

The Johnsonville company and its owners have a reputation for political involvement, and are widely known as supporters of conservative causes. ^[1] In 2010, members of the Stayer family figured prominently as contributors to the successful Wisconsin gubernatorial campaign of Republican candidate Scott Walker. ^[2]As a result, in 2011, opponents of Walker and his policies have called for a boycott of Johnsonville products.

As a result of this boycott, there are at least 4 alternative Brat fests which are set up around the city this weekend, with most of these proceeds also going to charities. So we are a city with Brat's coming out of our ears!

We decided after a day of planting the vegie garden, planting more flowers, carpet shopping, painting, cleaning the inside of the boat, we needed to eat some Brat's. So we road our bikes to Brat Fest, figuring that the exercise would help offset the calories of the brats and beer. Round trip was 18 miles. Best part was that when we got to Brat Fest, which is held at a local venue situated on a parcel of land with water all around it (think moat) - bikes were allowed on the island and had a special valet area. There is a huge parking lot - but getting to bike on the island was great. We hopped off the bikes, walked a few short steps - I got a couple of beers, while my son and hubby picked up the brats. We then sat and ate them while listening to a band. Music, beer, brats - charity event . . . great way to spend chillaxicating time on Memorial Day.

Johnsonville Brats

Local volunteers, cooking up the brats - this goes on Friday - Monday so it takes many many volunteers.

On today's agenda - paint (already done), clean house, three bathrooms already cleaned ;-), three loads of laundry already finished, we are now waiting for the rain to stop so that we can wash the outside of boat let it dry and get it waxed. Oh and we will probably be stopping at Brat Fest again to enjoy a brat and beer (or 2) . . . we have to do our part to help the local charities!

On the running front - I took yesterday and today off - my ankle is still swollen and quite stiff after I sit for any period of time, not that I have been sitting around much this weekend, but . . . . good news is that it feels much better today. I noticed that it wasn't nearly as stiff when I got out of bed this morning. I was thinking about running - but decided I would give it another day of rest. I should have probably not been running on it this past week, instead of getting better during the week, it seemed to be getting more swollen and stiffer - that is why I decided to take these last couple of days off. I think it needed to be rested.

Hoping for another bike ride, maybe to Brat fest again and then a 6 mile run tomorrow morning. Then about the only thing on tomorrows agenda will be to take the clean boat out for the day! Temp's tomorrow are supposed to hit 89 - currently it is raining and 61. brrrrrrrr

Great Friday off of work

2011-05-20T23:11:00.004-05:00

I took today off of work - It was a Linda day - one of my 55 goal, was to take 5 days of vacation for me. Well, today turned out to be one of those days. Only thing on the agenda was a long run and a long bike ride.
Woke up to mild temp's and sunshine! When I headed out for my run, it was around 65 with 70+% humidity. I started off with 2 miles with Sophie, then I came home and dropped her off and then headed out again. My original plan was to run 8 more miles, but based on the warmer / humid temp's I decided to shot for 6 more miles for a total of 8. Don't get me wrong - the weather was BEAUTIFUL - but on Monday and Tuesday we had FROST warnings . . . so to say that I am not quite use to warmer temp's is an understatement.
I started out on my route and felt pretty good, so I decided to add a few extra blocks, and ended up finishing 9.7 miles in 1:41. Not the fastest time - but reasonable.
I took some time for a little something to eat, changed clothes and got ready to bike.

Here is a shot of the back of my ankle area, right next to my Achilles tendon.

My plan was to bike downtown, using my commuter route, then hook up with the bike trail and head out for the 20 mile Capital City Bike Trail, then head back home, for a total 35 mile trip. I got downtown and was on the bike path, but had to cross a major intersection. I stopped and waited for the signal - crossing over to the next light. Here is where things went wrong. I was stopped at the second light, as was a car that was stopped for the light. I was right next to the driver and he appeared to nod his head at me, with I interpreted as him telling me to go ahead - well I was clearly WRONG - because while I took off to go in front of him, so did he. I had to try and stop - which I did, but I also fell. In the process, I obviously hit the back of my ankle with my pedal and ended up slicing it. I walked over to the grass and pulled a couple band aids out of my bag. Problem was that I also used some of my water, to try and clean it off a little, so the band aids didn't stick very well. At this point I was 7 miles from home, right next to my office and I had to decide whether to keep going, or head back home. I kept going.

I stopped on the Cap City Path, enjoyed a snack of a Luna bar and checked my phone. I had a missed call from my husband. We are in the process of looking for new family room furniture and had discussed possibly meeting somewhere this afternoon to look at a couple of options that I had found. I told him that I was on the bike path, but could head back into town and without much extra effort get to the store in about 15 minutes.
So, 20 miles into my bike ride, we stopped at a furniture store and purchased new furniture. ;-)
Then my husband headed to visit his dad, and I headed back home. Since I had cut off some of the trail, I didn't get the full 35 miles . . . only 31.4 in 2:29. Felt pretty good, other than my ankle and happy to have purchased the furniture. Next is new carpet. Maybe that will be this weekend.

Heading to bed - I just know I am going to sleep well tonight!

Spring flowers

2011-05-16T20:12:00.000-05:00

Spring is not my favorite season. There I said it - while I know that many many people love spring - for me it means, rain, wind and cold temp's - all the while you are wishing for warmer temps. I love winter - but by the end of February I am ready for warmer temps, but Spring is a constant struggle. We finally get some warmer temp's, maybe even 60 or 70 degrees and then boom - the next day back in the 40's or even 30's. Yuck. Heck - tonight there are frost warnings - it is May 16th, we shouldn't have to worry about frost.
But I do love getting back into my gardens and watching everything starting to grow.

Early spring - daffodil's

day lilies growing and daffodil's

perennials on side of yard

Tulips ready to open

rocks, tulips, daffodil's

the view out my front door

around the screen porch

side yard

Got kicked by a 20k

2011-05-15T21:18:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I ran in a local race, the Lake Monona 20k. I had wanted to run this in the past, but I had just never signed up for this race. This is a 20k that circles one of Madison lakes, Lake Monona. I have been on this "path" many many times, but on my bike, not on my feet. Speaking of my bike, remember that the weekend before, I had experienced a whirlwind experience, driving to New York, touring New York, biking 58 miles and then driving back to Madison all over the span of 4 days. Because of this bike trip, I hadn't spent much time (recently) running any distance. I ran 13.1 miles with Jamie on April 23rd - but between then and May 7th I ran 6 times for a total of 15 miles. I figured, heck I could pull out 12.4 miles with less training than I would prefer. Well I did the run - I finished the 12.4 miles but it wasn't pretty. The first 6 miles were OK - I was keeping a good pace, but somewhere during mile 7 I lost my drive - the engine simply didn't want to move forward. I walked and then ran and then walked . . . more times than I would like to admit. Based on my gamin results, it looks like I actually walked 10 times during the last 6 miles. I never walked for long - but yikes - I have NEVER walked much during a race. And I hope that I never walk that much ever ever again. Total time 2:08. While I realize that isn't that bad - I would have really like to run faster. Well heck - if I hadn't walked soooo much!

It has taken me the week to think about this race and turn it into a positive experience. So what did I learn? I learned that no matter how many years I have been running I need to respect the distance. I will say the next statement cautiously! As an older runner - I need to make sure that I am ready for a race. While I know that everyone needs to be prepared for a race - hitting distances beyond 8 miles is hard for me - 11 12 and 13 miles do not come easy for me. I can not take it casually.

So I am ready to go and ready to recommit myself to running mid distance runs. I love the half marathon distance and need to be prepared to run.

Below is my pirated copy of my finish line photo from the 20k.

Add caption

Sometimes it is the little things in life!

2011-05-06T12:28:00.000-05:00

At the start of the year I made a commitment to myself that I was not going to buy any clothing for the year. I really don't need any. Although I have not yet found time to clean out my closet, I have counted my hangers and there are more than 200 hangers and that does not count jeans and other clothes that are in drawers or shelves in the closet, or summer items not yet pulled out of storage. So I definitely have enough clothes. And so far I have not purchased anything. I will allow myself to purchase running shoes, underwear and bra's as needed.

I recently purchased new running shoes and before I went to New York, I ordered 3 new "regular" bra's and 1 new sports bra and they all arrived while I was gone. Just like a kid - it is always exciting to see packages when you arrive home. This is the first time I have ordered "regular" bra's on-line - well not "regular" for most people, but "regular" for me. Since I have had a mastectomy I wear a prosthesis on the right side and to hold it in place, I wear bra's with special pockets for the prosthesis. I have tried to purchase regular bra's and simply insert it into the cup - but it doesn't offer 100% assurance that it won't move or shift or worse case . . . fall out, like the time I went to a yoga class immediately after work and I was wearing the wrong type of bra. During about the 100th down dog - out it slipped. I simply picked it up and stuffed it back into my bra, laughing to myself the whole time.

I have now worn two of the "regular" bras and love them both. I also ordered a sports bra and love that also. I ordered the Moving Comfort Juno sports bra and wore it this morning. Yup it is a keeper.

Sometimes it is the little things - Yahoo to new bra's!

Peace

Bike New York - Part 2 - The ride

2011-05-04T21:22:00.001-05:00

Part 2 of the Bike New York tour

Sunday

7:00 AM - Get bikes out of Scott's cousin's apartment ( in typical young man fashion, there was a couple, sleeping on a blowup mattress on the living room floor after a night of partying. :-) )

7:30 AM - major BRAKE problem with my bike - assume something happened during the drive (we pulled a U haul trailer with the bikes). Front cable will not stay in bracket. Next - back brake is rubbing REALLY bad. We adjust back cable - now I have no brakes - I am not joking. I get the front brake to stick and we are off. Follow bikes through Greenwich Village to get to Battery Park, which is where all of the bikers are queuing up. The bikers we are following stop - what appears to be a couple of blocks north of Battery Park - we also stop and call Jack and Sally to see where they are and if it will be possible to meet up. I am still trying to adjust my brakes - but really figure that there are no downhills until we get to Central Park. And I figure there will be a maintenance stop towards the beginning of the ride.

Do you see our cheese wedges stuck in our helmets.

This is the start of the tour.

Another view of the front riders

We get to see the motorcycle motorcade start the tour and wait as the front bikers takes off. Then instead of queuing up - remember there are 33,000 people on this ride - we hop in about 4 blocks into the ride - which will work out to be SUCH A GREAT IDEA. I assume most people, like me, have never been on this large of a bike ride (this is the largest amateur bike ride in the US) - hard to describe that many people on the streets. OBVIOUSLY, unless you are in the front, you are not able to bike very fast for quite a few miles.
Anyway, while still riding slowly up Church Street and then 6th Ave (Avenue of the Americas) - my brakes gave out - TOTALLY - NO BRAKES with thousands of people around me. Luckily I was near the sidewalk, sort of, and with much skill (LOL) and hollering "I have NO BRAKES", I managed to swerve to the side and up on the sidewalk without hitting anyone. I then put a foot down and slid to a stop. Two bike Marshall's were there by my side before I could turn around to see my friends, who were following me. They quickly fixed my brakes, adjusting my back brakes that we had loosened toooooo much and then used a pliers to tighten the front brake bracket. This maybe took 5 minutes and we were good to go - I can't believe how lucky I was. I am calling a local bike shop tomorrow - to sign up for bike repair class - I don't ever want that to happen again.

The bike ride was great and so much fun. After we traveled up 6th Ave (Avenue of Americas) through Manhattan, we were stopped just before Central park. They queued up the bikers so that only a manageable amount were allowed in at a time. We were maybe queued up for 10 minutes and then we hit Central Park, where the flowers were blooming, people were out and about and the the flowering trees were so fragrant.

The tour next travels through Harlem and then over to the Bronx via the Madison Ave Bridge and back on the Third Ave bridge spanning the Harlem River.

Back in Manhattan, we traveled down the FDR Drive, a highway where bicycles aren't usually allowed.

Next up was the Queensboro Bridge into borough #3, Queens. We stopped at the rest area in Astoria Park, along the East River with beautiful views of the Manhattan skyline.

Tricia, Nikki, Me, Scott and Ken

Back our bikes we traveled through the industrial neighborhoods and then crossed the Pulaski Bridge into Brooklyn, borough #4.

We traveled through Brooklyn, traveling under the Brooklyn Bridge and then we "entered the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, miraculously clear of its usual traffic jam just for Tour Day. Now you can fly over the Gowanus Canal and along the South Brooklyn waterfront, reaching the shoreline park in Bay Ridge." NOTE the quotes and underline in the sentence before. This is directly from the website. While they were correct there was no "usual traffic jam" - there was a bicycle traffic jam. Although they had warned bikers that there were delays on the BQE (Brooklyn Queens Expressway) there were really MAJOR delays. There was road construction going on and while we were riding on the BQE, which is a BIG road, and it was closed to traffic heading in our direction, the exit ramp was narrowed WAY down - to a single car width - so they had to stop bikers on the BQE and get us queued up to exit. We waited approximately 30 minutes - we would later find out that some people waited more than 2 hours - stuck on the expressway with no where to go. Needless to say there were lots of unhappy bikers. We followed the comments on Facebook and Twitter.

Once we bad it through this bottleneck we were on our way to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge on to Staten Island, borough #5.

1:45 PM - we crossed the finish line 42 miles later.

Scott (just to the left) Tricia, Ken and Nikki

I would later read that the tour takes just over 3 hours for the rider stream to pass any given point on the course. Holy cow!

Side note: (We never did meet up with Jack and Sally - but we did talk to them later, they didn't get back to Manhattan until 7:00 - we got off the ferry around 2:45 - 4 hours different. They were stuck at the start in the queuing process and didn't cross the start until 9:30 - remember we started a few blocks into the ride and they were some of the unfortunate people that were stuck on the BQE for over 2 hours. Then by that time of day - the wait for the Staten Island ferry was also really long.)

3:30 PM - back to the hotel, pack up trailer with bikes, hop in and try to find some place on the upper west side to park the van w/trailer so that we can stop to eat and have a celebratory beer. No such luck!

4:15 PM - headed out of New York

5:30 PM - back in Rockaway NJ - we stopped for pizza and beer

7:00 PM - back in car - get about 1/2 way through Pennsylvania -

11:00 PM - find hotel, we stayed over night in a small community off of I-80, called Lock Haven - turn on TV - stay up to listen to the President.

12:00 - sleep

Monday

4:30 AM - up and on the road . . . again

5:00 PM - 1,872 miles later (plus 58 miles biking and many many miles walking) we arrived back in Madison

AHHHHHH!

I had a great time - would I do it again? maybe - but probably not -

In keeping with my fascination of doing things involving the number 5 during my 55th year -
I did travel in a group of 5 individuals,
with 5 bikes,
traveling through 5 states, IL, IN, OH, PA, NJ (not counting our starting state of WI or our destination state of NY),
through 5 boroughs of New York
and biked more than 55 miles (58 to be exact). AND it only took us 4 days.

Bike New York - Part 1

2011-05-03T11:19:00.007-05:00

I typed this post yesterday while we were driving back to Wisconsin. We had just entered Indiana after driving through New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Thank heaven for conversion vans. It has been a pretty comfy drive. I then had some computer problems last evening and am now trying to reinstall Snow Leopard on my Mac book - while using another computer to finish this post. I didn't get all of my photo's uploaded to the post before the "incident", so there might be a part 2.

To describe the weekend in one word - whirlwind. We did so much, in such a short period of time, it is hard to remember.

Friday

3:00 AM - got up, dressed . . . and headed to our office parking lot, which was our meet up location - loaded the U-Haul
4:00 AM - left for New York

It is pretty dark out at 4:00AM and the camera was too far away - but there we are - ready to hit the road!

As I mentioned we had a conversion van and the back seat was comfy - here I am sprawled out, enjoying string cheese and crackers. YUM!

We had to come up with something clever to wear or display on our bike ride - so Thursday evening I searched the local Shopko and came up with this wedge of cheese with little mice. We just needed to figure out how we would attach them. We ended up simply stuffing them into our helmets. Many people realized that we were obviously from WI and there were several "hey cheese heads", while others were "what's with the cheese in your helmet". But during the drive, it is sometimes the simple things that bring the most laughs. ;-)

We drove and drove - stopping to fill the gas tank and stretch. In Pennsylvania we had a mission - remember we are from Wisconsin and enjoy a good beer. So we had to find a beer distributor near I-80 in Pennsylvania so that we could stop and pick up a case of Yuengling beer, which is America's oldest brewery. To be honest I am not much of a beer drinker - I like beer, but had never heard of Yuengling - but it sure did taste great on Friday evening.

7:00 PM - stopped at Stoudsburg, at a local drive-through distributor for a case of Yuengling beer and proceeded to have a beer (only 1 beer) in the parking lot - then back in the van.

After about another hour of driving we decided to stop at Rockaway NJ at the Best Western. We figured this would leave us less than an hour in the morning to get to New York.

8:30 PM ate a a local restaurant - the Exchange - we raved about the food, it was really good - we all had seafood dishes and a couple of pitchers of beer (Yuengling - of course) - but honestly, anything would have probably tasted good. Back at the hotel and sleeping around midnight.

Saturday

6:30 AM up, ready to hit the road by 7:00 to drive to New York


First photo opportunity of New York - Took the Holland tunnel into Manhattan.

Scott dropped Ken, Nikki, Tricia and myself off at Battery Park. We were headed to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Scott was headed to his cousin's apartment to drop off the bikes and then HOPEFULLY find a place to park the van and trailer in New York City. (he has been to New York numerous times and was not interested in these tours).

8:00 we hopped the ferry and headed to Liberty Island.

Ken, Tricia, me, Nikki - and of course Lady Liberty

Then onto the ferry to Ellis Island

Ellis Island - we walked around and listened and read about the immigrants. We also commented about our conditions in the Conversion van on our trip to New York vs. what the immigrants must have experienced.

One last view of the Statue and skyline.

11:30 AM back to city - met back up with Scott - who hadn't found anyplace for the van. He did drop the bikes off and then enjoyed brunch with his cousin - but had a hard time driving around Manhattan because the Revelon 5k Run/Walk for Women, which obviously closed some of the main thorough fares.

The plan was now that Tricia and Scott would drop the van and trailer off at the hotel and then they were going to go to Central Park, while Ken, Nikki and I were going to Wall Street, World Trade Center site - the new Freedom Tower, and then Hobokan to see Carol's Cake Shop.

New York Stock Exchange

12:30 PM took PATH to Hobokan NJ, both Ken and Nikki's children love the Cake Boss and really wanted them to visit the shop. Needless to say - there is a line of people waiting outside to go into the shop - we simply snapped a couple of photo's and then walked around Hobokan - which we all agreed is a really nice community - or at least the "downtown" area.

Escalator to the Path - we had a hard time finding this - we were looking for the PATH at the subway stations near the Freedom Tower site - but it is a completely (or almost completely separate) station.


Carlo's Bake Shop, make famous by the show Cake Boss.

We found a great bar / grill and stopped to have lunch. Chatted about the city, etc. with the waitress and then were on our way back to Manhattan via the PATH and then up to the hotel via the Subway.

Jack, Sally, Ken, Scott, Nikki and Tricia. Grand Central Station is a beautiful building and just such a cool place.

4:30 PM - met up with one of our East Coast (work) attorney's, also doing the ride with his wife in the hotel lobby. He took us up to the 55 floor of his office building, we saw one of the Helmsley buildings and then stopped at Grand Central Station and the to dinner at PJ Clarke's for dinner.

7:15 PM - took cab to Barrow St Theatre to see Mike Birbiglia's show titled: My Girlfriend's Boyfriend. Funny show.

9:30 - enjoyed some Gelato

10:00 - took subway up to Times Square - walked around and then headed back to hotel - 11:45
(we were there the night before Osama was killed - in my opinion, it is always crazy down there - but I can not even imagine what it must have been like on Sunday evening)

A picture does not do Times Square justice!

Sunday - The Ride

5:30 AM - up and head down to Scott's cousins apartment to pick up bikes via subway.

. . . . rest of the story tomorrow - now I must work on my mac book!

Bike New York

2011-04-28T21:41:00.001-05:00

I am heading to New York tomorrow morning with 4 co-workers to participate in Bike New York. The ride is Sunday - 42 miles through the 5 boro's. I am so excited. More to come. Must get to sleep because we are leaving at 4 AM - just 6 hrs from now.

See ya -

13.1 miles is a long way!

2011-04-23T18:19:00.000-05:00

Wow - I ran a 1/2 marathon today with Jamie at Running Diva Mom, HERE. She is running a 1/2 marathon every month, with this being her 4th of the year and today I committed to joining her. It was probably a crazy thing to do, considering my longest run lately - was a 10 mile race at the beginning of the month. I figured if I can do 10 miles I can do 13.1 miles. Ya Right! Although I did make it - I also needed some walking breaks and Jamie was gracious enough to not be bothered by my slowness and walk breaks. THANKS JAMIE!

We headed out on the Capital City Trail, which I have biked many times - but never run before. Although we have been experiencing crappy weather this past week, today looked promising. Temp's were close to 50 when we started, but the wind was brisk with gusts (I just checked) up to 23 mph. Oh ya! Our plan was to run 6 1/2 out and then turn around and head back to the parking lot. Luckily the wind was in our face for almost the entire first half. Why do I say that is lucky? Because I was clearly exhausted and slowed way down during the second half - I can't imagine what would have happened if it had been in our face the last half.
Right around 6 miles we stopped for a GU, and walked a bit. I paused my Garmin - so that it didn't count in our run - based on the map - it looks like we might have walked around 1/3 of a mile and then started up again to hit 6.5 miles and then turn around. It felt wonderful to turn around and experience the wind at out backs. ahhhhhhh There were still times when it was in our faces - but it was much better than the first half. BUT I was losing speed and energy. As you can see from my splits (I say mine, because Jamie's would have been faster on the second half, especially with the wind at her back) show considerable slowing down. I was clearly NOT ready for 13 miles. BUT I did it, with Jamie's help and encouragement. I would have sworn that I was sprinting that last mile ;-)

THANKS Jamie I had a great time!

1 9:25
2 9:16
3 9:21

Jamie and I after our run!

4 9:33
5 9:55
6 9:54
7 10:09
8 9:40
9 10:19
10 9:46
11 10:24
12 10:57
13 10:03
++ 1:10
13.1 miles, total time 2:09 avg pace 9:55

Tomorrow I will be on my bike and will probably bike the Capital City trail - just like today. ;-)

Happy Easter to everyone.

Snow, sleet, rain, wind, thunder - you name it - we had it

2011-04-21T21:53:00.000-05:00

First, let me contragulate all of the Boston finishers. I loved, absolutely loved reading your race reports. ENJOY!

Flowers are starting to sprout!

Tuesday morning I headed out the door for 4 miles with Sophie - it was a light drizzle and 30 degrees. The light drizzle quickly switched to sleet and then snow. Just to remind everyone - it is April 19th - normal highs for Madison should be 59 . . . not mid 30's. Oh well that is Wisconsin. As I have said in the past - I love winter and I love snow - but not at this time of year. My daffodil's are out - my tulips are up and almost all of my perennials are starting to grow and yet - this is what my yard looked like on Wednesday morning. Enough complaining about the weather.

Tuesday morning we are greeted with this!

Poor daffodils

On to running. I needed to switch things up a bit this week, just to keep things interesting. Since I almost always run by myself and in the morning - at times it can get a little boring. SO on Tuesday and Wednesday I ran in the morning before work and also brought my gear and ran on the treadmill at work at lunch. Then today it was pretty nice outside, mid 40's and I decided to ran outside at lunch. Changing the "normal" routine helps keep me motivated.

So what do I have planned next? This weekend I am accompanying Jamie, of Running Diva Mom, HERE on her 4th 1/2 marathon of the year. We are meeting in the morning and will be running an out and back course. Although she runs faster than me, she graciously slows down a little so that it is manageable for me. THANKS Jamie!

Then the excitement shifts to biking. Next weekend I will be traveling to New York with 4 other friends / co-workers to participate in Bike New York on May 1 - pedaling down 42 miles of car-free streets through all five boroughs, taking in views of iconic landmarks like the Empire State building, Brooklyn Bridge, historic Harlem, and the Statue of Liberty. I am very excited. Major road trip - at 55 years old, I would much rather fly - but we will be driving. Probably pulling an all-nighter - Oh my gosh - what did I get myself in to? It will be great and I know I will have a GREAT time. What an experience - once in a life time - for sure. Stay tuned - I will try to blog and post a couple of pictures from the road trip and the bike ride.

I have tomorrow off of work and am sooooo glad. I plan to turn my alarm clock off and wake up - whenever. I know myself and I will probably get up / or get woken up by the dog or cat around 6:30. But just knowing that the alarm is shut off and if I want to go back to sleep - I can - is a wonderful feeling.

What have I been doing lately???

2011-04-14T21:36:00.000-05:00

I have not posted on my blog since my race report Saturday, April 2 - wow that is 12 days ago. I don't really have a specific reason for not posting - sometimes I just don't have much to say.
I have been reading all of your posts and have been trying to comment. There are so many people getting ready for Boston - it has been great reading about the race and all of the excitement is contagious. It almost makes me want to run marathons . . . almost!

Even though I haven't had anything to say . . . . I have been busy.

Today, Thursday - ran 2 miles with Sophie

Wednesday - biked 15 miles - first time I road my bike to work in 2011 (now the weather is turning cold and rainy - so the 2nd time will not be until next week)

Tuesday - ran 6.5 miles - I ran home from work

Monday - ran 4 miles

Sunday - biked 20+ miles on my new road bike . . . wow it is so much faster than my comfort bike ;-)

Saturday - ran 8 miles and biked 6 miles

Besides biking and running and working . . . life has been keeping me busy and happy and after all . . . isn't that living.

Enjoy the moments!

Black Earth 10 mile run!

2011-04-02T19:22:00.000-05:00

Quick post - I ran the Black Earth 10 mile run today.

The Black Earth race is a local race with about 250 entrants - very low key - and only $5 entry fee. It is an out and back course between two local communities. We start at Black Earth head 5 miles to Cross Plains and then back to Black Earth. The course is flat and almost due East and West.

When I arrived to pick up my ticket (pull tab - remember I said it was a small race) - I saw Kerri, from Tutu Runner, HERE - hugs and well wishes. She was with her Team in Training friends.

I couldn't quite decide on what to wear - the temp's were 38ish with 15 mph winds - I finally settled on my capri's with a light long sleeve tech shirt and then a second short sleeve shirt over the top, light gloves and a bondi band. I could have ditched the gloves - didn't really need them. Oh well. Pretty comfy for the first 5 miles - the wind was at my back - the only problem I was having was some numbness in my right foot - I was thinking I really should stop and re-tie my shoe - but eventually it disappeared. From the facial expressions on the runners already heading back - I knew I was in for a tough second 5 miles. Wow oh wow - there was the wind - right in my face. I checked and the wind gusts were 20+ mph. Yikes - there were times that it felt like I wasn't moving.

Photo courtesy of Kerri - thanks

Here are the stat's
1 - 8:35
2 - 9:06
3 - 9:23
4 - 9:36
5 - 9:26
6 - 9:55
7 - 9:51
8 - 9:56
9 - 10:09
10 - 9:47
For total time of 1:35:57 for a avg pace of 9:34

I will do this run again - fun - close - cheap!
Enjoy the moments!

Nice 9 Miler

2011-03-26T18:00:00.000-05:00

This morning I headed out for my 10 mile (or close to it) run. Next weekend is the Black Earth 10 mile Run - my April race - so I wanted to make sure that I at least had one run longer than 6 miles under by belt before next Saturday. I was planning on taking Sophie for 5 miles - dropping her off at home and then heading out again. I asked my son if he wanted to run with me and he said he would (I was a little surprised - I love to run with him - but run quite a bit slower than him) . . . Joe hasn't been running much lately - but did run last week and used my garmin. Check out the 3 minute difference in our avg pace!

JOE - 3.6 miles in 23:49 for a 6:37 avg pace

then the next morning I ran

ME - 2.5 miles in 24:22 for a 9:36 avg pace.

Clearly - he would need to run slower! 'cause I can't run that fast!

It was a sunny but chilly day in Madison. Temp was 23 with strong 14 mph winds out of the north. This makes the wind chill somewhere in the 10 degree range . . . brrrrrrr. One of these days - Spring will come!

We headed out - I wasn't sure just how far we should go with Sophie - she has only run 6 miles before. But she did GREAT. She just kept running - only having to stop a few times for sniffing breaks - which occurred during mile 5.

Right around mile 7 we returned to our neighborhood. Since I wanted to get closer to 10 - I was going to do our neighborhood 2 mile loop, while Sophie and Joe were going to turn off and head directly to our house. Well, Sophie would have none of that - while I kept going, Joe and Sophie turned left onto our street and I guess she came to a stop - she wasn't budging. So all of a sudden I hear them behind me - Joe turned around and he and Sophie caught up to me and we finished the loop together for exactly 9 miles.

Here are our splits:

1 - 8:59

2 - 9:12

3 - 9:45

4 - 9:25

5 - 10:09 - we stopped several times for Sophie to sniff

6 - 9:49

7 - 9:29

8 - 9:37

9 - 9:05

for an avg pace of 9:30.

Great day! Great run! Great time with family!

Shamrock Shuffle

2011-03-18T21:51:00.000-05:00

I have been trying to finsih this post since Sunday evening! I was exhausted all week - recovering from vacation and I was super busy at work - so I didn't feel like looking at a computer screen all week.

We arrived home from Key West at 3:30 pm on Saturday. Unpacked - did some laundry - went to bed early - got up Sunday morning and ran in the local Shamrock Shuffle 10k.

I met up with some local running bloggers, Jamie - HERE, Chelsea - HERE and Kerri - HERE, before the race. Here is a great shot of the four of us.

We hooked up - chatted - took a few pictures and finally decided it was time to head outside.

Jamie - left to meet up with someone
Chelsea - headed to the start line to try and get "close" to the front - I am sure I would have been that fast if I had started running when I was her age! LOL!
Kerri and I headed out to the starting line.

There were quite a few people waiting. We found a little opening and stood there for a couple of minutes. I then "looked" around and made the observation that I didn't think that the people we were standing around were going to be running in the 10k - my guess was that they were either running the 5k or walking the 2 miles. I asked if they were 5k or 10k and they said 5k . . . we moved up . . . I pushed through asking as I went - 5k or 10k? until we got to the 10k folks. By that time there were probably 2 minutes left - There was an Irish prayer and then we were off.

The course is an out and back and includes a run up and down Observatory Hill on the UW campus twice. WOW oh WOW - that is tough. I am use to running up the hill heading west - that is often part of local runs - but I have never run up the hill heading east! Wozer! I didn't stop - kept my head down and said . . . just keep running.

It was a great run - I felt pretty strong the whole way!

Finished in 59:15 for a 9:33 pace.
Garmin -
1 9:55
2 9:35
3 9:31
4 9:33
5 9:30
6 9:37
.2 8:26

Pretty consistent!

Tomorrow 10 miles - and temps near 50 - Oh ya!
Peace

Key West

2011-03-09T08:46:00.001-06:00

Having a great time in Key West. We got here on Monday via the high speed ferry from Ft.Meyers. Nice relaxing way to get here. Walked around, had bikes delivered to the hotel.

Tuesday I ran around the entire island. I saw the Gulf, Southernmost point - where Cuba is only 90 miles away, the the Atlantic and all the beaches, then up to the north where the highway comes into Key West and then the marina's and back to the hotel for 10.7 miles. This morning i did a shorter run - 4.5 miles and still caught the gulf, and atlantic. Next up is jet skiing. Here is me at Southernmost point.

Cape Coral is lovely!

2011-03-07T06:56:00.001-06:00

We arrived in Florida friday at 4 pm. The weather is great. Todd's brother picked us up from the airport and we headed to their condo. Spent the evening chatting, eating and drinking - it was wonderful.

Saturday morning we woke up early so Todd and Dennis could get to the boat rental by 7:30. We were planning on renting a 21 ft Hurricane motor boat and drive around the canels and river and maybe out into the gulf. As planned we woke up around 6:30. I got ready to run, Todd and Dennis left to rent the boat.

I headed out the door just after they left, around 7. It was a beautiful 65 degrees. Ahhhhhhhhhhh. I headed out of the condo towards a river side park and then headed down the road. It wasn't long and I saw Todd and Dennis driving towards me, they were supposed to be getting the boat - problem was whoever rented the boat the day before, fried the engine - so there was no boat available. Bummer.

They went back to the condo. I continued running. I ran 5 miles and it felt great. We ended up borrowing a sail boat from some of their friends and simply puttered around the canels using the motor looking at the houses and stuff. I didn't know anything about Cape Coral - it has a canel system, similar to neighborhood roads. It is awesome to travel around the canels and then out into the river. We were not able to go out into the Gulf, like we had planned, but it was a great day.

This morning we are on the Key West Express, a high speed BIG ferry headed down to Key West. Ahhhhhh

I am loving this vacation.

Peace

Vacation plans

2011-03-02T21:31:00.000-06:00

I am sooooo ready to get out of the Great State of Wisconsin. I love winter, I love snow and I love cold weather . . . but this year, I am so ready to leave it all behind and enjoy bright sunshine, hot temperatures, sand between my toes and not wearing gloves, hats, scarves and jackets every time I leave the house. In addition to the weather, another huge reason to get out of here - is the stress of the political climate at the State Capital - it is plastered all over the news - there are so many comments on Facebook - it is in the workplace - it is impossible to escape. Unless you are living here, it is hard to understand the stress of this situation - and even harder to imagine it ending any time soon.

Well lucky for me - we are headed to Florida on Friday for an 8 day vacation. We will be spending Friday through Sunday in Fort Myers, visiting my husbands brother and his wife. We are planning on renting a boat and spending Saturday on the water. Can you say Sun screen with an SPF of 100+++++! On Monday, we will travel to Key West aboard a high speed ferry and spend the week. We will return to Ft. Myers on Friday evening and then fly home on Saturday morning. I am so excited. The forecast is 80 degrees and sunny.

Tonight I had a pedicure and manicure - my first . . . ever. I was a little worried about it. I have never had anyone touching my feet. Yikes - at first it did feel a little weird - but I quickly became comfortable and found it heavenly. Nail color - OPI - Dressed to Empress. Orange with a little shimmer! The pedi and mani felt wonderful and I will definitely have another. I really can't believe I am posting a picture of my toes - ick!!!!

This morning Sophie and I headed out for a 5 mile run. It was cold. I only looked at the temperature, which was 17 - I didn't even check the wind - it brought the wind chill down to almost ZERO . . . brrrrrr. But the run was pretty good - not too fast - but that is OK.

Heading to sleep - tomorrow is a busy day at work - I have 4 meetings and need to get a lot of things done before I leave for vacation.

Peace

Chilly Run with Jamie through the Arb

2011-02-27T15:17:00.000-06:00

Jamie, of Running Diva Mom and I planned another run together yesterday. We met at 11:00, which worked perfect for me, because Sophie and I had our last doggie training class in the morning. I quickly left Sophie with my husband and drove to the Arb . . . stopping at my office for a pottie stop. After I took a wrong turn - I got to the parking lot meet up right on time.

Jamie and I after our run!

We met up at the UW Arboretum and did the 6.22 loop. It was a chilly 12 degrees, which, even for us in Wisconsin, is chilly for this time of year. The average high at this time of year is. It was a chilly with a slight breeze that of course was in our face on the first part. I opted for no hat and once we made it past the first mile, I was fine. The first two miles were run through the Arb. It is an extremely peaceful setting, we ran into a few other walkers and runners, but only a couple of cars. After the Arb, the path takes you through the Zoo. I had to slow us down and we walked for a little. I just couldn't catch my breath. Once we restarted, we ran through some slippery spots . . . slow and steady . . . since we had about 1-2 inches of new snow on top of the ice . . .. slower and not so steady. We both decided that we love our little zoo. It has everything you need and best part is it is free. I used to love taking my kids to the Zoo when they were younger. We actually would go a lot during the winter. Almost all of the animals are out, some, like the polar bears are a lot more active and all of the buildings are open . . . and there is a lot less people. ;-)
After the zoo, there is a deceiving long hill, you think you see the top, but then realize that you have to wind back to the left. (As a side note, this loop is used for quite a few local 10k runs and just about all other longer runs, wind through the Arb.) Somewhere along this part of our run, a gentle snow started to fall. We then followed the path back into the Arb and finished in 1:01:52.
Slower than I would have liked and definitely slower than Jamie would have normally run . . . but it was still a great run. Isn't any run . . . really a great run!

Pace:
1 9:26
2 9:17
3 10:36 (this is were we had to walk)
4 10:18
5 10:12
6 10:04
.22 9:03

This makes me realize that I need to work on my speed. It is just too easy to get into that comfortable pace and not push yourself. With the end of winter in our sights (fingers crossed) I will be able to start some speed work when the roads are clear.

Heading off to the last UW Men's basketball game this afternoon against Northwestern. Go Bucky Go!

ABC's of me!

2011-02-26T20:19:00.000-06:00

The ABC's of me

Because I am too tired to think.

(A) Age: 55

(B) Bed Size: Queen which is shared with husband, Sophie our dog and Oscar our cat

(C) Chore You Hate: cleaning the garage

(D) Dogs: Sophie - Golden Retriever

(E) Essential Start Your Day Item: Coffee

(F) Favorite Color: Orange

(G) Gold or Silver: Silver

(H) Height: 5'5

(I) Instruments You Play: Clarinet

(J) Job Title: Senior Director of Accounting

(K) Kids: 2 (boys) young men . . . 22 and 19

(L) Live: Madison, WI

(M) Mom’s Name: Clara

(N) Nicknames: Linda Lou

(O) Overnight Hospital Stays: 2 child births & mastectomy

(P) Pet Peeve: Negative people

(Q) Quote from a Movie: Make my Day!

(R) Right or Left Handed: Right

(S) Siblings: 2 sisters 12 and 10 years older and a brother 11 years older

(T) Time You Wake Up: 5:30

(U) Underwear: Yes

(V) Vegetable You Dislike: brussel sprouts

(W) What Makes You Run Late: work

(X) X-Rays You’ve Had Done: Foot, teeth and lot's of chest x-rays when I had pneumonia during chemo treatments

(Y) Yummy Food You Make: soup and carmel corn

(Z) Zoo, Favorite Animal: otters

Frosty 5 mile run!

2011-02-20T20:46:00.002-06:00

As I mentioned in my last post, the WinterFest weekend event in Madison was cancelled due to the protests which were taking place around the Capitol. Sophie and I had signed up for the 5k Frosty Dog Run and I was really looking forward to doing a run with her. We got up this morning and decided to run our own Frosty 5 miler.

This was true Wisconsin Frosty run.

We started out running around the neighborhood with a very gentle drizzle.

The drizzle switched over to sleet around mile 2. I quickly discovered that the best way to run in sleet is with your head down. Otherwise - Ouch! The temperature was 28 when we left, so the sleet that continued to come down started to accumulate on the ground and it started to become slippery. Somewhere around 4 1/2 miles the sleet stopped.

As we were heading back to the house it started to snow. . . . and then just as we were near the house it started to thunder. Thunder Snow!

We had a great run - 5.1 miles in 50 minutes. The temp's were comfy and the change in weather kept it interesting. Thanks to my son, who came out to capture a picture of us heading back down the street. ;-)

Then it was off to church. The rest of the day was spent running a few errands, making a pot roast for dinner, relaxing and watching the UW Men's Basketball team beat Penn St. ;-)

Enjoy the day!

Another scheduled run - down the drain

2011-02-18T16:53:00.000-06:00

In case you haven't been following the news - the Wisconsin State Capitol, located in Madison, is the center of major protests. Somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 people have descended on the Capitol for the past 3 - 4 days to protest the Governor's repair bill that is up for vote in the State Legislature. This is the same state Capitol building that was aglow in green and gold just a couple of weeks ago to honor the Superbowl Winning Packers. Now the building has been the centerpiece of protests, lead my many teachers and state employees. The local public schools in Madison have been closed due to low teacher turnout for the past 3 days. Many, if not most of the other public schools have been closed at least 1 day and most of them 2 days due to low teacher turnout.

The repair bill contains measures to control the budget shortfall, by among other things, making public workers, pay a share of their pension costs and increasing the employee's share of health costs and disallowing the unions from negotiating for these benefits in the future. There are other aspects of the proposed bill, but in my opinion, those are the items that are causing the protests.

Due to the protests and all of the activity happening downtown, the event organizer and the City of Madison have decided that this weekends WinterFest will be cancelled. Although some activities are going to be held on the UW campus, the run that I registered for has been cancelled. This wasn't just an ordinary run - I had registered for the 5k Frosty Dog Jog with my sweetie, Sophie.

While I am disappointed that the run is cancelled - this is Democracy at work. Whether you agree with the unions or the Governor - protesting is a right in this great country.
But dang - running with Sophie was going to be a blast. So instead, we went out this afternoon. We ran 5 1/2 miles and let me tell you - it was tough. I just wasn't feeling it and it was super windy . . . it seems I am always mentioning the weather. ;-( I like to say that the weather is, what the weather is. I usually don't worry about it much. But it was really windy and there were some pretty strong gusts. This should at least count for 1 1/2 times the miles. ;-) Besides me not feeling it - Sophie was not her normal wonderful runner - instead she was a crazy dog. We are still experiencing warm temp's, today it was 40 and all of our snow is melting. I would imagine that there are a lot of smells and those smells must be over powering for her 'cause she was CRAZY.

But as the saying goes . . . while you will probably regret not running . . . you will never regret going for a run. I am very glad we persevered.

ENJOY - hoping that things settle down at the Capitol.

Start the week off right!

2011-02-14T21:40:00.000-06:00

I love to get the week started off on the right foot!

After running 6.5 miles yesterday with Kerri and Jamie, I woke up to 30 degree temp's this morning and took Sophie out for our 2 mile loop. It was really windy - but felt so nice to have warmer temp's.
As I was getting dressed for work, I decided to pack up my running gear so that if I had time I could run at lunch. Even though my work day was really packed - I decided that I would make time. It was 40 degrees, still windy - but sunny and beautiful. Lots of people were out enjoying the weather on bikes, roller blades and of course plenty of other runners. I did 5 miles and felt tired - but soooo good. That makes today a 7 mile day - yahoo.

Since I didn't have my camera yesterday when I ran with Kerri and Jamie - I took it with me today. Here are a couple of photo's from my lunch time run - which was on the same path as yesterday.

Lake Monona in the background

View of downtown across Lake Monona

Dinosaurs stuck in the snow!

Tomorrow morning I will take Sophie out again and then hop on the bike trainer. I have too many meetings going on tomorrow so no running at lunch, which will give me a little rest.

Heat wave

2011-02-13T21:35:00.000-06:00

Well not exactly a heat wave - but last Thursday we woke up to negative 13 and today we had highs near 48 degrees. It was beautiful out. Snow was melting and birds were singing. AND I ran 6.5 miles outside with Jamie, from Running Diva Mom and Kerrie, from Tutu Runner. Jamie is running 1/2 marathon every month - and Kerrie and I ran 6.5 miles with her - Jamie then continued to finish the rest by herself! Love these young ladies!

I was going to run the local Valentine's Day 5k yesterday - but on Thursday I got invited (2 tickets) to the UW Men's Basketball game against Ohio State. This was THE game of the season. Ohio State came into Madison with an undefeated record and NO. 1 ranking in the country. It was an AWESOME basketball game - the UW was ahead until the last basket of the 1st half. They then came out flat in the 2nd half and quickly found themselves down by 15 . . . but then went on a run and came back, winning 71 - 67. The crowd (including me) at the Kohl Center were sooooooo loud - you couldn't actually hear yourself screaming. Great game - great day - great weekend!

Next weekend is the local Frosty 5 k run that allows dog's . . . so Sophie and I will be running together.

Have a great week - get out there and enjoy the mild temp's.

Enjoy

Running brought inside

2011-02-08T21:58:00.000-06:00

Oh the weather outside is frightful!

But the fire is so delightful!

And since we've no place to go,

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

Or another version might be:

Oh the weather outside is freezing!

And we all just might be sneezing!

But since we can't run the hill,

Run the Mill! Run the Mill! Run the Mill!

Stupid - I know! Blame it on the cold weather!

We are experiencing another blast of cold blustery conditions. Negative temp's plus 10 - 15 mile an hour winds feels like negative 30. That is just a little to chilly to run outside . . . OK that is way too cold to run outside!
So today, during my lunch, I ran on the treadmill at work. I did a brisk (for me) 28.30 minutes on the treadmill for 3.1 miles. Tomorrow - repeat.
But come this weekend - we are having a Heat Wave in the sun . . . well actually the clouds are suppose to be around - but the temps might climb into the low 40's. Around here that is a heat wave.

So for now it is the treadmill and the bike trainer . . . but this weekend - I just might be running without a hat and without gloves and without a jacket and in capri's . . . just maybe!

Enjoy the day!
Enjoy every moment!

And just so you know - we are still celebrating the Packer Superbowl Victory! Go Pack Go!

SUPERBOWL CHAMPIONS! OH YEA BABY!

2011-02-05T08:35:00.007-06:00

THE SMALLEST MARKET TEAM - WINS THE SUPERBOWL - OH YEA!

BIG SMILES! IT IS GOING TO BE A GREAT WEEK!

WI State Capitol Dome a glow in Green and Gold!

To honor the team the State Capitol was illuminated in a green and gold glow for the week.

Here in Wisconsin We LOVE our Packers!