Awesome firsts this week!

This week has been full of some sweet firsts. Needless to say it's been a fantastic week.


First, Sunday was over 40 degrees. That was a first for the year for sure. It hasn't happened for a long time. That first led to another. I ran outside. Now, I've run outside many many times before but since we're in the middle of winter, it's been awhile. Months. So for the first time since probably October, I ran outside and boy was it awesome. The weather was perfect. There was barely a breeze, though it did pick up a bit as I ran across the Mississippi River for the second time in my run. That time it was blowing against me so it made it a little tiresome at the end of a fairly long run. But, it turned out to be great all around. For some reason, I love running over the river and I got to do it twice with this run. I ran a total of 6.77 miles according to Daily Mile.


This run led to another first. Despite having lived in Minneapolis for over 5 years, I've never ran on either of the River Roads. It's a very popular spot for recreation so it's kind of weird that I'd never done that. For those of you who know the area, I started at Minnehaha Park in south Minneapolis and ran north on the West River Road to Lake Street. I crossed the Lake Street bridge (which turns into Marshall Ave halfway across the bridge), going across the Mississippi River into St. Paul. I then turned south and took Mississippi River Blvd down to Ford Parkway. I crossed the Ford Parkway bridge (which turns into 46th Street once you get across), then followed 46th St to Minnehaha Parkway and back to the park. It's essentially the Walk MS route, backwards. The route was a little slushy and puddly and there was some soft snowpack on the trail. That mean I had to do a lot of hopping and skipping to avoid my feet being submerged in frigid puddles. It also meant that every step on the snowpack was a little uneven so it was a big workout to my ankles and inner calves. Kind of like running in sand. I found those areas to be exceptionally sore on Monday and Tuesday. It was a great run. Anytime I'm outside I feel so much better. I did feel some of my old knee pain/IT Band Syndrome coming back. I'll have to keep an eye on that.


Monday morning rolled around and on my way from the Target Center to my office, someone rear ended me in our new car. First accident for the new car and first time anyone has EVER hit me in my almost 10 years of driving. Grrrrrr! It pushed me into the van in front of me which happened to be a guy doing some work in my office. No damage to his car. Also, no damage to the car that hit me. Unfortunately all of the damage was concentrated on my poor little Elantra. :( My front license plate holder is now bent and there are two holes poked in my back bumper, left by the screws on the dude's front license plate. It looks like a vampire bit it in the butt. So, now we're trying to figure this all out with insurance, etc. Damn that guy in a hurry.


The last firsts for the week have to deal with work. Our office is closed this entire week (a definite first in my tenure there) for a network, operating system and phone system upgrade. We're getting Windows 7, Microsoft Office 2010, and a VOIP phone system. Wahoo! So, Monday we had about a half day to do real work, then we started cleaning up our workspaces and I moved my cube to a new one. I'm now by the window which is the first time I've had that since being there. Yay! Sunlight! Tuesday we had an all staff retreat and today we volunteered at Second Harvest Heartland. Tomorrow is another cleaning day. We're literally scrubbing our office from top to bottom. Then on Friday we'll be trained and getting used to our new gear. We have Monday off for President's Day.


Today, after volunteering, Jill and I took a walk on the West River Road near our office. It was a little chilly but we did a bit over 4 miles. We're looking forward to a day lifting in the gym tomorrow. I think we're on triceps/chest...maybe biceps/back. I don't really remember. More on that later.


Happy Hump Day!


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Addendum: I originally included the following information in my post, however didn't want to spill the beans too early. I think I've given it plenty of time though so here's another first that should have been included above.

At the end of the day, things got significantly better when my sister, Kaci, who had called me during my run on Sunday and I missed it, called me on that evening. She was calling to let me know that I'm going to be an aunt! Up until this point I've been an aunt to only one person, my sister-in-law's daughter, Megan. That's been great but I'm so stoked for my own sister to start bringing kids into the world! This is my first blood-niece/nephew. It's also the first grandchild for my parents and the first great-grandchild for my grandparents on my dad's side. Today I went to Target and of course had to look at the Twins and Gophers onesies. The kid's going to be stylin' in Minnesota gear! I pretty much can't get over this and am so looking forward to visiting in April. Wooooooooooo!

Marathon Official!

It's been a seriously long time since I've posted. It's been a little boring around here. Just a lot of work. I've got at least 45 extra hours with the Gophers this month. That's more than an extra week of work so it takes up a lot of time. I don't really have full weekends anymore. The job is so easy though so meh, whatever. It also doesn't hurt much because we're headed to DC in April for our good friend's wedding. Erich's big bro from the fraternity, Eric, is getting married out there. He was the best man in our wedding and Erich is the best man in his. And yes, they are both named Erich/Eric. I'm pretty stoked about this wedding.

Even with all of this busyness, I've still been getting in my runs and workouts. In fact, I will probably hit up the gym tonight after I get done working at a women's gymnastics meet. I've got the whole afternoon but I need to get groceries and get the car washed prior to going. I'm hoping Erich will come with me (it's always better to tag team our grocery shopping) but he's not out of bed yet. It's 11:00! I'm also currently watching Secrets of a Restaurant Chef on the Food Network and don't want to pull myself away. So much to learn!

This week I started planning out my training program for the marathon. Turns out I have to start training at the end of May for the 18 week program. I chose this one for a couple of reasons. First, it allows for some flexibility. Hal Higdon, who designed it, knows that most people have real lives to live and mentions this in the training explanations. He also writes as if he's talking to you and it's pretty humorous. Second, I don't want to over train. Since that can definitely be a problem, I'm all about not doing anything to make myself hurt worse. Lastly, Hal Higdon also has a post marathon training program to allow your body to recuperate properly. It's  a total of 5 weeks of post marathon training so this whole endeavor will take me into November.

I decided a while ago that I'd be repeating one of the weeks due to an event I'll have in June. It runs Friday-Sunday so I'll be missing my long run that Saturday. It probably wouldn't be a big deal because it's a step back week and the long run is only 5 miles. Friday is a rest day so I wouldn't miss anything there and Sunday is cross training. But, I want to make sure I still get the mileage in. The best thing I could think of was to repeat the week. My biggest concern for the rest of the program is the day I have to run my longest training run of 20 miles. It's a tough run and will take multiple hours. It happens to fall the day after a long tiring event I have for work. :( Not cool. Looks like I won't be taking part in any post event happy hour as I usually do. It'll be home and off to bed so that I can do the run the next day with no problem.

I also started looking in to standard tips and such for training. I put together a whole book of all of this info. I now have a lovely marathon training guide thanks to Hal Higdon and other online resources. I included nutrition advice and clothing advice, though I'm already pretty well versed in the clothing department. I'm already super picky about what I wear to work out.

My last preparation which was done last week was to actually register for this thing. I'm now officially registered through the MS Society (I was the first) and have begun raising money. The required fundraising amount is $1000, but my goal is more like $2000. So far I have raised $151.20. Why such a strange amount? Well, my first gift was from my dear friend Chris who gave $26.20 in honor of running 26.2 miles. Clever Chris! Next I received $75 from my uncle, Kent who also participates in MS Society events in North Carolina. He knows the great events they put on an the great work they do. Then, I received $50 from our cousins, Adam and Sonia. I feel like they have a connection to multiple sclerosis somehow. I believe that is what Sonia told me. I'm well on my way and I've still got some time to go! The MS Society was lucky enough to partner with the Water Park of America here in the Cities to hold a great fundraising event. If you don't know, this is the largest indoor water park in the country and is across the freeway from the Mall of America, which is the largest shopping mall in the country. The water park is donating their entire park for 5 hours in April and we are holding an exclusive private party. The tickets are just $5 per person which is a steal compared to normal admission rates to this place. The best part is, 100% of the ticket price goes back to the MS Society and can be applied to my fundraising. If you live in the Twin Cities, or would like to take a trip up for this event, check it out and get your tickets here. If you get tickets, be sure to indicate that you want the money to go to me. As another fundraising tool, I'm planning to have a pancake breakfast at work. More details to come on that.

If you'd like to make a donation to me, you can do so online by going directly to my fundraising page. The website is completely secure and you can donate with a credit card. How convenient! I really hope you'll help me out with a donation. The money will work to do great things such as fund vital research (my nerdy passion) and provide programs and services for people with MS, as well as their families. After going to MS Youth Camp this past summer, our family programs are now one of my favorites. Please consider giving!