9th graders and 9 miles

Well, well, well, I've been a bit absent lately. I try to not post unless I have something really good to post about. I leave the menial posts for Facebook. My biggest accomplishment up until the past week was making some outrageously good buffalo wings, complete with homemade sauce. The real kind, not the battered, boneless kind. That accomplishment didn't really need a full blog post dedicated to it though. You can find the picture of them on Facebook HERE. Almost blogger worthy but since this is a running blog, that didn't really make much sense.

In the running world, here is what I've been up to. Last week's long run was a step-back run of 5 miles. You see I progress for two weeks, then step back for the third. Apparently this prevents over-training. I did two laps around Lake Nokomis in south Minneapolis. It ended up being just over 5 miles. The weather was great. It was pretty overcast and humid but I can handle humidity when the sun isn't shining and it's just barely in the 70's. Unfortunately my neighborhood doesn't have great areas in which to run. There are streets and such but they're pretty boring and quite hilly. I typically drive to the Uptown lakes area or somewhere on the River Road for my long runs.

Well, this past week was pretty lame when it came to running. You see, I spent all week as a camp counselor at MS Youth Camp. It's a camp we put on for kids who have parents living with multiple sclerosis. Often these kids take on a lot in their lives. In addition to being a normal kid they help out with housework, grocery shopping and sometimes are caregivers for their parent with MS. The camp gives them a chance to connect with other kids like them as well as have some time away from the stresses in their life. It's a great camp and is probably the reason I decided to participate in Run to Stop MS. I was able to attend last year because they needed more counselors. I requested to return this year and I'm really happy that I did.

This year I again had middle schoolers. Last year I had a mix of 8th and 9th grade. This year I had all 9th graders. The week got off to a rough start, which is pretty normal for the middle schoolers. They take a while to get settled in and get used to each other and to their counselors. Needless to say, the first and second nights were a little late. But, we got through the week and I became much closer with my campers than I did last year and I hope I was able to be a positive role model for them through the week.

Because of the late nights, it made it really difficult to get up early and run. :( There are optional early morning activities that campers (and counselors) can participate in before breakfast. They included a polar bear splash into the lake, yoga, or going for a short run. I decided to join in on the run, along with one of my campers. We only did a quick 1.5 miles on Tuesday. I did not make it up at all on Wednesday or Thursday to get out to run. I was just too darn tired. But, that's ok. I think I will be just fine.

Despite not running this week, I got out today for the longest run I've been on since I ran on the Lincoln High School cross country team my senior year of high school. This was the longest run since a 10-miler I did on my 18th birthday. I did a 9-miler today on the River Road in Minneapolis and St. Paul. I started at Minnehaha Park in south Minneapolis and ran north along the river, almost to downtown. I crossed the Mississippi river via Franklin Ave and ran south along the river in St. Paul and back across the Mississippi to Minnehaha Park. The run was lovely. I felt great during the whole thing. I ran most of it on the grass next to the path so I had no shin splints. I'm hoping my ankles get stronger from that because they get a little achy now that I'm running on the uneven grass.

According to my mileage counter, I've run 137 miles since I started keeping track. Holy crap! That's a lot of miles! I know that number is really going to grow as my mileage increases over the summer. It'll be fun to see how far I'll end up running when this is all over. Any guesses?

Here's looking to a great week of training ahead!

Welcome, Heat Wave!

The past few weeks have been CRAZY busy for me. Since I took on my new position in October, I've had substantially more work to accomplish, which has meant early mornings and working past when I should be able to go home. Since May 1, we've had two events. The first was Walk MS (which had terrible weather by the way) and the second was a one day Bike MS ride. Bike MS had great weather. I even got my first sunburn for the summer. Yee haw! Next up is another Bike MS event June 10-12. Two days of riding 150 miles from Duluth to White Bear Lake, MN. It's a beast of an event with about 3,500 people riding and takes a lot of preparation to put it on. Needless to say, right now is a bit hectic and I have seriously neglected my running. Yesterday morning, that all changed.

I realized yesterday as I was brushing my teeth, that in two short weeks training for Run to Stop MS begins for real! Since my training schedule is rest Monday, short run Tuesday, mid-distance Wednesday, short run Thursday, rest Friday, long distance Saturday and cross train Sunday, I figured yesterday would be a good day to start getting used to that schedule. Now, I'm not training yet, just making sure I get used to fitting in a run no matter what. So, I decided I'd go for a run after work. Well, while at work I was putting away supplies from the above mentioned bike ride and discovered that it had become seriously humid outside. See, part of putting away supplies means washing dishes and we do it outside with a hose and a really big Rubbermaid tub. Have I ever mentioned how much my job rocks? It was pretty standard summer humidity, however seven days ago it was March weather. I was a little taken aback but immediately excited. Summer weather! Then I remembered that I had decided to get in gear and go for a run after work. I can't remember the last time I ran in hot, humid weather. Last summer I ran inside on the treadmill.

When I got home it was 88 degrees and over 60% humidity. I set out for a 3-mile run around my 'hood. I remembered my lesson from last time and did not run up Fillmore Street. Damn those hills. They will have to wait for another, more appropriate day. Instead I went up Lincoln. Oh yes, have I ever mentioned that I live in an area where the streets are all presidents and they're in sequential order of when they served in office? William Henry Harrison doesn't get a street. I guess dying in office after a month doesn't get a street named after you. [shrug] You're welcome for the interjected history lesson, but, back to my run. It was pretty flipping terrible. There is no doubt that my body is not yet used to that heat. I felt like death. To make matters worse, for the last half, I was running on a busy road so everyone driving home from work during rush hour could see my struggle. Stellar move, Whitney. But I made it home and didn't die. Though I did turn on the air conditioning so I wouldn't sweat all night. I also learned on Tuesday, after much trial and error over the past couple of weeks, that I have to break one of my cardinal fashion rules for grown women. I have to pull my hair back in pigtails in order to get enough of it out of my face and off my neck for comfort. Gah! Totally worth it though because I'm still digging this hair cut.

The hot, humid weather spawned some pretty intense storms in the area too. The far-reaching northwest suburbs had tornado touch downs. We had a tornado warning in the immediate metro area due to some funnel clouds seen in St. Louis Park and Hopkins, just west and southwest of Minneapolis. When this happened I promptly called my boss, Allison, who lives about 15 blocks from me to see if I could come over. Erich was working at the Twins game and I was not about to be stuck at home alone if a tornado actually happened. Plus, Allison has a basement. :) We didn't have much excitement in the Nordeast neighborhood. No tornadoes or hail, thank God. My poor car has been through enough since purchasing it in October. Only some rain. They did however have to rake Target Field free of golf ball-sized hail so the Twins could resume getting murdered by the Tigers. Boo Twins. What happened to that no-no Liriano?

The storms were supposed to continue into today, however they did not. I went for another 3-mile run this afternoon along the same route and it was significantly better. The temp was about 10 degrees cooler and the sun went behind the clouds about 1/3 of the way through. Since Erich was home I left my phone and keys. I forgot to look at what time I left the house so I don't know how long it actually took me to complete this today. Oh well. Today I decided that I love running with nothing on my person. No ipod, no phone, nothing. It makes me a little nervous without the phone, but I just tell Erich what my route is and tell him that if I don't return in a reasonable amount of time, to come looking for me. I tend to notice a lot more things and interact with the people with whom I come into contact. Today, at a busy intersection, I even saw three wild turkeys just chillin' in a parking lot. Strange things going on with the turkeys here lately. I think they've gotten lost. This isn't the first time I've seen them smack in the middle of the city. I want to know how they got there because turkeys don't really fly...   After dinner (no we didn't have turkey!) Erich and I treated ourselves to Culvers frozen custard. Mmmmm. Just a single scoop is perfect for me.

Tomorrow is another running day before I take Friday off. I'm going to see if Jill wants to go for a walk/run after work. I'm hoping it's not raining. It's been a while since I ran along the river so I think tomorrow will be a good day for that. I am mighty excited now that I think about it.

Oh, I also forgot to mention that between the run and the tornado warning yesterday, I ate an entire cantaloupe. Well, everything but the outer rind, but you get the idea. A whole cantaloupe in one sitting! Today I cut up a watermelon. Erich promptly told me that I am not allowed to eat the whole thing.