Ohhhh goodness. Do I even have time to backtrack to yesterday? Of course I do… I’m currently sitting in a big ol’ adirondack chair love seat at the lake, watching the sun set. I have time for anything.

Saturday 04.10.10

Yesterday = run with the Team MED guys // ride with the UMN tri team. It was 7 miles of [why the hell do] my-legs-feel-good glory.. and 27 miles of myself and one of my new-favorite-riding-partners getting dropped by the fast riders on the team! Hahah!! It was only slightly disheartening watching them get farther and farther away. And when said new-favorite-teammate said to me, “You don’t have to wait, you can go ride up with them if you want” … my response [in short choppy sentences] was “No. I can’t. I really can’t.” Hahah it’s what we should have expected given the people who turned out for the ride, and we had a blast. AND I wore my padded shorts. Success!!

Shortly after I got back from the team ride, I finally connected with el chico guapo, who was just about 15 minutes from finishing his EIGHTY mile ride. How’s that for making me feel like a slacker?! Five hours on the bike? Yeah.. you know he got his padded shorts. We proceeded to a pic-Chipotle-nic, from which obviously only good things can come.

Replacing a few of the 3,600 calories burned while riding.

Can I call this an “official” product review? Yes. Yes I can:

CHIPOTLE DIET COKE CON LIMA Y LIMÓN

Subtle yet delightful carbonation.. leading to an extremely refreshing mouth-feel and the desire to say “ahhhh” when imbibed. A masterpiece on it’s own, yet the addition of lemon AND lime is highly recommended to obtain the full Minneapolis-is-almost-as-good-as-Mexico experience. Additionally, appears to emanate a heightened aura of buy-me-now when explicitly declared “not-allowed” in one’s diet.

Thank the lord for 90/10 adherence!

To continue with the remarkably wonderful nature of the day, I was able to go to my place of employment and sit outside in the sun.. sippin some Peace Coffee.. and loving every minute. Granted, I was on the McMac doing school work, but it was lovely none the less!

For the sake of time, and the prevention of eye strain, I suppose I should move on to day #2…

Sunday 04.11.10

My favorite day of the week. A fact you all know well if you’ve been hanging around Dr.TriRunner for any amount of time. And you could have guessssed that the giveaway winner would be drawn on this wondrous of wonderful days. The day started with a solid nine hours of sleep – very welcomed after a busy day yesterday! Per the necessary progression of any day, much less a spectacular Sunday, a very large 2-cups of Tanzanian Peaberry Peace Coffee was in order. Everyone has their preferences on eating pre-workout, and I’m not one to preach what you should or shouldn’t do about that… but given today’s physical endeavors, breakfast was indeed required. Enter: the…

Do It Yourself Duathlon!!

It has been a while since the fast-twitch fibers have been activated. Since the Get Lucky 7K actually. And given my upcoming races on the calendar, I thought it was due time that I [attempt to] lay on a little speed today. For the friends of Facebook and my tweeps on Twitter… you got the preview that my do-it-yourself-Du came in the form of 5K around Calhoun // 20 mile bike // 5K around Calhoun. Because of the route chosen for the 20 mile bike, the lack of closed roads, and the fact that it was GORGEOUS out today so everyone and their mom were out too, the bike was not “race pace.” But because of my chosen company, it was pretty damn near close to it:

[photo]

The duathlon itself is pretty self-explanatory, so I will leave you with photos galore.

D – U. Spells DU.

Pre-leg-one. The necessary hydration.

Hot already.. time to move into T1. El Novio joined the party at this point…

Rilo – ready to ride, and all Nuun‘ed up!

El Novio – making his way through T1

Me.. making my way through T2! Bahaha hello baby-bicep!

Gomer says we worked hard.

Terminado. Success!

The question is… who learned from who? I’m just sayin – Dakota is a smart dog.

Showered. Tired. Protein shake ready to go, and cheers to YOU winner of this mystery box giveaway taht you are all just waiting for me to get to.

Please do indeed get amped for this “Do it Yourself Duathlon” deal… because it will be coming to a city near you very very soon!

But not yet!! There was more splendor to come in this Sunday. There are several items on my need want-to-purchase list: among them, a Timbuk2 bag for my bike >> school commute, a bike trainer, a quality pair of sunglasses for riding, a Vita Mix, and an ice cream maker. The concluding item entered my life today via Craigslist: brand new, an unused / in box wedding present, needing to be cleared out to make room for baby. Thankkk you!! So excited to try this out.

Red… not matching one single item in my kitchen.. and super sassy looking. Perfect! Trust me that an OFFICIAL official product review will come!

Aright… raised your hand if you hit ⌘f and typed “winner” just to get down to this point. Or that would be “control+f” for you who are yet to see the light PC lovers. Yes. There was a giveaway. The first day. And then there was Easter, exams, Friday Confessions, Team MED runs / Tri Team Rides, and then the givewaway closed. Bringing us to the sixth day. And on the seventh day, God rested. So I guess I’ll just have to follow suit and wait till tomorrow to post.

KIDDING!!!

¡EL GANADOR!

Aright… the only thing you’re really reading for – the winner. You guys seriously blew me away with some of these entries. One had me spitting cereal all over my mac… in public. Another one drew the “awwwww!” reaction. It was better than I ever hoped for – thank you ALL so much for entering! And hopefully if you were a new visitor to D.TR, you’ll stick around even if you didn’t win! So, I want to give a biggg ol’ congratulations to:

JAIME! My possibly [ETA: not any more!] only male reader, my swim/bike/run, my why-didn’t-we-meet-when-I-was-living-in-Boston, spandex-wearing, speedyspeedster BUDDY!!! Winning for following on twitter, but his entry was pretty epic too if I do say so myself. Jaime.. I’m sharing!

No Shakespeare, but hopefully you’ll enjoy it either way.

* Years ago, I would have never even dare
With all of this tight clothing that I choose to wear
* Demanding confidence in my sexuality,
Nothing to hide behind, a daily dose of reality.
* Bike shorts, speedos and tri tops, I own more than any man should.
Shorts over my running tights? You know I never would.
* Funny looks from strangers, smoking out on the street
Running by in tights, they try to catch a peek
* Always the perfect fit on the swim, bike or the run.
Love those thick tan lines, after long rides out in the sun
* Holding close in all the right places, even up my butt crack.
You keep my goodies in just the right place.
* Since no one deserves my junk all up in their face.

I’m not sure what you meant to rhyme butt crack with.. or if that was just thrown in there for kicks. But you definitely deserve to win with a poem like that. I hope you enjoy everything included in this mystery box!! I can’t post a photo YET of what it all includes, because there are some last minute additions I wanted to make depending on the personality of the winner. And so I will. And so I will mail. And so you shall receive. Amen.

I hope ALL of you are having a crazy amazing summery-Sunday wherever you may be. I have about 30,000 posts that I am intending on getting up, including a reader question that I have received many many times, but this lady asked it so nicely and considerately that I have to make a post out of it. I’m very much appreciating this God-given streak of how-could-it-be-better?? days.. and knocking on wood that they continue this streak! My battery is about to quit on me. Yet again, I’m at the lake, on the adirondacks, watching the sun set. 10,0oo extra cool points for my restaurant having wi-fi. Catch you soon!

-E

Alright… James definitely wins the “most creative” award for the topic of “the next post” (ie this one). Running an Easter race dressed as a chick? Haha… that would be AWESOME! Minneapolis readers – you fill me in on an Easter race in the area, and I’m down!

But no, that was not the plan for today. It wasn’t too much of a stretch to figure out that it was NEW SHOE time! The baby chick… long story short, some customer bought it for me when I was working my very first job at a grocery store when I was 14. Awkward experiences = story of my life. Throw that in the “adversity training” category.

ANYWAYS. New shoes! Trust me… it was time. It was past time. If you haven’t noticed, I haven’t really mentioned any injury/pain lately. Before you just say “Maybe that’s just because you haven’t been blogging a ton lately…” (my bad hombres), I’d stop you and say that for the most part, it’s true! No real injuries so to speak of. Hip is feeling as solid as it ever will, I’m strength training like it’s my job thanks to my awesome Model Per4mance team, and I’m taking good care of my body! My weekly running mileage is also half of what it used to be, but I’m swimming and cycling and cross training to make sure I’m the best damn triathlete I can be!

But you’re right.. I said for the MOST part. Twice now since the new year, I have been out on a run with my guys team, and been having a great run. Both times in the last mile (coincidental) I have had this sudden feeling in my right foot like it was going to snap in half… an action that is most definitely not Dr. TriRunner approved! Why the last mile? Why so sudden? Who knows.. but the pain would stick around for more time than it was welcome. Both times I took about a week off of running, and eventually the pain went away. I used to have one of these sweet Trigger Point Quadballers that would have felt amazing under my arches, but sadly in my move from Boston to Minneapolis, it was lost in the shuffle.

Sometimes I feel like I’m “barely running” in comparison to my 65 mile/weeks of the past, so it was easy for me to forget that my shoes are still racking up mileage. I can say with about 97.6% assuredness that my foot pain was due to (cue scary movie music…)

EXPIRED shoes

solution!!

I bet many of you have heard/read at least ONE recommendation telling you a time/mileage frame when it’s time to drop money on a new pair. The Run Happy folks would say that to keep running happy, you wanna change up your shoes every 300-500 miles, and that is very consistent with most recommendations out there. Depending on how far/often your run, that could mean new shoes every two months, or only twice a year.

If you’re on the more frequent end of that spectrum, and also happen to be on the broke-college-student end of the spectrum, you might feel exasperated hearing that “guideline” because hey, running shoes are $$$! So what is a broke college kid (or just a cautious spender) to do?

Here are my best tips to saving money and keep on keepin’ on with a smile on your face:

• Know your running stores: many smaller independent running stores have a customer loyalty program or something along those lines. Get on their mailing list, and a lot of times you can score coupons for up to 25% off!
• Know your running stores.II: in respect to ^ stores, I have found many that offer a discount when you donate an old pair of shoes. My local running store has a shoe recycling program that gives the shoes to those in need locally! You save money. You do a good  deed. Everyone wins.
• Be OK with wearing last seasons’ model! I know that the 2150s just came out.. and I know that they have some sick designs and colors…  but truthfully (aside from colors) there often isn’t a big change from one model to the next. Do your research to make sure you’re not missing anything thats  truly “improved”, and if not, try and score the last seasons model, along with some extra change in that pocket.

(My “last season” model still has this awesome tat on the tongue!! Haha – you guys are going to start to think I really DO color coordinate all this…)

• This tip comes to you via the mens XC team at the gym. Have a “fall jar” – any time you fall while out running or walking around, or even come close to falling, put $1 in your jar. Although the $$ typically whet to adult beverages items other than shoes, this could definitely be your shoe piggybank. Also, if you have the balance of a tight rope walker, I think it would be good to use this as a “negativity jar” … any time you find yourself whining not looking forward to a workout, or skip a workout, drop in a dollar!
• Run/walk/bike instead of drive when possible. Gas isn’t getting any cheaper, and you can knock out a workout while checking items off your to-do list!
• Make sure you’re wearing the RIGHT shoes. How much would it sting to figure out three weeks in that you don’t like these shoes, or this model doesn’t have enough arch support.. but its too late to return them? Burn.
• Online? If you don’t have a good running store near you, or no customer loyalty programs, nada, online shopping brings those options right to your doorstep. I have had ridiculously AMAZING customer service with Zappos.. and I know they’re not even running or athlete specific, but they have a lot of options AND also typically have the last seasons models left over. Especially if you’re like me and have baby feet and stores don’t stock your size… online is the way to go!

Brooks also say that replacing your running shoes is a lot cheaper than replacing your knees. Or foot. Or HIP. Amen to that! These are Asics 2140s (the 2150s are the current model), and I basically always run in the 21XX series. I’m not saying I would never run in a different brand of shoes, but if you know me, you know I’m an Asics girl at heart. If you think about it, it’s sort of funny how we develop certain brand loyalties. Initially I started running in Asics because when I first became a runner, everything I knew I learned from my mom and that’s what she wore. Thankfully, that was also the shoe that was recommended when I was like 12 and went to be “fitted” at our local running store. I’ve tried two other brands, but Asics are my LOVE.

Because I tend to get a little OC with the photos… I might as well share these with you, right?

el pollito was curious -//- i let him break em’ in for me

I decided that red on white would bring out my tan. -//- don’t argue. hard core.

haha you probably can’t tell the diff. between the dirt and my moles -//- don’t argue. hard core.

READER QUESTION TIME:

1. How often do you change your shoes?
2. Where do you buy them?
3. Are you particular about the brand you wear, or do you try out different companies?
4. Do you also have blindingly pale legs but could care less Have you broken out the shorts yet?

OK chiquititos… it’s 5:00, it’s 37°, it’s RAINING, and it’s almost run time. Hmmmmm. If I weren’t meeting the guys, would I be going out in this weather? $1 in the “fall jar”!! Haha, I might be getting new shoes sooner than I think! Peace out.

-E

p.s. psh…. of course I’m running. What kind of a question is that!

I’m not sayin’ its an excuse for going AWOL on you guys, but I just wanted some proof to back me up – this chick has been BUSY. My last post was over a week ago, and the days have just been going by so dang fast! In addition to anything on the ToDo list, I’ve had class, training, we had a yard sale this weekend, work, and work #2. Luckily, my trusty iCal has helped keep me on top of the game.

Like I said.. no excuses though.

So anyways, now that the school year is underway, I wanted to share with you guys my schedule, and how I fit running/training into that. I have talked to some med students here that I know are runners, or people who are in residencies, and asked them the same thing. Not gonna lie – sometimes it scares me to think I could find myself already in scrubs at 5:00am, working all day, studying, and before I know it it’s 11:00pm. I think of that and the image that comes up in my mind is this blood-shot med student (OOOMG. Do not go type that into flickr.) decked in scrubs, falling asleep over a text book. Well, I don’t have to worry about that yet because I’m still working on undergrad, and then oh yeah – I still have to get in to med school! Haha.. I’ll worry about it when the time comes. So without further ado, here is my current class schedule:

Every semester up until this point I have alway had a 3 day weekend – either Monday or Friday off. Honestly though, I feel like this is the BEST schedule I have ever had, and especially for training purposes. Because that’s why I’m going to school.. to train.. right? If you can’t see.. my earliest class starts at 11:15 M/T/W/TH, and I don’t start until 1:25 on F. I’m done with class at 3:25 M/W/TH/F, and done by 12:30 on T!! I also have two nice little breaks on M and TH in between classes. Wednesdays are my packed day,  but honestly, it’s still not that bad. These are the classes I’m taking this semester:

So then what about school? Because that IS what I am here to do. As much as I joke around about it, school is my number one priority. Scary as it may be to think about not getting to do what I want to do when I hit med school.. or even now.. I just gotta suck it up! There are days when I have had to just say forget it – you’re not getting a run in today. As much as my running (and now, slowly but surely, my biking and swimming) is my one grounding element in my life, there are times when you have to sacrifice and make adjustments. This has been a good challenge for me and my type A++ self – learning to accommodate! Maybe I don’t have time for the 8 miles that I wanted, but I can still fit in 5 – then I can still do the 5! I come from a very black and white/all or none mind set.. and this is good practice for getting ready for real life, when you don’t always get to be the one in charge.
 

But looking at the results only proves my birthday fear – I will not be so highly ranked once I move up into the next age group! Check out the RESULTS and you’ll see what I mean! For the 10K WOMEN, the top time in the age group ahead of me (20-24) was a freaking amazing finish by Amy Lyons with a time of 36:31. That’s a 5:53 average pace!! Annnd.. look just down a little and there is a new Minnesota record – a 41:12 (6:38 avg) for a 55 year old!! She finished 3 places ahead of me, and MAN was she looking strong! 

So my race: I ran the 10K in 41:33 (6:41 avg pace), which was good enough to get me 20th overall, and 1st in my age group! I won’t even tell you about the 5K, because race it – I did not. I was under the impression that the 10K awards were after the 5K, so I thought WTH, I’ll do the 5K as a cool down. It was only 5 extra bucks for the double header, so I paid, got a 2nd number, and hopped to it! I was running with two other ladies from  one of my training groups who had also run the 10K, and were were running pretty easy. Then at mile  2.5, Jackie reminded me that there was a prize for best overall combined time for anyone doubling that day, and she suggested I go for it. So with only half a mile left, I kicked it up a bit and ran in with an average of 7:20. Unfortunately, I wasn’t elligible for the double-header category since I wasn’t preregistered for both. But apparently there were no 19 and under females running the 5K faster than I did, because I took that age group too!

getting my gift certificates!

OK.. enough about races – I’m going to give you the whole shebang in photos, and get to homework! I have two posts that I really want to get out, but I thought I better post this before it’s like a month later!

The rest of team MED (which is now MED-B) also ran the 10K!

Gettin' pumped pre-10K

Stretchin out the muscles pre-5K

Two of the ladies and I.. oh J, sorry

Bringin in the 5K

And that is that my friends! I honestly had no expectations going into this race.. I legit went to bed at 1:15 because I was hanging out with the guys downstairs, and I woke up at 6:00. But hey – adversity training, right? 

No more races (that I know of!) until TWIN CITIES MARATHON which is only 24 days away! I have my last 20 miler this Saturday which I’m super pumped for, and then I belllieve I’m headed up to watch/cheer/volunteer at the Square Lake Triathlon. Several of my TEAMMATES are competing in the half course! More on that to come…

And one quick word – SCHOOOOL. ?!?! Ahhh! Back at it. I am having some class scheduling/changing/dropping/switching difficulties ATM, but other than that, good stuff. Feels great to be back!

Love you all, and see you soon.

-E

p.s. I feel like cookies would be a very very good pre/post run fuel! And perfect for being on the go at school!

morning coffee + "Sneaky Pete's"

Shoes on and GO!

Unfortunately, today in Minneapolis is one of “those” days.. gray skies, drizzling rain, no sun in sight. Doubly unfortunate – this is my day off from work. My day’s off are usually filled with outdoor adventures, as I’ve posted about in the past, but today feels like one of those days when you just want to stay warm and dry. In memory of sunny days past, I will share with you a few photos of my adventure day off of work from last week Maybe it will be good karma and the sun will peak through..

goodies from aforementioned excursion

I’m LOVING the new green backpack by the way.. definitely a good buy! I haven’t gone back to Opitz at all this week because I feel pretty set for clothes. Today though my mom and I have to make a run to SpendAllYourMoney and gather up quite a few things. Supposedly though, they’ll ship it all straight to my dorm, so that’s good. It’s terrible how pessimistic I am about this, but I can just foresee something going wrong. I’m moving ALONE.. so that has already put me in the mindset of “this isn’t gonna work”.. “I’m going to be the only one doing this alone” (which is partially true – my 5 other suitemates all have family members helping out. BUT they’re all from the east coast, so it’s not an extra flight for them).. “things are going to get lost”.. “FIVE flights of stairs – are you freaking kidding!?!”.. you get the picture. What I need to be thinking is:

• This is going to work just FINE!
• My mom’s coming in October!
• Obviously you’ll forget something or something will get lost – it happens to everyone!

Hah – and if I can’t really get myself to think that, I can at least fake it! (I used to always do this for track workouts.. I’d tell myself all day “Yesss! I LOVE repeat 400s!”.. and by the time practice rolled around it really wasn’t that bad!)

OH! So you’ve all seen photos of my laptop. I got it at the beginning of the last school year, and I pretty much love it. It’s an HP Pavillion dv2000.. “special edition” (read: it has a super pretty design on the cover and insides.. I don’t know if there’s anything else that sets it apart..). When I got it I sprung (sprang? wtf..) for all the bells and whistles, and the 3 year protection plan, and the (.. you get the point) .. because I thought this was going to last me for a long time! But being the brilliant student that I am, I didn’t think ahead to the fact that DUH most design students are on MACs.

Of course a school can’t say you’re REQUIRED to use a Mac.. but they “strongly recommend” it. Basically, what I read from the message was,

Please save yourself some face and save us the hassle of dealing with you trying to use a different system than everyone else. You will be the only one not using a Mac. So buy the Mac Macbook PRO. Now.

was white my only option? I wanted black..

Yesssir. So within the next day or so, this lil guy, + iWorks (already installed thank god) + Windows for Macs + a free touch iPod + a macbook sleeve should be arriving in the mail. So my question for all of YOU is this: who is on a Mac? Do you like it? Is it really different than an HP? Is it better/worse? Any design students out there using it? What do you think?

I’ve basically been against iPods since the day they were created, so I’ll most likely be selling this one as well. I sold the other Shuffle I won at that race a while back too. Anyone in need of an iPod?

Wellll I think it’s time for me to move onto other things on my ToDo list (and yes – blog update was actually on there). I have RunClub with Team MED tonight at 6, and that BB&B excursion hopefully by 3! Not to mention all the other million and one things I need to do to get ready to move! Hope the weather is better for all of you out there! Enjoy the day.

Grandma’s Marathon was a BLAST!

But of course I will. Not a race report.. but I will take you through the my Grandma’s experience from start to finish!

My mom has run Grandma’s Marathon 7 or 8 times. It always used to be over Father’s Day weekend, so we would pack up practically the day after school was out, and head up to Breezy Point Resort in Two Harbors for the whole week. The entire trip was full of flashbacks from past year’s Grandma’s adventures.

This time though started a whole new chapter in my book of Grandma’s memories. This time, the trip was for ME. No Breezy Point resort (although I do hope to continue that tradition in the future..), and no week long vacation (that one would be nice too), and this time, I wasn’t a super fan – I was a runner!

And I say runner - not racer. If you don’t remember me talking about it back at Med City time.. my plan was that if I BQed at Med City, then I would just take Grandma’s easy and have fun. If I didn’t, well I didn’t really want to consider that, but there was always as a backup! Luckily, I took care of qualifying early on, and so for Grandma’s I decided to pace two of my favorite buddies from my Running Club! These two lucky guys would be D and M, together forming team MED. D’s previous PR was a 4:30something at Twin Cities last year, but that was his first marathon, and for those who don’t know, Twin Cities (the same day as last year’s Chicago) was KILLER HOT. D has improved so much since then! M on the other hand had run Fargo back in mid May, and Med City at the end of May.. so this was marathon #3 within about six weeks! M’s previous PR was like a 3:45 I believe (over in Fargo).

pre-race

D and I drove up on Friday afternoon. After getting through some annoying traffic on 280 (can’t wait till the 35W bridge is open again!) the ride was pretty smooth the whole way up. We had fun looking over at other cars and guessing which contained runners on their way up too. The 26.2 bumper stickers were a dead give away, but so were the vans that had grocery bags in back with bananas peaking over the top! We went to the expo right away to get our packets, and we were in and out in no time!

Dinner was FABULOUS and at Pizza Luce in downtown Duluth. During race weekend, most restaurants wont take reservations, so we weren’t sure if we’d get in. We planned that we’d all meet at 6:00 at the restaurant, and we were probably seated by 7:00! That’s really not that bad considering the amount of people that were there.. and especially not bad because we had a table of about 20! That included about 13 runners and some family members who tagged along. I think the majority of us runners got spaghetti, myself included! It was delicious as always. I <3 Pizza Luce. We also got ice cream on the way back to the hotel, because that’s just what you do and it’s my standard night-before-a-race (actually night before.. every day) deal. It was also delicious. As always. I <3 ice cream.

We stayed at a hotel about 10 minutes outside of downtown Duluth. Almost every hotel has a 2-day-minimum kinda deal.. which is sort of ridiculous. Along with ridiculous are the RATES! $216 a night.. for a hotel that any other time would typically be like under $100. I don’t really care though.. the room was comfortable, there was good water pressure in the shower, we were across the street from a shuttle to the race start, and they had coffee. We clearly know what matters.. Along with D and I were four other people in our room – N (another girl from our running club), Big Bryce (the BF of a girl from our RC), and two guys who were the acquaintances of a friend of an ex girl friend (‘s dog sitter’s neighbor from Tennessee. Or something along those lines.) There were only two queen beds.. so the acquaintances got sleeping bags on the floor. Plus, they were only running the half.. sleep doesn’t really matter if you’re only doing 13. (Haha kidding. Sorta.)

Saturday morning started at 5:00 am. There were shuttles from the mall across the street at 5:30 and 6:00.. and we opted for the 6:00 because unless you’re really concerned for some reason that you wouldn’t get there in time.. why go stand around outside for an extra half hour when you could have that extra time to sleep? The hotel had continental breakfast open at like 4 already.. so I headed down there after I got dressed. Of course, most the runners down there brought their own trusty breakfast along.. we just all wanted the coffee.. to “clear things out”. It was hilarious.. everyone has their own little tricks for getting things goin in the morning. There were people standing there doing toe raises as they watched the morning weather, and one chick was running up and down the hall.

We walked across the street to the mall at 5:45. It was weird to have it be so sunny already! I’d say it was about 60 degrees already? Not bad. While we were waiting, I had my trusty breakfast of soy nuggets and coffee. I also grabbed an english muffin from the breakfast room.. and decided to eat that on the bus. The ride was quick, and before we knew it, we were in Two Harbors at the start!

This is when you know.. you’re in for a good time. There’s music playing, people laughing, the whole atmosphere is just FUN! We jumped in line for the porta-potties right away, made it through the line, went to go find M, and drop off our sweat bags. M was getting nervous because he came on the 5:30 bus.. and he was probably thinking “WHERE ARE THEY!?” I’d be thinking the same thing if I was waiting around and my team wasn’t there yet!

(Left to Right: N, ME, M, D)

We jumped over the fence for the chute so we could make it up to the 3:30 group. That’s what both M and D had in mind for a goal time.. although I say “had in mind” very loosely. Both of them just really wanted to run and do their best, and if that meant taking it back, then that meant taking it back! I know D is capable of running a 3:30 marathon, but he just doesn’t race enough to know how much he has improved. M was shooting for a 3:30 because that’s his qualifying time for Boston!

do work!

The race started right on time at 7:30, and off we went! We stayed on pace (actually ahead of pace.. because M and D both walked through the water stops) up until mile 16. At that point, I could feel that both of them had been fading – I was in that always-one-step-ahead-of-ya position.. but I didn’t want to ask them if they wanted to tone it down because this was their race.. and I wanted them calling the shots. Both of them decided to take it back a notch at that point, and shortly after, M told D and I to go head. We continued on.. but still slowing down.

I was having so much fun.. the crowds at Grandma’s are AMAZING! Such a different experience than Med City. For the first ~18 of the course, they are spread out along the county road, mostly at or around the aid stations. Once you get into Duluth though, they’re pretty much constant! Oh – my dad!! I forgot to say that my dad drove up, at 3:00 in the morning! Trooper. I wasn’t sure where he would pop out, and I only saw him twice on the course, it it was great to hear his voice! Around mile 22 I saw him the 2nd time, and ran up and jumped in his arms and gave him a big hug, and then took off again. I thought I had a right to be tired.. but man-o-man, this guy deserved a nap! (Which luckily he got..!)

The last 10K was definitely the hardest for D. He didn’t hit “the wall”.. but maybe more like a fence. He was just sorta losing steam. It didn’t help that there were now water stops at every mile between 19 and 26, because that meant more walk breaks, which meant more times where it’s harder to get going. I kept tellin him, “The faster you run, the faster you’ll be finished!” Lemon Drop “Hill” was at like 22.. and I could tell D wasn’t thrilled about that one. He did a really good job though on the way down – dropping his arms and opening up his stride. OH MAN I said some ridiculous things along those last six miles trying to encourage him on! Something along the lines of..

“Dominate that hill D! It’s yours!”

“This is the strongest mile of your life! Make it yours!”

“Find your Kenyan! Dig deep.. it’s in there!”

At which point he probably just wanted to say “Shut up Erika! I’m trying!” but he didn’t and he just took it all.. haha now we get to look back on it and laugh. Afterwards, he said it was helpful, even though he couldn’t talk and say anything back, so YAY for good effort and not stopping even though I sounded like an idiot.

In between 25 and 26, I was turned back yelling something [good and encouraging] at D, when all of the sudden, M came outta nowhere! I was like “Mighty M! Where’d you come from!” (We all have nicknames by the way.. Mighty M, Dashing D, Extreme Erika, Namaste N.. etc. I don’t know if they want their names online, so I’m sticking with letters here.) I wanted to all finish as Team MED!! But D told us to go ahead.. he was still truckin though! M and I pulled up a little, and crossed the line together. He was hilarious, and amazing! He kept saying “Stop speeding up! My legs can’t go any faster!” and I was like “I’m not going faster! You’re going faster! C’mon – you can do this!!”

M and I both finished in 3:42:xx, and D came in at 3:43:xx. D PRed by over 45 minutes! And while M didn’t qualify for Boston this time, he’s just that much closer! They’re both running TC (yes – I’m jealous!) in October, and I know they’ll both do stellar!

post-race

Post race was fabulous (as it always is at Grandma’s!) We got our medals, shirts, drink tickets, (and I got a carnation! I guess this was only for the ladies.. a nice gesture but I ended up thrown it away.. :/ I’m not gonna carry around a flower for the entire time afterwards.) We took a Team MED picture (see above!) in front of the Grandma’s backdrop.. knowing that none of us would get it since they’re like $$$! Then we went to grab our sweat bags, get water, stretch, (lie down in D’s case), find family, and relax!! For the runners, there was ice cream, yogurt, fruit, bagels, sandwiches, water, bottled dirty bath water Ultima, and MASSAGES (with a killer long line). We didn’t end up getting a massage.. but I really wanted one!!

We also met up with N, who finished around 3:48:xx!! My dad found me, and after many hugs and laughter, he went off to sit, enjoy a beer, and actually go back to the car and nap. He had only gotten like 3 hours of sleep!! I also ran into Mary - the woman I ran the majority of Med City with! She finished in 3:05, and did AMAZING! It’s funny how when you’re trying to find someone, you can’t for the life of you, but when you’re not looking you seem to run into everyone you know!

After we all rested up a bit and got rehydrated/refueled, we went down to the water front with M’s son (who also happens to be named M in this case) to wade into the chilly waters of Lake Superior. Chilly is an understatement – it’s freaking FREEZING. But it felt sooooo good. I wish I had been smart like N and brought along my SOCKS (I gave them to my dad in a second bag once I switched into my flip flops), because then I could have stayed in much longer! The water felt AMAZING on my legs, but it HURT your feet. Like, BAD.

D, N, and I wandered around/through all the post-race festivities, used up are drink tickets, and then decided it was time to head back to the hotel. I had gotten 2nd in my age group, and was told I was going to be getting an award. Sooo I wanted to rush back to the hotel, take a speed shower, pack up my stuff, and make it back in time for the awards ceremony at 3:15. We did just that, but it turned out then that the HALF awards started at 3:30, the MARATHON awards weren’t until 4:15. And then, after sitting through all of that, I realized that they were only giving out an award to the first place winner in the 19 and under age group, though they were giving an award to the top three in every other category. Lame. I felt like an idiot sitting through that whole thing.. and then not getting an award. I don’t get the reason behind that.. but whatever though – good to support all the other runners. Plus I saw so many familiar people/heard so many familiar names of people my mom used to run with! It turns out, the girl who took 1st in my age group was less than 30 seconds ahead of me. Not like I would have left Team MED to get her had I known.. but c’mon. Oh well, I can be happy to know that my Med City time smoked her! To give you an idea what the field is like.. Lamech Mokono, the top male finisher came in at 2:13:39, and the top female finisher, Mary Akor, ran a 2:38:50. 10 of the 12 top males were from Kenya

( Mathew Chesang, winner of the half, came in at 1:04:48!!)

My dad and I headed home after the awards. We didn’t even get on the road till like 5:00, and with a stop for dinner along the way we didn’t get home till after 8:00. I drove half way home because my dad was still sleepy, but it was actually really nice to be behind the wheel – kind of relaxing. If I could have gotten into the Big Tent, I for sure would have stayed on Saturday night. I think it’s dumb that they can’t just X people who are under age. I’m clearly not the only one under 21 who ran! I can go to clubs and bars here in the cities, I just can’t drink! It seams pretty common sense to me.. I think that’s something Grandma’s should reconsider for next year.

Somethings they don’t need to reconsider are the cups of ICE, and the COLD WET SPONGES. Those were amazing. Someone needs to tell Twin Cities to get their rear in gear and do that too! Overall, the whole experience was a blast! It was worth every single thing, and certain people reading can go ahead and take the hint. I can’t wait to race Grandma’s in 2009! I’ll be countin down the days!

The next day (Sunday) was a big open house at my home.. something we’ve been preparing for for WEEKS! It definitely added to the stress that I wasn’t around on Friday night/Saturday day to help out. I was fabulous though – everything went smoothly and tons of people came! My mom worked her but off and I appreciate everything she did so much! The food was great, and the weather held out. Both D and M came too! We went for a short run once everything died down, and there were only a few people left. Team Med, reunited