what was i before i was born

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Sat, 15 Jun 2013 17:07:45 -0500

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Sat, 15 Jun 2013 17:04:27 -0500

Summerfest Rock 'n Sole (1/2 Marathon)

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 16:26:00 -0500

time = 1:48:17 (with bathroom break, lol!)

pace = 8:16

62.92% age grade (40-44)

placed 174 in women out of 2077

placed 628 overall out of 3589

ok… what to say about this bugger. this was my very first 1/2 marathon and terrifying to be honest. i woke up at 4am to a thunderstorm because my dog is afraid of them and then likes to paw the closet door thinking that maybe this time (the millionth time) i’ll let him in there? yeah right! i’ll never let him in the closet to nest around in my things and make a mess cuz he’s afraid of a little thunder and lightening… he can suck it up! however, that’s neither here nor there… this story is not about his irrational storm fear.

the doppler didn’t look good and so my family stayed home and i drove the 20ish minutes to the race in some rain. i arrived fairly uneventfully and parked. i tried contacting a few people who i knew would be there but got no one so i got myself together and started heading to the starting corrals. i knew the event was going to be big but i guess i didn’t know exactly how big… this is the largest race i’ve ever competed in and i’m pretty proud of my results.

my goal was an hour and a half but that is pretty unrealistic considering the pace i’ve been running the past few months so i’m still pleased with my outcome. i’d like to be faster but i’m not going to complain… we’ll see how i do in september at the brewer’s 1/2 and if i’m better or worse then.

the corral i started off in was 1:45 pace. i tried to stay with them to begin with thinking that running up the hoan bridge might be really challenging but as it turned out it was quite easy. i think because i’ve been doing so much running in lapham peak on the black route aka the moraine ridge trail. it’s the most difficult route in the park with several really challenging inclines including the very first one which is .87 of a mile and 4% grade… it’s super hard but i have successfully run it without stopping several times now. that was pivotal in my success today. made all the hills a piece of cake!

i lost the pacers at mile 6 when i had to stop at the port-o-potty to pee… it couldn’t be helped. so that changed my time by almost a minute. i stopped my app so i saw the difference. still… a great time even with the potty break.

overall the experience was pretty great. i’m glad i had my own hydration because i’m sure that would have slowed me down too… stopping along the course. i gunned it at the last 3/4 of a mile to a 7:39 pace… that hurt like a mofo! although, miles 2,3,5, and 6 were under 8 min/mi so that is pretty awesome… too bad i couldn’t maintain that the whole time. the rest were just over 8 min/mi with the slowest being at mile 7 with a 8:33 min/mi right after my potty break. which is funny because i thought i had picked it up there but i guess it just felt that way after sitting down. weird.

the energy of the event was wonderful and i really didn’t feel fatigued at all but my hips weren’t feeling so good after mile 10 or 11 which made me feel slower than i was actually going… made it seem a lot harder than it should have been too i think.

and that… is my first 1/2 marathon experience.

Dirty with Dad/Muddy with Mom 2mi Mud Run

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 19:35:28 -0500

time = 20:00 (approximately)
pace = 10:00
300 participants untimed

today max (my 11 year old son) and i did a 2 mile mud run to benefit juvenile diabetes. it was super fun for my boy which is the whole reason we did it in the first place. he had a great time. it was totally geared towards the kids and the obstacles were not very hard or very many but the smile on my son’s face at the end was all that was needed to make it all worthwhile. i got a nice easy 2mile run out of it so that was awesome as well… we got to run uphill in the woods too which was my favorite part (with a water stop at the top… bonus!).

in the end… i’m just glad that my son is taking an interest in running. he’s got the body for it and i think it will help with the rest of the sports he does.

next up = summerfest rock ‘n sole 1/2 marathon!

be inspired!

i love everything about this! Sashie Masakatsu

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 14:58:21 -0500

Sashie Masakatsu

Sashie Masakatsu

Sashie Masakatsu

i love everything about this!

Sashie Masakatsu

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Sat, 08 Jun 2013 14:52:23 -0500

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Sat, 08 Jun 2013 14:51:33 -0500

Helmut Newton

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 14:11:22 -0500

Helmut Newton

Vince Lombardi Run/Walk for Cancer (5K)

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 14:07:59 -0500

time = 22:50
pace = 7:21
2nd in my age group (40-49) out of 89
placed 16th in women out of 508
placed 74th overall out of 830

just finished a 5K at the zoo of all places! so fun! this was a fundraiser for the vince lombardi cancer foundation and such a good cause considering most people’s lives have been touched by cancer in one way or another. besides… lombardi was quite an inspirational man. lots to learn from people like him that’s for certain.

what i learned on this run was that i need to start at the beginning of my corral or in an earlier corral because i started at the back of the 8min mile one and obviously that was too slow. i underestimate myself all the time and i guess i should stop doing that. i started back there because i don’t like people to be passing me because it forces me to run faster than i want to run to begin with. i prefer to start out comfortably and then pick up my pace as i go. if i start with people who are much faster than me then i tend to run way too fast out of the gate which causes me problems.

i guess my race pace is much faster than my normal running pace tho’ because i managed to maintain the 7ish min mile for the duration.

what’s weird is i didn’t run hardly at all this week. i ran 16+ miles on sunday and then just over 3 on tuesday but other than that… nothin’. i was tired and busy all week and just not feelin’ the running. so i just didn’t run. i think that sometimes these breaks really help to repair the tissues and make me faster in the long run.

the cool thing about getting the awards was that an ex-green bay packer (santana dotson) was doling them out. so that was cool. he was tall and i am small so that looked interesting.

the medals look pretty cool too which is always a bonus!

tomorrow i’ve got the Muddy with Mommy/Dirty with Daddy 2mi mud run with Max. its non-competitive so we’ll see how it goes… should be fun but it’s also supposed to rain. i guess since its a mud run rain shouldn’t really matter.

lindasinklings: old wood. via (brookfarmgeneralstore)

Wed, 29 May 2013 13:25:08 -0500

lindasinklings:

old wood.

via (brookfarmgeneralstore)

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Mon, 27 May 2013 18:47:32 -0500

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Mon, 27 May 2013 08:24:51 -0500

Phlegm + Roa by takphoto on Flickr

Sat, 25 May 2013 13:45:46 -0500

Phlegm + Roa by takphoto on Flickr

this is beautiful

Sat, 25 May 2013 13:45:15 -0500

this is beautiful

just say NO to YAHOO!

Mon, 20 May 2013 06:31:00 -0500

looks like i’m going to have to move my stuff to blogger or something… yahoo! (which pretty much has always sucked ass) is set to buy tumblr. this is a very disheartening thing to learn. i love tumblr and the way it works. yahoo always manages to screw up good things when they purchase them… and make you open an account with them in order to use them (for example: flickr)… i no longer use my flickr account for just this reason. their integration is for shit AND their email accounts get hacked on the daily. their customer service is awful… i just can’t believe that tumblr is willing to do this. i suppose anything for the almighty dollar! ALL HAIL THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR!

folhadespaulo: Fantasiada, menina interage com cangurus em...

Sat, 18 May 2013 20:38:35 -0500

folhadespaulo:

Fantasiada, menina interage com cangurus em parque na Austrália; veja mais fotos: http://folha.com/131372 (Foto: Carters News/The Grosby Group)

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Sat, 18 May 2013 20:38:02 -0500

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Sat, 18 May 2013 20:36:51 -0500

Marc Johns

Sat, 18 May 2013 20:28:50 -0500

Marc Johns

Christian Bök & Micah Lexier

Sat, 18 May 2013 20:16:14 -0500

Christian Bök & Micah Lexier