SCJ Off! And Running
Another fun day in Wisconsin. This morning, I participated in my first ever Lighthouse Run. I ran ten miles in 1:24:49.1 (a new personal best). The official results are right here. Yeah, you’ll have to scroll down a bit to see my name, but it’s there. 327th place. Oh yeah! Special thanks to Mom & Dad for taking pictures and video, Grandma Iz and Grandpa Nick for their enthusiastic cheers, and Aunt Sue for a much-appreciated bottle of water at the halfway point. I’ll have some photos on the internet soon.
Also coming soon to the blog — photos and recaps of our trip to Oregon this past week.
Home again
Jenelle and I returned from Oregon late last night. We’ve got lots of pictures to share and stories to tell, but they might not show up here until this weekend. For now, I’m going to catch up on a few milestones:
June 2: Happy Birthday, Fil!
June 5: Happy Birthday, Brinkles!
June 7: Happy Birthday, Adam H.!
June 11: Happy Anniversary, Jeff & Josie!
June 11: Happy Birthday, Aunt Sue!
We’ll be in touch. 🙂
The Cat…
…is out of the bag
For all you family members, you may be thinking that for an East Coast girl that I have become (hey – if you’re from Oregon, Wisconsin is more like the east coast than the midwest!) Vegas sure is close to Portland.
So after soaking up the sun in Vegas, I’ll be flying to Portland for a few days of soaking up the rain. Ben is meeting me in Portland late Friday night and we’ll be up with the sun on Saturday for the Rose Festival Parade. I don’t think I’ve been to a Rose Parade since high school, so I am very excited. And, I am even more excited to see my favorite 3-year old nephew. I hear he’s quite the fun guy.
Vegas, Baby!
Jenelle here…
I’m sitting right now on a plane to Las Vegas. Like last year, my two bosses and I will be giving a presentation at the Corporate Communicators Conference at Caesar’s Palace. This year, we’ll be talking about how we redesigned our corporate publications to make them more interesting, engaging and effective.
I’m sure this begs the question – what exactly do you do? Well, my journalism professors always told me to be concise, so in short — I write stuff. I manage the company’s 4-page color tabloid-size publication and make sure it gets out to our employees and retirees every 2 weeks. That may seem like small beans, but our publication rocks, and it really is quite a big task. And it certainly keeps me very busy. I do other stuff too – but that’s my main job.
I just successfully whittled the e-mails in my inbox from 122 to about 2, so it’s time to take a break. I’m flying over the Grand Canyon right now. From the air, it looks just like a hole in the ground – like when the ground dries up and cracks.
I’ll be in Vegas until Friday, enjoying the sun, the conference, the food and the occasional slot machine. We get these great rooms in the Palace Tower at Caesars – its the kind of hotel room where the bathroom is bigger than the bedroom – Jacuzzi, phone near the toilet, separate glass shower, etc. I’m looking forward to this trip – I’ve been really busy lately, and while I still have a lot of work to do on this trip, I’d much rather do it lounging by the pool than sitting in my moldy office.
I formally retract my previous statement about the Grand Canyon being a hole in the ground. We just banked left pretty hard – which gave us a phenomenal view of the canyon.
And yes, I did bring my sunscreen. Although I am hoping the sun will remedy this awful v-neck tan I currently have going on. Who knew it could be sunny in Wisconsin?
Whoa, another big time desert bank, and some funny engine noises. That must mean it’s time to land. It’s Jackpot time!
Memorial Day Weekend Updates!
On Friday: Happy Birthday, Dave! (or should I say, “Dad-in-law”)
Here’s some content to keep everyone happy over the long weekend:
1. Memorial Day Weekend Cookout Photos
2. BenCam Archive – For those of you who can’t get enough pictures of me. 🙂
3. My name appeared in a news article a few days ago. A co-worker of mine, Ken Rustici, ran a total of 25,000 miles over 22 years. That’s the equivalent of circumnavigating the globe! HERE is the article, and HERE is a photo. I’m on the right.
Enjoy!
Where have all the green grapes gone?
Jenelle here…
I’m excited to see new people reading our weblog! Thanks for leaving a comment Diana — it’s good to hear from you! Ben and I used to think that our moms and grandmas were the only ones that read it, so we like hearing about loyal readers in the under 30 crowd.
On a side note…Is it just me, or has there been a complete and total shortage of green grapes lately? And this is not just an isolated problem — Jewel, Wal-Mart and Woodmans have been out for about a month. I’ve searched high and low and can’t find them anywhere.
Sure, its only May and the ground has only been thawed for a month or so, but come on! Can’t they truck some in from California or something?
This is almost as disgraceful as paying $5 for half a pint of blueberries. But those things are chock full of antioxidants and worth every penny.
YES!
What a ride. I successfully set a new personal record for the half marathon this morning. Here’s a mile-by-mile breakdown:
Getting Started
The weather was overcast, but plenty warm. As I finished stretching and prepared to set out, I noticed a few drops of rain. I headed back upstairs and got my rain jacket. I took a swig of raspberry lemonade-flavored Gatorade before setting my forerunner at 9:08 / mile — at this pace, I’ll finish in 01:59:39. Off I go!
Mile 1 – 8:35 (0:33 ahead of the pacer overall)
As the few drops of rain turned into a small drizzle, I felt okay out of the blocks. I’m sufficiently warmed up, and I don’t feel too hot or too cold. So far, so good.
Mile 2 – 9:31 (0:10 ahead overall)
Right before reaching the two-mile mark, my forerunner skipped a beat. One moment, I was almost 400 feet ahead, and the next, I was only 50 feet ahead. The problem is that the excessive clouds and rain are keeping the forerunner from being as accurate as it usually is. I’m fairly certain that I ran this mile faster than 9:31. These kinds of tracking errors usually work themselves out over time, so I’m not worried. I’m still ahead, and I still feel great.
Mile 3 – 8:48 (0:30 ahead)
The rain is getting a bit heavier now, but nothing close to slowing me down. My head is getting a tiny bit wet, but my rain jacket keeps me plenty dry. It also helps that I’m wearing my Nike “dri-fit” running shorts. Onward!
Mile 4 – 8:39 (0:59 ahead)
The downpour arrived! As I started to feel the moisture seeping in to my shoes and my hair getting wet, I suddenly remembered that my rain jacket has a hood zipped inside the collar. My pace dropped just a tiny bit as I pulled the hood out of the collar, put it on, and adjusted it to keep it from falling off. I’m still feeling pretty good with almost one third of my run completed.
Mile 5 – 8:29 (1:38 ahead)
One minute it was pouring, the next it was just a drizzle, and the next it was pouring again. Now perfectly comfortable in my rain jacket AND hood, I didn’t have any problems. I was thrilled that I was building a signifant lead over my virtual pacer without any fatigue. However, was I going too fast? Most of the run was still in front of me. I didn’t feel like I’m going too fast. Hmmm…..
Mile 6 – 9:00 (1:46 ahead)
The rain eased up at this point — yay. I wasn’t feeling tired at all. Double yay.
Mile 7 – 8:57 (1:57 ahead)
The halfway point! My forerunner showed me reach 6.55 miles (half of 13.1) at about 58 minutes. I was doing great, and the weather continued to improve.
Mile 8 – 8:46 (2:19 ahead)
No signs of trouble at all. My lead was about a quarter of a mile. I started to wonder if I was going to burn myself out before the finish. The question I began asking myself was: Should I try and build more of a lead while I feel okay, or should I just keep the pace steady?
Mile 9 – 10:32 (0:55 ahead)
What happened here? The forerunner hiccuped again. One moment, I was ahead by 0.27 miles, and the next, I was only ahead by about 350 feet (about 0.06 miles). This mile did not feel significantly slower than any of the others. It’s possible that some of the earlier miles were reported a little quicker than I actually ran them. Regardless of the reason for this setback, I was still ahead of the pacer, and nothing was going to slow me down!
Mile 10 – 8:51 (1:12 ahead)
Back on track. I started to feel a little bit tired at this point, but I was still able to keep the pace.
Mile 11 – 9:16 (1:04 ahead)
A little bit of slow-down, but nothing to worry about.
Mile 12 – 9:04 (1:08 ahead)
Mile 13 – 9:13 (1:04 ahead)
The fatigue slowly built up during these two miles. This is to be expected after running so long at a faster-than-usual pace. The good news — no blisters or sharp pain in any of my joints. I’m guessing that a lot of family members might be worried about my knees, as most of my running is done on either concrete or asphalt. Let me all assure you that my knees feel great. Never been better.
The Finish – 1:00 (0:58 ahead)
The final tenth of a mile was a little bit slower than the pacer, but not by much. I finished the half marathon in one hour, 58 minutes, and 41 seconds.
What’s Next?
I’ll be taking it easy for the rest of the week. The following week is the first week of my 18-week program to train for the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon on October 2. Just to make sure I’m fit for such a task, I have a doctor’s appointment set up for this week so that my physician can give me the green light.
Time will tell how the training goes, but I’m setting an agressive goal. I’m going to try to run the marathon at the same pace at which I just ran a half marathon. This would put me across the finish line in four hours or less. Can I do it? Only with encouragement from you, my loyal blog readers.
The stuff goes, the memories stay
We had a rummage sale at my parents’ house today. After experiencing it from the seller’s point of view, I must report that the phenomenon is incredible. Within moments of opening the garage door, vehicles of all kinds parked and rushed to check out our items. The busiest time was before 9 a.m. I know that I shouldn’t be awed by the number of people who have arisen in the wee hours on a Saturday morning to find a few bargains, but I couldn’t help but think to myself, “Who are these people?” throughout the whole process. Don’t get me wrong — I have nothing against rummage sale shoppers. In fact, I’m very thankful for them. I’m thankful for the lady who spent $40 on Star Trek toys, black lights, and tacky dorm room decorations. I’m thankful for the guy who bought Dad’s table saw. I’m thankful for the 10 year-old kid who bought a $1.00 typewriter and a $2.00 plastic poker chip rack.
I’m also thankful for the time that I had to bond with my parents while we reminisced about the last time we used a lot of the items we sold. The title of this post really rings true — the memories aren’t going anywhere. Now, if I can just get my mom to let go of that painted snowman rock. Just kidding.
Tomorrow will be another exciting day. I’m attempting to run a half marathon (13.1 miles) in less than two hours. Can I do it? We’ll soon find out!
Happy Mother’s Day… if it applies
Here are six photos from last weekend’s Mother’s Day celebration.
