'Win

Tummy Time
I'm good at burping...as you can see.
Edwin's Baptism

Weekly Fortnight (That's two weeks, right?) Rundown

Yikes! Time keeps on slippin' away!
Last week was my biggest weekly mileage week in a looong time. Other than some minor aches in my foot after a 19 miler on the Glacial Trail course last Saturday, in the mid day heat, the only objections from my body seem to be those dull muscular aches. I hit 48 miles total on 6 runs. Not bad.
Ellie has been battling a cold for a while now, and my body finally succumbed as well. I'm already over it as of tonight's 10 miler induced several farmer blows and I'm looking forward to next week. I missed Wednesday through Saturday due to the illness, but now I'm back at it.
I ran at Walla Hi County Park tonight, for the first time since last spring, the day after I ran the Trailbreaker Marathon. I avoided the park for a couple reasons: 1) last fall I found a tick on Parsenn after the run, and 2) the park tends to get completely overgrown--not just with tall grass, but with thorns--in the summer. Today I found the trails in relatively decent shape and will likely return soon for some more hills, but also found exactly one other guy driving around the park, in a way that kinda creeped me out. All windows open on his early 90's Jeep Cherokee, blasting some romantic elevator music (seriously), just moving around the park, parking in different areas. When I ran by, he'd follow me from a distance, then re-park. After I'd get past him, he'd turn up the music even louder. Finally, after I finished up my 1:20 run, I was standing by my truck, he drove by and very subtlely nodded his head, as if to say, follow me, as he drove past.
It didn't really dawn on me what motives he was most likely at the park for, until I was telling this same story to Ellie, and she filled me in. I guess she's a bit more street smart than me.

Creepy. (that guy at the park, not Ellie)

Moving On...

I've got a TON of pics of Edwin I want to share so I hope to update this post with some photos of my man (who turns TWO MONTHS OLD on Wednesday!!) soon.

See you on the trails!

This Week's Rundown (13 weeks)

This Week's Hidden Wildlife Photo

Monday -- continuing my newfound moderation, I didn't run but instead biked 33 miles. On Sunday I had biked 17 miles, so a nice even 50 in less than 24 hours.

Tuesday -- 4 easy (and I mean EASY) miles in the morning. My foot wasn't liking the run, and I wasn't liking the humidity.

Wednesday -- again...moderation! Rest!

Thursday -- 15.5 miles on the Ice Age Trail. I was 'paced' by swarms of mosquitoes and deerflies. Hot and Humid and sticky--gotta love Sconny this time of year. I ran the Glacial Trail course from the turnaround to the road (which starts .5 miles from the finish) in 2:11.

Friday -- Rest! And lots of work. I closed the office on Monday for the holiday, so everything got smushed into the end of the week.

Saturday -- 7 Miles-- 1 mile warmup, 5 mile Cheesehead Chase, 1 mile cooldown. I ran 7:25 miles pushing a stroller with a 7 month old in it (my nephew) and had an AveHR of 171. I'll call that a decent tempo effort--35+ minutes at 170 HR.


Sunday -- I wanted to get another 7 miles in, but no such luck today. A fussy baby, some car repairs, and work got in the way, so...Hey--Moderation! I'll continue my increase in activity and mileage once again next week.

*After reading about the Devil's Lake race this past weekend, I guess I've got to add it to my list. Last fall I ran around Devil's Lake and LOVED it. In a couple weeks I'm attending a seminar nearby, so I'm hoping to get a run in once again.
*The North Face finally posted information about the upcoming Endurance Challenge in Wisconsin, including the course map for the events. I'm looking forward to the marathon, as it features what were my favorite portions of the 50k event from last year.
*My son started rolling over from his tummy to his back this week. Wow, does time fly!

It's Good to be Back!

See the Whitetail?

Finally, a decent schedule is emerging from my new responsibilities. I'm easing back into running and feeling few side effects in my feet. Thursday was exactly 5 weeks since I ran longer than one hour, and I felt great! I put some time in on the Glacial Trail course and found it to be very overgrown in the prarie sections. Luckily I had generously applied OFF! and found no evidence of ticks after running through it. Letting the tips of the grasses hit my palms reminded me of the closing scene of Gladiator, with several obvious exceptions regarding myself and Russell Crowe :)

My "Gladiator" Moment

Then, on Saturday, while I wanted to run LONG again on the trails, I took a more prudent approach to my return and did a nice tempo 8 miler on the trail.

Yesterday, in another amazing feat of discipline, I didn't run but instead biked for 1:30. That was followed with some yard games and pool time to celebrate the wonderful weather and country we live in!

This morning the plan was to get in about 8 miles on the trails...but last night was a bit late with Edwin, so instead, I'm writing about my training last week. And as of about a minute ago, I can hear the little guy waking up...so I better wrap this up and go get him before he wakes Mumma!


One Month


"Look! A dinosaur! Oh, nope. Just Parsenn."

Chilaxin' with Dad.

Edwin's First Swim! (Perfectly framed to keep the bits and pieces out of the picture :)