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Monday, July 6, 2009

Long Run + Great Weekend + 1 Rant

Have I mentioned yet how much I love the 4th? It's great.  :)  Taylor and I went to his friend's lake cabin and had to use the wipers the whole way there.  Yup.  Rain.  :(  With no sign of sunshine in sight.  We got in around 4pm and since it wasn't sunny, decided to break into some beverages.  I had some Fat Tires.  My new favorite beer.  Yum.  Since his dad's house is insane, we played some pool, some shuffleboard (yes they have a shuffleboard table) and just kind of hung out.  It was a blast.

Saturday morning we woke up expecting to have sunshine pouring through the windows, but again, just clouds.  :(  We decided to go out in the boat anyway.  We loaded up the coolers and headed out.  Day 2's bevs were Lienekugel's Honey Weiss.  My 2nd favorite beer.  :)  We boated over to a friend's cabin to pick them up and headed out.  Many, many MANY bathroom breaks were had throughout the afternoon.  At least 10 or so by me.  :(  Whoops.  At one point we got caught in the middle of a rain shower, but it was still a blast.

Saturday night we ate some good grub and hung out by the water watching the fireworks.  There were some seriously awesome fireworks.  It was great!  I also played bartender and made the most amazing vodka tonics.  Wowsers.  So good.  :)  We ended up crashing EARLY and tented out next to the cabin since one of the guys inside kept us up ALL NIGHT Friday with his horrid snoring.

Of course, sleeping in a tent causes you to wake up at 6am because of the sun, so we were up and at em early.  SUN!  We ran to grab our suits and went out in the boat.  Too bad that the couple we were with had to leave by 10am to head to work.  So off to the waterpark Taylor and I went.  :)  Shocking.  Most of our friends were either there or on their way there, so it was a great time.  EVERYONE was questioning why I was drinking water instead of chugging the booze like them, and I had to explain again and again that I was running 9 miles that night, and didn't think the alcohol would help me any.  The responses I got was that I was crazy/9 miles was a LONG ways/and probably again that I was crazy 10x.  

After 7 hours in the sun, and dinner at Old Chicago with Taylor's family, I was ready for my 9 miler.  Luckily for me, the sun was beginning to set, and the temp was down to 75-ish.  The run was pretty uneventful so I'll throw out some highlights (and lowlights).  

First up, the RANT.  My run took me past one of the country clubs in town.  As I was running up, I saw a lady, walking backwards on the trail, in the middle of the trail.  Keep in mind that this trail is very busy, and bikes are constantly whizzing by me.  Behind her was a tiny little "purse puppy."  As I approached, she turned around and started walking forward, and I noticed her dog wasn't on a leash.  I assumed the dog must have great obedience skills, so I soldiered on.  Of course the dog ran straight at me, and I had to stop.  Jump over him.  And continue running on.  Who does this lady think she is?  After this incident, 2 cyclists went by also, and I believe yelled something at the lady about not having her dog on a leash.  It wasn't TOO difficult for me to dodge the dog, but I can't imagine if I was on a bike.  That's just a wreck waiting to happen.  In my head, I was already formulating my screaming match at the lady.  In it, her name was Muffy (totally the old-money type of country club go-er) and her dog, Poopsy.  Either way, I vented completely in my screaming match in my head.  :)

Other than that, I tried a new Gu at Mile 4 of the run--strawberry.  It was disgusting.  Yuck-o.  It did the trick though and the run was a success.  It was kind of scary running the last 3 miles as I was pretty far away on a part of the trail that is very infrequently used, and surrounded by industrial buildings, and it was getting DARK.  I get spooked so easily.  :(  I think it helped to make me run a little faster.  :)

9 miles in 1:23:33 for a 9:17 pace.  
1 9:34 
2 9:30 
3 9:22  
4 9:24 
5 9:23 
6 9:30 
7 9:22 
8 9:00 
9 8:27 

Very consistent, which I'm proud of, minus the last 2 miles where I picked it up a bit, because I just wanted to be home.

When I came home I found Tay zonked out, fast asleep.  I definitely felt like the cooler/stronger one in the couple by going for a long run after the exhausting weekend.  WHOO!  Post-shower I was practically passing out waiting for my leftover calzone to reheat.  Wowsers, the tiredness hit me like a ton of bricks, and I slept HARD.

I have the day off today too, yay go me.  :)  I think Round 2 at the waterpark is in store.  

12 comments:

  1. i think it's great always to have a faster finish!! if it's meant to be an easy run as long as you go easy and then for the last mile or so finish fast, totally great for training!!! i have heard a lot of good things about this :) great run!!! i can't imagine busting out 9 miles after a full day!!! :) too bad about the gu-- i haven't had strawberry. actually i haven't had regular gu, just the roctane (which i like). that's what experimentation is for, right? hehe :)

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  2. Nice run!! Especially after a long weekend of partying ;) I forced myself to do my long run Saturday morning before all the beer drinking began!

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  3. Awesome long run, though I'm sorry about Muffy and Poopsy. WTF, that lady needs to get OFF THE TRAIL and get her on DOG ON A LEASH.

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  4. What a great weekend! And the best part is it ain't over yet!

    Way to go on the run too!

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  5. Sounds like a GREAT weekend!!

    What an idiot lady! I would've said something. That dog is going to get hurt and it's going to be all her fault, which is sad.

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  6. I love the 4th! Totally one of my favorite parts of summer!! Great job on getting the run in! I know what its like to wake up early while camping...that darn sun is just so bright at 6am!

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  7. Sounds like an excellent weekend! I love Fat Tire too ;) and that is awesome your data has a shuffleboard - I love shuffleboard!

    Nice job getting 9 miles done after that weekend! And seriously I would have yelled at that lady...

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  8. I love the fourth of July! Everyone is happy and there's good food and fireworks...and hopefully good weather!

    I hate when people don't have their dogs on a leash...even if they don't bite, it freaks me out enough when they just run at me.

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  9. NICE finish!! It's pretty impressive to run a min/mile faster at the end of 9 miles! :)

    sounds like you had a great weekend too! it takes some real discipline to chug the h20 instead of "Drinks" with friends, especially over a holiday. totally paid off though :)

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  10. Good job on your 9 miles, especially after the 4th weekend. That is really inconsiderate of that lady, not to mention dangerous for her dog!

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  11. Nice consistent miles!

    I haven't had the dog thing happen to me yet - well, the loose dog. I have had people stand in the middle of the trail with their dog on a leash (in a park where dogs are not allowed). It's so strange... how inconsiderate people are sometimes!

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