Minneapolis Half

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This morning was the Minneapolis Half Marathon. I ran it in 2:05:34. Considering two bathroom breaks and a few ominous hills, I’m not feeling too bad about the time. I’m not getting any faster though and have been trying to figure out why these halves are feeling difficult. I feel like I’ve lost some of my endurance. I don’t doubt this has to do with my slight cavalier attitude towards training lately because of my travels, as well as a need for some good new speed efforts. Next week would start an 18 week training program for the TC Marathon and the first long run, according to the plan we’re using, would be 8 miles. It is 8 weeks before a 13 mile run shows up in the program. I think I need to get more comfortable with the 13 before we increase mileage but I think I can do that in less than 8 weeks.

Dandelion Weeding

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When I was in high school I remember a neighbor across the street weeding his lawn of dandelions. I thought it was awfully obsessive and unnecessary. But I found myself weeding the lawn of dandelions yesterday. However, I do think my weeding was different. My high school neighbor was weeding his lawn to keep it pristine. I was weeding to try and prevent my condo’s lawn from looking trashy. I quit before every dandelion was gone. I think he got every one before there was even the stalk to identify the weed. Although not pristine, I do think my lawn has avoided trashy for another week or two though.

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Saturday RF and I went for about a 10.5 mile run. I really wanted to make a bit more mileage before this weekend’s half, but neither of us were having a stellar running day and decided getting to our coffee clutching would be more productive than pushing too hard. I did get out yesterday for another 6.5 mile run so I think it was a good compromise. I think I’m probably in the same position as I was before the last half and can’t expect a stellar performance. Hopefully a little bit better though.

All the Way Up

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I was at my parents this weekend and this time I really do feel like I conquered the hills. I ran the whole way up the ridiculously steep one! I was feeling pretty good as it approached so I decided to give it a go. I told myself I could take a little breather at the top and even had thoughts on how to blog about the hill and the breather. But a little mental pep talk as I reached the top and I convinced myself to skip the breather. There are 4 significant hills (including the ridiculous one) and several not so insignificant ones on the 10 mile route and I made it up each one. I even did a little hill work out this morning.

Purse Update

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Well unfortunately the new item that has been in my big purse a few days is a Mother’s Day card. I finally got it out today. Sorry! It’s on its way Mom!

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Desert Hiking

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Last week I hiked the desert of Joshua Tree National Park and the mountainous area of Lake Tahoe. I enjoyed both but was more awed by the desert. I’ve never hiked a desert and was immediately impressed by the stunning expanse. Even though we had plenty of water along, as soon as we were out of site of the ranger station I felt as though we owed respect or did not belong there. This may be a bit dramatic and is likely just because it was new to me, but it did make for an enlivening hike.

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I did do some hiking last week, but I didn’t get any runs in. Because of this I was worried yesterday as RF and I tackled 8 miles, but it turned out to be the easiest run I’ve had in some time. Our stimulating conversation helped, but I think the break did also.