Stacy's Blog

I am finally getting to this on Monday night. The results site was not coming up this morning and then I got busy. 

First: The course was absolutely beautiful! The day was absolutely perfect (temp 50's, no wind, blue sky, and warm sunshine). Perfect! The crowd was amazing. There were people cheering the entire 26.2 miles. They were enthusiastic, loud and had some kind of music playing every mile. Lots of energy! 

After running the Marine Corps two years ago, even though my body did not cooperate and my time was dismal, I thought nothing would come close to the experience I had there. Yesterday was close. 

After realizing I was not going to BQ I was really hoping to PR. I was running about a nine minute pace the first half and feeling great. By mile 16 I was starting to feel it a little and the hills were getting to me, but I was still holding my own. By mile 19, things were hurting but I was still feeling pretty good, although my pace slowed. Then mile 21 hit and it was down hill from there. Something happened in my right foot, like a cramp or something and I was in trouble. I stopped and tried to stretch it but that left me with shooting pain up my leg. I tried to walk it off. That didn't help. So I started running and limping and tried to compensate, which caused my IT band to start protesting. I stopped a couple more times walked a few paces. Still hurt. So I decided if I was going to be in pain I might as well run. By the time I got to 24, the pain was at least tolerable, so I limped in to 26.2. No PR, no BQ, but I was not entirely disappointed with my time. My training was not what I had hoped. My long runs were not long enough. So all things considered it was a good day for a run! ;) 

By the time I found Kaylie and Ron my foot was feeling ok.

Looking forward to some down time after CC is over. Just going to run.

I love the T-shirts runners wear. Some are inspirational, some patriotic, some funny, some advertise, some are just T-shirts. This one was my favorite yesterday:

Front: Running a Marathon seemed like a good idea...

Back: 4 months ago 

Only complaint: At the mile 15 water station they had a bunch of kids working and one of them was swinging the rake around while he was raking up cups. Last thing I wanted to do was dodge a rake at mile 15. :) 

So I have been biking with the team for the last 2 days. I thought about running tomorrow, but I think I will wait one more day. One of our girls has a stress fracture so she has been biking for the last month. I told her I would be a "biker chic" with her one more day. :)

EDC is this weekend. The girls ran so well last Saturday at Willmar. They did the same thing last year. Ran really well the week before EDC, then not so well at EDC. We are hoping there is not a repeat of last year. After Saturday we will decide which 12 are going to State. 

This mileage is supposed to be on Thursday. My legs felt heavy and a little stiff. The weather is so awesome! We are having a great Indian Summer and we haven't had a hard freeze yet. Harvest is in full swing. Sugar beets are going slow as the temps are to warm to pile them. But the beans are coming off. Traffic is very heavy all day and night. 

The Extreme Home Makeover show is building a house in Moorhead. They have been there all week. It has been cool to see the progress each day. It is the leading story every night on the news. The family sound like a really great family. The "reveal" is on Sunday.

Ron and I have the day off. Yard work and a run are on the schedule.

EDC tomorrow!! 

I can not believe the incredible weather we are having. Highs in the upper 70's and 80's and no humidity. Awesome! Every nice day we have is one less day of winter. It has been great for the harvest. 

My legs felt really stiff and heavy for the first mile. By mile 2 things were starting to feel normal again and I had a good run. Just had to keep a wary eye out for semi's and tractors and combines. 

Not a great day at EDC yesterday. We had a couple of good performances but over all, times were slow and the girls were disappointed. Not what we hoped for. The temp was 83 when they ran. We have not raced in temps that high since August. Don't know if that was a factor or not. We will name our top 10 and 2 alternates for State at practice tomorrow. One more small, fun meet on Wednesday. After that, practice will be just the girls going to State, October 23. 

Last LSD with the whole team. Notecard run, pasta dinner at a fancy restaurant with the team tomorrow night. Rosecreek meet on Wednesday. We introduce all the seniors and they get a bag of candy. Collect the uniforms from those not going to state and call it a season. It will be strange to have practice with only 12.

It was a hot run today. Low 80's. Sounds like it will cool off tomorrow. Mosquitos have been like something out of a horror movie. "Night of the Bloodsuckers!" "Nightmare on Mosquito Street!" "Hallowmosquito!" Ok ok I'm done. The heat must have gotten to me today. :) :) :)

Treadmill tonight after the meet. It was a small local meet. We had 5 in the top 20. They combine the boys and girls scores. Winning team gets a cake. We came in second. 

Mile 1- 9:05 pace

Mile 2 & 3 - 8:27

Mile 4 first 800m @ 8:00, Second 800m @ 7:47

Recovery run with the state team. Of course for me it was a speed workout! I am going to have to work to keep up with this group. It was fun having a small team. We all run together and all finish together. 

Tara came home last night and left tonight. She is on fall break, but my step bro got her tickets to Sunday's Bronco game. So she and her boyfriend are leaving tomorrow morning from Bismarck. They should get into Denver tomorrow evening. My mom is coming over from the Western Slope. She hasn't met the boyfriend yet. :)

Well the team went 4, up tempo, but the head coach and I took a few short cuts so we could keep up. :)

A Saturday with no plans! Yea! Ron and I took Bayly out. She has gained some weight this summer and is a little out of shape. Ron is finally running again, too. He has really been stretching his hamstring and it seems to be helping. We went on a different road today without a ditch full of smelly water. Bayly loves the bad water, but come after her with clean water out of a hose and she acts like we are going to kill her.

Nice chilly fall day with a stiff northwest breeze. Got a lot of yard work done and took care of our new granddog for awhile. She is a 2 month old Siberian Husky and soo cute. I keep telling Ron that Bayly needs a puppy. :) He says we have enough dogs.

Another speed workout! The girls ran an easy run, the coach and I struggled to keep up. My legs are so tired today. The day was a perfect fall day. I hate how short they are getting. At least the temps have been nice. We haven't even had a hard freeze yet. Hunting season starts the first weekend in November. I need to find Bayly's orange and mine too.

Winding our way down to State. CC is finishing up just in time. The weather is supposed to take a rather chilly turn next week. They even had the "s" word in the forecast.  

3 miles fast with the team (me trying to keep up with the team) 

3 miles slow with Ron and Bayly on our new favorite route. Wide open spaces and a great view of the sunset! It will be a cold route this winter. Ugh! Don't even want to think about that.

Harvest is going so well this year. Beans and sugar beets are done. Corn is coming off now. Lots of dust in the air. And the trucks, with tired drivers, are everywhere.  Have to stay out of their way.

Pasta dinner with the team tomorrow night. Girls run on Sat. at 2:15. Ron and I are going to see Tara afterward since we are already 1/2 way to Bismarck. :) 

Temp was 60ish and misty. We are actually under a winter storm watch! The weather guys always get so excited when the first snow of the year is on the horizon.  Bayly and I enjoyed our run. It was up tempo and nice to go at our own pace. The corn is already off on our usual route so we don't have to worry about semi trucks and combines.

Saturday was a great day! The weather was perfect. The girls were relaxed and ran great! They placed 5th and our first runner was All State. It was her first year, she is very quiet and a hard worker. She knows how to run a smart race and doesn't get caught up in the race and pace. She just runs her race and has done an awesome job this year. It was a great end to the season. :) And ended just in time by the looks of the weather. 

Wind was blowing 40-50 miles an hour. Rain was horizontal. So I chose the treadmill. 5 miles at 8:40 pace. 

Wind is still howling. Rain is still horizontal.  At least it stayed warm enough we did not get snow. Tara said Bismarck is a winter wonderland. Oh joy. Sounds like this storm system was nasty all across the country. Our weather guys said if it had been over the ocean it would have been a category 3 hurricane. Ugh. 

Treadmill @ 8:40 pace. Picked it up on the last mile to 8:00 pace.  

Wonderful evening. Temp 45. No wind! Yes, thats right, no wind! Did I mention, no wind!? Nice easy run just so I could stay out and enjoy the evening. Lots of fresh water in the ditch so Bayly splashed and played the whole run. We got home, she ate supper, had a chewy for dessert and barked at the neighbors. Ahhh. It's a dogs life. :) 

Temp: upper 30's, stiff north breeze. Broke out the Loki. Felt good, ran about 9:00 min. pace. Have to enjoy the weather, in a few weeks I'll be wishing for a day like this.