Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Perfect Day

Okay, so this is so way off anything to do with running, except that, you know, you do have those perfect running days, and in running, as in everything else, you do reap what you sow...

One of my favorite singer/songwriters, Elvis Costello, and one of my favorite songs...  
beautiful..

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Cross Training

In Milwaukee now, very cold!  Sooooo, I am swimming, which is great, because I love to swim!  AND Jane, Marie and I are going to do some tri relays in the upcoming tri season.  What fun!  I will do the swim, Jane the bike, and Marie the run.



For all of you runners, training for and doing a few triathlons is a great way to use other muscles and become more balanced. Sprint tris don't require a lot of training, or you could do what I'm doing--a relay, where I will do the event that's not my norm, swimming.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Truth & Beauty - Inside a Cell... Fascinating!

I came across this video on TED; nothing to do with running, but just really wonderful to watch.  It's by David Bolinsky who is a medical animator:

Saturday, January 21, 2012

A Little Running in Jonathan Dickinson Park

John and I took advantage of a gorgeous Friday afternoon yesterday.. on the spur of the moment hopped up to Jupiter and hiked a few miles (and I ran a bit) on the trails in Jonathan Dickinson Park. The trails consist mostly of "sugar sand," very fine white soft sand, and gently rolling hills on the north side of the park. It changes as you go around the back and then south, wetter, a little swampy, and flatter. Natural SoFL scrub--saw palmettos, live oak, prickly pear cactus, deer moss, slash pine, sabal palms.

Some pics..                   Flora on the trail
                                    John's happy!
                                    and a BEAUTIFUL sunset at the end of the day!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Women's Finish

From MarathonGuide.com:

The 2012 USA Olympic Marathon Trials - Women

The Finish. Shalane Flanagan runs away and wins in 2:25:38, her best marathon finish ever. Desiree Davila is second in 2:25:55 and Kara Goucher finishes third in 2:26:06. And Amy Hastings is fourth (first alternate) in 2:27:17. The previous Olympic Trials record was Colleen De Reuck's 2:28:25 finish in 2004 - all of the top three women were faster than the old Trials record!

Women Finishing..

Shalane has finished (don't know time yet), Desi and Kara battling, with Amy close behind...

While going back and forth between the three websites I am following, I have been cooking up a big pot of chili, as the fam is coming over for dinner tonight.

Men's Finish

From MarathonGuide.com:

The 2012 USA Olympic Marathon Trials - Men

The Finish - Meb Keflezighi finishes in 2:09:08 (unofficial) - a new personal best. Ryan Hall finishes in second place in 2:09:13 and Abdi Abdirahman holds on for third place in 2:09:47 against a hard-charging Dathan Ritzenhein in 2:09:55, who also ran a personal best.

Following Olympic Trials

I am following the trials via:

Runnerspace.com

Flotrack.org

and

MarathonGuide.com

Friday, January 13, 2012

Marathon Olympic Trials Tomorrow

The Marathon Olympic Trials are set to begin Saturday morning, January 14, in downtown Houston, with the men's race starting at 8:00am and the women just behind them at 8:15am.  The start is on Avenida de las Americas and first follows a 2.2-mile "inner loop" through downtown, then an 8-mile "outer loop" three times for 26.2 miles total.  Would be great to be a spectator, wouldn't it?  You would get to see them pass by quite a few times.  Wish I could be there!

LetsRun.com has its predictions for the top three men and women plus their top ten "could happen" for both.  You can read what they have to say here.  They are predicting Dathan Ritzenhein, Ryan Hall and Mo Trafeh as 1, 2, 3 on the men's side; and Shalane Flanagan, Desiree Davila, and Deena Kastor as 1, 2, 3 on the women's.  Interesting reading...

NBC is broadcasting the races from 3-5pm EST.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Caroline White - THE Most Amazing Woman Running the Olympic Trials This Saturday

There are so many awesome athletes running in Saturday's Olympic Trials, all with such interesting stories behind their running success.  160 men and 227 women will be competing, and I have been having so much fun reading about them!  The MOST AMAZING athlete IMHO is Caroline White.

On the track and field team in high school, instead of running, Caroline was a pole vaulter.  After high school she entered the Air Force Academy (a lifelong childhood dream of hers was to fly airplanes), continued pole vaulting for a while, but quickly joined the Air Force Parachute Team, subsequently parachuting out of an airplane more than 600 times (!!) and becoming the jump master.  At the Academy, Caroline was not only an athlete (pole vaulting, jumping out of airplanes, scuba diving, mountain climbing...), she was also a Rhodes Scholar finalist.

After college she decided she wanted to try running a marathon, found herself a training plan from Runner's World and began training.  Two months into training she decided to enter Coeur D’Alene Ironman (what the heck! why not!), won her division, then went on to do Ironman Hawaii, placing 12th in her division in the Ironman World Championships!

The Philadelphia Marathon was her first marathon, and after an amazing 3:09 finish there, Caroline got herself a coach to help her with her next goal:  qualifying for the Marathon Olympic Trials.  And she did just that at the Twin Cities Marathon in October 2009 with a time of 2:45:21.  Working her training around flight schedules (12-hour days beginning before 5 am), she continued to compete, running and winning at various distances (Houston half marathon, Armed Forces Cross Country Championships, to name a couple).  In October 2010, Caroline's flying dreams came true when she received her pilot training assignment:  the F-15 fighter.  Only 12 pilots are chosen each year for the F-15 and very, very few have been women.  Then last year she took on the Boston Marathon, toeing the line beside the Kenyans and Kara Goucher, and finished 20th overall, 5th American, in a time of 2:37:30!

With both men's and women's trials being held in Houston this Saturday, this is a first--first time men's and women's have been held in the same place and on the same day.  It will be an exciting morning for those 387 athletes in Houston...       and I am so rooting for you, Caroline.  You go, girl!

Saturday, January 7, 2012

PR for Chuck at Disney Half Marathon!

With not much training since the Palm Beaches Marathon on December 4th, a sore calf muscle, and aching lower back (New Year's cleaning out the garage!), Chuck ran his way to a PR in this morning's Walt Disney World Half Marathon--1:50:29!  Chuck has been running the half along with several of his extended family members for the past several years now, as a family tradition. 


He signed me up for the race text messaging update service, so I was updated with his progress from the start of the race, every 5k.  The service gave me his time, pace and ETA at the finish.  Very cool! 


After a well-deserved massage, he's enjoying a fun day at Disney with his family!

Friday, January 6, 2012

Begin Each Day...

A great way to start the day...   my morning coffee in a delightful mug (sent to me from my daughter) with this on one side...

and a photo of my happy grandson on the other!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Gorgeous Day for a Run on the Beach

Back in SoFL...      could there be a more spectacular day for a run on the beach?


Wednesday, January 4, 2012

My New Year's Intentions

More fresh veggies and fruits
Less sugar
More recovery time between workouts
More organic
More yoga
Less procrastination
More quality protein
More quality sleep
Fewer excuses
More quality time with my husband
More awareness
More massages
More sunrises
More enjoying being



What are your intentions?

Sunday, January 1, 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

                                  Wishing everyone a most happy and prosperous New Year!

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