"Its not all about what you do in the race tomorrow. It's about what you've done to get here." -Ryan Hall

The rain coming down in the distance in Duluth.


So today I deiced that it has been a week and I should give running a try again. It did not go so well. My leg felt great for the first mile or so and then it started to hurt again. To say I am unhappy about this is an understatement! And then while I was raining it started to rain. So not only was I in mega pain I was wet. I ran only 5 miles and then had to stop. I don't think I am going to be able to run the 4Th of July race around Clear Lake. I even took off work so I could run it. I am not going to run all week and see how it is. I am also going to break down and call my Orthopedic Doctor on Monday and see when I can get in to see him. I was hoping I would never have to see him again. I am sure it will take forever to get an appointment to see him.

Last night we went to the movie Wanted. It was good. Lots of action. Today I have not done much since I have 3 more days to get my house work done. I did not get out of bed until 9:00. After running I did my dishes, I was running out of cups. Then I went and got my oil changed and went to Walmart to get some food so I could eat. Now I am making some fresh ice tea lemonade. It is going to be so good.

Later Sharon

Made Me Laugh......

I'm not asleep... but that doesn't mean I'm awake.

I have no picture to put up today because I am at work so I thought I would put a picture of this cute dog up for you all to look at. I have not been up to much. I have not ran since Sat. Trying to give my legs a little rest. I think I will go for a run on Fri. night or Sat. and see how they feel. I did manage to lift on Monday and Wednesday. I need to lift more. Tonight I am going to go to Faribo to shoot. It has been forever since I have shot my bow, I don't think I even remember what it looks like. I hope I can find it! Last night I watched Liam for an hour or so. He looks very cute with his hair cut. Amy said he cried this time when it was being cut. Today at work I was going to take my last FEMA test but I could not make myself do it. Now I have to do it on Friday. We have to have them done by July 1. They are soooooo boring! By the way Amy and Christa this is my 115th post. You better be careful or I will catch up to you. Well I as you can tell I really know nothing and have nothing to write about so I will stop boring you......

Later Sharon

Running Outfit $30.00

Entry Fee for Race $60.00

Running Shoes $98.00

Crossing the Finish Line after running 13.1 miles PRICELESS!

We did it! We all finished the half -marathon on Sat. It was unbelievable! Amy and I went up to Duluth on Thur. afternoon. After getting the camp all set up we went into town and went to the Expo and looked around a little bit and picked up our running packets. Then we went back to camp and went to bed. And we FROZE. No one told us it was going to be so cold at night! Fri. morning we got up and went back into town and really looked at the Expo. Amy got some new running shorts and I got a shirt. They had a ton of neat stuff. Could have spent a lot of money. Then we went to the Grandma restaurant and had lunch. After that we stopped at Kmart and got some more blankets so we would not freeze to death and then we went back to the camp and relaxed. Cassie got there about 6:30 and we went right back into town and she picked up her race packet and we went to the spaghetti dinner. It was really good. I ate a ton. Then it was off to bed. We got up at 4:00 A.M. and were on the bus to the start of the race at 5:00. I did not get really nervous until we were driving to the start on the bus. I kept thinking this is really a long ways. What was I thinking..........Then finally at 6:30 we were off! It was going really good until mile six. That is when my left knee went out. It has been bothering me off and on for the last two weeks. Nick thinks it is the IT Band. Anyhow after that I was in pain every step. But I just kept on running. I worked way to hard to not finish. After 2 hours 6 minutes and 20 seconds I crossed the finish line. It was one of most unbelievable moments in my life. I ran 13 miles! I came in 75th place out of 226 in my age group (45-49), 2530 place over all out of 5407 and 1048 place out of 3014 female. Cassie was in next finishing in 2 hours 44 minutes. And then Amy came in at 3 hours 3 minutes. We had all done it. After the race my body pretty much shut down. I was as close to passing out as I have ever been. I almost threw up. After about a hour of Cassie taking care of me I was all better. I just needed to eat and drink something and I was fine. After the race we went back to camp and cleaned up and took a little nap. Then we back to town and had lunch/supper at Grandma's restaurant. Then we listened to a band they had and had a drink. By 8:00 we were all ready to just sit down. So we went back to camp and had a campfire and then went to bed. We were up at 8:00 and packed and on the road by 9:00. We made good time and were back in Waseca by 12:00. The weekend could not have been better. I am very proud of Amy and Cassie for the great job they did running!

Later Sharon

After The Race

The Camp

"Your opponent, in the end, is never really the player on the other side of the net, or the swimmer in the next lane, or the team on the other side of the field, or even the bar you must high-jump. Your opponent is yourself, your negative internal voices, your level of determination." -Grace Lichtenstein

So it is almost race day. I am very excited and nervous! This is something that I have wanted to do for a long time. I started running in Dec. of 2003. Cassie came to Carleton to work out with me at the Rec. Center, I had been lifting and walking on the treadmill. She insisted that I should start running. So I cracked under the pressure and started to run! By spring I started to run outside. I remember well the first time I was able to run a mile without stopping. It was a big deal to me because I had never really ran before. Soon I was running 2 to 3 miles 5 days a week. Then it was time for my very first race. The girls and I all ran the 5K turkey run in Northfield. I will never forget crossing the finish line. I had run 3.2 miles! After that there was no stopping me. I ran almost everyday and was lifting 3 times a week. I was running races whenever I could. I loved that I had found something that the girls and I could do together . It was something that was ours. Even if Christa just came to support! She was still there. It brought me great joy. Then in 2006 I decided that I was going to start running longer races. I really started to dream that someday I was going to run a marathon. I ran my first 5 mile race in June and started a training program to get ready for my first 10K (6.2 miles)
Then the worst happened. I pushed my self so hard that I had a stress fracture in my leg. I could hardly walk by the time I went to the Dr. He said I could do nothing for 1 months. This was 2 weeks before the 10K race I was going to run. I left the Doctors office and sat in my car and cried. I had worked so hard and now it was over. Well I went out and got an elliptical and started using that after my one month was up. Even that hurt. So I did not run for almost 4 months. Then it was very slow going. My leg hurt the whole summer of 2007. Finally in the Fall my leg started to feel good when I ran. Then Cassie and Amy asked me if I wanted to run the Grandma's half marathon. I really wanted to do it but was afraid that I would get injured again. Then after thinking about it I decided that it was worth it. So here I am. I have been training since Feb. I would like to have run more but I did it smart this time and took the training slow. So I may not have the best time in the world but I will finish. I am going to run 13 miles. I am going to achieve my dream. So wish me luck. I will write all about it when I get back.
Sharon

Biking Fun

Yesterday was a busy day! I got at the crack of dawn (8:00) and went for a run around the lake. Then after getting all dressed up I went to the Manz for Aaron's graduation party. Then at 1:00 I met Rick at the Big Steer and we went to Anoka to go for a bike ride. Yes I know that is a long way to drive just for a bike ride but we went to meet up with Eric and Serena. They just got some very nice new mountain bikes and wanted us to come up and go for a ride with them. I am not a good biker, would much rather be on my feet! We stayed mostly on the paved trails since I was a big baby, but we did go off road a bit. As you can see in the pictures Eric and Rick had to have some fun in the water. Serena and I were smart enough to stay out of it. After all that biking we were hungry so we went to a great pizza place for supper. I ate and ate and ate! We did not get back to Waseca until 10:00. Way late for me. By the time I got to bed it was 11:30, so this morning I had to stay in bed until 9:00. I know I am turning into a lazy bum! After I finally got out of bed I went for a run around the lake with Rick. He is getting ready for the 4th of July race. I ran 25 miles this week. Now I am going to go to Owatonna and then over to my Dad's for fathers day.

Later Sharon

"Never allow fear to run one's life." -Daniel Seltzer

Today is a Liam day. We are having lots of fun. This morning he helped me hang towels on the line, well really he just watched while I did it. After that we went for a walk around the lake. It is so windy out. Liam's hat flew off and I just caught it before it blew across the road. It took us a long time to walk, but Liam was good. I just fed him lunch and now he is going to take a nap. I had yesterday off and the whole weekend! Yesterday Rick and I went to an afternoon movie. We saw Sex and the City. It was so good. It has been a long time since I went to movie during the day and on a weekday. I have already ran 15 miles this week. Only 7 more days until the half marathon. Charlie is outside sitting on the steps. She never stops meowing at the door that she want to go out. Of course then she sits outside and meows because she wants me to come out with her. She is just like having a kid! Still not sure how I ended up with Amy's cat! That is all I know for now.

Later Sharon

PUZZLE

What it will look like when it is done.

The top picture is a picture of the one part of my 12096 piece puzzle that I have done. The puzzle comes in three bags of 4032 pieces. I did the first part about 7 years ago. It took one year to do it. I was going to move right on to the next piece but then I got involved in archery and started running and have never had time to work on it again. So I figured since I will probably not get to it anytime soon I might as well look at the part I have done. It has been sitting under a bed on cardboard since it was done and has survived 3 moves without getting broken. I was pretty nervous about every move! I'm pretty sure I would have cried if it had been broken. I can not glue it together until all the pieces are done. So I had a frame made and it is now on my bedroom wall. The puzzle is "Michelangelo-The creation of Adam." It is part of the painting in the Sistine Chapel in Rome. I am not sure what made me think I needed to do a 12000 piece puzzle but I just had to have it. Now that part one is out there to look at I am getting the itch to work on it again.

I have not done much else the last few days. I babysat Liam on Fri. We had a good day. He still will not say Nana. I had to work this weekend. On Sat. after work I went to the Bushey graduation party. Then after that I went to Amy's house with Rick so we could help her move her living room furniture around. She wanted it done before Adam got home. I did not get home until 8:00. Makes for a long day when I leave home at 5:00 A.M. On Sunday when I got to work it was poring rain. So I got to open all the buildings in the rain. That was no fun. Today it is so nice out. I cannot wait to get home so I can go run.

Back to work

Later Sharon

Running myself sick......

Today I ran 10 miles again. I did it in 1 hour 23 minutes. That is 4 minutes faster than last time I ran 10 miles. I was only going to run 7 or 8 miles today but after I started running I thought I might as well just run 10 miles as long as I am out here. So after running I usually have something to eat like a banana or a protein bar. But today I was cold after I got back because it had been misting while I was running so I was wet. So I just drank a Gatorade and jumped in the shower. After I got out of the shower and started to blow dry my hair it hit me. I thought I was going pass out and puck. I had to go lie down on the couch. After I recovered I ate a bagel and now I feel good as new. So here is a lesson....after you run hard you should always eat something afterwards! Good news, Cassie said it is ok to drink caffeine. So I should not feel bad when I drink it. It if is Ok for Cassie it must be ok for me. I was looking at my heath chart on line today. I was looking at my blood pressure from when I went to the Dr. a couple of weeks ago to have a couple of moles removed. It said my blood pressure was 144/74. Now I am thinking that it must be a typo because that would mean I have high blood pressure and she never said anything to me when she took it. I cannot believe I would have high blood pressure, I eat nothing that would give it to me, I hardly ever use salt and I hardly ever eat red meat. And I also exercise all the time. So It must be a mistake. I will have to have Amy take it again.
Well I better go eat some lunch.
Later Sharon

I CONFESS

OK I confess for the first time in 4 or 5 years I went out and got a coffee with caffeine in it. I know I'm an addict and I should not do it. I am sure just this one time will be OK. You see I stayed up way to late last night watching MMA fights and I was sooooo sleepy today. I just had to have a little caffeine to get me though the day. I promise not to do it again............