Headed to the Icebox

I'm headed to the Icebox (International Falls, MN) at the end of the month to volunteer for the Arrowhead 135!

Super excited to help out and witness one of the toughest ultra races in the country. Racers can choose between biking, skiing or running. It's 135 miles of Northern Minnesota frozen trails. I will be there for 3 nights working checkpoints and taking notes for my own attempt that will hopefully happen in 2014. Since I can't afford the Fat Bike necessary to ride the race, I guess I'll have to go on foot.

I'd take a Salsa Beargrease or a Surly Pugsley if you have a little extra cash that needs a home.

 If I had the bike, I could be finished in about 25 hours. On foot it will probably take closer to 50 hours. The race starts early Monday morning and the cutoff time is 60 hours.

It is an entirely self sufficient race, meaning you must carry everything you need. No aid stations, no Gu/Hatoraid handouts. There are a few checkpoints, but no assistance or crews allowed.

I can't wait to be there and learn what gear works and what doesn't. Being a volunteer may be the best way to decide if the race if for me or not. As a wise woman (my bride) pointed out to me already though, I have already decided I'm going to do it. This is just a way for me to prepare for it.

                                    
Being a big bike nerd, I'd love to ride.  Although I'm nutty enough to want to run it too.

Foot racer picture is from Derek Montgomery's excellent coverage of the event last year.



Here is an example of the difference a Fat Bike makes in the snow. 


Since I can't figure out how to get a Fat Bike without selling a kidney, I think I'll go make a Pulk out of my kid's sled and go for a long walk instead......

(Tap, Tap, Tap) - Is this thing on?

I'm still here.

I went running tonight in the snow. It was about 2 degrees and snowing. I'm glad I went. Good night!

Run: 35:00 3.3 miles

P90X

I started P90X last week and got three workouts done. I also modified my alcohol intake too. In addition, I tried to not eat as much crap (candy and extra bread type stuff).

As a result, I lost 4 pounds this week. I'm happy and ready to start another week of the workout. I think I'll repeat the first week of the phase until I can do all six workouts without dieing!

It seems like a great time to start this program. Holiday eating is coming up and it will help me to not feel like it is okay to eat cruddy, just because it's the holidays. I know I need to get stronger anyway and this is an excellent time to do winter work in building up my body for the next running season.

I have been getting lazy and have let work/home responsibilities keep me from doing a marathon this year. I managed to do a half marathon this summer, but that was it. I know I definitely need to work on overall body strength and weight control. I am not heavy by any means, but I see my friends who are spreading out and I don't want that to happen. It seems like the time of my life where I'm on the seesaw of body weight. I could stay in shape or let myself go and give excuses about age or something equally lame.

I'll let you know how the next week on the program goes!

Spirit of the Marathon

Great Marathon movie!
Let it load and enjoy. It's about 1 hour 40 minutes long.

Half Marathon Today!

I decided late last night to run a 1/2 marathon this morning in my town. I haven't been training for that amount of running, but thought 'what the heck'. The last time I ran anything even close to that distance was early April. I had a great pre-race dinner the night before that ended with 2 beers and a bowl of ice cream. Then I decided I should run the half marathon.

The race was fun, but I've learned how to make a bunch of runners really uptight.
Here's the secret: Don't tell them where the starting line is.

I have nightmares that I wake up from before races that go exactly like that. They didn't tell us where the starting line was until about 10 minutes before the gun went off. Everyone was pacing around looking really distraught and anxious. At the same time as our race was about to begin, a 5K race was started near us. It had streamers and a big START banner and the timing equipment. Ours ended up being a guy with an air horn and a quick, "Come over here everybody, it's about to start." Not very official.

It ended up being fun and I ran a great pace considering my previous training this year. I got the tacky T-shirt in a medium, so that I can show off my lack of muscle in high definition.

To top it off, I rode my bike over to the race start and back home. 5 extra miles of biking in the logbook.

I rikey da bikey

I love riding my bike. Any one of them is fine. I'm a bike floozy, I'll ride anything.

Lots of miles have been piling up lately and I'm enjoying the change of exercise.

Remember me?

'm back to blogging. I don't want to let it die.

I got sick, got lazy, got busy, and now I'm back at it again.

My goals have been modified a little, but I feel great now and more motivated than ever. Last week was a big week of biking and a little running. I found out that my insurance company will reimburse me for going to the gym if I go at least 12 times per month. Great deal in terms of both money and workout encouragement.

Please check back regularly again with me. I promise it will get better!