Duly Noted

This summer's training runs have been more helter skelter than ever. I'm currently training for two triathlons in August- a women only sprint tri in Minneapolis and then a longer, Olympic distance tri in Maple Grove. So, I approached this summer with the attitude that I will run when I need to and focus on biking and swimming consistently. This plan has sort of worked out. I've been running at least four days a week: two days of trail running workouts with my club and then two days of running with Washburn Cross Country Team as a new coach. This adds up to at least 20 miles of running. However, I have some beef with this schedule. Primarily, I don't get to run as much with Rachel or by my lonesome or with my other best running girlfriends. Thus, I've sneaked (snuck?) in some extra runs to accomplish this. Perhaps as a result (or due to the fact that I never recovered fully from the marathon), my left hip is creaky. I don't like it. It's not painful...

This summer's training runs have been more helter skelter than ever. I'm currently training for two triathlons in August- a women only sprint tri in Minneapolis and then a longer, Olympic distance tri in Maple Grove. So, I approached this summer with the attitude that I will run when I need to and focus on biking and swimming consistently. This plan has sort of worked out. I've been running at least four days a week: two days of trail running workouts with my club and then two days of running with Washburn Cross Country Team as a new coach. This adds up to at least 20 miles of running. However, I have some beef with this schedule. Primarily, I don't get to run as much with Rachel or by my lonesome or with my other best running girlfriends. Thus, I've sneaked (snuck?) in some extra runs to accomplish this. Perhaps as a result (or due to the fact that I never recovered fully from the marathon), my left hip is creaky. I don't like it. It's not painful...

As a teacher, I have the luxury of ten empty weeks. Somehow, I manage to fill up seven of them pretty quickly with camping, coaching, traveling, paneling, and painting. Today, however, I spent Monday morning exactly the way I wish I could spend every Monday morning for the rest of my life. Dramatic? Yes. Sincere? Very. I baked a batch of millet muffins and drank some coffee. I opened all the windows and let the cool morning air drift through our home. Then, Anna, one of my favorite tri/run buddies biked over and we headed to Lake Nokomis to try out some open water swimming before my sprint tri in a few weeks. Despite the cloudy water and the ill spread buoys, I felt strong and fast. I really had nothing to measure my speed against, but I imagined coming out of the swim in first place (this will not happen but it was fun to imagine!). The sun was beaming down on the waves and I felt absolutely alive and grateful. Thank you parents for signing me up for swim team at age 6. Hi...

As a teacher, I have the luxury of ten empty weeks. Somehow, I manage to fill up seven of them pretty quickly with camping, coaching, traveling, paneling, and painting. Today, however, I spent Monday morning exactly the way I wish I could spend every Monday morning for the rest of my life. Dramatic? Yes. Sincere? Very. I baked a batch of millet muffins and drank some coffee. I opened all the windows and let the cool morning air drift through our home. Then, Anna, one of my favorite tri/run buddies biked over and we headed to Lake Nokomis to try out some open water swimming before my sprint tri in a few weeks. Despite the cloudy water and the ill spread buoys, I felt strong and fast. I really had nothing to measure my speed against, but I imagined coming out of the swim in first place (this will not happen but it was fun to imagine!). The sun was beaming down on the waves and I felt absolutely alive and grateful. Thank you parents for signing me up for swim team at age 6. Hi...