Wow...can you believe the marathon is only 2 1/2 weeks away?? I've gotten a little behind on the updates and blogging...it's been a crazy couple of weeks!

We had some hot and humid weather for the Bear Water Run...but we all finished strong!! It was great to have almost everyone at the event (Adam decided he needed to do some massive bike ride instead:-)) and it was a good practice for the upcoming marathon!

The Twin Cities Marathon Participant Guide is available on the website if you want to look through it before it arrives in your mailbox sometime this week. You can check it out here: http://www.mtcmarathon.org/Upload/documents/Marathon%20guide_2009_FINAL.pdf

This Wednesday we can all look forward to our favorites...intervals and hills!! Even though we're tapering I guess that doesn't mean we get to skip the hills:-P 

After we run, Michael Egan from Performance Acupuncture will be speaking about Chinese medicine, acupuncture, his focus on athletes, and more. He's someone that I highly reccomend and I hope you can all be there to meet him.

This Saturday several of us are participating in the Dave Ryan 5K...as a result you have several options for your "long" run this week:
    ~~Run the route posted on our running schedule and then run the 5K for an additional 3.1 miles.
    ~~Run the route posted on our running schedule.
    ~~Run 10 - 13 miles on your own.
If you run fewer miles, focus on speed and running faster!!!

This Saturday is also the "packet stuffing" volunteer event. Complete details are available in the document which I have attached below. Talk to PJ if you have any questions!!

I think that's it for now! If I get any more information I will post later this week. See you all on Wednesday!!

I was at Marathon Sports tonight to buy a bunch of GU and one of the guys asked me if I was getting ready for a race. I said that I was running Twin Cities Marathon and had a couple of big runs coming up. He asked how it was going, and I said good...but that I was getting nervous about the race. His response was that if I had done the preparation then I had no reason to be nervous...that as long as I did my long runs then I was going to be fine!!!

So I will use those words to encourage all of us...we all know that we've been preparing and we've been doing our long runs...so we are all going to be just fine...we may not able to move after we finish...but we will finish and be fine!

This week is our 18 mile long run...and I've got a bunch of information from PJ...be sure to read everything below.J

· Bring water that you can carry on the run! There are approx. 5 water stops along the course, but there is a large part of the route that does not have water.
      **Make sure to get water on West River Parkway, past Lake Street and at East 29th Street (Mile 11.5 of
         the route). There is not another water stop until you are back to the north end of Calhoun at mile 16.5.

·  Review the route and especially note where you enter The Greenway from West River Parkway. You enter near East 27th Street. There is a three-way stop and it is before you go under the railroad tracks.

·  Run at a good pace! This is the last run before our race next week. During the 20 mile we will focus on stepping on the pace and running a little faster than normal.

·  Bring water and food for after the run...you want to make sure you can eat something soon after you stop running.

·  This is a great chance to use GU (or gel, or jelly beans, or some other carb source) and practice for the marathon...you don't want to use something for the first time on race day!

·  Focus on eating well, drinking lots of water, and getting lots of rest! The next ten days are the pinnacle of your training! Enjoy it…and Finish Strong!!!

· If you haven’t done so yet…make sure you get signed up for the Bear Water Run! It is next Saturday, Sept. 12!

This is going to be fun!! (Well, maybe not fun…but it will be great when we’re doneJ) Get some rest! Eat some carbs!! We’ll see you on Saturday!!! 

There are only THREE long runs left before our marathon...16, 18 and 20 miles!!! The big event is getting so close and everyone is doing an outstanding job!!

For those of us that ran on Saturday I think we would all agree it was at least 100 times better than last Saturday. It was almost 20 degrees cooler and no humidity to be found. My muscles actually feel the best today they've felt in quite some time...who knew that was even possible?!?! (Well, PJ would say that he knew...in fact he already did say that to me today - lol!!) I hope that everyone that wasn't running with the group had a great weekend run too.

Wednesday is coming quickly and unfortuntely I realized that I will be the one that will make it so we're not all together again:-( It's the Target national meeting on Wednesday and I will be spending quality time with about 10,000 other red and khaki wearing Target team members. I will be thinking of you though:-)

This Saturday we'll be running 16 miles!!! Most of it is a familiar route, but several miles are along the Greenway which I'm not sure how many of your are familiar with. I've posted the route...be sure to review the course and ask PJ on Wednesday if you have any questions about directions.

Only 41 Days until the Twin Cities Marathon!!!

Have a great week!!

So last Saturday's long run wasn't all that much fun for most of us...it was hot and humid and muggy from the very beginning! I was THRILLED when I finally made it back home...I just laid on my living room floor for awhile because all I wanted was to be NOT moving!! :-) BUT...this Saturday the high is supposed to be the same as what we were running in at 7 a.m. last week - and no storms in the air - so it's for sure going to be better for all of us!!

Misc. Notes:
~~Meredith completed her first official half-marathon!!! She even had a guy that was using her as his pacer...WAY TO GO, Meredith!!!

~~We were ALL at Run Club at the SAME time for the FIRST time EVER on Wednesday!!!

~~14 miles last Saturday!!! The first time at that distance for most of us...Whoo hoo!!

~~We only have 4 long run left before the marathon - 15 miles, 16 miles, 18 miles and 20 miles....and the 20 mile run will have the added motivation and excitement of being a race!! (Don't forget to sign up for the Bear Water Run if you have done so already!)

~~ Have a great weekend everyone!! Hopefully we'll see EVERYONE again next Wednesday!

This is going to be my new favorite quote for the next 7 weeks!!! 

Doing things like getting up early on Saturday morning to run for 2 or 3 or 4 hours in a row or running with one injury or another or running intervals and hills in 90 degree weather sometimes has me questioning my sanity ...and I'm pretty sure we've all questioned this process at times and struggled with how difficult it is to actually complete.

We all have different reasons for running in the upcoming marathon...and whatever the reason it's been enough to get you this far through the process. The next seven weeks are really only going to get tougher...and it may feel at times like you're not going to make it...but I have no doubt whatsoever that this is NOT going to kill any of us...and as a result we will all most definitley be stronger in the end!!

So hang in there...it's a huge time committment...it takes a lot of energy...and there are days when running may be the last thing that you want to do...but I thnk we all believe it will all be worth it when we cross that finish line in St. Paul on Oct. 4. Only have 51 days left!! Whoo hoo!!!

Have a great weekend!

Hey Everyone,

PJ has updated the calendar for August and September and I have attached it below.  The long routes will be determined throughout the month, as we're waiting to see if the construction on the West River Parkway finishes up.

We will be doing intervals on Wednesdays for the month of August...not the most fun things ever, but very good in helping us building our speed and endurance!

We've also got a couple of great speakers this month...Michael Egan will be coming to speak from Performance Acupuncture and Kim the nutritionist will come and share some practical tips on nutrition and marathon training.

See you all later!

Well...we all made it!!! 

Five of us ran the Urban Wildland Half Marathon on Saturday and we all had a great experience. I think that every one of us had something to be excited about...

***Sue reached her goal of finishing in less then two hours...she did 13.1 miles in 1:59:33 - WAY TO GO, SUE!!!! 
***Kelly finished her first half marathon - and her first time running further than 7 miles - in 2:31:33 - AWESOME WORK, KELLY!!!
***I (Becca) finished my second half marathon in 2:11:50 - 10 minutes faster than my first half marathon just 8 weeks ago.
***Adam finished in 1:51:47 and was able to run the entire race with his brother! They had exactly the same gun time, but somehow his brother was one second faster with Chip time!!
*** PJ finished in 1:32:12 and ran with almost his entire family - Luke, Matt, Katie, and Meredith (2 brothers, sister and cousin). Luke beat PJ, but PJ beat Matt!

We had perfect running weather and the course was very flat...especially compared to any of those hills by the River!! I was able to get a few pictures (see below)...unfortunately  Sue had left by the time I was able to grab my camera, but she was there...I promise:-)

I hope everyone has a great week - and I think there's a chance we will ALL be at Run Club on Wednesday...I hope so!! See you then!

Hey Everyone!!

Guess what? This Saturday we begin our 8th week of training...which is halfway through our 16 weeks...WHOO HOO!!

This Wednesday (tomorrow) we will once again be particpating in everyone's favorite... INTERVALS and HILLS. In honor of this event, I have posted a story below on that very topic! It's from a series called "The Newbie Chronicles" and his stories make me laugh every month when I get my Runners World magazine.:-) If you want to read his entire series you can go to www.runnersworld.com/newbie .

This Saturday is the Urban Wildland Half Marathon! It begins at 7 a.m. at the Richfield Ice Arena. I can't wait to see everyone there. (At least those that are running!)

I hope you're all having a great week!

Becca:-)