Betty - In search of the missing Chip

On several occasions, the Mama's have talked about 'the chip'. For those of you who don't know what the 'Chip' is (or call it by another name), it is the ability to say No to that next glass of wine, beer, tequila or whatever your drink of preference before you regret it the next day - or later that evening. There are some of the Mama's who have the chip, one who doesn't have the Chip so responsibly chooses not to partake in alcoholic beverages, and then there are two who openly admit that they do not have the Chip but belly up to the bar just the same. I fall into the latter category. As a Mama (both running and other) I do realize that I have to be responsible not only for me, but now also for 2 children. Therefor in lack of the Chip I usually don't drink. Well, at home anyway.

But here is the problem. I really enjoy having a drink or two. I always have. It's part of me, who I am and to be honest I really am a very happy and fun drunk. But here is the other problem - without the Chip, sometimes I get myself into trouble. Here is the point where I could tell you about all the crazy, funny, scary stories about my drunk nights, but that would take to long and I really don't have the time. Most of those stories thankfully are back in the days before children and adult responsibility, but occasionally there are one or two from recent times.

When I started training for the marathon, my ability to meet a friend and have a drink became even more difficult and I didn't want to mess up my exercise plan. At least that's how it started. In the past month or so, I have been out with friends more frequently and I have also started back bowling with my team. I don't know about you, but I find it really difficult to bowl and not have a beer. They just go together.
But without the Chip, one beer usually leads to one more, and then before you know it I've closed down the bar and I'm headed off to find the nearest place with karaoke and asking strangers for a cigarette. Because that's what I need when I'm training for a marathon, A CIGARETTE!!!

So if you see me dancing around your neighborhood bowling alley singing 80's pop tunes and asking you for a light, please stop me and say 'Hey, I see that your missing a Chip and I would love to share mine with you. So why don't you put down the tiara and lets head home." I promise I'll thank you in the morning.

What is wrong with me???

I'm not sure what happened a couple of weeks ago, but I'm sad and embarrassed to tell you that it wasn't my proudest moment. It was my first ever 18 miler and I was pretty nervous about it. My usual running partners were not in attendance and I was not real comfortable with the route. Thankfully I found a buddy to run with, one who talks a great deal, so I could sit back and listen to story after story. Nirvana.

We hit the 9 mile mark, which also happened to be a TNT designated "water stop". Now for those of you who have not trained with a group as fantastic as Team in Training, here is what a typical water stop looks like: a table or trunk of a car decked out with TNT gear. 2 large jugs of cold liquid and cups, one water and one a sports drink. Hard candy. A salty snack (like pretzels). Paper towels. Goo, energy bars, shot blocks, sports beans, etc. It is like a mini Super USA. I feel like the water stops every few miles are critical to the success of every participant. Much organizing goes into the water stops for the day...mainly getting the volunteers to agree to sit out for hours on end filling cups for participants and managing the garbage.

This brings me to the point where I will share my not so proud moment. As I was lounging at the water stop at Lake Harriet chatting with other TNT participants, a young woman ran up to the water stop (clearly not a TNT participant) took a cup, filled it with water and drank it. Now, I'm not heartless, I feel compassion for the thirsty like everyone else. But for some reason, I blurted out, "What event are you doing?". This question was asked in the hope that I might not have met this TNT participant yet and that I could take this opportunity to welcome her to the TNT group. Her reply, "No event. I'm just out for a run and I got thirsty". Then she asked, "Is that OK?" Now, I didn't answer her verbally. I did, however, give her the look of death. I didn't mean to though. I was just protecting "our" beverages like they were my children.

She backed away slowly, obviously scared that I might burn a hole through her body with my fierce stink eye. I turned back to the small TNT group who had gathered for their water break in the meantime and they were all silent and staring. A couple of them were absolutely shocked at my rudeness, as was I! What is wrong with me that I was so unwilling to share with this poor thirsty woman? I am going to go ahead and blame exhaustion and fatigue. I don't think there really is an excuse for my terrible behavior though. If I see this woman again I will surely apologize.

I just want to say, however, if you are running around the lakes (or anywhere) and you see a water stop that is so obviously marked for a particular running group, just ASK before just grabbing yourself a drink. Really now.....

Suzy-Q - Completing a Minnesota Tri?

So last Wednesday I skipped out on team training. We were scheduled to meet and run 8-12 repetitions of a hill near a lock and damn on the Mississippi River. It was a fairly nice day - summer is waning and the air was cooler than it has been and the humidity was low. And I had intentions to meeting up with the team.

However, by day's end I decided that I'd completed at Minnesota Triathlon.

The first leg: By 7:45am I was on my bike and headed to the fairgrounds. At 8:03am I'd parked my bike, locked her up and made it through the entrance. Pretty uneventful, and not bad for time.

The second leg: I spent the next 11. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I said ELEVEN. Eleven hours walking around the fairgrounds, consuming mostly fried foods and dairy products. Three trips to the "All-you-can-drink-milk" booth, crab cakes, mini-donuts, a funnel cake, a Pronto Pup, and two boats of cheese curds later. So I'm likely no competition for Takeru Kobayashi, I'd say that 11 hours of walking and eating are formidable.

I did take the long way home on my bike. Not really to get more exercise, but because riding on Snelling Avenue seems like a death wish when there are so many motorists trying to make their way to the fair. The long way on a bike lane and through a city park just seems more sane.

The third leg: Calibrating my iPod. How many months are we into training now? I finally decided I'd calibrate my iPod in an effort to more accurately track my progress. Calibrating my iPod required me to run. I only ran about a mile.

My Minnesota tri - a bike ride, an all day eating affair at the Great Minnesota Get Together, and a run - took a mere 12 hours to complete. Thank goodness I expect Nike to take a fraction of that time.