All about that base!

Greetings, everyone!

I am happy to be back on this little blog after a whirlwind of a summer and early fall. Following the 70.3 ironman, I was lucky enough to marry my best friend, train for a marathon, stand next to two of my best friends as they married their now husbands, and start the school year with a classroom full of energetic students. My life feels full and wonderful and busy and I wouldn't have it any other way.

My very favorite day.

Two weekends ago was the twin cities marathon. One of my final stops on my summer/early fall whirlwind adventure tour. This was my second attempt at this marathon, and I say attempt because my first time running it was last fall and it was a giant disaster of vomit and fainting. Although I knew time for training would be limited, when registration opened for this year's race, I knew I had to do it. It was time to, as my best friend says, kick it in the tail (she uses another word, but the sentiment is the same).

The TC Marathon is referred to by Minnesotans as the most beautiful urban marathon in the United States and after running it from start to finish, I would have to agree. The course begins in downtown Minneapolis, winds its way around the chain of lakes, crosses the river into St. Paul and ends in downtown St. Paul in front of the state capitol.

I have never had such a happy racing experience. This was mostly because I truly was not racing. My best friend Alyssa started the race with me (this included waiting in a parking garage to stay warm before the race, bless her heart!) and we laughed our way through the first few miles. I kept a nice steady pace through the rest of it. I knew I wasn't going fast and I didn't care. No running watch to watch my pace, I completely ignored the pacing signs, I just ran.

Staying warm in the parking garage pre-marathon!

My amazing mom and other best buddy Brittany were out on the course in several different places and I loved every time I got to see them. I am incredibly biased, but the the fans along the course were the best I've ever seen. Minnesota nice was running through and through.

I won't lie though, the whole marathon was not sunshine and rainbow. There were some pretty ugly parts as well. Miles 21-23 of the course are uphill. And by uphill, I do not mean rolling hills. Nope. I mean it is all uphill for the whole 2-3 miles. At this point of the run, you can hear a lot of grunts. There are a lot of jokes being told between runners, and a lot of, what the heck were we thinking? It hurts. A lot. But then, I made it past mile 23 and it was downhill into the finish line. I finished feeling a little delirious but really, really happy.

So now here I am on Columbus Day. The Chicago Public Schools takes this day as a holiday. No, I don't have any idea why and yes, I object to celebrating Christopher Columbus. But, like anybody else, I love a day off to catch up on the million things that have been waiting for me over the past few months and I am also loving the opportunity to reflect on the past six months of wonderful and the next six months to come.

In early September, thanks to a very wonderful co-worker of mine, I was able to sneak away from my students for a few minutes to make a very big decision. I registered for Ironman Wisconsin. Yep, the whole, big, hard-to-even-wrap-your-head-around-it, Ironman. 140.6 miles. Ufda.

To be honest, it was only today (thank you, Columbus Day) that I finally had a chance to really think about that decision and what it means. For one thing, it means 24 weeks of training. As far as I've seen, it doesn't become really intense until June/July and lucky for me this coming summer looks to be a little more relaxed than the last. But it also means a lot of miles put in on the bike, in the pool, and in my running shoes. I have no doubt it will be exhausting and challenging in ways I probably don't even understand yet.

I am nervous and excited all at the same time. The thought of crossing that Ironman finish line makes my toes tingle and my husband tells me that lately I've been talking about it in my sleep. It's going to be awesome.

But mostly at this moment I am excited that I have a few months to build my base before the real training starts in January. It's time to slow down, get back in the water and on my bike, and remember how much I love going for an early morning swim. The next few months are all about building my base. Hence the title of this blog post, in case you were wondering. For the next few months, I intend to be all about that base...and I also intend to continue dancing and singing to this song every chance I get. If you haven't heard it, here you go...I dare you not to dance!

Happy Columbus Day!