The Cubs, Cheryl and Chris' wedding and, of course, a race

Our close friends Cheryl and Chris got married this weekend in Chicago, and I was honored to serve as a bridesmaid, so we spent the long weekend in Chicago. Ted LOVES this picture of us at the Cubs game Friday. I basically spent the weekend eating, drinking and enjoying the company of friends. The bride, groom and I did take time to participate in the Soldier Field 10 mile, which runs along the lake and then finishes in Soldier Field. I felt morbidly obese and sluggish -- and it was hot. Nonetheless, I managed to finish in 1:21:20, which placed me around 80 out of 1000 women in my age group. Cheryl registered me for the race and put me down as older so I was actually placed in the wrong age group where I placed a little higher. My stomach was wrecked from all the celebrating which made it even more interesting. However, it was a great way to start what was ultimately a great day -- the wedding day!!! I am so happy for Cheryl and Chris :-)

Just another fantastic weekend. . .

My friend Quinn and I ran 14 miles in Glacier National Park on Saturday. We ran long Lake McDonald, which was a really nice flattish trail. Although the forecast screamed rain and nasty coldness, it was warm and sunny and awesome.

It appeared that there had been a bear on the trail as well. That's a lot of poop. Maybe the bear had been drinking beer the night before or something.

Big bear prints in the mud. We never saw the bear(s) thankfully.


Speaking of bears, here's an article from today's Daily Interlake about the Swan Crest 100 and the challenge by a local environmental activist. Although I am vexed by the situation, I have to admit that I'm glad someone is fighting hard for the bears, even if in this case it renders us "collateral damage" in this guy's war against the USFS. However, I don't believe for a second that our run is going to displace bears. This guy is worried (I think) about other permits being issued for different types of events. I don't really think he really believes our event is going to displace bears. I just can't believe anyone would really believe that.


In other news, today I ran with Deb, Tom and Jenny up Columbia Mountain. Since I was out dancing at the Blue Moon until bar-time last night (I was so tired!) I overslept and arrived late to the trailhead. Sonja and I booked it up the mountain until we caught our friends. It was a nice run/hike of about 8 miles. Unfortunately I was camera-less. I did remember bear spray though at least.

Ted and I have been really busy. This past weekend was the "Herron Hustle," a 5.5 mile trail run I organize for Foys to Blacktail Trails. It went well and we had great turnout. Sunday we helped out at a fundraiser/run for the dog park in Whitefish. That seemed to go really well too. Between those two things, our weekend was shot. It was a beautiful weekend! It has warmed up and you can see the snowline creep up the mountains daily. I have some fun stuff planned for the summer -- all short adventures -- and can hardly wait.

5k Race Report

On Saturday I ran the Great Northern 5k, and forgot to wear a watch. I'm pretty sure this is the first race I've run without a watch. I actually started out as first woman, for probably a good few minutes, but had no Garmin to verify that I was running too fast. I was passed by 4 other women by the time I reached the finish line, but was pleased to have run 22:12, which is a Montana PR and only 44 seconds slower than my all-time 5k PR, which was run at sea level. I previously thought this made my race time close to my PR time but that's not true. According to Jack Daniel's running formula, this is the equivalent of 21:54 at sea level. Anyhow, I'm not sure whether it was the new shoes (Nike LunarRacers), the lack of a watch or what but I'm pleased. I felt good and my legs never felt tired. Much like the Shamrock Shuffle, I actually triggered an asthma attack and was limited by breathing rather than leg speed. I don't know what's up with that but apparently I now have some manner of exercise induced asthma (it has always been allergy induced). Next 5k I'll puff my inhaler first and see if I can PR. Someday I'd like to run sub-20 minutes. That would be pretty cool.

Finally, the group ran a great 13ish mile loop today around/near Herron Park. Mostly single-track with a little double-track thrown in there. It was fantastic. I wish I had brought my camera, but I was planning on running 5 miles.

Checking up on melt progress

Ted and I went for a hike Sunday in the Jewel Basin area. We stayed pretty low but discovered that the mountains have recieved a fresh blanket of snow. Better late than never, right?The snow wasn't really deep but it was still pretty difficult to hike in. It was still nice to get outside, hike off the Derby Day mint juleps and let the dogs get some exercise.

This weekend is the Great Northern 5k, which my friend Leanne puts on every year. I think that this year I'm going to run it and see where I'm at with my 5k. Probably not very fast, but I'd like to set a Montana PR. If I could even run as fast as the last 3 miles of the Shamrock Shuffle I will have a Montana PR!