REMINDER...

HELLO! I FEEL LIKE I NEED TO REMIND PEOPLE ABOUT MY SIGHT ISSUES, ONLY SO YOU DON'T THINK I'M BEING RUDE! ALL (BUT A FEW) OF MY MILES HAVE BEEN ON THE TREADMILL BC OF THE ICE AND WIND-CHILL. I'M DEATHLY AFRAID OF FALLING AND HITTING MY HEAD...OR HURTING ANYTHING, REALLY. I'VE DONE ENOUGH DAMAGE FOR ONE YEAR, AND WISH TO STAY HOSPITAL/DOCTOR/EMERGENCY ROOM FREE FOR A WHILE.

ANYWAY, I REALLY HAVE TO CONCENTRATE ON WHAT I'M DOING (WE ALL DO, BUT I NEED TO BE ESPECIALLY VIGILANT) WHEN I'M RUNNING ON THE TREADMILL. BUT, THIS MORNING, I SAW A FIGURE WALK PAST ME AT THE GYM & I DIDN'T/COULDN'T LOOK UP TO SAY HELLO. I STEPPED OFF TO TAKE A SWIG OF WATER AND NOTICED THE FAMILIAR FACE.

THEN, I WENT TO HORNBACHER'S AND THE SAME THING HAPPENED...ONLY I WAS WALKING DOWN AN AISLE. THEY DON'T' HAVE TREADMILLS AT THE GROCERY STORE. :)

IF YOU SEE ME, PLEASE SAY HELLO. I'M NOT IGNORING ANYONE. I JUST SIMPLY CAN'T SEE YOU, IF YOU'RE ON THE WRONG SIDE, SORT A SPEAK...

I WAS FEELING RUDE AND HAD TO CONFESS. WHEW. THANKS. NOW, I CAN GET ON WITH MY DAY. :)

Brain Aneurysm Awareness

I am running this year’s Fargo marathon in an attempt to raise money and awareness for brain aneurysm research and cutting edge treatment options for brain aneurysms, insuring the very best care for patients and their families.

PLEASE HELP ME MAKE A DIFFERENCE. PLEASE CONSIDER MAKING A TAX-DEDUCTICLE CHARITABLE DONATION TO:

www.healtheast.org/foundation/foundation-donation.html and click on the link: National Brain Aneurysm Center & St. Joseph’s Neurosciences Fund to donate. Please specify “In honor of Kathleen Wrigley,” just so I can send a proper thank you!

YAHOOOOOOOOOOOO...15 mile(stone)

Just a quick update (the baby's crying!) on my 15 miler! I DID IT! wahoooo....yeah me. sorry to be bragadoshish, but this was HUGE for me. My first really long run, post-surgery. I was nervous. I was scared. I was doubtful. But, after putting all those thoughts on the back-burner and focusing on the task at hand (and getting a pep talk, or scolding, from my husband), I finised. I ran on the treadmill at GoFarWoman (what a beautiful facility...nice job, Mark!). I broke the run up into 5 mile races. It helped for my sanity. Each 5 miles i thought..."I can do five miles. Piece 'a cake." I will admit those last 3 miles weren't fun, but i kicked the speed up a bit, just a bit. anyway, yeah, it's done.

i would've blogged sooner, but i think even my fingers were tired and crampy. :)

ran 7 this morning, and felt ok, but pretty stiff from Sunday's run.

how're your runs going?

allllll righty...tomorrow's another day, another run...

I AM BEYOND FRUSTRATED!!!!!!!!!! This is bascially a post for me to vent. No need for you to read. It's mostly jibberish, caused by complete frustration.

Went to Concordia track. Got nearly 5 miles into my run, feeling great, and was flagged off the track by a man who was closing the gym and locking up!!!!!!!!!! What??? On a Saturday morning at 11:30???? Are you kidding me.

He told me to take my run OUTSIDE. HELLO! Doesn't he know that Drew and the kids dropped me off here. I don't have a ride to get to another running destination. i don't have the clothes with me to bundle up and "take it outside," as I told to do. And, to say nothing of the energy and enthusiasm and giddy-up I had to muster to even get in a runniing mind-set today.

I finally tracked Drew for a ride. By then, of course, the baby was so tired and falling asleep in the backseat of the car, and Quinn had a birthday party to go to at Skateland. My only option was to go home, and finish my 15 mile run at home, on the treadmill...in our storage room. Alone. Eleven miles in the storage room surrounded with Christmas, Halloween, and Easter decorations and bins of kids' clothes. I dont' have that in me today. Somehow I managed to train for the Disney Goofy Race (half and full marathon) in that dang storage room, just last year. But, in my defense, my poor brain's been fried and messed with since then. Can't do it.

I made it three more miles (I needed to do 11), and jumped off in a huff.

TOMORROW I WILL DO MY 15 MILES, FOR REAL THIS TIME. I can't run 4.75 miles, wait 45 minutes then run another 11 or so, and call it a good, long run. I felt like I was cheating! So, I gave up.

LESSON LEARNED: GET UP EARLY AND JUST DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tick tock tick tock...

OK. So, it's 9:15. I'm dressed to run the track. My water's ready. My pile of "must-haves" sits on the counter, waiting for me to grab them and go...but here I sit, blogging. :(

I told myself and Drew (last night, as we climbing into bed) that I wasn't going to set my alarm. That dang thing beeps at 5:15, every morning. I wasn't going to listen to it on Saturday, too. I needed to sleep in.

Sorry if you logged on for motiviation this morning. Not today. I am soooooooooo not looking forward to running 15 miles. Blah.

The bottom line: I'm feeling very unmotivated, yes, but more nervous about today's run. Another milestone run. My longest run, post-surgery. Shoot. My tummy is already doing flip flops, in anticipation of 15 miles. I meant to call my drs. this week, for further reassurance that all is well and that my brain is ready for this adventure. I didn't connect with them, and wish I had.

So, now I sit making excuses for why I've procrastinated and how I'm going to fit this long run into our family's schedule today, between birthday parties, errands and Drew's run.

FINE. I'm going at 10. "Just Do It," isn't that what they say? Stay tuned...

Tomorrow...

15 miles tomorrow morning...stay tuned. I'll likely run at Concordia, on the track. Ugh. 120x's around. Gulp. Good night...
By the way, this is Kathleen writing this blog, not Drew. :) He messed with my settings. Grrr...

My latest column from "On the Minds of Moms..." pick one up at Hoarnbacher's!

Post-surgery column for On The Minds of Moms Mag

Hurts so....good? Holy crap!

5K pace for 5 miles. This was my task for this morning's run. I ran my tail end off at an 8.2 pace. This speed crap is going to kill me. Anyone else? I feel the toll on my body with adding the hills and speed.

Why am I doing this to myself? BECAUSE I CAN! I AM ALLOWED TO. I AM ABLE TO. I AM NOT FRAGILE. I WANT TO SHOW THE WORLD THAT I AM BACK. AND, I AM FIXED.

That said, I probably should go to bed at 8, tonight. :)

Keep truckin'. We can do this!!!!!

Have a wonderful weekend.

The need for Speed...and little conversation...

Ok. So WHAT if I like to do marathons and races for the medals (left: Jen & Kathleen, after finishing the 2009 Goofy Run in Disney last year. Two races (1/2 & full marathon) for three medals) I'm more of a social runner. I like to visit. But, for the very first time, I am including speed work in my training program. My friend, Marilyn, hooked me up with this program. It has hill training, too. Yikes. I've learned, just this morning, that serious speed & hill work (or any!) and visiting are not possible...for me.

The reason I need speed and hill work for this marathon is that I'm further behind on my base training bc of what my body's been through the past several months with my recovery. I wasn't permitted, nor could I muster the energy, to run for three months, following my craniotomy. Heck, I couldn't even lift our baby (1 1/2 Yr old Harper), for what felt like an eternity! Anyway, I need to get serious and follow a program that increases my endurance so that I make it through the 26.2 (S)Miles of fun. :) Like that one...

So, my alarm went off at 5 am. I'm listening to one of my doctors (opthomologist: Lance Bergstrom is a dear friend)tell me how important rest is and how my eye sight and recovery will benefit from 8 full hours of sleep every night. My husband's a night owl, so that leaves little time for us, when we're both training, and he does his shorter distance runs in the evenings during the week. That's a whole other blog post...anyway, I'm up and ready for speed.

With my homegirl, Jennifer...or JLo, as I call her), next to me (she's doing hills this morning), we chart our course...on the treadmills. :) Less laundry and less of a chance (not zero, but less of a chance of slipping and getting hurt, like on the ice). I'm off for my first interval of speed. Here's what I did: warm up 10 minutes, 4 x 60 second alternating intervals of 6.7 speed and 8.0 speed, increasing the speed .1, for every interval. Then, it breaks down into 4 x 30 second intervals @ 8.5 speed (JLo pushed me to do 8.5). Am I explaining that correctly. At any rate, I am happy to report that I didn't fall off the back of the treadmill,a nd got to chit chat through my cool down.

Mission Accomplished!