A Little Dirt Won't Hurt

Today was a typical Saturday in the neighborhood. The Desperate Housewives of Blue Jay Drive getting dirty. Just not from doing housework this time.

Yup today was the Dirty Girl Mud Run down by Milwaukee. The three of us left the 'hood at 7 a.m. to head to Waukesha, just outside of Brew Town. Got to the hotel before 10 and met up with the 4 other women comprising the Teach Me How To Mudder team -- a.k.a. The Wonder Women!

See how clean Cindy, Niki and I are above? Then below -- after we checked in and were ready to start! We look pretty good in our matching Wonder Women shirts, skirts and socks, don't we?

We also had to wear our number on our racing bibs and in marker on our arms in case we lost our bibs or drowned in mud or something. Then they could identify us!

Since Cindy was still trapped in her "boot" she became our photographer and cheerleader. One of the other girls on our team had her camera with in a Ziploc bag and she got some great action shots I will eventually have to get ahold of. In the meantime, a few quick highlights....

There were like 10 or 12 obstacles that ranged from climbing up inflatable walls and bouncing down to crawling in mud through tunnels, going through mazes and rope climbing. Probably the most difficult one was more of a horizontal rope crossing that was hard to balance. The dirtiest one was a huge slide that landed us in a pit of mud on the bottom. I landed on my butt, got mud everywhere, including my whole head and in my eyes. Thankfully some nice sideline helper washed and wiped my eyes for me!

Basically, it was not much of a race. We did not run all of it -- not because we were tired, but because it is hard to run and laugh at the same time. Plus we were pretty weighted down. Take a look at the "after" picture!

Are we insane? Just a bit! But I cannot wait to do it again!

And here are the DIRTY Desperate Housewives of Blue Jay Drive. We made sure to show Cindy a little muddy love at the finish. It was only fair.

After we hosed off with cold water and threw our muddy clothes in garbage bags, we sat down a bit to relax and eat a bite.

C'mon. You knew I'd find ice cream. Like my mud mustache? It honestly took a shower, time in the pool and hot tub and another shower before it all came out. Wow. Good thing we are staying at the hotel. We expended just as much energy cleaning ourselves as we did doing the obstacles. I couldn't drive home tonight.

Instead we will have sweet dreams about the happy life of a pig rolling in the mud.

Reward System

Hubby found this for me the other day and for some reason thought it applied to me.

He was right.

Sort of. I would run 5 miles for ice cream. Not necessarily chasing down an ice cream truck. I run so I can HAVE ice cream. It's a wacky reward system, but it gives my guilty conscience a rest anyway. While ice cream does move me / motivate me, if I run more just to eat more, I am not moving forward.

 It's a tasty "maintenance" program, though.

Today I worked from home and had to walk over to pick up the CRV from the shop during lunch hour. It's a 4-plus mile hike but I did not opt to run it since I usually don't do a run the day before a race. So I walked for almost an hour and thought, "Hey, I deserve some ice cream when I get home."

Got home to a freezer with no ice cream. Jokes on me. I exercised and didn't intake the calories again.

Not right away anyway.

Since there was frozen yogurt, I made myself a protein smoothie. I mixed half a banana with a big spoonful of peanut butter, some fat-free chocolate milk and the low-fat frozen yogurt. Let the magic smoothie maker do its thing and it was darn tasty! Probably almost good for me, too.

Of course, now I am short on dairy intake so I may have to find something after our mud run tomorrow. Surely that deserves something!

And can guarantee I will not have any energy left to chase any ice cream trucks!

Stamina

Don't ask me how those aging rock stars can dance around the stage for hours in their black leather pants and still get out of bed in the morning. I had troubles today and I just watched them!

Whether it's solar panels or energy drinks or some substance I'd rather not know about, I have to admire their stamina. Of course, they must be in shape to fit into those leather pants and be able to move and eventually get out of them again.

Do I seem too focused on those leather pants? Maybe. But I'm pretty sure Styx guitarist Tommy Shaw has been wearing them since 1980 and, after everyone else I saw on and off stage last night, he's the only one who can pull off that look.

Nicely done, Mr. Shaw.

Now, what was I saying? Oh, energy. Lack of it. Today. Yes, it was tough getting out of bed.

I had emailed my boss and said I was coming in an hour late. Basically, that gave me 5 hours of sleep instead of 4. I think both hubby and I were dragging today. I was proud that I only drank half a pot of coffee and didn't consume as much as I felt I needed. I would be wired and sick by now!

I skipped any sort of workout at lunch and had the salad bar deal at work. Tonight I carbed up -- just an excuse for chicken Alfredo, really -- in advance of this weekend's running event. Now talk about stamina. I am a little concerned about this Dirty Girl mud run I've gotten myself into. I don't just have to run a 5K, I have to surmount 10-12 obstacles between the start and finish line as well. Haven't done much to prepare myself for that, but I'm guessing if the old guys from the '70s and '80s can bring it for 1-2 hours on stage, I of a much younger age (cough, cough, ahem) should be able to handle this "fun" run.

And I don't even have to wear leather pants!

Though, those might deflect mud better. Hmmm. Mr. Shaw! Hey, Mr. Shaw...

Rock and Roll Lives

Had a classic family outing tonight.  As in classic rock!

While we were gone on our mission trip, Jim ordered tickets for us to attend the Army Concert Series stop at Fort McCoy.  Tonight's headliner was Styx (who Carter likes) with Grand Funk Railroad and 38 Special opening.

We got there about 5 p.m. and sort of tailgated while waiting for the gates to open at 6 p.m. It was a bring your own lawn chair deal. So when the gates opened, there was a mad dash to the stage area. Good thing I've been running!

We got decent seats - about 7 rows back plus a bunch of people standing in front.

It was a great concert.(And I am glad I stuffed tissue "ear plugs" in my ears!) The highlight for Carter was catching a guitar pick from 38 Special.  He was so pumped about that. Nothing could really top that!

Here are a few photos from my phone:

See? The stage is not too far from us! And no, I am not THAT short. The guys, as usual, stood on tippy-toes and held me down. Ha.

Carter and his guitar pick. We kept an eye on all the guitarists the rest of the night but didn't get another one. Nice souvenir!

The Styx grand finale featured confetti shot into the crowd. That was cool to be up close so we could be in the middle of it!

It took about a half hour to get out of Fort McCoy and on the road. It is now 2 a.m. and we have to work in the morning. Not that far off. Will probably still be dancing in my sleep!

And thanks to my ear plugs, I will probably hear the alarm.

Sleeping Weather

Whatever happened to the hot August nights? Middle of our allegedly hottest month of the year and I am wearing pants and a sweatshirt as I type this.

Not liking it. Not liking it one bit.

We have an outdoor concert to go to in 24 hours and it is going to be cold. Like 40-degree cold. Plus, I feel the hint of a summer cold coming on -- with a whole lot of sneezing and a stuffy nose. This is NOT how I do summer.

While friends in Texas are complaining about the heat, I reminded them this morning it was 46 degrees here! Just a typical crisp summer morning in Wisconsin. And while I appreciate the infamous "good sleeping weather" we all enjoy, it is too soon for that. Just too soon.

At this rate, Mr. Deck Chair will never speak to me again. We have spent so little time together this summer. My pile of capris will probably hold a standoff of their own, since I've had little use for short pants so far. And shorts in general, well, only the running variety have received my attention.

On the plus side, my heated mattress pad loves me and we've enjoyed more than our average number of summer campfires. Plus, it's great running weather.

And, of course, it's never too cold for ice cream so that doesn't even enter into the equation. Whew.

Guess I'll enjoy the best of both worlds for awhile: a chilled bedtime snack followed by 8 hours of good sleeping weather in my warm bed.

Sweet summer dreams!

Monday Minutes

Just a few minutes of my Monday...

Technical Difficulties: Why is it that Mondays always feel like you could sleep in for hours? I guess I was tired from all the physical activity (too many golf swings) this weekend. Having computer issues at work only made it feel like a longer day. By the time we were heading home, it felt like two Mondays' worth of work. Good thing tomorrow is Tuesday!

Salt in my Tears: I paid for my weekend gluttony today. I escaped for a run at lunch time and it was challenging. Partially because I was not hydrated or rested and partially because it was pretty warm out! I managed to go on the 4-mile loop I established with my MapMyRun app -- but could not run the whole thing. Had a few short walk breaks after the halfway point. When I got back to work and was stretching out, the sweat dripped into both eyes and it stung so bad I couldn't cry fast enough to clean my eyes out!  Must have been those salty fries and cheeseburgers this weekend. Certainly not the ice cream. Ouch. I definitely looked the part of the raccoon this afternoon.

On the Run: Speaking of running, Carter is finally doing some on his own. He does not want me to badger him about this any more. He claims he is self-motivated and will do what his coach has assigned. We'll see. I will just mind my own business and work my own running program. You think meddling Mom can do that?? We'll see on that, too.

On the Couch: Speaking of running -- or not, my poor neighbor Cindy now has her right foot/lower leg in a boot cast for a bruised tibia. Sounds painful and it is. What's more painful is the timing. She was excited about 3 races coming up, two that we were doing together -- this weekend's Dirty Girl in Milwaukee and the Women Rock Minnesota run Labor Day weekend. She will have to be resting it for 4-6 weeks. Now for sure I am going to stick to my running program. Because I am lucky enough to be capable. For today anyway.

Garden Variety: Talked with my mom tonight. She is doing pretty good but I think she is lonely. I mean she usually appreciates my weekly calls because I am her favorite, but tonight she just sounded especially grateful to hear from me. She mentioned the deer eating the flowers at Dad's grave site again. Now she may have to just settle for artificial flowers -- a difficult step for someone with 2 green thumbs and 8 green fingers. Yes, she is that good with growing things! So if anyone has any deer deterrent tips, let me know. If she can get red geraniums to work, she'd be very pleased. But at this point, she isn't picky. Apparently, the deer aren't either.

Breaking the Curse

The Austin-Fragale golfing quartet has been cursed numerous times with rainy weather that either cut our round short or canceled our outing all together. This morning, we awakened to a steady rain outside our hotel in Adams.

And we were not happy.

Somehow, though, the golfing gods managed to smile on us just this once so we could break the curse and have a successful round at Wild Rock Golf Course.

And by successful, I merely mean we were able to golf 18 holes and stay dry. It does not mean I reached any sort of phenomenal level of success in my game today.

Wild Rock is just a gorgeous course. The clubhouse (above) is beautiful. The grounds are well maintained. And there is always a "wild" surprise or two.

After breaking for a deer on the car path, we had to watch out during one of our first drives for this crane in the fairway. Nothing makes you more nervous about teeing off than potentially hitting a bird.

Or dozens. Seriously, these Canadian Geese on the green of this par 3 did not want to move for anything. Even when one of our drives bounced and hit one of them, it did not ruffle their feathers.

Here is my yellow (I can't lose it) ball in the foreground and the rude spectators walking in the line of my putt. You can see the flag in the background and Jim waiting for some clearance on his side of the green, too. It's like what the flock? Right?

I am so blaming them that I missed my putt. And the next one.

 Wild Rock has several elevation changes, too, so you never know when you are cruising around and up and down in your cart what the next hole has in store for you.

On this par 3 hole, the guys had to drive across this deep gully full of bushes and weeds and crap in order to reach the green. We ladies had a better tee situation and did not have to go OVER the fescue, just to the side of it.

Yes, we definitely had the so-called advantage on several holes but it was still challenging at timse -- especially once we reached the greens. Lots of surprise two-level greens -- just like the kind you see on TV (or at a mini-golf course) where you have to hit it hard enough so it goes up on the second level of the green and doesn't roll back down. But not too hard that it sails way past the hole. So fun in a challenging way.

I'm pretty sure this is my favorite course. Of course, anytime you are golfing with friends you rarely see AND it is NOT raining, that's a favorite golf day altogether.

Let's hope the curse is broken for good.