October photo dump

Ahhhhh - Where has October gone?! I cannot believe it is time for October's photo dump and I have fallen off the blogging horse for several weeks (SORRY). Life has been nuts. However with this month's photo dump you will be caught back up pretty quickly:

Grandpa's 85th Birthday party
LOVE HIM

Some of the Thomson Women with Grandpa

Warrior Day of Service prep
300 Junior High & Senior High youth
doing service projects around our area on
an early out day

why wouldn't we let the baby play on the pool
table while we prepped Warrior Day of Service?!

Crocheted some cute hats for
my favorite twins

Warrior day of Service
Beautiful Choas

Trip to Minneapolis with my family

Dinner with my parents

A very entertaining evening with:
Brother, Husband, Dad, & Cousin
Oh. The. Stories.

Lobster grilled cheese with an egg on top
It was AMAZING!

Magic Bands Arrived

Winterizing Camp
This is what we call putting all our eggs in one basket
Dear Mice, STAY OUT of our new mattresses.

A beautiful fall day horse back riding with a member from church
I LOVE instagram (follow me: sathomson)

Gross rainy day 10K in Fargo
sorry about the blurry pic but it is all we got
NO MEDAL :( we got a hockey puck
How am I suppose to hang that on my wall?

Many a good walk and run at the Arb
BEAUTIFUL fall trees with berries

WE SOLD OUR HOUSE!
I was looking threw the abstract of title of the house
and this is the first entry. It was originally built in 1870
We live (until mid November) in a piece of history

One of the church ladies is afraid I will have cold toes this winter
so she made me a pair of slippers

My husband this morning
He is dressed as the dude from Texas Chainsaw Massacre
I did his makeup and was pretty proud of it

How was your October? 

Did I miss anything in your world?

Tell me something ridiculously random.

Dru Sjodin - Purple Elephant Run Review

Today I ran the Purple Elephant Run 10k, there was also a 5k run option. The race began at trail side park in Pequot Lakes. Packet pick up was quick and easy. At first I was excited to see the shirts and then I realized that they were tight fitting, small cut shirts for the women. Don't get me wrong I like when the shirts are broken into men's & women's however I am not a super small woman and the tight tight fitting ones don't fit. The shame is that they are made of a fabulous material and are super fun shirts. I heard a lot of people complain about how small the women's shorts were.I am thankful for the woman who after the race let me trade sizes.
The race itself was well marked & had plenty of water stations. It wasn't a closed course and was relatively flat (one tiny hill) with little traffic. It wrapped around Pequot Lakes and on the Paul Bunyan trail. I would highly recommend this race to everyone. It wasn't a super huge crowd which I also loved. It was a beautiful morning for a run.
The people directing and staffing the race were super nice and seemed very well organized (this was the 5th annual race).

Just a couple notes to my fellow runners:
-even if you and your closest five friends have really fun matching race outfits please don't run 6 wide on the trails - you are super hard to pass & obnoxious to run by
-even if you have been working on your sprinting skills and you are an Olympic sprinter please don't speed passed me like a bear is chasing you & as soon as you get six inches directly in front of me come to a complete stop
-even though spitting is totally acceptable while running (I do it too) - please look while you spit by the third time you spit on me (once on each shoe and once on my leg) - I was totally grossed out

Crosslake Dam Run Review

Crosslake Dam Run 5k or 10k is race number 2 in the Crosslake Run series. I wore my run series shirt and was entered for extra prizes. One thing that I have loved so far about the 2 races that I have run in this series is that there are quite a few people but it isn't at the overwhelmingly large race size yet. I do enjoy some of the big races that I run, however there is something fabulous in the simplicity of some races too! The people who have organized these two races have been spot on and the details have fallen together wonderfully.
I will admit that I was a little confused when there was not an address given for where registration and the start of the race would be, it said it would be in the town square north of the business district, and I am not all that familiar with Crosslake. My fears were gone when I saw all the beautiful signs directing me where to go.
Before the race was chilly (which I prefer over the wicked hot weather we could have had) and I was slightly concerned about rain. I felt bad for the race organizers with about ten minutes to race time a ton of people showed up & were upset with them for having a line to pick up bibs. I am not certain why they thought they could show up at the last minute and still make the start on time.
Thankfully for the late comers the race organizers delayed the start about ten minutes for all these people. The start was about a half a block from the registration and finish line.
The race went well for me, there was a 5k and a 10k race, the races were well labeled and there were a few individuals standing at the splits to direct people. On the 5k race there was a water station about half way through, which was plenty.
I was happy with my time in the end which is good, I needed a good run. They do door prizes and prizes for those who come in the top of the age brackets. Part of the perk of running the race series is you get entered into a bonus prize pool with some decent prizes. I won a free car wash from the race series prizes, I would guess about half the people who were in the race series got a prize.

Run Run Run Run Run Run Run Run Run

These are by far my favorite pair of running shoes, I love them so much that I actually bought a second pair of the exact same shoe before they quit making them. I love the way that they fit my feet, I love the colors, I love how light weight they are, and I love the way they mold to my feet. I haven't yet touched my new pair, I don't want to give up my old pair. I have begun to love this running stuff. 

Last night I began to map out my next year in races, I know they come up quickly and I semi-live in a strange place that there are not a ton of runs in the town I live in nor the neighboring towns but there are plenty in the area it is just a drive to get to them. So last night I mapped out some of the races I would like to run over the course of the next year. The problem is that all the long distance runs seem to fall at the same time and I know for certain that I cannot run back to back half marathons or my legs would HATE me. 

Here is my list of what I hope to run:

September 24, 2011: Waite Park 5k although the problem with this one is that it is getting a little close to the October run I am hoping to do..... we'll see how this one plays out...

October 8, 2011: Oktoberfest 10k [I am already signed up for this one]

November 24, 2011: Baxter Turkey Run 5k - I am hopeful that they will be running this one again, the website is currently listed for last year, but I am optimistic that they will still have it

[Here I have a massive break due to living in Northern Minnesota and the harsh winters, but I would love to find something to fill in here.]  

May 19, 2012: Fargo Half Marathon - I ran this one last year and hope to improve my time

May 28, 2012: Bataan Death March - I have promised a friend I would walk this with her here in Brainerd, it is a 20 mile walk. The story goes that the soldiers who actually were forced to march in the Bataan Death march were from Brainerd. I could be nuts being willing to do this one, but what the heck, why not?!

June 9, 2012: Sour Grapes Half and Half - I am going to have to run the 10.55k after what the end of May will look like, the race is here in Brainerd, so I would hate to miss it and it fits in with what my next summer schedule looks like so far.

[Here I am going to need to add a July and August race - but that seems a bit far out to be planning and my guess is the information isn't get out there.]

The goals above mostly for the May/June seem a bit crazy but I want to train and try it. I am excited and scared and nervous. I know my current shoes are on their last breath and the new ones are about to broke in.... I wish I kept better track of how many miles I actually run.

I think it is time to make a new running playlist, I am bored with the old one, any suggestions for music?

What are you doing to challenge yourself?