Over the past few weeks I've been running outside, rather than running on my treadmill. My dog, Maisy, has been my running partner. She does pretty good actually, and I'll bet we ran close to 15 miles last week, only taking Wednesday and Sunday off. Perhaps you've seen us running through the subdivisions off of Lilly and Hampton?

The only problem with running with my dog is that I don't want to push her, and in order to make sure she stays properly hydrated, I bought one of those Camelbak packs from REI. It's not the big one that goes on like a backpack, but rather a smaller one that actually I wear like a fanny pack and the water bladder rests on the small of my back. Surprisingly, it holds 48 oz of water, and Maisy is pretty good at drinking it straight from the hose like it's a bubbler.

Tonight Maisy and I were getting ready for our run, and I don't know if it was the water pack that got my daughter, Zoe, so interested or what, but she decided to come along with us. I thought about just doing the 3/4 mile loop through my subdivision, but she was doing so well that I keep on going my normal route and in all we went about 2.5 miles. Sure, we didn't go super fast, and we walked here and there, but I'm so impressed that my 7 year old actually did it! Our pace was slow, due to the walking, as well as I tried to teach her not to burst out full steam ahead.

Even though we both had our iPods on, she talked the entire time. Over time she'll learn to concentrate on her breathing, and maybe not talk so much, or maybe the talking will turn out to help her. Personally, I can't really talk when I run. Anyhow, normally I'd have dropped Maisy off at the house and then gone out again by myself to do another loop, but it was getting late so I didn't this time.

Thursday night I'll Storm the Bastille with my husband and my sister-in-law. My brother and my nephews are supposed to be running the 5K too, but we'll see, they changed their minds last year. This run is my favorite run of the year. I'm really looking forward to it!

Cross posted @ Thoughts Outside My Head

Last night my husband and I ran the Superun 5K. It’s through Lake Park, and this run is challenging, but we love it anyways. Our times? Well let’s just say that we finished, and our times sucked. I hadn’t run in over two weeks, and my husband (who finished around 22 minutes last year) ran at my pace (which is no where NEAR 22 minutes).

It did not rain, and there was no beer on this race. It’s was all sunshine and hills.

The next 5K is Bastille Days, which is in July and is my favorite one of them all. I believe my brother, sister-in-law, and nephews will be running it too. That’ll be interesting. My nephews, who are 14, are now taller than me. They’ve got loooooooooooooooooooong legs and I’m willing to bet that they are going to sprint to the finish line.  

Speaking of my sister-in-law, I found out that she joined a triathlon class this summer, thinking that it would teach her the skills necessary for if she’d ever want to do a triathlon. Well, guess what, the class is ACTUALLY GOING TO DO A TRIATHLON. Yes, that’s right. She’s doing a triathlon. I think it’s a great idea, I wouldn’t want to do it — maybe one of those mini tri’s though, I could handle that.

You are probably wondering if I still ran the Riverwest Beer Run considering the weather conditions at 11:30 a.m. today. The answer is yes.

Yes, I ran in the rain.

Now, I have to tell this is completely out of character for me. I'm not a fan of running in the rain, and I certainly don't like getting my running shoes wet either. However, today I stomped in the puddles with all the other runners. All the other CRAZY RUNNERS who came out even though the sky opened and poured down upon us. A LOT. IT RAINED A LOT! It was a complete downpour right before the race started.

Speaking of rain, at least my basement is dry. Unlike my parents basement in Sussex, and my brother's basement on the northwest side of Milwaukee near Mount Mary College. And what about you? How did your basement hold up this weekend?

My summer running season has begun and the first run on my list this year is the 32nd Annual Riverwest Beer Run (or Walk). Now don't get me wrong, I'm not the fastest runner out there, nor do I have any experience running while drinking beer. However, my husband loves this run, so this year I've added it to my summer schedule. The run is this Sunday, June 8th, 11:30 a.m., and starts at the intersection of the Booth and Locust in Milwaukee. Last year my husband ran it with my brother, which you can read about here, but the synopsis is that a guy in flip flops finished ahead of him. FLIP FLOPS! AND BEER! Are you interested yet?

Next up is the 2008 Superun 5K Run, which is probably the most challenging run I put myself through. Are you familiar with Lake Park down on Milwaukee's east side and the big hill that goes through the park? The route takes the runners straight up that hill. It's intense.

After that is my favorite run of all, the Storm the Bastille 5K, which takes place at night during Bastille Days. Last year I ran it with my husband and my sister-in-law, we stuck together for the whole run, which is a good thing because the year before that I ran it by myself and was to meet my husband at the finish line. Have you ever seen the amount of people who are waiting at the finish line??? MILLIONS! Okay, so maybe not that many, but it was enough that I couldn't find him for a few hours, in the dark, at Bastille Days, in my sweaty running clothes.

I'm hoping to squeak in the Firecracker 4, which is on the 4th of July, and starts at Hales Corners Park. It's really early in the morning, and well, I'm not always such a morning person. So we'll see about that one. The last time I ran it I really enjoyed it though.

The big one I'm planning is on August 30th, the Lake Country Half Marathon,in Oconomowoc. I've never run a half marathon, but I think I can do it if I train for it. My husband ran it a couple years ago, but skipped it last year because he was training for the Milwaukee Marathon.

Any other runners out there?