2012 My Y Tri--Marshalltown, Iowa

Brenden wanted to do an indoor triathlon since he missed the one that Jason put on a few weeks ago. On www.runningwall.com I found the My Y Tri put on at the Y in Marshalltown, Iowa.  It looked well organized and out of the three indoor triathlons I found, this one was the closest to home.  This triathlon was set up in a way that you could either choose to compete or not.  Everything was timed.  You had to go as far as you could in your time and then whoever goes the furthest would win.

There was 7 minutes in the pool, then a 7 minute transition to get changed and to your bike, then 18 minutes on the bike, then a 2 minute transition to get to the running track, then 15 minutes running on a track.

I was excited that it was only 7 minutes to swim laps because I am not a strong swimmer.  I did my best and was able to get 275 yards in my time which was 11 lengths.  Brenden was able to swim 9 lengths or 225 yards.  They didn't count partial distance so if you didn't get to the end of the lane, it wasn't counted.

For the bike portion,  Brenden was able to bike 4.34 miles and I biked 4.46 miles.

On the running portion Brenden ran 22 laps on a track that is (12 laps = 1 mile)  he was super close to 23 laps.
For my running portion I was inches away from 21 laps so I was pretty bummed out that I didn't make it to 21 and only 20 were counted.  I personally think they should do partial distance for the running portion (at least in 1/4ths of the track or something.  Full Results Click Here

 Enjoy some pictures:

Brenden and I just after we got our bodies marked, getting ready to start the Tri.

Brenden

Michelle

Michelle's score card.

Brenden's score card

Our shirt

Brenden and I  taking a picture of ourselves.

After the race we stopped by a HyVee and there were tiny little Girl Scouts selling cookies.    We had to have some Caramel delLites.

Brenden asked for Arby's after the race, so that was our next stop.

Next stop was my friend Tracy's home to see the lab puppies.  Brenden had some fun with them.

Tracy had left a box of chocolates for Brenden and I that said,  "Congratulations on your race!"  so nice of her.

This sign is what you see on the intersection before going to Tracy's home.  I have been wanting a picture of the Oliver cow for a while.

Last stop was the Under Armour outlet store in Williamsburg, Iowa.  They had running shorts for only $9.95.  A really good deal I thought so I bought two pairs.  I'm sure I'll use them a lot!

2012 Freeze Fest 5K--Cedar Rapids, Iowa

A perfect winter day for a run outside. Today was the Freeze Fest. A race that is put on every February by the CVRA running club. Last year it was 25 degrees cold and snowy. This year the weather was 38 degrees, completely clear out and not a drop of snow or ice on the ground. This year I was able to enjoy the race with several running friends. Tracy, Rhoni Jo, Stephany, Kris and Lisa. I also saw other people I knew there. Last year's time was 30:20 and this year my time was 28:15 so I beat my time from last year by 2:05. This year I was 7th of 16 in my age group of 35-39.  67th of 137 Women and 210 of 315 overall.
Complete results are HERE.  I took a bunch a pictures of the awesome day!  Enjoy:

An awesome number by the way.  I happen to be 39 years old and this number is divisable  by 13 which happens to be my favorite number.

Stephany, Rhoni Jo, Tracy and me before the race had started.

Kris, Lisa, Tracy, Stephany, me and Rhoni Jo posing for a picture before the race began.

This is my favorite picture, one that I want to blow up and frame.  It is all of our shoes with our timing chips on.  To me this picture says "The joy of running races with friends!"

Cookies, cookies, muffins, cookies, girl scout cookies, home made cookies, cookie bars, trail mix, chili, bananas, and many more delicious COOKIES!  Yes I do run for food!

The famous "taking a picture of ourselves" picture.

After the race we all put our new race shirt on.  From Left to Right:  Tracy, Rhoni Jo, Stephany and Me!

2012 Burry Scurry 4 mile race--Clinton, Iowa

Today was a great race in Clinton, Iowa called the Burry Scurry. It is a 4 mile race and today was the 31st annual race so it's been going on for a long time. I was so happy to have two of my friends with me today. Rhoni Jo and Stephany. Rhoni Jo drove in with her family and I picked up Stephany in Coralville.

I was worried a ton about the weather because www.weather.com said we were due to get some snow/sleet/rain during our drive there and home. The weather.com also said we would be getting this during our race. I am not one who likes to run in rain and I seriously dislike to run in snow or freezing rain. However we were blessed to have PERFECT February weather. It was 38 degrees with little to no wind and only cloudy. I ran a super great race for me. I achieved a personal record of 36:47 for the 4 miles. Last time I ran a 4 mile race I had a 37:37 so I feel awesome about this new time. I was also 20th place out of 60 in my age group and 90th of 374 women! I was able to hold a consistent mile pace of 9:12 which to me is great because every time I practice running I seem to hold a 10-11 minute mile. Below are some pictures of my fun day:

Rhoni Jo, Stephany, the Burry Scurry bears and me.  This was taken before the race.

the front of the race shirt

My race number

Stephany finding out she won a door prize.  She  won a super awesome water bottle.

Stephany, Rhoni Jo and I right before the race started

Stephany has this AMAZING kick when it comes to racing.  She  can pass everyone in the last 100 yards of a race.  She appears to be flying here.

Notice me in the pink and how far back I am from the guy in green.  I wanted to pass him.

Look I caught the guy in green and then passed him.  See him looking over to see the girl passing him.

See this last picture where I am several bodies in front of the guy in green.  The time shown on the clock is gun time.  That means from the time the race started till I passed over the timing mats.  My official time was 36:47, that is the time from when I passed the starting mats, until I ran over the finishing mats.

Stephany and I with two girls we always see at these races.  One girl is Lisa and the other is named Kris.

COOKIES!

My race results

After the race we got a picture together!  Races are better with friends!  I'm so blessed and thankful  to have my greatest friends as my running friends!