Brain Injury Alliance of Iowa 5K--Iowa City, Iowa--April 12, 2014

The day was gorgeous and perfect weather for racing, especially considering how crummy the weather in Iowa has been lately.

 When I originally signed up for this race I thought it was on the 19th of April, but then later found out it was on the 12th. Well I already had a race on the 12th in the morning, so I was bummed. Then I realized this race started at 11 a.m. so I could do both races. Super awesome.

 This race was close to my home at the Terry Trueblood Park. A mostly flat course. This race was my 2nd 5K of the day. I thought I was going to take it easy. However to my surprise I ended up running it faster than my first 5K of the day, guess I was good and warmed up.  Click here for Age Group results  As you can see I actually achieved 1st in my age group and it was a HUGE age group of 22 people.  It was a complete miracle.  Seriously this NEVER happens.  But I'll take it and I won't complain.  I've been training hard and I ran hard.

  For Overall results click here.  I was 23rd out of 138 overall.

Out of all Females I was 11th of 89.   Here are a few pictures from the day.

My friend Susan Ludwig and I.   I have done a couple races with her.  Such a great person and a fabulous swimmer.  She will be swimming the Alcatraz swim soon.

Scott and I before the race.  I talked him into this race because it had a 1 mile fun run for the kids and I thought he might like it.  Plus they were giving away FREE bike helmets for children under 12.

Me running the race.   Scott took this picture with my phone.  Thanks Scott!

Scott running in for the awesome 1st place Fun Run finish!

To his surprise he won a trophy!  Sweet

Scott's and my race bib

My prizes for being #1 in my age group!  A medal would have been cool, but Free stuff is MUCH better.

Front of shirt.

Back of Shirt.

Live Healthy 5k--Hiawatha, Iowa -- April 12, 2014

It was a morning with many clouds. It looked like it could rain at any second. However the sun came out, the clouds floated away and it turned out to be a beautiful morning to race.   The race results are HERE.

I did this race with Jason.

A selfie we took in the car before racing.

A picture taken right before the race.

My race bib, results and finishing medal.

A new friend we made.  This was her first ever 5k.  Great job Steph.

Jason's race bib and results

week 16

Goals for Week 16 were these:  Run 4 separate times.    Swim once, Bike inside at least once, and  outside at least once!  Get on the elliptical and do at least 1 mile.

Monday.  1.50 miles elliptical,  25 minutes Spinning on my bike on the trainer.
Tuesday:  Ran 5.20 miles, taught Body Sculpt
Wednesday: 20 minutes Spinning, Body Sculpt class, 2.27 miles running, 1.04 miles on elliptical
Thursday: Zumba, swam 1000 yards
Friday: Ran 11.10 miles, taught Body Sculpt
Saturday:  Biked outside for the first time this year.  13.42 miles  (74 minutes biking) Took the scenic route on the way home from biking with Brenden to his work. Ran 3.20 miles as a shake out run.
Sunday:  walked 4 miles

Total for Week 16
Elliptical:  2.54 miles
Biked:  129 minutes
Swam:  1000 yards
1 Zumba class
3 Body Sculpt classes
Ran:  21.77 miles
Walked:  4 miles

Good for Week:  I actually completed all of my goals for Week 16.  My long run of 11 went really wonderful and I feel very confident about my upcoming long races in May and June.  I'm on track for my marathon training.

Bad for Week:  I could have swam further on Thursday, since I had the time to do so, but didn't have proper nutrition between teaching Zumba and swimming so I was starting to cramp and decided to call it a night.  Lesson learned.

Totals for year:
Elliptical 17.00 miles
Running 201.73 miles
Swam 14,967.30 + yards (8.50 miles)
Body Sculpt classes 42
Zumba classes 18
Biking minutes 702 (11.7 hours)
Biking miles outside 13.42
Step classes 1
Yoga classes 5
Nia classes 1
Push ups on toes outside of teaching class:168

Want to see how many calories you REALLY burn when running:  Click on this link

Goals for week 17:  Complete all scheduled classes.  Swim further than week 16.  Bike outside twice and complete further mileage than week 16 and more minutes on the bike.  Run according to marathon schedule, with long run being 8 miles this week.  Do at least 25 push ups on toes outside of Body Sculpt class.

Week 15

Goals for Week 15 were these:  Complete all scheduled classes.   Run 4 separate times.   Swim once, Bike outside at least once!

Monday: Sculpt, Zumba and 2.45 mile run
Tuesday: Sculpt
Wednesday: Sculpt and 5 mile run
Thursday: Sculpt
Friday: Sculpt and 2.5 mile run
Saturday: Ran 7.20 miles
Sunday: Nothing at all, totally lazy.

Totals for week;
5 Body Sculpt classes
1 Zumba class
Ran 17.15 miles

Good for week:   Completed all scheduled classes.  Ran 4 separate times.   On Saturday ran 2 5K races in the morning.  One at 8 a.m. and placed 4th out of 39 in my age group.  Then one race at 11 a.m. and placed 1st in my age group.   Totally cool.

Bad for week:  Didn't swim or bike.

Totals for year:
Elliptical 14.46 miles
Running 179.96 miles
Swam 13,967.30 + yards (7.94 miles)
Body Sculpt classes 39
Zumba classes 17
Biking minutes 573 (9.55 hours)
Step classes 1
Yoga classes 5
Nia classes 1
Pushups on toes outside of teaching class:168

Want to see how many calories you REALLY burn when running:  Click on this link

Goals for Week 16:   Run 4 separate times.    Swim once, Bike inside at least once, and  outside at least once!  Get on the elliptical and do at least 1 mile.

Week 14 of 2014

Goals for week 14 were these:  Run according to Marathon schedule, which means a 9 mile run next Saturday and 2 3-5 mile runs.  Swim, bike and get on the elliptical during the week.  Complete all scheduled classes.


Monday:  Body Sculpt, ran 4.07 miles
Tuesday:  Body Sculpt, ran 2.63 miles
Wednesday: Body Sculpt, ran 2.22 miles
Thursday:  Zumba, climbed 1/2 mile on stair stepper.  Walked 1 mile, ran .5 mile.
Friday:  Taught a new class called Fitness fusion.  Basically Body Sculpt, but only 45 minutes with different equipment.  Fun.  Elliptical .50 mile.
Saturday:  Ran 9.05 miles
Sunday:  Walked 3 miles with Jason

Totals for the week:
Ran:  18:47 miles
Body Sculpt classes 4
Zumba classes 1
Swam:  Zero yards
Biked:  Zero minutes
Elliptical 1/2 mile

Good for the week:   I did some cross training, and ran 5 different times.  Walked 2 different times.  Completed all scheduled classes, even adding a new class.  Tried out the Stair stepper machine that I haven't used in a long time, did 1/2 mile on that.  Over 50 floors of climbing up stairs.  Made me super tired.

Bad for the week:  The pool never saw me.  My bike collected dust this week.  Boo.  Other than that I would say I did AWESOME.

Things I learned this week:   I can push harder than ever when racing.  I achieved 28:11 in a 5K I did on Saturday, that was after running 2.5 miles to warm up. This race where I achieved this time, I ran in 32:00 last year, same course, same types of temps.  So I have improved almost 4 minutes with my running a 5K in 1 year's time.  Just think what I can do with another year of training.  All this when I'm training for a marathon and my times usually slow down.

Totals for year:
Elliptical 14.46 miles
Running 162.81 miles
Swam 13,967.30 + yards (7.94 miles)
Body Sculpt classes 34
Zumba classes 16
Biking minutes 573 (9.55 hours)
Step classes 1
Yoga classes 5
Nia classes 1
Pushups on toes outside of teaching class:168

Want to see how many calories you REALLY burn when running:  Click on this link

Goals for Week 15:  Complete all scheduled classes.   Run 4 separate times.  Complete all scheduled classes.  Swim once, Bike outside at least once!

Fool's 5K--Saturday, April 5, 2014--Cedar Falls, IA

A gorgeous, yet cold, but perfect morning for a race. We had to get up super early for this one, but that's okay, it's worth every second of lost sleep.  We woke at 4:45 a.m. so we could leave at 5:08 a.m to pick up Tyler and then head to Cedar Falls and be in the park before 7 a.m.   We wanted to be in the park early to get super awesome parking and we did.  We parked right by the tents.  I think we were one of the first 20 people in the park.   This race takes place in Cedar Falls, Iowa which if you don't know where that is, it is Northwest of Waterloo. Here is a description of Cedar Falls by Wikipedia.  The actual race location is in George Wyth State Park

Jason and I both won FREE entries to this awesome race.  So we paid $0 to be in it.  I couldn't believe our luck.   However that aside.  I would have paid to be in this race no matter what, it's that amazing.  Best 5k around for sure.

Cool thing about the results:  Last year my time was 32:00 on the dot.  This year my time was 28:11.  Almost a 4 minute improvement.  Feeling pretty awesome about my time.  Full results are here. and my results and video are here.

A bunch of Roosters.  We are still missing a few, but here is a picture from Jill's camera that was taken at this race.

Good Points about the race:
Chip timed--Starting and ending time.
Dry fit shirt that is accurate to size
Really cute bib for your scrapbook.
Super organized race down to EVERY detail.
Flat course.  Super flat, so flat that you never even see a hill anywhere.  It's awesome.
Certified course.
Packet Pickup a couple days before and the morning of if you need it.
Chip timing system in the bib, so you don't have to worry about returning the chip.
Miles marked, (Even mile 3 marked so you can check your splits)
Printed out results at the end.
Lots and LOTS of food at the end.  Yummy awesome food.  There were the usual bananas and bagels, but then in addition to that there was chocolate milk, oranges, donuts, cookies, yogurt, gourmet popcorn, water, AND home made breakfast burritos.  Maybe there was even more, because there was so much to choose from, if you went hungry then you didn't get in line.
Contests on facebook to win things before the race.
Very well marked course.  You knew exactly where to go at all times.
Loud speakers at the beginning.  You could hear all announcements at all times.  Seriously this was great.
A large amount of port-a-potties.

Not so great points about the race:
No water station on the course.  Not that I needed it, but for those slower runners/walkers who take 50 minutes or more to complete the race they I'm sure would have loved to have some water.  I will let you know that any longer distance race that is put on by this race director always has LOTS of water stations.

No finishing medal.  Although I don't care and really feel that finishing medals should be for LONG races only like 10 milers and above, but it's a nice touch and some 5K's have those.  Not that I need anymore medals, just pointing this out, that some 5k races have them and some don't.  This one doesn't.

Only an overall award for #1 Overall Male and Female.  Personally a race of this size should have, in my opinion, overall awards for Top 3 Male and Females.  This race is HUGE and to be Top 3 out of everyone is a big deal in my eyes.

Would I personally do this race again? You bet.  The only thing that would keep me from this race would be if my one of my children had an event I needed to be at.  I would even show up if I was injured to cheer on my non-injured friends and take pictures of them running.

A bunch of us Roosters before the race.  Still missing a few because they weren't in the park yet.

Our racing bibs.

Front of shirt.

Back of shirt.

Our printed results

A kinda cute selfie right before we went out to run.

Happy Running feet.

Jason and I with Tyler Sullivan before the race.

Lucky Run--Saturday, March 29, 2014--North Liberty, IA

It was a cold morning, but a clear weather morning for a race which in Iowa you are super happy about.  I didn't have to get up too early because this race was just in North Liberty which is only about 15 minutes from my home.   I saw many running friends, and got to run with all my Rooster friends.

Good things about the race:
You get a race bib for your scrapbook
There are photographers on the course to catch shots of you that you never could.  This was super awesome and I appreciate it greatly.
Organized for the most of the race parts. (I'll get to that later).
Announcements and facts about the race on facebook before the race so you knew what to expect for the most part.
Chip timing for a Gun time.
Food after the race of all sorts.  Stuff for serious racers like the bananas and bagels, then stuff for kids like granola bars and fruit treats.   There were even home made baked goods.
Dry fit shirt that was true to size that you received for your registration fee.
Finishing medal
Organized packet pick up.
A packet with LOTS of goodies inside the bag.
Some door prizes.  Even though I didn't win, one of our Roosters did!
Lots of Volunteers.  (My company Hills Bank and Trust Company) was a HUGE sponsor and even had a water station that passed out water to racers.

Not so great things about the race:
Like in past races put on by this race director, you can't hear her announce anything at the beginning of the race if you are in the back of the crowd.  She needs some serious speakers and more of them to hear.  
Pacing signs would be super helpful so people know where to line up.   No one knows where to line up and so everyone crowds the start line.  Everyone is saying, where do we go?  Where do the walkers go?  I can't hear anything? This is hard for those who want to run fast who have to weave around walkers and slow runners at the beginning.
Note to people who run slow or walk races:  Line up in the back PLEASE!
No one knew if we were to run over the starting timing mats or not.  We all thought we were, the comments in the crowd were, "Hey stay to the left because you have to go over the mats."  Then you get to the start and hear yelling saying, "Go either way, just go, no start time, you don't have to go over the mats."

Since there were timing mats, many of us thought that we would have starting time, thus not worrying about lining up at the front.  You didn't know until you got to the start line that it was Gun time, so the 30 seconds or more that you wasted getting to the front was actually against you in your time.  So if timing matters to you, then you have at least 30 seconds less.   Just something I would have liked to know before starting the race. This affected me since my real time was 28:22 and the Gun time says 28:55.

You had to return the timing chip, so hopefully you had a volunteer who remembered to pull it off your shoe.  If not, hope you remembered to turn it in.  This point isn't necessarily a bad thing, but if the chip isn't returned then you pay a fee of anywhere from $25 for some races to up to $50, so return the timing chip.  This is why I LOVE the new disposable timing chips that built into your race bibs now.

Part of the Rooster Team.  This is only a very small handful of us.  There are many more fun people in this group!

Rooster feet.  

My racing bib

Back of shirt.  Personally I feel all the sponsors should be pictured on the shirt no matter what.  Those sponsors paid a lot of money to be a part of the race, or they gave either a lot of time or gifts to be a part of the race and should have their logo pictured on the shirt in some way.

Front of Shirt

Here is my friend Lisa and her daughter.  Lisa looks so happy to be running!  I love this picture.

Here I am about to finish the 5k.  I don't look like I was working too hard and that is because I wasn't.  I still had more miles to run that day so I didn't give it my best.  This run was a warm up.

Off the to the far right of this picture is me running in for the finish!

Kyle and Jill running in.  Kyle was finishing the 5k and Jill had another loop to do her 10K.

Dean starting out the race!

Kyle, Jill and I starting out the race.

Kyle and Lisa's son.  He is flying!