Freeze Fest- Marion, IA-February 20, 2016 - 5K

A perfect day in February in Iowa.  50 degrees.  Seriously this is unheard of.  Susan, Juli, Amy, Lorna and I decided to run the Freeze Fest 5K in Marion a couple months ago.  We all traveled together to get to the race.  An hour before we started we all took lots of pictures together.  I saw many people I knew like Mike Yeries, Tyler Sullivan, Julie Johnston and many more.  About 20 minutes before we raced, Juli and I warmed up outside.  It was cold, but not bad.  We did about a mile or less for a warm up.

I started out kinda fast, like about a 7:45 minute mile pace.  I knew I couldn't hold it so I quickly slowed down to an 8:15 pace.  I hoped to hold that pace so I went with it.  Soon I was passing people I wanted to pass and doing well for me.

At the 2nd turn around I was still feeling good, but not great, a little nauseous.  I wasn't sure why for my nutrition was right on.    About 3/4ths of a mile before the end Tyler Sullivan came back to find me and run with me for a strong finish.  If only I had felt better.  I was feeling sicker by the moment and I was dressed in next to nothing so it wasn't because of being overdressed.  I only had shorts and a sports tank on.

Tyler was yelling, RELAX, PUMP YOUR ARMS, DROP YOUR SHOULDERS and much more.  I was trying to do all he said.  I couldn't go faster than I was, not a second faster.  I couldn't even talk back to him to tell him SHUT UP like I so badly wanted to.

The course ended up being a 10th too long and that ended up being bad for me.  My time was 27:05 which was a major PR for this course by 1 minute 10 seconds over my best time for this course.  My PR for a 5K is 26:51 so I know had this course not been long that I would have hit a new personal record today.  Bummed out.  Oh well with the great training I'm doing, as long as I stay healthy I can break it this year.  Link for results is HERE!  My stats are below as well as a bunch of pictures.

I placed 122 of 320 overall
35 of 169 out of Women
5 of 20 in my age group.

Me, Amy, Lorna, Juli and Susan

Our race bibs

Racing shoes

My running coach Tyler Sullivan who placed 5th overall and 1st in his age group of 25-29.  

Another before picture.  Left to Right:  Me, Susan, Lorna, Juli and Amy.

My individual results

Juli, Lorna and Susan being silly.

Mr. Garmin

Tyler with another friend.

Amy, Me, Tyler and Russell from my Cocky Roosters Racing team.

Me taping up Russell's knee so he could run FAST!

A picture taken during the race of me running.

After the race Amy and I went to a restaurant to get pie.  It was delightful!

Groundhog Marathon - Saturday, February 6, 2016 - Grand Rapids, Michigan

First before I talk about this race, I never would have picked Michigan for a marathon in the winter under normal weather conditions.  This winter has been especially mild in temps and very low on snow.  The Monday before the race I looked at the weather forecast for the upcoming weekend and it looked amazing, cold, yes only 32 degrees, but NO snow or rain in the forecast.  I wrote the race director to ask all about this Groundhog race.  I had about 7 questions.  The race director wrote me back in less than 5 minutes with all my questions answered and invited me to ask more questions.  He even said there were sweat shirts in my size still available and there would be plenty of finishing medals.  So I registered for the race and hoped for the best.

There was this awesome challenge called the Full Hog Challenge, this is where you run the course (which is a loop of 4.37 miles) once on Friday night, the 1/6th marathon and then run either the half or full the next morning.  I thought I'd try it.

The course was all snow and ice covered so I had to wear Yak Trak Pros over my shoes for grip for the entire race, that was hard.

I took off part of the day on Friday to travel to Michigan.  The roads were absolutely perfect.  This was February 6th and usually there is tons of snow on the ground and roads are bad, but from Iowa all the way to Grand Rapids, MI the roads were awesome, not one problem there or back.

I arrived about 2 hours before the race started and picked up my race numbers with the sweatshirt and hat.

I pretty much just sat in my car and waited for the race to start.  Below are tons of pictures.  Marathon #11 in State #11 done!

The start line on Friday night.  We were right next to a freeway.

Me right after finishing the 1/6th marathon on Friday night  Bill Murray even showed up.

This is how the trail was for 90% of the race.  It was very hard to keep going for 6 loops.

We ran next to a river and sometimes the path was clear.

The movie Groundhog day was playing on a big screen for all to enjoy after the race.

My time for my 1/6th marathon

A picture taken of me during the running.  I didn't look happy.  I was cold and wanted to be done running at 2 loops in.  I still had 4 loops of 4.37 miles each to go.  It really took everything in me to finish.

Both race bibs with both medals.

Up close my medal for my 11th marathon in my 11th state of Michigan!

Not my best marathon time, in fact it was my 3rd worst, but I finished and I still felt great.

Finished and done!!!!  Such a relief.  If you look closely, or double click on the picture you will see the Yak Trak pros on my shoes.

Front of the sweatshirt.

Happy to be done.  Sporting the medal!

Training for 2016 Week 4-8

Week 4:

Friday:  Sculpt class, walked .5 mile
Saturday:  Ran 3.12 in 5K race, Ran 3.14 outside, Ran 1.81 on treadmill = 8.07 miles, Swam 1200 Yards, Biked 37 minutes, walked .5 mile
Sunday: Rest
Monday:  Ran 3.42 miles, Sculpt class, walked .5 mile
Tuesday:  Ran 5 miles, Sculpt class, walked .5 mile
Wednesday:  Swam 2000 yards, Ran5.03 miles, Sculpt class, walked .5 mile
Thursday:Ran 10.04 miles, walked .5 mile

Totals for week 4
Ran 31:56
Swam 3200 yards
Sculpt classes 4
Biked indoors 37 minutes

Total for 2016
Ran: 119.47 miles
Biked: 89 minutes indoors
Swam:  16,100
Sculpt classes:  14 classes
Walking:  10 miles
Body Flow Classes:  4



Week 5:
Friday :  Ran 2.05 miles, Sculpt class, walked .5 mile
Saturday:  Ran 22.20 miles, Swam 1000 yards
Sunday : Walked .5 mile, Biked indoors 20 minutes
Monday : Swam 2000 Yards, Sculpt class, walked .5 mile
Tuesday :Ran 3 miles, Sculpt class, walked .5 mile
Wednesday:Sculpt class, Ran 3.15 miles, Swam 500 yards, walked .5
Thursday: Rest

Totals for week 5:
Ran 30.25
Sculpt classes 4
Walked 2.5
Swam 3500
Biked indoors 20 minutes

Total for 2016
Ran: 149.72 miles
Biked: 109 minutes indoors
Swam:  19,600
Sculpt classes:  18 classes
Walking:  12.5 miles
Body Flow Classes:  4

Week 6:
Friday: Ran 4.37 miles, Sculpt class, walked .5 miles
Saturday: Ran 26.40 miles
Sunday: Rest
Monday:Ran 2.13 miles, Sculpt class, Les Mills Body Flow class, Swam 700 Yards, walked .5 miles
Tuesday:  Sculpt, walked .5 miles
Wednesday:  Ran 1.6 miles, Swam 1250 yards, Sculpt, walked .5 miles
Thursday, Ran 2 miles, Biked indoors 28 minutes, walked .5 miles

Total for week 6:
Ran 36.5 miles
4 Sculpt classes
1 Les Mills Body Flow class
Swam 1950 Yards
Biked indoors 28 minutes
Walked 2.5 miles

Total for 2016
Ran: 186.22 miles
Biked: 137 minutes indoors
Swam:  21,550 Yards = 12.24 miles
Sculpt classes:  22 classes
Walking:  15 miles
Body Flow Classes:  5

Week 7:

Friday:  Ran 8 miles, swam 1000 yards, Sculpt class, walked .5 miles
Saturday:  Rowing machine 7 minutes, Spin class (indoor biking) 65 minutes, Ran 2 miles, swam 1000 yards
Sunday:  Ran 12 miles
Monday:  Ran 3.1 miles, Sculpt class, walked .5 miles
Tuesday :Ran 3.2 miles, Sculpt class, walked .5 miles
Wednesday :Ran 4 miles, Swam 1000 yards, biked 10 minutes, Rowed 10 minutes, Sculpt class, walked .5 miles
Thursday : Biked 30 minutes, walked .5 miles

Total for week 7:
Ran 32.30 miles
Swam 3000 yards
4 Sculpt classes
Rowing minutes:  17 minutes
Indoor biking 105 minutes
Walked 2.5 miles

Total for 2016
Ran: 218.52 miles
Biked: 242 minutes indoors
Swam:  24,550 Yards = 13.95 miles
Sculpt classes:  26 classes
Walking:  17.5 miles
Body Flow Classes:  5
Rowing machine 17 minutes


Week 8:
Friday : Sculpt, walked .5 miles
Saturday  Ran 4.20 miles
Sunday : Ran 1 miles, Swam 1000 yards
Monday:Les Mills Body Flow, Sculpt, Ran 3.1 miles, walked .5 miles
Tuesday :Ran 5.5 miles, Biked 13 minutes, Sculpt class, walked .5 miles
Wednesday:Sculpt class, Ran 3 miles, Swam 1000 yards, walked .5 miles
Thursday:  Ran 7.09 miles, Biked 38 minutes, walked .5 miles

Total for week 8:
Ran 23.89 miles
4 Sculpt classes
1 Body Flow class
Swam 2000 yards
Biked 51 minutes indoors
Walked 2.5 miles

Total for 2016
Ran: 242.41 miles
Biked: 293 minutes indoors
Swam:  26,550 Yards = 15.08 miles
Sculpt classes:  30 classes
Walking:  20 miles
Body Flow Classes:  6
Rowing machine 17 minutes

Amana Freezer 5K - Amana, Iowa - Saturday, January 23, 2016

It started as a super cold morning, like in the teens for temperatures. However, it was the warmest day of the entire week and there was no wind and the sun was shining.  So it could have been so much worse.  Three of my awesome friends decided to run this race too.  Susan, Amy and Lorna

We left the house around 8:30 a.m. and arrived in Amana just before 9 a.m.  We picked up our packets, warmed up for the race, put our timing chips on our shoes, took lots of pictures, found bathrooms and lined up for the race.

The whistle went off and the race started.

I started out way too fast like around a 6:30-7 minute mile, but seemed to be able to keep up the pace for at least a half mile.  Then I slowed down to an 8:30 mile pace.  That was way more doable.  I don't know why I bolt out of the gate.  I seriously can't go that fast on a treadmill ever so I'm not sure how I do it in a race.

The first mile seemed to pass quickly and I started to shed layers by the end of mile 1.  My hood of my shirt came off first.  Then shortly after that the hood of the mask came off.  The cold air outside didn't seem to bother me and I didn't seem to need the mask over my mouth.  Thank goodness for that.

By mile 1.5 my mask was completely off and I was carrying it, along with the gloves they were off too because my hands were so hot.  By mile 2 my headband that covers my ears was off the ears.  Couldn't believe I warmed up that much.  I was never too hot anywhere else except at my head.  I had slowed down a little in mile 2 and there was a train going by that was squealing a high pitched sound that really bothered me.  I pressed on, but was starting to feel that I really couldn't hold this pace.

My 2nd mile showed that I had slowed a little, my pace for that mile was 9:07.  I knew that I wanted a time that I could be proud of, which is anything below 30 minutes, but really wanted under 28 minutes so I knew then I needed to kick it up a notch and run faster.  As people would come up beside me I would try to run with them.  Finally I found a pace I liked but that was well into mile 2.  This is the thing that really bothers me about a 5K, you don't really find your pace until mile 2 and then it's really too late.    I passed this guy, then he passed me, then I passed him, then we ran together.   He tried to talk to me, but I wasn't able to speak back which proved that I was giving my entire effort.  He pulled ahead and I wasn't able to catch him, but I tried really hard.  The last .12 of a mile I kicked it.  I kicked it hard.  According to my Garmin I was doing a 7:30 pace with tiny spurts of 6:30 pace.  Not bad for the finish of the race, but this proved I could have done a little more in mile 2 or 3.  I need to learn to evenly pace myself and give my all the entire race.

I am super proud of how I did for it was a huge improvement over the last time I ran this course 5 years ago.  In 2011 my time on this course was 29:30  and today 27:30!  Wow 2 whole minutes shaved off 5 years later.  Pretty awesome.

Here are my splits and stats:

Pace for race
Mile 1  8:33
Mile 2  9:07
Mile 3  8:55
.12 of a mile  7:53
Best pace was a 6:07 minute mile pace.  Funny.  Now if only I could hold that.

I placed 108 out of 297 Overall
39 out of 167 Women
11 of 29 in my age group of 40-49

The full results are here if you want to see them:  RESULTS

Here are some pictures from the morning:

Lorna, Amy, Susan and Me.  We were bundled up super thick before the race started.  I shed a couple layers when the race was about to start so I wouldn't go out too warm.

Inside the building where we picked up our packet there were bags with meat in them you could buy for $5.00 if you wanted.  My friends bought me a bag.  I thought the sign on the wall was funny.

Right before the race started.  Left to right:  Me, Susan, Lorna and Amy.

Feet of friends.  Here we are with our timing chips on.

A picture taken of me running.  I'm totally posing!

My Garmin with my time!

Susan almost to the finish line.

Lorna almost to the finish line

Amy!

Amy almost to the finish line.

My race bib and finishing results

Front of shirt

Back of shirt

Stuff in meat bag.

My official results.  I was happy except for the 11th place, but when I found out that was out of 29 I was okay about that.  Just felt I had placed more like 7th.

Food we received after the race.

One last selfie!  We are awesome.

New Year 2016- Week 1-3 of Training

Week 1
Friday 1-1-2016 : Ran 3.10 miles, Biked indoors 30 minutes.
Saturday: Ran 10 miles, Swam 2000 yards
Sunday:  Rest
Monday Ran 3.10 miles, Les Mills Body Flow class, Sculpt class, walked .5 mile
Tuesday:  Ran 3 miles, Sculpt class, walked .5 mile
Wednesday:Swam 2800 Yards,  Sculpt Class, walked .5 mile
Thursday: Rest, walked .5 mile

Totals for week 1
Ran: 19.2 miles
Biked: 30 minutes indoors
Swam: 4800 Yards (2.73 miles)
Sculpt classes:  3
Les Mills Body Flow class:  1
Walked:  2 miles

Week 2
Friday:  Rest, walked .5 mile
Saturday:  Ran 26.41 miles in the Mississippi Blues Marathon, then walked a bunch that day.
Sunday:  Rest, some water walking, some hot tub, foam rolling, stretching.
Monday:  Ran 1.13 mile, Biked 22 minutes indoors, Sculpt class, walked .5 mile
Tuesday:  Ran 2.5 miles, Sculpt Class, Les Mills Body Flow Class, walked .5 mile
Wednesday: Swam 1100 Yards Ran 4.50 miles, Sculpt Class, walked .5 mile
Thursday:Ran 5.15 miles, walked .5 mile

Totals for week 2
Ran:  39.69 miles
Biked: 22 minutes indoors
Swam: 1100 Yards
Sculpt classes: 3
walking:  2.5 miles
Body Flow Class: 1


Total for 2016
Running:  58.89 miles
Biking indoors:  52 minutes
Swimming:  5900 Yards
Sculpt classes:  6
Walking:  4.5 miles
Body Flow Class:  2

Week 3:
Friday:  Sculpt class, walked .5 mile
Saturday:Swam 3000 yards, Ran 8 miles on treadmill then 3.18 miles outside
Sunday: Rest
Monday:Les Mills Body Flow class, Swam 2000 yards, Ran 3.20 miles, then ran 3.02 miles outside, walked .5 mile. Sculpt class
Tuesday:Sculpt class, Ran 3.20 miles, Les Mills Body Flow class, walked .5 mile.
Wednesday:Swam 2000 yards, Ran 3.27 miles, walked .5 mile, Sculpt class
Thursday:Ran 5.15 miles, walked .5 mile

Totals for week 3
Ran:  29.02 miles
Biked: 0
Swam: 7000 Yards
Sculpt classes: 4
walking:  2.5 miles
Body Flow Class: 2

Total for 2016
Ran: 87.91 miles
Biked: 52 minutes indoors
Swam:  12,900 Yards (7.33 miles)
Sculpt classes:  10 classes
Walking:  7 miles
Body Flow Classes:  4

Notes for first 3 weeks:
Swimming is going really well and I'm ahead of my goal.  Biking could be going better.  I need to get on that bike twice a week, problem is it has hurting my back so I don't enjoy it.  Running is going okay  I should be at 116 miles so far so I have some to make up.  I had a foot problem right after the marathon so I haven't put in the amount of miles that I thought I would have up to this point.  That will change since all is well with my foot now.  If the mileage isn't able to increase, then I'll re-evaluate my running goal for the year and makes some changes.

Mississippi Blues Marathon - Jackson, Mississippi - Saturday, January 9, 2015

I heard that the Mississippi Blues race was the best one in Mississippi to go do, so back in June of 2015 when I was planning some of my future races out, I booked this one:  Mississippi Blues Race Website Here!

Since the drive was 10.5 hours and since we may have needed to do a detour due to rising flood waters in Missouri, we (Jason and I), decided to leave on Thursday right after work to get a head start on driving.

Jason picked me up at work at 3:40 p.m. and we drove almost 5 hours south to a town named Ste Genevieve, MO which is a tiny town.  The hotel we stayed in was a very cheap/no frills hotel.  I didn't like it, but it was clean and good for the price.  After sleeping in Friday morning and a quick breakfast we headed to Jackson, MS.    As we continued South the weather became warmer and warmer, so very nice for a January day.  We stopped at one gas station and the temps were 75 degrees!  The grass was green, birds were singing and everyone seemed so happy.  Jason and I laid in the grass for a picture.

We arrived in Ridgeland, MS around  4p.m. at our hotel called Drury Inn and Suites, which by the way is an awesome hotel.  I love Drury Inns and will stay at them whenever possible.  The first thing I asked upon checking in was, "Can I have late check out tomorrow?"  They were totally awesome about it and let me have that.

We settled in and then went to Jackson to pick up our race packets.  The expo was smaller than I was hoping, but it was enough.  We were given a great laminated race bag with several things in it.  I would say it was the best swag ever given out at a marathon so far.  We stayed to listen to a great band and then Jason and I headed back to the hotel for dinner.

Drury Inn has this managers reception every night, some times it's just snacks and stuff, but this particular Friday night had baked potatoes, pasta and many other things.  I eat baked potatoes and pasta before every marathon so dinner was perfect and we didn't need to go out to dinner.

After a nice hot tub dip and setting out our stuff for the race, I went to bed early.  I was really worried that the race was going to be either delayed or cancelled because thunderstorms were predicted for the morning.  The radar looked bad.  I said a prayer that the storm would go around and that the race would start on time and that I wouldn't get pulled off the course.  I was very stressed about it and tried to put the thought of traveling all that way and not being able to race out of my mind.

Race morning.  I got up early and ate my half plain bagel with peanut butter and 2 electrolyte pills with a little water.  After taping up my knees, hip and ankle with my miracle tape called KT tape, Jason and I left for the race.

We found parking right away, which is expected when you go an hour early to a race.  And for a while we just waited in the car.  It was raining so we didn't want to get too wet before we had to.  After a half hour or so I needed to find a bathroom.  There were lots of port-a-potties, but  seriously for a large race I think they should always triple whatever they rent because the lines are always too long for the bathrooms.

We got through the lines to the bathroom within 10 minutes, and then hid underneath the side of a building to stay dry before the race started.

When it was almost time to start, after the National Anthem was played on a guitar, I lined up to start with the other racers in the rain.  The gun went off and I started to run.  I felt good from the start and decided to try and stay with the 4 hour 30 minute pacer dude.

The first 3 miles went well and fast, well fast for me.   We started down John R. Lynch street for quite a while. The rain even stopped completely and it was cloudy and cool out.  A perfect temperature to run in.  We ran through the city and had a lot of curves, ran on some brick  and came back through the starting line which was weird to me. Staying with the 4:30 pacer quickly ended and I then tried to stay with the 4:40 pacer and did for a while like through mile 9 then I lost him.

The hills seemed to be coming over and over.  I have ran hills a lot, but these were just killing me.  At this point I could care less if I was with a pacer or not, by mile 10 which is early on in the race all I cared about was finishing this hard race.  I felt the course was hard.  I started to wonder if I could handle any more hills.  Why was it so bad?  I don't know.  I kept running, but not at a pace I wanted to.

The first 18 miles the weather stayed nice.  We ran through beautiful neighborhoods on Meadowbrook Lake Drive, Twin Lakes Circle, and Eastover Drive.  I wanted to take pictures of all of the homes there, but knew I was there to run and not walk.  I did get a couple pictures as you will see below, because they were too awesome.  So obviously I was taking a fuel break to eat one of my BOOM nutrition packs and a couple more electrolyte pills.

At mile 18 the rain started, at first it felt nice until it poured on everyone at mile 20.  It was buckets of rain that continued to get worse.  By mile 21 there was thunder and lightening.  I received a text from Jason asking me if we were going to get pulled off the course.  I wrote him that I hoped not because I was going to finish the race since I was already this far.   I kept wondering with every step if I would get pulled off the course.  I wasn't sure and just kept running, but wondered if I had ran that far for nothing.  It was stressful and not fun.  My shoes were filled with water, my socks were soaked, my entire body was so wet.  It was really hard to run in the rain that heavy.  I've never experienced anything like it.

At mile 23.5 a car drove really close to me and splashed a huge puddle on me.  It was so much on purpose that others around me noticed and ran over to me to see if I was alright.  Something to remember for sure.  Funny, well not really, but I just couldn't believe it happened.  I was now muddy, very wet, tired and done.  Ok, not done, but I was feeling like I wanted to be done.

Just when I really wanted to give up and everything hurt, the sun peaked out over some clouds.  It was beautiful.  The rain slowed down and eventually stopped at mile 24.  I pushed through.  At mile 25.8 ish I wanted to stop so bad.  My legs felt like stubs on my feet.  I really hurt.  I think what made this marathon different were these things:  I only did a 21 mile run as my longest run in preparation for this marathon and I knew better.  For all the others I ran a 23 mile long run as my longest run and that is really what you should aim for in my opinion, and I should have trained for hills more. I still pushed on and finished, not in the time I wanted at all, but I feel that with more hills than I was truly ready for and the super heavy rain I did well.
Marathon #10 in State #10 done!

The Mississippi road sign announcing we were there!

Laying on the grass in the warm Mississippi weather.

At the expo with my race bib checking out the marathon route.

Both of our race bibs.

Some race loot.

An awesome house I ran by.

Another fabulous house I "ran by".  Ok walked by.  I had to have a picture.

Jason right after he finished the race.

Jason and I together for a quick selfie right after I finished the race.

Here I am soaking wet and super sore, but I did it!  10th marathon completed in my 10th state.

The beautiful finishing medal honoring B.B. King.