Three Things Thursday: I'm still here!

I have been keeping things on the down low lately and hibernating in my shell. I have been feeling very introspective lately and really analyzing myself. So here is what's been going on:

1. I have been attending a weekly boot camp class since mid September, my strength over the last two months have greatly improved and I'm not sore anymore for several days following class. That is major props in my books! We just hit our 4th week out of the 8 week class, and I'm getting sad that it is almost over again. But that means celebrating and going out at the end of it. The first group of survivors with the two most amazing trainers!

2. I have run several races, it's kept me going after the marathon. I have just been running around wherever and whenever I feel like it following no plan.  The most race fun race was a 50 mile relay race with my cousin , his wife and several of their friends. We ended up with 9 people over two teams and I unexpectedly ended up running 3 legs instead of 2 due to a runner dropping out. Relay races sure are a relay good time!

3. I still need to learn how to fall properly. I managed to scrape up my knee and bruise the other one last week on 11-12-13. It only managed a small hole in my running pants and my gloves suffered a rip in the disaster.

Is it bad I'm waiting for ice so I can just slide again?


Happy Thursday!! Only 1 week until Turkey Day.

Goal Setting

Go BIG or go home right? Lately that is how i have approached goal setting and it's really helped to motivate me to get in the quality workouts required. This is where I'm at with my goals I set for myself this year.

• Run a sub 26:00 5K - DONE I accomplished this at the April Fool's 5K run where I ran a 25:25 (8:08 avg. pace)
• Run a sub 2:00:00 half-marathon - DONE I accomplished this at the Oshkosh Half Marathon where I ran a 1:57:53
• Run at least 1 marathon and PR (sub 4:50:00) - I will be running the Fox Cities Marathon on Sunday and I'm hoping to accomplish this!
• Complete the Fremont Sprint Triathlon sub 1:00:00 - FAILED, but I did improve my time, I need to do a recap for this yet.
• Finish an Olympic Distance Triathlon - DONE I need to do my recap on this yet so I will not share anything other than this. 

So, out of the 5 I have accomplished 3 and hopefully a 4th very soon. During the Olympic Distance Triathlon I discovered that I really enjoy the sport. I never hated it, and actually found myself just enjoying being out there, I didn't worry about my times and loved the atmosphere. There was great comradery before, during and after the race. 

I found myself glued to my computer on Sept. 8th with the Ironman WI finish line streaming, and that is when it really hit me. I WANT TO DO THAT!! I was already planning on doing a Half Ironman next summer and want to volunteer next year for IM WI, which should hopefully help me register for it the following year in 2015. I realize that's about two years from now but it's going to take some time to get into shape for it and will give me plenty of time to improve along the way.

Here is to starting another journey in my life!

Three Things Thursday

I'm back with a vengeance this week!! 

1. I love pub runs! Our local Fleet Feet has weekly Tuesday runs @ 6pm and at the end of the month they host a pub run. It seems every one of them this summer has been ridiculously humid and warm so when we get back to the bar we are all one sweaty mess. I love hanging out and socializing afterwards and replenishing our carbs.

Heat makes me delirious and I cannot take pics!!

2. It's amazing that I can run 19 miles and walk perfectly normal the next day, but spend a mere hour pulling weeds followed by not being able to walk like a human being. The areas around our garage and deck were starting to look like a weed forest so I decided to tackle it with one of my days off this week. This 'small' pile is now drying out to be burned in the near future. 

3. I was so, so excited to get invited to the Packers preseason game on Friday night, I did not even care that I had a half marathon to wake up for the next morning. I probably would have gotten 5-6 hours had I stayed home and tried to sleep anyways. I was bummed A Rodg (as I call him) didn't get to play more than one series but I still had fun and get to sit in the new section of the stadium. First time in forever that I've gone to a game outside of December!

La la la la Lambeau!!!

Is it bad that half marathons don't really seem like that far to me anymore? When did these become casual races??

Hope you all are having a fabulous week and enjoy the holiday weekend!

First Anniversary

My husband and I celebrated our first anniversary just a few days ago. I cannot believe the year has flown by so quickly, we have faced our share of challenges over the 6 years we have been together and this past year was no different. It has reinforced our love for one another. This is one of my favorite shots of the day, we had just gotten married and were walking back down the aisle with Vito.

I celebrated by running a half marathon in the morning (recap coming), one portion was on a trail and it brought me back to the shakeout 3 miler I got to run with my cousin before all the beautification for the day began.

We are so exciting that all we did was go out to dinner, after celebrating our nuptials in the only way possible :) The following night we had our free anniversary night in the hotel we got married in and we ended up with the same exact room. Since it was Sunday night we basically had the place to ourselves, we enjoyed playing around in the pool and sat in the hot tub for awhile. The hotel is only a mile from our house so we just decided we would stay at home in our bed and allowed another deserving couple to use the room for a little getaway after we met up with them for dinner.

We haven't exactly taken a real honeymoon or anniversary trip yet and I want to plan something for this winter. Anyone have any recommendations on where to go? We would like to go someplace warm to have a short escape from the cold.

Race Recap: Bellin Run 10K

Ok, so I have been majorly slacking and have not done a single race report all summer!! #Epicbloggerfailure Just bear with me as I go through them and get you caught up with my racing. I have not fallen off the face of the Earth on that front. First up is the Bellin Run that took place on June 8th. I am going out on a limb but I think this may be the largest event put on in Wisconsin, registration hit 20,000 people exactly and is in the top ten 10k's in the US. It just happens to be a 45 minute drive north to Green Bay.

The race also attracts elites to the area and makes it hard not to pass on the opportunity to say you have run with the likes of Joan Samuelson, Uta Pippig, Tegla Laroupe, Bill Rodgers, Joseph Kimani, etc. Even though they are most of the way done before I even get started, just following in their footsteps is enough of an amazement. The race doesn't disappoint there, as you the entire race is filled with spectators to cheer you on. It's usually a toasty morning so the residents are out there with their sprinkler showers in full force to help and a few of the aid stations also have ice in addition to the water and Gatorade available.

Even though the race has gotten bigger, they still manage to keep things running pretty smooth. Major problem with this though is when you have to drive up separate and attempt to meet up with runner peeps. Not making plans ahead of time of where to meet was stupid, I was bummed not to be able to catch up with Kim, Rachel and Kathy pre-race so I was hoping I may get to see them afterwards. They have corrals and officials strictly watch your bib color before entry. You may enter a later corral but not an earlier one, lesson learned this year to guess faster since you can always drop back. I got in early so I could at least be at the front of corral 4 out of 8, 7 is all walkers and 8 is strollers so I realized I was too far back. Good thing I registered with Fleet Feet's team so we had easy packet pickup at the store Friday and did not have to drive to GB or hassle with it on race morning.

Back of cotton shirt and race number ready to go!

Race morning did not go as planned, after parking I forgot to take my electrolytes and eat right before I left my car. Failure #1!

Not being able to meetup with my running peeps. Failure #2! Standing around waiting to get started in a corral like herded cattle for 45 minutes in the heat blew and I was getting warm just standing there.
My legs felt like bricks, as if I'd just run 10 hard miles before we even started. Dead legs to start the race, ugh! Failure #3!

I dragged my legs through the long, slow uphill straightaway for the first two miles, rounded the corner to the rolling hills section and great crowd support. I passed the banjo guy singing "..and run, and run, and run the Bellin Run!". This guy stands on a ladder in the same spot each year and truly is a landmark for this race! I crossed the 5K mat before I had to walk the first time, as evidenced in my split times. I allow myself only very short walk breaks as I want to PR this sucker!! The next glorious aid station had ice and I felt in heaven for the next few minutes, only to feel like I was dying in the humidity again. This run/short walk thing plays out through the next few miles until I finally get a half mile out and will myself to run the last bit as hard as I can with my legs. When I crossed I was happy to get in under an hour, but was slightly disappointed that I did not meet Goal A of sub 55.

After I crossed the finish, I still can't find anyone I know and get herded the next few blocks to grab water, get my picture taken, grab a banana and a bag of food on the way to the park. I head to get our race printout results and then the Fleet Feet tent and see a few familiar faces and hang around to chat some about our race experiences and times before heading out.

On a sidenote, the Crossfit GB people were out there doing stuff throughout the course, when I saw them doing burpees at mile 4.5 I thought to myself..."now that is hell!" They also ran in groups and passed along a weighted vest through all of this. I seriously think those peeps are nuts and did nothing to inspire me to jump into their box!

Demotivational Monday

Go check out Rachel's page for all the details, but she's hosting a linkup for Demotivational Monday. A little spin off from all the motivational posters out there. Check out her page for several other hilarious posters and get in on this too.

The first thing that popped into my head to use for this week was pretty much a done deal for me. It's something that has only happened once so far during a race, but a few times during training runs.

It may not be the best, but what can you expect out of me!!

Breaking Out

Lately I have been making a push towards living more in the moment, enjoying the days as they come and go. I am working to grow personal relationships and really build the connections we have. I am constantly trying to learn from others, which has been a real drive for me lately. I feel that every person has something to offer, even though we sometimes don't always agree with everything they do in life. After hearing and reading experiences of others I feel like my life has been a bit sheltered.

My family never took any long vacations too far away from home, as in 2-3 hours or less of a drive away. I've never flown in an airplane, never seen the ocean, never seen a mountain.....well this list could get a little out of hand if I keep going. So my intentions lately are focusing on ways I can expand my horizons.

I tend to over think and reflect on items too much. I'm starting to release fears and learn to just live in the moment; enjoy who I am and those around me. I'm focusing more on others and really trying to reach out and give to others. I used to be more open, but a few people hurt me badly during my high school days that closed the doors for me. I refused to put myself out there and take chances, thereby sticking with the 'safe' route all of my life.

All that has taught me is you will end up where you always expected you would be. Keeping everything in doesn't allow others to help you and it's OK to accept help. Opening up to others allows them to understand why you are the person you are and for them to help you achieve your wildest dreams. While this seems obvious it's taken me forever to understand the concept. I have finally started to put my faith in others and it's released so much stress from me. I learned to accept that I can only do so much and that is enough, I don't have to be superwoman and do everything on my own.

It's taken so much for me to even put this down but I'm happy it's out there. Have you ever gone through phases where you closed yourself out from the world? After awhile you kinda forget what it's like to not be that way and I'm slowly gaining confidence and pride in myself along the journey. And I have running to thank for getting me started on this journey. Triathlons have helped me conquer more fears than I cared to admit but I love it!

Bitten

Have you ever been bit by the cleaning bug? Well it finally got me and I'm glad it did!! My house really has been a disaster, so bad that I've been having anxiety over cleaning and would find any reason to get out of the house so I wouldn't even have to see it. I seriously felt like the pregnant ladies in their nesting period.

Over the course of the past week I have managed to deep clean and organize just about everything in the house, including going through our fridge and getting rid of old condiments. I just have one room left and most of it is my husband's so I'm trying to be patient and let him take care of his own stuff. If I was at home and not working I was busting my hump doing something towards progress. My husband kept asking if I was ever gonna sit down!! My niece is the cutest mess ever :)

It is amazing how much energy that has freed up from my mind towards other projects. I love having that negative energy far away and I just need to keep it that way! I think I need to come up with a weekly/bi-weekly checklist to stay consistent as I forget about it otherwise. Has anyone gone through this before? I am not the neatest person in the world and I seem to go through cycles. I let everything go until it gets bad enough that I'm disgusted enough to clean it, or I am expecting guests. I need to break out of this habit!

Are you a clean freak or a messaholic like me?

Becoming One Again

There has been a reason for my absence lately....I have been in a giant funk!! I seemed to have lost motivation for a number of things in life. I needed to get in touch with me and also make a few drastic changes to kick start myself.

I took 2 days off work around the 4th of July and I did NOT check my email or work while I was gone! That is seriously a first for me in years. I was able to spend time with my family at our cottage and was hubby and dog free. It was so great to relax and de-stress! I really needed it because I was becoming quite the craba$$. I enjoyed a 13.5 mile run along some quite country roads surrounding the lakes loving life, other than the few moments choking down a chocolate honey stinger gel. I can't believe they can even call that chocolate!! I spied a deer at the top of this hill, of which I was too slow to get a picture of it.

Then it was time to chop off most of my hair to donate, to where I still need to figure out. I usually do locks of love but I'm looking to see if there are any other options out there. If you know of any let me know.

I participated in several group runs and a triathlon with my dad (recap to come) to get me rejuvenated. The most memorable for me outside of the race was my solo long bike ride in the rain. It was my last chance prep for my upcoming Olympic tri and was amazingly fun.

I made sure to wear my obnoxiously bright socks so cars would spot me.

I also had a week long vacation at my hubby's cottage where I was able to become one with nature several times. There was a 17 mile hilly run along quite country roads around lakes with my Fox Cities Marathon peeps. A bike around the nature preserve to spot a place to park so we could hike on the Ice Age Trail with my pooch and MIL. I also got in a chilly morning swim in the lake where I apparently attracted a large fish to jump out of the water near my legs. Hubby was in the canoe by me and wisely decided not to tell me about it when I stopped and was trying to figure out if my kicking caused it. I even got to feed a momma duck and her 7 ducklings while being within arms reach of them in the water. They were sooo adorable and stinkin' cute!

I am an expert packer! When it comes to fitting a week's worth of supplies including a road bike and hammock into a sports car, just call me! Vito rode shotgun in order to create optimal space.

And to top all of that I off I tackled an Olympic Distance Triathlon that I've been pooping my pants about the last few months. I will let you wait to figure out how that turned out as well.

Today I am feeling the least stressed I have in a long time and I'm thinking clearly. I have some new ideas how to approach life and things are starting to fall into place. Sometimes it just takes getting back to your roots and re-evaluating what you want out of life to enjoy it. Onwards my friends!

Welcome to Paradise

This is where I will be for the next 5 days and I cannot wait!!!

I don't even have to work, which for me is something I haven't experienced in years. Usually when I try to take off I have to check email or S&*% hits the fan and I need to come save the day. It's nice to be in a place with no technology and cell phone reception at times can be scarce. It's a time to rest and just be at peace.

I also get to spend one day with no dog to worry about. I'm also looking forward to getting some open water swims and exploring new places on my runs!!

 Enjoy the time with family that you have this week.

Five for Friday

Okay, I apologize in advance for this post since I'm a little buzzed up so I will bombard with a bunch of photos. Yes, I actually remember to take them every now and again.

1. Bellin Run - I have not done a race recap for this and let's just say there is a reason why. I have run this race the last 5 years and while I love running the same course as some amazing world athletes and every type or run/walker there is, it just didn't do it for me this year. They hit 20,000 registrants on the mark but I was not able to meet up with anybody I knew and it was humid from the start. The temps were great but I forgot to bring along my nutrition and endurolyte pills and it failed me. I struggled from the get go with heavy legs and the humidity hit me about 2.5 miles in and I had to take a few walk breaks to get me to the finish.

 I felt the spectators this year were lacking in support as compared to prior years. Although there was an outside Zumba class about a half mile in, the crazy crossfit people doing burpees around 4.5 miles and some really annoying guy that had way too much energy for me that day seemed to be around me the entire race!!

I still PR'd by about 4 minutes but it was hard earned.

5K Split: 28:48

Time: 58:37

Overall: 4624

Gender: 1645

Division: 261

I was at least able to run into some people I knew after the race at the Fleet Feet tent and it finally started to sprinkle. It felt so nice at his point in time! I do love the amount of sprinklers the residents have going during the race and I think I managed to go through all but one. And the ice at mile 3.2 was amazing, it went in my bra immediately and lasted until the finish.

2. I love it when my flowers bloom, Asiatic lilies are probably my favorite and they are just starting to bloom. I had white in my bridesmaid bouquets and oriental in mine, if only the damn rabbits would quit eating those ones!!

3. My container garden is actually turning out this year! I live in the city and the rabbits are ridiculous around here (see above point), so I tried to do containers on our deck last year and the drainage sucked in those planters and I kept forgetting to water them. This year I am watering these at least once a day and they have a cool reservoir on the bottom to help contain extra moisture and I am loving it. Pretty soon I will have cherry tomatoes to eat. I planted Big Wisconsin Tomatoes, Roma Tomatoes, Cherry Tomatoes, Red, Yellow and Jalapeno Peppers, Green Beans and Zuchini. Pretty soon I will actually get to enjoy the fruits of my labor!!

4. The Longest Day - Being with Kim and Rachel this year was amazing.....I made sure to make it out for the 5am start (although it was cloudy and could not see the sunrise) and I stayed all the way to the end at 9pm. I was happy to actually be able to run in the evening as last year my foot had issues, which was the same the issue I had after my marathon...go figure, and I logged an astonishing number of 31.5 miles. This paled in comparison to the 42 and 48 miles they ran and I am just amazed at their strength to keep running no matter the adversity. We got a bracelet for each mile we ran and I definitely racked those up!

Mother nature gave us all kinds of weather to deal with on this day..... humidity, thunderstorms, wind and sun.......we ran through it all. I was a little scared to see that after an hour in the rain my feet looked like old man feet! It seriously hurt to walk on all the folds of skin, who knew I had that much extra skin on my feet.

5. We are  having some crazy storms here tonight, I went to watch my brother play softball and only a few minutes after I got there, it was coming!! The weather was calm and then within seconds it was 30mph winds creating a sandstorm in the infield. This was about 30 seconds before it hit.

Round 2 then came awhile later and we all decided to head home but the lightning with the sunset made for some cool effects.

And this had been my life for about the past year with my car, I'm too cheap to get it fixed so I use GPS or guestimate my speed....just a little harder to do in this situation!!

Hope you all have a fantastic Friday!! I only have to make it through 2 days next week and then I will be living in paradise for the next 5 days or so. I cannot wait to spend time at my cottage finally this year and literally not have any advanced technology! That is unless I make the 20 minute trek into town to try and find some wifi....best excuse to get out of work and on call emergencies!

Three Things Thursday

Just a few things happening around here lately and things I've been excited about.

1. The Longest day of the year is tomorrow!! And I will be celebrating in the best way any runner could be, spending 16 hours on a track cheering on/running with Kim (Life in the Twin Lane) and Rachel (Running in Real Life) while they run in circles. I know I will log many miles, but that will pale in comparison to how far they will run and the feat they are accomplishing. They are becoming all-stars for Alzheimer's Awareness. If you haven't donated yet, there is still time to do so. Just head over to Kim's blog for the deets and get yourself a spot in their raffle. They have some amazing prizes!! I CANNOT WAIT!

2. Rest days have become project days for me lately, usually that project is to get my house in order and clean it up! I have managed to get planting done this spring, setup my container gardens, organize my office and actually reclaim our spare bedroom. It was really bad and had not been touched other than as a dumping ground in a really long time.....as in my wedding dress and husband's suit were still lying on the bed and have not made it to the dry cleaners. That was only about 10 months ago...whoops.


One of these days I will actually get to turning this into a Packer Room. I have several signed photographs including the jersey you can see framed in the background. The pile of stuff on the right I need to make a trip to goodwill to get rid of the stuff we no longer need. I'm getting annoyed with how much stuff we tend to accumulate and my hubby hates it when I get in this mood. He's afraid of what I might get rid of that he could use once in possibly the next 10 years or so. And I thought I was a pack rat!





3. Cheap Beer - Saturday I met Sarah out as they were celebrating her hubby's birthday and as I arrived to the bar it started to pour out. I was tired and figured I would just stay out for one or two and I checked out what was on tap. Nothing great so I went for the usual Budweiser and asked for a pint, the bartender kindly asked if I wanted a mug for a dollar instead, ummm....... HELLS YEAH!! I was so thrilled for dollar beers on a Saturday night the idea of just a few quickly dissipated from my head. And then the camera came out and this was the only decent pick Sarah could take of us. The flash from the phone makes us a little ghostly.

Meaningful Miles

Well I'm back from about a week hiatus on blogging. I just didn't feel like I had much to say and I was enjoying living in the moment and taking in all that life has to offer. I am really trying to work on the balancing act of having a career, maintaining a healthy relationship with my husband, family & friends and keep up with triathlon training. If anybody ever told you it's easy they are lying!

I have definitely learned a few tricks in the process and this week I was able to turn in my best week in a long time and possibly ever! I did fail in the swimming and strength slightly but I'm encouraged I was able to pull this off and maintain a good balance.

My miles were broken out as follows:

Running          19.19 miles  

Biking             41.75 miles  

Swimming       1200 meters

Strength              1 day        

It helped to have 5 of my workouts be with a group or friend so it made the time go by quickly and also was great to spend the quality time with them. I met Sarah for a bike ride on Monday night. Tuesday night I ran with the Fleet Feet fun run group and then met Michelle for a swim at the gym. Wednesday was the monthly fun run for pacesetters, a local running group to which I belong, and ran in a downpour with Sarah, Matt and John along with plenty other brave souls followed by subs and sundaes. Saturday the same group met for the Pacesetters training runs for the Fox Cities Marathon, they vary the courses up and you actually run on sections of the Marathon course so it's great to get familiar with it now. I failed at getting pictures at any of these events so I will try harder to be better with that!

I also managed to not be a bum after logging the 11 miles on Saturday morning, Sarah and I stopped at a bakery and we both snagged up a Maple Bacon Donut to try and some other fresh goodies. Vito got all the big chunks of bacon off it since I don't enjoy the fatty bacon pieces, I like mine crispy. After I was showered I hit up the local farmer's market, headed over to my sister's so my bil could fix my car and I played with my nieces and nephew in the meantime. On my way back I stopped at the meat market and the grocery store before making it home to figure out some dinner. My legs were beat but I still made it out for Sarah's husband birthday and we had a blast. I'm sure she will post a few crazy pics of us from the night.

I rewarded myself with a few purchases of running gear for a hard earned but fun week. Here is to the start of another great week! Summer is finally here and it's definitely helping my mood!

 

Tuesday Tidbits

Hey hey, it's another Tuesday and this week it is not the start of the work week. Thankfully it seems less chaotic at work already and I've managed to start this week off with the right foot. I have gotten in two workouts on Monday and will be getting in two today. Let's hope this week keeps up this way. I only have 10 short weeks until my Olympic distance triathlon and I'm feeling a wee bit undertrained at this point.

Lately I cannot seem to get enough of this sandwich at lunch, this literally has been my lunch for 75% of the days this past month and the trend is continuing! It's a slice of Vermont White Cheddar cheese, some turkey, one tomato sliced, 1/2 avocado and sometimes spinach on a wheat sub bun.

Sarah and I finally managed to get together for a weekend run and it was going to be a late one. We decided to run on Sunday over Saturday due to the weather being about 10 degrees cooler and no chance for random thunderstorms. We were going to go in the morning, but I was a little tired and lacking energy in the morning thanks to an extra beer than I should have had the night before. We eventually made it work at 8pm and I was actually looking forward to it. I got to bust out the headlamp and we managed to stay cool the whole time. The clouds were amazing and I captured this on top of the hill before our turnaround. The blur adds to the mystique of the picture I think.

I am looking forward to tackling the Bellin Run this week Saturday and will be pushing for sub 1 hour and maybe even around 55 if conditions are favorable. Hopefully another PR will be in the books for this year and it's sad to think it may be last road race for awhile.

Do you prefer morning or evening runs?
I definitely enjoy evening runs but I feel accomplished when I do manage to get in a morning run.

Race Recap: Cellcom Green Bay Half Marathon

I was looking forward to this race for a long time, but not because I would be 'racing' it. I managed to talk to the pacing director for the race at one of the Tri City Foxes Traithlon club meetings and I sent her an email afterwards. I was signed up for this but would forgo running it for me to be paired with the official 2:20 pacer. I have always wanted to be a pacer, especially after the coaching experience of the Fleet Feet Winter Warriors 15K program. I enjoy helping others reach their goals and the entire race is just so much FUN!!

Packet pickup went pretty smooth on Friday night and I was pleasantly surprised that there were women's cut t-shirts as it didn't mention this while signing up and in past years they have been unisex. They have a decent size expo and I was able to snag a few items, 2 bondibands, a $7 tech tank from Eastbay and 2 different Honey Stinger chews. I am looking to find more organic items to eat than GU since during my last marathon I felt really bloated at mile 20 and want to correct it this time around. It's either Honey Stingers or Chocolate #9, which I will order a giant box if the test with the chews does not work.

Saturday was not your ideal pre-race strategy as it was Cottage opening week for both my husband's and my grandma's cottages in Waupaca. I split my time, in the morning I helped to paint at my husband's place and then headed over to my cottage. I then spent the next 2 hours bagging leaves and pine needles and then hauling the 30lbs bags on my back up the hill and over to the trailer. My feet and legs were feeling dead so I was ready to get off my feet. I enjoyed a few beers with friends and the in-laws before heading home. It was off to bed early for the 4am wakeup call.

I hopped in the shower since I knew it was going to be a hot day and wanted to start off the day with wet hair. I knew water would get dumped on it anyways and would help maintain my frizzy curls. I picked up Sarah and we made the quick drive up to Lambeau Field and we actually shivered while getting our gear check bags ready. We quickly hit the bathrooms and walked into the atrium to find the pacers to hook up with. I love it about this race that you can stand inside until about 10 minutes prior. We dropped off our gear check bags and lined up at the start. The anthem was sung, the wheelchairs started, and we had a moment of silence for Boston. And we were off!

Miles 1 -5:
I really had to keep an eye on my pace to ensure we were sticking with our average pace of 10:25-10:30, we would walk for about 15-20 seconds through the water stations to help people refuel and grab what they needed. This wound through neighborhoods with tree lined streets and the crowd support was strong. Rachel and Kim came up behind and returned the ass grab, I was happy to see them looking strong! It felt warm at this point and at the end of this stretch you could feel that it had warmed up. Our group was starting to struggle and they had mentioned they may have to drop their pace soon.

Miles 6-10:
Shortly after mile six you hit my favorite part of the course (outside of the end) as you make a left turn, you begin a hillier section and you can see the throngs of runners ahead and behind. The aid station here is right in front of a church so there is always music and amazing crowds here. Our original group had all disappeared but we seemed to pick up another group of people. Around mile 8 I asked if I could hold the pacer sign to get used to what it felt like and she gladly handed it off. I held it until mile 9 when I realized I had not eaten a shot block since about mile 3. I took two quickly and instantly felt better. Our group was gone again and people were really struggling with the heat. It was about 80 by this time with no clouds in the sky. I had seen 1 person down and two people gagging on the sides but most people were listening to their bodies.

*At some point during this time my phone camera somehow got flipped into Sepia mode so you're just gonna have to deal with these pics. Finally figured out how to switch it back the next day!!

Miles 11-13.1:
Theresa and I just kept on course as she knew we would pick up people at the end of the race, so I held the sign for most of this time and we chatted, she mentioned this was likely her last year pacing for this race and I might be able to take over for her next year. The last two miles lack in crowd support and the sun was beating on you with no tree cover in sight, at mile 11 I said bye to Kim & Rachel as they made the right turn while I got to turn left and head to the finish. The last water stop I finally got a little ice with my Gatorade and was THRILLED! It cooled me down and the finish was in sight. We made the turn into Lambeau and down the players tunnel to make the lap around Lambeau Field. As a Packers fan since I was little, the experience is just amazing! Your body goes numb, all pain leaves your body and you just revel in all that has happened here on the field. As you make the climb back up the tunnel you come out and there is the finish line. Theresa gave me the honor of holding the sign into the finish and I just smiled!

 

 

                                             LOVE THIS PIC!!! 

 

                                            Bringing it in to the finish 

Official Time

2:19

 

Female (30-34)

Overall        2669

Gender        1419

 Division         264

                                         The Official Pacer Teresa and The Unofficial Pacer!!

Afterwards I ran into a number of people from the race and congratulated all of them. I grabbed a picture since I didn't know if they had captured me during the race and then spotted Sarah. We grabbed our gear bags and proceeded to immediately take off our compressions socks and shoes to slip into our flip flops. We mowed down our brat and sucked up our Redd's Apple Ale in no time. We checked out the massage tent wait and decided to go for it since it wasn't bad. I've never taken advantage of this before and I swear I will in the future anytime possible for longer distance races. She hit something on the inside of my upper leg and instantly felt the tightness. I asked her what that was and she said it was my adbuctor, I need to work this with The Stick more often!

Sarah and I walked back to the car to ditch our gear bags, all the while my medal squeaked every time I took a step. It was getting ready to throw it and put some soap on it after the bathroom stop and that seemed to help. We found a place in Lambeau to sit and watch for Kim & Rachel. We figured they would come in sometime after 4:40 and not long after that if they were still holding strong. We saw a few people attempt a Lambeau Leap, one man run with his baby through to the end and then I saw them emerge from the tunnel right on track. They looked strong yet and we rushed down to the edge to cheer them on towards the end! Rachel and Kim took advantage of the massages and they both got like 30 minute sessions before we called it a day and headed home.

The only thing I would recommend for this race would be Ice available at some of the earlier water stations, they had it on the marathon course after they split off but it was already halfway through the race before they even could take advantage of this.

Starting off on the wrong foot

So I've run quite a few races lately and I feel like all I've done are Recaps. I am breaking things up a bit to throw a little something else in there. I do qualify for the Half Fanatics if I feel like joining as I did manage to complete 3 half marathons in 4 weeks.

My body was feeling tired so I took a little bit of a break on my body. I averaged about two runs during the week and that is about it. I got in one bike and one swim in the past three weeks other than the runs. I did also manage to get my Marathon/Olympic Triathlon training written down so I can get back on track after the Green Bay half. And then this happened while I was cooking Stir Fry the evening of the race. Let's just say Steam can really hurt in a matter of seconds!!

Which wasn't too bad other than it threw out my swim sessions once the skin layer came off. And then I came down with the nasty cold that was going around. So all my workouts went out the window until I could actually breathe again. I was really upset as I got sick the day my husband was due to get back from being out of town for work the last 4 days :( I had to resort to a quick peck when he got home and trying to quarantine myself so he wouldn't get sick.

At least both hit me at once so I just resorted to taking another rest week and getting back at it as soon as I could. Which happened to be the monthly Pub Run with Fleet Feet, they happened to have a Saucony rep and we all laughed at his shirt. We enjoyed tacos and our first beer on Saucony which we all appreciated! Turns out they were raffling some shirts off after the run and everyone got one ticket when they returned. My luck was turning around as I actually won one!!

10 weeks until the Olympic Triathlon and 17 weeks until the Marathon and I'm trying to slightly ease back into this week so I don't burn out after a month of slacking exploring other activities. It also has become really humid here and the warm temps have returned so I will need to bust out my Endurolyte pills to help me survive the heat. Lake flies are also out in full force this year and I just discovered that biking is WAY worse than running through them. Getting pelted all over with the little buggers sucks!!

PS. Kim if you are still reading this, please send me GB pics you have of me ;)