Super Saturday: Scheels 5k run + Summer Slimdown kick off = an AWESOME morning!

What a morning!

Back in February when I signed up for the Scheels Run for Home 5k, I figured it would be just another early Saturday race morning... little did I know this was going to be the same day as the Summer Slimdown Challenge kickoff at the gym!  I had to figure out how I was going to be able to pull this off... especially since the 5k was in Appleton (a 30 minute drive from the gym!) at 8am and the kickoff started at 8:30 (first workout started at 9am)!

Thankfully the crew at the gym was very accommodating and put my challenge partner Lisa and I in the 10am workout.  I just had no time to waste between finishing my run and getting to the gym.

In the stadium, before the run

So, I was up at 5am and out the door by six.  Breakfast was a Banana and some Spark on the drive.  I was at the stadium for the run to pick up my race packet by 6:30.  It was nice to get down there early so I had time to finish waking up, get in some good stretching and relax a bit before my insane morning started.  Once we got closer to race time, I downed my energy bits, and was just waiting to start!

 Feet don't fail me now!

 I always have liked this race.  The course changed this year tho and we were not running through the FVTC campus.  It was just hitting the trail near it and then one of the residential areas.  I had a feeling it was going to get warm quick out there once we got started because there was not a cloud in the sky.

The race itself was good!  I cruised through the first 2 miles, feeling good and maintaining my pace.  If I could keep this pace, I knew I had a chance on actually hitting my 5k PR.  The blazing sun had other plans for me.  Once I hit the 2 mile marker the glaring sun was really doing a number on me.  There was not a cloud in the sky so it only intensified how warm I was already feeling.  I ended up slowing my pace and did actually have to walk part of it so that I didn't over heat. I can really tell that I got accustomed to running in the cold temps from this past winter and my body is still adjusting to running in the sun and heat!

In the end, I still ended up finishing in 29:40, good enough for 5th in my age group!  I am not going to complain about that one bit!  Anything under 30 minutes in the direct sun is a win in my book!  I would have loved to have stuck around to catch up with everyone else that was running, but there was not time!  I needed to cool off, change out of my running shoes to let me feet breathe for a bit, get some water and Rehydrate in me and hit the road.

I was on the road back to Green Bay before 9am!  I was going to have time to spare... maybe!

Lisa and I pre-workout.  It all starts here!

I made it to the gym around 9:30, got checked in, measurements done and change back into my other shoes!  The first group was well into their workout and I could tell this was going to take everything I had left in me!

Lisa was already there and filled me in on what we were going to get to do... yes, GET to do.  We signed up for this!  No turning back now.  We were on a mission.  Since we needed to come up with a team name, the first thing that popped into my head  was me dear friend Tori and her dad... the Tortoise and the Hare.  They are both amazing people that are part of the awesome team that keeps me inspired to do many of the crazy things that I do!  Lisa's first response was "I hope I get to be the tortoise!" so I guess I am the hare... It's a challenge that I will gladly accept!

We tackled the workout with everything we had.  6 exercises, 5 minutes each... Burpees, Kettle Bell Thrusters, Sprints, Wall Balls, Tire flips, high five push-ups... 2 minutes in between so move from one station to the next.  Not really sure if starting with burpees was a good thing or bad... Good that we got them out of the way right away, but that they just might kill me! (aside from the few I did at the gym Wednesday morning, I have not done burpees in 5 weeks, PT orders!).  We did it, and we did it with a smile on our face.

In the end, I am proud of what we did!  There were times that I was ready to be done.  We pushed through and put up some good numbers!  I was really worried that my run earlier this morning was going to be a huge factor in my workout.  I am not saying that it was NOT a factor, I just thought that it was going to be worse.  I am sure that my tomorrow afternoon I'll be singing a different tune (but fingers crossed that's not the case!

How hard did we work?  My headband it a good showing of that - there is even dirt from the tire flips mixed it with the liquid awesome!  Today was the first day of our new summer adventure!  I am curious to see where we are com August when we get to do this same crazy workout again!  I am so excited that Lisa decided to join me for this challenge and I know that we are going to have fun with it!!


Now that the fun is over... this girl needs to eat and then put my feet up and relax for a bit!

Post workout fuel! 

Calf sleeves and flip flops!  Score!

I pulled off a combination of workouts today that I would have never even considered a year ago.  Many times over the course of the last 2 years, I have wanted to give up, even questioned why I was doing everything that I was doing.  But then I look back at everything that I have already done and the things that I am considering doing in the future, I would not have it any other way.  Plus, over the course of this crazy adventure in the last year and a half I have made been blessed with countless people along the way that have supported, encouraged and motivated me to keep moving forward.

Some day I may not be able to do these things... today is NOT that day!

Remember, keep your eye on what you want... you WILL get there!  I know I am not there yet, but eventually, I will be!

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Ty's Weekend Warrior Insanity Sessions - I won't let them kill me!

Yes, these workouts are crazy, some even say insane, but I keep going back for more!  They push me to do things that I never thought I could do... and probably would never have tried! Ty, this post is just for you!  You come up with some crazy workouts, push us to do some crazy things, but in the end, I really do look forward to the weekends that I can actually get in to the gym and see you!

People have often asked what these crazy workouts consist of, so I cam going to try and post some of them out here when I have a chance (especially the really "Special" i.e insane ones!)

Some of us joke with him every weekend that he is trying to kill us! (we all cringe is we see him walking around the gym with a deck of cards - but we will save that for another day!)  Hence the headbands that I got for Darci and I!   However... even if we think he is trying to kill us, we are the ones that keep going back week after week!  We are a special kind of crazy and I wouldn't have it any other way!

This past weekend, was not different!  Well, maybe it was a little different... I was originally going to head in for the 9am class, getting in my workout, heading home to shower and then hit the road for a weekend of camping.  at 5:30am Saturday morning, I was wide awake.  So, I decided to just get up and got for a run INSTEAD of waiting to go to the gym.  I headed out and did a 3 mile tempo run through the neighborhood and was back home relaxing on my deck by 7am.

Now I was faced with a dilemma... what was I going to do now... everyone else was still sleeping.  I posted the above pic on FB and Ty was the first one to comment... "Class at 8,9 and 10?"  Hmmm...  I could make the 8am class and we would still be able to hit the road for the camper at decent time.  I shot a quick message off to Lisa to tell her I was thinking about hitting the 8am class instead if there was still room.  Before I could change my mind, she replied back that she was in.  There were 4 slots left for the 8am class (well, 3 since she already changed herself from the 9am to the 8am class).  Time to put the shoes back on and head out the door!  I got to they gym just as Ty was getting there and his first words were "hope you are ready for some fun today!"...  So in other words, I might be dreading that I hit the gym AFTER that run...  

Here goes nothing... It was total body challenge Saturday! 

 Yes, you read that right... 100 of EACH exercise listed in the orange.  The 3 listed on the left were to be done after you finished with everything else.  Yes that meant a total of 940 reps once all is said and done!   All within the 40 minute time limit!

Time to get busy.  We were allowed to break up our workout any way that we wanted, we just had to make sure that we completed all 100 of each exercise.  Lisa and I decided to divide it into 4 sections and do 25 of each (4 rounds total).  Granted, doing 100 squats at once is doable, but there is no way that I was going to attempt 100 push-ups in one go!

I was not going to let this workout get the best of me!  I pushed it with everything I had.  I was not going to let Ty's Crazy Insanity workout take me down!

In the end, I ended up finishing in 25:46!

Post workout... not dead yet!

He may have tried to kill me again today, but he has not succeeded yet!  Knowing I made it through that, after my 3 mile tempo run, was going to make a weekend of camping even that much more enjoyable!

Until next time... keep pushing it!  You will be glad that you did!

Cellcom Half Marathon 2014 is officially in the books!

I just realized that it's been a few weeks since I have posted an update!  I guess I have been busier than I thought!

Today was the big day... Cellcom Marathon 2014 was finally here.

5am the parking lot is still pretty empty

The last few weeks have been filled with PT appointments to help get me into the best possible condition for the Cellcom Half Marathon this weekend, a few Chiro appointments to make sure everything is where it belongs, not as many miles run, but more strength training to get everything working the way it should.

Now here we are, the day of what should have been my first Full Marathon but I would only be running the half.  To be honest with you, for the first time every, I woke up on race day and DIDN'T want to get out of bed. Granted part of it was the fact that we left the bedroom window open last night and it was only 40 degrees outside (and in the bedroom) now... so my toes did not want to leave the warm blankets!    I woke up feeling like I was going into this unprepared. The last time I ran more than 6.5 miles was on April 12th, when Matt and I ran 10.  This was the first time that I ever recall actually waking up on race morning and NOT excited for the days event.  I just wanted to stay curled up in my nice warm bed, and sleep for another 3 hours!

myTEAM TRIUMPH early on race day

However that was not an option!  My son was volunteering with myTEAM TRIUMPH this morning and needed to be at the stadium by 5am, so I was also there at 5am!  IT WAS COLD!  I think it was 43 degrees outside when we got to the mTT truck.   I was rethinking the short and tank that I put on to run in!  All I was thinking was that it better warm up!

Hanging out with the Angels and Captain with mTT will definitely put anyone if a good mood!  The excitement and energy around the mTT trailer on race morning is contagious!  You can't be around there and not find yourself caught up in everything.  Seeing this crew dive in and work together as a well oiled machine is an amazing thing. This was the first time I was present on race morning, watching a great plan come together!  As the Captains and their families started to arrive, things really started to get fun.  The endless smiles and laughter was everywhere!  For several of the Captains, this was their first event and there was no stopping us now! The sun may have been just waking up, but everyone out there was up and ready to move!  This was the day they had been working for all spring!


By the time the Full Marathon started at 7am, any pre-race jitters or doubts were gone.  It was slowly starting to warm and and I was ready to go.  I still was having some apprehensions as to how my knee was going to hold up but I was going to do what I can.  I dug out my race fuel from my bag, took a relaxing walk around the parking lot, did a lot of stretching, rubbed some BioFreeze on my knee and did what I could to get myself mentally into the game.  At the start line I ran into several fellow runners, coworkers, as well as fellow Twitter friends!  It was shaping up to be an awesome day!

3/5 of the Fox Cities 2013 Marathon Relay Team

Overall it ended up being an unbelievable day! I started out running my own race, at my own pace and for the first time ever, I didn't let myself get caught up in the adrenaline rush of the race.  I knew that I needed to make this my race, not whomever was running in front of me or behind me.  After the first water station, I found my groove.

Around Mile 2, my race day took a slight change.  One the course I met Crystal.  We both commented on each others Fellow Flowers shirts and were wearing matching turquoise flowers.  (the story of our run can be summarized well here on the Fellow Flowers FB page HERE) We realized that we were running at about the same pace and fell into step with one another.  We ended up spending the next 2 hours sharing local race stories, laughing and enjoying the beautiful morning.  We also the morning encouraging and pushing each other to make this the best race day that we could.  We both suffer from some of the same knee/IT band injuries so it was nice to be out there running with someone who knew exactly what I was dealing with!  Plus, we both live in Green Bay, so now I have someone else to go running with!!

Crystal and I just before mile 8!

Crystal and I finished the race together and were still smiling at the end!  I was well beyond surprised at my overall finish.  After all of the knee issues I had been dealing with, I was not pushing for time... I just wanted to run the best race I could, not push myself too hard and just finish.  In the end, I ended up finishing in 2:33:40, just 3 1/2 minutes shy of my Half Marathon PR!

Many thanks to my awesome family and friends, my chiropractor, physical therapist and fellow running friends that helped prepare me for this awesome day.  Plus major kudos to Crystal, who helped push me through those hill and last few miles when I really wanted to walk!  We kept running and ended up finishing strong in the end!

Overall this was an awesome day!  I met a new running friend, I finished in a near personal best, then spent the afternoon relaxing and enjoying the day with my boys as some great friends with a cookout in the back yard!  Cellcom 2014 turned out better than I excpeted it would and now I am ready to roll!

Here is to the start of another summer of running, adventures and challenges! Many thanks to my awesome husband and son who support me in this crazy adventure!

Post Race and still standing!