Keep pushing on? Nope. Time to rethink the current mission.

I made it through the week off!

Not running all week was tough and not going to the gym was even tougher than I thought, more physically than mentally.  I never realized how much my weeknight trips to Fitness Renegades was really part of my life now, until I couldn't go! Granted, I had my strength exercises from PT that I needed to do, but that's just not the same as a dose of Joe's daily intense lifting and challenging missions or Ty's fierce weekend warrior insanity adventures.  I may make light of these workouts but they are intense, often fierce and push me to my limits and I wouldn't have it any other way.  Thanks guys!

On Thursday when I met with Lisa, while she was really working my IT Band we were discussing my painful weekend, how things were going this week and where we were headed from here.

From the way my run and workout last weekend went. I knew what was coming...

We were only 4 weeks out from the marathon.  My longest run to date was 14 miles, over a month ago.
As of right now, I couldn't make 10 miles without being in extreme pain.  I think deep down I knew what I needed to do, it was just really hard to admit it.

I was NOT going to be running this Full Marathon.

I will be honest, it was tough to finally admit what I think I knew deep down a few weeks ago already.  My body was just not ready for the challenge yet.  Last summer when I was just running a lot of miles and spending minimal time with strength training, I was doing ok.  Then over the winter, I switched gears and was doing a heavier amount of strength training and minimal running (thanks to mother nature and the "lovely" winter we had here) that too was ok.  Come spring when I upped the mileage and kept up with the strength training, but body put up the stop sign.  Ok, it was probably just a caution flag at first but since I didn't pay attention to it right away, it turned into a red flag.  I needed to stop and pay attention to what was going on.

I did get the ok from my PT to run the half marathon and thankfully I was able to find someone that had a Half Marathon registration that they were no longer able to use.  Unfortunate that they were not able to run, but in the end it was a blessing for me, as the half marathon was at capacity and I could not just "switch" events.  It cost me $10 to process the transfer, but that was $10 well spent!

I am taking these next few weeks before the half marathon to work on the strength training prescribed by my PT to get me moving in the right direction and on May 18th, I will head out for my 1st Half Marathon on 2014.

Yes I am disappointed that I will not be able to make Cellcom 2014 my first Full Marathon, but I know that with some hard work over the next few months, I will only come out a stronger runner in the end.  I am not calling it quits on a Full Marathon, just delaying it until my body is ready for the challenge!

The rest of 2014 is still ahead of me, several 5k's, 10k's, color runs and Half Marathons, so the distances might be shorter, but the miles will still me there!  We are not stopping, just changing gears and taking a detour!

The close of 2013, opens the doors to another amazing year...

Reflections and visions.

As I sit here tonight, 2013 is quickly coming to a close... and what a year it as been!  If one year ago, someone would have told me that I would have experienced, endured and accomplished everything that I did in the last 12 months, I would have told them that they were crazy.  It still feels surreal that this year was filled with as much as it was!

To recap 2013...
* 118 miles run during events, with a total of 308 miles when you figure in training runs between early May and the end of December.  I am not sure how many miles I actually ran in the first 4 and a half months of 2013.
*  16 5k races between Michigan and Wisconsin
* 2 10k events, one in Green Bay, one in Chicago
* 2 5 Mile runs, one one one of the warmest days of June and the other the coldest day in November!
* Part of a full-marathon relay team.
* 3 Half Marathons
* Made a solo trip to Chicago to meet up with a friend for a run.  Managed to not get lost and spent about 24 hours in an amazing city!
* Biked the trails around Munising with Darrin and also found some awesome new waterfalls

What started out as running the St Patrick's Day Run in Appleton in March, turned into running events almost every weekend for the rest of 2013!  Several of these weekends included John joining the fun and walking some of the events!  Very proud of him for what he accomplished this summer and joining in the fun!  I have been blessed with an wonderful family and amazing friends that keep me going, inspire me and continually encourage me to keep moving forward.  Each and every run, I challenged myself to run a little further or faster, push a little harder and make it a better run than the last one.  Many of these runs where just as much of a mental challenge, as they were physical.  Many days I wanted to quit.  But thanks to the awesome support system that I have, I was always encouraged and pushed to do my best and I will be forever grateful for this.

I can only speculate what is to come in 2014!  I know that the adventures will continue.  So far, the only things that I know for sure about this next year are:

* I have signed up to run the Cellcom Marathon in May, which will be my first full marathon!
* Running an 18K race in Phoenix in March
* Want to to more with myTEAM TRIUMPH, to include at least a few races
* Running Mileage goal of 750 miles, which averages out to just over 2 miles each day
* Spend as much time as I can with my amazing family and friends

I know that there will be more, and this is just the start!  I can't want to see what we will accomplish this year and am excited to have each and every one of you out there to keep me going!

Bring on 2014!  It's going to be another amazing year!

Turkey Trot 2013 is in the books!

...and it was cold!

The Turkey Trot is always one of those events that you never know what kind weather you are going to have to deal with.  You could have cold and rain or snow, if you a lucky it's just cooler with a breeze or on that rare occasion, you have seasonably warm temperatures.  Matt and I were off to run the 5 mile course, while John and Molly were meeting up with a friend of Molly's and her family to walk to 2 mile course.

This year was not one that we would call ourselves lucky... unless you count the fact that it was not snowing when we were running!  The first mile was a little slick and slower than I hoped as we spent the time running around people and running on snow covered streets.  Once we got a mile or so in and we were able to get past most of the slower moving crowds it was a little easier to keep that pace that I wanted.  Unfortunately, I didn't realize until we past the 2 mile marker that I accidentally started the free version of my Runtastic app, instead of the pro version.  Oops.  The free version only gives you mile updates up to 2 miles and that is it.  Although it was still tracking my route, pace and distance, it was not actually giving me updates along the way.  I was on my own to keep up my pace.  I was not going to get any additional updates for this race.  I was on my own!

Overall, even though it was a very cold morning, the cold was not a factor after the first few miles.  Granted, I never felt like actually stripping off a layer, but I definitely was not cold anymore!  Before we knew it, we were rounding the corner with the finish line in sight!  I was still feeling great (and yes I could still see my breath while I was running) and picked up the pace for last quarter mile.

In the end, I finished in 49:31 - under my 50 minute goal!

We caught up with the rest of the crew, collected our pumpkin pies and headed to find warmth!  Thanks Festival Foods and all the other sponsors for this awesome family event!  After enjoying the brisk cold morning, it was off to spend the rest of the day relaxing at home with a warm fire, fabulous food, great friends, board games and football!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Fox Cities Marathon relay

After a colorful fun run yesterday, it was time to get back to some serious running... as serious as running a relay with 4 other friends, driving all over the Fox Cities together, sharing laughs and creating lasting memories can be!

Team Cellcom gathered in Appleton to tackle the Fox Cities Marathon Relay.  We knew it was going to be and adventure and we were ready for some fun!  Patti and I met at Matt and Molly's to ride down with them bright and early.  Technically, I think Patti was still asleep with we climbed into the truck and Molly took a nap on the way there!  When we made it to the start line to find Gina to deliver her bib number and our timing chip, it was definitely a chilly morning.  However, the cooler temperatures were going to make for awesome running weather!  Once we knew Gina was on her way, we were off on our adventures, driving all through the Fox Cites!  Next stop - Sean's house to pick him up and deliver him to the 1st exchange point.

While we were waiting at the 1st relay exchange point, it became clear that we had some creative team names out on the course today! "Better Late than Never", "Girls gone running", "booze cruisin'", "are we there yet" and "I just pulled a hammy" were just a few of the fun team names that we heard on the course.   Granted we were proud of our team name, as 4 out of 5 team members work at Cellcom and they sponsored us to run this event through some of the amazing programs they have, to help give back to the community!  Next time, who knows what the team name will be!

Throughout the morning, we were glad to have Sean with us to navigate the area!  Having to get people to 4 different relay exchange points throughout Appleton, Kaukauna, Kimberley, Neenah and Menasha was no easy task!  Thankfully Sean knew the area well enough that he was able to get us effortlessly from one point to the other with plenty of time to spare!  We even had time to make a breakfast stop at McDonald's for those that already ran (Gina) and those that were along as co-pilot (Molly) while Sean was running his leg!

By the time we got to mile marker 15 so that I could wait for Patti, I was ready to run!  The sun was out and it had warmed up just enough to take the chill out of the air.  I was determined to make it the best 5 miles I have run yet this summer.  Before long, Team Cellcom was announced so we knew that Patti was within a few blocks of the exchange point.  Once Patti cruised into the exchange zone and we moved our timing chip from her to me, I was on my way.  One of the coolest things about this race course is the fan support along the entire route.  It really is a huge motivator having people at every street corner, hanging out in their yards etc ready to give you an encouraging word.  I got out there and felt great, enjoying the day for everything it had to offer.  The sun was shining, the weather was favorable and we were running a marathon!  After the first mile, the little bird in my ear told me that I was running a 9:26 pace, I knew I had this one.  My goal was a 10 minute mile pace and I was on target to hit that. Over the next 4 miles, I did slow a touch, but in the end, I ended up running my 5 mile leg in just under 49 minutes!  My best 5 mile run to date!  It felt great to hit that goal, but I was really glad to see Matt at mile 20 to take over running!

Our next stop?  Mile marker 25... which just happens to be literally right around the corner from the finish line, since the the route loops around the park before it ends in the center of the park.  Molly found a parking spot a few blocks from the target mile marker.  The four of us camped out to wait for Matt so that we could all run the last mile together.  While we were waiting for Matt, I saw a familiar face... it was Ryan Sawlsville,  who was featured on Extreme Makeover, Weight loss Edition.  He was out running his second Fox Cities Marathon.  What an inspiration!  Seeing him out there running, giving it everything that he had, made my 5 mile run seem like peanuts compared to what he was doing.  Would I ever get to the point I being able to actually finish a full marathon?  The thought has been in the back of my mind for a few weeks now, so I guess we will have to see what the future brings.

Before we knew it, Matt was approaching mile marker 25 and we were off and running again.  Gina and I fell into step with Matt, while Sean a Patti were not far behind. The end of our adventure was just around the corner!  Crossing that finish line as part of Team Cellcom was a great feeling of accomplishment - we rocked that marathon!  Official chip time = 4:44:34

To my fellow teammates for the Fox Cities Marathon, thank you for letting me be part of the team, we all had amazing runs and set personal bests for our legs! I am proud of each of us and had an awesome time hanging out with everyone as we cheered each other one, pushing each other to do our best.   I never though I could pull off a 5 mile run in under 50 minutes!  Thank you for helping me reach that goal!

We came, we ran, we conquered!

Team Cellcom - still smiling after all that running!

Lazy Lobster Run 5 Mile Run 2013

aka Birthday Hangover Classic 2013

Today was the Lazy Lobster Race 5 Miles Run with Wendy.  This run is a race in conjunction with the myTeam Triumph team in Cape Cod.  No, we were NOT in Cape Code this morning...  They are actually running the race tomorrow (June 16th) in Massachusetts but they contacted the local mTT chapter to invite them to participate as virtual runners for this event.  With our paid registration, we would get all the t-shirts, goodie bags and medals that the actual event participants would be receiving.  Wait - we get a medal for this?  Count us in!!  It's all about the bling baby!

Wendy and I before our 5 mile run

As virtual runners for this event, we had to option to run our 5 miles at any time, on any course of our choosing.  We chose to do our run today... the day AFTER my birthday party!  They say that running cures hangovers so we were going to test that theory!  Granted, we actually woke up feeling pretty good after the festivities of the night before, so this was going to be a good run!  This was also going to be the longest run Wendy has done in the last few years, after dealing with a few injuries.  It's going to be a slow 5 miles, but it will still is going to be 5 miles!

It was a great morning for our run, we just needed to make sure we stayed ahead of the storms that were foretasted to hit the area this afternoon!  The cool breeze when we started was very promising for a comfortable run.  Unfortunately that was short lived.  The breeze did stick around but it wasn't as cool as it was when we started and you could feel the humidity level rising.  But we plugged through it. It was actually nice to hit the Mountain Bay Trail for part of our run, as that took us more into the shade, instead of in the bright beating sun that decided to come out!

We ended up hitting 5 miles in 1 hour and 1 minute!  Not bad for what we were saying was going to be a "slow run" today!  We also finished at the perfect time - as I was driving home it started to rain.  Granted it was a light cool rain that would have actually been nice to run in, but it was still rain!

It was a great day for a fun run that benefited a great cause!  Best part?  Shortly after I got home, the mail arrived and I received my t-shirt and medal from Cape Cod for this race!  I LOVE the Lobster Medal!!

T-shirt, bib number and medal from Cape Cod!