I really didn't fall off the face of the earth!

Ok, it's been a while since my last post... and posts have been scarce in the last few month.

I really didn't fall off the face of the earth!  Just a short post today to keep you all in the loop on the crazy last month!

But don't worry, I have not been just sitting around!  Over the last few months, I took a step back and gave myself a break from running.  After the beating that I put myself through last summer, I needed scale things back a bit.  Time to focus on some strength training for a while Not to mention all of the craziness of the holidays that we all have!  

 I am still at the gym 4-5 days a week, if not more (yes you may have seen Facebook posts or Tweets about these or  snippets on Instagram.  I may not be putting in the miles, but these workouts make up for that!

 We spent New Years Eve with awesome friends, both new and old! This was the first time in several years that we were able to host NYE at our house.  Unfortunately several friends had to miss the fun due to the beloved flu bug that was going through the area.

I have made amends with the dreadmill and although I still don't LIKE it,  I know that I have learned to tolerate it! So far, I have managed to pull off a 4 mile dreadmill run, but I am sure that more are to come.

We even headed up north for a weekend filled with hockey at the two schools that my husband and I each went to!  Was fun to be back in both arenas watching both teams play!  It was a lot of driving and several late nights, but it was worth being able to introduce my son to the two hockey teams that I spent my high school years watching!

 I have also done more tweaking on my nutrition and started making a few more small changes. Each weekend, a portion of my time is spent prepping my breakfasts and lunches for the week.  I have managed to only have to go out for lunch once so far this month!

Then it was off for a quick trip to Chicago to meet part of the crew that I am running the Chicago Ragnar with this summer!  Yes, I have joined forces with a crew (thanks to my Twitter Friend Jenn), mostly from the Chicago area, to run from Madison to Chicago this summer - on my Birthday!  Although I have only met part of the team, this already promises to be a weekend to remember!

So now, we are 3 weeks into January, Half marathon training is underway and it's time to start putting on some miles.  Just one last hurdle in the way before that can happen though...  I found out last month that I need to have sinus surgery to correct a severely deviated and also tilted septum.  That all happens on Thursday.  Yes, little nervous about the surgery, but in the end if it helps be breathe better, I'm not going to complain!  Also very curious on how this plays into the whole breathing while I am running concept!

The 7-10 days post surgery are going to be rough - no work, no running, no gym... EEEEK!  But on the bright side - time to catch up on a bunch of those movies that I have been wanting to watch but have not had the time!  My Netflix cue will be my new best friend for the week. 

2015 is off to a fun start, with awesome family, great friends and plans to be made!   Lets make it great!

What are you doing to make this a year to remember?

Fitness Follow-up Friday

Fitness Follow-up Friday is here! Well, it was here a few days ago but since we were out of town for the weekend, I didn't have a chance to post it until now!

Several people have asked what all is included in my weekly fitness.  So going forward, I am going to try and give you some idea of what my weeks consist of!  Each Friday will (hopefully) consist of a Fitness Follow-up!

Super Saturday Circuit

Super Saturday!

Last weekend started off this adventure with a Super Saturday Circuit at the gym!  30 Minutes, 9 exercises, as many rounds as possible.  The gym was packed and it was awesome to see everyone pushed it as hard as they could to get through this workout!  I managed to get through 4 1/2 rounds in my 30 minutes, using heavier weights on the OH lunges that I normally would, and modifying my plants to be one leg plants!  Then the circuit was followed by a 5 minute mini-mission consisting of sit-ups, squats and bicep curls!  I was definitely feeling that at the end!  After the workout, I spent some time in the other end of the gym hanging out with a foam roller and doing some other stretching.  Overall great way to start my weekend!

Sunday Funday in Bairds Creek

Sunday Funday with Friends!
Sunday afternoon we hit Bairds Creek and wandered the trails for just over 4.5 miles.  It was an awesome crisp afternoon spent enjoying the beautiful fall afternoon, watching ducks in the pond, sprinting up hills, and listening to the woodland creatures scurrying in the leaves.  I even got Colleens daughter to RUN up and down some of the hills with me!

Colleen - Next time I am climbing that tree when I see it, since we never made it back by it this time!!

Monday Morning Mini Rowing session

Manic Monday
Monday Morning wake up call!!  Last week I started meeting Tom at the gym for some mini rowing sessions before work.  We usually do a 5 minute warm up and then another 5 minutes of intervals.  Normally we do 1 minute on and then 30 second rest in between (5 total intervals),  but today we hanged it up and did 40 seconds on and 30 seconds off for 8 rounds (still 5 minutes total rowing time).  Those shorter intervals will catch up to you quick, however we both found that we actually rowed further in the same about of time!  Last weeks intervals gave me a total of about 1200m in the 5 minutes, today it was over 1300.

Remember, you need to change things up once in a while, otherwise your body becomes accustomed to the workouts and you may find yourself stuck on a plateau!  Keep your body guessing!

Afternoon Strength Adventures

Monday afternoon was Strength time at the gym!  Thanks Joe for  another great session! It was just one more day that I can say that I left the gym knowing that I pushed myself a little harder, stepped out of my comfort zone more, used heavier weights and still lived to tell about it!

Tuesday
Tuesday was "sleep in" in day... well not really. Instead of the alarm going off at 4:15 or 4:30, it went off at 4:45 so that I could get dinner in the crockpot before being at work for 6am.  After work it was time to hit the gym for another Strength class with Joe!  Forgot to take a picture of the board but it was a day full of Rowing, Clean's, KettleBells and Squats!  Between the KB work during the workout and then the mission at the end, I think I did  a zillion squats.  Ok maybe not a zillion, but it felt like it!  Then the Farmer Walks with 40lb KB's in each hand were epic!  Was fun to have Joe working out with us today as he was testing out the new MyZone units that they got in at the gym!  Thinking I might need to get one for myself to play with too!

Wacky Wednesday

Wacky Wednesday = Crazy sock day at the gym!

No rowing with Tom this morning since I have other things going on after work, needed to get my circuit in early!

5:15 Circuit class was THE way to wake up!  Was nice to see Lisa at the gym early today (I usually see her when she comes in for 6am, as I am jumping in the shower after the 5:15 class!) 3 stations, 9 exercises and burpees were not one of them!  4 minutes of wallballs, pushups and squats was tough but the 4 minutes of KB swings, pushpress and squats was enough to make my arms cry!  Then when you throw in some weighted crunches, Russian twists and flutter kicks, you get a morning workout that will definitely get you moving!

Tired Thursday
I am calling today Tired Thursday because I was too exhausted to get out of bed and get to the gym this morning.  My body said sleep, so I did  :)  I had to work at the bowling alley tonight for a few hours for a private party and the multiple trips up and down the stairs to the basement meeting room at least made me fee like I got in somewhat of a workout!

Finally Friday!
No work today since John and I were heading out of town for a long weekend, but I still was up early and got me workout in!  I also decided to splurge and get myself one of the new MYZONE monitors at the gym.  Charlene worked on getting it set up for me while I was doing a quick warm-up and then it was time to test it out!

MYZone  is a heart rate monitoring system that was recently installed at the gym to give us live feedback on how hard we are actually working out!  Anyone that is wearing a monitor has their live date displayed on the TV monitors that have been put up in each gym, to include current heart rate, calories burned, points earned (based on workout time, time in each heart rate zone and more!) and most importantly - your current max heart rate percentage! If you are not pushing hard enough, everyone will know - how's that for motivation to push your self that much harder?

This morning, started out with a rowing session with Tom, so my data was the only one on the screen (each gym has it's own screen showing data for those working out in that room).  I instantly found myself challenged by the numbers!  I was on a mission to keep that percentage as high as I could!   It was really cool to have a more accurate calorie burn too, since this takes into your age, heart rate etc.

After Tom and I finished rowing, I stuck around for the 6am Strength class.  There was one other person in class with a monitor too so it was interesting to see how our numbers compared during the 45 minute class!    At one point, we both we over 90%!    

After just one morning, I am easily able to see how this is going to help me get even more out of my workouts!  Results from this morning?  718 total calories burnt, peak heart rate 164, point earned 271.

What did you do to push yourself this week??  What are your goals for the next week?

Chicago, Running, good friends and Ice Cream! Combining for a perfect weekend!

The weekend that we have been waiting for all summer was finally here!

Friday Morning, Darci, Robin and myself hit the road and drove to Kenosha to catch the train to Chicago!  Our ultimate destination?  The Women Rock Chicago Half Marathon!  When Robin put out a call to her female running friends this past spring, I was quick to hop on board for this awesome weekend!  Before long, we talked Darci into coming along - at first to run the 10k, but then she changed her mind and decided that this was going to be her 1st half marathon!  This weekend's race would also launch my Half Fanatics status from Neptune to Saturn!  4 Half Marathons within 37 days!

Waiting for the train in Kenosha

 The best thing about taking the train into the city... not having to drive downtown Chicago!!!  We caught the early train and were in the city by 10:30am!  Plenty of time to get checked into the hotel and enjoy the city for the afternoon!  We walked the mile and a half from the train station to out hotel, stopping to snap a few pictures along the way, enjoying the warm sun and cool breeze.

Trump tower, overlooking the river

 I will have to say that my Marriott Rewards status worked to our benefit this weekend!  We were upgraded to a room on the 33rd floor with an awesome view of the city!  Was definitely a different experience going to sleep with the sounds of the city so far below you!

 Once we got settled in to the hotel, we figured it was time to start our afternoon adventure!  We had a 2.5 mile walk from the hotel to the Nature Museum in Lincoln park for packet pick up, and find lunch somewhere along the way!  Walking up Rush street was just as much about people watching as it was checking out some of the local restaurants to figure out where we wanted to eat!  Needless to say before we knew it, we were past all the restaurants and into the residential area closer to the park.  So, it was picking up packets before food!

 The expotiquie was actually a lost smaller than I thought it would be... I guess I was expecting a little more since it was Chicago, but then again, I'm not really sure how big I was expecting.   We looked through the few booths that were there, made a few purchases and were on our way!  Time to hike back to the hotel and find lunch somewhere along the way!

Of course, I had to spot the Ghiradelli store when we were walking back up Michigan Ave... so we had to stop... and buy chocolate!  This was going to be interesting if I am starting my 21 day sugar detox on Monday!  Either I was going to have a stomach ache from eating a half pound of chocolate in 2 days, or I was going to have them staring at me for the next 3 weeks!  Oh well!

Small Cobb Salad for lunch!

We actually ended up eating lunch across the street from the hotel at California Pizza Kitchen and then heading to Trader Joes around the block to pick up some munchies and breakfast foods!   Lunch was awesome, but dessert was even better!   It was the perfect shared dessert for us after all that walking!

Salted Caramel pudding

The rest of Friday was extremely relaxing as we just lazed around the hotel.  I don't even think we turned the TV on all weekend when we were in the room!  It was just nice to kick back and relax after the 9 miles we ended up walking today (mile calculations are all thanks to Darci's fitbit).  After a quick dinner at Big Bowl (again right around the corner from the hotel), I think we were all asleep by 9pm!  We were joking at one point about the fact that here we were, in Chicago on a Friday night and we all were in bed before some people were starting their evening!  But the alarms were going off early!!

How many shades of pink can I wear for one race?

With alarms going off early and taxi's to catch to get to the start line, we didn't waste time in the morning!  Time to run Chicago! We were actually at the start line  with plenty of time to relax, and just enjoy the morning, but then it was time to get down to business!

 Overall, the first half of the race was pretty good for me, there were however several things over the course of the morning that I was not really keen on.  At first, I was keeping a decent pace and the cooler temperature made it easy to enjoy the amazing scenery of running along the lakeshore! However, once I hit about half way, the warmer temperatures started to get the best of me.  The lack of adequate water stations was also becoming evident.  Granted I always run longer distances with water, so I was not completely relying on the aid station, but today was one of those days that the extra would have been appreciated!

Coming back south towards the city

As you can see from the above photo, this was also NOT a closed course.  I actually lost count of how many times I was almost run over by a cyclist, even when I was clearly on my side of the running path, or came upon a large group of runners (not part of this race) that had no intention of sharing the path... oh yeah, don't forget about the rollerbladers that seemed to think it was fun to literally come up right behind you and then zoom past withing inches of you!

It was easy to find Darci and Robin when I got the the finish line - there were sitting in the grass just past the medals and water waiting for me!  Robin kicked out another awesome 2hour run and Darci rocked this course and hit a sub 2:30 time for her 1st HF!

In the end, this ended up being my slowest half marathon of 2014.  Official race time = 2:40:37, but I finished! It was awesome to be part of Darci's first ever half marathon.  The course although beautiful (who doesn't love running along the lake!) but the open course and the lack of water stations left me with a not so fuzzy feeling about this one!  I heard wonderful things about this race from other friends of mine that ran it in the Twin Cities a few weeks ago, so I am thinking that it was just a fluke here in Chicago, but still makes for a tough day.

We stuck around the post race party long enough to get our pendants, medals, champagne and calendars! We were also a little disappointed in the fact that there were only about 4 of the calendar models around the finish line area! Isn't that why we ran this one?  The hot guys at the end?  There was one handing out the pendants at the finish line, one by the Women Rock car and then 2 at another photo spot.  Oh well, by this time we were just ready to go back and relax, find showers and eventually find food!

After a relaxing afternoon hanging out in the lobby, utilizing the free wifi, charging our phones and more people watching, dinner was a no brainer - had to be pizza... delivered to us in the lobby!  OMG!  I forgot how good a true Chicago Deep Dish pizza was!  2 slices tho, and I was stuffed, but oh so worth it!

The my twitter friend Jenn came into town to pick us up to take us for ice cream!  Now we are not one to have to pass up on ice cream, but we were not expecting the treat we got.  We were expecting some run of the mill ice cream shop like several of the local places here.  Nope!

Jenn and I finally meeting after months of tweets!

We ended up at Margies Candies.  Apparently this is her and her families favorite ice cream stop in the entire city... and I can see why!  The sundaes were awesome - but then when isn't homemade hot fudge not awesome?  It was awesome to get to hang out with Jenn, her daughter and sister even if just for a bit. After a long day, it was the perfect way to unwind!

Sunday morning, we all slept in!  Yes, we actually slept past 7am!  Granted it helped that we closed the room darkening blinds to keep the morning sun out!  After munching on some leftover pizza, banana's and other random stuff we had left in our room, we headed out to catch a few more sights of the city before we headed back to the train station.

Morning Spark, Women rock style!  :)

 Although we only planned on heading out for a short walk to Millennium Park to visit the Bean, we ended up walking another 6 miles, taking in Millenium Park, Grant Park, Buckingham Fountain, then back up the lake shore to Navy Pier before heading back to the hotel to do last minute packing and heading to the train station!

The weekend may have been over and we had to head back to reality, it was a weekend that I will never forget!  Spending time with the girls, in Chicago, Running my 5th Half Marathon for 2014 and laughing so hard that my abs will never forget... Priceless!

 Over the course of 3 days, we figured that we put in 33 miles on our feet - 13..1 running and about 20 walking!  Guess it's a good thing because between the ice cream, pizza and chocolate, there were a few extra calories out there to burn!

 This was the second weekend adventure the 3 of us had this year and I look forward to whatever adventure head our way next!  Just one more reason that I love my gym - without Fitness Renegades, I may never had met either of these awesome women who share the same crazy love of running, fitness and travel!

Next stop for us... I guess you will just have to wait and see!  We are bringing more Renegade friends on the next adventure!

Am I really crazy? I guess it depends on who you ask!

I am the first to admit that over the last few years I have become more that just a casual runner.  What started out as a few casual 5k's over several years has turned into something much bigger. 5 years ago, I was overweight, tired and could barely run a 5k.  This year I will have run over 700 miles and 6 half marathon, as well as countless other races and relays, still have a few pounds to lose, but the scale is no longer my focus.  Getting health is.  I am the first to admit that what I do is not what "normal" people do... but then again, I don't think I could really ever be called normal!

I have lost track of how many times I have been asked why I do all of the running that I do, if I am completely nuts or how I can have that much energy to do everything that I do.  My husband has commented to of several of our friends that if someone ever wants to know where I am, it is usually one of 3 places... Running, the Gym or working (ok, maybe 4 - home either trying to catch some sleep or relaxing with a glass of wine)!  If you say one of these places, you are probably right!  The response is usually "Why" or  "You're nuts", "You really RUN 13 miles... at once... for fun?" Honestly, I don't expect most people to understand.  Hours each week at the gym, miles on my feet running hitting the pavement (or Dreadmill on some of those extreme weather days), early morning alarms to get to the gym or to meet a friend to run... these are just some of the crazy things that I have been doing over the last few years. In fact there are times I have questioned why I do it all. However, it is a choice that I made and it has been one of the best things that I could have done!

Yes, I have lost track of the number of times that I have turned down plans with friends because I have an early run the next morning.  Or the nights that we have gone out with friends and instead of ordering a beer, I have stuck with water or some other beverage because I had a race coming up.  I don't need to have a beer in my hand to have fun - I just need my friends!  Running, as well as all of the strength training, has taught me so much about myself and what I am capable of and how strong I really can be.  

Is it worth it?

Absolutely!

The idea of challenging myself to do something that only a small percentage of the population does is beyond exciting.  Each time I cross the finish line at any race, it is a true feeling of accomplishment, knowing that all of the hard work I have been doing is paying off.

But it is more than just what running has proven to me that I can personally accomplish!  Between all of the running and working out at Fitness Renegades, I have made some great friends who help to keep me motivated (and I cannot forget the friends that I have met via social media - we may have never met, but sometimes that does not matter)!  We are all in this fitness adventure together, sharing workout ideas, training together (I will never look at a tubing hill or a pile of car tires the same again!), sharing healthy meal ideas and everything in between.  We all may not be runners, but the fitness mentality is there!  Together, we understand what the other is going through, the aches and pains of running or lifting, what to eat (or not eat) before a long run or tough workout, the pains of foam rollers (or even what one is), proper hydration... the list goes on.  Unless you are a runner,  are married to one or are a fitness junkie, you probably don't get it - and I don't' expect you to.  It is a truly unique lifestyle that one chooses.

I started doing this as something for me, but it has turned into something more.  Hearing that someone has started running because of me, or they started a new workout program because I somehow inspired them, or that they are working on improving their eating habits as a result of watching what I have been doing... well, that is still something that is taking me some getting accustomed to!  It also encourages me to keep going!  My son has started running 5k and 10k events with myTEAM TRIUMPH, has improved is race times and has even started coming to the gym with me once in a while!  Heck, my husband has even started walking some 5k's now!  I know that he will never be a runner, but just the fact that he is out there walking, I am super proud of him!  Everyone has to start somewhere and if I can help someone with that start, it makes all of this worthwhile!

I know that I am still a work in progress.  I know that with continued hard work, I will eventually get where I want to be - even if that end point changes from time to time! I also love the fact that I am helping other people make healthy changes, no matter how small, in their life!  I am also forever grateful for my husband who has put up with my crazy schedule, countless "vacations" that are somehow related to a race I want to run or my 2 hour trips to the grocery store(s) to find everything that I need for the next week's meals!  Without him, I know that I would not be able to do everything that I do!  Thank you John, for everything you do for me!

Then I originally started this blog, my thought was that if I could encourage ONE person to make a small change to improve their life, it was worth it.  In the end it is helping me to continue to make healthy changes in my life, and I am continuously grateful for those that I am meeting along the way that 

Yes I probably am crazy, but that's just who I am!  It is just an honor to know that I have done something to encourage positive changes in others!

Oh, and technically I am only HALF crazy... maybe one day I will run a full marathon and be completely crazy, but right now, half is my limit!

So for all of you out that that keep me going, Thank you!

... and now time to pack and get ready to head to Chicago!  Women Rock Half Marathon, here we come!

Super Sunday's Hill Challenge, Renegade Style!

Just one of the may quotes that gets us through our workouts at the gym took us outside from an insanely fun and challenging workout.  Colleen spread the word that she wanted to head out to Bairds Creek/Triangle hill for some hill climbs! She was even bringing some tires with her so that we could make the climbs back up the hill even more of a challenge!  What was I getting myself into?   Better yet, I dragged my son along for the fun! 

View from the top!  Doesn't look too bad...

We knew that we were in for a challenge as the temps we in the high 70's when we got to the part and there were not many clouds to be found to offer any reprieve from the sun.  However we were on a mission to get this workout in before the rain started... we figured that we had a few hours.

But from the bottom of the main hill, it's deadly!

We wasted no time in hitting the hill, letting the tires roll to the bottom on their own... wherever they stopped, that's where you had to pick them up from!  Carrying a tire up this hill was no easy task!  Not carrying a tire?  Ok, then bear crawl up the entire hill! Katelin actually bear crawled up that hill TWICE!

Colleen with 1 tire, Ty bear crawling up the beast of a hill

While the rest of the crew was having fun on this one hill, I decided to take this up a notch and run a few of the other hills in the facility.  Between the tubing hill, small ski/snowboard hills and tow hills, I had plenty of options in front of me!  This is the same park system that is the home of the Run for the Hill of it trail run - my  first 5k trail run that I ever did, (and am running again this fall) so I was anxious to get out and run a few more of the hills!

Ran up and down this beauty at least twice!

After my first loop out to the other hills, I came back to find that the rest of the crew had upped the ante a bit.  The challenges were flying!  they had moved on to hauling 2 tires at a time up the hill!  They were in beast mode!  Colleen was ready for any challenge that Ty threw at her!  If he did it, you bet she was going to give it a try too!

Two tires at a time!  We got this!

But if two tires wasn't bad enough, "how many tires could we carry up the hill?"  That challenge was on!  They started to really live on the wild side and go with 3 tires!  How do you get 3 tires up the hill?  One either around your waist or around your neck and on in each hand!  Colleen decided that she was thankful for hips today.  She was able to actually carry 2 tires around her waist/on her hips and only had to actually CARRY one in her hands.  

Colleen and her 3 tires, climbing the hill with style!

Of course since Colleen accepted and conquered Ty's challenge, he had to do it himself too!  Best part was that when Darrin was helping roll the tires down the hill, he made a point to make sure they were spread out across the bottom of the hill so Ty had to work that much harder to get all his tires in one place to start his climb.  :-)  Then to try and make him work harder, I made a few runs up and down the hill while he was climbing... yeah, I was able to move a little faster with no tires, but my personal rule - no tires, means I have to RUN up the hill.  No walking for this girl!

Ty and I heading up the hill - hurry up Ty!!

Of course, not to be left out of the fun, Jay hit the hill next with his 3 tires!  Spartan training at its best!  These guys are going to rock the Spartan if they keep up training like this!  Thankfully by this time in the afternoon, we started getting more of a breeze, ahead of the incoming rain!  

Jay's hill climb with 3 tires - showing those tires who's boss!

This was by far one of the most entertaining, grueling, challenging afternoons in a long time!  But don't let the tough workout fool you, we had a lot of fun too!  A quote from Colleen on FB "I can neither confirm nor deny but I may or may not have grabbed Ty's tires and tossed them further away from the hill so he had to go father away from the hill to get it back... might have happened once or twice"  All in all,  we had a great time, worked up a good sweat and finished as the dark clouds were rolling in.  In fact, just as we were getting ready to call it an afternoon, I used that cool breeze to my advantage and got a few more hill runs in before we finally finished!

Grab your tire and lets go! Its Beast Mode time!

In the end, between my climbs up and down the tubing hill as well as 2 loops around the rest of the hills, I put in 2.85 miles.  I had 8-9 miles on the training calendar, and this was a great change from the normal run I had planned.   My original plan was to see how many miles I put in during this hill workout and then get out and run the rest of those miles later, but after 15 hill climbs in that 2.85 miles, my legs had other plans for me!

The long run will have to wait!  My legs are done!

So what did you do to challenge yourself this weekend?  What will you try for the first time this week?

1st 10k trail run - Cliffrunner 10k race weekend recap!

Last summer I did my first ever trail run - a 5k just a few miles from home that ended by running up the tubing hill.  This year it was time to up the ante!  The Cliffrunner 10 trail run down at High Cliff State Park was the chosen target. Before this weekend, I had never even set foot in this park and my only views of this park were in pictures that I found online!  I had heard about the massive hill along the trails and I knew that this was going to be a tough course!

The first of our weekend adventures!

Saturday morning, after a tough 8am circuit workout at Fitness Renegades, Darci and I met up with Robin and we headed to the campground!  Some awesome friends of mine offered up their camper to me for the weekend so that we would not have to drive all the way from Green Bay on Sunday morning.  Just us girls, enjoying a quiet day/night at the camper!

Our day was not a quiet and relaxing as we originally thought it was going to be!  On Friday, we saw a post of Facebook from the race crew that they were planning a walk thru on Saturday evening to mark the trail and anyone who wanted to join them, could get a sneak peak at the course!  Since none of us had never even been to the park before, we figured it was a good idea!  Once we got settled in to the camper, we started our campfire, cooked some lunch and soon found ourselves mesmerized by the flames. Darci ended up having words with Alvin, the resident chipmunk that has created his home in the woodpile at the camper!   Apparently he was mad at us for tearing down his home to keep our fire going.  If looks could kill, Darci would probably not be here anymore!  However, instead of sitting around the campfire and just chilling all evening, we headed out to High Cliff for a nice hike before dinner!

After a few wrong turns, we found Patrick and Rob in the park.  Patrick was heading out to take care of a few last minute race details so we would be heading out on the trail with Rob.  We took off the from parking lot a little after 5 and headed out onto the course.  Right away, we knew that we were in for a tough course - the course wasted no time in throwing a challenging, long steep hill at us!

Once we hit the top of the hill and got onto the actual trail, we knew it was not going to just be an easy walk through!  Rob asked if we were up for a little running, and of course were were all "oh yeah sure!"...  that was the end of the easy walk through the course.  We spent the next hour and a half doing a walk/run through the course.  Most of the walking was UP the huge hills.  At one point Rob commented that he wanted to make sure to took it easy tonight... He wanted us to have fresh legs for tomorrow.  Less that a minute after he made this comment, he asked if we were ready to run.  So much for taking it easy! (JUST KIDDING ROB!)  We had a great time and when we finished, we felt confidant about our adventures for the morning. (thanks to Robin for the pics from Saturday night!)

By the time we got back to the campground it was after 7:30 and we were starving... but of course we had to get the fire going again so that we could actually cook our dinner!  Thankfully, Darcy knows how to start a HOT fire and a little paper added to the still warm embers and we had a roaring fire before long!  It was after 8 by the time we sat down to eat and we literally inhaled our dinner!  During dinner, we thought we spotted Alvin running through the campsite, but quickly discovered that it was actually Theodore... Alvin must have sent him in as the decoy because at about the same time, we heard Alvin and Simon running around behind us near the fire.  Sneaky little chipmunks!  By the time we got everything cleaned up from dinner, made sure Alvin and crew were not causing any more trouble, and sat down to relax by the fire, we realized that we were all exhausted!  I think we were all in bed before 10pm!

Team Renegade at the Start line!

Next think I knew, it was 7am and the alarm was going off!  Time to get the fire started to make breakfast before we headed out!  I know that my sweet potato hash only takes about 15 minutes to cook over the stove, but this morning I was cooking it over the fire!  Before long we had bacon, potatoes, mushrooms and spinach sizzling away, just waiting for the eggs to be added!  The perfect pre-race fuel for the tough course that we knew was ahead of us!  Over breakfast, Darci and Robin told me that Alvin and one of the other boys spent part of the early morning up on the camper room running around and voicing their disapproval that we were still there.  We were not going to let a few pesky chipmunks run us out of camp.  They were going to need to learn how to share.  I tried to get a photo of Alvin when he was having a staring contest with us, but he was a little to quick for me.


We were back at the park by a little after 9 and met up with Jay, relaxed a bit, grabbed a few photos, did a little stretching before long it was race time!  We tackled that first hill with vengeance and hit the trail hard.  Robin and Jay headed off ahead of us in the crowd and Darci and I kept strong together for the first 2 miles.  It was about this point, after we headed down the first big hill that Darci started getting further ahead of me.  After a bit I caught up to her, but lost her again on one of the long straight stretches.  When I made the climb up bear crawl hill (yes our name for the killer hill in the middle of the course) and climbed the stairs on the final decent, I found her waiting for me!  YAY!  I grabbed a cup of water, but instead of drinking it, I dumped it straight over me head!  The heat and humidity were quickly climbing and I was getting really warm.  I still had some Nuun left in my hydration belt so I knew I was good there!  I didn't waste any time and we were on out way again.

Before long I lost Darci again!  That girls legs don't quit when she gets out there on the course!  I found a few other ladies that I fell into pace with and we worked out way through the last few miles of the course together.  Once we made it back to the water station for the 3rd time (one water station, which we passed 3 times over the course of the 6+ miles) we knew that we were just over a mile from the finish... at it was virtually all downhill from there!

The four of us set a goal of under 1:30:00 for this tough course.  I knew that when I got my last update on my phone at the 5 mile marker I was on track to do that!  I was going to make sure that it happened!  That last downhill stretch was fast and before long I hit the bottom of the hill and the last turn.  I was on the home stretch!  I didn't even see the timing clock as I was approaching the finish line.  I was just focused on getting there!

I was done!  I was hot, I was exhausted but I finished!!!

Team Renegade celebrating an awesome finish!

This was definitely the toughest run I have EVER done, but by far one of the most rewarding! The course was a huge challenge but also very beautiful and peaceful to run through!  A huge shout out to the crew that puts this race together.  This year was only the second running of this tough course and you can be sure that I will be back again net year!  It's only going to get better!  If you ever have a chance to get out and run this course (of the Half Marathon that this same crew puts on in the fall) do it!  You won't be disappointed!

Thanks Rob and Patrick for an awesome race!

 Next on the race calendar - Packers Training Camp 5k next weekend!