Inspiration comes in the form of a sea of red!

This past weekend marked the 40th Annual Bellin 10k Run.  The first event was held in 1977 with a total of 881 participants.  Since then, the race has grown by leaps and bounds!  Over the years this has grown to be one of the largest 10k's in the country.  This year it drew in nearly 17,000 runners, including a field of elite runners from around the world!

One of the high point of the weekend was the Friday morning kickoff fun run.  Run with Greatness.  This event is a fundraiser for myTeam Triumph (mTT) and gives anyone who attends, the opportunity to run along side some of the greats, such as Meb KeFlezighi, Joan Samuelson, Uta Pipng, Risper Gesabwa and more.  Sometimes, running at a sub 8 minute mile is worth it, just to get that epic running selfie with and elite runner!

Although this opportunity was priceless, it was not what the weekend was about!  The best was yet to come!

This year, after several years of volunteering for mTT, I decided that it was time to step up my game.  I was going join the fleet of Angels and run at least a few events.  This year one of the events I chose to run was the Bellin 10k.  Shortly after I signed up to run, my friend Lisa decided that she wanted to join me!  We had been looking forward to this weekend since before Christmas!

We were selected to run as Angels for Captain Justice!  We were also joined by another new Angel, Krista on this epic adventure.  Because we all have busy schedules, the 4 of us finally got to all meet each other less than a week before race day - 3 days before in fact!  But that didn't matter, we came together for one reason...

To make Captain Justice fly!

Bright and early (6:15am) Saturday morning, a sea of red converged in front of the hospital to prepare for the days festivities! This was history in the making.  This year, mTT had a record 40 Captains running this event!  Yes!  40 Captains for the 40th annual Bellin 10k!  Combined with their 120 Angels and countless other volunteers, that was a lot of red!  

Everyone came together for a reason...  for a purpose... united together to run the streets of Green Bay on this HOT Saturday morning in June!  At the start of the race, it was already approaching 75 degrees and by the time we finished it was pushing 85!  

One amazing perk of running with mTT for the Bellin - our Captains get RockStar corral placement!  We start right behind the wheelchair division - in FRONT of the elite runners!  Most runners may never have the opportunity to "toe the start line" at a race, unless it's a small, local race with only a few hundred people.  With the way that we were lined up in the staging area, as the sea of red moved around to the start line, Captain Justice ended up right at the start line!  The best seat in the house!  So not only was he starting ahead of the elites, he was one of the 1st athletes to cross the start line!

When I said, sea of red, I was not kidding!  This picture only give you a glimmer of how much red was out on the course!  Unless you have your eyes closed, there is not way you can miss this flood of Captains and Angels crossing the start line!

We headed out, knowing that we were going to take it easy, walk when we had to, and make sure that we had fun!  Another cool thing about the Bellin 10k is the community support.  Since the course runs through both business areas as well as residential streets, there are people out lining the streets everywhere!  Almost the entire course is lined with spectators, chilling in their front yards in lawn chairs to cheer on runners,  putting out their sprinklers so runners have a chance to cool off a bit, and even handing out freezie pops!  Yup, right before we hit mile one, there was a mom and her kids on the sidewalk passing out freezie pops to any runners who wanted one!  It didn't take Justice long to say he wanted one!

For the next 5 miles, we ran, we walked, we laughed, we played in sprinklers, we say Green Bay Packer players (who were giving high 5's as we ran by!) and more!  We all agreed that the one thing that kept us all running - Justice's giggles each time we ran through a sprinkler!  This young man loves water and you could easily see that!  He would see a sprinkler coming in the distance, slide his CD player under his pad of paper and then cover the whole pile with his ziploc bag of markers!  He had this routine all figured out!  Before we knew it, we were at the park, meaning the finish line was just around the corner~

Huge perk again this year - FREE race photos!  Although we did not get many photos from on the course, finish line photos like this, are perfect to sum up what the weekend is all about!  Working as a team to make our Captain's fly!  Approaching that finish line with the massive crowds cheering and hearing Justice name announced over the loud speaker was one of the most rewarding moments EVER!

In the end, this experience was something that will never be able to be replicated.   No matter how many races I run with mTT, this one will always hold a special place withing, because it was the first!   I am already looking forward to training for the next one, but I am also not going to rush to put this day behind me!

3 rookie Angels and one amazing Captain!  Thank you Justice for being the one to encourage us, motivate us and allow us to be your wings!   The weather may not have been what we wanted, but that was a small issue in terms of the magnitude of the experience!

This right here, it why I do this!  Seeing that smile on Justice's face when that medal was put over his head was priceless!   Not too long before this photo was taken, Justice's mom made the comment that is is always so hard for her to get a picture of him smiling.   

Apparently it just takes a race medal to bring one out!

Thank you Captain Justice!

So, if you are looking for something to do that just might change your life, this could be it!  The amazing relationships that are created and built through this fabulous organization are tough to duplicate elsewhere! Offering your time, energy and legs to give athletes the opportunity to do something that they would otherwise not be able to do, is something thing that I don't think you can fully understand until you experience it for yourself!

Disney Star Wars Dark Side Challenge weekend... part 1

As many of you know, I just came back from a long weekend in Orlando for the Disney Dark Side Half Marathon.  After running the Star Wars Rebel Half in January, I have been looking forward to this weekend since!  This was an awesome weekend filled with tons of fun, laughs and adventures.

This time the family was coming with me, and participating in the 5k too!  Since we had an EARLY flight out (6am), we drove to Milwaukee.   the night before and stayed at my favorite "go to" airport hotel!  The Clarion is right near the airport has reasonable rates as well as Stay and Fly packages so you can leave your car parked in their secured lot while you travel!  Since we had such an early flight, the first day of vacation started with the alarm going off at 3:30am!  by 4:10am, Thursday morning, we were on the way to the airport.  It was 19 degrees when we left Milwaukee and a pleasant 75 when we landed in Orlando!

Time to conquer the Dark Side

 One of the best choices we made for this trip was booking the Disney Magical Express to take care of our transportation.  We really wouldn't realize how much of a benefit this was until later in the weekend, but I'll get to that later!  Without having to worry about collecting luggage at baggage claim, we headed straight for the Disney Welcome center, checked in and were on a bus withing 15 minutes of when we got off the plane!  A short ride later and we were at out resort!  Again we didn't have to worry about collecting luggage and were able to just head inside to check in!

runDisney time!

After dumping our carry-on bags in our room, we headed for the expo.  One of the awesome things that Disney does for race weekend is provide race specific busing.  On Thursday, since anyone that was already on property was heading to the expo, there was a bus that just went from the resorts to ESPN Wide World of Sports.  There were only 2 resorts assigned to our bus so it was a short ride!

One of the advantages of arriving about an hour after the expo and packet pick up opened, the lines were short!  We had all of our packets picked up in less than 15 minutes - 5k for John and Darrin, then the 5k and Dark Side Challenge for me.  Disney always does a great job of having a well organized packet pickup with plenty of friendly volunteers to answer any questions.  With how many people I know will be running these events this weekend, I am glad we were able to get here before everything got really busy.

With all of our packets picked up, and I collected my wrist bands to verify medals that I was eligible to earn once I finished all my races for the weekend.  I felt like I was checking into the hospital for major surgery with the 2 race wrist bands, plus my magic band (room key, park passes, everything all in one) on one wrist and my running watch and JayBird on the other!

Then it was on to the expo!  Shopping time!  Since I really didn't have a ton of time to explore the expo when I was in California for the Star Wars Half in January, I was excited to have time to really see what was here!  I found a few new flavors of my Gluten Free Stinger waffles that I love, so I had to get a few to try!  Luck was on my side too - one of the vendors had calf sleeves on sale for a decent price, so I was able to pick up another pair (since I forgot mine at home!).  A few shirts later, it was time to find some lunch!

Unfortunately lunch was NOT up to Disney standards!  We opted to stop at the ESPN Grill right outside the expo.  After ordering, we grabbed a table outside, in the shade to enjoy the Florida weather.  about a half out later, we still didn't have our food, so Darrin went to get a soda refill and check on where our food was.  Someone came over to check on what we had, told us that they were having a computer issue and took our receipt and headed to the kitchen.  Another half hour later, we STILL didn't have food.  We waited long enough.  But unfortunately, we couldn't just leave - we had already paid for our food!  We headed back inside to find someone to inquire about a refund so we could go find food elsewhere.  Of course they asked us for our receipt, which we did not have anymore as the last gal took it from us when she went to check on our order!  Apparently, their computer had crashed and orders were not matching up with table numbers and everything was a mess.  They were able to find our order, based on the number that they gave us for our order.  After talking to 2 more people we were informed that our food had just come up.  They offered to box it up for us AND refund us the full amount of our meal.  Although not ideal, but at least they did what they could to make it right.

With bag of food in hand, we headed out from ESPN to catch the bus back to our resort.  But not before we took a few more pictures outside the entrance to ESPN!  The whole family was running the 5k on Friday and I would also be taking on the Dark Side Challenge - the 10k on Saturday and Half Marathon on Sunday!

 When we got back to our room, we magically had luggage!  Everything made it, in one piece!  Gotta love it when a good plan comes together! We officially could start the adventure and have clothes to change into!  The rest of the day, we explored out resort a bit, relaxed and then headed to bed early.  Alarms were going off at 3:30am so that we could get ready to catch buses by shortly after 4 to make it to the start line on time!

5am is early, no matter which way you look at it, but we were hanging gout with a few thousand other people at the start line of the inaugural Dark Side 5k!  I will have to say that the start line area was well organized, there were ample volunteers around to make sure you made it from the buses to the start line,  and plenty of Disney Photographers were on hand to take any pictures that you wanted!  There were also about 6 Star Wars Characters at the start line area, around the stage, for photo opportunities!  Since I was in an earlier corral for the race, I left John and Darrin at the stage area to head to my corral to stretch out and get ready for the race.  They used this time to get a few photos before the race!

I opted to wait until I hit the course to take any pictures, and even tho this was the Dark Side 5k, the only photo op I stopped for...   Chewbacca!  This was the one day that I decided I was only going to make the one stop, and was going to try and push my time a little.  I felt good, the temperatures were mild and I was ready to run.  I did stop along the way to snap a few pictures along the way, but nothing too exciting!

In the end, I finished this 5k in my normal a few minutes of my average 5k time (with the exception of the 10 minutes that I waited for my picture with Chewie).  I was actually excited to know that I pushed myself enough that it was still dark out when I finished!  I beat the sun!

Since I knew that John and Darrin were just walking the 5k, I had some time to spare.  So I used this time to get a few other pictures at the stage area.  The lines seemed long, but in reality, they did move fairly quickly.  I managed to get a few different picture before heading back over to the finish line to watch them come in. 

When I say them come around the corner, I tried to get a video of them actually running to the finish line, but apparently I couldn't' operate the camera on my phone and ended up just with a photo.  Oh well, you can tell from the picture tho, that they were actually running!

Proof of finish!  Medals and official finish line photos!

Race 1 for the weekend for me done!  After showers and breakfast, we spent the rest of Friday in the parks, wandering through Magic Kingdom (Where I met up with fellow Skirt Sports Ambassador Mary, who joined us for the morning!), then Hollywood Studios.  We actually had some issues with getting our Fast Passes to work with the Disney Experience app that morning at MK, so when we talked with the awesome young lady at the resort, she added a Fast Pass package onto our account to use at Hollywood Studios that afternoon!  We had 3 fast passes to use, any time, any ride that day!  We were able to hit 3 rides, literally no waiting in less than 2 hours in the park!

Once we used our passes, it was time for this Crazy Hamster to get some sleep!  I left the boys at the park and headed for the bus, and ultimately back to the resort so I could get some shut eye. While I headed back, they hit another show and then the Fireworks - which apparently were set to the opening theme from Star Wars!

Next part of the adventure was coming soon... and the alarm was going off at 3am! 

Stay tuned for Race Recap Part 2, coming soon!

Kickoff training run to a season on inspiration, motivation and who knows what else!

What do you get when you combine  2 days, a crew of crazy dedicated runners, a group of inspiring Captains and a crazy DJ?

You get the weekend to kick off the 2016 myTeam Triumph training season!

Captain Jenny was all smiles, despite the cold and snow!  Jenny, I am so glad that I finally got to meet you over the weekend!  Diane is right, you are amazing! Your positive attitude and motivation are infectious! I can't wait to follow along on your IronMan adventures this year!

Running with your early morning running partner from last summer and you new running coach/training is always an adventure!  Apparently, I wasn't running fast enough and needed to catch up!  

New running cadence or just dancing while we run?  Nope, that's what happens when you have Mobile Run DJ Christian following you along your run!

New business adventure for Christian!  Run DJ/karaoke service!  You run and he will provide the tunes as well as the singing.  But beware, he will pass off the "mic" at a moments notice!

Thanks for an awesome morning Jenny!  

Day 2 brings together 8 Captains and about 20 angels to run laps with them for the 1st ever CP Telethon relay fundraiser!  Captains and angels were paired up to run as many laps as possible in the allotted 2 hours.  The winning team was invited to join Christian for the check presentation, live on the air that afternoon!

There were competitive race, and tons of infectious smiles everywhere thru the morning!

Tammy and I were paired up with Captain Ben and had so much run running laps with Ben and his mom!  

myTeam Triumph's goals are so much more than race day.  These events are always so much fun.  Just us, enjoying time with the Captains, having fun, creating lasting bonds and memories.  

Over the last several years, I have been a volunteer, helped with several events and done what I could to support this amazing organization.  I am so glad that I decided to take that next step this year and actually RUN with them!  There is so much that I can learn from these Differently-Abled athletes!  They don't know how to say "I Can't"

They will inspire you, push you and you can't help but smiles with them!

Together, we can accomplish anything!

5th Annual Packers Training Camp 5k

This past weekend marked the 5th annual Packers Training camp 5k.  Since I have run this event every year since it started, it was one that I didn't hesitate to sign up for when registration opened.  This is one of 2 times during the year that I know I will get inside Lambeau Field (the other time is each spring with the Cellcom (Half) Marathon or 5k).  This is always a fun race to run and it brings out so many people - why not, when you can run through Lambeau Field.  There have also been times when several of the Packers players were spotted running the course.  A few years ago, I actually ran with Mark Murphy, Packers President and CEO, for a while, but he quickly left me in the dust!

Each year this event has been slightly different... the first few years, it was at 10am.  Now, normally, I don't mind the 10am start, but when you are talking the end of July, by 10am it was always too warm.  I can understand why they went with a slightly later start time - they were looking to make it a family event and a 7am start time is not practical when you are looking to get families together to come out and run/walk.  During the second year, I think it was 85 degrees by the time we finished!  Then they changed the run to the evening.  Last year, this was awesome!  It was unseasonably cooler than the year before - low 60's and cloudy!  It it was not for the bottleneck getting into the stadium, this would have been the first time I broke the 30 minute 5k time.  My official time last year was 30:08.

This year was a little different for my family!  This was the first time that the entire family was participating in the event!  I had a bunch of friends that I was going to be running with, John decided to sign up to walk and Darrin was going to be running with myTEAM TRIUMPH.

Darci, Kim, John and Myself before the start

This year they once again went with the 6:30pm start time and the weather was not as mild as last year.  As it turned out, Matt and I were signed up for wave 2 (7-9 min mile pace) and then Darci & Kim were in wave 3 (9-11 min mile pace), so we headed to our respective corrals while John and Molly headed to their corral with the rest of the walkers.  Darrin was already hanging with the rest of the crew from mTT.  He was running with Captain Tristan and fellow Angel Adrianne this year.  At the time the start gun went off, it was 87 degrees and virtually not a cloud in the sky!  This was going to be brutal.  There was no way that I was going to attempt a 5k PR in these conditions.  Our goal for tonight - not to die!  Ok, and hopefully hit under 35 minutes.

Matt and I waiting at the start line

I would love to say that I had a fabulous race and that I was able to put the heat out of my mind and just run, but that was not the case.  Matt and I started out strong and made it through mile 1 in 9:30.  Unfortunately, that was the only mile that was under 10 minutes.  Shortly after the 1 mile marker, the course begins a long gradual uphill stretch.  I was determined to make it to the top of this hill before I had to walk, but the heat really started to get to me.  I had to stop to walk for a bit.  Thankfully this part of the hill was somewhat in the shade so that helped.  The entire second mile was a combination of walking and running, just trying to survive and not over heat.

The anxious crowd awaiting the start of the race

As we came around one of the last corners, and the stadium was back in front of us, I felt like I was running on near empty.  Matt was my godsend in this race.  He slowed and walked when I had to but yet pushed me to keep going.  He was determined to get me to the finish line, and I am truly grateful for that!  Just before we reached the parking lot back to the stadium, we passed the second water station.  Since I had my Nuun with my in my water bottles, I was ok yet on hydration that way, so I grabbed 2 cups of water and poured them over my head to try and cool of.

Feeling a little more refreshed, it was time for the motivation run through the tunnel and around the field in Lambeau Field.  I pushed that last mile for everything it was worth.  As we ran through the tunnel on the final approach to the parking lot - and the finish line, Matt turned and said "there's the finish - time to kick it in and finish strong"  Normally I would do just that, but today, there was nothing left in the tank.  I pushed with what I had left and we did finish side by side.

Matt and I crossing the turf at the finish line!

I honestly didn't even see the clock as we crossed the finish line.  I had one thing on my mind... I needed to find water and needed to cool off.  Around the corner from the finish, they were handing out medals!  I honestly had forgotten that they were giving out medals this year!  5 year anniversary of the event = medals for all finishers!  OK, that works for me... but I still need water!

Finally I got to the water and kept walking.  After a few minutes of standing in the shade of the food tent I could feel that I was finally cooling off a bit - plus I had dumped half my water on me, instead of drinking it.  That was by far one of the most brutal, warm runs that I have ever done... but I finished!

We may be warm, but we ROCKED that!

We slowly found everyone else in our party - Kim and Darci finished just a few minutes later.  Thankfully by the time we finished, the temps had started dropping so it was not as hot and sticky anymore.  Kim was extremely proud of her first official race medal - smile away Kim - you earned that one! My official time came in at 32:04 - much better than I thought it would have been with how I was feeling out of the course!  All in all, we all agreed that we were happy that we were done, we were happy with what we did and we all needed showers!

Darrin, Adrianne and Captain Tristan!

This race was definitely a challenge but we all kept each other going and got through to the finish!  I am very proud of all of us for encouraging each other to keep going, helping push each other to do our best and celebrate our success at the end!  You guys all rock (and this includes you Jeff for getting the awesome finish line photos!)  I am proud to call each of you my friends and family! Together we can accomplish anything!

What kind of extreme's have you dealt with during your outdoor fitness activities that have pushed you to your limits?  How did you deal with it?  Did it change anything about the way you train?

Bellin Run 10k 2014 recap

Last weekend was the running of the 38th annual Bellin Run 10k.  This race is a favorite for local runners as well as runners from across the country and around the world!  This year, 18,213 runners laced up their shoes and hit the streets on the East side of Green Bay.    It is actually one of the largest 10k races in the nation.

This year, when registration first opened, it debating if I was going to run it this year.  Don't get me wrong, being able to run a race of this size and be able to sleep in my own bed the night before is a huge plus!  The excitement and energy on the street is amazing. However the size of this event also has some drawbacks.  Parking in the area of the start/finish line is mostly limited to street parking through the surrounding neighborhoods.  Don't get me wrong, the crew that puts together this even handles this very well, providing shuttles from select area in the city, giving people the opportunity to get downtown without having to actually drive!  The fact that there are so many people also makes it difficult to run the course without feeling like you are continuously running around people.  18,000+ people all in the same 6 miles of city street gets a little interesting, but at the same point, adds to the excitement of the morning.

Since I actually earned a free registration for this years race for completing 5 or 6 races in last years Titletown race series, it really was a no brainer... why go somewhere else and PAY to run (plus travel costs) when I could run at home for FREE!

Truimph Mile 2014!

The weekend started off on Friday night with the 2nd annual Truimph Mile with myTEAM TRIUMPH.  This is an event that I missed last year but heard many good things about.  My son and I have become more involved with this organization over the last year and were not going to miss this awesome event!  This amazing event gives individuals with disabilities, that would otherwise hinder or prevent them from taking part in an athletic event the opportunity to  complete a 1-mile course (2 laps) around Astor Park.  After we picked up everyone's race packets for the big race on Saturday, Darrin and I met up with our good friend Vicky and hundreds of mTT Captains and Angels to complete this 1 miles walk/run.  I would have to say that this was one of the most amazing hours of my life!  Walking these disabled athletes, who were determined to get out there and go was very humbling.  Many of us take our ability to run for granted.  These individuals do not have that opportunity - except for now!  Darrin stayed with Vicky for 2/3 of the first half mile loop and then took of running with another Captain/Angel team.  Vicky and I spent the rest of that loop and the entire next loop trying to keep up to and even catch other excited Captains!   The smiles and pure enjoyment on the faces of these athletes made this one of the best birthday presents I could have asked for!  Yes, this amazing event was on my birthday and I was so glad to be able to have the best birthday party ever - Running with this amazing, inspiring group!

Darrin getting ready to run with Team Jonny

 After a good nights sleep, it was up bright and early to get everyone downtown!  Darrin was running with myTEAM TRIUMPH and needed to be downtown by 6:15,  My husband and our good friend (and my running partner's wife) Molly were working one of the water stations and needed to be downtown by 6:30.  This meant that I needed to be downtown by 6am also (for an 8am race).  The good thing about having to be downtown that early?  Plenty of parking is available!  We were able to get a parking spot just 2 blocks from the start line area!

Darrin and I both had goals for this years event.
 Mine - to finish in under and hour (last year's time = 1:06:59)  Darrin's goal - to cross the finish line before me.  Note:  he said cross the finish line before me, not beat my race time!  Since he was running with mTT, he would have about a 20 minute head start on me!  He just wanted to say that he crossed the finish line before me.  (FYI, my estimate was that I would pass his at about mile 5, but also thought it would have been cool if we actually crossed the finish line together!)

Matt, Gina and myself, pre-race!  Let's do this!!

It was time to get ready!  Over the next few hours, I met up with a few friends, tried to relax, get some stretching in and get myself ready to go, including clipping in my black Rockstar flower.  Then it was time to head towards the start corrals.  I do have to say that this race is very well organized in terms of the start corrals.  When you register, they ask you your estimated race pace and put you in corrals based on that.  Granted we know that many people register in for a faster corral that they actually run, but for the most part, everything runs very smoothly.  Matt met up with Darci and I near the entrance for wave 4.  We were actually registered for corral 3, but opted to drop back to Corral 4 to start the race with Gina.  Gina actually runs a faster pace than us, but registered in the slower corral.  Our mission... to use Gina's faster pace to push us to finish within the one hour goal that we set for ourselves.

Considering the number of people that run this event, I will have to say that the start of this race is very organized.  Granted it does take a while to get everyone started, but with over 18,000 runners, that is expected.  When we crossed the start line, the race clock said 0:16:xx, which meant that Darrin started about 20 minutes ago... the race was on!

I went into this race optimistic that I could hit my 60 minute goal that I set for myself.  The first 2 miles of the course are a gradual uphill, so that is always a struggle for me.  I started out ok, running the 2 miles with 10:04 and 10:25 splits.  I however, gave up on trying to keep up with Matt and Gina.  Their pace was just beyond what I was going to be able to do today (we lost Darci shortly after we started as she took off in front of us!).  I made up some time after I passed the 2 mile marker and headed down the LONG downhill stretch along Greene Ave.  Even with having to stop and tie my shoe, I still hit a 10:11 split.  Unfortunately, the second half of my race was not as positive.  This had turned into a mental race for me.  I needed to keep me head in the game and run MY race... not the race that everyone else was running.  Yes, I would have loved to keep pace with Matt and Gina, but considering my IT band issues from this past spring, I had to remind myself that I was NOT at that point in my training.  I needed to run this for me.

Darci and I, ready to be awesome!

Right around the 4 mile marker I caught up to Matt, who had been dealing with a nasty cold for the last 2 weeks. I walked with him for a bit, making sure he was ok before he shoo'ed me off to continue my run.  Once I knew he was ok, I continued on my mission.  Once I reached the top of the next hill, I came to the water station that John and Molly were working.  It was really awesome to see familiar faces out on the course today!  Of course, John dumped a cup of water on my head as i ran by but I was not going to complain - with how warm the sun was getting, the cold water felt great!  I had less than 2 miles to go.

I'm not going to kid you, the last 2 miles were tough.  The sun was getting warmer, there were not many clouds in the sky and I was mentally and physically feeling it.  The awesome thing about this race tho is that, from start to finish, there are people lining the street, cheering everyone on,  blasting music and breaking out the hoses and sprinkles!  This really helped me to get through those last few miles.

When I finally came around the corner, back onto Webster and saw the finish line in front of me, I gave it everything that I had left in me.  When I crossed the finish line, the clock said 1:21:xx  Knowing that it was already at 0:16:xx when I started, I knew I was well short of my 1 hour goal.  But I finished.

Official course time 1:06:12.  I beat last years time by 47 seconds.  I know that this is something positive, but in retrospect, I can't help but feel disappointed.  It was not my best race, but I also know that I have no one to blame but myself.  Over the last few weeks, life got in the way and I did not take the time that I need to get in some training runs.  Granted I got to the gym, plus did my exercised from my PT, but the miles were not there.  I also know that I did not properly fuel  myself pre-race (spent too much time catching up with friends pre-race and forgot to take my EnergyBits!) and by the time I crossed the finished line I was partially dehydrated (my own fault because I had water WITH me!).  All in all, I know I did the best that I could and can only learn from today - and I finished with ZERO knee pain!!!!!!   And this was WITHOUT wearing my ITband strap!  Thank you Lisa for helping me get back to where I am today!  I know I staill have work to do, but obviously we are moving in the right direction!

After I finished, I found Matt (he finished about a minute or so behind me!) and Gina so we could get a post race pic with the photographers and then it was time to find my munchkin!  Since I never saw (or past) Darrin out on the course, I had to assume that he killed is previous 10k PR.

Darrin and I post race (with photo bomb by Andy!)

Darrin met up with is just as we were heading back toward the park (in route towards the mTT tent).  He was glowing!  He and his team finished with a team of 1:22:56!  CRUSHING his previous 10k time by 18 minutes!!!!!!  He, and the rest of Team Jonny completely ROCKED the Bellin!  He figured that they ran their first mile in 9:30!!  Granted, after that mile, they did slow down a bit, but in the end, they pushed like they never have before (literally) and made it a day to remember!  I am so proud of him for what he has accomplished!  Over the last few months that he has been running with mTT I have seen him grow and mature so much!  Yes, some days it is hard for me to believe that is is the same kid that often times makes me want to pull out my hair and scream, but then days like this remind me that he is a strong caring individual that is full of life and potential... however,  he will always be my "Little Goobler"   Can't wait to see what they do at the Packers 5k in July!

All in all, it was an awesome day.  I may have not run the race that I wanted, but I am using it as a learning experience!  Have you had those "off" races?  What did you learn from those days?

Next up?  for BIG events - Cliffrunner 10k at High Cliff State Park in July... in the meantime, lets hit a glow run and a few 5k's to keep us entertained!

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!