Inside the head of a Runner!

Last Saturday marked my first half of 2015.  The Dick Lytie Spring Classic.

I have been looking forward to this run since last year, but up until I started running the course, I was not sure how it was going to go.  I actually didn't even sign up to run it until Monday!  After the 10 Mile St Pats run, I knew that I could cover the miles, so it was time for redemption!  Why Redemption?  Last year I was signed up to run the half, but after starting my PT for my uncooperative IT band, I was told by my physical therapist that I was NOT running the Half.  She did give me permission to run the 5k tho.  The Half was going to have to wait.

Asha and I pre-race - her first 15k race

 Now, these hills were mine!

Now, any of you that have been following my blog over the last few years know my usual recap posts... this one is going to be different.  Why?  Because this race was one of a kind for me and I had to do something different.   After chatting with a few friends the other night about everything that goes through our head when we are running, I knew what I wanted to do.

34 degrees and still some snow on the ground!

 Welcome to the random thoughts, arguments, and conversations that accompanied me on the 1st Half Marathon of 2015

So.... My half on Saturday went something like this (at least in my head):


~On way to start line:  Ugh, maybe I should have opted for the tights.  I might freeze with my capri's on.  Oh well, too late, time to suck it up and just deal. Maybe being cold will help me run faster.  I wonder how many of these people are actually running the Half?  I have a feeling it's going to be pretty quiet once we make the split for the 15k/Half Marathon.

Adrianne and I, Pre-race smiles

~ At start line:  At least the sun is out.  I can pretend it's warmer than 34 degrees.

~ Gun goes off:  CRAP!  My headphones didn't charge (darn bluetooth) and they won't even power on!  This sucks.  Guess we are running naked today.  No music, no pace information in my ear each mile.  I've done it before, guess I have to do it again.  I'm not going to like this!

~ First few miles through campus: Why am I doing this?  I'm getting passed by everyone.  I really wish I had my music.

My ears are cold.  Maybe I should have worn the other, warmer headband that covered my ears better.  I don't like this wind.

Why am I doing this again?  I could just cut the course short and just do the 15k... No one would know but me.  No, I can't cut it short.  I'm not afraid of those hills.  We spent time last week running them.

Approaching the first hill - bewares, its a long one!

~First Hill (approx 2 miles):  THIS SUCKS!  And  this in only the 1st of 3 hills that I have to go up.  I don't want to walk up this hill, but I don't want to kill myself before I even get to the halfway point.
(Brain) Ok, I'll just walk part way up... (Feet) like hell you are walking part way up...

And we run...

Ok, that was 1 hill.  2 more to go.  Hey, that's a cool looking house!  Maybe someday when I grow up, I'll have a cool house like that, but that would also mean more house to clean.  Maybe I'll stick with the one I have now.

WooHoo!  Time to go down a hill!  Ouch this is a steep hill!  I hope I don't fall on my nose running down it!

This is a cute little subdivision that we get to run through.

That level course was too good to last, time to head back UP again.  Now this hill looks steeper today than when I drove it last week. I hope I can even walk up it - I suppose I could crawl if needed.  Gotta walk this one... ok ,maybe bear crawl!  I will not stop!  How they heck to people run this course in under an hour and a half!?!?!  are they insane?

Mile 4 (approx):  UGH!  forgot to turn off bluetooth on phone since not using headphones.  Better turn if off.  Wow!  I'm at under an 11 min/mile pace.  Guess this running with no music isn't as bad as I thought.    I'm too warm, better take the jacket off, but I don't want to throw it somewhere... I might need it again. (tying jacket around waist and moving on)

 Hey, there's the turn off for the 15k to head back towards campus... oops, I forgot to turn...  guess I am running the entire 13 miles.  cold again... time to put he jacket back on.

Mile 6 - Hey I might be able to catch Michelle and Diane, they really are not THAT far in front of me!

I'm Hungry.  Sport Beans or Stinger Waffle?  Either way I'm going to have to keep hydrating.  I think I want the waffle.

The long approach to the last big hill

~Mile 7: water stop!  Man, that little guy helping at this station is too cute!  Love the fact that he is giving everyone high five's as they come through!

Mile 8 - ok, Michelle and Diane just ahead of me.... I must keep moving!  Am I really going to try and catch them on this hill?

OMG! I can't be she was that far off course!  How in the world did she miss that that turn back by the church?  I hope she makes it!  (FYI - she had the best attitude ever - "guess it's a few extra miles today")

I can't believe how good I'm still feeling and now that I climbed all 3 hills, the rest of this is pretty much downhill!

"Hey Diane!  Catching you guys is NOT an easy task!"

Hmmm...have not looked at phone lately.  Wonder where my pace is now?  No time to look!  Must keep running!  (Diane did tell me approx what my pace at that point)

Wow! Those guys up there are walking... I wonder if I can pass them before I get to the end?

(10 minutes later)

Ok, passed them before I got back to campus... it's all downhill from here!!

1st hill we went up... now time to go down!

It is really peacful running through time, but I am ready to be done!

Ok, I can hear the finish line but it really blows that I can't see it!  Legs are dying, want to be done.

Finish line!  I LOVE YOU

Post race - smiles still there!

10 minutes post finish: calves screaming at me!  I want to curl up in a ball and sleep for a week... once I get my calves to loosen back up!  Oh, breakfast?!?  lets go!  I'm hungry!

Gyro stuffed hash browns with scrambled eggs

Offical Time: 2:27:30!  Missed my half PR by less than a minute!  Overall it was an awesome morning!  Can't wait to run Indy in May!

SO, what runs through your head when you are out there?

I dare you to share!

Happy St Patrick's Day (a little early I guess!)

Tis the time of year for green beer and leprechauns!

That means it is back to Tanners in Kimberly for the St. Pat's Run!  2 years ago, my running partner Matt and I did this run in single digit temperatures and last year we missed it as we were all in Arizona for spring training and ran the Kiss Me I'm Irish 5k/17k in Phoenix.  This year it was back to WI temperatures but apparently mother nature decided to make a deal with us.  Although it may not have been the mid 60's we ran in last year, it was not the freezing cold from 2 years ago!  mid 40's was perfect in my book!

I actually did not sign up for this race until yesterday morning.  I think this was the first time that I ever signed up at the last minute for a race!  I had 8 miles on the training calendar anyway so I decided to go with Matt and make it a 10 mile morning.  What was I thinking?!?!  This was going to be my first run of more than 6.4 miles since September of last year!  But I also was going to use this run to see where I really am with training, to determine which distance I would tackle for the Dick Lytie Spring Classic at the end of the month.

I will be honest, this morning when I woke up, I was not feeling it!  For some reason I was more anxious/nervous about this run than I have been for any, that I can remember, in a long time.  Why, not really sure.  I was hitting the course today with my long time running partner that I have not actually been able to run with since last summer, the weather was awesome and the sun was shining.  I had a feeling it was going to be a very mentally challenging race for me today, as well as physical.

For this run, the 10 mile course runs with the 5k up until almost the 3 mile marker and then splits and heads out to the CE Trail.  My biggest obstacle on courses like this is that I automatically find myself trying to keep pace with the 5k racers... and end up going to fast at first, and then end up running out of fuel in the tank too soon. I fell into a comfortable but faster than normal past over these few miles, but I knew that was going to happen.  Running with the 5k runners, as well as trying to keep up with Matt's long legs does that to me every time!   I figure if I hit those miles a little faster and have to slow down a little, I can still maintain and overall nigher average pace in the end!  When we hit the 5k/10 mile split, I had just averaged a 10:35 pace.  Very respectable in my book, knowing that I had another 7 miles to go.

 Matt ended up a little further ahead of me in those first few miles, but Now that the crowd had thinned out significantly, Matt slowed up just enough so that I could catch up.  We were ready for the second part of this adventure and we were able to fall into pace with each other. I knew that I was still keeping roughly the same pace, but was not sure how long that was going to happen.

This course runs along the trail in a very quiet area of town.  Even though it follows along one of the major highways through town, it's still fairly peaceful  to run.  One of the things that we forgot about tho was now many hills we had to go up and down along the trail!  At each point that the cross streets ran under the highway, we had to go down the hill to be able to cross the road... which meant that we had to go back uphill once we crossed the street!  I looked at those hills as an opportunity to push myself!  There was not going to be any walking up these hills today!  I hit each one with a purpose and didn't slow down until I reached the top.

I also made a point never to think of this race as how many more miles I had left to run.  I tackled each mile as I came to it, only worrying about the 1 that I was running.  Once we got to the point where we headed off the trail and into a residential area (around mile 6) I could feel the miles getting tougher.  I, however, was not going to let that stop me.  I was still keeping a sub 11min/mile pace!  In fact at that point, by slowest mile was 10:49!  Just as I started to feel myself slowing down, I passed 2 friends along the course.  They were coming back out of the residential area, heading back onto the trail.  Just seeing them and hearing their encouragement, gave me that extra boost to keep pushing along.

Matt and I curved our way through the residential area and before long were back out of the trail.  This also mean that we were down to just over 2 miles to go!  The nice part of the return trip on the trail is that it is slightly more downhill than up.  No, it's not all downhill but it seemed like the up hills were longer on the way out.  Then again, maybe it was just the mental game we were playing to keep ourselves going!

It was also at about this point that I could really start to feel it in my legs.  They felt like they had lead weights on them!  Legs don't fail me now!   In the end, our pace in those last few miles did slow a little but in the end our slowest mile was still at a 11:06 pace.

We crossed the finish line with a time of 1:46:48!  Average pace: 10:41!  This ended up being my fastest average pace for any race over 6 miles!  I never thought I would have been able to keep up that pace for that many miles, but we did it!

In the end, I am so glad that my husband and Matt helped to convince me to just go and do this race!  Mentally, I needed it!  Plus it was awesome to get back out and run with Matt again.  Running with him challenges me on so many levels!  He has been able to keep up on his miles over the last few months, where as I have had trouble getting the miles in.  Keeping up with his long legs is the other.  Have you ever tried running, and keeping up with someone that is nearly a foot taller than you?  Try it sometimes!  It will definitely push you to run faster, just to keep up!

What's next?  Well, 1st,  after this race, I decided that I am going to sign up for the Dick Lytie Half Marathon in 2 weeks (EEK!) and I will not let those hills scare me.  2nd - I can't wait to run Indy in May with Matt.  Our Goal for Indy 500 Mini Marathon?  Finish in under 2:30:00!! (I've only done that once before!)

Here's to the start of an awesome 2015 and all the miles to come!

What's your current goal for the year and when will you accomplish it?

Pi Day of the Century!

Pi Day of the century was upon us!  For all the math geeks out there, rejoice! 3/14/15 is here!

In honor of the fun day, the kids of Leonardo da Vinci school for Gifted Learners here in Green Bay put in hours upon hours of work and planning to create and execute the 1st annual Green Bay area Pi Day fun run!  They planned everything form the theme, raffle prizes, race route and everything in between!

To keep with the Pi theme, the race was officially set to start at the exact Pi moment! 3/14/15 at 9:26am - and yes we started on time!

Lisa decided to meet John and I for this fun morning too!  Granted none of us would actually be hitting the course together it is always fun to have good friends around!

The weather was perfect! Then again, any time that I can wear capri's and a long sleeve t-shirt in March and be outside, I'm not going to complain!  Granted, there was a chilly wind that kept pestering us, but I was not going to let that bother me!  As always, I seem to start out fast and then I end up slowing down so that I can get to the end.  When I hit the 1 mile marker I was pleasantly surprised that I was a 9:17 pace and still felt strong.  I was determined to make the most of the day and keep this pace as long as I could.

Start/Finish line was even built by the kids that planned the event (yes with help from some parents and teachers).  It was really awesome to see all of the thought that they put into this fun community event.  For a 1st time race in the area, they had over 750 people sign up!

Highlight of the course?  That's debatable!  Part of me wants to say the fact that there was virtually no snow in the park when we ran though.  However I also have to say that running past Joanne's Baseball stadium and knowing that summer baseball starts in just over 2 months makes me happy!  Summer evenings at the ballpark with some awesome friends, is always something good to look forward to!  So yes, spring is in the air and I am so ready for warmer weather to be back to stay for a few months!  Once I passed the ballpark, I felt like I had renewed energy!  When I hit the 2 mile marker, I was still pushing a 9:30 pace.  Time to kick in anything else that was left in the tank!

Running into other Fellow Flowers along the way is always fun!  I originally met Kerri when we were running the 1st leg of the Fall 50 last October and have been running into each other at events ever since!  The encouragement from other Flowers wherever we happen to meet is always amazing!

In the end, John, Lisa and myself were all pleased with our "unofficial" times for this fun run.  Any 5k that I can hit under 30 minutes, it's a good day in my book.   Over all it was a super morning, spent with family and friends!  I can't wait to see what these kids to next year for the 2nd annual fun run!!

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?

Beat the Hill 2015

2014 is officially behind us. Today is the start of a new year, new adventures, new challenges and goals and so much more.

A friend of mine recently challenged us to figure out what out our "theme" for the year was going to be. What was going to drive us to make it the best year ever.

I started thinking about this and nothing really jumped out at me...

until I went to the gym yesterday.  

I grabbed one of the new headbands that another friend of mine gave me for Christmas and it was clear!

When I first saw this headband, I thought of all the hill training miles ahead of me...  I hate running hills, but know that they are a important piece of the process.  

But there is more to this...

The Hill may is not just the physical hill in front of you!  The Hill can be any challenge in front of you.  That daunting project at work, a difficult decision to make, your health, or even that day's workout.  Anything that you need to get through can be considered a hill in your lift!  These are all Hills that we need to face daily and we need to 

I am determined to beat the hills in front of me this year.  I know that I have set some crazy goals for my self (half marathon training and fitness goals), I have some continued challenges at work and so much more.  I am determined to face each of these challenges and make the best of it. 

This does not mean that you are going to conquer each hill right away.  Some hills might take several tried to get over.  You might get part way up and face setbacks.  These are not always failures, they are additional learning opportunities to make yourself better.  Learn from them, embrace them and keep going.   Don't forget, sometimes, when you get to what you thought was the top of a hill, you may find that the hill continues to climb.  Keep pushing on and you will make it to the top!

So, Kim, you may have had other reasons for giving me this headband, but in the end you gave me the key to my mission for 2015!  Thank you for being a continued inspiration in this crazy world we live it!  I can't wait to see what we can accomplish in 2015!

What will you do to beat the hills in front of you?

Face your Hills, learn from them and enjoy the climb!

Make 2015 a great year!

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?

Race Recap: Door County Fall 50 2014

What do you get when you cross 5 crazy runners, 3 bunches of banana's, 2 dozen hard boiled eggs plus a cooler full of other food and water, 1 fueled up support vehicle, 50 miles of beautiful fall countryside and perfect weather?

You get the Door County Fall 50!  A 50 mile race from the northern tip of Door County, starting at Gills Rock, meandering down quiet tree covered roads, through several charming small towns, up and down crazy hills.

That is exactly what we did last weekend!  Darci, Robin and I were this time joined by Dena and Darin to enjoy the fall beauty of Door County.

Start line of the Door County Fall 50 - Gills Rock 

Way back in February, Dena put out a shout out to all of us at the gym to see if anyone was interested in tackling this race.  It didn't take long for us to get a team together!  The day that registration opened, Dena got right on getting us registered, and it was a good thing that she did!  The relay portion of this race sold out in less than an hour!

 We left Green Bay well before the sun was even thinking about coming up and started this crazy adventure!  This is one of those events that you never know what you are going to get for weather... Late October in Door County could bring any thing from sunshine, rain, snow, clouds, wind... you name it, it could happen!  This year we were extremely lucky!  Although it was a little chilly in the morning, the entire day was filled with sunshine!  The wind off the lake was a bit chilly at times, but I will take that over snow or rain any day!

 Our team was started with the 9am wave and had an estimated finish time of 4:49pm - just under 8 hours.  We were on a mission.  We arrived in Gills Rock just before the 8 am wave of relay runners was taking off, so we had plenty of time to get ready. I was running the first leg so it was pre race fueling, and making final decisions on what I was going to actual wear for this first run of the day.  The crisp morning air was refreshing and I opted to stick with the capri's and left my jacket on.   Once we got started, I realized quickly keeping my jacket was a wise choice - the breeze off the lake was cold!  But you won't hear me complain - I'd rather have a cold breeze that 90 degree heat!

Before long I realized the 1st exchange point was right around the corner!  That 4.8 miles of rolling hills was done before I knew it!  The rest of the crew was ready and waiting at the exchange point and Robin was off and running!

We spent the next 8 hours going from one exchange point to the next, taking turns running the hills and winding roads of Door County!  There was nothing easy about this course.  If you were not going up hill, chances are you were going downhill.

Darin taking off in Sister Bay

 The exchange points were always filled with excitement.  Teams cheering each other on, strangers encouraging one another, crazy costumes and food (did someone say chocolate chip cookies?!?!?)  Since all of the solo runners started at 7am, they had a few hour headstart on us.  Yes there were about 150 brave souls that were running the entire 50 mile course solo!  I have the utmost respect for anyone that even attempts to run 50 miles in one day!  I was looking forward to seeing several friends on mine out on the course today, but that was going to have to wait until later!

One of the best parts of this race it checking out all of the other team names and costumes!  Through the day we saw chickens, the Flinstones, Super Mario Brothers, the Crew from the Wizard of Oz and more!  There was a group of ladies (2 teams) that were dressed as Chickens and we were chasing those chickens all day long!  At one point, we finally passed one of the chicken teams but that other team was just to quick!  If we had another half mile, Dena might have caught them at the end!

Scenery driving through Ephraim

If inspiration is what drives you, there is no shortage of that during this event!  It was very humbling to see those solo runners giving it everything to make it through those miles!  Think you are too old to do an event like this?  Never!  we passed several 60+ runners and at least one that 70+ runner!  These guys were not going to let a little thing like age slow them down!

There were also a few teams from myTEAM TRIUMPH out of the course!  Running a 50 mile race is one thing, but running it while pushing a Captain in a race stroller take dedication to a whole new level!  Matt and Andy guided Captain Joe through his 50 miles and if you can see from the below photo that there was no shortage of smiles coming out of Egg Harbor!  The other mTT team (Team Top Gun) consisted of a small army of angels (or in this case co-pilots) to carry Captain Jacob (ie Maverick) through his journey - all the way, wearing their flight suits!

Awesome work guys!

In the end we gave it everything that we had, we pushed ourselves up those hills, enjoyed the amazing fall colors of door county, shared some great laughs, ate A LOT (I hear those PB&J's were pretty awesome at the half way point!).  We could not have asked for better weather - yes the wind was a bit cold at times, but I won't complain - there was no snow!  It was another awesome day outside of the gym!

Official Time 8 Hours 1 Minute and a few seconds!  Next year, we WILL make it in under 8 hours!

What did you do this week to get outside?  Grab your friends and get outside - I know we enjoy it every time we do!

Thanks Team Renegade Runners for another awesome day!!