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!

Where is this summer going??

They say that time flies when you are having fun... this has been so true for this summer!

It seems like it was just a few weeks ago that I was putting in some freezing cold miles in the bitter cold of the "brisk" winter we had here in Wisconsin.  Now we are halfway through July, summer vacation is half over and we are already starting to think about fall and back to school.

I figured this was a good time to look back on some of the goals that I set for this year, things I wanted to do and see where I stand with those goals now.

1.  750in2014 - After running/walking 319.95 miles in 2013, I decided that I needed to raise the bar!  My goal is to hit 750 miles in 2014 (between running, walking and biking combined).  I know that there were a few more miles that I walked in 2013 that I did not log, but it was no where near another 400+ miles.  In order to hit 750 miles this year, I was going to need to log about 62 miles per month.  At the end of June, I was at 318 miles... quite a bit short of where I should be for the year.  I know that I have many more miles to come this year as I still have several Half Marathons in my future. Based on where I am now, I am going to need to kick into high gear and average 70 miles per month to hit my goal. Granted, I know that I can help these miles out my getting in some biking too (my bike has not been out on enough of the awesome country roads yet this year!) but these feet need to get moving!

2.  Run my first Full Marathon - Cellcom 2014 was on my radar as the first full marathon I was going to run.  Unfortunately, as you all know, that didn't happen.  My IT Bands had other plans for me.  I ended up having to back off my training miles and take a look getting myself back on track.  I ended up with an awesome Physical Therapist who not only got me back on track with no knee pain but also made sure that I started getting in the proper strength exercises to make sure that I didn't have to go back and see her again next year!  She officially broke off our relationship just after the 4th of July holiday.  She told me that she hopes that only time she sees me again is at a race!  I know that a Full Marathon is not going to happen this year, but I am not giving up this one.  We will table this one until a later date... I am not giving up on it, just postponing it until I know that my body is ready for the challenge.

3. Run a sub 2:15 half marathon.  Considering I have only run 1 Half this year and it was partway through my IT band rehab and I hit 2:33, I am calling this one a work still in progress.  If I was within 5 minutes of my Half PR while dealing with my IT band issues, I am not giving up on this one!  I still have several more Half Marathons in 2014 so I can guarantee that I am still working on this one!

(New goals since the beginning of 2014)
4.  Qualify for Half Fanatics (http://www.halffanatics.com/)  I recently discovered this group online and have realized that running these half marathons has gotten into my blood.  There are other people out there just as crazy as me - or even crazier!  So why not join the asylum and have some fun with it!  If I work it out that I am able to run the Marquette Half Marathon Labor Day weekend, I can qualify for the Saturn level - 4 half marathons in 37 days!

5.  Try things that I have never done before - time to step out of the comfort zone!  This of course is an one going adventure.  I started out the year running in some of the coldest conditions ever!  In years past, if the weather was too cold, I either skipped my run or hit the treadmill.  After doing way too many miles on the treadmill, it was time to suck it up and get outside!  With a few changes to my running gear, I ran through the coldest winter I think I have ever lived through, outside and survived!

I also had the chance to actually do some running/hiking in the beautiful Phoenix area this past spring!  Those amazing views could really convince me to move out there!

This weekend will mark my first 10k trail run.  Last year I ran the Bairds Creek trail 5k here in Green Bay. It is time to embark on a 10k extreme trail run, single track... we will get dirty and may even have to use our hands to climb through part of the course!  It will be a true adventure!

2014 may be half over already, but the adventure is no where close to being over! I have made some awesome new friends, found many more new challenges to consider and have some incredible adventures planned! With several more races left, miles to run, family and friends to enjoy time with, the second half of 2014 can only be better than the first half!

I know that I have a few race recaps to catch up on and other updates that I would like to get out here, but until then...

How are you doing on your goals for 2014?  If you are not on track to achieve them, what can you change now to ensure that you will be successful?

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!

Super Saturday turned into Wicked Awesome Weekend

After yesterday crazy morning, you would think that I would call it a weekend and relax...

Nope.

At 3pm yesterday, my equally crazy running partner Matt and I decided to register for the Aurora BayCare 10k that was being run in conjunction with the Triathalon.  John also decided to join us and walk to the 5k!  Yes, I have officially crossed the line to crazy!

We were up and at the park by 6:15am, waiting for the Triathalon to start (and a wave a rain to come through) and were off and running again!  I was fueled up (Energybits were my friend this weekend!)

After my crazy day yesterday, I was not running this for time.  It was just to get my miles in.  Matt had taken the last week and a half off from running so he was going for a slower pace too. By about mile 2 we decided that we just wanted to hit a consistent time/pace (of 11:30) today.

Matt and I just after we crossed the finish line

Thankfully the rain had stopped before we started and held off for the entire race, but by about mile 3 it started to get a little muggy.  Not going to complain though because last year when we ran this race, it was only 40 degrees!

In the end, we did exactly what we set out to do.  We finished with a 11:27 pace (mile 3 was over 12 minutes, but it was pretty much uphill!).  This was a great confidence booster for the Bellin 10k coming up in 2 weeks, especially when we both ended up finishing 1st in our age group (one of the joys of running a small local event!).  Perfect way to kick off birthday week for Matt too!!

No medals for this one, but 1st in age group makes up for it!

It was truly a wicked awesome weekend!  Yesterday was insane and I still managed to pull off a 10k today without having to walk any of it.  So far, the knee is feeling good and I and ready to go! 

Now time to go find food and refuel this body!

... and then probably take a nap!

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

What a morning!

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

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

In the stadium, before the run

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

 Feet don't fail me now!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

Post workout fuel! 

Calf sleeves and flip flops!  Score!

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

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

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

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