Flying Pigs Duathlon--Washington, Iowa

A couple months ago I saw this race advertized at our local 'Running Wild' store and thought, "How great it would be to be in a team race where Jason doesn't have to run since he doesn't like to run."

Details of the race were these: 1 person runs a 5K (3.1 miles), then the next person bikes 20 miles, then the last person runs 1.5 miles. Originally I was going to run the 5k and Brenden would run the last 1.5 miles. However when practicing for this race Brenden had a faster 5K time than me, so we all decided it would be best if he ran the first part instead of me. We decided to name our team "Go Meat" and we registered. Today was the race. Our team number was 915. The last person on the team wears the actual number and the other two wear big number stickers. Here is Jason and Brenden showing off their numbers.

Brenden at the start line. He was freezing because it was starting to lightly rain and it was only 59 degrees.

23 minutes and 33 seconds later, here comes Brenden sprinting to the finish line. This was a personal best for Brenden. He usually runs his 3.1 miles in around 24 minutes. I was super impressed by his time.

When Brenden arrived at the finish, Jason started his bike race. It also started to rain more. After Jason had been gone about a half hour I heard someone say that the bike race was hard, it was downhill for the first 10 miles, then uphill on the 10 miles back. Jason did awesome,he finished his 20 miles in 57 minutes 30 seconds.

When Jason finished the biking portion of the race then I began my 1.5 mile race. I finished in 12 minutes 35 seconds, which is a personal best for me. This means I ran an 8.23 minute mile pace.


When I finished our final Team time was 1:33:37 We were happy with our time and felt we had done well.

Turns out we did Awesome!!! We placed 2nd out of the 8 teams. With the #1 team only beating us by 2 minutes and 26 seconds. We each received a medal and a $10 gift certificate to 'Running Wild'. First thing Brenden said was, "Great now I can buy running spikes!"

Update

Brenden had his first football game and he actually got to play, here are a couple pictures.

Scott and Alyssa playing around.












More news:

I haven't been able to donate plasma in a couple weeks because I failed a protein test (Spee test) you have to take this once every 4 months and if your protein is too low then you have to wait two weeks till you take it again. Usually we use this plasma money for fuel and extras so it's been tight.

My new contacts came in a month ago and the lab can't get them right. At first they were a completely wrong fit, then a new pair came in and the left one was made with a blur in the left contact where I had absolutely no vision in the left eye, so I'm waiting for a third pair.

We need tires badly for our car and I'm not sure where that money is going to come from. I was driving the other day and was sliding all over the road when it was raining, pretty scary, glad I didn't crash.

I was offered two more Zumba teaching jobs and both of these pay better then my gym jobs, so I took them, but we will see how long I end up teaching for the gyms since they pay the worst out of all my teaching places.

My plantar facitiis is killing me in my left foot. The cortisone shot I received doesn't seem to be helping much if at all. Glad that when I'm exercising the pain subsides a little.

I'm not a fan of the month of September, here are the reasons:

1. My allergies are so bad that I don't sleep well and even though I'm on lots of drugs to help with the ragweed, I till feel like I have a sinus headache almost every day and that I'm still constantly blowing my nose. I usually only take vitamins and no medicine so to take lots of things to help control my allergies is hard for me to do.

2. This is the beginning of Fall. I don't like to see plants dying or leaves falling. It's getting super cold out. Pools are closed. It gets dark so early now. I know there are good things about Fall, but it's my least favorite season.

3. Financially with all the children starting school, it's a super tough time for us. We are behind every year with bills in this month and even though this year we put a bunch in savings in the good months and saved a bunch from our tax return from March, we are still behind and the savings is gone. Frustrating. Bummed we can't just get ahead and stay ahead.

After almost 13 years I have decided to stop selling for Pampered Chef. It is NO longer a positive company for consultants. They changed a bunch of rules last year that has affected Directorships and other leadership positions and all it does is frustrate me instead of motivate me, so I'm done. I like to be a positive person and happy and I'm not happy anymore in my current position with that company.

That being said, if you want any Pampered Chef items please let me know and I'll get it ordered for you. I will be selling through December and then I'm officially finished.

Now for the positive

The children are all healthy and seem happy.

We were able to pay our house payment this month!

We have food on the table

Our house is a comfortable temperature.

Our air conditioner worked all summer (expecting it to die any day, it's super old)

All of our appliances are working (at the moment)

We were able to grow a small amount of vegetables in our garden. Most things rotted (because of too much rain this year), but we did eat some things.

Tanger Outlets Fit for Families 5K

Back in July I read about this race in Williamsburg, Iowa and thought it sounded like a great race close to home. It was chip timed so we'd have our results immediately, and it had finishing metals (nice touch) and most importantly, post-race food! So I signed up not realizing that this race would be the week right after my half marathon. I've been resting all week, recovering from that long crazy run and really thought I'd just walk the race today.

Well, I knew better because I'm way too competitive to walk anything.

I felt pretty good overall this morning and because I haven't run all week I knew that running just 3.1 miles wouldn't be so bad. It was cold out, 61 degrees to be exact and I had a bit of a cough going on, probably the start of a cold.

The horn went off and the race began. To my surprise I was running at a great pace and for most of the race was in the top 8 of the women, or at least I thought I was, I only remembered 7 other women passing me. It was a very small race, meaning probably only 100 or less were actually there. Either way I ran well and then, to my surprise, at the rewards ceremony I was announced as first place in my age group. My time was 29:38 and I received a neat looking metal. I'm in shock, but super happy because it feels great to place at all.

Park to Park Half Marathon

Today was the race I was looking forward to for months. My half marathon that I planned on running the entire way.

I have been training for this race since April and was doing great with training until a week ago when I developed a couple injuries.

First I strained the soleus muscle in my right leg. It hurt so bad that while running with my son Brenden last week, I ended up walking and then limping home and that was only a 3 mile run.

So I came home and immediately iced that muscle for 24 hours and then applied heat to it all week long. I also either cancelled or subbed out all my cardio classes last week so I could totally rest. Problem was, while resting I noticed my left foot hurt extremely bad and walking was super painful. Turns out I have plantar fasciitis in my left foot. If you've had that then you totally know what I'm going through, each step is horrible.

I was told by Jason, who has suffered with plantar fasciitis and others that once I got running I wouldn't notice the pain in my left foot, that it would actually feel better the further I ran.

So today was the day. I got up at 5:20a.m. and prepared for the run. At 6a.m. I left for the race.

7:30a.m. was the start time and all thousand of us were off and running.

My goal was to run the entire way. Deep down I really didn't feel that I would be able to.

By mile 4 everything hurt and I was worried that I would be ending this race early. By mile 6 I didn't feel my left foot pain anymore and that made me happy. By mile 8 my right knee started to hurt and I felt some pains in my right soleus muscle and was worried that soon I'd have to stop. Mile 9 I ate a Gu packet that was apple cinnamon flavored. YUM. I had more energy and was ready to proceed. Mile 11 I hurt everywhere all over again and was ready to walk, but proceeded on. When I saw the sign for Mile 12 I knew I would finish no matter what even if I had to walk. Mile 12 1/2 I kicked it up a bit. I ran harder and faster to have a great finish. One of my goals was to finish in two and a half hours or less and at mile 12 1/2 I was at 2 hours 21 minutes so I had to hurry. Mile 13 I could see the finish line and I began to cry for I knew I would finish. Then I crossed the finish line at 13.1 miles and I bawled and almost passed out. One of the volunteers for the race held me up and made me drink gatorade. Because of him I didn't pass out.

Within a few minutes I felt wonderful and had some treats, got a massage and received my finishing medal!

Final time 2:26:30

Once I arrived home my body had stiffened up a lot and I couldn't walk hardly at all. So I did what I was dreading. THE ICE BATH.