At the races

Wow, what a weekend. My Dad ran his first 8k on Saturday in Milwaukee. Braving icey cold temps, he finished in 52:37. A PR pace for him! My mom also walked the mile at this race. I cannot believe how awesome they are doing. It is truly inspirational. I love the fact that we have become quite the running family, now we just have to get Lukas going...

My dad with his celebratory beer, ready to thaw out in the hot tub!
So, my sister has been training for a full marathon..all on her own in San Diego. Training for a marathon is hard enough, much less running dozens and dozens of miles alone. She had a tune-up race this weekend to check her progress. She ran the Long Beach Half Marathon in 1:48:xx!!! That is an 8:15 pace overall, and she ran negative splits. Which means, she started at about an 8:30 minute pace and finished at an 8 minute pace! That is really hard to do, and most people (including me) take years, and countless races to master that! She has made such progress since starting running a year ago. I am SO, SO PROUD of her.
Great job Mom, Dad, and Em! I love you!

Matt and my trainings are going awesome. I just finished an 84 mile week! I am really aiming to go under three hours for the marathon in December, but it is a very scary thought for me. Am I ready? Experienced enough? Mentally strong enough to push through the pain? I am filled with doubt about it, but I know that all I can do is focus on my training and do my best. If I am ready, it will happen, if not, that's ok too. I feel like my training has been going really well and I just feel so much more supported this time around through having our running friends as companions in all this craziness! I feel so inspired by them and that is a big motivator for me.
My 'A' goal for this marathon is to break 3 hours.(6:52 pace per mile average) My 'B' goal is to break 3:10,(7:15 pace per mile average) and my 'C' goal is to break 3:19. (7:25 pace per mile average). I know that anything can happen on race day. It could be cold and windy, I could have severe GI issues, I could be sick... who knows. All I can do is stay strong and do my best! :) So nerve-wracking!

Birthday Fun!

We went to Four Peaks last night to celebrate my birthday and to watch the ASU game. (GREAT WIN!) It was so nice to be celebrating with friends! They are all so special to me and like my friend Terri said, we are all so blessed to have each other!

I wished my family could have been out, but next year, for the big 3-0! (However, I am thinking family/friend trip to Napa.... who's in?) :)

We also really missed Shannon and Mike. Shannon got really sick and was in the E.R. Poor little thing. (That didn't stop her from doing a 9 mile run yesterday morning though! She is a tough cookie, or pretty much us runners are all plain crazy!) She has some meds and is at home recuperating. It really wasn't the same without them! xoxoxo

Pics from the night: We are missing our good friends Jason and Sharon, and also Donovan. We broke out the camera too late!

Mark and Terri, amazing hearts. :)
My first grade teacher friend Amy. We are kindred spirits!
Terri and Kevin-Kevin works with Matt and is so nice and can make you laugh at the drop of a hat!

Mark and Wendy- Our fellow running friends.
Rick and Lynne- They have an amazing love story and not only are they runners, but triathletes too! Super sweet. :)Brett and Alanna- Amazing athletes and one of the nicest couples you will ever meet. I am so happy to get to know them better!
We all just have such a great time together, it was such an awesome birthday! :)

Catching up

Hi everyone! Sorry we have not blogged for awhile. Between putting in 70+ mile weeks, chores, and work, we have been pretty busy!

Today is my birthday and to celebrate like the masochists we are, we decided to run a half marathon up in Prescott Valley. Last week multiple people told me it was a very hard race, but I really wanted to beat my one other 1/2 marathon time of 1:34 (Lost Dutchman 2/08).

I felt so good this morning, and the temps were nice and cool. The first few miles were great, I was on pace about 6:40 average and wasn't even breathing hard. The came the hills. I actually started laughing when I saw some of them because they were so big. NOT the way the course was described online! But it was cool and the view was gorgeous!

Then we got to about 3 miles of trail. I was so ready for the turn around point. I was the first female and I even reigned in one of the males who started out way in front of me. I was going strong and by mile 10, to meet my goal of 1:30, I had to pick it up a bit, but I still had ample time. At mile 10-12 there was a long incline that made my legs turn to mush. Then, I was following the guys in front of me and we all took a wrong turn. So 13.1 turned into 13.8 miles! Even the people that did the right route came in at 13.40 miles. A little long I would say!

At 13.1, I checked my Garmin, and I realized I HAD made a new record for myself at 1:32. Not quite my goal, but I think I did well on this course.

This is when I realized that the finish line was NOWHERE in sight. Ugh, worst feeling ever. I slowed to almost 8 minutes a mile. I was SO done. That has got to be one of the worst feelings, knowing you should be done but still have a long ways to go unexpectedly! So my official time was 1:38:14 for 13.80 miles.

I still one first place female, so that was pretty cool. 8th overall, and my race number was 8!


Matt actually won 3rd in his age group! And he hasn't even really started training yet! I am so proud of him. He was 10th overall and did the 13.40 mile correct course.


Now off to nap and then celebrate my birthday with some ASU football. GO DEVILS!

Cutie of the week- This dog runs 1/2 marathons. He does about a 10 minute pace, but does all 13 miles! He is 9 YEARS OLD!!! He was so sweet and even had a recovery banana and gatorade!

Brooks ID Program

So, I applied to be a part of the Brooks Running Company Inspire Daily program, and I was chosen, I just found out this afternoon! I am so excited! As a part of this program, I get some awesome Brooks gear to wear to races, will participate in the Brooks running community, work to inspire others to run, and basically promote Brooks and running. I Love Brooks, and as many of you know, I have a passion for running so this seems perfect for me! I will keep you updated on my journey with the Brooks ID program. I cannot wait to start and am so thankful for this opportunity!!!!

AZ RoadRacers Summer Series Race #5

Last race of the summer at South Mountain. I went in with a new strategy and it really worked for me. I started slower and picked up speed until the end and kept close to my competition for the first half. I am really trying to learn good racing strategies from other racers.

My finish time was 19:31,(6:16 per mile) first female overall and this is a new personal best for me! I felt awesome at this race, usually I am wanting to stop! I was passing people that blew by me in the beginning as I picked up speed, so that felt great! I was also keeping my breathing and posture under control. Yay! Matt and Terri (she drove all the way from North Scottsdale to cheer us on after she ran a 1/2 marathon yesterday in Flagstaff! She is so awesome!) were very encouraging on the course and it really helped me!

Mile splits off Garmin: 6:12, 6:31 (going up the mountain),5:59, 5:43. The official results with Grand Prix points should be up soon, so I will post those when they are!

The starting line:
Rounding the corner to the straightaway to the finish line.
Almost there!

HOME FOR SALE

My parents are selling their home in Greendale, WI. Beautiful home in a beautiful areas with great schools! If by chance you know anyone looking for a home in WI, it's a great one! Click on the link for info and pics.

Home for sale

Matt's Birthday

Matt and I went to Shannon's on Friday to celebrate Matt's birthday with her and Mike and to just catch up! We made 4 pizzas- margherita, goat cheese/fig/heriloom tomato, tomato sauce/ pepperoni/ mozzerella, and avocado/prosciutto.
They were so good!
For dessert, I made a white balsamic custard tart that turned out amazing! I know it sounds strange, but it is delicious! Here is the recipe.

Some pics from the night:
Smile for the camera Matt! :)