Maroon and Gold Fun Run Race Review

Saturday morning I kicked off my Fall Racing Season with a strong showing at the Maroon and Gold Fun Run in Havre! I ran the 10K distance. This post is my official review/recap of race day.

The Maroon and Gold Fun Run was in its first year this year as a fundraising event supporting the new MSU-Northern Men's and Women's Cross Country teams. I am all about growing and promoting the sport of running, so as soon as I heard about this race and knew that I'd be free on August 22, I signed up. They offered 1-Mile, 5K, and 10K events. I trained for the 10K and I wanted a new PR, so that's what I decided to do!

The other extra-cool thing about this race is that a local girl who I know fairly well, a recent North Star graduate, Alissa, is running on the new Cross Country team. I was beyond thrilled, first of all, to hear that she was running for Northern, and extra excited to run the race, knowing I'd be supporting someone I know! :)

With an 8:00 a.m. start time in Havre for the race, and an approximate 60 minute drive time for me, it was an early morning on Saturday. I got up around 5:30 to make sure I'd have enough time to get dressed and have breakfast before making the drive to Havre. I had laid my outfit out the night before so I wouldn't wake Jeff and to expedite things. The weather was cool with temps in the 40s and windy with chances of rain, so I opted for long pants and a long-sleeve shirt with my Team Beef jersey.

It's a lot of bold colors and patterns... Pretty wild!

Race Day Outfit:
KC Tights from Oiselle-- first time wearing these for a run or race!
Purple Turtleneck from Columbia
Team Beef Jersey (My Oiselle singlet should arrive in September sometime)
I also wore an earband and a hat because my ears are SUPER sensitive to cold.

Race events were staged out of the MSUN gym. It was a perfect spot-- easy to find, great parking, plenty of space to warmup in the gym or run around campus, easy access to bathrooms. And, since it was cold and kind of crummy weather, it was nice to be inside some before the race started. I arrived at around 7:20 and picked up my t-shirt and race bib. I also received an Asics training journal for being an early sign-up for the race. Then I took a 10 minute jog around campus and did some form running and dynamic stretching. With the cool weather, I wanted to make sure I was extra warmed up.

First time I have been in the gym at Northern. Not bad!

People were still arriving and registering as 8:00 a.m. rolled around, so the race started just a little bit late. I didn't mind though. I was really excited for them that they had more people than expected! They had 130 participants in all three races in the end, and 50 volunteers. Pretty great turnout for a first-time race in a small town!

I lined up with some other women near the start line who I noticed were doing the 10K and made polite pre-race conversation. People in Montana are SO nice and friendly! When the race started, I went out with a little speed and left most of them behind. This actually really surprised me and even made me a bit nervous! Was I going too fast? No, I reassured myself that I was feeling strong and it was OK to go out a bit fast and feel a little uncomfortable. Most of the first mile was down hill and I got to the first mile marker and looked at my watch--7:22!! Probably my fastest first mile in a LONG time, maybe ever.

Race routes. 10K in yellow. 

Just after that, we turned a corner and faced a long, long, long uphill. I knew I'd have to back off the pace a bit, but I didn't let myself totally lose sight of my goal, and tried to keep it somewhat steady. I ended up passing two other girls on the uphill. Somewhere in mile 3, another woman about my age ran up ahead of me and passed me. After a little bit of back and forth, she ultimately stayed ahead of me, but I stayed with her for the rest of the race. There were many more hills to climb in this run and she ended up being stronger on the uphills than I was.

Maybe half-way through the longest uphill climb ever at this point. 

There's blue-shirt gal!
This part of the course was really exposed and it was WINDY!

The race course for the 10K was really nice, even despite all the hills and exposure. It included sections of gravel/trail, asphalt bike bath, and streets. I appreciated that it ran around the outskirts of town, rather than wholly on the city streets. I really enjoyed the views of the hills on the south side of town, even as the wind whipped in my face. Plus, now I know of some great trails I can use if I ever need to run, bike, or walk the dog in Havre! A few other big plusses were that the course was very well marked with orange spray-painted arrows and volunteers were stationed at every corner to make sure people were going the right way, and to cheer us all on. I tried to say thank you to each one that I passed. They also had each mile clearly marked with signs, which is handy for those of us without GPS watches. :)

Hey! It's blue-shirt gal again! :)

As I coasted downhill in mile five or so, looking at my watch I thought I would have a really great chance to get my PR, and really tried to stay strong. My best time in a 10K was actually during a virtual run I did at home, so I don't know if it counts, but it was 54:01. My best official 10K time came at Governor's Cup back in June: 54.54.24. My very first 10K ever was just about a year ago at Kickin' Asphault and was exactly 60 minutes. Either way, I was shooting for under 54, just to be sure I nailed a new PR.

Me and Blue-Shirt Gal, finally cruising down some downhill back into town.

The hardest part of the race was running back up a steep hill to the finish line on the quad of campus. It was the steepest hill of the whole course and came right in the last .2 miles. A real challenge! I was right with the same lady I'd been behind most of the race. She had a great kick at the end, too, and we finished very close-- me just behind her crossing the line. I gritted my teeth and thought of that PR dangling in front of me, ripe for the picking, and crossed the line with a finish of 52.97! Yay! I did it! I didn't just make a new PR-- I crushed it! A full minute off the Virtual Run time and about two minutes off Governor's Cup. No question about this one!

I found the lady I had ran with the whole race and we chatted a bit afterwards.  I congratulated her on a great race and complimented her for killing it on the hills. Maybe having her there in front of me kept me going strong to get that PR? :)

Race Bib from Maroon and Gold Fun Run.
Lucky number 13?

My Race Splits:
Mile 0-1 -- 7.22 Starting FAST and downhill!
Mile 1-2 -- 9:40 (I hit my split button a little late, so this one may be closer to 9:20 or so) BIG HILL!
Mile 2-3 -- 7.56 (Again, this one's probably actually more like 8:20) Slightly downhill.
Mile 3-4 -- 9.10 More hills, and WIND!
Mile 4-5 -- 8.12 Loooong downhill! yay!
Mile 5-6 -- 8.51 Flat, but with the killer steep hill right at the end.
Last .2 -- 1.44 Trying to finish strong...
Total: 52.59
Overall pace was 8.32 per mile. I'm happy with that!

I stuck around to watch the rest of the 5K and 10K finishers come in. Being a local race, I knew several people who were competing and it's always great to cheer on people you know. I think the best part of this race was the huge grin on Maria's (Alissa's Mom) face. Every time I looked at her she seemed so happy and proud. You could tell that she was just overjoyed about her daughter running cross country, for the support of the people who ran, and for the overall success of the day. She probably thanked me for coming five times or more, at least, as did Alissa. Pretty cool. This is what it means to "Grow the Sisterhood," people. :)

Photo credit: Melissa K.
L to R: Melissa, Alissa, Shayla, and me.

There were only 23 scored participants in the 10K and I was 11th. I have no idea where I finished among the women, but I *think* I was third. The Cross Country team itself was split into two groups- a Maroon Team and a Gold Team and they also had to run the 10K, competing as teams against each other, but they weren't included in the 23 scored participants. So, overall it was probably closer to 40 runners in the 10K. In case you're wondering, the Maroon Team won, with a lower average time of it's members. :) They did prizes for the first-place male and female finishers in each age group and each distance, I think. The prizes were vintage MSUN Track and Field apparel. I definitely coveted the throwback jerseys, but alas, it wasn't in the cards for me! I'm more than satisfied with a new PR though!

This was the race t-shirt everyone got. Not bad! 

If anyone's interested, I was really happy with how my Oiselle KC Tights performed in the race. I was exactly right temperature-wise and didn't even notice the pants as I ran. They were very, very comfortable. I was worried that with no drawstring, they might slide down a bit, but they didn't-- they stayed put. They are definitely a wacky, bold design and are a bit of a departure from my normal solid-color running apparel, but I got several compliments on them and one girl came up and asked me about where I got them. It was awesome to have the chance to brag up Oiselle!

Overall, the Maroon and Gold Fun Run was a challenging but fun event supporting a great cause. It was well-organized and well-run. I'll look forward to keeping this one on my calendar to do again in the future!

Alissa and me, post race. Big smiles! She's the sweetest. :)

Goldstone Loop Run and Fall Racing Schedule

Harvest has been at a stand-still since it rained last Friday night. It has rained a few more times since then and has been cool and humid. Too wet to finish cutting our spring wheat. Harvest is the only time when we don't really want any rain.

While the cold front hasn't been good for harvest, it has been GREAT for running! I've been having so many great runs lately out here on the gravel roads by my house. Good solid effort in training over the summer is making me feel pretty fast and like I hopefully have some PRs in me for the fall racing season.

In today's post, I'm going to intersperse some of my photos from what I'm calling the Goldstone Loop Run in with my tentative Fall racing schedule. The Goldstone Loop is a four mile box located just a bit north of my house. It's a great training run because it's a route I don't do very often (as in, this was the first time. But it won't be the last!!), it has some hills but none that are completely demoralizing, and it's a four-mile box-- one mile on each side. Perfect square. Great for breaking it down or changing speeds each mile, comparing times, etc.

Harvey and I are at the start of our Goldstone Loop run.
He did not feel like cooperating for a photo and instead was investigating a hole in the ground.

Fall Racing Schedule **Denotes a "confirmed" race, meaning I'd have to come up with something pretty serious to miss this one!

August
**22- Maroon and Gold 1-Mile/5K/10K, 8:00 a.m. Havre, MT. I'll be running the 10K.**

Where the Rudyard Road and Goldstone Road intersect.

September
5- Big Dipper Last Chance Road Run 5K, 8:00 a.m. Helena, MT (not likely to do this one, but there's a chance. You never know)
**12- 5K On The Farm. 10:30 a.m. Bangs Family Farms, north of Inverness, MT. I'm the race director and it's being held on my own farm, but I still plan on running. Of course I plan on running!**
26- Squirrels in the Headlamp 5K Trail Run 8:00 p.m. in Great Falls. This is the evening after a Bobcat game in Bozeman. Again, not likely to actually run in it, but still want to keep it on my radar.

Goldstone Road and Road 105 North intersection. Harvey takes a break (and so did I).

October
**3- Family Violence STOPS here 5K Fun Run/Walk, 10:00 a.m. Havre, MT.**
11- Helena Sun Run, 1:00 p.m in Helena ~OR~ Moose Run, noon, in Livingston. More likely to do Helena on the way home from Bozeman.
**17- Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp Harvest Festival 5K Fun Run, Lakeside, MT. This is happening!**
24- Scheels Pumpkin Run, 9:00a.m. Great Falls. 5K or maybe a 10K? If I can sneak away from MFU Convention for a little while in the morning. We'll see.
Also in October but date unconfirmed as of yet is Run for the Roses in Bozeman, which is a family tradition we'd like to carry on if possible.
Super sad to probably miss the Opera Run in Bozeman this year. Always one of my favorites!

And we're done! 

November
Hoping for a Big Sky Wind Drinkers run in early November like the one I did last year. Dates unconfirmed as of yet.
**26--Huffing for Stuffing 10K in Bozeman ~OR~ Burn the Bird 5K/10K in Great Falls** I'll do one or the other depending on where we are for Thanksgiving.

What's on your fall racing schedule?!

Also, in case you missed it, check out the Top Ten Reasons to sign up for 5K On The Farm below! If even ONE of these reasons connects with you, please consider signing up for 1-Mile, 5K or VIRTUAL RUN!

TOP TEN REASONS why YOU should SIGN UP for 5K On The Farm!
10. It's inexpensive-- only $20 and for everything you get for that $20?!?! Are you kidding me?! Add up what it costs to buy a day pass at a gym, a hamburger lunch somewhere else, and a t-shirt, and then tell us what's the better deal. ;) **But don't delay- price goes up to $25 after September 5, including race-day registration! 
9. Fitness and farming CAN go together! 
8. There is a distance and speed for every ability. Run or walk either one mile or 3.1 miles with us on Race Day. Don't tell us "I'm not a runner..." because you don't have to be a runner to enjoy being outside. Sounds like an excuse to me! If you can walk for 20 minutes, you can do 5K On The Farm in the 1-mile distance and be just fine.

Runners and walkers of all ages and abilities can participate!

7. There is a place for every participant! Can't make it to the farm? Sign up for Virtual Run and get your fitness on wherever it's convenient for you.
6. Helping rural economies! Race proceeds are going to help fund leadership and education opportunities for rural women, so the positive ripple effect of community strengthening and growth can continue throughout Montana! If you believe in strengthening rural communities, then this is a cause you will want to get behind.

Women helping women and strengthening rural Montana communities!

5. Race Swag. We're going to have really awesome goody bags and race tees! Just you wait and see!
4. Exercise is good for you! But you already knew that, didn't you?
3. Hanging out with friends. Get a group of friends together to do the race. Walking or running together is a great way to catch up and spend time with friends and family!

2. Truly unique race venue. How many races or runs have you done on a farm!? You can't beat the view of the Sweetgrass Hills from here!

Looking west toward the Sweetgrass Hills.

1. HAMBURGERS! Every participant who joins us on race day gets a free hamburger lunch with their entry fee! Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch?!

Thanks everyone! Stay tuned tomorrow for Thankful Thursday and Friday for Oiselle Flight Friday post number 1! :)

LiveInPrana and #1MillionMinutes/Fitness Update

The #1MillionMinutes Challenge on FitApproach is still going along just fine. I'm up to 3315 minutes. Can I make it to 4000? I seriously don't know how the minutes are adding up so fast. I am almost wondering if I accidentally typed 300 rather than 30 one day? Crazy.

Today I bring you another MadLib! If I complete this MadLib, I'll be entered into a chance to win a prize from prAna! I have a few items from prAna and I really love them, so I'm all about this contest!

This week we're partnering up with prAna to help us get closer to our goal of #1MillionMinutes! 

prAna has just launched their new Fall collection and we could not be more excited. So many cute pieces to choose from. What’s on your wish list for fall?

I'm so excited to rack up more minutes towards our _whopping_ [adj] goal of reaching 1 million minutes this summer!  While most of my sweat has come from _walking and running with Harvey the Vizsla_ [type of activity], I have also done quite a bit of _Yoga and mountain biking_ [type of activity].

To motivate myself to get from _working on the farm_ [workout / activity] to _my daily run or yoga session_ [workout / activity] and through my day, I always have to be armed with lots of water and positive attitude__ [noun]. I find that the more _grateful_ [adj] that I am, the more successful [adj] I am at achieving my goals.

Since staying on track requires so much _determination [adj] _flexibility_[noun], I think it’s important that I treat myself! If I were going to reward myself with something from prAna this week, it would most definitely be _Asha Shorts_ [item(s) from prAnam] because _I have had my eye on them all summer!_.

I tag _whoever wants a chance to win sweet gear from prAna, [person], _any yoga enthusiats_ [person], and  runners [person] to join me for this week of #1millionminutes for a chance to win some fantastic goodies from prAna!

What else is going on in my fitness world lately?

Well, just this morning I finally registered for the MSU-Northern Maroon and Gold Fun Run.  I signed up for the 10K distance. I waited so long to sign up because I wasn't totally sure if I could get my act together for a 10K or if I'd have to stick with a 5K. I've had some really great training runs over the past week or so and I feel like a 10K is definitely achievable. SO PUMPED! 10K is definitely becoming my favorite distance to race and train for.

I've also been doing more yoga lately, thanks to Grokker! I signed up for a (free) 14-Day Yoga Challenge, instructed by Steffy White, through Grokker. I have done two days worth of classes so far and I am really loving it! Steffy does a great job teaching the poses, and keeping it casual yet challenging and fun. Plus, she has an adorable Scottish accent so even when you're thinking, "No way, Steffy! This pose is impossible!" it's actually impossible not to also be thinking, "Can this video last just a wee bit longer because I can't get enough of your accent?!" Or maybe it's just me. Either way, I'm loving the series and my body is loving all the yoga.

Image source: www.steffyoga.com
Maybe someday I'll be able to do poses like that?! ha. 

And don't forget about 5K On The Farm! We're up to about 17 actual registrations, and around 30 people who have RSVPd on Facebook or verbally to me. I'm really hoping to get 50 people total, at least, so we do have a ways to go to get there. If you haven't signed up yet, please do so! We have 1-Mile, 5K, and Virtual Run. Thanks! SIGNUP VIA RUNSIGNUP by clicking this link!

What are you doing to stay active these days?! 

I'll also have a special announcement later this week about something fitness-related that I am SUPER, SUPER excited about! Even as excited as I am about 5K On The Farm! Stay tuned... :)

Thank You, Readers AND a Fitness Update

I haven't written about anything running or fitness-related in a while, so I'll do that a bit in this post.

But first, I want to say THANK YOU to all my blog readers! This past July I had the highest number of page-views EVER in the four years I've been doing this blog! I'm not about making money on the blog, but just about sharing what goes on here on the farm, in my running world, and what life is like in rural America. It means a lot to me that those of you who do read my blog keep coming back for more, and that slowly my traffic is increasing over time! It's an affirmation that the content here is good, and that hopefully people are learning more about what life is like up here on the Northern-Montana prairie. :) Kudos to all of you!

So, what's happening in running and fitness for me lately? Well, kind of a lot! Read on!! :)

I'm still participating in the #1MillionMinutes challenge through FitApproach. I pledged that I'd do 2000 minutes, and I passed that a while ago. As of today, I'm at 2520 minutes. Once I realized I'd easily surpass 2000, I increased my goal to 3000, and I am starting to think I'll hit that pretty easily, too, with only about 3 weeks left in the challenge. It's easy to rack up minutes when you're working hard on the farm. I gave myself credit for lots of activity minutes of building fence earlier this week, for example. Mostly, I get my minutes through taking Harvey for walks, running, and yoga.

Harvey the Vizsla! 

I did discover a cool yoga and workout video website through the #1MillionMinutes challenge called Grokker.com. They have free membership or paid memberships, and I signed up for the free one to give it a try. I really, really like it for their yoga videos. I've done a few now and they have been really good. They have videos on every type of yoga you can think of, or any skill you'd like to work on. They have a ton of other workout videos, too, but I haven't tried any of them yet. No yoga studios near where I live, so online yoga is a great option for me, and Grokker is definitely where it's at on that front!

In case you aren't on Instagram...
I've been working a ton on better planks lately. 

Also pertaining to the #1MillionMinutes challenge, a few weeks ago I did a silly MadLib during the Puritan's Pride week and for doing so, I won a prize. You can read that post by CLICKING HERE. Well, this prize came in the mail a few days ago, and it was not what I expected...

What do I do with these?!

I should say that I really didn't know what to expect the prize to be, and they never said, but I definitely wasn't expecting three tubs of powders! There's a meal replacer protein and vitamin powder in vanilla, a pure whey protein powder in chocolate and some sort of fancy pre-workout enhancer powder in fruit punch flavor. I'm definitely not a protein powder or supplement kind of girl, but I'll try most anything once.  Yesterday I mixed some of the vanilla powder into a fruit smoothie at lunch to try it out. Serving suggestion said two scoops per 16 ounces of liquid, which is close to what I had. The powder doesn't really taste that great, but I was full from just the smoothie until about 3 in the afternoon, when I had a snack. So there's that. I don't see myself altering my diet to eat only smoothies for breakfast or lunch, but now and then it might be fine. Or it will sit on my counter for a while and I'll eventually throw it out. We'll see. If anyone has any great smoothie or protein-powder recipes, please share! haha :)  The only requirement is that it shouldn't taste like feet.

In my running and racing world, well, not a ton has been happening. I'm just running about every other day or every third day. Mixing in lots of yoga and strength exercises, specifically focusing on keeping my core strong. No races in July. After three races, three Saturdays in a row in June, I needed a break and July is too hot to race a ton anyway. I am planning on a race on August 22 in Havre, however! It's called the Get Run'N Maroon and Gold Fun Run. Check out the race flier on this website: 1st Annual Maroon and Gold Fun Run. They're offering 1 Mile, 5K, and 10K. It's the first time they'll be doing this race and proceeds will benefit the new MSU-Northern Cross Country Teams in their VERY FIRST YEAR! Believe me, I am ALL ABOUT supporting Track and Field and Cross Country teams, and I'm definitely all about running and racing! There's actually a 2015 graduate from North Star who is going to compete on the new Northern Cross Country team, so I'm really excited that my race fee will be supporting her! Now, just to decide on 5K or 10K distance... :)


Also, let's not forget about 5k On The Farm, which is the race that Jeff and I are directing and hosting right here on our farm!!! We're offering 1-Mile, 5K, and Virtual Run options. Right now, we have 14 people signed up, with 9 of those as Virtual Run participants! The run is still six weeks away and I expect quite a few more registrations to come in as it gets closer. It has always been a dream of mine to run my own 5K and now I'm doing it! Still can't believe it. :) Proceeds from our run will be going to Montana Farmers Union Foundation, specifically earmarked to education, programming and leadership training for women in agriculture/rural women. Pretty good cause, if you ask me! If you're reading this, and you'd like to sign up for the race or the Virtual Run, just CLICK HERE to go to RunSignUp and sign up online. :)

So, that's what's going on in my fitness world! What's going on in yours? 

• Have you ever tried protein powders? If so, how do you like them?
• What races/fitness activities do you have coming up?
• Have you signed up for 5k On The Farm yet?!?! 

Log Off, Shut Down, Go Run Virtual 10K Race Recap

Last Friday I worked my first 10K of the season into my schedule! It was the Log Off, Shut Down, Go Run Virtual 10K. It is part of the virtual run series that the website Goneforarun.com puts on, and I first heard about it from my friend and fellow Team Beef teammate, Christy's blog post. I originally wasn't sure about signing up because I'd been experiencing some pain and stiffness in my hip, but once I started getting that worked out and feeling better, I really started looking forward to the run!

My sign up fee was $30.00 and I got a bunch of cool swag-- 

I received a tank top (that fits!), race bib (not pictured), a cool race medal, and a car magnet.

They sent me a packet with a nice tank top, a car magnet, a race bib to wear for the run and a finishers medal! It was up to me to actually complete the race and feel like I earned my prizes.

Before going any further, I want to spend a paragraph or two sharing my take on the whole "virtual run" phenomenon. I've been reading on many other running blogs what other people think about virtual runs and have given it some thought myself. There's definitely a mixed bag of opinions out there!

Personally, I like the idea of virtual runs and they work well for me. I live in an EXTREMELY rural area so it is very, very difficult to find races to do that are nearby, or even within what I consider reasonable driving distance, which is admittedly a much greater radius than for most people! ha! What I like about virtual races is that I can fit the race into my schedule and run it when it's convenient for me at a place that is also convenient for me. Do I miss out on the "race experience" of having race organizers, people all around to run with/against, water stops, bathrooms, food after the race, etc? Yeah, definitely! Those are all reasons I really like doing organized road races. But it's also nice to run a no-frills race on my own terms.

I've had some people say that they think I'm stupid for signing up for a virtual race because, in their opinion, "It's just a scam by t-shirt printing companies to get you to spend money on their stuff." And they may be right in some ways, but if I am still going out there and putting in the miles, then I feel like it's money well spent. 10K especially is a distance that's a challenge for me, so I do have to train for it and spending the money on an entry fee for a virtual race is like a bet on myself that I'll get it done. I'm more likely to get in the workouts and the race itself if I've spent the money to do so, than if I just tell myself "Hey I'm going to go run a 10K for fun this weekend." If I spend $30 to train for and complete a race by myself, AND I get cool stuff for it, so much the better. (And what's it matter to you anyway how I spend my money!?)

So the day I decided was going to be Race Day arrived (Friday, April 24) and I pondered whether or not I should actually wear my race bib that they sent. I'd be literally running this "race" by myself, so no one would see or care if I wore the bib or not. If someone did just happen to drive by on the road, they might think I was silly wearing a bib while out for a jog... But since when do I care what people think of me when I'm out running?! ha! (And how often do people drive on the Minneota Road between Road 200 and the Goldstone Road? Almost never.) I also decided that I didn't want to just feel like I was out for a training jog, so if I put my bib on, it would mentally feel more like a RACE! I pinned on my bib, laced up my shoes, and got ready to take off on my run!

When I started out on my race, it was about 62 degrees, sunny, and about 15-20mph wind out of the north. I had predetermined a route that would be exactly 6.2 miles-- an out-and-back course of 3.1 miles each way from Tom and Carol's house. For those of you who know the area, it's .1 straight west from their driveway to the Minneota Road, then three miles straight north to the Goldstone Road, then turnaround and head back in reverse. So, I had somewhat of a headwind in the first half of the race.

I had looked through my records prior to beginning and saw that my previous PR in 10K was 58:30, from back at Huffing for Stuffing last fall. I had it in my mind to see how close I could get to that mark. I tried to sprint the first .1, then hold a steady, strong pace for the first mile before settling in to closer to my normal roughly 9-minute-mile pace for the "hilly" section of the route.  The first mile has a mild uphill for the first half-mile, then downhill for half a mile. First mile 8:38.5. The second mile is pretty flat-- I covered it in 8:58.66. The third mile is a long, steady uphill for most of the mile. Heading up the hill into the wind was not very fun and I knew my pace would be slower for that mile.  Third mile- 9:13.6. Slower, but not too bad. Once I got to the top of the hill and the turnaround point, I told myself I had to fly down the long downhill to make up time, so I did! Mile four was my fastest- 8:22.89.

I coasted through the flat of mile five as best as I could, then with a little over a mile to go, I really began to struggle mentally. I hadn't actually run more than about 5 miles yet this year, so I expected to struggle a little at the end of this 10K and I did. Maybe it was a self-fulfilling prophecy... Either way, I needed a little self-motivation. I repeated a mantra in my mind that our head track coach uses to inspire and motivate our team sometimes: "Your body can do almost anything- it's your mind that sometimes needs convincing." and focused on steadying my breathing. "Find your breath, find your strength." I focused on a two-two breathing pattern-- so, inhale on two steps, exhale on two steps. Soon, I was finally nearing that last .1 and sprinted around the corner to the finish. Last two miles were 8:54.92 and 8:54.52. And... DONE!

After checking my watch, I saw that I had indeed scored a new PR! I finished in 54.01, so I cut 4:30 from my 10K time! Virtual race or not, I know I did the distance, it felt like a race to me, I pushed myself and I'm going to count it.

I snapped my post-race photo with my medal and then celebrated by eating a giant monster cookie! Perks of a virtual run are that you get to decide for yourself what your finish line food will be.

Let's take another look at just the cookie, shall we?

It's a huge cookie! Barely fits in my hand, and I have long hands!  The story behind the cookies is that our head track coach's wife bakes them for the team. Any time a kid gets a new Personal Best or All-Time Best in an event, they earn a cookie. Coach had handed out cookies at practice on Friday, and the other coaches sometimes get any extras. I knew as soon as I got mine that I'd keep it for my race and aim for a PR. There were definitely times during the 10K that I was envisioning crossing the line and devouring a cookie, and that was pretty motivating. They are so good, and definitely worth running for!  This cookie definitely inspired me to a strong finish!

Overall, this virtual race was a positive experience. To me, it was worth the money paid. I hung up my virtual race medal on the same rack whereon I keep all my other medals. Am I going to sign up for a virtual race every month? No. But I will sign up for them from time to time when they fit in my schedule or when I can't find another race or event to do nearby. Bonus if the virtual race proceeds go toward a charity of some sort, and there are a great many of them that do things that way.

Here's a recap of my splits again, for those who are interested:

.1 - 31.37

Mile One - 8:38.5

Mile Two - 8:58.66

Mile Three - 9:13.6

Mile Four - 8:22.89

Mile Five - 8:54.92

Mile Six - 8:54.52

.1 - 27.86

Total Time: 54.01, Roughly a pace of 8:43 per mile. I'll take it! 

Overall, I'm pretty happy because I've been trying to work on quickening my overall pace and times. It's difficult to do that during track season because I'm so busy, so to get a PR feels extra good. I'm at least holding steady with my normal "old" pace, if not getting slightly faster. 

Next race for me-- I'm planning to do the Buffalo Jump 10K in Ulm, MT on Sunday, May 17. I think it's a trail run, so I'm not sure if I'll shoot for besting my PR again, but I'll definitely give it all I've got!

If you're interested, Goneforarun.com is continuing their virtual race series with a Badass 5 Mile run on the last weekend of May. Same cost - $30.00, and choice of a couple different race packet options. I don't plan to do it unless I don't get the Buffalo Jump run in for some reason. Then, I might consider signing up again. We'll see! 

What are your thoughts on Virtual Runs? Do you do them? Avoid them? Are they "worth" the same as a standard road race in your opinion? 

Log Off Shut Down Virtual 10K Sign Up

About a week ago, I read a post on my friend Christy's blog about a virtual race through Goneforarun.com. It's called the Log Off Shut Down Go Run 10K. You can check out Christy's blog at www.christyruns.com, and read on to learn more about the Log Off Shut Down Go Run 10K.

About the time she posted it, I started having some unusual pain and stiffness in my left hip and lower back. It has been seriously tight in that area for a little over a week, and I can't figure out exactly what triggered the pain and stiffness in the first place. I've been a little bummed to skip out on some runs, but kept this virtual 10K in the back of my mind. I knew I wanted to do the virtual 10K but I wanted to wait to sign up until I had a better idea of what was happening with my back and hip.

Yesterday, after taking several days off of running, I went out for a short 2.5 mile jog in town before track practice to test out how my hip and back felt. It had been feeling a little better, and I had been noticing it seemed to feel much better with some stretching. It also seems to feel worse after a long day of sitting than it does after a long day of walking and moving. I logged over eight miles of walking on Saturday during a really long track meet, and the hip felt not terrible at the end of the day. It was no more stiff than the rest of my body after that long day.

The short mile running "the loop" in Rudyard was a good barometer. By the time I got back, my hip was a little stiff but no worse than anything else had made it feel. I decided I wasn't hurting myself by running on it. So, today I pulled the trigger on signing up for this run!

I am super excited about the Log Off Shut Down Go Run Virtual 10K! Signing up for races is just what I need to stay motivated to run, and this distance is quickly becoming my new favorite. Since it's a virtual race, I get to do the race wherever I want. They do specify dates they want it completed- April 24, 25 or 26. I know I have a track meet on the 25th and my nephew's baptism is the 26th, so that means I'll be doing mine on Friday, April 24. That means I have two weeks from today to get ready and increase my mileage a bit. I know I can do it!

The cost for the event is $30 (plus a little extra for a shipping fee), and they send you all the great racing swag you see below:

If you're a dude, you can choose a men's tshirt instead of the tank top. You'll also get an official race bib, a medal, and a car magnet. I'm most excited about the tank top. The magnet will probably go in the prize bin at school or given to someone on the track team.

I know to some it seems silly to spend $30 on a virtual race when I could just go out and run 6.2 miles for free. For me, I think of it as an investment in myself and even as a bet on myself. If I pay the money, I'm more likely to train for it like it's a normal race with lots of people, and I'm more likely to actually do it. I've paid the money, I have a date set, I'm going to follow through. And, I get some cool stuff for signing up, too!

Think you're interested in signing up for this race? Click RIGHT HERE to go to the website and sign up.

If you live in my area and you want to do it with me, I'm running on Friday, April 24, probably on some gravel roads near my house. Let me know if you'd like to come along!

November Fitness Challenges Recap

Now that December is half way finished, it's probably about time that I recap the November fitness challenges that I did, don't you think!?

If you remember back a ways, I had decided to participate in two 30 day fitness challenges, one that called for doing planks every day, and the other asked for running a total of 48 miles in November. You can read about them in THIS POST I did in early November.

I know all three of my faithful readers have been just waiting in agony, wondering how I did on those challenges! Ha!

Well, here's my hand-written calendar that I filled in along the way, to show my results:

30 days closer to being a Badass!

It took me the full month to get all my miles in;  I actually didn't get the full 48 in until my very last run on November 30. But hey, I did it! It was also really great for me to see my mileage written out in a calendar like this. It gave me a visual of how much running I had done and when I could have done more. It's something I'm thinking about continuing. Does anyone else use a calendar or journal to track exercise? If so, what do you like to use?

Both challenges were fun and challenging but not deathly hard to accomplish. I am really noticing the benefits of the planking challenge in my overall posture, both running and non-running. And, the added core strength has helped my running form overall, in addition to just becoming stronger.

The 48 mile in a month challenge was really good for me, too. 48 miles in a month is more running than I had been accustomed to doing, and really helped me train and get in shape for the 10K I did on Thanksgiving, Huffing For Stuffing.

The running challenge was one that I actually paid money to do and came with great prizes. It's all on the honor system, so I just tracked my miles in a spreadsheet and emailed it to the race organizers at the end of the month. About a week later, I received my goodie bag:

The t-shirt is great, and the medal is nice too. The necklace was completely unexpected. I don't know if that's something they give everyone, or only some people depending on the event they do, or only women, or just at random, or what, but I got one. I never saw anything about receiving a necklace in the event description or anywhere on their website, but hey, it's cool.

Funk~N~Run events are all put on by these people who call themselves Flower Child Productions. The necklace is actually a little flower charm with stones (I'm assuming they're crystals of some sort or maybe even CZ).

The necklace was a nice surprise, but it's not really my style, and since I'm thinking it's not worth anything anyway, I'll probably donate it to the Prize Bin in my classroom at school. Some little second-grader would probably love that thing to death and would wear it more than I would.

All in all, the challenges were a great success and I'd definitely do another 30 day challenge in the future. I would also strongly consider doing a Funk~N~Run challenge again the next time I want to train for a specific race distance. It was fun, and the fact that I paid a little money and was going to earn some prizes helped keep me honest and consistent in training for the HFS 10K.

No races or events are on my horizon right now, although I'm thinking about doing a virtual run or two in the long winter months of January and February, just to keep myself motivated. Have any of you ever done a virtual run? Shape Up Montana starts in February, too, so that will help. I'm travelling to Wichita, KS in March and have already checked to see that they have a St. Patrick's Day run, so that might be the next actual race that I do.  Besides all that, well... SKI SEASON is upon us!!! Can't wait to go play in the snow! :)

What are you doing for winter fitness?

Huffing For Stuffing Race Recap

I love a good Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day. This is something that was a nice tradition with my family, before I moved to the West. Now that I'm out here, there are a lot fewer runs in general, for any time of the year, but Thanksgiving Day fun runs are catching on and getting more and more popular all the time. Yahoo!


This year, since we were in Bozeman, I participated in Huffing for Stuffing, which benefits the Gallatin Valley Food Bank. They had a goal of 5000 participants this year; Jeff and I both ran and contributed to that goal. Jeff ran the 5K and I ran the 10K.

People milling about before the start of the10K.

 This event featured a 1K kids fun run at 8:00 a.m., a 10K at 8:50, and 5K at 9:15. On the event website, they stated that they had a goal of 5000 participants. They didn't make it that far this year, but it was still the largest race either Jeff or I have done this year. For Jeff, it was his biggest race ever. They had 2763 participants in the 5K and 533 in the 10K. Also according to the website, both races were actually longer than their advertised distances. The 5K was actually 3.3 miles and the 10K was actually 6.7. More bang for your buck, I guess!

The race began and ended at the Museum of the Rockies. 

We had picked up our packets ahead of time when we rolled into town on Wednesday evening, so we didn't have to do that on race day. I have to say, that as this race has gotten bigger the race packet swag has diminished. The last time I did this race, about 5 years ago, they had actual goodies and trinkets in the packets. This time, mostly a bunch of stickers and coupons we weren't likely to use as out-of-towners. And strange fliers... The strangest was a flier for the local funeral home. Huh?! What's this in there for, anyways? In case you DIE during the race, please look up our professional interment services? What?!

The race t-shirts were pretty cool this time around, though. They are a soft, polyester blend, and I LOVE the color! My only problem with the shirts are that I ordered the wrong size, but that's my fault, not theirs. I should have ordered one size smaller. Still an awesome shirt, though, and I think I'll wear it a lot.

Ok. Now for the race itself. Jeff dropped me off in time to warm up for the 10K, then he went and tracked down some earphones so he could listen to music during the race. He got back in time to see me start. I had lined up in the 9-minute mile pace group. The race started on time, but with so many people, it took a long time for me to finally get some room to reach my actual stride and pace.

Looking over the fence from the 9-minute group starting bucket, before the race. 

 It looks like it's horribly cold in my photos, but the weather was actually pretty nice. It was about 40 degrees with minimal wind when the 10K began. I actually felt like I was just slightly overdressed at times. I wore my Moving Comfort track sweatpants, a thermal performance turtleneck from Columbia, a sparkly MSU quarterzip shirt from Under Armour, and my Team Beef jersey for the irony of promoting beef on Turkey Day. Sadly, no one commented about my beef shirt. Oh well.

 As I was saying, the beginning of the race was really crowded and I had a hard time getting into position for the first mile or so, which was also a gradual uphill climb. My first mile had me questioning my sanity-- I still had 5.7 miles to go! What was I thinking?! Once I finally hit the first mile marker after what felt like much longer than a mile, I leveled out my pace. I broke it down in my mind and thought about just one mile at a time. First mile: done. Now, let's get this next mile in faster than the first. And so on.

I took this photo looking back over my shoulder at runners silhouetted along the horizon. This was sometime in mile 2.

Even though the weather was warm, the roads we were running on were covered in a melty icy slush, so that created some tricky footing at times, too. At one point, I followed a bunch of people and ran on the sidewalk instead of the road because the sidewalk had been plowed better and was dry. I did this for about a mile, then decided I was getting too boxed into a running order and went back to the street.

You can sort of see the slush on the street in this photo.

 The course for both races were loops, with the beginning and end of each running concurrently. By close to the end of mile 4, we 10K runners found ourselves running with the 5K pack. Once again, the course was jam-packed and it was a little more difficult to jockey for space and dodge runners and walkers.  This actually made the race feel like it was going faster than it was, though, too. There was a lot to think about and look at so it made time feel like it was flying for the last few miles of my race. Eventually, I ran into Jeff along the course, too! It was so cool to see him and share a brief moment, before we each continued on at our own pace.

That's Jeff in the brown fleece!

Something else that made this race a lot of fun was that there were a lot of people cheering along the route. I snapped a blurry photo of this guy playing his banjo and singing (below) and I also saw a person in a gorilla suit giving out free high-fives. A couple houses along the route had speakers blaring music as we ran by, too. That helped the race fly by, too.

Sorry for the blurry image!
By this point in the race, I was not interested in stopping to take any photos-- so close to the finish line!

 Even though the races were both longer than an actual 5K and 10K, the race organizers were good enough to mark the exact 3.14 and 6.2 mile distances along the course, for those of us who were curious how our times would stack up. I was so glad they did this! I hit the 10K line in a time of 58.36! My new ATB in the 10K distance! It's easy to get a PR or ATB when you've only done a particular distance two times, but still awesome! The only other 10K I've done was back in September, the Kickin' Assphault 10K and Half Marathon.

Here's the breakdown of my mile splits:

Mile 0-1: 9.43.94
Mile 1-2: 9.23.59/19.07 total time
Mile 2-3: 9.11.28/28.18
Mile 3-4: 9.02.99/37.21
Mile 4-5: 10.07.15/47.28
Mile 5-6: 9.07.10/56.36
Mile 6-6.2: 2.00.22/58.36
Mile 6.2-6.7: 4.14.03/1:02.5

So, my first mile was one of my slowest, as I said, I think because of all the people and the slight uphill for the whole first mile. Then I got faster and faster for a while. Mile 4 was particularly slow because there was a very steep uphill for a little ways that really got me, and I walked for a minute or so, then it was also in that mile when we joined back with the 5K people. The rest of the race I was pretty much on pace.

Approaching the finish line!

It was so cool to see the finish line and know that I had beaten my previous 10K time, and also just to be DONE with the race felt great!

I knew Jeff wouldn't be too far behind me, so I waited near the finish line to cheer him in, and then we took a minute to catch our breath and snap a photo together. There was lots of post-race snacks-- the usual bagel pieces, orange segments, bananas, and also hot cocoa, but we opted to just get back to Katie and Josh's house and get showered so we could be ready to watch the Bears game and help prepare Thanksgiving dinner. We also knew that with so many people running the race, there was no way either of us had won any prizes or placed at all.

Since the race was chip-timed, we got our results emailed to us right away. My official chip time for the race was 1:02:31.59. I was 306 out of 533 total 10K runners, and 51 out of 97 female age 30-39 runners. I'm just happy I beat my previous 10K time when I crossed the 10K line, and finished the race. This was the longest distance I have ever run. Even when training for this event, the longest I ever did was an even six miles. It felt good, as always, to complete a race, to validate the culmination of my training and determination, and to do it with Jeff.

What's next in my racing world? Probably not a lot for a long time. I'm hoping to do a race somewhere on St. Patrick's Day, but we'll see if that works out. Otherwise, it may not be until the Icebreaker in April that I get in a race. I'm thinking pretty hard about doing a virtual race of some sort in January and/or February, just to give myself some motivation to stay in shape. There's also Shape Up Montana starting in February, which I'm sure Jeff and I will do again this year. Anyone else have any fun racing, running or fitness plans coming up? Did you do a Turkey Trot or other race over Thanksgiving? Have you ever done a Virtual Race?