Weekly Review May 8-14

No intro today- just diving right into the week that was: May 8-14. Fitness, farm, and life!

Fitness

Rainy, cool weather and a busy schedule with track and field activities really put the damper on my fitness. It was definitely a slow week in terms of running and fitness. But honestly, I think I needed it. I was just really tired and it felt good to do a bit less. Sometimes you just have to listen to your body and do what feels right. 

Weekly Roundup:

Sunday- Spartan Race (I spectated, did not race) with track kids, and driving home from Spartan.

We had five track athletes from North Star who competed in the Spartan Race.
They each did a fantastic job!

Monday- Rest day. I was really pooped from the Spartan weekend!

Tuesday- 3 miles on treadmill. Roads too muddy to run outside most of the week. Pasture walk in the evening with Jeff and dogs.

Wednesday- 20 minutes of light yoga.

Thursday- 2.4 mile run before school. Short, but hilly.

Friday- High School District Track Meet.

Saturday- Junior High District Track Meet. 

YTD

Didn't really add much to the stats this week, with only 5.4 miles of running, and 20 min of yoga. 

Running: 206.9 miles (16.4 miles last week! For me, that's more than normal)
Walking/Hiking: 65.7 miles 
Yoga: 950 min 
CC-Ski: 500 min / 14.1 miles *Done for the season
Alpine Ski: 3 days *Done for the season
Mountain bike: 38 miles

Farm

It was a rainy and cool week this past week, which meant the fields were too muddy to work in. Thankfully, we had most all of our seeding already complete. Read THIS POST for more info about that. We did finish one of our "fat beef" this past week and took her to the butcher.  We finish our own beef for our own consumption and we sell/share some of it with family and friends. We finish ours on grain. This year, we mixed our own feed ration using barley. In the past, we've purchased ration, but I think it's neat that we mixed our own. We went in together in the ration-mixing with our neighbors, and used their barley. The animals also have as much hay as they want to eat. In a few weeks, our cut order will be fulfilled. Soon our freezers will be replenished with tasty, tasty beef items! I really like knowing that the beef I am eating has never left my own yard.

Life

The biggest news for me this past week was simply the District track meets. Both our High School Boys and Girls teams won their District meet, which is really cool. It was a great lesson for the kids, I think, in how to contribute your efforts to a greater goal and learn what it feels like to be part of a team, something bigger than yourself. The boys had a commanding win by over 60 points. The girls scraped and clawed their way to an unexpected win by a mere 2.5 points. For them, it literally took every single person's best effort throughout the day to earn that trophy. Many people stepped up and did more than they knew they were capable of to achieve that. 

As a Coach, I work primarily with our hurdlers. All of the hurdlers I work with advanced to the Divisional Meet (this Thursday) where they will have a chance to qualify for State. Many of them had significant time-drops in their races. I am very proud of their efforts and improvement and very excited that each of them will be moving on for another week of Track and Field. They have worked hard and earned it! 

Boys and Girls North Star Track and Field teams- both are District Champions!

How was your week, everyone? 

Weekly Review February 21-27

Can you believe we're already done with February?! Here we are with my eighth Weekly Review of 2016! Read on to see how the week went in Fitness, Farming, and Life!

Just loved the clouds!

Fitness
We've now covered four weeks of Shape Up Montana. I really haven't written much about SUM yet this year, so maybe I'll dedicate another post specifically to it soon. This week, I started off with another 10K training run that didn't go so well. With about 1.5 miles to go, my hip and knee all of a sudden started to hurt very badly and I had to walk/jog the rest of the way in. That meant the rest of the week I spent considerable time stretching and doing things that weren't too stressful for the knee. Yes, I did do a couple more running workouts, but they were at very slow pace, with no incline, and included lots of walking. I'm frustrated that I keep having bouts with this hip/knee thing.

Vizsla selfie after one of our runs!

Jeff and I also went for our first bike ride of 2016! We did an easy 10-mile loop "around the block" where we live. I should say that the first 5 miles were easy but as soon as we turned south, we were headed into a strong SW wind for the remainder of the ride. The wind had DEFINITELY picked up from when we left the house. The last 2 miles in particular were pretty much head-on into the wind and were very miserable. All the same, it felt good to use my biking muscles.

Lastly, I was in Bozeman over the weekend and my sister-in-law and I tried a yoga class at a studio downtown called Your Yoga. The class was called Weekend Restore and was very restful. It was sort of a Yin Yoga style class-- not too many poses, none too stressful, held for a long time. I think it was just what my hip, knee, and lower back needed. I felt very "zen" by the end of the hour. Your Yoga had a ton of classes listed and classes cost $10. I'm definitely going to keep this studio in mind for future visits to Bozeman!

Here are the stats from the week:
Sunday- 6.2 mile run
Monday- 1.2 mile walk, 50 minutes stretching.
Tuesday- complete rest.
Wednesday- 2.7 mile treadmill run before school
Thursday- 3.2 mile easy run in the afternoon after a day of working cows, also 45 minutes of core and hip strengthening exercises
Friday- 10 mile mountain bike ride on gravel roads!
Saturday- 60 minutes yin yoga

And, YTD through February 28:
2016 Year to Date, through 2/28/16
Running: 91.95 miles
Walking/Hiking: 20.7 miles
Yoga: 395 min 
CC-Ski: 500 min / 14.1 miles (since I started tracking mileage on 1/17) 
Alpine Ski: 3 days
NEW CATEGORY--Mountain bike: 10 miles! 

Harvey basking in the sun outside the corrals. 

Abby trots up to say hello! She can't resist an opportunity for kisses.

Farm
After Jeff and I spent a day last week prepping for calving, the action is now starting to ramp up. As of this morning when I did the morning check, we had 9 calves. That means we have 87 to go, still. The weather continues to be pretty good and warm, so that means we don't have to do too many overnight checks. Jeff goes out at about 10 p.m. and then at around 2:00 a.m. Then, I get up a little earlier than I normally would and do a check at around 6:00 a.m. before getting ready for school. This morning was my first morning check. It's kind of a nice way to greet the day-- with a short walk, looking for newborn animals.

This calf was about five minutes old when this picture was taken!

Life
Yes, I was traveling again over this past weekend. I was in Bozeman for the baby shower of a good friend. My sister-in-law Katie planned it and held it at her house. The party was baseball-themed and was very cute. Katie did an excellent job planning and executing the event, and the Mama-to-be seemed very pleased, too! She got a lot of nice gifts. :)

The mother to be with some of her gifts and some of Katie's homemade decorations!
Photo credit: Katie Strissel

A big highlight Saturday night was the MSU Bobcats Women's Basketball game I attended with Tom and Carol. It was a hugely exciting back-and-forth game against the Idaho State Bengals. The Bobcats hit a couple of key 3's to send it to overtime tied at 66, and then momentum carried them through a late surge from ISU to finally come away with the victory 82-80. It was possibly the most exciting basketball game I have EVER attended!! Here's a game recap from the MSU Bobcats website, in case you'd like to read more detail: Late Game Heroics Give Bobcats Win Over Bengals On Senior Night.

Tied at 66 -- headed to OVERTIME! 

Montana Class C Divisional Basketball Tournament was also held over the weekend in Great Falls. Interestingly, the Class C Girls Divisional Championship game between Belt and Box Elder drew 2500 fans in Great Falls while the MSU Bobcat Women's Game drew 2100 in Bozeman. People really love their Class C hoops in this state!

Looking ahead this week, Jeff and I are both off to the Twin Cities for the National Farmers Union Convention March 4-8. Looking forward to connecting with friends form across the country and talking about farming!

Peanut, our last remaining cat, enjoying some evening sunshine on the porch post.

REMINDER-- The NEXT POST will be my 400th post and I'll be switching the URL to the new Prairie Sun Life link!!! Be on the watch for that! 

Have a great week! 

Memorial Day Weekend in Review

Jeff and I had a busy Memorial Day Weekend. We went from track meet to concert to quality family time. Read on to hear more!

The weekend began with the conclusion of track season for me. Our State Meet was held in Laurel, MT this year. Competition began on Thursday evening and concluded on Saturday afternoon. The Knights were represented well by three boys and two girls, who had qualified in a total of ten events, and competed throughout the weekend. Our kids competed well all season and those that qualified for State brought their best efforts to the big show. The two seniors who competed at State definitely went out on a high note-- One scored fourth place in the Shot Put, and the other scored in four events: fifth in 200M Dash, third in Long Jump, second in 100M Dash, and State Champion Pole Vaulter.

State was fun, it always is, but I also felt sort of sad off and on throughout the weekend and the week leading up to the meet. Sad because it was another season gone and there's not much I love more than coaching.

Our team flag flies proudly at the State Track Meet. 

 From the Track Meet in Laurel, Jeff and I made the easy drive to Bozeman, where we'd be staying the rest of the weekend with his sister, her husband, and their six-month baby. We kicked off the evening by attending an Eric Church concert! My husband has been a huge Eric Church fan for many years and I like his songs quite well, too. We had general admission floor tickets for the show, but since we're old and kind of weenies, we stood toward the back where it wasn't super crammed and mosh-pit-like. We still had a great view and it was a really awesome show. I'd definitely go to an Eric Church concert again! We spent the night singing and dancing along. I didn't take any photos because I didn't even take my phone to the concert-- I just wanted to keep my phone away and enjoy the show. Going to concerts is always fun and this one was definitely worth the price of admission!

Katie and Josh live near this beautiful pasture with mountain view.
Bozeman is so perfect. I miss living there quite a bit sometimes.

Sunday was pretty rainy all day, so we spent lots of quality time indoors with Josh, Katie, and Brandon, and Jeff and I got some big-city shopping done. Jeff and I picked up some groceries while we were out and about so that we could do dinner on the grill for Katie and Josh. With their six-month baby, our nephew, they definitely have their hands full. It was nice to be able to do something helpful for them that we could all enjoy, and grilling is definitely something Jeff and I are skilled at! We had some brats and "Hot Hen" sausages, both from Redneck Sausage. They don't have a website, but they are a local, Montana company and their encased meats are super tasty! If you ever happen to see them in the store, grab a package! We also grilled potatoes in a foil packet and grilled corn on the cob, and had sliced watermelon (not grilled) on the side. Delicious! So great to enjoy a meal together. Perfect Memorial Day Weekend grilled feast!

Sunday morning, the guys went golfing with a buddy of theirs and Katie and I hung out around the house with Brandon. It was a lovely, sunny day, and we were able to take him outside for a walk in his stroller, then spent some time later on playing on a blanket in the grass. It was nice to have some quality time with him and Katie. I think the best part of the morning was when he learned what grass felt like. We rolled up part of the blanket so he could touch the grass with his hand. You could really see him processing what that feeling was like and thinking and experiencing that for the first time. Pretty cool. :)

Quality Auntie/Nephew time! 

I also snuck in a run on Sunday morning, weaving my way around some paths and streets in the neighborhood around Katie and Josh's new house. I'm getting better at run selfies, but not outstanding... Highlight of the run was seeing a big red fox pretty close-up. He moved too quick to get a photo, and again, I thought about getting out my camera but decided to just enjoy looking at him for a while instead.

All in all, a great weekend with team, friends, and family, but also a little sad for me at times. I'm always sad to say goodbye to the end of track season, sad to say goodbye to Bozeman, and sad to say goodbye to Katie, Josh, and Brandon. Such is life. Until next time!

Spring wheat right in the middle of town. You can see some of the MSU buildings in the background, and further back, the Bridger Mountains, with the "M" on that south face. So long, Bozeman!

Thankful Thursday ~ What is a Trophy Worth?

**Today's Thankful Thursday post, a day late! I had it done yesterday, I swear, I just didn't get around to publishing it!! **

Yesterday was the Montana 9C District Track and Field Meet, and the North Star Track and Field Teams, of which I am an Assistant Coach, performed very well. Our Boys team earned the First Place Team title and the Girls earned Second Place Team. Some new hardware will be added to the trophy case at school, continuing the tradition of excellence for North Star Track and Field. While pretty, shiny objects in trophy cases are cool, I think the greater story is in the the life lessons learned on a day like yesterday. When talking and writing about my own running, whenever I win a medal at a race, I like to think about how that the medal is important, but what it symbolizes is the culmination of hard work and personal growth that took place in the days, weeks, and months leading up to the receipt of that medal. It's no different for a track team earning a trophy.

These kids worked their tails off yesterday. For the first (and likely only) time this season, each student-athlete participated in five events during the meet, which is the maximum number of events an athlete is allowed to compete in. Every individual on the team had a season best or all-time-best performance in one or more of their events. Some kids even made very courageous personal sacrifices to participate in some very challenging events for the first time all season. For example, two of our boys competed in the 3200 meter run (approx. two miles), having never competed in that event before. Others made similar commitments to participate in events they may never have done, putting the team ahead of themselves. When it comes to winning a track meet, every point counts, which means that each athlete's individual efforts are important. Our head track coach stated to the team prior to the meet, "Your individual successes will lead to team success." His statement definitely rang true yesterday as individual efforts all day long added up, leading to team trophies.

As the meet began, I had the chance to watch one of our standout Senior athletes compete in her first event of the day, Long Jump. Right away, she popped out her season-best jump and as she got out of the sand pit, she had a huge smile on her face-- grinning ear to ear. I knew from that moment and from her expression that it was going to be a great day. Her jump was a great jump, but it's still only a jump. One jump out of many she has taken and will take, and it could symbolize any number of different types of "jumps" she'll make in life, metaphorically speaking. Her response and positive attitude was contagious and she carried it throughout her day. She affected every other athlete she encountered, and in the end she was nominated and won a Sportsmanship Award for her actions (as well as four First Place finishes and one Second Place finish, and several PRs!) It's a great reminder that our actions and attitudes affect everyone around us.  She wasn't the only athlete who let a smile lead the way yesterday.

Results of the Girls' 100 Meter Dash.

My own responsibilities at the meet yesterday kept me off the track for most of the day, but when I could sneak down and watch the athletes perform, I was continually blown away by the positive attitudes of each individual I came across. All day long, our North Star kids were smiling, laughing, cheering each other on and celebrating each others successes. I saw kids running across the infield to congratulate one of their peers for making it to Finals for her event. I saw two athletes give each other high-tens after their race, because they knew they had crushed it. One girl, who all season long has been nervous and very hesitant before her races approached the start line in the 800, her most difficult race and was smiling before the race even began-- and when she crossed the finish line, she had a new PR to show for her efforts.  All of us coaches, parents, and fans who attended the meet could add our own stories of positive energy that we witnessed to this list. All of this goes to prove that when we're having fun, we're relaxed, and we perform better. In life, when we're having fun and are relaxed, we are the best versions of ourselves.

This is only my third season coaching and already I have seen some outstanding individuals go through our program in my previous two years. Outstanding as athletes and as human beings. This year's crew was young. We started off the year having lost a number of talented leaders from the previous season. This year, it took us a long time to figure out who we were as a team and what we were made of. We began the year as a gathering of individuals who happened to be wearing the same blue and black uniforms, trying to figure out if and how each fit in with each other. As coaches, we spent a lot of time talking about how to motivate individuals, and also just simply figuring out each of their personalities. We also spent a lot of time thinking and talking about what events each kid would do best in personally, and how they could help the team. It took each and every practice, each and every meet to get the kids to where they are now, to be a TEAM. The credit doesn't go to us, it goes to them- the student-athletes- for putting in the hard work and recognizing their own positive results. A team is more than a uniform, and yesterday, our athletes were a TEAM in every sense of the word.

What our team learned about is what a team trophy is worth. More than anything else yesterday, they learned about the power of unity, encouragement, and positive attitude. Track and Field is just a sport, and trophies are just engraved bits of metal and wood, but what these athletes learn by participating in this sport are life lessons that will stay with them for years to come. To learn to give your best effort, even when it's challenging or scary, is not easy. To learn to put others before yourself can be monumentally difficult. To learn to be positive and celebrate the successes of yourself and others graciously is an art. More than winning races, jumping or throwing far, the team trophies the kids earned yesterday are celebrating each of those skills. That is how to earn a trophy, and that is what a trophy is worth. I hope that when they look at their trophies in the case, they remember their own individual events, but also what it felt like to be part of a team, part of something bigger than themselves.

North Star Boys Track and Field, First Place.
Congratulations, men! Looking forward to many years of continued success. :)

North Star Girls Track and Field Team, Second Place.
Congratulations on a hard fought battle, ladies! 

Should go without saying at this point, but I'm pretty thankful to be a Coach of so many fine young men and women, and to witness and be part of their personal growth and positive Track and Field experience. It's an honor and a privilege, and one I don't take lightly.

What are you thankful for this week?

From Track Meets to Food Tasting!

Yesterday was a jam-packed day for me. My day began with the track team at our first meet of the season, and ended with hundreds of Hi-Line friends and family at a local event called Men Who Cook for Women who "Wine." Long, busy day, but so fun! Read on!

Track Meet: Cut Bank Booster Club Invitational
Yesterday was our first track meet of the season. We woke up really early (for me, the alarm went off at 4:15 a.m.) and drove on the team bus to Cut Bank, MT for the meet. The North Star contingency included 16 student-athletes, three coaches, and one bus driver. Believe it or not, we are actually a large team for Class C in Montana. We were actually missing four athletes yesterday, too, including three seniors. We got to Cut Bank at about 7:30 a.m., got camp set up, and got the team warmed up, then pretty soon the meet was underway.

The wind was blowing when we got camp set up, but not nearly like it was blowing when we took it down later!

When we began competition, there was a steady wind but it wasn't too bad. By about noon, the wind had picked up considerably to about a constant 40 mph with gusts up to about 60 mph (I learned this from watching the news later. I don't just innately have a feel for wind speeds....)  We ended up leaving the meet early around 1:15, with several events still left. Our head coach decided it was just too windy and no one was likely to have a good performance in those conditions. We all agreed and packed up as quickly as we could.

Team warmup. :)

Even though the conditions were not ideal all day long, and we ended up leaving early, I think it was still definitely worth the trip. We had some really great performances, and even some All-Time-Bests for a few kids. I really have to commend our athletes for their positive attitudes all day long, too. I didn't hear much complaining at all. In fact, several people were so excited about some of their successes, they wanted to keep the success rolling and they were disappointed that they were not able to compete in some of their later-on events. It's a pretty good group of kids. One that I am inspired by every day. Next meet is in Cut Bank (again) on Thursday, if the weather is good.

Sweet swishy-sweats!! 

Men Who Cook for Women Who "Wine"
Typically referred to simply as Men Who Cook. This is a unique annual fundraiser wherein groups of men have booths of food they have cooked themselves, and wine and beer are also served. The cooks are all locals to the area and are competing against one another. Attendees sample food from each booth and can vote on their favorites. There are also games such as Bingo and Heads or Tails, door prizes, raffles, and live and silent auctions, with all the prizes and auction items donated by local people or businesses. The event is held in the Hingham Gym and typically draws a big crowd. I think last night there was probably at least 500 people, but that's just a guess. The money raised goes into a fund to help cover costs for families and individuals who have to travel for cancer treatments.

Jeff and I go to this nearly every year, as do Tom and Carol, and many, many, many of our Hi-Line friends. Stephanie joined us this year, too. It's a fun, social event that brings many people together each year for a good cause. And the food is really good, too! Even though I was pretty tired from getting up so early and being out in the wind a track meet all day, I was able to rally and put on my game face for Men Who Cook. There was some really great food this year and nice auction items. It was fun to see so many people! And this is an even that is so unique, I feel. We had a great time!

Photo by Stephanie. This plate is showing two different kids of mac and cheese, the cucumber and tomato items I described above, something that was sort of like a smokey jambalaya, a lemon souffle, and a coconut almond item...The Chinese takeout box had some fried rice and a sesame chicken wing.

 We had to get two plates FULL in order to try everything!!!

Featuring another type of chicken wing, stuffed chicken and pork roll-ups, a few types of bbq/smoked meat dishes, and a sausage and grapes soup-like dish, shrimp cocktail, stuffed mushroom caps... more items that weren't even in this picture! Sooo much food!!!

In my opinion, some of the best food items this year were the small bites that Justin Miller's group made, including a cucumber-smoked salmon bite, a tiny caprese salad tomato bite, and a Moose Drool (beer) chocolate truffle. I also really enjoyed the prosciutto wrapped pork tenderloin with apple chutney, and some of the many smoked and bbq meat options. 

Even though it was a long day, it was a good day. Also, on Friday, Jeff, Tom, Carol, Stephanie, and I ran in a little Family 5K. I'll do a separate post on that soon! Stay tuned!!! 

Thankful Thursday ~ Gotta Love Small Towns!

OK. I'll admit it. I watch The Bachelor. I do! I'm not ashamed. Yes, I know it's canned and corny, sensationalized and silly. But you know what? I find that when I'm watching this show, I am smiling. How many TV shows make us smile these days? The Bachelor/Bachelorette makes me smile, and that is the main reason why I like it and keep coming back to it.

This season I have been particularly interested in The Bachelor because he is a farmer AND he's from my home state of Iowa! I really wanted to tune in and see both how Iowa was represented and how the small town, rural, agricultural lifestyle was portrayed on TV. Obviously, they don't go in depth about farming and agriculture on the show, but I do think, so far, Chris (The Bachelor) has shown that he is proud of being a farmer and is standing behind his lifestyle admirably. As he should! As should any farmer!

The show has been a little less forgiving on the small town he is from: Arlington, IA. In a recent episode, the remaining ladies had a chance to see exactly what Arlington, population 400 or so, is like. As I watched, I had two viewpoints swimming through my mind. One was as someone who did not grow up in a teeny tiny town and knows what it is like to live in a big city. The other was knowing now what it is that really makes small towns special.

Image source: www.tmz.com.
Some of the ladies shown walking around Arlington, and reacting to what they see.

In the show, the ladies have mixed reactions (or at least, that's what they show on TV. Who knows what was done or said that didn't make the final cut to be aired...) to Arlington. Some of them can see the appeal of small town life and others are shocked at the lack of big city amenities. (What did you expect, ladies?!) I think what struck home the most for me was how Chris talked about his town and showed it off. He seemed like he had some trepidation and nervousness over their reactions. On one date, he talked about feeling a little sad about his town losing businesses and feeling sort of run down. I can relate to that feeling here in our small Hi-Line towns. At least Rudyard (similar or maybe slightly larger population as Arlington) still has a cafe and a seasonally-operated movie theater!

When the Bachelor toured his date around his town, they pointed out that it was completely dead. No traffic. No people outside. And with all the defunct businesses boarded up and empty, it really looked and felt like a ghost town. Where was everybody? At the local Friday night football game!

Now, this is where the actual meat of my Thankful Thursday post comes in. If there's one thing I have learned about small towns it is that the whole community really gets behind the local school's sports teams! Here, right now, it's basketball season.  The population of our towns may not be big, but you can bet that the gym will be PACKED for a home basketball game! Even our movie theater acknowledges that small town sports are king and closes during basketball season. They know they won't get any business because folks are over at the school watching the game!  Sporting events, especially in small towns, are what really brings people together. Everyone loves to cheer on the local kids and feel pride in our community and schools!

This week at school, our basketball teams are headed to their District Tournament. Both Boys and Girls have a chance to knock of some rival teams and cause a few upsets, making it deep into the tourney, and hopefully on to Divisionals next week. At school, we had a big pep rally and assembly to send them off, planned by the parents of the Senior basketball players. I was really surprised at the turnout. Many of the players' families were present, but there was a decent number of community members there, too, just to cheer on the teams.

As the assembly went on, I really felt a great sense of pride and appreciation for this small town, this school, and this community. So, this week, I am officially stating how grateful I am to be living in a small town that takes its youth and its sports so seriously, and also makes it fun to cheer on the local team. Small towns like Rudyard (North Star Schools and community) and Arlington, IA are really where it's at when it comes to local sports. The businesses on Main Street may be closed or only open part-time, but that doesn't mean the soul of the place is dead. After having lived here and worked in the school, truly experienced what this time of year is like and the support that comes from everyone in the community, I know I am thankful and proud to call this place home! Small town that it is. :)

Tentative 2015 Race Schedule

Hello, hello! I hope everyone had a good weekend.

My weekend was short, but productive. I kicked it off by staying after school on Friday for some North Star basketball! The Knights were taking on the Turner Tornadoes. Both girls and boys teams won their games and were very fun to watch! I saw a lot of pretty impressive play from both teams. Hopefully I can get to another game soon, and bring Jeff. :)

In the Gildford Gym.

Otherwise, I got some much-needed cleaning and housework done around home, and Jeff and I took a brief trip to Havre yesterday for some errands and a movie. We went to American Sniper. It was pretty good. I didn't know it was based off the story of a real person until the movie ended, so I found it pretty fascinating in that sense. I typically don't love war movies or long battle scenes, and this movie was a lot of both of that, but they balanced the battle scenes and war with some emotional family and relationship scenes. The main character, Chris Kyle, is an inspirational person and the story as a whole was good (and true!). Plus, I thought Bradley Cooper did a great job in his role. Definitely worth the price of admission to see this movie! After a really tough end to the week at school last week, some North Star basketball and a movie were just the escape I needed!

The other thing that happened on Friday is the RaceMT schedule came out. It's not an all-inclusive list of every race in Montana, but RaceMT is based out of Great Falls so the races they do have on their schedule are reasonably close to home for me. I've had some thoughts swimming around my head pertaining to racing and running in 2015 and trying to firm up an idea of what events I'd like to participate in this year, so the calendar from RaceMT helped solidify a few things for me. Most notably, my first race of the season!

Without further ado, here's my (tentative!) racing schedule for 2015!

May 17 (Sunday) Buffalo Jump Race Events, Ulm, MT. In the past they've done one or more of the following: Half Marathon, 10K, 5 Mile, or 3 Mile walk. I'll train for 5mile or 10K, whichever they do this year.  I think this is a trail run. They don't have a website for this race. I came pretty close to doing this one last year but decided against it in the end as I hadn't put in sufficient training to do a 10K at the time and I think the weather was bad. This race is on My Racing Bucket List, so if I do get it done this year, I'll be able to cross this one off the list!

Image source: www.getevent.com

June 7- Possible 5K race in Medora, ND, called the Medora Bully Run. My friend Adria mentioned doing this one because it's close to her hometown. I would probably be up for the road trip, and it looks like a fun race! We'll see.

Mid-June-- Dawson's Run 5K(ish) in Joplin, MT.  Date not set for this race yet. Last year, I was the first place Female finisher for this race. It would be so sweet to have a repeat performance!

June 27 or 28-- 5K somewhere in Iowa, since I'll be there for my Grandma's 90th Birthday celebration and family reunion. Here are a few I'm looking into--

• Kael Man 5K Takes place in Ames (my hometown) at Ada Hayden park, which is where I've run my ATB 5K. Would be cool to do another race there.
• Firecracker 5K in Williamsburg, IA. Pretty close to where my Grandma lives.
• DesMoines Color Vibe 5K. I've never done a color run, so it could be fun.

July-- Find at least one 5K or 10K somewhere in MT. Possibly corresponding with Missoula Marathon.  If I have friends who run the half or full marathon in Missoula this year, I'd like to try to go along, participate in a shorter race, and then cheer like crazy for my friends!

August-- probably no racing due to Harvest craziness.

September 12-- Kickin' Half Marathon and 10K, Great Falls, MT. 10K distance.  I did this race last September and it was pretty good. My first 10K finish!

October-- Opera Run in Bozeman (likely, but not guaranteed) I will do this one if we happen to be in Bozeman for a Bobcat game anyway. Some years it works out, some years it doesn't.

November-- Huffing for Stuffing in Bozeman or Burn the Bird in Great Falls, depending on where we are for Thanksgiving.

Of course, any and all of this is subject to change, but from here, that's more or less how I see my racing season shaping up.  For now, I'm just focusing on getting back in shape with Shape Up Montana, which starts on Sunday, and planning ahead for the Buffalo Jump race in May. It'll be here before you know it!

How was your weekend? If you're a fitness enthusiast, what's on your list this year?

Weekend ReCap

Hello out there, everyone! How was your weekend?

Ours was nice. We stayed around home for once, which was nice, and allowed us to get a lot done around the house. We took in some North Star Junior High Basketball as part of their District Tournament on Friday evening. Of the games we saw, the girls won against Fort Benton, and the boys lost against Chinook. The girls went on to win the entire tournament, beating out a very tough Box Elder Bears team. Our boys finished the tournament in fourth place, but earned high accolades for never giving up and displaying excellent sportsmanship. In my opinion, those qualities are just as important as winning.

Apparently we had freezing fog overnight that night because when I woke up Saturday morning, our environment was transformed into a beautiful frosty wonderland:

I now wish I had taken more photos of this. It was so lovely outside! I drove into town to get my Bountiful Basket, and they didn't seem to have the same effect that far south (twenty miles). By end of day, it had burned off, but it was really pretty while it lasted!

Saturday afternoon, our friend Tom from Fort Benton took some time in between his daughter's basketball games to visit our farm and take a driving tour. It was great to host him and always feels awesome when someone wants to drive all the way up to Almost-Canada to see where we live and spend time with us.

While driving around, we saw a beautiful Snowy Owl perched on a telephone post. Jeff got a few photos, getting as close as he could without scaring the owl away. We discussed whether it was a Snowy Owl or just a Barn Owl with it's winter coloring. Jeff was sure it was a Snowy. Afterwards, I did a brief internet search just to learn more. Snowy Owls live above the Arctic Circle during summer months and only come this far south in the winter (hard to think of where we live as being "this far south" from anywhere!). Barn Owls, while they can have white coloring in the winter, tend to have a more mottled white and brown or tan appearance. Additionally, Barn Owls are strictly nocturnal, so it would have been highly unlikely that we would have seen one during the middle of the day, although we do have some Barn Owls around.

Snowy Owl!

The weather was by and large pretty nice over the weekend, so I got some good outdoor runs in, too. Here's a bunch of photos from Harvey and I out for a few walks and jogs...

Running in tire tracks on a section line.

 I went for a nice jog on Friday afternoon before our snow melted, and followed in someone's tire tracks. It really is more of a workout on the snow, I think.

Harvey cuts across a stubblefield to catch up to me.

 I had gone a different way than I normally do, and Harvey was momentarily confused! Also, it's nice that we no longer have to wear our blaze orange vests as big game hunting season has ended. Harvey still wore his red hoodie, though. It was around 20 degrees for this run.

 After a while, the tire tracks I was running in disappeared, so I decided to follow in the clear path of animal tracks. I love how winter snow can reveal the paths little creatures take, and I figured they'd know the best path to run on, and why would I know better than them?  Looks like mostly fox or coyote tracks, based on the size.

 The landscape where we live is very flat, as you've undoubtedly noticed. I used to think that it was boring, but I've really come to appreciate the subtlety and nuance that does exist. From the perspective of a runner, too, I think running out here makes me mentally tougher. I'm used to having to entertain myself while I run-- no music, no varied scenery or people watching. Just the sound of my feet on the ground, and looking out at the wildlife. This next photo was taken about a mile and a half away from my house, looking back towards home.

The next image is just a fun shot of Harvey doing some digging. This dog LOVES to dig! We've had a surge in population of pocket gophers, which are sort of like a mix between a mouse and a mole. They dig these big mounds of soft dirt and Harvey will catch their scent in there and just dig like crazy!

After this walk, Harvey had a bath!

Sunday, I went through my Stitch Fix Box and tried on all my stuff and made those decisions, then Jeff and I went to Havre for some errands and then to dinner and a movie. We saw MockingJay. It was pretty good, but nothing unexpected. If you're a fan of the series, you'll like it.

So that's about it for us! What did all of you do over the weekend? 

Hard Work vs. Talent

Came across this article on a friend's FB news feed:

Montana High Schools Ranked by Enrollment Numbers

If you click on it and scroll down, you can take a look at a well-organized chart of enrollment numbers for all Montana high schools, organized by class. Here's a few thoughts that come to mind after glancing at the chart.

North Star, where I work, is in Class C. Class C is the largest of all four classes of Montana schools/sports, but is comprised of the smallest schools. This tells the astute reader that Montana has A LOT of small towns.

For sports, many of the small schools listed in the Class C column co-opt for one or all of the athletic seasons. Our sports offerings are much fewer than a school in AA, as well. At North Star, we have only Football/Volleyball in the fall, Basketball in winter, and Track and Field in the spring. Some Class C schools also have Cheerleading, Golf, Wrestling and Tennis, but often only if they're one of the larger Class C schools or Co-Opted teams.

Some schools, again, such as North Star, are actually an agglomeration of several small towns together in one school. Another example on the list would be Chester-Joplin-Inverness, or Powder River.

Ames, IA, where I grew up, had enrollment of around 1600 students when I graduated in 2002.  If Ames High were in Montana, it would be Class AA. When I graduated, Ames was class AAAA, but in Iowa the class system is a little different. If I remember correctly, from smallest to largest, it went A, AA, AAA, AAAA. In Montana it's, C, B, A, AA.

Something else worth noting is that there is some overlap in enrollment numbers between the different classes. Chinook, a Class C school with 145 students could very easily be in Class B. Butte Central is Class A, but only has 136 enrolled students. That makes them even smaller than Chinook, so one could argue they should jump all the way down to Class C. My understanding is that there is some governing body that initially decides or recommends to different schools whether or not they should change classes, but that a school board or superintendent perhaps could appeal that recommendation and remain where they are.

If you're the school who is the top dog on the pile for your class, you're likely the most despised adversary in your district or conference, especially when competing against schools much smaller than you. In my high school days, that school was West Des Moines Valley. They were a common enemy among foes.

Something that one of my fellow Track coaches says often when we're all talking about competing against bigger schools, is, "They still gotta compete." They still have to show up and work just as hard as we do. Even if we feel like we're perennially the underdogs, facing teams that are larger, or drawing from a larger talent pool, good work ethic makes a difference. A phrase I like is "Hard Work Beats Talent When Talent Doesn't Work Hard."

So anyway. Those are just a few thoughts to ponder. The plaque above is a reward I gave myself for sticking with running so well this year. I think it'll be a great way to chronicle races over time and show off my hardwear- ha! Ok, so two of those medals are from the IceBreaker 5K in Great Falls, where every finisher wins a medal. The middle medal is from Dawson's Run, in Joplin, MT, which I did this year for the second time and actually was the first-place female finisher. Even though it was a small race, I'm still proud of that medal.

Really, I'm proud of all my races because of the hard work and dedication I have put in to training and staying in shape. Each finish memorializes that. Hopefully, an athlete from Ames competing against Valley (or whoever today's Valley is), or a kid from North Star going up against Chinook feels like their hard work is memorialized in battle, too. And hopefully, sometimes that hard work will pay off and beat the talent pool they're facing.

Go Cyclones, Go Knights!