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? 

RunLove

Thanks to my membership this year in TEAM BEEF MONTANA, I have had reinvigorated enthusiasm for running and racing. It is a sport I have always been into, since I began participating in Track and Field at Ames Middle School in 7th grade, but I'll admit that I have gone in waves of varying degrees of fervor toward the sport since my high school days. It's hard to stick with running through college (if any of my North Star tracksters are reading this, take heed!), especially when one is a natural sprinter, such as myself. Transitioning to running longer distances was a challenge for me, as someone who never ran longer than a 400 meter race in her Track career.

Ames is such a strong running community, however. There were always races in town or in nearby Des Moines a person could get excited about. Thankfully, too, I grew up in a household where I watched my parents regularly fit running and workouts into their very busy schedules . I had a great example for planning and training for races by watching them over the years. When I was in college, I did make the transition to running 5Ks, often with my parents participating in the same race. When Ryan was around or available, he joined us, too. What a great family tradition! I had a great group of active friends in college, too, who were often looking for races and events to train for. By the time I was a Junior or Senior in college, I had made it my goal to race in one 5K each month. A goal I was largely successful with.

Upon moving to the West in 2007, I had a harder time sticking with running. Races were much fewer and farther between, and often greater distances from my house than I might have been comfortable traveling. Without races to train for, my motivation to run slipped heavily.

Then, in 2009, I had what seemed like a minor skiing accident, but resulted in ACL surgery. During my recovery was when I realized how much I actually missed running. It felt like since I had the option of running taken away from me for the better part of a year or more(knee surgery combined with several related-to-knee-surgery foot injuries), that suddenly running was what I wanted to do most of all. Even more than get back on the ski hill. Luckily, by this time I had moved on to Bozeman, where there were a few more 5Ks and other races available, and I was able to pick back up with a sport I had truly grown to miss.

Now, I am finding more and more races in Montana all the time, and even some in faraway lands that I can do when I travel, such as the Beat the Deadline 5K that I'll do in a few weeks in Washington DC! I have also decided to take a risk and sign up for my first ever 10K, The Kickin' Asphault Half Marathon and 10K,which will be this September 13 in Great Falls. Moving up from 5K to 10K is a big deal for me, but it's going great so far! Just this morning I knocked out 5 miles on the dreadmill (outside running was not possible due to muddy roads and no access to pavement at my house), and I feel pretty good.

Sometimes it's hard to keep motivated to run, especially as the distances get longer and the workouts harder. These days, I am constantly inspired by the kids I work with at school and those on the North Star Knights track team I am fortunate enough to coach. I think sometimes when I tell them that they inspire me every day, they think I'm full of it, but I truly mean it. Nothing makes me want to work hard like seeing how hard those kids work for me and the other coaches.

Additionally, my husband has been such huge support for me and my running hobby, and has gotten into it a bit himself, signing up for 5Ks with me, when his schedule allows. I love that we can be fit together and I love sharing a sport that I love with someone I love.

One last little bit of motivation/inspiration, is running clothes. I was a Textiles and Clothing major in college, and still believe, to an extent, that the right outfit can help you go far. Here are some recent additions to my running-wear stash--

Picked up this super cute, soft t-shirt on a trip to Missoula earlier this summer.
I don't actually wear it to run in because I prefer a quick-dry athletic-material top and this is just a t-shirt, but it's so comfy and soft. Makes a great pre-or post- workout shirt. 

These shorts were on the sale rack at our local sporting goods store and I couldn't pass them up. I haven't decided if the text is a description of how I feel when I am running, or if it's more like a mantra to remember when the run is challenging. Either way, they're great, and super comfortable.

These socks were a recent gift that I tried out for the first time today. They couldn't have been more perfect in message, especially in light of THIS recent post I did about confidence. I am pleased to report that they were cushy, wicking, and kept my nagging blister from flaring up. Perfect!

I'll let you know how my two upcoming races turn out! In the meantime, thanks to everyone who has ever encouraged me or inspired me to keep running. Truly, thanks. :)

Running

Just got back in from a 3+ mile run.  Running in the country has its perks. No traffic to watch out for, no people at all to speak of, really. My running buddy is my dog and we are entertained by pronghorn, partridge and cows at pasture.

As with nearly everything about living out here, I have had to make a few adjustments to my running routine as well.  In the warmer months, we have to be on the lookout for rattlesnakes in the roadways.  While I never used to run or walk without my trusty iPod, I have become accustomed to running without it, so I could hear a warning rattle.  Now, I find that I actually prefer to run without music as distraction. Now, I hear the sounds of the environment around me. Birds chirping and breeze through the grass or wheat fields that line the gravel roadways. I am also more in-tune with how my body feels as I am running, which can't be a bad thing. Perhaps the music was so necessary in the city to drown out all those non-nature noises...

Seems like my life has been all about running lately.  I was fortunate enough to snag an opening on the North Star High School Track and Field coaching staff, as an Assistant Coach to the high school team, the Knights, as they are known. Track and Field in Montana Class C schools is generally not a sport of great tradition, but it is at North Star.  They have had many successful teams over the past several years, and this year is no exception. 

Our team is made of 11 girls and 9 boys. They practice together, and compete at the same meets. Besides the fact that there are many talented athletes on the team, what impresses me most is the quality of their character.  They genuinely seem to like each other, to want to be at track practice, and to want to work as hard as it takes.  They understand the currency of toil when it comes to self-improvement. As a first year coach, I couldn't ask for a better group of kids to work with.

All that being said, time to get myself cleaned up after my morning run and get ready to head to town to catch the bus for this afternoon's track meet in Malta.  Go Knights!