MFU Women's Conference 2016 Recap

First of all, let's acknowledge the obvious. I have a totally new blog design! What do you all think?!? 

I am IN LOVE with this design, which was created by my very talented friend, Joellyn. If you need any graphic design work done for your blog or website, definitely think about asking her! You can view her own blog by CLICKING HERE! She also does really fabulous interior design. Basically, if you need design help of any sort, ask Joellyn! 

With the new re-design and new name, I'm planning on doing a re-launch of the blog with a new URL very soon. But, I want to take a little time to plan up something special... like maybe a giveaway or two?? hmmm? yes? STAY TUNED!

Now, on to the true subject of this post: the 2016 Montana Farmers Union Women's Conference! 

The Conference was held a few weeks ago, February 5-7, at Quinn's Hot Springs Resort in Southwest Montana. This was the Fourth Annual MFU Women's Conference, and I'm happy to say that I've made it to all four so far! The past couple years, I've also been fortunate enough to be a member of the MFU Women's Committee, which helps plan the annual conference. Here's a photo of our committee of powerful, strong women:

Lindsey, Me, Delisa, Lisa, Mary, and Kathy.
Audra is also on our committee, but she couldn't make it to the conference.

I can't remember if we had officially decided on a theme for the conference during our planning sessions or not, but to me, the definite theme of the weekend was "Community." Many of our speakers talked about building and strengthening community, particularly in rural areas, and how strong communities can help us all reach our goals. We also grew the community of Farmers Union Women by getting to know each other better and meeting new people over the weekend. The conference did end up selling out, with quite a few registrants attending for the first time ever, and at least 2/3 of all attendees were not already Farmers Union members. I know I met some new people this year that I'm really looking forward to keeping in touch with. 

I also enjoyed having around some familiar faces. My friend Adria joined me again this year, for her third Women's Conference. This year, we were also accompanied by both our mothers-in-law, Carol and Lynn, and a few other friends- Glenda and Mary. With six of us making the 5+ hour drive, Rudyard made a very strong showing at Quinn's! 

Quinn's Hot Springs Resort is situated in a lovely canyon along the Clark Fork River, North of Missoula, near Plains, MT.
All the cabins on this side of the highway are brand new. It would be a wonderful venue for a wedding or reunion, if you ask me!

I think the success of this conference every year lies in simply bringing women together. As Delisa always says, "When you bring women together, magic happens." Magic happened again this year, too. There is a yearning for women to build community-- one that I think is lacking sometimes in our day-to-day lives. This year's group was very diverse, both in age and background. While most all women in attendance were involved in agriculture somehow, that wasn't true of everyone. We had many, many positive comments on our evaluation sheets, both from farmers and non-farmers. The conference held something for everyone, and community was indeed built in Quinn's.

The lovely Kriss Marion of Wisconsin Farmers Union and Soil Sisters spoke about community organizing and the snowflake model. She advocated for building community one pot-luck at a time, and bring cookies!

I believe that one of the greatest strengths that Montana Farmers Union possesses is its ability to bring people together from diverse backgrounds. We often find that we have much more in common than we have apart and when it comes down to it, we're all in this together and we need each other more than we need to divide one another. 

MFU Women's Committee Member Lisa Schmidt speaks about, well, public speaking.

Justene Sweet, an herbalist, spoke about native Montana plants in the context of how the plants are part of our community, and how we can use some of these plants to build our own communities. Lovely presentations!

And yes... I even led a session at the Conference. Something I've never done before! 

My session was a "Hack-a-thon" wherein we were "hacking" out solutions and ideas to grow/enhance/create vibrant rural communities. I began with about a 10 minute presentation in which I attempted to explain what a Hackathon is and how we were going to go about doing it, and also discussed Creativity and how it is necessary and useful when talking about building community. Basically, I described Creativity as being sort of like a muscle. Take the bicep muscle, for example. Everyone has a bicep-- some of us have stronger biceps than others, but we can all strengthen that muscle. Creativity is the same way. Each of us has the capacity to be creative-- we just may have to work out that "muscle" a bit. I led the group through a few Creativity exercises, then everyone split off into small groups of 4-6 people and strategized ideas that could help in rural communities. Groups presented their ideas the next day in a sort of show and tell session. Man, were there some excellent ideas!!! I hope people actually follow through on some of them! For example, a "Tour de Montana" style bike ride with stops at farms all across the state! How cool would that be?!

All in all, even though I was nervous for the hackathon, I think it was a success. It got people thinking in a different way, and mingling with people they maybe didn't already know, which were my goals at the outset. I am satisfied with that.

This is the Event Center- where the Conference was held.

Now, I just want to write down a few notes that I had jotted down during the convention. Things that got me thinking...

• Build your capacity through people and connections. Be leaders and make leaders of those around you.
• "I really think it's all about the food!" ~ Kriss Marion, on the importance of food and potlucks!
• "I want my farm to be loud and alive!" ~ Kriss Marion, when discussing keeping our farms and lands healthy and sustainable for future generations.
• Gather in diversity- with that comes wisdom. Gather to cultivate community.
• "What's growing in your own backyard?" ~ Justene Sweet, during herbalism presentation
• "I build confidence in others." (My own elevator speech-- thanks Lisa Schmidt!)
• "Feel the fear and do it anyway." ~ ??? Not sure who said this during the conference, but I wrote it down!

Above is a photo of all the attendees of the conference. That's a lot of powerful people and WISDOM in one place!!! I hope everyone took something back to their own community, or that everyone was affected in some way, and will make a positive impact.

If you missed the conference this year but may have wanted to attend, next year we will be back at Chico Hot Springs, near Yellowstone National Park. The weekend will be the weekend after the Superbowl this time, but before Valentine's Day. It should be another fantastic event to look forward to!

Speaking of Community and organizing, a friend of mine linked to this article on his Facebook page recently--
Where Have All the Members Gone?
If you're a farmer, or married to a farmer, or if you like farmers, or like food, or live in a rural area, or live in a city but appreciate farmers and food, than you should consider joining a farm organization. If you are a farmer, then you DEFINITELY should join one. Our voice is small, but it is important. If we want our voice to be heard on a national level, it needs to be done through farm organizations, such as Montana Farmers Union/National Farmers Union. Please consider joining. If for no other reason, then to get on the mailing list for the next Women's Conference! ;)

Weekly Review January 24-31 ~ Discovering Trail Running

Another week, another Weekly Review post! 

Photo from Saturday's trail run.

The theme for this past week is definitely trail running and discovery. You can read last week's review HERE.

Fitness
No skiing this week, sadly. All our snow has melted away. It's unlikely that we'll get enough snow again this year to ski at home on the farm, but you never know. Maybe a spring snowstorm with heavy snow??? I suppose it's possible. Earlier in the week it was really icy in the yard and on the roads, so Jeff and I tried out our new YakTrax. They slip on over our shoes and provide really excellent traction on ice.

YakTrax on the ice = awesome!

We went for a light run together on Sunday evening, then I wore mine again on Monday afternoon on my first ever trail run at the new place. You can read about that in this previous post. I also had great road run on Wednesday, than another awesome trail run with Jeff on Friday morning through the pastures for five miles. Trail running out there is a great way to get to know the land in a very intimate way. Again, just super, super thankful for all this great access we have.

Looking back toward the Sweetgrass Hills.

The #RunLoveChallenge continues this week. Wendie and I pushed our distance up to 5 miles. The weekly challenge with that was to "discover" a new run, which I did out on the trails on Monday and again on Friday. So, that Friday run was a double-whammy of increased distance plus discovering a new route. Let me tell you, five miles on trails is MUCH different from five miles on the road. What I really discovered from getting into this trail running stuff is my own strength. Sure, my times are slower, but man is it a workout. One of those hurts-so-good challenges, you know? I know in the long run the trail running will make me a stronger, faster runner, and that's what I'm really going for. I want to know what I'm capable of.

Here's the weekly breakdown:
Sunday- Running 3.2 miles with Jeff
Monday- 3 mile trail run "Discovery" run
Tuesday- 1.6 mile walk, 30 min. core exercises
Wednesday- 3.4 mile HILLY road run at sunset...

The sky can be so beautiful around here! We have had a lot of good sunsets lately.

Thursday- 30 minutes of yoga after school
Friday- 5.2 mile trail run with Jeff

Jeff took this photo of me on our run. That's Sage Creek down below.
Hard to believe not that long ago we were skiing on the creek.

Saturday- 30 minutes elliptical

I guess you'd say the yoga day was my rest day, and I guess you'd call the hill workout and some of the trail running my "speedwork..."  Big week for me overall in terms of mileage and activity.

Filling in my #RunLoveChallenge calendar!

And here's YTD:
2016 Year to Date, through 1/31/16
Running: 45.35
Walking: 8.3
Yoga: 165 min 
CC-Ski: 380 min / 10.8 miles (since I started tracking mileage on 1/17)
Alpine Ski: 2 days

Farm
This week we completed and submitted our Organic Producer application. If you remember a few posts ago, we decided to farm some land organically this year. Well, you have to apply in order to be certified organic. The application is thick and tedious. I think the powers that be will review it and then someone will come out and inspect our farm and our set-up, probably this spring or summer. Sort of exciting. It's an interesting process, for sure.

This is a photo of a poster in the FSA office. 

We also continue to feed cows daily. They typically two hay bales rolled out for them in this feeding pasture each day, plus some more hay and straw in feeders in the corrals. They can wander back and forth between the pasture and the corral as they see fit. They also have an excellent view as they munch. I wonder if they appreciate it?

Our cows graze as the Sweetgrass Hills loom in the distance

Life
We continue to work on small things around the house to make it our own and finish the moving process. We decided to forego our kitchen face lift project for now and put our money toward some much-needed furniture instead. Turns out that I find shopping for furniture online or in store to be overwhelming and stressful. You ever go to a really big lunch buffet and become so overwhelmed with all the choices that you either pile your plate with way too much, or, walk out with absolutely nothing? That's what furniture shopping is like for me. Too many choices make me frustrated and confused, so then we get nothing. But we need things... so it starts again. On and on. We'll get there.

Also, you may have noticed that I changed the name of the blog.... (it's OK, I'll take a moment while you scroll back up and look...) I've been wanting to change it for some time and finally decided on something I like, and Jeff likes, too. A friend of mine is helping with a visual overhaul of the blog, so once that's ready to be unveiled, the URL will probably change too. Don't worry, though, I'll let you all know and give you plenty of lead time before that change so that I don't lose any of you as readers!

Well, that's all for this week! Hope you're all doing well! Catch you on the flip side. :)

Harvey says see you next week!

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! :)

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?!?! 

Spring Cow Feeding

Hello to my (tiny) blogosphere of readers! (Thanks mom!)

I have been MIA for over a week and I missed last week's Thankful Thursday.

Here's Why.

Stressful caseload at school + busy track season + busy farm season/homelife = not enough sleep + little time for myself = SICK KATIE!

Yep. I spent the good portion of the weekend without moving from my bed. It started with a sore throat last Wednesday. Thursday I spent the entire, long day, which also happened to be cold and damp, outside for a track meet-- throat got worse and add to that neck and head aches. Friday I woke up with a fever in addition to the other symptoms and subsequently spent more time in bed sleeping than I did awake. My throat hurt SO BAD. I felt pretty awful the rest of the weekend, but thankfully felt OK enough to go to school starting this week. Today, Tuesday, I feel pretty much back to fine. I'd say I'm at 95% of 100.

Needless to say, blogging was a nonessential activity while I was trying to get back to feeling semi normal. I don't know if it was some version of Strep or the flu or what, but I was pretty miserable for a few days there. Thankfully, I never got a runny nose or cough--you know, the really annoying cold and flu symptoms. Just had the painful ones. My lymph nodes were so swollen I thought they would burst if I touched them wrong. Ugh. I managed to somewhat dull the pain and the fever by simply taking Advil the whole time I was sick. Better than nothing!

The whole weekend felt like a weekend that had been full of plans but ultimately, some things got pushed by the wayside.

What I DID do over the weekend:

• Jeff did convince me I was feeling OK enough to join some friends of ours for a lovely dinner on Friday night. Surf and Turf with beef from their ranch and shrimp from Pike's Market in Seattle. So good! Great conversation and company, too. 
• Jeff and I also attended North Star's Graduation Commencement ceremony on Saturday afternoon. We arrived right before it began and left immediately after it was done. I felt bad about not going through and shaking hands with the grads and visiting with friends, neighbors, and coworkers, but I was just feeling so awful. Still, glad we went. The speaker was a man named Flint Rasmussen, who is actually a Rodeo Clown by profession. He tours with the Professional Bull Rider circuit. He was a really great speaker and had some good advice for the kids. 
• Sunday, I felt good enough to get outside a bit and help Jeff with some cow chores. Photos will follow later in this post!

What I did NOT do over the weekend:

• Household chores and cooking. OK, I did laundry on Sunday but that's really about it. Special kudos to Jeff for taking my turns with pet chores and other household drudgery.
• I didn't do any blogging or spend much time at all on the computer. Mostly, I was asleep. Priorities.
• I didn't do the 10K trail race in Ulm, MT that I've been sort of planning on for a long time. (If I couldn't even get up to walk from my bed to the kitchen table, how could I have run 6.2 miles, hmm?) Honestly, as the weekend approached, even before I got sick, I was leaning toward not going anyway. Ulm is nearly 3 hours from my house and since I'm gone so much in the spring anyway, it was starting to look like a good idea to stay home. Turned out to be cold and rainy on Sunday morning in Ulm anyway. Hopefully next year. 

So, lets get back to the pictures and info of what I did do on Sunday, which was help Jeff feed cows.

Jeff, Tom and some neighbors spent last Thursday (while I was at the track meet) sorting our cows and calves into breeding groups, administering vaccines to the calves, and hauling the groups of pairs to pasture. We have four breeding groups and we breed the "old fashioned way," meaning that we don't use artificial insemination to breed our cows. Here's a post I did a few years ago, specifically about how we breed our animals: http://prairieponderingsmt.blogspot.com/2014/02/matchmaker-matchmaker.html. The post is worth a look especially for the YouTube video at the end. Anyway, this is the time of year when the magic happens.

These gentlemen are about to be let out into the world to do work.

Get ready, ladies!

Our cows and calves are already out at pasture and the men will join them tomorrow or Thursday. It's going to be quite a bit like the Discovery Channel around here. This time of year, the cows get a little extra feed supplement in addition to the grass they eat at pasture. It's called range cake, or just cake. We drive out to their pastures and dump little piles of it on the ground for them to eat. It just helps with their overall nutrition as they are rebounding from calving and supporting a growing calf, and spring grasses are still a bit short. Here is a post I did back in February that has a lot more information about range cake: http://prairieponderingsmt.blogspot.com/2015/02/cake-walk.html. If you want to learn more, I highly suggest you click back and read through that one!

I went with Jeff on Sunday to feed the range cake. When we drive into the pasture and get close to the group of animals, Jeff will roll down the window and hit his hand on the outside of the pickup door and yell, while honking the horn. The cows know that this is the dinner bell and typically come running. It always makes me giggle to see them run this time of year because their udders are still so big! They get pretty excited about their range cake, though!

The cows know that the cake comes from inside that bag and they are pretty eager. Some of them will eat it out of your hand if you hold still enough. I love that our cows are so gentle.

 We pour the pellets out into little piles in the grass and the cows munch away. You can really see in this picture how the cows have lost their winter coats and are down to their short, summer hair. The light wasn't great on Sunday, but their coats are actually really gossy and nice-looking right now. Overall, the cows and calves look to be in really good condition. The calves especially are bouncy and happy.

Jeff snapped this photo of me dumping out some cake for the girls. I like cow chores where I can be in among the herd. While you do have to be aware of the cows--where they are and what they are doing--overall, they're used to people and are really pretty gentle. It was nice to be outside.

The astute reader will have noted that I made mention to rainfall and was wearing my rain coat and boots in the photo. Yes, it did (finally!) rain a bit over the weekend! We ended up with between .5 and .6 of an inch of rain, with about .7 on our farmland to the north. There were PUDDLES in the yard! I had nearly forgotten what such a thing even was! The rain was a good drink for the crops and the pastures, but we'll certainly need more before too long, since we were so dry to begin with.

So that's what's been going on around here! What did you do (or NOT do) over the weekend?

Thankful Thursday ~ MFU Women's Conference 2015

If you've read my blog this week, then you will not be surprised to read that this week's Thankful Thursday post is all about the Montana Farmers Union Women's Convention that I attended this past weekend. I am thankful for the entire experience and humbled by the amazing women I met or got to know better over the short weekend. In today's post, I am going to call out some of the women specifically and thank them for something I learned from or shared with them over the weekend.

Adria- Thank you for again this year joining me on this weekend adventure! You are truly a great friend, filled with empathy and kindness. You are as loyal as they come! I also really admire you for the mother you are. Love you!

Stephanie- What a great compliment to me and MFU as an organization that you would want to start your visit to Montana early and kick it off with this crazy weekend at the convention! Thanks for travelling so far to see me and my farm, and meet some of my friends! Your continued friendship means so much to me.

Stephanie, Me and Adria.

Lisa- As our first speaker of the weekend, I need to thank you for your reminders to cut through the distortion. Your advice of "learn to receive a compliment," "everything you want is on the other side of fear," and "I am going to be courageous for this moment," all rang true for me and were all part of a message I needed to hear! Thank you!

Lorrie- Thanks for the reminder to put my bloomers on! You have no idea how timely your message was. Thanks also for encouraging me and all of us to find our passion and make goals to achieve it. My passion is encouraging confidence and leadership in myself and others, and one of my goals is to start a 5K on the Farm Fun Run! 

Kyla- I met you for the first time when I sat next to you as a speaker on our speakers panel! I was immediately impressed and humbled to be seated next to you. You are so powerful and intelligent, and possess some of the same passions as I do- exercise, teaching children, rural life. You helped show me that the three can go together! 

Mary is moderating a panel discussion, with Courtney, Me, and Kyla as speakers.

Courtney- Thank you for all your writing and marketing tips. I plan to put them to great use! More than that, to echo what I wrote next to Kyla's name, I was honored and humbled to be part of a speaker panel with you! I was so impressed with you this weekend and you made a definite impact on me, and others, too, I'm sure! You are so brave and strong and I thank you for sharing your story with all of us.

Courtney is giving us pointers on sharing our stories using writing.

Kim- As always, thank you for wearing your emotions boldly! Your smile truly does light up a room and I always know that I will enjoy every moment that you are in that room with me! Your advice "lean in. get down. let your light shine. life. simply. real." is true on so many levels and I thank you for sharing your wisdom!

Kim and Kyla presenting, Adria looking on.

Christy- Thank you, thank you, thank you for running with me on Sunday morning! You are so strong and lovely, and a wonderful advocate for running and ranching! Your encouragement during our run was just what I needed. I thank you for your conversation and friendship throughout the weekend!

Kim shares her story and some of her work.

Mary- Thank you for continuing to share of yourself with me and everyone you meet. I know that whenever I see you, I'll have a friendly hello and a conversation with someone who knows what it is like to move into the small towns we live in! 

Elaine was my partner in our photography workshop. 

Delisa- You are our fearless leader and a constant source of amazement and inspiration to so many of us! Thanks for starting the first MFU Women's Conference three years ago and for keeping the tradition going. You are changing peoples lives for the better by doing so!

Audrey and Keay.

So many others that I could thank or call out-- Audrey, Keay, Jami, Maren, Quinn, Maggie, Pamala, Joan, Elaine, Laura, Laura, Connie... the list could go on and on!

Lorrie reminds us to put our bloomers on!

If you are thankful for someone in your life, take time to tell them. It only takes a moment or two to spread joy, practice gratitude, and tell someone how much you appreciate them, but the rewards will last a long time for both of you! Never let a moment pass without telling someone what you feel. 

Stephanie, deep in contemplation. :)