Some degree of Crazy.

I have had the debate multiple times with multiple running friends;
Running quality in freezing temperatures VS. running indoors.

So it is fair to say I HATE running cold. I will do it but if you are running with me you will hear me whine most of the time, if I talk at all!

I HAVE NO PRIDE.

I do not pound my chest talking about how I haven't been on a TM for "X" amount of time.
Good for you.
Not good for me!

I personally run outside in the winter mostly for two reasons:

1. I have FOMO- Fear of missing out. I like running with my friends. 
2. If I am running short on time it is quicker to run from home. 

I believe running indoors for ME benefits ME more than running in freezing temps and inches of snow by:

1. Running cold requires many layers. the more layers I have, the more I have to irritate me. Too tight, to itchy, too short, too thick, too stinky, too big, too bulky and so on. 
2. I get mentally defeated. It requires so much more work for me running in the cold. I feel like I am huffing and puffing the entire time. My chest is heaving, my breathing is pathetic and I feel fatigued with very few miles in. 
3. Mentally I get discouraged by my pace. I am running slower yet my body feels as though it is working harder. 
4. I struggle maintain my pace due technical issues, my eye lashes freezing together, my shirt riding up, snow banks and ice to name a few annoyances.
5. Running indoors allows me to run in SHORTS! The bare minimum. Having the air touch my skin is magical. I am such a happy runner. And Happy is Good!
6. I can get on the treadmill and it makes me keep my pace. The TM is not forgiving. She doesn't let you catch your breath, she keeps on turning unless you push the button. I can hit the incline, the decline, punch in my pace and watch Ellen! 
7. Running on a TM is good mental training. It takes A LOT of perseverance to run farther than 5 miles! 
8. If I go to the gym I am way more disciplined to stretch and roll properly. I am also more motivated to do core and strength training. 

2018 is a New Year. I have new goals, new thoughts and new perspectives. 

I LOVE running. 

I plan on doing as much running next year as I did this year. 

HOWEVER. 

I am NOT RUNNING. It is NOT my sole identity. 

This year I cut back on my social media running posts. 

As much I love running and this is a running blog I have even wrote about things other than running. I haven't put in all my stats and I haven't even been blogging as much. 

I have been doing the other things I love. Parenting. Being a youth leader at my church. This year marks the 12 year I have been either going to or volunteering in an addiction facility, one of my greatest passions, addiction.

I have over 20 years as a stylist. I love my profession and give 100% to my job. I LOVE people.

I even read a few books this year, listened to some great podcasts and watched a few documentaries. 

Yes, I ran some epic races, I coaches XC again for our local charter school and I still ran over 2000 miles for the year. 

BUT, I am MORE than a Runner. I love being outside, I love kayaking, watching the sunrise and catching the sunset. I love baking, camping and watching my boys play ball.

 

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Christmas gift REVIEWS:

SEALSKINZ: 50$

I ran today in them at sub zero weather. My feet never got coldor wet and I was pushing through a half a foot of snow. These particular pair of socks are actually taller than the ankle high ones I have. I prefer them higher, they fit great under my running tights and kept my shins warm and dry as I trudged through the snow. 

Smartwool: 25$

This is hands DOWN my favorite buff. At first, I didn't think I would like it due to its narrow neck. It was itching me until I got cold! WOW, it warmed my cheeks and nose instantly. It snuggled around me like a little face furnace. I would occasionally pull it down I would get so warm. 

Brooks Windbreaker: 100$

This light weight windbreaker folds into a teeny weeny little square, great for ultra running. I used this as a outer shell on Christmas to lock in the heat and keep the wind from cutting through me. It paid for itself the first time I used it. Christmas is was again sub zero and I got caught in a white out snow squall. I NEVER got chilled.

Nike Thermal running shirt.

My favorite detail with this layering shirt is the longer length in the back. It covers my toosh. The arms are also longer with fold over hand sleeves and thumb holes.  The material is lighter, making this the perfect layering shirt. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In other news. 

My good Friend Ken is running "Across the Years" . He is running the 6 day race. I am excited for him. I think he is crazy but then that is all relevant. We all have some degree of CRAZY in us. 

He started today and has over 40 miles in. He is trying to average 55 miles a day. 

Remember him in your prayers!

Anita~

Catching up on camera

I am still alive and kicking. I am even still running.
I am slowly digging myself out of chaos.
Manageable chaos, self induced.

Thanksgiving has passed.
Christmas is already a memory and life is breathing again.
I am crawling out of my hole.
I had a few days it was hit or miss. Long days, late nights and lists that never appeared to have a period. And we are not talking menstrual, we are talking punctuation.

I am now running in multiple layers of uncomfortable clothing.
Tights that are too tight. Thermal shirts that itch. Hats that make my hair stinky.
Layers, soo many layers that stick in weird places and bunch up leaving me feeling like the Michelin Man.
OHH and lets not leave out the fact that its so stinking freaking bloody cold all my devices keep FREEZING up and shutting off on me!

Ill catch you up to speed through some photos.

MY BIRTHDAY!

LACEY, PAULA AND MATT surprised me with a mini birthday party. This was seriously one of the sweetest things. Because my birthday is so close to Christmas it is really a P.I.T.A. 

Everyones busy, and I feel like a burden. But they made me feel like a princess. 

Whiny Butterfly may be a nickname I have adopted. 

I opened Laceys gift, the one she has been ITCHING to give me since Thanksgiving, and jumped all over like monkey. 

She found me a running skirt from Lululemon with BUTTERFLIES all over them!! `

GOODR

I have wanted a pair of these obnoxious running glassed for a year! My mother in law bought me them for my birthday. I wore them on Christmas to try them out. I got caught in a white out, they were AWESOME. They kept the snow out of my eyes and added the perfect amount of ridiculousness. They are so FUN! I want them in every color! 

All my goodies on!

PART of my goodies from Christmas. Andy always spoils me. 

Brooks windbreaker

Runners World Journal

Runners World Train Smart. 

Smart Wool Buff with Merino wool

Nike layering thermal shirt

A bib/medal hanger

THESE ARE THE MOST AMAZING SOCK. Andy bought me a pair 2 years ago. They don't get wet! My feet stay dry and warm.They are expensive, 50$, but worth every penny if your an outside winter runner.

I got distracted this morning and "Ran" out of time to go to the gym. I had to buck up and venture outside in sub zero degree weather. 

I NEVER got cold. However, if my eyelashes could speak, they would be cursing me. I actually had a car come to a complete stop. This man rolled down his windows, with a big smile he yelled "You are the BEST, Good for you, you are the BEST!" 

I smiled until I realized I dropped my brand new glasses somewhere through the village of Holly. I found them! tucked away in a snowbank. OHH happy day! 

So...If I can organize my day properly ttomorrow, I will give a review of all my new goodies..including the new New Balance running coat Andy bought me for my birthday!

Spoiled. 

And loved.

Smiles.

Anita!!

I Saved You a Seat. Humbled

Three weeks ago today, I walked into church late, on time for me. I was out of sorts for me.
Not in a great place emotionally.
It is our Freedom from Bondage outreach night. I lead a group for families who have loved ones struggling with addiction.
But this day, I had my own struggles. My hurts. My burdens. To be quite honest, I really didn't even want to be there.
I didn't want to smile. I didn't want to mingle and be fake. I wanted to be alone.
This is me being HONEST.
I am just being real.

The auditorium is huge. Most of the seats were filled. I wanted MY seat. A seat on the aisle. Easy to get in and easy to get out. I could hardly find a parking spot and now I couldn't find a aisle seat. "UGH".
I stood against the outside wall searching for a seat, awkwardly. The music was loud, the band was playing songs of freedom and forgiveness.

I looked around. Its not a typical church service. I come often times from work. My make up is on, lips glossed. My hair has been blown out and styled. I smell like expensive perfume and even on my casual days I am dressed pretty well. I look churchy.
I stand out like a sore thumb!
I am circled by a room full of felons, prostitutes, drug addicts, alcoholics, some in recovery, some coming in still liquored up. Some haven't showered in days and smell like stale cigarettes.
Disheveled, discouraged, disordered but all working on another day, a day of hope. A day of recovery.

My Pastor makes us do this little exercise where we look to the left and tell the person next to us They Are AMAZING.
I wasn't in the mood.
I didn't want to play this little game.
But I didn't want the person next to me to think I was a snob, so I dug deeply for a smile, looked to my left and whispered, "Your Amazing."
This man was three seats from me. He was a very slender man. About 6 feet tall with ruffled gray hair. He hadn't shaven and looked tired and weak. He looked at me in the eyes, "Thank you."
The service moved forward.
As the closing song played,  I saw the man out of the corner of my eye. He was stuggling to get up and get his coat on. I saw him fumbling with his cane. I reached over, convicted, "Can I help you..?"
I reached around him helping him put his oversized coat on.
"Thank you, what is you name?"
"Hi, I am Anita." I replied with a smile.
He was glowing, "Thank you, are you here every week?"
Helping him with his cane, "Yes, I am."
"You are beautiful, I hope to see you next week,"
I smiled, blushing, "Thank you, I will see you next week."


Here is the thing. My Tuesday turned into Wednesday, then Thursday, and next thing I know it is Tuesday again.
I walk down the aisle, I find my seat on the outside. I set my stuff down in the seat next to me and I open my coffee.
Another Tuesday.
The service goes on like all of them. Powerful, inspirational and encouraging. I go to leave my seat to head down to the tables when..
TAP TAP TAP
I turn around...
"HI, Its Anita right?"
I turn around and there is that man. Cleaned up, bright and smiling.
"HI!" I was caught off guard.
"Anita, It's George, I saved you a seat."

"I SAVED YOU A SEAT."

I felt my face getting flushed. I felt tears wanting to stream down my face.
You see, I WENT ON WITH MY WEEK."
I forgot about him. I was a terrible person. I moved from Tuesday to Tuesday.
He SAVED me a seat. He thought of me.

He told me I was beautiful again, and that he liked my smile.
MY SMILE...You mean the one I forced. Oh, if he only knew.
He thought of me and saved me a seat.
All I had to do was SMILE.
I just had to come out of myself for a brief second, I had to just love on him. I had to look at him in the eyes, I had to tell him he was AMAZING.
So Powerful.

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. "  John 13:34

That's the problem. We get caught up in OURSELVES. Our little world. Our issues, our heartaches, our drama.
When all we have to do is smile.
To love on the unlovable.
To be kind to a different kind.
To share a good word.
To help those struggling, someone other than ourselves.

He thought of me all week from a smile.
I felt horrible. And I felt blessed. This man truly blessed me.
His smile, his kindness, his thoughtfulness, his humility...
HE SAVED ME A SEAT..

He saved me a seat again today. I cried like a baby in church.
I couldn't stop the tears from flowing. Humbled. Broken and blessed.

Just SMILE.
Get out of Yourself and SMILE, Love, Give a kind word.

This Christmas season don't get caught up in gifts that you buy..
Get caught up in the gifts that money CAN'T BUY.

LOVE.
KINDNESS.
COMPASSION
FORGIVNESS
HOPE

Anita.

Catching a Break :Patience

For weeks now I have been waiting for that one run that felt great and was not being ran at a turtle crawl.
Most of my runs my heart is pounding, my lungs are heaving and my mind is spinning in frustration.

BUT FINALLY...Today..Today was that day.
Today, the sun brightened a gorgeous blue sky.
For a December day, the temperatures spoiled us at 50 degrees.
I was a brave soul, I wore a running skirt and a tee shirt. However, for insurance purposes I also wore arm bands and compression socks. It was sooo refreshing to not have all those layers on.

We only ran 8.5 miles. Maybe that's what I needed. Maybe I just needed to keep the miles in the single digits.
We chatted, we ran hills, we ran flats, we laughed and overall it all felt great. I even barreled up a big nasty hill on Fish Lake Rd like a champ. Granted, it took me 2 miles after that to catch my breath but I felt like a rock star for a few minutes.
The best part, as good as it felt, we still managed to maintain a 9min/mi. This was very shocking considering we walked up a hill at Seven Lakes on a trail.

This is a simple post. Today was a reminder for me to be patient with my body.
Or just to be patient, but not give up. To not get too frustrated when things do not move at the rate that I WANT IT TOO.

For all sense and purposes, tomorrow I may feel like total poop on a stick again. And that is O.K..
Today was a good day.
I will remember the good day. The good feeling. The good STUFF.
I will remember no matter how good, how bad or how long each season lasts, Its ALL GOOD TRAINING!
Just keep moving forward a LITTLE BIT at a time.

Anita~

Don't take yourself so Serious.

"Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy...The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with JOY." Psalms 126:2-3

With just a few weeks left until the end of the year, I am loving not taking my running so serious.
I haven't added my weekly miles, monthly miles or even tallied up my miles for the year.
I have ran without my watch, I have quit on runs before I planned and I have even cut my miles down without a thought or a plan.
That's not saying that I am burned out or cutting back. It is just saying that I am enjoying not being so committed or serious.
I am enjoying other things. I actually enjoy cleaning my house when I am not in a hurry. Turning my music up and dancing through each of the rooms. I spent 8 hours cooking in one day last week and even enjoyed waking up at 6:30 am to make my friends desserts.

We have had a lot of FUN RUNS. One of the things I am doing differently is cutting my miles back to about 40 miles a week, and honestly even less than that.
But I am trying to pick my snail tail up.
I feel like Dr. Jekell and Mr. Hyde. I am rather high energy and overall happy kinda gal. But on these serious runs I shut down, get quiet and smile a whole lot less.

Lacey and I ran Sunday around town. Our aim was to run 7-8 miles @ a sub 9min/mi.
Feeling all adventurous I even wore a running skirt.
We didn't really pay attention to our pace the first couple miles. By the last 3 miles, we had picked up our pace and we both got REAL quiet.
The last mile towards my house is a series of rolling hills. Focused and determined to stay steady up the hills, we grunted our way to the top of each one. My legs were numb, cold and tired but we were on a mission. As we came up the last roller to my street, I was so excited to see our pace, I knew we had just rocked out the last half a mile. I looked down at my Garmin and wanted to cry. My watch had DIED! Lacey wasn't wearing her watch, therefore, together we grieved that lost half a mile.
We only pouted a few minutes, then we laughed and cheered each other on.
We are quirky.
Laughing over the little things, teasing one another and just being plain ridiculous.

There are so many places we can find JOY. Laughter.
If you run with me, like Lacey, you can start laughing at my outfits before I even say anything to make you laugh.
I can find laughter in the woods. I love watching each other prance around rocks, roots and dodging branches. Today, a tree had fallen and it made me giggle climbing over the big hunk of wood.
Laughter is everywhere if you don't take everything so serious.

Its a beautiful time of the year and it is also a hard time of the year. Sometimes life is serious and sometimes life doesn't feel real Joyful.
We all have hardships and hurts. Sometimes it takes a little courage to step out and seek Joy.
Even on our toughest runs with life, taking time to smile, to giggle or to find a little laughter makes things a little more approachable.
Laughter doesn't discount our hurts. It doesn't cheat our losses. Joy interrupts. A smile softens the blows. It realigns our thinking.


RUNDOWN:
Distance: 12 miles-ish. 
Place: Holdridge. 
Find Joy.

Anita

Running in Circles: Discouragment

Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.   

1 Peter 5:7

Wednesday, Nov. 15th
I was up and at em' early, My bags were packed and I had BIG plans to go to the gym. I was quite proud of my ambitious self.

I have to start getting reacquainted with pain. It is just not a relationship that I love. Its a LOVE/HATE relationship.

I was looking forward to wearing my new running shorts from Poshmark, NWT's!

I saw so many familiar faces, I had several double takes. It was like people saw a ghost, a really scrawny ghost. I mean it has only been about 5 months since I had been at GAC.

I always fall in love the second my feet hit the track. I get all warm and fuzzy.

I forgot my watch and really didn't feel like counting laps. I decided to try and run by time.
7:54AM

Funny, the things that circulate in your head when you are running alone.

Everytime I came around the track, I looked at the clock and felt discouraged by how slow I was. My body was tweaking and creaking.
First my right knee was achy.
Then behind my left knee, I felt little twinges.
Somewhere around milee 3, I was trying to count my miles based on my laps splits I was doing and I got confused from my heavy breathing. I found myself angry.
"Why am I out of breath? Did I run more than 3? Good try Anita, not even close." The dialogue in my head was maddening.
If my sloth like pace, animalistic breathing and  body aches weren't the beginning to my end the voices in my head were surely going to be the death of me. 

The one positive note was running less miles. I was bringing my miles down to attempt to pick my pace up from a sloth to a snail run.

Distance: 5 miles.
Average pace 8:20min/mi.
I stretched, rolled, and did core.
Funny, my pace could have discouraged me more but it was really just the stinking thinking that was getting the best of me.

THURSDAY: 
Due to hunting season we stayed off the trails. We headed out to Seven lakes to run the roads. It was nice to run with the gang. With the week I have had being around their positive energy was a major mood booster.
Don't let my smile fool you. My goofy behavior, my extroverted self struggles with SELF. My yesterdays haunt me, my mistakes cling to me, my mind twists, my heart breaks..It's total chaos.

Distance: 9 miles
We ran from Seven Lakes to Dauner Park in Fenton. It was fun. Laughter, smiles, stories and food. I made the gang quiche. Food is always a mood enhancer!

SATURDAY:
When the chatter is trying to run you down you do what you do..RUN. I went to the gym directly after work. 2 days booked on my feet all day and I didn't think twice about running.
I jumped on my favorite treadmill. I knew that a good sweat mixed with pain would cure the slumber that was growing in me. At least for a little while.
I did a mile warm up on the TM. I set the incline at 2.0, my pace about 11min/mi  running 30 seconds sideways to the right, 30 seconds running backwards then 30 seconds sideways left and back to the front, walking it off for 30 seconds. I do this to help my balance, I don't touch the rails, I transition as steady as I can in a circular motion, my sideways running I get down low shuffling my legs, keeping it smooth, almost like a dance. After a mile I am sweating, and my legs are burning, I am ready to run.
Keeping the miles down I picked up the pace.
You know what the worst is?? When you are ready to run, ready to go, you have a plan. You are ready to execute greatness and BAM! The TM STOPS! Yep, I forgot to set the timer, it is automatically set at 20minute. I had a mile and a half in and it SHUT OFF. Forgetting I was around other people I moaned !UGH"?!
I hit the digits this time and picked back up my pace trying to increase my speed with each mile.

Distance: 5.4 miles
The last mile I ran farteks for every tenth of a mile. This felt really good, in a weird way.

SUNDAY..TODAY.
I get ready for church. I wear my new dress, paint the barn, blow my hair out and get all prettied up. Andy and I drove separately, he was doing communion and had to be there really early. Alec and I snuck in 10 minutes late during the music. Andy and I were a bit snippy with each other before church, (keeping it real here) so I wasn't sure if he was even going to look in my direction. But he did, twice..three times...all throughout the service. He didn't even ask when I bought the new dress he enjoyed looking at me in it. This softened the morning, making me smile.
But when you are in a slumber moments are brief. The good moments are shadowed by the anger, sadness, confusion, discouragement.
I headed to the gym. Solo run.
I wanted to run 10 miles at a sub 9min mile.  I remembered my Timex Danielle bought me years ago. It made me smile...
So many things make me smile. I love smiling. I think I am pretty good at it too. I feel guilty when I don't smile.
I was hoping that running around the track would interrupt the dumpster of garbage thoughts I was having.
Afterall, I had to do a lot of math. I had to count my laps, check my pace, add my miles and check my time all the while remembering to hit my splits. I was not off to a good start. I forgot to hit my 1st mile split, therefore I hit my first split at mile 2..at 17: 50. I was on track, this was good.
All those digits, calculations didn't stop the truck from dumping more on my.

THE SLUMBER: It works like this. 
It just takes a "LOOK"  
or a " word.
Maybe it is the tone of someone's voice that clings to you. 
You can be having a great day and you see something on social media, or see someone do something you weren't expecting. 
Sometimes you are disappointed in someone, or your expectations were not made, or you didn't see something coming and it CAME. 
For me it is all of these. 

But in that you receive a gentle smile, a warm hug, kind words, loving touches and laughter. 

You giggle, you joke, you love, you share, you give and then...you are alone with yourself. 

The worse place for you. Alone with yourself...and all that is slowly shadowed.

You miss, you hurt, you fight, it is a slow death. 
You hear those words like a broken record, you see that image that you cant delete, you worry about your tomorrows that aren't here and you cant forget you yesterdays that are long gone. 
THE SLUMBER. 

Distance: 10.5
10 miles @ 8:36min/mi
Time: 1:26
More CORE, stretching and rolling.
Each mile, I was able to suspend my thoughts. I asked God to get me to the next mile. I asked him to let me be a machine. Emotionless. Focused on the mission at hand. No distractions.
"God, help me to let go of those things that are confusing me, that are hurting me, keeping me from your Joy. Please God, please, it is hijacking the good I want to feel."
I want JOY, I want Love, I want to celebrate, smile and cling to beauty.

• Negative thoughts steal your Joy. 
• Expectations are premature resentments. 
• Change the way you look at things and the way things look will change. 

Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.   

1 Peter 5:7

I crawled inside myself today on the track. I gave every thought, every person, every yesterday and each of my tomorrows to HIM.
He wasn't audible to me today. But I have to trust he heard my heart. I have to remind myself He is always present even when I cant feel him or hear Him.

Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."

Anita

Clarkston Backroads 1/2 Marathon Recap.

Sunday marked my 5th year running CBR half marathon. This race is 5years old. Each year they have improved it, making it better but NOT easier than the year before.

Clarkston Backroads: located at Independence Oaks County Park.
The Course:  Both Clarkston backroads as well as trails throughout the park.
Elevation Gain: 577ft
Max Elevation: 1,135
Weather: 35 degrees and sleet, which turned into rain. Lovely.

All 5 years I have ran it with Joan. Together we suffer through it. Each year claiming to make it a "FUN RUN".
Neither one of us really train to have a PR on their course. This is typically my first race after a long summer of training for a ultra. My body is just feeling recovered and I put it through the battlefield again.
Joan and I are a glutton for punishment. This year we actually got a wooden engraved ornament marking out 5th year running.

Joan and I. 

We started the race with smiles and a good plan.
FUN RUN! Happy miles, miles of smiles!
We tucked in near the 2 hour pacer in hopes to finish under 2 hours with little suffering or sweat.

We chatted, giggled even, as we ran through the park. I watched my old neighbor, Chris B. get smaller and smaller as he ran with a more strict and speedy pace.
With the miles slowly adding up our conversation slowly died down.

Somewhere around mile 5, "SO are we having FUN yet?" Joan whispered underneath her misery. I didn't even have the energy to reply, it was more like a guttural grunt. The sound an animal makes right before it DIES.

The back roads were unforgiving. They loomed ahead of us. My mind circulated so many thoughts on how to cut my losses. I was trying to figure out how I could lessen the pain.

• Put my shoulders back more..better running posture
• Breath more effectively, except I was gasping for air. 
• Smile and confuse my body. 
• count mailboxes...I was too dazed to count. 
• Mantra...I think I can, I think I can..

We managed to get up them. We both had our music in our ears. I was trying to drown out the fact that my breathing sounded animalistic. We heaved up two more hills before the turn around.  I actually got a second wind as the runners began to pass me heading the opposite direction. 

"HEY Chris! Looking Good!" 

"Jill, OH HI!"

"Steve!" 

"Donna" 

"SPOCK!!!!"

"ERIN! HEY girls!!" 

I may have expended a little too much energy acting like "Lil Miss Social Butterfly." because after they were gone my lungs were burning and bad words were trolling in my head remembering I had to hit the stupid hill again. 

Joan and I were not communicating in full sentences any longer. Our suffering spoke volumes where our vocal chords escaped syllables. 

The sleet was gone, now a misty rain drizzled on us. We had made it to the half way mark. Then we made it to the 10 mile marker. We were still in front of the 2 hour pacers but we had not hit the trails of death. We knew we would lose time trekking up those hills around the lake. We came into the trails between 10 and 11. 

The hills were brutal. Sadly, the 2 hour pacers passed us. This was supposed to be a "FUN RUN". We hadn't chatted, giggled, or smiled in a long time! 

We were both in survival mode. 

The pacers were just a few yards in front of us. I could tell they had Joans attention. She was determined to stay close to them.

 

We both knew once we reached mile 12, the finish was not only closer it was easier. We slowly closed the gap between us and the pacers. They saw us and cheered us on, We picked up our pace, I shared our time with Joan and but she was already 2 steps ahead of me. 

We turned over the next gear as we saw the finish line and let the downhill momentum run us in. 

I hit my watch anxious to see if we had made our sub 2 hour goal.  

Time:1:58:32

Overall: 112th of 328

Overall Female: 38th of 193

F40-49: 6th of 52

Female Masters: 10th of 99 

WE DID!

Spock. That the trail name I gave him the first time I met him at Highland Loops. This is the 3rd race I have "Ran" into him now!

The weather was not inviting us to hang around. We did get our Union Mac and Cheese. We were lucky enough to find a spot at the picnic table UNDER the tent. We hung out for a few minutes, but I was meeting the rest of my gang at Honchos and Joan had a lot to do still that afternoon. As we headed out to leave they had to drag me because my friends were trickling in.
At this point, my sweat was mixed with cold and rain, I was shivering. We couldn't get to the truck fast enough.

The shirts were a new material, best shirts EVER. The medals were even kicked up a notch!

Another year under our belt! We survived!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My tribe. Melissa, lacey, Claudia, Me, Paula, Matt, Heather and  Erin 

I thought doing a shake out today would be good for me. I ran an easy 6 miles. Only it wasn't EASY. It had its moments. With each miles I felt my quads burning. My ankle that I twisted at CBH throbbing and my breathing...it was just BAD.
I wasn't this sore after running Hennipen!

Anita