#9 Wyandotte River Run

I only have a few photo's from this race....and I'm too lazy to post them. But it is complete!!

I PR'd by almost 3 minutes from my first race back in January. I had a really good time at this one, considering I ate a cheesburger, a fish sandwich, and a glazed donut ( totally needed) like 2 hours before this one. I didn't know if I was going to throw up or be fine, but it turned out ok.

My new goal during these races are to chase people in front of me, yet stay on my own pace. On Friday there was a girl that kept sprinting and then walking and then sprinting and walking.....you get the point, however I kept the same pace the whole time and we kept passing each other. So.....I made it my mission to not let her beat me.

I think she had the same thought though, and started running at the end pretty quick, so I turned up the heat about .25 miles left and beat her just by a little bit, but in my head, I had just won the gold medal at the Olympics :)

2 races coming up this weekend, Friday on Belle Isle, and Monday ( Memorial Day) on Grosse Ile.

Gotta love those island races :)

Upcoming Races May!!

In trying to get back on track, and stay on top of the 30 goal.... I've added some recently signed up for events to my December post but thought I would post it here as well!

COME RUN WITH ME!!

May 16th: Wyandotte River Run 5K 6:30pm

May 24th: Grand Prix Shakedown on Belle Isle

May 26th: Memorial Day Run Grosse Ile

May 31st: The Rainbow Run, Ferndale MI ( Opening of Pride Week!!!) YAY!


The Wyandotte River Run will be my 1/3 done point....WOOT WOOT!!

#8 Breakthrough for Brain Tumors 5K

Lots of people running this one!!! Autumn led the charge to get people involved in this race, and I'm so glad that she did. This one not only was my favorite so far,  but also humbled me in many ways. This race was supporting the ABTA ( American Brain Tumor Association) and directly has effected people in my life in ways that are hard to imagine. I am so glad that a lot of my family was able to participate in this race, and it was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday morning!

Evan, Janna, and I did the 5K run, which was a couple of laps around the Providence Hospital in Novi. Marg and her friend Ursula did the 5K walk.

It was  by FAR the best weather yet so far this year for a race. A little chilly at the start, but about 3 seconds into running it was pretty hot.

My friends Autumn, Phil, Eva, Lisa and her daughter also participated in the run/walk supporting Lisa's husband that passed away from a brain tumor 2 years ago at a very young age. ( TEAM ERIC). Evan, Janna, Ursula, Marg, and I were running for Team Tom!!

 The Finish Line was really interesting...they had two fire trucks ladders up with the American Flag flying under it.

 Janna, Marg, Ursula, and Evie!

 Janna, Me, Marg, and Evan...pregaming

 Great Photo of Evan's Dad!

 Look who I found!!! Phil and Eva

 Cutest family EVER!!! Autumn, Phil and Eva!

Waiting for the race to start :)

# 7 Martian Marathon ( 10K)

This was a super fun race that I plan on doing every year!! Course was really fun, TON's of people, and perfect running weather.

Mike C joined me for this one, he was signed up for the 5K, but ran the 10K with me...THANKS MIKE!!!!

Also ran into M and ICE after the race ( obviously in costume for those that know them)! So good to see them.

Below are some photo's from the fun morning.

 There was also a Marathon going on as well, and every mile marker we would get to would also have the Marthon Mile marker as well.....I felt horrible for the people that were at mile 22, and we were at mile 3...I have no idea how people run marathons. Anyway...we were going to pose in front of the 22 mile marker to pretend like we were awesome like them...but then decided not too!

 This was the finish line shot!! Little aliens all over the place. Pretty fun finish and the finisher medals are SWEET!!! Giant alien faces :)

 M and ICE greeting the earthlings

 AREA 51 jump suits.....of course they just happened to have these costumes on them :)

YAY!! We finished....off to breakfast and then to play some golf!!

Traning for the BIG Race in June!!

I've officially put all of the workouts on my calendar for the Third Coast Relay that is in 9 weeks!!!! That really came up fast :) I made sure to highlight them in the brightest color possible so as not to "forget" to train.

This race is 208.1 miles spread about between 12 (now 11...someone dropped out) people and it starts in Holland MI, and goes to Traverse City Michigan. We have 2 days to complete the race and end in TC before like 7am on Monday morning or something like that. It's going to be amaze-balls. Marna is driving one of the vans so she will officially get to do "a race" with me on this little journey.

My legs are pretty difficult for me...but I think that sticking to this workout schedule is going to greatly increase my chance of survival....because honestly...I'm pretty nervous about it!

My legs are: (yikes)

Leg 11: 5.8 Miles (Easy)
Leg 23: 6.1 Miles (Difficult)
Leg 35: 6.1 Miles (Difficult)


This weekend I have a 5K and a 20 mile bike race in Ypsilanti. I'm looking forward to them both and hoping that my Achilles has finally been rested enough to stop giving me problems. With all the miles I will be putting in next week, I'm a little nervous. I just need to remember to ICE and rest, and STRETCH!!

1.5 Races Behind Goal - End of May

So in figuring out how to make it to my 30 race goal, I've gone through my race schedule and I'm pretty much on target but a couple of races behind.

Because I only ran 1 race in February, that essentially puts me back 2.5 races by the end of May. I just signed up for a Bike Race ( 25 miles) which supports recovering addicts to drugs and alcohol. So that leaves me 1.5 races behind for the end of May. I'm only signed up for two races that month, so I think I will be able to add 2 more to get me back up above my target of 2.5 a month.

It's a bike ride through Ypsi and they have multiple mileages you can choose from. ( 10K, 25 miles, 40 miles, or 100 miles). There is also a 5K/10K as well, but I'm just doing the riding portion of this one.

Now...to get my bike tuned up. I've been pretty nervous about getting back on it after I crashed last summer. Baby Steps....the first being getting it back in working order. :)

Stay Tuned for Pic's from the Martian Marathon this weekend (10K for me) hopefully my Achilles tendon issue doesn't give me too much trouble...

#6 Rock CF Half Marathon

Ashley Ball and Ashley Ball (Anna Miller)

Anna last minute was able to do the race with me on Sunday on Grosse Ile. They had accidentally registered me twice for the race and when I picked up my packet they gave me both my numbers, so I gave my other number to Anna to race with (hence the Ashley Ball and Ashley Ball above).

Anna came over at 7 and we drove to the race together. Got there in the perfect amount of time before the race started. It was suppose to be 56 on Sunday but It was still pretty chilly and windy when the race started at 8am.

It started in the Airport Hanger which was really cool:

Before the race started they opened up the doors to the hangar on the opposite side for us to all run out and it was really cool!

We were so cold waiting in the hangar, but ran into some some people from Trenton, and old friend from Thomson Reuters whose nephew has CF, which this race was sponsoring. The sponsor of this race is Emily Schaller who also ran the AutoShow shuffle. This one has over 2,000 runners from 22 states and Canada, and raised $77K for Cystic Fibrosis! Glad to be a part of it and I will do this race EVERY single year. It was the most put together race I've ever done, there was music blaring out speakers every mile marker, and Grosse Ile is just a beautiful spot to go running :)

 

Finisher Medals at the Grosse Ile High School Track!

And some sweet Action Shots at the end :) (These photo's are copyrighted to CapstonePhoto and are not mine)

After the race, I dropped Anna off to her car and then went back to the race to cheer on my Eli who was doing the 1/2 marathon. She is training for a 1/2 Ironman and this was the start of her racing season. I wanted to make sure she had some support at the finish line and this was her kicking ass at the end!

11 day's until race #7....I'm resting up my achilles tendon issue and hopefully will be in good enough shape to run the 10K at the Martian Marathon!!

Happy Spring :)

#5 Kona Shamrock and Roll

This was my first 10K ever and the longest I've ran in a row since college. I ran for about 42 minutes straight before needing a quick minute break and then only took 2 more 30 second breaks until we finished. One of my best friends Bev and her husband Jon came to this one. Jon was a trooper and stood outside FREEZING to make sure that he got some photo's of us at the finish line.

I'm so happy that I got to spend 75 minutes with Bev, catching up and chatting about the most random things ever. Bev and I went to Hillsdale together and became really good friends. Bev is from Georgia but moved to Michigan for her residency where she actually lived with me for a while in Plymouth. We don't get to see each other as much as we would like so it was SO AMAZING that she ran this race with me. I had a blast before/during/after! :) I love you Bevvvvv love asshhhhllley 

(These photo's are copyrighted and are not mine)

 At the Starting line where we thought we were going to be in the first wave. Turns out we got stuck for another 15 minutes waiting for the race to start while we froze!!!!

 Finisher Medals :) Felt great sprinting to the finish line!!

Obviously needed to have some beer after this one! Marna was able to come meet up and have lunch and lot's of beer to celebrate :)

#4 Shamrocks and Shenanigans 5K

Another Freezing Cold Race back in Michigan.

Again, Autumn ran with me and had some HOT coffee waiting for me when I got to house in the morning. My friends Heather and Zera were also at the race. Zera won the race last year, but didn't run this year and Heather is like a mini Kenyan and was way ahead of me. However they were both at the finish line waiting for Autumn and I to finish.

So, in Downriver, it's VERY flat. In Ann Arbor it's HILLY AS SHIT!! my ass and calves were sore for like 4 days after this run. And...the A hole race makers had us run up the same HUGE hill twice and the 2nd time being at the finish :) I wasn't really mad, but it did kick my ass. Running on hills is something that I really need to work into my workouts, as the Coast to Coast relay coming VERY soon and I'm going to need the practice.

This was a super fun race!! We couldn't get into Connor O'Neils at the end because it was packed, so we enjoyed some amazing breakfast at Cafe Zola :)

Race #4 Done! 26 to go...

#3 Green Mile 5K Miami

After running my first 2 races in polar vortex Michigan, running in 80 degree weather was quite the change of pace (literally). I go to Miami every February with my girlfriends and needless to say, we drink a lot of beverages that don't help hydrate you for running. That being said....NO ONE thought that Autumn and I would actually make it to the race, let alone run it. So in my stubborness to prove those people wrong..I made sure to get to bed early (3am)! and drink lot's of liquids (water not being my drink of choice that evening).

So...with that being said, I DID run, and so did Autumn. Thank you Autumn for getting up with me that morning and running with me! I've never really ran on the beach before, so it was a wonderful race along the boardwalk, people watching, and watching all the crazy Miami people wake up for the day. 

It was my slowest 5K in my life, but that's ok. I still did it :)

Some photo's from the race Below:

It's been WAY to long since I last posted....so I have lots to make up for. Unfortunately I'm nursing a rather sore and swollen achilles tendon so....I'm a little about my next race that is in 11 days and is a 10K. Hopefully it heals up rather quick. Thanks to some runner friends I am literally icing and stretching my calf muscles and hamstrings with a ROLLING PIN. Yes...a rolling pin. It hurts like a bitch...but it's suppose to loosen up that tight tendon :)

Ok...now for some updates on the past 4 races..

Went running outside today in Houston, and stumbled upon the cutest street in the world. I am running there everyday this week, just so I can look at all of my dream houses the whole time. Everyone at the hotel thought I was crazy "to go out in this weather". Grant you, it's 30 degrees here and raining so Texans don't know what to do with themselves. Everything is shut down, stores are out of food, and it's about to start snowing.....The world is ENDING!

Found a few photo's from AutoShow Shuffle: ( to be uploaded soon)
1. Me pulling up my pants at the start line....haha
2. Almost finished

Correction to the race Schedule below:
Feb 2nd- groundhog run was cancelled. In it's place I have signed up for the super5K, which has a superbowl theme. You get a medal, a pint glass, and a BEANIE :) that's right! See ya'll there. ( when in texas...speak like a texan)

#2 AutoShow Shuffle 5K

1.18.14~ AutoShow Shuffle 5K--Detroit, MI

HOLY FREEZING this morning!!! I think it was 6, but it felt like -60, and my feet were asleep until 1/2 way through. However... I DID NOT STOP RUNNING today. This is the first time I have done a 5K (since college) that I ran the entire thing without stopping. My time was 36.17, so a minute faster than last week. Super proud of that accomplishment alone.

Detroit is really pretty in the morning when the sun is coming up. And the race path was great. All of the roads were salted, no icy spots, and the lineup of food at the end was clutch. Chocolate Milk is delicious!!!

Below are some photo's from this morning.


This is right afterwards...super pretty sunrise :)

 The Ice looked really cool. Marna was telling me about how when the ice moves over each other it makes this really cool sound, which I didn't hear at this point in the race because I had my headphones in. However...I did hear it on the last leg. And...it did sound really cool.

 Good Morning Canada!

 This says 36:41, but my real time was 36:17

Chocolate Milk!! Yum

GroundHog 5K is Feb 3rd....so I have a little break until then :)

2 down....28 to go :) :) :) :)