March Madness or Something of that Sort

Hey everybody!

March is flying by! It seems that February and March seem to have switched weather patterns, and by golly, my sinuses are finally cracking. They have held up so well throughout this wacky winter, and they had to give at some point. 

I have had 2 races this month so far, so let me give you a quick little recap. On Saturday the 11th, I participated in the Indy Miler Series 6 Mile race. It was a crisp day! I met up with a few friends prior to the race. Again, another busy race with lots of people running it! It took a little bit of time to finally find a comfortable position without weaving in and out and around all of the people! I ran with my friend Ryan for the first 2 miles and then we split up. I felt pretty good during this race and I loved all of the enthusiastic volunteers. The 500 Festival Princesses had a water stop at mile 5 and they were so enthusiastic, it really helped us runners getting through the last mile! The course itself was pretty nice, I enjoyed running down Mass Ave. They had cookies again at the end of the race! I never turn down a post-race cookie. I had an oatmeal raisin cookie and it was delightful :) It was nice to hang out in Banker's Life Fieldhouse after the race to warm up! The final Miler Series Run is next month ... the 10 mile race. Looking forward to more cookies ;)

Members of my running posse

Today, I participated in the No Luck Run 5K. Alex also ran today and did the half marathon. I am so glad I opted to do the 5K today and not the half. I slept like absolute garbage last night. I had difficulty falling asleep due to some Crohn's related nausea. I just could not get comfortable. I woke up several times in the middle of the night. I probably got about 3-4 hours of sleep despite my attempts to get 8. Ugh. I still managed to run fairly well. I started off a little too fast, but found my stride until about mile 2. The last mile was where that lack of sleep from last night really kicked 
my boo-tay. I managed somehow. I came in just over 24 minutes and ended up winning my age group! I am not ready to move up to the 30-34 year old age group ... it seems like it is full of fast ladies!!! Alex set a new PR for his half marathon ... that crazy guy! I am super proud of him and how hard he works. This was another race put on by Racemaker Productions. I love that they do all these local races! It took me only 10 minutes to get to this one. They also combine several service projects each year with their race experience and for this particular one, you could stuff and seal pre-packaged meals for a group called Rise Against Hunger. Alex and I did a shift stuffing meals yesterday and between all of the volunteers, over 10,000 meals were packaged! Awesome! 

So, how is my mini training going? Not too bad. I have been (and have another stint) out of town several times during this training cycle and that tends to throw things off a little. I don't think this Mini is going to be a PR (it's hard to PR anymore in the Mini because of the sheer volume of runners!), so I am thinking this may be the year I try to get my selfie with Frank Shorter. I love him! Also, Meb is going to be at one of the turns on the track, so I may just stalk ...er, find... him, as well. I have had some good speed workouts, so who knows? I may make the Women's Half Marathon my target race this year. 

Also, on a personal note. I went to Las Vegas the first weekend of this month to see the Backstreet Boys with my friend Brianne and our moms. I felt like I was 12 again. AJ literally was right behind us during one of the songs, and I screamed and jumped up and down like my pre-teen self again. It was a blast :)

See ... right behind me! I love you AJ! :)

Five of my favorite men 

Happy running, everyone! I will write again soon!

February Races!

How in the world is it March already? To be honest, February is usually my least favorite month. It is toward the end of winter, and it just feels like it has been cold forever! That has not been the case this February. What a weird month of weather! More often than not, it has been in the 50's or 60's ... this is crazy even for the state of Indiana. I did two races this past month. The first one was on February 4th, the Frosty Feet 5K. This one lived up to its name, it was truly frosty. The temperature at the start was about 15 deg, not including wind chill. There were some fast ladies at this one! Glad most of them were in their 30's (this makes this years age group jump all the more frightening!) It was nice seeing some of my fellow trail runners out there. Alex ended up winning his age group and I ended up winning mine! I ran in 23-something. I was hoping to break 23 minutes, but had some struggles a little after 2 miles that slowed me down temporarily. The Frosty Feet 5K is the first in a series of 3 runs in our town that goes to benefit the local track and field teams. So even if it meant enduring the cold, it was for a good cause.

My second February race was the next week on February 11th, and my, was it just the opposite experience of the previous week's race. I participated in the Indy Miler Series 3 Mile race, a series of 3 runs leading up to the Mini Marathon this May. This started out at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, which was nice to hang out in prior to the race. Only one bathroom for women was open prior to the race, so this was probably the one downside of this race! I have never been in a pre-race bathroom line that was so long! I met up with my friends Beth, Ryan, and Casey prior to the race. Ryan, Casey, and I ran together on a lovely 50 degree morning in downtown Indy, a very large swing in temperatures over the week! This race was also much more crowded than the local 5K, and it took awhile to fight through some of the crowd at the beginning. We didn't really run for a fast time, but still finished around 25 minutes. The best part was definitely the heart-shaped sugar cookies at the end :)

The gang post 3 miler

I have a few races coming up in the month of March, including the second of the Miler Series - a 6 mile race downtown. Alex and I are running another local race, the No Luck Run (a St. Patrick's Day themed one). Alex is going to do the half marathon, but I am focusing on the 5K. Both should be fun! I will give you the scoop on those after they happen. Have a great week, everyone!