Team 5K in 50 States

Team 5K in 50 States: Hannah and Auntie Jennie

Running Buddies: Auntie Shauna, Owen (brother), Dad (Justin), and Uncle Greg.

Cheerleaders: Mom (Nicole), Grandma, Grandpa, Ava (AKA Suzy-Q, cousin), Baby Kaelyn (cousin), Grammy Farr, and Grandpa Tom.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Run for Women

The Run for Women was Hannah's longest run she has done to date.  The morning was absolutely beautiful and we were happy to not freeze before the race began.  We got to wear our pink and black tutus made by Michele at krazykidlets and we fit right in with the Run for Women's pink theme!  Hannah was so anxious to start and checked my watch a thousand times to see how much longer till the race began.  We also really loved how people decorated the port a potties with fabulous pink these...they were fit for a queen!  Who knew they could be so luxurious :)

We were off at 8:45am.  In the first mile we ran into our friend Adele George and chatted for a little while.  We were by Weschester Lagoon by mile 2.  I found I had to do a lot more turning around to see Hannah, which was not fun for my knee.  Hannah was a little more tired than usual and was surprised when I told her we were only at the 5k point.  About 4 1/2 miles, we were both really pushing it for the finish. 

We got sooooo close to our goal of being under 50 minutes.  We finished our first 5 mile race in 50:10!!!
Hannah earned 5th place for her age group.  Only one 7 year old was ahead of her, and the rest were 10 year olds. 

Next up...Mayors Marathon 5.6 mile run on Saturday!


Friday, June 10, 2011

Eagle River Triathlon


Nicole, Shauna, and I did the triathlon relay the morning of the kids triathlon.  Nicole swam and was the unfortunate victim of a violent lane partner who kicked her twice!  She was thankful to be able to finish her swim get out of the pool.  I did the bike leg and realized 2 minutes in that I had not eaten enough the night before.  Thankfully, my thoughtful sister got me some power gel snacks that helped me survive.  Shauna was up for the running leg, which was her very first run without Owen.  She was able to power through the pouring rain and bring it in to the finish!  Team Three Sisters was excited to finish in under 2 hours :)

The whole crew came for the kids triathlon, which was to start at 2pm.  We stood in the sweltering pool area and cheered the final adult racers out of the pool.  Hannah, Owen, and their friend Maddie were able to wait together for their test swim.


Hannah and Owen did the "long" kids triathlon which was 2 laps at the swimming pool, about 2 miles on the bike, and I'm sure a 2 mile run.  I believe the run was longer than they said it was supposed to be.  Owen got to do the bike portion with Grandpa and the run portion with Auntie Shauna.  This was Owen's first triathlon and he was pretty excited about his finish.

Hannah mastered the 2 swim laps and once she got out of the pool, she had her competitive game on.  "Come on Auntie, let's go!" and off she ran to the bike transition.

We got her changed as quickly as you can when you are a wet kiddo.  She was definitely more prepared for the bike this year as she practiced the course several times with Grandpa.  Hannah was kinda nervous with the cones and all the other people that were on the bike course with us, but she was able to finish the bike strong.

Up next was Hannah's favorite part: the run!  We ran a windy, rocky course around the practice fields by the high school and around the back side of the building.  I forgot that we were running to the bridge by the highway and both Hannah and I were disappointed when we had to turn and run the opposite direction of the finish line.  We finally got to the turn-around and headed back towards the finish.  Hannah kicked it into high gear and finished with a sprint.  Our time was about 35 minutes.

The Eagle River Triathlon marked the 1 year anniversary of Hannah and I beginning our running together and it was a happy day.  What a long way we have both come and can't wait to see where Hannah's running leads us next  :)

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Skinny Mini 6K


Hannah and I geared up for our first "long" race of the year with the Skinny Raven  Skinny Mini 6K in Anchorage.  The weather was a mixture of clouds and sun and thankfully we didn't get rained on during the race.  Hannah was pumped up to run this race and at 7pm we were off.  The first mile went really fast as we ran it in about 8 minutes.  We were able to maintain about a 9 minute mile pace for the whole race.  About 2 1/2 miles into the race, I looked behind me to check where Hannah was, and there she was chit-chatting with another lady as she was running.  I started laughing and told Hannah to catch up with me.  She told the lady, "Gotta go" and started running faster to catch up.  The last mile was pretty tough as most of it was uphill.  Many people cheered Hannah on and told her how good she was doing.  We didn't know until we crossed the finish line how well she really did.  Hannah was the very first kiddo under age 12 to cross the finish line.  Our time was 34:11, which was good enough for Hannah's very first age group 1st place finish!!  She was soooo excited!


I have been dealing with IT band syndrome and am trying to stave it off so we can run our very first 5 mile race at the Run for Women.  We can't wait to run with a group of  more than 6,000 women.  On June 11th you can check us out wearing our pink and black tutus made by our friend Michele at Krazykidlets  https://www.facebook.com/#!/krazykidlets  :)

Anchorage Heart Run 5K


Hannah and I had quite the crew joining us for the Heart Run.  Auntie Shauna and Owen were going to run the 1.3 mile kids run and Justin (daddy) was joining us for the 5K.  Nicole (mommy) came as cheerleader for all.  Hannah wanted this race to be our fastest race ever and we were hoping to finish in about 27 minutes.  Hannah and I lined up at the very front to avoid being caught in the race congestion typical at the beginning of races.  The gun went off and off we went.  Hannah was in high gear the first quarter mile and was running a 6:30 mile pace, we slowed down a little and finished our first mile in 8 minutes. Our second mile we finished in 9 minutes, and our third mile was about 10 minutes for an overall time of 27:35...our fastest time ever!  That last quarter mile sure as a killer for both of us and we were both happy to be done.

Justin finished about 1 minute in front of us.  Auntie Shauna and Owen started their race just as Hannah and I finished.  After about 30 minutes we started to wonder where they were.  They finally came across the finish line and all of the cheerleaders were frozen.  It was such a cold morning and poor Nicole had forgotten her jacket and was wearing flip-flops because she had an 11:00 pedicure scheduled since it was the day before her graduation!  Auntie Shauna and Owen ended up running a surprise 5K as well because the officials didn't have people turn around in the right place.  Well at least they got a good work out!