Go for the Gravy 5K

 Greg and Suzy-Q waiting for the race to start

 Auntie Shauna and Owen goofing off before their race

Saturday morning was a blistery 10 degrees and boy was it cold!  Thankfully, Wasilla didn't have any wind to make things any colder.  This was our first true winter race and boy is it a whole different experience :)  I was at REI yesterday and picked up a Turtle Fur Windtech Maskot Beanie which blocks the wind and covers most of Hannah's face so she is more comfortable running in the cold. 

Pre-race activities included hot cocoa, hot apple cider, and coloring for the kids.  The kids also got to write on a big poster things that they were thankful for.  Hannah wrote on behalf of Ava that Ava was thankful for her awesome cousins :)

Hannah and I were off at 10am.  The trail ran along the Parks Highway and was quite icy.  We caught up to a lady that remembered us from the Bonny Sosa races which is always fun.  Hannah was a super strong runner girl and pushed it up the one long hill of the race.  At the top of the hill was our turn around point to head back for the finish.  Hannah's goal was to run this race in 29 minutes which is pretty fast given the cold and icy conditions, but what can I say...the girl has goals and who am I to dash them :)  Hannah and I were quite close to making that goal!  The last part of the trail was pretty icy, so we had to slow down a little.  We finished the race in 30:45!

Great race team 5K in 50 States!!!!

Owen ran the kids 1 mile race indoors which was nice for the kiddos and the spectators.  Auntie Shauna, Owen's faithful running buddy, took a feather off of his necklace for each of the 12 laps to keep track how far he ran.

 Suzy-Q and I cheering Owen on

Both Hannah and I got 1st place in our age groups!  This was my first time getting 1st in my age group.  The race had a raffle and Owen and Hannah both were lucky enough to win a prize.

1st place ladies :)

The races and awards ceremony were done at 11:45 so we had to hurry back home to have a bite to eat for lunch and then head back out again to the skiing kick off at 1:30.  What a busy day!!!!  We are looking forward to starting skiing next Monday and the Jingle Bell 5K in a couple weeks.

Winter Training continued...

Jennie writing...

Hannah and I have now run 3 miles, 3 times a week for the past 3 weeks!  Hannah and I continue to run at the ice rink 2 times a week and at Grama's house 1 time a week to keep getting hill training in.  This past Tuesday, Hannah and I got to run with a High School running club who was running at the rink at the same time.  The other runners and the coach were quite impressed with her!  Some of the boys gave her high fives as she ran by, and the coach kept praising her each time we went by.  The coach was quite impressed with how fast she was running.  Some of the high school runners were trying to complete their 3 mile run in 30 minutes.  Hannah and I finished our 3 mile run in 30:30.  Ava joined us for the run on Tuesday.  Here's a picture of Hannah and Ava after our run.

Hannah and I, Shauna and Owen will be running in the Go for the Gravy 5K this coming Saturday.  We will also go to our Cross-Country Skiing Kick-Off later that day!  We can't wait to get out for some more winter time fun and training.

Winter Training

Jennie writing...

Hannah and I have finished out the Bonny Sosa series and are starting into our first winter of training.  Without weekly races to look forward to we are having to find new motivations.  We will be running a combination of outside and inside, so that we are still getting some hill training done.  Our indoor training is at our local ice rink.  I was a little worried that Hannah was going to get bored running around the rink, especially since it is only an 1/8th of a mile oval.  Hannah and I have run three times at the rink so far for 3 miles each time.  Hannah actually likes running at the rink because there's usually something to watch while we are running :)  Thursday was hockey practice and today was speed skating practice.  We also started doing a few sets of stairs to help with the flatness of the track.

In a couple weeks we are going to start cross-country skiing with the local junior nordic club.  This will serve as part of our fitness training for the winter.  I haven't cross-country skied since I was a kid so I am looking forward to taking the beginning classes with Hannah to learn the basics.  Should be lots of fun!

On a side note Hannah and I are in the Life section of ADN today in our ladybug costumes at the last Bonny Sosa Race :)

Bonny Sosa #8

We were sad that tonight was our final Bonny Sosa race.  Hannah and I (and the rest of the crew) have really enjoyed running in this race series.  The Municipality of Anchorage has done a wonderful job putting these races together, and it wouldn't be possible without the wonderful volunteers who serve as race officials and course setters!  I am also thankful for my wonderful sister who took care of Suzy-Q (Ava) while Hannah and I were running.  It only took 8 weeks, but Ava finally fell a sleep and took a nap in the stroller!  We all look forward to participating in this race series again next year.

The Farr Family

Hannah and Owen enjoyed their pre-race Chai.  Hannah was a little worried about doing this last race as it was at Kincaid.  The hills at Kincaid can be pretty rough, but this race was only a 5K.  I gave Hannah a little pep talk, which cheered her up and off we went.  I could tell that my pep talk really helped Hannah because she said, "Auntie, I'm going to try to push it up the hills."  As we were running up the hills she was saying, "I'm a tough runner girl.  I...can...[panting]...do...it!"  There were only a couple of steep hills that we walked fast up, otherwise, Hannah ran the whole time.  Hannah and I finished in 33:15!

We recieved a couple of messages from friends while we were at the race that Hannah and I were on the 6 o'clock news!  We were so excited to hear that our interview aired.  We will post a link for you to check it out.  Hannah and I are going to be starting the Cross-Country Ski program in Chugiak once it snows to help keep us in shape throughout the winter.  We are going to be running as well with the help of studded running shoes from Uncle Greg :)

Enjoying Pre-Race Chai

Auntie Shauna and Owen ran their last Munchkin League race.  Owen has done a really good job with running these races, even though running is not his most favorite thing.

The Post-Race Crew

Go Team 5K in 50 States!!

Bonny Sosa Race #7

Jennie writing...

First Ever TV Interview

Getting ready to race

Bonny Sosa #7 was held at Service High School.  Channel 2 news was there tonight and we were interviewed by Megan Baldino of KTUU News!  We're hopeful we'll be on the news :) 
Hannah and I were thankful for a shorter race today (4.4K) as this is our 4th race in 10 days.  This was quite the muddy course and our moose hotdog dinner was a little to heavy for all of our tummies.  The whole crew ended up feeling sluggish :(  Hannah and I managed to stay on our feet while others were slipping and sliding.  One "fast runner" as Hannah calls them, fell right next to us and always thoughtful Hannah asked him if he was okay.  We fast walked up several of the hills, but still finished in 27:30!  Our next race isn't until next week, so we'll have a little time to recover.  See you all next week at Kincaid Park for the costume race!

Post race picture with Daddy, Hannah, Uncle Greg, Suzy-Q, Auntie Jennie, Owen & Auntie Shauna

Another successful race for Team 5K in 50 States

Pumpkins in the Park 5K

Team 5K in 50 States at the airport headed to Chicago

Jennie writing...

Our trip to Chicago involved  flying 5697 miles, a 5K run, visiting the Shedd Aquarium (in Chicago Bears traffic), visiting the American Girl doll store (in downtown Chicago) all with a 7 year old and an 8 month old in less than 72 hours.  We had a blast!  On the morning of our flight we went to visit the aquarium before we had to head home and getting back to the car after visiting the aquarium involved becoming slightly disoriented and calling Nicole to rescue us with directions, but we all survived AND made it to the airport on time.

 Pre-race breakfast of champions with our cheerleader Aunt Diana and Cousin Danielle

 Hannah at her first ever American Girl Doll store.  Can you tell she LOVED it :)

 Auntie Jennie doing Hanna's hair for the 100th time..gotta love growing out bangs

The pumpkin Hannah decorated at the kids station at the race

Aunt Diana and Cousin Danielle joined us for the Pumpkins in the Park 5K as cheerleaders.  It was nice to have someone to keep Suzie-Q while Hannah and I ran.  This race was very well organized and was super fun, I would recommend it to everyone!  Hannah was able to get in a pre-race run by participating in the kids Spooky Sprints and ran in the 100 yard dash and got  really cool medal to show for it :)

 Hannah during the kids 100 yard dash

 Hannah's medal for the kids race

 

Hannah and Jennie lining up at the 10 minute pace marker...now they can officially start line up at the 9:30 pace marker!

 Team 5K in 50 States ready to race!!!!

As this was a costume race, Hannah and I were dressed as Ladybugs (Suzie-Q too).  While we were warming up for the run, a person in a "freaky pumpkin head" (as Hannah put it) costume was next to us.  Hannah was seriously scared of them and I thought maybe we might have to move just so Hannah would run.  We made sure to be in front of them for the start of the race.  After a good warm up, we were off!  We kept a pretty quick pace throughout the race, and caught a lot of people's attention with our ladybug costumes.  The "freaky pumpkin head" caught up to us towards the end of the race and as the person went by the lady in the costume said "I hope I didn't scare you."  I couldn't believe it when Hannah cheerfully said "you didn't" as we continued to run.  The last half mile was the hardest of this run.  The way the course was designed, you saw the finish line and thought you were done, but still had 3/4 of a mile left to run.  Hannah still had enough power left to sprint the last 100 yards of the race and the announcer was surprised with the "little ladybug."  We finished the race with our fastest time yet of 29:34!!!!  A 9:31 mile pace.  Not bad for a 7 year old who started running 5Ks in August this year. 

 Having some fun on the stairs while waiting to race

Way to go!!! Personal best time of 29:34

I was a little concerned about how they were keeping track of racer's time, and learned that the bibs have a sticky magnetic strip that is the new timing "chip" of the future!  Hannah finished 5th in her age group (females ages 14 & under).  She was 739th out of 1,922 people overall and was 334th out of 1,208 women; amazing! Three states down only 47 left to go.

Tomorrow we will be running our 7th Bonny Sosa race of the season which is our 4th 5K in 10 days!

Pics of Chicago fun!!!

Bonny Sosa Race #6

 Hannah and Owen happy to have daddy home!

 Pre race pics :)

Jennie writing...

Last night's 5.7K race was a very cold evening at East High School.  We were very thankful for the hot Chai and hot cocoa that a local coffee company provides for every race.  Justin came in yesterday after working nights on the slope and this was his first run in 3 weeks.  Shauna, Justin, and I managed to leave Hannah and Owen's backpacks with the kids coats, hats and gloves and Nicole's coat at my house.  Poor Nicole was really cold!  On the positive side, I did remember to bring Nicole's dinner :)

Coming into the finish line...always with a smile on her face!

The race officials decided to start the race about 5 mintues early since it was so cold and some people ended up missing the start of the race!  Greg almost missed the start.  Hannah and I were off with the crowd!  Justin ran with us for the first 1/2 mile and then headed out on a faster pace to finish in his best time ever.  This was another trail/cross-country course and Hannah has decided she's not the biggest fan of running through the woods.  She only tripped and fell one time this race.  Hannah kept telling the people behind us to "watch your feet."  On a particularly steep up hill, two ladies put their arms under Hannah's and raced me up the hill.  She really got a kick out of that.  This course was also the first really muddy course and both Hannah and I ended up covered in mud and goose poop :(  We finished the race strong though with a time of 33:34.  We are both getting packed for Chicago and can't wait to run in our costumes again on Saturday!

 Post race group pic

Team 5K in 50 States