Truffle Shuffle 5K - Overland Park, Kansas

Hannah, Ava, and I arrived in St. Louis on Thursday after spending a week in Disney World.  I repacked for our trip to Kansas the next day.  We set out at 10am on Friday for the 4 1/2 hour drive to Overbrook, Kansas.  Quite the undertaking with a 7 year old and a 1 year old :)  We ended up driving through a midwest thunder and lightning storm for 1 1/2 hours.  It was raining so hard that we had to yell to each other in the car just to communicate! We could even hear the thunder over the rain while driving down the interstate.  This was Hannah's first time seeing lightning.

We went to the new American Girl store in Kansas before going to pick up our bibs.  The ladies at the American Girl store gave Hannah a cool poster, calendar, and magazine.  They loved hearing her talk about running her races.  I think Hannah wants to visit all of the American Girl Doll Stores...good thing we plan on running in all 50 states. 

The race coordinator was distributing bibs and was so excited that we had chosen the Truffle Shuffle as our Kansas race.  It is always fun to share our 5K in 50 state mission with the people we meet at each race!

Saturday, the morning of our race was a blustery 22 degrees.  We also had cold midwest winds blowing through.  Hannah and I geared up in every layer we brought and prayed it was going to be enough. Having just come from running in Florida, the 22 degree weather seemed really cold.  Our black and pink tutus sure got us a lot of attention!  Everyone was asking us how many states we have done and where we are from.  The people at this race were so friendly.  We trecked out into the cold at 8:30am, and off we went.

The race photographer got some awesome action shots of us while we were running.  There was a little girl wearing blue and pink who was our pace setter for a while.  Hannah would pass her, then she would pass us.  We passed her and stayed in front a little past the second mile.  The last quarter mile was tough as our faces and legs were getting numb and cold.

Hannah and I crossed the finish line in 32:33 while the DJ (named BJ) announced us crossing the finish line!  We were glad to be done and go inside to thaw out.  More people came to talk to us after the race and to tell Hannah good job in the race.  The race coordinators gave both Hannah and I a gift certificate for Road ID.  We had a lot of fun at this race and are so glad we picked it to be our Kansas race.

Hannah was in a large age group for this race, females ages 15 & under.  Her time was good enough to place 2nd!!  She was so excited.  Below is a picture of her with her 2nd place certificate.  Thank you Truffle Shuffle for a fun-filled race!

Beauty and the Beast 5K - Orlando, Florida

We all had to be up at 4am to catch the bus going to the race at 5am.  Having only recently arrived in Florida and having to adjust to the 4 hour time difference we all wanted to stay in bed that early in the morning!  Our race started at 7am outside of Epcot and the temperature was about 70 degrees.  Besides the humidity, it was a nice morning for a run.  This was the first race Auntie Jennie has run with the gps watch she got for Christmas.  It was really nice to be able to tell how far we had run, as well as keep track of our mile pace. 

This race had Disney Princesses posted along the race course cheering us on.  We saw Pocahontas, Jasmine, Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Belle, & Cinderella.  Hannah was excited to see all the Princesses, but she was most excited when we ran past a squirrel!  Gotta love Hannah :)  Everyone loved our Pink & Black Tutus (A special thank you to Krazykidlets for making our tutus).  Hannah kicked it into high gear for the last quarter mile of our run for a personal best 5k time of 28:32!!

Hannah and Jennie were not the only racers of the day, nor was the 5K the only race Hannah ran that day!  Owen ran the 200 meter race, Ava had her first offical race - the diaper derby - and Hannah ran both the 400 meter AND the Mickey Mile all in the same day.  It was a bit crazy and hectic getting from one race to another but all in all the whole thing was an amazing experience :)

Disney World Trip

Grandma, Grandpa, Hannah, Owen, Auntie Jennie, & Ava spent the last week in Disney World.  The highlight of our whole trip was seeing the Space Shuttle launch while we were on the plane getting ready to land!!!!  We were lucky enough to be above the cloud cover when we saw the space shuttle.  Although we did not take the picture below, this is what our view looked like. What an AMAZING once in a lifetime experience :)

We visited Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom for 2 days, Typhoon Lagoon water park for 2 days, and Epcot. We also went to the Spirit of Aloha Show at the Polynesian Resort. Hannah's favorite ride at Magic Kindom was Space Mountian (she went on it twice). Owen went on Space Mountain the first time and decided fast roller coasters were not for him. Hannah loved Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Train. Ava went on many rides too with her favorite being "Its a Small World."

We spent two days at Typhoon Lagoon and both Hannah and Owen suffered the wrath of the concrete sandpaper pool bottom.  Owen got 1 skinned elbow, and Hannah got 2 skinned knees and elbows.  After a week of sun and fun Grandma, Grandpa, and Owen headed back to Alaska while Hannah, Ava, and Auntie Jennie flew to St. Louis for our next race.

Kicking it up a notch!

Yesterday, Hannah and I clocked our fastest 3 mile run at 27:32! While we were running, a lady also running at the ice rink said that we inspired her to start running. We were so excited to hear her say that because that's one of the biggest reasons why we have our 5K in 50 States vision; to inspire people to become active. We see many people at the ice rink on a regular basis who cheer Hannah on while we run and it always adds a spring to our steps :)


Hannah and I have set a goal to run the 5 mile Anchorage Women's Run and the 5 mile Mayors Run in June. To train for these runs, the plan was to increase our Sunday run by a 1/2 mile each month until June. We started running 3.5 miles two weeks ago, and today Hannah decided she wanted to run 4 miles, which we finished in 37:33.  It so hard to believe that Hannah ran her first 5K only 5 1/2 months ago and her time was 42 minutes...how far she has come.

Due to all of this icy and cold weather Hannah has now started getting a bit of running in on the treadmill.  She seems to enjoy the novelty of the treadmill so it is a great way to get some running in without having to leave the house.

Jr. Nordic Skiing has been quite a learning experience but still fun. Hannah finally got the hang of skiing and learned the "running" trick that all the other kids do. She has enjoyed skiing a lot more now that she is able to stay with the group more.  I am hoping that the skiing will work as sort of a cross training during the winter months for next winter and beyond.

For Christmas, Hannah's grandma (AKA Grammy Farr) got her a medal hanger for her collection of medals from races. The medal hanger is from Allied Running Medal Hangers; they were wonderful to work with and I would highly recommend them! It is super cute and bright pink and Hannah cannot wait to fill it up with her medals.

We are kicking our training into high gear since our next out of state race is in 6 weeks. Look out Disneyworld and the Princess 5K here we come!!!

Winter Training and Skiing

Hannah and I are continuing to run at the Harry J Ice Rink for our winter training.  In addition to our running, we are cross-country skiing on Mondays and Wednesdays with Junior Nordic Skiing.  We have been having a blast.  Skiing was cancelled this whole last week because it has been too cold.  We are very thankful to have the ice rink to run at. :)

Last week Hannah asked me if she could run with her ipod at the ice rink, so Tuesday was her first time running with the ipod.  When I looked at my watch after we finished our run, I was shocked.  We had finished our 3 mile run in 28:30!!  Our fastest 3 mile run yet.  Between running with the big kids, and running with the ipod, Hannah dropped a whole minute off her time!  Saturday was another test of the ipod theory.  Hannah ran that 3 mile run in 28:28!  We ran the first mile in 9 minutes, the second in 10 minutes, and the third in 9 minutes.  We were bummed when we went to the rink to run today and the ipod hadn't charged properly.  I'm not quite sure what our time was because my watch stopped during the run and I had to restart it.  We're looking forward to our next run to see how fast we can go!

Jingle Bell 5K

This weekend called for a winter blizzard, so we were thankful that there was only 4 inches of snow when we woke up Saturday morning!  However, I was a little concerned about the condition of the Coastal Trail.  We arrived at the Snow Goose and got to visit with several people we ran with in the Bonny Sosa races. 

Hannah taking a Pre-Race Nap

We were off at 11am and boy was the trail snowy!  There was about 2 inches of snow of snow on the trail and several parts had snow over our ankles.  Hannah and I were only 4 minutes into the race and I knew we were in for a tough run.  Hannah only fell one time when we were running through the deep part.  One lady behind us said that for every inch of snow, you can add a mile to your run.  I think she just might have been right!  Hannah and I agreed that this run was harder than any Kincaid race we have done thus far.  We finished in 38:14 AND Hannah ran the whole time!

Coming into the finish!  Hannah's hiding in the facemask (It was cold)

Here come Auntie Shauna and Owen

The whole race crew

Alaska is out of races until April, so our next race will be our race in Florida.  We will have to stay motivated for the next 3 months until then.  We'll be doing lots of running at the ice rink!

 

Team 5K in 50 States

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.