Twilight 12K - Anchorage, Alaska

Hannah at the start of the race

This race was our first competitive race of the season...My sister told me that Hannah decided she wanted to do the 12K because the boy she really enjoys running with in the Bonny Sosa series was running the 12K.  I asked Nicole how far a 12K was and she said...I don't know, like 6 miles, so I agreed to run it!  I later looked it up online and found out it was 7.4 miles!!  Oh man...Don't tell Hannah :)  Time to psych myself up for our longest run ever.

Grama, Daddy, Owen, and Hannah waiting for race start

 

Auntie and Hannah Pre-Race

Ready to run!

Hannah and I were so happy that the weather was better for the race than last year.  It was a sunny day with a slight breeze.  Hannah and I have always gotten close to the start line for all of our races because I have found that we are actually safer and less likely to get trampled.  As we were lined up at the start line, some lady made a snide comment to me about being close to the front.  I just smiled and replied "we do this all the time."  The gun went off and off we went!

And we're off!

 We took off hard and fast...maybe a little too fast.  The cool thing about this race was that we got to run in an area of Anchorage that we haven't run in before, down by the port and through Government Hill.  As we were re-entering down town Anchorage (approaching mile 3) we ran past a lady who was not feeling well.  Knowing Hannah is a sympathy barfer, I tried to get her to go by without watching.  Silly child she wouldn't take her eyes off of the lady as she passed by.  Of course, Hannah started saying "Auntie I think I am going to be sick!"  Thankfully, Hannah did not barf and we were able to change the subject.

Owen coming in for a strong finish

 We then got onto the Coastal Trail, which we run on for just about every race in Anchorage.  It was nice knowing how much farther we had to go.  Hannah was really pushing it and doing awesome.  We finished out the downtown part of the coastal trail right about mile 6 when Michael caught up to us.  Hannah learned that we still had 1.5 miles left, so the timing was perfect.  Hannah enjoyed running the last part of the race with Michael and provided the encouragement she needed to finish.  Auntie, on the other hand, was running out of steam quickly.  Just one more mile, come on, you can do it!!!  Hannah passed me with a half mile to go and finished the race right behind Michael.  I finished about 20 seconds behind her.  I can't believe the energy this child has at the end of the race, which tells me she can certainly run faster :)

Kaelyn's first time as race spectator

Justin and Kaelyn

Justin and Owen ran the 6K for this race and Owen beat his dad!  Owen finished Hannah crossed the finish line in 1:15:34.  Sadly, Skinny Raven changed their age groups and the youngest group was ages 12 and under for this year's race.  Hannah finished 8th out of 11.  The top 5 finishers were ages 11 and 12.  Even so, this was our longest race ever and Hannah did AWESOME!  I am so proud of her.  We are starting to make our weekly runs longer so that we can start chipping more time off of our finishing times.

Hannah and her running buddy

Next race up...Alaska Run for Women!  See you there  :)

Baby Kaelyn has arrived!

Hannah's new cousin, Kaelyn Elizabeth, arrived on April 3, 2012 at 4:41am.  She weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long.

I had walked earlier that day at my work with a co-worker, then again at the ice rink with Hannah and went into labor that night :)  It was our last time at the ice rink as the snow was off the road at Grama's house, so we could run outside again.  Hannah and I got out for our first outdoor run 10 days after Kaelyn was born.  It was slow for me, but hoping to get back up to speed for our spring and summer races.  Hannah loves her new baby cousin!!

Iron Girl 5K - Scottsdale, Arizona

After taking a nearly 5 week running break we are excited to be back running again.  We totally enjoyed our time off (2 whole glorious weeks in Jamaica and a very blessed Thanksgiving) but we really had to work to get back into race shape.

This trip proved to be quite the adventure...on our way down, I found my cell phone in my purse to be covered in water.  I couldn't contact Hannah's mom until we got to the car rental place in Arizona. (A HUGE thank you to the nice car rental counter guy who let me use his personal cell phone!)  On our way back, we almost lost Hannah's car seat to the Portland Airport because of the airlines mistake and then we arrived home to Alaska to awful roads and cold houses as the power had been out for over 4 hours.  In bed at 2am Monday morning and Hannah was thankful to find out that school was cancelled on Monday.  Fortunately, we had an awesome time at the race!

Hannah and her first cactus!

Arizona proved was much cooler than we expected and I was actually afraid we were going to be cold given our short sleeves and capris we brought to run in!  We were thankful for the 9am start so we didn't have to get up really early.  The temperature was about 58 degrees when we got to the race.  We warmed up and stretched while we were waiting in the start chute.  Since I have been running slightly slower than Hannah as I have progressed in my pregnancy, I gave Hannah a heads up about the turn around at the half way point so she didn't continue on the 10K course.  At 9am, we were off!

Hannah was keeping a pretty good pace and chit-chatted with a couple ladies as she ran as she usually does  :)  Since this was an Iron Girl race, all racers were women.  As we neared the turn around, I was watching to see Hannah go around the corner so I could cheer her on.  I was watching and watching and she didn't go by.  I realized OH MAN...SHE'S ON THE 10K COURSE!!  There was no way I was going to be able to catch up with her.  I gave the race volunteers a description of her clothes and waited minute, then kept going for the finish.  About 2 minutes later I hear from behind me...AUNTIE...I looked behind me and breathed a huge sigh of relief!  She told me that she asked someone if she was still on the 5K course.  When they said 10K, she turned around and headed back to the turn around.  Good thing I told her about the turn around! I was super proud of her...she is getting to be quite the good little racer.

Post-Race

I told Hannah she needed to push it to the finish and she took off.  I crossed the finish line about a minute behind Hannah and found her waiting for me at the finish just like she was supposed to :)  Hannah finished in 28:29 which was good enough for 1st place in her age group!  We got awesome medals for this race and Hannah received an Iron Girl necklace charm.  This will be our last out of state race until I have my baby (due April 4th), but we will still be running in town until then.  I found my self impatiently awaiting the local running calendar so we can begin planning our spring and summer races!

Awards Ceremony

Susan G Komen 5K - Wichita Falls, Texas

At the Anchorage airport ready to head to Texas

We arrived in Texas on Friday afternoon...First stop American Girl Store!  We power shopped through the Galleria and hit American Girl Store and Bath & Body Works.  Next up, dinner at the American Girl Bistro thanks to Grandma's birthday gift to Hannah.  Did I mention that she is now 8 years old....I can't believe how fast time has gone  :)  Hannah's American Girl dolls got to join us at the table in their own special high chairs.  The food was excellent and so was the service!

We got on the road to head to Wichita Falls about 5pm.  After figuring out the GPS was on pedestrian mode instead of driving mode, we got on the right track.  We crashed into bed at the hotel about 9pm.  We were up at 6am, had breakfast, and headed to the race.  Sue, the race director for this race, had already alerted the registration table to our arrival.  We were sure shown some Texan hospitality for this race!  The race started at 8:45am and we were off.  It was a hot muggy morning and felt just like our run in Florida.  Hannah chit-chatted with a couple of ladies during the race.  We also had a couple of ladies recognize us from checking out our blog :) 

Pre-Racewarm ups are always so much fun!

 Hannah finished the race in 28:36, and was about 30 seconds in front of me.  She didn't place in this race because the youth age group was 18 and under, but I don't think there were too many little ones in front of her.  We will have to check out the official results for a count.

After the race, many people wanted to take our picture, and two little girls asked to have a picture taken with Hannah.  It was sooooo sweet!  We were also interviewed by the local newspaper and thanked by the Mayor for selecting their race for our Texas race.  The best part was the stage introduction and the banner that Hannah received it said....DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS! 

We are so happy we chose this race to do as everyone there was so friendly and kind to us.  Hannah and I both left the race feelings so welcomed and thankful that we chose such a supportive and amazing race to participate in.  We left the race right before a storm hit and are now at our next hotel to go to the Taylor Swift concert at the Cowboy's Stadium.  Should be so much fun! 

Hannah at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium heading into the Taylor Swift concert

Thank you Wichita Falls for putting on such a great race supporting breast cancer research.  We love participating in races that raise money for great causes.  5K in 50 States will never forget the hospitality of Texas  :)

Big Wild Life 5K - Anchorage, Alaska

Big Wild Life is another one of mine and Hannah's favorite races...its FLAT!! :)  But flat also equals fast.  Hannah and I were hoping for a new personal record from this race.  The weather forecast was looking pretty gloomy, but when we arrived in Anchorage, it was pretty and the skies were clear. 

Another nice thing about this race is the 5K starts at 9:30am.  It was quite the ordeal trying to make a potty stop a the port-a-potties before the race began as people were lined up across the start line.  Many marathon and half-marathoners didn't get to potty before their race began.  After they were off, Hannah and I got to line up.  It's been kinda cool to get to move closer and closer to the front as we get faster.  We lined up at the 8 minute mile sign for this race.

Uncle Greg, Justin, Auntie Shauna, and Owen joined us for the 5K this year!  The gun went off, and off we went.  Hannah and I passed her dad before mile 1 and he couldn't believe it!  The first mile went really fast, but again, my GPS watch died within 3 minutes of starting the race.  Hannah caught up to one of her friends they camp with in Willow and she kept pace with him for most of the race.  After mile 2, I started to get pretty tired (I am pregnant with my second kiddo due in early April) and Hannah was in front of me for the rest of the race.  Hannah kept looking back to check on me, which was pretty funny.

Hannah rounded the final corner to the finish and that was the last I saw of her till I crossed the finish line.  She couldn't believe that she beat me and her dad.  Hannah finished with her fastest time of 27:15, which put her in 3rd place for the 12 and under age group!  First and second were 11 and 12 years old.  Uncle Greg got 2nd place overall and Auntie Shauna and Owen finished in 38 minutes. 

Auntie Shauna and Owen coming into the finish line in-step with each other

Everyone has gotten faster over the past year!   Hannah has inspired all of us to get out there and run  :) We are excited to start the Bonny Sosa race series and look forward to catching up with racers from last year.

5k Wildlife Rescue Run - Seward, Alaska

Hannah, Owen and Justin goofing around

This race was the 1 year anniversary of Hannah's and my first 5K together, and what a long way we have come :)  Hannah and I were ready for this race and pumped up to go.  Uncle Greg, Justin, Auntie Shauna, and Owen joined us for this race too.

Grandma and Ava

We were lucky to have a rain free race as it poured down rain most of the time we were in Seward.  The race started at 12:00pm, so we also got to sleep in which was super nice!  There were several kids running this race, but overall, the race crowd seemed smaller than last year. 

About 3 minutes after we started the race, my watch died, so I had no idea how we were doing on time.  Hannah and I were excited to get to the turn around point and head back for the finish.  There was an older girl that we kept catching up to about the last half mile, but every time we caught up, she took off running again.  We were shocked at how well we did when we saw our time at the finish.

27:35 earned Hannah 3rd place in her age group, and matched our personal record time from the Heart Run in April.  Uncle Greg got 3rd place over all, and Owen finished in 34 minutes, which was 5 minutes faster than Hannah's time last year.  We might have 2 future distant runners!

Next up, Big Wild Life 5k in Anchorage...see you there!

Mayors 5 Miler, Kids Run, and Half Marathon

The Mayors Run was a whole family running affair as we had a total of 6 runners.  Hannah, Justin, and I ran the 5.6 mile run (AKA 5 miler), Auntie Shauna and Owen ran the 1.7 mile kids race, and Uncle Greg ran the Half Marathon (13.1 miles).

The Half Marathon and 5 miler runners started together at 9am and was warm, but not too hot.  Justin ran with Hannah and I for a while to make sure my leg was going to hold up for the race; however, if my leg was going fail, I figured it might be around mile 4...The first two miles went by really fast, but boy did mile 3 go by slow.  When Hannah and I reached mile 4, she got her second wind. Many people recognized us from our other races and we even ran into one of our blog followers...Hannah just loves that :) 

Hannah was able to kick it into high gear up the final hill.  When we crossed the finish line, Hannah asked me what our time was.  I told her our time was 55:18 and she said, "awww that's slower than our last time."  When I told her the race was 5.6 miles, she squealed and started jumping up and down.  Hannah finished 1st place in her age group of 9 and under!

Justin finished the 5 miler (his first 5 mile race) a couple minutes before Hannah and I.  Auntie Shauna and Owen finished the kids race in 22 minutes.  Hannah finished the same race last year in 23 minutes so we might just have another little up and coming runner....way to go Owen!!!  Uncle Greg finished the half marathon in 1:26:46, which placed him 17th overall out of 1800!  It was a great race for everyone :)

Hannah and I have started some serious hill training to work on our speed.  Our next 5K is the Bear Paw race on July 9th.  Our goal for this race is 26 minutes...stay tuned for our race time!