I made the local paper!

In this morning's Butte County Post, you can see my smiling face along with Chloe (eating crackers) while we were participating in the Hayfever 4 mile Fun Run for the Belle Fourche Area Community Center. We ran it on Saturday and it was a tough race as it got hot pretty early and there were a few pretty tough hills! But it was a fun race and we saw lots of our friends. The caption under my pictures made me laugh and I hope it puts a smile on your face too! I definitely wasn't the fastest runner there and I never will be, so it's a good thing I don't run to win the races! ha! :)

Another (Unofficial) Half Marathon Today!

Although it was slower than last week, I ran another 13.1 miles today in preparation for my full marathon which is just 9 short weeks away. That means 8 more long runs (12 miles or more) for the next two months until August 16th when I will run 26.2 miles. It's coming up fast and I feel more ready for it with each week that passes. I also have 2 more half marathons this summer, one on July 12th in Missoula, MT and one on July 25th in Spearfish, SD. I am going to try to run a 20 mile run on July 5th through Spearfish Canyon (which will be the the actual last 20 miles of my marathon) and then a 22 mile run on July 19th when we get back from Montana. Thanks for all of the support that you all have given me throughout all of my running endeavors. It makes it easier to get up at 5am on a Sunday morning for a 13 mile run! :)

Boys Day/Girls Day

The kids have been talking about Boys Day/Girls Day for a couple of weeks now. Chris and Caiden went to a fishing derby at the McNenny State Fish Hatchery. They went to different booths and learned about fishing and got to touch animal hides (his favorite), they ate lunch, they saw Smokey the Bear, Caiden saw his friend, Semele, he won a new fishing pole, and caught 3 fish. He even brought one home to show me and Chloe! He had a lot of fun and then got to go to McDonalds for an ice cream.


Chloe and I started off our day at the Hayfever Race (which in is in a separate post!) and then made our way to Spearfish for some dress and swimsuit shopping. She found a dress that she loved right away at the Little Me Boutique and then we met Kelly for lunch (and dessert!) at Applebees followed by grocery shopping at Walmart, where she found a swimming suit that she just loves, because there is hardly any back on it! ;)



We all met back at home in the afternoon and attempted to go to the Belle Fourche Legion Baseball game, but the paper lied and there really wasn't a game. So we filled up the pool instead and they kids played in that for a while before BBQing some brats for dinner! A perfect summer day!

Hayfever 4 Mile Fun Run

Today was the 8th annual Hayfever 4 mile Fun Run. It's at our local community center and either Chris or I or both of us have done it every year we have lived here. It's a fun race and it's really fun to see lots of the local runners and walkers that we know. This year, Chris and Caiden went to a fishing derby during the race which left me and Chloe to race! And let me tell you; pushing 35 pounds up some pretty steep hills is not much fun! But we had a good time and even though I had to walk some of the uphills and Chloe kept telling me to go faster, I finished it! My time was 43:53 so I averaged about 11:45 miles, which was just fine with me for today! I got to see lots of my friends, which is always fun too. There were 3 of us pushing our kids in the stroller division and I came in 3rd in that division! :) Here are some pictures from our race!

The Stroller Division

Scottie and Quinn, Amy and Avryl, Me and Chloe
Jan (and her medal!), Katie and Me

Me and Katie (My Spark Friend!)

Dino Park Trail Race

On Thursday night, Chris ran the Dino Trail Race at the Dinosaur Park in Rapid City. The kids were SO excited to play on all of the dinosaurs and would have all night if they could have. Chris did really well in the race placing 5th overall and 2nd in his division. It was a tough race on the trail, lots of uphill! The kids didn't mind waiting for him this time around as there were lots of dinosaurs to play on!

Deadwood/Mickelson Half Marathon

Chris and I both got to run the Deadwood Half Marathon yesterday, thanks to my sister Kelly who watched the kids for us. She also watched our friend's daughter, Avryl, so both Tim and Amy could run too. All in all, they had 1500 people signed up for the half and over 400 for the full. So, it was a big race. I had gotten sick on Friday night and was sick all day Saturday too so I wasn't sure how this race would end up. But I woke up Sunday feeling ok, so I decided to go and do it and see what happened!
We left the house at 530am in a downpour of rain and it was a madhouse when we got to Deadwood at 6:00. We finally got into the fairgrounds and onto a bus so make our way the start line, 13.1 miles away. I sat next to a girl, Audrey, who lives in Bozeman so it was fun to chat with her on the way. She ended up running a 1:49 marathon so she rocked it out! When we got to the start line, we met up with Tim and Amy and started seeing other friends who were also running. The hour went by fast and after stripping our sweatshirts and pants off, we were left in the 39 degree temps for a couple of minutes. It wasn't too bad though as it wasn't raining at all and as soon as I started running, I was at the perfect temperature. The first 5 miles went pretty well and I ran those in 10:37, 9:49, 9:47, 9:49, and 10:22. I took my first gel at the 5 mile mark in hopes that it would keep me doing at this pace. Unfortunately, after that, I started feeling the effects of being sick the past 2 days and the hill on the course that really isn't much of a hill at all that didn't affect me last year, took me down a notch this year. I had to walk a lot of the 6 mile and it ended up being a 13:00 minute mile. :( After I started running again after my walk break, I ran a few 11:00 minute miles for miles 7, 8, and 9, and got back to running a couple 10:45 minute miles realizing I only had 4 miles left. The last mile was pretty tough for me and I had already realized that I wasn't going to run a 2:16 like last year, but I was hoping I could still be under 2:20. Coming into the finish line, I heard and saw Chris and the kids cheering me on and then I saw and heard Kelly too and then I knew I was done. My official time was 2:19:47 so I'll take it! I asked Kelly how Chris did and she said, 1:28 something so I was really excited for him as he was going for a sub 1:30 for the first time in a half marathon. He had a great race. My friend Amy ran it in just under 2:00 and Tim kicked butt too running a 1:42. Another friend, Jackie, ran hers in 2:10 which is exactly the 10 minute miles she wanted to run! And then our friend, Brian, who was injured and thought he would have to walk a lot of it, cranked out a 1:34!!! Way to go everyone! We went to lunch with Kelly, Tim, and Amy afterwards in Spearfish Canyon at Cheyenne Crossing and I had the best Indian Taco EVER there... it was a great way to end the festivities. It was a great race and really fun weekend!

Deadwood/Mickelson 5K and Kid's Runs

Most of our weekend was spent in Deadwood this weekend. It was the 8th annual Deadwood/Mickelson Trail Marathon which includes a Half Marathon, a Fast 5K, a kid's 1K and new this year, a Kid's Marathon. In the Kid's Marathon, you log miles for a couple of months a mile or so at a time and then run the last 2K (1.2 miles) at the actual race. Caiden did the Kid's Marathon this year logging his miles running, hiking, and playing soccer. He ran the last 2K in 13:00 minutes on Saturday. He got a shirt and a really cool medal for his efforts. Chloe decided the night before the race that she wanted to race too and so we signed her up for the 1K (a little over half a mile) at the race and she was really excited. Kelly ran with her as a warm-up to her own 5K a little later on and said Chloe did really well! Chloe was so proud of herself and told me that she didn't walk at all and ran the whole way! She had a lot of fun and I am thinking that she will be running the Kid's Marathon with Caiden next year! Chloe got a little medal, a shirt, and a Frisbee too. After the kid's races, Chris, the kids and I grabbed some lunch while Kelly and our friend, Robert were bussed 3.1 miles away up the hill so they could run down it in the Fast 5K. They both did really awesome, Robert coming in at 22:11 and Kelly at 29:47. Her goal was to be under 30 minutes so that was really exciting. She was 2nd in her age group too and got a really cool Railroad spike for her age group finish. Way to go Caiden, Chloe, Kelly, and Robert! :)