Turkey Trot –

Spent a fabulous extended weekend at home for Thanksgiving.  Flew in Wednesday night and of course was up and running Thursday morning.  Nicole and I ran the Joliet Poultry Predictor run in Pilcher Park.  It was my first time running in that park, and I thought it was gorgeous.  With a predictor run you guess your time before the race.  And you are not allowed to run with a watch or headphones so there is no way to tell how fast you are running.  The winners are the people closest to their predicted times, so it doesn’t matter how fast or slow you are, everyone has a chance to win.  Twenty people closes to their times won a turkey.  It was a 4 mile run and I predicted 32:41 (8:10 pace).  I figured that would be pretty tough for me in the cold and without the help of music.  I felt as though I ran the first mile way too fast and struggled through mile 2.  By mile 3 and 4 I was just cruising along.  I figured I was close to an 8:30 pace.  Nicole and I hung out while everyone finished and they figured out the results.  It was taking forever and we both had Thanksgivings to get to, but decided that we waited this long we might as well stick around for the results.  Go figure, I win a turkey!!  I am within 2.5 seconds of my predicted time and the 7^th most accurate guesser.  How the heck that happened I will never know.  I definitely thought I was running much slower than I predicted.  Another example of the ‘Luck of the Irish’ running through my blood.

I was a bit later getting home than expected since the results took forever, but seeing my mom’s face when I walked in with the turkey was hilarious.  Walked in and said, ‘Sorry, I’m late.  I had to win dinner.’  Only I can pull these things off.  Friggin' turkey!

The rest of the trip was fun.  Got to spend time with my family, went to the movies with mom, watch football with dad, and hung out with my sister, Aaron and Kyla.  Kyla was my bestest little buddy.  I love her and she loves her Aunt Lucy.  Will post a picture of our grilled cheese tea party later.

Kyla Wins

This was after the Red Eye 8K.  Kyla helped me take off my shoes and proceeded to tie me up with the jump rope.  Apparently I was not allowed to leave...

Weekend of 11/11/11 – the best date ever in my mind.

11 is my lucky number – so this date is the greatest in my mind.

This past weekend I got to spend at home with my family.  I had to be in Peoria for work Monday and Tuesday so I flew in Friday night and my parents drove down and picked me up.  Overall it was a great weekend starting with Avanti’s for dinner Friday night.  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Avanti’s.  Anyone who went to Bradley or ISU knows what I am talking about.  We used to get it almost every Tuesday for dinner.

Saturday I did some shopping with Mama Fritz then spent the rest of the day with my sister and her family.  We took Kyla to a Bouncing Bonkers (with all the inflatable bounce houses).  She absolutely loved it.  And we were able to go through them with her.  She wore me out, but then she helped make my bed and snuggled for awhile, so it was worth it.

Sunday morning got up to run my first ever 8k.  Automatic PR – Score!!!  The weather was as good as I could ask for in November in Illinois, but I was still freezing.  And the wind was only making things worse.  Overall I had a great race, finishing several minutes sooner than expected (esp considering the wind).  I think I was cold and knew there were bloody mary’s and beer at the end.  Any reason to drink at 8 AM is a good reason to run.  Finally it was a girl’s breakfast afterwards with my cousin Nicole, cousin Margie, adopted cousin Jamie, my sister and Kyla. 

Finished the day watching da Bears dominate the Lions at my sister’s house.  My parents and grandparents both came over, so I got to spend some quality time with them.

Can't think of a better way to spend a weekend!

Sand volleyball is officially over for 2011

Part of me is sad that it is over and another part of me is glad to get a break.  I tend to get burnt out and hit a wall where it is not as much fun.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the people I play with and I enjoy seeing everyone out there, but I am spent.  Non-stop March to November is a bit much.  And it is amazing how much I can get done when I have week nights to be productive.  Maybe I won’t play The Kick Off session next year (1^st session of the year), but who knows.  By the time March rolls around I will probably be ready to hit the sand.

I think I am going to try and play up a level, at least one day a week next year.  Maybe a little more competitive style is what I need to keep me going :).

Volunteering at the DRC half marathon

November 5th and 6th

So I had my first experience as a race volunteer.  Since I wasn’t running the DRC half marathon this weekend I decided to help out.  Considering all the races I run, figured it would be a good way to give back for all the times someone put together my race packet or handed me water out on the course.  Never take those people for granted because they don’t have to be out there giving their time.   

So on Saturday I worked at the packet pickup and on Sunday I was a course monitor.  It was a different perspective seeing the race from this angle. 

Sunday was absolutely perfect weather for running, and I was a bit jealous that I wasn’t out there, but the legs needed a break.  My job was to direct everyone to turn left approximately 3.5 miles into the course.  Wasn’t that hard of a job since the course was extremely well marked: arrows painted on the road, orange cones marking the way and signs with arrows pointing where to go.  If a runner ended up missing that turn, they aren’t very smart. 

Basically I just got to cheer everyone on.  Since it was early in the race, everyone looked strong and was smiling.  I was quite impressed with just how many people thank both me and the cop (directing traffic) for volunteering our time.  Also impressive was how many people chatted with us on the way by and their stories.  My favorite was a lady the just turned 65 running her first half marathon.  Very inspiring.  The other hot topic was the bright orange shoes I was wearing.  For those who have never seen them - think traffic cone orange.  Dozens of compliments.  The time went by extremely quick and was a fun way to spend the morning. 

Top finishing times:

               Male – 1:06:42

               Female – 1:18:26

After the race I went home and got in a great run for myself.  Overall a very good day.

October in Review

October was a HUGE running month for me. 

First big event was the Chicago Marathon, my first full marathon.  My cousin Nicole ran it for the 8th time and was a huge help with everything from training to race day logoistics to complete faith in my running.  I was super excited and for some reason I wasn’t too nervous.  It was definitely the main focus of my life for awhile.  I spent 4 months training in Texas; have to say how proud I am that I stuck to the training plan as well as I did.  It was definitely hot during most of the training, but that help me out greatly marathon day.  The marathon went absolutely fantastic especially with the support of all the family and friends. 

4:10:21 and couldn’t be happier, and it was on my mama’s birthday.

Below is us with some of the best supporters you could ask for.

Next up was the RNR – St Louis half marathon, again with my cousin Nicole.  Half marathons in St. Louis are always some of my favorites.  I pretty much consider it a family reunion for my dad’s side.  With me living in Texas, the Chapman’s in St Louis and the rest of the Fritz’s up in Illinois, rarely do we get a chance to all get together.  Only two cousins are missing from these weekends.  It is always great to relax and just hang out and I generally have pretty good races.  I had absolutely zero expectations for this race.  I hadn’t really run much since the marathon and didn’t really have a race strategy or time in mind.  Figured it would be great if I could beat my previous St Louis times, but wasn’t too worried about it.  I was just out to run and it was perfect weather.  It was a tough course with lots of rolling hills.  I always complain about the hills in St. Louis, I am definitely a flat surface runner.  Somehow I managed to pull off a 1:56:38 (a 10 minute improvement over my other St Louis halfs).

Once my sister pops that baby out (March) she will be back running these races with us.  Now she is an awesome cheerleader!

 

Last big event of October was the Original Mud Run, and let me tell you, that was no joke.  I have done several other mud/obstacle runs (Warrior Dash twice and Go Dirty Girl), and this was by far the hardest.  It was a 10K making it twice as long as the other races and the obstacles were much harder.  We had to swim across the Trinity River twice (40+ yds) and it was freezing, we were constantly in and out of water pits, climbing mud mountains, climbing cargo nets, over and under things, etc.  The course definitely kicked my butt and I have the bruises to prove it.  Both arms and both legs are pretty tore up.

October pretty much completes my distance running for 2011.  I have a couple of small races planned for the remainder of the year, but nothing over 5 miles.  Time to give my legs and body a rest.  They have definitely earned it J.

Not really sure what I am doing...

I’m not really sure why, but I decided to start blogging and try it out for awhile.  I find myself following several other people’s (mainly runners) blogs.  Not that this is only a running blog, but seeing as how that generally occupies my life, there is going to be a lot about running.  And anything else I feel like rambling about.  Layouts and stuff is going to be very basic as I have no idea what I am doing.