Mama Goes Masters Virtual Race Report And A Bike Ride!

Greetings fellow bloggers and loyal readers! Holy cow, it has been a whole week since I have posted again! I need more time...seriously! MCM Mama turned the big 40 on August 25th and to celebrate she put on a virtual race. I decided to do the 4 mile run and did it on Thursday evening after I got home from work. I changed into my running clothes, put on my visor, sunglasses and Garmin and headed out the door. I really didn't have a plan, I just figured that I would run two miles and turn around and come back. I ran down my street to Weaver Lake road and into the MG trail system. I made my way down the path and took the path to Rice Lake. I wasn't looking at my Garmin and didn't really want to make this one a fast run. I just ran easy and steady. When I hit the two mile mark I turned around and headed back. Here are my stats.

mile one, 8:35
Mile two, 8:37
Mile three, 8:42
mile four, 8:24

Happy Birthday Mama!

I have been getting about four runs in a week. Most of my runs are anywhere from three to six miles. I am also getting at least one long run in on weekends. Yesterday I ran six miles and this morning I ran fifteen. I was not moving fast...trust me:) I woke up at 5AM only to fall back asleep until 5:30. I then forced my butt out of bed! I really do love running in the morning because everything is so peaceful and it is cooler. I am doing Jamoosh's Hard Core Club training and it is flipping harder than hell! I am doing it twice a week and I am hurting pretty bad! I sort of feel like I felt when I first started Jeff's 100 push-up challenge:) Not good! The good news is that I will eventually get used to it and my muscles will thank me some day soon!


I took this baby out this afternoon for a ride around Rice Lake. I have been test driving bikes:) I am so torn...I still have not found the perfect bike. When I purchase a bike it has to feel like it was made for me. Sadly, no such luck! I need help! I would like to do a few duathlons but also would like a bike that I can ride for fun. I need a bike that serves both purposes:) The sales man told me that this bike would do the trick. He also told me not to expect to win a duathlon with this bike. I started laughing and said, "Trust me, even if I had one of those fancy Tri bikes...I still would have no chance of winning a du!" This bike is on sale for $530.

Holy cow! Does that really say $8,299.99!?!

It is the one in the middle:) I am going back on Wednesday and will try a few more but they are more money! Yikes! I know that there is a bike for me somewhere...I just need to find it:)

Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all:)

A Few Vacation Pics & A Race Report!

Hi Everyone! I know that I have been MIA for a week but life has been crazy busy as always! We are back from vacationing for a few days in Duluth! Actually, we arrived back home Wednesday evening and I had to go back to work for Thursday and Friday. Work has been super busy too! I have been pretty tired when I get home.....unfortunately, blogging has been put on the back burner. We spent all of our vacation days at the Larsmont Cottages on Lake Superior. We rented a three bedroom cottage instead of staying in various hotels. It was such a great hit with the whole family....we will go back again next year! It was absolutely gorgeous and I wish that we had a few more days to enjoy Duluth and time away from our normal hectic life style:) Here are a few random pictures.

College boy was only able to spend two days with us due to his work schedule. College boy is sporting his new haircut:) His hair was much longer but he wanted to grow it out so that he could have a stupid and ugly looking mullet for We Fest! We Fest is a country music festival in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. He went camping with a bunch of his friends and thought that it would be hilarious to have his haircut in the mullet style! I just about fell over when he came home looking like Billy Ray Cyrus in his achy breaky days:) I couldn't believe that he actually paid someone money to cut his hair like that! Yes, I did take pictures.....I will spare you the visual pain by not posting them:) (Thank God he had it cut as soon as he got back from his trip!) Funny thing...he swears he was a chick magnet...I highly doubt that! Another funny thing....he doesn't even really listen to country music. I wasn't born yesterday, I know why he went...I just prefer not to think about it.

This was our view looking out of the master suite. Every morning after my run I would sit in one of those chairs and chill for about an hour. It was so peaceful and relaxing.

This picture was taken in Grand Marais, Minnesota. The kids spent about two hours on this beach skipping rocks. Josh's record is ten skips and Kay's was six:)

Kay and I took out this bad boy:) Oh my goodness, we laughed the whole time riding this baby! After we were done riding this bike we both took out mountain bikes and went for a five mile ride. We sort of had a contest to see who could make it back first. Both Kay and my hubby just assumed that Kay would win because her legs are rock solid. Let me tell you....I smoked her! I can't wait to get my bike:)

Yesterday I ran in a local Maple Grove 3.75 mile race for charity. It is a run that goes around Rice Lake. This is a challenging race full of hills. Oh joy, it was humid and the bugs were terrible! There were about 130 people who participated and I would say that at least 40 people walked.

Final time 29:16

12 out of 130 overall

3rd for women

1st for my age group

Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all:)

Runners Fuel is hosting an Inperspire "be vibrant" towels giveaway!

Anne Marie is hosting a $150 Athleta giftcard!

Angie is hosting a Huge Urban Assault and New Belgium Brewery gear giveaway for 5 winners!

Pam is hosting a Sweaty Bands giveaway!

MCM Mama is hosting a $60 CSN giftcard giveaway!

Marcia is hosting a compression sock giveaway!

Suzy is hosting a Softlips giveaway!

The Gopher To Badger Half Marathon Race Report!

Hi everyone! I ran another half marathon today! I ran in the Gopher To Badger Half and my daughter Kay ran the 5K. The half marathon started in Stillwater, Minnesota and ended in Hudson, Wisconsin. My hubby dropped me off by the start line and then drove Kay to her 5K start. I was one of the first runners there....just the way I like it:) I had the chance to use the Biffy and walk around some before the buses started arriving. There were 1,300 people registered to run today. (Note...only 736 actually crossed the finish line!)

I knew that Mark was also running today but didn't know if I would see him. Mark runs at a much faster pace than I do and there were alot of people there. Guess what? I got to meet Mark:) He came up to me and we were able to talk for several minutes before the race. Mark is a really nice guy and I am glad that I had the chance to meet him. Those of you who have been reading my blog know how much I enjoy the races. One of the reasons that I enjoy them so much is because I have been lucky to meet many of my blogger friends in person! Mark had plans to finish in under 1:45...so out of my pace zone:) I wished him good luck and he went off to find his running group friends. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted the Minnesota Pacers....AKA...pacer dudes:) I saw Allan who paced me for my PR at the Lake Minnetonka Half. He said, "Julie, I am pacing the 1:50 group, are you running with me?" I told him that I really didn't think that was possible for today but I hoped he would be pacing another 1:50 half sometime in the future:)

Once it was time to line up for the start I had to decide where I was going to place myself. I went back and forth between the 1:55 and 2:00 pacers. I settled on the 1:55 pacer and figured that I could always fall back if needed.

I am pretty sure that is pacer Sam. He was one of the guys who helped me find the start line for the Red White and Boom Half:)

This picture was taken just about ten minutes before the start. I could tell it was going to be a hot one. Everyone was talking about the weather and how today's run would be challenging in the heat. I was a little nervous because I know that I do not perform well in the heat.

Once the race started I positioned myself right next to the 1:55 pacer and tried to settle into a nice steady pace. The first portion of the race was okay in terms of the heat. Miles one, two and three were just fine. Once I hit mile four I knew I was in for a hellish run. It was starting to get hot and there was no shade. I stayed with my pacer until mile five....I just couldn't muster up enough energy to stay with her. She had been talking to me off and on those first five miles and told me that miles six through nine were the worst. Mile six was up hill and miles seven, eight and nine were out on the highway with no shade! Crap! I slowed down and made my way up the hill at mile six. It sucked big time! People were already starting to walk. I told myself, just make it to the top of the hill and then if you need to you can take a little walk break:) OMG, the hill wasn't any bigger than the ones that I run on in Maple Grove but the heat and humidity was terrible! Once I hit the top of the hill I slowed down and started to walk. A man behind me said, "Oh, don't stop, I was using you for pacing." I was like, "What? You don't want to use me for pacing...I am crashing out here!" He told me that he had been following me since mile three. He passed me and I walked for about thirty seconds. I figured that I would big girl up and continue on jogging (slowly).

I then ran on this road for freaking ever! Okay, well it wasn't freaking forever, it just felt like it! It went until almost mile nine. It was at mile eight where pacer Sam and the 2:00 group passed me. I really had no idea how the rest of this race was going to be. I was hot and feeling like total crap.

Oh joy, it was a water stop with a sprinkler hose:) There were water stops every two miles and I always took two cups and walked through. After grabbing my water and sucking it down, I set my camera down and had the girl spray me down. It was wonderful!

I picked up my camera and continued on. Mile ten was okay because there was at least a little shade at times.

Once I hit the bridge I was actually feeling pretty good. I ended up passing several runners on this bridge:) Mile twelve was alright but I know I was moving slower than what I was on the bridge. I was out in the sun and it was feeling hot again. I hit the last water stop and couldn't believe all of the people walking. Just keep moving...keep the feet moving...just a little farther and I am done:) OMG, when and the hell am I going to see the flipping finish line? I caught up to the guy in front of me and started small talk because I knew it would keep my mind off of the mental pain that I was in. We joked about how much fun this race was:) We were both dripping with sweat and hotter than hell! We ran the last half mile in together and I ended up passing him. Did I have energy to sprint in? Umm, that would be a high negative! There was absolutely no sprinting involved today! I saw Mr. Julie and heard him yell, "Go Jules!" I was moving at snails pace and finally crossed the finish line:) Oh happy day! I was done! Kay and my little guy were waiting for me and we walked over so that I could go through the snack line.

As I mentioned earlier, Kay ran the 5K. She was thrilled to take almost a minute off of her time from last week's race. She is pretty confindent that she will be able to PR with a few more races. She enjoyed the 5K course and loved running over the bridge:)

Here I am...hot, tired and ready to take a nap:)

I looked up my stats and my official final time was 2:02:45. This is not a PR...I am okay with my time because this was a tough race. It was hot, humid and I walked a few times:) It is all good, this race was character building and a great training run/experience.

After the race I caught up with Mark and Kay took this picture of us:) Mark was able to bring it and came in under his goal! I don't know how and the heck you did it with today's temps and blazing sun! Mark, hopefully I will see you at a few more races this year!

Happy running, biking swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!

My family and I are leaving for our summer vacation and I will not have computer and internet use. I will catch up on everyone's blogs when I return:)

Pam is hosting a Sweaty Bands giveaway!

Marcia is hosting a compression sock giveaway!

The Granite City 5K Race Report!

My daughter Kay and I drove up to St. Cloud to run in a 5K that was put on by the St. Cloud River Runners. The Granite City 5K is a small race that attracted almost 200 runners. We arrived at Heritage Park at 7:15 AM. We walked to the check in tent and registered for the run. It was raining so we walked back to the car to wait a little bit to see if the rain would taper off. Sitting in the car I was able to see tons of fellow River Runners who were either running in the 5K or manning their spots to volunteer:) Here is a picture of me and my friend Deb....she had already ran nine miles earlier in the morning! She was running the 5K as a part of her training run. Before the run fellow River Runners Yvette and George asked if I wanted to warm up. We ended up just doing a mile and coming back about ten minutes before race start. During the warm up we made note of the course. It was going to be challenging because it was not a typical road race. The course was set in Heritage Park made up of a mix of asphalt trails, gravel trails and mostly grass. It was wet and muddy:) We were cautiously watching our steps because there were several places in the course where the surface was uneven. I remember running this course last year and it was a tough one. George made a comment about how this was not a race to try to PR in:) So true!

Here are just a few random shots that I took before the race. Notice the umbrellas in the picture:) It was raining during our race.

Yvette is the runner in the pink running shirt and black hat:)

Cathy and Edda are in this picture. This picture was taken as our race director was giving us instructions and information about the course.

George is the guy in blue taking a picture of his kids who also ran in yesterday's race. Kay and I talked about what our goal time would be and we agreed that we were both going to come in under 26 minutes. We were joking before the race because neither one of us are really in any shape to be racing a 5K:) I have been running half marathons all spring and summer....not really working on speed! Kay has been doing basketball camps and track camps. She has gone on a few of the high school cross country practice runs where they just go out on easy two milers:) She has also ran with me a few times...easy running and slow pace. We placed ourselves in the middle of the pack and took off after the voice command start. We stayed together for the first mile and kept a decent steady pace. Kay was keeping up and doing well running pretty much right next to me. After the mile marker she fell back a bit but I kept looking back and she was always just a little behind me. I kept on running at an easy pace...I made note to myself that I was never sucking air:) Last year I sucked air the entire race....LOL! Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a blurr of blue and knew that it was Kay. She stayed just a step behind me. I kept on talking to her telling her that she was doing well and that we were keeping up a respectable pace. It was at mile two when I figured out that the blurr of blue was not Kay and that I had been talking to a stranger over the last mile:) She must of thought that I was a nut:) I thought that she was my daughter so I was telling her to watch her step, take quick little steps up the grassy hill and other random stuff! Well, blurr of blue passed me and I turned around to see Kay still behind me. I slowed down and kept looking back every few minutes. She gave me the I am so annoyed with you look and stop turning around to look at me glare:) She gave me the hand signal to move on without her and yelled, "Just go mom, I don't need a babysitter!" Alrightly then, I only had about a half of a mile left and just kept up the same pace until I could hear people and made the last turn and ran up the final stretch. I then kicked it into gear and sprinted it in hard:) After walking through the finisher's corral I heard Pat and Mark yell, "Julie we didn't get your finishing picture...for some reason it didn't work." At first I thought that they were kidding. Mark was smiling and shaking his head:) Just after turning around I noticed that Kay had already finished and was sitting on the ground looking like death:) According to my Garmin made our goal of coming in under 26 minutes!

Here is Kay...thrilled to be done:)

Here is a shot of Deb and Gene.

This is photographer Pat and his helper Mark. I went over to talk to them and they did tell me that I would have to run through again for a finish picture:)

I gave Kay all of my things and ran through the final stretch one more time:) Pat asked me when I finished and I told him just to put me somewhere in the middle. Pat, if you are reading this my daughter is thrilled that it looks like she finished before me....you are her new best friend:)

After grabbing a water, banana and cookie Kay and I just waited for the awards ceremony. After the awards were given out we headed to the tent to take a look at the results. I was curious to see who took third place for my age group. There are two very speedy girls in my age group who took first and second place.....Kalli 20:30 and Lisa with a time of 21:23! Kalli was looking at the results too and we started chatting. I asked her who took third for our age group and she said that the winner was not here and must of left after the race. We looked at the board and figured out that it was me who took third! Kalli walked over to one of the volunteers and explained that I didn't hear my name being called. She then gave me my third place age group medal:) This was my second to worst 5K time...I finished in 25:23. Kay finished about 35 seconds after me with a final time of 25:58! We both were happy to come in under 26 minutes but also want to shave time off of our 5K race by the end of the season. My PR is 23:10 and Kay's PR is 24:03....can we say speed workouts:)

This picture was taken after we got home:) My little man wanted to be in the picture too!

Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!

The winner of my giveaway is Running Through Phoenix! Congrats to you:) Please e-mail me your address at jkaiser4 at fairview.org and I will mail it to you ASAP! Welcome to all new followers! Please leave me a comment and I will make it to your blogs as soon as I can!

MCM Mama is hosting a $60 CSN giftcard!

Wes is hosting a Anti-Monkey Butt giveaway!

The Winner Of My Giveaway Is.....

Hi Everyone! This is just a quick post tonight but I wanted to announce the winner to my recent giveaway:)

Congrats to Running Through Phoenix! E-mail me with your address at jkaiser4 at fairview.org and I will get it out in the mail ASAP:)

Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway and welcome to all new followers! Please leave me a comment and I will make my way to your blogs as soon as I can:)

My daughter and I ran a 5K today! It was one of the slowest 5K races of mine to date. I was lucky enough to get third place for my age group:) Full report tomorrow....I am going to bed right now!

Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!

Catch Up And Another Giveaway!

Hi everyone! Another crazy week in the books! I can't believe that the weekend is almost over! I have to admit this cutting back on my running thing is bugging me. I know that this is something that I must do for now and that my health is more important than the miles I am logging. I am really listening to my body but I feel like the biggest slacker. I used to run at least five to six times a week and now I am only running three to four. My Napa to Sonoma Half was fantastic and I don't think that I have ever felt better running during a race. Lately, my last few runs have been sucking rocks! I am just not feeling it! I don't know if it because I am still playing catch up with my rest or if it is something else. At any rate, my normal 6 mile training runs are staying at a 8:45 to 9:00 minute mile pace. This is slower than my race pace for a 10K but I just feel blah during these runs. This picture was taken before my 6 mile run yesterday. It was 76 degrees but super humid! Yuck! I wanted to show Pam at Thirty Schmirty that yes, I look like crap after runs:) Clearly by looking at this next picture you will see that Julie sweats too!

I wish that my daughter was home so that you could see my shirt. She could of taken this picture instead of me:) I was dripping with sweat because of the high humidity! I want to run in California again, darn it! A girl can dream!

This past week I have spent so much time looking at possible races to do for the rest of the summer and fall. I have not updated my future race list because I am not sure what to do. Everyone who has been reading my blog knows how much I love racing! When I get it all figured out I will share with you my final plans:) I did go to a bike shop yesterday...going to another one on Wednesday. Hopefully a new bike will help me with some of my cross training and maybe spice up my routines:) It is possible that my new bike will have to come with me to one of my future races! Oh settle down you Tri studs....there is no way and hell I am doing a Tri! It is my understanding that swimming is a must in a Tri! Julie and swimming = a very funny joke:) I wouldn't mind attempting a duathlon sometime in the near future! How exciting is that?

It is time for another giveaway! A few weeks ago I reached 200 followers and decided to do another giveaway:) This giveaway features......

1) Foam Roller

2) 3 packs of Sports Beans

3) 3 PowerBar Bars

4) 4 PowerBar Gels (Strawberry Banana) my favorite:)

5) Nuun Tablets Lemon Lime Flavor

6) Body Glide

To enter this giveaway all that you have to do is tell me that you are a follower! For a second entry you can link this giveaway to your blog. I will post the winner to this giveaway on Saturday August 7th:) Good luck!

Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!

Molly is hosting a $60 CSN giftcard giveaway!

Suzy is hosting a $50 CSN giftcard giveaway!

Anne Marie is hosting a Scape Athletic Sunblock giveaway!

MissZippy is hosting a Kara Goucher signed t-shirt giveaway!

Rad Runner is hosting a Reed's Ginger Chews giveaway!

Lindsay is hosting a Breakfast and Truvia giveaway!

Always A Reason To Run is hosting a $40 CSN giftcard giveaway!

Racing Dawn is hosting a $15 iTunes giftcard giveaway!

Holly is hosting a $40 CSN giftcard giveaway!

Molly is hosting a Run Like A Girl giveaway!

Molly is hosting a fuel belt giveaway!