Mesa Half Marathon

 Well, I did it again.  This is my fourth official half marathon, and third at this event.  I also ran the full with this event years ago.  The race finished moved east a little from Mesa Riverview shopping center to the other side of the lake and it worked out great.  The EXPO the day before where you pick up your packet, race bib, and shirt was at the Cubs stadium where this photo is taken.  It was a really cool set up.

Almost as soon as I arrived Nurse Clare came up to say hi.  I haven't seen her since we were in the PICU with Bea almost 6 months ago.  I have so much gratitude for her and the other nurses during that time.

Chris ran the half again this year for his second time and beat last year's time. Always a good feeling.

I ran most of it was Sara again like last year.  This was her second half marathon just like Chris.  We both ran faster than last year as well, with Sara a few minutes ahead both times.  She's so fast at the end when I struggle the most.

Andrew and Beatrix showed up to cheer me at the finish.  They were the best cheerleaders!

As per tradition, the #1 photo. :)

Natalie Hill, a good friend and Andrew's boss's daughter, finished a few minutes ahead of me so I saw her soon after finishing.  It was her PR. 

This was my third fastest half marathon.  I was 1 minutes slower than my second fastest.  My first fastest was the first one I ran with my cousin, Elizabeth Curtis all those years ago at 2:03, and I still hope to beat that time.  Just not this year. :)

Mesa Marathon did a great job with this race.  So professional and fun, plus it's nostalgic running in my home town.  It's definitely not my last.

Ragnar Trail - second time

 

A couple weeks ago I got to do my second Ragnar Trail!  Trail is different than a regular Ragnar in several ways.  First of all I've done 4 Ragnar Del Sol plus my first Ragnar was the Wasatch Back in Utah.  In those races there are 12 runners and the race has an early Friday morning start and a Saturday afternoon finish.  No one runs the same three legs as anyone else on their team.  You start in one city and wind through and finish in another city 200 miles later.

With Ragnar Trail there are 8 runners running the same three legs while camping out in the same area.  Everyone at the race runs the same three legs labeled RED, YELLOW, and GREEN and they all started and finished at the same place.

These photos are kind of all over the place but that's kind of how a Ragnar feels.  You're eating, running and sleeping at strange times.

Here's part of the team!  Our team was an Edward Jones work team.  Dan McKay works for Edward Jones and he invited me on.  Besides his cousin, Robert McKay, I didn't know anyone else on the team before race day.  It's aways fun getting to know some new awesome runners.

On the far left is James Weinmann (he's the oldest and fastest in the group and has run several marathons but this was his first Ragnar), then Kim Phair (married to Steve Phair- they both run races all the tines for fun), next is me, then Dan McKay, then Robert McKay, then Bret Seeley a dad who has biological children and an adopted son plus he has a foster girl who is like a daughter.  Really awesome group.

Just missing from the photo the team captain Julie Reid and Steve. Julie is on the left of the below photo.  The only three not working for Edward Jones was Robert, Kim, and me.  We were team "Buy Sell Hold Run" and we ran for 27 hours with a total of about 15.2 miles total each.

^ ^ James ^ ^

Everyone had a least one night run where you provide your own light by headlamps or flashlights.  I had two night runs which isn't a bad thing because it gets pretty hot in the afternoon, like my last run.

^ ^ Dan ^ ^

^ ^ Robert ^ ^

Can you see Four Peaks in the distance?  This was on my last run.

There were food trucks to grab food.  I brought some snacks but bought a pulled pork sandwich for dinner, and this sourdough bowl egg with bacon and sausage for breakfast.

Bret, Kim and Steve had to leave early so just the five of us at the end of the race.  Feels so good to finish. I was the last runner so it feels special to finish the team off in the race.

Ragnar has done this for a few years where you put all your medals together and it writes our a secret message.  "WE ARE REGNARIANS TOGETHER WE CAN...".   I got the top left "...Blaze new trails".  I like that.  If you pull the orange necklace part off you can pull out the metal survival utility tool.  It has a special name Andrew said but I don't remember.  Pretty cool though.

Here's the YELLOW leg I ran first at 7:30pm.  We had a noon start time but being runner 8 I didn't start until after dinner time.  The race said it was 4.5 but my maps said 4.62 and it was a very bumpy trail.  Definitely felt longer than four and a half and I was glad to get it done early.

Here is the GREEN leg, the race had down for 4.2 miles.  I started tracking a bit late.  Started this ru before 4:30 in the morning and I had about a 5 hour sleep before which is pretty good for a Ragnar.  Great pace.  It goes gradually uphill then gradually downhill.  I saw a snake (possibly a rattle snake) around mile 3 a few feet out from the trail but it wasn't interested in me.  Just a nice run and really quiet that third mile before joining up at the end.

Here is the RED leg.  Red and Yellow are the hardest.  Whichever one you ran last and in the heat was the hardest for that person.  Red was definitely it for me.  It is the longest distance (the race said 6.6 miles), my legs were tired, my eating and sleep were off, the first few miles were steep and very rocky, and I started the run at 1:43pm.  It took me and hour and a half.  My goal was under a 14 minute per mile mace average which I got!  I actually forgot to stop tracking after finishing since my team was there and we were done so I didn't better than it says.  Mostly it was just hot and I didn't see very many people on the run since many teams had finished and were headed home.

Now I have run 7 Ragnars!  Feels good to say that, and they won't be my last!

Mesa Sprint Triathlon & Splash & Dash

Last Saturday was race day for the Freeman family!  Elliot and I did triathlons for Elliot's first time, and the other three did the splash & dash.  This was Rupert's first time too.  Avery was cute to braid my hair so I could be like her and Zara.

My cousin, Elizabeth Curtis, was there at my first triathlon in 2007 when she did her first duathlon just like she did on this day.

Andrew and the kids cheered me on for the swim and heading out on the bike.  Having family there is the best!  This was my first triathlon in 9 years so I felt a little rusty, even though I trained pretty well.  It was my first time doing this location at Skyline High School.

The splash and dash group!  They swim a 100m and run a mile.  The kids start oldest to youngest, so Avery started first.

Breanne Johnson, a friend and neighbor, was volunteering near the finish and snapped a couple photos of Elliot and me when we passed.  So good to see a friend right before the finish when I was so tired!  Two of her daughters were near as well.

Look at that strong finish!

^ ^ pic by Breanne ^ ^

Almost done!

My cousin Liz Curtis got this one of Zara.  Her foot was hurting so she walked a bit.

Avery's friend Neva did the bike portion of a relay.

Liz took this one too.  Rupert did pretty well considering he had stitches taken out of his foot less than two weeks before the race and we couldn't find his right shoes.

Flying in!!

Rupert's summer swim team buddy, Jonathon Millet, also did the splash and dash.

Katie Willis also did the splash & dash.  Our kids trained with her at the Opie's pool and neighborhood  a month ago.  Rachel, her mom, is my running buddy that I haven't run with since February since she's due in November.  Running while pregnant is hard.

Had to get the classic #1 pose.  Andrew was worn out after the race too.  It hard work being an amazing cheerleader.

My time goal was under 1:45 (an hour & 45 minutes) and I crushed it in exactly 1:31!  Elliot's goal was to beat me and he finished in 1:19:07.  Avery raced in 14:37 (4th place in her age group), Zara did great at 17:05 (9 out of 20 for her age group), and Rupert got 2nd in his age group at 15:52.

So proud of all of us!

PHX Half Marathon

I ran my second half marathon on Saturday!  It's so satisfying to say that.  It's been 5 years since my last half marathon, which means I've had two kids since then, I'm five years older, 20 lbs. heavier...  I wrote about my last one here.  Last time I had the advantage of training and running the race with my cousin, Liz.  Since she currently lives in Tucson that wasn't an option this time.  Fortunately I was able to run with friends in my ward during the week.  I loosely followers this 26 week training schedule.  This article was also very helpful leading up to the actual race.

Since December Dad and I have been training hills in Las Sendas.  Dad on his bike and me running.  This picture was from our first or three 11 mile Saturdays.  It was so hard but helped me so much mentally and physically train.  The last two weeks before the race I tapered down my runs, but the week before that I made a new PR(personal record) of miles run in a week.  Previously I ran 30 but this time I ran 31!  To do that I ran 11 miles Saturday morning and 2 miles that night.

I've been using the the app Runkeeper which maps my run.  During the run it tells me my average pace and current distance every 5 minutes.  I can also compare my pace for each mile and look at the elevation.  I highly recommend this app if you are a runner.  Plus its free.

Dad and Mom drove Daniel McKay and me to the buses that took us to the finish at 4:15 in the morning!  The race started at 6:30, and my hands were shaking out of nerves the last few minutes.  All the anticipation! Dan encouraged me to sign up so it was cool starting the race together.  His wife, Brooke, and I are good friends and are even in the Primary Presidency together right now.

We started near the front so there were a lot of people passing us but I told myself to keep a steady pace but push myself so I could enjoy the race and have a good overall time.

Dan didn't give up on and and we were able to run the whole race together and sprint at the end!!!  It was such a good feeling.  Andrew was sad to have barely missed me but Brooke was at the finish with her boys and mom and even snapped this photo of us.  We did it!

This happened to be my 150th activity recorded.  I also use it for biking.

I was hoping to run in around 2:10-2:20 so it was exciting to see it at 2:06:45.  About 5 minutes slower than last time but it was just right for the training I did.

There were so many people i knew who ran the whole, half, or 10k including Jonny and Amy.  They ran the half too!

Here are my little cheerleaders!  Elliot did the traditional #1 that Andrew normally does and Avery had the cutest sign. 

This is the start of a 5 year thing the race is doing where each year represent one of Arizona's 5c's.  The 5 medals put together make a star.  This year is copper.  Can't say I'm not tempted to run all 5 years.  In fact, yesterday I signed up to run the full marathon next year!  Hard to believe but now it's official.  Well, i guess nothing as official until i actually run the race!

I know this is gross ^^^ but this is my battle would, so I'm a little proud.  Turns out I wore a hole in my sock that chaffed most of the race.  Lesson learned: where new socks next time.  :)