It was all fun except the side ache and fire...

I had a fantastic Memorial Day weekend! It all started off with a race on Saturday morning in my hometown. I ran the 10k and was able to knock a ton of time off a really old PR. I would have got an even better time if I hadn't gotten a horrific side ache in the last half mile. I even had to stop and walk! Twice! In the last freaking half mile of a race. Who does that? It was so bad that I actually still have soreness in the spot it occurred 5 days later. hmph.

Anyway, the race itself was fabulous. I felt great for the first 5.5 miles and managed to pass a few people along the way. Great weather, awesome flat course and very well organized. My friends did great running in the 5k - Kim got 2nd place woman and Matt was 2nd in his age group. I was amazing and beat 100s of other women to get first in my age group. Well, to be honest, those 100s of other women must have been home on the couch because I was the only female 25-29 that bothered to show up for the 10k race. Nothing like getting a medal for beating...uh...no one!

We made a haul in the medal and trophy department! And that was the lowest race number I ever had. 4! The guy giving me my timing chip told me I must be important. (I am!)

Stats:

55:35

8:57 Pace

15/26 Overall

6/11 Females

1/1 F 25-29

Later that day Kim, Mattie and I went out on the town and enjoyed dinner and bar hopping through the downtown of Escanaba. Enjoy how adorable we all are:

I introduced them to the U.P. drink classic - "snakenuts"

Gosh, I love those guys. Three cheers for amazing friends who trek to your hometown on a holiday weekend!

A few hours after I returned to Madison on Monday we had some bad storms roll through. Just as the rain was letting up, Kevin and I were in our living room re-opening windows and noticed it was very 'foggy' outside. Well, it wasn't fog. A senior living apartment complex in the entrance to our neighborhood was ablaze!

view from our house

It had been struck by lightning during the storm. Luckily about 20 different fire trucks arrived in record time and they seemed to get the fire under control very quickly. Everyone got out safely, but sadly many people are displaced until clean up and repairs can be made. It could have been a lot worse.

Like the concerned snoopy people we are, Kevin and I walked all over watching the firemen and snapping pictures. All our neighbors had the same idea, so it was kind of like a neighborhood party but with everyone in their scrubby clothes and smelling like a bonfire.

It was an eventful weekend for sure. I hope you all had a fun (and safe!) Memorial Weekend!

30 Thing Thursday!

1. Have a great Memorial Weekend everyone! I am heading up to Upper Michigan to see my family after work tomorrow. These two crazies will even be joining me for a race on Saturday morning in Escanaba:

We will look just about this good after racing, just slightly sweatier more glowing.

We are racing in the Bay de Noc Home Run - Matt and Kim will be doing the 5k and I will be doing the 10k. My old 10k PR better be quaking in its boots.

2. I ran an impromptu 5k last Friday evening. It was a small race put on by a local Catholic school for a fundraiser. I ran it last year and was able to pull out a PR then, and since it was cheap and close to my work I figured it deserved another shot! Even though it was over 85 degrees at the start I was able to shave 4 whole seconds off my PR and get second place in my age group. I was even 4th place woman overall. Yay for small races making me feel like Kara Goucher!

Stats:

26:45 - 8:37 pace

21/110 Overall

4/65 Women

2/6 F19-29

I was pretty wiped after running in the heat after a long work day. I pretty much hauled my sweaty ass to bed after this was taken. Crazy Friday nights in my house!

3-30. (You really didn' think I was going to type up 30 things did you?)

We have 24+ prizes totaling over $700 in value in our Alzheimer's Fundraiser Raffle! Just $5.00 can get you an entry and you can get even more entries by spreading the word and doing the virtual race. You have a very good shot of winning something at this point as we have more sponsors rolling in everyday!

Kim and I are so excited to be 75% to our goal, but we want to blow that goal out of the water! (We are overachievers) A big thank you to all that have donated so far and thank you to our great sponsors!

Have a great weekend! What are your Memorial Day Plans?

Run to Remember Virtual Race & Raffle

Kim and I will be dedicating 16 hours of continuous activity on June 20th to bring awareness to the fight against Alzhiemer's. You can read more about our plans for The Longest Day event on my previous post here.

We want YOU to join us in the fight by dedicating even more hours of activity! Join us in the Run to Remember Virtual Race by dedcating ONE HOUR of your week to physical activity.

Here's how you can join in:

First, and most important - go to our team fundraising page and donate. Along with an entry into the virtual race, donating also gets you entries into our Run to Remember Raffle, with a chance to win some fabulous prizes. Kim has all the details of the Raffle on her blog here. (I suggest checking out the raffle details on her blog first, and then the details of the virtual race second.)

2. Print off the Run to Remember Virtual Race Bib  and fill in the name(s) of someone you would like to recognize. If you don't have someone specific to recognize you can fill it out however you desire.

3. Run/walk/bike/swim for one hour during the week of June 18th - 24th. Take a picture with your bib and report back to us what you did in your one hour to honor the fight against Alzheimer's. You can email your report to me at rachelreallife@gmail.com or leave a link to your race report on this post.

You will receive 3 additional entries into the raffle when you complete your virtual race. All race reports must be received by either Kim or me by the end of the day on Sunday, June 24th to receive your additonal entries. Raffle winners will be announced on June 26th.


**At the end of the race week, we will tally up all the hours we have dedicated as a virtual team. I cannot wait to see how many hours/days or even weeks we can dedicate!**


You can help spread the word about the race by using this button to link back to this post. (spreading the word can also get you extra entries in the raffle!)

P.S. If you are not able to donate to our fundraiser but would still like to dedicate an hour by participating in our virtual race, please feel free to do so. We just won't be able to give you entries into the raffle as it's primary purpose is to raise funds for the cause. Thank you for understanding!

Questions/comments? Please let me know! Happy racing!

What are you running for?

I've been running and racing for several years now. All this time it has been about ME. My pace, my goals, my gear, my blog, me me me.

I am a special snowflake...

It is now time to run for something bigger than myself. That's why when Kim asked me to join her in doing something amazing and crazy in the fight against Alzheimer's I didn't even hesitate.

We are participating in The Longest Day, a 16 hour event from sunup to sundown on June 20th.  We'll be running it as a two person relay on a local track.  We'll take turns:  she'll run for an hour, I'll run for an hour, all day long. Eight hours each. It won't be easy, but it isn't supposed to be. Alzheimer's patients and caregivers deal with this devastating disease 24 hours a day - dedicating 16 hours of one day in our lives is just a small sacrifice we can make to honor them. And while we run for those 16 hours, we'll be raising money, raising awareness, and hoping that one day we'll live in a world without Alzheimer's.



My mom has worked at a nursing home for 30 plus years. Her job is physically, mentally and emotionally exhausting. Many of the residents suffer from Alzheimer's and it's a challenge everyday to care for them and see the heartache their families go through as they slip away. She even had to care for her father, my grandpa, as he fought his own battle. We visited him as much as possible, but it was hard as each time we saw him, he remembered us less and less until he didn't even know us anymore. He didn't even recognize his own daughter who cared for him each day. That is something no one deserves to go through.


In the next few days, we're going to be asking for donations. I know, it sucks to ask for donations - which is why I haven't done it until now, because this is a cause I really, truly believe in and have many personal connections to. Luckily for all you generous folks, we've got a ton of great prizes lined up, and we'll be setting up a raffle and virtual race for all who are willing to donate.  I urge you to consider donating, as I'm sure there has been someone in your life affected by Alzheimer's. Recently you have probably heard about the great women's basketball coach at Tennessee, Pat Summit, and her diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer's. It just shows that it can strike anyone, even in the prime of their lives. This isn't just a disease of old age.

One more thing:  if you've lost or are losing someone you love because of Alzheimer's, we'll run for them.  Specifically.  Let us know when you make your donation, and we'll dedicate a portion of our run to your loved one, by carrying their name with us on the track. 

If you'd like to donate now, please visit our fundraising page. I'll even give you an extra entry into our raffle if you donate now before we announce all the prizes!


Thanks for making it through this long post! High five to all you literate people!


Please stay tuned for more details about the raffle and virtural race.

Wisconsin Half Marathon - Cheesy Race Recap!

The Wisconsin Marathon and Half Marathon in Kenosha will go down in history as one of my favorite runs ever. How could you go wrong when the race touts itself as the "cheesiest race ever"?

This race encourages runners to dress in cheese gear and celebrate all the glory that is Wisconsin. Kim and I couldn't resist, and with the race being run on Cinco de Mayo our cheesy outfits were born:

"I've got a Queso the runs" complete with tiny sombrero.

We wore our ruffle bum panties too, therefore the back of our shirts said "frilly con queso"

We stayed the night before the race in Gurnee, IL and when our alarms buzzed at 4am we both popped out of bed eager to start the day. I think it may have been the most chipper both of us have been on a race morning! As we arrived in Kenosha though, it was a major downpour of rain - which ended up putting a damper (literally!) on our pre-race blogger meet up. The good news was that the rain stopped about 15 minutes before the race started. Phew!


The first couple of miles wound through residential streets before going through Kenosha's downtown which was just lined with amazing spectators! It felt like a big time race all of a sudden. There was even two guys on electric guitars playing the chicken dance as we ran by! Spectators kept yelling out "Go tiny sombrero!" which made me laugh every time.

After downtown there was an out and back along the beautiful lake shore. This was cool because we got to see other runners for a good potion of the run. I saw Kim and Jess who were doing fabulous! The only bad part was the wind off the lake until the turn around and the multiple mini hills we had to tackle twice. They weren't horrible, but a few were steep - just enough to make you feel it!

I felt really steady with my pace during the race, which I planned to keep around 9:10 until the 10 mile mark and then pick it up the last three. I did pick it up, but then just didn't have enough to hold on the last two miles.  I'm sure this is mostly because I haven't run longer than 10 miles in a long time. The ol' body reminded me of that just after the turn around at mile 12. I literally had nothing left to pick it up into the finish!

2:01:20 is my second best half marathon time! I secretly was hoping to go sub-2 and thought I may have been able to pull it off (until about mile 11.5) but with the minimal amount of training I was able to do the last few months, I am really happy with my time. I honestly had no idea what time I was capable of going into this race.

I even managed a smile for the finish line!

Official stats:

Chip Time 2:01:20

Overall Place 908 / 2418

Gender Place 369 / 1482

Division Place 77 / 284

Pace 9:16

After the race was done and we took advantage of some glorious massages, Kim and I hung out at the post race party and enjoyed beer and brats. We also went back to the mile 26 mark to cheer on the full marathoners, including Jess!



Running buddies for life! Kim got a huge 4 minute PR!



Jess crushed her marathon PR! (thanks Jess's aunt for the picture!)

They even had the best shirt and medal ever! The shirt is a super soft tech material and came in women's cut. The medal doubles as a bottle opener!

 How convenient is it that he state of Wisconsin's shape lends itself to being turned into a bottle opener? Do you think it would be weird to wear it to the bar and offer to open everyone's drinks?

My three chins and I ready to celebrate with a giant Corona!

I cannot say enough about how this entire race was a positive experience. The volunteers, spectators, runners, course, swag and 'cheesyness' were top notch. If you ever want to do a race in Wisconsin, make it this one. I have run plenty of races in this state and while I have a lot of good things to say about many of them, this one trumps them all!

May the fourth be with you...

Oh yeah, it's Star Wars day and I couldn't go without a post combining two of my favorite things - Star Wars and Kitties!

Cutest Jawa ever!

 AT-AT Walker for Cats

I am going to build this house for my cats one day!

You may be thinking, "Wow Rachel, you are quite the catch being both a crazy cat lady and a Star Wars geek. Kevin is a lucky guy." And you would be right. He is very lucky - lucky that I haven't used my Jedi mind tricks on him too much...

In other news, I am running a race this weekend - the Wisconsin 1/2 Marathon. I am both nervous and excited. Nervous because I haven't run over 10 miles in 6 months and excited because well, I haven't run over 10 miles in 6 months!

My goals for the race are to:

1. Have fun!

2. Rock the ridiculous outfits that Kim and I have planned!

3. Revel in the post race beer and brats!

But really, I would like to at least come in under 2:10, maybe 2:05. Who knows. I had a dream last night that I won the whole race, so maybe that is a premonition! I also dreamed that I had to sing Hotel California, do the Hokey Pokey and compose an original haiku before crossing the finish line, so maybe I am not Nostradamus...

They call me April...

Really, they do call me April. It is a nickname that stemmed from people misinterpreting my name over the phone at an old job and due to my obnoxious amazing friends calling me April non-stop, it has stuck. Even my husband calls me April most of the time. Maybe I should do a legal name change? What do you think - April vs. Rachel?

Hmm, I wonder if any Aprils out there get called Rachel? Woah - that's that like Twilight Zone shit right there...

Moving on - the month of April is gone already. I'm glad because that just means we are closer to summer and days of boating and festivals and camping and sunburns and of course racing!

I don't have a lot to recap for April. I ran a whopping 6 miles more than I did in March:

For whatever reason, I thought I would run a lot more than that. March I took it easy because I was just starting back up after my injury. I don't know what my problem was in April - I felt I did a lot more! I did take some time off leading up to the Oshkosh 1/2 Marathon relay as I could feel some tendonitis flaring up in my right ankle. I swear my body hates me for some reason lately! I am still battling it a little, but some rest was probably the smart thing to do.

I am hoping for bigger and better things in May starting off with the Wisconsin 1/2 Marathon this Saturday! I honestly have no idea how I will do in this race but I am excited to give it my best. I will also be racing two races over Memorial weekend - a 10k and a 5k both in my hometown. I am hoping to crush my very outdated 10k PR.


So , I guess I've already stated some of them, but here are some goals for May in list form. I do better with lists:

1. Run at least 80 miles
2. Run a 'respectable' time at the Wisconsin 1/2. (which really means 'don't puss out cause you haven't run 13 miles in 6 months')
3. Crush my 10k PR. I mean really annihilate it.
4. Run at least 1 two-a-day per week to prepare for Ragnar on June 8-9.


I think I'll keep it at that. Don't want to make my April performance look too pathetic...

What are your goals for May? 

Do people ever call you the wrong name? I also get Lisa a lot. Not sure how that even sounds like Rachel...