March’s Races

March 28, 2011 by · 8 Comments

This past weekend was a very busy race weekend and is a little bit of a glimpse into how crazy the two of us are with a short race on Saturday, Kacie’s Run, and a bit of a longer run on Sunday, Rock ‘n’ Roll Half.  But first let’s back up to our week leading up to our race weekend – Teal had a lingering cough and ultimately started treatment for bronchitis.  Mid-week Beth got a cold and with a double race weekend we would be lying if we said we were not nervous.  We looked and sounded crazy, Teal would break into coughing attacks, and Beth had to carry around a box of tissues.  Not a pretty sight.

Kacie’s Run on Saturday went GREAT!  CFBISD had over 500 people participate in either the 1 mile or 5k races.  The crazy wind we had all week in Dallas stuck around for the run but the sun was definitely out and the temperature was in the high 70’s by the time we ran.  The course was awesome as it is super flat and plenty of space to not run into or have to dodge other runners.  I am pretty sure our nerves had taken over slightly as we both ran the first mile in right under 8 minutes. By mile two we were great, only one small coughing attack but we pulled through!

Our Results

Teal: 26:26, finished 6th in age group and 68th over all

Beth: 26:19, finished 4th in age group and 63rd overall

 

 

For the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half, we decided to run the relay and that we might have a better chance of placing if we ran on co-ed teams than as a Life is a Run team.  Teal partnered up with Joe and Beth partnered up with Bitner.  The boys were given the first leg of the half marathon to run, 7.1 miles, and the girls got the last leg, 6 miles.  As crazy as we were expecting the race to be with making sure we got to the right place, Rock ‘n’ Roll staff seriously had it under control.  The exchange area was well organized and it was awesome to see all the race action.  At about 35 minutes in, the first place runner passed all of us waiting for our partners at the exchange.  Oh to run a 5 minute mile…

L to R: Bitner, Beth, Teal & Joe

 

The weather in Dallas literally changed over night – Saturday we had a high in the 80’s and by the time we went to run our relay Sunday morning I think the temperature had maybe gotten up to 50 degrees with no sun.  Even the Rock ‘n’ Roll staff said that it must have been some kind of cruel joke.  It was freezing.

None of us had run a race in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series, but we were so impressed with how organized and just how great overall the event was.  There were spectators everywhere, awesome bands, and even the High School cheerleaders from Teal’s school district.  We both talked after the race about being moved, almost to tears, by some of the pictures on runner’s shirts.  Beth saw a girl who ran with an extra bib that said “I run for my mother” and Teal ran behind a boy who had lost his mother to breast cancer, he had a giant picture of her on his back.  It is seriously motivating to run for a good cause and to see those affected by cancer, working for a cure!  This race also supported Susan G. Komen!

One of the exciting parts of the race was when Teal actually ran beside Troy Aikman!  Teal said that he literally just ran up on the side of her, he was on the left and his pacer on the right, and was talking about his race bib.  He thought he was the only one wearing it.  She looked up at him as it is weird to hear a lot of talking during a race and realized who the heck it was!  She looked at the girl on the other side of her for reassurance and yep, it was really him.  Teal looked right at him and asked, “Can I take your picture?”  He said, “Sure if you run fast!”  He had a pace to keep afterall!  Teal, who was running with her iphone to use the runkeeper app, took a quick picture and tweeted it while running.  Seriously cool!  Troy even contacted Life is a Run afterwards to find out about the picture!  How cool is that?

Beth and Teal both finished the race with an excellent pace.  It is safe to say our best 6 miles run ever!

Our Results

Teal & Joe: Ran the half in 1:50:22 (an avg. 8:26/mile pace) Teal’s half in 51:44.  They finished 8th amongst the co-ed teams and 19th out of 305 relay teams!

Beth & Bitner: Ran the half in 1:44:55 (an avg. 8:01/mile pace) Beth’s half in 50:37.  They finished 4th amongst the co-ed teams and 13th out of 305 relay teams!

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Kacie’s Run

March 23, 2011 by · 2 Comments

Well, Kacie’s Run is this Saturday and I think we are both a little nervous.  For some reason the shorter races are more stressful.  This will be the second year I have run the race and Beth’s first.  I am so excited we are running this together and she can see some of what I work with everyday.  Also, we are a little crazy this month as we are in fact competing in two races this weekend, Rock ‘n’ Roll Half relay is Sunday.  When I found out they were the same weekend I was a little worried, but then Beth said she would absolutely run this one too, well here we are.

Just to give you a little background, Kacie’s Run has been a Carrollton Farmer’s Branch Independent School District tradition since 2003, and honors one of its own students, Kacie Brekhus, who was tragically killed in a car accident during her freshman year at the University of Texas at Austin.  You can read more about her story here!  This race supports CFB Special Education and it is actually really cool to see CFB staff members, students, and the community come out for the race.  The part that makes me nervous is that current and past students participate,a nd of course they talk a lot of smack the week of.  I cannot tell you how many times I have heard, “Mrs., you can’t run, you can’t beat me,” etc.  They are also up on my running life, and the fact that Beth and I run together all the time.  I always tell them stories about running long runs on the weekends while they are still sleeping, and they have seen pictures of Beth and I, so in essence I am sure they are talking to her too.  No pressure!

Last year I had just started running again and Kacie’s Run was my first 5k in I don’t know how long.  I ran a very scary 34:58 minute race and was honestly surprised I didn’t die.  The goal was to not walk, which I accomplished, but barely!  This year is much different.

Here are our goals for Saturday’s race.  We’ll let you know how it goes, both of us are crossing our fingers that the wind dies down and that it doesn’t actually rain.

Goals for Kacie’s Run

Teal:  27 minute or better 5k

Beth:  Well, my last 5k I ran in 25:50 and I haven’t been running as much each week lately, so I am mainly hoping to not add a lot of minutes on to my time this weekend!  Definitely under 30 minutes!

 

Weather Forecast

High: 86* F

Low: 53* F

Wind: 12 mph

Prec: 30% chance, calling for Isolated T-storms

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February’s Race

March 22, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

If you’ve read our “about” page you might get the idea of how busy we keep ourselves reguarly and already in month 2 of our goal we were having issues finding a race we could run together!  The first weekend of February we spent in Puerto Vallarta attending one of our closest friends’ wedding and the following weekend I would be in Corpus Christi, Texas attending my cousin’s wedding.  And in reviewing races in February in the DFW area it seemed like the weekend I was in Corpus had the most options due to it being the weekend leading up to Valentine’s Day.  Afraid to ruin the goal of a race a month at the very beginning I decided to run the Cupid’s Chase 5k Run while in Corpus.

I was so nervous to be running this 5k because I knew I wouldn’t exactly get a great night’s sleep the night before since I’d be attending my cousin’s rehearsal dinner and potentially staying up late.  About midnight I excused myself from the party and went bed.  The next morning my mom insisted on going with me just to make sure I would be ok, which I didn’t mind because she’s never seen me do any of my running as of late, just hears about it after the fact.  We ended up getting a little lost on the way to the race and I showed up just 15 minutes before it started.  Had I been in Dallas I would have been freaking out as I usually show up an hour early just in case to every race.

When the race started it was about 30*F outside, not very windy and the sun was out so in my mind ideal for a run!  I didn’t have a way to listen to music so it was just me and my thoughts!  I remember looking at my watch about 19 minutes in and thinking “ok, hopefully you have just about a mile left – let’s do this!”  I was pleasantly surprised when I rounded the corner towards the end and saw that I was going to cross the finish line when the clock was around the 26 minute mark! I’d never run a 5k race this fast before and was excited to kick some butt (my fastest time to date had been 28:01)!

Are you wondering what Teal did in February?  Like I said it was hard finding races!  There really weren’t any near by in the DFW area for the last two weekends of February so she ran a race of her own and conquered a 6.33 mile run while I was running in Corpus!  I am so proud of her!  I’m not sure what I would have done had I been in her shoes.  Also, most of the part time work she does is on the weekends starting on Saturday mornings so you can understand how proud of her I am!!

Waiting for the race to start and if you can’t tell I’m pretty much dead center in this picture

 

      

Just a tiny speck on the right side of this picture!

 

And all done!

 

Our Results

Teal – 6.33 miles in 1:00:46

Beth – 5k in 25:50

 

posted by Beth

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January’s Race

March 21, 2011 by · 2 Comments

This post is way over due, but nonethless here you go…

Fresh off our White Rock Half Marathon high, we wanted to keep up with our distance running and decided to run a 15k! On January 23, 2011 along with our good buddy and amazing runner, Bitner, we ran the Too Cold to Hold.  We definitely froze waiting around for the race to start but once it did the weather was absolutely perfect!

Our Results

Teal – 1:30:36

Beth – 1:21:23

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How Did We Even Get Here?

March 2, 2011 by · 3 Comments

The beginning of this blog really began the Summer of 2010 before either of us really knew it.  Teal couldn’t shake the idea of wanting to run a Marathon at least once in her life and figured she might as well start with a Half Marathon first.  After both of us ran the Tour des Fleurs 10k in September the Half Marathon training really kicked off and the end goal was to complete the White Rock Half in December.  Some days were hard but we are both stubborn and competetive people that were not going to give up!  We both finished and under our original goals we had set out individually for ourselves.

Beth was hoping after running the half that Teal would realize running a full Marathon was a BIG goal and be satisfied with the Half Marathon accomplishment.  But when it was over neither one of us was satisfied – we wanted to do MORE!!  We decided that in 2011 we would run a race of varying lengths every month in 2011 and would end it with a BANG in December by hopefully running the White Rock Marathon.  So follow along with us as we run races and just trying and stay in an overall state of good shape this year!

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