Icebreaker 3mi Race

This past Sunday a road race was held in town, affectionately called the Icebreaker (normally around this time, ice might be breaking on the river... this winter was warmer than usual!) Now, I've ran in big races before - big cross country meets with lots of runners in them - but never anything like this. However, in the three races held on Sunday, over 3000 participants either walked or ran. There were over 1000 in the 3mi alone. That's the race that Grizz and I did :)

See, there's Grizz...

... and me. (Don't stare at my arms, don't stare at my arms... someone just remind me to keep my elbows in, PLEASE!)

And here's Grizz finishing. You can subtract about 20 seconds off the time in the picture. Because we wore timing chips, our official time is found by subtracting the amount of time it takes you to cross the starting line after the race begins... that way, you are only timed for the actual 3 miles.

And me... only about 40 seconds behind my man. Again, subtract 20 seconds from the time in the picture, please :) And remember that I didn't run that much this winter, so I'm not in the shape I want to be. (I'm still adjusting my mindset from collegiate athlete to just a girl who wants to stay healthy!)

Waving at the camera :) Thanks Neighbor for taking pictures!

We did it! The temperatures set a new record for the race... it was 76 degrees out! HOT! Last year, Grizz ran it and it was cold and snowy. Crazy.

One last fun shot from the Neighbor. I don't want to sound negative, but this is not my favorite piece of art in the city... what do you think?

CASA Half Marathon

Last Friday, Grizz and I set out for Spearfish after he got off work. We met a few friends of ours at a LOVELY hotel... it was cheap and we had 6 people in there - perfect! I'll just say that their website doesn't exactly show what a "gem" this hotel was...

We woke up early on Saturday and headed to the city park. It was time to run a half-marathon! I ran this half last year by myself, so it was great to be with friends this year. Major plus? This road race is a fundraiser for a great charity - CASA of the Northern Hills. Here's the race website.

The race follows the scenic Spearfish Canyon road... curving around cliffs and following the stream. It's a beautiful race! Because last year all I wanted as I ran was a camera, I decided to carry a camera this year. I have a running "fanny pack" in a pretty, purple color that I bought so I can keep keys and phones in it as I'm running around towns. Well, perfect idea, why not wear it for the half so I can carry my camera with me?! To my dismay, this year wasn't as sunny, so I couldn't take a good scenery picture without blurrying. The camera was used on the bus as they drove us to the starting line, before the race, at mile 3 (when we found out the lighting would not work for pictures) and after we finished the race. Maybe I can blame my slower time on the fact that I was carrying a camera? Eh, maybe not... Last year I ran it in 1 hour and 32 minutes (2nd in my age group). This year Grizz and I ran it in 1 hour and 38 minutes (3rd in my age group). I'm proud of us - we've had a crazy summer, which isn't always conducive to "training." Before the race, his longest run was 8 miles, and that was two weeks before the race. I didn't run much more than him either - that 8 mile run was the longest run I had done in about a year...

Here are some pictures from the race!

Our Running Friends!

Still on the bus... the trip up to the starting line feels so much longer than 13 miles!

At the top! Waiting for the race to start.

Great turn-out

With my fanny pack!

We did it! His first half-marathon and my second.

Great friends! Great runners!

Our Cheerleaders :)