March - Bess had a wedding to attend in NY and a cruise too
k up two of our March weekends, so we went our separate ways for our March race. Mom joined me in Cresco, Iowa (LONG drive) to run Kleve's Brew and Stew, a St. Patrick's Day race that was actually not on St. Patrick's Day. It was freezing, and Mom and I didn't really prepare for how festive people were going to be. In our tradition, we showed up way too early and had time to kill. How else to kill time in small town Iowa? Why not drink a few beers before running a 5k (3.1 miles)? I thought Mom was going to die near the end of the race because of our pre-gaming! Our incentive to finish? Free beer until the kegs dried (as long as we had our cup) and lots of yummy yummy food. By far the best post-race food, pre-race fun, and tied for most fun. Mom will likely kill me for posting this picture.
k up two of our March weekends, so we went our separate ways for our March race. Mom joined me in Cresco, Iowa (LONG drive) to run Kleve's Brew and Stew, a St. Patrick's Day race that was actually not on St. Patrick's Day. It was freezing, and Mom and I didn't really prepare for how festive people were going to be. In our tradition, we showed up way too early and had time to kill. How else to kill time in small town Iowa? Why not drink a few beers before running a 5k (3.1 miles)? I thought Mom was going to die near the end of the race because of our pre-gaming! Our incentive to finish? Free beer until the kegs dried (as long as we had our cup) and lots of yummy yummy food. By far the best post-race food, pre-race fun, and tied for most fun. Mom will likely kill me for posting this picture.
April = aweful. My wo
rst half marathon ever. Mom, Bess, and I drove to Kansas to run the Olathe Oz Half Marathon (13.1 miles). It was cold, windy, and rainy. Poor organization, crappy packet pickup convention, crappy post-race goodies, and they messed up my timing chip (only to make me stand in the cold wind to wait while they fixed it). Pretty sure this race caused my hip injury to flare up. The good things from this race: It was the Wizard of Oz race (love that movie, hate the monkeys), an awesome post-race massage, and when I was in pain and cried for my mommy she was only a few steps away!
rst half marathon ever. Mom, Bess, and I drove to Kansas to run the Olathe Oz Half Marathon (13.1 miles). It was cold, windy, and rainy. Poor organization, crappy packet pickup convention, crappy post-race goodies, and they messed up my timing chip (only to make me stand in the cold wind to wait while they fixed it). Pretty sure this race caused my hip injury to flare up. The good things from this race: It was the Wizard of Oz race (love that movie, hate the monkeys), an awesome post-race massage, and when I was in pain and cried for my mommy she was only a few steps away!
May - Bess and I did the Cystic Fibrosis Great Strides 5k. Bess was mostly the injured one so we hobbled along with a goal not to finish last or to get lapped by the 10k-ers. We accomplished our goal and we even had fun jumping in puddles along the way. 
June - Dam to Dam (12.4 miles) while injured takes a really long time. We did a walk/run series and finished in about 2 hours and 45 minutes. I had fun entertaining Bess by singing and dancing along the way. I'm sure someone thought I should be committed. After the race we enjoyed our share of the free food and beer.
July - Warrior Dash!!!! Following the most nerdy trip I've ever been on (our week-l
ong Laura Ingalls Wilder site seein
g tour of the midwest), Bess, Lauren, and I completed the 3-mile Warrior Dash race in Hopkins, MN. We ran UP ski hills (notice the plural on hills), climbed over junker cars, climbed across rope nets, climbed up and over really high walls, ran through mud pits, slid part of the way down a ski hill on a slip-and-slide, jumped over fire, and crawled/swam through a mud pit under barbed wire. Highlights - thinking I was going to die while climbing over the really high rope net wall (OM
G so freaking scary! I hate 
heights!), strangers coaching strangers, completely the hardest race ever (seriously harder than a marathon to me!), and the after-party! If only the state of MN hadn't been shut down, we wouldn't have had to rush back to the hotel to shower off all the mud and we could have partied more!August - Bess and I ra
n/walked the Run for Your Life 5k for the Iowa Heart Association. This month's guest star - Baby Craun! I found out shortly after this race that I'm pregnant! No more post-race beers for me.September - Bess, Alecia, and I ran the MWA Green Run 5k. We ran through a landfill. Yes, a landfill. It just looked like a really big field and reminded me of running cross country in middle and high
school. I started out feeling wonderful and had a great pace the first mile, and then allergy attack. Thank goodness Bess let me borrow an inhaler or I may have collapsed. I ended up walking pretty much the rest of the race because I was so freaked out that I wouldn't be able to get enough oxygen to the baby. Post-race offerings were yogurt and turkey legs. Yogurt makes me naseous now that I'm pg, and the smell of the turkey legs almost made me vom. October - M
om and I ran two race in October. First up, Race for a Cure 5k
. We ended up walking mostly because we were talking. Next, we ran the Chocolaterie Stam Hot Chocolate 5k on Halloween day. We got an awesome fleece jacket and some yummy hot chocolate. Best ever! Bonus, Bess ran slow with us (me being slow always now because of the baby on board) and took off at the end. Spectators mistook her for a 10k finisher (or maybe 5 mile finisher?? can't remember) and were awed by her finishing pace.November - Bess, Lauren, Mom, and I ran the Tour de Lights 5k through Jolly
Holiday Lights at WaterWorks 
Park. It was pretty cold, but so neat to run at night with all the pretty Christmas lights. Nevermind the ridiculous advertisement everywhere. This race really put me in the Christmas spirit! December - For our final race, Bess, Mom, and I ran the Great Santa Run 5k. Bess' knee was bothering her again, and with my slow pregnant person pace (I'm scared to get out of breath and risk not getting enough oxygen to our baby BOY!), Mom beat us! It was a pretty miserable race because it was raining and cold, but it feels so good to have accomplished our goal we set out for at the beginning of the year. Yay us! Merry Christmas! (And nevermind the Packers hat Santa's wearing - boo.)
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