May 12, 2014

Market to Market Iowa 2014

Apparently I like to spend my weekends running long distances.

Who am I?

m2m

This past Saturday I added the Market to Market Iowa Relay to my list of races. M2M is a relay race between two cities, 6-8 person teams, 75 total miles, 17 exchange points and a celebrated group finish.

It. Was. Awesome.

We set up our groups into two 6-person teams so that each team had one person running every stage. Having a partner turned out to be a great idea. More time to chat and less time to focus on the rainy weather and the miles.

Meet my team:

Team Runaway Brides

And the other team

Off Like A Prom Dress

minus 1 because she was already running

Each team had a runner 1, 2, 3, etc. At each exchange point the runners would pass a timing chip off to the next group. This exchange happened for 17 stages.

6person

I was runner 3 and was teamed up with Tracy, a fellow fitness instructor.

Tracy and I found ourselves with very similar stories, which made the distances seem shorter as we had much to talk about. We also challenged each other by running at faster paces then we normally would. Our running distances weren’t bad at all, but when you combine the distances with long intervals of rest, your body tends to respond with stiffness.

Tracy and I

It took us a little over 11 hours to run the 75 miles. We managed to hit all the weather elements, minus snow. Cold, Rain, Wind, Hot. But, we had an absolute blast. I only knew four of the 12 runners so it was a perfect set-up as we had so much to talk about and learn.

Highlights from Leg One

The Starting Line

Finishing with a smile.

Seriously, what is wrong with me?

An Exchange Point

Go Jessie, Go!

Highlights of Leg Two

Happy!

They’re smiling too.

We are all insane

Waiting for their exchange to happen.

Way to bring it in strong, girls!

No explanation needed, right?

Highlights of Leg Three

Last Stage for Runner 1. Looking good!

They finished strong!

Runner 2- getting ready to hand off!

This totally looks staged, but it so wasn’t!

Stage 3… here we come.

This is my

“Oh Thank God I am DONE” look

and Natalie’s

“Oh, Shit, here I go AGAIN” look

For the record, Tracy and I’s third stage of 4 miles was BRUTAL.

One mile of it was all UPHILL.

Are ya kidding me?

I thought I was dying.

Done.

Dead.

Holy Sh……

Almost Done!

Couldn’t resist a cute shoe pic…

Rach and Mac waiting for our last runners to come in so we could finish Team Strong!

This team carried that American Flag all 75 miles.

Awesome.

WE MADE IT!

Teams: Off Like A Prom Dress

Runaway Brides

Cheers to an EPIC race, new friends and Ice Cold Beer.

May 6, 2014

The Gift of Giving- A True Hero

Allow me to introduce you to a Hero.

tyree

By now you all know Tyree.

I talk about my friends often and Tyree is a staple in most of those stories. Tyree came into my life in 2007 and soon became one of the absolute best friends a girl could ask for.

She is my Omaha family.

My riding partner in crime.

milwaukee

My go-to-girl for any concert, no matter the genre.

concert

She’s one of those friends that you can tell absolutely anything to and she will never judge you.

Ever.

secrets

My husband has even taken her under his wing and considers her one of ‘his’. He cares for her well-being and is always there to help in any way he can.

031

Tyree has friends near and far and from all different walks of life.

girls

She is loyal to her girlfriends.

gals

Tyree is the FUN aunt.

aunt

The loving Sister

sibling

sister

Tyree knows NO stranger and is as welcoming to others as a person could possibly be.

2013 bb

This girl means a lot to so many other people and she touches lives with every step she takes.

So it should come as no surprise that when a friend was in need, Tyree didn’t hesitate for a second to ask how she could help.

Even when the help needed was an organ donation.

TandR

Meet Rachelle.

In December of 2013, doctors told Rachelle that she would soon need a kidney transplant.

Rachelle is very near and dear to Tyree and came into her life at a time when she needed support. Rachelle was a rock for Tyree. When she shared the news of her need for a kidney, Tyree immediately said:

“I’ll do it”

Tyree began the initial tests to see if she was a match. After months of tests, pokes, prods and multiple hours in the hospital, Tyree was finally cleared.

On May 7th, 2014

Tyree will be giving the gift of life as a kidney donor.

A true friend. A true hero.

A group of us girls got together on Sunday night to surprise Tyree for a Pre-Surgery celebration.

We wanted to celebrate all that is Tyree.

We enjoyed a wonderful meal with a few cocktails.
toasts

And said a toast and offered gifts.

toasts2

To know Tyree is a blessing.

Please send a prayer up for Tyree and Rachelle as they enter into surgery tomorrow morning.

And to our dearest Tyree,

“Don’t look any further than your own reflection for a Hero”

~~~~~~

To help with financial costs, donations can be made to Kidney Konnection (Rachelle Walker) at any Wells Fargo Bank.

To learn more about Kidney Donation please visit The National Kidney Foundation.

~~~~~

5/7/2014 – 4:30PM Update

From Tyree: Surgery went great! Both of us are doing fine. Kidney seems to be functioning good. Now onto the healing process! Words cannot express all of the heartfelt love and prayers that we received. Thank you so much for everything!

April 28, 2014

The Weekend in Review

A weekend full of two wheels, friends, small towns, watering holes, ice cold drinks and a little 5K fun.

Friday night found us in Waterloo, NE at the Dog House Saloon. I had a craving for their Watermelon cocktail as soon as work was over. These babies are just simply the best cocktail around.

While at the Dog House we ran into a few people we met while out riding last season. We quickly found our original plans of a short ride out West and maybe a little dinner turning into a late-nighter. Which is a-ok by us!

Our party of Two turned party of Six chose to head on over to Gretna, NE where we hit up a small watering hole called Brag N Rights.

Brag N Rights

We all took over the back patio, grabbed a bite to eat and enjoyed some cold Bud’s, good music and easy conversation.

Next up: The Waterfall Lounge in West Omaha.

waterfall

Pretty sweet waterfall set up behind the bar. If you live out in the Millard, Gretna, Elkhorn area, I’d definitely recommend swinging into this place.

We stuck around this location for a few hours before calling it a night after the midnight hour.

This is yet another reason why I love my two-wheeled lifestyle.

You never know who you will run into, where you will ride or what you will find out on the road.

Saturday morning had me up and going fairly early as I had a 5K to run.

The Color Me Rad recap can be found here.

The afternoon quickly slipped away and soon enough we found ourselves back on the bikes for an evening out.

Dinner at our local Hy-Vee!

Now, before you make fun of us, we should tell you that this is not your normal Hy-Vee experience. “Our” Hy-Vee has gone under some serious construction within the last year and they recently opened up the Hy-Vee Market Cafe. You get the full experience of a restaurant right inside the grocery store.

And what’s this about a bar?

Yep, full bar service.

Chinese and Beer.

Drinking beer at the ol’ Hy-Vee

Who knew?

Next stop: Two Fine Irishmen to meet up with a couple friends for a little conversation and live music and then closed out the evening at the 21st Saloon where we met up with two more friends.

21st

The 21st is owned by a good friend of ours, Scott. If you like Blues music, then Thursday night is your night to hit them up. If you are into 80’s metal, then head out to see 3D in Your Face. They are a staple on Friday evenings!

Sunday? A no make-up, ball cap, running shoes, grocery shopping, laundry kinda day.

And sadly, the weekend is over.

Already.

Seriously.

I need more weekends in my life and less week.

Who is with me on this?

This is also my last week before the Lincoln half-marathon on Sunday the 4th. Most people taper their workouts leading up to big races, however, I have 8 fitness classes to teach this week, so this girl is going full force!

Just a day in the life!

I LOVE it!

Cheers

April 23, 2014

The Joys of Office Neighbors

Work is always a little more fun when you have cool colleagues.

I won the office mate lottery with the cool chick who has the office directly across from mine.

One might think the office set up is a little awkward considering my gigantic windows face her gigantic windows, so when we look up from our computers we are looking directly at each other.

Oh heyyy…. I swear I’m not REALLY staring at you.

And even though we can talk at a normal voice level and hear each other, it’s still necessary to send random emails.

Exhibit A: My email to her this afternoon. Disclaimer- we have cake in the office today.