Recap of Star Spangled Country Fest

So the Star Spangled Country Fest up in Richland Center, WI turned out to be a blast.  Here is a little synopsis of the weekend. (I have broken it out for easy reading!!)

Thursday:  We left at about 9:00 in the morning and made our way up to WI.  Before we left town though, we stopped at Walmart so my friend and I could get a lawn chair and sunscreen (although I never did use the sunscreen on the trip).  As we made our way up to Richland Center, we stopped at this antique store – it was a nice store, but I can’t say I was ‘wowed’ by it out.  It had some neat things, but nothing I was interested in buying.  About 30 minutes from Richland Center we stopped at this little restaurant (I can’t remember the name) for lunch.  We then checked into the hotel and then headed over to the park.  The first group to go on was The Wreckers – they were supposed to go on at 4:30 but didn’t go on until 5:30 – they claimed to have missed their flight.  Needless to say though, they were really good.  But not ten minutes after they finished their last song, it started to rain and then lightening and then rain harder.  We were all told to leave the park due to the ’severe’ weather.  So, my friends and I just hung out in the car – fun times.  We waited 3 hours – until the storm blew over and then we were all allowed back into the park.  Darryl Worley and Dierks Bentley both performed – they both put on a great show!!

Friday - On Friday, I found a great trail right by the hotel so I went for a nice 5 mile run.  After I got back from the run, we went to the park.  Bobby G. Rice went on first.  I didn’t even know who this guy was and I can see why I didn’t know who he was. He was good, but I definitely did not enjoy his music.  Next up was the group Heartland – they were great! I may even buy their cd.  After Heartland went on, it started to rain once again. Luckily though this time is was just rain and not stormy weather.  Next was Josh Gracin – who is awesome basically for the fact that he is part of the armed forces! He had a great performance – the best part was that he actually went into the crowd and did a song – he was like 3 feet from me!! Jason Aldean went on next – he was good but not my favorite.  And then Blake Shelton went on…what a hoot he is!! He was such a comedian and he isn’t a bad singer either

Saturday – Saturday turned out to be the best day of all.  The weather was perfect  – not a cloud in the sky and I got to see all of my favorite performers – Josh Turner, Chris Young, Billy Currington.  Josh Turner was amazing – he is such a great singer! I could listen to him sing for hours. And while Chris Young is still just an up and coming artist – he did a really good job.  My favorite song of his is ‘Drinking me lonely’.  I was totally psyched to see Billy Currington - but apparently he was sick because he performed for 30 minutes and then completely stopped his performance and walked off the stage.  We were told later that he wasn’t feel well.  I would have liked him to perform longer, but the 30 minutes I did see him was pretty good.  

Sunday – Drove home  

Overall it was a great four day weekend – it was a mini-vacation that I definitely needed!!! So if anyone reading this likes country, but doesn’t want to spend a fortune (like at Country Thunder) I highly recommend going to the Star Spangled Celebration at Richland Center, Wi.  I know I will be going back there!!

Country Fest in T-24hours

In less then 24 hours, I will be well on my way to Richland Center, WI for their Star Spangled Celebration (It is a huge country festival).  I will be up there for 4 days – Thursday thru Sunday.  The best part of this whole trip is that I get to see my absolute favorite Country Artist – Josh Turner!! Boy, I can not wait  

Here is the breakdown of Country Artists for the Week:

Thursday:
The Wreckers
Darryl Worley
Dierks Bentley

Friday:
Bobby G. Rice
Heartland
Josh Gracin
Jason Aldean
Blake Shelton

Saturday:
Chris Young
Kentucky Headhunters
Billy Currington
Josh Turner
Ronnie Milsap
.38 Special

I make sure to post the full report of the weekend on Monday.

Weekly update

So this week, I ran 8 miles on Wednesday, 7.5 on Saturday, and 6 on Sunday.  I am still battling with pain in my heal, but I think I now know what I have….Plantar Fasciitis – sounds great doesn’t it.  If you would like to read more about it, you can check it out here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantar_fasciitis

Basically, I need to start stretching more before and after I run. And I also have to start applying ice to my heal after each run.  But, I am willing to do whatever, just so that I can keep running  

This week I am hoping to get quite a few miles in; however, I am going to a big country fest up in Richland Center Wi on Thursday, so I am not sure how much I will be able to run…..but I will to at least get a few miles in!!

More on the concert later….. 

Half-Marathon Day!

PreRace – 5:45 am – Well I am up and leaving for the half-marathon in ten minutes. I am doing well, just a little nervous.  I didn’t get much sleep last night and I had a horrible dream about being late for the race – Never Good!! But other than that I am excited to get out there and run!! And to think in just 4 short hours all this will be over – and then it will be off to BW3’s for some yummy chicken wraps

6:30 a.m. We arrive in Highland Park – the race doesn’t start until 8 am, so this gave me plenty of time to warm-up, get my chip, drink water, etc.

7:45 – Everyone starts lining up – I manage to get near the front of the line, which usually never happens for me.  As I am standing there, I begin to get a little nervous, but then I look over at my sister who is giving me a big thumbs up and I relax a little bit. 8:00 – The gun goes off and everybody starts running.  I take off, at what seems like a faster than my normal pace, but I had to go fast just to keep moving with the crowds.8:26 – I have now ran 3 miles and realize I am running at a 9:00 min. per mile pace.  I had expected to run 9:30/miles, so I was really happy to know I was running faster than my goal.  However, I wasn’t quite sure if I would be able to keep up this pace.

9:00 am – I am now up to 6.8 miles and feeling pretty good – I realize that I have a big chance of making my PR of under 2 hours.  I stop to take water at mile 7 and continue on my way.  Up to this point, there have been some hills – but nothing too bad and I have managed to keep the 9 min/mile pace.

9:12 – THE HILL!! I had been warned about this hill, but I still would not have been prepared for it.  This hill was steep – really steep.  It took all I had to run up it – but I did it!! 

9:25 – I see my sister and my friend cheering my on!! It is so nice to have people cheering for you from the sidelines - it really gives you that little extra motivation to continue running.

9:40 – I see them again – YEA – they totally surprised me with this one.  I was so glad to see them at this point, because I really need some encouragement. My legs were getting a little stiff and we were still running on the hills, which made it worse – but through all of it, I was still keeping my pace.

9:52 – I can see the finish line now – only .7 to go!!. At this point I know I totally have this run and that I have set a new PR for myself. When I get within .5 miles – I sprint. I cross the finish line with a smile because I know I have just finished in less than two hours.

Overall, this race was awesome (besides the hills and the cicadas that kept flying into me)! I will definitely be running it again next year – and maybe I can even set another PR.  

Official Results:
Time: 1:55:17           
Place: 158th out of 576 Women; 38th out of 115 Age Group (25-29)

Good Intentions

Ok, so I really did have good intentions of running this week…but I have to admit I have not run at all.  On Monday, I had the Charis Faith Sharing night – so of course I could not run then. On Tuesday morning it was raining and then in the evening I decided to work on the website for my church (I have been procrastinating on this site for months). And then on Wednesday, I had good intentions of getting up at 5 am to go running, but I didn’t go to bed on Tuesday until 1:30 in the morning – so there was no way my body was getting up at 5:00.  Then on Wednesday evening, I decided to catch up on some of my reading instead of running (and it also looked like it might rain, so I didn’t want to risk it).  And then today…once again I had all good intentions of getting up at 5, but my body just wouldn’t let me.  So now it is late Thursday morning, my half-marathon is 3 days away and the only running I did all week was my 12 miler on Sunday!! I am hoping that all this rest will make me stronger on marathon day   But I do know I need to get out either today, tomorrow, or Saturday and at least run an 8 miler – just to get my body back into the swing of things. I will have to dig deep though to find that motivation to get out there and run!! 

UPDATE – So I ran 8 miles tonight – I have redeemed myself Let’s hope the motivation stays!!

Another Rest Day

Well, I did not run today – it was a rest day.  However, I did run 12 miles along the lake yesterday.  It wasn’t my best run – my heal was still bothering me and my shoes kept rubbing against the back of my heal causing a nice little tear on my skin – but overall I am glad that I went out and ran.  I was getting a little nervous about whether or not I would be able to complete my half marathon on Sunday, but after running the 12 miles, I now know I will definitely be able to do it.  I am striving for a PR time of 2 hours – but it all depends on how my ankle/heal feels.  I am just going to go out there and run as best as I can. 

Tonight I also had my Faith Sharing Group with Charis (http://jesuits.net/charis/).  We are reading Henri Nouwen’s Book – “Can you Drink the Cup.” It is an excellent book and I highly recommend it.  It is a pretty easy read – only about 120 pages or so – but it is a really powerful book. It has 3 basic parts which include what it means to Hold the Cup, to Lift the Cup, and what it means to Drink the cup.  We have only covered the first two sections (Holding and Lifting) and I am definitely looking forward to the last section. 

Here is a link to Henri Nouwen’s site – http://www.henrinouwen.org/ - Check it out!!

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Tommorow – 5 Mile run planned

Graduation Day…

Well, yesterday was my little bro’s high school graduation.  Besides for being in a hot, stuffy gym for an hour or so, the graduation went really well. I don’t know what it is about graduations, but I always get choked up when I attend them, and this one was no exception.  When the band played Pomp & Circumstance – I got all teary eyed.  Boy, I just love graduations!!  Here is a pic of the graduation -

Way to go – bro!! This chapter in you life may have closed, but new chapters/adventures await you in college.  Highschool is great – but college is going to be greater…trust me on this.

After the graduation, my sister and I decided to grab some late night dinner at Wendy’s – that was a mistake. Let’s just say they got the order completely wrong!  But, we did bring it to their attention and 20 minutes later I was able to enjoy my chicken sandwich – yum!

And for a running update – On Friday, I went for a 4.5 mile run in the morning.  Today was a rest day.  I figure I need to rest up,  so that I can go out for a long run tomorrow. Let’s just hope the weather holds out.