Heart of the City 5km Race

Glacier Time! My first trip to the Eagle Glacier

Brian and I had a fantastic time training and testing our new Madshus Skis, boots, poles and bindings on the Eagle Glacier. It was my first time there and I could not believe how incredible the entire trip was. We trained hard, we skied for hours and we learned great info about our new equipment. I am very grateful for the opportunity to travel all the way to Alaska and ski on snow in the summer!

Brian and I have been back in Minnesota for a little over two weeks now. We filled our time with tasks around the house as we recovered from our large volume of training the previous month. Our work at the club also resumed and we hit the ground running, literally, as we gained momentum leading up to the Heart of the City 5K. I had the opportunity to go on live TV and do a feature on our work at the Jerry Gamble Boys and Girls Club and our training with the kids and our own training for the 2014 Olympics.

A little tv time on the Sunday morning news about Brian and my In The Arena project and our summer Run Club goal event the Heart of the City 5km race.

Getting ready for the RACE!
Leading up to the race we tried to gain excitement by decorating our "ITA Team Shirts." We wrote inspirational messages and had everyone at the club sign them for good luck!

One of the last practices before the race!
Despite some hot weather here in Minneapolis interest is still high for Run Club. With the new school year started there are even more new faces at the club! New kids mean new members of Run Club and more miles run! We are now at over 100 kids and over 500 miles!!!

Heart of the City 5K participants!
Saturday morning was one of the busiest mornings I have had before a competition ever! Usually when racing I have the luxury of focusing on my own needs and preparing how I need to. Bring 6 kids into that equation and all your time is spent making sure they are registered, shoe laces tied, porta-potties visited and at the start on-time. Brian and I warmed up by walking to the start with the kids! That was a first for both of us and made us forever impressed with competitors who have kids with them!

Isaiah after the race! Tired and Happy!

All the kids finished the 5K with a smile and enjoyed every moment of the day. After the race we all headed to Grand Slam and played for another 3 hours with bumper cars, lazer tag and mini-golf. The most important part of the trip was the concept of accomplishment, finishing the goal race, and enjoying the reward afterwards, a trip to Grand Slam. Every single kid said they wanted to run the next year and we hope they are back at practice to share their experiences with the other kids!