Photo recap of 2013!

Here is a recap of 2013 in photos!

My running got back on track with a PR's at 3k, 2 miles, 5k, and 5 miles.

Ry got back to running in 2013.  This was him finishing in 2nd place in his first 1/2 marathon in 1:10.

I ran my first respectable 1/2 Marathon in 3 years!

I was surrounded by lovely ladies who planned a great bridal shower for me!  
Kasey, Ferf, me, Kelsey, and Carly.

And a incredibly fun bachelorette!
Carly, Ferf, Heidi, me, Annie, Liz, Kasey, and Kelsey.

Then this guy (on the right), my Popa, would walk me down the aisle,

In this dress,

With these stunning ladies by my side,
(Kasey, Kelsey, Carly, me, Ferf, and Liz)

And these handsome gentlemen by Ryan's,
(Tom, Jesse, Ray, Ryan, Alan, and Seth)

To marry this incredible guy!!

It was awesome!

They danced, 
(Mother Son Dance)

We danced,
(Grandfather, Granddaughter dance)

we danced some more,
(Our first dance)

then we had one hell of a party!!

The Spellman side of the family.

The Michael side of the family. 

2013 saw this lil one (my youngest cousin Kasey) off to college!

I found the best training partner a girl could ask for!  I love you Nicole!!

I made some questionable 4 liter sort of decisions.

I ate more nacho's than most humans would consider healthy.

We Ran an hundreds of #girlmiles and loved every step! Nicole, Lizzie, Aubrey and I.

I had the most adorable coffee dates! Jennie and I love coffee and have been to 36 of the mainland states just for a cup of Joe!

My sisters and I threw out a Cheers for our parents new condo in Florida!

We celebrated Carly and Kyle's Wedding!

We celebrated Kelsey and Brad's engagement!

Thanked Nike for awesome Pegasus and Neon.

Raced with some ladies I love

Placed 2nd at the USATF Club 8k Road Championships, with 3 ladies in the top 10! 

Watched my best friend from High School, Ashton, tie the knot!

Said see you later to a great friend, Andrea, as she left for an incredible job at LSU. 

Turned 30 with Jennie.

Went to visit Carol in Wisconsin.

Both Carol and I took falls that ended in our face looking like this. 

Drove to Minnesota.

Where I watched Nicole get a year older and run 2:37 for 7th place in the USA Championships Marathon and qualify for her 2nd Olympic Trials!

Watched Ryan run his first marathon in 2:30!!

Ryan and I got our first pet, Pegasus the Westiepoo! 

So I would say 2013 was a pretty good year!  While it wasn't perfect thanks largely to my questionable decision making, we made it to 2014 stronger, smarter, and ready to have another great year! I can't wait to see what all is in store!  I hope your 2013 was as full of as much fun as mine was, and I wish you all a fantastic 2014!

Faster Beginnings!

The Cleveland Elite Development group started our 2014 season a little early!  We raced at Kent State to see where our fitness was and to get excited about January and beyond.  Last year at this meet only Aubrey and I raced but this year we had Nicole and Barb there as well.  The day proved to be a good and fun one.   We got to the meet around 11 am to get situated and start our warm ups around 11:20.  Nicole and I were racing the mile!  Being a former miler in college I love this distance!  My goal was to go out around 75 and hopefully be under 5:00 when I crossed the finish line. I was right at 75 high through the 400m and already on my own.  I tried to tell myself that I could still run fast, but when it comes down to it. I am not very good at competing with just myself for the shorter distances.  I won in 5:04, Nicole was 2nd in 5:16.  For me that was 6 seconds faster than 1 year ago. But I was somewhat disappointed.  While we haven't run 5:00 pace for anything over 400m yet this fall/winter, I still thought I would be able to break 5.  Nicole wasn't thrilled with her time either, but she too was alone for he duration of the race, and we both knew it was a step forward from a year ago.

Nicole, Aubs, and I 

After some lunch and a show by Tswift Alexander, we were headed out to warm up again.  I felt terrible on the warm up, but I expected as much.  This time Aubrey and Barb would join us. There was one other gal in the race that I knew would help with the pace this time.  Ari Fisher, a former Toledo athlete with Nicole, and a 16:20 5k gal.  So that made me excited to race.  I hoped to go out around 5:16.  The gun went of and Ari took the lead.  Actually I was probably in 10th for 100m.  Then I got around a group of ladies that were out way too hard and on the back of Ari.  We were running perfect 79's. Just before the mile I got a little too close and clipped her heal.  I apologized and after hearing 5:16, put in a big surge to try and make a break.  I have to admit, the second I did it I thought "what the hell am I doing?  That was way too soon!  I won't be able to maintain this!!!"  So I pressed as hard as I could and ignored the lap counter.  

Just after the break, and about 1300m to go. 

With 1k to go I heard my split was 78, and a former college teammate told me I had a 20 meter lead!  I excitedly continued to push toward the finish.  With 400m to go, I tried to make start a decent kick, but I didn't really have much left.  Again since we haven't run anything over 400m at these paces it was hard to feel strong doing it! I won in 9:53, 27 seconds faster than last year, followed by Nicole in 2nd in 10:08, Ari finished in 10:11.  The best part of the day was the 5th place finisher though!  Aubrey ran 10:19 which is a 10 second lifetime PR!!! Barb finished up in 12:12 and a solid finish for her. 

Aubs, stud of the day, with a 10 sec PR! 

So we had a great start to the upcoming season, and I we are all excited to see where our fitness can go in the upcoming months!  We will be back in action in January although we will be all over the place and not 100% sure where.  Time to get back to training for now!