.the numbers are in.

I've calculated the miles from March when I either ran or walked intentionally ....

drumroll please......

With my longest runs being 6 miles and 8 miles at one time. 

My goal for April is to move more miles than March and keep building on this success! 

.Girls On The Run (is so much fun).

Remember when I was going to tell you about one of my favorite organizations, Girls On The Run, and how how much I believe in the organization? Well, you are in luck cause now is the time to share it with you!! EEEECCCCKKKKKKKK!!! Are you as excited to learn about it as I am to FINALLY tell you about it?

First off, Girls on the Run was founded by the amazing, Molly Baker, in North Carolina back in 1996. Now it is an international organization (what!?!) with the Twin Cities chapter starting in 2011 by Mary Urban and Kori Fitshchen (thank you ladies!!).  The mission of Girls on the Run is to inspire girls to be joyful, healthy and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum which creatively integrates running. They envision a world where every girl knows and activates her limitless potential and is free to boldly pursue her dreams (umm...are you not already falling in love with organization?) Also, an important thing to note, is that this IS NOT a running club!! We don't train girls to run and compete, we encourage girls to keep moving forward be it running, walking, or skipping! It's about setting goals and working towards accomplishing them, in your own style and time!

The trained coaches work with the girls and teach a 20 lesson curricula that empowers the girls to have a greater sense of self-awareness, achievement, a foundation of team building and enhancing their communities, all in order to help them become strong, healthy, and confident women.  Some topics inclue how to handle peer pressure, dealing with body image and the media, feeling comfortable with our emotions, and community service project. As well as the curriculum that we teach each week throughout the 10 week program (we meet twice a week ) we have interactive activities such as running and playing games. This helps the girls apply what they have learned, reflect, and express their own unique selves (as well as gets them moving their bodies).

After the 10 weeks of running and learning the program all the girls, their running buddy, and the coaches run or walk a 5k!  This is sometimes the very first 5k a girl has done (as well as some running buddies) and they worked hard to cross that finish line! I remember my first 5k, I was 25 and I struggled throughout the course but crossing the finish line I  felt triumphant and proud! This is going to be what all the girls, their running buddies, and coaches will feel when they watch the girls cross the line at the 5k!

NOW YOU CAN BE APART OF THE EXPERIENCE TOO!!! For the first time the Twin Cities chapter is opening up the Girls on the Run 5k to the public,300 community members to be exact! So now you can join 100 girls, their running buddies, and coaches in this great conclusion to the season!! Below are all the race details:

• The race will be Saturday, November 16th at 9 a.m. 
• The run will start and end near the Nokomis Community Center at Lake Nokomis
• There will be a fun group warm up before the race and food and festivities after!
• Registrants will receive a race t-shirt
• This is a fun run and will not be chipped or timed
• REGISTER...here!
• More info on the race, click here

I have one free race entry to give away (aaaahhhhhh!!!!)! To enter, leave a comment below telling me either why you believe Girls on the Run is important OR what MAKES you unique and how you celebrate it! (I hope to have a lucky winner by next week! Make sure to leave a way I can contact you if you win!!!)

GOTR: website  facebook  twitter 

.Run Sho Run.

I feel like it's been ages since I talked with you all about running, I guess that is what happens when you take most of the summer off from blogging and running! I believe that last time we talked about running here on the blog was almost a year ago, after we finished our first marathon! What happened after the marathon was we took a few weeks off, and then that turned into taking the winter off (it's cold here in MN in the winter!), and then the spring, etc.

Actually, I did do some running in the spring, it just wasn't very much! During last spring I became a coach for a Girls on the Run (GOTR) team near my home. Each week we discussed different topics and practiced for a 5k! At the end of our time together, 10 weeks or so, the girls, friends, and coaches ran the 5k! It was a cold morning and the rain was pouring down on us, but it was the most fun I have ever had running 3 miles!! I loved cheering on the girls towards their goal and helping their parents accomplish the 5k as well!  Not only did I run the 5k with my own GOTR team, I also ran the 5k for GOTR in Mankato, MN. I ran this race last year with my sister and we did it again, hopefully we continue the tradition! The best part of this race was girls had their names on the back of their shirts so you could personally cheer them on when you were running past them! Of course, I gave some people shout outs because it is a big deal that they are pushing themselves and becoming healthy!(kato time: 34min.)

In June Dave and I ran a half marathon with my friend Jenna (we ran our first half with her last year!). We ran the Gary Bjorklund Half Marathon in Duluth, MN which is partners with the popular Grandma's Marathon. As typcial Shoave fashion, we didn't train as much as we should have..but we did it!! The morning of the race was crazy foggy, you literally couldn't see your hand in front of your face! The race course is beautiful, for most of the run you are alongside Lake Superior...the only thing was you couldn't really see it with all the fog!! My favorite part though was watching runners in front of me just disappear into the fog like they got swallowed up, it literally looked like a movie! This half marathon has been my favorite so far, due to the wonderful atmosphere and energy. You have people alongside the course the whole time cheering you on, giving you beer (yes, my husband did a beer shot, a small beer bong, AND drank a smoothie during the race...and they were all from strangers!),and playing great music. I even made a friend on the race course who was running the race for the 22nd time! She watched the first ever Gary Bjorklund Half Marathon and decided she could do it, so she has every year since!! What a great inspiration! Our time wasn't that great: 2hr 48min due to elements out of our control, but we had fun and we finished, which I think is the most important!

After the half marathon I took a step back in my running and only did it from time to time. A month went by and I decided I needed to do another race AND I found one a few blocks away from my apartment AND it supported Girls on the Run!!!! Bonus: I knew a friend who was running it! The race was Esprit de She, which is a running series with Athleta and Lifetime Fitness. I can't begin to tell you how great it felt to be surrounded by 1,000 women who were there to support each other, run a race, have fun, and give a few bucks to an organization I hold dear to my heart! The fun thing is after you run your race, they give you free bubbly and the local stores give you good discounts!!!  (time: 32:01)

Last but not least, I just ran my latest 5k in September! This one, oh, this one I HIGHLY recommend if you live in Minneapolis!!! It was the O'Donovan's Mill City Suds Run in Northeast Minneapolis and it was a blast! I have never done a "fun run" before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. What I got was a lot of people, mostly dressed in fun costumes who were ready to run and drink beer...which was served at mile 2 and afterwards! My favorite costume was a group of friends dressed up as mario cart characters who ran to the theme music trying to crash and pop the others "life" balloons! They were having so much fun you couldn't help but smile! After the 5k you could grab your bbq lunch and more beer (or root beer) and join the party on Boom Island! The course was beautiful, the atmosphere was electric, and I would do this race again without hesitation! (3.37 miles: 35 min 33 sec.)

.can't have a Suds run without Suds.

RUNNING RECAP: 

Since the middle of October I have ran FOUR (4) 5ks , ONE (1) half marathon and currently am training for another half marathon next month.  When I first started this post, I truly didn't think I ran very much this last year but when I reflect on it, I feel different. It may not be what I wanted to do or as much as others do, but you know what I RAN five races this year as well as putting miles in for training and for fun! That is something to be proud of and gosh darn it, I AM!!!!

* Wanna know something exciting!!! Soon, I'm going to take the time and tell you ALL about Girls on the Run and what it means to me!!!  I'm already so excited about it!!!!!