Not in Kansas Anymore: 2015 Recap

So it's been a very long time since I've posted. I had a big year last year- I completed my very own "Vermont Grand Slam". This consisted of the Vermont City Marathon, Vermont Tough Mudder, Vermont 100 and Vermont 50. I loved each and every race. They each have their own feel, and I love spending as much time as possible in the beautiful state of Vermont.

Vermont City Marathon -
This was my fourth marathon, and the first one I really trained for. I did speed training for the first time since high school and it paid off. I somehow came out of the race with a BQ (which I'll get to soon). This might be one of my new favorite marathon- the community of Burlington comes out with full support: sprinklers, freezer pops, orange slices and amazing posters. There are professional drummers that help you make your way up an intense hill at mile 15. And to top it all off, after the race there is plenty of local breweries you can stop at on the way home!

Vermont Tough Mudder -

For the third year in a row my friend, Elizabeth, and I went to Mt. Snow in VT to run the Tough Mudder. Some people may put this race down, that it's not very hard or competitive enough, but if you knew Elizabeth and I you would know we took it seriously and it was a race for us :).

Vermont 100 -

This will definitely be a race I will continue to do year after year. This was my second time at VT 100 and I loved it just as much as I did the first time. Rolling hills, horses, beautiful Vermont views, awesome aid stations, great crew support, meeting cool people, and pushing your body past the limit your mind created makes this race spectacular. This was my 3rd 100 mile finish and even though it is always one of the hardest things I have ever done, I will continue to sign up for these crazy races :)

Starting line at 4:00 am

A little rain won't bring me down!

Happy and exhausted!

Well deserved beer from Coach B!

Vermont 50 -

This was a beautiful 50 miler. I was a little nervous at this race because I honestly didn't do too much training after the 100 miler- I needed a mental and physical break! I ran pretty conservatively the entire the race because I wasn't sure what kind of shape I was in! I walked most of the hills- and there were a lot! And tried to run everything else, not super fast, but at a good pace. The views were amazing and I ended up loving this race! It was a different feel from VT 100 since there were mountain bikers instead of horses at this race, but like the 100, I didn't see them very much because they were so far ahead of me for the most part. Some of the 100 mile course was part of the 50- including VT100's start/finish area. I did get a little emotional running through VT100's Finish line since I knew this was the end of my VT Grand Slam and I had accomplished my year long goal.