I found an awesome teammate through twitter (how great is that… love twitter!) – Bryon Humphrey and he happened to be quite speedy. As a two person team you end up running six, 2.2 mile loops, handing off to your teammate every loop.

Waiting to start- look I’m all ready to work my watch & I still messed it up. #par

I’m training for a half marathon PR and thought this race would be a really good workout to add to my training. It’s a full marathon relay and you can run as an individual all the way up to a 6 person team. I’m very familiar with the race, as it is the same relay we do every fall for Back on My Feet. I’ve only ever been the race director though, never the runner.

Although it wasn’t a competitive field, we were still happy to win our division and take second place overall. The first place team was a 3 person male team and we ended up being just 23 seconds behind them. Had I known how close we were, perhaps I wouldn’t have wussed out so bad on my 5th lap.

Team “We will Rock You” post race.

I ran the lead lap for our team and had us in forth place behind 3 guys, it felt hard but I was trying to not go out too hard. I’m terrible with my watch and messed up my splits from the start. So, I’m not sure what my lap splits were for the 2.2, but I know what my mile splits were for the most part… there was a mile and half in there where I’m not sure what they were because I left my watch running on accident.

Lap 5 was really hard. I was starting to mentally check out and wanted to be done. I know that Katie and Michele both do 3 X 2 mile repeats and I always admire their speed and the work they put in for those sessions. Very fast.

It’s just a badass workout really. So doing 6 made me nervous and I knew I couldn’t go too fast if I wanted to finish under 7 minute pace.

Here are my mile splits: 

Lap 1 – 6:35, 6:37

Lap 2 – 6:41, 6:42

Lap 3 – 6:40, 6:42

Lap 4 – 6:45, 6:46

Lap 5 – 6:50, 6:50

Lap 6 – 6:47, 6:36

(There’s a mile or so missing in there from when I messed up my watch- who knows what the split was)

My goal was to run them 6:40-6:50 pace, so I’m happy with the consistency, but at the same time it made me a little nervous about my goal for when I race 13.1. Running 13.1 without stopping is a completely different story than running it in 2.2 mile segments with 13 minute breaks in between. I’m not sure which is harder. I think they are both hard in different ways. When you do the stop and go thing, your body is just starting to get into, “ok, I think we are done working out mode” right when it’s time to ramp it back up. And obviously with the no stop and go thing, you get no breaks. Both hard.

Glenn brought Marshall out to cheer me on, but they only stayed a few minutes- it was really cold!

For anyone looking to do a fun relay with your friends – consider the Back on My Feet 42K Relay coming up in September. If you are training for a race, it can serve as a great speed session. Besides the good speed work, it’s fun because you can hang out and socialize with your friends and the other runners when you are waiting for your lap.

AND- we had some Back on My Feet teams out at the race and everyone was having a great time-

Look at this happy group! Jimmy & James ran their first half marathon the following week at Carmel!

Phil, Lee, Me & Chrissy

Great Day for running- thank you Kim and Heather for putting on a great race!

The post Rock the Relay Recap appeared first on Lindsey Hein.

As time went on, I started to realize I wasn’t willing to give the time necessary to execute everything that could and should be done with the job. There is a lot of exciting stuff going on right now, including the launch of a new team with Wheeler Mission, a potential new race and the list goes on. The position deserves more than I can give right now.

I love what I do with Back on My Feet (communications, PR, event planning, etc.) and am very passionate about our mission. I have learned a lot and grown so much, both personally and professionally. On top of that, I have been given the opportunity to meet some incredible people along the way.

Some of my favorite BoMF Memories:

Running James’ first marathon with him in 2011.  – Read about it here.

This was before a 5 miler I ran with Joe, one of our very first BoMF Members. Marshall was born three weeks after this race and sadly Joe passed away three weeks after that. I’m so thankful I had the opportunity to run one of his last races with him. We miss him dearly.  Here is the BoMF post I wrote after he passed – Remembering Joe.

Some of the amazing people of BoMF, before the Carmel Marathon last year.

And here I am back to work, at the Back on My Feet 42K Relay- post Marshall. I look happy and content… and  really I was… for the most part. BUT I had a break down in my my friend Emily’s kitchen when stopping by to borrow a table for the race the night before. I had been so busy planning this race that I felt like I hadn’t spent near enough time with Marshall. It was hard. I’m still glad I tried.

Needless to say, My heart was torn. 

Torn. Because every time I leave the house for work, I linger around (ask the babysitters) and don’t really feel like leaving. At the same time, when I do go in to the office and have a great meeting or get excited about a new project, I come home feeling rejuvenated and excited about what’s going on. And also excited to see Marshman.

Then… we have the days when I’m home all day, and I’m ready for a drink the second Glenn walks in the door. That being said, I’ve got a lot on my mind when I’m home with him all day- constantly trying to buy time and get work done while he naps and feeling stressed knowing what I need to get done once he’s in bed.

There are a million different things I could say about this decision. A million positives and negatives for both working or staying home in my situation. But I’ve made my decision to stay home with Marshall and as much as I might have doubts sometimes, I have to go full steam and be confident that this is what’s right for our family.

I hear people all of the time tell me, they wish they could stay home. I understand a lot of people just can’t, BUT at the same time, by no means was staying home something that was a snap of the fingers, easy decision over here. Sure, I work nonprofit and by no means am the bread winner in this family, but it still effects us financially in a pretty big way. (we are and have been making changes. we cut our cable, (no dvr… ahh!), and are cutting out other extras we don’t need (without being crazies- no seriously I read a blog about a guy who hadn’t ate out at a restaurant in 4 years… um no). And lastly, it sure as heck effects me emotionally. I’m going to miss my work. I’m going to miss having the alone time that you get when you drive in to work… ALONE. It’s gonna be a transition. 

I so clearly remember, three weeks after Marshall was born, swinging on the front porch swing with him, while babysitting our niece Giovanna, feeling completely sleep deprived  thinking- this is not what I want. I do not want to spend all day, every day taking care of kids, I want some freedom, some me time.

I’m not going to say that I went back to work or that I will soon be staying home from work to sacrifice for Marshall. Because really, we all know that Marshall would be just fine weather I stay home or not. If I take an honest look at why I  went back to work in the first place and why I have now decided to stay home. It was for me then and it is for me now. Because I know if my family is going to be happy, I have to be happy myself.

I had hoped that in going back to work I could find that perfect balance, but what I ended up being was fearful of (and still am) blinking and wondering where it all went. I know that will happen either way.

In general I enjoy a busy schedule, it makes me feel satisfied to check things off my list everyday. Which is why I was excited to go back to work and check off my BIG LIST everyday. After all, I’d have that flexible schedule. Why not get up at 4am and knock out a few hours of work before the rest of the world rises and then once 7am rolls I’ve already accomplished a lot.

Turns out I like the thought of being busy more than actually being busy. Yes, I need purpose to be happy, but not necessarily “busy purpose” and being busy doesn’t mean you have purpose.

It also turns out, I like to sleep. Now, if becoming a mom has taught me one thing, it’s that you CAN function and be productive on a lot less sleep than you think. But I don’t want to live like that. I just don’t.

Now, what I REFUSE to do is get stuck in a rut and get depressed about being home all the time. 

There are organizations and issues I am passionate about, but I know I can’t give the attention I’d like to give them if I’m so busy, not sleeping a lot and running around checking things off my list all the time. 

Believe it or not, I’m also excited to start cooking more (happens about 1-2 times a month right now, Glenn pretty much cooks dinner every night… don’t hate me, he actually likes to cook, but will very much appreciate me stepping up in the department). 

I hear people say all the time- don’t waste your time always making sure you have a clean house- embrace the messy and spend that time with your kids. Well guess what, if I’m going to be home – I can do both. I’m generally a much happier person when my house is clean and orderly. I get similar endorphin’s getting my house clean as I do running 10 miles. 

And then there’s the running. We all know I like to run. I like to workout and yes I’m going to be one of those stay at home moms at the gym and target in the middle of the day on a weekday. I’m really grateful I get to be one of those moms. 

And you know the kids club at LA Fitness will be my saving grace most days. Two hours of childcare. Those ladies are going to grow to hate me and know me as the woman who leaves her kid in there for exactly 1 hour and 59 minutes. And for $10 extra a month on the membership? Done. 

Basically, what I’m saying is, I’m going to try my hardest to kick ass at this stay at home thing. I know it won’t always be easy but I will set goals for myself and our family and it’s gonna be alright. 

Let me know if you know any fun, awesome stay at home moms in Indy- I’d love to connect. 

Marshall on a mission to knock those blocks over. How many times a day will I play this game in the next 6 months? Here we go….

Lot’s of alone time with you and I coming up buddy. Are you ready?

Anyway, I’ve got 5 or 6 more weeks on the job and lot’s of running going on, so I’m going to embrace the busy for a few more weeks.

The post Why I’m Staying Home. appeared first on Lindsey Hein.

It was decided early in the game that we wanted to do some sort of relay. We can’t do a 5K… every weekend is saturated with 5Ks. One of our volunteers, Doug White introduced us to Marty Day, who had a race he put on in the past called the 42K Relay. In talking with Doug and Marty we made the decision to launch the Back on My Feet 42K Relay. After a million date changes and a heck of a time nailing down a location.Time and location ended up working out perfectly.

In all the years I’ve been running, I have always dreamed of having a job where I could somehow combine running with my professional career. In the past few years, I have grown into loving the world of event planning. Event planning can be stressful- but I am energized by checking things off a list and watching ideas turn into productions.

The original goal was to recruit at least 50 teams for this race, which I thought was low, but was ready to promote the crap out of it to ensure we would far exceed 50. That goal quickly moved up to 60, then 70 teams. When race day approached  we were at 95 teams and had four day of registrations, putting the race at 99 teams!
There were so many beautiful things about the day and I am so pleased with how it went. This was the first year for the event and we have plans to make it annuual. I have been so eager to read the survey’s our runners have filled out so that I can ensure that next year is a better experience. I can’t wait to make the improvements that need to be made and watch this race grow.

It was so fun to see everyone in their costumes having a good time! The guys on the team were having fun and it was great to see regular BoMF volunteers, as well as lot’s of new faces.

 

The post Back on My Feet 42K Relay Success! appeared first on Lindsey Hein.

There’s been a roller coaster of emotions and minor health related issues that have kept me back a bit. I’ve kind of let these issues stand in the way of something I’ve always loved. Most people have a battle with some type of fear in their lives. My battle tends to over the top and controlling at certain times and while running is the one thing that usually calms me down and takes me to a place where I can put things into perspective, it is the thing I tend to avoid when I need it most.

Over the past three weeks, I have been getting back on track and I’m ready to start working hard. Back on June, I had the privilege of running the Carmel Half Marathon with Eric Arnold, one our Back on My Feet members and friend of mine. It was his first half and ended up being one of the best race experiences I have ever had. As I’ve said before, there is something special about running someone’s first race with them. The Carmel Half Marathon with Eric and the Green Bay Marathon with Brooke are two races I will always be grateful for experiencing.

The BoMF teams are running the Monumental 5k, half and full this year- with three men running the full. Eric happens to be one of them and although I have not been training as one should for a marathon, I did manage to get in 15 miles on Saturday and plan to do 20 this coming Saturday. Eric wants to break 4 hours in his first marathon- a lofty goal, but I’m certain he can do it on a good day and I fully intend on running his first 26.2 with him. I was there for 13.1 and would be genuinely upset to miss the real deal.


26.2 here we come…

So for now, I’m putting most of my energy into the finishing touches of the Back on My Feet 42K Relay, which is next weekend! The following week, we are going to Miami where I plan to be the best cheerleader ever for Glenn in his first half ironman and then running the Monumental with Eric the day after we return. After all of this….it’s game time. I’m ready to train. Oh and I just started crossfit! Still in the first three introduction classes… we will see how it goes.

The post Seriously… would you get it together already? appeared first on Lindsey Hein.