Season End Run Race Reports - Ups and Downs

Run for the roses

In late August I started batting around the idea of doing another half marathon this
year, but I wanted to get a longer timed run in as well.  It’s been a long time since
I’ve done a 10k run (6.2 miles). Run for the roses (in mid Oct.), which is a
fundraising run, was coming up and we decided to do it as a family.

Abby (just finishing cross country season) and Joshua (in the middle of soccer
season) were both in good shape for a 5k.  Joe who had major back issues
earlier this year has been rehabbing and working with a trainer while easing
back into the run. This race runs a 5k and an hour later runs a 10k.  So I
watched the family start and then went inside to get warm as it was a cool wet day.

Then I watched them finish with Joshua coming in first (3rd in his age group),
Abby came in second (6th in her age group just short of her goal) and Joe
came in third (2nd in his age group).  

I gave them my rain gear and we headed out for the 10k start.  I was happy the rain
stopped shortly after our start and we were off.  This course begins on the middle
school track where we do two laps before heading off down the trails behind the
middle school, up state street hill and around to the front of the middle school,
then we reversed our trip and went through the hilly neighborhoods and back up
state street to the trails to finish.  The 10k race was mostly dry but threw plenty of
hills at us. I felt strong the first four miles or so but then the little hills started to get
to me. I managed to push through and finished in good spirits with a solid time
and 2nd place age group finish. The family had finished their omelettes by the
time I got in and were at the finish to cheer me in.  All in all it was a solid race
for me and I’ll have to do it again next year. Hopefully with less soggy weather.

Before the 5k start

Race stats 2/6 W40 Shawn Blaesing-Thompson, 44*, Kelley, IA 57:29

Hillbilly Hike Half Marathon

As I noted above this was a bit of a last minute decision.  In mid-September I was
trying to decide if I had enough time to train for the Des Moines half, which I have
done several times, or Hillbilly Hike half which was purported to be flat and a
fundraiser.  I opted for Hillbilly which gave me a couple more weeks to train.
About the same time I signed up I rolled my bad ankle on a training run and
am still nursing that back to a point where it doesn’t ache.

I spent the weeks leading up to this race training with a group of experienced
runners several of whom were also doing this race.  I felt like I put in the miles
I needed although I had no expectations of having a PR as I hadn’t been real
consistent with my training.  

Leading up to race day, my body had other ideas so while my MS is pretty much
in check although not without limitations, I started having some other issues.  
Starting a couple months ago I’d take my evening meds and feel like they would
get hung up in my esophagus and make me uncomfortable.
Then I had several nights where I’d wake from sleep with shooting pain in my
chest and back.  After the second time in a week I went to see my Dr who put me
on a reflux med and five days later another attack. I finally got a scope done but to
no avail. Either stress or med induced acid reflux I guess. Anyway, I’ve generally felt rather crummy the last three weeks so wasn’t sure how things
were going to shake out for the race.

So race day.  This is a point to point race so we had to be down to Carlisle early to
catch a bus to our run starts.  Joe decided to do the 10k so was on a different bus.
It was chilly and I had batted attire ideas around the night before with my coach
John Mongar and opted for more layers rather than less.  We stayed on the bus
until 15 minutes before the race started in Indianola, and then with my training
buddies we started the race. The pace was pretty assertive and on a normal day
for me it wouldn't have been a problem, but by the first water stop at about 2.2 miles
I started to get a stitch in my side.  I never get stitches and it started to work itself
around into my mid back like the attacks I’d been having only milder.

I just kept running and my teammates started to pull away by mile five.  Fortunately
it seemed when I’d start to get in a funk a new temporary running buddy would
appear, chat with me and keep me going.  This went on over and over throughout
the race and for that I was grateful. I still had stretches alone where I had to dig
deep on this cold and eventually drizzly race day but just kept putting one foot in
front of the other.  By the last four miles I was really struggling and started to walk
longer at each water stop and then shuffle some more. I walked half of the last
mile and finally was walking with another lady and we decided to hustled to the
finish.  By then I kept getting dizzy and was really feeling not well. Thanks
goodness Joe was at the finish line and offered to go get the car as I was shaking
from the cold, dizzy and really uncomfortable.

By some fluke I managed to finish the race in the range I gave my coach (2:10 - 2:20)
but without my body failing on me it probably could have been a PR day.  Either way
I was grateful to be able to run even if it didn’t turn out the way I expected.
Here is to improving health. I have big plans for 2019 so will post more about that
later.  For now, thank you for reading.

AG finish 13/21 Shawn Blaesing-Thompson - Final official time 2:19:28

Race Reports 2018 Cyman Triathlon and a Mud Run

Girl Scout Mud Run

celebrating the finish

Still clean at the start

In september the kids and I did our annual Girl Scout mud run adventure up at Camp Sacajawea outside of Boone.

I didn't think we would be able to do it as we were having issues with the online signup and we got a call from council the Friday before hand and were able to get in the first heat so we could get the boy to his soccer game on time.  

We ended up in the second heat because it took us a few minutes longer than expected to get through registration and check our clean clothes for after the race.  So at 9:10 we were off through the 3 mile course of mud pits and obstacles.

Quite muddy

This was the third time Abby and I have run it and the second time for Joshua.  The last two years with Abby running cross country (and me having a race the next day) she left us in the dust for the section with the steep downhill and up hill.  Joshua and I still had a lot of fun working our way through the course and managed to hang on to our shoes.  As you can see we were quite filthy at the end, the weather was beautiful, and we were first in line at the showers to get clean.


CyMan Triathlon (last tri of the season)

my race sherpa and I

This is a race I really enjoy not just because it usually marks the end of my season, but because it historically has great fall weather and is a fundraiser for the ISU triathlon club.

This year was no different with great weather, a lite wind, sunny sky and lots of great tri friends.  The lake in Bondurant is pretty small and sighting on the way out is always a bit of a challenge so followed the waves in front of me and aimed for some trees on the shore.

It was a wetsuit legal race but a bit warmer than in prior years so got in and got to it.  Unfortunately being the next to last wave I swam through most of the waves in front of me so navigation was occasionally an issue.

coming out of the lake

The bike is a really beautiful course through rolling country side and I always get a bit distracted by the flora and fauna.  I hadn't been on my bike much since July outside of a random spin class here and there (I'll have to work on that next year) so was just going to push it as best I could and try to have a solid ride.

The run was pretty comfortable with temps in the high sixties and sunny skies.  It is an out and back course with a loop around the lake at the end so I had a lot of fun cheering on teammates ahead of me and those behind me as I ran the course.  It was a pretty good 5k run for me.

Almost done

Triracers in mass enjoying the day

Coming into the shoot I was passed by a woman in my age group and I ended up with a 3rd place age group finish for this race.  A lot of other triracers were on the podium with me in their groups as well.

Final stats 1:33 total time, 3rd place AG finish

As always thanks for reading.

Chicken Palace Adventure - Round One

Blue is chicken door

Human door side

So when we still lived in Ames we talked about getting chickens and could probably have easily raised a small group of birds on our lot after Neah our husky (who chased anything that ran) passed over the rainbow, however Joe didn't want to be that family that had chickens.  So we waited until we moved out to the homestead.  

The nesting boxes in theory

Our first summer was making gardens and getting the goats setup. But this summer my plan was to build a chicken structure and get some baby birds so the kids could show chickens for 4H.  All the photos in this blog are the culmination of six weekends (not necessarily consecutive) of mostly me building this lovely structure.  These don't show the final product but you get the idea.  I'll post a couple more blogs from the building adventure and of the girls when they were just little hatchlings over the next couple of weeks.

Storage for feed and bedding in back

This design was pulled together good features from other chicken blogs, Pinterest, and with function in mind.

It needed a human sized door (I had a couple spare lying around), a chicken sized door, nesting boxes, storage, insulation, water and feeders.

Water and food

Testing out the new roosting bars

I did a bunch of sketches which I will include in a future post and then off Lowe's with Abby and our first truck load of lumber.  
The first weekend Abby and I framed out the walls including the nesting box,  built out the platform and got that set into the ground.  Then over the following weekends I had help setting the walls on the platform, and then started working through the rest on my own as everyone else lost interest in the project.  

More details in the build photo diary coming soon.  Eventually I got the windows installed (after two tries), the roof installed, the walls insulated and closed in, and the girls roosting and nesting spaces wrapped up.  Last was loading in the food and water (we now have the water on concrete blocks and sealed all the floor seams after the chickens spun the water out the first week).  I learned the nesting boxes aren't really the right size and they keep kicking the bedding out of them so I have Brady Bunch grass and a lip to install soon to see if we can get them using the nesting box which we can access from the outside.  It also needs a good cleaning before winter hits.

Bob, Lacey and Amelio the rooster

Bob the friendly girl

For now they are all just laying in a convenient pile by the human door and we are getting 3-5 colorful eggs a day.  There are light brown, dark brown with speckles, blue and white eggs.  Just as diverse as our seven breeds of chickens.  There seems to be more than enough space for all eight of them in there and they all hustle in at night.  we getting them trained to come when we bring people food treats for them.  Instead of putting everything in the compost bin we are putting some things in the chicken yard and they love rotten tomatoes and watermelon the most.

First egg

My next job is building a proper chicken yard because the girls can escape from the one they have now and come winter the coyotes will be a problem.  I have to bury the fencing and come up with an automated way to open and close the chicken hatch although that will be easier once we have a door for the chicken yard.

So far we are having fun, except for when the little buggers escape as it's usually a two person job to corner them and get them back inside.  Although after Journey and Ginger got loose this weekend, one found their way back in and the other was more than ready to go back to the flock the next morning.  Stay tuned for more chicken adventures and chicken living upgrades.  As always thanks for reading.

Family Fun on the Run - Team Runs for Popsicles

I just wanted to share a photo log from some of our family summer adventures from 2018.  To the left is Joshua and I at the MS nigh ICubs game.  It was great weather and we stayed later to see if the tshirt shooter was coming back.





The picture on the right is from the Hope run.  Joshua earned a free race pass by running almost 30 miles for mileage club at school.  It was a muggy day but a fun run where I was struggling to keep up with little mister speedy.

One of our favorite adventures over the 4th of July is the carnival at Clear Lake.  We got there after the parade this year on the last day of the carnival but made sure we rode two of our favorite rides, the ferris wheel, and the tilt-a-whirl (holding up fingers for the number of times we rode and giggled that day.)

The next two pictures are from another family run we do every year, Midnight Madness.  The race starts at 7:30 pm and ends with Popsicle and pizza.  Team Runs for Popsicle likes the bomb pops of past years but really any Popsicle will do.

Another fun thing about being out on an acreage is we have a lot of sky.  We can see stars and planets better than we could in town so we took advantage of the last super moon and pulled out our telescope.  Abby captured this awesome picture of the moon through the telescope with my phone. We also had the telescope out a week or so ago and saw Mars, Saturn and it's rings, and Jupiter along with several of its moons. We also saw some of the meteor shower.

Joshua joined his mom and sister this year and participating in his first triathlon.  I think he learned that while he can  swim, bike and run triathlons are harder than they look. I caught him at the finish line before he lost his breakfast on the sideline.  Super proud of the kid and I think he is already making plans for next year.

Other random things you see on the homestead.  Abby showed two goats, two chickens, a horse and woodworking and photography projects at two county fairs (long story) this summer.  We also share eggs and chores with the neighbors.  This is Abby and Poppy taking a walk to pick up some eggs.

Not all our fun stayed in town.  We had a mini vacation to the twin cities so go see a professional soccer game at Vikings Stadium.  Tottenham is Joe's favorite team and they played AC Milan.  It was a fun game to watch outside of standing in the waffle line.  And since Minneapolis has a fun baseball team we also went to a Twins game while we were there.  My favorite activity was visiting the National Wildlife Refuge right next to the MPLS airport.  14000 acres and beautiful with loads of wildflowers and wild life.  We also road the light rail several times, visited REI and the Mall of America.

We will have other adventures the rest of the year but they will revolve around school activities... 4H, sports, science clubs, scouts.  But this is all I have to share here.  Check back soon for some other blogs from our summer adventures.  As always thanks for reading.

Race Reports x3 2018 - Drake Half, Clear Lake Tri, and Bluff Creek Tri

Well, I've been a giant blog slacker... plenty to say just zero time to synthesize any of it so starting with something easy.  Three quick race reports for my fitness adventures so far in 2018.

I decided last year after being a giant slacker and doing one whole triathlon and a couple of 5k runs to get myself organized and fit again.  My gym has this Inbody measurement device that looks at hydration, muscle and fat mass for all parts of your body and such.  I did the first measurement at the end of August in 2017 when I decided to get my tush moving again.  And then did a fifth measurement in May of 2018 and found I was down 8 lbs and 4.4 % body fat (I'm sure in July I put some of the squish back on but such is life... I like sweets too much).

First the Drake Half Marathon

I set some goals as part of the getting back in shape process and that was to do another half marathon and three/four triathlons this year.  Not going to let my body or the weather hold me back so I got myself signed up.



I hadn't done this race before but it sounded like a nice small race to do.  I started doing group runs with the Vardo running group in Ames.  I ran in all kinds of weather and did a least two long grueling treadmill runs thanks to mother nature's whimsy but built a good base and was ready when race day came.  The weather for Drake was about as nice as it could be for a blustery April morning.  We saw lots of vardos and Triracers at the start and I was in good spirits.  I picked a pacer close to where I hoped to end up and then We were off.  

My carpool buddy Ashish

One of the things I was trying leading up to the race was different nutrition options.  My body doesn’t tolerate Gatorade or GU so I generally avoid all free non water offerings at aid stations.  I had been testing a couple Young Living options for hydration and energy so I had a small water bottle with Aminowise, a banana, and two Nitros with me.  I started with the prerace banana, took a nitro between mile 5 and 6.  My pace was right where I wanted to be in the mid nines and felt pretty good through the never ending rolling hills (didn’t expect quite so many), and missed the right time to take my last nitro so miles 11 and 12 I didn’t have much in the tank but pulled it together for a strong finish. My final time was 2:08 which was in my top three for fastest half marathons.  I had fun and would definitely do that course again.

Clear Lake Triathlon

Second new tom me race of the year was Clear Lake triathlon.  My folks have a condo just up the hill from this race so I spend a lot of time training on this course when I’m in town.  I was busy with kid stuff in the days leading up to the race, and I hadn’t really done any racing in 2017 (yeah it sucked and I was stuck last year so this was the year of getting it done).  I threw all my gear together at 10 pm two nights before, then had this and that for the kids after work and rushed up to the lake with Joshua.  I realized as I was getting my gear set out I forgot two things... my wetsuit (not a deal breaker as we’d swam in the lake a couple of weeks earlier) and my goggles!  

Running out of the lake took forever

Yes the former competitive swimmer forgot the goggles.  It was ten pm and there were no options for getting a replacement pair.  I found some kiddie goggles in the condo as a last ditch but thankfully once I set up, I was in transition talking to one of the race volunteers and told them my goggle issue and they said follow me, led me to another local woman who had three pairs of goggles and she set me up with an older pair. They were perfect.

The swim was brisk at the start with water temps in the mid 70s. I hit the start and hyper ventilated a bit the first 100+ yards and I had to do couple quick breast strokes to settle down and give myself a pep talk, and once I calmed down it was smooth swimming.  One thing to note is the lake is pretty

smiling because running is fun

shallow so many ran in a ways, but I opted to swim as soon as it was deep enough. I didn’t follow the same rules getting to shore and ran quite a ways in the lake and legs were burning so probably should have kept swimming.  Didn’t matter because my son and folks were on the shore cheering me out of the water.

The bike was full of small rolling hills and large wind turbines and while I had decent bike training going into this there was a consistent but not super strong wind and I didn’t feel as strong as I’d hoped... seriously everyone passed me.  

The run course was pretty flat and after a quick transition I was off for downtown and the Surf.  I felt like I’d have a strong run and the clouds were hanging on with the cooler air.  I was having fun and we ran through downtown and saw the family again before heading out to the Surf and back to the finish at downtown.  While I didn’t see any racers I knew It was awesome to have part of my family there.  It was a very well supported race and I’d definitely do it again.

Sprint triathlon 750 m swim 13:54, 12.5 mile bike 46:53, Run 5k 28:39 overall time 1 hour 33 minutes

Bluff Creek Triathlon

Leading up to this one I always seem to waiver between doing the sprint and the Olympic distances because the run is always a hot steamy suck fest.  I told myself this year that I was going to stay with the challenge of the Olympic and just adjust the best I can.  I brought several icy water bottles, and a cooler with my cooling shrug which keeps my skin cool when wet as well as a cooling towel on ice.


I did forget my racing sunglasses (case but no glasses) so had to run back up to the truck to get my everyday ones that are also sport ones.  I also forgot breakfast so I ate one of the granola bars I had with me.  Did I say I was nervous about doing the Olympic distance... uh yeah just a bit distracted.  Oh and this race totally snuck up on me as I didn't do any riding after RAGBRAI until the Wednesday before the race and I hadn't done any distance swim workouts until the Monday before.  Eek!

I had fun in transition despite getting arriving later than expected.  I visited with as many of the triracers and Ames folks as I could before the race started as we were well represented.  I took a few calming breaths before the swim start and I was off.  

Again I made bad decisions on goggles as I grabbed an old mirrored pair with impossible to see out of lenses instead of just my tinted pair (time to invest in some new pairs).  Needless to say that made sighting nearly impossible during the swim.  I was forced to sight off my nearest neighbors as the red bouys are really hard to see (race directors... orange or green please) and you can't see the turnaround point for the swim course until you are 1/3 of the way through the swim as you skirt the shore on your left for quite a while before things open up so you don't really sight off the bouys until you are almost to the turn around.  I ran into traffic of the two waves in front of me about half way in and spent the rest of the time weaving through people to the turn.  After that sighting was a little easier with one red and one green bouy before the slippery run out of the lake.

Two awesome ladies (three I guess :)

Once on the bike I was cruising around 18-20 mph until the turn at Pilot mound and the roll to Twister Hill.  I think my max speed on the return trip was just short of 40mph as that hill seemed steeper then the hill on the way out.  After the first big hill I was a bit wiped and it took me a few miles of grinding things out (yes with people passing me) before I pulled it together and had a more focused return trip.  The second hill was a slow grind up (4 mph) but I had taken on some steady nutrition before getting there and felt a lot better after that one.  

My Ames teammates

I made it back to transition and did the dance of the gear swap including my cooling shrug and I was off on a shuffle to the finish.  The course goes through a lovely prairie for 1/4 mile (this is actually the suckiest part of the run despite being lovely because the humidity doubled).  Then it spits out onto a short gravel road and onto the main paved road.  This is an out and back with a repeat and there are two decent hills so you get to run up both of them twice. Thankfully the water stops are at the bottom and you hit those each twice as well.  I was pleased with the camaraderie on the course with people encouraging each other and found I started doing it as well and kept a smile going through the slog which helped keep me moving.  I made sure to double up my water at each stop to drink and to wear, and I took a nitro at the right before the turnaround to repeat the run course.  I had a few sketchy moments where I walked part of the same hill and felt a bit icky but managed to breathe through it.  Highlights of the run... two fuzzy wuzzy caterpillars near the damn at the bottom of the hills.  Never was I so happy to plod across a finish line.  Below is my last take at Olympic distance on this course (2014).  http://blaesing-thompson.blogspot.com/2014/08/race-report-shawn-bluff-creek-olympic .html

The numbers for this go are: .9 miles swim 29:15, 25 mile bike 1 hour 36 minutes, 6.2 mile run 1 hour 11 minutes.  Total for my slowest time ever 3 hours and 32 minutes for the finish.  4th in my age group out of four but I had a great day.  As always thanks for reading.

MS Update - Another year and still marching

My family and dad around mile 10
overlooking the high trestle bridge

Just doing a quick update of the status of the MS adventures.  For those friends and family on Facebook I'm sure you saw that my whole family and my dad did the MS bike ride with me in June.  Joshua was riding a 20" bike to the ride was pretty casual compared to what I am used to. It was perfect weather and we even ran into the Dream Team, which is my fundraising team, at the turn around.  I'm just wrapping up the fundraising from that so it isn't too late if you had planned to make a donation the MS Society.  Just use this link  http://bndfr.com/6M5h9  
Thank you to the following 2017 donors: My folks, George, Bill, Theresia, Sheila, Ingrid, Shirley, Kathleen, Judy, Joe, Aaron, Blair, Julia, Henrieta, Mary, Mitch, Rhonda, Cindy, David, Amy, Barb, Bryan and Bonnie.  Hopefully I didn't miss anyone.  Many of you are repeat donors so be watching your mail boxes for a thank you! Yes I do believe in the power of snail mail.  :)

My family with the rest of the Dream Team
at the turn around point in Woodward

So for the update... I had my yearly check up with my neurologist today.  He is pleased I'm adjusting well to my new medication. For those of you just getting up to speed on this, the injection meds I was taking the first three years nearly took me out last summer.  I spent two months off MS meds and then started a twice a day pill in October.  Let's just say that I had a rough start with the standard ramp up on that, but after a couple of dosage adjustments we got things on track.  The hardest thing about this new med is that I take it twice a day after meals which means after breakfast and after dinner.  I can't take it on an empty stomach, and while I rarely miss a meal, it wasn't easy to find the right combination of vitamins and food to keep the GI and tingling side effects at bay.  I think I have it pretty well figured out now so the hardest part is remembering to take both pills.  I do good with the morning one but occasionally miss an evening one especially on the weekends.

My neurologist also felt like since none of the damage I already have from MS is getting worse that unless I have a major flare or new symptoms between now and next year's appointment that I'm in good shape.  He appreciates that I have regular fitness in my routine and continues to encourage me in that area.  That doesn't mean I'm not effected by MS every day but that I have it pretty good in the grand scheme of managing a chronic illness like MS.

My family and dad around mile 14
on the High Trestle Bridge

The other thing to note related to my MS is that I have finished my clinical trial at the University of Iowa.  I was assigned to the swank diet over the Wahls diet.  This meant that for 24 weeks I had to eat foods only in low saturated fat as well as a healthy dose of grains.  I really missed chocolate and pizza with real cheese.  I'm not sure I can say I missed much else, but it is nice to be able to each what I want again.  the hardest part for me with the diet besides writing down everything I ate for 26 weeks (had to do this twice in the first 12 weeks where I ate normal also) of the was all the grains.  I'd been eating mostly gluten free for two and half years going into the study so that was tough.  I also ended up gaining eight pounds...  I blame the carbs, and still doing rehab from my summer injuries, compounded by moving to a new house and readying a house for sale.  Working hard to get back on track now and will do a deep dive in food management process in August.  I think I will end up doing some sort of combination between low saturated fat with fruits, vegetables and lean meats. 


Either way, I'm managing for now and grateful for every day that I can think straight, make it to the bathroom on time, and be active in my day.  So long as I take care of my body and my meds continue to work, I should be able to maintain my mobility long into the future.  Thank you for everyone in my life who remind me to slow down and make time for myself now and then.  Until next time I'm sending love out into the world so have a great one!