Special Olympics Polar Plunge

February 1, I and my friend Molly took part in the Colorado Springs Special Olympic Polar Plunge. How Ironic, the previous week, and day were one of the coldest and snowy so far this winter.  The event went on.

Molly was the one that found out about the event and signed us up!  We were a bit late in signing up and raised about $300 for the Colorado Springs Special Olympics.

We were one of the last groups to plunge, and it was miserable waiting, as it was difficult just staying warm before the plunge.

We did have a blast despite the chilling temperatures of the water.  The after Plunge party was also a blast!

Unfortunately we did not get any personal photos of the event, but to pictures of us and the event check out the link below.

Photos from the Day

At the time, I said I wouldn't do the Polar Plunge again, but we had a great time, there may be another Polar Plunge in our future.

Facebook Link to Colorado Springs Polar Plunge

WebLink 


http://montowski.smugmug.com/SOCO/COS-Polar-Plunge-2014/i-zFVGRkh/A

Use the above link to reach the series of photos we are in, be sure to click the arrow to view all of them.

Locks of Love

Locks of Love is a Non-Profit Organization that provides hair pieces to financially disadvantages children throughout the United States.  These hair pieces are created from real human hair, all donations to the organization.

I have in the past donated my hair to Locks of Love twice.  First time while still in high school and the second while in Germany.  I just recently, January 24 donated my hair once again to Locks of Love.  I was going to wait till this summer but the opportunity arose to have it done now.  I donated about 10" of hair, and am loving my new do.

The opportunity came up through a base organized event, that brought in stylists from the Paul Mitchell School here in Colorado Springs.  Providing free cuts/styles to those that donated there hair.

The story has been posted on the Peterson AFB website.  Read about here Give a little, Give a lock.

I'm loving the new style, makes getting ready a whole lot faster,  not sure how long I will keep it short, we will see.  To find out more about Locks of Love, check out the link above, will bring you to a lot of information on the organization.

Jane

Phoenix We Run!

A few weeks ago, we made a trip to Phoenix.  While it was frigid temperatures here in Colorado Springs, were lucky enough to enjoy the beautiful warm weather of Arizona.

Planned this trip the beginning November following, the Denver Rock N' Roll Half Marathon.  My friend Molly and I decided to start the year off right and get a half-marathon in January.  This was the beginnings of planning for this trip.

Our guys also began a golf weekend in Phoenix as the season has slowed down quite a bit here in Colorado Springs.

Made it a long weekend trip, and were able to enjoy a good time with great friends.  Were able to see a few areas of Phoenix, some during our 1/2 marathon as well as a bit of exploring we did the day before the run!

My goal was to run the half marathon in 2 hours, had a great run finishing in 1:55.  Molly also meet and surpassed her goal.  This will be my 6th half marathon, the year is just about planned out on what will come next to include a 10 miler race here locally, a number of 5K's, and two potential half marathons in the fall!

Miles, Miles, and Miles

I have always enjoyed running, something I can do on my own can normally be inexpensive, and feel that I'm not to bad at it.

I started running long distance my senior year in High School.  Was my first time every running any kind of long distances.  Always had a great time, maybe not running hills, but the enjoyment and fun our team had.  This continued on when I went to Okinawa where I ran my first Half-Marathon.  While there ran two Half-Marathons, never trained properly for either one, max miles I ran prior to any race was eight miles.  Finishing times were about 2 hours, not to bad!!

Not until moving to Korea is when I became I would say a bit of fanatic.  Have to thank a great friend Sarah, who a marathoner herself, invited me on a long run.  Once again hadn't really built up to the 6 mile run, but wasn't so bad.  That was the beginning.  I started running non-stop in Korea same 6 mile loop about 5-6 times a week.  (learned now, not the best training strategy) Either way, lead me to my best 5K 21 and something minutes, 1.5 mi run in 10:23, and best so far Half-Marathon 1:46 min.

Moving to Germany, I slowed my running, running 5 miles occasionally and enjoying 5K's

Moving to Colorado Springs, we read of the high fitness level that the city/state held.  Can be seen with the large number of events taking place each weekend.

About a month after arriving in Colorado, I ran my first 5K here in our small town of Falcon.  I was in the top three female's to finish, and was a great start to running in Colorado.

Running here can be a bit more difficult due to the higher elevation, it is important to train slowly and adjust to the elevation.

Panera Run was a 10K which all proceeds went to help Care and Share Food Bank/Shelter.  This was a 10K ran in Colorado Springs on a combination of gravel and black-top trails.

The color in motion 5K was something I signed up for on a whim.  This is a not a run you want to run a PR at, but to have fun.  Seen in my picture, my shirt was colored following the run.

The Denver Rock N' Roll Half-Marathon is something that I signed up for prior to moving to Colorado. I started training in July for the Marathon in October.  I trained well up to 7-miles, at this time my work scheduled changed and the training I did not complete throughout the rest of the months.

Still decided to run the Half-Marathon with my friend Molly.  We had a great time completing this run, her first half-marathon, my fifth.




















The final run, this year was also on a whim.  I heard about this 5K on the radio, and the attempt to set a world record on the number of Waldos.  All dressed in costume!  The world record was not beat, but we had a great time running the Waldo Waldo 5K.  This was held at the America the Beautiful park in Colorado Springs.

Have a schedule of events to complete this coming year, the first starting in January.  Arizona here we come.  Running the Phoenix Rock N' Roll Half-Marathon.  I have never been to Arizona, so look forward to visiting a new city, and having a great run.  Only issue I for see is the snow and cold in Colorado keeping me from running my long runs!!  I have a great running partner in Logan, and a motivator, keeping me accountable in my friend Molly, who is also training for this Half Marathon.

Back Home Memories!

There were two distinctive things this past summer that brought myself to remembering home.  Those were the El Paso County Fair and Penrose Rodeo.

The El Paso County Fair was about 15 mins from where we live, outside of Colorado Springs.  A small county fair with 4-H animal barns, carnival rides, and fair food.

The highlight that Sam and I went to was the Demo Derby held on Saturday night.  Below are a few pictures from the event.  All were taken with my iPhone so not the best pics but can see some of the vehicles.

This Demo Derby was pretty entertaining, each heat had no more then 7 vehicles, allowing a lot of room for each vehicle to drive around and get some good smashes in.  One great one was that of one person who had there car rolled on it's side, and in a final heat came back being the 2nd to last to be done.  

The State fair was held in Pueblo, CO which we did not make it to, maybe next year.

The Rodeo took place in July in Colorado Springs, no rodeo I have ever been at, as it was huge.  Saw some great performers by all the competitors and riders. 

Like I mentioned these two things brought back memories from home, especially the state fair and the atmosphere!  I grew up in the small town of Medford where the fair and rodeo were events that the whole town would be going to or participating in, in some way.  I haven't had these opportunities in the past seven years, great to see and experience them again, maybe in a slightly different way and different place.

Concerts

Since arriving in the state we have been able to see a number of shows here in Colorado!

The first one we saw was of One Republic and Sara Bareilles in September, at the well known Red Rocks Venue.  Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater is located about 1 hour 20 mins from our house, and is a site to see.

From Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater Website-  At 6,450 feet above sea level, Red Rocks Park is a unique transitional zone where the Great Plains meet the Rocky Mountains. The diverse environment allows visitors to see plants, birds and animals of both regions.  Red Rocks Amphitheater is a geological phenomenon – the only naturally-occurring, acoustically perfect amphitheater in the world.

Built by the Civilian Conservation core, beginning in 1927 and finishing in 1941.  Musicians such as U2 and Sting have preformed here.  

It is a beautiful site to see here in Colorado.  I do believe we will be back there for more concerts.  

The show was great to see in the venue, I did not realize prior to going how many songs song by One Republic and Sara Bareilles that I knew.  Both were great performances.

The next show we went to was in Denver at the Fillmore Auditorium.  This show was on a whim and did not know about it till the day of.  we saw the Colorists and Naked & Famous.  A former co-worker of Sam's just arrived into Colorado Springs and found this show happening in Denver.  It was very convenient as Sam and I were on our way to Denver for the Weekend already. 

This was an awesome show, I know have found more music to listen to and am getting pretty good at picking out there music on the radio.  We both are enjoying the opportunities we have for some of the convinces here in the United States this being one of them.  Live music and concerts at all times for reasonable prices.

Oktoberfest Colorado Springs 2013

Our first Oktoberfest since living in Germany.  We both didn't have very high expectations for what we would expect for Oktoberfest.  Really can't get any better then the real deal in Munich or Stuttgart Germany.

We gave it a shot and had a good time!!

Oktoberfest in Colorado Springs was the last weekend of September and held in a parking lot of a mall in town.  There were carny games, food, booths, music, and of course Paulner Beer!!

Sam Photo Bombing a nice picture of our friends Molly and Marshall.

We heard of Oktoberfest by luck.  We have a trip planned with the local ITT for haunted houses in Denver Sat Oct 26.  While purchasing our tickets saw a sign for Oktoberfest, worked out well as we got these tickets for free.  Got to enjoy some good German beer, and German food (with an American twist to it).  Sam and I also got to get out the Lederhosen and Dirndl to wear!!

The frog is a win of one of the carny games, and we must thank it for Sam's luck in winning a beer mug!!