We Finished the Mud Runs!

Team Hammertime came through and completed the mud runs!  On Saturday May 28th the team ran the race in Houston.  Jeremy was even there to cheer everyone on.  He loved it, even when he got hugs from the muddy guys.  Then yesterday (Sunday, June 5th) it was time for the Dallas runners.  The team leader was so motivational that he ran in both races.  All of the runners did a great job and had a blast.  Everyone is already talking about running another one!  Zack said it was so much fun that it was worth getting up at 6:00AM.

For pictures of the Houston Mud Run you can go here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/63476663@N08/sets/72157626701233345/
For more Dallas Mud Run pictures you can go here: https://picasaweb.google.com/109907711153625452504/DallasMudRuns#

The Night Before the Mud Run

It is Friday night before the Mud Run, Jeremy is in town from Hammond to witness the big event!!!!!!
He said, "I had to come!"  He claims he will be wearing his Mud Run T-shirt tomorrow - but we will see if he changes his normal routine!

I had a long week of training and should be ready.   Brent and Stacy Husiman are in town from Dallas ready to run tomorrow.  We will see if Matt's 2 months of 6:00 am workout pays off!!!!!!!!!  The bet is that Brent and I beat him by more than 10 minutes.  One thing he doesn't lack is confidence.  We will see how good his confidence is at the 4 or 5 mile mark!!!!!

Our team is ready and the generosity has been incredible!!!!  We can't thank everyone enough.  

According to Nick, he and Amy had a good 4 mile run today so it sounds like the dedication and training is paying off for their run next week!!!  I am even thinking about signing up late to run with them if I can recover fast enough. 

We will post plenty of pictures after the race tomorrow!!!


Susan had a great idea to raise some additional money.   With the help a friend, Angela Weinhardt,  of Premier Designs Jewelry,  Susan is hosting a jewelry party.  Angela graciously offered to donate profits from the party to the cause.   This is how it will work:

1.  BUY JEWELRY!  Buy for yourself, your mother, your wife, your upcoming graduate!  Jewelry is the #1 gift, so stock up now and help a good cause.  Contact Susan, Amy, Hanna, or Lyndsey for a catalog and mark your calendar for June 4^th at 12:30 PM.  Make sure you tell your friends and bring them to the show. 

2.  HOST A JEWELRY SHOW!  For every show, Angela will increase the percentage of proceeds up to 100%.  Hosting a show is simple, just invite your friends over to play in jewelry and earn free jewelry for yourself!  Contact Angela at AAlex_99@yahoo.com to choose your date and increase our donation. 

3.  BUY A RAFFLE TICKET for $5.00!  The hostess gift (free jewelry) will be raffled off at the end of this fundraiser. Do not miss this outstanding opportunity to win tons of free Premier Designs Jewelry!  Buy your raffle tickets today and encourage your friends and family to do the same. 

Team leader is signing off for the night!!!!!

Team Leader is Back

9 days to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After a business trip and a small cold I had a few days off but I have had two great days of training.
Hopefully i will be able to make up for lost time!  Matt, from what I hear, is still getting up at 6:00 am so after 2 months of getting up at 6 he should be able to finish at the least!


With 9 days to go we have had unbelievable donations to support Jeremy's home!!!!!!  We can't thank everyone enough.  If you haven't had a chance to donate there is still time and we want to raise as much as possible for them. 

7 more days of training then 2 days off before the race!!!!!!!!

The Countdown Is On!

There are only 10 more days until the Houston mud run, and 18 until the Dallas mud run!  I know all of the runners are training hard.

I have found it difficult the last couple of weeks to get my workouts in with my husband out of town a lot, getting the kids to all of their activities, and dealing with a high need 1 year old.  But I am doing my best.  I've been pushing the baby in the stroller on the jogging trail next to soccer practice or running along while the kids ride their bikes just to get something done.  Now that our school year is done, Corey will be in town for a while, and soccer season will be over Saturday, I am ready to bump up the intensity of my training!  Yesterday I got in weight training and a 2 mile run, and today I did 3 miles on the treadmill. 

Let's go mud runners!  Time is ticking!

Even the Little Kids Are in Training

It's been a busy week, but the training continues as the mud run is quickly approaching.  The boys have been down at the jogging trail with me, and they have been working hard between swimming and soccer.  They even run hills with me, and Nick likes to see if he can pass me, which he usually does.  We had a big weekend and many of us were together for Michael's First Communion.  We took that opportunity to get the little kids in on the training, disguised as a dance competition.

We are all simply amazed at the incredibly generous donations that have been pouring in!  We have also added a few more mud runners to Team Hammertime.

One Month to Go!

With one month to go until the Houston Mud run it was time for the Team Leader to step up his training.

I ran 5 miles this afternoon after taking 3 days off.  Felt great but my legs are a little stiff after sitting down for a few hours.  The serious training starts now.

As I always say " rumor has it" that Matt got 18 stadiums in on Tuesday morning @ 6 am with the help of his sister in law putting the pressure on him.  If this is true good for Matt!
He also got a circuit lift in this morning at his house but no running due to a little back stiffness.
Nothing he can't over come.
Here locally, according to Amy's post, it looks like she continues to be the most consistent participant.
Amy this is for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With a month to go we have received a tremendous of support but we need to make a big push to finish strong with as many donations as we can!!!! 

Challenging Workout Today

I had great intentions of getting in a good workout today, but there were a few bumps in the road.  I homeschooled 3 children, spent 1 1/2 hours at the DMV renewing my drivers license, made a trip to Sam's Club, got 2 kids ready for dance lessons, and cooked spaghetti before sending 1 to Boy Scouts.  Maybe all of that should count for my workout.  Finally I was ready to hit the treadmill.  But the 1 year old had other ideas.  I thought he might entertain himself for a while or play with his brothers, but he decided to stand in front of the treadmill and cry hysterically.  I thought he might try to climb up on it and hurt himself (and he already had a run in with the sidewalk today) so I picked him up and walked with him.  I managed to get in 2 miles.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better for my training!!!!!!!!!!!!!  (the exclamation marks are in honor of the Team Leader)

Update from the "Team Leader"

Well the team leader is fresh off of two days of straight workouts one at including about a 3 mile run with bear crawls and push ups  in between.  Today's workout was a straight 3 mile run.

According to Amy's reports sounds like I better kick it into high gear.  She is not playing around!!!!  She has been tearing up the treadmill!!!!
Matt, from what I understand has had a solid week of workouts only missing one day.  I will be in Houston this weekend so I will check on his progress in person!!!!!!
We are continuing to get tremendous support from our family and friends!!! We can't thank everyone enough for the kind donations.


We are all still working hard to train in order to raise more money for Jeremy!!!!
5 weeks to go!!!!!!!!

Is Pizza on the Mud Run Training Menu?

The boys have been asking to go to Double Dave's pizza buffet, and Todd said he wanted to go too, so we made plans to meet him there for dinner tonight.  When we spoke earlier today he asked when I was going to get my work out in.  I told him this afternoon, and he said he was going to work out this afternoon too.  So I ran on the treadmill and did weights while the baby was sleeping.  I didn't want to let the team leader down!  I had asked him if we could have eat at an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet while we were training.  He said it is OK to splurge every once in a while.

Imagine my surprise when we got to Double Dave's to find that Todd got there on time, and to find out that he didn't even work out today!  Our team leader is just full of surprises!

Amy

Tuesday Workout and Call to Jeremy!!!!

Got a great workout today another circuit - treadmill, precor, and upperbody. 
Went for about an hour!!  Will do a 4-5 mile run tomorrow!  We will see if Matt continues his pace and makes his 6:00 am workout?

I got to talk to Jeremy today and I told him he needed to come over to Houston to run the Mud Run with us and he told me: "awhh Todd you're crazy".  I take that as a no.  I did however plant the seed and told him to ask Susan to fly him over that weekend to watch!!! I'm sure he won't forget!  He said Helen showed him the blog with the pictures and I told him we were raising money for the Range House.  His response was:  " I like money" I told him it wasn't for him it was for the house and he said "come on Todd."  Good Stuff!!!!!

I got to see Amy tonight and sounds like her training is going good other than the fact that she can't move.
(rookie!!)

Till Tomorrow!!!
Todd

Back to the grind!!!

After a 2 day lay off over the weekend - I got my work out in last night!!!  I have some making up to do!!
Did a circuit workout with some precor, treadmill, ab work, and weights.  Went for an hour and was dead afterwards.  The Mud Run usually takes 1:30 to 1:45 so have I have a month and two weeks to build up that. 
Will try and get in another circuit workout today then just running on Wednesday. 

According to my long distance training partner down in Houston(Matt),  he ran 1.7 miles on the treadmill last night on an incline.  He also said he walked through wet grass in his back yard to try and simulate the mud run.  I have some news for him:  He is going to need a lot more that wet grass to get his shoes wet!!!!!   I told him he needs to run with ankle weights  and that would be more realistic to what it is like. 

That being said he also did his circuit workout this morning @ 6:00 am.  Now that's dedication!  I guess he is trying to keep the pressure on!!!! 

Breaking news:  Brent and Stacy Husiman are signed up and going to run with us also in Houston!!!!!!!

We are continuing our effort to raise as much money as we can for Jeremy and his Friends!!! We have done great so far but we have a long way to go get to our goal!!!! So please donate what every you can!
We cannot thank everyone enough who has been generous enough to donate already!!!!!!!

Todd
Team Leader

First Day of Training for Amy and the Boys

It is a gorgeous day here in Dallas today, so I took the boys down to the trail by our house to start our training and conditioning for the mud run.  They should be in pretty good shape already since they all play soccer 3 times a week and two of them swim twice a week.  Other than some walking on the treadmill occasionally I haven't done any hard workouts since before I was pregnant with Luke (and that was in the summer of 2009!).  We ran/walked about 4 miles and stopped in the middle to run some hills.  It was a great workout for all of us!  Nick and I led the pack, while Zack and Michael brought up the rear.  They were worn out by the time we got back to the house.  I guess when they are not pumped with adrenaline like they are during soccer games, they are not quite as motivated to keep going when they are tired.  But their mud run is only 1 mile, so they will do fine.

Amy

Day Two of Training

Day Two of Training in the books.  I did a circuit of precor, treadmill, and lifting for 45 mins at my apartment gym!!!  I am worn out!  And once again it was reported that Matt was running at 6:00 this morning and it was reported that he is up to 3 miles!!!! Lets hear it for Matt!!!! Good job Matt kept up the good work!!!

I would like to say that I did not know what to expect when we started this fundraiser but I cannot tell you how amazed I am at the enthusiasm and support we have gotten in the first two days!!!
The response has been amazing from all of our friends and family!

Helen (who runs the home Jeremy lives in) called my mom today and told her she showed Jeremy the blog and told him what we were doing and we think even Jeremy was impressed!!!!!!!!!!

Day Three Tomorrow.

Todd

Day One of Training for the Mud Run on May 28th

Today after work I started my first day of training for the May 28th Mud Run to help raise money for Strawberry Fields.  Just to give some quick history, I ran my first mud run this past Sunday here in Fort Worth with Brent and Stacey Huisman.  It was a blast but very challenging.  It was just a warm up for the race in Houston I am going to run with Matt.  We all finished the DFW race together in 1 hour and 30 mins.  So my goal is to finish some where between 1:20 and 1:25 when we run in Houston. 
I ran for 35 minutes tonight and mixed in some push-ups, bear crawls and sit ups.  It was good to get back at it after two days of recovery from my first mud run.  It is my understanding that Matt got in his two miles this morning early(some good friendly competition).  Matt or myself will keep everyone posted on our training progress leading up the the race. 
No Donation is to small.  Any and all donations are greatly appreciated.
Day One Done and counting down till May 28th!!!!!!!

Todd
(Team Leader)

The Blog is Up and Running, by Amy

So the family told me I was in charge of the blog.  I love projects, and this is no different.  It is for a great cause.  Now that I have looked into participating in a mud run, and talked to people who have done them, I'm ready to give it a try.  I have a baby who just turned 1, and I still have some baby weight to get rid of.  What better motivation than to train for a mud run.  And I love that my older kids want to do it too.

Throughout the our training journey, the team will be updating our progress on the blog.  Right now we are trying to come up with a team name.  I think it should be "Hammertime".  Back in his younger days Jeremy loved to sing and dance and entertain people.  One of his favorites was MC Hammer.  My mom even made him a costume with shiny purple parachute pants, and he did a dance routine to "Can't Touch This" in a talent show at the Singapore American School.  Besides, "Hammertime" makes it sound like we are tough!

Please feel free to leave comments with any other suggestions for team names  and check back often for the team's progress!