Thank you @b3achy and @RaeBeeBaby for the shout out. The race felt great and I hit my pace marks for each mile. The course is downtown, so I had a chance to preview it a couple times. The first mile is almost all downhill, followed by a steep incline and steep decline for mile 2, then mostly uphill the last mile.

@geminiswede -- I hope you feel better soon! Thanks for getting your minutes and challenges posted!

@geminiswede - you've done more than your share. And challenge points are key, so you've definitely done what you needed to do. Rest up and feel better. Migraines stink as that is what happened to me on Thursday night.

@RaeBeeBaby - I'm kind of hoping we have some last minute posters, but hope they don't wait too long to do it. We still have 145 challenge points on the table.

I can't believe Team 3 passed us and we're now in 5th place (by 35 points); and a 105 points out of third place. But we do have a number of injuries and sick folks this week. We're still in third place overall for the race (but only by 85 points at this point).

I posted on a few of our players feed and had sent messages earlier. @RaeBeeBaby - yes we can request someone from the wait list if there are still some available. Right now it looks like only Jen hasn't reported at all.

Sorry team I don't think my miles will be many this week and I don't think I will be able to do the challenges .due to my back giving up on me... ouch . I will try but just letting you all know just incase .

Sorry you aren't feeling well @2016summerfun !! Heal up! Your health is more important than our minutes. Same to you @MiamiSeoul! We want you ladies around for the long haul! Take care of yourselves!

For all those that have been sick too...feel better soon! That crud that has been doing around is a monster. (I'm glad I got through it in Jan before the race started).

---

Looks like ME missed our thread when he posted the final standings from last week, so I got it from one of the other threads:


Kudos to Team 1 and Team 4 for maxing their challenge point minutes (they both got all 500 points) and tying for first for the week. We fell to 4th, but still are maintaining our 3rd place standing for the overall race. Let's get it done this week Fab Fives!

Remember challenges are key. Even if you can't log a lot of minutes, work on getting those challenges done!
Also, if you are having trouble with the spreadsheet, log your minutes here in the thread and ask someone to post it to the spreadsheet for you. We can't take your minutes off your news feed and fill in your missing time for you, but we can do it if you post here.

---

And for anyone like me who was surprised there was only a single polar bear picture for the 'wild life'...here was my favorite critter when I visited Alaska...though they are pretty scary if you see them along the side of the road...


We also went to a farm to see these guys...


And even some of these guys while I was on Glacier tour...

---

So, I requested, and hawkins said I could also paddleboard for the race challenge (since skiing was allowed, I figured I'd ask). My goal is to do the Iditarod Dare Challenge in one session, hopefully tomorrow (but may have to push it to Thursday if the conditions aren't reasonable ~ predicted winds are looking a little iffy for the route I want to take). We'll see if I can do it since the farthest I've been on my race board in one session has been about 5.5-6 miles (with one break). 10.49 is going to be a stretch for me, and I'm sure I'll need a few breaks to get it done. I'm estimating 20 minute miles which is a nice pace, but not too hard; which means I'll be paddling for 3.5 hours. That a lot of calories and sun. Say some prayers.

Funny part is instead of doing weights today because of my challenge goal, I took a fitness class at the gym...Good grief, it kicked my hinney (I should have done the weights)...I did a TRX class today (remember that goal at the end of the last race, to do something different...I finally accomplished that goal, which was to take a class at the gym). Wow, that's a serious workout. So, not many minutes today, but hope to make up for it tomorrow (or Thursday).

I'm still trying to figure out which vice to break. I have a few ideas, and might try to do multiple things to see if one sticks for 5 days...lol. I would have liked it to be my habit of not drinking enough water (it's a continuous struggle), but since we just did it last week, I feel like I need to choose something else.

Hi friends! I'm giving up chocolate for these next 5 days. This is always a challenge, but I know it's worth it. I easily fall into the sugar addiction and the challenges help me break that.

Also, I'm striving for the 10.49 miles. I got in 4 miles yesterday using the treadmill & bike.

The food-related vice I'm giving up is fast food. It's so easy for me to just grab something out instead of cooking, especially because I hate cooking, even if it's pre-prepared. Rationally I know I can eat more food for less calories at home, but the convenience part tempts me too much. I did it yesterday, knew I wasn't going to today because of a no lunch break (got a Pita at Pita Pit, which is kind of like subway for pitas, so at least it wasn't the worst) and rushing from an interview back to work, but going to focus on doing it for the rest of the week too.

Also planning on 5k outside after work today. Hopefully the rain stays away long enough. If not, guess I'll get a pre-shower in too.

We had three flights today with very tight connections between each. I think all the flights were running a bit behind so all my running today was from gate to gate! Looking forward to getting back to normal tomorrow! (Although I wish I was still on holidays!).