Rock N Roll San Diego 2013

Today's race marked one year since I ran my first half marathon. I cannot believe it has already been a year! The days leading up to the race have been full of reflection.

We started the morning off with some laughs. When a hummer limo pulled up in front of the hotel just after 5am, Kari says "oh our ride is here". Funny enough... that was our "shuttle" to the start line.

This morning I found myself even more emotional that I was on the day of my first half. It has come full circle and I simply couldn't be more thankful.

Just before the national anthem there was a moment of silence for Boston. Sitting here now, I have tears in my eyes thinking back to April 15th. Terrorists tried to strike fear in our hearts. They tried to take the innocence of our sport away. They didn't. Today 28,000 runners united and ran. Nothing was going to stop us. I proudly wore my "Run 4 Boston" ribbon, "Beat Cancer" ribbon and "Boston Strong" head band.

There was a quiet reassurance before the race today. A large law enforcement presence. Look outs on rooftops and all sorts of dogs and handlers walking around. I was so thankful for that presence today.

About 5 weeks ago I was plagued with shin splints so I backed off on my training. My friend Chris gave me a great recovery plan and pep talk. I am so blessed by the people God has put in my life. My legs felt strong and ready for today. My mind? Not so much.

If anyone tells you running is 100% physical, they are very wrong. You see, there's this little voice in your head that doesn't want to shut up. It wants to tell you how tired your body is after 3 miles, how the twinge you once had in your foot it going to come back, how you "only" ran 9 miles to get ready for this race and that wasn't enough. Around the 3 mile mark, those were the things going through my head. So I did what I normally do... rebuke that inner voice. I tell myself to snap out of it and to keep pushing. I pray and thank God for giving me His strength to run this race. I remember that this is something that I love and I was ready for. That inner voice lost today, as usual.

I checked my watch periodically and knew I was a bit slower than I had wanted to be but I was ok with that. There were a few more hills than I had anticipated. I normally walk hills. Not today. I powered up those hills. I wasn't going to let that little voice back in. I walked way less than I have in the past. I can't run and drink water at the same time so I try to pair the two so I am not taking extra breaks.

My favorite memories from today (in no particular order)

1) A marine running in full gear. Back pack, helmet and all. I made a point to tap him on his shoulder and tell him thank you. I actually saw a lot of runners do that. One lady might have misjudged her shoulder "tap" because it almost looked like she shoved his shoulder. I know she didn't. She was just running fast.

2) A US Navy fire fighter running in full bunker gear (the big heavy turnouts they wear on structure fires), helmet and BA (breathing apparatus they were on structure fires). I also tapped him on the shoulder, high fived him and said thank you.

3) Around mile 9.5-10 I was struggling a little. The race benefits the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. I turned the corned and it was lines with purple banners and white signs. Signs saysing "thank you" or who we are running for etc. One purple sign stood out to me. "Remember why you're running". It was at that moment that I thought about Kayla and all she has been through. At that moment I dug deep and remembered this was yet another celebration run because she continues to be cancer free. I also thought about a fire captain that works for CAL FIRE and my cousin Joshua that have both been diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphona. It was for them that I ran. It is for them (and me) that I will continue to run.

4) I love seeing people on their porches, coffee cup in hand, cheering for all of the runners. They don't have to. They could sit inside with the TV turned up and be angry that their street is occupied for half of a day. There were people on every.single.street. Amazing.

5) I am a runner. I am still shocked by this. I am even more shocked that the farther I ran, the better and stronger I felt. I wonder if I all of that will every fully sink in!

6) Seeing Jimmy, Jessica, Justen, Alissa, Ali, Preston, Asher and Ansel screaming and cheering my name as I ran toward the finish line.

7) Running a major race with Michelle. She asked me if I wanted to do a 5K with her and Preston back in 2011. I have loved being on this running journey with her. We have different goals, training styles, paces etc but she "gets" me when it comes to running,among other things. 

8) Ali was here!
9) Free Jamba Juice at the fnish line. It was the bestest smoothie I've ever had!
10) Finishing my 4th Half Marathon in 1 year.
11) Being there to witness Veronica's first half marathon and Kari's second full marathon

12) Petting the black lab puppy after I picked up my gear :)

13) The enormous amount of support from my family and friends. You are all priceless

14) Riding to the start line in a hummer limo

15) Inspiring my brother Jimmy to start running. Who knew a baby sister could do such a thing?

I ran this race 12 minutes, 35 seconds faster than I did last year. My time was 2:32:34.

It was not my fastest half marathon (2:28:50 in Feb) but I am ok with it. I thought I would be disappointed but I'm really not. The course in Feb was completely flat. This one... was not. I think being only 3 min 44 sec slower than my fastest time while running hills is pretty darn good. I am proud of myself. It will just keep getting better from here!

Living

“I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” – (John 10:10 KJV)


This scripture really hit me. Am I truly living my life and enjoying it? Are you? Life may not be perfect but are we taking the time to truly count our blessings?

I think it is safe to say that this latest shooting in Connecticut has rocked our Nation. It has taken our already broken hearts and beaten them down even more. I don't know about you, but on December 14 I felt like I shouldn't go on with my happy day. It felt so wrong to have fun, joke around and enjoy the day because precious, innocent people were dead. My heart was heavy that day.

Jared and I went ice skating that afternoon. We had so much fun. We are already talking about when we want to go again. Then we shared a delicious dinner. Although I was having fun, the people of Newtown were on my heart.

On the way back to his place, Jared and I got to talking. I told him how strange it felt to go on with our good day when something so horrible had happened. Then it hit me... the parents/friends/family of those that are dead would want us to live. They would want us to go about our day, spread love to others and not take one single moment for granted. This is an assumption, of course, but I am pretty sure at least some of them would agree with me.

Yesterday we had our annual cookie exchange. The house was FULL of our family and friends. The moment I got there I hugged my youngest niece(4) and nephew(2) so tight. The older ones came later ( 14, 13, 12) and I gave them hearty hugs as well. To me the teenagers are still babies too. I'm not a parent so I cannot begin to understand what you might go through when you lose a child. I am, however, an aunt. An Auntie that loves her nieces and nephews as if they were my own. I want to protect them just as their parents do.

I so enjoyed the day full of laughter, friends and family. I think it was good for all of our hearts. We took the day and we lived. We enjoyed the food, the company, the music and a whole lot of cookies. We were living and it was beautiful. I never want to take that for granted.

 

Lauren's Ride Fundraiser

Most everyone knows that i have been talking about Lauren's ride since it began in early September. Sometimes things just grab ahold of your heart and take root. When I heard about what John Byrne was doing, I was impressed and touched. I was all in.

Having two older brothers, I understand how close the bond can be between a brother and sister. Especially older brothers and younger sisters.

I've followed John's journey since the first day.Every day they post a blog or update, I am amazed at how doors are opening and how many good people are stepping up to be part of it.

The Oakland Raiders have been a huge support for the ride and much to my dismay, the Chargers haven't returned any of our phone calls or emails. The original idea came from Dottie, the front office administrative assistant at Monte Vista Headquarters. On September 25th, she mentioned getting a bunch of Charger's fans together and taking a huge picture. I immediately loved the idea. Unfortunately it is nearly impossible for me to do something simple. I suggested we turn it into a fundraiser but we knew cookies and cupcakes probably wouldn't raise much. So my mind started racing. I told Dottie we could keep it simple. burgers, chips, water. Easy. My text to her was : "That's a great idea!! Wonder if we'd have time to put together a little fundraiser. Like sell burgers or something. That's probably too complicated though". Then it was on like donkey kong! Well that lead to cupcakes then face painting. Then someone offered to dress up as Smokey Bear (side note for those that didn't know.. the "the" is no longer in his name). Then someone offered a sound system so we would have music. The water was donated by the fire station on the compound. The Union chapter donated $250 to help with the cost of food. Everything fell into place. We had about 2 weeks to get it all together. 12 days to be exact. Because we were having it at a CAL FIRE facility, there had to be quite a few Chiefs involved and many approvals made. On October 1 we got the final approval we needed and we were off.

Today I went to Costco to pick up the burgers etc. While in line I was able to share with a couple people about Lauren's Ride. One of them made a donation right there.

Rain had been coming down most of the morning and all day yesterday. I was praying the rain would stop. I also kept having this feeling that no one was going to show up. Right there in the Costco parking lot, I prayed. I asked God to bless this fundraiser. I asked that things would continue to fall into place like they had been over the previous 2 weeks.

Tonight was more than I could have ever hoped for. The music was great, everyone was pitching in to help, the kids were having a blast playing with Smokey Bear, the kids got to ride in the fire engine, two engines from San Miguel Fire came over. When San Miguel Truck 15 pulled in, I looked at Ali and started crying. All I could say was "wow". The rain had stopped a couple hours before the BBQ started and people just kept coming. We even got a phone call from John and Tony! I had no idea they were going to call. Dottie knew and thought she had told me but I never got the memo. That was definitely the highlight of my evening. You can hear the deep gratitude they have for everything people have done. I have greatly enjoyed following John on his journey across the country.

Once we counted the money we realized how much we had raised. $1100!! My hope was for $500. We bought enough food for 100 people and we wanted to sell all of it. We definitely thought that was a realistic goal. When this first started I had the number $1000 in my head. I didn't think we would get to that but I really wanted to. My hands were shaking while I was counting the money. That total isn't the final amount just yet. i have a few returns I need to do and that money will go into the donation as well.

Thanks to all who supported this ride, fundraiser and my crazy ideas! And most of all thank you to God. He opened every door for this and blessed it. My cup runneth over.


Some of the people that came out to support the fundraiser and Lauren's Ride.



Rock N Roll Half Marathon Pictures

Friday at the expo:

Abby signing up for the Las Vegas Half Marathon

Saturday Night Pre-Race Dinner:

Katie lives on the East Coast so she was with us in spirit

Back: Missi and Abby
Front: Me and Kari

Race Day:

The Runners...

  My family and friends:

My love. He's been so incredibly supportive during my training!

My youngest niece, Peyton. She was pretty proud of her auntie!

This is my favorite picture. We didn't purposely make funny faces but that's how it ended up. Hilarious!

My Parents

One of my big brothers. The other one couldn't make it but he was there in our hearts.

Kaelah, me, Mindi. Mindi's mom has leukemia. I ran part of my race in her honor.

My sis in law ,Katie. Her sister Kayla had Lymphoma. I ran my race in honor of Kayla too.

My sweet friend, Summer. I've known her since 3rd grade.

Jared's family came too!

Jared's Mom and I

Homemade signs for Auntie Shannon:

Rock N Roll Half Marathon

I did it!!!! I ran my first half marathon!

On Friday Abby and I went to the expon to pick up our race packets. We had a good time checking out all of the booths and merchandise.

Saturday evening Abby, Kari, Missi and I went out to dinner to the California Pizza Kitchen. Delicious! I love carb loading! Our friend , Katie, lives on the East Coast but we had her there in spirit.

My hotel wasn't stellar. The room was nice but lacked a microwave eventhough on their website they said every room has one. The shuttle to the start line was full. Imagine my surprise when I found that info out during check-in. The person making my reservations in March failed to mention a separate reservation had to be made for the shuttle. Thankfully a very nice person checking in cancelled her husband's spot on the shuttle (he wasn't running the race) so I could have it.

Race day I woke up bright and early at 415. I got on the shuttle no problem and to the start line. On the shuttle I met a woman that is a "Legacy" runner. Meaning she has run in all 15 of the San Diego Rock N Roll Marathons. It was her 65th marathon over all. Her goal is to run her 70th Marathon on her 70th birthday in August. Pretty amazing!!!

I met up with Abby and Kari at gear check and everything became real. It was happening! Kari went ahead to her start corral while Abby and I waiting in a very long line to use the restroom.  Running has broken many of my germaphobe rules. At races there are only porta potties. YUCK.

The waves went a lot faster than we thought they would. We projected our start time to be around 7:03am but we started at 6:50am. Abby and I stayed together for the first mile but then went at our own pace. I knew I had to leave her early or I would want to stay with her for a long time. I love running with Abby. I am comfortable with her and the pace we run together. I needed to get into my own pace early. This day, the half marathon was mine and mine alone.

I was feeling so good through most of the race. My pace stayed mostly in the 11-11:30 min/mile for the majority of the race. The slower paces are when I stopped at the water stations. At about 5.5 miles I got really emotional. I was running along the 163 freeway and I looked up at the bridge. There were people lining the bridge cheering, holding signs and I was listening to a Britt Nicole song about making love your legacy. I nearly broke down sobbing but i held it together. I still had 7.5 miles to go! Mile 11 was the hardest for me. My knee was hurting for some unknown reason so I walked most of it. I started back with the running in mile 12 and wanted to run through the finish line.

There were spectators everywhere. Most of them lined the streets to give out high-fives. There were a few awkward high fives when someone washolding out their hand, I go to high- five them and I realize they are looking at someone behind me that they know. oops.

There were a ton of signs along the way. Some of my favorites:
"Chuck Norris never ran a marathon"
"This is a motivational sign" next to a person holding a "This is another one" sign
"If you're reading this, stop. You should be running"

There were also a ton of different running shirts:
"If they can do 9 months, I can do 13.1 miles"
"Sweat is just fat cells crying"
"Dear God, Please let there be someone behind me reading this"

It was the "Rock N Roll" series so there were bands and DJs along the way. Some of the volunteers at the aid stations dressed up for the occasion. Some of the runners did too. I saw Mario (as in mario and Luigi), KISS, Gem (or she atleast looked like Gem), Elvis (like 3 of them), Barbie, Wonder Woman etc.

My goals were to have atleast one negative split time (run a mile faster than the previous one) and finish under 3 hours. My goal time was 2 hrs 45 min. My official time was 2 hrs 45min and 33 sec. Spot on!

I was greeted by a huge group of my family and friends at the end. I was handed homemade signs and all kinda of beautiful flowers. I am so thankful and blessed that they were all able to make it. A few couldn't for various reasons but there were definitely there in my heart! Surprisingly I didn't cry until well after my finish. I was hugging Jared and it all started to hit me. Delayed reaction much?

When I got home i found two pieces of paper taped to my door. My best friends little boys had made signs for me. It was the perfect ending to the day! SO incredibly sweet!

I have a ton of pictures but I will post those in a separate blog.

Today was incredible. I can't even tell you how amazing I feel! I accomplished something I never thought I could or would do.

If you care, here are my times:
Mile 1: 11:27
Mile 2: 11:48
Mile 3: 12:09
Mile 4: 11:29
Mile 5: 12:26
Mile 6: 12:20
Mile 7: 11:19
Mile 8: 11:51
Mile 9: 12:46
Mile 10: 12:37
Mile 11: 13:42
Mile 12: 14:31
Mile 13: 13:27

Tyler is 2!

My youngest nephew turned 2 on April 22nd. I love his cheesy little smile and that he's figured out how to say my nickname "tee tee".

He's such a sweet little guy and always ready with hug. Unless he's in the mood to tease you. Then he gets a big smile and shakes his head no when you ask " can I have a hug?".

The day of his party was seriously the hottest day in April. The older kids had a great time shooting each other with squirt guns. They had even more fun shooting the adults and surprising them.

 And of course i had the honor of making his birthday cake...

Boot Drive 2012

Each April members of the fire service in San Diego County line the streets to raise money for the San Diego Burn Institute.

The annual "Give Burns the Boot" drive has always been a huge success. This year I joined my brother, Brian, and his fire fighters in Jamul. It was the same intersection we were at last year. Unfortunately the school at the corner was on Spring Break so the traffic was a lot lighter this year. last year we raised about $3200 at our intersection alone. This year was about $2000. Still pretty awesome! All together, CAL FIRE raised about $25,000 for the Burn Institute. I'm not sure how much the other fire agencies in the county raised.

All of the money goes towards sending burn survivors to "Camp Beyond the Scars". It was a great morning. The guys were especially excited for the coffee and blueberry muffins I brought them.

Our Easter Celebration

I am not sure where the month of April  went!!! Easter was almost a month ago? How is that even possible?

We gathered at Jimmy and Jessica's house for a massive feast, gigantic Easter Egg Hunt and to Celebrate Jimmy turning... older... and my niece, Alissa turning 14.                                                                                                                                                                                                        

It was a beautiful day full of family and friends. The kiddos went crazy over the 250 eggs we hid for them. making them Easter Baskets and stuffing Easter Eggs for them never gets old.

Ducks Vs. Sharks Hockey Game

Back in March Jared and I gifted my brother, Jimmy, with a ticket to the Anaheim Ducks vs San Jose Sharks hockey game. Jared and I are Ducks fans and well... Jimmy is a Sharks fan. Have no fear, we are still praying for him!

Jimmy, my sister in law Jessica, Jared and I went to Bucca Di Beppo for dinner before the game. We told them it was Jimmy's birthday (because we were up there celebrating it). Jimmy thought he'd got off scott free when the waiters brought over a huge candle stick and started singing...

Usually this type of embarrassment is followed by a free dessert. Cannoli? Tiramasu? We were excited. Until no dessert came. Oh well.It was a delicious dinner. The game was great. Especially because the Ducks beat the Sharks. Again. For the 4th or 5th time in the season. Jimmy and Jessica enjoyed their first live NHL Hockey game and we are definitely going to do it again next season!

April Challenges!

How in the world is March almost over? I'm not quite sure where it went.

The planner in me is already mapping out the month of April. My biggest focus lately is my 50/50 Plan and training for the "Rock N Roll" Half Marathon.

This morning I stumbled upon this blog. It was so encouraging and a great reminder of Who needs to come first instead of what comes first. By shifting my focus more on God, I will be renewed in my mind and in my body. By God's strength, I will achieve my goals for April and meet the challenges I am about to lay out.

If you're wanting to lose weight, get in shape, continue to lose weight, maintain  your weight, eat healthier or just read something motivational and humorous, I encourage you to check out The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans blog.

So who is up for a little challenge? I know I am!

#1: Remain Focused: God, Calorie Counting, Fitness... in that order.

#2 : Abs in April. On the shrinking jeans blog they had challenges in February and March that worked your abs. Because I am late to the party, I decided to do the challenge in April instead. I know this says March... just go with it.

#3 Kick Ass in April. This is the actual April Challenge on Shrinking jeans:

*If the pictures don't enlarge so you can read the text, simply follow the link. They also have tabs to print the challenges from the link.

You don't have to do both physical challenges like I am but commit to one or the other. They take less than 5 minutes a day. To keep track of what I need to do daily, I have written each workout on my dry erase calendar that hangs in the kitchen.

So... who is in? Commit to it. Let me know about it and let your other friends/family know about it. Share the links on your blog and challenge others to do it. Give it a whirl and see what happens.