Saturday, January 2, 2010

Catching Up...Moving Forward

OK, so....

Yes, September 11th was the last time I posted.... To be honest, I got a little wigged out about blogging this adventure. Felt like it was a little on the selfish bragging side to do so, I mean who else wants to hear about MY rants and raves? And this coming from the person who searches for new blogs to read daily...I love people watching, and reading blogs gets lumped into this catagory.

So I'm back with some new resolve. After reading back on the few posts I did make, I'm more sorry I didn't keep up with it. For me this is a great way to chronicle my adventure, because it is CERTAINLY that if nothing else!

To catch up to speed....

Shortly before the White Rock half, I was contacted by the White Rock race committee. I had submitted to them my reason to run which of course was my brother, and about my weight loss. They let me know they liked my story, thought it was inspiring, and would I be ok with doing some PR for them? WOW!!! So we met in Trophy Club behind the Marriott Solana, and did the interview and they taped me running some--of course it started to sprinkle JUST as they started taping. Got alot of ragging from my team for looking so cleaned up while running--had makeup on, and my hair down, got LOTS of laughs at how my hair was doing the "girl swishing" thing while I ran, ha ha. It was a nice interview, here's a link to it: http://cbs11tv.com/gethealthytexas/Runs.To.Honor.2.1350493.html Doug Dunbar, who interviewed me, was very nice and kind, made it a nice experience. God love him he was so sick that day but he prides himself on his strong work ethic and doesn't miss work. He'd just been to the doctor before he came for this, I felt so bad he was out for this.

The whole interview thing was topped off with the coolest experience. At our post-race party at Luke's, our store manager introduced me to Mr. Lucas, the owner/founder of the store! He told Mr. Lucas about me, and I was able to tell my story about the interview to him. He was truly interested, and congratulated me, and made notes of it on his notepad. Too cool!

I am happy to say that I completed the White Rock half in 2:43! I knew I could do it in under 3 hours, was wishing for 2:45. Mom and my brother came up the night before the race, I was so happy they were able to make it. Race morning I rode down with my race partner, her hubby and friends....the line to get into parking was HORRENDOUS, we were genuinely concerned we might miss the gun! Truth be told, we made it there with maybe 5 minutes to spare!! We were in the last corral, so couldn't see the starting festivities. It took literally 15 minutes for us to start moving--over 20,000 participants! THRILLED to say that when we got up to the start, that the music was still blaring, and the confetti was still shooting out of the air guns over the starting line--really cool we turtles weren't forgotten in the hoopla! The start was larger than life--I'll admit I had tears. I made a conscious decision to really live in the moment that day, to make the effort to see all the small things, tell volunteers thank you, look at the cheering crowd, encourage others around me. But I didn't want to just rush past these moments. This was the crowning glory of a TWO YEAR GOAL, I was going to suck everything out of it for all it was worth.

Just before the one mile marker, we saw my family. I was so happy that they did make it. It was wonderful that they were there to see this become a reality. I was VERY happy that my partner's husband decided to run this race with us. Don't forget, he's Marathon Man--the same man who ran over 40 miles for his 40th birthday! So you know a half at our turtle pace had to be painful and drive him crazy, when he knew he could pound out a full in our slow-mo time. The good thing about Marathon Man running with us is all the wisdom he imparted to us--when to slow down, what to watch for, where to run on the road, things to be aware of, when to stop and take a walk/water break. He was able to think for us the first several miles, so we could learn "on the job", so to speak. I was never so grateful for him than I was that day.

By the time we got to about mile 8 or so, my partner was fighting through some mental issues, so I ran ahead a smidge. By mile 11, my left hip was screaming loud at me. I was so angry---my muscles were great, my breathing wasn't labored...but my HIP--REALLY!!!?? By mile 12 it was making it clear it was done, but I kept plowing through. When I got to the end of the race, and could see the finish line, I tried so hard to get it into gear to pick up the pace, but my ole body was having none of it. I realized that I was sobbing as I was making my last decent, it was so overwhelming to see that I had completed a goal!!

As I approached the finish line, I hear my name yelled out to the left of me---it's my brother! K told me later they had to wheedle their way in to get my brother past the finish line, but they did and I am thrilled to say that he and I crossed the finish line hand-in-hand. It was an AMAZING moment. It made my two year journey to that point feel very complete.

It was awesome seeing so many people from my team at the finish line, as well as other friends who had run. I was never so happy as to have a picture taken with my partner, with my brother and crossing the line. It was an amazing day, it was an amazing feat, and I am very VERY proud of that medal.

As for now....I'm back to training at Luke's with my partner and the rest of the "back of the pack" friends of mine. We did a six mile run as a time trial yesterday morning, was a little on the slow side but I'll own up to not running as much as I should have over the holidays. But I'm glad to be back....

Looking forward to what 2010 has in store for me with this adventure. I'm shooting for a half every month this year....I'll keep you posted on how it goes...

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