I ran this 1/2 marathon last year, as well as this year… Last year,
it was special, as it was my first 1/2 marathon, ever. I had an
automatic PR, no matter my finish time. This year was different. I
did not run it seeking a PR, as I had a running partner. Much more
important to me than anything. My mom. My mom was once a runner. I
remember basically growing up at the park, always waiting on Mom to
finish her run. The last time she ran a 1/2 marathon was in the mid
1990’s. She went to run the Disney Marathon. Unfortunately, she came
down with a stomach virus the day before, and was so dehydrated, she
only made it 1/2 way. Since that time, life got a bit hectic, and she
wasn’t able to keep up with running… Just over 2 years ago, she
made a statement that she wanted to run one last marathon. I told her
I would run it with her… Oh, wait! 26.2 miles? Me? A smoker, one
who has never successfully ran to the mailbox, much less 26.2 miles?
Oh, my, gosh. What was I thinking? Well, to shorten that story, I
ended up running the marathon. Not with my mom, but I had the
privilege to get my sister to finish the 1/2 marathon. Another few
months passed, and my mom mentioned to me that she would like to do
the Mercedes 1/2 Marathon, and the only way she would be able to do it
is if she drove the 2 hours to my house and we would run all of her
long runs together. So, for months, my mom would make that weekly
drive. We would run, we would eat (my favorite being the Country
Omlete at IHOP!), we would visit. In December we sent off our
registration forms, there was no turning back for her! As February
15th approached, I was getting more and more excited for my mom! I
told her that I was going to be there with her, every step of the way!
Race day begins on the chilly side. That’s ok, one of our last long
runs was done when it wasn’t quite 20 degrees! We took off, I was so
excited! Here we were, mother and daughter, running together,
enjoying the challenge the 13.1 miles brings anyone, at any pace!
Around mile 8, I remember getting choked up. I thought about how hard
my mom worked for this, how many aches and pains she endured in
training, all the miles and hours she spent driving to my house to
run. As we came to the finish line, my chest was hurting with pride.
My mom made it the entire 13.1 miles! She had just a little left in
the tank to pick up the pace for the last couple of turns to the
finish line. I remember her grabbing my hand as we crossed the finish
line, and how we both just stopped and hugged (sorry to those who were
behind us!). Words cannot express how happy and proud I was of my mom!
Now mind you, neither of us are fast runners. But it is with extreme
pride that I say we finished in less than 3 hours, my secret goal for
us! 2:50:04. During our journey, I quit smoking in October 2007, and
my mom quit smoking in January of this year. My sister, who ran this
1/2 as well (in 2:18:26!!!) has made the decision to quit smoking as
well!

So, that is my tale of the Mercedes 1/2 Marathon…  Bring on CMM, and 26.2 miles of pain, I mean of enjoyment! 

Well, it has been a fairly busy past couple of weeks…  My schedule at work has been hectic due to the holidays, and I think that this week things will get back to normal…

I’m still running…  Got 10 miles in yesterday with my mom and my sister…  Gearing up for the Mercedes 1/2 marathon on Feb. 15th!!  Totally looking forward to it, and I will get the opportunity to get my mom to finish her first 1/2 marathon in years!!! Ok, I think I’ve already gone over all of this on this blog, so I’ll spare you the details…

Let me just say that April 25th looks a lot closer after New Year’s then it did even a week ago!!  I’m scared, nervous, and excited at the thought of running another 26.2 miles!! 

I’ve had a house guest since the 26th of December…  My mother-in-law has been visiting…  She will be leaving Tuesday morning,  so I’ll get back into the swing of my Yoga…  I would have done it while she was here, but it’s kind of embarrassing to do Yoga with someone watching…  Now, it they were doing it with you, it would be ok, but…  When they are just watching, well, it’s a little too weird for me!    I’ve missed doing my Yoga…  I think it actually helped my running, or at least made me feel better about myself!

Tonight begins my 3 nights in a row working…  And Tuesday is payday!!  Yeee hooo!!  Later this month, I will begin my search for a reasonably priced Garmin 305…  I’ve wanted one for a while, and my chance is coming up to get one!  My hubby will be making a trip to California in the next couple of weeks.  It’s kind of weird knowing he’ll be clear across the country from us!!  He’s really excited about going!  I’m excited for him, as well, because this is an opportunity of a lifetime for him! 

Ok, well, I’m off for a wonderful night of work!    Have a great one yourself!!

I don’t know if it’s the gray sky, the rain, the wind, or the colder temps that’s got my motivation in the dumps…  But, I didn’t run today like I should have…  I had to do some grocery shopping this morning, and by the time I did that, got home, and unpacked everything, I just didn’t feel like getting back out there to run…  I know I said I would run tomorrow, but I just remembered that I have a “breakfast” to go to in the morning.  If I don’t go, my 6 year old will be upset with me…  I can’t go after that, because school will then let out (only a 1/2 day tomorrow).  So, running outside is a no go tomorrow.  I do want to run!  I just don’t want to on the TM…  I guess I will just have to suck it up and fire up the old TM tomorrow when we all get home…  10 miles will be a stretch on that machine, but I’ll have my little TV down there, and daytime TV…   I just have to remember to put it on an incline most of the run to mimic running outside…

Work is going great.  I am really enjoying it!  I can’t wait until my 90 day period is up and I can then take advantage of the tuition reimebursement…  I want to get back in the “classroom” again…  Even if I take online courses, this old woman would like to learn new things!!!

We have no major plans for Christmas…  I’m looking forward to my children’s reactions to all their gifts!  They will be beyond happy!  I’m sending my hubby to Cali in Janurary as his present…  I may try to find him something little for him to open on Christmas morning…   His mom will be flying into town the day after Christmas.  He’s gotten the day off, and that is great news as I have to work Christmas Day night…  So, I’ll be able to come home and take a nap, and be somewhat refreshed by the time they get home from the airport.

Well, that’s about all I have to say…  Not very exciting, but that’s my life! 

To be running in the type of weather I did today…  It was a windy 37* for the first 4 miles.  I felt pretty good, until I hit my 2 mile mark.  My calf muscles were killing me, so I stopped for about 30 seconds, stretched, and drank some water.  By the time I hit 3.5 miles, it was raining.  At least I was warmed up, so the cold rain didn’t bother me.  The .5 mile back to my starting point, I had a discussion with myself.  To go another 2 miles or not.  I told myself, let’s at least do another mile, make it worth my time for getting out in this crappy weather.  When I got to the .5 marker (where I should have turned around) I decided to continue on, to make today’s run 6 miles.  I only saw one other person running today.  I had to laugh to myself b/c I’m out there with ear warmers, a jacket (with a shirt underneath) my running pants, socks and shoes.  This lady had the whole enchilada going on.  Hat, ear covers, balaklava, mittens, jacket, pants, shoes, etc…  Looked like she was out to face some serious snow or something!

I realized today just how much I love running.  It is “my” thing I do.  I don’t share it with my husband.  My kids don’t run, and I run by myself most of the time.  Today I ran without my iPod and it was freeing in a way.  It was just me, the wind, the rain, and the sound of my footfalls.  About as relaxing as you can get.  Last night, I had a hard time going to sleep because my mind was whirling with thoughts of my 1/2 marathon coming up, and my revenge on CMM in April.  How can these 2 events creep into my head and steal my sleep?  Why?  I honestly should stop thinking about it and get a life, huh?

Sucks…  That about sums it up!!

Well, another working week!    Only 3 nights this week, and that was enough…  Next week will be easy for me…  I work Sunday night, am off Monday, then have orientation Tuesday during the day…  And that’s it! 

Yesterday was a nice run with my mom.  I’m so proud of her!  We finally have her up to 8 miles!!  And another good thing is that she feels confident enough to send in her registration for the Mercedes 1/2 Marathon!!  Even though my mom is a bit slower than I am, I plan on crossing that finish line with her come Februrary!  It’s very important to me to have my mom finish yet another 1/2 marathon.  She is, after all, my inspiration for running!  I grew up at the park, pretty much!  It seems I was always waiting for my mom to finish up a run…  Now, I run at that same park I used to play at while waiting for her to run.  Unfortunately, times have changed, and I’m not able to bring my kids to this park and have them play while I run.  Just not safe enough to leave them alone.  But, I digress…  My mom hasn’t been running much over the past, well, say 10 years?   Almost 2 years ago, she posed the question of running another marathon.  That’s the only reason I ran CMM the first time around.   Becuase I made a promise to myself and to my mom that I would run the marathon.  My mom wasn’t able to run that marathon with me, but to be able to get her to run a 1/2 marathon is just as good!  Plus, she plans on running the last 10K of CMM coming up in April…

Nothing new is going on in my life…  I can’t believe that I’ve been employed for 3 weeks already!  Boy time really flies!  No running for me today, but I’m back at it tomorrow! 

Have a great week!

Here is my attempt at a blog…  I’m not a good writer, nor do I write  a lot…  So, I guess I will just type up what I am thinking or doing…

At this moment, I am watching TV…  The first Hell’s Kitchen is on, and it’s the finale.  I know who wins, but I love this show.  Gordon Ramsey is awesome!  I once wanted to audition for Hell’s Kitchen, but, as my luck would have it, the auditions were the same weekend my husband and I moved into our new house!  And now, my life is just too hectic to entertain the thought!

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving feast at my dad’s house.  I met my dad’s girlfriend’s parents.  They are wonderful people.  I love my dad’s girlfriend.  So much nicer than my ex-step-mother!  Beverly is just an all-around nice person, and I can see that she really cares for my dad!!

Tonight is my night to stay up late and switch my days for nights.  I work as a Certified Nurse Assistant, and I am loving this career that I have chosen.  I still have to take my State exam in a few weeks, but I’m confident I won’t screw it up too much!  I work 3rd shift, which is a whole new experience in itself!  I’m usually the one that’s in bed by 10, and asleep by 10:15pm!  Now, I have to be at work at 10pm, and get off at 6am.  At that time, I come home, wake up my 2 boys, get them ready for school, get the husband ready for work, take the kids to school, then come home to sleep until time for the bus to roll by the house with my kids.  The past couple of weeks, I worked 4 nights a week.  Starting this week, I drop down to 3 nights a week.  I am lucky enough to have the privelige of not having to work full time.  Plus, I plan on going on into college, and going on to nursing school.

I’m currently training for my second marathon.  I ran the Country Music Marathon back in April.  At mile 22, I promised myself that I would never run another marathon again.  As soon as I crossed the finish line, I swore I would do it again!  So, come April 25th, I will once again run 26.2 miles!!  My hardest obstacle right now is fitting my runs in to my busy schedule now.  I think it will be much easier when I only work 3 days a week.  I ran 8 miles yesterday in 1:31 and change, so not too shabby.  I would be happy to have another finish time of 5:30 somehting for my marathon, as long as I run the entire thing.  My pace for the 8 miles was just around 11 mins a mile, and that was perfect…  I can see myself holding that pace for the entire 26.2 miles.  In February, I will run the Mercedes 1/2 marathon.  I ran that this past February, but this coming time has more meaning to me as I plan on running with my mom the entire way.  She hasn’t ran a 1/2 marathon in many, many years.  She is a slower runner than myself, but I’m not complaining.  Getting her to the finish line is very important to me.  She visits me once a week to do her long run with me.  This past week was a 7 mile run, next week will be 8.  I cannot describe how much I enjoy running with my mom!  She is a true inspiration to me.

Well, I think I’ve yapped enough for this edition of my first blog.  Hopefully, with a little prompting, I will remember to update this!