Disney and Race Bound!!

Well - it's about that time!!! Above you will see the back side of my race jersey for this weekend's Half Marthon being at Disney's complex during the "Disney Wine and Dine Festival". The ribbons have the names of my "heroes" that I am running for. They have all either lost their fight to Leukemia, Lymphoma and/or Hodgkins disease, are fighting now or are currently in remission. I hope to be able to get all these heroes to the finish line.

I am just about packed and ready to head out the door to get down to Florida. I am arriving a day before the actual race so I can attend the Sports Expo and pick up my registration packet with my bib number, etc. It is all seeming a little overwhelming at this point but I am getting excited to attend this event with the 1000s of other people participating as well.

Thanks again to everyone that has supported me in this endeavor. Whether you supported me by making a donation to the Leukemia Society, with your thoughts and/or prayers to get me through this. I may or may not make it to that finish line before the end of the race, but I know I have done what I could do to this point and will give it my best shot on Saturday evening! This is Disney's first time "Night race". We actually dont even start the race until 10:00 p.m. and have until 1:30 a.m. to get to that finish line. Keep your fingers crossed - I know mine will be!!!

I'll keep you posted as to how it turns out.

Tina

5 Days until the big event!

Here I am! Less than one week away from my first (and last) half-marathon! For the last four days or so I have pretty much had a nervous breakdown over this upcoming event. I have cried, laughed, screamed, paced, cried some more and worried. So.....now that I have gotten all that out of the way, time to start getting packed and ready for this lifetime event.

Apparently not only did I have to train for the last several months for this endurance event, but apparently there is a LOT to do the week and day leading up to the event. Of course you have to pack, like you would any trip you go on. But there is all kinds of stuff you have to remember to pack. Lord knows you don't want to show up 7 hours away from home to get to the starting line and leave your running shoes at home!

Then, there are certain times throughout the weekend that you have to "do stuff". Check in to get your "bag and bib" at the Expo, Meet up team members as they arrive, meet up with everyone for Inspriational Brunch, nap, meet up with team members for photo ops, meet up with team to load the bus, get to your proper "Corral" on time and then lastly be ready to "Run" at 10:00 p.m. Did I mention I have to fit in a nap in there somewhere?

My training simply did not go as well as I was hoping. This past week I was told if I can't maintain a 16 minute pace per mile they would pull me off the race track and not let me finish. That about did me in. Here I am, I have raised all this money for the LLS (more than I was required to), gotten up pretty much every week at 4:30 a.m. to travel for 45 minutes to train with the team, spent quite a bit of money on "proper running gear", and everything I have done to try to do this event, and now I'm told they may not even let me finish!!! I was devastated. I have worried all week, if I don't finish how am I going to come back home and tell everyone I let them down. A few wise people (hopefully they are wise - anyway) told me, not to worry about everyone else. I have done more already than a lot of people ever attempt to do and all I can do is go down there and do my best. So......that is what I am going to do. Guess there are worse places to be pulled out of a race then "The Happiest Place on Earth" right?! Plus, I figured if someone dared tried to pull me off that track I would begin running with all my might and they would have to catch me and drag me on the "slow people bus" first. I'm not going down without a fight - I assure you!!! At least if I get some cuts and bruises along the way, I can say I was pulled out of the race due to injury!

So, Saturday, October 2nd please keep me in your thoughts as I will be down in Orlando doing my best for the LLS! The race does not start until 10:00 p.m. that night so with any luck I will be crossing that finish line by 1:25 a.m. (I have until 1:30 a.m. but I certainly don't want to the be the last one crossing that line!!!)

Thanks to everyone for your support throughout this entire endeavor!!!

Tina

I'm back.......

I did it again! Went over 6 weeks without updating this blog. I have no excuse other than the fact that there is simply not enough hours in my day.

Last time I posted here, I was getting ready to go on The Carnival Dream for mine and my husband's one year anniversary. We had a BLAST! It was so nice to be able to spend an entire week together with no day to day obligations.

I did take all my running clothes and shoes and had all intentions of continuing my training while on board - that lasted one night. It got rather boring running around a little lap which required you to run around it like 15 times to equal a mile. After one mile, I gave up.

Since I returned from the cruise, I have traveled a few times out of town over weekends which has cut into my training as well. However, as of today, I have less than 4 weeks to get ready for this race. Two weeks ago I did manage a 7 mile walk/run and lived to tell the tale! Since then though have only managed 2 miles here and there. This weekend we are set to walk/run 10 miles!!! Hopefully my legs will cooperate.

Will try my best to keep up with this and update you on these last few weeks of training and how the actual race day goes. It is Saturday, October 2nd down in Orlando. Getting excited, but nervous as well.

Hope everyone enjoyed their Labor Day weekend!

Tina

I'm Dreaming......

Yes - that is her in all her glory...Carnival Dream.....and in 7 short days my butt is going to be on there for 7 days with my hubby and a few friends! No children, no dogs, no boss, no phone.........Sounds like a dream!!! Can't wait!!

Quick Update!!

I just realized today that I have neglected my little blog on life's daily adventures! I am sorry, but between working, crafting, training and just life in general, I seem to have a lot of things slipping through the cracks lately!

However - I have not given up on this running yet. In the past two weeks since my last post, I have managed to continue getting in a few runs per week when the weather cooperated. However between 100 degree weather and lots of run, that has been tricky.

Last Saturday, which was DAY 53 of training, I met the team for our regular Saturday morning run and managed a 6 mile run at a 16 minute/mile pace. Even little J went with me and managed out the 6 miles! He now says he will go with me this coming weekend for an "easy 4 mile run". We shall see if he sticks to that plan...... I can say that on Saturday I was able to complete my 6 miles without too much pain and for the first time was able to say "I think I can actually do this!". So...I am looking forward to the next 10 weeks of training to get me to the Finish Line!


On Sunday, July 11, I hosted my First Annual "Get Tee'd Off at Leukemia" Golf Tournament and it was a huge success! I'll try to post some pictures later. Had 15 four-man teams come out for a great Captain's Choice tournament at Miler Country Club where they were given free beer, soda and water and even a cookout lunch following the tournament. Everyone seemed to have a great time and several asked "When are you doing this again?"

Thanks to everyone that came out and helped me run this tournament and especially for those that played the tournament and helps to support this great cause!

Tina

Thought this was supposed to get easier???

Here it is....day 40 of training for this half-marathon and it seems to be getting harder than easier. I know what you are thinking? "Tina - today is Sunday - which is always a "Day of Rest" on your training schedule - why is that hard?" Well, I'll tell you why. I did not feel good all day Friday and Friday evening, so I ended up sleeping in on Saturday and not going to the team run as usual. So, I figured since I technically had my "day of rest" on Saturday, I couldn't be lazy today and I really needed to get up and make up that 6 MILE RUN that I was supposed to have done yesterday.

So.....I woke up at 6:45 a.m., laced up my tennies and headed out. I had it all figured out - I would run out a mile from home and run back for a "water stop" at the end of my driveway (where I had set up a water bottle for a quick "run by" later). Then after my little water break, I would head back out and do another 2 miles and stop for another water break, and then wrap it up with another 2 miles. Sounds like a good plan, huh? Well I walked and walked ( just could not muster up the strength to run at this point) to what I thought was the "1 mile mark" and thought I was going to die by the time I got there. It took me 24 minutes, wherein usually a mile takes me about 15-17 minutes. So, I was like "Wow, that must have been more than a mile, I clearly miscalculated". I turned around and ran/walked back to the house and it took me 18 minutes to get back but I took a little detour through a cut road because I was dyeing of thirst. When I stopped to get water I thought my feet were going to bust right out of my shoes they hurt so bad.

I have came to the conclusion that the reason I have such pain when I walk/run at home is because when they paved the roads in our neighborhood they paved them at a significant slant where the road actually "peaks" in the middle and then slants down to both edges of the road. So, when I walk, I feel like I am leaning. I swear this is putting strain on my legs that I should not be having. I could be wrong, but this is what I am thinking since I dont have the same issues when I walk/run downtown. (When I walk/run downtown, I simply have the "Oh my god, I am out of shape and too old to do this type pain.......not the oh, god, my feet are going to shoot off the bottom of my legs pain that I experience at home.....just to clarify).

Anyhoo, by this time, I had convinced myself if I tried to go back out for another 2 miles I would end up collapsing. This would not be good since by the time my family woke up around noon and realized I had not made it back home, I would have surely been left for dead on the side of the road from heat exhaustion and dehydration. Because of this thought, I only made it 2 miles today instead of the 6 I had so graciously planned the night before. There is always tomorrow I guess.

Today is your birthday! It's my birthday too!!!

Well, OK.....it may not exactly be your birthday - - but it is MINE!! I love birthdays! I am of the assumption you get to celebrate your birthday the entire WEEK of your birthday, and not just the one day. After all, you have to get in as many free lunches/dinners you can possibly get right?! :)




Anyhoo, to my surprise (and everyone else in my office) my boss decided he wanted to get me a birthday cake for my birthday. Doesn't it look yummy?

I know, the picture does not do it justice since I had to use my phone to take the pic. But, trust me.....it was a toasted Coconut cake and it was scrumptious!

Me and a coworker went to lunch today for my birthday and then came back to the office and pigged out on cake! :) Most of the others in our office "save their extra calories for wine" so they said, so needless to say me and Jillian had a lot of cake to share - but we didn't mind! We had breakfast and snack for the rest of the week!

Me and the family did not do anything special for my birthday today since we have planned to go out to eat tomorrow night since that day worked better for everyones schedule. I didn't mind, that gave me more time at home to eat some more cake tonight! My thought was - cake is carbs and carbs are good for running -right?! That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Tina