Girls On The Run 5K

This past weekend marked the end of the Fall Girls On The Run (GOTR) season for 2009. (sniff sniff) I started as head coach for this 12 week program in September at one of the six locations in the San Diego chapter. We have had meetings twice a week for a total of 24 sessions, with our final event being a 5K race.

GOTR Girls

About GOTR

GOTR focuses on “Educating and preparing girls for a lifetime of self-respect and healthy living”. Girls on the Run is a non-profit prevention program that encourages preteen girls to develp self-respect and healthy lifestyles through running. The curriculum addresses all aspects of a girl’s development – their physical, emotional, mental, social, and spiritual well-being.

The twelve week program has broken up into three main sections which focused on:

• All About Me: Getting to know who I am and what I stand for
• Building My Team: Understanding the importance of cooperation
• Community Begins With Me: Learning about community and designing our community project

Working on an Exercise

Practice 5Ks

We had two practice 5Ks during the season where the girls had the majority of the time to just run. In our first practice 5K I brought the girls Gatorade and was AMAZED by how much they loved it. Seriously Gatorade turned out to be preteen girl crack. They couldn’t get enough of it! I didn’t get it at all! Gatorade is kind of bitter and weird tasting! I mean I like it now but I can’t imagine how it appealed so well to the candy palate of a young girl! Anyways, it worked, they loved it, and the chance of getting one more little cup of Gatorade totally spurred them on to run each additional lap.

GATORADE!

In our second 5K the girls did even better. In the first practice 5K we had 8 of 20 girls complete all twelve laps (1/4 mile each = 3 miles ~ 5K). In our second practice 5K we had 13 of 20 girls complete all twelve laps .. and 5 girls run more than that!

Season Continues

As the season continued from All About Me, to Building My Team, to Community Begins With Me, we got to a session where we did a group Community Project which I covered in my blog GOTR Community Service Project . The girls all created holiday cards for members of the military in the “Holiday Cards for Heroes” program and chronically ill children from the “Make a Child Smile” program. The girls all had a lot of fun and I hope that their cute little cards made those special people far away smile.

Creating Holiday Cards

Season Ends

On our last meeting of the season (session 24) we didn’t run at all and spent our last session together having a season end celebration. One of the other coaches brought balloons, cupcakes, and ice cream (OH MY!) and another coach and I put together awards for each of the girls.

Each girl received a spirit award for the season which related to her as an individual in our group. (Okay .. I had 26 girls in this group and had a tiring time coming up with 26 suitable/cool/exciting awards!!) Some examples of the awards are:

• Shining Spirit
• Running Wizard
• Mega Miler
• Super Smiler
• Future Marathoner

Jingle Bell 5K

Our season end celebration was last Thursday, and this past Saturday was the finale event .... the 5K! Luckily the 5K was in Balboa Park close to my neighborhood! Whooo hooo! The girls ran in a public race which is known for its holiday costumes and spirit. From the website I saw that people dressed up as Santa, Reindeer, elves, and other random red and green creatures. This race would be the location where all six of the GOTR San Diego groups came together and participated in a “real” 5K.

Getting Ready for the 5K

Funny – about a week before the race one of the girl’s father called me and asked about when the race was, where it was, and general information about it. Then he asked me how far a 5K was. I said "well, its 3.1 miles". He said “wow.. five miles? Okay .. okay .. wow.. five miles huh? Okay .. I can do that. .. Huh..” (HAHA!) After being a runner for so many years and after running so many marathons (11 thank you!) its hard for me to see 3 miles as being far! Also, after seeing all these little 8-11 year olds run 2-3 miles several times in the past few months its even harder to realize that running 3 miles can be totally out of the comprehension of someone! I guess for some people who never run though even running a mile can be a challenge.

Best Race Costumes!

As the race approached we started getting the girls geared up for the race. Each girl is supposed to run the race with a “Running Buddy” who can either be her parent or someone who signs up to volunteer just for that day. As it turned out 20 of the 25 girls running the race had their parent(s) running with them. Only 5 girls needed a running buddy with whom I paired up a volunteer. Most of us coaches had signed up as well to be available but in the end we were able to run alone.

We met an hour before the race to get everyone together and stretched, performed our group cheer (ours was the best and loudest!) and then got ready for the race. Since I wasn’t paired up with a runner and hadn’t run a 5K in a year (and before that not for 3 years) I really wanted RACE! In my last 5K (Run and Stride for Pride 5K 2008) I came in first in my division (whoo hoo!) with at time of 23:49. My goal for this race was 22 minutes!

I started out the race FAST and was charging along feeling eat when I looked down at my Garmin GPS watch and saw that I had run a sub-7:00 pace mile in the first mile. Great! But not really… I don’t have the ability to maintain that pace and I knew that because of that I would pay later. I slowed down a bit and managed a sub 8:00 pace for the second mile.. but a little after that my fatigue and shortness of breath set in. I actually had to WALK (in a 3 mile race! FOR SHAME) for a bit to catch my breath before starting up again. I felt like such a sheepish shame! I finally picked back up into a run and crossed the finish line at 24:09 with a 8:01 pace! (Also being the first GOTR associated runner to cross! Whooo hoo!)

My Running Race Face

As soon as I crossed the finish line I grabbed a water and then went back to a spot just before the last turn before you could see the finish line where I could cheer on the rest of my girls. The fastest girl in our group (a little 9 year old) flew by not that much later! After her I waited a bit and probably saw one girl every few minutes.

More Cowbell!

I’m not sure if I can describe adequately what a wonderful experience it was to stand there and see each girl approach the finish line. For some of the girls the race was a piece of cake. They had run a 5K before and knew they could do it. Sure they got more excited and gave me a big smile when they saw me yelling and cheering for them (cowbell waving madly overhead) as they came around that last bend, but it wasn’t them that were so moving to me ... it was seeing the ones that I think didn't know that they could do it who really made me smile. I could see a change on so many of their faces as soon as they caught site of me, and then the finish line just past me. You could see on their face a look of WOW! I DID IT! I ran a 5K!!

The Finish Line

Several girls were already running as they approached me and just smiled bigger as they passed me. Others were running slowly or walking in the last stretch but when they saw me ringing my cowbell and shouting their name they suddenly perked up and took off for the finish. A couple of them actually looked like a bat out of hell as they passed me! All-in-all I can’t think of the last time I smiled so hard and tried to hold back tears! (Okay, actually I can … seeing David’s parents at our marathon waving big signs over their head at location after location really touched my heart...more details and pictures at my blog entry on the Marine Corps Marathon 2009) But these little girls, warmed my heart a bit more.

After a while the crowd started to thin out and more and more time passed in between each girl. I started to curse myself for not having my roster with me where I could have crossed each girl off who had passed me! I did a quick mental inventory and thought of some of the slower girls and remembered whether I saw them or not. As 30 minutes turned into 40, and then 50, and then an hour.. I then started to think okay.. where are my last few girls? I’d see GOTR shirts approaching and would get excited and then would feel let down when I realized it was a girl from another site.

When I saw the second to last girl she was waking with her mom, looking down at the ground, and looking somewhat dejected. I cheered loudly for her and suddenly she perked up, started pumping her arms and just took off! As her mom passed us she smiled and said “I needed you there doing that the whole time!”. After her I still had to keep an eye out for our very last girl. About ten minutes later she approached with her mom kind of walking … but with some cheering she started to jog a bit.. and then they both started running again and plowed on to the finish line! I ran to the finish line after her too and saw her get her medal and a big hug from her mom, her Running Buddy. Okay .. teary moment again! She looked so proud, her mom looked so proud, and it was just such a sweet moment.

Changing Lives

I didn’t run a 5K until I was in my 20’s, and at that point it was cool to me, but nothing life changing. Life changing running came for me the first time I finished a half marathon .. and then a full marathon. For me, running a distance race was something I never thought in a million years that I could ever do. Distance running for me has truly been life changing and its something I would recommend to everyone I know. It changes your life when you cross those finish lines, and its amazing.

After seeing these young girls complete their first 5K, I felt like I was witness and a part of a life-changing experience of their own. As one of their coaches I also felt honored to be part of that experience. More than that, I was so proud that they had accomplished this and experienced something like this so young in their lives! Some people to this day have never run three miles, but these girls did it! And along the way they learned a number of important life lessons.

Group Discussion Time

After the race I received a number of emails from the girls parents that really moved me. I know this program had a purpose outside of running, but I didn’t’ really understand the effect that it could have had before the parents had contacted me with stories specifically about their girls. I had hoped that the girls had had fun in our season, and I had hoped that they’d be proud of the fact that they had run a 5K, but I hadn’t really thought about the bigger picture effect of what this program could do for them as a person and their sense of themselves and who they were.

Some of the messages that really made me stop and say WOW:

“My daughter had a fantastic run yesterday!! Thank you so much. She was in awe of her own accomplishment. She kept saying how proud she was of herself and held her medal high with a big grin! This was such an amazing opportunity for her! Thank you immensely and we plan to be back at it in February!”

“Thank you for such a wonderful experience with Girls on the Run. My daughter loved the whole program. She loved going to each session and learning new things as well as meeting new friends. She loved the camaraderie of the team. I really think the program helped her with self esteem and confidence. Sometimes it is hard for her being the tallest girl in her class, but I can definitely see a difference in her since the beginning of the program. Thank you to you and all the coaches for providing such a fun way to be healthy and a strong girl. She was very proud to cross the finish line on Saturday and we were so excited to see it happen. My husband enjoyed it so much he wants to sign up for another 5K with her!”

“My daughter is going through a tough time at school right now, and GOTR is such a bright spot for her. She LOVES it. I hesitated to sign her up because she was only a couple of days older than your cutoff, but I'm so glad I let her talk me into it. Running has been so great for me and I am so happy that it "works" for her too.”

Its really amazing to me to see how impactful this program has been on the girls. The design of the program makes it mostly fun with games and fun exercises. Through the program and exercises the girls are actually learning though, and in addition to that they are running! There isn’t anything bad I can say about running! In my own life running has been the greatest thing I could have started to do for myself. In addition to helping me be a healthier person, it has also helped me build self-confidence by showing me that I could do something I NEVER thought I could do if I set a goal, developed a plan, and dedicated myself. It has also became something that I really enjoy, and its a great way to get outside, to workout, to burn off stress, and to meet new people. Running isn’t for everyone, but for me .. it has worked. And I can’t think of anything more rewarding in life than to take what has changed my life for the better and share it with others. In this situation, a group of 8-11 year old girls.

I love the whole GOTR program, the San Diego chapter, my fellow coaches, and my group of Fall season girls. I’m so thankful to have been involved in this opportunity and I’m looking forward to continuing my involvement. The next season of GOTR starts in February and I’m looking forward to coaching again! In addition to coaching again I was also asked by a couple of the directors to become more involved with the organization and to join their board of directors! What a dream come true! I can’t wait to see what this opportunity holds. :o)

Walk Down Memory Lane

I was in Maryland this past weekend and on Saturday David and I made a trip out to my grandparents old farm in New Windsor, MD. I hadn't been out there in almost ten years! Before that last visit I had spent a week or two there every summer for as long as I could remember out at my grandparents farm and visiting my Aunt Judy in Virgina, and later my Aunt Elsa in Baltimore. I can easily say that some of my favorite summer memories occurred on these trips, and I look back at those times with a smile. :o) <--- Like that!

History of the Farm

According to my dad my grandparents bought the farm in 1969 when my grandfather retired from the Coast Guard. The lived there until the mid-9os when they moved into a nursing home close to Baltimore.

The Farm - 1979

The last time that my dad and I went for our normal visit together was 1993. I came back years later alone (I was a big girl by then!) in 1999 when I was about to finish college, and then sadly again for another time in 2000 for my grandmother's funeral.

The Farm - 1999

My grandfather passed in 1996 and my grandmother in 2000. I wasn't able to make my grandfather's funeral because I was in school, but I was able to make it back for my grandmother's. Last year around the holidays David and I took a trip to Arlington Cemetary to visit my grandparents.

Arlington Cemetery - Dec 2008

Capt. Arnold E. Carlson
US Coast Guard

Allegra Carlson
His Wife

Growing Up

My parents took me to the farm long before I remember ever going. The love telling the story of how they took me as a baby and there was't a crib for me so they put me in a drawer to sleep in. Okay, these days that might sound like child abuse, but I think its cute. :o) My mom also talks about how she couldn't sleep at night because of the sound of the cows mooing. Do cows really moo at night? Maybe it was in the morning? Or should I say moooorning? Haha. By the time I could remember the farm the cows were long gone. In my younger years my grandfather had chickens, but for the majority of my visits to the farm there were mostly small crops like corn and potatoes.

Little Monika
(The cross eyed full Asian girl)

I remember going out with my grandfather while he turned the ground and I picked up the potatoes! (and then made icky icky poo hand motions and faces while I rubbed the dirty dirty off my hands. Yes ... even as a young child I was a prissy priss. haha.)

Me & My Grandparents & Aunt Judy
(At my cousin David's wedding)

Grandpa used to also take me out into the corn fields and pull off a few ears and peel them open to look at them. I remember how he'd peel back the shucks on a few and then toss them aside behind him if they didn't look right. I was shocked! Little city girl me! Him tossing an ear of corn behind him was the same to me as if he'd thrown a box of cereal or a loaf of bread off to the side. That was food!

Me & My Grandparents & Dad

Good Memories

I have so many good memories at the farm that its hard to list them all briefly. I loved going out with my grandfather and picking up potatoes and picking corn .. even if the natureness of it grossed me out. I loved working on craft projects with my grandmother, and best of all her letting me sit in her lap with my head on her chest listening to her pacemaker. I was being prepped to be a real homemaker at that farm! I learned how to sew, knit, do needlepoint, and do latchhook. Each summer we usually had a project we'd complete, most often from a craft magazine or from Bob's Hobby Lobby in the nearby town of Westminster, MD. My Aunt Judy usually was a huge help, and I attribute my needlepoint skills to her alone!

Silly Picture of My Dad

I have so many various random childhood memory from the farm ... making potato chips from scratch with potatoes from their field, sitting on the porch watching the fireflies and wishing they had them in San Francisco, watching my grandparents fry bacon with a bacon press (quite a contraption for the bacon lover who loves flat, crispy bacon), planning my next dollhouse based on the room replicas my grandmother had made, reading books with the window fan going (because there was no AC), swinging on the porch swing with my dad or grandparents, listening to the kitchen screen door slam whenever someone came in, playing on the armchair my grandparents had which lifted you up to standing, watching the Young and the Restless with my grandmother (oh Cricket!!), answering the phone when someone called for "the Captain" (my grandfather) ... and so many more. Those were good times, really good times.

My Grandfather

But I digress.... wow, this is getting me a little misty!

Return to the Farm

Ever since I found out that David had grown up in Maryland I've wanted to go back and see the farm. I mean its been ten years since I'd been there! And ... its the defining point of all of my childhood summers! We were in Maryland last year around the holidays but due to the busyness of the week we never got to make it out. I have been back to the area a few times since but we've just never had time to go. For this past trip David asked me "So what do you want to do this weekend?" I answered "Well, its your birthday weekend so we can do anything you want. But .. there is one thing I want to do ... I want to go see my grandparent's farm." And so we did!

Saturday morning we had plans to head to the farm in the morning, have lunch in the nearby town, and then head back to College Park. I woke up on Saturday morning, yawned, looked at the clock, looked outside .... and my world came to a standstill. RAIN?! (Give me a break here. I've lived in San Diego for the past two years and lived in Arizona for about six years before that. I can almost count the number of times I've seen it rain in the past 8 years on one hand!) Okay, mayyyyybe two! Growing up in San Francisco I didn't see a lot of rain either, but moving to Arizona made me think "Rain? What's rain?" Okay, back to Maryland. So I woke up and it was raining. Boo. I hate rain. Whatever though, we'd be in the car and it would be fine.

Driving to New Windsor

As we started to drive towards New Windsor my surprise over rain quickly turned shock over SNOW! It looked like it was snowing! But when the snowflakes hit the windshield they went SPLAT and were drop/splotches. California girl was confused. David quickly informed her that if its not cold enough outside it can snow ... but it won't "stick". Okay .. I get it. So we drove in the snow splotches for a while as I sat in amazement ... and then suddenly there was snow on the side of the road! And then more! And more! And as we got closer to the farm the sides of the road were blanketed with snow! I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited!

About an hour later we arrived in New Windsor and started approaching the farm. The first time I had told David about my grandparents farm in New Windsor he almost immediately said "oh, I bet its row houses now.". :-O No~ I was like what?? No way! He said yeah, that's what happens. :o( I didn't want to believe it, and didn't believe it in my heart ... but a tiny part of me was scared as we got closer. I vaguely remembered the road to the farm being bumpy and hilly .. as we coasted along with only a few miles to go I got nervous .... but then we got closer... and there it was! The same as how I remembered it!

Arriving at the Farm

When we first drove by the farm there was a bundled up man salting the driveway. I instinctively gave him a dirty look thinking "UGH! You're living on *MY* grandparents farm!! ! Who are you anyways!?!" David said "Hey look! You should talk to him and tell him why you're here!" I declined thinking it sounded too cheesy.

David and I drove by a few more times before parking down the road and walking up to the farm so I could take pictures. It was probably really weird that in the middle of nowhere a big truck drove by about three times. David joked that the man ran back into the house and said to his wife "Honey! There's a hippie and a Muslim casing the place!" haha.. David and his long hair ... me and my phobia of snow and rain with my scarf wrapped around my precious hair!

The Farm! 2009

Grandparents' Farm

We got a few good pictures of the farm and McKinstry's Mill across the street. I had never seen the farm in snow before... and it was soo pretty. A part of me is still sad that this cornerstone of my childhood is no longer in my family. I wish someone had been able to buy it and our next generations would be able to come there to visit and spend there summers.

Walking Past McKinstry's Mill

McKinstry's Mill

Sams Creek Rd/McKinstry's Mill Rd

After casing the farm and taking a number of pictures we headed into the town of Westminster. There was a bookstore that my grandparents used to get me books from each Christmas. I'd get a book wtih a special bookmark in it from "Locust Books". When I was old enough we'd go into town togheter and I'd get to pick out a book myself. My hopes for this bookstore still being around were slim. I had forgotten the name so David and I just headed in the general direction of the main town street. As we got closer to the main street he asked me if things looked familiar. Sadly ... I said no. :o( And then we pulled into a parking lot and EUREKA! I recognized a brick tower in the parking lot and knew we were right behind the bookstore. We went in the back entrance and I was AMAZED that the store looked just as I remembered. Wow, my last visit was 10 years ago! And I'd been there as a child! According to the signs the store had been there for 25 years! (Older than someone I know... haha)

David and I looked around the store and he ended up buying four books for his America Reads kids and I bought one book for my dad. (Dad, if you're reading this ... guess what you're getting as a Christmas gift? haha) After buying books we went to one of the nearby eateries for lunch. Mexican! With the option to order fries or hot wings of course! Random...

Locust Books - Westminster, MD

As we drove back from the farm I had mixed emotions. It was bittersweet to see the farm, the place where my childhood summer memories lie. It was nice to see that the farm was still there. It was nice to think back to all of the times with my grandparents. It was nice to visit the bookstore and the town of Westinster as an "adult", after going there for so many years as a kid.

I think part of me loves the farm and all of those memories becuase they are SO opposite of the rest of my life. I'm a city girl, born and raised in San Francisco. (The "city" - for those of you who think "San Francisco" means everything within 100 miles.) I love being a city girl! But I loved those times at the farm with my grandparents as well.

Arnold & Allegra - May you rest in peace. I love you. Thank you for the memories. :o)

The Making of a Sock Monkey

There seems to be a sort of obsession with sock monkeys in David's family. Maybe "obsession" isn't the right word, I suppose tradition is probably more suitable. David has his own sock monkey named Marcus which sits (creepily) in the corner of his bedroom. The sock monkey is kind of like the Mona Lisa ... its eyes follow you wherever you go in the room! No, I'm kidding - but it is weird to see the little sock monkey propped up in the corner. I actually think he might have been lost in transit to David's new place, but in his last two apartments Marcus manned his corner post each day and night.

Last Christmas when we were looking for a gift for his niece Skylar we came across a large stuffed sock monkey at Target. It immediately went into the basket. Little did we know his mother had bought her one as well. David wanted to be the one to give Skylar her first sock monkey so the one his mom bought was put into the pool for the gift exchange we'd have at his cousin's house in MD on Christmas Part 3. Skylar's twin sisters also received sock-monkey-like themed dolls... sock frogs!

Sock Frogs for the Twins

When I was at the craft store about a month ago looking for supplies for my Girls On The Run group I came across a sock monkey kit! How perfect! I could make David a sock monkey for Christmas! I immediately bought the kit and then went to go buy stuffing. For some crazy reason the store was out of polyfill stuffing! (And all stuffed animal making in San Diego screeched to a halt... jk) I found stuffing at another craft store and we were ready to get monkeying!

I brought the supplies over to my friend Devika's house with the intention to make the sock monkey while we watched a DVD marathon of True Blood.

Sock Monkey Kit

Sock #1 Becomes the Body
(With baby foot for size perspective.. haha)

Let There Be Legs!

Sock Monkey Body

Sock #2 Tail & Arms

Sock Monkey w/Tail

Sock Monkey Arms

Starting to Look Like a Monkey!

Rear View.. Love the Red Butt!

Sock Monkey Face
(Kona jumped into a picture)

Sock Monkey Face Completed!
(Mika jumped into this picture)

We watched about 6 hours of True Blood .. and I wasn't finished with the monkey! Six hours of sewing was miserable! I had no idea the project would take so long. Due to the loose fibers in the sock material the stitches needed to hold the parts together were this back cross-over double stitchy thing that took a lot of time and a lot of thread since you were basically going over every stitch twice. I got most of the sock monkey done at her house including his hat, but still needed to make his slippers and teddy bear before he was complete.

Sock Monkey w/Hat

I put the project aside for a few weeks until I realized that I didn't want to wait until Christmas to give David the sock monkey, so I quickly finished the project early this week so that I could send it to him for his birthday instead. I made the slippers and bear .. and we were done! Yay!

Sock Monkey's Teddy Bear

Sock Monkey w/Teddy Bear

Welcome to the world Thaddeus Primus!

Sock Monkey Complete!

Home For The Holidays

This Thanksgiving I went home to San Francisco for the first time in several years. I had decided to drive up so that I could bring my dogs with me and have a car available during the long weekend.

The Drive

I knew that traffic would be bad on the 5 on the way from San Diego to San Francisco so I set a goal to leave before noon. (I had some work I needed to finish before the long weekend, otherwise I would have left first thing in the morning.) I wrapped everything up from home and was on the road early – 11:45am! Hey, even 15 minutes early is an accomplishment for me.

I loaded up the car and started off on my drive. San Francisco or bust! I usually let the dogs sit up in the front seat with me but due to the length of the trip and my guilt about being a bad dog mommy, I decided that for this trip I’d put the pet gate up behind the front seats and blockade the dogs in the backseat. Mika was not happy about that… not happy about that at all! She whined and whimpered incessantly hoping that she’d wear me down and I’d let her up front. About 45 minutes into the drive I couldn’t take her whining anymore and decided to stop to get a sandwich so I could get away from the awful sounds of a dying dog. I had this crazy delusion that once I got back into the car and on the road after the quick pit stop that she would have calmed down and given up on the whining. Nope, it persisted.

Mika Struggling to Get Up Front

We hit traffic about 20 minutes later … and that traffic didn’t end for the next four hours. Yes, FOUR HOURS! Guess how far I got in four hours? 145 miles. Seriously. I stopped again at that point and tried not to get too down about the fact that I should be halfway home by now. The dog whining had died down a bit by now. Possibly because of the crazed look I was getting in my eyes from being stuck in the car for so long and making so little progress. Maybe Mika started getting scared that I would “forget her” at the next rest stop. Aww.. I’m kidding, I’d never do that. Where was Kona during all this? Sitting quietly like the little black angel that she is. Of course.

The traffic lightened up when I finally got to the boring, smelly, farm part of the 5, and eleven hours later I finally made it home to my dad’s. Yay!

Turkey Trot

On Thanksgiving morning I was signed up to run my very first Turkey Trot! My friend Christina and I were going to be running the Turkey Trail Trot in Golden Gate Park sponsored by my alma matter – Oh Lowell High! (If you’re a Lowellite did you hear the Lowell Hymn in your head as I said that?) When I originally asked Christina to run the race I didn’t think to register right away, and once I went back to register a week later the course was full! Ack! Christina talked me into running as a bandit on the course which I felt fairly guilty about .. but she had a point, the race was in the park and I could have just been running in the park.

I saw on the website that a lot of people dressed up for the race. The costumes ranged from turkeys to Indians to Pilgrims. I decided to make a modest effort to be festive and put my hair in Indian style braids. AND I wore a yellow running shirt. You know, a Thanksgiving color! Well, kinda. There were a lot of great costumes among the racers on this race day. There were several people in full body turkey costumes, dozens of people with turkey hats, a few people dressed like Indians and Pilgrims, a cute couple dressed like peas and carrots, and a funny pair dressed up as a turkey and a chef with a big fake knife!

Turkey Trail Trot 2009

The course was 5 miles (not the 5K I had hoped for) and started from the Polo Fields in Golden Gate park and lapped around a larger grassy loop up and down into picnic areas. I haven’t been training or running very hard since my marathon a month ago and was a bit nervous to be trying to go all out on a short distance. The pressure was off though when I found out that I couldn’t register and have my finish time tracked. But then … when Christina came to pick up her race number the night before she found out about a “secret” registration link which allowed you to register for only $10! You wouldn’t get a shirt but who cares! I immediately signed up and thought about how all races should give that option. I almost never wear race shirts and have donated almost all of them.

This excitement was quickly dashed on Thursday morning when I showed up to pick up my number and it wasn’t there. Did I have a print out of my race confirmation? Of course not, I’ve run dozens of races and never had a problem, I had never even though to print it. So okay, back to the bandit plan.

My goal for the race was to run a sub 8 minute mile. That had me aiming for a finish time of around 39 minutes. I’m disappointed to say that I finished in 42 minutes .. BUT .. my GPS watch tracked the course at 5.24 miles not 5.00 miles, so over that distance my pace ended up averaging out to 8:01. Perfect! I’m embarrassed to say that around mile 2 a turkey flew past me, but I did managed to cross the finish line well ahead of the peas and carrots!

Side Note: Interesting - I got a snarky comment on my blog late last night from someone with a private profile going off about how being a bandit is equitable to being a thief. While I see his point to a certain degree he's not totally correct to bash me for this race because #1 I DID register online but my registration got lost. And #2 Because I wasn't registered for the race I didn't take any water, food, and I didn't even cross the finish line. There have also been numerous races that I've registered for but haven't run for one reason for another... so not that I've registered for this race and not run it in the past, but in the running universe I have paid more than I have taken.

Commenter said...

"Christina talked me into running as a bandit on the course which I felt fairly guilty about .. but she had a point, the race was in the park and I could have just been running in the park."

And would you have run the very same coure in the park if there was no Turkey Trail Trot occurring? Race bandits are thieves, plain and simple. The course is designed to accomodate 1,000 runners only. You did NOT pay for the insurance, the permits, the portapotties, the refreshments, etc for the event. Nor did your participation contribute to the donation that went to Lowell.

Any event can happen in public space--concerts, picnics, sporting events. If they all charge a fee for admission, does that give you a right to simply partake in the events without paying, especially when the events have sold out or have restricted entries?

Race bandits are thieves.

Turkey Lunch

After the race I went back home to shower and change and my dad and I headed out for lunch and to go see the movie the Blind Side. I was hoping that the California Pizza Kitchen near the theater would be open but it wasn’t. Neither was Chevy’s. Big sad face. Luckily Max’s Opera Café was open though so we went there. In honor of Thanksgiving they had a special menu that featured Thanksgiving dinner! (And a very limited menu outside of that.) Since it was only lunch time I wasn’t ready for turkey so I ordered a veggie wrap – but then at the last minute asked if they could add some turkey to it as well. Dinner was great and the movie was great as well! Very touching and a great story, even more heart warming to know its based on a true story. I totally recommend seeing it!

Turkey Wrap @ Max's Opera Cafe

Lunch w/My Dad

Thanksgiving Dinner

My dad and I had planned on going out for Thanksgiving dinner and I searched on OpenTable.com to find the perfect place. A number of places were offering special “Thanksgiving” dinner packages and we ending up choosing the restaurant First Crush near Union Square. The restaurant was packed when we got there at 6pm! The restaurant was really cute and everything on the menu looked great. I had been planning on having turkey for dinner but after looking at the menu I knew I had to go fish all the way! I had mushroom soup, pistachio crusted Hawaiian walu fish, and crème brulee for desert. My dad had hmm… I can’t remember what he started with (probably because I was too busy shoving food in my face), we shared crab cakes, and then he had a shrimp and cheesy risotto as his entrée. I tried to get him to split some of the dessert with me to share some of my guilt but he passed. More crème brulee for me!

After dinner we headed back home (on the Muni! I roughed it!) and I headed straight for bed in a fine food coma. Yum yum yum. I wish I could have that meal all over again!

Heading To Wine Country

Later the next morning I had plans to meet some of my friends to drive up to Sonoma for a day and a half of wine tasting. There was a special event going on this past weekend where for $30 you gained entry to 23 wineries in the area! Not only was that an awesome deal on tasting fees, but each winery had “holiday treats” to eat and they were offering 15% off on all purchases. Some of the wineries only had crackers and nuts and chocolates, but others had sandwiches, crab appetizers, chocolate truffles, and one place even gave out small bowls of pork and beans! Mmmmm! On Friday we managed to visit 6 wineries in the 4 hours that we had. We ate so much that driving wasn’t that much of an issue, but just to be the safe responsible citizens that we are we had arranged for a limo to take us around.

Living the Fabulous Life

SF Friends at VJB Winery

Christmas Carolers at VJB Winery

Seafood Feast On The Grill

After the wine tour we came back home to our swinging pad in Oakmont, a community for active seniors. We brought life to that area! The plan for the evening was to BBQ crab legs to start, and to cook ceviche style tilapia to go into fresh fish tacos. The marinade for the tilapia probably took more than anything else, but it was well worth it.

Fresh Crab Off the Grill

Preparing for Dinner!

I’m Black and White ….

After dinner we retired to the fireplace area (like the active seniors we are) and played a few rounds of Bridge and Gin Rummy. Just kidding, we played the game Taboo. Some of the clues the teams were giving were hilarious and made me think of that scene in the movie Four Christmases where they’re playing the game. Have you seen it? Anyways, of all of the funny clues and guesses that came out that night, by far my favorite was:

Jared: Okay I’m an animal, and I’m black and white, and I smell really bad.

Tom: A panda?

A panda?? Haha! Not a skunk? Oh Tom..

Taste of Sonoma – Take Two

Since the passes we had bought to the Holiday Open House event were good for Friday and Saturday, we couldn’t pass up the chance to go out and check out more wineries! We didn’t have a limo or driver this time and all also had to drive back to the city that night so we were more moderate in our tastings. We managed to visit 6 more wineries on our list in the 4 hours that we had on Saturday which wasn’t too bad! That even included time that we took out for a picnic lunch break at one of the wineries.

When the event ended at 4pm we went back to the house to collect my dogs, pack up the car, and prepare to head back to the city. Although Mika whined like a banshee the entire 1 ½ hour drive up to Sonoma, she was a perfect angel on the way back. Weird. By the time we got home I was full and tired .. and called it a night and cancelled my overly ambitious plans to go out afterwards with some other friends. What was I thinking?

Mika As Co-Pilot

Driving Back to SD

I was so traumatized by the drive north to San Francisco and wanted to make sure I got an early start on the way back down to San Diego. I planned on leaving by 8am so I’d hopefully get home before dinner time .. and I did it! I left right at 8am! Who am I? This strange punctual road-trip girl! There wasn’t any traffic on the way back down and I got back home by 4pm. Who would have thought I’d be happy about an 8 hour drive? Well I sure was! The drive back down was fairly uneventful. Luckily the dogs slept almost the entire way and the car was peaceful and quite. I cleared out a ton of podcasts on my long drive down and the trip really wasn’t too bad.

It was really nice to come home for Thanksgiving and to spend time with my dad and friends. For the past four years I’ve worked an annual dental tradeshow in New York, NY and have taken off for New York on the Saturday following Thanksgiving. That really cut my Thanksgiving weekends short. For years! I wasn’t going this year for the first time in ages it seems which gave me the opportunity to take the time to come home. It was worth it! There’s no place like home.

GOTR Community Service Project

As most of you know I’m coaching a program called Girls On The Run (GOTR). The program is for girls ages 8-11 and it “educates and prepares girls for a lifetime of self-respect and healthy living”. We go through a number of exercises and activities each time we meet, and the program ends with the girls running a local 5K.

The season has 24 lessons that focus on three main topics:

1. All About Me – Getting to know who I am and what I stand for

2. Building My Team – Understanding the importance of cooperation

3. Community Begins With Me – Learning about community and working on a community project

Community Begins With Me

We started on “Community Begins With Me” a couple weeks and began discussing what a community is, what communities the girls are a part of, and what it takes for a community to run smoothly. We then started talking about the community service project with them and had them start thinking about what they would like to do as a group for their community project.

Developing The Project

We brainstormed with the girls last Tuesday to help them come up with a great community project idea. The project had to be something that we could complete during one session (one hour time limit) and at our regular meeting site (Carmel Valley Community Rec Center). This ruled out anything that took a lot of time, or involved us having to go somewhere else to complete the project.

Some of the ideas that they came up with were:

• Create puppets for a puppet show to benefit a local hospital
• Create holiday cards for the elderly and homeless
• Collect clothing for a homeless shelter
• Make cards for a local hospital
• Collect shoes to donate
• Collect toys/canned food/clothing for a shelter

We took a secret vote for the above ideas (eyes closed, hands raised so no one’s feeling was hurt if their idea wasn’t chosen) and the winner was.....

Creating holiday cards for the elderly/homeless!

One idea that I didn’t move onto the voting stage? “Going to a hobo village and giving out food!”. Umm… hobo village? Ha ha. What? Wait, I think there is actually one right around my storage unit downtown. No jokes… it’s a bit colorful down there. I informed the girls that “hobos” isn’t really a nice name for homeless people and that they probably shouldn’t call them that. They seemed a bit confused … apparently K-12 education has updated their lingo since I was last in school.

Anyways, we then went around the group of girls and had them all list something that they would bring to help make the cards. We had a long list of items including: envelopes, markers, colored pencils, glitter, pipe cleaners, construction paper, stickers, crayons, gel pens, and envelopes.

I then needed to figure out a place that we could send the cards. I figured a hospital or senior home might not want a random package of cards to show up on their door, so I looked to see if there were formal charities or organizations set up that would fit with our project. Luckily, I found two! While doing my research I found two programs that I thought the girls would enjoy, and decided to present both of them to the girls as options to see which they liked better. While they weren't hospitals or senior centers as they were originally hoping for, they were great options that would work for our project.

Option 1 - "Holiday Mail For Heroes"

http://www.redcross.org/holidaymail

This is a program put together by the American Red Cross which allows Americans to "send a touch of home" to US service members and veterans across the country and abroad.

Option 2 - "Make A Child Smile" (MACS)

http://www.makeachildsmile.org/index.shtml

This organization provides emotional support to families whose children suffer from chronic or life-threatening illness. Most of these children are chronically ill and some are terminally ill.

There were a few guidelines for both of the programs, they both prohibited glitter due to health concerns, they also both recommended leaving our religious references or specific holiday greetings (since not everyone celebrates Christmas), and for the children’s cards they sadly asked that the cards did not contain the phrases “Get well soon” or “Get Better”, since many of the children in the program have illnesses with no known cure and unfortunately never were going to get better. Wow.. so sad. :o( The site suggested instead to say things such as “Wishing you well”, “Praying for you”, or “Thinking of you”.

Executing the Community Project

The girls showed up last Thursday armed with supplies and a ton of energy. They were ready to get their markers out and start their cards and I struggled a bit at first to calm them down and get them to stop and listen to the guidelines. DOWNER ALERT! Nothing erases the smile of a girl holding markers and pipe cleaners than someone telling them that their card should be cheery but not say things such as “get well soon”, because these children that they would be sending cards too most likely were NOT going to be getting well soon. Yes, call me Eeyore.

The girls perked back up quickly though when I said that I had profiles of 14 different kids which included pictures of them, information about their condition, a list of their favorite things and interests, and information about their siblings if they had any.

I honestly thought that the girls would be split between wanting to make cards for the military versus the kids. I was wrong! All of the girls immediately started yelling “I want a kid!” and grabbing for a profile. Since I only had 14 profiles and we had 24 girls, some of them had to share a kid or some started on their cards for the military first.

The other coaches and I walked around while the girls were creating their cards to give them ideas on what to write, make sure that they were following the guidelines, and to help share the load of supplies between the girls. I broke up two fights over a book of stickers but besides that the girls shared very well.

While the girls were making their cards one of the girls was really excited to make her card for her “new friend” because the girl’s birthday was the same month as hers! Then she noticed that the girl was actually born the same year as her. Then the sad realization set in .. “wait….” She said. “This girl is only a little bit older than I am…” …. And I think I know the part she was thinking but didn’t say. “And she’s dying..”. Yes, so sad. :o( The girls really got into making the cards and there were so many cute ones created. In total the girls created 35 cards. We had 11 for our military service members and 24 kids for the Make A Child Smile Program!

Pop-Up Present Card

PC Happy Holidays Card

Cards For The Military

Disney Themed Card

Present Card

"We Have A Lot In Common" Cards

I think our community project was a great success and I think the girls had a lot of fun completing it!

Four Days In N'Oleans

I spent four days this past week in New Orleans. This was my second trip here, both times being for tradeshows for work. New Orleans, along with many others, are on a long list of cities that I’ve been lucky enough to see thanks to my job. Thank you marketing jobs! I love you!

Welcome to New Orleans!

Arriving In The Big Easy

I spent most of Wednesday traveling, and soon after arriving we had a company dinner and meeting. Not much of note happened that night. Well, aside from the fact that I had the weirdest hotel room ever! Okay, so the room wasn’t that weird, it was my bed. I initially walked into the room and admired the size of it. It was larger than normal, almost as big as a suite, and had a bar area over to one side. As I glanced around the room I thought “Cool! A bar!” (Not sure why, not like I was going to be mixing drinks or anything.) My eyes finally settled on the bed, and it took me a minute to realize why the bed looked so weird. It was on the floor! The boxspring was right on the floor! I tried to think of why you’d want your bed on the floor and couldn’t come up with any theories (handicapped? senior citizen? NO! A bed on the floor would be worse!) and thought oh well, whatever, at least I still get a nice big room!

My Weird Floor Bed

Oysters, Rabbits, and Frogs – OH MY!

The next day our tradeshow opened and it was into a suit and heels and onto the show floor for the day. Luckily it was a short day. Only 9:30am – 7:00pm. Can you sense the sarcasm? That is a REALLY long time to be on your feet. In heels. I have perfected an icy look of disdain for all the men who complain about how much their feet hurt after a day at a tradeshow. Oh really? You want to talk about foot pain? Put on a pair of of heels! After the show closed we all went out to dinner at K Paul’s. I had been to K Paul’s on my last visit to New Orleans and remember the menu being full of flavorful seafood and spicy creations.

K Paul's Louisiana Kitchen

The menu must have changed a lot over the years, because the primary theme I saw throughout the menu this time was DEEP FRIED. Insert frowny face. Literally 90% of the menu (appetizers/entrees) was deep fried! The only two options that weren’t deep fried were the pork chop and the two steaks. Even the chickens were deep fried! I reluctantly ordered a steak but didn’t enjoy it all that much. There were a few other interesting things on the menu – fried frog legs and fried rabbit. Yep, Kermit and Bugs Bunny were on the menu. Poor little hopping creatures! Not to totally escape the blame of eating cute creatures, I took the recommendation of the waiter and my local colleagues and ordered the Turtle Soup to start out with. Mmm mmmm good! I of course tried not to think too much about my former pet turtle Greensleeves. I had little Greensleeves for several years, until finally my dad suggested that we let him move on to another family. After watching a turtle sit on a rock for about 5 years, I didn’t put up too much of a fight.

Celebrity Spotting #1

The next day it was back to the tradeshow! Luckily on Thursday we had normal hours: 9:30am – 5:00pm. For lunch we went to a restaurant across the street called the Grand Isle Café. Amusingly, when our Louisiana sales manager recommended the place to me I heard “Grand OWL” café, and texted that very name to a couple people to meet up with us. Oops! Luckily it was just across the street and easy to figure out.

This restaurant had a couple interesting items on the menu including alligator sausage. They also had turtle stew and the waitress convinced me that even though I’d had turtle soup before, turtle stew was a lot different and I really needed to try that as well. I did, and was not that impressed. To make matters worse I didn’t realize that eating turtle stew is along the lines of eating shark fin soup. Great.

As we were leaving the restaurant my boss said “Hey, did you see that we just passed George Foreman on the way out?” What?? NO! I missed him! I walked back a bit to see him through the window. After a second glance I’m still not sure I could pick him out of a crowd again. But I was excited to see him. The inventor of the George Foreman grill!? Amazing! Just about every person I know has owned one of those at one time or another, and my dad is one of the biggest fans of that cooking contraption. I immediately called my dad to share the exciting news. “Guess what dad! I just saw George Foreman!” My dad seemed decently impressed and asked if he was with one of his sons, also named George. Apparently he has 5 sons and they are all named George. Okay, that’s weird.

George Foreman & Grill!

I chatted with my dad for a bit about New Orleans and he asked if we had gone to dinner at the restaurant run by “That famous chef, the really big one”. I remembered seeing a picture of K Paul on the seasonings they sold at the restaurant and asked if he meant K Paul. His response? “You mean the guy that dresses up like a lady?”

HUH?

Oh wait… are you referring to Ru Paul? No! Not Ru Paul, K Paul is someone else. Guess that’s not who my dad had in mind. David suggested later that my dad was probably talking about Emeril. That makes sense, “big” as in really famous, not “big” as in the size of a house. Whoops! Sorry Paul, but you’re a bit on the large side.

RuPaul vs K. Paul

Would You Like To Buy...?

We went back to the tradeshow and finished out a few more normal hours at the booth. Normal except for one person's question! As a Marketing person at the tradeshow booth, I'm used to getting the non-dollar-generating questions and inquiries shuttled over by the sales reps. Most commonly:

• Where can I get this information for my website?
• Do you distribute products in my country ___? Who can I contact for more info?
• When will you be launching product ___?
• Would you be interested in advertising in the publication ____?
• I'm from the __ dental society/group/club/cult. Would you be interested in sponsoring a booth there?

So I saw one of the reps starting to walk a man over to me and heard her end with "Monika can probably help you with that." I was expecting him to be asking about advertisements, product videos or the likes of that. Instead, he immediately asked " Would your company be interested in purchasing cadaver heads? We have very competitive pricing!"

Ummmm..........

Um... did he just say CADAVER heads? EWE! Oh wait, they do practice dental surgery on cadaver heads. But ewe, why is he asking me? Oh yeah, that's something our corporate office would handle.. if we did. But I don't think we do. Don't the universities usually handle that? We just have dummies with simulated materials. (All this time of course staring at him with a frozen smile.) I finally recovered enough to let him know that I was not the person involved with that but knew who was, and I'd pass on his information.

EWE.

Moving on....

Dinner at GW Fins

On Friday night we had reservations at an upscale seafood restaurant named GW Fins. Wow, the food was amazing there! We started out with the best crab cakes I’ve ever had, savory clams, and sizzling seasoned oysters. (Okay, I’m on the flight back right now typing this and I’m getting hungry again just thinking about that meal!) After that I had an amazing Chilean Sea Bass and my coworkers had a variety of other great looking dishes. To finish it all off we had sorbet and crème brulee. So yummy!

Sizzzzzling Oysters!

GW Fins Dinner Group

Jazz Hands!

After dinner we rolled ourselves down the street to the Ritz Carlton lounge to check out a local live jazz band. Ever want to see people who love their job? Come watch this jazz band play! The way they were shaking their heads and tapping their feet and belting out the music, wow! It really made you feel like you were really in New Orleans. We hung out there for the rest of the evening and finally called it a night around 1am. That translates to about 5am in Monika’s book! I’m usually in bed by 10pm!

Jeremy Davenport - Ritz Lounge

Live Jazz Video

The last day of the tradeshow was Saturday and was luckily only a half day. I stopped by the “Riverwalk Shops” next to our hotel/convention to pick up a few souvenirs and I spotted something that will go down as the first Christmas gift on my list. (Sidebar – I can’t believe we’re halfway through November already! Only a few weekends left to do Christmas shopping. Yikes!)

Celebrity Sighting #2

By Saturday I was tired from the night before, my feet hurt, and I was ready to go home. I had a quick flight from New Orleans to Charlotte (US Airways hub), and then Charlotte to San Diego. As the flight was boarding I got into my window seat and was happy to see that the trickle of people boarding the plane were all passing me and it looked like I was going to be so lucky as to have no seat neighbors. Whoo hoo! It looked like everyone had finished boarding and I was stretching into the next seat a bit working on my crossword when I saw a last minute person get on the plane. Uh oh! I hope he wasn’t going to end up sitting next to me! Wait a minute… this guy looked familiar. He kind of looks like one of the Baldwin brothers! You know, the blonde one with the rounder face that isn’t all that famous. Not Alec ... what are the rest of their names? Stephen? Was that him?

Baldwin Brothers
What are the non-Alecs' names??

As he passed the flight attendant and the people in front of me were whispering “Did you see who that is?? That was one of the Baldwin brothers!” I was running through my mind trying to remember the other brothers names. Stephen? David? Brandon? Why couldn’t I remember the non-Alec Baldwin names? I think other people have this problem too. I’m glad I’m not know as one of the “Carlson Sisters” whose first name no one can remember. Total benefit of being an only child! High five to me! A quick Google image search on my Blackberry revealed that this was indeed Stephen Baldwin.

Stephen Baldwin!

After that celebrity sighting, the rest of my trip was fairly uneventful. Well, besides the grumpy lady next to me in first class who has been drinking wine the whole flight. I hope someone’s picking her up and she's not driving home. Cheers lady!

My trip to New Orleans was short but fun. Some of the food we had was great, but some of it left me feeling like I needed to only eat raw vegetables for a week while I detoxed. Maybe at some point in the future I’ll get to travel back just for fun and can see a little bit more of the city.

Marine Corps Marathon 2009

This past Sunday David and I ran the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC and Arlington, Virginia! This was David’s first full marathon and he did great! We trained together virtually on an 18-week training plan that was loosely based off of Hal-Higdon’s Intermediate Marathon Training Plan.

Running For A Reason

When we signed up for the race we decided that we would fundraise for a charity throughout our training. We wanted to pick a charity that either had a personal connection to us or our family, or that directly impacted a group in the area local to the race. The Marine Corps Marathon is a huge fundraising event and I was amazed to find out that there were EIGHT charity partners associated with the race.

We ended up choosing an organization called Back On My Feet, and raised a total of $625 over the course of 10 weeks. Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to our fundraising! We really appreciate it!

Marathon Expo

On the Saturday before the race David and I headed over to the expo to pick up our race packets. The expo was being held at the convention center which was conveniently located right next to a Metro station. It was pouring that day and we were lucky to be able to walk directly from the Metro station into the convention center without ever having to go outside. On the way to the expo I was reading updates from the Marine Corps Marathon twitter account which was announcing various booths that Miles the marathon mascot was visiting and handing out prizes if you whispered the secret phrase to him from the tweets. Unfortunately we didn’t see him at a booth during one of these prize activities, but we did catch him for a quick photo opp!

Miles the Marathon Mascot

Cute Fitting Rooms

Quick RV Visit

David’s parents live near Charlotte, NC and recently bought a RV. They decided to take their first trip in the RV last weekend when they came up for the race. Compared to some of the other RV monsters in the park theirs looked pretty small, but once you got inside it was really nice and actually a perfect size for two people! The driver and passenger chairs looked like lazy boys, the dining table and kitchen were well sized, and the bedroom in the back just fit a full bed. We made a quick visit to the RV to say high to David’s parents, and then we packed our overnight bags and headed back to Arlington to meet David’s brother for dinner.

The Allen RV

Carbo Loading Time

Since David’s brother lives in Arlington (only a few Metro stops away from the start line), David and I were lucky enough to get to stay over at his place the night before the race. We also went out to dinner to get our carbo loading on with Ken and his girlfriend Devon at a really cute place down the street from his apartment. We stuffed ourselves with pasta and bread, and then headed back to Ken’s place to lay out our stuff for the next morning and develop a game plan for the morning, the race, and the post-race celebration. David and I both laid out outfits out for the next morning, put our race numbers on, set aside our clothes for after the race in the gear bag that we'd check, and gave Ken maps of the course and the spectator guide so he would know where to find us along the course and after the race.

Race Day Outfit

Race Morning

On Sunday the big day had finally arrived! Marathon morning! We got up around 5:15am and I started making coffee and my pre-race breakfast of oatmeal, toast, and egg whites. I ate the first in the apartment, the second on the Metro, and I also ate a banana and a Cliff bar when we got to the race. Oink, I know. In total I had an 800 calorie breakfast. Huge I know, but I try to have a 600-800 calorie breakfast before any run that is further than 16 miles. I don’t really like having to eat while running (even though it’s a necessity after a certain distance) so I try to get in as many calories as possible before I run, to limit those that I need to replenish while I run.

Beautiful Morning in Arlington, VA

Metro Riding Runners

David and I took the Metro over to the race and were amused to see that just about everybody that was up and out and about at 6am on the Metro was heading out to run the race. The platforms and cars were absolutely PACKED with runners, which seemed to increase the excitement in the air as we headed towards the start location.

David With His Arm Warmers

Start Line Photo Opp

When we finally got to the start area we went to drop off our bags with our post-race clothes at gear check and then headed over to the portapotty lines to empty the tanks before the race. TMI right? The only reason I mention this is that at every race I’ve done I’ve had to wait 10-40 minutes in line. It’s the main reason I arrive early before the race! The lines usually take FOREVER! This race however was incredibly well planed and equipped. There were portapotties everywhere and we probably didn’t wait longer than 5 minutes! Yay!

First Half of the Race

We headed over to the starting corrals and jumped in to the 4 hour finish area. This put us about 10 minutes back from the start of the group which made the start somewhat of a slow shuffle, but the crowd wasn’t so thick around us that it held us back too much. We had agreed to run between a 8:30 and 9:00 pace for this race knowing that we’d lose some time slowing down at each water station along the way.

There were two hills on the course, one at mile 3 and one at mile 8. Aside from that the course was pretty flat. In the past I’ve really struggled on hills and in all of the races David and I have done together I’ve been a whining dead weight on even the slightest of hills. For this race I did at least one or two hilly trail workouts each week, all ending with a run half-way up the steep hill that I live on back to my apartment. This training definitely helped! We cruised up the first hill without a problem, coasted back down, and then cruised up the next! I felt great! It was such an amazing feeling to feel my training paying off. I’m sure David saw each hill and was anticipating my normal whine of “slow dooowwwwn”, but it never came! Yay me!

I felt pretty good in the first half of the race and felt okay staying on pace with David up until about mile 16. At this point I started to tire a bit and could tell that I was having to push harder to stay next to him. A couple times I asked him to slow down a bit for me which he immediately did, but after the second time I asked I really started to feel bad for holding him back. By mile 18 I was more tired and decided that at mile 20 I’d tell him to go on without me so he could finish the marathon with a better time alone than he could with me by his side. By mile 19 I couldn’t keep this idea in my head anymore and blurted out “just go ahead without me, I want to walk for a minute”. David refused to leave me and we walked for a minute and then started running again, then a bit later we repeated this with me continuing to plead for him to go on. He was running so strong and just as fast at mile 19 as he was at mile 1! I on the other hand needed to change to a lower gear by then and run a little slower. He said again that he wasn’t going to leave me and that actually he wasn’t feeling all that great either. Upon realizing that he was absolutely going to stay with me, I sucked it up and started running again so I didn't ruin his time any further.

Approaching Mile 20

As we approached mile 20 I was still struggling a bit but pushed on. We crossed the 14th Street Bridge and broke through “the Wall” … and plowed on to mile 21. At this point I started to realize that we had 21 miles behind us, and only 5 to go! Coincidentally a few of my favorite power songs came up on my iPod. Metallica’s Master of Puppets, and A-Ha’s Take On Me! As I kicked into cruise control and rocked out to my favorite tunes in my head a shocking thing happened. David started cramping up! He called for me to stop and he walked over to the side of the road and started stretching his legs out. I was absolutely shocked! I suffered from severe leg cramps in my last race and knew exactly what he was going through. He stretched a bit and was feeling better so we started running again, but for the next 5 miles we’d run for a bit and he’d be okay, then the cramps would kick in again and we’d stop while he walked or stretched, and then we’d keep going again. I offered him what Gatorade and water I had left, and at each water station we passed through I’d fill up on fluids to carry for the both of us.

As we got to mile 25 we were in one of our walking stretches when to my surprise who did I see on the sidelines? David’s dad holding a big neon sign for me! From my dogs! As soon as I saw David’s dad Rich I called out to him and also got David’s attention so he’d see him as well. On the other side of the road was his mom holding one of the signs that I had made for David. As we started to come around the curve and run down the hill Rich started running along side us with his neon sign proudly waving above his head. I don’t think I’ve ever smiled so big in my life! And speaking of on the course support – David’s family ROCKS! They showed up at miles 10 and 16 (back-to-back viewing locations on the course) as well as mile 25 and the finish line! We saw them with the signs at miles 10, 16, and 25.

Signs I Made For David

Not too long after we passed David’s parents we then came upon Ken and Devon who were also proudly waving signs! This was really a great little pick-me-up during the hardest part of the race, mile 25 to 26.2. Okay, so that’s more than a mile, you know what I mean!

Signs For Me From David's Parents

As we got closer and closer to the finish line the crowd really started to fill out. My favorite part of any marathon is when you’re running in that last quarter mile to the finish with hundreds and hundreds of people around you and you feel like everyone is there cheering for you. The energy from the crowd and the experience of running through an area so thick with excited, screaming people is really something else. David and I blew through the crowds and charged towards the finish line, and finished side by side. (Technically per the race reseults I came in a second faster. Whooh hoo!)

Official finish time? 4:17:24

Receiving Our Finisher's Medals

Awesome Finisher's Photo

Our original goal was 3:55 so we were both a bit disappointed to not have met that goal, but we still had a great race and considering all of the cramping and walking towards the end, I still think we did pretty well. AND … David finished his first marathon! And better yet, I got to be by his side the whole way! I don’t mean to be totally cheesy when I say that its been my dream since my first race to have someone to race side by side with. Everytime I’ve seen racing couples I’ve always felt a bit jealous. I wish that I had someone who shared my same passion for running and who’d want to train with me for a race, discuss the minute details of running and training on a regular basis, and run with me side by side for hours. Well you know what? That dream has now come true! I’m a simple girl with simple dreams. But honestly, thank you David! It was a great experience.

Aching After The Race

BEST Race Support Ever!

The Carbo Loading Kids

Post-Race Chow Down

After the race we met up with David’s family in the finisher’s area and headed back to Ken’s place to shower and change to get ready for a group lunch at my favorite Mexican restaurant …. CHEVY’S!!!

My cousin Sandy and her husband Justin and their son Wyatt were joining us, and so were my Aunt Elsa and Uncle Stanton, and my Aunt Judy who I haven’t seen in about 10 years! Lunch was great and it was so nice to catch up with family.

Mini-Family Reunion

Allen Family Reunion

After lunch I was hoping for a nice nap to recharge a bit. That didn’t exactly happen though since David was arranging a little family reunion over at his brother Chad’s house. David, Ken, and Devon and I headed over there and met up with David’s parents and sister as well. We hung out and played with the kids for a bit before going out to dinner nearby. Didn’t we just eat a couple hours before? Yep. Did we sit down and eat again? But of course!

The Allen "Kids"

Future Marathon Runner

The whole race weekend really turned out to be a great time. Not just the race but the events before and after, and all of the family time we got around the activities. As usual I’m in that crazy period the week after a race where I’m just about recovered and starting to get antsy to start my next training plan. I’m not sure which race I’m going to do next, but I’m so anxious to pick it now so I can get started on training! I hate to admit that marathon training is a true obsession of mine. I’ve acknowledged after this race though that I need to change up my training method. Adding hill workouts really did help me, but in order to decrease my overall finish time I think I need to focus on more speed/temp workouts. Whatever, I’ll figure that out in the next week or so.

For now, hats off to you David for completing your first full marathon!

And thank you so so much Allen Family for your incredible support along the race course and during this whole weekend. It really made the day special.

Me & My Favorite Racing Partner

Ready To Race

I was planning on yesterday being my last running day before the marathon this Sunday, but I'm at a total of 398 training miles and I just want to get past the 400 mile mark, so I'm going to hit the gym for one more quick run.

I've been logging my training on the Daily Mile website (www.dailymile.com) which has been a fun way to log my training and to keep tabs on the activities of my friends. I just looked at the chart of my overall training for this race and was excited and proud to see the total miles I've logged over the past 18 weeks. I haven't been able to stay on schedule as much as I'd would have liked due to work, travel, and life, but I think I've logged enough quality miles to have a good race.

My training summary:

• 18 weeks of training
• 398 miles covered
• 154:32 spent running
• 124,503 calories burned

One more quick run right now and then I'm off tomorrow ... and then the big day is Sunday!

Updates will follow the race of course. :o)

Back On My Feet

You should know by now from half of my recent blog posts that: “David and I will be running the Marine Corps Marathon this coming Sunday October 25, 2009 in Washington, DC. This will be my 11^th and David’s 1^st full marathon!” I’m a broken record, I know.

We have been running 4-5 days a week for the past 18 weeks and together have run a total of 744 miles. How far have YOU run since June huh? Just kidding!

Obstacles With Training

As with many plans and goals, there are things that go wrong along the way that set you back. Bad weather, personal commitments, work commitments, long travel days, sick/sore days, and days when we've just been plain too tired to get up and run are some of many reasons that we've skipped a day or two of our training over the weeks. But dealing with setbacks in marathon training is fairly similar to dealing wtih setbacks in life. When things go wrong you can stop, acknowledge what went wrong, decide how you can get back on track, and try not to let it happen again. We've been doing this for the past 4 ½ months and have both stuck pretty close to our original training plan!

Running For A Reason

About 6 weeks into our training we decided that we wanted to make our training miles more meaningful by fundraising for a charity. We looked at the numerous charities formally associated with the Marine Corps Marathon and decided that we wanted to pick a charity that we either had a personal or family connection to, or one that would directly affect the local community that we’d be running in. After researching the various charities for a couple weeks we landed back on one charity that originally caught my eye: Back On My Feet.

Why we chose BOMF

We first learned about Back On My Feet from an article in Runner’s World. The story was really compelling and really showed how something as simple as running and bringing people together in a group to run could drastically improve people’s lives.

About BOMF

Back on My Feet is a non-profit organization that promotes the self-sufficiency of the homeless population by engaging them in running as a means to build confidence, strength and self-esteem.

Back on My Feet does not provide food nor does it provide shelter, but instead provides a community that embraces equality, respect, discipline, teamwork and leadership. There are no labels, no stigmas and no stereotypes. At Back on My Feet, all members - regardless of race, education or socioeconomic status - join together to move their own lives forward as well as the lives of their teammates.

Why I Want To Help

I've spent the majority of my life in major metropolitan cities which have all had large homeless populations. I've struggled over the years with wanting to help but not wanting to give money in the form of handing over cash. I really like knowing that the money that we are raising for this program is directly helping someone in need who actually wants the help, and the help is provided in a structured program with proven results. I feel that the greater Washington DC area and communities in Maryland and Virginia are giving me a great place to race and are providing a setting for a world-class event, and in turn I’d like to give back to people whose life and world the race is in.

How You Can Help

If you would like to contribute to our fundraising efforts, you can do so by going to our fundraising page (click here). If you aren't able to at this time, that’s okay too. Instead please think of us this coming Sunday from 7am to 11am EST. Think positive thoughts for us and send good vibes for a great race and great experience! We’re really happy with the amount that we've been able to raise so far, but of course are hoping to contribute a bit more before the week is over.

Thank you in advance, we really appreciate your support!

The Lone Runner

David and I will be running the Marine Corps Marathon this coming Sunday October 25, 2009 in Washington, DC. This will be my 11^th and David’s 1^st full marathon! We have previously run two halfs together and are looking forward to our first full together!

For me, running marathons has been many things good (increased self-confidence and improved physical ability to name a couple) and some things bad (my feet are hideous and my quads are freakishly huge), but one thing that comes to mind as we approach this race is that in these past 5 years that I have been training, running marathons has really been lonely. Aww, come here and give me a hug. You know you want to!

I started out training for my first full marathon with a local running group in Phoenix called Racelab. I’m pretty sure that without them I never would have made it through the months or training or even made it through the race. I’m immensely grateful to that group and everything that they taught me. While running with this group I also gained a group of running friends who I felt a sense of community with. I did speed workouts at a track with the group on Tuesdays, and sometimes did my long runs with a partner or group on Saturdays. Meeting up with the group was a bit inconvenient because of the location and as my job became more demanding it was easier for me to just train alone. So from marathon two through ten, I have trained alone.

Speed Workouts At The Track

I don’t mind running alone and many of my long runs have allowed me to take time to reflect on my life, myself, my friends and family, and my goals. I enjoy the time with myself most of the time and running has been an outlet for me to think, vent, plan, and regroup.

Going through training for a marathon alone though is what is lonely. Being the only one you know who is getting up early to run five days a week for 3-4 months is a bit isolating. Being the only one of your friends who can’t go have fun on a Friday night because she has to get up at the crack of the dawn is just downright sad at times. Aside from a few other runners that I know, there weren't people in my immediate circle who knew what I was going through and who I could discuss the ins and outs of my training with without making their eyes roll back into their heads. I think that training for a marathon is like having a second job, and if you had no one to talk to about the daily ups and downs of you job, wouldn't you be a bit sad?

Enter David Allen into my running life!

David had never run a road race before I talked him into the Run and Stride With Pride 5K in my neighborhood last June. He talked a big game before the race and was completely convinced that he’d beat me because A – he’s a guy (guys just run faster than girls), and B – he’s always been an athlete. (And probably C – I’m pretty clumsy and uncoordinated and the word athlete doesn't exactly come to mind when you look at me.) Sure, he knew that I had been racing for years and had run short and long races with decent times, but still, he was convinced he’d beat me. Guess what? I kicked his butt!

David After The 5K (Not Happy!)

He ran off and on casually after that but it was several months later that he said that he’d like to train for a half-marathon. I was so excited and quickly made him a schedule, we picked a race, and started and crossed the finish line together! (Technically my foot hit the mat first, but with my non-chip shoe, so he came in before me in the official race results. Darn!)

Austin Half Marathon Finish

After running his first half he had the bug for a full, but it wasn't until after he came to watch my last marathon (Rock N Roll San Diego – June 2009) that he was ready to go for it. We looked around for a while to pick a race and finally decided on the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC in October. At the time that we had decided to run, registration for the race wasn't open yet. We put the date on our calendars and on the second day that registration was open we registered for the race. Good thing we did, it sold out all 30,000 spots by the fourth day! Wow, talk about a popular race. The Marine Corps Marathon is totally the new pink!

The Marine Corps Marathon

Vermont Teddy Bear

I put together an 18-week training schedule for us and off we went on our training! It has been a lot of fun over the past few months to train together and talk endlessly about running. We discuss our morning runs, our strategy for our long runs, what we ate before and after, what we wore, what the weather was like, what interesting running news we saw that week online, what cool new running shoes are coming out, what the difference is between the various colors, flavors, and mixtures of sports drinks, etc. Bet you’re sure glad now that I’m not boring you to tears with these topics! (In case you want to read my thoughts on various running fuels, check out this entry: Fueling For The Long Run)

We are now on our last week of training and I’m really looking forward to putting all of our training to the test. One of the things I love and hate about the marathon is that no matter how much you prepare for the race, race day can throw something at you’re that you’re totally not prepared for and make your race wonderful or miserable. I’m really hoping for “wonderful” for this race and I’m pretty confident that it will be since we will be running together. I finally have a marathon partner after all these years and this lone runner will no longer be racing the 26.2 miles alone.

Thanks David! I can’t wait for our race on Sunday.