run to the sun update

This past Friday we had a fundraiser night, just like last year, to help us reach our goal. Since we are 2 teams this year, we upped our goal from $5,00 to $10,000. Even though we have great friends, parents at our school, etc. that still seemed like a whole lot of money. Well, as of Friday we exceeded our goal! As of Friday we have $10,824 in donations online, we received $820 in checks for donations, $420 in tshirt (Young Guns shirts) sales to go towards the foundation, an anonymous $500 cash donation in honor of Amy, and $64 from a fourth grade lemonade stand that they wanted to give us. So amazing!!!!

With some of the cash donations, we will be using it to help cover costs for water, food, transportation, etc. Because people are so generous we are getting a party bus, driver included, to drive our two teams!! Oh man, this is going to get wild! I hope it's a party bus with a karaoke machine inside. That would be just what we need to be the most awesome team once again. 

Even though we have met our goal, we are still trying to get as many donations that we can to help eradicate Batten Disease. Click here to donate now! 26 more days until race weekend!!!

it was going to happen at some point

Sunday I ran in the Cap 10k. I was excited about running it because I've heard about it since I've lived here in Austin, which is going on 10 years now. Well, everything started off great! That is, until about mile 1. I got the most intense, sharp cramp on my side. It was so bad I had to stop to walk. I wasn't sure how to fix it, so I started squeezing it, poking it, rubbing it until it went away. It finally went away and I started running again. Of course, it came right back. I didn't stop to walk right away thinking maybe if I breathed differently it would help. It didn't really. So basically the rest of my race was me running for a few minutes, and then stopping to walk until the cramp went away, and then I would run again. I finished with a pace of 11:48 which is way off my normal pace. My current pace has been anywhere between 10:30-11:00 minutes. I was so mad I sprinted the last half mile to try to make up for lost time.

This was my 13th race, and the first 12 have all been great! I guess it was time for me to have a bad race. Not only was I having cramping issues, it was also ridiculously hot. It was a pretty miserable morning. But like Katie said, I didn't throw up or give up. I can be proud of that. Now the training continues for the 10/20 race coming up, and then the Run to the Sun 2 weeks after that. Hopefully I will be back on my game for them.

upcoming races

I think I have a problem. I can't stop signing up for races. When there is a medal involved it's even more enticing! I am doing the Cap 10k on March 25th which I am really excited about! Part of my excitement is because I will be running down, and not up, that awful hill from my first half marathon. You know, the one that those idiots put at mile 12. It's also a race that I have heard about ever since moving to Austin 10 years ago. Now that I am a runner I will be joining in on the fun for their 35th anniversary race. Several of my girlfriends will be running in it as well which always makes it more fun. 

I'm also running a new race called the 10/20. It's a 10 mile race with bands every half mile. And the band at the finish line? Everclear! 

Who even knew they were still together and performing?! It's a flat course that will cover part of the 3M half marathon course I ran in a month ago. 

Two weekends later is the Run to the Sun! Last year was the first year of this 95+ mile relay from Mount Bonnell to Enchanted Rock. Without a doubt it was probably one of the most fun, insane 24 hours I have had in a long time. I mean who doesn't want to run in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere while your team yells at you and throws rock hard kolaches at you? I still periodically watch the video Larry made with my pictures and his videos. I am SO excited to do it again!!! Even more exciting is so many people from our school heard how amazing it was and now we have 2 groups from school running. Who knows what it's going to look like. I want us to just get a big school bus to drive around in. I guess we will find out. If you can, please click here and visit my fundraising page and help my team raise as much money as possible. 

I'm already thinking about what races I can run this summer. Maybe this summer will be my chance to do a race outside of Texas. I'm thinking California or Seattle would be really fun and pretty. Who knows, I'm just excited thinking about the possibility!!

the color run

This past Sunday I ran in The Color Run with my friends Katie, Sara, and Sheri. I was super pumped about it after having looked at the website and seeing all of the pictures. At every 1k there are people throwing powdered "paint" at you, and then at the finish line you get a color bag and everyone throws their color up for an explosion of colors. 

Well it rained Saturday night which wouldn't normally be a problem, except the course was an off road, grassy course. It turned out that we basically ran through giant water puddles (Sheri landed it one that went up to her knee! I had a hard time breathing I was laughing so hard.), and a huge mud pit. We were slipping and sliding while our shoes filled with water and mud. By the end it felt like I was running with 10 pounds of mud on my shoes. It also didn't help that after a week of 60-70 degree weather it was in the 40's with an insane amount of wind. Well, I don't have a white long sleeved shirt, so I wore a white tank top. It was miserably cold! But it would be worth it, right?

Trying to stay warm.

So the race starts, 30 minutes late, and we were off! Derrick, Katie's boyfriend was nice enough to take pictures of us running.

The first stop was green, then yellow, purple, and pink. There were supposed to be 5 color stops, but because of the rain and insane amount of mud the trucks couldn't get to one of the spots where the color needed to be.

Running to the finish with Sheri.

We didn't want to wait for the giant color explosion with the group because it was cold, so we had our own group explosion!

Katie and I then started having our own dance party. The DJ at the race had some pretty fun music.

Please make note of our shoes. And that was after we knocked as much mud off as we could.

I took a picture of what I looked like after the run and group explosion. (I had to wash my face 3 times, once rubbing the loofah all over, and shampoo my hair twice. I still had pink spots in my hair that didn't wash out.)

After all the complaining we did, it was totally worth it just for the pictures! I will probably do it again next year and make sure to bring Derrick along with us!

3m half marathon done!

This morning I ran my second half marathon! I woke up at 3 am (my alarm was set for close to 5, so I was annoyed). I woke up so early because my stomach was bothering me. Most of you know all about my stomach and the annoying things it does to me. Most of you probably don't know that when I get nervous (like I was this morning) I start having stomach issues. It was pretty bad this morning. I'm not sure why I was so nervous today since I had done a half before, but I was. After taking my medicine, and trying to eat a bagel dad drove me up to the start of the race and then headed back home to get mom. The weather at the start was amazing! No wind, 35 degrees, and no humidity. Thank you weather gods!

The first few miles weren't too bad. I was trying to get into my groove, ignore my stomach, and not go too fast out of the starting line. I actually didn't sprint at the beginning which is unlike me at races, but good since I was running so far. I ran the farthest I've ever done without stopping to walk from mile 2-6. 4 miles! Another milestone among many in my life as a runner. Around mile 6 I started walking at the water stop so I could drink and take some sport beans. The second I started walking my right knee had a shooting pain in it. Awesome. I started running again hoping to lose the pain and it took me about a mile to get the pain away. It was pretty rough, I almost started crying while I limped/ran. 

At mile 8 mom and dad were there (in full length coats, I guess it was colder than I had thought). I slowed down so dad could take some pictures, threw my gloves at my mom and kept on going. 

Something I love at races, especially these long ones, are the awesome people that come out to support us. Every few miles there were people playing music and instruments to entertain us. The best was 2 different guys miles apart playing acordians, 2 old mariachi men, and a guy that kept jumping on his bike and riding further down the course every few miles.

Every time from mile 6 on, when I stopped to get water and walk, my knee would kill me. I was averaging a 10:30-11:00 mile pace until about mile 8 where I was slowing down from fatigue, and from my knee. Even with that I never had a mile slower than 12 minutes. 

At mile 12 I was starting to lose it. That's when "One Tribe" came on. I was throwing my fists around and singing out loud. The people around me probably thought I was nuts. And THEN this came on...

When it started I literally stopped for a few beats, and when it really got going I started having a dance party all by myself in the street. It also including some dance running, dance skipping, and lots of hand gestures. The best part about it? There was a photographer right there and I'm pretty sure he got pictures of it. At least I'm hoping he did! If so I will make sure to post them here whenever the pictures come out.

As the end got closer I sped up. I was nearly sprinting (or sprinting as much as my tired legs could handle) to the finish line. Mom and dad were even able to get a spot on the sides and take pictures of me running in. 

I love this one because it looks like I'm flying.

I finished in 2:28:42! WHAT?! That is crazy! That is 15:12 faster than my half last February! Holy cow! I still can't believe I was 15 minutes faster. I placed 338 in my age group, and 3927 overall. When I was taking my finishers picture I saw Larry, Kim and Brandon (all way faster than me) and we took some pictures. 

After finding my parents we went to breakfast at Maudie's like we always do, and then I went home and took an ice bath for my poor knees. As I'm posting this I'm still sore and walk like an old lady. But it was totally worth it! I ran another half, beat my time, and had a dance party in the middle of the street. Who could ask for more? Let's just hope my body is ready for the Color Run, a 5k, this Saturday!

5 more days...

In 5 days I will be running my second half marathon. I started running almost 2 years ago, and am so proud of myself for not only keeping up with it, but pushing myself to run another half marathon! It all started when I decided I needed to challenge myself and try something new, so I had set a goal to run a half marathon. I accomplished that goal last year, and it was an amazing experience! Afterwards I started thinking about what other kind of races I might want to run, not thinking I would actually run one that long again. Well I guess I'm a glutton for punishment, and I have been training since this summer. (Well, that's not entirely true. This summer was the worst. I thought I was going to die every time I ran even at 6 am because it was so freaking hot.)

In 5 days I will run my second half, and am aiming to beat my time. Based on my long runs the past few months, I am capable of running a 10:30-11:00 minute mile. Possibly even faster depending on how crazy I get at the start line. Now that I'm so close I am having a hard time not freaking out. I'm not freaking out that I won't finish, because I know I will. I'm not freaking out that I won't beat my time, because as long as I finish I don't really care. (Although let's be honest, I will be pissed if I don't run faster.) I am freaking out about my feet, and legs, and every little thing I'm feeling. My toe that I sprained awhile ago feels like it's possibly waiting quietly before springing back up and being annoying. My right knee is officially hating me and crackles all the time and is sore after my long runs. The side of my calf has a weird pain when I run that fades and then comes back without warning. I'm at the crazy obsessive phase where I am wearing tennis shoes to school for the rest of the week just so I don't make my feet extra sore. (I don't think I was this crazy before my first half. So why am I deciding now is the time to become crazy?)

Ugh. I need to drop everything at the starting line Sunday morning and just run. Run to accomplish a goal. Run to remind myself I can do anything no matter what my brain tells me. Run to remember lost friends. Run to feel alive. I will drop all of my worries, my craziness, my sadness, my anger, and I will run with joy. 5 more days. 

run to the sun

Last year I ran in the Run to the Sun which is an overnight relay. A group of teachers from my school were on a team, and it was an amazing experience! We are running it again this year, and I am so excited! If you can help donate to this fantastic cause, please do so. Any amount is appreciated and will help the Batten Disease Foundation eradicate this disease. 

Click here to donate.

Thanks, and happy running!

keep austin weird

One of my goals after my half marathon was to run 4 runs before the summer was over. I am close to accomplishing that goal! (My mile time has also gone down, another one of my goals.) I've done the Run to the Sun, Bun Run, and this weekend the Keep Austin Weird 5k. (Although I don't think I'll be counting it as one of my four...you'll understand by the end of the post.)

Before the run at 7 pm, in June, in Texas with 100+ degree heat, they have a festival. People dress up, there are bands that play, and there are a lot of vendors selling food, drinks, and things made by locals. Crissy and I went as Hooters girls (Rebecca said our outfits were oxymorons) and Evan, Crissy's husband was Hulk Hogan. Before we left we youtubed different Hulk videos so he could see and practice things to do and say. Evan was planning on staying in character the whole time. As we were walking to the festival we must have been there a little early because we didn't see anyone dressed up and Evan was starting to freak out. All of his fears were quickly gone.

I loved that Crissy was standing outside the port-a-potties with her phone ready to take a picture. That's not weird for the other guys coming out or anything.

Evan was THE hit of the festival! The moment we walked in people started asking to take pictures of him!! We decided to take a tally of all the pictures he was in, and we finally stopped counting when he had taken 30 pictures, and was interviewed for a Dallas radio station (hopefully they will post it soon, and I'll of course share with you), the Austin American Statesman (the link doesn't work anymore), Austin 360, and some news station. The best question the radio guy asked was "Do you always have to flex when you talk?" 

We ran into one of his wrestling rivals! We wanted Evan to pick him up and hold him over his head, but he wouldn't.

See that crowd surrounding him? Each one of them took turns taking pictures with him. 

When the race started, everyone was running like normal. After a water and gatorade station we were all starting to feel the heat and drinks we had had, so we decided to stop running at mile 1. From there on we walked like half of the other "runners." Normally throughout the route you will have water and gatorade stations. This one had that, along with a game stop, 2 photo booths, 2 vodka shot stops, a wine stop, pizza, and Amy's even had a stop where they pass out scoops of ice cream. Walking the last 2 miles was the best idea ever!

They had to have been hot.

Of course we stopped at the photo booth! People kept yelling at the Hulk as they walked or ran by.

It was the most fun, and slowest 5k I think I will ever do! Now back to my real running to get ready for my 4th of July 5k.

run to the sun: completed, and a success!

I don't even know where to begin. I haven't been running for very long (just over a year) but I can say without a doubt this was the best, most fun, and most meaningful run I have done to date. For those of you that don't know, 8 teachers at my school (myself included) ran a 95+ mile relay from Mount Bonnell in Austin, to Enchanted Rock in Fredericksburg in support of the Batten Disease Foundation. We started Saturday at 2:30 pm and finished at 6:45 Sunday morning.  Our team name was the Casis Young Guns and we were all wearing the same shirts throughout the run.

When we started we took a group picture at Mount Bonnell (picture to come), then we ran down the steps together and did a group cheer before sending Larry, the first runner, off. Holy cow some of the hills the first few legs were pretty brutal, especially with the sun and heat. (Although compared to the weather we have been having, 95+ degrees with humidity, it was amazing! That day it was only around 80 with no humidity.)

Anyways, after Larry went off we piled into the van and drove to meet him at his stopping point. When we got there we all got out and sat at the top of a killer hill waiting. When we saw Larry we all started screaming and jumping up and down cheering him on up the hill. We did this at every stop, and not every team did so already we were cooler than all the other teams. At the 5th leg, Brandon's first, we came to a point where we were all worried if our runners would make it to the car alive. Brandon was literally dodging cars for his 6 mile run. There was barely a shoulder, and when a car came he would have to hop off into the dirt and grass (sometimes there was a barrier so Brandon had to hope and pray he didn't get hit) and hope for the best. Angie ran next and had the same experience, except she was running in twilight and made it even harder for drivers to see her. This was not making me feel good about my first leg which was right after Angie.

I started running my first leg, which was a 7.5 miler at a difficulty level of 4 out of 5, at 9:00 when the sun had gone down. I was lit up like a Christmas tree! I had my Young Guns shirt which is a highlighter yellow color, a reflective vest, a hat they provided with lights in it, several glow bracelets, a reflective light on my ankle, and I held a little light. Luckily there wasn't a lot of car traffic so I didn't need to worry about getting hit. At one point I had to run into and out of a really steep ravine, so I got a police escort into and out of it! When he rode up next to me he asked how I was doing, and then we had this really comforting conversation:

COP: "You need to make sure to run in the middle of the road, I don't want you to get bit by a snake."

ME: "I have been, I only run on the side when I see headlights coming. Wait...did you say I could get bitten by a snake? Are you for real?"

COP: "Yeah, don't run near the grass. You really need to stay in the middle of the road unless you want to get bit."

Thanks! That makes me feel a lot better about my leg. 

I thought I would be scared running by myself, in the dark, in the middle of nowhere, but I wasn't! I really enjoyed myself. I didn't have my earbuds in so I could hear cars and other noises around me, so I put my phone in my waterbelt and had music playing from there. Because of that dogs would chase me up and down their fence barking at me. It was really crazy when I got to the top of a hill and realized a longhorn was watching me. The hills were hard, but I couldn't stop smiling at what I was actually doing. (It didn't hurt that the temperature had dropped about 15 degress by then.) 

Seeing the bright lights of the pit stop was so invigorating. I kicked it up a notch and ran even faster to get to my cheering friends. Kristin Armstrong was running as well and also did this leg. I loved her blog on Runners World about it, and it made me feel better about myself and how hard I thought it was when she, a REAL runner, said it was hard too!

No one slept all night, and it started to get a little nutty in the van around 2 am. Kristy had brought kolaches for everyone to eat throughout the run. The guys had tried them and said they were lethal. One kind were super spicy jalapeno ones, and the other were super heavy brisket ones. So when Kristy ran her second leg at 2:30, we decided to start yelling at her and pelting her with the kolaches no one ate. I was in the back so I couldn't throw any, but I was crying I was laughing so hard. One of our drivers, Jeff, was running with Kristy to help her since we were all tired and tight from sitting around, and I don't think he was too pleased that we were hitting him with the kolaches as well.

I ran next at 3:00 am and wasn't too excited about it. I got some pretty bad blisters on my feet from my first run, and was really dehydrated. I ran my first leg faster than I have ever run, and I wasn't hydrating like I should have because my adrenaline was running so fast I wasn't paying attention to my body. It wasn't smart of me, but I was able to get out there and run again. I ran the first 2 miles running on the sides of my feet because of my blisters. At this point we were going to have to start leaving runners behind and come back for them to make sure we got to the finish line in time. Because of this my team scooped me up and we drove the last mile (all up hill, I picked the perfect time to bail!) to the next stop. I hated that I wasn't able to finish my leg, but oh well. I'll get it next year! I found out they were going to throw bananas at me because I HATE them, but sweet Sheri told them not to because I was hurting. Thanks Sheri! Last thing I wanted was to have gross smashed banana all over me and stuck in my hair.

The last few legs were a blur or exhaustion, nuttiness, and throwing food. Sara had the last leg and she started running when the sun was just starting to peek out. Jeff had ridden a bike with Brandon on the leg before and then again with Sara. In all he did more miles than us, and he was just supposed to be a driver! Sara ran the last few miles with a police escort the entire way over the most beautiful stretch of land. With the sun coming up, the hills in the distance and her view, and the finish line in her sights, I was truly jealous she had this leg. We meet her at the finish line screaming and jumping up and down in celebration of our finish. Most of us were in tears while we screamed her in. We took a finishers picture and then ate breakfast while listening to a really great gospel band. Afterwards the Benson's (the parents whos child has Batten at our school, and the founders) gave some speeches and awards. We won for most donors and team spirit! (If only they knew what was really going on in the van!)

Besides my momentary pain, it was an incredible experience! I can't wait to run it again!! I feel so lucky to say I ran in the first Run to the Sun with an amazingly fun group of friends. Below are pictures, and videos, of the epxerience. 

Thanks again to everyone who donated and supported us!

All of the runners minus Larry right before we left Casis.

One of our drivers, Heather.

Of course we had to decorate our van! We knew about the team spirit award and were planning on winning.

Larry is near the tan mailbox. This was the last hill after his 7 mile leg.

Sheri coming in from leg #2.

This is the slap bracelet we passed on to each runner at the pit stop.

Van fun!

Brandon wanted to rest up his legs so he would be ready for his first leg.

Kristy, leg 3.

This crazy guy made his high school running team do burpies on the side of the road. He was nuts. When I told my team I wanted them doing that for me when I came in, they all laughed at me. I took that as a no.

This was the warning so cars wouldn't hit us. If you look behind the sign you can see the amount of shoulder Brandon had. And that was the most he had the entire time. It was a lot smaller for most of his leg.

Brandon with his ridiculous Fred Flinstone dickie.

Brandon coming in from leg 5.

Sara and Jeff coming in to the finish line!

We did it!!

Of course I had to show my blisters. Here is the side of my right foot.

It was ginormous!

Left foot, not as bad.

Larry made a great video of the run from his videos and my pictures. Click here to see it. I can't stop watching it!! I know it sounds stupid, but it still doesn't feel real. I think the sleep deprivation made it all a blur.