Makin' Waves 5K

RACE DATE: MAY 8, 2011 (Mother's Day)

I have planned to run this 5K for a couple of months because Holly and Sueann have planned and directed this entire race to benefit Leukemia through Team in Training.  All of the profits will go directly to their pledge.  Not only that, but the entire run is on the hard packed sand of New Smyrna Beach and I get to see my NSB running peeps! <3

Snag......my sciatic nerve has been giving me fits lately and I've been told not to run at all until my back is straightened out.  I find out later not only do I have degeneration, but also a herniated disc, a bulging disc, stenosis and arthritis.  I decided that I would walk it; it's a great cause and....

As an added bonus, I have guilted M, B, and H to run with me as a Mother's Day gift.  I must be the HAPPIEST MOMMY on the earth this day because I cannot imagine being more proud of my family! We woke up early, drove to NSB and got signed up.   These girls were doing a jam up job running the registration and packet pickup early this morning! The only negative is that the city never came to open the bathrooms that were there, so we had to cross the road and borrow the one at 7-eleven, which wasn't so bad.   The awesome things that Holly and Sueann had at this race (besides the perfect location!) was a great photographer,  a water stop at 1/3 and 2/3 the way, and lots and lots of door prizes at the end of the race - H won a poster of the race logo and I won a free year of Road ID!

The race itself was great!   There was an official race clock, but no chip timing, which was completely fine because it was a small manageable (and laid back!) race!  The first mile was pretty slow, but then M & B started to jog a little....and I was raring to go as well.  But H...not so much!  She did good for almost a mile and then she sat in the sand and said she was quitting.   B offered to stay with her and M & I jogged on.  We actually jogged for the rest of the race, even though I wasn't suppose to! It just felt so good to me :)   It was so much fun!!!!

So, after we crossed the finish line, we were headed to the pavilion to get...something...next thing I know, people are yelling at me that B&H are crossing the finish line.   I missed it! But the photographer got a fantastic pic of them!  I am so proud of both of them.  I am proud of my boy for being patient with his sister and coaching her to the finish line. I am so proud of my girl for running her first 5K :)   I dont remember our exact times, I think that M & I had a time of about 36 minutes and B & H was around 38ish, I think.

It was such a wonderful day for me.  The fact that they woke up before the crack of dawn, and spent the morning doing something that wouldn't be listed on their top 10 things to do this morning, just warms my heart more than I can explain.

After the race, we hung out for a while while they were drawing the prizes and chatted with a few friends that I know from sparkpeople.com.   This is what the end of the race looked like.  

Iron Girl Half Marathon - Clearwater

RACE DATE: SUNDAY APRIL 10, 2011

This race is something that I signed up for on New Year's Day because it was only $35. Who can pass that up!!?! I thought at the very least I could drive over the morning of, to save me the cost of a room... Or Matt and I could make a weekend of it... Or I could find someone to split the cost of the room with me.

As luck would have it, Holly and Sueann split the room with me and Holly was kind enough to make all of the arrangements. On the day of the expo/packet pickup, I met them in downtown Clearwater where traffic sucked! The expo kind of lacked, in my opinion -- Holly and Sueann were able to get their Rock Tape applied, but other than that, there was limited amount of clothing (that i needed) which was surprising since the main sponsor was Athletica. It was hot and there was a small tent for juice samples on the far end of the park that we didnt know about... But if you were looking for a headband you were in luck. I wasnt. After getting a little sun and being a lot thirsty we left for the hotel.

We had our choice of 1st floor with a 'pool view' or 9th floor with no view. We chose the pool view. First, she told us the wrong room - our key didnt fit - then when we did get in our room, our 'pool view' ended up being a 'shrub view' with a pool behind the shrubs, then someone else was trying to break into out room because they gave them the wrong room number too... and then, there was an awesome wedding and party that lasted all night - on the first floor - right around the corner from our room :(

During the evening we went to have dinner with friends that I met of Holly and Sueann's. We had Italian and I had a very large calzone.  I only ate half of it and a salad.  Then Melissa and her daughter Katie came to hour hotel to hang out after dinner.  I was sooo sleepy, kind of a party pooper. 

Race Start

 We decided to walk to the race start when we found out that, even though this was a host hotel for the race, there was no tram/trolley providing transportation to and from the race.   The biggest issue was the large bridge between the hotel and the start/finish line.   It was a lovely walk over.  The morning temp/humidity was very nice.   We were all pretty pumped I think.   Here are a few picture of the race start and us hanging out pre-race.

 

Holly, Suezette, Me (CC) and Sueann

Everybody.

Our matching tattoos

  

Holly, Sueann, Suezette and me started together, and when Holly and Sueann walked for their first 4:1, Suezette and I pulled away. We ran the first 4-5 miles together. Suezette just got out of her air cast, so she needed to stop for an interval at that point, where I trudged on feeling fantastic. The bridges, neighborhoods, etc was beautiful. I haven't really been running like I should (but I have been working out) and I was just feeling spry and ready to GO! I did really well until around mile 7.5-8 where my toes started really screaming at me after the decline on the second bridge. It felt like I was slamming a car door on my foot with each step and by mile 9 I had shed my new Mizunos and was running the course barefoot. Somewhere between mile 12-13 my toes started bleeding and were hurting like hell but I knew there was only 1 mile left! I wasn't so bad off that I didn't pause at the top of the last bridge and take in the beautiful experience. That I am fit enough to run a half marathon, without training, and didn't quit even after I lost my shoes. I got a lil choked up but not too bad since people were looking at me and offering me their shoes. On the last mile I kept thinking the pain is temporary but the pride of finishing would last forever. And I did finish, in about the same time that I finished Disney in January. Honestly, it was harder to finish in January.

I felt very strong finishing the Iron Girl today!
I stood outside the shoot and waited on my girls to finish. 

I'm DONE!  With no shoes :)

Bib: 499 Age Group:

(

F35-39) Placement:

777/1635   Time:

2:25:49   Pace:

11:03

Our Journey to Donald - Disney Half Marathon 2011

I'm trying to figure out where to start. Last year, when Boyce said that he would like to do the Disney Half Marathon with me, I knew that it would touch my heart. I was so excited that we would be spending all of this time training together, I never really thought much about the race itself! And so now the time has come for the race.

I picked him up from school so that we could head over before Grandma, Grandpa, Matt and Hannah came so we could go to the Expo. It was packed but well organized. It took no time at all to get our registration completed and head over to pick up the tshirt & goodies from the expo. Wow, it was very busy in there! We ran right into Holly while buying new pouch with new drink containers to fit on it and a couple of cliff bars, and I made a sign to hold up for the marathoners on Sunday. I was hurried out by the impatient one though...in the most affectionate way :) Afterwards, we went to downtown Disney to meet up with my friend Bekka and her family, Sueann, Holly, and some other sparkies that I have never met before! I instantly made friends with Bekka's baby boy - He is SOOO SWEET!

After that we ate at Kona, at the hotel, it was DELICIOUS, I had a spicy tuna roll, 1/2 glass of wine, and asian noodles for dinner. I stuffed myself. Boyce had a steak and chicken wings.

I was so tired that we left before dessert was over to return to the rooms and get ready for bed. We were all tucked in and Boy was snoozing by 9:30. I never slept. I laid in bed until 2:50 without ever going to sleep. I could feel my heart racing - and thought - WHAT IN THE WORLD?!?!? Did I set my phone alarm right? Did I set the wake up call right? Should I set a third alarm? Why does the A/C sound like that? I wish the people [upstairs, downstairs, beside of us] would be quiet. OMG, the bathroom door squeaks so loud, does anybody else have to go, do it now so I can sleep! Matthew, are you awake? UGH... Time to get up. Boy is a goofball! Nerves? Excited? Tired and Delusional? Not sure...but he looked pretty ready to go!
So we get to the race, and my mind is in a good place - I'm ready to have FUN! I decided to skip anything for breakfast because those overnight jitters were still with me and I felt a little woosie. We caught the monorail at 3:30 and landed at Epcot around 3:40am. Bag check was quick and we ended up just standing around for ...a really long time! I went to the portapotty while we waited, twice. You know how important these pre-race stops are :) I was determined to NOT get stickers in my breeches!

Finally they opened the gate to let the wheelchair bikes pass, and then we headed toward the start line and our corrals. I was placed in corral B, but hung back with Boy in Corral H. While we waited my sciatic nerve problem started up (it hurts most when I stand still - which I did - for what seemed like forever!) I ended up taking an Ibuprofen. 10 minutes later I was throwing up (as inconspicuously as possible) on the side of the road! My boy felt so bad for me that he didn't want me to start the race. But I knew I would be fine as soon as I got started! In-between stomach spasms, my mind was still wanting to have fun because I really was pumped and wanted to have a good time! the DJ was awesome and the energy out there was unbelievable. I took a little video, but Boy was being a punk so I didn't get much!


Next thing you know, they are counting down and fireworks are going off... But we were so far back, that we got to watch fireworks go off 4 times (Corrals A-D) and wait for nearly an hour before our corral actually made it to the start line! In the meantime, Boy and I discussed our strategy. I told him to run his own pace or run with me. It didn't matter. He was concerned about running out of steam, so we decided to walk through the water stops and run between. I knew there was a water stop around every mile. He said it, but it was actually ME worried about running out of steam as he had already left me before mile 1!

He had already weaved his way threw people and out of my site. I looked for him for the whole race. Before I knew it, we were crossing the first 5K mark. Pretty sure I was shedding my jacket around this time. I didn't realize where I was at and missed the family cheering section around mile 4. They missed me and boy too.

I had a great time coming threw magic kingdom, mostly thought back to last year and wished Jeanine was there to take pictures with. This time, I had to depend on the photographer and hope he did a good job because I was NOT waiting in the long line at the bottom of the bridge. I was feeling pretty darn fantastic at this point! Only later would I realize I felt so good because I was jogging a 12 minute mile ;) Boy is in this crowd, can you find him?

Around miles 8-10, I saw the peeps (I had to scream at them to see me again! haha), there was an awesome singer belting out Sweet Caroline which got everybody on the course singing! LOL, and Chip N Dale came out (*my favs*) right as I was passing with NO LINE! Yippie!

There were some cool bands and DJs playing. Popular songs for the race seemed to be Boom Boom Pow (Black Eyed Peas), Firework (Katy Perry), and from Disney the Winnie the Pooh song and Its a Small World. There was cool stuff all along the race course like people riding high wheel bicycles, the epcot hot air balloons, stilt walkers, of course many characters, and so much more.

Somewhere in here our support staff snapped a couple pictures of Boy in action. Apparently he was still zigzagging his way down the road! Mile 11 was the toughest for me, I just wanted to be done. I was somewhere between the last big resort passing and coming back into Epcot. Mile 12 was leading us back into Epcot so the crowd picked back up, one last water stop, then I saw Boy on his way back from the bridge to the World Showcase so I knew he was only minutes ahead of me! I cranked it up, hoping to slim the distance between us (I didn't realize I was this close to him!!) but it was too late to close the distance - I got to the finish as soon as I could but there was still a huge crowd of runners that I couldn't get past! I grabbed my mylar, medal, banana, mini cliff and water as I headed toward bag claim, trying to find him! Did I mention how many people were there?!? I couldn't find him! I laid down on my blanket, ate my first food of the day, stretched, text'd the fam. Finally found him and we agree to leave immediately, we were whipped! On the bus ride I started feeling sick. I contemplated running to the front and making them let me off but I managed to make it all the way to the front steps of our hotel before throwing up all over myself and the beautiful landscaping :-( I was so thankful that nobody acted like the saw me sitting on the ground while Boy ran in to get paper towels to clean me off!
We had a breakfast reservation shortly after I thought we would return (I did good with the estimation!!) so I showered and we headed out to that, not caring what I looked like. However, we were all dressed in our Half Shirts, so I wanted to share it with you. Aren't we CUTE!?!

Just so I don't end this on a negative note, because I really did have an awesome time on the course and felt the best WHILE I was running! And after my non-breakfast, we took a 3.5 hr nap and I woke up feeling FANTASTIC! We had a wonderful rest-of-the-weekend enjoying Epcot and Magic Kingdom. Boy teetered between "I'm never doing that again!" to "Next time...." hahaha ;) He's already planning to start training again!


Final Results

47420 BOY- 14M MEN 14 THOUGH 17 /45.2% 2:25:05

26377 CC- 36F WOMEN 35 THROUGH 39 /45.2% 2:28:11

Space Coast Classic 15K

Boy & I are in the initial stages of training for the Disney World half marathon. We ran 6.5 for our long run last week, which was, by far!, my longest run since the Melbourne and Beaches Half back in February. So what was I thinking when I asked Jeanine if she wanted to sign up for this 15K (that is a little more than 9.3 miles). After it occurred to me that I actually WASNT THINKING at all, I decided that at the very least, I would try to make it 7, and walk when I had to. I laid out my stuff, dressed in my capris and sports bra, and then went to bed relatively early last night and fell right to sleep. Then after my sweet husband came to bed and woke me up, I slept bad! I was paranoid (as usual) that I would oversleep so I started waking up about every 45 minutes or so.

I did wake up on time, grabbed my stuff, and took my pb&j toast with me in the car. I did not have coffee this morning. Of course, today would be the day the temp dips into record breaking temperatures! It was around 45 degrees at the beginning of the race with a 20 mph wind. I was cold until the sun came up but then I was pretty comfortable with sports bra, short sleeve T, capris and my running jacket. My toes were freezing from walking thru the wet grass. They also started to warm up, but my left foot didnt feel "right" the whole run - I wore the mizunos and as much as I love them, they are just too tight on my forefoot. Other than that, those 9.3 miles felt GOOD!! Jeanine and I ran together and was able to pace ourselves so we RAN the entire way! WHOOT! Go Us! Not everyone can say they can up and run a 15K without training for it :D

I figured out how to see splits on CardioTrainer! I <3 it again! You can tell I was running conservative until I figured out I was actually going to make it the entire distance :)

1: 11:04
2: 10:49
3: 10:52
4: 10:31
5: 10:38
6: 10:51
7: 10:40
8: 10:24
9: 10:09

Unofficial Total: 9.33 mi in 1:39:14

Melbourne Music & Beaches Half Marathon

The last night shuttle launch was scheduled for this morning at 4:39. I got up at 4:15 so I could turn on the local news channel to watch the info from NASA. There was a 30% chance of liftoff, and it was eventually postponed until tomorrow. I was so happy that we didn't leave even earlier to drive to the beach to watch liftoff; as it was, a 5:15 pickup was PLENTY early for me! :)

I was feeling pretty good today. I changed some stuff up: I did not drink coffee this morning before the race, I did drink water, and I had a power drink for breakfast instead of my typical bagel, pb, or banana. I had zero stomach issues - so I am so happy!!!! :D

It was chilly this morning. The temp was less than 40 degrees at the 7am start with the wind chill. This doesn't make me happy. I like being warm. But I had on my beanie, my gloves, a sweatshirt, jacket, short-sleeve and tank on so it wasn't all that uncomfortable. We hit the pottys twice and I hit the bushes once before the start. I have to say, the only thing not organized a this race is the potty lines - there are plenty of potties, but they sit in a horseshoe shape at the race start and the line(s) was crazy, so i skipped it. Then we went to line up and there was my wonderful hubby - he DID make it! We stood with him for the anthem and then we were off! I knew it would be a good race :)

The first 3 miles were riverfront on US-1. US-1 is my FAVORITE part of Melbourne! It is right on the water with a lovely view of the causeway. I was looking for my hubby and his dad to hand off my things. There were several side streets we ran through, a neighborhood with the houses right on the water. It was lovely, I was feeling good but a little WARM at this point, so I was shedding layers. The first causeway was GREAT! I thought it was easy (mile 5). I turned on my music at this point. The hubster was at mile 6 to take my things and cheer me on! WhooHoo! Still going strong! Miles 7-11 was down Riverside, through the waterfront neighborhoods. I was slowing at each water station to take whatever they were handing out, but we ran the rest of the way. I thought there was a good bit of support out on the course.

The end of mile 11-mile 12 was the second causeway. I was remembering that last year we walked a good portion of these miles but today we ran them. I had made myself a deal that I only had to run to the top of the causeway (there was about a mile left after that), so I told Jeanine to go head. She took right off, but I got a drink and saw my sweet hubby and his dad sitting in traffic. I yelled, WOW I am moving faster than you. And being there was just less than a mile left, I was guessing the would NOT be at the finish line when we came through. I spent the rest of the mile unsuccessfully trying to catch up with Jeanine since I never needed to stop and walk it out. My last mile was definitely my fastest mile, we kicked it in and finished strong!

I was a little bummed when I saw that even though we ran the whole way, and I took ZERO potty breaks, I was still 2 mins slower than my last 2, and over 1 min slower than my worst (making this my new Personal Worst), but considering I have not ran over 5 miles since Disney a month ago, and I had lost so much of my speed while training for that, I am happy with a strong finish no matter what the time is. I feel great - and that's all that really matters :)

I just want to add that the finishers medals for this race are B-E-A-U-TEE-F-U-L

Pace: 10:31, 2:17:46

Disney Marathon 2010 - My First Marathon

Marathon weekend started for me on Thursday when Matt & I took the dogs to their home-away-from-home and headed for our cabin in Fort Wilderness, Disney. Ma & Pop C came to stay w/ the kids Thursday night.

Once we got to the cabin, we hopped a bus to Hollywood Studios to hop a bus to the Expo. The first thing we did at the expo was bib & packet pickup. Bib pick-up was in the Milk House and even though it was packed, Disney was incredibly efficient with passing out the goodies and getting the Dtags tested. Next stop: the sports cafe. a two story (auditorium style) room with TONS of booths and goodies to buy! I left on Thursday with the limited edition 2010 Disney Marathon pin, and a pair of sunglasses.

Friday the grandparents and kids came to meet us. We had a great time at Magic Kingdom. There were almost no lines (as not many people had the desire to freeze their @$&#$ off) so we were able to make it through all of the rides we were interested in fairly quickly. SueAnn & Holly were going to the Expo so I decided to go back and try to meet up with them and grab some more clothes, since the weather channel was predicting lower and lower temps as time went by...by this time the possibility of SNOW was predicted!!

We had THE WORST LUCK with transportation going anywhere besides the race :P Here is a photo of us on the first leg of the trip. I was still smiling. We missed Holly & SueAnn.... it also made us miss our first, and delayed reservations. However, after 5 buses and 2 boats to and from the expo, we FINALLY made it to EPCOT to eat Moroccan. It was delish, but I couldn't eat hardly any of my entree after the appetizer we split and the thought of dessert made me ill. Here is a photo we got, its not great but I really wanted a picture of the tree and it was freezing so one shot is all I gave.

On Saturday, we had a princess breakfast at Akershus Banquet Hall in Norway , road a few rides while we were at Epcot, headed over to Hollywood studios to ride the Tower of Terror and Rockin Roller coaster, then raced to Downtown Disney for Dinner at Planet Hollywood . It was loud and packed and crazy. NOT my kind of place. I had 1 shrimp and about 1/3 of the spinach dip appetizer, and could NOT eat my spaghetti. There again, just not hungry and started feeling sick.

The night before the race, me, Matt, Boy & Han, and my mother-in-law and father-in-law stayed in the cabin. Matt & I had the main cabin, so I could get ready (buses ran between 3-4am). Neither Matt or I could sleep at all. I laid there wishing the clock would just hurry up already. The morning of the race I got up feeling sick. Actually, I was gagging (dry heaving) and couldn't eat or drink anything pre-race. It was 26 degrees with a 17 degree wind chill factor. I layered up, and packed a clif bar in case I started feeling like I could swallow it, filled out my medical info on the back of my bib, attached my d-tag and all of the other stuff I was suppose to do the night before. Then Matt drove me to the main bus stop area so I could be ontime and have a little less time waiting in the cold (He is a dream!!)

**I do want to add here that I realize people run in weather worse than this all of the time, but I dont. I wasn't used to the cold, nor equipped for freezing temps. I dont even have adequate long pants, jackets, etc for wicking, heating, etc. So it was trashbags and disposable clothing keeping me warm today** Here is the outer layer that I had on...The one that me and my boy picked up at the Expo Friday night and decorated in the Sharpie support area of the expo...

I ended up giving my Clif Bar (breakfast) to the guy riding on the bus with me. He was doing the Goofy challenge and was giving me pointers on bag check and where the potties with the short lines are. I met up with Jeanine at the fork in the road by the corrals. Did I mention it was so cold??

We lined up for the portalets, but we ended up jumping in the bushes because it was time to go! I ended up getting stickers in my drawers! :( HAHA! We picked the stickers out, hopped the fence and ran up the side of the road trying to get to our corral D...but we could only get to corral E. That is where we started.... Me feeling like death and Jeanine all spry and sassy! :) The characters came on stage to introduce the beginning of the race and fireworks went off...it was gorgeous!

The first few miles were crowded and I wasn't sure if I would be able to make it, Jeanine was worried about me because I was so pale, I just knew I was going to throw up! I was sweating and freezing; couldnt decide to keep the trash bag on or remove it b/c once its off, I might get really cold. The course was flat and the route left Epcot behind. We ran down the highway toward Magic Kingdom, and through MK where I stopped at the park restroom. I removed my gloves and my outer layer of pants, used the bathroom and was on my way...except I forgot my Brooks running gloves, so I battled the crowded bathroom to check the sink and stall and they were already gone. I picked up some discarded gloves because my fingers were freezing, but they were sweaty and wet making my fingers even colder so I tossed them and tucked my hands into my jacket. The park run was pretty neat b/c the rides were running even though nobody was on them at 7am. It was just starting to be daylight and people were already lining the entrance to cheer the runners on! This was the beginning of the first spectator spot. We ran through future world, frontierland, through Cinderella palace which was especially awesome and started to pick up my mood a little. Maybe it was really the powerade 1 oz at a time but I started to enjoy all of the wonderful things that were on the sidelines! Jeanine forced me to take a photo at the Castle (thanks girl!!! I LOVE this!!!)

As we past the Polynesian Resort & the golf courses I spotted Pop, Grandma C, Matt, Boy and Han...I yelled and yelled at them, but they didn't see me so I ran into the crowd and got kisses :) That is where I lost Jeanine! YAY! I had been telling her to go on! I was on a really slow walk/run pace and she was on fire - I really wanted her to run a strong race and feel like she did her best! So from mile 12.5 or so I was on my own. Seeing the kids out there supporting their mommy, helped me press on! It was so heartwarming, and I wanted them to be proud of me - I knew I'd see them againg, waiting on me at the FINISH LINE!

We ran on to Animal Kingdom, I really enjoyed this part, but I didn't bring the disposable so I didn't stop for photos...it was too cold to stop anyway. I was still stopping at every water station, taking a powerade and a water cup - which - btw - was frozen in the cups and on the streets!! There was ice all over the trashcans and roads making it very slippery! Eventually they got salt to the aid stations to spread on the ground that helped a little. The course continued out-and-back to the Wide World of Sports, but we never actually made it there. All along the streets there were DJs that were EXCELLENT! They were funny and encouraging, and played the most awesome music! Which I needed because my back and hips were seizing up and I was starting to have to stop and stretch. The runners really started encouraging each other during this time. I can't tell you how many people ran up beside of me and said "Run CC Run!!" (see the back of my jacket - it works!!)

I texted Matt at mile 21 and 22 between WWS and Hollywood Studios. That seemed to be THE WORST. It was such a lonnng way to travel with nothing but roads and DJs since Animal Kingdom. But... I made it to Hollywood Studios and ran all the way through that park! Feeling a little stronger now, maybe thanks to the two mostly frozen bananas they handed out! Onward, past the Swan resort, which was BEAUTIFUL and had a tremendous turnout! People were lining the sidewalk - in that wretched freezing weather - with their hands up for high fives, shouting encouragement, dancing and just bringing so much energy which I definitely needed! Then.... THEN!!!...

We entered Epcot for our victory lap around the world showcase to the finish line! It was CRAZY full!! So many people bundled up to support ALL of the runners (not just "their" runner!) It was a fantastic journey and as slow as my race was, I did run through the final two miles around Epcot on to the finishline, where there was, once again, music blaring, big screens displaying the finishline. When I came through, "What A Feeling" (Flashdance) was blaring! I'm not a crier, but I did tear up a little because What A Feeling that was indeed!!! I was looking for my people in the crowd and didn't even see my time. I dont even know if I looked at the photographers.... All I remember is being so proud and wanting to share that moment with the family and after that find Jeanine and see how well she did! I got my mylar blanket and metal and pulled the phone out to call Matt! Only to see that my wonderful friends had been tracking my progress and had already starting sending congrats to me!!! You guys are the BEST!!! Thank you!!

I bypassed all the snacks & drinks heading straight for baggage pickup because I was soaked and freezing and they were all waiting on the other side with all my goodies already! Here's a few photo Jeanine sent me from her camera :)

Jeanine finished in 5:01 - she could have easily done a 4:30 had she not babysat me the first 12+ miles. I am SOOO proud of her!! We did it girlie!! All those miles....and here we are on the other side! THANK YOU for pushing me through this, I dont think I would have seen it through without you!

My family was so supportive, my mother-in-law carried my bags, my boy and girl held all of my sweaty belts and took pictures of me and the characters that were in the family reunion area (most of them are on the disposable from the goodie bag and still have to be developed)

My wonderful husband, my rock, kept it all together for me, packed us up and checked us out, moved the children all of the place in the freezing weather, held the fort down every Saturday for MONTHS....all to make sure I had all of the support that I needed to complete my goal. This was quite an experience. One that I will never ever forget!

7846

CHANDRA

CLAYCOMB

PALM BAY

FL

WOMEN -- 35 THROUGH 39

35

F

5:33:49

5:45:55

10804

4434

876

41.2%

Christmas on the Coosa 5K

I was in Alabama for work this week, so I had every intension of running the Christmas on the Coosa 12K on Saturday. I have been planning it since October and I know that I can run that distance....but when I woke up on Saturday morning, not yet registered, and it was raining in addition to being around 35 degrees.... I decided to downgrade to the 5K. (I wouldn't have went AT ALL except I had talked other people into registering already!)

As you can see, I dressed pretty warmly - but not as warm as I would have liked to have been! Thank goodness they were giving the beanie hats for the race instead of a tshirt :) I started off dry enough, but it started raining right before the race started and rained the entire run. I managed to keep out of the puddles until the middle of the 2nd mile and then I got really wet - my pants were sloshing around... GRRR.

I finished the race in 26:46 according to my Garmin. Its been a LONG time since I was in a race that wasn't chip timed! But my buddy Dwayne mentioned that I might have placed but it'll take forever for the Trail of Legends to post the results. I'll update when I know more :)