{8} Mile

This ain't no Eminem story.  
As you might have read previously, back in March,  I did my first 5k and since then decided that I would do some version of an organized run  every month from then on for an entire year.  I'm 6 for 6 so far. Go me!
Why do a run a month?   No.   The question is: Why not?!

I like goals, but don't call them lofty just yet. Well, 1/2 lofty. 5k is only like 3.2 miles but the way I see it,  that's 5 more Ks than I have been doing previously ever and well,   if I'm ever going to meet that bucket list item of doing a full 26.2 marathon,  I gotta start somewhere right? 
I never get enough sleep.   It's just how things are in my world and I'm learning to cope.  When I do sleep and then it's time to get up, it looks like this: 

{ it's like my body is glued to the bed}

So Saturday I finally got out of bed and me and Lynn finally got going to Santa Cruz at 3pm. {only 3 hours later than we had originally talked about leaving} No biggie, there was no big rush.  

We talked a lot, we sang some songs (ok, I did most of the singing). There was the mandatory Starbucks trip and then there was a wall of traffic which was just a reminder to turn the radio up and roll the windows & sunroof back. 

{sunshine, sunroof, good company = good times}

Dead stopped, We tried to get everyone else in the cars around us to sing "My Sharona" with us, but no one wanted to play in our Reindeer Games.  Their loss.

We finally made it into Santa Cruz, found our sketchy little Inn, where they store all the extra furniture and decor out front by the "office", which is actually just is just a telephone number to a confused person who told us they left the key to our room under the mat in front of the door to the room where there were no pictures on the walls.  The "second" bedroom was really a rollaway in the living room right by the front window, where the fire alarm was disconnected, and there were 2x4s holding up the couch - which was described as "velvety and comfy" and "will suck you in like an SVU marathon".  

Uhhmm................

Deciding to flee the Bate's Motel get dinner,  we opted to spend the next couple of hours at the harbor and on the beach right at sunset, soaking up the last of the day, scaling the rock wall levee (carefully, in flip flops mind you) and taking about 157 pictures between two of us.   After neither one of us slid into the Pacific, we stuffed our faces at the Crow's Nest (which was classy and comfy and sucked us in like a hungry moth to a BBQ flame) before heading back to get some "sleep". 

Sleep.  Remember that thing that escapes me?  Yeah.   Neither do I and neither did Saturday night.  My August run was and ante-upper.   An 8-mile trail run.  That's the equivalent of a 12k. I'll see your 5k's and raise you 7ks, muuuwhhhaahahahaaaa!!!
8 miles on no sleep, with very little preparation, but just enough advice from Lynn on what eat to keep my energy up and keep myself hydrated for what I hoped would be less than a 3 hour trek. Running is not my forte. 
But you know what they say? Go big or go home. 
A quick breakfast on the way to carb up, we arrived at the start line about an hour early,   grabbed our gear, stretched, hydrated, and I used the bathroom like 7 times! At an all women's race, the bathroom was line was EPIC.  
Lynn was doing the half marathon, so she started 10 minutes earlier than I did.  Which left me solo and with my own motivation.

Start time 08:55 am, I took my place at the back of the pack where I remained for the next 2:16 hours.  I wasn't competing with anyone but myself.  In my book, showing up, taking time out of my hectically busy schedule, I had already won. 
Of the family, my brother, who ran ACROSS the country last year for Batten Disease, is the marathoner. I have always been the support driver, the finish line sign holder, the girl behind the scenes who didn't believe that she could step out of the sidelines and get INTO the race. 
Not anymore.  Hell.  Highwater. Doubt. Distance. None of that was going to keep me from finishing.

Source: naturalcuriosities.com via Lauren on Pinterest

Short of injuries, I was getting it done. I don't know what took over, but I did a lot of thinking out there on the trails.  I occasionally looked up at the break in the trees and felt the sun shining down on me as I kept a steady pace. 

I talked to Catie, who I dedicated my run to, who had the disease that my brother ran to raise awareness for.  Catie was a fighter and now she's an angel. I remembered how much she used to run as a child. I thought of my brother and all the miles he put in over 4.5 months. I smiled for all the times I skipped the gym or stayed in bed...today kicked the ass of all those days. I thought of the people in my life with failing health. I thought about a lot. A steady stream of sweat reminded me that this was no stroll in the park. Fire roads, steep trials with roots cut in that made their own natural steps, tripping hazards reminding me to keep my eyes on the ground and directly in front of me. My pony tail pulling some kind of wiper blade action across my back, it stuck to me just enough to keep my arms stretched back behind me occasionally to adjust it. 
I played the same songs over and over again this {one}, that {one}, this{one} again, this {one} really got me moving:  Sometimes you gotta push 
Though all your obstacles... No matter what the options are 
There is no lose , there is no fail 
LETS GO... We were born to run
I kept going as my lungs adjusted, I remembered my yoga breathing, and paid attention to Lynn's advice, fuel up about every 20 minutes, take this for cramps, take that for hydration.  Walk, run, walk, run, walk, run...the other ladies on the trail and the volunteers smiled and told me I was doing a good job, don't stop, you're almost there, you're doing a great job, keep going.
And so I did.  I kept going.   One step at at time, 1/4 mark, 1/2 mark, 2 miles left...and before I knew it, I made it.  Finished, the end, pulled out my headphones so I could hear them announce my name as I crossed the finish line. 

I texted my family, my mom, my best friends, and my trainer. 

"Done.  2:16 minutes, 8 miles.  I did it."

{this pro procrastinator did the damn thing!}

The rest of the day was kind of an exhausted, sleep-sick blur.  We made our way back to Downtown, grabbed a big lunch, bought a couple of beach towels, and then I laid out on the beach and fell asleep in 75* of sun beating down on me in the sand.  

Another long trip back and more great conversation, I got my mangled body home in one piece, calling off the early morning training session, got the back end of my shift covered, and slept for 17 glorious hours ...this is what straight out of hibernation looks like. Sunburnt and sore as all get out, but rested and completely accomplished.

Today, just short of 48 hours later, my body hurts every where.  I can feel that expanse in my lungs all stretched out when I laugh or cough. I'm moving slow.  Real slow. I feel it in my back, in my abs, in my obliques...its pain, but its good pain. It's the kind of pain you earn...it's sweet satisfaction of doing something you never thought you were capable of. 

Source: runforthethrill.tumblr.com via Lauren on Pinterest

So I went from 5 to 8 and now...now, what's next?  

I dunno, but stay tuned...it'll be good whatever it is. 

Celebrate {fight back} Remember

Cancer is an ugly, unpredictable, unfair, and unjust thing. 

It spares no one regardless of age, gender, or social status. 

Those who have faced cancer, past & present are warriors, fighters, champions.  

They're about hope, perseverance, and inspiration.

Relay for Life is a party celebrating all of those things. 

I have been a Team Captain in the past for this event, but time has gotten away from me lately and this year I was merely an unaffiliated participant. 

In between mandatory work shifts and call backs, and unable to escape sleeplessness, with my inner Scarlett O'Hara (more on her later) at the helm, I decided to make the most of my sleep deprivation, threw on my workout gear and headed out to the track.

As I walked around the track:

I caught up with family members a few short phone calls at a time.

I waved at co-workers and neighbors that I saw out in the crowd.

I noticed the other participants young & old, the messages on their shirts, the signs and pledges that adorned the track, saw all the names written on luminary bags in crayon and marker - uncle, brother, mother, grandfather, son, cousin, friend...

I thought about my Aunt Esther, 74 years young, her tears before her mastectomy earlier this year, and then picking her  up the very next day when she was released from the hospital.

She said, "I'm ready to party, but the doctor said I can't move around for at least 6 weeks.  I'm so disappointed, I was just going to start zumbaing."  Champion.

I thought about my friend Bev who passed away two years ago, who in an email announcing her cancer had come back, titled "My Big Adventure", always thinking of others first  addressed her friends and family with this message:

"How are you all doing?  Hope that 2010’s challenges and obstacles are few and easily manageable.  Be sure to celebrate each day….whatever it brings!"  Warrior.

I thought about the instantaneous sinking feeling that hit me last month when I heard that one of my oldest friends was diagnosed with Stage-3 cancer at the age of 31, just a month older than me.

I thought about asking over for a glass of wine for my birthday and then wondering if she was allowed in to drink with her diagnosis.  Her response with the great sense of humor that she has always had, "I'm 31 with stage-3 throat cancer, of course I can, the rules are out the window now."  Fighter.

Finally plugged in my headphones, tuned out the world, and started listening to my head and my heart. 

I set a goal for myself a few months back: enter an organized walk/run once a month for 12 months. 

I had just over an hour to get in that distance before I had to be back at work.

So with my girls, Kelly Clarkson, P!nk, Rihanna, and Adele keeping the beat for me, I started to run. 

Each loop around the track was 1/4 of a mile...my monthly goal is a 5k  (3.1 miles) - 13 laps around the track, grabbing a paperclip each time I made a loop to track my distance.

I can't lie, I'm good for about 1/6 of a mile running a time and then I'm done...but it's a start.

Bucket list item #10- run a full marathon. 26.2 miles. 

 I might be in my retirement by the time I get that done, but I WILL do it.

With all the warriors, fighters, and champions I have been privileged to meet and know, I just can't sit back and let life pass me by. 

I will make the most out of the hours and days that have been given to me.



{March/Brazen Lagoon Valley 5K, April/Survivor Mud Run 5k

 May Leukemia & Lymphoma Society 3K Cancer Walk, June Relay for Life 5K}