Running Code 3

It’s hard to believe that the end of 2011 is here! Oh my God, where has the time gone when it seems as if the year just started.

It’s been a good year for me. I hit a snag there in the middle, but looking back, over all, it’s been a really good year for me. In a nutshell, I ran:

• 5 – 10Ks
• 1 – Duathalon
• 1 – 2 mile run
• 1 – 4 mile run
• 1 – 10 mile run
• 18 – Half Marathons
• 1 – Full Marathon

Starting with Fleet Feet’s Annual 2 mile Pajama Jam in Stockton.  This was so much fun.  I ran in a negligee and got a lot of crazy looks because it was FREEZING COLD!!!  It was a great way to start off 2011, complete with winning a prize.  I ran with some friends that were crazy enough to run with me on that cold fateful night and we had a lot of fun.

Hours after the Pajama Jam came the Brazen New Year’s Day Trail Half. I ran with Mac and my friends, Erika, Judy, Julie, and Rodger.  It was great to start 2011 surrounded by the company of my friends!

Then came an early morning 10K, The California 10. It’s a 10 mile race, but they had a 10K option and since I had just worked the night before, I thought that this would be the best option for me. I ran with my friend, Cory.

Davis Stampede Half Marathon, in Davis, CA. Wow. This race was not best venue. I didn’t enjoy running in Davis at all. Lots of tunnels, and it felt as if we were going around in circles. Yeah … not my thing. But it was fun to run with Mac and Erika Rae.

Shamrock’n Half Marathon. This race is a nice little fun race. The course was a little different this year due to construction in Sacramento. For this race, Mac made custom shamrock’n tutu’s for us, and our friends Cory and Judy. This race was also Chris’ very first half marathon! I thought for sure he’d hate me, but in reality, he actually enjoyed himself and signed up for a few more halves! What?!?!?

Santa Cruz Half Marathon. This was a beautiful half. What a lot of fun. Ran with Mac and Mellie Mel.

Indy Mini Marathon. This is the longest that I have ever traveled for a half marathon … all the way to Indianapolis, Indiana!!! My brother lives in Indy, so I did have a reason to go and visit. I loved running in Indy. It was a very nice, very well organized run. Running thru the Speedway … AWESOME! It was a great experience!

Fresno Eye-Q California Classic Weekend Half Marathon! Nice, inaugural race. It was here that I met my Twitter friends, Penny (@southbaygirl), and Kristy (@KristyLPants) in real life. We had dinner with our friend, Linda (@MsV1959), and just had a good time. The race was a really nice run thru what most consider the armpit of California. I enjoyed it.

Stockton Rotary 10K Run To Eradicate Polio. It’s not thought about that much anymore – Polio. We take it for granted because we in the United States are vaccinated against it, but it’s still prevalent in some countries. Amazing. I ran this 10K with Erika Rae, and with my friend, Linda V., who ran the 5K. I ended up coming in 3rd in my age group and had a lot of fun running it. May have been because I was delirious from lack of sleep after working all night, but I think it was just a good run over all.

Nitro Trail. Brazen puts on a great venue, but they really can’t control the weather. This race was cold, wet and rainy! What? It’s June, really? I ran this race with Mac, Erika Rae, Judy, Mel, and Christina and Cindy who both ran the 10K. I wasn’t fond of this race as it ran around in circles. Yeah, I’m not a fan of going around and around and around … Plus it was WET. Super wet and cold and rainy.

See Jane Run. At the last minute, my friend, Erika Rae and I decided to do a back to back. We had just run Brazen Nitro Trail the day before, and this race was to end our weekend together and send Erika off because she wouldn’t be running for awhile. We thought that the weather in Alameda would be the same as it was for Nitro Trail. However … it wasn’t. It was overcast and warm. It was a really good run we had together. We ran for our chocolate and just had fun.

Fleet Feet’s Annual 4 Mile Firecracker Run.  This is a nice 2 loop run thru Lincoln Village West in Stockton.  It’s fun just to go out there and meet your friends and just have a good time.  It’s always HOT though.  Ugh.

Davis Moo-nlight Half Marathon … It was a night half. We thought it would be a nice, cool run. Instead it was still HOT and muggy. Chris and I drove up with Cory and her family. It would be her husband, Sam’s first half marathon. We had dinner at IHOP – yecht. Remind me not to do that again. It weighed a little heavy in my belly, but it was okay. Just the food was gross. The course was once again … BORING. Circles, overpasses, and bridges. Not only that, the course was cut short by one mile. One mile! Yep, the volunteer at mile 6, misdirected the runners and we were cut short by a whole mile. Oh well, it was okay with me as I was ready to be done with that crazy race! No only did I run with Cory and Sam, but Mac and Mel were there, Judy ran as Chris, and I met Anne, Mac’s friend.

The end of July brought us to the famous San Francisco Marathon. I ran the first half with Mac and Mel, and well, it just was NOT the run for me. I had a really bad run. A really bad run. It was awful, and I did not enjoy myself at all. I felt very bad that I was not having a good time at all and my friends were. This was an eye opener for me. I’m not quite sure if I was over training or if I just really hated running, but I needed to just stop where I was and reevaluate what was happening. I hung my shoes up for awhile and something happened … I started to crawl out of the hole that I had fallen into. I did different things. I ran alone. I changed up my workout and started doing what I enjoyed .. and it got BETTER.

Keep Moving Forward 10K was a run to benefit those who are visually impaired. I didn’t tell anyone that I was going to run, and I just signed up because the venue was literally across the street from my mother-in-law’s house. I just ran and had a good time. No one knew that I was there. I ran incognito.

The end of August brought me to the Giant’s Race. It’s a half marathon that benefited Project Open Hand, and ended at the Giant’s stadium. I loved running that race. It was fun. My friend, Judy, was supposed to run with me, but there were some things happening in her life in which she could not attend so she put her bib up on FB. Cory responded that she wanted it and so off we went … we ran the Giant’s Half together. It was a nice run from the Giant’s stadium, up to Chrissy Field and back, finishing inside the stadium on Home Plate. Loved it. Mel ran as well as Shiloh, but we really didn’t see either one of them. Chris ran with us, but made his run a 10K instead of the half.

Disneyland Half Marathon. I was supposed to run this race with Mac Erika, and Judy, however, Mac ended up selling her bib to Ali, and Judy couldn’t go, so she gave me her bib to give away, and then I was not able to hook up with Erika. It was kind of disappointing, however, I was able to give my friend Judy’s bib to my Twitter BFF, Torie who lives in Long Beach. We made plans to meet in real life, and run together. It was awesome to meet her! We had a great time, and we ran together and just enjoyed each other’s company. I was also able to see my friends, Ali, Lauren, and Kristy for a minute which was nice. The run itself was a nice, fun run. The weather was perfect, and the post race refueling and expo was very nice.

Buffalo Stampede and Migration. This was a last minute entry into a 10 mile race. I was lured by a beautiful girl who promised to bake me some cookies. I love my Shiloh. She’s so beautiful, and she’s an awesome athlete. She’s so inspiring. I ran the migration (slow) while she ran the stampede (fast). It was a really nice run thru a posh neighborhood in Sacramento. Awesome! =)

Half Moon Bay International Marathon. This was my second half for September. It as an inagural race, and I was thankful to score an entry. I had so much fun meeting the race director and mingling with runners. I loved it. I met and ran with some really nice people, and had an awesome post race massage. The pasta feed dinner was really nice. I needed this race. Running by the ocean. I prayed for my friend who recently lost her husband. They loved HMB and spent a lot of time there. I loved this race and I’m excited to run it again next year!

Muddy Buddy San Jose. I have done this race for the last 6 years. This year though, was the first year that they moved it to October. This is the third year that I’ve partnered with Rosa Aguilar and this year we were team Nucking Futs. Rosa has had a rough year so I wanted to make sure she had some distraction. She needed this. We had a lot of fun. They changed up the obstacles a little but not much. This year I went up with Claudia Powell and her partner Felisa. We had so much fun!

Nike Women’s Marathon. This race holds a lot of sentiment for me. It was the first long distance race I had ever ran, and every year I run it in memory of my father. I was able to raise a good amount of money on my own for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. This year, I only ran the half marathon as the distance of the full really doesn’t entice me as it does others. Chris and I had a few SNAFUs and we had some issues but our friend, Cory, came to the rescue and drove us to SF. We hit the expo, then the wall of fame, spent a few minutes in NikeTown and we were outta there. Too many people, too little of an expo … yeah, so not me. We met up with Shiloh and Linda for my birthday dinner. Shi Shi got me some awesome cupcakes and we had a really nice time. It’s just not the same race for me anymore. I’m not sure when it happened, but I just don’t feel the same about it. It’s why I only ran the half when in other years I’ve run the full. But it’s Nike … It’s an expensive race, for a piece of Tiffany bling. But like I said, its pretty sentimental as I run for my father.

St. Joseph’s Stockton Half Marathon. This is the 2nd annual Stockton Half. I run it because, for one, it’s in my hometown, and because I work for St. Joe’s. I love this race because I have a lot of friends who live and run in Stockton. It’s always fun to run with people that you know. I had a great time. I loved this venue not just because I ran with friends, but because it’s a fairly nice course, and because they offered free onsite pictures, and the post race venue was awesome! I also love it because of the fact that my husband and daughter come out to cheer! =)

Fresno Two Cities Half Marathon. I had a great time the last time I ran in Fresno. I also like Fresno because my oldest son lives and goes to school at Fresno State. We met up with him and had a good time catching up. I miss my son. It was going to just be a girl’s weekend, with just Grace and I, visiting with Sam, but at the last minute Noah decided to come with us. We had a really nice time. The only thing was was that there was 40% chance of rain, and I didn’t bank on the 60% chance of sunshine. It was sunny and beautiful! I was over dressed and uncomfortable, but the run itself was really nice.

Stockton’s 7th Annual Run To Feed The Hungry. I love this run. I love running with my friends after getting my turkey in the oven. It’s for a great cause, and the weather is usually cool and beautiful for a run. I ran a really good race. I met Cory there as well as some other friends, and finished with my friend, Rosemary.

California International Marathon (CIM). I can’t believe that I ran another FULL marathon. It was a commitment made two weeks prior to the race. I had not trained properly, nor was my heart into this race. At the time I decided to fully commit, my friend, Cory, backed out. However, my friend Judy would run with me. I knew that Mac and Mel would be running, and that my friends Shiloh, Khrystyne, and Linda would be running the relay. I told Judy that if she should need to forge way ahead of me to go … She stayed by me throughout the entire 26.2 miles. She was my rock and we had a great time. It was a hard run because my feet hurt sooooo much.

Walnut Creek Half Marathon. This was the last of the NorCalHalfSeries. This is the race that would end the series for me and get me an extra medal. I really enjoyed this series. You had to have run at least three races in the sereis and this last race in Walnut Creek to qualify for the medal. I had already run Davis Stampede, The California Classic Weekend, and The Giant’s Race. It was a great series to run. Walnut Creek’s race was an inaugural run. It was a nice course, despite the big @$$ hill from mile 6 to 8. I ran this race with Mellie Mel, and saw my friend, Layla. The only thing was was that it was SUPER FREEZING COLD!!!

Operation Jack is the brain child of Sam Felsenfeld, marathoner and father of three, one of which, Jack, is severely Autistic.  Last year, Sam ran 61 marathons in an effort to raise funds and awareness for Autism.  Last year, Sam had the bright idea to have his very last marathon run close to home – so … he organized a small marathon to be run with friends.  However … we all wanted to help Sam and in a matter of days this small marathon blossomed into something huge with the development of a satellite run which would include a marathon, half marathon, and 10K.  Last year, I was able to organize an Operation Jack Satellite 10K in Stockton and we had a great turnout.  So much fun.  However, this year, I wasn’t able to do this so I opted to run my own 10K.  6.2 miles done, all with a smile on my face.  This is a race that I will continue to do virtually every year for as long as it is offered.  I am thankful to have had the opportunity to help Sam and Jack!

And lastly … last but not least … a last minute sign up at the urging of my friend, Alexis.  I was talking to her one day about running a half on New Year’s Day, like I did last year.  In fact, I signed up for the Brazen Racing New Year’s Day Half.  Then I found out Alexis was running the New Year’s Eve and Day Halves.  She urged me to run both with her … What?  Really?  Yep, she said something about “double bling” and “fun.”  I’m not sure what posessed me, but out of my mouth came a resounding, “Okay, I’ll do it.”  Our excitement spread like wildfire somehow, and caught the attention of our friend, Becky who had never … read NEVER run a half marathon in her entire existence, but yet she also signed up to run BOTH NYE and NYD halves.  Let me just say that this was an epic weekend and we had sooooo much fun.  The New Year’s Day half will go onto my 2012 recap, but let me just say, it was soooo much FUN!!!

And that, my friends, is my 2011 recap. It’s been such a nice year.  I logged over a thousand running miles.  I learned a lot about myself.  I made and met a lot of great runner friends. I watched my friends whom I motivated grow as runners. I changed up my training a little. And I just did my own thing. I had to find my passion for running midway through the year. It’s hard to get away from it. I learned much. I’ve grown much. And I’ve had a lot of fun. I’m thankful for my ability to run, move, jump, breath … I can’t complain. It’s kept me in shape, healthy, and best of all, sane. Life is good. Running makes it a little better. Running with friends makes it the BEST.

Thanks everyone. Looking forward to a great 2012 season. Remember … the hardest move to make is that first move in getting your @$$ of the couch!  Putting one foot in front of the other gets you *that* much closer to your goal …  And like I always say … Train HARD … Train SMART … Eat WELL … and Have FUN!!!