Race Report - 2nd Half Marathon

So apparently, this is what "runners" do after a race. They make a race report. Seeing as my race was over a week ago, we will see how much I remember. I decided to just rest last week and that will be another post. Now for the "Race Report"

I prayed and prayed the night before that the weather would cooperate, at least until after the race was over. I mean, yes we do need rain but for a couple hours in the morning while I was running, was it too much to ask that it just not rain? I guess not, because the Lord was very accommodating. I have said this before but I owe the fact that I run at all, to the weather here. It really was a perfect morning for running. It was a little chili but my wonderful husband let me borrow his extra pair of running gloves, which I only wore for a couple miles. It was cloudy but not raining.

My 11 year old daughter Sarah was also running the half marathon. This was her 6th one in less than a year! She amazes me, she doesn't even train for them. That's kids for you. Of course, my husband was running with us too. I do not run alone- or do I. We started out really great. Sarah was ahead of us and kept looking back to make sure we wouldn't catch up to her. Well, eventually, we did catch up to her and she was not doing so good. She was having some leg pains and the was getting discouraged about the race.

I had a goal to stay at a certain pace and Sarah was just struggling more than she ever has so I told BJ to just stay with her. So, I ran ahead of them, by myself! I couldn't believe what I was doing. BJ said, they would catch up to me. Well, I went for another 2 or 3 miles and realized that they weren't catching up with me. He had given me one water bottle so I could refill that but I had no food. I don't like gatorade or the goo's or actual food while I'm running but have found that I can handle the Shot Blocks. They are basically like really big fruit snacks. I didn't have any with me though. As I make the turn around at the halfway mark, I start thinking that at least I'll pass them so I can get my Shot Blocks but I was also worried about how Sarah was doing.

As I come up to them, Sarah is looking a little better so I feel better. BJ hands me my Shot Blocks and another water bottle and off I go again, by myself! Who is this woman, running a race by herself? Not me, oh yes it was! The fact that I was doing this by myself, just kept me going for another mile or 2 until it started to get really hard. By now I'm at mile 7 or 8 and I am getting really tired. BJ had told me that our friend Bob was going to come up and ride his bike to check on Sarah and I started thinking that maybe I would run into him. Well, we are so lucky to have friend like Bob. Here he comes on his bike with his Yoda helmet. Always good for a laugh and not a moment too soon.

I was starting to talk myself out of keeping my pace and just telling myself, to just finish. It didn't matter what my time was, I just needed to finish. Along comes Bob, like an older brother just watching out for us. He rides along with me for awhile and tells me he will go check on BJ and Sarah in a little while. I start thinking "Please don't leave me" . He stays.

BJ catches up to us to see how I'm doing. He did some pretty fast running to catch up with us. He didn't know that Bob had showed up but was hoping he had. Checks on me and says to Bob "You're going to stay with her, right?" Bob says, "sure I will". I am so relieved! BJ speeds off to go back and catch up with Sarah who is about a mile behind us.

I tell Bob, how grateful I am he is staying with me and that I didn't think I would be able to keep running at that pace without something to motivate me. I mean, with someone on a bike next to you, you don't really want to slow down. It's hard enough to ride slow while someone is running, I didn't want him to have to slow down even more!

Well, I didn't walk more than a minute for each of those last miles. I'm not saying I ran as fast as the beginning but I didn't just give up my goal pace!

The last quarter mile, Bob rode up ahead to tell my daughter Kate that I was coming so she could take a picture of me. She and Eric hung out at the aid station, the whole time. They were real troopers. I came up over that bridge and saw the finish line and I was so happy!!

I had a time in mind that I thought was doable and I had a time in my mind that I wanted to beat but wasn't sure if I could. Well, I did! I beat my previous half marathon time by 30 minutes!

Sarah and BJ were only a mile behind me. I was so proud of her for sticking to it and not giving up, even though she wasn't feeling her best that day. She is amazing.

Thanks to my wonderful husband for being an inspiration to me, Sarah, Justin and many of his friends. Hereally instilled a love of running in me!

Thanks to our good friend Bob Satko for being such a good support to all of us, especially me this time. He has given us the gift of his time many times to be race support.

I am so grateful for this experience. I think I'll do it again!

Unstoppable

This has been my theme song for awhile. I just love the message it gives. Rascal Flatts rewrote their popular song for the Olympics. I do not dare compare myself to Olympic Athletes but we actually do have something in common. I will not stop. Like the postman, through wind, snow, rain, cold, ice, heat.

Trials come our way. I have been faced with many in the last couple weeks!

1. I have extreme pain that I am dealing with in my shoulder and have been put on lots of medicines that don't really seem to help. Running causes the whole body to experience a jolt everytime you take a step. Needless to say, it is not very comfortable with this shoulder pain. The pain that my shoulder feels is nothing compared to the disappointment I had the one day I decided to walk instead of run. I felt like I was letting this stop me and I am UNSTOPPABLE, so I decided not to let this pain get the best of me. I have a friend and a brother that deal with extreme pain every day due to diseases that they have. They are an inspiration to me! If they can deal with this, so can I. I have 6 days left until my half marathon and I have not let this pain keep me from my training workouts.

2. I have been very involved in a musical that I did the choreography for. The last two weeks, we have had practice almost every night. I also run a preschool out of my home. I volunteer at the school and at my church and of course have numerous responsibilities as a mother and wife. I decided a couple weeks ago that if I was going to be able to fit in these workouts, I would have to put them on my calendar. This was one of the best things I could have done. One day I had to get my oil changed. It was a very busy day so I just dropped my car off at Jiffy Lube and went for a run on the trail by the Jiffy Lube. I had to fit these runs in, wherever I could. I am UNSTOPPABLE!

3. When you have personal problems that come up, they can be very discouraging. I will not discuss this particular personal problem, because, well, it's personal:) We all have those moments that are just really difficult to deal with. Sometimes we feel like just crawling back in bed and curling up with a good book or a good movie. I have learned a much better cure for these frustrating, sad, painful feelings. I have discussed this before on Facebook. It's my addiction to LSD (Long Slow Distance). There is something about running a long time that releases a lot of the stress. I've heard many people say there is a chemical reaction in the body also. I don't know all the scientific facts behind it but I can tell you that I definitely feel the benefits. If I am sad, frustrated, mad or worried, I just go for a long run and I somehow feel better, I feel UNSTOPPABLE!

4. I would be ungrateful if I didn't point out that I have been blessed with wonderful friends and a wonderful husband, who have supported me and have offered help without me even asking. I can't do all this alone. I am so grateful to my wonderful husband and those friends who have brought me dinner and flowers and called to see if my kids need rides, etc.

So, in 6 days, I will be ready for my second 1/2 marathon. I know I will improve my time and I know that I will be UNSTOPPABLE!

Oh and by the way, in the last 3 weeks, with all this stress and medicine, I have still lost another 2.2 lbs! It's slow but steady. I'll take it:)

Getting back up on the horse

This post will be more like a journal entry, mostly because I can type faster than I can write and I just have to get this out of my head.

I have been thinking for a couple days now, to myself. "Get back up on that horse Laura". It is so hard to lose this weight. This past week, I only lost .6 lbs. I feel like I should be happy with that but just like on "The Biggest Loser" that just doesn't seem like enough.

The past couple weeks have been kind of like that, just really slow weight loss or none. I would like to say I have an excuse but really, this is what life is about. Things come up in everyone's lives and they have to deal with them. So, I'm dealing with my busy schedule and my pain, just like everyone else. Just wanted to say, "It's hard!" , but most things that are worth it are hard, aren't they?

"Before" and "After" - yes again, but different!

Here's another take on the "Before" and "After"

Warning, this isn't pretty! This post is no judgement on anyone else. This is a reflection on myself and a revelation to myself.

"Before"

High School Graduation

"After" I look like I'm 9 months pregnant here but, in fact, I am not pregnant, AT ALL.

My husband"s aunt was so excited for my last post about losing 50 lbs. She noted that I said I didn't have very many pictures of myself from when I was that big. She emailed me and asked if I wanted some pictures, later telling me that she was worried I would be offended. I actually was so excited! When I saw this picture of me in the red, I was horrified. Maybe if someone had showed me this picture four years ago, I would have started this sooner!

Everyone says that you should pick a picture of you when you were skinny and put it up and look at it and it will inspire you. Well, this picture from my high school graduation has been on my refrigerator for probably 5 or more years and guess what, it didn't inspire me. It actually made me feel like a failure, like I could never make it back to that size.

Well, for one thing, I am not 17 anymore! I am 37, do the math, that's 20 years! Of course, I'm never going to look like that again. But I will tell you one thing, I never want to look like that girl from 2007 again. This is my new inspiration. I can remind myself why I am doing this and hopefully it will keep me going. That's my latest strategy:)

"Before" and "Middle" 50 lbs!

Before

After

50 lbs!

I can't call this Before and After because I am not quite halfway to my goal but here it goes.

I have lost 50 lbs! It has taken me almost 2 years but I did it!

The day after Thanksgiving in 2009, I decided that I better do something to get healthier! Since everyone I knew that ran, either lost weight or was very fit, I figured I better try it. I know my husband almost fainted when I told him I wanted to run. I always called him crazy for running and here I was saying I wanted to join in on the craziness.

I have watched Biggest Loser for years and what really gets me is not the way they look before and after but what the doctor tells them. "You are 37 years old but your real age is 60" I always think, is that my real age? Am I going to be here to raise my kids if I don't change something? I know what my own doctor told me, when I was diagnosed with sleep apnea, about heart issues and being tired all the time. To make a long story short, I realized I needed to do something!

That first day after Thanksgiving, I could only run about 50 feet! I think we did about a mile but about 99% of it was walking. I couldn't call myself a "runner" yet. I made it through my first holiday in years, without gaining weight but I still had only lost about 3 lbs. January came and I decided to start The South Beach Diet. For 2 weeks, I stuck strickly to the book! I lost 9 lbs. Then I thought "I can do this, I can do it on my own". Well, that was not exactly true. I tried to do it "on my own" for another 8 months, in which time, I gained back about 3 lbs.

During this time, I had a new neighbor move in, who became a good friend. I joined an online Biggest Loser club and tried to lose weight that way. My new friend Kari and I were talking one day and came up with the idea to start the same type of weight loss competition locally. We figured if we had a local team, and made it fun, that maybe we could stay committed to losing weight.

We were on a mission to start our own group here in Maple Valley.

We advertised just by email and Facebook and ended up getting about 16 people to join us! Everyone paid money in and the winners split the money. ( I won't go into detail about how the competition goes, if you would like more information on it, let me know).

All this time, I kept running, a little. I had done my first 2 - 5K's but didn't start losing weight until I started the "Biggest Loser" group we had started. For some reason, the accountability really worked for me! I really didn't want to let down my team every week, so I just worked hard!

We are now on our 5th session of what we call our "Weight Loss Challenge"! I am training for my 2nd half marathon! I have finally lost 50 lbs! It took me almost 2 years but I did it! I have done it "the old fashioned way". I exercised and changed the way I ate! For a woman who is 37 years old, I knew what I was supposed to be doing, I just needed some motivation to do it!

For those who have been asking me, here are some pictures. I didn't really have many pictures of me from 2 years ago. I tried to avoid being in the pictures as much as I could.

When BJ was taking my picture the other day, I didn't know how to act. I still had that feeling like I didn't want to be in the picture but I figured, I better document it.

Stay tuned for the updates on me losing my next 50 lbs!

BJ's 50 Miler

My crazy husband was "inspired", "motivated", etc. to run 50 miles. I like to think he just "lost his mind" but this is nothing new to me. As soon as he has done something to make me think he can't get any crazier, he comes up with something else.

As many of you know, he has many running buddies but he has two that just really went the extra mile. I like to call them the Three Musketeers. His friend Bob spent the whole day following BJ to each stop and basically being his personal race support at every station. This was a relay for some but a few crazy people decided to run the whole thing to run a total of 50 miles. They started part way up Mt. Rainier and ran all the way to Ruston, near Tacoma. In the first half of the race, BJ had to change shoes and socks. He literally came into the aid station where Bob had a chair for him, made him sit down and took off his shoes and socks. He then proceeded to wash BJ's feet and put his clean socks and shoes on. Now if that isn't service, I don't know what is. I wish I was there to get a picture of that. I did happen to get this picture when Eric and I met him for the first time that day. As BJ came in to the aid station, he asked BJ what he needed. BJ said sunscreen so Bob just gets it out and starts putting it on him. It made me laugh at the time but as I think of all that he did for BJ, I get tears in my eyes. What a true friend!

His other friend Cody came down to run the last 20 miles with BJ. It sounds insane to say "the last 20 miles". He is such a motivator for BJ. Always pushing him to stay on pace and shouting "You betcha baby".

Running along a river on the sand. That cannot be too easy after all ready running 30 miles.

One of the stations was right by the museum of glass. Eric loved this sculpture outside. They were also doing demonstrations outside where we got to see them make a little glass unicorn. Eric was such a trooper going to the last 5 stations with me. The other kids were busy with other activities that day.

The finish line. Bob ran the last 10 miles with BJ and Cody.

It was hard for BJ to hold back the tears with these two guys by his side after all they had done that day. Thanks Cody and Bob for being such great friends and showing true Charity!

The crazy part now is that he qualified to be in a 100 mile race. Crazy!!! Good Job BJ!

5th Grade Musical

Sarah's school does a 5th grade musical every year. She decided to particiapate. She loved it and got just as excited as her big sister about being on stage. They did the show "Rock around the Block". She got to be one of the school girls and happened to get one of the cheerleader costumes, which was fun because she IS a cheerleader.

We were listening to Sarah sing the "Nifty Fifties" and other songs from the musical all around the house. She had so much fun!

Nice Job Sarah!

Pinnochio, Gepetto's Story
Kate was in the School play in March. She had multiple parts. She loved learning all the fun music and all the the stage hype.

She was one of the good children, an Automaton and the Asian Marionette. Nothing like casting a blond haired blue eyed girl as the Asian Marionette. Unfortunately, I didn't snag a picture of her in her cute marionette outfit.

Kate with Stromboli (he was hillarious)

Kate with the Blue Fairy (also a hillarious girl)

Happy that her brother was there to watch her. She looks up to him so much and he tolerates it just enought to keep her looking up to him.

Look for her in future shows, this girl loves the stage!

1st 1/2 marathon

OK so I'm being brave by titling this my 1st 1/2 marathon. I thought I would never do one again but I know I will. I thought I would never want to do a full marathon but I know I will. The journey to get to this point was something unbelievable. I just can't express how much it has changed my life.
I started running because I thought "everyone I know that runs, loses weight". Well, now that's me. I'm not done yet but I have lost 43 lbs and am still going. A little slower now but I am not stopping. An object in motion stays in motion. I've got inertia now baby!
On Feb 21st, 2011, Presidents Day, I and my loving husband and "coach" finished 13.2 miles. I "ran" almost all of it. Every mile after the 2nd, I walked for about 2 min. then started "running" again. I put "running" in quotes because it is really "jogging" but I like to act like one of the big boys. One day, I will really be running. That is my next goal, to get faster. Now that I have finished this half marathon, I know that I can set a goal and reach it, so watch out I might just be a blur running past you one day, one day long into the future.

As you can see, this was a family event. Justin and Sarah also did the half marathon. Justin all ready being "Half Fanatic" and this was the start of Sarah's "Half Fanatic" qualifications.

A Thoughtful Girl

This morning as I was getting ready, Sarah knocked on my door. I said "Who is it?" She said, "it's me, Sarah". I said "Come in." She walked in carrying my favorite breakfast.
It's not my birthday, it's not Valentine's day yet, it's not my Anniversary, it wasn't a special day until she walked in with my favorite breakfast.
Back up to Saturday when she wanted me to make her an "Egg Sandwhich" as we call them. I told her to watch me so she could learn how to make one for herself. She watched carefully and I gave instructions as I showed every step. Yesterday, she came up and told me that she had made her own egg sandwich while daddy supervised in the kitchen.
Now to fully contemplate how touching this is to me, you must also know what we have been going through with this little girl. She has had some major problems with sleep anxiety. We have tried the understanding route. We have tried the no TV before bed route. We have tried going to be earlier. We have tried many more techniques to try and help her not have anxiety about going to sleep. Finally on Sunday night, we tried the "Not going to put up with this any more" route. We had an all out battle that night about going to sleep. I had to become the tough guy, not what I usually like to do. She is always remorseful in the morning for the way she acts. It's actually quite tough on her. So, last night, after the previous night of deciding to be tough, we had not problems with her going to bed.
Fast forward to this morning when I woke her up and she was very happy and did not have to say she was sorry for the way she acted the night before.
So, she asked if she could go downstairs by herself (which she also never does) and make her own "Egg Sandwich", I said "sure". I go off to get dressed and ready for work and she knocks on the door. Back to the beginning of the story now, where she presents me with her gift of "Charity".
I love that girl, words cannot express how much my heart is touched today by her act of "The pure love of Christ".

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Cloudy Day Creations: It's about time for a giveaway!#c2669349570405663078#c2669349570405663078

Justin's 2nd half marathon Feb 15, 2010

I got a little behind on my blogging last year but as I catch up you will understand why.
I can't let this young man's accomplishments for 2010 slip past. He made a new year's resolution and he stuck to it. Here he is finishing his 2nd half marathon! Can't believe he can do this at 14 yrs old! Must get his craziness from his dad:)