My First Half-Marathon

As I am sitting here, trying to wrap my thoughts around the fact that I just finished my first half-marathon this morning, I have to admit that I am pretty whiped out. But I am definitely happy that I did it and it was for a good 'cause'. But let me start with the reason why I did this massive race today.

When we started talking about Beth carrying our baby last year, she had issues with her legs that afflicted her running. She had to stop and that was hard for her. Now, today, I DO believe that it was God trying to get her ready for a pregnancy where her focus would be more on growing a baby inside of her, and less on her running. I also believe that once the baby is done 'baking' and ready to enter the world, God will give her full healing, so she can go back to what she liked doing: running. So last year in January, she ran this half-marathon..... this year she is not able to do so.

So I made a 'deal' with her: on the day of our pregnancy test, I would sign up for that race, and either we run it together (in case of a negative test), or I would run it for her! Yep.... I thought of it as my (little) sacrifice of my body for what she is doing with her body right now..... We got a positive pregnancy test, so I had to run it by myself, for her. It's a great cause!

I knew I wanted two things to happen on race day: run the entire time, no matter how slow, and make it to the finish line. I did both!
So I ran the entire 13.1 miles from start to finish! No water breaks, no bath room breaks, no walking. I ran slow, NO, really slow! But I made it. I made it to the finish line at a decent time. Also, I like to convert it to kilometers, just because it sounds like so much more; so 13.1 miles are 21.08 kms - awesome! I am pretty proud of myself for accomplishing that today.

Now I said I ran it for her, right? So in advance, I made a sign that I was going to wear on my back on race day. I am sure you all know, when you do cancer runs and walks, there are always lots of pictures 'in honor of' or 'in memory of' someone. Well, I ran for a live person, I ran for my best friend because she couldn't do it because she is busy 'baking' a little blessing. Here is my sign:

I got lots of encouraging words throughout the run, words that blessed me and reminded me of why I was running and that I needed to keep going. "That is so awesome." or "That's cool." or "Congratulations." were most of  the reactions. One lady said that she "really liked my best friend" - well, I agree. Later in the race, I saw her again and she said: "That baby is going to be so proud of you." Well, I hope so. When I met Beth at the finish line, I told her about her and sure enough, we saw that lady again and I was able to introduce her to Beth. It was beautiful.

I had seen the route before, I knew that it was mostly downhill, and I knew that I could make it. What I didn't realize was that we ran along a lot of "icons" that play a big role in my life, and foremost that play a huge role in this entire process. The first building was our fertility center. When I saw that I started to choke up.... it took my breathe away and I realized that being 6 miles into the race, there was no room for crying. I had to stop and concentrate on NOT crying but running, or I would have fainted. Right next to that building is my oncology and I was silently thanking God for the people working inside that building. A little later, we ran past my favorite Vegan restaurant - for those that don't know, I became a Vegan after the cancer. Then we ran past the Hubby's university building and the local football stadium. It was a bit emotional at times. The best part was coming up the last hill and turning the corner to sprint to the finish line. Where Beth was waiting for me. It blessed me greatly that she agreed to come see me finish the race. Thank you.

Usually, when I run, I need some upbeat music, but I knew, for this particular race, I needed God right with me, so I played worship and praise music and it was a great comfort. Knowing that God designed my body to do this and knowing that He wanted me to run and finish this race today gave me strength and endurance. Beth had texted me the same bible verse that I saw on a sign that somebody was holding up on the sidelines during the race: Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." How true!

It was perfect timing, too.  We are 18 weeks pregnant today.

Also, I saw this race today as my "Labor and Delivery", a small token of my appreciation of what Beth will do in about 5+ months. I come a long way from being able to finish a 5K to this now! Also, or especially, as a cancer survivor! So, I consider the first ten miles as my 'labor'. I was barely aware of running the first five miles at all. It was easy to keep my pace and enjoyed the attention I got with my sign. Then it got just a tidbit harder, but I still enjoyed running. I had thought that the hardest mile would be Mile Nine, because it said that there was some uphill, but it wasn't. The hardest mile was ten - as it had been before in my practice run. I would call that mile my 'transition'. I started hurting just a bit, mostly on my left hip. Mile eleven and twelve were a piece of cake, seriously. We were really going downhill and I just ran as fast as I could, knowing I still had a bit to go. Miles 13 was my 'pushing', because it was really hard to get to the finish line. It went uphill again and I was just so tired, and hurt enough to want to stop running. Then there was a big uphill right before the finish line, I barely made it up. The thought of Beth waiting for me and God wanting me to finish this kept me going.... and I made it up really, really slowly! Turning that corner for the last 0.2 miles was like seeing the end of the tunnel. Baby's head is out, the rest of the body is 'easy'. So I sprinted to that line that would be the end of 'torture' and that made me real happy. I crossed it with a big smile on my face! "Baby was delivered and Mami happy.'
(My timing was much better than anticipated: 2 hours and 39 minutes.) and 2 seconds.)

It was hard and yet oh so worth it. Something that Beth anticipates with the birth of our child.Why am I even trying to compare the two? Well, for one, I can not do it myself - I mean the pregnancy and delivery - but I wanted to show my appreciation of what Beth is doing. Also, when she is in labor, she can not just stop and walk away, she has to finish it. Well, I wanted to treat my race the same way: I could not walk away or stop running, I had to finish it! It was worth every pain to be blessed with the encouragement of others and seeing Beth's face when she saw the sign at the finish line - it was priceless! This was for God's glory. He brought us together, brought us to this place, and has a plan for all of us! He deserves all my praise, especially today.


More pictures are right here - enjoy.

Ann right before crossing the finish line. (The time is the clock time, not MY chip time.)

Tired but happy.

My back.

Ann and Beth after the race, filled with drinks and food and happiness.

Added by the editor:

It felt more like a warm-up, but I thought this was way too funny not to share!

My second Five-miler

This morning, I ran my second five-miler, ever.... but it was very different from the first one, because I actually enjoyed this one today. Back home, I then checked my mileage into www.dailymile.com and saw that I had just hit 222 miles for this year....

... now I think that calls for a celebration!!!

I had such a hard time on Sunday for my race - I even had to walk a few times. My left knee was swollen for two days, and I believe it only got better because I went walking with my MIL every night after we put the kids to bed. So I was a bit discouraged that I had to walk during that 5K - it's only three miles, but it's later in the day and the sun really gets to me. So running my five miles this morning were a nice surprise and I feel so good about it.

Now I am waiting patiently for my new running shoes..... they are minimalist shoes and I can't wait to try them out.

Running barefoot

My friend at C.Beth Run is running barefoot for over a year now. She got very passionate about it this post. So I have been listening for all this time, and I have been vehemently telling her (and myself) that I am better off with my shoes on my feet. I have been running this way since I started running (on and off) over sixteen years ago. And there are several good reasons, for me, to wear shoes: I just didn't know better, and I like to be clean. The thought of getting my feet all icky sticky and black - just not my idea of running. I was also worried about the soles of my feet.

But after walk/running the 19 miles in that stadium and the hurt afterwards, I have never come back to running as freely as before. I feel more like I am dragging my feet across the asphalt - not a nice feeling, by the way. Having her on my side, not daily, but enough, I started thinking.... and thinking and thinking.... and came to the conclusion of trying it out, barefoot, but with the socks on!

And I so did, last Friday morning. I was told to only run a small block, not a great distance, because one runs with different muscles barefoot than with shoes on, so I was not to get hurt. It was only 0.25 miles that I ran, barely a block. My feet felt so free.... oh, it felt so good. I ran my two mils first, on shoes, and than took the shoes off. Did I mention how good it felt?! Oh, so good.

So this morning, I ran my first mile in 10:30  -a great timing! But after that I just felt tired and it was way too warm, for me, something I am not sure I will ever get used to. So my second mile was more like a disaster, so much that I had to walk for half of it. So I decided that it was time to take those shoes off, the shoes that I had been fighting for for so long, but I took them off. And I ran my first full mile without shoes! Yippy. My pace was bad, of course, but I kept in mind to take it easy at first. I didn't have to stop and take a walk break, I just ran.... ran for that entire mile and felt oh so good....

My dear friend Beth - you might have convinced me to start running barefoot..... it took you over a year, I guess I am not a person to be easily persuaded for what is best for me - I mean it took my hubby a long time to talk me into him and that he is good for me... You did it! You have that effect on me.... thank you! I am so blessed to have you in my life! (and if it is just for that running influence!) Here is the link to a blog she wrote about minimal shoes, something that I definitely have to look into....

Motivation

Two days ago, I wrote about the dailymile website. I got to run this morning and am always eager to log on and add my accomplishments to my total mileage. What an encouragement to see that number increase every time, even if it is just a little bit at a time. That progress is so encouraging to me. Seeing others running much farther with a much faster pace. And I hope that I am an inspiration to others when they see me go run so early in the morning.

For three days, my right knee was bothering me - from my run three days ago. Even this morning, I was laying in bed debating to talk myself out of running. But I got up. And when I started running and feel that fresh air go through my lungs, I felt good. Good about myself and good that I made it out of bed. I ran very slowly at first; eventually I sped up to my normal pace - whatever normal is?! Well, I felt enthusiastic. My knee didn't hurt; it doesn't hurt now. I am glad I took it easy and listened to my body, so I wouldn't pay for it later.

What it does for me? I get motivated!
 And that is all I need. Do I have goals? Of course I have. Goals and dreams. I would like to be able to run without issues of pain. The trade-off for getting up so early and go running is the energy that I have for the rest of the day! It is surprising and wonderful. Also I hope that doing any kind of exercise will help me to stay healthy. In general of course, fighting colds and such, but also against this big evil invader called cancer. 
In the back of my mind, I always thought I would be running in the NYC Marathon once..... but of course, that is a dream. I have been a runner for a long time, on and off running. When I saw the marathon for the first time ten years ago, I had this image of myself running through the five borrows myself. So I guess one of those goals or more like dreams is to run that! In the meantime, I would love to run a 3K, and then a 5K, and then a 10K, and then maybe a half-marathon, and then...... - I guess I want to say is to work myself up to a real marathon, one day....

Great website

I have mentioned before that I am using www.dailymile.com to track my exercise. And so do others as well. I recently read a post written by a fellow blogger about that specific website and why she loves it. Here is the link to her post.

All I can add to it - I like it too. I started tracking my workouts this past May, so I don't have an accurate number of miles run for the entire year, but I also know that I didn't work out that much anyhow.... So I estimated that I ran about 170 miles total in 2010. Not bad! 
To see the progress is a great way to get encouragement from the hard work we are doing to get in shape, or lose weight, or simply stay healthy.Go runner!

And happy running in 2011.

Attitude towards crisis

 When I was driving today thinking about my post from yesterday, I remembered a line that I recently read somewhere:  "Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you react to it." How true is that? I love it.

So maybe I just need to change my attitude towards my daughters screaming sessions? Why do I get this frustrated? What exactly is it that gets me to the point when the glass is full?
Well, I have to say, lack of sleep is not really bothering me - I can sustain for a couple of days with little sleep. Actually, sometimes I need a night that I don't snooze too much - for some reason it gives me more energy the next day. But I think what does aggravate me is that with little sleep I am NOT getting up at 5:30 AM to run in the freezing dark! And then I am screwed for the rest of the day. Running relaxes me. I think I need it for my inner balance, or something. You know, to feel good about myself, to feel healthy, and also to feel liked by others.

So tomorrow morning - no matter what happens at night, sleeping through it or waking up from midnight to 2:30 AM - I will go running. Only for a mile - just to prove that I can change my attitude!

Because not running will stress me out over the long-run. Stress on the other hand will lead me to negativism, moodiness, irritability, depression, and loneliness - just to name a few. I DO not want even one thing on that list - and by the way, this is only part of a list that I found on Wikipedia - I am just glad that I am not one of those people that get physical pain from stress - I only get it psychologically! Which is not better.... it's actually a vicious cycle, and I am trying to step out of it. I need to be positive, which will lead to motivation and that will get me to where I actually want to be! Yeah....

But enough of the self-pity! I am going to run tomorrow morning. And I will go run later that day again - because I have an amazing friend that is willing to take my daughter off my back for about 3o minutes, screaming or not, so I can go and run and actually relax - because that is what it does to me, it is relaxing!

Be positive! Be positive! Be positive!
(it's my new 'mantra')

My old hobby renewed

When I was in school, I was not much of a runner. I could do short runs. I was not the fastest but not the slowest either. But I never ran outside of school if I didn't have to. When I started to work and I had to sit for the majority of the day at my desk, so I thought it might be a good idea. A coworker was really into running, so I tried it out. It was okay. For the next fourteen years, I have been running on and off, probably more off though. But I actually enjoy running. For the past two years, I have been going to the gym where I have been using the treadmill of course, and I liked it. My friend Beth started her running journey about a year ago, starting with the couch-to-5K program. It seemed to work for her, but I knew that I didn't need to start all the way on the bottom of things.

Need less to say, she inspired me and encouraged me, AND offered to watch my kids for me when I go running. So I started about a week and a half ago. I went to her house, dropped the kids off, and went running. And I ran, and walked some. It felt great. But that was just once a week. And I understand, she can not watch my kids every day for me, and she does live a little far from us to do this on a more regular basis. So now I just had to figure out when I could go running. Because I have a daughter that doesn't stay with many people - or should I say anybody? So it is a little harder than with my outgoing son. The hubby is at work all day, and when he comes home, it's time for dinner and bath and bedtime. Do I still have some energy left to go running after that? It is fall and winter now, so that means it will be dark. And he doesn't like me running here at night. So I figured, I go in the morning! There will be no rapist sitting at 5 am just waiting for me to run by..... So I made the decision to go running in the mornings. He gets up at 5:30 am, so I just have to get myself motivated enough to get up as well. For the few times I have done it, it worked. I just run a little mile or mile and a half. And you know what, it makes me wake up, and I fell energized for the rest of the day. What a great way to start the day.

Some runs were good, some runs were just dragging myself to the finish line. I need alot of encouragement to keep going. This morning, I got to run a longer run, and it was a great success for me. Mostly when I ran so far, I had to walk a few times in between and then keep running. I had never done an entire run with just running. So today, I felt good, and I thought I just need to push myself a little. And wouldn't you know it, I ran the entire time, for 2 1/2 miles! I am very proud of myself. And I feel very encouraged. Thank you, dear friend.

Susan Komen Race to the Cure 2010

On Sunday, I participated in the Susan Komen Race to the Cure. One of about 19.500 individuals. It was cold, very cold, close to freezing when I had to leave the house.

I have been doing this for a friend that is a survivor for three years. Her team has grown double the size by now - it seems more and more people want to get involved or support her. It is fantastic. The past year, we have been walking, all of us.

But this year, it was a very split team. We had four timed runners, four untimed runners and the rest, the other half of them, were walking. I ran for the first time. And I have to say that I am so proud of myself. My last workout is like three months ago, I had not trained for this at all, but I did it. For 80 percent I was able to run and only for 20 percent I was walking, mostly the uphill parts. I even had some energy left to sprint to the finish line. Yeah for me. It took me about 41:30 minutes. Not to shabby!

Now I am looking forward to next year. Maybe I'll be able to train that I can be a timed runner. Would be just too nice....

Dailymile

I have been a gym member for the past (almost) two years. If you have children, it is not that easy. The first couple of times, when I brought Coqui to the child care over there, he was not so happy. But after a while, he figured I'll come back and he can run around in their play thing over there. So it worked great for me to go two to three times a week. Yeah for me... back then....

Now that I have two children and one VERY clingy one - oh well, I do this child exchange with my neighbor. She has my kids for my gym day for about an hour and a half. And in return I take her child for about two and a half hours a different day. I kind of feel when I take hers for a little longer, it's more just, as my two ones are much more work for her....

So I only get to work out once a week..... bummer! My husband didn't want me to run in our neighborhood, but today, he finally gave in and let me do it. It is easy to run on the treadmill - at least for me. I can see how fast I get how far and I like it that way. Running outside where you don't know anything but that it is way too hot, it's a whole different world. But I want to do more than just once a week and I also want to run - sometime in my life - at least a 5K. If I ever can do more than that, great, but so far, my goal is a 5K, for some charity to support something that I am interested in - like some cancer walk or run.

It was hot out there today, because I ran right before 8pm. But it felt good. I was sweating like crazy, but a good sweat!!! I am happy.....