The start of next part of my running journey...

Please consider making a donation using the link on my sidebar.

A Major Milestone....and some FUN!

I am SOOOOOO proud to announce that I made my fundraising goal and even EXCEEDING too with Team in Training. It's a first for me and SOOOOO happy about it. It's NOT too late to donate online before Wednesday's deadline. I get a little extra TNT prize if I go at least $200 over my amount. WHOHOO! I need to get rehabbed so I can run this marathon.

And for the fun.....

After some searching and finding, Josh and I are proud owners of our own Nintendo Wii system that goes very nice with our 52" HDTV in our rec room. We have our Housewarming Party tommorow and know that people will have fun playing with it. It has EXTREMELY crazy here trying to get ready for it. Josh has had to put a TON of IKEA furniture together and clean up the rest of the house. Plus we have our first out-of-town guests staying in our new house - FIVE total! I can not wait to totally relax in our new house and be set up too.

Off to bed...

Getting SOOOOO close...

....to making my fundraising goal.

I can not believe it. I am only $127 away from making my fundraising goal with only a month before the deadline. I have never been happier in my life.

Right now, I come to you, my blogger friends, for your assistance. I know that you have helped out in the past and confident that you can help out. The amount that I need comes down to about 5 donations of $26.20.

I hope you can help out. Just click on this link to go to my fundraising page. Thank you in advance for your help.

TNT Challenge

First of all, I want to thank everyone for the support after yesterday's blog entry. It's been a tough day, but I am doing very well. I was able to do 60 minutes on the eliptical today without any pain or excessive inflammation in my left foot. I hope to get an outdoor bike ride tommorow. The weather was really iffy today so I chose to wait until tommorow.

Ok....here's my little Team in Training challenge for all of you.

- Take 5 minutes to visit and read through my fundraising webpage:

- Donate $5 (or more!).

- Forward this on to 5 of your friends and post this on your blog (I know you can do it!).

- 5 is the number of years from the date of diagnosis it takes for a patient to be considered “cured” of their disease.

- Every 5 minutes someone new is diagnosed with a blood related cancer.

Let's go on to save another life! Go TEAM!

This is one of many reasons why I run...

I run for life!!

A very long day...

....after a long 12 hour day. I hate these type of days during the middle of my work week. Thank goodness tommorow's Friday. Yayy!!

Anyways, I am officially a three time Team in Training athlete and on my training for Chicago. I also have my fundraising website set up as well. Please check it out when I get a chance and make a donation.

After getting home at 8:00 PM, I showered and put Project Runway on.

Time to get to bed. It's going to cold this weekend.

Making the commitment again...

In order to get myself out of the PMS funk, I have made the big decision to re-join Team in Training for my 3rd event to train for Chicago Marathon. I have been thinking about it for the last 3 months, but to delayed my decision until now. I am a little nervous about the fundraising, but hopefully will be a little easier this time around. It has been over a year since I have done any fundraising for Team in Training. I have contacted the Illinois chapter office and left a message to sign up. I am so thankful to be an alumni and not have to pay the $75 application fee. I also want to do it at least one more time for my dad.

I will put my fundraising page as soon as I get it set-up. I hope to get as much support as I received back in 2006 when I was preparing for P.F. Chang's.

Today, after a morning and afternoon of laziness, Josh and I will be heading to the gym for some running. I will hope to get 4 miles done today to prepare for Shamrock Shuffle. I am thankful that the sun made its return today. Josh also has something special surprise in store for me after we go to the gym.

Good luck to those doing Disney and P.F. Chang's this weekend. You all can do it!!

It's TOO damn cold out!!

In fact, it did not reach ABOVE zero today. NADA!! It was really damn cold. All I could think about while I was in the car was thought of somewhere warm....like the tropics or Hawaii. Ahhhhhh. (Daydreaming over...reality BITES!)

Well, this morning I decided to get up early and drive over the TNT Kick-off party to support the new and returning TNT people getting ready for the Spring/Summer season events. While I was there, I saw Mike, who's the new assistant coach for the Triathon team getting ready for the Lifetime Fitness Tri in July, and said "Hello!" I think I might shocked when I called him by his blogger nickname, but it was good thing I wore my Firefly sweatshirt today under my TNT stuff. I also saw old running coaches, a few former teammate and fellow alumni, and a few more people that I knew there. It was very fun and inspirating to attend another Kick-off event. It has only been 3 weeks since the half-marathon. I had to hold back my tears when I watched the father of one of the honorees speak. She's only 4 years old now so it really hit me hard because she's my youngest daughter's age. After all of the speeches, I left because I only came for support and not signed up for an event. I headed to the grocery store to stock up on food. I really HATE shopping during the day especially on a Saturday. I prefer the night after 11:00 PM at the grocery store. SO quiet and you can actually walk through the aisle without ramming into people.

After I headed home, I sat out at home for about an hour or so before getting ready for work..and staying warm. This is one of those days where I am SO happy to be working at a fixed desk in the Minneapolis campus vs. in the St. Paul and running around building to building in the cold. Ahhhhhhh! How relaxing! But I have piled the list of people who I really feel sorry for in this AWFUL cold weather.

1. Mailman (especially the ones that walk through routes in the cities)
2. Firemen (I have vivid memories of my dad coming home after fire calls in this type of cold. Brrrrr!)
3. Police Officers (If you get caught speeding or under the influence today in this cold and they have to get out of their warm car, YOU WILL GET A TICKET! It's an unwritten LEO rule. Do not pass go and THEY will collect $200. Trust me! Sorry!)
4. Utility workers
5. Security Officers (especially if they have go hourly exterior patrols. Brrrrrr!)
6. Doormen at fancy hotel or nice condos (Please tip him for braving the weather!)
7. Highway Helper People (They are really doing a service to help you out when you are stranded.)
8. Tow Truck Guys (Having to jumpstart all of those cars in this cold. I do not envy them one bit!)
9. EMS driver and Paramedics (They have to drive this, go in and out of buildings to help people...that's enough!)

On a happy note, I am SO thrilled that my Colorado Buffs WON today against a high ranked team, Oklahoma State, by 12 POINTS. We were up by 33 at the half, but cut the lead a little bit. It was a nailbiter at the end, but WE WON! There is hope in the world. I hope this lasts! Air Force Falcons also SLAMMED Wyoming today by 45 points. It's a good sports day in Colorado. But PLEASE do NOT ask about the Avs...trust me! **sigh**

Tommorow's the BIG GAME. Still do not know what I am doing yet. Will wait and see.

Race Weekend Recap

WARNING: This post is going to be LONG!! Well, this weekend was very busy. I hope to get most of the details from the weekend in this blog entry. Friday After getting to sleep at around 12:45 a.m, I had my alarm set for 6:00, which seemed too damn early. I was able to get the last of my stuff packed within the 30 minutes I had to get ready before my ride arrived. I also was able to sneak in a bagel and cream cheese as I waited. The temp were around 9 degrees when I woke up that morning. TOO darn cold! Once my ride arrived, I moved quickly to get into the warm car. It only took us about 30 minutes to get to the airport, park the car, and the walk into the terminal. Once in the terminal, I received my boarding pass and checked in my luggage before going through damn security and walking to the gate. The time seemed to move very quickly by the time I reached the gate. I even saw my buddy and fellow alumni, Frank, who's now a mentor. Our plane then took off at 9:00 a.m. to Phoenix. It was only a 3 hr 10 minute flight to Phoenix. There was some turbulence, but not too bad of a flight. When we arrived in Phoenix, they said that it was only 50 degrees outside, which I was shocked about. I thought it would be warmer than that. WRONG! After getting our checked baggage, my TNT group took a nice bus to the hotel. We ended up sitting on the bus for at least 20 minutes extra while we were waiting to receive notice on our rooms. Since our rooms were not ready, we checked them in with the concierge desk so we could walk to the expo. I ended up spending about 1 1/2 hours at the expo before walking back the hotel to see if my room was ready. It was not ready yet so I walked to over the Quizno's for a late lunch. After getting my lunch, I walked back to the hotel and sat down in the lounge to watch TV as I ate. After taking a few bites out of my sandwich, the bartender explained that I could not eat in the lounge. EXCUSE ME! I am waiting for my room and just relaxing as I ate....and I am a PAYING customer. GEEZ! Give me a damn break! Well, after I found another spot and finished eating, I went back to the check-in desk to see if my room was ready. It was finally ready and was able to get my bags into my room. I was starting finally relax at 4 PM - two hours before the RFB gathering. After relaxing for about 2 hours, I made my way downstairs on the elevator and towards the bar. As I almost made the bar, I heard someone say, "Denise!". I turn around and it was Pat and his wife. After saying "Hi!", I explained to him that I was heading to the bar to get our tables ready. We ended up walking together. It was a small pub...and I was SO glad to get the table reserved for that night. THANK GOD! After sitting down for a little bit, Jenn arrived as well so we talked a little waiting to see anyone else would show. Well, no one else showed, which was okay. We ended up chatting about the race and other stuff. It was a fun. I made to meet Jenn outside of my hotel so she can head to the expo herself and then make a fun trip to GCU. We ended up calling it a night around 8:30. I headed to walking back to my hotel room, where I vegged out and talked on the phone until I went to bed early - under a certain person's orders - around 10:30 pm MST. Saturday I had planned on sleeping until 9 am, but my body clock had other ideas and woke up 7 am instead. UGH! I started my day eating a bag of pretzels and starting up the fluids again with Powerade while talking on the phone again...and enjoying as much cable TV as I can. (I do not have it at home!) Then I took a nice shower - using the awesome Aveda soap bars (**sigh**I was HEAVEN!!) and then made my way downstairs to the Starbucks connected to the hotel. Breakfast at the Starbucks was CHEAPER than the hotel food. Example: The continental breakfast was $12.50. A bagel and cream cheese was $3 and the juice was a separate $3.50. Yes...they were making a KILLING off of us poor runners who were there for the marathon....and HAD to EAT! After eating my breakfast, I met Jenn outside of the Starbucks where we walked to the Expo. We ended up spending about 1 1/2 hours at the expo, which I did not mind. More free stuff - more stuff to take home and stuff in my suitcase. Then we walked to where Jenn had parked her rental car and drove to GCU. It was a short drive on the freeway. Once we got there, we were met by the security guards at the gate. I showed them my school ID (Thank GOD I brought it with me!) and we drove in. We parked the car near the Administration offices and just started wandering the campus. My main goals while I was there was 1) see if the bookstore was open and 2) find the computer lab to check my e-mail. After some wandering around the campus, taking in the sights, and asking a few people, I finally found the computer lab. The Internet connection was a very, very slow - and very, very frustrating, but I was able to check some e-mail - not much. When I was finally finished, we walked back to the car and then drove around to find a place for lunch since both of us were very hungry. We made our way to the same Quizno's that I had lunch on Friday since it was across from the hotel. After we ate lunch and chatted some more, we went our separate ways before I left for the TNT pasta party. I spent the time relaxing in the hotel room watching more TV and prepping my stuff for the race as well. I left to go downstairs again with my TNT group for the pasta party. It was a fun event of eating pasta, listening to "The Penguin" talk and hear more inspirational story to get us psyched up for the race the next morning. After the pasta party, we headed back to the hotel for a team meeting to discuss pre-race details. Then I headed back to the hotel room where I tried to relax before heading to bed. It was hard to relax because the nerves were kicking even someone was trying to calm me down. I was more worried about how the cold air would affect my lung than anything else. I did not want to fail during this race even though I would take precautions to prevent it from happening. I finally went to bed at 10:30 and made plans to be up by 4:45 a.m. Sunday (RACE DAY!) 4:45 seemed to be SO early, but it was an important day for me. I was up, dressed and ready to go by 5:15 so I could meet the MN Chapter in the lobby by 5:30. Once I was down in the lobby, I got my bagel and peanut butter to sit and eat while waiting for everyone else to arrive. There were people in my group who had shorts and tank tops on. They were NUTS! The temps that morning was at only 29 degrees. TOO damn COLD for standing around for over 2 hours before the half-marathon. I already had my windbreaker pants, capris (and had my race number on it!), sport bra, short sleeve cool max shirt on, tank-top, and then my breakaway jacket on with a pair of gloves AND socks TOP OF THAT, but they were NOT keeping me warm. We were out at the starting area by 6:15, which was TOO damn early. My feet after about 30 minutes were getting COLD. I had to keep moving in order to stay warm. I was desperate! When the marathoner left to go to their corrals, we went to the 1st corral to watch them take off. As they were heading out, one of the marathoner from Georgia ditched their LONG SLEEVED shirt, which was PERFECT. I grabbed that and another souvenir shirt to cover my mouth during the first mile of the race. When everyone was turning in their stuff at the UPS gear check, I was quickly getting the shirt on and staying warm (and very happy too!) After spending 10 minutes in the line for the port-a-potty (ewwww!), we walked to our corrals. I ended up in the 19th corral. The officials were late starting the race. On top of that, it took 30 DAMN long minutes to reach the starting line. They would let one corral go and then STOP before letting the next one go. It was very frustrating and time consuming. I also did the stupid act of forgetting to start my stopwatch to keep track of my time progress. UGH!

The first few miles were easy until the urge to use the port-a-potty came again. I was able to hold it until mile 5 where I found short lines and quick return on them. I only lost about 5 minutes from my time, which I was okay to lose instead of time at the end of the race because I decided to hold it in that long. At around mile 6, I was able to take off the breakaway jacket and tie it around my waist.

I felt pretty good most of the run 'cept I really looked forward the Accelerade stops every 2 to 3 miles. I also used two packets of Sport Beans. I received a Clif Shot, but could not open the damn thing at all. UGH! The Sport Beans got me there at the finish. I found that the road was going uphill slightly and then a hill at mile 10.5. I was not happy with the hills. The course was supposed to FLAT.

UGH!

Well, I saw the road leading up the ASU stadium coming up around my mile 11.5, which got my 2nd wind kicking in. But my legs and body starting slow a bit and had the urge to just walk, which I allowed my legs to do. Then I picked it up again and ran. When I reached the mile 12 marker, I started to allow my legs to walk more and then running. As I approached the finish line, I picked it up and ran. I wanted to run through the finish line and look good for the photographers. When I saw the clock at 2:58:15, I really wanted to finish before 3:00 and have a good time.

After I crossed the finish line, I cried SO hard. It was truly a very emotional time for me. I finished a half-marathon after dealing two injuries, frustrations of TNT fundraising, and then dealing with the realities of an impending divorce. I have been through SO much!! When I received my metal, I cried some more. When I received my Mylar blanket, I asked for the guy who gave it to me to give me TWO hugs because I needed them very badly. There were a few people that I wished where there to give me a hug, but not there so I looked for the first available person.

Then I found the place where they were taking photographs with the logo. I did not want to stand in line for the pros so I looked for an open one to take a picture with my camera phone. I found a couple and asked them to take my picture. In exchange, I took their picture as well. Then I was off to the yummy carbs - bananas, oranges, and BAGELS - and the AWESOME FREE SANDALS, which my feet were crying out for desperately. It hurt MORE to stand in line than to keep moving.

After I received my FREE sandals, I headed to the TNT tent to check in, get my free PB&J, pretzels, chips and other yummy treats - and then get my gear at the UPS gear pick-up. Once I picked up my stuff at the gear pick-up, I was OFF on a mission - to find FREE beer. Yes, FREE beer. I missed out on that last year and I was NO way going to miss it again this year. It also gave me the incentive to keep moving and loosen up my poor leg muscles. Once I found my oasis - ok, the FREE beer, I found a good place and drank both of them. It tasted SO good. Then I walked back to the TNT tent to catch the shuttle back to the hotel.

I felt the two beers kick as I was riding the bus. WHooohooo! It was a good feeling. Once I got back to my hotel room, I got the stinky clothes off and some comfy temp clothes so I could just sit, watch the rest of the Bears-Seahawks game and talk on the phone with a few people about my finish. After I made my phone calls, I took a very nice warm shower and the rubbed some of the stuff that I bought at the expo on my muscles. It felt SO good.

After I get myself freshened up, I headed back downstairs to get something to eat the hotel restaurant. I ended up having a medium-sized side salad that had chopped eggs, bacon, croutons, spinach, and ranch dressing, which costed me $6. Ouch, but I was hungry and did not feel up to walking anywhere outside of the hotel room. The Starbucks was closed as well, which sucked. It tasted very good and left me satisfied until dinner.

After a late lunch, I went back upstairs to take small nap. I was woken up by someone with about 15 minutes of my nap left, but glad to talk to him. I was then out the door to go back downstairs for the Victory Party.

I walked with a few people to go to the Victory Party. It was a fun time at the Victory Party. They served Mexican food - fajitas, fruit salad, pinto beans, rice, and cookies at the end. They also had a cash bar. Once I got my food, I sat down with my teammates. One of the spouses bought me my first beer (actually third if you count the first two from after the race). By the end of the night, I ended up having a total of three more beers. I was having a good time.

They had us on the dance floor starting the Electric Slide (which is VERY interesting after a couple of beers and wearing the free sandals) and other popular dances. It helped to keep the legs moving and made the evening very interesting. They even made the evening more crazy when they brought out FIVE rolls of toilet paper and had several people pull them out into the audience. It became very crazy and zanny. We ended the party at around 9:30 and walked back to the hotel room. I ended up sobering up in my hotel room with a bottle of water and some pretzels before going to sleep at 12 midnight.

Monday

I woke up at 7 am even though I wanted to sleep in MUCH more that morning. I sat on my bed and continued to relax while watching TV. I knew that I would need to be out of the room by 12 noon so I was soaking it up as much as I could. I had a little bit of issue during that time, but I had one more trip to Starbucks for some goodies.

Our group ended up leaving for the airport at 1:30 for our originally scheduled 3:35 flight, which ended up being 30 minutes LATE to leave. Rule #1 - DO NOT leave very bored guys near the PAC (Personal Address Center) at Sky Harbor Airport. They will play around and goof off. Geez!! I ended up getting home around 8, waited 15 minutes to get OFF the plane, and then another 30 minutes to find my baggage. Once home, I relaxed, worked on homework, and caught up on e-mails before heading to bed at 1:30 a.m.

That's the whole weekend. If you want to see MORE pictures (70 pictures...and COUNTING...still growing!), PLEASE click on this link to see ALL of them.

I plan to rest the remainder of this week. My right heel and the right side of my right knee are painful still so I need to rest them for a little bit longer. I plan to get on the eliptical on Monday and work slowly back up to running again.

Stay warm, everyone, and stay dry!