Monthly Archives: April 2014

Oh Boston

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Today is the 2014 Boston Marathon! It’s also been just over a year since the Boston Marathon bombings. While we don’t want to think about what happened last year, it’s inevitable. We will always think about the tragedy. But, as I sit here typing, I am overwhelmed by all the joy, love and support that is out there across the world for such a great city, this race, and for the running community. This awful tragedy has brought everyone closer.

I so wish I could be back in Boston today, cheering on runners and having so much fun! There’s a lot of excitement surrounding this event, especially this year! 36,000 runners and about 5,000 of those who didn’t get to cross the finish line last year are back to get it done!

I had originally said I committed to running 26.2 miles today, on Marathon Monday in support of the Boston Marathon, but I ended up deciding not to and opted to watch the live feed instead. I really didn’t want to miss it. I don’t need to be a superstar or anything. There are lots of other superstars out there running the race today! I just want to support and watch what’s going on back on the East Coast.

The Boston Marathon is such a high energy, magical experience. Seeing Shalane run such a strong and great race and then to see Meb get FIRST in the men’s race was just spectacular! His emotion made me tear up…just so excited for him! This is the first time an American man has won the Boston Marathon since 1983! Just amazing! His whole heart was in this race!

I am so happy for ALL the runners who were able to participate this year. For some, crossing that finish line will help them have a little bit of closure. But for everyone, this is a dream come true and a day they won’t forget.

#bostonstrong

http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/04/23/from-baa-thank-you-boston/59zUnlFxb4BhnnLXADiLoN/story.html

Balls and beers

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I usually write about my running life, but there are always things that get in the way…some more important than others. On Saturday April 5th, Clint and I put on a beer fest event called the First Annual – Sacramento Ball Sack & Beer Fest. It was an event we created after going through Clint’s testicular cancer journey and realized there was nothing local that brought awareness to testicular cancer, hence the “ball sack” part of the name. We wanted to have fun with an important topic, but also educate people about what testicular cancer is.10156164_476225112479441_9103506964167381203_n

After just a few months of planning, the event was here! We were a little nervous because our presales were low and it rained on Friday (we weren’t expecting this). We really hoped that the rain would not continue into Saturday and there would be a lot of “day of” sales. After setting up Friday all day and Saturday morning, the sun was shining and people started arriving EARLY! We were pretty happy, even though we still had a lot of work to do during the event.

The live music we brought on sounded great, people were happy, the vendors were happy, the breweries were happy and it really could not have gone any better. Yes, there were a few hiccups, but nothing too bad or unmanageable.

10250097_476588539109765_2164454044247443444_nOverall, we were pretty pleased with the attendance and were also surprised to find out that some people even drove two hours or more to come to our event!

One of the best parts about planning this event, is talking to people who are really concerned about testicular cancer. It may have affected them personally or they are just scared to get it. It is pretty rare, but we want men to recognize the signs or the things they can do to check themselves on a monthly bases.

We were able to raise and donate $3,220 to the Testicular Cancer Awareness Foundation and plan to have this event next year and hopefully the following years after. While wrapping up this event and sending out thank yous, I realized how special this was for me (and Clint). We didn’t just put on a beer fest for the heck of it or so we could drink craft brews with our friends. There was real meaning behind this event. And while our friends and all the people that attended had a ton of fun, we are grateful that we can help a great organization and continue with spreading the word about this cancer.

*Note: This blog was started on April 8th originally.*

My next 18 weeks of training

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Technically, last week was my first week of training for my next marathon, the Eugene Marathon! I have been casually running for several weeks now but not digging in or doing a lot of speed training yet. Just maintenance and keeping up with some miles. Nothing major. I have been also working a lot on my strength/cross training and doing a lot of inner quad, quad, and core workouts. I guess you could say it’s a little prep work.

LogoThe Eugene Marathon is Sunday July 27th and I’m looking forward to some nice weather. I am just hoping since they moved this race from April to July, the temperature doesn’t change too much. I hear the course is flat, and nice and scenic, so it would be a great race to run fast. I’m excited to run my next marathon where legends have run and finish the race on the historic Hayward Field. I mean, this is “Track Town USA”! How could this not be an amazing race and experience!?!

On Monday April 21st, I will be running 26.2 miles. I committed to run this mileage in honor and support of the Boston Marathon. The BAA put together a Boston Marathon World Run for people who wanted to virtually support this year’s Boston Marathon. After last year’s bombing, many people from all over the world wanted to participate in the 2014 Boston Marathon, but the course can only handle so many. This way, runners have an opportunity to be involved. You could pledge to raise money or commit to run any amount of mileage you want. You get a bib to wear, if you choose, and get a digital medal when you finish. So, I have tried to run some longer runs to gear up for this. I won’t be running this at race pace, but my goal is to just finish for Boston.

If you are interested in learning more: http://www.bostonmarathonworldrun.org/

After this 26.2 miles, I will recover and then start working on my training for Eugene. I am aiming for a 3:35-3:38 finish time. I’d like to beat my last CIM time if I can. So, I will just do my best with my speed training, hill training and strength training. I will also be running the Bay To Breakers in San Francisco in May, so this will be a good race to work on my speed.

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I will keep you posted on my training, nutrition and anything else that comes up between now and July.

Any exciting races you have coming up that you’re looking forward to??