Yesterday my friend and I ran the Surf City Half Marathon. We were so lucky to miss the rain. It was a beautiful day. We started out with lofty goals, which after the first 3 miles I realized I would never make the 2 hour goal. I did hope to finish faster than my previous race, and I did it! I was able to cut 4 minutes from my time. So I am proud. We did well.

Last Sunday was the race for World Vision. My running buddy and I got up super early and made our way down to Venice. We made a tentative goal to try to finish the race in 2 hours 15 minutes. We both thought that was not a very realistic goal, but we thought we would give it a try. At 7:13am we were off. The course was very straight forward, a simple out and back. It really wasn’t very scenic…running down Venice Blvd. to the 10 freeway, turn around and come back. We started out entirely too fast, which tends to happen with race day adrenaline and all, but by mile 6 we were both feeling like the race should be over. My running friend, who is the ever present cheerleader, encouraged us along the remaining 7 miles. We finished strong, at only one minute over our goal time.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to World Vision for the race. I am so grateful that I was able to do something fun as well as support a very worthy cause. Many children and families in Africa will now have clean water thanks to your support.

In order to get off my tush and get something going I have registered for the 13.1 Los Angeles Half Marathon, benefiting World Vision. So, it begins again. The waking up early to run, the long run on Saturday. Did I really just pay good money to do this again!?

Anyone want to run with me? I know you want to.

May 9, 6am – Wake up and get everyone ready for the Revlon Run.

7:15am – Out the door, on our way for a morning of running and fun time!

8:45am – Let the race begin.  There are lots of people, but that makes the energy really fun.  The girls are super excited.  The gun sounds, the confetti flies!  Here we go!

8:49am – Agressive running man doesn’t watch where he is going and completely bowls over LittleZabba, sending her smashing face first into the street, which causes her two front teeth to chip, become incredibly loose, and bleed for the next hour.  (he didn’t even stop long enough to properly apologize.)

8:50am – 10:00am – Carry LittleZabba the 3 miles since she is so scared that someone else is going to run into her.  Talk with the first aid volunteers and an EMS worker to see if we should go to the dentist.

10:05am – Cross the finish line and receive our medals.  Yeah!

10:30am – Get in the car to head to our friend’s house for a birthday party.

11:15am – Finally exit the parking lot.

1:00pm – Arrive at the party.

1:00pm – 3:30pm – Food, playtime, see some baby crows, chase some chickens, cake, ice cream, pinata & candy!

3:42pm – Feed the turtles, BigZabba attempts to keep the dog from eating the turtle food & Snap!  BigZabba gets bit in the face by said dog.

3:43pm – 4:00pm – Clean up the wound, comfort the crying child, call the Doctor to see if stiches and/or antibiotics are needed, they are not.

4:02pm – 5:00pm – Playing continues as if nothing happened.  Mom and Dad try to recover from the adrenaline rush.

5:15pm – Pile in the car to head home.

7:20pm – Finally home after enduring the 405.

May 10, 6:30am – Kids are awake. LittleZabba’s teeth are sore, but not as loose as yesterday.  BigZabba has a pretty purple & slightly swollen face, but it is not as bad as we anticipated. Everyone is on the mend!

May 9, 2009 our family will be participating in the Revlon Run for Women.  We would love to be able to raise $500 to help the fight against women’s cancers.  Would you be willing to help us reach our goal?

If you would like to donate you can do so here.

If you have a family member or friend that you would like us to run in memory of or honor of, let me know their name and we will run with their name on our shirts as a tribute to them.

We run in honor of ShaSha, my Mother, who fought the fight against breast cancer and won.  I know there are many others who are still fighting and we want to do our part to help them.

68 miles down.  93.1 to go.

The running has been going really well. T and I have been meeting 3 times a week. We are tired, and sometimes sore, but we keep showing up so we must really be doing this! We are getting ready for the Nike+ Half Marathon on October 19.

41 miles down, 120.1 to go.

With Lola out of the running game for a while I haven’t been very good at keeping up with it. (she keeps me in line, and in shape more than she even realizes!) I even tried to make a training schedule for myself and that has failed miserably. A friend of mine recently moved only 1.5 miles from my house and she is interested in running. So I may have found a running accountability partner. We ran together on Saturday and have plans to run again on Monday. This could work out very well! Thanks T!

It has only just begun and look at me…I am behind already! The big day is October 19.  It’s going to be a long 10 weeks.