CrossRoads Blog

I suppose anyone reading this blog now pretty much knows how ‘big of a deal’ running the Zane Grey Highline 50 was for me. But I think one of the reasons we do Blogs is not only to share with friends and families what we are up to, but also for our future generations to ‘know us’ as well. So with that, let me share again for the Great-Great Grandson – this was a big, big deal for me. I had this event ‘picked out’ over two years ago. Ever since I was looking at a list of the World’s toughest Ultra Runs and not only was this ranked as the hardest 50 Mile, it was basically in our backyard here in Arizona. Back then I was not doing 70-100 mile running weeks, heck that was about a month’s worth of miles, so it was an ‘out there’ goal. Back most importantly the reason I wanted to do this race was back those couple of years ago we were also going through some… let’s call it ‘times of great worry’ with your Great Grandfather and his brother. So it became one of those metal things. I kind of did this thing with my mind saying “okay, I am going to run that race and finish it and do everything until then to be able to make that happen, train hard, run hard, never give up, etc. and if I do everything will be okay – my boys will be fine”. As I type this I know it may not make a lot of sense. It’s hard to articulate. Worse, it likely seems extremely silly in that – of course my running a race can in reality have nothing to do with my children ‘being okay’. To that all I can say is, I know it’s silly, but when you are a parent there are times you realize there is nothing you can do or say to make your child safe or help them be happy. Just because you know this is reality, it doesn’t make it acceptable – you have to do something. Zane Grey was my something for two years…

This is a very long blog with all the details - so to read it all click the following link

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Back in Vegas for the final Zane Grey training run. Kimberly and I dig the heck out of a racing company called Calico Racing. The director Joyce puts on the most awesome fun events. Her company was the one that did the ‘Running with the Devil’ last year. So when I was looking for a final race and we saw that Joyce was putting on a whole weekend event up in the Mountains outside Vegas - you know we were thrilled. Not only was there a 50 mile event that would be perfect for my training, but there was a 1/2 Marathon the next day that Kimberly and I could run together! In fact it was a whole racing weekend event called ‘Labor Of Love‘. There was a 100 miler, 50 Mile, a Marathon, a 50K, and 2 Half Marathons, plus I think a 10K!

Just to make the weekend even more special, we were sent an invitation for the new Aria Hotel at City Center. How perfect, we could stay at the new Aria for a deal, check out the spa/fitness facilities and score some stuff with our Grand Daughters name on it (ended up being a whole lot of stuff Grandma could snag for the little one that came free even).

It was nothing more than a perfect weekend. I could live like this forever I tell ya’. The Aria is an amazing place. When City Center is done with all the other residences and hotels that place is going to be something special even by Vegas standards. I mean, it’s special already and half the places are not even open. Our room had the most futuristic view I have ever looked out from a room. That seemed appropriate as the room itself was all tech driven with settings that turned on the lights, opened the curtains, put on music, etc all to your specifications when you walked into the room. Everything was tech oriented, and whole modern, it still had a comfortable feel. We were impressed and we have done a whole lot of Vegas rooms over the years. Check out the pics, I took a ton (too much really). The best part of Aria was the Fitness and Spa - niiiiiiiice. We didn’t even do any massages, didn’t need to really, you get some of the best workout equipment in Vegas then you hit the Spa areas after working up a sweat. I love that they have so many co-ed areas, a salt room, hot stone room, lounges, pools, etc. We hit up everything there was I think. The steam rooms, sauna, drank about 10 of the bottle waters, they even had nice quality herbal teas. I could go on, but suffice to say, impressive, in particular for the $25 or whatever it was.

The Races were the most awesome experiences. You literally run in those huge Mountains you see to the West of Vegas in Lovell Canyon. For the 50 Miler its out 11 Miles and back twice, then out 3 and back 3. They elevation starts at about 5000 ft and essentially climbs on the way out and drops o the way back. The exception is this one HUGE hill in the middle. That hill was part of the 1/2 Marathon Kimberly and I did the next day too so we have pictures you will have to see. We met some great people including a friend Brian from Ohio who loves Ultra Running and we plan on doing another race together this year for sure. I was really happy with how the 50 turned out.

While I faded a lot the last few miles, I was able to finish in 8 hours and 39 minutes. It was 5th place overall and I got a little Cactus Pot Trophy that says First Place in age group 40-49 which was cool. Kimberly kicked butt the next day on the Half. I ran it with her so it was most fun. I think I had to hump it just to keep up - she was a little fresher than me :-). We got all kinds of cool medals, we got 3 tech shirts with awesome sayings, we met a ton of new folks, we got to do a Joyce Race…. like I said, I could get used to this kind of weekend!

So we found another perfect training run for my upcoming Zane Grey - or should I say our friends Erin and Tim found and we decided to join in the fun. It’s like we always say about races, we have to do a long run anyway and by doing a race you get people filling your drink bottle, a cool new track to run, other people to run with, and sometimes some bling to hang on your wall. A cool thing about this race was it was located just outside Vegas in Boulder City - the Desert Dash 50K. So of course that meant - VEGAS BABY….

Got to love the deals in Vegas right now. I tell everyone we don’t need any economist to tell us when the tide will turn with the economy - we can just track Vegas Hotel rates. Right now, based on the deal we got at our hotel with the best pool (very relevant a pool after you run 50K in the desert sun) Mandalay Bay.

We scooted up Friday, checked in and pretty much headed straight to the pool. Unlike a lot of Vegas trips this one was all about chillin’ and doing the run. We met runner friends Tim and Erin from Vancouver at the Pool, hung out a bit and made plans to connect up the next day again hanging at the pool. Erin is a sponsored Tri-Athlete and husband Tim is pretty much a Marathon maniac like us too. They were headed to Vegas to look for a second home and figured they would do a race while they were there (we know this logic!). They found the Desert Dash 50K, Half Marathon and 5K. They planned on doing the Half as it was their first trail run. I of course needed the 50K for Zane practice

We pretty much just chilled all weekend. Aside from the race we were at the pool. We hung most of Saturday and the rest of Sunday after the race. On Sunday night we did go check out a hot new restaurant/club at the Palazzo called Lavo. It was decent, but not quite as good as I hoped. With so many choices in Vegas I would have trouble ever get back there. We also did pick up a new bathing suit for Kimberly - man she looks good in too

As for the race it was really fun. The course was essentially two 15 plus mile loops in Boulder Canyon. There was for sure some elevation, much more than Pemberton, but less than Mesquite. When you were about half way out you came over a mountain and right in front of you out there in the middle of nowhere was the Vegas skyline - pretty cool. On another part you were running along a single track ridge-line that was pretty crazy in spots, not sure I would have been comfortable at all if the Mrs was running it. The support was decent, the day was hot, the people where cool, it was a good run and I would for sure run this course again. I ran in 5:28:10 which was 3rd place overall and 1st in my age but it was a very small race for the 50K. Tim and Erin did great in their run which had many more people.

We all had a lot of fun, I plan one more big race before Zane, probably a 50 miler that’s a much easier course. The fun continues….

I have shared with a lot of friends and family that when it comes to running, I have had about a two year fixation on a race called the Zane Grey Highline Trail 50. I have enjoyed all of the other runs and races (especially the Komen with Kimberly) a whole lot, but Zane has been the overall focus. There are some pretty big reasons for this, some of which I will be able to share down the road, and some which you just have to know are very, very important to me. It’s kind of silly I know, that a race could have that much importance. At the end of the day I know it’s just a run, just a day in our life, but it is something that I have made some strong commitments to and I will hold up my end.

Zane is ran on the Mongolian Rim in AZ at about 5000 feet. The trail is famous for its up and downs, rocks, boulders, stream crossings, and thorn bushes to go through - among all kinds of other challenges. Zane is one of the most recognized 50 Mile runs of all the Ultra Marathons. It is so, because it has a reputation for being one of the, and likely the most challenging 50 miler of all of them. It is ranked up there among many of the world’s most challenging events (List Here). Anyway, Zane is getting oh so close for us now. Because of this I have had to really pick up my weekly miles and add some more challenging hills and mountain runs. Which brings us to the Mesquite Canyon 50K.

We had been home for two days from running two Marathon’s and a Half Marathon the last three weekends when Kimberly was online and spotted a local 50K here in the White Tank Mountains - the Mesquite Canyon 50K. I had forgotten about this. We did know because a good runner friend of ours was running the 25K (they had several lengths of races that day). I thought about it for a second and went “perfect” I needed a long run, I needed hills and this would just give me the added benefit of someone to share some water and boiled potatoes along the way. I signed up before I took a look at the course. Good thing too, because I’m not too sure I would have made that decision had I looked first. Let’s just say yowzer! The course included basically every trail in the White Tanks including a Ford Canyon bit that had a drop (and return climb) of near 1400 feet within less than a 2 mile stretch. It also included a run through the White Tanks which the park was named. This is basically a 3 mile stretch in a wash bottom of sand and boulder dodging and hoping and butt scooting.

Long story not so short, it was for sure the most challenging race i have done to date (BTW some who were there have ran Zane and said this “felt” like about half the challenge! It took me 5:55:35 to run the 31 miles (yep 5 hours and 55 minutes) and I was in the top 25% overall - that shows how crazy this thing was. Truth be told - I loved the heck out of it. Not the four days of soreness from that downhill, nor the craziness of just hanging on the last few miles, but the overall experience - AMAZING. The people at these events are so great too. The Ultra community locally here is pretty special, along with having some special runners including the guys Nick and Jamil of Aravaipa Running who put on the race (they are some of the fastest Ultra guys in the states). I got to see buddy Jon Roig again, and of course hang with good running friend John Kubica. Not only did John come in 3rd place overall in his 25K race - he hung around for hours and hours to cheer me into my finish - I told you runner friends are cool!

Okay, something has to give. We so dig being able to hang out with Kathy and Clay. Every time we leave there or they leave here, we are reminded that we live so far away. Here’s the deal - we did our Texas years, I think it’s time they did some Desert ones! Besides, I mean they are already halfway here in many respects anyway. For example: One night we had a really good time playing a game called ‘Chicken Feet’ (I think anyway). Chicken feet is played with Domino’s. Let’s face it, domino’s is much more a ‘Texas’ game than say a California one. Nothing wrong with that, the game was a very fun and we had a great time. The ‘halfway here’ bit comes from the beverage of choice that was partook of. One would think you match a game of bones (domino’s lingo ya’ know) played in Texas with some Budweiser, or Lone Star, or maybe a shot of Jack even? But noooo, at Casa (or Ranch as it were’ Texas) Reeves we were drinking Napa Syrah’s that you had to be on a one year waiting list to get.

See my halfway already point? They are living a life that’s half California, and half Texas already so why not do that geographically and land in Arizona? I can make a stronger case, but I though Chicken Feet and Library Vino did it nicely.

Aside from the enjoyable time with our Texas family, we also got to run in a race - I know - you are so surprised right? The Rock ‘n’ Roll Series is now in Big D. Sadly they only have a Half Marathon, but it was a great run and a fantastic time all the same. We headed over toward Dallas from Casa Reeves the day before the race. First thing we did was hit the Expo and pick up the bibs, grab some extra GU. We hung around for a little bit but it was lunch time and the pre race day lunch meal is the biggie. The expo was at the Dallas convention center so it wasn’t all too far to head over to the West End area and find some grub. We decided on the Old Spaghetti Factory - they are so much better than the knock off copy cats. OSF is also very good about making sure the preparation is how you want, and they have an ‘endless’ salad bowl (nice to get those Greens too). We had a great lunch, walked around a little bit then it was time to check into our Hotel. Our hotel The Adolphus was most excellent. I have no idea how we got the price for the room we got - we booked it last minute online and they must have had some mess up in their system - either way, it was very nice and I would recommend if you need Downtown Dallas.

After we were settled in it was now near dinner. as is now a locked in tradition (not becoming anymore) we were able to meet up with a bunch of runner friends we have met online or previously at other races. A couple of them had setup a cool dinner meeting downtown right around the corner from our hotel at a placed called Campisi. We had a great time, there must have been 12-14 of us or so including Tim Lee and Lisa Hernandez we have met at other races - way cool stuff. I got the pizza that was recommended and unlike Little Rock, this time it was good. We hung out for a bit with everyone, took a couple of pictures, wished all a great race and headed back to the hotel for an early night and an early rise.

The course was actually better than I expected. It hit all the expected locations through the downtown area of Dallas you would expect. Then you cruised through a really nice neighborhood and then after about 7 miles of a slight but steady uphill you began the decent and headed toward Fair Park which is where they hold the State Fair and where all the finish line setup was today.

I was able to have a nice negative split and come in at 1:35:21 which was good for 266th overall out of 9,250 runners. Kimberly jacked up foot and all (all being she was also running in a Green tutu and had a boa for the first mile in celebration of St. Patty’s Day) still had a sub two hour at 1:58:11 which was top 25% overall and 15% among them female types. Very sadly, Kimberly’s race ended on a very somber note. A young man who we later came to know had a family, was being assisted by medical personnel as she crossed the line. Tragically the young man did not make it. All our thoughts go out to his family for their loss.

After the race we hung for a bit, listened to the Guitar Shorty rip some, said hello to Tim and his buddy again at the PF Chang’s setup. Seeing this course was a point to point, we had to get back to our hotel quickly before checkout, so we did a quick boot scoot (like the Texas lingo?) over to the light rail, which took us back within 2 blocks of our hotel. We ran up, packed up, drive back to Casa Reeves, showered (yeah you know that had to come) and partied on into the night celebrating you know who turning 48 yesterday before the race. Rock Star stuff there baby….

If you would have asked the 30 year old version of me what are the likely locations of your vacation home(s) in twenty years from now? I think my response would have been filled with places like, a beach condo in Mexico, a lake cabin in Michigan, a little cottage in Napa, a NY condo, etc. One place for sure that would not have been on the list is a bedroom at your Parents house in Oklahoma! But I have to say, it is a home. It may not be vacation always (I do work when I am there) but having family there, being so welcome and comfortable HOME is the right word.

So again we headed East to the land of the ‘Grand Children’ - notice the plural? Yepper, old Mike and Kimberly now have a beautiful little Grand Daughter Ariana Marie born on a January day when we were tailgating in a parking lot at the Fiesta Bowl. This would be our first trip to see her, and while time with M3 was of course on the agenda, he was not the star of the show this time (well… at least not when Ariana was around)!
We had another great trip - or should I say trips. We basically spent near a month there, only we headed out on the weekends to run Marathon’s that could be easily reached with a drive - we talk about those in other blogs. Little Ms. Ariana was so precious. As I like to say being only a couple of months old, “she doesn’t yet do a lot of tricks” so that means a I do smelling, smiling and little smooches, while Grandma K does all the holding. I of course do all the Grandpa flash too (you know there was some picture taking). She is about the perfect baby, I don’t think she fussed more than 2 minutes the whole time. She just sits there and looks at you and takes it all in.

We had several highlights this trip. Of course little Ms. A was the biggie. I can’t wait until next trip to see her new tricks ;-0. Other cool stuff included was getting to run with a couple of the Miller family generations. I cajoled (read: bribed) youngest son Zac into running with the old Dad. We went over to a little favorite perfect mile loop run spot and did a solid two miles. He did great, I actually thought he would struggle more but the pace was solid and considering his basketball shorts were falling down and had to be held, he really did great! It made me feel really happy - I so hope he keeps it up. Maybe he can get his older brother running too and the three (me plus them) Miller boys can someday run a Marathon together. The other cool run was with M3 in the stroller. Grandma and me took little Michael III over to the same track and pushed him in the stroller as we ran. I was worried as heck he would hate it because the wind was terrible and it was kind of cold, but he would just sit there and smile away as the miles clicked by. Truth be told, I only did 2 mile laps with him and Grandma did most. The stroller is a little bit small and you have to hunch over with it to run - we need to score a run stroller next time we are there. Michael seems to love to run on his own too. Every time we are outside with him and running around yelling “run, run, run” he just smiles and tears around like a natural. Oh, and while it doesn’t have anything to do with running, it does have to do with highlights of the trip at least from a Grandma perspective - M3 now fully has the word “Grandma” down. In particular when he wants something - hmmm learn that from Grandpa perhaps?

One of the things we have also really come to look forward to is the time hanging with the old peoples - yeah, that the folks. Sometimes when all the kids are at home and it’s just us errr 40 year old plus types the old house is so peaceful and relaxing. We really enjoy their company when we can just sit around and talk about M3 and Little A. Plus did I mention it was my birthday time when we were hanging there so you know that meant another German Chocolate Cake. Yep, we eat cake with all that not good for you stuff - in this case the word is ‘worthy’ and then some.

So as we headed out we knew it wouldn’t be too long until we were back - heck I need more pictures when Ariana is a little bigger and aside from that you need to take advantage of your vacation home whenever you can right….?

PICTURES HERE

When we had planned this whole Oklahoma see the Grand Daughter (and everybody else of course) trip, we saw a great opportunity to hang weekdays in the land of the Grandkids, and then scoot out on the weekends to nearby locations and do races (New Orleans Marathon, Little Rock Marathon, and Dallas Half). During the week I could work from OK and Grandma could smother the youngin’s with attention and love, all was great. Only thing that didn’t line up perfect was the fact that our anniversary was to fall during the time we were on the trip and the date was mid-week. As much as I would like to say “hey sweetie, let’s just call the Little Rock Marathon our anniversary trip” there was no way I would get away with a trip that included eating turkey sandwiches and going to bed at 8:30 on a Saturday night so that she could wake up at 4:30 Sunday and go sweat for 5 hours a real anniversary (and I think all you that know her would agree and are nodding your head now). So I had to come up with something, and something I did - a perfect couple of days in Hot Springs Arkansas at an amazing little Bed and Breakfast. Yeah… I’m the man with the plan (gimme’ them props).

Talk about working out perfect, heck we could even sit in the “hot springs” and it would help our bodies recover from back to back to back races. It was on the way to Little Rock (in fact only an hour away) and is actually considered a ‘romantic destination’! I’m telling ya’ - gimmie’ them props, because it gets even better. Our B&B Hilltop Manor, was awesome! A cool old house built by a mobster (Hot Springs was big Al Capone and buddies hangout back in the day) and now owned and hosted by the nicest people. We had a great stay, with a Jacuzzi in the room, a huge fireplace to sit in front of, and an amazing breakfast location even if we did just want the oatmeal and whole wheat toast versus the big spread the place is famous for!

For the most part we just spent our time chilling in the room or walking the quaint little town’s shops and stores all mostly centered on what they call “Bathhouse Row”. The street has about 6-7 of the old bathhouses where folks used to, and still do sit in the spring water baths, get treatments, massage, etc. Along with playing in the water ourselves one morning, we also did a tour of one of them that is now ran by the Natl. Park Service. Kind of cool looking at all the old equipment, heavy marble everywhere, elaborate decorations, etc. For sure that ‘old rich folk hangout’ feel to the bathhouse.

The time in Hot Springs also included a couple of pretty cool runs, including one where Kimberly and I seemed to have the whole woods to ourselves and great dinner with easily the best bread dipping Pesto I have ever had at Belle Arti Ristorante. One of the most memorable parts of the trip was our last day we decided to go check out the Horse Track - Oaklawn. Oaklawn is a fairly famous track and the season had just started so the track was open with several races throughout the day going on. Long story short Kimberly had never been to see the horses run fast - and I mean FAST so we decided to go check out a few races. Wanting to participate in the fun we of course did a little wagering on the three races. Seeing Kimberly chose her horses based on how happy there were, I cut her wager amount down because the dang horse was the long shot and in the real world long shots never win. Yep, long shot won…. In fact we ended up winning some bet in every one of the 3 races we hung out for and unlike most folks walked out with having paid for everything and money for a nice dinner. It was midday now and I guess we had to fess’ up, the Rest and Relaxation was over and it was off to Little Rock to run a race.

Little Rock for the most part was all about the run. Which means little touring and nightlife and more ‘get to Whole Foods and get the dinner we will eat in the room before we sleep early and wake up early to run’. We did spend a little time checking out the town. Tried one pizza place the night before that was highly recommended (let’s just say Little Rock awesome - but - knowledge of good pizza - no), and we were able to check out the downtown area some when we went to the Expo to get our race packets, but for the most part it was just race related. I would for sure go back, and maybe then we could get to the Clinton Libraryand other sites in town.

So pretty much normal pre race night and morning and we were off to the race start area. Kimberly with the jacked foot was doing the half and I was running the full. We setup pre race at a specialty tent that was just perfect. They had hot coffee, food if you wanted, bathrooms right there with little line, they even had food afterward - best $20 spent in a long time. So we chilled for a bit, and then headed over to the corrals and as always next thing you know it’s time to run long.

The course is pretty cool. You cross the Arkansas river a couple of times, you pass the famous Central High School, scoot by the Clinton Library and generally hit all of the Little Rock highlights. While a smaller town, I have to say I was impressed with the course and the crowds. Overall we had both had a really good run. Considering Kimberly was nursing an injury it was amazing she could run at all. She played it safe (mostly) and still finished her half in 2:07:29. I had a good run and even came close to beating my NO time from last week on a much harder course (they have a motto that says “what hills” so you know what that means…) with a 3:24:17 which was good for 78th place overall. I also have to comment the medals are the biggest of any race in the US. I could barely keep mine on - it’s like dinner plate size!

After the race we enjoyed hanging around the festival for a little after as it was a perfect weather day. But by 1:00 we were on our way back to the land of the Grandkids and had little Ariana in our hands by dinner.

PICTURES

Okay, so does it get any better than having a great excuse to go to New Orleans than to run a Marathon? Plus the fact that it is part of the Rock-N-Roll Marathon series (brief interlude to mention that the RnR series does this thing that if you do more than one of their events you get extra medals, in fact for every additional race you do you get some extra cool ‘bling’. Let’s just say the medals for doing six or seven events in a year in the series are way cool and this was another reason to do New Orleans). The main reason we got to run the race was because it was all part of the “We have a new Grand Daughter Oklahoma trip”.

We scooted out from the land of the Grandkiddos on Friday so we could (I heard that - yes I do work - it’s called laptops and iPhones - get with times) settle in and enjoy a couple of nights in the Big Easy before the race. As you may have gathered from our last N.O visit, this is a favorite place. Something about this city. It’s just the overall vibe it exudes, and the music, and of course the food. Did I mention the food? Before I forget, yep, Kimberly had another Peanut Butter Burger at Yo Mamma’s, and it took less than a few hours before those little buggers on the half shell where sloshing around in my stomach - something repeated again of course.

Being that the crowds were long gone from Mardi Gras, and Jazz Fest was still a few months away, snagging a good room was pretty easy. We if fact decided on an old New Orleans classic place called La Pavillion (French of course so pronounced La-Pa-ve-own). The place is pretty cool and I think is even famous for its ‘haunted residents’. It is also famous for its tradition of PB&J sandwiches served to guests at 10:00 every night. Yep, they break out Peanut Butter and Jelly on a whole lot of fancy dished and serve it up in the lobby every night. We of course had to partake, even though there was no whole wheat bread (btw, I filled out a survey after we left and got an email form the mgr that they will have whole wheat from now on! Cool huh - we now are kind of part of the tradition).

Seeing we had gotten to town early enough Friday to pick up our bib and hit the expo, we had all Saturday to hang. We ended up doing the typical NO thing and walking the Quarter and looking in all the awesome Royal street antique shops (no place in the US like Royal). On the stroll we also hit up the French Market which is like a giant food and flea market thing (with Royal think Beverly Hills, with the French Market think Oklahoma hills). Walking along Kimberly spotted this awesome homemade Raggedy Ann Doll she just had to have for little Ms Ariana. Amazing, I think it was like $15 and totally handmade with cool stitched clothing and everything - score, we get her first doll! We continued to do the walking thing but of course called it an early night. As always, we try to get some sleep before the Marathon in the morning which with a 6:00 am start meant a 4:00 rise.

The weather had been a little iffy. In fact, cold and rain had been the story. The good news is for some reason our ‘weather blessed’ streak continued. It could not have been a more perfect running morning weather wise. This was a good thing because we had to walk to the start line. Still a little cold we just brought a race wrap type thing you can ditch before the race starts. The walk took a little more time than expected and by the time I did the drop bag thing (the race was out and not back so we would be some 12 miles or so from the Hotel when we were done) it was time for the corrals. I loved that for this race they actually had the porta-potties on the side of the corral! I can’t tell you how nice it was to have access to a bathroom minutes before a Marathon and not have any line really.

The race course was way cool. It essentially takes you down Magazine street and through Audubon Park which is awesome. You then return back toward the city via Saint Charles with the half runners on the other side of the trolley line. Next is a quick trip through the French Quarter passing St Louis Cathedral, and Kimberly’s favorite Cafe Du Monde (kidding she is not a beignet fan) before you head toward St. Louis Cemetery and finally into City Park where you run around for a few miles and finish right smack dab in the heart of it to the sounds of Cowboy Mouth and others rockin’ away. All in all one very scenic course. The only downside is the roads - man are they tough. Seems Katrina effects along with just being an old city has some painful effects on the roads. St. Charles in particular is tough as the road is just tore up and you spend a lot of time trying to find even semi even pavement.

Which brings us to Mrs. M. She had done a little damage during the Pemberton Ultra and essentially exacerbated it here on the roads of New Orleans. In fact, she wisely spent the last 9 miles of walking or should I say hobbling to the finish. This was the only downer news of the whole trip. After the race we got to again meet up with some great runner folks we have come to know. It’s fast becoming the reason we so look forward to the next race - seeing the friends. The night of the run we again hit GW Fins (you knew we would). While the entrees and everything else was amazing as expected, sadly the Apple Pie was not quite as good as the “best desert ever” it was on the last trip - oh well. We again hated leaving this grand ol’ city, but we had some Grand kiddos to get back too!

PICTURES

Okay, for those of you saying this running thing is becoming a obsession with them - duh, we already long ago acknowledged that. You must just now be reading the blog? Anyway, so Fifty Kilometers (50K) equals Thirty-One (31) Miles. When you think about it, it really doesn’t sound like all that more that a Marathon. It’s a cheesy 5 miles more right? Heck you’re doing that much anyway what’s a little added. I think probably overall that is a fair statement, however to steal an old friend’s line “cepting’ one thing”. That one thing is that Ultra Marathon’s (for our non running friends anything more than the 26.2 is generally considered an “Ultra Marathon”) are typically NOT RAN on the road. They typically are done on trails. Trails usually have hills, or go through Mountains, or have a lot of rocks, and switchbacks, and all that other good up and down stuff. So all that said, it is not the miles as much as it is the ‘logistics’ as we always say - and such was the case with the Pemberton Trail 50K.

When we normally talk pre-race ‘logistics’ it’s all about: sleep the night before, how the body feels with all the little aches and pains, how did the restroom thing go (sorry to mention but it’s a biggie), the weather, etc. etc. So with an Ultra you now add; how much elevation, how technical are the trails, is the path rocky, where are the aid stations, I need to do a ‘drop bag’ (your own food etc seeing you will be on your feet for hours on end), are there any on course ‘health break’ spots or will the big rock and the cholla be getting some unexpected electrolyte water (so to speak), etc.

This is the part where I normally comment “see with all the other stuff to deal with the race itself is the easy part”. Well, not this time. Freaking running for 4:39:30 (my time which was 29th overall) and Kimberly’s amazing on-her-feet-running 6:25:55 (106th overall but about 35th among women because there just are not that many ladies that are rock stars and do this type thing) is hard!! Let’s just say there was hills, there was sun, and the last 3 miles felt like the first 10. So no complaining about the logistics, we are fessin’ up and saying 50K while an amazingly fun adventure, be’ a none too easy way to start a Saturday morning.

What a riot this race was. In hindsight, the course wasn’t all the tough. The people at Ultra’s are all just the coolest, nicest people you want to meet. Fringe types true, but really fun to hang with :-).

Okay so this blog will be a ‘you guess why we decided to run the Surf City Half Marathon‘ type post. There are of course a ton of way cool reasons, but one reason we just had to do this run stood out (aside from the fact the Full was sold out so we did the Half). So I’ll share some of the fun and you pick the one…

1.) We got to hang out with cousin Shelly. We love family, nothing better than being able to do a race and be able to double dip by seeing some kin folk. Missed Kevin this time something about needing him to hang around for the Space Shuttle landing - like that’s more important than seeing us…??

2.) Hey it’s a chance to hang in LA West of the 405. When Randy Newman wrote “I Love LA” he for sure meant West of the 405 (i.e. the beach communities). Other side of the 405 Frwy, let’s just say no go. But LA beach cities = that California cool, movie stars, sun, sand, tiki bars and fish tacos, what’s not to love….

3.) The finishers medal for the race is a way freaking cool surfboard…

4.) The course is mostly ran right on the Pacific Coast Hwy, which in case you didn’t know means you are looking at that gorgeous blue water and sand the whole race.

5.) We got to hook up with some great runner friends we have met at other races including the Punk Rock Runner himself Mr. Ron. Cooler yet, we got to met his youngin’ who is actually more cool, a faster runner, and far better looking than the old man (must take after mama). We also got to meet a bunch of other folks we had ‘talked’ with but never met yet. In addition, we got to support a really great guy with an amazing cause. Sam Felsenfeld is a man who is out there running 60 Marathons this year to raise money and awareness for Autism via a cause he started called Operation Jack. Sam’s son is Autistic and it’s just an amazing story. Sam and his whole family are great people too. We had the chance to hang with them at a pre-race Pasta dinner they hosted and had a great time.

6.) We got to eat all that California good grub, including a most excellent post race Burger, fish tacos, dinner one night at a famous Tiki-Bar, and all the organic-farmer-market-foodie-stuff you get in CA.

7.) Along the drive to LA there is a Premium Factory outlet and Mrs Miller just loves stopping.

8.) I knew that after the run and the next day we could just hang around and enjoy that beach life. A run along the path by Newport Pier, watch the sunset on the Ocean with the woman, smell that cool coastal breeze and pretend we live here in the land of $3K a foot vacation homes.

Okay so there is the list of all the main reasons for deciding to run the race. What’s your guess? Family and friends - you know how we are? A chance to run along the Pacific twice!? Good eats, you know how I am…? To all the previous a big NOPE. We are far more shallow when it comes down to reasons to run a race. In this case it’s the Bling!! Come on, I mean a Surf Board Medal!! How in the heck can you not do it….

As for results Kimberly had a 1:57:22 which was good for Top 15% in her age, gender and almost overall (even w the boys factored in)! I had a respectable 1:35:51 which was in the Top 2.5% overall and Top 4% for my age and gender.

Some Trip Pics HERE

It’s hard to believe that it’s just been twelve months since we ran in last year’s P.F. Chang Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon. As the saying goes, maybe only one year but a million miles away. Err.. perhaps more specifically about 4000 miles away (the running miles Kimberly and I have completed since this race last year. The other biggie is that last year we did the Half Marathon, and this year we did the Full. Last year we never had a race longer than this, this year we went in having done at least 30 races and runs that were longer. As they also say - things change, and since that time last year the running addition has been going full force will no slowdown in sight.

Having experienced last year’s ridiculous very early rise (pretty much the night before) in order to get over to Tempe, park, hop on the bus to get downtown, ride the bus, try to hit the bathroom line, get warmed up, etc. etc before the race begins at the crack of dawn, we thought better and reserved a room downtown for the night before. This way we could just walk over to the start line a couple of miles away and then after the race take our first ride on the light rail back downtown.

We headed downtown early on Saturday for a couple of reasons; we wanted to hit the Expo (every race has one and the Rock n Roll event ones are great), but more importantly was to connect up with a bunch of runner friends we have come to know online but never have met. The plan was to hook up at Starbucks in the Arizona Center at 2:00. As is typical we were running a little late and really didn’t have a chance to hit the expo before the meeting with the runner gang. That and parking at our hotel or anywhere downtown was a cluster with the expo and a big MLK event also going on.

Just like every other time we get a chance to meet in person some of the folks we have ‘met’ online, they turn out to be great people. I have to say, the “runner crowd” is good folks - happy, nice, considerate, supportive, encouraging, just really, really enjoyable ‘good soul’ peoples. We can already tell though we have just now met them, some of these people with likely be in our lives for years and years to come. We already have plans to connect up with several of them at upcoming races all over the country.

After the get together we did hit the Expo for a little bit, Kimberly scored some compression socks, we snagged all the freebie bars and such, got the obligatory official race magnet and little postcard (we have them from all the Rock N Roll events), walked around a bit and then scooted back to the hotel by late afternoon to try to settle in. I’m sure I have talked about our ‘pre big race ritual’ before: lay out all the stuff you need for the morning (shorts, shirts w bibs on, D-Tag on your shoes, heat rubs, lip balms, GU’s and energy blocks, 5 hr Energy drink, gloves, hats, Garmin watch, iPod shuffles, headsets, knee bands, heart rate monitor strap (K), running socks, spi belt, water bottles and water belt, banana’s x4, oatmeal ready, etc. etc. It’s a ton of crap, it’s like we are going off to war or some such, course by mile 24 it feels like you had been in one. The point being, set it out so you don’t forget anything and you can get that extra 15 minutes of sleep - course assuming you actually get 3-4 hours total anyway which would be a blessing. After getting everything ready, we partake of the homemade pizza’s and salad we always bring (we know this works for us). Hop in bed, turn on a boring movie, take a melatonin, sleepy time tea, and try to hit the hay by 9:30-10:00 ish.

At about 4:15 a.m. we both did the little whisper thing to see if the other was awake - as always - yep. It wasn’t too bad, we both assumed we ‘netted’ about 4 1/2 hours sleep. We did the routine, took the pre race pic and we were out the door. It was cold, but not bitter cold which was very helpful. For those that don’t do a lot of pre sunrise running, it’s basically you want a winter parka and 2 sets of gloves before you start and the first mile or two, then you could darn near be in a birthday suit as you are dripping sweat. More relevant was the wind, and it was fairly nonexistent so that was cool. Other than walking right by John McCain’s car window on the way over to our corrals and spooking the secret service guy our pre race was fairly uneventful. The bathroom lines were even palatable this year.

Kimberly and I both enjoyed the race and were mostly happy with the results too. The race itself is always a riot, though a real tough challenge to go all out for that long, it’s really the reward for all the hard work beforehand. The results however can be a different story, but we did good, not spectacular, or even great, but good. Kimberly came in at 4:36:19 about 1300th out of all women (even the err umm ‘younger ones’ which was a new PR. I did 3:22:19 which was good for top 8% overall and in my age group. It was also good enough to qualify me to run in the Boston Marathon which is cool. The downside was I did end up fading like a 70’s concert t-shirt the last few miles and it killed my sub 3:20 goal.

The big news of the day actually came after the race. I nearly had a heart attack - and not from running, but from worry! They have this runner tracking thing, and after the race I was hanging with some of our good buddies from West Valley Runners and they had the tracking up on their phone. It showed Kimberly had passed the 21 mile mark over an hour and a half ago (at the time). Knowing her pace, and seeing the plan was to meet where I was, she should have been there by now, or at least real soon. So after another half hour or so my worry starts to turn into real concern. Then I overhear some people next to me mention some lady just straight falling out at about mile 22. Looking at his bib number he and Kimberly would have, should have been very close to the same time. Now I really started to worry though didn’t ask him or anything because that would be silly. Long story cutting a little short, another half hour passes and STILL NO KIMBERLY. I now send out our friends (they offer) over to the medical tent, I borrow a cell phone to start making calls, it’s starting to get real crazy - and of course she finally walks up smiling like nothing ever happened. Seems she was following the crowd and headed off in the wrong direction for a bit. Scared the dog-doo out of this 45-49 age group husband of hers. If she wasn’t such a stubborn, competitive redhead I wouldn’t have to worry that she might push it more than she should - but alas…. that not be’ my woman….

A few pictures HERE. Until the next race, errr I mean blog

This will be one of the trips that I as time passes I will look back be able to focus more on what was great about the trip versus what was not. In that vein, I will start out with the ‘not’ so I can get to all the fun and good times.

I woke up the day after getting back from McAlester a little sore. Not too unexpected seeing we just had a 16 hour drive the day before, but Kimberly said she felt fine. I didn’t think anything of it until I went out for my run a couple hours later. Originally we had the planned on doing the Half Marathon at the coming weekend’s Las Vegas Rock & Roll Marathon. Only seeing I have been pretty much doing Marathon quantity training miles per week (and I needed 20 miles that day not 13) I was fairly sure I would switch over the do the full and just treat it as a training run for the upcoming Chang’s Full in January. Which meant my plan for that Monday was 12 miles or so. Only as soon as I started to run I felt my right hamstring was sore. Hey, we are used to soreness in certain areas, so I just decided to keep running and it would go away. Problem was as soon as I picked up the pace after my warm-up - OUCH, it felt like I ripped the whole thing from the back of my knee. I hobbled home as the realization that I was likely at least fairly injured started to sit it. I won’t bore you with lot’s more, but the story ends with I was still jacked 6 days later when it was time to run in Vegas. The good news was that as long as I didn’t push the speed too much I could run - so I was able to run. The great news was that while a little painful to go at her pace, I was able to run with Kimberly and we crossed the finish line together (a great photo opportunity)!

Now the rest of the great parts of the trip… It was Vegas remember, so you know there was fun to be had. The first night in town we checked out the new City Center area, or at least the parts that were open. This place is going to be amazing if it ever gets to what it was to be. Makes me wonder though with all the economy issues if this will be one huge casualty. In the meantime, it truly is a ‘City in a City’ (and to think we used to say that about some individual hotels. A cool aside, I think they named one of the Hotels in City center after the Granddaughter (Aria). Of course we did a whole lot of walking around; the Venetian Shoppes, Caesars’ Forum, The Fashion Show, etc. Got some incredible shopping deals because of all the options and the economy. Kimberly had her first Wolfgang Puck Pizza, we had a nice meal at ‘The Company Store’, and of course one night did the carbo load at the Paris Buffet.

But this trip was all about the race and hanging with our runner friends. One really cool aspect was that even though it was not a ‘local’ race, we still got to hang with a bunch of running friends. Quite a few of the West Valley Runners (a local run club we run with) were in town to run the Half and the Full. They are a bunch of great folks and we didn’t get to hang with them as much as we would have liked, but we did catch up a couple of times. Sunday night we missed them sounds perhaps like it could have been a fun one. We heard something about Coyote Ugly, crazy drinking, belts, welts, etc (we will keep quiet on the rest :-). We were also able to connect up with some runner friends we have come to know from Twitter (Kimberly’s friends really). It was nice, we hung a little at the expo, and had a drink with them at Mandalay one day. I’m sure it will not be the last time we hang with that crowd…

All in all, like I said a great long weekend in Vegas. I might be bummed about the hamstring, but I got to run down the Las Vegas Strip with my wonderful wife, see a bunch of friends, eat at some great Vegas places, and just hang in town we love. Heck if I would have stayed home it would have been to clean the pool and do yard work - I’ll take the jacked hamstring please…

Some PICS HERE

I know I have said it before, but I am going to say it again - nothing is more important than family, friends and our health!! All the other is truly not that important or simply the stuff we fill in life’s empty spaces with (not to get to Roger Water’s-y). I also seem to be getting more and more sentimental the older I get. So when it looked like all was lining up to have a Thanksgiving this year with as big a family group as we have had in years, we were pretty excited. In particular because Brother Dominic was coming in from New York. Sister Kerry was also making her first trip to the hometown of our Grandson. Becky and Rolland and there youngin’s would be there, of course M3 with parents in tow, Zac and his clan, and the ‘old’ folks would all be sitting around the big house with us smelling the bird in the oven and watching the Lions losing on the TV. Yep… time for that old cliché - it just doesn’t get any better than that!

What can I say, it was a great week, including: talking old times, catching up with Dominic, playing with the Grandson, cooking with my wife and my Mother, eating, eating, eating some more, going to Wal-Mart (again - this is what you do in McAlester), lot’s of pictures, watching Zac’s clan enjoy the easel, doing the Tulsa Mall Black Friday trip and just like last year we got the M3-Santa Picture and scored some cool Jordan Nike’s for him, eating German chocolate cake, eating pumpkin pie, eating pecan pie, and did I mention eating?

The find of the trip was the local track up at the High School. We of course needed some runs, including some speed work while we were there and we found the track open, just up the street and a great place to run. Not only did we do our speed work there one day, we did our long run on it as well (so much better on the knees and joints versus running on Carl Albert Hwy there). Having never ran on a track (least in forever) it was really nice, and I think we both had our fastest 4X mile repeats ever (I was doing sub 6:15 average which is fast for this old man).

The best part of the trip of course was all the catch up and laughing about old times with everyone. It was extra special having both Dominic and Kerry to shoot the breeze with. I think it’s been 10-12 years since we did that. I know it won’t be that long before it happens again. The grandkid was of course his same old perfect hambone star-of-the-show self. I think you will see evidence of this by checking out all the pictures (this time they will only be 75% M3 shots versus 90% normal!). In particular you will want to scope the Santa costume shots because you know we had to get him some get-up for this trip’s pictures. Kimberly also captured a great video that portends of his future rock stardom (check it out on youtube HERE). It was also nice to see how Becky’s family has grown so, her and Roland sure raised some great kids.

We had a great ride home too as the old man had joined us for a quick trip to the Valley of the Sun. Along the way we even got to catch a little early ‘White Christmas with some decent snow around Amarillo and the area. Seeing we had ‘road-tripped’ it, it was nice we had driven OB2 (which stands for “Old Blue Two” in honor of buddy Clay’s old Ford Truck he called Old Blue) with Four Wheel Drive. Even though we really didn’t need it, it was nice to know we would have been fine had the road gotten worse, and the same could not be said for the Coupe.

As always, it won’t be long before we venture back to the land of the Sooners and Cowboys - but next trip will be very, very special because: we got a Grand Daughter on the way!!! Some PICS HERE

They call the Big Sur Half Marathon a ‘destination race’ (one of the top 3 in the country), and it more than lives up to its billing as a ‘must run’. The Central California Coast is just an amazing piece of our planet. When we heard about a race that starts in Monterey, heads down Cannery Row, through Garden Grove and along an amazing stretch of the Pacific, umm, book it Dan-o was an easy decision! As with most destination races, the race itself is only just one piece of the overall experience. And with our hotel in downtown Monterey, essentially two blocks from the race start, one block from Fisherman’s Pier, and just a little walk to Cannery Row, there would be no doubt of this. Even before we the road I was having visions of Cioppino Bowls dancing in my head.

So upon arrival Friday while we didn’t make a complete beeline for the seafood (we checked into the hotel first) I think it was less than two hours after we got there that we had an awesome piece of Blackened Pacific Red Snapper and a nice Halibut steak in front of us at a little place called Monterey Fish House. The place is very small and really caters to locals, but it was well worth the squish and living room environment.

Saturday was as full as day as we could cram in considering we always like to call it an early night the day before a race. We started the day with an early stroll along the water and piers. Of course we had to do a little walk around Fisherman’s Pier and reminisce about the time we had the boys with us and we ate at the little restaurant at the end of the pier and Mike and Zac put Dungeness Crab exoskeletons (their dinner) on their heads (PIC HERE) - ahh where did those days go? Then we headed over to the Race Expo to pick up our bibs and race packets. Seeing it was going to be a cold one, I grabbed some of the cheapo gloves and Kimberly picked up a pair of compression pants she could wear under her shorts - the girl may always wants to look good, but is will to sacrifice for warmth always :-). After the expo we took a little walk down to the Cannery Row section of Monterey. A very cool little stretch that was once full of Canneries of course, and now consists of shops, restaurants and the world famous Monterey Bay Aquarium.

After walking around some of the shops, having some more excellent seafood at Louie Linguine’s (an excellent spot in the Cannery with great views, a fun vibe, an really good clam chowder) we got some tickets and headed into the massive Monterey Bay Aquarium. We immediately realized that to do this place right you need a full day, and we sadly only had a couple of hours. We did manage to hit all the main areas and attractions but did not do the place justice for sure. I took a ton of pictures, of course shooting through glass you will not get what you hope for, but some of them actually came out pretty decent. The star of the show right now has to be the Seahorse exhibit. These things really are amazing. There is one bred that has even developed legs and arms that look like branches - it’s scary cool evolution. Do check out some of the shots, a couple I got zoomed right in on the sea creature - some it may even take you a minute to find it as it blends in so well. After a little more walking around we headed back to the room, ate some of the homemade pizza we brought (as is a pre-race night tradition) and called it a night.

A 6:15 start time means a 4:00 alarm clock even though we could walk to the start line from our room. While we for sure lay out all the ‘gear’ the night before, there are many things to get done before a race including a little warm up run and most importantly the oatmeal and coffee! We both sleep fairly decent, though not long, neither of us had any major injuries and we were feeling pretty good - all good omens for a great race. We put on the gloves, downed B12 and headed over to the start line. I gave Kimberly a kiss, we headed to our start lines and before you knew it we were off.

The course was spectacular. Aside from the runs we have done along the Rim of the Grand Canyon perhaps, I can’t think of a more scenic place we have ever ran - in fact I repeated the course the day after the race by myself. You start off right next to the piers, circle back through Monterey and run down the center of Cannery Row, then you are right out running with the Pacific on one side and the California cool homes of Garden Grove on the other - sweet! It’s more or less and out an back course with slightly different return. The last bit is especially nice as you run along a stretch of a bike/pedestrian path that runs about 18 miles totally along the coast in that area. The course has a few little hills but is fairly flat and fast. In particular the last couple of miles are slightly downhill so if makes for a nice finish which comes right back into the Fisherman’s Pier area and close to the Hotel. We both had very good runs. Kimberly had a new Half Marathon PR with 1:55:03 and the top 15% of her age and of all women. I ran in 1:36:13 which was top 4% overall and a new PR for me too by 10 seconds or so. We hung around the finish line for a bit and got our very cool pottery style medals.

After the race it was still early and we wanted to take advantage of the area. So after a quick shower we headed 10 minutes south to the ‘perfect’ little town of Carmel by the Sea. We tried to walk off the race legs, stopped into a few of the shops, tried to find something out of place in the town to no avail (even a leaf) and finally got my bowl of Cioppino at Flattery’s Seafood Grill - which was most excellent by the way. After lunch we drove a little further south and stopped at Point Loma Reserve. What an amazing place. When you picture that idyllic view of mountains and California coast, this is the place. We did a nice little hike and took some pictures of the Sea Lions and amazing shoreline. This is another place where I wish we had a full day to hang out, but it was getting late in the day and the bodies were starting to fade fast. We headed back to town, took a little walk to the local Sprouts and picked up some easy foods we could eat in the room - no fancy dinner celebration required, just some turkey, a little chocolate and a good bottle of Vino in the room - a perfect night to cap off a perfect trip. PICS HERE

It’s really nice when my business and our running (err ahh..) habit can come together. It’s particularly nice when it does so in support of a great cause. Such is the case with the ‘Race To End Domestic Violence‘ a 5K running event sponsored by the Arizona Foundation for Women here in Phoenix. It’s a great organization and one Kimberly and I are honored to support. There are a lot of options out there for your help, but when you see some of the stories that this group is here to put an end to, you know it’s worthy. A couple of staggering statistics…. Every 36 minutes in Arizona, a police officer responds to a domestic violence incident where a child is present. Every 30 minutes in Arizona, a family is turned away from a shelter due to lack of space. Every 19 minutes in Arizona, an arrest is made as a result of domestic violence incident. There is a domestic violence related death approximately every five days in Arizona!

My business industry is one of the largest contributors to the cause and always puts together a sizable team to run (or walk) in the race. This year in order to have an even bigger turnout, the race was ran in conjunction with the 34th annual Phoenix 10K (one of the oldest and largest races in Arizona). In fact, they set it up so that you could run one race right after the other - which of course me and Kimberly were one of the 150 out of 2500 runners who did both!

The race is held downtown and ran basically on the same roads as the Komen and every other downtown Phoenix race (flat and fast). That meant a fairly early rise and drive. It was a nippy day and we had to park a ways from the start at the Bolin Plaza so the cold was a good motivator to get the running started. Kimberly and I had a little different strategy for the races. Seeing 5K and 10K’s are fast and normally all out type runs, and this being the first time we ever tried back-to-back, deciding how fast to run them was tricky. Kimberly decided to run the first race (the 10K) more or less all out (as much as you can as your body knows you have another fast 5K coming) and chill on the 5K somewhat. My plan was to try to run both equal, kind of like I was running a 15K race speed.

We both did very good, Kimberly got a PR in the 10K at 51:10 and followed up with a 26:25 in her 5K (both top 10% in her age group). I did 44:38 in the 10K and 21:36 for the 5K which was good for top 10% overall in both runs. We were happy with the results considering most people just ran one race, in fact in the combined overall I finished 22nd and Kimberly was 56th place.

We spent the rest of the day walking around the mall and seeing what we could find for the grandkiddo and those other little ones in the land where the wind comes whipping down the plains. Next week we are off to the beautiful California Central Coast and Monterrey Peninsula for the Big Sur Half Marathon!

My first experience with the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure was 10 years ago. Michael, my sister in law and I ran a Susan G Komen Race for the Cure when I was two years free from cancer. It was awesome and a very special run. We had a goal to finish but since none of us were runners it was more of a statement of support for us than a race. The organization puts on a great event as well as does an outstanding job of making survivors feel special. The whole experience was wonderful and very emotional. Reading the ‘in memory of’ bibs of those who were there walking and running in memory of their lost loved ones brought tears to my eyes and reminded me of how lucky I was.

2007 marked ten years of survival for me and Michael suggested that I should do the Race for the Cure in celebration. It was a marvelous idea so about three weeks prior to the race I started running. It felt really good. I ran the 2007 race and by estimation came in 7th in the Survivor Race. It felt great to have done well but it also felt like a challenge. I thought that if I could come in 7th with just three weeks of training that there was a possibility I could place (1st, 2nd or 3rd ) with more training. I set a goal to run again in 2008. Meanwhile I fell in love with running. It happened so slowly that I cannot say exactly when it happened. Instead of being a chore it was a pleasure that I looked forward to. When the 2008 race came along I was now running in celebration of eleven years free from cancer and also running for my mom in law who had recently had breast cancer. I felt ready and raced hard. Although I did better than my previous year it was not enough to place. I was a bit disappointed but because the race is so special the disappointment did not last and I set a new goal to place the following year.

As the 2009 Race for the Cure approached this year I was more nervous than the previous years but I was also more prepared. Michael and I had trained together for the race and he was going to pace me. We were running in celebration of 12 years of survival for me and also from my mom in laws survival-2 great reasons to celebrate. The morning of the race I felt great. It was a beautiful October Phoenix morning. We got to the race early and enjoyed the Survivor spoils (Pink Hat Café, Survivors’ goody bags…) then warmed up and got in place for the race.

The horn blew and we were off. Right away I was in the lead following the police motor cycle but how long would that last? I questioned if I had started out to fast (in 2007 I had been in 1st place for about 2/10th of a mile because I took off like a bat out of hell-rookie mistake!). The first song on my shuffle finished and I was still in first- I figured each song was worth about a half mile. Michael told me not to look back but to keep running so I did through the second and third song-still first then the fourth and fifth song still first and just after the sixth song started we rounded a corner and I could see the finish line. I sped up but Michael said to save it because I had this one. I slightly slowed but excitement kept me at a pretty fast pace. As the finish line got close my sweetheart went to the side (the race was for survivors so he did not want to cross the finish line out of respect) and let me cross in first place. I finished first.

Even as I write it now it amazes me that I really did it. It was a goal I had set and something that I worked hard to achieve. Something that I failed to achieve on the first try but that I was willing to try again and willing to train even harder to get. It made me feel strong and empowered. Twelve years ago I won my race against breast cancer. With early diagnosis, a supportive family, good doctors and luck I am still here and healthy. That is the real celebration but damn if it doesn’t feel pretty amazing to have come in first.

Some PICTURES HERE