IM Austin 70.3...2 of 3 check!

For those that follow me on FB you probably saw that Will finished his first official Ironman Event...Ironman Austin 70.3 this past weekend.  You might have also saw my Day 8 Thankful post which stated this: "Today I am thankful that God has blessed me with the best teammate and partner for life.  We have built a marriage and family together that allows ALL of us to accomplish not only our goals as a family but as individuals...and today Will accomplished a remarkable goal."

He completed a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run -- YES I mean in the same day without stopping for those that might not be familiar with triathlon events.  As I said this was his first official Ironman event and it was nothing less than exciting.  Our dear friends, Robin & Ken, joined us to help support Will but also be there for since my surgery was just three weeks ago.  Ken, Robin and I were able to watch the pro athletes come into the finish line.  The overall male winner came in at 3:48:49 and that isn't the time of day that means he finished 70.3 miles in 3 hours and 48 minutes and 49 seconds.  It was a pretty cool finish to watch.  You might be wondering why we were at the finish line and not watching Will...but he was zooming along on the bike course which we weren't able to get too.

This is triathlon event 2 of 3 in the grand scheme of training.  The next event for Will is BIG...it is Ironman Cozumel which is a full ironman distance - 2.4 mile swim, 110 mile bike and 26.2 mile run. Will will be racing with a friend, Nate, who also works for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program.  Nate is training and fundraising in memory of his Mom and Aunt Peggy and I encourage you to visit his page to read more about him and his journey.  He has an incredible story that inspires me every time I read it!

Will isn't fundraising for these events like Nate but his inspiration is never far from him...you can see in the photo above on his left wrist are two bracelets - his orange Keeping Georgia on Your Mind bracelet in honor or Georgia and his green GFORCE bracelet in honor of Grayson.  Georgia just celebrated 18.5 months OFF treatment. Grayson is in still in the maintenance phase and his treatment plan will end in February 2015.  

In the end it was a full day filled with so many emotions.  I couldn't have been more proud to see him running into the finishing chute...smiling!  And as much as I love that photo (which I posted on FB) I had to post this one because he's gotta show off that medal - he earned it!  Continue to wish him luck...32 days to Cozumel.

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MILEstones

My last few blog posts have talked about moments but this one is gonna hit on milestones.

Some might ask what is the difference?  To me a moment is a very clear, defined point in time.  When I have a "moment" I feel I can scoop up that exact point in my life..it is perfectly carved out. I remember every detail - positive or negative.  A milestone is an event...something that I've usually worked hard to attain. In most cases it has taken some form of effort or change on my part.  When I have a "milestone" I recall feeling proud because in most cases it wasn't easy to get there. 

Runners talk about miles A LOT...

"How many miles did you run this morning/evening?"

"How many miles are we running this weekend?"

"How many miles did you run this week/month/year?"  

We also get the crazy questions about miles from our non-running friends...

"How many miles is a marathon?"

"You ran HOW many miles this weekend?"  

"Why would you do that...I don't even drive that far?"

And to be honest, three years ago that was me and I absolutely love it when someone asks me those questions because it gives me a chance to tell my story and how I began my journey...it allows me to tell them about my MILEstones...and how running (in a way) changed my life!  While at the same time encouraging them to start a journey of their own!

Dallas - Houston-Austin
Marathons of Texas | 2012-2013

This weekend was a MILEstone for me...it completed the Marathons of Texas races - Dallas, Houston and Austin!  I find it interesting that if you add up the mileage from Dallas to Houston to Austin and back to Dallas it is approximately 598 miles.  I began training for these races in June 2012 and I use a Garmin to track most of my runs. I don't track runs I do on a treadmill and occasionally the Garmin dies during a run or I forget it, but when I ran a report to see my training miles from mid June to end of January it showed 459.3 miles.  I then did a calculation of what I thought my mileage should be during this time and it came to approximately 640 miles.  Here's my POINT...my training for Dallas full, Houston full and Austin half...pretty much equaled the distance to travel to those races...I thought it was pretty ironic ; )

Austin half also marked my 12th half marathon and it was where I ran my VERY FIRST half marathon 3 years ago!  Take a look at this blog post from 2010.  MILEstone!

What made Austin even more special is that I was with two dear friends...Jessica and Kalee.  It was a quick trip but boy we had some laughs especially on the course...and some tears...and every single hill was worth it.  I love these ladies and I loved running next to them! 

We had some special visitors on the course...right after the split where the marathoners go to the left and the half stay to the right there was a water stop that was supported by Superhero Kids.  I was quite thankful we were on the half course this time around : ) Georgia, our friend and honored hero from Austin...her family volunteers for the organization and they were working the water stop.  As we rounded the corner I saw a huge GFORCE sign...and then I saw Ivy (Georgia's sister) passing out water...and then I saw Georgia with a sign for me and her Dad with a sign for Jessica. I simply can't describe the feeling...it was AWESOME!  It was just what we needed for the final two miles and the big ole, steep hill that was hiding around the next corner.  

Side note for the signs:  GFORCE is for Kalee's son (Grayson) who is currently battling leukemia - its their team name and the shirts we wear when we run for Grayson; Jessica's sign said "Go for Grant" as he is adjusting to life with epilepsy and for Houston we fundraised for the Epilepsy Foundation; and my sign said Just Keep Swimming because it is a motto Georgia's used during treatment (from Finding Nemo) and I used it back when I ran the Chicago Marathon in 2011. 

Georgia is 9 months OFF TREATMENT and continues to do well.  She is having some issues with her left ankle and some bone loss that they are keeping a close eye on so please send prayers her way that they determine the right course of treatment for that.  Until then she gets to wear that fancy boot but as you can tell it doesn't slow her down!

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GForce Running Shirts

We are offering GForce running/technical shirts that will support Will and I's triathlon fundraising as well as Grayson's family...so you are helping both of us!

You may order these "super-power" running shirts through February 23. We have four styles all offered in white with green print for $30 each.

If you need help with sizing please email and we can send you the spec sheets.

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