Rockin' San Diego

Ever since completing my first half marathon in San Diego on June 6th, I have had so many thoughts swirling through my head.  I want to put into words that experience, one that meant so much to me, that brought me to SO many tears in one weekend. 

How do I tell the story?  I am at a loss for words.  Let me try.

After driving 1375 miles one way to home, we arrived late last night.  I put the kids to bed while Anthony unloaded the car.  Then we got dressed for bed and crawled underneath the covers, in our OWN bed, for the first time in almost two weeks.  My darling husband.....
.....who has supported me through this journey, who has sacrificed to help ME achieve MY goal, who has supported me time and time again with my fundraising efforts, who has given up SO much of his time, asked me the question that I have been waiting for him to ask:

Are you going to do this again?

What some of you might not understand is this:

• Signing up with Team in Training and agreeing to train my body physically was hard.  Damn hard.  I have had more aches and pains in the last four months than I ever thought possible.
• Training and fundraising are STRESSFUL.
• I have lived and breathed TnT since Jan 31st.
• Juggling our training runs (he trained and ran the FULL marathon while I did the half) and care of the children was a logistical nightmare. 
• I go shopping for running clothes and running shoes more often than for regular clothes.  I spent more time in my exercise outfits than anything else.
• I was on the running trail so much that I became one of the regulars.
• I listened to my iPod music every single run and know my "music order" front and back.
• It became very natural for me to line up my running shoes in the closet where I once lined up my "pretty" shoes.

And that was just the physical part.

Then, there was the mental part and OMFG, let me tell you that your head can play some mean, mental games with you when your body is falling apart with the training.  I have learned SO much about myself during this journey.

Like:

• The difference between being sore and tired and ache-y and having a real injury.
• That rest and recovery are just as important, if not MORE important, than the actual physical training.
• I can do and will do IT- IT being the running and the strength training and yoga and CORE work.  A large part of running long distances is what is between your ears and not your two legs.  Don't get me wrong, you have to have strong legs to propel yourself forward for long amounts of time, BUT your brain, your mind has to be on board, too.
• Just when you think you can't go any further, YOU CAN.
• When I felt like throwing in the towel, my mind would lift me up and tell me that "if cancer kids can go through cancer treatments, then I can do a 8 mile training run. Just shut-up and run".

Then, there was the "team" aspect of this journey.

I trained with Team Shrinking Jeans, a group of 13 women who went through the same sacrifices as I did.

Between us, we have 27 children, 11 spouses and too many people that we are "running for". 

Collectively, we ran 170.3 miles on race day. 

We raised over $43,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

We shared the same Coach- Coach Joe, who was more awesome than words could ever describe.  He wasn't just our coach, he was also our motivator, supporter, lifter-upper, hugger, pick-me-up-when-I -am-downer, and cheerleader. 

He was on the course cheering us on while we ran.  Of course, when I saw him between Mile 6 and 7, I was crying.  Not from pain, but from the emotion of the Sea of Purple Shirts. Although I was wearing sunglasses when he clicked this photo of me, I am sure he knew I was crying.  We hugged, he whispered in my ear- "Are you OK?", I grumbled an answer and took off again.   

While a large part of my mental game was reminding myself WHY I was doing this, the other large part was recalling my "team" and also my fellow Shrinking Jeans writers.

So many times, when the going got rough, I thought of my team.  I thought of cancer patients everywhere who would benefit from my efforts, and I kept going.  I thought of WHO I was running for.

So when Anthony asked me that question, he was asking about more than just the physical part of training.  TnT is a huge commitment and he knows it.

One that is so very worth it, as I witnessed in San Diego.

After experiencing the weekend with me, I am fairly certain he knew the answer before I gave it.

My teammates race reports:
Lissa- Whoos That Girl?
Tiffany- Releasing Me
Christie O.- Baby Tea Leaves
Me!- Shrinking Jeans
Official Team Shrinking Jeans Report
Kirsten- Running in a Girl's World