the swag, the shuz

I almost forgot! Our tiffany necklace medal. They are getting better. I'm still bummed I missed the first one...it was the best design by far. SImple circle with just the numbers 13.1 or 26.2. oh well. I could always get it on ebay. Just kidding.

Secondly...after my disappointing response from Saucony about when they were going to release the bejeweled version of the hurricane. Answer : never. I took it upon myself to add some sparklys to my shoes. Everything is better when it glitters..including running. Maybe that's why I was under a 10min mile pace? Who Knows.

Nike Women's Marathon 07

Congratulations to all my Mentees who Did The Damn Thing. I am very proud of you. Yvonne- I couldn't find you since you were running under an alter ego! : ) It was an absolutely GORGEOUS day. I loved hearing everyone oooh and ahhh over the beauty of the city. When it came time to come down the hill toward Ocean Beach there was a collective sigh at how stunning it looked. Made us all forget all those damn hills for a second.

There is no doubting it...this is a hard race. I am SO glad that me and the girls have decided only to run the half..ahhh bless you. Ian and I started together but I quickly made him go on his own as I could tell I was holding him back a bit. The girls decided that we would all run this race for ourselves : ( no more holding hands through the finish lines. We've matured and are ready to battle our own records. I did miss them during those long ass hills I have to say. We all DEEPLY miss MEG!!! Shout out to Meg! It's not the same without you sweetheart. WE LOVE YOU!!

When it came to the 1/2 vs full marathon split I smiled to myself that I was almost done yet reminding myself that in a weeks time I will need to be doing a full. Bummer.
I finished strong and was "pleased" with my time. Official clock says 2:10 ...my watch minus 2 pee breaks was 2:05...My pace was 9:56 which is pretty good. I'm definitely improving. Someday I'll come in under 2 hours. I'll just have to keep doing TEAM!

T minus 48 hours

It's time....time to go running! Nike 1/2 marathon is upon us. Me and my girls (minus Meg:((( went to pick up our packets at Union Square. I'm so excited for all my mentees that are running their first marathon this weekend. Rest up chick a dees!!
See you at 6:00 am Sunday Morning. Can't wait to see what the necklaces are.

To Lindsay

It's our beautiful Campaign Manager LINDSAY's Birthday today. A very Happy Birthday Lindsay. We love you and are SOOOO happy you are leading the team this season. xo

Team: DO THE DAMN THING

Ah yes. Came back from my trip to Philadelphia to discover that our team had been christianed the name " Do the Damn Thing ". That is SO awesome. I love it! When I ran SF 1/2 I wore my "Do the Damn Thing" t-shirt that we made for the Nike 1/2 in 06 and I received many compliments on it. I even overheard someone say "She must know Coach Al!"

We had a wonderful turnout for track at 5:50 am on Thursday. It was great to see so many people excited to get going. I didn't see any on my mentees unfortunately. I know they are either attending the evening track or have very good reasons why not! : )

Since I am not fundraising this season I am going to attempt to help my Mentees that are. For those participants that have done something extraoridinary I'd like to feature them on my blog. This week it's Elizabeth Dillon. ! YEAH LIZ!! She had her fundraising page set up with a personal comment and has already raised $150. All she's missing is a PHOTO!! I encourage all of my mentees to set up personal blogs as well so that they can keep their friends & family informed of their training. As soon as they do I'll be sure to add them to my links.

GO TEAM!

San Francisco 1/2 Marathon

Woke up this morning at 4am. 4am on a Sunday people! Yes, we are crazy. Odessa and Michelle met me at my house and we piled into the "clown car" as we named it several years ago. Parking was easy and we headed over to the Embarcadero to find Elana.

It was dark and chilly, the Star-Spangeled Banner played and we got in line for the port-a-poties. Then we got in line again : ) Our wave started at 5:55.

The course went all along the Embarcadero and up around Crizzy Field until it finally lead us onto the Golden Gate Bridge. This is the only reason I got talked into doing the race. The view of the bridge was socked in by fog but it was absolutely beautiful. The mist blew on our faces and made our whole bodies a bit damp. Perfect running weather in my opinion.

At some point I left the girls and was running on my own. I felt good. I could breathe for the most part which these days seems to be a big deal. The hills were tough (some of the same Nike hills) but I've been trained well by Coach Al and can pretty much run through any hill.

I heard several people comment on my shirt. Which says "Amy" on the front so sideliners will call my name and "do the damn thing" on the back. Coach Al's favorite quote. One girl even pointed it out to her friend saying "she must know Coach Al"...that man gets around : )

THe bridge seemed longer going out than back..perhaps it was a slight incline? not sure....Maybe it was because I had no idea what mile I was on; but I like it that way.

Next thing I know I see a mile 10 marker and the next mile is all downhill. woo hoo. We run through some nameless SF streets on our way to the park but there are some rolling hills left that are a bit tiring. Then I hear some woman shout "only a quarter of a mile left"! My math being as crappy as it is was thinking...oh great almost one more mile left. HA.

The finish line came up before I expected and I had enough energy to sprint through. I think I did it in 2 hours and 11 minutes?? still not sure. If I wouldn't have stopped at 2 port-a-poties perhaps I would have broke 2 hours!

My girls were close behind and finished strong. Everyone had a great race. I think I'll sign up again next year ; )

TNT - Fall

Here are 3 of my lovely Mentees for Fall 07 team. (L to R : Yvonne, Jason, Liz & Me) We don't have a name yet as Coach Al hasn't assigned us one...all in due time. Yvonne is new to running but has an energetic attitude. Jason has run several marathons but wants to receive some good training / technique tips. Liz has been running as well but is looking to grow in other avenues of her life IE: fundraising. I have 3 other Mentees (Roger, Eleanor & Ming) that were not able to make kick-off but I look forward to meeting them soon. GO TEAM!

OH MY GAWD

Ok. I'm catching up...but I did say "I'd never run another full Marathon unless I got into the NY Marathon" I put my name in for the first time for the lottery back in November I think it was...and guess what....I'm in. Damn! It's funny how everyone says "Congratulations!" Hmmmm. I'll have to think about that one for awhile.

Hallelujah!

We finished!! Mom did AWESOME! I know I know this was months ago...but better late than never. I'm resureccting my blog. 2 religious references for mom : ) I am SO SO proud of her. She did the damn thing. I never had any doubt that she wouldn't. My favorite part was when we crossed the finish line together hand in hand. I love my mom very very much. XO Congrats Chatty! I'll always be there for you.

Mom's the word

Went home to Tejas for my dad's 59th birthday and my mom had a little secret to share. She's joined TNT to raise money for Leukemia & Lymphoma. Woohoo. Go MOM! She will race in the San Diego Rock n Roll 1/2 Marathon in June. Ian and I will of course be there with her. (guess I got roped into another one : )

If you want to know where to put all that extra cash you feel the need to donate please help my Mom out. She's got to raise $4,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and she needs all the help she can get.

Donate to My Mom's Cause

I'm in heaven

IF these are the sneakers they give you when you get to heaven...then I can't wait!!
False advertising sure does hurt so I had this message to send to the folks at Saucony
_____________________________
So. What I want to know is when and where will we be able to purchase those beautiful saucony's that are in the ad for the LA marathon!!! (sparkle, sparkle, twinkle)
You know it's not nice to tease the public ; )
I would run in those shoes every day! Screw decorating my jersey for race days I'm going to go buy a beadazzler for my hurricane's!!!!!!
_____________________________

I'll keep you all posted with what they have to say in return!

Kaiser 1/2 Marathon

Congratulations to all our awesome mentees!!!
Everyone finished!
Ian and I are both so proud of everyone. You ROCKED those hills and kicked some serious butt. We got such a rush watching everyone come in through the finish line. There were some tears, some blisters and a couple of chaffed nipples but nothing major. We hope you take the time to congratulate yourself and remember how far you have come. Next stop ... why another marathon of course : )

ps. One more piece of advice..when you run don't wear a shirt over your race no or you won't be identified for your pics at the end. Ian's lowrider neon tassles made it easy to find him on the run but there are not any pictures :( bummer.

CATASTROPHE!!!

oh GOD! I fell. This sucks major bootee. How many times have I run around the lake? Like A LOT..but this time I wasn't wearing my green hat. Well looks like I'll be taking it easy so I can actually run the 1/2 in Feb. If you think my knee looks nasty you should see my hand. **imagine Freddy Kruger's face** yum.

10 miler = 3 times around Lake Merritt...and then some

WOW! Great job everyone. Did you ever think you would, could or want to run around the lake 3 times...and then some. You ROCK. Big props to our man Matt Oneill (in red crown) for helping Ian with our water stop. He came all the way from the city to be here at 7:30 am on a Saturday. Kudos!

Brenda (with white "do rag" : )) is of course always an inspiration to get out and "DO THE DAMN THING". Thanks for being here Brenda. For those of you who didn't see her...she was even out there RUNNING!!! GO BRENDA.

Another big congrats to "inVINCEble" (aka "thin man no.2"...top left) for loosing over 30lbs now!!! Holy Crap. Now that's worth the fundraising...right Vince? Great job out there. You are impressive.

GO TEAM!