Update: I'll get back to the deets later

SO I'm slacking on my journal entries here.  Sorry about that.  Just a quick recap of the last 4 races:

Race #3
3/1  Little Rock Marathon.  Little Rock, AR.  Holy geezers was this an epic adventure!!!  We drove to Little Rock in a helluva winter storm.  Pretty much one lane of major interstate the whole way.  Scary as hell as we skidded a few times, but we made it safely.  Then it rained the entire marathon and I was soaked, hypothermic, and crampy at the end.  But it was an AMAZING race and I loved it SOOOO much!!!

Race #4:
3/22  Bataan Death March, White Sands Missle Range, New Mexico
OH MY this was an INCREDIBLE experience.  I so wanted to knock this one off the bucket list and I did.  It was an amazing experience, and I'm so glad we did it.  Will have to go into more details later, but for now, I will just say that it was a once in a lifetime experience and I'd do it all over again if I get a chance.

Race#5:
4/25  Golden Driller Marathon.  Tulsa, OK
This was an inagural marathon.  It was hotter than hell, and it was miserable, but I did it with a good friend.  We did double marathons this weekend and she was a trooper.  Liked the race, not loving the heat.  This is us before and me in the ice keg bath after.  Felt AMAZING!

Race#6:
4/26 Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon,  Oklahoma City, OK

This race was really special this year because it was my first back to back marathons.  I wasn't sore muscularly going into the race, but my feet were blistered and jacked up.  I do this race every year and LOVE it.  It has so much meaning for me being that I lived here in 1995 when the Murrah Building was bombed.  This is my hometown race honoring those we lost.  I love this race so much!!  I also coached a small group of two women with a local running store training program, and got to do the race with one of the women.  It was a long, but amazing day as well.  Temps were MUCH better today.

More race details to follow!! :)

Race #2 The HoHo Half Marathon

Yesterday was the HoHo Half Marathon.  I had planned on running double the distance and making it 26.2, but the weather (and my body) had other plans. More about that later. 

We had a great turnout for the 3rd annual HoHo

This is a free race that I put on every year for the purpose of gathering goods for local organizations.  One year we collected food for the Regional Food Bank, one year we collected Twinkies for the Troops, and this year we collected personal hygiene items and food for City Rescue Mission. 
There is no fee for this event, but participants are asked to bring items for the given charity, as well as Hostess snacks to share. 
I started the event in 2012 when Hostess went out of business.  It was a farewell to this childhood memory. Then when they were bought out and brought back in 2013 I put on the race to welcome them back.  And now it's just tradition.  We gather to run together and to do a little bit of good for our community.  And we have a BLAST!!!

me starting early with only the deer and coyotes

I started early at 5:30 to try to get a half marathon done before everyone came out.  It was soooo humid and miserably windy outside, and my body was soooo fatigued from the 50 miler 2 weeks ago that it just didn't want to cooperate.  I walked a lot and just had fun walking around the mile paved loop in the dark.  I saw lots of deer and night critters and we all shared the early morning darkness together.

When everyone arrived we took a group photo, collected the food/personal product and money donations and then headed out for some miles.  I just hung around the aid station and talked with people as they came by.  It was SUCH a fun event!  My trunk was FULL of food and goods at the end (as well as my backseat) and we had collected $90 in cash.  Runners have such big hearts and are so amazing!

look at all that food (there is actual healthy food underneath all those HoHos)

me and two friends (that's a 20lb ham there in the middle)

So while it wasn't a marathon like I'd planned, it was a great event, and we did good for others...which is what this whole year is about anyway.  Win-win for everyone!! :) 


Peace and Running!! :)

Race #1: Sunset 6/12/24 Hour Endurance Run

I've found the cure for the post-Thanksgiving lethargy and belly bloat.  It involves a really long drive to Arkansas, a few uncomfortable hours of running and walking, but when you're done you will absolutely feel like a million bucks.  Or is it that you'll feel like a million bucks just trompled all over you?

This past weekend I kicked off my year-long fundraising journey by competing in the Sunset 6/12/24 Hour Endurance Race.  It's held in Benton, AR (a suburb of Little Rock) and is put on by the Saline County Striders. It is probably one of my absolute favorite races that I've done in the 10 years I've been running. I have really grown to love small, intimate races where you really get a chance to interact with and get to know your fellow racers. I've also really grown to love long endurance events where you spend a lot of time running in circles with a group of people. There's something so special about the camaraderie you develop in races like these. It's something you just don't get to experience at big marathons and venues. They, too, have their place in my life, but if given the chance I will always choose a small race over a big one hands down.

The Sunset Lake race was just fantastic. The loop is a 1.015 mile paved loop around the lake. The setting is gorgeous, and the course is varied just enough that it's not hilly, but not entirely flat, either. We started the 24 hour event at 7:30 pm on Friday night.  Interestingly enough, the event was started 4 years ago because 2 club members wanted to achieve a couple of lofty goals: one wanted to run his birthday years in miles (70 that year), and another wanted to run 100 miles.  The club put together this little event and a few people showed up to run with friends. It's grown, and gotten better, every year since.  The club puts on this event for free.
You heard me:  FOR FREE.
Participants don't have to pay a thing (normally a 24 hour race will cost at least $125-175).  They just want to do something great for the runners in their community. How amazing is that???

I arrived in Benton about 5:00 and headed directly to the race site. I tried to take a nap, but had too much nervous energy to rest. At 6:30 I climbed into the back of the FJ and started getting ready. By 7:30 we were lined up and ready to go. There were about 12 of us doing the 24 hour event. We set off on our adventures with excitement and fast feet. I met a number of runners throughout the night. Some were putting in major miles, some were out there just to challenge themselves, some were doing a 24 hour race for the first time, and others were just out there to have some fun.
You heard me:  FUN.

sunset at Sunset Lake

My goal was to make it at least 50 miles with no blisters and no tears. I accomplished that goal in 15 hours flat (well, 15 hours and 44 seconds to be exact). :)  I had so much fun.  I didn't have the real low lows that I often have in super long races which was really nice for a change. I really felt pretty darn good and chipper the whole time. I never once wanted to quit or felt myself hitting "the wall" that so often happens in endurance races. I did start to feel a little tired around sunsrise, but that quickly went away once the 6 and 12 hour racers started at 7:30 am.


For the first 20 miles I did run/walk intervals, but after mile 20 it was all walking. Sometimes I'd run for 15-20 seconds just to use different muscles, but it was mostly brisk walking. After about 10 hours my stomach starts to shut down, and this race was no exception. My stomach gave up around mile 30, and I was having some tummy issues which led to frequent visits to the porta potty about every other loop. It's all just part of the game.

I've never made it all the way through the night at a 24 hour even to watch the sun coming up.  With this race starting at 7:30 pm, I knew I would make it through the darkness to watch the sun rise.  It did and it was glorious.  Something about the sun coming up that renews your spirit.

that beautiful sunrise at the lake

At 10:30 am I hit my mileage goal and decided to stop. If I had felt better I may have pushed on to try for 100km, but the sun had come out by then, the temps were really getting hot, and the wind had picked up, so I happily turned it in and stopped. I took a hobo bath in the car and began the long drive home. The drive is about 5.5 hours, but it took me almost 8 to get home. I had to stop about every hour to get out of the car and move, and to close my eyes for a little catnap (at that point I had been awake for over 36 hours).  I arrived home and promptly jumped into bed for a long tiger snooze.

My first race of the year is in the books and it was a success!  Next up is the HoHo Marathon on December 14th here in OKC.

Race #1:  done!!  50.18 miles



Peace and Running! :)

2 more days...

Just 2 more days until my 12 in 12 journey officially begins.  I've been trying like crazy (begging, bribing, offering to pay for whatever they wanted) to get someone to join me on my trip to Arkansas to do my 24 hour race.
Nobody has taken me up on the offer.
I'm kinda bummed because it would have been much more fun with another person in tow.
I've even thought about just saving the money and time and doing my own 24 hour event here at home.  I could do the daytime hours out at the trail, and the overnight hours here at home on the treadmill.  I'm just afraid the urge to stop would be too strong, and I'd jump in my jammies, snuggle a dog, and not move for 24 hours...which kinda defeats the purpose of doing a 24 hour race.

So I guess I'm going solo.

I'm excited about the race.  Meeting new people and bonding over an event like a 24 hour race is really a neat experience.
I just wish I were sharing it with someone I know.

Let the games begin!

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.  :)


Run on, my friends!

The journey begins

Recently I feel like something is missing. I can't put my finger on it, but it feels like I'm lacking something.
A mission.
A focus.
A direction. 
This week I think I figured it out.  
I decided that I need to do something for others.  Something that gives me a greater sense of purpose.  Something that keeps me going and gets me out the door on days I'd rather just cuddle up with a good book and throw my shoes into the fire.  I decided that I can turn my love of running into a way to help others. To use it as a roundabout gift to someone I'll never meet.

For the last 10 years I've been running for myself, and while I've enjoyed it, I feel like I need to make my running about more than my own goals.  During my first year of running marathons, my husband and I ran and raised money for Team in Training.  I LOVED being a part of a group who had a common goal of helping others.  That was the missing piece.  I've missed the feeling of doing something for others, no matter how small it may be.  So I sat myself down and chose an organization to run and raise money for.
Let me tell you how incredibly difficult it was to choose a charity. There are so many out there, and each of them are worthy of my time and efforts. I couldn't decide if I wanted to raise money for veterans, for children, for animals, for water in Africa...ugh...there are so many and it was really overwhelming narrowing it down.
In the end I chose a cause that is close to my heart: children and cancer. The foundation I chose to raise money for is Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation. 

If you've never heard of it before, here is Alex's story from the foundation's website:

Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) emerged from the front yard lemonade stand of cancer patient Alexandra “Alex” Scott (1996-2004). In 2000, 4-year-old Alex announced that she wanted to hold a lemonade stand to raise money to help find a cure for all children with cancer. Since Alex held that first stand, the Foundation bearing her name has evolved into a national fundraising movement, complete with thousands of supporters across the country carrying on her legacy of hope. In August of 2004, Alex passed away at the age of 8, knowing that, with the help of others, she had raised more than $1 million to help find a cure for the disease that took her life. Alex's family - including brothers Patrick, Eddie, and Joey - and supporters around the world are committed to continuing her inspiring legacy through Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation. 

This will be a blog about my journey to run 12 marathons in 12 months with a lofty goal of raising $12,000 for ALSF. I'm not sure I can even come close to that number, but you don't know until you try.  I've never run more than 2 marathons in any given year, so this will be outside my comfort zone and push my body to places I've never asked it to go.  I don't care about speed, just about the distance.  Some months I will race more than one marathon, and some months I will not race at all (like summer... marathons and summer do not go together in Oklahoma).  Some of my marathons will be organized races, while others will be done solo with just me and my thoughts. 

I hope you enjoy the journey.  Stay tuned, as the 12 month journey begins on November 28-29th with my first race:  a 24 hour race in Arkansas.  It will end in October 2015 with a 24 hour race in Oklahoma.  Both are big races to kick-off and wrap-up a great year of running and helping others.  I'm still working on the calendar of races in between, but there will be some fun ones along the way (I've already signed up for a pirate themed marathon in March...arrrrr, matey!).

Run on, my friends.  :)