Happy Halloween!

Penny the Cowgirl and Browndielocks

Official Nike Pics

i like this one but Lael's arm in in my picture :o(

heading to the finish :o)

2006 Season OVER!

Well, I think my 2006 Season is over. This year's biggest goal and accomplishment was my triathlon. I knew going into this year that I was going to mainly focus on that and that I would not do any full marathons. I wasn't even sure how many half marathon's I would do. I ended the year with 2, not bad. I didn't train very well though for those 2 and it was very obvious in the way I felt while running them and in my time. I am not upset though because I still did them and finished off with 2 great medals. Well, one awesome medal and another cool Tiffany's necklace :o)

The trip to Disney with the gang was a blast and well worth running the Disney Half Marathon. I didn't feel to bad at Nike and since the money at goes to LLS it's always worth doing it. Since I am Captain with Olivia of the Fall Team I still have a ways to go before that is over. Our last race of the season isn't until January so it'll be a while before I get to sleep in on Saturday mornings. I enjoy doing it and being out there so it's no biggie.

I am probably going to keep running here and there with the team but no major training for a while. In fact right now I have NO races planned til New York which isn't even til November 2007. I may join the spring team but I'm not sure if I'll do a race or not. Olivia and I have even chatted a bit about doing Relays so maybe we'll sign up for a few races and get a relay team going, we shall see. I really need to take a break and regroup so I come back nice and refreshed to train for New York. I am really looking forward to doing THE New York Marathon :o) and to the trip there with everyone. Should be fun.

Happy Running!

Nike Pics

Nike Half Marathon - DONE!!!!

2:55:27

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:o(
:o(

2004 Results - 2:40:22
2005 Results - 2:46:14

As you can see this year's time was NOT GOOD and I have officially set my personal worst. I will write more about the race tomorrow. Today, every inch of my body is sore. I think my eyelashes even hurt.

CONGRATULATIONS to everyone. No matter how well you train Nike always seems to kick our butts. Those DARN hills always get us. Everyone finished though and that's what matters.

2 Days Til Race Day!

YIKES just 2 days til I'm running Half Marathon #9 (I think). I'm still not really excited about the race but I think it'll be a fun day and probably an emotional day. Found out yesterday that Trish will be saying a few words at the start of the race. Trish is Vanessa Wittmer's mom. Vanessa was diagnosed with ALL in 2003 and is currently in remission..YAY, Vanessa!

Sunday is also Cole's birthday. Cole would have turned 4 on this day but he lost his battle with AML in June of 2004. I'll be thinking of Cole as I am treking my way through the hills of SF. This race has always been on his birthday weekend so it's always been a special weekend. Brandy, his mommy, ran the race last year as her first half marathon with TNT. It was a amazing day for her. We'll be thinking of Brandy, Keith, Emma, baby Andrew and of course Cole on Sunday.

I am all packed and ready to go. Tomorrow night we'll be staying in Daly City at Rocky's mom's house. It's a bit closer for us over there. We plan on heading to the Expo around 2:00 tomorrow, pick up our race packets and get out of there. It's going to be a mad house at Union Square. We've already done our Nike gear shopping so no need to hang out there. We are going to hit the knitting store real quick :o) YIPEEE more yarn :o) and then off to Daly City to relax. Sunday morning Rocky and Patch will drop us off at the start and pick us up at the finish. Rocky, Patch and Karen are going tod drive around and hopefully meet us around mile 4 and 9 to cheer us on and to refill our water/gatorade bottles.

HAPPY RUNNING and GOOD LUCK to everyone doing Nike this weekend.

Ready for Nike?

I've gotta admit that I am not ready for the race this weekend. I am really just going out there for fun and to get my Tiffany's Necklace or Bracelet. Not sure what they are giving out this year. Of course I am also doing this race because it benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Believe me I have spent my share of money at Nike Town on Nike attire for the race. I will be in full Nike Marathon outfit :o)

I am looking foward though to the break after the race. I just have not been in the mood for major training. It'll be nice to go out and run 3-4 miles a couple of times a week but not actually HAVE to and be training for anything. I think the constent non-stop training for the last few years has finally taken a toll on me. I will continue to run a few miles with the team but I don't really need to get serious about training until June 2007. That's when I'll start training for the New York. My goal is to push my self hard because I want to go good in New York. It may be my last full marathon so I want to give it my all. Half Marathons are just much nicer and that's probably what I'll stick to after New York. Olivia and I were also talking about maybe doing marathons but as a relay team. That sounds like a fun idea. We can still get some races done but only have to do 6-8 miles at the most.

When I'm signing up for marathon #6 I'll have to read this post again and remind myself that I had said I'd never do it again....haa, haa!

THANK YOU!

Just wanted to thank everyone who came out to our fundraiser on Saturday. Also, THANK YOU to those who helped make the night possible. My boss, who provided the location, Rocky and Ollie for playing and Karen for helping with the yummy appetizers. This was our 2nd Annual Art for Charity Day at the Blackhawk Art Gallery. We had some awesome raffle prizes and stuff for our silent auction. We made almost $800 :o) woohoo! I was kind of bummed because the turnout was not as great as last year but the people that were there made it a successful and very fun night. THANK YOU!

Not a Match :o(

I got a response back from the National Marrow Donor Program and I am not a match for the patient I had been contacted about. Here is what they said:

Dear Claudia

Thank you for your involvement in the National Marrow Donor Program. We appreciate the time you took to speak with us, update your health history and donate an additional blood sample in the attempt to be a potential bone marrow/stem cell donor. We were able to perform additional testing for compatibility between you and your potential recipient. The results of the testing indicate that you and the patient do have some differences, but could still be considered a suitable match.

Since the differenes do exist, the physician is requestion that we continue to test and search for other donors who have greater compatibility. At this time no further testing will be requested of you. If the physician cannot find another donor that matches the patient more closely, we may contact you to be a bone marrow or stem cell donor in the future.

Funny Quote from Dean Karnazes

Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up.

No matter what I have never given up and hopefully will never have to. I sure hope I never have to crawl. That would be scary.

Today he is running marathon 26 of 50. So far he is doing great and plugging right along. After 25 marathons he is still running at a 4 hour pace. I can't even imagine it. He's amazing and a little crazy :o) Read Dean's Blog.

I went out to the buddy run on Tuesday and felt pretty good. I ran with Olivia and we did about 3 miles. Her hip was still a little sore from doing San Jose last Sunday so we took it easy and only did a short distance. Of course I'm not complaining :o) haa, haa. I'm hoping to get another run in before Nike in 10 days..YIKES...but we'll see.

CONGRATULATIONS to Brandy and Keith. Andrew Cole Regan arrived on Monday morning at 2:29am. He weighed in at 6lbs 8oz and 18 inches long. Mommy and baby are doing great. Little Emma is adjusting great and loving her little baby brother.

GOOD LUCK RNR San Jose Runners!

Another race day is here. This weekend our Disneyland group along with a bunch of our other TNT friends are running the Inaugural San Jose Rock & Roll Half Marathon. I am not running it. I decided to take a little break and I'm glad I did since I signed up for Nike which is in 2 weeks. The rest of my crazy friends decided to do Disney, San Jose and Nike all 2 weeks apart. I will though be driving down to San Jose tomorrow with Karen, Phil, Rocky and Olivia. We will go to the Expo, have a yummy pasta dinner and then head back to the hotel to rest up. A very special little fury guy is coming with me. Patch and I will be along the course on Sunday cheering everyone on. I really need to get him a TNT shirt made :O)

So GOOD LUCK! Everyone I look foward to watching you all cross another half marathon finish line.

The other exciting news for this week is that I got a new car. I am so excited! I picked it up today and I LOVE IT. All the extra space will come in handy when hauling around all our water stop supplies and of course when I start riding my bike again. Which I REALLY need to do soon. My poor little bike has just been sitting in my living room collecting dust. I was really considering doing the Solvang Century next Spring but I think it would be way too much to try to be on the run team as a captain, even though I have a great co-captain, and try to be a participant on the winter cycle team. Solvang will have to wait. I would love to do a century and I've heard great things about that one.

Here is the new ride - Honda CR-V :o)

On a very sad note :o( a little boy I wrote about when I was training for Wildflower, Jake Raborn, lost his battle with cancer yesterday at 3:10pm. Please keep his family in your thoughts as they struggle with this huge loss.