Beach2Bay 2012

This past weekend I had the honor of running 2012's Beach2Bay Marathon relay from Corpus Christi to South Padre Island.  I ran with The Boyfriend, his Brother, his Brother's wife and 2 friends.  The Boyfriend's other Brother bought our entry fee but unfortunately was unable to run with us (I'm going to have to come up with a way to identify all of his brothers since there's THREE).  Friday evening we arrived at our hotel to find the following view:

Not too shabby! We went out that evening for some carb loading with our running group. Pizza and beer.  I took a photo of this one because it was just too cute:



Victory AND Summer Love...how can you go wrong??

Here's how, a race time that makes you wake at 3AM.  3AM.  I was AWAKE...not still awake like I could be, was asleep, THEN awake like should never, ever, ever happen, period.  Lucky for me I did get to watch one hell of a sunrise from the beach at my starting point.

I was surprisingly not nervous until I started to see all of the people. All of the people who were running my leg.  There were SO MANY.  At this point, I kept thinking "What am I doing?" "I've been injured" (just recovered from a stress fracture in my left tibia), "I only had a month to train," "THIS IS NUTS!!" But then, it just happened, I was running Leg 2 and suddenly we got word that Leg 1 was off, and there they came, all the runners, by that time I didn't have time to worry anymore, I just had to watch and wait for The Boyfriend's Brother's Wife who was our Leg 1, soon enough, there she was and I was off.  First of all, running in the sand is total crap, second of all whoever the race people are that made me run in the sand? You suck! But I did it.  4.72 miles, I did it.  I still can't believe it.  I can't believe how HOT and humid it was at 8 o'clock in the morning, I can't believe I went THAT far, I can't believe that feeling when you round the turn and your thisclose to who you're passing off to and you have that moment where you know you did it.  It was amazing.

Afterwards, I caught a ride to the finish line with a running group buddy and true to form, even though I had run 4.72 miles and walked another 2ish to get to the car and not gotten injured, I fell off the curb walking across the street and busted my knee wide open.  It was fabulous, let me tell you. But all is well, I have a great medal that's already hanging with the rest of our bibs and race garb.

After some rest and some serious showering, we met up to re-carb at the Macaroni Grill then went to a Beach Party where one of our buddies was staying in her camper.

A little Volleyball

A spectacular Sunset

And one HELL of a group of friends. Who knew a year ago I would be a part of a group of runners?? Certainly not I, but it's been a great year.  I just signed up to run the BlogHer 2012 5K in New York.  If you would have told me a year ago I'd be running a 5K in New York City I would have called you nuts.  And yet, here I am.  It's crazy, magic and fantastic all at the same time.  Life is good!

And one of me and The Boyfriend, just for fun!

Where I've Been

So I suppose that's the big question, huh?  Where have I been this past year? Antarctica? A fugitive? Training for the Summer Olympics? Unfortunately, the answer is...I've been right...here. Same place.  Different circumstances. I'll do my best to bring you up to speed in a succinct manner then, onward we go!


Job: Getting laid off in February of '11 was probably the worst thing...EVER.  I drew unemployment, I scoured for jobs anywhere I could, I even applied for a part time position at a department store selling makeup to keep ends together.  My therapist says there's something to learn from every experience no matter how terrible it is.  Working at the makeup counter? I learned that I have an enormous amount of restraint and that I can supress the urge to throw something at someone's head. My therapist calls that progress, so Yay Me!  In August though, I finally found a job! A pretty good one too.  I'm still working there and while it's been an adjustment, it's nice to be back doing my normal 7:30 to 4:30 gig.  I still hope to work from home at some point, but I'm taking it one step at a time.


Kiddo: Insists on continuing to grow.  He will be 8 in July and that just blows my mind.  I can't believe how big he is, how smart he is, how funny he is, how obsessed with video games he is, and hell, even how smelly he is. He is boy through and through but I don't know what I'd do without the little stinker (I mean stinker literally, if you doubt me just get within 10 feet of his shoes after he takes them off).


Health: What a trip that's been!  I've had quite the ride medically, but things are finally starting to smooth over. I dealt with insane migraines for a good 6 months, migraines that would land me smack in the ER but they've slowly retreated back from whence they came, just in time for my stomach to turn on me.  I've very recently been diagnosed with gastroparesis which is something really gross and you don't want to know about it, seriously, DO NOT GOOGLE. I have pictures to prove it (also, EWWWW) and have been put on this strict diet where basically I eat absolutely nothing that's not mashed, or liquid or easily digestible.  It's way fun, I'm really enjoying it very much, except that I don't.  If I would lose some weight on this ridiculous diet, that would be one thing but so far, I waiver between normal and 5lbs less. Not exactly encouraging. 


Exercise: Last year, while I was in the dreaded "laid off" stage of my life, I started going to the new park they built up the street from my house to vent out my frustrations on the trails. That combined with working on my feet all day, I lost a LOT of weight. I was right around where I wanted to be. Then, hello boyfriend! Hello job that requires me to sit all day! Helloooooo weight gain! Not to say I didn't give up working out but just like anything it's been a tough route. The moment I got the tentative "OK" from my back doctor, I started running again. The Boyfriend is a runner, in fact, while we were planning what would become our first date, he was preparing to run the San Diego 1/2 Marathon. We are part of a running group (yes, there are actually enough people who like running to form an entire group). I haven't gone that crazy yet, but I'm sure my time will come. Then came the day we were hiking in a park and I slipped, fell and broke my wrist. THEN came my first real race, a 5K, no biggie, my shins had been bothering me, but not to any extreme. I saw my doctor a week before and he told me to cease and desist all running activity. Did I listen? OF COURSE NOT! Hello stress fracture, physical therapy, many, many X-Rays and an MRI. My insurance company LOVES me. Some people would say that's the Universe telling me I'm not meant to be a runner, but I think that's a bunch of crap! And even sitting here tonight, my shins are sore, and what am I going to do tomorrow? I'm going to get in a car with The Boyfriend and drive to Corpus where we will be participating in Beach to Bay 2012 Saturday morning. I'm running leg 2, 4.69 miles and I'm going to kick ass! I'm also going to bring my gigantic bottle of ibuprofen for afterwards because, Lord knows, I'm going to need it!

That brings you up to speed on most of my life. Yes, I realize I'm leaving out the biggest part, the Love Story, but I've got to do something to keep you coming back! Love Story is next, right after I conquer Beach to Bay!

Take Two

Well there I was, almost a year ago now, laid off, depressed, but things were starting to get better.  I had a new boyfriend who I was definitely in love with, but I still had nothing to write about.  Further, I didn't want anyone reading about the old me, depressed me, wah wah me.  So I decided to stop writing.  And I decided to wipe the contents of this blog forever and ever, amen. 

It was my way of turning over a new leaf I suppose.  Sometimes I regret erasing everything, but mostly, I don't.  I exist on an entirely different plane now.  Happier, mostly healthier (I run y'all...like in races and shit!) just different.  Things have changed SO much.  But I kept missing this space.  Missing writing, reading, commenting.  So at The Boyfriend's urging, I've decided to start over again.  Yes, I said HIS encouragement.  About damn time I met a good one! 

I even love that I'm starting over.  Reflects how I feel about my place in life right now.  Starting over...brand new.  So much going on...try to keep up! And please forgive me because I'm about to hit the "mark all read" button in my reader and start that over too! I know I'll be behind the curve but I promise to catch up with everyone.  So glad to be back in my "home"!  Hopefully someone other than just my Mom (Hi Mom!) will see this.  Either way it's good to be back.