I had a great weekend in Vegas- where do I begin?  As you may know, I was training for a marathon before Sonia’s surgery and quit soon after when she was really sick.  It took me many weeks after her death to pick myself up again, but I did and made plans to run the Vegas marathon with my good friend Caitlyn Kano.  I was a bit ambitious and thought I would be able to pick up running where I left off – at about 14 miles for my long run.  When I came to my senses, I realized I would not be able to train for the full marathon and registered for the 1/2 marathon instead.

The run was this weekend and it was so amazing.  To begin with, I got a chance to hang out with Caitlyn, Andy, and baby Brian (or AndyKatoBrian as Faye calls them) as well as Caitlyn’s parents and sister Liz.  We hung out on the strip and saw a good amount of Vegas. 

On Sunday morning, Caitlyn, Liz, and I stood with about 17,000 other runners as we prepared for an amazing run. The sun was coming up, but it was dark enough to enjoy the full view of the strip all lit up.  It was cold, but not windy, and Robin Leech announced that these were perfect running conditions.  I had been worried about my ankle, but my feet were numb from the cold and I was feeling good.  There were some fireworks and the gun, and then we were off….kind of.  We had to wait until everyone in front of us started moving, but then we were able to begin our run.  The first few miles went by so quickly, that we hardly noticed them.  The Blue Man Group performed near the second mile, which was fun to see and then there was the Run-Through Wedding Chapel around mile five.  Nearly 50 couples got married or renewed their vows wearing every kind of cool running/wedding outfit you can imagine.  There was even an Elvis/Marilyn Monroe couple with a few devoted brides maids running by the brides side.  There were also plenty of Elvis’s (plural?) who seemed to be having the best time.  They were close to me for most of my run and provided lots of entertainment throughout.

I finished a little slower than expected, but am so proud of myself and my run.  I will definitely do that again.  Caitlyn and I were able to run together for the first 5.5 miles before the course split and and she took the longer route.  In the end, however, I was able to find her and run the last leg of her 26.2 miles by her side.  Finally, after years of planning to run a marathon together, we crossed the finish line!  There are plenty of photos of the three of us – Liz finished way ahead of us, but was with us for all of the good parts – and I will post them as soon as I can.

I can finally say I have run in an official race.  It has been almost 10 years since my last race and it felt so good!

On Saturday morning, my friends Jenn G. and Christine and I ran in the Neuse River Bridge 10K Run.  My finishing time of 1:09 was a lot slower than my high school average, but great for my current pace.  I have run so many miles on my own, and I really enjoyed getting out there for an organized race.  The course went over the Neuse River and through Downtown New Bern for a total of 6.2 miles. 

To get things started right, I tripped before the race began and twisted my ankle.  I got a little worried when another runner started shouting for an EMT.  It was quite embarrassing to be down before the race began, especially with all of the other runners standing around to see what was going on.  Thankfully, my ankle was fine and I had no problem running.

For those of you who are wondering about my upcoming race plans, I think I am going to stick to some of the shorter races for now.  Before Sonia’s last surgery, I had been training for the USMC marathon which is taking place next week.  I got up to running 14 miles before surgery and was well on my way to being in shape for the run.  After Sonia’s surgery and her death, however, it was almost 5 weeks before I went for another run.  With this much time off, I was not able to pick up where I left off in my training and have had to take it slow to get back up in miles. 

Although I truly love running and training for big races, I don’t think my heart is up for another big race at this time.  So for now, I am going to continue to run and look for local half-marathons and 10K’s to enjoy.  I appreciate all of your support as always and will keep you posted for my next race.

I want to update everyone on my running.  Today I ran 12 miles and am right on track with my marathon training program.  I think all of my stress has healthfully been transformed into a very positive energy.  When I ran my first marathon, I basically jogged through all of my training runs because my only goal was to go the distance.  Now that I am confident in my ability to run the distance, I am starting to run for speed and am constantly surprised by my own ability.  Two weeks ago, I ran 10 miles in 2 hours and 25 minutes.  Last week I ran 11 miles in 2 hours and 20 minutes – 4 minutes quicker despite adding a mile.  Today I was able to run 12 miles in 2 hours and 35 minutes.  All in all, I am running between 10 and 13 minute miles. 

One challenge of running through the city is that I have no way of knowing exactly how far I am running.  Thankfully, we are pretty close to a local park that has an 8.5 mile loop marked off with water fountains and bathrooms and plenty of runners and cars going by to help me feel safe.  For all of my Jewish mammas, you can rest assured that I stay on very busy streets and paths and am always aware of my surroundings.

Running has been the best therapy for me for a long time and has proven to be the best medicine for dealing with all that I have been going through in the past few months.  With any luck, I wont be here in Philly for the half marathon on September 16th.  If I am here, though, it will be a good way to prepare for the full Marine Corps Marathon on October 28th in the DC area.

Last night, after careful consideration, I signed my name on the dotted line to run the Marine Corps Marathon on October 28th in Washington, DC.  I am going to run for my girls, my family, and to support TAPS in memory 1st Lt. Brian Deforge.  Brian Deforge, a classmate of Jason’s and a friend of ours, was killed last summer in a mid-air collision while doing routine training in California. He left behind a wonderful wife and two adorable children.

In running the Marine Corp Marathon, I hope to raise money for TAPS.  TAPS, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, Inc., is a one of a kind non-profit Veteran Service Organization offering hope, healing, comfort and care to thousands of American armed forces families facing the death of a loved one each year. TAPS receives absolutely no government funding, but through the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, all families faced with a death of one serving in the Armed Forces receive information about TAPS and our military survivor programs.

Brian’s wife Jane is a great friend and inspiration to me, and TAPS has been an amazing source of comfort and support for her.  If you are interested in sponsoring me by making a donation to this wonderful organization, please visit the Runner’s Page and click on my name.  Thank you in advance for you generosity.

I can’t wait to begin my therapy…er training!

After about 4 months of training, I finally know what it is like to run a marathon!  Today I ran 26.25 miles in exactly 6.5 hours.  I still can’t believe I did it.  It all started with Faye’s colic in her first months and my need to get out of the house at the end of the long days.  Running seemed like a great way to get some mommy time and to lose some of my baby weight.  When my friend Caitlyn moved to town, we started running together and she told me of her experience running a marathon.  At the time, I thought running 3 miles without stopping was an accomplishment and running 5 miles was out of the question.  Caitlyn lent me her “Non-Runner’s Marathon Trainer” and after reading a bit, I decided to give it a shot.  The first week, our longest run was 5 miles, and I wasn’t sure I could do it.  When I completed that run, I figured I could add a mile and run 6 the following week.  Before I knew it, I was running between 5 and 18 miles 4 days a week and telling people I was training for a marathon.

I ran every run in the training program up until Jason got his orders to move to Havelock, North Carolina in the middle of April.  All of the sudden we had 2 weeks to get to our new home, and then a few days to get up to Caitlyn and Andy’s wedding in Maryland.  Next came Samantha’s recital and before I knew it, it was May and I still hadn’t registered for the marathon I was training for on May 21st. To my despair, by the time I went online to register the participation was already full and they weren’t taking any more registration.

You can imagine the heart break I felt when I realized “my marathon” wasn’t going to happen.  I admit I shed a few tears, but then I decided to run my own marathon.  Having trained hard for 4 months, there was no way I was going to quit.  Thankfully, I have been blessed with a very caring and supportive husband.  As soon as I told him of my plan he told me he would do whatever it took to make this a special day.  I decided on a course on the Marine Corps base near our house that went past the home of very good friends of ours – Jen, Brian, & Ava Gerschutz.  I called a couple of friends and was so pleased that Erin Rosenstock, Sabrina Cicchi (who is about 9 months prego at the moment), and the Gerschutz family agreed to be my motivated cheering squad for the day.  Jason took care of every detail I could think of from packing a bag for Faye to arranging for my water and food on the big day.  He took away any worry I had about the day and allowed me to focus completely on my goal.

View photos from the marathon here.

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