26.2 w/ Donna: The Do-Over

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After last year's disaster at the 26.2 w/ Donna (my first marathon in which I injured my knee and ended up limping for miles to the finish line), I decided the I had to go back and conquer this course.  Quincy and Maura also wanted to do this race again, so they signed up to run the half.  We went down to Jacksonville on the day before the race to pick up our packets and visit the expo.  We made sure to put our names on the large "signs" of encouragement.  These signs are taken and put on the course to inspire the runners during the race.  We were so involved with all of the goings on at the expo, that I didn't really notice my race number until we got back to the hotel.  I had been assigned in the last wave.  This is generally the "walker" wave.  I was a bit concerned about this because I knew I'd be weaving in and out of people for the first couple of miles- and I was.  I literally passed a man who had his foot in a boot and was doing the half marathon on crutches.  This was not a good start.  Luckily, things went well and I found a group of similarly-paced runners around the 5k mark.  The race was every bit a fabulous as I remember.  The course winds through the beach communities of Ponte Vedra and Neptune, Atlantic, and Jacksonville Beaches.  There are even a few miles that are run ON the beach.  The people of these beach communities really go all out.  Many houses were decorated in pink ribbons.  I was offered so much food and drink that I couldn't possibly take it all.  And my favorite part- a lot of the residents tried to entertain us as we ran.  There were several houses where bands were playing, two different guys had a karaoke machine going, one had an accordian, one guy was dancing in a blue "puffy" suit, and two teenagers were doing flips and breakdancing-type moves in their yard.  It was definitely NOT a dull race.  Toward the end of the race, the weather began to turn bad.  It rained on me for the last couple of miles.  They ended up having to cancel the race and pick the remaining runners up off the course due to lightening.  BUT- I was not one of them.  I finished the race prior to it being cancelled with a time of 4:33:37.  This is a PR for me (by like 15 minutes).  I feel really bad for those runners who did not complete the race.  I would cry if I ran 24 or 25 miles only to not be allowed to finish.

Sidney Lanier Bridge Run

 Quincy, Jessica, Maura, and I ran the Sidney Lanier Bridge 5k this year.  This is race has been certified as the "toughest 5k in Georgia".  Runners run over the bridge, and then turn around and run back.  The weather was nice, but really windy.  I could  feel myself getting knocked around a bit at the top of the bridge.  My time was 26:44 (8th out of 64 in my age group).  I always enjoy this race and was so happy to get to participate in it again this year.

Letters from Taryn

As you may know, we sponsor a child (Taryn Chichina) in Kenya through Compassion International.  We enjoy receiving letters from our child.  She is such a sweet girl and is doing so well.  In her last letter, she stated that her new favorite sport is running- a girl after my own heart.

As the kids get older, we are going to try to get them more involved with writing to Taryn.  We think this is a good way for them to learn about life in other parts of the world.  This is also a good way to get them started in mission work.  The Compassion program has a mobile "experience" that travels around the country.  This group sets up a series of rooms that are re-creations of the environments in which some of the sponsored children are raised.  The Compassion Experience is free the visit.  A few weeks ago this program came to our area, so we decided to check it out.  It was wonderful.  When you check in, you are given a headset hooked to an ipod.  As you move through the different "scenes" of a child's life, you hear the story of this kid in his/her own words.  We walked through the life of a girl in Uganda, and it was very moving.  After we finished the kids wanted to go through again, so we did the walk through for a boy from Bolivia.  I think what Olivia and Owen took away from this experience was a little bit of understanding that not everyone in this world is as fortunate as they are.  Hopefully this will lead to future conversations about helping others who are less fortunate.

Angry Tortoise 25K

 After having such a good time at the Superman 8k, I was eager to try another trail run.  I kept my eye out for a local event, and found the Angry Tortoise 25K (15.5 miles).  This race was held in a state forest outside of Jacksonville.  I couldn't convince anyone to go with me, so I went solo.  I'm glad I didn't sit it out because the course was awesome, the weather was beautiful, and I felt so good just being out in nature.  Due to the race being in a state forest, we had to bring our own water container (they couldn't hand out cups).  I bought a camelbak to wear, but ended up not needing it because the weather was so nice.  The miles flew by.  It had been a rainy few weeks, so there were a few "water obstacles".  This just made the race more fun.  I finished with a time of 2:40:02.  I am definitely interested in doing this run again next year.

Father-Daughter Dance

 The Annual Father-Daughter Dance is THE place to be on the first weekend in February.  Olivia always looks forward to spending this time with her Daddy.  We start planning her outfit weeks before the dance.  This year, she chose a pretty pink dress with sequins on the belt and straps.  I curled her hair to her specifications and put a little make-up on her.  Her daddy came to the door to get her and brought her a beautiful corsage.  The big thing this year was that she got to sit in the front seat of the car (which she has never been allowed to do before).  After a nice dinner at Captain Joe's, these two made their way to the dance.  Brian took several pictures and video clips of the dance, and it looked like a fun time.  Brian reported that this was the "year of the balloon" because the girls spent a great deal of time playing with these decorations.  Olivia was glad to see Claire and some of her friends from school and church at the dance.  She was all smiles when she came home.  I'm so glad that these two get to spend this time together.  And, as a side note, Owen and I had a great time too.  We ate pizza with Granny Mel and then we watched The Croods on Netflix.

Introducing... Addison Grace Sanders

I am so excited to post a picture of my niece, Addison Grace Sanders.  She is the daughter of Brian's brother Gary and his wife Katie.   She was born on Jan. 29th.  I have been looking at pictures of her on Facebook for several weeks now, and I am convinced that she is perfect in every way.  I'm really hoping that we'll be able to make it up north to meet this little princess this summer.  I can't wait to get that sweet baby sugar.

Superman 8K Trail Race

Our little running group kicked off the new year at the Superman 8K trail run. This was approximately 5 miles of dirt roads, forests, and trails.  We even ran over a dam.  I have not done much trail running in the past, but after this race I want to do more.  It was SO much fun.  The runners for the 8K were Quincy, her boyfriend Chase, me, and Jessica.  Jessica and I won our age division, Chase placed in his.  My time was 43.04, which I was happy with.  After the 8K, there was a fun run for the kids.  I ran with Natalie and Thomas ran with Audrey.  These girls also did a great job.   I really hope that this race becomes an annual event, because it was loads of fun.