2014 Run #1: Arizona Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon

My resolution for 2014 - to run 14 races in 2014. 

Race #1 - The Arizona Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon

Being the first race of the year, we took our training very seriously. A full of week of not running beforehand, to make sure we were well rested of course. Eating lots of pizza, pasta, barbeque pork sandwiches, donuts, and chocolate to make sure we carb loaded. And drinking lots of coffee and cocktails to make sure we were well hydrated. HA! I had so much fun visiting my sister!

We ran this race for Scott, so we made sure to smile and have fun the whole time. Which was a little hard to do at 5am, but we pulled through.

Sunblock, water, light rail map - we're ready to go!

Little did this Oregon girl know that she needed to bring her coat instead of her swimsuit to Arizona. It was freezing in the morning!

Arizona Girl is well prepared.

Luckily, I have been through enough REAL winters to not let a little cold stop me. The man wearing the hoodie bathrobe was truly the most prepared person we saw though. I didn't get his picture, but I did manage to capture to this lady looking rather annoyed at our joyful, witty early morning banter.

Don't hate us because we're having more fun than you.

We warmed right up once we started running and maintained a good pace, except for the bathroom stop in which people were taking f-o-r-e-v-e-r to do their business. It's a race people! Pee and go!

Shiny, happy runners!

Some of the bands were better than others, but hearing the next one up ahead meant you were close to finishing another mile. The course was flat with one big long hill that had cool Taiko drummers pounding you up and down it. And I only got yelled at once by Jenny for talking too much while she tried to focus on her pace.

Look at how in sync we are!

But we did it! My sister rocked her first (and last) half marathon!!!  We were also able to raise some money in my brother's honor for the American Diabetes Association (thanks mom!). 

 

BEST RACE EVER!

Yes, she is already wishing she was at home in bed and that this was all just a bad dream.

I had such a blast in Arizona. I earned the Best Aunt of the Year award by teaching my adorable nephew how to play Pokemon and Minecraft.

And I got to see my oldest best friend in the world and her sweet new baby girl.

Go Ducks!

Best race ever, best trip ever - I love you Arizona!!!! Until next time!

Week 5: Half way there!

Monday - ran 3 miles; Body Revolution 7
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - ran 5 miles
Thursday - Body Revolution 8
Friday - ran 3 miles; Body Revolution 7
Saturday - ran 10 miles; Body Revolution 8
Sunday - rest

Wow, this training schedule has been a doosey. Is that a real word? Or a grandma word? Hmmm, deep thoughts. Anywho, most of the week I was feeling like this:

On Saturday though, all my hard work paid off. I actually felt good on my 10 mile run. Nothing hurt. Nothing! What a difference mid-week running and strength training make! It also helps that I found the best GU flavor EVER! I just happened to find 2 of them recently digging thru a big ol' bin of gels.

Salted Caramel and Winter Bigfoot - what's not to love!

And before all the Who's in the Whoville could go boo-hoo-hoo, I got online and ordered more. Plus it was a warm 44 degrees on my long run and all the ducks were laughing (really, they were making this laughing quacking sound) cause the lake was only half frozen.

More ducks than rocks this weekend.

Mom gave me some really old pictures of Scott that I'll post shortly. I forgot to do it today because I was focused on getting all of my sister's Christmas presents in the car to mail to Arizona. Oh yeah, score one for the good sister! Who is not hating that it's 70 degrees in Arizona right now. not. hating. big heart of Christmas joy. love ya sis!

My first crash and ice

It was 27 degrees on Saturday, so I did what any other normal person would do. I put on my ski clothes and ran 8 miles. Pro compression socks over thermal pants over compression tights and my thermal shirt under my waterproof, windproof jacket (so worth every penny!).  Top it off with my ski hat, and I'm cute and functional.

Frank was ready to run, but he doesn't have any snow clothes yet.

It actually wasn't that bad once I got going. I won't kid anyone though, it was cold. So cold that the lake I run around froze! The poor ducks were all huddled in a small corner that hadn't froze over yet. 

You can see the rocks people threw to test the ice.

I'm glad I got outside cause it was gorgeous! Sparkling ice with Christmas decorations everywhere. Then it happened. My first crash. You might think that I slipped on ice, but those who know me well know better. 

While I was admiring all the Christmas decorations outside, at mile 4 sat a house with Halloween decorations still up. Halloween?!? It was What the pumpkin - Boom! - pavement. I tripped on the sidewalk gawking at the Halloween house. No ice anywhere to be found. Just me and dry pavement and the pumpkins. As I laid sprawled on the lawn in the front of the house, I secretly hoped the owners would come out so I could I tell them about the dangers of leaving out incorrect holiday decorations for too long, but alas no one came to my rescue. So I got up, looked at my torn thermal pants, was thankful that my compression tights didn't rip and that I put my leather gloves on, and finished the last 4 miles.

I felt a wince of pain on my knee but had too many layers on to check until I got home.

I'm missing a nice chunck of skin, but thankfully didn't hurt my knee. Lessons learned? Keep your eyes on the road. And be wary of frozen pumpkins - they're rotten to the core.

Week 4: Life First and To The Fullest

I was feeling bad about not doing any blogging for weeks 2 and 3, but really when I thought about why I didn't blog - playing Minecraft with the boys, making and eating good food on Thanksgiving, shopping with my mom - I was reminded of Scott. He always enjoyed life and tried to live it to the fullest. And that's what I was doing.

So there. No beating myself up over not running enough and eating all the homemade cranberry sauce - sooo good! Instead I'm going to laugh and share a picture of Bryan and Scott wearing one of his infamous Nautica shirts at the beach no less. He wore this brand so much that even his friend Fritz spoke about it at his funeral. 80's be damned, Nautica never goes out of style!  

My weekly running recap. Only 6 more weeks until race day! Run Oregon Girl Run!

Monday - rest
Tuesday - ran 3 miles; Body Revolution workout 5
Wednesday -  ran 5 miles; Body Revolution workout 6
Thursday - Body Revolution workout 5
Friday - ran 3 miles; Body Revolution workout 6 (it snowed today!)

Ok, I have to say that I'm freaking tired! I also had more hate than usual for Jillian Michaels as these workouts were really hard. So hard that I might of yelled the b-word at the TV. The boys thought it was funny, but I was too out of breathe to laugh. Damn, I got my ass handed to me. At least it snowed today!

Planning on running 8 miles tomorrow hopefully in the snow! We never get snow - I love it!

Week 1: Whole Wheat Spaghetti with a Chance of Tofu

As every mother should be, my mom was very focused on nutrition for us kids. There was however a very large generational food gap between my 70's "peace, love, & granola" mother and us 80's nerds and pop rocks kids. It should of been no surprise then when given a pile of brown speckled whole wheat noodles that Scott threw them at the wall. The look of shock on my mom's face turned to laughter though when Scott quickly yelled, "Ok, they're ready! I was just making sure it was spaghetti. Since spaghetti sticks to the wall when it's done."  Makes sense to me! Only Scott could make us all laugh and not get in trouble after sticking food to the wall.

Week 1 Training Recap:

Mon - 3 mile run/walk with dog (short legs and a long nose make it hard to run)
Tues - 30 min Body Revolution workout video
Wed  - 3 mile run + 30 min Body Revolution workout video
Thur - 30 min Body Revolution workout video
Fri - 30 min Body Revolution workout video
Sat - rest
Sun - 7 mile run

I've started doing Jillian Michael's Body Revolution workout video cause I need to add some strength training to my running to keep injury free. I'll be honest. She scares me. If I miss a workout she just might come to my house and yell at me. It's like looking in a mirror and saying Bloody Mary. Not going to do it. Why tempt fate?


Source 

I'm also following the below training schedule from Marathon Rookie. But as you can tell from my weekly recap, I'm not worried about anyone tracking me down and kicking my ass. It is not very realistic for me to keep this exact schedule, but I ran 13 miles this week!

10-Week Half Marathon Training Schedule

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total
1	3	Rest	3	3	Rest	4	Rest	13
2	3	Rest	4	3	Rest	5	Rest	15
3	3	Rest	4	3	Rest	6	Rest	16
4	3	Rest	5	3	Rest	8	Rest	19
5	3	Rest	5	3	Rest	10	Rest	21
6	4	Rest	5	4	Rest	11	Rest	24
7	4	Rest	6	4	Rest	12	Rest	26
8	4	Rest	5	4	Rest	9	Rest	22
9	3	Rest	4	3	Rest	8	Rest	18
10	3	Rest	3	Walk 2	Rest	13.1	Rest	21.1

The Scott Lloyd Magnificent Racers - How You Can Support Our Run

Not only am I excited to be running for Team Diabetes in honor of my brother Scott, but I am super uber excited to be running with my sister Jennifer. We are "The Scott Lloyd Magnificent Racers!"

Why Magnificent? Because we are. ha! But really it's because one of our favorite memories growing up is playing the board game "The Magnificent Race" with Scott and Bryan. I've kept it all these years, and it's torn and falling apart - but isn't that the true sign of something well loved anyways.

We are running the  Arizona Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon for Team Diabetes on January 19, 2014. Our goal is to raise $500, so please consider joining us to help make others smile and support our run. All proceeds go directly to the American Diabetes Association, and you can donate at the following link:

http://main.diabetes.org/goto/scottlloyd

You are also welcome to join our team and run with us! (You are responsible for all your own costs associated with travel and the race since 100% of support received goes to Team Diabetes.)  Just leave a comment, and we'll get in touch with you.

I'll post the ups and downs of my training *I can do hard things!* (just keep telling yourself that Bethy girl) and post more pictures and stories of Scott as I embark on this 10 week journey.

In Honor of My Brother

My older brother, Scott, was diagnosed with childhood diabetes when he was 13 or 14. If I had only one word to describe him it would be smile. He always made others smile and had a smile even when he wasn't happy or in pain. He hid a lot of that from us. I think it was because he didn't want his illness to define him, and I hope he's happy to know that it didn't. When I think of him I never think of diabetes. I think of throwing darts, hitting pinatas, being goofy, playing The Magnificent Race and Shoot The Moon board games, dancing to Nine Inch Nails at his wedding, playing Keno for the first time, the thrill of drinking with my older brother whose birthday was 1 day and 1 month before mine, and laughing. He had a great sense of sarcasm to go with his humor, and always had a wry comment to make me smile even during contentious family political or religious debates. Not that I come from a long line of stubborn, independently minded people. maybe.

L to R: Jenny, Me, Scott, Bryan circa 1993 - look at our hair!!!

We all knew he was sick. My oldest brother, whose example of genuine love and care for another humbles me beyond words, tried to convince Scott to move in with him, but he wouldn't have it (did I mention stubborn and independent runs in our family). I was not that close with Scott, and while I have a feeling that Bry and those close to him knew, I really didn't think he was as sick as he was. I remember him being upset when Bryan told us when he was in the hospital and can picture him standing in his driveway with a smirk telling me, "I'm not going to die; I've got more years in me than they think." That was less then a year ago.

L to R: Scott, Jenny, Me, Bryan circa 2012 - with less, but better hair!

I guess that's why it such a shock when I heard the news. I was in Indianapolis sitting in a hotel conference room waiting for the next assessment session to start. I don't know what made me listen to my voice mail, but as soon as I heard it I just stood up and started walking. My apologies to the presenter. It's such a shock. You expect to see a person for Thanksgiving in less than a month but instead they are gone. You realize that you didn't fully appreciate a person in your life who you really cared about and now it's too late.

L to R: Scott, Me, Bryan, Dad - Thanksgiving 2012

Scott would try to make me laugh or smile right now. He would say something witty or silly or simply state the obvious in such a way that the absurdity of it all would make you realize that all you could do was laugh. And he would hate what I'm going to do next. He would hate the attention it brought to himself or his disease. But like him I'm stubborn and independent and am going to do this my way, which I hope he can appreciate.

I'm going to run the Phoenix Rock n' Roll Marathon on January 19, 2014 as part of Team Diabetes in Scott's honor for the American Diabetes Association. I'm running in hope that other sisters may get to smile and laugh with their brothers longer than I was able to due to our support. I'm also running because quite simply running, like my brother, makes me smile. I miss and love you Scott.

I'll post details about how you can support the American Diabetes Association and my run shortly.