Update and Des Moines Marathon!

I haven't posted in just about 2 months, mainly because my life is boring, and busy! I have thought often about posting some updates on the kids, and all the fun stuff we have been involved in, but have not gotten around to posting anything!

Here is a brief summary /update of the comings and goings in in the Wombacher household:

(1) The girls are in gymnastics on opposite nights, which takes us to Johnsburg four nights a week. Johnsburg is about 30 minutes away. They love gymnastics. We hate the drive. They win.

(2) The girls are having so much fun in 2nd and 3rd grade. Haley's Spanish has improved a lot. She has to draw three pictures each day showing something she did, and then write 3 sentences in Spanish about those things. It's only been a month, and we are all out of ideas! Her days are the same every day, so we have resorted to making things up! Olivia is doing so well in Spanish that she got to read the words for the Spanish spelling test a week ago.

(3) Haley is taking piano lessons. She likes to learn the new songs and notes, but hates to practice.

(4) For Olivia's birthday she wanted her own desk in her room. She got a new desk, bookcase, and adorable hot pink chiar. (As a nerdy mom, I was so excited for her, but not near as excited as she was!)

(5) We have been traveling to Iowa for football games A LOT. The girls and I have even made it to 2 games. (I would post adorable pictures, but I'm at work) Chad's mom sent them each a Ricky Stanzi # 12 Jersey, which they LOVE.

(6) I have not been running as much as I would like, because I have been working too much. Nevertheless, in 2 days I will be running my 2nd marathon. I am excited and nervous all at the same time!

I hope to provide an update after the race. Maybe I will post some pictures soon as well!

TEN!

I guess an appropriate sub-title to this post is if I knew then what I know now. 10 years ago today I married the love of my life. I honestly cannot believe it has been 10 years since we said "I do!" Most of the time it seems like only yesterday, but occasionally it seems like forever!! On August 19, 2000, I knew that I was marrying a great guy, a true friend, and the person I wanted to spend every possible minute with. I knew I was marrying a smart ass who would always be quick with a one liner. I knew he was a good golfer, and shared my love of good food. I knew that we both had hopes and dreams that we were scared to share with anyone else. I knew that he loved me unconditionally (because he had met my family, and still wanted to marry me:) But, I don't think I knew how much I did not yet know about the man I had just promised to spend the rest of my life with. I am so thankful for the past 10 years, and the chance to have learned so much about myself, my husband and about life!

On August19, 2000, I did not know that a year later he would hold our little girl, and rock her to sleep, and it seemed so natural that I knew he was meant to be a daddy. I did not know, that when I would crash one of our cars (more than once), he would hold me and comfort me, and not get angry. I did not know that he would sacrifice some of his career goals in order for me to advance in mine. I did not know that he would send me flowers at work "just because." I did not know that he would be the one cooking dinner and cleaning the house most of the time. I did not know that he would teach me so much about myself just by listening to me complain! I did not know just how much I loved the man I had just married! There are a million other things that I did not know on August 19, 2000, that I do now. I thank God every day for bringing Chad to me, and for the life I have and the things I now know!

TIME TO DO IT AGAIN!!

I have been pretty non-existent in blog world lately. I could make excuses, but the truth is, I really haven't had much to say. I know that's so hard for you to believe, right? But, today I do have something to say....tomorrow I will be walking the Susan G. Komen 3 Day in Chicago for the second time!

This year we have expanded our team to include 3 new members. I am so excited to share the laughter and excitement as well as the tears and remembrance with each of them! Last night, my tent mate, and awesomest friend, Rebecca, and I worked for 3 hours on our tent decorations. About 3 weeks ago, we came up with a really COOL idea, and have spent the past 3 weeks adding to it and coming up with more ideas. If you do not remember, last year we were devastated when we did not win the tent decorating contest, so this year we went ALL out. I will share pictures via facebook tomorrow, and on my blog next week. Our theme is Candyland, but I will not share anymore right now! We got the idea, because our team name Boobalicious Babes is based off of Bubbalicious gum! I know we are going to come home with the ribbon, I just hope Rebecca doesn't expect to keep it:)

I would be lying if I did not say I am a little more nervous this year, because I did not train nearly as much as last year. I have been running fairly consistently, but walking just has not happened too much for me this spring/summer.

Tomorrow I will join nearly 2,500 other walkers and crew members on the journey of a lifetime! I cannot wait to see all the pink shirts, great team names, and meet some wonderful and inspiring people.

Thank you to everyone that attended a fundraiser, bought a super bowl pool square, made direct donations to my fundraising page, prayed for me and my teammates, and supported us during the time leading up to the walk. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers this weekend!

I will update on Sunday night or Monday morning with all the details and more pictures! In the meantime, check out my facebook page where I will update often! Go Boobalicious Babes!

Week One: I am a Warrior

This week's marathon training did not go exactly as planned, but it still went well. On Tuesday, I had a school board meeting that lasted until 2:30 in the morning. Luckily, I had gotten up early and put my miles in before work. I also got my 5 miles in on Wednesday, but by Thursday the lack of sleep caught up to me. I skipped working out all together on Thursday.

The highlight of my week was Saturday, when I ran the Midwest Warrior Dash. The Warrior Dash is a 5K race which includes 12 obstacles along the way. The obstacles included jumping over old junked cars, crossing a plank, climbing over 3 foot walls, about 20 foot cargo net climb, a 3 foot deep mud pool, a 20 foot hay stack to climb, about 10 small hills at the end of the race, jumping over fire, and finally crawling under barbed wire through thick gooey, cold mud. IT WAS AWESOME! We had such a great time. I was really nervous going into this race, because I did not know what to expect. Others told us it was hard, because your shoes got so muddy and wet, and it was! I had planned to run with my sister-in-law, Amy, but I lost her somewhere in one of the obstacles. I looked back thinking she was right next to me and I couldn't find her, so I just kept running. There were a lot of people that did not RUN this race but walked and just did the obstacles. I am proud to say I ran the entire way. I also felt pretty good about the obstacles, apparently adding a little weight training into my routine paid off in getting over some of the obstacles. I have no idea what my time was, but I do know it was FUN!

Here are my totals for the week: Run 19 miles, Walk 6 miles (I only have 7 weeks until the 3 day, I am going to have to up this a little!), Bike 1.50 (the girls wanted to go on a bike ride, so I just added this in)

Can it really be 7 years already?

Monday, June 14th.

June 14th always brings several emotions my way! Today is the anniversary of buying our house and moving to Harvard, Illinois. Seven years ago today, we left the great Hawkeye state and ventured out on our own for the first time. I was so excited to be a homeowner, so sad to be pregnant and so far away from my family, nervous to be studying for the bar exam, scared to death that I would not pass. I am sure I could go on and on with the raw emotions I felt on that hot June day.

Looking back, I am so glad that we moved to Harvard. Yes, you read that correctly:) Over the past 7 years, I have been blessed to have met so many great people; people I now call my best friends. After successfully passing the bar exam, I took a great job, which has been such a blessing in my life as well. Looking back, I would not have expected all that I have achieved in 7 years. My babies have grown up here, and truly love Harvard as well!

This June 14th is also pretty important because it marks the first day of my 18 week marathon training plan. If I run every mile of the plan I will run 591.2 miles by October 17, 2010. The plan also includes cross training every Monday. I think I will do the bike at the gym tonight. I set up a training log notebook last night to hopefully do a better job of tracking my runs during this training session. I am also trying to train for the 3 Day walk. I got up at 5:00 this morning, and walked a little over 4 miles before work today. My plan is to keep walking in the morning, and do the marathon training plan in the evening. I will try to update once a week with how its going. I am really excited for this marathon because so many of my family members have committed to this race. Both my brothers, Jasen and Trent, have started training for the full marathon as well. One of the groomsmen in our wedding, Tim, is also running the full with us! I am praying for my friend, Beth, to be able to join us for the full as well. Beth and I shared our first full marathon experience together in Kenosha, and I would LOVE to have her there in Des Moines as well! Also joining us in Des Moines is Dani and Justy! I was supposed to run my first full marathon with Justy in Hawaii, but due to injuries, I only did the half. Dani has done 2 halves and is ready to try for the full! It will be so cool to have so many people I know on the course! My sister Nitasha and her husband Ryan, as well as my sister-in-law Amy, are all planning on doing the half marathon! I can't wait to have all my friends and family there; it should be a great experience!

3 DAYS - 60 MILES!

Do you like the new Widget at the top of my blog? In 8 short weeks, I will once again walk 60 miles in 3 days in the Susan G. Komen for the Cure in Chicago! I am still trying to raise the required $2,300, and thought I would share with you about 2 big fundraisers! The first is a garage sale tomorrow from 8-3 at 1004 Dewey Street! We have a ton of kids and baby stuff, adult clothes, toys, shoes, books! Come out and help us meet our goals!

The second is going to be SO fun! We are having a bowling and bags fundraiser at Westlane Bowl in Crystal Lake on Saturday, June 26th beginning at 3 p.m. The cost is $15.00 per bowler, which includes 2 games of bowling and shoes, or $15.00 per bags player! There will be cash prizes for the bags tournament. We have a lot of fun games planned throughout the evening. Jeff Overlee will be DJing the event! If you haven't been to an event with Jeff before, he is so fun and has GREAT music! There will also be a silent auction, some door prizes and raffle prizes! Come out and support me and my team!

1/2 Day Fridays

For the first time in a while, the girls rode with me on my way to work this morning. We sang, we laughed, and just remembered some of my favorite moments during their first 6 and 8 years. Then Chad got in the car and we tried to get him involved! He pretty much just laughed at us! A few minutes later I got out of the car and walked into work with tears in my eyes! I love them so much! I am so proud to be their Mom. It's been hard for me to come to work the past 2 weeks, because they are home enjoying summer. I feel like I am missing out on so much with them, while I am at work. I love my job, and love what I do, but I sometimes wish I could just be home a little more with them! Chad has been working more and more from home, so they have spent a lot of time with him, and I know they are in good hands with Dani, but I just miss them so much! One of our conversations today centered around the fact that our neighbor has 1/2 day Fridays during the summer. It went like this:

Me: "I wish I could have 1/2 day Fridays!"
Haley: "You should tell your boss that you want 1/2 day Fridays just for the summer, Mom."
Me: "I don't think my boss would go for that, because he wants me to work more hours so I can make more money." [Yes, I was trying to explain the billable hour to my 6 and 8 year old]
Olivia: "Well, Mom, someday, you'll be the boss, and then you can have 1/2 day Fridays whenever you want."
Me: "I like the way you think, Liv!"

While I am missing my kids from work today, I am dreaming about the days when I can have 1/2 day Fridays!

Running and Life

Running, one might say, is basically an absurd pastime upon which to be exhausting ourselves. But if you can find meaning in the type of running you need to do ... chances are you'll be able to find meaning in that other absurd past time .... LIFE.

- Bill Bowerman

The End. . . It's Just Another Beginning

Today is the last day of school in Harvard. Or, using Olivia's lingo, "the last 2 hours of school." The girls are ready for summer! They are looking forward to the pool, softball, and spending time with their friends. I long for the days when I could spend the entire day outside without a care in the world. While today is the end of my time as a mom of a 1st and 2nd grader, it is the beginning of fun in the sun for them. For the past two years on the last day of school, I was a mess. I cried so hard two years ago, as I simply could not believe that my first born beautiful little girl had finished kindergarten. Once again I cried so hard last year, as I realized that I would never have a kindergartner again. Today was different. I didn't cry, but I smiled as I looked at how much my babies have grown and changed during this school year. My normally quiet, studious Olivia has blossomed into quite the little jokester. The entire time we took pictures on the porch this morning, she kept asking to just do a funny one! Of course, as you can see I did let her do a funny one. Haley did not know what to do for her funny one, so we call this her "Sponge Bob Face". My little Haley, who could not stand school last year and just wanted it to be over, can't stop talking about Mr. Beesley and Ms. LaSota. She has learned to love school and all that it entails. They both are good readers, good friends, and make me so proud!

I love you girls! In just 15 minutes, I will officially have a daughter in 2nd grade and a daughter in 3rd grade. On September 1st, when they go back to school, for the first time since they went to day care, they will be entering school in the same building. I cannot wait to see how they interact when they go to school together! Cheers to the beginning of summer, my little princess and pumpkin!

Proud Mamma!

I know many parents hate this time of year because their kids are involved in so many activities it seems like we are always running from here to there. I on the otherhand, love it! I love to watch my kids in all their activities! I am so proud of all they have accomplished! Here is a short recap:

Last week, Haley was "Little Miss Muffet" in the Jefferson School first grade musical. It was the perfect part for her. She loved it! I wish I had a photo to share, but Olivia was in charge of the still photos. She instead used her camera to shoot a video every time Haley spoke. Chad videotaped the entire performance, which was very cute. However, I am SURE (unless you are grandma or grandpa) you do not want to watch 35 minutes, so I will not post it. I often wonder what Haley's nitch will be, and acting just may be it!

Haley has also started softball again, and is really liking it. I am helping coach her team this year, but haven't made it to a practice yet. I am going to try to make it Thursday, and will hopefully have some pictures to post after that!

On Sunday, Olivia had her final regular gymnastics meet for the season. She still has the State meet on June 5th. She was so proud because her Mimi and Papa were there along with her cousins and uncle Jason (and of course Mom, Dad, Haley and my friend Sara but we are the regular attendees:) She did really well scoring a 9.5 on her floor exercise. She placed first in her division. Here are a couple photos from the meet.

Also on the proud mamma note, Olivia scored the highest in her standardized reading test for her entire grade! She loves to read even more than I do I think!

I know its not nice to brag, but I had to just this once:)

I conquered 26.2

My legs are a little stiff today, but there is a smile on my face! Just over 24 hours ago I conquered one of the biggest feats I have ever attempted - a full marathon, 26.2 miles.

The morning of the race, I was up early, and ready to roll. Traffic getting to the race was a little delayed, and we were detoured around a crime scene. I was getting nervous that we weren't going to make it. Due to my parking in an illegal parking spot in the police department lot, we made it to gear check, the port-o-pottie, and the start line just in time.

Beth and I had talked about trying to stay at a 10 minute mile pace for the first 10 miles. And that is just what we did. I felt really good going along. At mile 6 I grabbed some of my power jelly beans and kept moving. Between mile 10 and 11, I saw my awesome family! Check out the girls' shirts! I was so happy to see them, and kept moving.

My best friend, Rebecca and her family came too. Apparently, they saw me at mile 11, because she took this great picture, but I missed them.

At mile 11.5 we broke off from the half-marathoners. Beth and I were walking through the water station, when another marathoner said to us, "this is where is gets lonely girls." Great, buddy thanks for the encouragement. He then told us this was his 9th marathon, and he knew we could do it. That's more like it.

I was feeling pretty good, until between 14-15 when I got the worst IT band pain down my entire right leg. I stopped and used a tree, and laid down in someone's first yard to stretch. Beth and I had a nice laugh about that point, because I said, "We didn't come here to walk," to which she replied, "well I came to walk a little bit." So we did walk a little bit after that. We ran through gravel for a while, and I got a small pebble in my shoe, which eventually led to a large blister right on the bottom of my foot. That irriatated me a little bit!

Just after mile 23, when we had only a 5K left, our family and friends were there again. My girls ran a little bit with me, and enocuraged me.

Beth and I stayed together until about mile 24. I then felt so sore that I just wanted to kick it up and finish. I was only a little ahead of her, but I knew she would finish, and I would see her at the finish line.

Right before the last corner and the finish line, all my family and friends were there again! I was so thrilled to be done. I was a little disappointed with my finish time of 5:11:46, but only because my Garmin said 4:59:35. I forgot that it stops everytime I stop. (So I guess we stopped for about 10 minutes along the course.)

Here is one last picture....
I could not have done this marathon without him. He was there for me for the past 16weeks of training, whether it was watching the girls while I was out on long runs, or rubbing my back and legs after the runs. As soon as I saw him I got so teary-eyed. He is awesome.

One last shout-out - thanks to Rebecca for the awesome pictures. Chad is not a great photographer, so I am glad you were there!

The Best Day!

The girls did not have school today for Teacher Institute! Chad and I always scramble to figure out what to do with them when there is no school, and today was no different. They stayed home with Dad for the morning, and he brought them to me at work when I got out of court. We then spent the afternoon just us "girls." I've been telling Olivia that she could have my Taylor Swift Fearless CD, but I keep forgetting it at work. She reminded me today to bring it. We brought it in the car, and listened to it between each stop. After a quick lunch at Panera, we went to Great Clips where they got their new summer haircuts! They look so cute, if I do say so myself. The picture is a little grainy, because it is from a cell phone, sorry! After shopping most of the afternoon, we heard The Best Day play on the Taylor Swift CD. I was reminded how great it is to be a mom to these beautiful, funny, smart, precious little girls! I am so proud of them, and truly had the BEST DAY with them! It also reminded me how great my mom is too! Here is the video of The Best Day with the lyrics. Such a great song!

What will I do at 32?

On Saturday I turned 32. I am not one who worries about getting another year older (at least not yet anyway)! Tonight on my run I started to think about what I want out of my 32nd year. What do I want for myself? My family? What plans do I have and what are my dreams? Here's to 32:

1) At 32 I will run my first marathon! I can't wait for this challenge and adventure. I am looking forward to sharing the day with several of my running buddies, but especially looking forward to crossing the finish line with Beth by my side, and as Beth always says hopefully with our arms raised high! If all goes well, I may also run my 2nd marathon in the fall!

2) At 32 I will pray over my children each and every night. I will pray for their todays, tomorrows and forevers.

3) At 32 I will celebrate 10 years of marriage to my best friend and love of my life.

4) At 32 I will walk 60 miles in 3 days so that one day we may all live in a world without breast cancer. I did this at 31 too, and it is still one of the best experiences of my life.

5) At 32 I will welcome a new niece or nephew into the world! I can't wait to meet Trent and Carrie's new little one in September. I will also welcome the births of the children of 2 close friends.

6) At 32 I hope to do better in keeping up with birthdays and anniversaries.

7) At 32 I will continue to represent the wrongfully accused and some "rightly" accused and vow to do my best to make sure that everyone gets the justice they deserve, whatever that may be.

8) At 32 I hope to keep a secretary for the entire year! 31 was a rough year for me with secretaries. I believe we went through 4, or was it 5? Shelley is definitely a keeper though!

9) At 32 I hope my children to teach my children to love life, love Jesus and love each other.

10) At 32 I hope to have a girls getaway weekend with my sisters! We haven't had one in several years, and I miss my sisters!

I am looking forward to 32!

Run Jamie Run

My birthday is coming up! I love birthdays, mine, friends, family, it does not matter! I just love to celebrate those close to me. I am really excited for this birthday, because it is going to be a really busy but fun day! Olivia has a gymnastics meet, which is always enjoyable! She is doing so well and its fun to cheer her on. Then we have a dinner auction fundraiser for the day care the kids went to when they were little. We do all the legal work for WCLS and the dinner is always an enjoyable evening. After that, it is out for another fun Boobalicious Babes fundraiser night! We will be doing our Woodstock Pub Crawl and hoping to raise even more money for our 3 day walk. I am going to sidetrack for just a second, and ask if you have made your donation to my 3 day account yet? If not, will you seriously consider a donation so that one day we will have a world without breast cancer??

But, back to the title of this post. My awesome hubby gave me my birthday present early! I recently crashed another ipod, and have been left using my cell phone for my music. So, Chad got me a new ipod nano! Its my favorite color GREEN, and on the back he had it engraved with Jamie Wombacher and Run Jamie Run! I cannot wait to run tonight and try it out! My marathon is quickly approaching and this gift could not have come at a better time! Isn't it so cool?

I never thought I would say it, but I think I am a marathon runner!

The past month my life has been so hectic between work and life at home with the girls, that it seems like I have only been getting in 1 or 2 runs during the week, and my long run on the weekend. Needless to say, that is not the best way to train for a marathon. I struggled through my long runs as a result, but generally have kept up with them. This week I knew we were planning a 20 miler on Saturday, but I didn't even make it to the gym one time. I was dreading the 20 miler.

Then on Thursday, I got a call from Haley's school saying that she was sick and needed to be picked up. Luckily, Chad had a cancellation and was able to go pick her up. I had nothing on my calendar at work for Friday, so I agreed that I could stay home with her Friday, while Chad went out to some appointments. Most of the week was beautiful and in the 60s, but looking ahead toward Saturday the forecast showed rain and snow and colder temperatures. Chad said he would be home by noon on Friday, so I talked Beth into doing our long run on Friday instead of Saturday.

WHAT A GREAT IDEA! It was beautiful out, in fact I wore shorts and a t-shirt. So, off we went for a 10 mile out and back on a really pretty trail. We did the first 10 in 1:44. Funny side note to add here .... at 10 miles we stopped to stretch, and I thought I better check my phone just in case work called ... I love my job...I love my job... I love my job...sorry, sidetracked. I noticed that my phone had been posting to facebook the letter D or DDD, or DD. Not once or twice, but well over 250 times. I also apparently sent the same thing to a client that had e-mailed me. Don't worry I apologized to her today! I also had an urgent message from work. We had to stop for about 10 minutes so I could call a detective and a client and make arrangements to have a search warrant executed.

But after 10 minutes, we were back on our way. At this point, I accidentally hit the start button on my Garmin even though it was on autostart, causing me to lose some of our mileage, and time. That was frustrating:) The next about 4 miles went pretty well, and then alternatively Beth and I would have a pain here or there (at one point I had some dreaded stomach issues) so we walked a little, and then ran a little. We probably ended up walking about 2 miles total. The bottom line was that we finished 20 miles, and if I can finish 20 miles I know that I can finish a marathon and officially call myself a marathon runner. I also burned over 2100 calories, which was pretty cool. We have one more 20 miler before our race; I am sure we will finish that 20 miles without walking!

Just one of those days....

Do you ever have one of those days? You don't feel like working out but you know you have to. Yesterday my marathon training plan called for a short 2 miles. Normally, I would look at 2 miles on the schedule and run 4 to make it worth my while. Not yesterday. It snowed a lot and I didn't feel like going out to the gym, so I decided I was just going to run on my old treadmill. It was only 2 miles, how bad could it be?

After dinner I made a comment that I was debating whether I was going to go downstairs and run or go up to bed and watch Biggest Loser. I then said that I knew if I went upstairs I would just blow off running for the night so I could not choose that option. A couple minutes later Haley told me to "just blow it off Mom." Great, even she knew it was going to be one of those days.

Finally I made it to the basement for the worst 2 miles I could imagine. Right away my knee was hurting, then I felt like I couldn't get enough air, I was sweating like a pig before .25, and I just could not focus on running. It was painful and hard and it was ONLY 2 miles. What the heck had gotten into me? I worried the entire time that if this 2 miles was so horrible, how was I going to do 18 this weekend. When the treadmil said 2 miles. I turned it immediately off and said goodnight to the horrible, terrible, no good, very bad workout. I did follow-up the run with shoveling, which felt surprisingly good.

I am going to chalk it up to one of those days...and hope and pray that the next workout will be much much better.

Maui 1/2 Marathon = Personal BEST!

It has now been 1 week and a day since I finished the Maui Oceanfront 1/2 Marathon. For the past week, I was just too busy relaxing and enjoying the beautiful Maui weather and terrain to update my blog.


This was right before the race started!

I am THRILLED to report that I set a personal record in the 1/2 marathon. I ran my first 1/2 marathon in October, and finished in 2:09:59, which was under my goal of 2:10. This time my goal was simply to beat that time and set a personal record. I started out feeling really good, and set a pace of just over 9 minutes a mile. I wanted to keep the pace at 9:30, and did a pretty good job. Thanks to a great physical therapist, my IT Band did not bother me at all!

Running hard (near the 9 mile marker)! Look at the beautiful ocean I ran next too. I even saw a whale breech during the first 2 miles. Thanks to my friend, Sara, for the great picture. Every time that I saw Sara and Chad cheering me on, I smiled and pushed a little harder!

Somewhere around mile 10.5 I started to get a little distracted and tired. I could not push myself to get below 10 minutes/mile no matter how hard I tried. The mind games started and I tried to focus on finishing strong, and then it happened.....

I often talk about how "true" marathon runners will just urinate on themselves to avoid having to stop. First off, I do NOT consider myself a "true" runner. But I almost had no choice, the more I tried to concentrate and tell myself that I did not have to pee, the more I felt like I was going to pee down my leg! Luckily, with 1.5 miles left there was a water station and a port-a-potty. If you know me, you know I am not a huge fan of port-a-potties anyway, and on this day, it was absolutely disgusting!! I will not go into details here, but suffice it to say I nearly threw up as well. So I wasted 30 seconds in the NASTY port-a-potty and was on my way to a strong finish. My final time (including the port-a-potty stop) 2:03:12. Early on in the race, I thought I might make it in under 2:00, but I did not, and nevertheless, I was so HAPPY with my finish. My friend, Beth, often talks about finishing strong with your arms in the air in victory, and I did just that!

After the race I got a massage. I finished just as my friend, Dani, crossed the finish line for her first 1/2 marathon. So the cheering squad and I got in the car to go cheer on Dani's husband, Justy, as he finished the full marathon. (Justy and I were supposed to run the full marathon together, but after I was injured, I decided to do just the 1/2.) We caught up to him with about 4 miles left in the race. He was walking and looked tired and ready to quit. I decided to put my running shoes back on and finish the last 3 miles with him, a la Biggest Loser. You know, when the friends or family show up during their run to help run a portion of the marathon and encourage them! I tried to encourage Justy, and help him finish strong. He was swollen and beat, but I did manage to get him to run for a little while when the professional photographer was on the road, and to run the last 1/2 mile. He finished a marathon and I am proud of him! Later that day, we walked about 4 miles down the beach. So my total for the day with walking and running was about 20 miles. I am SO ready to train hard for Kenosha!

Super Bowl Pool for the Cure!

Hello Friends and Family!

As you may know, I have registered to walk the Susan G. Komen 3 Day Breast Cancer Walk in Chicago in August. The total walk will be 60 miles over the course of three days. I walked it in 2009 and it was truly a life changing experience. We are excited to have the opportunity to walk it again in 2010. We have doubled our team this year, and so far have 6 registered members. Each of us is required to raise $2,300 for this great cause. It will not be an easy task but I am sure we will meet our goal. We are planning many exciting fundraisers over the course of this Spring and Summer. Our first major fundraiser is a Super Bowl Pool. We will be splitting the proceeds of the pool 50/50. With 50 percent going to pay the winners, and 50 percent to our fundraising efforts. The rules for the pool are below. If you would like to be included, please send $20.00 per square to Jamie Wombacher, 1006 Dewey Street, Harvard, IL 60033. Please also include your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address. If you could also send me an e-mail to let me know that you have dropped the money in the mail, I will know to look for your entry fee. In order to make sure that we have all the money collected prior to the Super Bowl, I must have all mailed entries to me no later than Thursday, February 4, 2010. If you do not want to mail the money, you may deliver to me or one of my team mates, listed below. We will accept cash hand-delivered entries (if space is available) up until 12:00 noon on February 6, 2010. We currently have 2 grids available for a total of 200 squares. We plan to payout $1000 per grid.

Susan G. Komen 3-Day Super Bowl Pool Rules

1. The cost to participate is $20 per square.
2. Players can purchase more than one square.
3. Values (0-9) will be assigned randomly to each row and column on February 6, 2010.
4. Emails will be sent before the start of the game on February 7, 2010 (to players who have provided an e-mail address) informing each player of his/her position(s) on the board.
5. Each players' position(s) will also be posted online before the start of the game at www.becca-mycuprunnethover.blogspot.com.
6. Winners will be determined by matching the last digit of each team's score with the grid at the end of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd quarters and for the final score.
7. The proceeds will be split 50/50 with half of the money going toward the Boobalicious Babes 3-day team and half of the money going toward the payouts.
8. If the board sells out, the total of the payouts is expected to be $1000.
9. The expected payouts will be as follows:
a. $150 (or 15%) to first quarter winner
b. $150 (or 15%) to second quarter winner
c. $150 (or 15% to third quarter winner
d. $550 (or 55%) to final score winner
10. In the case of overtime, the overtime score will be counted as the final score for purposes of determining the final score winner. There will be no additional 4th quarter payout.
11. In no event will the payouts total more than 50% of the total proceeds of the pool.

Questions? Call or e-mail me (815) 814-3913.

My fellow team members are:
Rebecca Lee
Dani Parrotte
Shelley Stricker
Lani Fentrow
Tracey Perkins.

Thanks for participating in this fundraiser for a great cause!!

Training Update!

Training for the 1/2 marathon in October was enjoyable. I trained outside, and rarely stepped on the treadmill. Unfortunately, training for Maui has not been quite as enjoyable. I get so bored on the treadmill that I start playing mindgames with myself. I have been meeting a friend at the gym which helps, because I can't really quit when we have already decided what we were going to run. That just wouldn't be fair. I also started by 16 week full marathon training plan last week. My long runs are Sundays. I was hoping it would be in the 30s so I could run outside, but it was not. In fact it was so cold that the water froze to the side of my water bottle when I was out for only a minute. So, off to the gym I went. I was prepared though, I looked through the guide to find out when there was something on TV that I could watch for the next 2 hours. If I did 6.0 pace, it would take 1 hour and 40 minutes. Kinda depressing, huh?

I settled on 5:00, because there was a special about a previous Biggest Loser winner, Eric, who had gained back nearly 200 pounds. I was intrigued, and thought that it would be a good motivator. Actually, the better motivator was the guy on the treadmill next to me. He was running pretty fast when I got on. Shortly thereafter his treadmill shut down and he got off. I know that the treadmills shut down after an hour, so he must have been running for an hour. About 3 minutes later, he was back on the same treadmill, still running just as fast, and he did another solid hour! WOW! So, I set the treadmill to 6.4 miles per hour and off I went. Somewhere during the run, I felt that I was a little slow and upped it to 6.5. At the end of the first hour, I had run 6.5 miles. I got off, went to the bathroom, and hopped back on again. I looked at it as only 3.5 more, just a little over a 5K. For the next 2 miles, I settled on 6.8 pace, a little faster, but I just wanted to be done. For the next mile, I upped it again to 7.0. About this time my knee started hurting. I had visions of my horrible knee pain pre-physical therapy. I said a little prayer, and told myself that I would finish all 10 miles. (I also knew at this point, that my marathon buddy, Beth, had already done her 10 probably on this very same treadmill, earlier in the day. My competitive spirit wouldn't let me quit!) So for the last 1/2 mile, I upped the speed again to 7.5, pretty fast for me! I finished all 10 miles, and felt pretty good about it too! My knee is a little sore today, so I think tonight will be an elliptical night!

Did I mention that I leave for Maui in 11 days, and run the 1/2 in 13 days!