I would like to thank a blast from my past (the guy who hates my blog and rallied up the twiiter followers) for helping me set my New Years Resolution. It has been a year since things started changing for me. For the first time ever I found myself changing not because I wanted to, but because I had to. I have spent the better part of my time in Colorado looking forward and trying to replace painful memories. Well, I am done replacing these memories... I am ready to just do things because they make me happy. So New Years Resolution, stop looking back and just look forward.
In my attempt to do this, I have printed the blog from 2010 into a book, and will remove it from this site. I have thought about updating the URL to something more current... since I am not in Texas anymore. But we will see, I am still not a Cowboys fan. I am looking forward to Christmas at home this year and tons of snowboarding! I will be spending the New Years dressed up in a warehouse downtown... raising money for schools in Africa. Denver cannot do anything without raising money for something. I am excited now. Excited to leave 2010 behind me, take the positive things with me and stop looking back.
I would not have gotten through this year without a few people from the stormwater group in Dallas (they know who they are), SW SOTD, my tri girls, my Dallas family (who I miss and love), my running partner, and anyone who reads this blog. I am taking you guys with me to 2011... and I just can't wait.
Thanks for everything!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Marathon Weekend
A lot of things happened on my marathon weekend. I was in Dallas, so of course there was a lot of unnecessary drama that people built up in their heads. More of the, if you would have acted differently this would not be happening. I went to Dallas to run a marathon and say goodbye… and that is what I did.
It was a little cooler in the morning, but I was at the start line with so many friends… some old racing buddies and my familiar running partner of my days in Dallas. Unplanned, we both show up in a blue top and black bottoms, I went with the black skirt and white compression socks, the outfit is important. After two bathroom breaks at the start we headed out at about 8:30 am. It was a new course. It was good to run through the City of Dallas one last time, say goodbye. That is ultimately why I agreed to run this race, say good-bye and leave some things behind me. Once my running buddy got into stride, it was like the old days, complaining about work, life, things that hurt, things that make us happy, why we run… he is a good running partner. At mile 8 we run into our cheering section, we just smile… At this point the miles just fly by… we come up on White Rock Lake. This is where we ran when I lived in Dallas… “Well ol’ buddy, this could be our last lap around White Rock Lake together.” He goes, “Let’s kick it’s a$$.” It kills the soul, neither one of us have any idea how many laps we have taken around that lake, but it is way too many. We then come up on the cheering section one more time… they are nuts this time. One other runner commented on our cheering section, the running partner turns around and goes, “We are kind of a big deal.” Somewhere after this we realize we may have to split, his knee is hurting… as much as I didn’t even want to say it, I didn’t want to do it, I put my head phones off and took off. I hated it… I hated running with someone and watch them slowly get further ahead of me, so I felt bad doing it to him. But I had my playlist.
I had asked my friends to send suggestions to me to make a new playlist; I was so excited to hear what they had picked. I thought I could pick a favorite song, but I couldn’t, just when I thought I was tired a great song would come on. I hit as close to a wall on my race around mile 21. I felt my hip do something weird and my knee was hurting. Oh well, I would walk that 5 miles if I had to. I kept going. The next part of the race was an uphill climb, I could feel it. I was ready to get to the top so I could take off. A little Kanye and Killers took me to the top and then just like that… I was heading downhill. I kicked it into gear. I enjoyed every song that came on, enjoyed the scenery and I would even beat the beat to a few of the songs. Mile 25 the Red Hot Chili Peppers hit, I sprinted as hard as I could… I was going to take the headphones off as I came up to the finish… but then my running partner’s song came on… I kept the headphones on. I saw my tri girls cheering hard, coming at me in the street right around Mile 26… I love them. Amazing where you make friends and how they stay in your life. I finished the race thinking of the running partner, running as hard as I could and with the best support group around me. Oh, and I hit my goal: 4:13:07, my goal was 4:15. I wish I could have crossed with my old friend, but maybe there is another race in our future, you never know.
I trained for 12 weeks, gave a lot up… I made a race plan and I killed it. I saw who I could, I laughed and gave Dallas the proper goodbye.
It was a little cooler in the morning, but I was at the start line with so many friends… some old racing buddies and my familiar running partner of my days in Dallas. Unplanned, we both show up in a blue top and black bottoms, I went with the black skirt and white compression socks, the outfit is important. After two bathroom breaks at the start we headed out at about 8:30 am. It was a new course. It was good to run through the City of Dallas one last time, say goodbye. That is ultimately why I agreed to run this race, say good-bye and leave some things behind me. Once my running buddy got into stride, it was like the old days, complaining about work, life, things that hurt, things that make us happy, why we run… he is a good running partner. At mile 8 we run into our cheering section, we just smile… At this point the miles just fly by… we come up on White Rock Lake. This is where we ran when I lived in Dallas… “Well ol’ buddy, this could be our last lap around White Rock Lake together.” He goes, “Let’s kick it’s a$$.” It kills the soul, neither one of us have any idea how many laps we have taken around that lake, but it is way too many. We then come up on the cheering section one more time… they are nuts this time. One other runner commented on our cheering section, the running partner turns around and goes, “We are kind of a big deal.” Somewhere after this we realize we may have to split, his knee is hurting… as much as I didn’t even want to say it, I didn’t want to do it, I put my head phones off and took off. I hated it… I hated running with someone and watch them slowly get further ahead of me, so I felt bad doing it to him. But I had my playlist.
I had asked my friends to send suggestions to me to make a new playlist; I was so excited to hear what they had picked. I thought I could pick a favorite song, but I couldn’t, just when I thought I was tired a great song would come on. I hit as close to a wall on my race around mile 21. I felt my hip do something weird and my knee was hurting. Oh well, I would walk that 5 miles if I had to. I kept going. The next part of the race was an uphill climb, I could feel it. I was ready to get to the top so I could take off. A little Kanye and Killers took me to the top and then just like that… I was heading downhill. I kicked it into gear. I enjoyed every song that came on, enjoyed the scenery and I would even beat the beat to a few of the songs. Mile 25 the Red Hot Chili Peppers hit, I sprinted as hard as I could… I was going to take the headphones off as I came up to the finish… but then my running partner’s song came on… I kept the headphones on. I saw my tri girls cheering hard, coming at me in the street right around Mile 26… I love them. Amazing where you make friends and how they stay in your life. I finished the race thinking of the running partner, running as hard as I could and with the best support group around me. Oh, and I hit my goal: 4:13:07, my goal was 4:15. I wish I could have crossed with my old friend, but maybe there is another race in our future, you never know.
I trained for 12 weeks, gave a lot up… I made a race plan and I killed it. I saw who I could, I laughed and gave Dallas the proper goodbye.
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