MudRun!

Should have been called Mud Obstacle Course! This thing was 6.2 miles of insanity! The course was 3.1 miles so for the 10k you had to do everything twice! It started with jumping over huge pipes and haystacks, then came to an incredibly steep hill, after that were a ton of small hills in succession with water pits in between! Then more huge dirt mounds that were so steep I had to slide down! Half of the 2nd mile was directly uphill, so steep we were at a total incline! We raced down the other side, hopped a series of 6' walls, then attacked a whole bunch more hills and water pits, some of which had tape over the top so we had to crawl underneath! The entire thing was punctuated by explosions and helicopters! We trudged up around the bend and realized we had sharp gravel in our shoes! We dug it out as best we could and then did it all AGAIN! We must be crazy! Most people just did the 5k, the other people on the 10k were mostly hardcore athletes who were way ahead of us. We finished second to last HA! I don't care how long it took, the point was we took each obstacle as it came, put one foot in front of the other, and never gave up! Reminds me of living with NF2 while being saturated with mud! The pictures show the easiest part of the course that went along the spectator space, trust me when I tell you these were the smallest hills and most shallow pits! We finished the run and got rinsed off by a bunch of firemen! My friend Michelle was there taking pics, check out her page for pics of her boys doing the kids Fun Run! I was so jealous they got cute little medals, I wanted a medal!

I'm home now and ready to do absolutely nothing for the rest of the day!!

My Love...

Last night Paul and I went and saw a muay thai kickboxing event at San Manuel Casino! It was really raw! There was one female fight and it was insane. I have never seen someone get punched straight in the face so hard in person before. I kept cringing and squeezing my eyes shut! Paul kept his strong arm wrapped around me the entire night, and later as I drifted off to sleep with our feet lightly touching I looked back on how we met...

I have actually known my husband Paul since I was 15 years old and a new student at Valley View High School in Ontario. I was a junior and he was a senior, we immediately hit it off and became the best of friends.

1998

Valley View

When Paul graduated I was there for every moment of it, in fact when he "rang the bell" to symbolize finishing the last of his work he kept the whole school waiting while someone found me!

1999

Paul's Graduation

My senior year was horrible! Paul had graduated and I had no one to hang out with anymore. I had my first brain surgery to remove a vestibular schwannoma on the left side, after 3 months of painful recuperation I returned to high school half deaf. The ringing in my head was so loud for the first 6 months that I could not use the phone or understand most speech. Paul stayed by my side through it all and would even sit on the relay phone with me as if nothing was out of the ordinary. It was such a lonely and painful time for me, and Paul was the best friend a girl could have. Even now I have the journals saved where I would doodle his name all over the edges! Whenever I was upset, I could drive to Paul's Nina's where he lived in the converted garage. Around the time I graduated and finally became single, I found out a girlfriend of mine who knew full well I liked Paul purposefully set her sights on him! He kissed her, and naively told me about it! He seriously couldn't grasp why I was upset, I swear men can be so incredibly oblivious! After 3 years of friendship I finally yelled, "I'm mad because I like you stupid!" and slammed down the phone!!! He called back and said well of course he liked me too! Our first date we went and saw the Blair Witch Project, he kissed me and the world swooned, or maybe that was from the camera shaking on the movie, either way I got sick as we left! For a couple of years Paul and I dated on and off, we never went steady, we were young and just having fun. Everytime something serious would happen, if I was hurt or scared, I could run to Paul. Eventually we lost touch for about a year, and when we finally saw each other again it was as though we knew it was fate. We had both been through unspeakable drama since we had been apart and had lost our innocence. In Paul I found a bit of who I had been before the pain, in him I found someone who loved me for who I had been and who I was now. 4 years ago this month Paul took me to the LA County fair, and as we stumbled off a ride and watched the fireworks overhead we embraced the love that had slowly grown over the years.

2003

LA County Fair

We moved in together within a month and were married a year later.

2005

Wedding Reception

Maggianos, Las Vegas

We have the kind of love people write stories about, I have no doubt we will last and know that come what may, Paul will always be the one I run to.

2008

2nd Wedding Anniversary

Deuce 40, Las Vegas

Procrastinator!

Ok I totally flaked on myself today! I was supposed to run and did not go! I will try to do it when Paul gets home. 5 miles today and tomorrow, then the Mud Run Saturday are it for this week. I am totally nervous about the Mud Run! I am going to have my little cousin take a bunch of pictures to post of me just covered in slop!

Today was Mica's first day of playschool, her friend Olivia from the Fabulous Moms is in her class! She was not having it at circle time and kept trying to escape until they started singing a song with hand movements. I noticed out of all the children she was the first to pick up the hand movements and I have no doubt it is because she is learning sign language. The concept of communicating by gesture is innate to her at this point. I really feel there are massive educational benefits derived from children learning sign language as babies. They are better able to express their needs at a younger age and have less frustration. Today was the only parent participation day of the class, starting Monday Mica is on her own!

Achieve

I woke up this morning expecting to be in a fair amount of pain from my run, but was surprised to find I just feel a little tight! With stretching and yoga I am feeling pretty good. I am excited to run 10 miles again and feel renewed in my running efforts. I just found out about a Mud Run this Saturday near me and am going to run a 5 or 10k sloshing through tons of mud! I am waiting to find out what my friend Jen wants to run, no way am I doing this thing alone! I have met a lot of great people since I have started running and it has definitely opened doors to some positive relationships. I am becoming more firm in my belief that if you work hard and focus on your goals, the Universe will help you to achieve and things will fall into place. Life will never be perfect, but there are clues along the path to guide you in the right direction. You just have to be willing to listen, or in my case look!

Only 6 more weeks until the Long Beach Marathon! I have raised $2,926 and only need $75 more to reach my goal! Every little bit helps. All of the $25 donations I have recieved have added up to a good amount. Every little bit helps, and together we each make a difference! Visit my fundraising page here!

10 miles!!

I was up at 6 am this morning, ok 6:30 I climbed back into bed for a few minutes, but I was out the door at 7 am! I made it 10.5 miles all the way through Rancho, Upland, Claremont, Pomona and finally into La Verne past Fairplex! It felt so good to be outside, the weather was perfect, and as Paul pulled up to meet me at 9:00 I almost wanted to keep running! Almost, but not quite! I am sure I will be sore tomorrow but right now I just feel like I could run forever... like I could run until we cure NF2... like I could run until all the ghosts of my pasts are left far behind... like I could run until all that lies before me is a bright and healthy future...

Tomorrow

I have not run since Wednesday! I am going crazy! I am finally running my first 10 mile run tomorrow morning! I am nervous and excited at the same time. For those of you who are local, I am running from Vineyard and Arrrow, all the way down Arrow past Fairplex to C Street! That seems so far because I usually run out and back, but this time I am just running the whole distance and Paul will pick me up at the end! I just keep envisioning myself completing the run and feeling that incredible satisfaction. I am rewarding myself with a new fuel belt and the Nike plus wristband! Ok so I am also rewarding myself with a nice glass of wine and some dark chocolate that evening!

Chivalry is DEAD

The other day I took JT to the allergist and as I was sitting in the waiting room an older couple came out from the back. The wife was pushing her husband in a wheelchair, and glanced around the tiny room looking for an exit path. Immediately I stood, sat my kids out of the way, and smiled of course. There were 2 grown men sitting there, not even reading or predisposed in any manner. Neither moved at all! I quickly stood and went to hold the door open, smiling as the couple passed and wishing them a nice day. As I came back in my face quickly changed to a scowl as I shot both men judgemental looks and went back to my spot. What is wrong with people today? I don't mind opening the door, but I am the only one trying to wrangle 2 young children, and neither of those men even thought to open the door for that couple. One was even sitting with his mother. JT is 5, and when the door is not a huge heavy wooden door such as the one in that office, I already instruct him to open doors for people. Not out of laziness but out of good parenting of course! I am not even sure if my judgement should lay with the young man who sat with his mouth slightly open, or his mother with the pursed lips who obviously should have told him, "Close your mouth and go open the door for that couple!" I have had men let a door close right on me as I was pregnant and carrying a screaming toddler. I know feminism murdered chivalry, but shouldn't there still be such a thing as common decency?