She's Going The Distance

THE RACE FINISH LINE

(no, i am not in the photo)

JANE & ME AFTER THE RACE

(yes, that is pouring rain in the background)

READ JANE'S SHIRT

("my mommy is not a quitter")

Sunday, November 9th - I ran the Big Sur Half Marathon on the Monterey Bay with my workout partner Yvonne.  I still can't believe it is finally over.  

Rewind to July of 2005 when I asked this stay-at-home mom I met at the pool if she wanted to work out with me sometime.  Eventually, she agreed.  We began to work out occasionally, and then regularly.  She has two daughters, so we worked around her schedule.  When she went back to work we adjusted our workout time to 5:15 am.  Three days a week, people.  

Then, I got pregnant.  We kept on working out.  In fact, it was either the morning of, or the morning prior to, the night I went into labor that we worked out for the last time.  At 7 weeks old, I left sleeping Jane and sleeping Blaine to begin the process of "losing baby weight". 

It was sometime in there that my sister-in-laws were signing up to run the Nike Women's Half-Marathon in SF.  Did I want to do it?  Not really.  However, Yvonne and I signed up with them. Due to some registration mistake on my part, I was the only member of the group that did not get in.  Sooooo.... I piggybacked on Marie's goal of running the Big Sur.  

Back to present day: Blaine was to be hunting in Colorado the date of the race, so I asked the Serrano family to come for a visit and babysit Jane during the race.  They are the bomb, so of course they agreed.  

Blaine just happened to come home early from his trip because of bad weather and no bucks, so he was home to enjoy the "triplets", a small lasagne dinner, and braving the bad weather in Monterey after the race.

Yvonne drove us to the race in the morning.  We had to arrive super early to get a parking spot before they closed off the streets.  That's when I started to get nervous.  or maybe it was the 4 times I woke up throughout the night.  or maybe it was all that water I drank on the drive.  

The run went pretty well!  My two goals: run the whole thing, and finish in 2 hours 15 minutes - were both met!!  Our finish time was 2:11, and we kept that 10 minute pace up the entire race (even faster in the last couple of miles ;).  The weather was cool, with some sprinkling at the race start, but was totally manageable - yea for cheap pink gloves!!!

Approaching the finish line, I heard "Stacey rules!" (or something like that) and turned to see Dean on the left side with Delaney in a baby back carrier.  So, we sprinted through the finish line, entered the cattle herd of finishers, and tried to find my family.  Then, the rain really let go.  It was pouring so hard, and so darn cold, that we didn't check out any of the post-race party.  Instead, I saw Jodi, Dean, Delaney, Emelyn, and Jane - all with shirts that read "Mommy/Aunt Stacey/My sister... is not a quitter".  I started tearing up and smiling like crazy.  

How awesome are those Serranos, anyway?

So, we all (except Yvonne who went to be with her family) met the Costa family {(The dad, David ran the race in 1:52!!!) - Melissa their daughter babysits jane once in a while} at California Pizza Kitchen.  Kylie, Jason, Madison, Joseph, and Griffin met us there, too.  As we started to eat my Dad and Cheryl even stopped in to congratulate us!  

It was a fantastic day made super special by my supportive family.

And, Yvonne still rules more than me, because she has done the WHOLE San Francisco Marathon before.  Yes, that's right people.  She is the bomb.  Without her, ain't no way I would ever run 13.1...... or even 3.1 for that matter.

For more photos of the race day, check out Dean Serrano's blog (there's a link on the right).