June 6th- I DID IT! I Rocked the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon! June 6, 2011

Today was one of the best days of my life.

It started off with getting up in the early mornings on June 5th, 2011. Having got all my equipment ready and my hair was done the night before helped with no panicking the morning of. Tori was ready and my Dad picked us up at 4:30am, and we were off to pick up Autumn. She also was running the Half as well. We got to her house around 4:45ish and started on our way to the race. OMG is was packed! The I-5 Freeway was packed to the brim! There was so many ppl trying to get to the same place that my Father was getting really frustrated with all the traffic that is started making me slightly on edge. But all turned out for the best and we ended up right at the front of the race. Yeah…he dropped us off right at the front of the race…don’t ask me how that happened but it did and it was perfect!

So we were finally there! This was the race that I had been training for for so long and I was finally here. Autumn and I took a trip to the restrooms and she put on my bib number for me. She later left bc they were already starting the race and I was in Corral 40, so I had some time before I started. I actually ended up starting at 7:14am when the race actually started at 6:15am. Yeah that is really how long it took to get through all the corrals before they go to mine. Wow!

Please stay toned for a lot more photos and my entire story of the adventure I took these past couple of days. I know I haven’t posted in a few days but it has been a wild freakin ride! A ride that lead me from getting my shirt done, working in between training, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Expo, training more, then actually running my FIRST HALF MARATHON!

Here are my Stats from the Dodge San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon:

Overall: 13445 out of 17152

Gender: 8533 out of 11538

Division: 2134 out of 2596

Chip Time: 2:57:12

HELL YEAH! Did it UNDER 3 HOURS!

Going Past The Finish Line

Yay Baby!!! Out of 32,000 Racers (35,000 registered) and 17152
Halfers I came in 13445! I think that is a pretty good job!

June 3rd: Acupuncture and Expo Day! June 4, 2011

Yay! 9:30am Acupuncture Appointment to help me with my last bits of pain! This was going to be the last appointment before my BIG RUN, so I was really excited that she was going to hook me up with all kinds of needles and relief that I needed.

After my treatment, Autumn and I had a plan to go to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Expo to pick up our numbers and packets…oh and you can’t forget the FREE STUFF!!!!!! I love me some FREE STUFF! and boy did we get a lot of great free stuff! There was so many venders, and photo ops! It was so fun! The expo turned out to be really fun! It started out with us getting our numbers and goodie bags. Then we looked at the merchandise, which I did get a cheesy frame that say Rock ‘n’ Roll ½ Marathon 2011 blah blah blah…it was super cute and cheesy. So I had to get it! Hehe! Autumn bought a shirt after we went through the entire expo. Nice shirt too!

Man we go so many free samples, yakult was a big one that we got a ton of samples from. Another was Larabars (which are Gluten-Free), so I filled up on a ton of those! Yummy! We were able to get a lot of coupons for products that I am actually thinking of looking into (pain gel… shoes… tape…races around California…I can’t even remember all the free stuff we got). There was so cute clothes and the people there were so sweet and nice, most were really knowledgeable about everything. In the middle there was a vender called KT Tape.

This was something that I have been looking in to for a long time. Every time I go to Road Runner Sports, I always go over and take a look at this KT Tape. I have heard so much about it! Olympic Athletes use it and people going through rehab, but I didn’t know what to do with it for myself. I didn’t want to re-injure myself by taping anything wrong. WELL THEY WERE THERE! So I signed up on the sheet to get all taped up. The list was long so Autumn and I walked around more and came back. I did have to leave by 2-3pm, so I was on a time limit. I mean I had to work, so I couldn’t just stay forever! Well they were almost to my name so we came back again and I got paired up with an AMAZING lady name CINDY BAILEY (DPT, OCS, SCS, ATC). She is an Owner and Physical Therapist for a company called ORS. Anyways, so I told her what was going on with me…my left hip…my IT Band…and my left foot. So she was kinda funny and asked me if I was about to take my pants off so she could take me from my hip to my knee. I was like… “Aaahhhhh? Not really…”, Autumn pipes up and says, “I have a shirt!” (the clean shirt she just bought from the expo 5 mins before!) So the lady took her jacket and I undressed in the middle of the Expo Exhibitor Corner and started taping me up! It was great! I wasn’t a believer but I decided to keep it on. I asked her how she knew how to do this bc I didn’t want her to mess me up with on 2 days left before the BIG RACE! She told me she was one of the first that started with KT Tape and was sent to Japan to learn her trade. I was impressed and felt comfortable. She told me to that you could take a shower with the tap, it stays on for about 5 days if needed and to put a hair dryer to the tape to make it stick better. And boy did it stick!

After getting all taped up, we zoomed home and I went to work with the tape on. Still not thinking that anything was going to happen having the tape on. But I later started seeing there was a huge difference! It was amazing! It was as if my knee had been lifted and my hip I didn’t even notice as well as my foot!

June 2nd- 3 Days And A Graduation June 2, 2011

Good early morning Adventure Readers!

Wow was I busy the last couple of days. It seems like the days till my big race are moving closer and closer so much faster then I ever expected! I am so super excited.

Yesterday was a big day for me also. I finally graduated for the last time at Grossmont College. I am forever finished with that school and will never go back! That feels amazing to say only because I have been there since 2003. That is the year I graduated from high school! Boy oh Boy! So now I am only at SDSU, but I go there with two degrees behind me. My first is the one I received in 2008 with a Degree in General Education-Transfer Studies and the newest one in Media Communications-Audio Production. Yay for me….hahahaha!!!! It was really nice having my family there watching me complete that milestone in my life.

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Ok so yesterday was NATIONAL RUNNING DAY and I didn’t get to run because I was getting all ready for my graduation. My plan for this week before my Half Marathon is to run tonight. I was thinking a 5 or 6 miler around the area. Then run tomorrow evening another 5 or 6 miles, then NOTHING on Saturday. Sunday is THE BIG DAY! I think that would be a great plan just to keep me up to par for funning my 13.1miles.

I also have some great ideas for my tattoo and what I want to get and where. I have talked to some amazing friends about their artist. I am thinking some sort of wings on my feet like Apollo and the numbers 13.1 on my left foot and then when I run my 26.2 Full Marathon I will but it on right foot…i don’t know…what do you think?

Anyways I have to get back to doing/starting house chores because I have been kinda lazy on doing the dishes and they are starting to smell A LOT! lol!

When you are doing something in life that you love or enjoy, don’t ever let anyone ever tell you CAN’T do it. If it weren’t for will power and time, I would have giving up a long time ago. Keep yourself surrounded by people that will support you and lift you up rather then bring you down. There will always be someone that envy’s what you have or who you are…just take that as a compliment and do as others have done to you and reach out to them. Everyone deserved to have their one moment in time to shine.

June 1st- Later After I Walked June 1, 2011

Hey there Adventure Readers,

I decided to go out for a short run maybe a 4 or 5miler. It would have been my second to last run before my big run on SUNDAY! I didn’t have to work so I got out a little earlier then normal. It was really nice but I think I started willing bad things to happen to me. I started feeling my Hip Pinching and my left foot started hurting from my Plantar Fasciitis. Which for those that don’t know, I have been dealing with that for the last 3-4 years.

When I went on my European Trip with my Grandmother, I actually was in soft casts for 6 months. Some times it still comes back if I have been on my feet for a long time. Plantar Fasciitis is a super painful injury that happens to the bottom of the foot, similar to having tendonitis but on the bottom of your feet. So…I was scared! This is the last thing I needed to deal with when I only had 4 days left until I had to run 13.1 miles. So I just kept my run nice and short until I could get to acupuncture on Friday morning.

So I rested until I could get to acupuncture!