WEEK 13 UPDATE

Yay! I have pictures today...courtesy of Joey! This weekend was the Country Music 1/2 Marathon in Nashville! It was a speedy trip but lots of fun nevertheless. Friday afternoon Jenna and I headed up to Ringgold, GA to meet Theresa and Joey to head up to Nashville from there. We gained an hour because of the time change which was good for the much needed sleep once we finally went to bed around 11:00pm. We had to get up at 4am so I made sure we set 2 alarms (I wasn't taking any chances). Theresa and Joey aren't exactly morning people. So we (or I should say "I") got up at 4am after waking up on the hour all night and got ready to go. I think I was nervous about not waking up on time and there were thunderstorms all night which were pretty loud too. We managed to get out of the hotel around 5:15am in the rain. We proceeded to sit in gridlock traffic for about 20minutes before deciding to rely on the God sent GPS system. We were able to program in a different route, head to the start line and make it to the race in time for it to start at 7am. The pic you see above is of Theresa and I before the race. The race started in Centennial Park (I felt like I was at home again in Atlanta).

S0 by the time the race started thankfully it had stopped raining and it was perfect weather for running, nice and cool. The first 6 miles or so were a little hilly but after that it was all pretty flat/downhill until about the last mile which hit a few more hills (but I didn't think the hills were that bad for it being in Tennessee). Anyway I felt pretty good about the race I ran my personal best time so I was happy. Unfortunately I didn't see Jenna and her sister along the route. I was looking around the side of the road she said they would be on, but in a race like that it is overwhelming for both the fans and runners due to the amount of people.

Here are a couple of my favorite photos from the day that Joey shot for me. Here is a glimpse at just part of the crowd at the beginning of the race....it was a sea of people.









Here is a pic of a little boy that came in ahead of me (but...for my self confidence notice he is not wearing a number- I promise I can fun faster than a 5 year old!) Too cute :).









Here is a man that was probaby mid 70's I'm guessing.I want to be able to be still running marathons when I'm over 70 too! This man was a powerhouse.












And here I am finishing!! Always a great feeling :). But, I promise I don't always make weird faces when I'm running.









This pic was taken of a couple holding their two kids across the finish line...how precious. If you look really closely you can see a purple banner in the background. It was for Team in Training. There were Team in Training people all along the course and so I got lots of cheers just for wearing my Team in Training shirt...awesome group to be a part of.









And here I am at the finish line with my sis. My favorite quote of the day from my sister: "My feet are so sore." Hahaha...but there was an explanation, she was wearing my shoes that were too small for her. But stil, I loved giving her a hard time for the irony of the comment.














And a couple other pics from the post race festivities
My picture with the blackberry...yes Joey made me take this one.

And I found this shirt very funny for some reason. If you can't read it, it says, "I'd give my right arm to be ambedextrous." I don't know why I just couldn't stop laughing.

And here's my amazing friend Jenna who roadtripped with me this weekend.

And some of my other favorite quotes from the weekend...

Erin: "We can but belly paint on you Jenna. It can say Go "D"! or wait...it can just say GOD!"

From the guy at the free beer station: "Don't listen to what the water guy says...drink up, beer gets rid of the cramps!"

Joey: "Get fired up, get fired up, get...firrred up!" (sorry inside joke)

Just for you jenna: "How big is a 9 inch pizza box?" (yes, that was me)

Theresa: "This is stressing me out watching this race" (oh Theresa...I love you)

One of the bands along the course: "Hey runners we wrote this song just for you"....'Running...keep on running...hope you're not burnt out....keep on running' (what kind of motivation is that?)

Cheerleaders along the course: "L-E-T-S - G-O...Come on let's go!" (The cheer I could not get out of my head for about the last two miles)

That afternoon we headed back to Atlanta in the rain after going to a good mex restaurant for lunch. But I was just so thankful the weather held out for the race. And today we had a surprise retirement party for our Catholic Center priest, Fr. Mario, who is leaving for FL after 38 years at GA Tech! It was sad to say goodbye but the party turned out really well given we had less than a month to throw it all together. So as I type now I have just woken from a nap...I think I might be finally catching up on sleep. But I really have to go study now for finals coming this Tuesday.

But, before I go, I know this is a long post but I just wanted to update you on Erin. She is currently at home right now (thank God for that) recovering from the most recent round of chemo. I know she is just ready for this all to be over with but the prayers of you all and her family and friends are helping her through. From running the race this past weekend and seeing so many Team in Training people from all over, it is very evident how Leukemia & Lymphoma has affected so many. But, it is also encouraging to see how much support and hope there for people like my Erin who are the real athletes in this marathon.

I will be moving back to Dacula this week so if you're in the area...please stop by and say hi, would love the company! Have a terrific week!!

Love,

Denise

WEEK 12 UPDATE

Good evening bloggers!
What a beautiful day today was huh? Couldn't ask for better weather.
This weekend was great! On Saturday it rained a little but kept us cool and then the sunshine came out :). I ran 14 miles, a personal record for me!! I've down a couple of 1/2 marathons and gone 13.1 miles but never 14. And surprisingly I wasn't that tired on Saturday evening or today. I had some friends over on Saturday and was afraid I would be sleeping through dinner but I felt fine. It's amazing how you slowly build up your endurance week after week. As the mileage increases I'm coming to grasp with the fact that the marathon is not that far away, just a little over a month from now! Next week is Country Music 1/2 Marathon, looking forward to road tripping with Jenna, Theresa, and Joey up to Nashville for the race. Hopefully, I'll come back with some pictures I can post. And only one real week of school left...this coming week at Tech is known as Dead Week. So looking forward to what I guess is my last summer as a student. After this summer all my summers will most likely be spent out in the working world (whatever that place is like). Erin went back to Emory this weekend to start with round 3 of her chemo. I think she is doing awesome at this race, she has so much more endurance then I every will. Please continue to pray for her speedy recovery and minimal side effects. And fundraising is going great...many many thanks to all of you awesome donors out there - I know I'll never be able to thank you enough, but I can try....so this won't be the last time you'll hear thank you! Two little words that mean so much! Have a beautiful week!
Love,
Denise

WEEK 11 UPDATE

Hi everyone!
Hope you are enjoying today's chilly weather as much as I am...haha. If you know me at all you'll know that I'm always freezing cold wherever I go and I am very much looking forward to the warm summer months. I guess being a July baby does that to you :).

Well, Saturday was interesting. I went to Team in Training Practice at the river...plan being to run 14 miles. I got about 8 miles into it (after making it up Johnson Ferry Rd - with a tortuous hill) and the sky decided to open up with rain, thunder, lightening, etc. It was a little scary, I'm not gonna lie - I hate being outside during thunderstorms, definitely a phobia of mine for some reason. But, to my rescue came the TNT SUV to pick me up and bring me back to my car. That's what's great about TNT, I feel like there's always someone looking out for you, so it's more reassuring when you know you're about to go out and run a bazillion miles. Also, you can always count on that Powerade stop if you keep going just a little bit further. So, since I only got in 8 miles in the morning, I went home took a nap, got a little bit of work done and then ran 5 miles that afternoon. Gotta keep that mileage up!

The rest of my weekend I enjoyed hanging out with my big sister and on Sunday had my last Connect With Tech Session EVER!! Hard to believe its over after 4 years! But, guess its time to move on.

So, only two more weeks til Country Music 1/2 Marathon. The headliner concert will be featuring Steve Cropper and Friends ("Sittin on the Dock of the Bay", "Knock on Wood", "In the midnight Hour") and Lady Antebellum will be the opening act. So, should be pretty good. But, I have finals two days later so hopefully I'll get in some studying sometime...guess I better start now.

Have a wonderful week!! Hope you all are doing well ~ thanks for your support always!
Love,
Denise

WEEK 10 UPDATE

Hi friends!

The GREAT news of this week is REMISSION!! Yes, that is right, Erin's Leukemia has gone into remission. How awesome is that? God is great!! She still has 3 rounds of chemo to go, but it is such a blessing to know she has come this far. Please continue to pray for her continued healing throughout the rest of her treatment.

This weekend brought rainy weather all day Saturday. However, I can't really complain about getting rain these days, we still need it. Nonetheless, I didn't go to our Group Training Session. I got up at 7am but then decided to surpass running with water filled shoes and headed to the gym for a cross training day instead. Then I made up my long run on Sunday with a 12 miler. The weather was definitely a lot nicer and I think its fun to people watch in Piedmont Park. You'll definitely see all walks of life there that's for sure. Oh and another thing I found interesting this week. One day I went to the Campus Recreation Center at like 10:30 or 11pm at night to get in some running on the treadmill after a long day and every single one of the treadmills were taken!! What is up with that?? I know it's a college campus but come on 11:00pm....get a life!! Haha, I know I'm kind of preaching to myself but I can say I don't usually make it a habit of going to the gym that late at night. But, hey whatever floats your boat, good for you.

Anyway, hard to believe I have less than 4 weeks of school left. Time has flown by!! I'm getting ready for Country Music 1/2 Marathon (April 26) in a few weeks now. I'm looking forward to going up to Nashville with the sister/brother-in-law. If you're gonna be in the area let me know. And if you want to run the race I believe there are still spots left ;).

Well, I'm headed to bed- have a super week and as always thanks for your amazing support!
Love,
Denise