One hope.

Like many other runners, and, well, humans, my heart has been heavy since Monday. I don't plan on listening to my co-workers and never running a race again. In fact, I plan on participating in the Bay Bridge Run over the Coronado bridge (a tough 4 miler) next month as planned and wearing blue and yellow for Boston. So yesterday when I went out on my run, I put on a race shirt and thought about Boston. It was a short run, but I cried for everyone involved (I'm a crier) and felt peace toward the end.

Here's my race shirt:

And here's a song I can't get out of my head right now.  Some Good in this World

Let Your Light Shine

The day was beautiful, as was the pre/post-race set-up. It was fantastic to see so many San Diegans (and former San Diegans) out bright and early on a Saturday morning in memory of two beautiful girls taken too soon.

Those folks on the ground worked so hard to make a beautiful chalk drawing that thousands of people promptly ran over and destroyed.  

 This is not a runners "race." It just isn't. There are far too many folks out there to support the wonderful cause thus there is tons of traffic to avoid. They make an attempt at corralling runners in waves, but it wasn't the most organized and most people failed to pay attention. As previously mentioned the hill was back. I'm frustrated because I can't find my finish time for the Jingle Bell run, but I'm fairly certain I sped up a little this race despite having to dodge around traffic quite a bit. Before long, I saw this....it's always glorious. All finished!

 Despite not being a "runners run" it's a great run. Everyone on the course is incredibly encouraging. They were cheering on other runner and thanking volunteers, it was incredibly uplifting. Also uplifting was the kick off (this year done by Amber Dubois' little sister) and the speech made by Mr. and Mrs. King. Mr. King said he ran the course that morning, just he and his daughter....that really hit my heart because she was taken too soon, and running was one of her passions. The quotes all along the course that she loved just added to the spirit that was so very present on this day.

 RIP Chelsea and Amber, I know your spirits were with us yesterday. Your light continues to shine.

[Jaws music]

OMG. The hill is back. The Jingle Bell 5k hill, the one that made me want to give up forever. It's part of this darn race on Saturday. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!! P.S. I'm Finishing Chelsea's Run on Saturday. See you there.

SuperStahh

In my quest to find a race every single month (I started in October, but whatever, 12 months is 12 months) I stumbled upon the Super Run thanks to my new favorite website . I generally try and find something with either a) a good cause (this is my first choice) or b) a fun theme (like the 80s run.) The Super Run supported Morse HS athletics, Water for Children Africa, and a Cancer organization. If you know me, you know I'll almost always support local HS anything (they need funding) as well as Africa anything (well, not really, I vet my organizations fairly well) so I was in. The only problem? It was just a week after the Stephen Strasburg run. What was I thinking? So just a few short days after I ran through the rain, I was parking my car and spying this:

Now THAT is what I want to see when I'm getting ready to run. A beautiful sunrise is definitely a sign of a good day. The race didn't have a pre-race packet pick up so I got there early enough to pick up my stuff and schlep it back to my car before the start of the run. I know from experience I don't want to run with all that crap. On the way back to drop off the AWESOME shirt we received, I spied this:

Um, yeah, I kind of love San Diego sometimes. This was both a 5 and 10k and I noticed that the vast majority of the participants were from the San Diego Track Club and later learned that this was one of their training runs for the marathon trainees. This meant the biggest group was running the 10k, and it made me want to try one out for myself. Maybe in a few months. The course was super fast, and I managed a PR. You can tell by the official race photos that I was trying really hard. I'm a seriously gorgeous hideous runner.

Here I am crossing the finish line, oh yeah!

If only I could look as pretty as the sunrise did. And with that, I'm all caught up. Until next time, friends. I'll be finishing Chelsea's Run in just a few short weeks. Join me.

Take me out to the [race track]

I was super excited in January to run the Stephen Strasburg 5k at SDSU. I'm a big sports fan and the prospect of seeing some of my favorite past and present Padres (and even a few future Padres) was enough to get me out in the rain (again.) Stephen Strasburg was there too, and the race's packet pickup included several Washington Nationals themed items. It was awesome, and I'm a very proud owner of the autographs I was able to receive. I posted this stellar hideous photo on my FB, but let's just say, I started running because SD has nice weather. This rain is for the birds.

The course itself was a slow one, but as you can see above I finished anyway. There's nothing like running downhill at the start of a race and realizing "oh crap, this means I'm going to have to run back up at the end." Anyway, it was still a fun race for me, and the cheering crowds of college baseball players/cheerleaders was a nice touch (even though it made me feel ancient.) It was also cool to run past the kids camped out at Viejas Arena for the upcoming SDSU basketball game.

Oh what fun it is to run....

...in the pouring down rain! Okay, not really. I know I'm probably in the minority here, but really, I HATE running in the rain. I'm a San Diegan, rain doesn't make sense to me, like, at all. I'm also saving for a wedding so I can't afford to "waste" money. So, rain or shine, that money I spent to run means I'll be running. So, here's a lovely water-logged "rain"deer (see what I did there)

And, yes, the antlers sure did light up. Unfortunately due to the rain I think I'm going to need a new set for next year. Those things weren't really meant for water. The Jingle Bell 5k was a total blast, despite the weather, and I hope to run it again next year. I'll even find an ugly Christmas sweater to add to the look. Or maybe just sew some bells on a tree skirt and wear that. One thing, though, I'll be ready for that killer hill part way through. Holy moly, it was tough - if you happen to know the 6th Ave side of Balboa Park, right at the beginning of the park basically - you know what hill I'm talking about. Ooof. Still, though, it was fun and I was very glad my lovely BF (at the time) had a waterproof windbreaker type jacket I could wear.

Sleep. Run. Feast.

Okay, so back to the catching up thing. Race 2 was Thanksgiving morning which I figured was a brilliant way to give myself the excuse to eat an extra slice of turkey later. It was also helpful that the course happened to go right past my house, so it's a route I run fairly often. Because of this, and because I wasn't so overwhelmed with the entire thing this time, I took a few pictures on the course. I always look STELLAR for a run (but I kind of love the excuse to "dress up.")

Either way, I was pretty excited to start the race, and the clouds made it nice (rather than, say, 100 degrees or something.) As I ran along, I saw this lovely view,

It's amazing how peaceful a somewhat major highway (for those that can't tell this is the 163) can look when it's extremely early on a holiday morning. After crossing the Laurel Street bridge, we were headed down 6th Ave, and I spotted a shirt I want to have:

"Please God, let there be someone behind me to read this." Rest assured, lady, I've got you covered. And finally, my favorite site:

Just round the corner and you're done! As I walked back to my house, still wearing the turkey tiara and race bib, several passersby yelled out "congrats! great race!" and various other words of inspiration. I love how cheerful and upbeat everyone in this running/walking world is - cheaper than therapy, for sure.