I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Half Marathon #2...done!

The Nike Women's Half Marathon on October 22, 2006 in San Francisco

There I am about to cross the finish line with my TNT Mentor and running buddy, Cassie Dodd. We crossed the finish line at exactly the same time, beating our goal by four minutes. We ran the beautiful 13.1 mile course in 2:36. We were so happy with how we did...especially since this race was in San Francisco and in case you don't know about San Fran...there are A LOT of hills! Mile 6 was hard, and then 7 and 8 and 9 and 10 and 11 and 12 and by 13 the adrenaline just kicked in and all we could do is sprint to cross the finish line! Plus there was a lady we saw twice holding up a sign saying that they were running out of necklaces! Instead of a finishers medal, we were all graced with (even the 700 men who ran in the race out of the 15,000 participants) a Tiffany's necklace with a girl runner on it and the engraving SF 06 along with a Nike swoosh. The SF city firefighters were dressed up in tuxedos and Nike shoes holding silver platters with blue Tiffany's boxes on them at the finish line for us. It was classic! What a great event!

Ribbons showing all those who I ran for along with a picture of my dad and I.

Here are the firefighters!

My finishers necklace :) Cool prize, isn't it!?!

Thanks again for all the support! Team in Training was able to raise an amazingly large amount of money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society through this one event! What a difference we are making! Thank you!!!

San Francisco...Here I come!

The Nike Women's Half Marathon is around the corner! Only a little over two weeks left! I am so excited. I am feeling really strong and have made a lot of progress becoming a better runner. Who would have thought that I used to HATE running! Now it is almost meditating for me. I have enjoyed going down to the boardwalk in Newport and running along the beach with the waves crashing next to me. I pass by Blackie's and see all the longboard surfers that always gather there and then on to Newport El with the kids swinging from the bars on their playground in the sand. I go on www.mapmyrun.com and see how many miles I run and make new routes. Running 5 miles seems like nothing now!

Thank you to everyone who has supported me throughout my journey with Team in Training, both by donating and also emotionally. Running has been good therapy for me with everything going on!!! I will report back after my event with pictures and a recap of how things go! Wish me luck and I will be thinking of everyone as I cross the finish line on October 22nd!

:) Beckie