Surf City 2011

So another item off the bucket list…I completed a half marathon!

Last year…I’m not sure who came up with the idea but Cindy  Hamann got my Mom and a few other ladies on board to participate in a half marathon. I think that originally the training/quality time was meant to help Mother get through my treatment, with having her friends around her for the support that she desperately needed! Either way, my Mother, Cindy Hamann, Sandi Newman, Nichole Lindersmith, Donnita Lindersmith, together, with the Road Warriors Running Club out of Redlands all did the 1/2 marathon in honor of ME! Erika Paul, Jonathan Morales and The Brito’s all did the Surf City 5k in honor of me as well! 

Redlands Road Warriors	Nichole, Sandi, Donnita and Mom	Jonathan, Lili, me, Erika & Fernando after the 5k

How humbling of an experience is it to have a Running Club, full of strangers, fundraise in my honor for a year, use me and my battle as their “shining star” during races and having family-friends that aren’t exactly “marathon runners”, get out there and accomplish something amazing like this!?!?  So when I found out that race day landed just 3 days after my last chemo treatment I knew that even if I was puking in my chair waiting for them to finish I’d HAVE to be there to cheer them on or at least hug them when they crossed the finish line!…so needless to say, I wasn’t feeling too hot, didn’t do much “cheering” but I did do a lot of hugging when I saw the women finish!!

So the bright GREEN shirts said “Carin for Erin” and seemed to get EVERYONE’S attention in Huntington Beach. Everyone asked the walkers “So who is Erin?”…and they’d say “she's at the finish line…and she’ll be doing it next year”!

When I was first diagnosed Cindy Hamann gave me one of her marathon medals…to help inspire me to kick this cancers booty.  I cherish that medal, and one of my lifetime goals HAS to be to complete that same Rock ‘N Roll marathon and give Cindy MY medal in return! Cindy has gone through some sh*t this past year…no, not cancer and chemo but she got run over by her own car, fractured pelvis, surgeries AND still recovered enough to do Surf City this year w/ her Road Warriors! Good Job Cindy!!

Finally spotting Bernie’s bright GREEN shirt I was overcome with joy and emotion.  She had a look of accomplishment across her face and I knew she was proud of herself.  Mom walked right over, took her medal off and put it around my neck and said “It was all for you my Loveen!” 

As we stood at the finish line last year we said that we were going to be completing this race again next year….but I was going to be a member of the team instead of a cheer-leader!

 

February 6th, 2011…

We lost Sandi for this year…she wasn’t able to commit the time to training this year, but look forward to having her (and her daughter-in-law) out next year! We added Trish Aries, Donnita’s friends Barbara & Shelley & Erika decided to up herself from the 5k to 13.1 miles!!! Thank you All That Bling for doing an awesome job on our Cancer Sucks! shirts!

I figured we didn’t need to do this race “for me” so the Carin’ For Erin shirts were going to have to get retired! BUT I wanted to still do something to show that Cancer Sucks and we don’t like it. Therefore the saying “Cancer Sucks!” fit accordingly for our new shirt logo! Mom had Mary D., and 2 Sylvia’s written on her shirt, so we thought about them and their current battles with cancers now!

So all the mornings we trained, the new shoes (and blisters that came alone with them), the outfits, etc. but all laughing aside I was getting serious about race time.  Those that know me, know that I’m not one bit competitive (haha)  I didn’t have many expectations for myself when signing up for this…but that soon led to the idea that I really wanted to get under 3hours.  I also went from the idea of walking the whole race like we’ve done Breast Cancer walks in the past to trying to actually jog some of this darn thing.  All the women wanted to walk, but I knew Trish would be game for getting my a$$ running….and THAT she did! Thank you Trish for pushing me when I needed it and not letting me fall behind! She gave me something to remember my FIRST half marathon…

This bracelet is so awesome…and she seems to always give the right gifts!

Trish and myself finished the 13.1 miles in 2 hours and 39 minutes…not too shabby! I was very proud of us!!!

…I was hurtin’ so bad yesterday that I was asleep by 7:30pm and felt like I got ran over by a truck BUT it was all worth it!!! Can’t wait for next year…and already looking into more “events” we can do this year as a group! Thanks ladies for an awesome experience…and see ya soon!

Another victory…another experience!! Thank you Lord for curing me!