Week 10 - Day 29 - 07.17.10 - Saturday (10.3 Miles with hills)

I would say the theme for today's TNT group run was..."Pay It Forward."

I knew it was going to be a good day when I found a parking lot just kiddie corner to our meeting point and only had to pay $5 cash for an all day spot.  This was perfect especially since our run was two hours long and then the potluck and social aspect afterwards.  With my luck, I would forget to run back to feed the meter and find a lovely bright yellow parking ticket for me.

I was the second one there from our Westside running team and was met with a friendly grin from our half marathon coach Wendy.  We both agreed that it was such a chilly morning and hoped that sunshine would make it's appearance later during our run.  Eventually the rest of our team showed one by one, some with their potluck item in hand.  I decided to bring the easy "buy it at Winco" veggie tray and spinach dip tray.

To my surprise, our Eastside and Westside coaches announced our runs were hills and they were going to be at...yup you guessed it...at my weekly course on the Terwilliger Blvd.  I was so happy and thankful that Andrea showed me this course a couple weeks ago so I know I could do it.  I was starting to feel for my newbie teammates who did not know what was in store for them this AM.  The main purpose of today's run was to see how far we can run within 2 hours for the full marathoners and 1 hour for the half marathoners.  Now mind you, it wasn't the usual 2 hour run because we had these challenging hills to boot!  I felt good and even passed some folks up the hill that I never thought I would have passed.  I also met some new runners from the Eastside that were awed by my CardioTrainer device and kept asking me where to find it and by the way what the distance or time was since they were hovering around me during our runs. I really wanted to bring 12 miles today but it wasn't in the cards, and that's OK. 

I ran in strong and proud and was honored to see all the different bios of why we were doing this in the first place and the people who's lives we were touching one way or another with our training and of course fundraising.  Pay it forward indeed....

For some reason, this poster hit a chord with me and I was enamored on how beautiful this woman was and how young and vibrant she looked even fighting this deadly disease. Hills be damned, they were nothing with what this fine lady was going through.

We then ended our run with a fabulous potluck and I gorged myself with fruits, veggies, and lots and lots of chocolate milk.  We were treated with a hilarious fellow that was only introduced as the "Chemo Rapper" and boy did he ever.

Remember I told you the theme was "Pay It Forward"?  As I was leaving this joyous TNT event, I returned to my car to find the deserted parking lot filled to the brim.  I noticed a family in a van eyeing my coveted spot next to the entrance and they waited patiently until I backed out of the spot.  Before I drove off, I stopped my car and asked the father if he would like my parking pass since it seemed a shame to not share it since I was leaving.  He was both delighted and grateful for the gesture. I can only hope he too shared this and paid it forward to the next person too.