The BIG DAY! Part 1

The big day finally arrived, time for the marathon! Where do I begin to describe that amazing weekend...Ok Friday May 29th everything was packed and I was headed back home, SAN DIEGO! The night prior I could not sleep, I kept going down the list making sure I had packed EVERYTHING I need: blister band-aids, sport jelly beans for power, sports bra, shorts, shoes, vaseline for my toes, socks (not the new ones but the ones I had trained with), TNT shirt/singlet, hair ties, camera, study material, sunscreen, fuelbelt, the list could go on forever. In my mind I kept adding extra stuff like cute dresses for the day after and mostly just more crap to pack. I didn't want to check my bag in fear it would get lost so as I packed and repacked I made sure I could carry it. Friday morning Marcel was going to try to fly out with us but because he flies stand by it wasn't looking very good. I didn't let that bring me down. Once we got to the airport I prepared myself for security. I feared they would take away my gu or my ziploc baggie would burst open. In my purse I had chapsticks and lotions that didn't fit in my ziploc so I was somewhat scared my burts bees would not be with me during my marathon. After breathing my way through security we walked to the gate. I found the Divas and all the rest of the girls from The Woodlands group. I was already feeling nervous yet excited. Once we started to board there was no turning back I HAD to go through with the WHOLE marathon. So as the 3 hour flight went underway I read to keep myself busy and hopefully calm myself down, it didn't help but at least I was "sutdying."
When we arriced in my HOMETOWN of San Diego, my anxiety level went to a whole new level. I could feel my butterflies turn in to fire breathing dragons. Oh I forgot to say that Marcel made it on that flight but we didn't get to sit together but knowing he was there put me at SOME ease. We waited to board the bus which took us to our hotel. The Marriott was nice, quiet and pleasant for the most part. My roomie, Xiomara, and I got acquainted with the room and slowly unpacked our bags, hoping they didn't burst first. She saw my obsession with packing TONS of clothes.
After unpacking we headed over to the EXPO to pick up our numbers.
**I will continue the Drama in a few...***

21 MILES!

This Saturday I ran/walked 21 miles! YES in the hottest of hot days and the humid of all humid days I finished 21 miles. I still can't believe it. I try to picture 21 miles on a map and I can't seem to wrap my mind around it. Well I have 20 days until the BIG day. All I ask for are prayers and a few more donations until then. Sorry for the shortness but it is FINAL season for grad school and I must catch up. Love you and may all the DRAMA CONTINUE!
Love, Les

Another week of no running!

Another week with tendonitis, not fun. So my training this week was NOT good but I still have some good news to share. Hmm! As you can see from the pictures I participated in my first festival. It was our LLS Spring Festival. I sold crafts, LOTS of crafts. I had hair bows, hair clips, sachets, jewelry, notebooks, well you can see some pictures attached. My wonderful hubby set up the shade and I made some money for my fundraising. I thank God everyday for blessing me with this opportunity to enrich others' lives. Today I saw how fun it is to just live life within the moment. When we got home I laid out a blanket in out backyard and took a nap in our new beautiful backyard. I was staring at the clouds and before I knew it I was waking up. It was a nice ending to a fun day. Thanks for reading and hope more donations begin to come in...http://pages.teamintraining.org/txg/rnr09/lrodrigitf
Love, Les
May the blessings continue!

Marathon Training Update

Marathon training is going and going AND without me! Now what, right? Well in October when I was training for the Houston Half Marathon I started to get foot pain. After a Dr. visit I was told I had tendonitis on my foot. I had to take some medicine and stay off it but everything would go back to normal in a short time. WELL, from them until now I still had some pain but lately it has been BAD! Just imagine stepping on either feet (now it's on both feet) and BAM you feel a sharp pain on the outside of your foot. After the pain has been around a WHOLE day then you can barely put ANY weight on it. Yes, me, a pre-k teacher not be able to stand. That's funny. I "rested" from running for a week and tried again last night.
HMMMMMMMMMMMM this morning, was TOUGH! I tried my best not to limp around at work bc I am always told, "It's your training," or "You need to not run anymore..." well that isn't very uplifting. So I push through and take the pain, oh wait I also take double the dose from my dr. which makes me EXHAUSTED come 5:30ish and then I crash bc I am SOOO tired. So I called my Dr. which is very nice but on maternity leave. GREAT, right! Then I ask when the next available appointment is open, then I laughed MAY 1ST!!!! JAJAJA! I thought it was an April Fools but NOPE I was the fool trying to see a podiatrist when 2 of the 5 are on maternity leave. Just my luck. So then I see if Ic an speak with a nurse who may feel some compassion and try to squeeze me in. Hmmmm, NOPE! but then there was hope, I could go in the next hour to downtown Houston so someone coould see me. JA! That was another April Fools bc I work at least 1 hour or more from the medical centers office. So then I think the nurse feels sorry for me and says there is an opening next Wednesday. So until then I will hobble around and hope my feet can handle it. Which then means I have to elevate and ice non-stop for a week and try to stay off my feet. Which is really funny bc we haev a fundraiser this weekend.
YOU ARE ALL INVITED TO a Spring Festival in The Woodlands, Texas. At Tamarac Park from 1-3pm. I am sure you could spot me from a mile a way, I will be limping my way around and maybe even have a wheelchair or crutches (it is THAT painful).
And remember I am still trying to raise $4500 for my first marathon in May. I hope my feet survive!
May the drama continue

Marathon & Craft Update

Spring break! YAY! Well at least it is one less thing to juggle on my plate this week because all in all I have been very busy. The training is coming along and I am feeling stronger each week. Saturday I ran 12 miles! Now the downside is that I was STARVING at the end. So bad I was craving salt. I went to the extreme to even eat a spoonful of salt when Xiomara and I got to breakfast. It sounds crazy but now I completely understand cravings, I mean all I longed for was salt. It's hard to explain.
Tuesday night was hills. I ran 20 times up a steep hill! I know 20, no big deal, well let me tell you. The next day I felt pain in places I could not explain.
Wednesday was track night and I got a run for my money on that too. I think I sounded like a dead dog towards the end because of all the panting I was doing. I was TIRED and yes the next day I was also SORE.

Well as for the rest of the week, well I HAVE been SUPER busy. I made invitations to a Hannah Montana inspired birthday/movie. I also made a cute frame to match. I figured I would add it in because after all the invitations are sent out the birthday girl is left with nothing. So I made a cute frame with all the invitation information and a place for a picture. I also added some confetti to match and be put inside the invites. Genius, well I thought!
I have also been busy making crafts for a Kid's Festival our Team in Training is hosting in April. So for my one week off from work I think I can say I have done the following:
crafted, trained, hosted a great lunch with great friends(which I have made 4 days in a row for my hubby), worked on grad school, caught up on some chisme (gossip), celebrated a friend's birthday, made invites, made thank you cards, ran a million errands, shopped for some cute running shorts & jelly beans, crafted some more and had some GREAT long over-due conversations with myself and God. I think that sums it up. Phew I am tired and need a break from my break, at least 2 weeks, please.

Fundraising Update:
I am up $2,051. Thank you to all who have donated thus far. I also received some checks in the mail which I will post soon Thank you to: Tio Gilberto & Estela, Mark & Fam, Vogel's, Maret's and everyone who has donated online. Please continue to give remember the more we donate the more lives are saved.
http://pages.teamintraining.org/txg/rnr09/lrodrigitf

May the drama continue!

Marathon Update #2

I ran 10 miles today! Yes that's almost half of the full marathon. I felt pretty good overall. The first 8 miles were smooth and the last 2 really pushed myself and got worn out. The weather was not in my favor because it was HOT & HUMID at 7am. So the heat is starting to creep up around here and hopefully San Diego will treat me better in terms of the weather.
I also won the early-bird challenge with Team In Training (TNT) and won an AWESOME hat. jijiji! I have reached $1,600 today! That is so much to celebrate! To think that amount will cover 320 co-pays for cancer patients.
Overall today was an awesome day and can't wait to continue to reach my goals.
Thank you for all who have donated and to those who continue to donate!

Check my progress at http://pages.teamintraining.org/txg/rnr09/lrodrigitf
May all the drama continue!
Love, Les

Marathon Update

My marathon training is well on its way. I ran my first track-workout and it was SO fun! The track workout consisted of a warm up of 4 laps (1 mile) then we did some hurtful 100m butt-kickers, lunges, grapevines and other stuff. Then our workout STARTED. Yes that was only the warming up. So after that we ran for 100 meters slowly or a light jog then we RAN 100 meters harder as a sprint. We did that for 4 more laps (1 mile). That was the workout then we did 3 laps as a cool down. Once we did that we stretched and did some core. And let me tell you, I felt the core stuff the next day. Oh and did I mention we did our workout at a dark track because during Hurricane Ike the lights were blown out so, it was nice and DARK. I bought a light for this week so that I can see better.
After the Wednesday workout I ran a little on Thursday or at least the best I could with a sore rear-end. Then on Saturday at 7 am was our longer run. We didn't meet up too early so that was nice. The "marathon" group ran 4 miles, which felt really good. I didn't have anyone to run with me since my Sidewalk Divas were not there so, I ran on my own. Since I was bymyself I decided to run as hard as I could. I ran 4 miles in 39 minutes which was cool.
All in all the workouts are coming along and I LIKE it. Who woulda thought that I would of said Running was FUN!
Now on to this week of training. Rock & Roll marathon here I COME!

Half-marathon Pictures

Can you tell it was at the beginning?

Can you feel my pain?

YAY!

At the END!

The fans!

Sidewalk Divas

Packet Pick-up! "Look, it has our name too!"

13.1 BABY!

Houston Half-Marathon

SO I DID IT! Yes I finished my first half-marathon and I must admit it was NOT easy! It all started on Friday at packet pick-up and EXPO. My mom came in to town and well it was nice to have a wonderful supportive cheerleader even though it was it short trip. So back to Friday...we went to the George R Brown to pick up our number and that was when I started to get nervous. We walked the EXPO and I found some awesome deals on some very cute clothes. The best part was that each item was $10. Yes cute shorts, a long-sleeve shirt and a very cute jacket all for $10 each item, I couldn't beat that. Then Kelly bought us the best reminder of our BIG day. A charm and necklace with 13.1! 13.1 are the miles we ran. So next time your driving check your odometer and see how far that it. Also my mom bought us very nice pink headbands that read, I run so I can eat! It was a quote we used often on our runs and other than a great and true quote it was an easy identifier for our fans. :) So then after our packet pick up we went to dinner. We made sure we loaded up on all the carbs at Spaghetti Warehouse and the food was YUMMY! We even ate plenty of dessert thanks to Kelly. After Friday well we were on our own on Saturday and I didn't do as I should have, but well shortly after Saturday's packing Sunday sneaked up on. I woke up at 4:00 AM, yes 4! Then got ready for the BIG day! Everything was packed even the cute headbands and I headed to Xiomara's house. Her mom was gracious enough to drive us. Thank you! We arrived to the GRB at about 5:50 and we headed to take a group picture with our teammates. By then we rushed to the "wonderful" port-a-cans and then we dropped off our free bags. (We got tons of free stuff, heck we deserved it after all that running) After that we headed towards the "back" of the black shoot. Well we thought it was the back and before we knew it we were in the middle of a HUGE crowd of people. After checking our watch a million times we heard a cannon! That was the start but it wasn't until at least 5 or so minutes we started to move. At the start my thoughts were still in shock, but right passed the starting line I spotted my fans. My babe on a bike and my mom and mother in law yelling their hearts out. It felt so nice so spot a familiar face in nervous times. Well the running had began and well it was very nice. The three of us split up after one of the many miles so I was on my OWN! Yes I talked to myself more than once but that was what got me through all the tough times. Many things went through my head: my tata, my family, my future, my life, the good things in life, the bad, strangers who would call my name, where I was headed in life, why I was there, my pain, how pain was weakness leaving my body, I think I even got teary eyed but all in all I survived. At mile 6 I heard a familiar voice, it was my babe. He was cheering his lungs out and it felt so good, but truly all I wanted was some food. But then again at mile 8 I saw my fans. It was cool! Then at 10 again my fans were going crazy. After mile 10 I hit my wall but to my favor my babe rode his bike most of the way along my side.I had many thoughts of stopping but he being there really made my last few miles a little bit less painful. Now I must say I was in TONS of pain just about everywhere from my eyelashes down. But back to the race. After the long run on Allen PKWY. I got to downtown and then turned onto Rusk from which I could see the finish line. I swear I felt I was moving in slow motion which I probably was but once I could see the finish line a few hundred feet away I started to kick which you can see on ABC13.com yes on the last link of the marathon video on second 38. Look for a dead looking girl with a pink headband. I got to the finish and boy did I feel emotional. I cried, laughed and even cheered myself on. I was all on my own and it felt SO good to finish this huge life accomplishment! I half way walked to receive my medal and then more of the free goodies to then be greeted by adoring fans! The day went well and I finished one of the things on my bucket list. Now I must stop and post some pictures sooo enjoy!
May the drama continue.

Grad school, work, etc...

Well it is the beginning of the semester and once again I feel overwhelmed. For some reason I feel behind and stressed with all that I have to do. I want to start trying to have a family and then BAM I start school and I think it is impossible. Work is work, well I like what I do but the politics are NASTY! I just want to push a button all day and then go home. I know that would get old quick but something to make my life much more simple. I mean much of the stress is brought upon by myself, but as soon as I get ahold of my life I lose control again. Ok so aside from this semester I just learned tonight that I have to do 600 hours of an internship in one semester, in the Fall. So I am supposed to do all that I am doing now and a FREE, yes free no pay, internship completing 600 hours in 3 months. Does that sound logical? Well one day at a time. First I must apply for candidacy for my grad school. Work like I said before is work. I love it but I am tired of all this juggling. At work it is a juggle. In the morning it is prekindergarten for 3.5 hours then I work with all the other grade levels for 3.5 hours in the afternoon. I had just got a grasp on my groups of 3rd and 4th grade then my wonderful (not sarcastic, he is great) decided to change it up. Now I will only work with 4th grade. Hmmmmm. I like 4th grade but 6 weeks before testing I have to change my groups around. That just means I have to start over and meet new kids. I have to establish some rapport with them before I throw testing strategies at them and that takes a week. SO I have 5 weeks to prepare students for state testing. Hmmmm, is all I can say. I am a little frustrated because ABOVE all that I have my half-marathon this Sunday. I am really excited about it but I have tons of work to do for work and school before that. That really sucks. So before I get to my fun of running I should get some homework done.
May all this drama continue.
-Les

So much stuff so little time!

I am officially a bad blogger! JA! So much has happened since I last blogged and don't know where to start...first it was Thanksgiving and overall that went pretty well. Then I finished another semester of grad school and I finished with all As. It was NOT easy but well worth all the work. Then my hubby and I went to San Diego for Christmas and that was a BLAST! I had so much fun with my niece and my fam. I am so blessed to receive all the gifts I did. Which by the way I got the CRICUT! Yay! I am still trying to figure it all out but so far so good. I just wish I had more time to play with it because I have only opened it ONCE! After Christmas in San Diego we rushed back to attend a very good friend's wedding. It was so much fun. The sad part it that I didn't take many pictures so to those who did please email them to me. The wedding was very nice and fun too! JAJA! Then after that we jetted away for New Years. We really didn't have any plans for New Years, but my hubby's family has the tradition to go to Monterrey, MX to ring in the new year together. We weren't planning on going but this was one of the only years all the cousins would get together so we could be the only few who didn't go. So my hubby and his brothers and sisters all went, which was a first in about 3 or so years. It was fun too! I promise to post pictures soon...the camera has gone missing and hope to recover it soon. Hope everyone has a great new year!
May the DRAMA continue...
Luv, Les