San Diego Rock n Roll Half Marathon Gear

For the last three seasons, I’ve trained for a marathon and two half-marathons with Team in Training. We raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in exchange for the training. Losing my mom-in law to Leukemia in 2009 was the catalyst.

Over the years we’ve formed long-lasting relationships and solidified existing ones. It’s been an amazing journey of love, laughter, grieving, healing, and growing.

Saturday evening, we attended an inspiration dinner and learn that collectively we raised nine million dollars through this race alone! We would hear from John “The Penguin” Bingham who would proceed to share hilarious stories about his journey in running. We would also hear from a father who shared a very moving story about his daughter’s battle with leukemia. Kimberly Joy Costa lost her battle at the age of nineteen, but left behind a legacy and wisdom far beyond her years.  During her speech as high school Valedictorian, she shared ten life lessons. One of my favorites is the following:
 
“Touch as many lives as you can. Every time you meet someone new, you leave a little bit of yourself with them. They are affected by you. The more people you meet, the more complete both their and your lives are because of how you have been affected by each other. Think of the possibilities”  It’s a philosophy I already embrace.

Sunday morning the alarm went off at 3:10 a.m. and my routine began.  I put on Moms Tiffany heart necklace and Smoky Topaz pendant. In my hair were four green ribbons. The green represented our team color and each ribbon had the name of a person I was running for. Mom, my reason for joining, Craig, my friend’s son who was just declared cancer-free from Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Della, my friend and former co-worker who lost her battle with leukemia in 2009, and George, a good friend’s father who was just diagnosed with leukemia two weeks ago.

I carried the thoughts of several more people with me. Each week we shared “Mission Moments” where we shared our stories. They ranged from heart-breaking to inspiring. Our team mates included survivors as well as people undergoing treatment.

My husband and biggest supporter was our race day chauffer. I piled into the car with him and our youngest son who would also be racing and we headed off to pick up two other friends. By 6:15 in the morning, we would hear the gun go off and we would cross the start line corral by corral. Our son being sixteen, much faster, and a member of his High School’s Cross Country and Track Team would be in corral number three. I in contrast, would be in corral twenty-two.

I took a puff of my inhaler trying to ignore the fact that my asthma had been trying to rear its ugly head this weekend. I swallowed a salt packet, consumed an energy gel and took a long drink of water. A new friend and team mate was to one side of me, another friend from season one on another and a friend from last also nearby. She was injured and unable to run last year, so this would be her first half-marathon. I received a text from my long-time friend and recent running partner wishing me luck. She was in a different corral.

13.1 miles later we would all cross the finish line at various times. Along the way, the San Diego Rock n Roll Marathon and Half Marathon would be filled with live bands, my favorite Kodo Drummers, and cheering crowds. We would run over a freeway and end in the parking lot of SeaWorld.

At the end of the day, we shared an amazing journey with friends while helping an incredible organization. As I was falling asleep Sunday night, I couldn’t help but remember Kimberly’s words “Touch as many lives as you can”. I think each of us in our own way, did just that. I know that my own life has been touched profoundly and I will always try to live up to Kimberly’s words.

Have you ever had an experience that words just can’t adequately describe? That sums up the last few days for me. It was the face to face portion of our Having It All Challenge. We were finally able to meet the people that we’ve spent the last five and a half months with on our community boards and phone calls. Some of them are people that we’ve bared our soul to, others are energetic like-minded people willing to share their successes and challenges and cheer us on in our journey. Most are people that up until now, we have only seen as a snapshot on a personal profile. These last few days, those faces, hopes and dreams have meshed together for an unforgettable event that has surely led to lasting relationships and a lifetime of lessons.

In addition to John Assaraf, we heard two phenomenal speakers –Shore Slocum, and Scott DeMoulin. Shore is the author of “What Makes your Tail Wag”, and an inspirational international speaker considered by many as the trainer of leaders. Scott is well known for his speaking, training and consulting in addition to being part of the Transformational Leadership Council. The energy of this combination is absolutely amazing and without a doubt leaves you knowing that you truly can have it all.

One of the scariest things about joining the challenge was the thought of “putting myself out there”. I am a very private person by nature, yet I would soon be sharing my innermost desires with complete strangers and now here I am blogging to the world about my experience. Why?

To back up for a bit, in general my life is pretty awesome. I’ve been married for fourteen years now to my best friend and biggest supporter. We have two fantastic kids. We live in warm sunny California, and own our own home. I love my job, and have an employer I consider a friend and mentor who is supportive of my quest.

What could have possibly been wrong or have left me feeling so stuck? It all boils down to the name of the challenge—Having It All. I’m 90% of the way there and I fully intend to get it to 100%.

The “All” that I am working towards is my personal contribution to this universe. I know that I am destined for more than what I am doing today. I truly believe that the experiences I’ve had in life have been given to me for a reason and in order for me to feel truly fulfilled, I must find a way to give back using those experiences. Part of that means “putting myself out there” and getting way out of my comfort zone.

John Assaraf interviewed Dr. Joseph Dispenza, author of “Evolve your Brain”. It was a fascinating journey into the human brain and the physical and chemical changes that take place when we change the patterns of our thinking. According to Dr. Dispenza, being uncomfortable as you change your old ways of thinking signifies growth. Well, I’ve definitely grown a lot these last few weeks and now I’m looking forward to the rest of the ride!