Want I want for my birthday...

...is a big secret! :) I promise I'll share soon. But that would just be too easy, wouldn't it?

the sheetcake (thats right) that Nate drove allll around town for last

year b/c I HAD to have an ice cream cake with mint chocolate

chip ice cream & chocolate cake and this was the only size they had.

Upcoming Races!

Well, its been a bit of a slow start to 2010 for Team G Shock. Between the holidays, then 2 rounds of being sick (first Nate, then me), and then Nate traveling we've definitely been slacking. But its time to pick it back up! We already have 2 races planned for February so we have got to make sure we are ready to kick butt at those!

The first race is the Predators Fangtastic 5k right here in Nashville. That will take place on February 6th at 10:00am. Nate has run this one before and it goes through downtown Nashville which should be fun! I think that a few of our friends will be joining us for that race, so be sure to check back for pictures.

The second race for that month will be the NROTC Vanderbilt University 5K on February 27th at 9:00am (also in Nashville). That happens to be the day before my birthday (wahoo), which my parents have made the tradition of coming down to Nashville for. Which means that my Dad will be able to join Nate & I in running the race. We are excited to be able to run with him yet again. We're also looking forward to the course which will take us through Vanderbilt's beautiful campus.

We have lots to look forward to in February, and not a lot of time to prepare. Although we've slacked off some, the motivation and reason for this team and these races is never far from our minds. The generosity of our friends & family in both their donations and support has been amazing, and we want you all to know that not only are we doing this for my Dad, but we're doing this for you too! That is what we think of every time we get tired, or when we're having trouble in the middle of a big hill. And since we haven't said it in a while, THANK YOU!

So check back often, and I promise to update more! GOOO TEAM G SHOCK!

Happy New Year!

It's 2010...when the heck did that happen? And weren't we supposed to have flying cars by now? What happened to that whole thing? Oh well, guess we'll just have to work with what we've got, which isn't all that bad.

I hope you all had a great holiday season. We had a good (but busy) one filled with lots of family, lots of friends, LOTS of snow and even more lazy days on the couch. But now its time to kick it back into gear for Team G Shock! Luckily, we are both now stocked with cold-weather running gear (thanks to our families, each other, and Santa). And its a good thing because it is COLD here in Tennessee.

In typical New Year fashion, we wanted to make some resolutions for Team G Shock. So without further ado, here are the resolutions (more like goals) for Team G Shock for 2010:

*reach our fundraising goal of $3000 (we're more than halfway there - yay!)

*(both of us) break 30:00 for a 5k

*up our milage by 1-mile a month

*run at least one 10k

*run the entire Army 10-miler with Dad in October (now that its on the internet, we have to)

So, its up to you all to keep us to these! :) More races on the horizon for 2010 so keep an eye out for that info! GOOOO TEAM G SHOCK!!

Happy Holidays From Team G Shock!

Well since its almost time to head home for the Holidays, we wanted to wish everyone a very happy and fun-filled time with family & friends! Hope that everyone has very safe travels to wherever they are headed and is able to enjoy some time off!

And just for fun, here's a look at our Team G Shock themed card that we sent out this year! :)

the front...

...and the back.

We do want to say THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for all of the support since we've created Team G Shock. We have been so blessed to have such great friends & family behind us the whole time (and even beside us in some of the races!). And all of the very generous donations are going to a great cause to help my family and lots of other families have many more years filled with Holiday memories.

Event #8 - Snowflake 5K

This past Saturday was race #8 for Team G Shock! The Snowflake 5k in Shelby Bottoms Park in Nashville! The race started at 9:00AM which is later than most of our morning races, and thank goodness because it was COLD! I can only imagine how cold it would have been at 7:00AM! Luckily, Nate & I had cracked the night before and exchanged Christmas presents early (oops) so I had some brand spankin' new Under Armour cold weather gear to get me through! And he had a shiny new G-SHOCK (I had to) watch to keep us on pace!

We got to the race a little early and met up with David Wright, a co-worker and friend of mine who was joining us for the race! DW has been a big supporter of Team G Shock so it was great to have him running with us. There were over 300 people running the race, and it was a very similar course to the Shelby Bottoms Boogie 5k we did back in September. We've been trying to focus more on our goal of breaking 30:00 and decided to give it a go on this race. SOME of us were able to do it, unfortunately I could not quite keep up! I'd like to blame it on the cold I'd had all week, but it could be just because I'm slow. :) But one day we'll all get there! The good news is, that Nate & I both set new PR's! Here are the results from the race:

95th place - Nate Towne - 29:20

96th place - David Wright - 29:24

123rd place - Sara Ross - 30:40

We are so excited about our new PR's and this just gives me some more motivation to keep up with Nate & whoever else we run with! I've included some pictures from the race below. But first, some quick (and somewhat unrelated) news. Nate's company had their holiday party on Tuesday and they took some time out to share some announcements during it. Well, one of the announcements was that Nate got PROMOTED!! :) He is now officially an Agent at William Morris Endeavor Entertainment!!!! He has worked so hard for this and I am so proud of him! So if you see him, be sure to congratulate him!

Here are those pictures I was talking about...hope everyone has safe travels during the Holidays!!

Nate & me pre-race and cooooold!

after the race: Nate, me & DW

me & Nate - new PR's!!!!

Nate & his fancy new Casio G-Shock watch...

...that kept him on pace for a new PR!!

Snowflakes & Good News!

No, not the real kind of snowflakes. Not the fun, makes you want to run outside to feel them, and watch them all day from your cozy house snowflakes. Unfortunately, as I have learned in my last 5 years in Nashville, we don't get those. And if we do, they go away very quickly. But what we do have is the Snowflake 5K this coming Saturday! The race is at 9AM and is on a course that we have already run, which will be nice. I've been feeling a little under the weather this week so we haven't spent much time training, but hopefully we can make up for that before the race! And one of my co-workers and friends, DW, will be joining us for the race. Apparently Santa will even be there to lead the race! So keep us in your thoughts this weekend as we head out for Team G Shock race #8!

More importantly, onto the good news! Obviously, Team G Shock was started for a reason, and that reason is my Dad! He's been so strong through this whole thing. He had a check-up this morning where they tested his PSA level (for those of you that don't know what that is, its basically a blood test that is used to detect diseases like cancer in the prostate. The higher it is, the more it points to there being an issue). Well, Dad's level was UNDETECTABLE! Wahoooooooo! :) Great news! He's not done by any means, but this is a great step in his treatment. So thank you thank you thank you for all of the prayers and good thoughts and be sure to keep 'em coming!

Event #7 - Virginia Run Turkey Trot

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We had a great time up in Virginia, and it all started with another 5k! On Thursday morning, we woke up bright and early and headed out to Centerville, VA for the 21st annual Virginia Run Turkey Trot! The race began at 8:00AM, but since it was so crowded we wanted to get there early. As I mentioned before our good friends the Baker's joined us, which was a lot of fun. Good to see them, and very fun to have them join Team G Shock for the day!

The race was through the Virginia Run neighborhood of Centerville and was packed! There were over 3,000 runners of ALL ages that came out, which was surprising since it was so cold out! There was also a ton of fog that morning, which made it interesting. You couldn't see too much ahead of you on the course (which I liked because you couldn't see any hills or how big they were!). It was also fun because it was so crowded and you were always in a crowd of people. In some of the races we have run, you can literally find yourself running alone for the majority of the race. But in this it was packed in the beginning, and although it spread out a bit, you were always surrounded by lots of people. And it was nice because some of the neighbors came out to cheer the runners on!

We also have a brand new Team G Shock record set by the very speedy Ted Baker! And then came myself & Nate and then Dad & Mr. Baker. Here are the official results (they don't have place-rankings for overall, so the places are in the Men's Division for everyone else and mine is out of all of the Women who ran):

65th place - Ted Baker - 19:45

875th place - Sara Ross - 32:12

1165th place - Nate Towne - 32:12

1239th place - Mr. Baker - 33:16

1241st place - Joe Ross - 33:16

We stayed after for a bit to enjoy some of the door prize drawings (although none of us were lucky winners) and for the awards. It was a great way to start off a Thanksgiving filled with family and fun! See below for some photos!

Nate, Dad & me before the race!

Dad, Ted, Nate, me & Mr. Baker before the start!

Mr. Baker snuck up to get a picture of me & Nate during the race.

We look pretty happy for a freezing cold 5k!

post-race: Nate, me, Dad, Ted & Mr. Baker