Sand, surf & races!

We are headed to spend some much needed vacation time with my family, and will of course sneak in a race while we are there. We're always excited to have family and friends join us for races, and this will be no exception! On Sunday we will run the Bethany Beach Firecracker 5k for the third time. This race has always been special to us, since it was our very first race, so we're excited to give it another go.

In other news...last week, I had a sad morning when my blue prostate cancer bracelet broke. I have worn that bracelet every day since we started Team G Shock. It was bound to happen sometime, but I wasn't expecting it. I posted a picture of it online, and within hours, I had an email from my contact at the Prostate Cancer Foundation, to verify my address. Two days later, we got 2 huge bags of wristbands in the mail! Customer Service at its best! Thanks PCF for the support!

Sad time...4 years of runs and life were just too much.

Thanks PCF & Athletes for a Cure!

Event #41 - ZERO Prostate Cancer Run

Better late than never, right? :) It's been a couple of weeks since our 41st race, and I have been meaning to post this recap for over a week.

As mentioned before, this was the first race that we weren't running together. It was a little weird to be out there by myself, but I was glad I did it! Of course I would have loved to have Nate out there with me, but I was glad Team G Shock was represented at the only race in town that supports Prostate Cancer.

It had been really hot the week of the race, but thankfully it cooled down some for the race day. There were a good amount of people out for the race, and the race organizers had a festival set up for everyone to enjoy before and after the race.

This was by no means my fastest race, but it is one of the hilliest courses we've ever run, so I was happy to be able to keep up the same pace throughout the race (even if it was a slow pace). I did manage to place 4th in my age group out of 29 ladies, so I was pretty happy with that!

Here are my results:
63rd place - Sara Towne - 30:16

And since Nate was a spectator that day, we got a few more pictures than normal!

Before

Pretty obvious who we race for :)

Team G Shock

My cheerleader for the day

This was my "I'm tired of posing for pictures, 

lets get this party started" photo :)

And we're off..

...almost done!

After!

The race also had photographers at the race - one of my favorite race photos ever! 

We've got race #42 to get ready for this weekend, so we're excited for that, and to run with my family! See you all out on the course! 

Race Day Tomorrow!

Tomorrow will officially be our 41st race, and we can't wait! I will be running the ZERO Prostate Cancer Run, and Nate will be there cheering me on! He had a procedure done for his herniated disc yesterday afternoon, so he's on strict rest for a little bit (but he will be back at it for race #42 at the beach!). I'm a little nervous to run by myself, although if we're being honest, I can barely keep up with Nate so it won't be too different than when we run "together". :)

If you're up bright and early tomorrow morning, send good thoughts my way! I'll need the help getting up those hills! I'll post an update and pictures next week!

Filling Up Our Dance Card

So its been a little while since we ran a race, and after registering for the Army Ten Miler, we knew we wanted to run some races before that. As we mentioned before, we'll be doing the race at the beach at the end of June with my family. In addition, the ZERO Prostate Cancer Challenge is coming up on Father's Day Weekend here in Nashville. We've run this race every year, since it is a cause near and dear to our hearts. It started as the Great Prostate Cancer Challenge, then it was the Dash For Dad, and now its the ZERO Prostate Cancer Challenge. Whatever it is, we're happy to be a part of it (even though 'it' involves lots of hills). 

As some of you may or may not know, Nate has been dealing with some back issues for a while now. He's been gritting his teeth to get through it during our other races (and still setting PR's along the way), but he is taking a little break until the beach race at the end of the month. All that being said, it means this will be the first race that we don't run together. He will be there to cheer me on, and I'll probably need it without him by my side (or more realistically, way up ahead of me, but where I can still see him). I'm excited to go out there and see what I can do compared to last year. So send lots of good thoughts my way next weekend, and maybe we'll see you out there! 

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Another Race!

To prepare for the big race in October, we're going to have to keep on running (duh). So, we've signed up for another race, happening much sooner.

For the 3rd time, we're going to run the Bethany Beach Firecracker 5k while we're at the beach with my family. As usual, my Dad will be running with us, and I think we've even talked Drew into doing it again! This was the first race we ever ran for Team G Shock, and its a favorite. Its flat, my family is there (some running with us), and we get to go to the beach after we run. What's not to like???

We're looking forward to running the course again, and for the sand & sun we get to enjoy after!

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We're Baaaaack..and in a BIG way!

I know its been a long while since we posted on here, and even longer since we ran in a race. We put a lot of effort into our 40th race, and about 2 weeks after that we closed on our new home. Since then we've been moving, and moving more stuff, and then unpacking all of that stuff. Oh, and in the middle of all of that, I thought it would be smart to start a new job. In fact, it was smart (b/c I love it!), but some things, including this blog, have taken a back seat.

But, we are officially back, and with a big announcement! For a while now, Nate & I have talked about running a big race. We ran the Army Ten Miler way back in 2010 for our 20th race, and while it had its challenges, we really enjoyed the experience. We ran that race with my Dad, and he has run the Army Ten Miler a number of times over the years. In fact, this year will be his 20th time taking to the course. To celebrate that accomplishment with him, Nate & I have officially signed up! And its a good thing we did! The registration opened late last night, and all 35,000 entries were SOLD OUT by this morning.

So come October, we will be back in DC for another turn at the Army Ten Miler. We're so excited to join my Dad for this race, and are really looking forward to it. We will be running a few races between now & then, so keep an eye out for those!

After the race in 2010! HOOAH!

For Boston...

Its been a little bit since we posted, and we have had lots going on since our 40th race. But today I wanted to write a short post to reflect on the events of this past week. When I heard the news of what happened at the marathon, I was in complete shock. I myself have never run a marathon, but having run a number of races, I know the elation and joy that comes from crossing the finish line. When you get to that point (especially in longer races), you feel such relief and happiness because you accomplished a goal. I can not imagine the terror and fear that what happened brought to the runners and spectators that day.

Our thoughts & prayers are with the people of Boston, the United States, and the World that were affected by Monday's events. Justice will prevail, and the marathon will run again, as it always has, on the 3rd Monday of April because that's what we do. We keep going.

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To quote President Obama, "..of that I have no doubt. You WILL run again."