TEAM G SHOCK: March 2010

Friday, March 26, 2010

Update & the next race!

We have been training more and more lately and it feels great. We've been running at different times of the day, on different courses, and for longer distances. All of this to prepare for our next race, the Richland Creek Run/Walk! We are excited, but it will be a bit more of a challenge than our regular 5k's we've been doing. This one is a 5-miler and we're excited to be bumping up our distances! This will hopefully lead to even longer races in the future (who would have EVER though I'd be saying something like that?!).

This weekend we're heading to the mountains of Tennessee for a weekend in a cabin with two of my closest college girl friends and their husbands. It should be a great weekend and we're hoping to get in a good hilly run/hike while we're there! Hope everyone has a GREAT weekend!

Friday, March 19, 2010

Some Inspiration...

We are not lacking in inspiration when we go on a run or when we compete in a race. This whole team was started because we were inspired by my Dad and we have continued to be this entire time. We are also fortunate to have so many people supporting us and think about you all every time we're out for a run.

Sine we started Team G Shock we have also come across other blogs or sites telling the stories of all kinds of people that bring extra inspiration to us. There are all kinds of stories and organizations out there and I thought we could share some of them with you all.

Layla Grace

Sweet Layla Grace lost her battle earlier this month. Her family got a pretty big following on twitter and have documented the experience on their blog. More exciting things to come from them soon.

Joe Is Running For Dom

Joe's friend Dom was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. To help raise funds and support his friend, Joe will be running the Boston & Pittsburgh Marathons within 13 days of each other.

Run Faster Mommy

A kick-butt Mom who runs (and swims and bikes) and pushes herself every time. If she can do all that, we can run that extra mile. :)

Alex's Lemonade

Some of you may have heard the story of Alex - the brave little girl who wanted to raise money for childhood cancer through her lemonade stand. Well, she did that, and unfortunately lost her own battle, but her parents have done an amazing job carrying on her legacy.

Blame Drew's Cancer

Drew Olanoff was diagnosed with cancer last Spring and decided to raise money by blaming his cancer for all kinds of things. He raised a TON of money. See what people are blaming his cancer for on this site.

Ride For Reading

A Nashville friend has started this amazing organization. They get books for underprivileged students in the Nashville area (many of whom have never owned a book) through monetary donations or just people donating books. They've done an amazing amount of work in a very short time!

Be The Match

If you're able and eligible, you should sign up. It takes 10 minutes of your time and could save a life.

So if you have a minute, check one (or all) of them out! More news from TEAM G SHOCK coming soon!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Event #11 - Tom King Classic 5k

First off, I can not believe that we have run 11 races already for Team G Shock! That is so crazy to me & the time has flown by. Our most recent race was the Tom King Classic 5k in downtown Nashville. Last Saturday morning we headed to L.P. Field (where the Tennessee Titans play!) for the start of the race. It had been raining over night so it was pretty wet out, but luckily most of the race was on pavement and the rain held off while we were out there. It was also pretty cold so we were glad the rain had stopped for a bit.

It was a good-sized race which was nice, and there was a half-marathon that was starting later so there were tons of people at the start. They also had a bagpipe player to start off the race which was fun. The race started and the first mile was pretty much a lap around the football stadium. We then headed out on a road next to the river for about a mile and then turned around to head back to the stadium. Once we got there, we ran in the tunnels and onto the field for a last lap around and across the finish line (which they showed on the jumbotrons!).

We ran a great race and were really proud of ourselves. We have picked up the training and were excited to see how we would improve from our recent races. Here are our official results...

209th place - Nate Towne - 30:49

210th place - Sara Ross - 30:50 (SO close to a new PR...next 5k maybe??)

Ever since we signed up for this one we've been trying to figure out exactly WHO IS TOM KING?! And we can't find any info anywhere. Other than the race being named after him, we got nothing. BUT, we got a picture with him, and thats almost as good as figuring out who he is. So here's that and some other photos we took at the race!

me & Nate before the race

we found Tom King! But...who is HE? :)

after the race down at LP Field!

All in all, a very successful race for Team G Shock! And now we're busy preparing for our next race...the Richland Creek Run/Walk. I'll be sure to keep you posted on the training for that & how it goes! Wish us luck!

Friday, March 12, 2010

Planning, Planning, Planning!

For my friends, the fact that I'm a planner is pretty much a given. We want to go to Steeplechase, I'll plan it! Someone's birthday is coming up, I'm on it! I just like planning and details and all that fun stuff. And planning races for Team G Shock hasn't been any different. I like to know ahead of time what's going on and what we need to be ready for. Obviously with running thats kind of necessary.

A few weeks ago I printed out a big list of local races and brought them home for Nate to see. We took a look and have started to plan out some Spring races. First up, the Tom King Classic 5k tomorrow morning at LP Field (where the Titans play!). This will be our 11th race - hard to believe! The finish line is at the 50-yard line on the field so that should be fun. Fingers crossed the rain holds off. And if not, well, we'll run it anyways!

We also signed up for the upcoming Richland Creek Run/Walk. We're really excited because this is the first race that is longer than a 5k. The course is 5 miles and is mainly run on the Richland Creek Greenway, which is where we first started training for Team G Shock. It will be nice to train on the actual race course (or on most of it) and to up our mileage a bit. The race is on April 3rd so we've only got a few more weeks to get ready for it - but I know we can do it! And this will help prepare us for some future races that we hope to run at much longer distances!

If you happen to be up bright & early tomorrow morning (7:30am central) send some good luck our way and I'll be sure to post results and photos next week from the race!

Monday, March 8, 2010

My Birthday Wish Wrap Up!

Well, I can't believe it, but My Birthday Wish has come to an end! It was an incredible month filled with LOTS of donations from all kinds of people. My family, my best friends, friends from high school, friends from college, Nashville friends, work friends, parents of friends and everyone in between. I literally met someone on a Tuesday and that Thursday got a donation from them - amazing. We truly were blown away by the support and surprised every day by the generosity of people in our lives.

I've tallied up the totals and here are the fun facts. In the month of February (which keep in mind is a short month), we...

...got donations from 66 people...

...and raised $2510.28!!!!!!

Again, I can not begin to explain how excited and blessed we feel. We have officially CRUSHED our fundraising goal and are not stopping there. Every time I got an email that said "Congratulations, you've just received a donation" I was overwhelmed. It was the best feeling to know that so many people were supporting us and helping make My Birthday Wish come true. There are a lot of good people in this world and I feel pretty lucky to have so many of them in my life.

Thank you for supporting us and thank you for donating. We absolutely could not do this without you and I mean it when I say that you inspire us to work harder and be better.

Team G Shock fundraising stats!

I've said it before, but we are not stopping here. We have run 10 races, and race #11 is this coming weekend! We'll be running in the Tom King Classic 5k on Saturday morning here in Nashville with lots more races to follow! So keep an eye out for us..we'll be out there..GOOOO G SHOCK!

Event #10 - NROTC Vanderbilt University 5k

Two weekends ago, my parents were in town for my birthday and we thought it was the perfect time for Team G Shock race #10! We had seen the NROTC Vanderbilt University 5k advertised and thought it was a perfect fit. That Saturday (Feb 27th), we all headed over to Vanderbilt for the race. We were excited, because what a great way to see the campus, plus the race benefited a VERY good cause - Fisher House. They provide support & housing to families of soldiers and veterans as they receive medical treatment.

It was a pretty cold morning, but we bundled up and headed out there. My Mom was even a sport and stayed out the whole time to cheer us on (and take some pictures) as we crossed the finish line. The course was a bit tricky as it weaved all through the campus and didn't necessarily stay on a path. But, it was a beautiful course and fun to try to figure it out along the way. Again, this was not our fastest race, but we had a good time and felt good throughout. And we finished all together which is always fun! Here are the results:

76th place - Nate Towne - 34:30

77th place - Sara Ross - 34:31

78th place - Joe Ross - 34:32

It was a wonderful thing to add to my birthday weekend and I'm so glad my Dad could join us out on the course! And this marks the official halfway point for Team G Shock's goal of 20 races! So keep an eye out on info for upcoming races! Here are some of those photos Mom helped us get (and she even got to be in some of them!). GO G SHOCK!