Event #20 - The Army Ten Miler

Last weekend was amazing. We got to see most of my family, some of my friends, and we accomplished a goal we set almost a year ago. On Sunday, October 24th, along with my Dad, we ran the 26th Army Ten Miler. I had been lucky enough to experience the race before, although I certainly hadn't trained for it like we did the past few months. So this year I was excited to be prepared, and for Nate to experience it all - the expo, walking up to the Pentagon as the sun rose with 30,000 other people, passing by the monuments as crowds of strangers cheered us on, and crossing the finish line.

We trained hard for this race, and it definitely paid off. Our goal was to finish, and we did it! We ran with my Dad for about the first half of the race before he had to make a pit stop, and then Nate and I made our way through D.C. together until the finish line. Dad finished about 10 minutes behind us and then we all got some snacks and walked around all of the tents and people at the finish area.

There are not enough words to describe the feeling of running with that many people while bands, soldiers and complete strangers cheer you on. The Team G Shock shirts were a nice bonus since we heard "GO TEAM G SHOCK" many times along the course.

We got our official results this week, so here are those:

19541st place - Sara Ross - 2:02:32

19543rd place - Nate Towne - 2:02:33

20613rd place - Joe Ross - 2:12:07

We were so excited to run the whole race and have all of us finish strong! We took a few photos before/after and I also grabbed a few from the official photography site.

Bright & early in Arlington!

Making it official! :)

Walking around the finishers area

After the race - WE DID IT!

With my finishers coin!

We can't believe that this race was our 20th race for Team G Shock. The time has flown by and we could not have done without the support of our family & friends. Our goal was 20 races & to raise $3000 for The Prostate Cancer Foundation. We've run the races, and we've exceeded our fundraising goal. But this is certainly not the end of Team G Shock. More things are to come, and we will be updating about that soon! For now, we're going to enjoy the memories from the Army Ten Miler! GOOOOO G SHOCK!

Off we go!

Tonight we are headed off to VA (YAY) for the big race weekend! We have lots of plans: time with family & friends, the race expo, my first bridal shower, some relaxing, and the race! We have put lots of time into our training and can not believe that Team G Shock's 20th race is here! The past 16 months have flown by, and we're so excited to see what comes next for this team.

But first...10 miles to run! :) We got our last training run in today (just 3 miles) and will rest for the next couple of days. I can not wait for the race and can't wait to share with you all how we do! Keep an eye out for results, and if you have a moment, send some good thoughts our way as we run our longest race yet!

Until next week..GOOO G SHOCK!

Sunday

Sunday is the big day. Sunday is the day of the Army Ten Miler. Sunday is in 5 days (AHHHH!).

We head home to VA on Thursday night and then off to the Expo on Friday. I'm almost as excited for the expo as I am for the race. And I'm most excited for Nate to experience it all. 30,000 people running one race. Servicemen & women, families of servicemen & women, wounded soldiers and regular people like us will all gather on Sunday to run through the streets of Washington.

We are really looking forward to the race and to see all of our hard work over the past few months pay off. GOOO GO SHOCK!!

Event #19 - Shelby Bottoms Boogie 5k

What a weekend!! It was officially our 19th race - the Shelby Bottoms Boogie 5k. We have run 2 other races on this same course, and it is a course that we love. Both times before we set a PR and this time was NO DIFFERENT!! I could not be more excited about how we did at this race. All of our hard work and training lately has really paid off. We felt great the whole way through, and as soon as we finished I looked at Nate and said 'Did we do it?' - and we did. We both finished UNDER 30:00!!! :) Nate had been able to accomplish that one time before (also on this course), but I never had. And breaking 30:00 has been a goal of ours from the start. So needless to say we were pretty excited!

Here are our official results:

80th place - Nate Towne - 29:37

81st place - Sara Ross - 29:37

And some photos to commemorate the race!

Before - first "chilly" race morning in a while.

After!

How excited was I to break 30:00? Pretty excited :)

"Unofficial" time on the G-Shock

Official time as the results came in!

It was such a great feeling to accomplish something that we've been working on for so long! And this really gave a boost in our training for the Army Ten Miler. We went back to Shelby Bottoms the next day and ran 8 miles - the longest we have ever run! So all in all, it was a great weekend for Team G Shock and we're looking forward to what is coming up next! Only 2 more weeks until the big race! GOOO G SHOCK!

Race Day Tomorrow!

Tomorrow marks our 19th race! :) I can not believe we have run 18 races already, with #19 & #20 quickly approaching. This will be our 2nd time running the Shelby Bottoms Boogie 5k and we're excited to see how we do!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, and if you think about it, send some good thoughts Team G Shock's way for our race tomorrow morning!