Gobble Gobble!

And the races just keep on coming! We are looking forward to the Breathe Deep Stache & Lash 5k this coming weekend, but are also looking past that to our next race!

A week from today, we will be running the Virginia Run Turkey Trot for the 3rd time (and race #49!). Well, this is the 3rd time for Nate & I, but this will be one of many runs on this course for Dad & Geoff! It's always a fun, and very well organized run, and a great way to start off a day full of food and family.

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Hope everyone is looking forward to Turkey Day, and hope a few of you get out there for a trot of your own!

Finally...More Races!

Like I said, its been a while, but we are back with some more races on the calendar! First up will be the Breathe Deep Stache & Lash 5k, which we ran last Novemeber as well. We will once again be running with our good friends Ryan & Becky, as part of Team MLG. Their family has been personally touched by lung cancer, so we're happy to be able to do what we can to try to raise awareness and money for the cause! To read more about Ryan's story, check out his fundraising page. And if you are able to, please donate!

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The race is next Saturday, November 22nd, so keep an eye out for some updates following that!

Bottle & Cork 5k

It's been a while, but we're back with a few updates! Nate and I have been out of the run game for a while, but Team G Shock is still going strong! Over Labor Day weekend, Mom and Dad were up in Delaware, and as usual there was a race that weekend. Dad ran the Ten Sisters Bottle & Cork 5k in Dewey Beach that Saturday, and he even took his first selfies ever for the sake of the blog. :)

It was a warm day, and he ran a great race! Here are the results:

201st place - Joe Ross - 32:45

He also placed 4th in his age group, which is exciting! And as promised, here are Dad's first (and as he claims...worst) selfies ever! 

Before!

After! 

We have a couple of races coming up so we will get those updates posted soon!

The #IceBucketChallenge

Well, it was bound to happen, and it finally did. Nate & I got challenged to do the Ice Bucket Challenge, along with millions of other people around the world. While we do not have any direct ties to ALS, that didn't change our willingness to jump in. If nothing else, Team G Shock has shown us the generosity of family, friends and even strangers, so if someone asks, we'll do what we can. We did the challenge itself and made a donation, and hopefully a treatment or better yet, a cure, can be found sooner than later.

Here are some videos we found that better explain the reason behind the need for the challege than I ever could.

source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hvrjj8fKcxE#t=39

Watch this one all the way through..its worth it.
(warning, there is some adult language)

source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h07OT8p8Oik#t=118

And here is the evidence of us doing the challenge ourselves. Nate's whole company (WME) was challenged by some of their clients, so all of the offices did it on the same day, and they put together this video to show it! It's hard to see Nate, but he's in the Nashville section in the back!

And here is me (and Shelby) taking the challenge! She didn't play along so well, other than to drink the ice water, but that wasn't a surprise to us!

Me & Shelby

If you are able to, please donate to alsa.org. While this challenge is fun and silly, the purpose is to find a cure, and hopefully all of the attention will get us closer to that! 

2014 Firecracker 5k

Nate & I weren't able to make it up to Bethany Beach this year for the 4th of July with my family, but we were well represented when my brother Drew and my Dad ran the Firecracker 5k for Team G Shock. That race holds a special place in our hearts, since it was the first race Team G Shock ever ran. While we were sad to miss it, we were glad Team G Shock could be there!

I hear it was a pretty good day for a race, and the usual crowd was there. They also had our usual cheerleaders in attendance, which is always a big help!

Here are the results:

268th place - Joe Ross - 33:59.2

276th place - Drew Ross - 34:48.5

As a sidenote, that is a new PR for Drew, and also almost 2 minutes faster than he ran the same race last year! Way to go, brudder!

They got us lots of pictures, which is very appreciated, so enjoy those! And keep an eye out for Team G Shock...you never know where we will be popping up! 

Before the race at the boardwalk!

During the race!

Dad finishing!

Drew finishing!

The runners with their favorite cheerleader!

The cheerleaders :)

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today is my Dad's birthday, and we are overjoyed to mark another year with the greatest Pops around! He is enjoying it the best way our family knows how, at the beach! We wanted to send wishes for a great day and another wonderful, and healthy, year! Love you, Dad! 

Event #47 - Gay 5k

A couple of weekends ago, Nate & I were excited to put our Team G Shock shirts back on, and get back out onto the course for a race! We had signed up for the Gay 5k just a couple of weeks before, basically as soon as Nate's doctor gave him the all-clear to run again!

The race was at our favorite course, Shelby Park, and it ended up being kind of cloudy, which was nice because it was a pretty warm day, so it would have been even worse without the clouds! There was a good crowd, and the race staff and supporters were great. People were along the course encouraging runners, which I always enjoy. It also was a different course at Shelby than we normally run, which was a nice change.

Here are our official results:

43rd Place - Nate Towne - 26:14
58th place - Sara Towne - 28:23

Neither of us set PR's, but those are the fastest races we've run in a while (even faster than my Endurance Class final 5k!). We were happy to be back at it, and to support a good cause!

We took some photos as always, so enjoy those! And keep an eye out for more races coming soon!!

Before the race.

After..and schweaty!

I was THIS excited for Team G Shock to be back!

Marmet 5k Fun Run Walk

Over Father's Day weekend, my brother Drew put on his Team G Shock shirt and ran the Marmet 5k Fun Run Walk in WV! He is gearing up for the Firecracker 5k with Dad over the 4th of July, so a practice run was in order! 

Since we've been out of commission for a little while, we really appreciated him taking one for Team G Shock to get out there! And because I knew about it ahead of time, I made sure he got some pictures!

Here are his results:

Drew Ross - 35:29

And of course, some photos!

Before the race with his favorite gal (and mine too!)

Ready to run!

Post-race!

With Debbie (his mom-in-law) after the race!

So proud of Drew for helping out Team G Shock, and as always, if you are able to donate to the cause, we appreciate it! We're on our way to $10,000, but need your help to get there! GOOOOO G SHOCK!

Next Race!

Now that Nate is back on his feet, we've got another race on the calendar! We will be running the Gay 5k next Saturday at our favorite course, Shelby Park! The race benefits OutCentral Greater Nashville's LGBT Center, and we're excited to get back to racing!

The race will be at 7:30am next Saturday, and updates will follow after that! Fingers crossed I can keep up with Nate & his new back! 

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Good News!

We have gotten some GREAT news in the last couple of weeks, and we wanted to share it here, especially since it relates to Team G Shock in one way or another!

As most of you know, Nate has been having back issues for a long time now (over 2 years!), and he's just been fighting through it to continue living life and running races. Well, in April, he finally got surgery to hopefully correct the issue, and we have kept our fingers and toes crossed since then that it would work. Well, after 8 long weeks of taking it very easy, and following doctors orders, he started to feel relief. And last week, at a follow-up appointment with his surgeon, he got the ALL CLEAR! :) That means he can run, workout, and live life pain-free (finally!). He went for a run the very next morning, and has been on a few since then. We're excited that he's feeling good, and that he can get back on his feet!

On the same day, my Dad got news that he was also, ALL CLEAR! No evidence of disease, and his doctor said to keep doing whatever it is that he is doing, because everything looks great! We are overjoyed to know that the treatment is still working, even years after he finished.

Team G Shock is back up and running, and we couldn't be happier! Keep an eye out for a race announcement soon, and for updates on the race that Drew ran over Father's Day!

A shot of Nate, me & Dad from our very first race! We're back!

Happy Father's Day

Since we started Team G Shock because of my Dad, we couldn't miss the chance to wish our favorite Dads a Happy Father's Day! Wish we could be with all of you, but we hope you all have a wonderful day! We love you all! 

Dad R in our favorite place! 

Dad & Mom T in Jamaica! 

My brudder Drew with my peanut! 

(Sidenote: he ran a 5k this morning, details coming soon!)

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there! Hope you all have the best day!

Annnnnd We're Back!

As mentioned in a post last month, Nate had back surgery in April which took him out of commission for a bit. We held off on more races because we wanted to be able to do them together, and he needed some time to recover. 

Today was officially his 8 week (well, more like 9) follow-up, and he got the all clear!! He is really excited to be able to run and workout again, and I am excited to run with him. We'll have to get some races on the calendar soon! 

In the meantime, we won't be making our normal trek to the beach for the 4th of July, but our family will, and Dad and Drew will be running our favorite race -The Firecracker 5k! I will be sure to get some good photos and all the details to post here! 

Endurance for the Win!

As I mentioned last week, I had recently signed up for an Endurance class at Crossfit Hendersonville. While Nate was recovering from surgery, I figured it couldn't hurt to step up my running game a little. That way, when he's back at it, I just MIGHT be able to keep up with him.

It was a 6-week course, with 2 classes every week. On the first Saturday class, we ran a 5k to get a good gauge of where everyone was at. And after 5 more weeks of working on our form and speed, we ran it again this past Saturday! The first time, I ran it in 31:14. I knew I could run faster with some training, but wasn't sure how much in 5 weeks time. Well, on Saturday, I ran it in 28:52! Again, not the fastest I've ever run, but I'll take an almost 2 1/2 minute improvement in that amount of time. Everyone in the class improved by at least 2 minutes, and some even by as much as 4 minutes! It was a great class, and I'm looking forward to taking it again sometime! We even got some awesome t-shirts for "graduation".

Other than that, we're just hoping Nate gets recovered soon, and looking for a new car for me! We got rear-ended a couple of weeks ago, and Rhonda the Honda has had her last ride. Its hard to tell in this picture, but the backside is totally smashed. We had to go pick everything up and say goodbye this weekend. As you can tell...I was sad. 

RIP Rhonda

We'll keep looking for some new adventures for Team G Shock here coming up, and will post about those as soon as we find them! 

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to our mamas and all of the other moms out there! Hope everyone has a great, and relaxing day!

Me & Mom R at our favorite place - the beach!

Mom T and our favorite crew member in Jamaica!

Where Have We Been?

Team G Shock has been a little MIA lately, and for that, we apologize! We did so much training for the Army Ten Miler last year, that we took a little break, and have only run a few races since then. But I promise you, we have not forgotten our goals for Team G Shock, or what it will take to get us there!

Since our last race in February, we have been keeping pretty busy. Along with the normal life and work stuff, we threw in a couple of extra things to keep it interesting. Nate had surgery on his back in April to hopefully fix what has been a long-term issue. He hurt his back over 2 years ago, and has been in pain pretty much all of the time since then. All along, he's been a trooper to keep running races with me (he only missed one!) and we're hoping this will help him live a pain-free life!

While he's been recovering, I started an Endurance class at Crossfit Hendersonville to try and improve my running a bit, and I'm excited to see how its working! We ran a 5k the first week, and I ran it in 31:14. Admittedly, not my fastest. We are running another one this weekend for the last week of class, so I'll be sure to update on how I was able to improve my time!

In addition to all of that, Nate celebrated the big 3-0 just a couple of weeks ago! As a lover of birthdays (mine and anyone else's), I had a few surprises planned to help him ring it in! He got a piano for his birthday present, which has already been put to good use, and then his whole family and best friend flew in on Friday to spend the weekend with him. To top all of that off, we threw him a surprise party at the house. It was a very fun weekend, and I know he appreciated everyone that was able to celebrate with him!

The piano ready for the big reveal!

The moment he finally realized it was there!

Happy 30th cake!

SURPRISE! :)

Why not?

The most adorable cookie favors ever! 

Made by the insanely talented The Sweet Elements!

Since then we've been trying to relax, let Nate recover, and get back to normal life (without me having to keep a million secrets from Nate!). We'll be looking for some races coming up soon that either we both, or just I, can run! As always...GOOOOOO G SHOCK!

Eat, Drink and Be 30!

Today is a big day for Team G Shock. Today, Nate turns 30! I am so excited to celebrate my hubby this weekend. I've kept most of our plans underwraps, but we have a fun weekend in store! Hope everyone else has a great weekend! I'll be celebrating this guy. 

Event #46 - Softball Sweethearts 5k

It has been a long time since we updated the blog, and we are way overdue for an update on our last race. In our defense, we left the country for a week not long after that race, so we fell a little behind in life for a bit. But, I'd say it was worth it.

This was real life. No filters. Amazing. 

But back to the race. On February 15th, Nate and I got up bright and early to make our way to the Hendersonville HS Softball Sweethearts 5k. It was a FREEZING morning, and it even snowed during the race! The race was put on by the HHS Softball team to benefit The Special Olympics, so there were a lot of girls from the team and their families at the race. The race started and finished at the high school and luckily we could huddle inside until the start. 

Once we got going, we learned something new about that area of Hendersonville - it's hilly! Between the cold, the hills, and our lack of training it was not our best race overall, but we had fun! Here are our official times:

Nate Towne - 9th place - 31:30

Sara Towne - 10th place - 31:49

We both finished 1st in our age group, and because it was Valentine's Day weekend, they had a few extra categories for prizes, one of which was Fastest Couple. While we were probably one of the only couples there, we'll take it! :) And our prize was definitely unexpected! 

Just what every couple needs!

Everyone at the race was so nice, and we were really happy to be able to support one of the local schools. And, we even made it into the local paper! 

The Hendersonville Standard

Some in-action photos! :)

We're keeping our eye out for some more races in the area, and hope to run another one soon! In the meantime, here are some other photos from race day!

Before the race....brrr!!

The ladies got roses at the finish line! 

Also, please notice the number of layers I'm wearing - it was COLD.

After! Thanks HHS Commandos for a great race!

We {heart} Race Weekend!

Happy Valentine's Day to all! We are celebrating this year in one of our favorite ways, with a 5K! We'll be running the Softball Sweetheart 5k here in Hendersonville on Saturday morning. We're excited to run a race in our new (ish) town.

We hope that everyone has a great Valentine's Day with those they love, and that all of our East Coast friends stay warm in all of their recent snow! 

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World Cancer Day

Today, February 4th, 2014 is officially World Cancer Day. Plenty of people have cancer on their minds every single day, but this particular day is meant to educate and help get us one step closer to a world without cancer (wouldn't that be WONDERFUL??).

I am thinking of my Dad and all of the other cancer fighters out there today, and I hope you can take a moment to send happy thoughts to everyone out there fighting this disease. And if you are able, I hope you will consider doing something today, or tomorrow, or next month to help support cancer research and the mission to find a cure!

To learn more about our story, or to donate to Team G Shock follow this link. And be sure to check out other ways to help by visiting the World Cancer Day website!

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The Couple That Races Together, Stays Together...

This Valentine's Day weekend, Nate & I will be running our 46th race for Team G Shock. We never thought we would run that many races, but are so excited to keep it going!

We signed up for the Softball Sweetheart 5k, which will be our first race in Hendersonville since we moved up there last Spring! The race will benefit the Hendersonville High School softball team, along with the Special Olympics. We're excited to run a race close to home, and to celebrate Valentine's Day in a fun way!

There's an award for fastest overall couple, so we'll have to see how we do for that. It's been a while, but you never know!

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Event #45 - Commitment Day 5k

We started 2014 off the best way possible...with a race! While we were away for the holidays, Nate got an email from our friend Eric. He was helping to plan the Commitment Day 5k, and asked us if we wanted to run. We didn't have any plans to party the night away on New Years Eve, and the race didn't start until 10am, so we signed up! 

We spent New Years Eve at a friends house, and celebrated East Coast midnight and then headed home to countdown with our pup (that's normal, right?). 

A peek into our crazy New Years Eve. 

On New Years Day we woke up and headed into town for the race. It was chilly, but luckily not as cold as it has been lately! Our friends Barrett and Christal and their son Clay were running too so we were excited to see them when we got there. The race is run all over the United States and supports committing to a healthy lifestyle in the new year. It is not a timed race so we decided to take it easy. 

The race took place on Vanderbilt's campus which was a nice (mostly flat) course. We ran with Barrett, Christal and Clay which was fun (and props to Barrett and Christal for pushing the stroller). 

Here are our unofficial results:

Nate Towne - 32:20 (ish)

Sara Towne - 32:20 (ish)

We had a great time and will definitely run this race again. We snapped some photos along the way, as usual, so enjoy those. :) 

Before the race. 

Ready for a happy 2014! 

The Sellers fam & us after! 

Happy 2014!

We love a good race mascot! 

We are looking into some upcoming races and will update those plans here soon! Hope everyone's year is off to a great start!