The Richmond Suntrust Marathon

This past Saturday I ran the Richmond Suntrust Marathon. The course was beautiful and it was a very well supported marathon. However, the temperature was unbearable! It got up to 77 by 11:00 a.m. with 17 mph winds and gust up to 28 mph! For those of you who don't run, that is not ideal running weather! Someone told me that your body warms up 20-25 degrees from the ambient temperature when you run. So it felt like running in 100+ degrees! I ended up throwing up at mile 13, cramping from mile 13.5 to 20 (walking and running when my cramps would subside). I whined and cried almost 1/2 the time. It was soooooooo painful. My right leg was cramping so bad, my IT band was TIGHT and I couldn't bend my knee. I was drinking so much water because I was sweating so much! I think I read that out of about 5000 people that started the race, only about 2900 completed it! People were passing out from the heat left and right! I know my Texas friends are saying, "Heat, 77 is not heat, it's cool!" Well, that is hot here! Record heat for Virginia in November!
I did complete the marathon, but not willingly! I'm shooting for my goal time (which was 3:55 this past one, but I totally missed my mark!). Richmond gave me a 4:44 finish time. I was 50 minutes off goal time! Oh, well. That is my whining for this month. Virginia Beach's Yeungling sponsered Shamrock Marathon on March 21st, here I come!
Enjoy the pics!

This was in the park by the finish line at the bottom of historical Cary Street
This is right after I crossed the finish line!

Mom is #1!

This was what I killed myself to get, an orange leaf with a shoe print on it!

Fall in Virginia

Check out these great pics!

This is the road up to our house.
This is on the lake.

This is our backyard.

Look at these beautiful colors.

Look at these smiles!

Check Out My 21 Miler Picture!

Yesterday was my first 21 miler since my last marathon. I ran with one of my coaches, Mark (green shirt) and another coach from another team named Blair. They had me in stiches the whole way! We averaged about an 8:45 minute mile to a 9 minute mile and for a couple of miles we even did 8:40! Compared to my 14 minute miles when I first started, I'd say that was a great improvement! Here is my pic!

Failure to Post.....

I'm a loser.....I haven't posted in a while I know! But I have a lot of pictures for you! We are all doing really well. Running like crazy. We're up to 20 milers on Saturdays plus other runs. Jerry and I are running about 50 mile weeks now. But WE LOVE IT. Richmond Marathon is November 15 so I'll let you know how it goes. Enjoy the pics!

My first small fish on our lake!
Aidan had been out in the pool all day and was exhausted!
It's obvious who the fisherman in my family is.......

This was Cristian's 6th birthday. He had a cake and finally got his Nintendo DS!

Don't you just want to pinch those cheeks!
"Quit takin' my picture!"
On a Sunday afternoon on the lake......
Say cheese!
Look at that smile....

Here is that smile again!

Summer 2008

Hi there. I am sure you are wondering where we have disappeared to. Life has been really hectic! I pretty much live in my car since I am always on the go. We had a great 4th of July. My good friend Rose and her family were up here for the weekend. We had fireworks and an awesome BBQ for the 4th. Then we did a lot of sight seeing with them. They were so much fun! Here are a bunch of pics for you since I haven't posted in a while.

This is Cristian at his Graduation Ceremony in May. He has rhythm!
This is Julian with my phone!
We took the boys to this place called the Great Wolf Lodge. It's an indoor water park. It was a blast!
Here is Aidan with his certificate of completion in May.
The boys at Jamestown on a historical cannon.

Here are the boys just last week hanging on the deck shooting a few hoops.

It's Been a While

Hey there! i know it's been a while since I posted, but i have been so busy with the boys and work. Lupita was here a couple of weeks ago. She took all these new pics of the boys that I wanted to share with you! Have a good one!!!

OUCH!

So my brother got into a really bad accident on his motorcycle. He ended up breaking his elbow pretty bad. They had originally diagnosed that he would be out of work for 6 months, and would have to have 4 surgeries to correct his elbow. Well, he is now the bionic man (see his x-ray) and went back to work today. He will have to have PT for about 6 months but that beats being a couch potato for 6 months.......

All is well in Virginia. Same old same old. Just working and being a chauffeur for my boys. Nothing new. Just waiting to see when my "friends" are coming up to visit. DID I TELL YOU GUYS THAT LUPITA IS COMING TO VISIT IN MARCH??????
ELLA DIJO....... hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha