13. 1 Miles... I Did it!

I really don't know where to start but I guess I can sum up my feelings by saying this race was both the most rewarding and the most painful thing I have ever done physically.

The funniest thing about my experience was that there was a man who juggled about four or five balls while running the whole race. Believe it or not he makes really great time. I was joking with my family and friends that I was determined not to let this man finish before me. I caught and passed him around mile 6 and was satisfied that I would not finish after a man juggling while running.

By the time I got to the last mile I was completely out of gas! I was walking the final strip and was about a half mile from the finish line when I see this man blow past me juggling! All I could do was laugh. It became a race to the finish but by the time I could get my legs going again he had already put too much distance in front of me, juggling the whole while and rubbing the humiliation in deeper. I crossed the line just behind him and thought this was probably one of the funniest things that has ever happened to me.

It was a great race! There were over twenty thousand people and everyone had a really great attitude. Couples, families and friends were all out there doing something really good. I was also really happy with how the locals supported us. They were out there cheering us on and spraying us with watter, it was really great energy.

I felt really good to be doing this for CRSF as well. I plan on doing this again next year and raising money for the orphanage. I hope to recruit a few family and friends to also run and try to raise money as well.

In closing let me just say thank you to all those who contributed to CRSF. We are living in tight economic times and I wish all those who gave and who plan to give a special blessing of wellness, peace and happiness!

Rafael

Hit and miss

Like most thing in my life this blog has been hit and miss. It certainly didn't shape up the way I imagined it in my head but hey I gave it a shot. At any rate the day is at hand and I have trained much in the same way I have updated this blog. I started out really hard and then kind of faded in the middle...Who am I kidding? I all but vanished toward the middle! It is the nature of things and who I have grown to be.

That being said I still trained and worked hard. I pushed through some injuries and realized that I could push farther than I thought I could. I am in the best shape of my life and I feel great. I think this experience will certainly be a force to propel me to live a healthy and active life style for years to come.

The greatest part of this has been trying to do something to help a cause that is dear to me. I am happy to be raising money for the orphans of CRSF and hope that the little work I do will go a long way in their lives.

Race day is just around the corner and I am excited to be finally doing this. It was an up and down journey but I learned something each time my feet hit the ground.

Stay tuned and be well.

Getting ready for race day!

I am fired up for the big race this Sunday! I thought long and hard about whether or not I would run with my IPod or not. I've decided to go without it. I want to be present for every step, every breeze and every ache and pain and I just want to run free.

Be well