Dominating for those we miss and love

Saturday I ran a 5K with my friend, Joy. She PR'ed with a 31 minute 5K. This was a very emotional morning. Joy's Mom had ovarian cancer and we lost her 2 years ago. It rocked her world more than you can imagine and she has fought a long way to come back and now getting back into running and doing this race. Jacob has been coaching and training with her, he is carrying the balloons.



They have a balloon release at the Ovarian Cancer run each year, but the race director was told two days before the race that releasing the balloons was dangerous for the care flight helicopters. They asked that we release them separately and away from the building. We decided to carry them and release them during the race. We tied our balloons together along with our notes for Joy's Mom and Elizabeth's sister. The race was a very special moment to be a part of. And worth limping the rest of the day (haha!)

Later that day, Elizabeth swam her first 1500 in an event the day before her first Olympic distance tri. It is the same swim as the race would be. She did fantastic!! She swam half the distance the year before during the sprint and had a heck of a time. This year, she swam like a champ, got out of the water and jumped up and down with her hands in the air!! :)

Sunday, was the Tri. Her first Olympic distance in memory of her sister, Mary. In 2009, this was the last tri that Mary was able to be at and cheer her on at and only her 2nd ever (she passed just a month ago). Liz did the tri and DOMINATED!! Not only did she do so great in the swim (and come out in great spirits), she was fast and solid on the bike and then destroyed the competition with a sub 40 10K to finish. I saw her come through an underpass over half way in where it goes directly to a very very very steep uphill to bring you back up to surface level. She not only was smiling and laughing as she ran by me, but her pace never changed for the steep uphill (will have to post a picture of this uphill one day). The results were a mess and it looked like she was second during awards, but later revealed that the only female ahead of her was the 3rd person on a RELAY!! It was so fun to be a part of this moment with her, helping pre-race, handling chip/timing issues during the race while cheering and then being there for her after.. so special to be a part of this day.

A race with a PR for Joy for her Mom, Laura. A new distance for Liz with an automatic PR and an overall female win for her sister, Mary. So special!!!

As far as me, I paid the price. Well worth it, but the boot camp I planned to take had to be delayed a bit, running around at both events has my knee in knots and a fresh cortisone shot in my foot. Hugs to Liz for being my awesome nurse-maid when I stumbled in from the shot that I was confident would not hurt. haha!