16 miles in the heat

I cant believe I ran 16 miles today in this hot August Heat wave. Why you say would I do such a thing? Well for a cure for cancer thats why! but you all know that by now. so let me explain how my long run went today.



I started out nice and easy as instructed by one of my ultra runner coaches named Hao. He advised me to run my first mile at a 12 mintue pace and then increase my speed by shaving off 15 seconds each mile I complete until I get to mile 6. Once I reached mile six I was told to hold my marathon pace which is 1030min per mile. I followed the best I could and it actually worked! I felt good through most of my run and I think do to the heat I got extremely tired by mile 14.



All in all I did very well for myself even though I didnt have my run buddy Gabby with me due to a saturday class she had to be at. At least I will be able to run with her when I do my 18 miler in two weeks! wow almost marathon time and I cant believe it!



Alright until next time stay cool.



Victoria

Ouch! What a Run

Ouch! what a run I had at waddell Creek! Yeah so if you don't already know I took a nasty fall on the trail at Waddell creek. I along with some other great runners were running 12 miles through a beautiful trail in the Santa Cruz Mountains. With every step there was a rock or a tree branch sticking out of the ground and if you weren't watching your step you could fall.

Needless to say we were all running at a good pace when I heard my friend Gabby call from the back of our group "Bike Back" which means a bike is coming up on the trail from behind us. I like a curious person want to see where the bike is coming from and look to my left and then I hit a ROCK! and I FLY!!! forward hands out and pretty much take a somersault move to the ground. I hit my left shoulder pretty hard along with my left thigh taking the brunt of the impact and scraping up my left knee to finish out the fall. Oh but then I remember there is a bike coming I prepare myself for the possibility of the bike hitting me and hear the brakes of the bike. I look and see the biker stop before he could run over or hit me.

whats a runner to do? well you dust your self off asses the cuts and scratches and keep running. There is no time for reaching for a band aide or sitting and pouting about it. The only thought that runs through my head is " Thank God I didn't get hit by the bike and it could have been a whole lot worst". I of course was not the only one to fall and get hurt unfortunately two other runners in our group got a bit of the bad luck too as I did.

Marni fell after tripping over a branch. Also Pim rolled her ankle and possibly has a sprained ankle and couldn't finish her 12 mile run :( None the less we all toughed it out and we who could finish, ran tell the end and were glad to be done!

Us kicking the not so Lucky tire since after kicking the lucky tire all the bad luck started to happen!

aw we reached the top at mile 6, take a beautiful picture and turn around and head back.

Oh the beauty of a busted up leg! this is before I get the chance to clean up and apply antibacterial stuff and check out my shoulder which looked the same as my leg. Oh but it all chalks up to experience and a great run to laugh about later :)

As the 10th year is approaching without my sister

As the years have gone by I try to remember my Sister and the life she lived and not the way she died too much. It has been 10 years (as of August 6th) since I last saw my sister and I will never forget her as the years continue to pass.

This last Saturday (August 1st) I held my annual fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). Another name I generally use for this organization is Team in Training which is a non- profit supporting research to find a cure for all blood cancers. The Organization also helps patients currently dealing with cancer as well.

I with the help of many friends and family we raised $1000 that day to go towards the LLS efforts to finding a cure! I do all this in the memory of my sister Alexandria. Every time I cross a finish line at each race just before I come in I give a kiss on my hand and throw it to the sky and point upward. The Kiss is for my sister and the point is for God who carries me through each and every race no matter how big or small.

This year is especially hard for me because not only has it been ten years with out my sister. But it will be the year I marry the man I love with out my sister by my side to share in my joy. My eyes just tear up when I think about it but I know she lives in my heart and in the memories of all who knew her. So please join me in celebrating life and live for each day as if it were your last and never let a moment go by with out loving your friends and family.

If you haven't given towards my efforts to find a cure for all blood cancers and still would like to go to my link at :
http://pages.teamintraining.org/sj/nikesf09/vgonzales

Thank you for your support for those who have given and those who continue to pray for me and my team as we continue to train for our up coming marathons! I will keep you all updated.