20 miles in Monterey

Phew what a day I had in Monterey. The weather was perfect and it was sooo beautiful who wouldn't love to be there in all its glory?

It has come to that time in my training for my marathon to run my 20 mile training run and then taper (slow down the miles). Scott came along for this training run and volunteered to help at a water stop. Scott didn't get a good ocean view at his water stop location but I was happy to see him when I came by for water. I started out my run nice and easy and worked my way up to a good running pace and held it to the finish. Just before I ran in my last few steps I thought back as to why I put myself through this and I said her name "Alex this is for you". each time I finish a run I remember her and its so rewarding. The best part was seeing Scott at the end to cheer me in with the rest of my Team! I love training with a great group of people. I am soo happy with this years training and I am very grateful to all you supporters for you prayers and support.

Since my marathon is fast approaching I do ask one final thing from all you supporters. If you know of anyone who has been affected directly by cancer or is currently fighting cancer let me know so I can add their name to my hero list. My hero list is a list of names I write on my race jersey. All during the marathon these names inspire us runners to keep running in honor or memory of them. Of course my Sister's name is on the top but your friend or family member is just as important.

Thank you once again for your continued support and if you haven't donated and still would like to please go to my web page at http://pages.teamintraining.org/sj/nikesf09/vgonzales

I will send one more update before the marathon to keep you in the loop of my marathon which is on Oct 18th.

Take care and God Bless !

I Miss her, she would have been 26th

It has been ten years since I last saw my sister Alex and if she were still alive she would have been celebrating her 26th birthday this Saturday on Sept 5th. As I have said before this year has not been easy for me during my wedding preparation.

This week I had two appointments for wedding planning. The first appointment was with our pastor who will officiate our wedding. I had told the pastor I wanted to represent my sister in a special way and would have one of the groomsmen walk alone with out a bridesmaid, Since my sister is irreplaceable. The Groomsman then would light a candle to represent my sister's presents with us on our special occasion. I nearly wanted to cry when explaining this to the pastor. Really life is not always full of happy things sometimes we have to keep running even when it hurts.

The next wedding appointment I had was at the alteration for my wedding dress. wow it was sooo weird to stand there in front of the mirror and look at myself in a wedding dress. I thought of the day I would wear it again when fully done and how it all will go. I thought of the people involved and of my sister who would not be physically present. My mom looked at me and just kept saying we are going to really have a special day. It warmed my heart to see my mom there buttoning and zipping me in the dress.

Such a great time right now for me and in the mist of it all I want to take the time out to say happy birthday to my sister who I dearly miss and love soo much. As the song sang by Jeremy Camp "There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, no more fears...." until then I will marry the man who will help carry me through these sad moments when I miss her, along with the rest of my big family and friends. Its sooo good to know I will have Scott to hold me when I really need it.

So live for today and don't wast a moment of it. Donate today to find a cure for cancer at my webpage http://pages.teamintraining.org/sj/nikesf09/vgonzales