Hi everyone, I hope all is going well. It's been a while since out last post, so I decided to get back on here and shoot out some updates. Right at the end of last year my Grandfather Passed away. Grandpa was the one that you always new was in the room. He might crack a joke. He might dance. He might yell at you for making too much noise but he was always there to tell you he loved you. We had wonderful memories with my grandfather and I know God is taking care of him. With the countless friends and family members we all know that have passed on, for me, its always better to have one more angel watching over Lila and I. Carrying his name for the third generation is truly ad honor to me. Love you grandpa you will be missed.
Last post we talked about running the surf city half marathon. It was a goal of ours and Lila and I trained very hard. We trained to be where we needed to be physically and mentally to get through such an accomplishment. Race day was last Sunday. Superbowl seemed on everyone's mind that day but not ours. We had work to do first. We woke up bright and early at 3:30am. I shouldn't say that we woke up. It was more like the alarm clock went off and got out of bed. I tried to tell Lila it was time to wake up. Could you believe her, she thought I was lying. I leaned over and said, "Wake up, it's time." Her response was "No." I said, "It's 3:30, time to get up." Her response was, "No it's not, your lying!" If you haven't seen my alarm clock (most of you haven't), its voice responding. Her name is MOSHI and when given orders will comply with your request. I had to ask MOSHI what time it was, so the response was audible and she would then be able to know that I wasn't lying!
So after picking up a few co-workers in Covina and in Carson we arrived in Huntington Beach. It was chilly in the morning and the sun hadn't shown its pretty rays yet. The energy of the people and area was contagious. Everyone was ready to get into their corral and get the race going. I even told one of my coworkers, "Now I know what those race horses feel like, all cooped up in those corrals before the race. I just want to run already!" Race time was finally here. We took off down PCH a little before 8:30am. It was a sea of runners, literally as far as your eyes can see. The spectators were amazing! They would hold up signs and cheer you on as you head out into what would be a very tough day for the both of us. 13.1 miles is not easy! We headed north on PCH and turned east on Seapoint. We headed into the bluffs and eventually found our way back to PCH. My thought process was to just get to the turning point and I would be fine. But when would I ever get to the turning point? By the time you came out of the bluffs it was mile 5 and it was another 3 miles to the turn! Every other day we were running at least 4 miles during training. This 3 mile run seemed like 15 miles. FINALLY, I got to the turn. I was on my way back home! The first and only thing I could think about was where was Lila? I wanted to see her so bad! See, Lila doesn't like running with me. For some reason, because she knows I'm faster she would rather let me go my pace than run together, so she can concentrate on her own pace. So I knew I would see her on the way back. I saw a couple of co-workers and then a few more. Then, as I kept my eye out for a pissed off girl in pink (Lila is always mad when she's working out), I spotted her! Lila and I aren't runners. In fact we started running just a couple weeks before thanksgiving. I couldn't run a mile without stopping to catch my breathe. For me to see her out there and us doing what we set out to do was mind blowing! Miles 9-12 were very long. The sun is now out and in full form and it takes every last bit of effort to get though the middle miles. Mile 13 though, you get the sense of excitement. All of a sudden there's more and more people cheering you on! "Your doing great!" "Keep going!" Complete strangers looking you right in the eyes and telling you, "Don't stop, you can do it!" I'll never forget this one guy. He'll never read this and I'll never be able to find out who he is, but he had a sign. He was standing on an irrigation vent pedestal. You know those tall skinny round ones sticking out of the ground, with holes all around it. His sign said, "You don't know me, I'm a complete stranger but you are amazing!" Those are the kind of words that got a lot of people through the last few meters. I didn't tell everyone but I could hear my Grandfather with his infamous accent saying "GO ARDIE GO!" You couldn't help but crack a laugh when he did that. I finished at 2:39.52 . My goal was to finish in 2:30 and I missed it, but I don't care it was a great race for me. Lila and I had agreed that we would meet at the finish line. As I finished I got my medal an some water, I turned back so I can watch her finish. I got close to the finish line and one of the volunteers told me I couldn't get any closer and I would have to leave the area to make room for everyone else to finish. I understand, but I needed to see Lila finish. Luckily another woman was trying to do the same thing I was and the same lady told her the same thing. This was my opportunity. I turned back and went another way using that lady as a distraction to get to where I wanted to be. It was perfectly executed! As I waited I couldn't help but think back on all of our training and how many times we didn't want to get up and run. And now look at us, we were going to finish the whole thing. I spotted Lila in the crowd and started recording on my iPhone. She saw me way before I saw her, so she was making a B-line for me. As I saw her face in pain and in tears, she brought me to tears. For us it was one of the hardest things we've ever done and it was emotional for us to do it together and survive. Lila finished at 3:09. She also missed her goal time but we didn't care. It was a win win day for us. There's a thing called the Beach Cities Challenge. The challenge is to complete all three southern California beach cities half or full marathons. Lila and I will be going for this! Up next is Orange County half marathon. That one is May 5th in Newport Beach. We'll keep you updated. If anyone wants to join us just let one of us know. I have to go now. Time to go run.
