AH!

Hey!

If all works out as planned, a week from right now we will officially be marathon finishers.

I am so stinking nervous.

I am also excited.

I am also relieved that it's almost over... it's been hard.

I am excited to "work out like a normal person."

Daniel and I had an amazing Thanksgiving with his family. Today we drove the first part of the course when we were driving back to school and when we crossed the starting line in the car Daniel turned to me and said, "I have butterflys." O my gosh, so did I. Totally nervous. There are going to be so many fierce people there! I'm afraid of making a mistake or... not finishing.

Anyway. It's coming. Fast.

The lovely Becky posted about Dan and I today on her blog. She put up a pic of me from 8th grade when she was my volley ball coach. I forgive her. Haha! I was relieved that is was a picture from AFTER I started managing my eyebrows. Very sweet post! We love you Becky and Mark. Check it out here.

Money Talk: I know some of you are still planning on donating, and you have time. You don't have to have it postmarked by a certain time or anything. Just send it my way when you get a chance.

Here's some fun pics from the course tour.

Definitely scared of being in the porta potty when the gun goes off.

This will be Dan and I...

Daunting! THE WALL at 20 miles.

We'll be running RIGHT behind our church on this stretch. We're not the only ones missing church for the CIM, though. City Life is such a hip church like that.

I was bummed when I found out Dan and I won't be crossing the finish line together. To make up for it, we finished our 20 mile run hand-in-hand... SO cheesey, but SO worth it. He's the most amazing running partner (and boyfriend) ever!

Racing for the Kid,

Stephanie

Looming

23 days until marathon day! What!?

This is going to be us... though I don't think they hold up a banner and take a picture of those of us who do not finish in the top 10... This is the mens 2008 winner, Halefom Abebe of ETHIOPIA!!! Where else!?

And tomorrow, Dan and I run 20 miles! That will be the longest we run until the marathon. I cannot believe it's tomorrow. The big 20 has been looming in the distance for months now, and it's almost here.

I'm not going to lie. It will be nice to be a marathon finisher instead of a marathon trainee. I'm so nervous about the marathon. I keep having mara-nightmares in which I cannot find the finish line, don't make it to the starting line in time, never finish, get hurt, die... It's ridiculous.

But at least I'm not Daniel, who as of today is now working 2 jobs, finishing up his last 4 weeks of undergraduate education, and training for a marathon all at once. (And he is still finding the time to be an amazing boyfriend, too! What a guy!)

Money Talk:

We are SO excited about the money coming in! If you are still wanting to donate, you still have time. Send in those checks. There are also plenty of shopping bags left for anyone who donates $25 or more! Check HERE for details. I know there are some of you who've said you wanted to donate, but still haven't. So I guess I'm talking to you. You know who you are. ;)

FUN:

Here are some fun links about the CIM course. Check them out.

-Course map: Folsom to the capitol. (Dan and I don't get to cross the same finish line?! LAME!)

-Course profile: Fastest course in the West, ya'll!

-If you want to see what we will be seeing, take the course tour!

And here is a picture of us at a Halloween party... which we attended after running 17 miles earlier that day. :)

Much love to you all!

Racing for the Kid,

Stephanie

2 cool things!

First, Daniel and I ran 17 miles on Saturday! Marathon = just a little over a month away. I had to tell you that first, because once I tell you the second thing, you won't care about how far we ran...

Second, last week, Becky called me to tell me some exciting news! They got a referral for a beautiful little boy! I SO wish I could post a picture, but I cannot since they have not met with the Ethiopian judge yet (he is so stinking cute!).

What's next? They hope to be able to travel in the next few months when they will meet with the judge and get to meet their son. Then they will have to leave and wait for his visa to go through. This can be up to 6 weeks.

Please pray that this process will go smoothly and quickly for them! I cannot imagine how excited they are to meet their son.

It's really exciting to be able to run with a little face in mind for this last month of training. (Especially on the really long runs!)

Racing for the Kid,

Stephanie

It's Time to Bring in the $$$

OK! It's the moment you've all been waiting for! Your first opportunity to give to Race for the Kid.

As you know, Daniel and I are running the California International Marathon to raise money for our friends Mark and Becky's adoption. They are currently in the process of bringing home a baby boy from Ethiopia. To read more about their story check out our first post, The Scoop, or check out Becky's blog.

We're offering a little incentive right now. Mark and Becky designed some reusable shopping bags a while back. The first 15 people to make a $25 donation to Race for the Kid will receive a bag for free. If you do make a donation and do not life in the Rocklin/Roseville, please include a shipping address for the bag.

So let's do this! Checks can be made out to Stephanie Murrow and be mailed to the following address:

Stephanie Murrow

333 Sunset Blvd #369

Rocklin, CA 95765

Racing for the Kid,

Steph

Today's Piece of Humble Pie

Readers,

When I decided to train for the CIM, I was excited for the way it would affect my body. Honestly, I was excited to get... tiny. You've seen marathon runners. They are muscular little sticks! I envisioned these women:

In the interest of modesty, I won't go into too much detail about how these women's bodies are not like mine, but I'll tell you that training for one marathon does not make you look like them. All it has really done to me has made my quadriceps HUGE! HUGE! And because of this, I can only wear like 3 out of my 6 pairs of jeans. I am training for a marathon and I cannot fit into half of my jeans because my thighs are huge! Doesn't that sound ridiculous. I thought so too.

So I'm humbled. I'm not doing this for my own vanity.

I'm happy and thankful for what my body does for me. I ran 10 miles last saturday! TEN! And if all goes well, I'll be a marathon finisher in in 2 month and 6 days and hopefully we'll have raised some money to bring a little guy home to his new parents. I guess I can handle only being able to wear half of my pairs of pants for the next few months.

Racing for the kid,

Stephanie

Long distance relationships.

I know that Steph posted yesterday, but I think that two posts to celebrate the first success of a Saturday is well deserved.

Our run yesterday, which was supposed to be 4-5 miles, ended up being the best run yet. Recently our runs begins with a text message from the other person saying something like, "Morning! We're running (insert number of miles). Love you." Usually, its Steph that texts me and usually she has already finished her run. Which means that I'm in bed and have to make a decision: to get up and run or sleep in.

Usually its an internal struggle to decide.

Yesterday, however, was different. Steph sent me another text that read, "Morning! I ran four miles and didn't stop once. I don't remember the last time I did that!" Who wouldn't want to run with that kind of achievement?

That text message did it. I got my butt of out bed: put on my running get up, tied my shoes, headbanded my head and started my iPod. I ran, successfully, I might add 4 1/2 miles and only stopped to stretch twice. I know, this doesn't seem like very much in retrospect to the 26.2 miles that we have to run December. But like any important cliche says, a journey starts with a step and you can't run a race sitting down.

There are always going to be personal achievements in the training. It starts with the decision, the registration, the training, the marathoning and finally that sticker that you can put on your car. Within this arc are the little things that make it worth the struggle, and at times, misery. For me its every morning getting a text Message from Steph telling me what we're running, because we're doing it together. There is distance in this training that I haven't really realized. Steph and I registered together 400 miles apart on Skype. We started training separately. Even who and what we're running for involves state and continental distances. This is who you know when something important is happening, when you are able to struggle through the long distances because you that there is a relationship vibrating from yourself, to your running partner, to your new friends in Colorado and that special baby boy in Africa.

Its simple, but not easy. We just have to run, but it takes a lot of work.

Daniel

Up and Running

Hey!

We have officially started training! We are a week into our running schedule. This is a link to the schedule we choose if you are interested.

This week was... good. It was hard sometimes, but it was really good sometimes too.

It's crazy to think that, if all goes well, in less than four months I will be done with this and be a marathon finisher. It's crazy to think that running four miles this morning is the start of what is going to get me to the finish life. I think about crossing the finish line probably at least five times per run. I keep imagining what it will feel like. I cannot imagine. I cannot wait!

This morning, I had a particularly awesome run. When I woke up, the sun was still low on the horizon and the clouds were beautiful. As the sun rose it became more and more magnificent. I love being outside. I love running outside. Mmm...

I don't really know what to write. I feel a little scattered. But I wanted to give everyone a wee update since it's been a while. We're still here. We're still running.

Racing for the Kid,

Stephanie