I'm Back!!!!

Hi All,

I am officially back with Team In Training's Fall Season which kicks off on Saturday, May 14th! Although I am an alumni, I am back with the team as a member of the support staff.  I will be mentoring new teammates and providing support to them at every step of the way.  I had such a wonderful experience from my mentor, Bertha, that I thought I would pay it forward.  Bertha was a constant motivator, always checking in to see how I was doing, if I needed any help/ideas with fundraising and was just generally enthusiastic, even at 6:30 in the morning!  I hope that I can be as supportive to others as she was to me!  Our coaches were awesome, always providing training tips and encouragement.  They did an awesome job getting us all ready for our races.

With that being said, my fundraising journey will begin again! I hope that all of my donors last season can dig into their pockets again and support a worthwhile cause!  Last season our San Gabriel Valley team raised over $113K.  That money is making a difference in the patient's and their families lives at this very moment.  I will be updating my blog just as soon as I have my fundraising page up.  In the meantime, checks are always welcome! Please make checks payable to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and mail to 4937 Willmonte Ave. Temple City, CA 91780 or call me and I will be happy to pick it up!

Let's give patients like Virginia, Tyler and Katrina, who is scheduled for her bone marrow transplant next month, hope that one day soon, there will be a cure to these deadly cancers.

If you want to join the fight, visit http://www.teamintraining.org/ or call/email me for more information and I will help get you signed up!  It will change your life forever!

With much love!

Lynn

I did it!

Surf City 2011 was to be my very first half marathon so needless to say I was pretty excited for race day. The previous Saturday was supposed to be an easy 6 mile run with the team, but due to stomach issues I called off the run at 1.8 miles.  Let me tell you, it was a looong lonely walk back to the parking lot in front of the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center.  I felt like I had let my running partners, Tony and Claudia down.  I started feeling down and wanted to cry. I kept thinking, if I can't do this 6 miles, would I be ready for Sunday...did I mention it was a long walk back to the car?  I called Tony and told him I was on my way home, he heard it in my voice and tried to make me feel better.  I called coach Kiley and told him I was headed home and not to look for me at the finish line.  I don't know if he heard the disappointment in my voice, and I haven't asked him, but a few hours after the run, he sent out an email giving a little pep talk about injury/illness and how it takes courage to "call of the dogs" and get healthier than it does to gut out a training and risk more injury/setback.  That email made me feel 110% better about my decision.  THANK YOU Kiley! 

I decided that I would rest on Sunday and run on Monday night, if I felt better.  Monday came and I was 100% better, I did a 5 mile run with my dog, Cookie! She was an awesome partner and kept me company.  

Tuesday night was our send off dinner with the team at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Monrovia.  I took Nani with me; she was excited to meet Tyler.  She had a great time watching the slideshow, because she was in it! Nani declared to Coach Pete that she was gonna run just like mommy! Future TNTer! The food was great and the company was even better!  A great time was had by all! We heard some tips and encouraging words from our mentors, coaches, and honored teammates, Virginia and Tyler! 

Wednesday, the team met at Arcadia High School for some speedwork or Yassos.  At first I was confused, but quickly caught up!  My partner for the night was Claudia, she is such a fun running partner.  Always keeps us on our toes and laughing! I rested up on Thursday and got my sleep on Friday since Saturday I would most likely have "the first day of school" jitters.

I headed out to Huntington Beach at about 2...darn google maps was not "pacific" and was more "atlantic" with the directions...instead of staying on the 405S I took the 22E and went allll the way around through Newport Beach...<sigh> 

I checked in at our hotel, The Shorebreak Hotel. It was a very nice hotel with a nice view of the Huntington Beach Pier.  

I walked down to the expo to pick up my packet and took a nice picture of the mile markers.

The Surf City Goodie bag and shirt were really cute. Lots of goodies to be bought at the expo; I didn't walk away empty handed. I finally found an arm band that my EVO fits as well as a 13.1 bumper sticker (I almost put it back not wanting to jinx myself before actually getting out on the course). Tony and I headed back to the hotel to get ready for the Inspiration Dinner and load up on carbs!

Tony, Bertha, Liz and I went a little early to the Hyatt to have a drink before the dinner. We met up with Coach Pete and had a pre-dinner drink. Monica aka Kid Dynamite met us for a drink; it was a nice little hang!  We made our way to the ballroom for the dinner; as we were nearing all I could hear was cowbells, whistles, bells, screaming, clapping! Then it dawned on my why Bertha was wearing a whistle around her neck! TNT mentors and support staff lined the staircase and made us feel like super stars!  I wish I had a picture, but I was too shocked to take out my phone!

The food was awesome...lots o' carbs! We listened to an Honored Teammate, please forgive me as I can't remember his name :(  He is a great storyteller and had us all laughing.  I can now understand when people say that laughter is the best medicine.

Tony, Bertha, Liz and I headed back to the hotel; since there was no dessert, we decided to get some dessert.  Carol and Monica joined us for more carbs! We all decided that a pizookie was in order so we walked to BJ's!  We ordered the party pizookie and ordered peanut butter, oatmeal, chocolate chip and macadamia and white chocolate.  It was very yummy! Team 1 - Pizookie - 0

Before

After

Little side note: Carol had a great run on Sunday and has attributed her PR to the pizookie the night before, so we will be getting pizookies before every race! :)

We headed back to the hotel to get ready for the big day and get some rest.  I finished putting my ribbons on the back of my jersey and laid out all my gear for the next day. 

Woke up 5:45 am to get ready and head down to the lobby and check-in with the team. I was really excited! Race day, what I had been training for since November, was finally here!  Quick photo of the team before heading to the start line. Sorry for no flash!

The weather was perfect, not too cold! I didn't even need a jacket, and for everyone that knows me, that's a big deal!  Monica, Judit, Liz and I couldn't pass up a photo opportunity with the start line behind us.  I didn't realize it at the time, but the very first picture we took together was December 4th before the South Pasadena Tiger Run.  Here we are again before the 1/2 Marathon!  

20,000 runners/walkers for this event! It was a crazy/awesome feeling to see so many people!  We found our corral, which was based on expected finish times. I didn't want to break my rhythm once I started running, so I used this time to stand in the long lines for the restroom.  The gun finally went off and it seemed like forever before we started to move towards the start line.  It was our moment and I will never forget when that horn went off and I took that first step!

Miles 1-3 were great. I loved running down PCH towards the pier. There was a ton of crowd support even at 8:10 in the morning. I saw my hubby and baby girl waiting for me. Since I didn't see them earlier, I stole a quick kiss from both of them and got back to the run.  We made our first turn and saw Coach Kiley to cheer us on! As we made our way up the largest hill of the race my breathing was great.  Tony needed a little bathroom break, thankfully the line wasn't that bad. As we headed back to PCH I saw my little cheering squad, my hubby and two girls with a sign that says "Go Mom, You're DynOmite"

Before I knew it were at mile 6! Tony and I had gotten into our rhythm, we had a good pace going for us and we felt good!

I'm not gonna lie, I hated that back stretch...it seemed forever before we crossed the median to head back.  The signs along the way kept it interesting, along with seeing "Troy Polamolu" a cow wearing a cheese head in honor of the two super bowl teams.

Along came mile 10 and we saw the TNT cheering section of Gail, Rosemarie and Lindsey.  A little further down we saw Manny, Ranee, Coach Ryan and Janna...they ran with us for a bit and gave us more support!  All the love on the course was awesome and gave us energy.  

As the coaches told us, we broke the race into 3 parts; the first 5 miles, get warmed up and enjoy ourselves, the second 5 get into our rhythm and the last 5K, run our race.  We were at a good pace the entire race. We were pretty much consistent in the 13 minute/mile.  Tony started to cramp a bit on the last mile. We walked a little and then jogged a little hoping it would pass. I saw the finish line ahead and then the adrenaline kicked in. The chute or alley was incredible! Everyone was cheering you on. When close enough to see my name, people were shouting it! That's when I kicked it into high gear and sprinted toward the finish line with my hands held high! As I crossed the finish line, I let out a big "yes, I did it!"  The feeling is unbelievable! 

There are few opportunities in life where you get to find out what you are really made of.  This was one of them. Not being a "runner", I did it! It doesn't matter if you are fast or slow, just as long as you go! In my opinion there 3 things TNT runners should do.

1. Leave it all on the pavement 

2. Don’t give up, no matter how much it hurts 

3. Don’t forget that you do this because you love it and it makes a difference in someone's life

Here is my official time:

15738 Lynn Castro F 35-39
Half Marathon Start:   Gun 7:45:11     Chip 8:10:52
Splits:	3 Mi	8.2 Mi	Finish	O'All	Sex	Div
Times:	41:47	1:51:52	2:59:14	11421	6874	1132
Pace:	13:56	13:39	13:41

I can’t wait for my next race. 

Almost there!

Well family and friends, race day is only 4 days away.  I am getting excited and nervous, but I am positive I will cross that finish line with my hands held up high in victory!  With the help of my family, coaches, mentors, support staff and teammates, there is no way I can fail!

I want to thank everyone that has supported me on my journey to the finish line.  Without the love, emotional support, encouragement and monetary donations, this would not be possible. I have met some awesome people during this time and I know that we will be lifelong friends! My running partners, Tony and Claudia, you two are awesome! Thanks for the laughs and encouragement throughout the many miles we have ran together.  Bertha and Manny, thanks for always being there to lend an ear and give encouragement along the way.  Coaches, Kiley, Pete, Juan and Ryan, your words of wisdom, training and training tips have helped me immensely and I will be forever grateful to you all!

Here are just a few photos from my journey...more photos will be posted after the big day!

"Gut Check"

For all my friends that have said they want to do this; the following email will give you some motivation to get started as it gives me the motivation to finish what I set out to do!   In less than a month, I will accomplish my goal!

"Every morning in Africa , a gazelle wakes up.   It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed.   Every morning in Africa , a lion wakes up.   It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve.   It doesn’t matter whether you’re a lion or a gazelle-when the sun comes up, you’d better be running."

-anonymous

Some inspiring words from Coach Kiley: 

What this quote underscores is that you are ALL training for your own life.  Training for your health.  Exercising for your sanity.  But more than that, you’ve all put your bodies, minds, and souls on the line for others, people struggling for their own life.  People who fight and survive cancer teach us a valuable lesson: to appreciate the lives that we have, the simple ability to get together, bond, and run/walk for a common cause… the ability to help another human being in a profound and meaningful way.  People who succumb to cancer teach us another lesson: life is brutal and short and we should embrace the moment, seize the day, and dive into each and every opportunity that whispers to our inner-most children, beckoning us to come out and play.  People never regret what they did in the grand scheme of life, they regret what they chose not to do, things they said they’d get to someday but just not now.  You are all living this “Carpe Diem” life.  You’re taking on the marathon, the half marathon, some for the first time, some for the 10^th time, some to finish, some to run (or walk) faster than you’ve ever done so before!  We do not care what you look like or how much ability God has blessed you with.  We are less interested in what you have done than we are in what you are about to do.  We are not going to listen to who you have been in the past, We'll only empower who you say you dream of being.  Don’t even think you’ll be able to talk us out of who you declared yourself to be back in November.  We are and shall forever be champions for you, the greatest version of you, even if you have trouble seeing that possibility right now.  All of that said, this is the point in our training program where many people encounter the ‘gut check’ phenomenon…

THE "GUT CHECK" PHENOMENON

A very common term in competitive sports, the ‘gut check’ is a term that refers to when you question yourself, maybe you want to quit, maybe you think can't do it, it’s then and only then that you discover your true level of commitment, your true fire, drive, and passion.  Are you all HEART or all TALK?  When you overcome a gut check, you become tougher; mentally and emotionally stronger.  This does not mean that you continue to RUN & WALK through an injury.  That's not courage, that's foolishness; you’re merely setting yourself up for a MAJOR gut check to happen soon when you wind up with a major injury.  Overcoming your gut check means that when you are fatigued, sore, feeling emotionally beat down… you persevere, you remember WHY you got yourself into this (program) in the first place.  This training program is laced with opportunities to become a stronger individual spiritually, emotionally, psychologically, not to mention physically.  It’s training to develop the character of a champion.  And you are ALL champions!  For some of you, it will be braving the cross training workouts we've told you to do in the pool and/or on a bike because you can not run for a week or even a month (or more).  For others, it's just getting out of bed at 6:00am on Saturday when you “don't feel like it.”  You will all have MANY gut checks in the half or full marathon, so we hope for your sake you have many before the event, to prepare you for the upcoming tests of will. 

Reflections on 2010 and Happy 2011

So it’s officially 2011 and I guess this is usually that time where people reflect on the past year and make resolutions for the new one, so… here it goes:

2010 was a blur… lots of good and bad but mostly good.  

• I began running… I mean seriously running. This was due to me signing up with The Leukemia & Lymphoma's Team in Training program.  
• I caved in and started this blog so that everyone that cares, can follow me on this journey.
•  The company I work for made the decision to lay-off some employees; we lost a lot of great friends and co-workers. I remain thankful that I still have my job, a roof over my head, a car to drive and food to sustain my family.  
• I ran a 5k for my pace assessment at the beginning of November and then another two in a span of 2 weeks at the end of November.  
• Logged in weekly running, x-training and hill training. Thanks to the cardio trainer application on my android phone, I logged in a total of 46.1 miles since November 1st and so far in 2011 I have 12.1 miles logged. 
• I made a decision to get my California Adjuster's License and have started studying. 
• I spent money… blah blah blah :)
• Yeah… lots of stuff. There's a lot more to mention, but I won't ;)

I would have to say it was a good year, yes, a very good year indeed.

I’m not usually one for resolutions though…since they usually fall through within the first couple of weeks. Although I would not call this a resolution, I have signed up for my first EVER 1/2 marathon on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 6th. I also plan on signing up for the LA Marathon on March 20th.  Team in Training is a wonderful way to get the training, moral support and encouragement all while fundraising to help save the lives of blood cancer patients. If you want to make a donation, please visit my site: http://pages.teamintraining.org/los/surfcity11/lcastroq1u. The summer season is starting up; don't pass up this opportunity to achieve something great at the same time, save lives! Check out http://www.teamintraining.org/ for more information or to sign up!  

Here are some lessons learned on my own and through others:

Reasonable vs Extraordinary

I have been sick since Sunday night but still, I went to work on Monday and left early to get some rest. I woke up on Tuesday and decided that I didn't want to miss our annual Holiday luncheon and white elephant game so I made myself get up despite not feeling 100%. I didn't do my daily run knowing my cough would get worse with the cold air at night. I woke up yesterday morning and felt like I got hit by a bus, my cough was so bad that drinking orange juice burned as it went down. I decided to do the right thing and stay home to rest up so I can fight this sickness and be done with it.

I woke up this morning and although I am still not feeling well, I felt so much better than yesterday I came into work. I was talking with a co-worker from Dallas and to my surprise, I told her that I wanted to be better by Saturday because I didn't want to miss running the 8 miles with the team.  WHAT!? Yes, that was me and no I was not taking medication! 2 months ago, there was no way you would've ever heard that statement coming from me. I was the teenager in jr. high and high school that made up excuses to avoid running! Go figure! I enjoy the Saturday runs with the team, we motivate each other and we are all there for the same reason!

So this afternoon I received my weekly coach's email from Kiley. Every week we get the week's logistics, what to expect and bits of useful information to help and motivate us for our training.  This week's email was AWESOME!  Below is an excerpt from the email: 

Reasonable vs Extraordinary
 
You are all incredible, selfless, exceptional people.  Below, see a little exploration on those with ability versus those who give that extra effort…

“Eighty percent of success is showing up.”
-Woody Allen
 
As coaches some people approach us and ask about “what it takes” for a person to complete endurance events.  I have been thinking about this long and hard for years now and here is what I’ve come up with…
 
Woody Allen’s quote above sums it up quite elegantly… truly, the toughest step in any training program is the first step out the front door.  It is the same with fundraising; the toughest part is mailing the letter(s), sending the email(s) and opening your mouth to ask people for help to save the lives of others.  Contrary to popular belief, the people who take that first step out the door (consistently) and open their hearts to ask for fundraising dollars are no different from anyone else.  Those who have succeeded on our teams over the past 5-years have rarely been blessed with more ability than those who have failed.  They simply made a choice to have their “reasons” take a backseat to the “needs” of those living life with blood-cancer.
 
 
ABILITY + REASON = REASONABILITY
Someone blessed with God-given talent is not halfway there.  You have likely heard the stories about someone who heard about a marathon two weeks before it happened, went for two-three training runs, and then completed the full marathon.  What you didn’t hear was that they had trouble walking normally for the better part of a month afterward.  That they may have completed the event in 4-hours, 30-minutes, but it was a selfish & foolish act filled with pride.  They did something for themselves, often to prove they could to someone less talented who had trained for months and months to get ready.  I’ve heard about these stories and it makes me sad.  Quite the same are the other athletes who have ability, who do sign up for a fundraising program and training program, yet never begin their fundraising.  They often drop out with a very casual, “oh well, I guess I was too busy this time around, maybe next time.”  They were not too busy.  They never make the choice, the decision to begin.  Too busy essentially means “not important enough to me”.  The lives of those suffering are not important to them?  I believe too much in the human spirit to accept that explanation.  It is too reasonable.  Reasonability kills dreams.  Reasonability suffocates that which a person wants most in life, the realization of a dream…
 
reasonability
Main Entry: rea·son·abil·i·ty
Pronunciation: "rEz-n&-'bi-l&-tE
Function: noun
 
1a: being in accordance with reason (comprehending or thinking in orderly rational ways)
1b: not extreme or excessive
 
 
ORDINARY + EXTRA EFFORT = EXTRAORDINARY
Take an ordinary human.  Add a dream.  Add the desire to do something for those less fortunate.  With hard work and a commitment to break themselves up and rebuild themselves into something they previously didn’t think was possible (what else do you call a dream?), you have someone performing an extraordinary act.  Ordinary plus a little extra (effort).  You are all extraordinary in our eyes…
 
extraordinary
Main Entry: ex·traor·di·nary
Pronunciation: ik-'stror-d&-"ner-E, "ek-str&-'or-
Function: adjective
1a: going beyond what is usual, regular, or customary
1b: exceptional to a very marked extent
 
 
To sum things up, there is no “right time” or “perfect moment” to do anything you dream about in life.  You either seize what is in front of you and turn it into something exceptional, extraordinary and magical or you live a life confined by very rational, normal and logical reasons.
 
You are all on the precipice of something special.  The next 2+ months will not be easy, but what they will be is very rewarding, very worthwhile and when you see the looks on the faces of the families you have helped give hope, you will look back on any moment you thought of quitting and laugh.
 
Welcome to the life of your dreams, where you can be saving lives, one mile at a time…

I have never been more motivated to continue on this journey than I am now.  Every dollar, every mile and every drop of sweat will be worth it in the end! 

Thank you Coach Kiley for inspiring us!

Hard Knock Hill

Hill training starts next Tuesday...wish me luck!

Here is the poem from Coach Kiley on the invite. Love it!

TNT athlete come one come all
To the rise on the road that makes the faint of heart fall
'Tis the time here and now to see if you will
Have the courage to conquer ol' Hard Knock Hill

Your legs will be powerful your spirit stout
As you cast aside the demons of that nagging self doubt
This isn't a stroll through the park or soft glade
But a place where sturdy endurance athletes are made

Each week you come one hill repeat we'll add
At the end of seven weeks your legs will be glad
And so will your heart as it will grow strong
Come build a foundation to walk and run long......

GO TEAM!!!!