Sponsor My Walk 4 Hearing

I am participating in the Nationally Organized Event: Walk4Hearing. The event sponsored by the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) will take place during Better Speech and Hearing Month =). The purpose is to raise funds to help support awareness and advocacy for deaf and hard of hearing individuals. Help my efforts by donating - any amount would be so greatly appreciated.

Tina's Walk-4-Hearing Page

Ah - Grasshopper!

Cullen took his first step towards earning a black belt last night - he was presented with his white belt. I am so proud of him =). In some arts you get a white belt for signing up, in our school you actually have to learn some basic stance, block, punch, kick, and self defense techniques before you earn your white belt. Yay for Cullen!

Staying the Course

Well I decided to run ANOTHER race - I know I know -- two weeks, two races... I'm turning into a running animal! Heehee. Ran the 10th Annual Bittersweet Spring Feet Race. They had a 2 mile and 5 mile course. Naturally I chose the 2 mile course. I had a little more difficulty with this one as there were hills during the first half of the course... and my diet had consisted of not much more than cheese and crackers and sweets during the later part of the week at the AAA convention. My goal was to run in 24:00 or less (since I had a 12 minute mile pace for the 5K last week). So how did I do? My clock time was 23:01, though I started a bit behind the starting line, it took about 5-6 seconds to cross the start line, so technically my time was about 22:55. Either way I finished 56th in the field of runners and am pretty proud of myself. My co-worker Jenny ran the Boston Marathon last week in the nasty rain and 50 mile/hr wind gusts! She finished in under 4 hours, she's my current hero!

So am I destined for a marathon? I doubt it. Amy wants to run a half marathon. MAYBE one day I will make it to something like that. But for now I will stick to smaller distances. After some consideration I have decided to enter the Bolder Boulder 10K race afterall. I won't be able to run it (as I had hoped to train to do this year) - but I'll jog/walk it and try to run it next year. Should be fun - it is one of the world's largest road races because it has one of the biggest purses for a non-marathon race and attracks international professional athletes. Woohoo!

Miles 4 Smiles

Today I did something I've never done before... I ran in a race. The 2nd Annual Miles 4 Smiles 3K, 5K, 10K was held at the University of Northern Colorado. Cullen managed to convince me to sign up for the 5K with him... while I have to admit I was nervous that I wouldn't have fun since I didn't know what to expect from the event or from myself, it turned out to be a lot of fun. While he's a seasoned runner he stayed with me for the entire race and we finished in 36 minutes (that included some walking). I may have mentioned to some of you that I planned on training for the Bolder Boulder 10 K road race, but I haven't been training due to on and off knee pain. When we finished I was pretty excited - I didn't think I would finish that fast. I may have been bit by the running bug, because now that I did one I want to do more... next race that will fit my schedule? The "Gunter Grunter" 5K run/walk. I am thinking it would be great to enter that one, since I work in Gunter Hall... Anyway I was all smiles after the race, and took a pic or two with my first race number just for posterity =)