Time to Heal

It’s been a long time since I posted.. basically over a year.

I’ve gone through so much this past year. Torn ankle ligament, torn meniscus and torn hip flexor - these injuries have thrown a huge wrench in my training; but my biggest wrench occured In July 2014 - when I was sexually assaulted.

It feels freeing to finally admitted it, finally speak it! I don’t think I’ve actually spoken those words officially since the day I met with the investigator. I think I was so afraid to say them because I would fear people would think differently of me, I feared people would look at me like I was broken, fragile, frail. I want you to know I'm not broken but I'm strong. 

I believe being sexually assaulted prevented me from running more than my injuries did. It hurt more than tearing any ligament in my body. It hurt more than breaking any bone. It hurt my heart and soul.

As you runners understand running is mental; you hit a distance and you get a flood of emotion, you feel every hurt, every up, every down, every tinge of pain. Your emotions are heightened. Feeling this prevented me from running anything more than 4 miles. 

I don’t want to get into all the details. I’m still not ready to talk about that nor do I think I ever will be  fully ready.

What I want to discuss is healing, my healing.

I felt so terribly broken. I felt destroyed. I felt violated. I felt that all the goodness in me had been taken away. I felt so unhappy. Yet I hid this away from the everyone, I put a smile on my face daily and continued life as you all know it but deep inside a darkness was taking over my happy place and making me feel worthless, small.

That day I changed, I became a different person. Someone stole a piece of me I’ll never be able to get back. They stole a happiness that lives in me. They stole my self worth.

One year ago I learned that not all people are good people but there is still good people in the world.

These past few weeks I’ve managed to lace up my running shoes more often and I’ve even tackled a 10 mile run.

I’ve decided it's time to get back out there and I'm currently training for a full marathon .. I’m ready to put this past year behind me and get out on the trails again.

My runs have been nothing less than emotional but in the emotion I'm finding joy. In the pain I'm finding relief. I'm finally starting to admit what happened to me and I truly believe admitting it is the first step in moving past it. 

I am getting back to the person I once was. The happy, determined, fun Tiara. 

Day 14 - 30 Day Challenge

What was your favorite race you've run?

My favorite race to run is most defiantly the Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco, I don’t think any race will be able to compare to this race especially the memories I made on this race. It was also my first marathon and our first anything always sticks with us the most.

The Nike Women’s Marathon was my very first marathon and I ran it as a Nike Women’s Ambassador along with Karen, Elizabeth, Nerissa and Renisha. My Sisters In Nike!!

Nike Women hosted us in San Fran and we stayed at an amazing hotel in the heart of downtown, Sir Francis Drake.

If you ever plan on running the Nike Women’s Marathon make sure you stay downtown close to the expo and NikeTown. The expo is amazing. Saturday morning Karen and I woke up and got to the expo for the opening, it fills up rather fast. We sampled Nuun hydration tabs and I found my favorite one, the iced tea. I have a love of coffee and having this one really helps me push my runs, maybe it is the tiny but of caffeine in it. We also stood in line to get makeovers from Neutrogena and get our hair done by Paul Mitchell but we were running out of time so this didn't happen, even though it would have been pretty cool. The expo for Nike Women’s Marathon is amazing!!

The Nike Women’s Marathon course is a rather hilly to run, if you plan on running it make sure you have hill training done, they are totally do-able but it is far off from being a flat course. 

One of my favorite parts was running through this community after coming up the big hill. I didn't have any friends on course cheering me on and there is so many people outside their houses cheering you on, it was really cool to have encouragement. I also had this habit of queen waving at random people, it made me feel like I had people on course cheering for me haha. 

I remember this one kid was dressed up as Spider-man and he was handing out candy to the runners going by, I thought it was super cute. It was also nice to get something sweet in you along the course he was located around mile 14ish and it was a great pick me up.

There were also awesome signs on course, one of my favorites was "You are NOT almost there" at mile 1. I laughed however if he had that at mile 22 I would have been sad. I also saw one that said "I bought you a car, you can stop running now" I love the encouragement you get on a marathon route, it is nothing like a 10k run. 

The course ends along the ocean. As you run the ocean is on your right side. I wanted nothing more than to run off course and jump in the ocean but that probably wasn't the best idea at the time so I  talked myself out of it.

As you finish the course and come into the finishers shoot and cross that line you are met by the San Fran firemen handing you the coveted Tiffany’s necklace. Honestly, I didn't care about the firemen all I wanted was food and that necklace. 

I think the Tiffany’s necklace is a huge item that sets Nike Women’s Marathon apart from other races out there. It is something I wear often and reminds me of the goal I set for myself and the goal I accomplished. I look at it and it reminds me of the friendships forged that weekend and the memories made. 

I am excited to run Nike Women’s Marathon again in October. Hope to see you there and run it with you!!

Day 7 - 30 Day Challenge

7. Who supports you the most with your running goals and why do you pick them?

Who supports me the most with my running goals. Honestly, I can’t just pick just one person. I have such an amazing support system when it comes to my goals.

My boyfriend Mike. When I trained for my first marathon he did every training run with me, he is faster than I am so we would start together and  meet back at the car but my really long miles (18, 20, 22) he ran them with me. He even let me yell at him in the trail at one point screaming at him about how hard this was, than he just hugged me and told me everything was going to be ok and at that point I knew he was exactly what I needed to get through my first marathon training.

Jamie my running buddy here in Calgary is one of my favorite people to run with. We started running together when I first came to Trican in 2011 and together we have improved our pace and endurance together. When I decided to sign up for my first marathon she was there encouraging me the entire way.

My dear friend Autumn who was once my encouragement for shooting the most tequila now encourages me to get my running shoes laced up and my butt out the door. Autumn will forever be my best friend and we have had many adventures together I hope our next adventure will be the Nike Women's Marathon in San Fran this year. There is nobody I would want to run it with more than my Jamaican Bacon. 

Last but certainly not least Karen and Elizabeth, sometimes I don’t think that Nike Women’s Marathon would have been the same without them. I haven’t even known these two ladies a year yet but when I need a pick me up or encouragement or even someone to vent to I know these girls are always there willing to listen. They are my running sisters  for life.

I think it is so important that you surround yourself with positive people, people who are willing to push you towards your goals and who want to see you achieve. A wise man once told me “If you want to soar with the eagles, you have to stop hanging with the turkeys” I think the support system I have surrounded myself with has allowed me to push my running to new limits. 

Day 1 - 30 Day Run Challenge

When did you start running and why?

Elizabeth and I on the last mile of the Nike Women's Marathon

I started running in high school we had to run for cross training when I was on my swim team, but once I got injured I didn't run or swim anymore and due to being very active than not being able to be active I started to gain a lot of weight.

In 2009 I decided I needed to start running again, I was very overweight and I hated the way I looked. When I first started running I would literally run for like 30 seconds and walk for a song than when the next song started I would run for 30 seconds again, it was so hard for me. I actually remember the first time I tried to run a 5k. I got a km away from home and thought I was going to die. I called my friend and had her pick me up.

In October 2012 I finished my very first marathon and now I am training to qualify Boston at the Calgary Marathon.

Never in a million years did I ever think I would run a marathon let alone start training to qualify for Boston. However, when Nike Women contact me in May to be an Ambassador and run the Nike Women’s Marathon I was up for the challenge, the training was hard you can read about that in my past blog post. 

While running the marathon around mile 18 I thought I wasn't going to be able to finish, I texted my friend Elizabeth and she gave me encouragement and met me at the last mile and ran it with me she is one of the reasons I complete my first marathon.

Now running is my favorite pass time and I can't wait to run my next marathon and run the Nike Women's Marathon again with my #SistersInNike in May. 

My Decision to Run Calgary Marathon

Yesterday I made the decision to run the Calgary Marathon and not the BMO Marathon in Vancouver. I was kind of sad but had to make the decision.

One reason I decided on this is because Calgary in also a Boston Qualifying run and it is where I live. I figure if I can BQ anywhere it is going to be at my home. I’ll have my friends and family to cheer me on. Support is important. Also I tend to get stomach issues when I go away, I think it is from the change in water and I learned in San Fran that you can drink bottled water all you want but you cannot control what type of water is on the course and sadly for me it was tap water on the course and it turned out to be disasters for me at mile 15. I am used to the tap water in Calgary so I shouldn't end up with the same stomach issues as last time.

I was really looking forward to running the BMO marathon but maybe next year. I was looking forward to running in the crisp ocean air and having that feeling of my lungs opening right up but I think I will do amazing here in Calgary.

Since I don’t actually start training until the 9^th of February now I have created a calendar in word to hold myself accountable to my workouts. As a group of #SistersInNike along with Brandi and The Nike San Fran Runway Crew we are aiming for 23,000 NTC minutes in 2013 and I have 22,835 more to go, but the year has just started. Since I don’t have a whole lot of NTC incorporated into my marathon training schedule I have decided that I need to get a good head start this month. After I am done my Calgary Marathon I start training for the Nike Women’s Marathon shortly after. I would really like to make my goal. Hopefully this can hold me accountable and be able to track the minutes I am doing each month.

What is your favorite part of training? What is your favorite marathon? I am creating a bucket list of marathons I want to do. Leave them in my comments I’ll look them up and consider them.

Remember to keep rolling out your muscles, especially those IT bands!! They will keep your muscles and knees healthy. I found this and have printed it and put it at home to remind me to roll my muscles out often. The foam roller should be your best friend when training.

Happy Training!

16 Days Until I Start Training for Boston Qualifier

In 16 days I start chasing my Boston Marathon Dream. Some say it isn't a dream until you have thought about it for a long period of time. 

I say it is a dream as long as you are determined to reach it.

I am not one of those people that have dreamed of running Boston their entire lives. I have only dreamed of running Boston since I realized I could run a marathon, but Boston is a race I want to run more than any race out there. Boston is the elite races of races, my idols have all ran Boston and I want to push to be like those I look up to.

I start chasing my Boston goals in 16 days. In 16 days I start training for the first of at least 2 marathons maybe 3. How do I feel? Excited!! I love running, I get a rush of endorphin from it and it makes me feel AMAZING, but I am also super nervous too because I know I am putting myself under a lot of pressure to perform. I know where I went wrong in my first marathon and so I am going to take those weaknesses and turn them into strengths I need to work on my pace and on focusing not on the distance I have left but rather making each mile count.

Will I be unhappy with myself if I don’t make it, of course, but knowing that I don’t like to be disappointed it gives me even more of a reason to push harder in my training, so I can push harder in my marathon.

I have given myself two qualifying courses to go off of, the BMO Vancouver Marathon in May and the Nike Women’s Marathon in October. Hopefully if I don’t make one I can make the other.

I found a great plan on the Nike Running Facebook page and plan to use this, incorporate NTC for weights and keep up with my Kinect Training. I also have a pretty strict diet that I am sticking too along the way and not allowing cheat days until my marathons are over. Hopefully all of this combined will help me reach my Boston goal. 

With Nike's new Make it Count Campaign it is really getting me out there to push and make this year count. 

Bring in 2013

Today is December 31^st, 2012. This is the time of year that everyone makes resolutions and usually they break them three months into the year, for that reason I don’t like to make resolutions, rather I like to look back on the year and look at what I did and look towards a new year with new goals.

This time last year I decided that it was time to start feeling better about myself. I challenged myself to do Jeanette Jenkins ab blast workout on the NTC app for the whole month of January; it was rough but totally worth it, for the first time in a very long time I saw changes in my body. Honestly, there were a few times in January that I wanted to give up, but I kept telling myself it is only 15 minutes, you can do anything for 15 minutes. With each week it got easier and easier. I felt my core getting stronger and stronger.

I also said I wanted to run a marathon before my 27^th birthday and I kept putting off looking into running one, until Nike Women contacted me in May and asked me to run the Nike Women’s Marathon. A week before my 27^th birthday I finished my very first marathon. Thanks to the help of Nike Women and Marie Purvis, through Marie's amazing training plan and Nike Women's encouragement I crossed the finish line and at the same time I caught the running bug. Much to my surprise I actually really love running marathons and can't wait to run my next one.

The year brought many wonderful challenges. I saw changes in my body as I learned to push myself beyond limits that I never thought I could push myself beyond. It brought changes to my way of thinking, I no longer thought of myself as weak and unable to push forward I realized I am strong and I can do anything I put my mind to.

As I sit here reflecting on the past year I am so thankful for the opportunities that have come my way, for the wonderful people I have met and for the friendships that I have made, I am esepcially thankful for the friendships I have found in my Sisters In Nike - Karen, Elizabeth, Nerissa and Renisha. Each one of you have taught me to love myself, to believe in myself and to love and challenge my body. I am so happy I have met each of you and I hope to run the Nike Women's Marathon with you each year, until we are old and grey. 

This 2013 I want to #MakeItCount as Nike’s ad campaign states. I will return to San Fran with my Sisters In Nike and run the 2013 Nike Women’s Marathon with my crew, I will also qualify for Boston. I plan on running the BMO marathon in May and I will be running the Calgary Half Marathon.

Don't get my wrong, I don't just have running goals set for myself. I want to be able to do pull-up's and I want to work towards becoming certified as a running coach. I also want to teach myself how to speak french again. 

What are your upcoming goals in 2013? How are you going to make them come true? 

What is on your Christmas Wish List?!!?

Christmas is literally just around the corner and I have a wish list full of everything from Burberry to Nike. Below are a few things from Nike I am hoping is under my tree.

NIKE LUNARGLIDE+4 SHIELD WOMEN'S RUNNING SHOE

If you are a runner and you love getting yourself outside in the cold winter months, these are a much needed shoe. These shoes are made for the wet months. They will keep your feet dry while still looking awesome. I have been eyeing these shoes since they first came out and I am hoping I find them under the tree this year.

NIKE FLYKNIT RACER

The first time I saw the Flyknit racer I fell in love!! Serious love! I have an obsession with minimal shoes and these shoes look beautiful. I have been wanting to try a pair of these forever, but I can't find them in Canada. Maybe Santa's elves can pull something off for me.

NIKE LUNARBASE TR

The first time I put a training shoe on my foot I realized that I would never again train in a running shoe. I love this lunarbase trainer. It is at the top of my wish list because a girl can't have too many training shoes.

Nike Flash

I tried this vest on when I was down in San Fran for Nike Women's Marathon and I still regret not getting this vest. Running early in the morning and at night calls for being safe. It is a lot harder for drivers to see you at night so it is important that you are well reflected. That is why I love this vest. You get the reflection without the bulk. It can fit over any hyperwarm gear and you are ready to take off on your run.

Nike Relay Capri's

I actually have these Capri's in blue and I love them!! I love bright colors and bold prints. They make me happy. I literally want these in ever color I can get my hands on. These are super comfortable and make a statement. 

Nike Pro Oslo Glow Boy Shorts

I love this print. It is so cute. I love training in the Nike Pro's especially when it is warm out or I am at Bikram. I really want these just for the pattern. They are limited edition and are going to fly off the walls this season.

Nike Slouchy Sphere Training Hoodie

I love anything with a cowl neck that double as a hood, enough said for this hoodie. Seriously the cutest item I have ever seen. If you want to get into my good books this is what I want!! It's cute and has thumb holes!!

Nike Muse Training Shirt

This shirt is to die for!! I love it! When I first saw it on the Nike site I wanted it right away. It's super cute and you could put a colored tank under it and wear it to the mall with a pair of jeans. I WANT THIS!

That is my Nike Wish list for Christmas, we shall see what Santa leaves for me on Christmas morning.

October was an Great Month

October was an incredible month!! I mean incredible. I don’t think I could have asked or gotten a better birth month.

First off I boarded a plane to San Fran and I got to spend the weekend with Lydia from Nike Women and meet my twitter besties, Elizabeth and Karen. I seriously love these girls, they are amazing and we had such a fun time hanging out and running the Nike Women’s Marathon.

I ran my first marathon, the Nike Women’s Marathon. It is seriously the best marathon out there. I mean I am biased since it is my first but Nike makes an incredible experience out of it and I was a Nike Ambassador. I didn't finish in the time I wanted to, but I did finish and that is the most important thing. It has made me realize how much I really do love running. I have already started planning my next marathon and it is a Boston Qualifier.

After NWM my birthday came around and Meho made it such an amazing event. I had supper with my friends and had the opportunity to spend time with my family and Mike’s family. I think it is important to have that family and friend time. Sometimes our lives get so busy we neglect those that matter most to us and we need to remember to take time out of our lives to spend time with them.

Last weekend we spent some us time in Canmore. With me preparing for my marathon and going to San Fran we haven’t spent as much time together as we normally do. We spent the weekend with just us in an incredible condo in Canmore, seriously this place was bigger than my apartment. It was really nice to be alone with no interruption.

Shortly after getting home from NWM I started running again. I know people say a day more each mile you ran, but I knew I was at my peak performance level and didn't want to disrupt my training. I began running again almost right away. Much to my surprise my pace picked up in a huge way!!! This makes me so happy, I am hoping it isn't a fluke and I am really getting faster.

I also purchased the Nike Kinect game. I had a Kinect when they first came out and I wasn’t impressed. I purchased the Women’s Health game and was like this is kind of dumb. I ended up selling my Kinect and getting more Wii stuff, I have a Mario Kart obsession and Mario Party is an awesome game. I watched the Youtube video for this game and was like I want that, it will help me achieve my goals in a healthy matter. I tried it out last night and I LOVED it!! Seriously it is the best game for health and fitness out there. Marie Purvis kicks your ass in a good way, she will also prompt you when you are not in perfect form, so this is really going to help me perfect my form and get into athlete fit shape. This morning I woke up and I was so sore!! My whole lower body hurts. I can’t wait to get home connect it with my Nike Plus site and start racking up the fuel points. My only advice is don’t do a crazy workout before doing your fitness assessment I think this kind of skewed my results a little bit and made me look less fit than I really am. I know once you get it you will love it.

I have also been running the elements and the first month of it has been great, I likely will not get the chance to run in the heat, but have been doing a lot of cold, wind, snow runs so at least I can try and top those leader boards. I am not doing so bad right now either in 208th place!! Whoo-hoo , but I would like to get out of the 200's and into the 100's!!!

As you can see my October was an incredible month. I really pushed myself and my year is turning out to be a good year. Today is November 1, 2012 and it starts my challenge of 1,400 NTC minutes plus 100 Nike Running Miles along with keeping my training plan with Nike Kinect. I think I might have my abs my Christmas.

Happy Training .

Setting New Goals and Starting New Journey's

I can’t believe I have been back in Calgary for a week. It has been a week since I ran my very first marathon in San Francisco. With no goal in mind in the near future my life has seemed a little empty.

Even thought my Journey to the Nike Women’s Marathon is over it doesn't mean that my Running journey is over, I believe it has just started and NWM just made me even more excited to run and fueled my love for the sport.

I actually spent my first two days home sleeping. After a weekend of not getting very good sleep and running a marathon I needed a lot of sleep. My first day home I slept for 9 hours and the next day I slept close to 11 hours, crazy. Even this weekend I ended up getting a lot of sleep. I guess my body is still kind of recovering.

I have finally gotten over the fact that I didn't even come close to making my Boston Qualifying time. For a few days there every time someone asked me how I did I would get really sad.  Now I realize that I accomplished something really great and I am ready to take on a new challenge.

I have decided that I will be running the BMO Vancouver Marathon in May of 2013. It is a Boston Qualifying course and doesn't have the same crazy hills as San Fran. With my first marathon out of the way I can focus more on my speed rather than just on finishing. I honestly think I put too much pressure on myself to qualify during my first marathon. I plan on focusing a lot on hills and speed this time around. Of course I will still have a distance focus and my Saturdays will still be my long run days but my goal is to get through all my long runs without having to take any walk breaks. My only challenge this time is the fact that I will be running through winter and winter in Calgary can get very cold. Hopefully we won’t have a cold winter and I won’t have too many treadmill runs.

For right now I have set some mini goals for myself. In the month of November I plan on running 100 miles and doing 1,440 NTC minutes. That works out to 5 runs at 4 miles each week and 90 minutes of NTC 4 times a week. I am totally game for this challenge. I have also made November a no sugar month and I am starting that today. I am determined to get myself down to 18% body fat by Christmas. I want abs for Christmas. If you want to join me in either these challenges or just one let me know in the comments. We can keep each other motivated.

I just celebrated my 27^th birthday. I really can’t believe it and what a week I had. It kicked off with running the Nike Women’s Marathon and ended with having supper with Meho’s dad and step-mom. I got some amazing gifts one of them being a “Yonana’s” ice cream maker. This thing is cool!! All you put in it is frozen fruit. You stick it in the machine and it makes it into ice cream. It’s super healthy and only requires frozen fruit. I am super excited to use it especially with No Sugar November coming up.

My Race Weekend - Nike Women's Marathon

Thursday morning I woke up to snow in Calgary, but it didn't bother me because I was going to be boarding a flight to San Fran by noon. Meho and I left for the airport and I was full of excitement. When I got the airport I was told that my flight was likely going to be delayed. I sat in the airport and found out that my flight was yes delayed but only by a half hour. We boarded our flight at 12:40 and sat on the tarmac until 2:15pm!!! We finally landed in San Fran at 3:10pm and I had to wait 40 minutes for my luggage!!! 

Me at the Nike Expo in front of the
Fuel Stream looking at me.

I finally got to meet my Sisters In Nike and I was so excited to hang out with them all weekend. Karen and Elizabeth are amazing an so much fun. I felt like I knew the both of them my whole life. Ranisha was so fun and friendly and nice she always had a huge smile on her face, she totally lit up the room. Nerissa spent a lot of time with her boyfriend and sadly we didn't really get the chance to know her.

Alyson Felix at the Expo, she is beautiful.

Friday morning started with a stretching session with Nike's very own Master Trainer Marie Purvis. She is so friendly and helpful. It was great to finally meet her after tweeting her and following her training plan for months. Our stretching session was down down on Fisherman's Wharf in view of the bay bridge, it was a breathtaking view minus all of the birds that were down there. I am pretty sure Robby ( @TarHellRob ) who works with the Nike Fuel digital team, had to chase birds away from myself and Elizabeth before we had a panic attack from the books. It was a great stretching session and got out all of the kinks in my body from the flight over. After doing a few photo's of stretching and with the Nike Fuel team we met up with Robyn from Team Epiphany to do some more Nike Women's shots. This was a lot of fun, we walked the streets of downtown San Fran and really got to see this beautiful city. I can totally see myself moving there. After the shoot we went to the Expo to pick up our race packets and take in some of the expo. I got to see myself on the Nike Fuel Stream. I was pretty stoked about that. 

On the way back from the race we ran into Joan Benoit Samuelsons
he is awesomeand beautiful, such an awesome inspiration.

Saturday was another great day. Karen and myself went over to the Expo early in the morning so we could check out the Yurbuds and the bra bar. The bra bar was pretty cool, they measured you and fitted you with a bra. They also had a place where they styled you in Nike's new cold weather gear and gave you the names of the clothes you liked. They also had places you could get a makeover and Nuun was there with all the different types of Nuun they had. They had one that had a little bit of caffeine in it. It is beautifully amazing and taste awesome and doesn't have a salty taste. We met back at the hotel for 10am and we met Marie again for a shake out run. We went down to pier 49 where we could see the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. We were right by the ocean and a little piece of me felt at home. Afterwards we came back to the hotel and I stayed in my hotel room for the rest of the day hydrating and resting for the big day the next day. 

Race Day

My new Moto.

Sunday morning I was up before my alarm went off. It was 4:40 in the morning when my eyes shot open and I felt sick, at first I thought it was nerves but than I knew I was about to get sick, everything I ate started to come up and I knew this was going to have a negative effect on my run. I was so nervous for my race because the last 5 months came down to this exact moment. I began getting ready for my race because I had be in the lobby for 6:30am and I knew that I wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep anytime soon. 6:30 we all met in the lobby and made our way to the start line, but before we left the Nike Fuel team got a pictures of all of us and I must say it is the best picture of the whole weekend. I can't wait to frame this picture. 

Race Start

Me with my new white ice fuel band and the Tiffany's necklace

The race start was crazy. We were not very far back from the start line but it went super far back. I heard that it took them 45 minutes to get everyone over the start line, for us it took us 2 minutes. The day was a little chilly and super foggy outside with a light mist, this is what I was hoping for because this is my perfect racing conditions. When we started out I knew I was going to fast, but I got caught up in the moment an kept pushing myself. When I started to pull back I just ended up pushing harder. My lungs felt so great and I wanted to keep going at this pace because I knew I would make my Boston goal if I kept that pace up. All of a sudden I was at the 3 mile mark and had no idea where the race was going I felt like it was flying by. Than we hit the dreaded hill. I knew I was going to have to pull back big time on the hills because I needed my legs for the last 13 miles of the race, so I took the hills nice and slow not allowing myself to tire out on them. When I got to the top I let myself enjoy the downhill run and maybe ran them a little faster than I should have but it made up for lost time. It was so great to have community support from the members of San Fran especially when we got into the residential areas. I was feeling great into the 11th mile and was running an average pace of 8'34"/mile and was on track to make my Boston goal. Sadly at around mile 12 my body got really hot and my legs felt like jelly, things around me started going black and I passed out. I was out for only a few seconds I think, but when I came to there were people standing around me. I yelled out "Don't touch me" I wanted nothing more than to finish my race. I got up and sprint/staggered off than walked until I found the next Shot Block station, lucky for me it wasn't far away. Once I got shot blocks in me I felt so much butter, honestly shot blocks are the best thing my body absorbs them rather quickly and got me back on my feet rather quickly. Sadly, around mile 16 I had to start using the bathroom every outhouse I saw because the water was causing my body to freak out. Around mile 24 I wanted to give up, my feet hurt, my legs hurt and I was into my own head thinking I couldn't do this, lucky for me I have an amazing friend in Elizabeth, she met me at mile 25 and ran the rest of the race with me getting me into the shoot and over the finish line. I really don't know if I would have finished without her. I finally finished my race and received coveted Tiffany's necklace. My time was 4hours and 39 minutes. Not what I was aiming for but at least I finished. I was short of my goal for Boston by a big time but I am not going to let that destroy me as I have already planned my next Boston qualifier race, this time it will be in Ottawa.

On the bright side Nike Fuel had a contest that none of us were aware of. We were competing to see who got the most fuel and I won by a hair. I was presented with the new WHITE ICE NIKE FUEL BAND. Kamauri and Robby presented it to me and I was over the moon. Until the end of the month I am the only person who has the WHITE ICE NIKE FUEL. I was so excited about it and I love it. It really topped off my weekend and made me feel better about not qualifying for Boston. 

Honestly, the Nike Women's Marathon is an amazing race and I think everyone should do it. The experience is amazing and the course is breathtaking. I will for sure be back next year. 

You Will Have to Fight Through Bad Days

I remember the day I received the email from Nike Women asking me to be a Nike Women’s Marathon Ambassador, at first I thought it was a joke. I didn't want to get my hopes up and when I realized that it was for real I jumped up and down in my desk and ran around my office in pure joy. 

It rates HIGHLY as one of the happiest days of my life.

As the marathon approaches I look back and realize that not every day of training was glamour’s. There were days that I honestly wanted to give up. There were days that I sat on my bed and cried. Not because my body was tired or because I was injured but because I was physically exhausted. Running long distances is a mentally draining activity. Or a Saturday morning would come and my alarm was going off at 6am and I knew that most people I knew were still in bed sleeping in on a beautiful Saturday morning.

I also had days that I felt amazing and I was so excited to get out there and train, sometimes I would get up at 6am and feel proud because I knew I was one of the few people in the world awake at this time on a weekend and not because I had to be but because I wanted to be. I had days were I woke up and got so excited to train and was super pumped about San Fran. Lucky for me the days that I was excited to train far outweighed the days that I was tired.

Nike Women were also really great supporters. It seemed they sent me a box full of Nike gear when I needed it the most, such as when I needed a pick me up for training. I don’t think I would have been able to do my first marathon training without the support of the Ladies at Nike Women. They have been inspirational and motivating.

One HUGE words of advice I can give anyone who is running a marathon is “You will have to fight through the bad days to earn the best days of your life”. For me these best days have been training for the Nike Women’s Marathon. They haven’t always been easy, but nothing easy is ever worth it, it is only really worth it if you had to work for it. Trust me running 22 miles is not an easy feat but it has been so worth it.

I am beyond excited to cross the finish line with a smile on my face. Qualifying for Boston would be beyond exciting and coming across the line at 3hours 30minutes would probably put me into excited frenzy of tears but truth be told to cross that line with a big smile on my face is going to mean the most.

I have been so honoured to share this journey with you. I am more than over joyed that you have read my blog and shared your experiences with me. Remember the journey doesn’t end until I cross that finish line, so please continue to follow me on twitter @TiaraBeth, ask me questions and give me encouragement because you have all shared this journey with me. I hope you will all be cheering me on while I run my very first marathon.