And the training continues!!!

Yes I know I'm a very bad blogger, but maybe if I knew that I had a good amount of following that would get me to blog more often. So my next 1/2 marathon is only less than 3 weeks away in San Diego...yes Im running the Rock and Roll 1/2 marathon and it should be lot's of fun, I just hope I'm not to distractred by the bands playing at every mile, I want to concentrate and do a better time than my La Jolla 1/2. Training has gotten harder and we cut back on the amount of mile we run during the week, I think I'm just ready to go back to enjoying running without having to train hard and worrying about improving my time. Jackie and I ran our first 14 mile this last Sunday and we have to run another 14 mile this Sunday, it's good that were running more miles than our race that way we can look forward to running 13.1 miles and actually saying ahhhh it's only 13 miles.

After this Rock and Roll 1/2 marathon I'm going to concentrate on looking for work, yes I was laid off and I'm actually enjoying my time off, it's nice that I was smart and saved for a rainy day so right now I'm ok with living off unemployement, yes I know I'm a single mom and should worry but I will worry about it once the race is over, I will concentrate on looking for work so in the mean time I'm going to enjoy my time with my monkeys, it's kind of nice being a stay at home mom and can only wish that it was a permanent thing. I think I was made to be a mom!!!! I love to cook, clean and just being home with the kids has been really really nice, and I know my monkey's enjoy it.


A couple of weeks ago I received an email from Merck asking me if I would be interested on doing an interview for their You Tube Channel. I was excited that's one of my missions to help spread the word on Cervical Cancer and HPV and I have the time to do this right now so I was so In. My shoot took place on May 12, 2010 and it was an amazing experience, I had a team of producers, make up artist and camera crew. The interesting thing is that I pulled out my medical records to go over and they always discover something that I had no clue about, I mean I know my new doctor has gone over everything with me am I that clueless that i forget some of the details or am I still very confused about all this HPV and Cervical Cancer????? Seriously I need to start paying more attention!!!!
The day started early for me that day I had to make sure the house was presentable for the shoot I dropped my monkey's off and met a friend at starbucks for some coffee and breakfast, when I left starbucks I headed over to target to get a few things I thought I would need, then I headed over to Bed Bath and beyond and realized that I had left my purse behind at Starbuck, Yes I know my head was so far up my butt and my nerves were controlling me that I forgot my purse, I left and rushed over to starbucks and luckily my purse was right where I left it hanging on the chair where we sat, nothing was touched and all my money and cards were still there. That was a lucky lucky thing, I mean someone could have easily taken it!!! Once my purse was recovered I headed home I had a little more than one hr before the crew got here so I wanted to make myself some tea to help me relax, but as soon as I started to relax I got a call and it was them to let me know that they were going to be early and were right outside my gates. Really??? Oh My goodness my nerved really kicked it and I panicked, I figured once they are here it will give me some time with them before the shoot to get to know them and it would be easier for me to talk to them, boy was I wrong I don't know what it is, I think it's my story and talking to strangers about it that make me nervous and getting filmed talking about it made it even worse..... I'm still not an expert on HPV/Cervical Cancer you would think that I was but I'm not, the shoot of me alone was nerve wrecking and I wish I had a do over to make some changes, but it was filmed and it is what it is and I just hope it turns out pretty good. After the one on one shoot it was time to pick up my monkeys from school the film crew followed me there and they were going to capture me picking up my babies, we got there a bit late so most of the kids were gone it was a good thing because they had to worry about not capturing other kids, my kids were excited they were being filmed they thought they were movie stars it was their moment and they enjoyed every minute of it. Once we were done with picking up the kids it was time for a quick lunch, I suggested the fast food places in my area and they all agreed on Chipotle, my kids had never been there so I think they were scared to try something new but they actually enjoyed their steak tacos, and I enjoyed my chicken bowl!!! When we were done with lunch we got home and they got a few shots of me and my monkeys and some with me alone, then we were off to film me on some Trails, it was so much fun but trying to luck pretty and run at them same time didn't help me I was hurting but loving it all at the same time, after a few shots of me running the trails we were back at home to continue the last of the shoot, dinner with my girlfriends...I volunteered to cook for my friends I figured it would be fun to cook for them and then we had to gather and talk about HPV/Cervical Cancer, I think this was an experience for them since they didn't know much about the topic. All in all it was an AMAZING Exprience and I'm so fortunate to be able to do this, I want to do all I can to help spread awareness on this horrible yet silent disease, and yes I know you hear about it a lot more now and days but I still feel like it's not enough!!!!

Kathy Griffin Taping!!!

So after getting over the nerves of my first half I had to deal with the nerves of having to film with Kathy Griffin for an episode for her upcoming season of her show "MY LIfe On The D-List" Yes Exciting but oh my can my body handle this many nerves????

So it all started from a call from Rachel the Communications Manager over at The NCCC, you all know that I'm part of the NCCC. She asked if I would be interested in being part of Kathy Griffins pool side pap and I of course said yes, I mean how often do you get that kind of opportunity, right? So Kathy is trying to do what Katie Couric did for the Colonoscopy for the Pap!! and of course shes Kathy Griffin and she's going to make things interesting. She's planning on a public pap smear with hooker shoes on, she's going to BeDAZZLE her vagina and do all this pool side!!

My day Tuesday morning started with the question what the heck am I going to wear, all my clothes are so big and no longer fit. My slacks I had them taken in and went out to buy a nice shirt and I'm happy to report that I'm now an x-small!! I got home started getting ready and I picked up my mom, yes she goes with me everywhere, I'm not a good driver and I had to drive to Woodland Hills and rain was in the forecast so I had no choice but to take her. We arrived to the NCCC offices 2 Hours early, yes I know we left to early but I am a slow driver and you never know with LA traffic and It's better to be safe than sorry. I hung out with Rachel while she worked, my mom walked down to the blood bank to donate blood. Soon after a survivor sister Patti arrived with her newborn baby girl. Patti and I had met last year at a fashion show in Beverly Hills she and I were both models at the event. I was so happy to see her again and her baby girl was absolutely beatiful and perfect. We waited around for a while when Rachel received a call from the producer of the show asking us to go over to Kathy's House (yes her house) I was more nervous and more excited. When we arrived we were taken downstairs and a make up artist touched up our make up, we put on some microphones and then we were ready for taping. They took us upstairs to film and what an amazing experience. Kathy Griffin is AWESOME for doing this. It's rare that you hear a hollywood star spreading the word on HPV/Cervical Cancer so this is just amazing. You will have to wait and see her show to see what we did. Her 6th season starts June 15 and I believe it's going to be the 2nd to last episode when it airs.

So so much good stuff is happening to me right now, continue reading and you will see it all!!!

My half marathon!!!

What an amazing experience, I completed my first Half Marathon this past Sunday and it feels GREAT!!! I am so glad that I found Jackie she was a great running partner and an amazing friend. She got me through the hard training and I couldn't have done it without her.

I left for La Jolla early Saturday Morning, my mom came with me. When we arrived in La Jolla the first thing I did was pick up my race packet and T-Shirt, had some lunch at the expo then we headed over to our hotel. When we arrived to the hotel our room wasn't ready so we decided to hang out at the beach since our hotel was across the St. from the beach. The kids really enjoyed the beach, building sand castles and collecting sea shells. After a couple of hrs on the beach I received a call to let me know our room was ready, we checked in and what an Beautiful view I had of the beach, it was absolutely beautiful I didn't want to leave my room I felt so relaxed. Shortly after my dad and a friend arrived and we decided we had a kitchen in our room that we would go to the market and cook our own dinner. We went to the local market picked up some steaks, chicken, salad mix, rice, and a loaf of artisian bread. We got to the room and started cooking my Pre-Race Dinner. It was Delicious, I'm so glad we didn't go to a restaurant it was so nice to eat and be comfortable. After our dinner we all went to the beach for a walk, La Jolla at night was so nice the sound of the waves and seals gave me a relaxation feeling and I couldn't wait to get back to my room and go to sleep. I was in bed by 9:30 and let me just say I didn't get the rest I was hoping for, the sound of the waves was the best, but I had taken a laxative early in the afternoon so the effects were still looming and had to get up a couple of time to use the rest room and I also think my nerves had something to do with it. The night went so fast I was up by 4:15 AM and received a msg from Jackie that she was on her way to my hotel, I jumped in the shower, got dressed and had a small breakfast of oat meal and wheat thin bagel with peanut butter, I also took some Immodium AD to stop the effects of the laxatives. When I made my way downstairs it was CHAOS!!! The line for the busses that were taking the runners to the start line was CRAZY!!! I couldn't find Jackie I was looking but knew that she had probably jumped in line and knew that I wasn't going to find her, I got in line and made it the start line, when I got off the bus I searched for her and couldn't find her, I was then trying to prepare to start this race without her and wasn't happy about it. After a few mins of searrching I jumped in line for the porta potty's I wasn't even in line for 5 mins when Jackie Found me!!! We were so happy to see each other, I was soooooo HAPPY!!! Once I found her I knew I was going to have a great start. Jackie and I then did a stretch and small warm up and it was soon after that we had to make our way to the START. Here was the moment of truth we were going to find out if all the hard training was going to pay off. Once we were off the adrenaline kicked in and the feeling was good 13.1 miles I was ready, Jackie and I stuck together for the first half of the race and then I was on my own, La Jolla course was tough there was alot of hills and a 420' elevation trail run, once I got through that I enjoyed the beautiful scenic route but didn't allow it to distract me, I was focused. By mile #10 I was feeling really good and then mile # 12 came and oh boy really did they have to put a hill on the last mile!!! When I finally got through that last hill it was good as soon as I seen the finish line this burst of energy took over and I sprinted to the finish. My goal was to finish under 2 hrs and my chip time was 1:57:41!!! Yeah I had done it and it felt AMAZING, I was so emotional and happy that I had completed my first half marathon, the feeling is undescribable. When I found my family at the end I was so happy and they were so happy and proud that I had finished. Shortly after we ran into Jackie and her family her time was 1:54 I was only 3 mins behind her. We were so happy!!!! There is nothing I regret my time was PERFECT!!!


After a couple of pictures I was ready to go back to my room and take a hot shower, there was a beer garden that I had planned on enjoying after the race, but I think after all that running you don't even think about putting a drink in your body, so it was up to my room for a much needed shower. When I took off my running shoes I discovered a Blood Blister on my foot!! I knew the shoes I had worn were the wrong ones, the good thing is that the blister didn't bother me while I was running.

Yes I had to take a picture!!!! It was soo gross, I had to pop it the second I got a hold of a needle.(oh and some alcohol) Once I was showered all I wanted to do was enjoy a beer on the patio, I called the hotel it was 10:45 and check out was 11 I was going to ask for a 12PM check out, But could you believe they wanted 100. for a late check out!!! I told them forget it I'll get out. I checked out and then we were on our way home. We were trying to figure out lunch and the one meal I wanted to have after my first half marathon was IN-N-OUT Burgers!!! Oh yes my post race meal was so Freakin GOOD!!! When we got home my mom offered to take the kids home so I could get some rest, I took advantage and said yes!!! But ofcourse I think I still had some adrenaline in my body but I couldn't fall asleep. I was all alone at home and I couldn't sleep, that was a big BUMMER, I don't get that opportunity that often and here I was wide awake. I called my mom and asked her to bring them back, we got dinner out of the way and shortly after it was bed time. 1st Half Marathon done!! Next is Rock N Roll San Diego, I heard it's a flatter coourse so I'm hoping to knock off some minutes, I have a good month to train.