May 15 is All About Me!

This Sunday, May 15th, is my birthday. I know people don't think its polite to ask a lady her age, but I'll scream it from every roof top, I'm going to be 32. And, I am proud of it. There were long periods of my life that I didn't think I'd live to see 30, let alone 32. I am grateful to be here and try to remember to be grateful every single day, some days are harder than others, but I still remember, everyday, to be thankful for life, for my life.

This Sunday I will be doing something to celebrate my life, for me. I am going to be running the Pasadena Half Marathon.

A year ago I thought that I would sign up for Bay 2 Breakers this year. It is also on May 15. I thought it would be a really fun way to celebrate my birthday. If you don't already know, Bay 2 Breakers is a long standing (this is the 100th year), sort of wild and crazy event. It usually involves a lot of drinking.  One issue, I don't drink. (Check out this post on my "Other Birthday.")

When registration opened early, back in December, I almost registered. But, something held me back and the more I thought about it, the worse the idea seemed. The idea of spending my birthday being surrounded by thousands of people getting drunk seemed like a questionable idea. I didn't register. I kept putting it off, waiting to decide. And then, the event sold out.  And, I didn't have to decide.

While this debate of should I or shouldn't I was going on fate stepped in. Not only did B2B sell out, but the Pasadena Marathon switched dates. It was supposed to be in February, and then it was switched, to May 15.  I grew up in the Pasadena area, and the event was on my birthday.  It seemed like fate.  This was the event I should do on my birthday. So I registered for the half marathon.

I have had moments since I registered when I wondered why on earth I decided to pay to run 13.1 miles on my birthday, which will require that I wake up at approximately 4am. Hmmm... Maybe this isn't the best idea after all. But, most of the time I remember that this is a great way to celebrate my life and bring in another year.



Hopefully I will not be looking like this while running on Sunday

Now, what do I want for my birthday? I want to enjoy myself. I want to run the Pasadena Half Marathon as hard as I can and have fun while doing it. If I hit my time goal that will be one of the best birthday presents I can give myself. If I enjoy the day and the event then getting up at 4am and running 13.1 miles will be more than worth it. It will be a great way to start a new year.


I want to look happy, like this!

If you happen to be in the Pasadena area come cheer for me. Come wish me a happy birthday. Help me celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of a new year of my life.

I am not going to spell out any time goals or race goals before Pasadena, because I just want to have as much fun as possible. That is my one and only goal for Sunday, enjoy the race, enjoy the day and enjoy my life. Because this is what life is truly about.

After the race, no matter how I do I am going to enjoy the rest of my day.  And then on Monday I will be heading to the Happiest Place on Earth, Disneyland!  (I get Monday off, birthdays are considered a holiday and you get to take a day off at my job!) If you don't have work and want to come play for the day, the more the merrier!

If you want to give me an actual gift, that is perfectly acceptable. Some things I would love, cash is always good ;) or registration paid for in one of these races: Rock n Roll Las Vegas Marathon (half) in December and/or Tinkerbell Half Marathon at Disneyland in January. I also pretty much love everything at lululemon.  Or you can give me cash ;).  Better yet, do something good and make a donation to my fundraising campaign for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society as I get ready to run the Alaska Mayor's Marathon.  But, the best gift you can give me is to come celebrate my birthday with me.

You can donate to LLS via my fundraising page, here: http://pages.teamintraining.org/los/anchor11/ewallersco

My perfect birthday will leave me looking as happy as I do right here...  I may have been exhausted after running 13.1 miles in the heat, but I was happy... And, that's how I want to look/feel on Sunday!

Thanks for reading!