VOTE!!

Cute and paste this to your address bar: http://bit.ly/hQisAt


So here's the dealio - I'm in a competition sponsored by Athleta (some of the most amazing women's sports apparel on the market)and you can help me win. By clicking on the link above, you will be redirected to the vote website for me. All you have to do is simply leave a comment and then it will count as a vote. The winner gets to meet with Athleta stylists and give commentaries or something like that. The only thing I really have a hard time looking for in this world is a modest (albeit, appealing/womanly)two piece bathing suit that a mother of 3 would want to dare. I look for support, fit, wearability, sportability and the appeal - Athleta has been the only place that has come close. Second problem though is that I'm kindof small and now have had to begun shopping in the juniors department (I know - there's no sympathy here, but have you seen their clothes?) so the fit is a super huge deal to me.

I've been bombarding my FB friends daily with "have you voted for me yet" comments, links to the site, and even bribery when needed! I'm sure they are getting tired of it as well, but they are all being very good sports and haven't been yelling at me for it (yet).
I know, I know, this is a shameless plug but can you blame me? You know you'd do the same thing!

So what else is going on in the Jackson lives? Same thing - different day. Chris and I will begin training in June for our marathon in November. Yes, I know - we are crazy. I think you lose brain cells as you age (my kids swear I'm in a midlife crisis). But we've decided that we are going to participate in the San Antonio Rock and ROll Marathon in November, which is fitting since that was our first half. For the next few weeks, we'll be enjoying spring training - which is basically, enjoying your runs - not worrying about pace, tempo, stride, time. Just running because it's fun (again, yes, we know we are crazy).

The kids are the best as usual and are surviving TAKS week (ergh) and just being themselves. They are pretty amazing, we have no real complaints. Better go check on the voting. Did I ask if you had voted?

Supporting our Soldier

There is nothing more important to a soldier than them knowing that they are being supported by the people back home. So we set out this weekend to send our nephew, the marine, a care package and hope that he gets it in time for Easter. In our package, is some candy, whey protein (which he specifically requested), baby wipes, chapstick, animal crackers, nutella, homemade peanut butter cookies and chocolate chip cookies, and of course, letters and pictures from home.

it seems so silly to write letters to our marine about our simple life back home – after all, his daily life is about conquering bad guys, keeping his fellow marines safe, and making sure he makes it back to his quarters in one piece at the end of his assignment. After all, I go to work in tennis shoes and running gear, he goes to work carrying a big gun. And I mean a BIG gun! He breaks down doors and looks for bad guys, eats MREs, and sleeps in sand pits. And I worry about the upcoming training retreat which involves sleeping in a tent (don’t get me wrong – not worried about the tent part).

But I will continue to send him letters filled with the insignificant details of our days here, and maybe at least he will be able to find a few minutes to get his mind off of 120 degree weather and shamaals. And maybe he’ll share the cookies with his buddies and they’ll all get a good laugh at our latest run pictures that I’ve enclosed (or the family ski trip one). But mostly, I hope that when he receives his package, that he knows that we think of him day and night and pray for a quick end to a war we don’t understand anymore, and a swift return home.

A super cool thing that his GF shared with me is motomail. If you have email and your soldier’s land address, you can send them an online letter (no, not an email) and they’ll usually get it within 24 hours. So cool! If you have a soldier you’ll have to find it – just go to https://www.motomail.us, and follow the easy online instructions - you can even attach pictures (which, of course, I did).

If you don’t have a soldier serving somewhere, but want to show support, another great way is to send them coffee. Now, of course, I adore coffee so I think this is the greatest gift you can send. Just simply go to http://www.greenbeanscoffee.com/coj/ and order a cup of Joe ($2 – cheaper then starbux) and send a quick personal note. I have decided that every time I buy coffee (anywhere – starbux, McDonalds, gas stations, etc), I will put $2 aside to buy a cup for Joe as well.

There are a lot more ways to support our troops – you can simply google for ideas and find yourself overwhelmed, but it is one of the most important things we do during our simplistic days stateside that we can do. Continue praying for our nephew and all the other amazing men and women who are serving!

Statesman Cap10K, Austin

A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I ran the Statesman Cap10K in Austin. A race of 24,000 participants, from wheelchair racers & elite runners to timed runners & “just for funners”. They only allow 10,000 timed runners and we were two of them. There were many costumed runners as well – a few Gumby’s, some crayons, lots of tutus (even men) and my favorite, Super Mario and who ever his sidekick is.

Chris says that something funny happens when I race. Frankly, I am simply racing against myself – I’m not thinking that I’m going to set new world records or beat an elite runner but I am out to beat myself. He calls it “race face”. First, to understand “race face”, let me take you back through some earlier events.

We headed to Austin Saturday afternoon to hit the health expo & packet pick up. I have to say that the health expo was a big disappointment. I was expecting the same quality and quantity of the San Antonio Rock and Roll Marathon & Half expo – but my fantastic hubby did buy me some amazing fog proof pink running glasses so it was successful – and we got our race packets.

We were supposed to go to dinner with Team Beef at Macaroni Grill but as we sat in the parking lot preparing to go in, we decided we should just stay in Austin for the night as it would be easier to get to the race, more sleep, etc. So we rushed home (an hour drive one way) to pack, get our race gear and head back. Little did we know, that just about every hotel within 20 miles of the race would be sold out. After a lot of phone calls, we finally secured a place, checked in and went to dinner by ourselves at the Olive Garden.

Olive Garden has become a pre-race night tradition with us. We split some pasta and steak, a class of wine, the all you can eat amazing salad and I literally gorge on breadsticks. After all, I eat no bread during the year unless it is race day or the night before so who cares that I ate a couple of baskets by myself!

Apparently “race face” begins the night before the race, shortly after the dinner. I get into a quiet zone where I lay out all my clothes, review the course several dozen times, re-read several running articles on performance and become very quiet and very still. I lay out breakfast, and visualize the course (over and over). Yes, I know – all this for a 10K? Yes, all this for a 10K. Race morning, however, brings major “race face”. I’m quiet, barely audible, and completely focused on the tasks at hand – crossing the finish line with the best possible PR I can achieve.

The races are about me. No one else. It bothers me that there are 24,000 other people on the course in fact – all jostling for a position when all I want is to the run in the crack between the road and curb. I want to shout, “get out of my crack” but feel that may be a little inappropriate and even borderline rude. So I weave in and out of the crowd, focusing simply on keeping up with my “rabbit” of a husband. I know that if he wasn’t rabbiting for me, he’d probably be finishing a good 15 minutes ahead of me, but he likes to cross the finish line with me, not before me.

I keep my focus on his shoes, constantly lagging behind and constantly weaving and bobbing – especially when the runners in front decide to stop and walk. My biggest fear is not that I won’t finish, but that I will run over a walker while trying to keep the pace I trained so hard to maintain. I find that I really enjoy a 10K distance; in fact, this may be m favorite distance to run. After all, I consistently run 6 miles 3 days a week, with the other 3 days being anywhere from 4 – 9 miles runs. So whether I finish or not, is never a question with this distance, but more about how fast I can get there.

There were several highlights of the Cap10K and I know that these highlights will make us come back next year (with better hotel planning next year): Team Beef was at mile 3 (letting me know, I was half way there and through the hardest part of the course), and a surprise cheerleader at 5.5 miles reminded me to enjoy the moment and appreciate the crowd of runners.

We began running for Team Beef in January – we run 2 races and volunteer at 1 throughout the year to fulfill our obligation to them, and in turn we wear their amazing Team Beef running shirts. It is great fun to realize that other people are as insane about running and nutrition as you are and there is a great sense of camaraderie within the team. Comprised of all strangers who may not live anywhere near each, probably don’t ever train together; all comes together for a meal and a race. And they cheer you on! It makes me want to run harder and faster.

Then the surprise cheerleader at the 5.5-mile mark, a student who comes to one of our many conference church camps, is curbside. Remember how I like to run the “curb crack” – this puts my ear at her mouth level – allowing me to hear (despite my loud ipod music) “GOOOOOOOOOO BECKY JACKSON”. I turn abruptly to see her beautiful smiling face and realize how cool that was!

I look ahead and my husband is running backwards (show off), waiting for me to sprint to catch up to him. We run the last .25-mile holding hands and cross the finish line together. .58:08. But we are not winded, and I feel as if I could go again. We head off to the post race parties, eating steak burritos (another luxury I will not see until another race day), guzzling chocolate milk (another race day only love) and talk about the crowd of people, the costumes, what we liked, where we lagged and how much faster I should have gone! Next time, I will.