Whittaker Woman

Did it, Done it, Wont do it again.

I think I will have many blogs coming these next few days... and that is because I can not walk. Carlos and I just laugh at each other. I guess they say no pain no game!
Ok so here is the run down if you did not check out my man and his twitter. He gave updates as we were running. It actually was one of the coolest things that he has ever done!
We got to Long Beach around 6am and sat in traffic for an hour.

Finally we got parked headed our way to the race. Everyone warned us about the lines for the restroom, but when you got to go you got to go.

Finally we were off. I must admit running through the start line was almost more powerful than the finish line. I loved it!


I felt so good at the beginning. I loved being surrounded by people, you heard stories of people as they ran. One man was 97 years old. Hello! It was so great! My brother was running the half so it was so wonderful to have him there encouraging us on! The first 10 miles went through LB Harbor and then along the coast. The breeze was perfect and it was so beautiful!

We were feeling so good. Not even winded at all. The half and full marathon routes split right after mile 10. So we had to say good by to my brother. I must admit I was quite jealous that he was almost done and we were not even half way done.
We  turned the corner and then all of the sudden Carlos and I looked at each other and wondered where everyone went. EVERYONE went to the half side and we were left alone. It is also where the route took a turn into the city. We were doing good but the dynamics changed so fast. We had been running by the ocean with a crowd full of energy. We turned the corner, hit the black asphalt and the deafening silence of the non existent crowds.

Finally we found this girl who was the pace setter for finishing the race at 5 hours and 30 minutes. We thought it was great and we hung with her for about 3 miles and then it hit me. Or more like I hit it... The WALL. It was about mile 16. I think the combination of not sticking to my pace, the hot sun and loss of energy from other runners just kicked my butt.

Not only did I hit the Wall but Carlos hit a High! He is a words of affirmation guy and after 3 hours of people encouraging him he was so full. He even began to dance. I just wanted to kick him!

I begin to feel like I did when I was in labor giving birth. Carlos just wants to encourage me and when I am in pain I do not want to hear encouragement. I want support but not a cheerleader. I remember accepting my friend Tammy by my side when I gave birth, and not wanting Carlos. I felt the same on the run. I wanted him there. I just wanted him to be quite. Finally I told him to be hush!

Around mile 18-20 was the hardest. My legs were cramping and I could not even imagine the finish line.

And then we saw this. What a glorious sign. One more to go!

We ran in like this. Together as a team. It was just one of our moments! My grandma, mom, kids, brother, close friend Sarah and her husband and brother and sister in law were all there! What an amazing feeling... to stop running that is.
Thank you so much for everyone's love and support! I just can not believe we really did not train at all last month and we still did it. Really anyone can do this.

WE DID IT! H

Sunday... Blessed Sunday

I am a part of a group of women that single handily has to get our families put together before church.  This means everyone showered, dressed and fed. Usually there are tons of tears and many frustrated memories.  Sundays are the most stressful morning of the week, so why not add a little extra drama!
We only have one car so on Sundays everyone gets loaded up at 6am to drive Carlos to church. On the way home I was driving down our street and see a duck sitting in the middle of the road. I completely stopped and he did not move. I realized he was injured and decided to help the little guy. I mean why not. I have nothing to do, right?

The problem was, well there were multiple problems. I quickly learned that 3 kids 6 and under are no help when it comes to wild animals. I also learned that they do not teach you how to drive with a duck in your hand when you take drivers training. Luckily we were not far from home. Our little duck had a hurt leg and was a very good sport. He just sat in this towel with the best manners.
 I called a kazillion numbers before I finally found someone to help our little friend. I guess animals don't get hurt or found on Sundays, because everyone was closed.  I finally got everyone showered, dressed and fed and we were off to take Ducky to the doctor.  Oh, but my drama does not end there. You see my #2, my bean, my Seanna  gets car sick and sure enough I hear in her sweet little voice. " Mommy my throat hurts." AKA I am about to puke!  Are you kidding me. Luckily we are prepared and I grabed a bag.

All this drama before 9 am! Now that is a Sunday Morning! H

2 minutes and 45 seconds

That is how long it takes to get here from our casa! The nature that is within city limits just amazes me!
      

One thing after another...

My poor brother came to visit at a terrible time. He was here two weeks the first week was our road trip and the second week was a week of recovery for me from the road trip. Needless to say, I was not able to give him my perfected tour of the ATL. So with less than 24 hours left together, we decided to loaded up the car and go camping!

We drove out to Stone Mountain. For those of you who are not familiar with this area, Stone Mountain is a huge rock that protrudes from the earth and they call a mountain. It is cool, but when you grow up with this as your back yard it is hard to be awe-struck. The campground was beautiful! It was nestled right on the banks of the lake and had great views. The kids were so excited to play in the water. All was well, until we realized that swimming in the lake was prohibited, but being the good rule breaker that I am, we continued to swim! It was the hottest day of the year here. How could I tell these guys to get out of the water?

Anyways the day went on. It was hot! No, it was HOT! You know the kind of hot where you begin to loose all sense of rational thinking. Where you will simply do anything to keep cool. (Like swimming in the lake). 

Around 6pm things began to look better. Carlos arrived, dinner was cooking and best of all the sun was going down. However, after a hour of dusk the heat had not let up. It was so bad that Carlos asked me if I was crying, because he saw "tears" rolling down my cheeks. Nope it was sweat! When that happened I threw in the towel and said I was done. I was 20 minutes away from my own bed and AC. There was no way I was going to sleep in this. I am a camper, I love to be dirty, I love to sleep on the ground, but the heat... NOPE not going to do it!

My poor brother worked so hard to get he tent up, he was a good sport! Once we packed up, a storm rolled in and we were so glad to be on the way HOME! We did have to stop and get my brother's canvas bags off the roof! I am telling you it was one thing after another!

H

Family Vacation

We planned a great stop at this place called Grandfather Mountain. It was so beautiful for the 2.4 seconds we were there before the storm blew in!

Sohaila got FREAKED OUT! Can you tell? It happened so quick. We were out having fun, then all of the sudden pouring down rain. My brother got locked out of his car and had to climb in ours because he was getting pounded!

So much for Grandfather Mountain.

Mountain girl like her mommy

Well kinda, I would not use tie down straps but at least
she is wanting to do it.

Hi My Name is Heather and I am a snowboardaholic

I am not a alcoholic but I think I have some kind of idea what they feel when they have just one drink. One drink puts that taste in your mouth. That one drink gets in your blood. That one drink may take over your life. I am telling you when I first met Carlos I was literally addicted to snowboarding. That may sound silly but it was in my blood and I would do anything to do it. I had a drink today, well it was a ride and it is a good thing that I have a round trip ticket bought because I would gladly stay.
   

   
FOREVER

If you knew me you would know...

that I have a side of pure giddiness when I get in nature. If fills me. It drives me. It just makes me happy. I guess that is why I spend my life doing things like this, and this oh and we can't forget this. It just is who I am. So I wake up early this morning. Three hours before I need to be ready to go on the slopes. And what do I do?
I get ready so I can come sit outside in the freezing weather just to be in the outdoors. I am sitting in a parking lot with the slopes of Heavely to my right and Tahoe Lake to my left. What beauty to blog from. My room 10 feet from me but because I am me I decide to have some alone time sitting on the ground in a parking lot. Carlos always laughs at me when we are  about to go do something fun like this. I wish he was here to laugh with me today.

I tried to take a artsy picture and it just did not work
so finally I gave up.