Kyla and I will be participating in American Grands this coming January and I'm so excited! This is a grand piano event and it's grand in every sense of the word! You sign up for your level of playing, you get your music, practice, then come together for rehearsals. Each piece is performed on 12 grand pianos with two or more people per piano. There is a conductor leading. It's like an orchestra of pianos! This is going to be a blast! I will be performing with my teacher.
Since 1994, Cordogan's has donated the use of 12 grand pianos for an annual fundraising concert called American Grands, in which over 300 piano students of all ages -- and from all over Chicagoland -- get to perform alongside their peers and teachers. This concert is always completely sold out and helps benefit Elgin Community College's Visual & Performing Arts Center.
If you haven't experienced the power of music lately, thirty seconds of sitting in this audience will remind you. Seeing children as young as 7 years old wearing tuxedos or sequined gowns while gaining the unique stage experience at the hands of over 1000 concertgoers is a most memorable site!
Over 300 performers sharing twelve grand pianos is the essence of the Cordogan's sponsored "American Grands" concert annually held at Elgin Community College.
It's hard to make sure everyone gets notified of the arrangements so I'll post them here and hope they get passed along.
I know it's hard during the week to attend such things so please don't consider this an obligation of any sort. If you can make it that would be wonderful, if not we already know that our friends are thinking of us and supporting us.
Tonight a little before 9pm my mother in law Nina passed away. She was battling leukemia but she actually died of pneumonia that she contracted after her 2nd round of chemo. I am honored to have been at her side, along with her children and husband, at the very end. She has been a blessing in my life and I will miss her very much as will the entire family.
Below is the prayer Sister Ann prayed over Nina early today and this prayer now is my very favorite and indicative of the way Nina lived.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; when there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood, as to understand, to be loved as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Thursday July 9, 2009 7:30 PM 1st Overall Female 18:51
Well this year I was definitely a lot more excited for this race. Injuries behind me for months now and steadily dropping 5k times had me ready to see what I could do on this super fast, super flat course. My main goal was to get myself back under 19 minutes again and I thought I had a good chance today. This race is a company sponsored race so I would be with all my running co-workers and they always make me happy and ready to go! Extra bonus this year was that Andy was coming as well and would be filming the race for me and everyone on the team.
So the day of the race comes and the weather is beautiful, unlike last year's massive rain, thunder and lightening. I warmed up with no feelings of anxiety or stress. I looked around a bit and saw just a few women who might pull me under 19 minutes. I chatted a bit with a few friends, did my strides, got a kiss from Andy and lined up.
The start: As usual everyone went out FAST and I pushed a little bit harder than was comfortable but nothing crazy. One girl was out like a bolt and was soon out of sight. She was looking like she was going to run under 18 with the way she went out. I concentrated on getting around the first few turns and running strong, there was one other woman in the same area as me that I could see. I felt in a groove almost right away which was a really good sign.
Mile 1 - 5:59.9 Great! By this time I've dropped the woman that was near me at the beginning but I still cannot see the lead woman. I focus on getting to that next mile mark in as close to 6 minutes as I can. Gotta keep things going!
Mile 2 - 6:03.5 Yes! I'm working hard but breaking 19 minutes is looking like a reality for today but who is that I see? It's the lead woman! This is going to get interesting because I believe she is coming back to me...but will I have enough time? She still is way up there. I hate coming home after a race with regrets so I pile on some more pain and go after her. I see Andy about a quarter mile before the 3 mile mark and she has maybe 10 seconds now. A few more turns and I make my move past her. She fights and gains, I pass again and this time she let's me go. I'm in serious serious pain at this point and that 3 mile mark seems soooo far away. I briefly worry that I made my move too soon but I'm committed and I can't back down.
Mile 3 - who knows?! I'm almost there! I just keep pushing and pushing, praying for that last turn that will take me to that finish line. I'm aware that my form is crap but I just can't get it together so I just keep grinding way. 5K's just hurt!
The finish - 18:51 (6:48.61 for last 1.1 miles) No. Regrets. :-)
Once I recover, and I seriously thought I was going to lose my lunch, I shake hands with the 2nd place woman and go to see the rest of my co-workers finish. I find Andy filming at the last turn and help cheer everyone on. Most everyone had a great race out there! Congrats to all my co-workers (Brian Gaines, Kelly Roe, Kim Heitzman, David Chin, Jim Wood, Paul Clement, April Nowakowski) and a huge kiss to my husband Andy!
Results for top 5 women. Just look at the age of these women! No wonder I'm so tired, it's tough work fighting with 20 yr olds!
A great big thanks to everyone who went out to view our entry in Nike's Believe in the Run contest, voted for us and helped us spread the word.
The contest allowed photo and video entries with awards given to each category. Our video finished in the top spot for all video entries and was 4th overall. It is now up to a panel of Nike judges to decide who will win in the video and photo categories. The score depended on votes, viewings, reviews left, and how "viral" the entry was. We were able to score points with viewing and votes coming from Europe, Asia and Africa, along with all the votes from the United States.
It was exciting to watch the video climb up the ranks but I'm glad its finally over so I can stop being so nervous :-)
A very special thanks to the following people: My husband for helping me with footage, especially the sunset runs, and his never ending efforts to spread the word among his "non" running friends. The JustImagine site showed almost 5 thousand hits after they put up a link to our video.
My daughter for her ideas and willingness to be in my video project
AND drum roll here.... to Wendy, with great appreciation and admiration, for putting the bug in my ear about the contest and giving all her talents into putting the footage, photos, and voice over elements together in a way that truly represented the message I wanted to deliver combined with her own love of THE RUN. It wasn't just my story!
Have a great day everyone and I will let everyone know when the final results come out
My friend Wendy and I put together a great clip for Nike's Believe in the Run contest. We ran into a problem when we realized that the original song used violated copyright laws so we had to scramble to replace the soundtrack. Unfortunately we have to start all over from 0 votes.
Please help us by clicking below, watching the clip and voting for us. Tell everyone you know and have them do the same! You can vote daily. I recently found out that leaving a review helps our score as well...so if you have time...leave a review :-)
My special thanks to Wendy for helping me tell why I Believe In the Run
It's hard to believe that its been a year since I had the honor of running Boston! I'm not going this year but I want to wish all my friends who are going.
Katie Owens (bib number 14158) ~ making her return appearance to Boston after running a PR 3:34:58 last year. Always humble Katie isn't making any claims of a great race ahead...WHATEVER...she will do fabulous as usual.
Val Trax Hattabaugh(bib number 18614) - is making her first appearance at Boston using her one and only marathon time from the 2007 Chicago Heat-athon - 3:47:57. A Boston qualifier the first time out! I immediately worked on convincing this "one marathon and I'm done" girl to go to Boston. Obviously she wasn't sold on it fast enough to run in 2008 but was able to enter the 2009 race. I'm excited to see how she does and I'm so glad she decided to run a marathon one more time.
John Garcia (bib number 8563) - the running news guy, see his blog http://runningnewsguy.abc7chicago.com/ is headed to Boston this year as well. Training has gone well and he's on a high after welcoming his fourth daughter into this world just recently.
Dick Pond Racing Team - Fast feet to all the members of my racing team that will be running Boston this year. Represent our team and sponsor with pride!
Remember all runners can be tracked during the race. Go to www.baa.org on race day. Click on the links that will only be visible on race day and by using their bib number you will be able to see every 5k split.
It's going to be hard to concentrate on work that day :-)
I can't believe I have not posted anything since Jenny's first pro competition in August. I got a little wrapped up in facebook and I've had a number of nagging injuries that kept me from really racing much.
I'm currently coming back from a really painful case of runner's knee and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'm going to finally be able to move forward after several attempts. Next week I get my new orthotics. It's costing me a bundle but I've really put it off for way too long. My original orthotics were stolen along with my shoes in a health club over 4 years ago and I've been limping (literally) on store bought inserts since. I'm up to 3 miles now every other day with my temporary orthotics. It feels good to run again but I still worry about every little tightness thinking that things are going to break down again AND I feel like a fat out of shape slob. I've not been able to run for some 8 weeks now.
My friends have accomplished many things over the last half of 2008 and I've neglected to post on that as well. I will see over the next week if I can put that in.
Here is to a great 2009, good friends, and great running!
I caught the running bug in 8th grade and worked hard all summer to join the high school team. At Schaumburg High School I was coached by Jon Macnider. He focused my energy and set the path for every success I have ever had in running. I finished a 6 time all state medalist, was on the ‘82 champion cc team, and was an All-American in the 3200m. I’m honored to still hold the school record in the 3200m (10:25) and I held the 1600m record for 25 years (4:59). I ran at U of Iowa but without much success . The impersonal business of college athletics just wasn’t for me. I met my husband my freshman year. We married in ‘91. Post college I caught the bug again and under the guidance of Willie Rios I qualified for and ran in the ‘96 Olympic trials. My fastest times are now behind me and I have recently joined the ranks of masters runner. Recently I have found a renewed love of running that has been inspired by the people in this running group. I am rediscovering the love of running for running’s sake and since that is how it all began it is only fitting that I find myself there again.
"Above all, I will challenge myself to do ridiculously impossible things and give everything trying to achieve them"- Margaret Bradley (1979 - 2004) 1st year Pritzker Medical School, Universal Sole team member, friend. You are in our thoughts always.
