SUNBLOCK FROM SCAPE

A week or so ago, I wrote about this sunblock I discovered that has really helped with my training in the hot Texas summer weather. Well, SCAPE labs was kind enough to send me some more product and I just wanted to write about how I appreciate the kind gift.
Their kind donation helps with my training, and in return helps me keep running to raise money for our wounded veterans. So, in return, they are giving back as well. Anyone who helps me in anyway is also helping our troops! I appreciate all the support I get, via product donation or financial contributions to the cause.

I love this product because SCAPE has developed a sunblock that does not come off! I sweat like crazy in 95 plus degree weather in Austin during the summer. When I get over heated in my long runs, the sunblock remains on my skin even while sweating and dousing my head with water.

The scent is a hint of lemon, and when you apply it to your skin it does not leave your skin greasy and slimy feeling. As mentioned in previous blogs, I do have Lupus, and sun can really be an enemy, especially in the summer when UV rays are stronger. Before heading out on, I apply from head to toe with the sunblock, Face Stick, and lip balm and at the completion of a run I still feel confidently covered with SPF protection.

Before my Lupus diagnosis, I never thought too much on sun protection, but now that I found one that works with training in the intense heat, I want others to know about it too!

Check out SCAPElabs.com for more product information.

Today is another one of those days when I will need it! High 90's and about to hit the road soon for an afternoon run.

IT WAS BOUND TO HAPPEN

(2nd annual Ryan Shay Mid Summer's Night Run, Central Lake, MI July 4, 2010, register at www.ryanshay.org) Proceeds donated to local high school for college scholarships.

It's Tuesday, and I am laying on the sofa with a pillow behind my back and blanket over my legs. I had to call in today, as I just had that feeling of, "oh, I need to rest right now". I just got carried away with running dehydrated, stressing about work, and being too busy to breathe. My ears are ringing and my eyes hurt, but after this little write-up, going to sleep for awhile and let my body catch up with me.

No fear, my boss knows, and I cannot remember the last time I called in sick anyway.

Everyone has those moments when they feel just slightly off enough to know when to slow down, and so I am doing that today. If I feel better, I might even do a slow jog in the evening.

The good news is this summer is way more approachable than last summer! Now that Max's dad is back from deployment, Max enjoys catching up with him and it gives me some free time to explore Austin more. I have started getting back into a social scene and it has boosted my confidence in terms of being new to this city. Going home to Michigan in a week will allow me to catch up with family again, but I have to say Austin is growing on me more and more. It's definitely a place to meet some very interesting people.

Before I head home, I will be interviewing with Chris Sanchez of Inside Austin a weekend radio show. I am not sure when it will air, probably weekend after this. I hope to generate some funds back home, and when I get back to Austin really need to get back in fundraiser mode and see about getting this goal met. One thing about me, is if I say I am going to do something, I want to make sure I go all the way with it.

Now I am going to sleep for a bit and rest my tired body.

THE STICKIEST DAY FOR ME YET

(In effort to try and take more photos while blogging, Me after my most humid run yet, and favorite essential items that get me through the hot runs)

Oh Austin how I love it when you rain in hot temperatures, like today. It rained about an hour before my run and so the entire run was like running in a hot shower. But surprisingly my 7 mile run time was not too bad, even faster than the last one.
Schedule is very crazy these days because work is very busy and I am so tired before I slip my running shoes on, and wish so badly I was able to run in the morning. But I am getting used to it slowly, and when it does drop 5 or 10 degrees it is an instant relief on the trail.

Over the past 9 months I am learning different ways to comfort myself during the training. Winter season was a cinch because the sun was less intense and my Lupus was minimal in terms of creeping around. But with the sun and heat come challenges. A couple of things that help me cope below:

First off, I finally bought some new shoes, first pair since January. Shoes are expensive, and just dropped $500 into my car last week, but had to bite the bullet, for my feet's sake and get a new pair. I like to recommend what works for me, and I have kind of flat feet and it's hard to find a good match, but the Adidas Super Nova Glide II are awesome, the only running shoe that has ever fit my foot like a glove. If you are flat footed, do try on a pair.

Because my face gets affected by the sun when I have Lupus flare ups, bumped into the best sunscreen for anyone sweating it out in Austin or anywhere hot or by the water. It smells awesome, and it stays on and does NOT burn your eyes. It's from Hawaiian Island Creations, and it's in a yellow tube and is SPF 50 2X Sunblock. I pour on the sunscreen from head to to toe before the run.

I have felt a little queasy around the half way point of my runs lately, but decided to grab a 20 oz of Gatorade and slam shortly before I start running (even chill it in the freezer at work for a bit, so it's slightly slushy) and it has helped greatly with energy and and only needing water along my run. It makes me feel cooler for awhile too.

I bought a new hat and some new shorts. I have been wearing a regular ball cap to shield the sun, but makes my head overheat, so bought a running hat, and some light dry-fit shorts, big difference on feeling lighter and cooler.

I continue to use regular over-the-head headphones when I run because they are large enough to cover my ears and help prevent Lupus inflammation (which can hurt inside the ear area) by keeping the sun off.

So, with all this preparation, I have felt all right in the sun, and though I complain of the heat, I am relieved that I am still able to train without too much difficulty heading into the harshest part of the summer.

I cannot wait to go home and visit in a couple of weeks. I have not been to Michigan since Ryan's funeral. It will be strange, a little, maybe, but look forward to seeing my family and watching them sweat in 70 degree weather while I put a sweater on! Ha!

2nd Annual Ryan Shay Mid Summer Night Run

In a few weeks(4th of July) I will head to Michigan for the 2nd annual 5 and 10k put on in my brother's memory in the town I graduated high school. I pretty much left Central Lake when I finished high school, and have returned less than a handful of times over the passed 15 years. I definitely had the restless soul out of the 8 of us at that time and besides going to college I scraped pennies to fly here and there in and out of the country for a good several years. I missed a lot of Ryan's post collegiate runs because of the traveling adventures, but always kept up with his races through the inter net. He would even email his running schedules to us (just in case we were in the neighborhood during a race). But Ryan would go back to Central Lake and continue to run the back roads of Northern Michigan and visit our old high school, and hang out from time to time. So, it's definitely fitting to have a run in his memory started in our home town. Proceeds from the race go to our local high school for college scholarships. I asked my father if I could do some kind of donation booth for Running For Ryan, and I believe we will have a table set up for anyone who has a few dollars or a check book handy to give to the Wounded Warrior Project, so if you happen to read this and live in Michigan and will be at the race, please spread the word.

We are at about $14,600 right now of $26,200 goal. I have not had an opportunity to have some kind of benefit gig in Austin yet, but would love to do something before the NYC Marathon to get a boost in donations. If you are a business or individual with an idea, and or resources, please contact me at runningforryan@gmail.com

Please remember donating online is very easy and safe. I continue to donate on line when I have a few extra dollars and the payment system is very secure. Just click on DONATE icon, and click on my name and it takes you through the steps.

Checks can be made to Wounded Warrior Project or Running For Ryan and mailed to

Running For Ryan

P.O. Box 300766

Austin, TX 78703

As I mentioned yesterday, it was a pleasure to meet Doug Ulman, CEO of LIVESTRONG at the Austin Marathon/LIVESTRONG meeting. Since living in Austin, I have been very lucky to meet such inspirational people like Doug Ulman, Dick Beardsley, and Bart Yasso. I was hesitant to pack up and move down here without family and without a circle of friends, but it's a great city with a lot of great organizations to take an interest in and give back to. Just as these above names are familiar, just as many without such known names have been very inspirational to me, especially everyone who helped with the entire Austin Marathon journey. My head has been very focused for a few days, and I continue to visualize the finish line in NYC. Max told me I had to win this time (ha ha) so better get working on a mock trophy for his dresser.

Meeting A Survivor, Doug Ulman, CEO of LIVESTRONG

(Doug Ulman, CEO of LIVESTRONG)

I have been really blessed to meet some great people in Austin. Joey Trimyer made Running For Ryan web site free of charge and continues to maintain it for me as a volunteer. When a coach in San Antonio, Gary Brimmer, introduced me to John Conley (Austin Marathon Director) I didn't realize how much help I would get for getting Running For Ryan off the ground. . Through an Austin Marathon event, I met Bart Yasso, who befriended me so genuinely as we share the desire to run, him with Lyme Disease, me with Lupus. Bart has helped spread the word about the fundraiser and continues to encourage me to see it through to NYC. John Conley invited me to LIVESTRONG/ Austin Marathon announcement event today at the LIVESTRONG HQ in Austin. Because it was in the middle of the work day I almost didn't go, but so glad I did!

I remember reading about Doug Ulman in the Austin Monthly Magazine when I was waiting at an appointment. The magazine was covering non-profit CEO's and he was the lead feature. So, I read his article and was thinking to myself how amazing it was to be a survivor and then go right into running a huge cancer non-profit organization. I had no clue of his life, and his cancer fight, so I sent an email of congratulating him on taking a serious situation and turning it into an inspirational journey.

He responded with a nice thank you email, and that was it. So several weeks go by, and I get this invite to go to the announcement event today. Doug Ulman and John Conley present, with Mayor Leffingwell. Well, I thought it would be pretty interesting to see these guys talk, so I decided to see what the big news was going to be. Well, turns out the Austin Marathon will be sponsored by LIVESTRONG for the next 3 years, yeah for both organizations!

So, I was going to head back to work, but I decided, I wanted to introduce myself, and palms sweaty did just that. I told him I was Sarah Shay, I sent an email about your article a while back,and he pleasantly spoke to me, and said he was in New York the weekend Ryan passed away, as he ran the regular marathon the following day. After we chatted for a couple of minutes, I decided to head back to work. But as I was outside I turned around and told myself, "Go get a pic for the blog...he's a nice guy!" So, palms sweaty again, he politely took a pic with me and welcomed me to HQ anytime:)

This positive energy carried through out the day and I had an enjoyable 6 mile run after work. About a mile from the finish I just busted out in a good cry as I couldn't help but just look to the sky for Ryan. I instantly missed him, but thanked him for giving me the courage to go out and meet inspiring individuals through out this journey to keep his memory alive and give back to those who survive daily with life altering injuries. I just feel very lucky right now. I feel like I am doing what I am suppose to be doing at this moment in my life. Thanks to Doug for the sincere introduction.

NOTHING ABOUT RUNNING TODAY, June 6, 2010

Had the urge to clean my place today before I headed out to run, so pretty late getting on Town Lake, about noon, and had the audacity to try and run 10 miles, not realizing it was 96 out. I lost all energy 6 miles out, and walked 4 miles back to my car, it sucked. So, I learned a home can be cleaned anytime, but I really have to get my long runs in way early on the weekends. So, enough on running because today I was not happy about it.

But my weekend was relaxing, a little quiet without Max around and had zero plans, so really a time to catch up on sleep and run some errands.

Friday, after work I was lucky enough to meet with Richard West, who co-founded Texas Monthly Magazine and freelances for Runner's World. I am told the story about how Running For Ryan got started will be in a fall issue of Runner's World to coincide with the NYC Marathon. We met at the Tavern near 12th and Lamar in Austin, and it was a pleasure to meet him. He actually kind of reminds me of Bart Yasso a bit. He was very kind and I felt comfortable with the chat. I was shocked to hear that he read all my blogs since September of 2009 as I don't think I could ever go back and read them all in one shot! Also, I might realize...what the heck was I thinking?

I dream a lot! I told Richard of the tornado dreams I had a week prior to Ryan passing away, and on the morning of his death a tornado dream woke me up with a startle shortly before I got the call that fateful morning. The dream of him pushing me to the finish is what gave me the motivation to run a marathon...and maybe a little foreshadowing came from the dream I had shortly before the Austin Marathon where Ryan and I ran the NYC Marathon together. Little did I know then or even fathom that I would actually run it in 2010.

I had a personal dream this morning about my ex. It was one of those dreams that make you wake up and feel weird for the first part of the day. Very funny how dreams can be so off too. This dream was whimsical, fluffy and fun as we took Max and rode off in the sunset together. But in realty, and far away from the dream he could be moving on to another marriage when I am terrified of taking that step again. Yes, I admit it on this keyboard and screen, that it boggles my mind that he could be so sure when he wasn't sure the first time. I was sure the first time, and now I am not sure for a second time. Oh, just another thing that I guess will makes sense to me when the time is right.

Scared, yes but still a hopeless romantic. I do enjoy the anticipation of feeling those sparks again! But for now, let me dream about Jake Gyllenhaal or reaching that $26,200 goal!