Archive for erica chavez

Anyway

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 5, 2013 by runmyssierun

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What I would give for a normal average week. Seven days with no highs and no lows. No drama…. ahhhhh wouldn’t that be nice. Just peace and quiet and no worries.

Earlier, a few posts back, I spoke about the possibility of having leukemia because of the symptoms that I had. I am elated to report that I do NOT have leukemia!!!

It is true. I have faith that God will not give you more than you can handle. And while I have learned that I am stronger than I originally thought, I know deep in my heart that having to deal with leukemia would have been too much for my father to handle. He lost his wife, his son, his sister in law… and he hasn’t seen or been able to speak to his grandsons in almost a year.  God would not do this to him.  Maybe to me, but certainly not to him.

The news came to me on Friday afternoon. That made the earlier part of the week pretty chaotic for me. While I was scared and worried about the unknown future, it did make me very very VERY grateful for my present. The number of notes and texts of encouragement were overwhelming. *I apologize for not being able to respond to each of them. My time on the internet and phone is becoming more and more limited. 

What I have noticed – extremely evident – this week was that with every compliment, every achievement, every well wish came a comment or hurtful action from a couple of people close to me. I was hurt, betrayed and blindsided. 

No good deed goes unpunished. But I’ll do it anyway.

My usual suspects that I’ve leaned on over the years are no longer close by and too far for me to cry on their shoulders. It sucks growing up let me tell you. Tired of crying and worrying all night every night, I’m glad I was smart and strong enough to put it all in God’s hands, finally.

On a lighter note….

Training seems to be taking shape. I completed the 60-mile McAllen Crime Stoppers ride this weekend. I was able to incorporate the speed intervals I missed out on Thursday in the first half of the ride. There is one road, Jarachinas Road, notorious for the rolling hills that most Valley cyclists are unprepared to conquer because of our vast flat lands, that I was looking forward to. The last two weeks I had prepped my legs for the big ring on this road. I did it. I did the whole stretch on the hardest gear. My legs burned like crazy but I had to prove to myself that I could do it. While I fell back in time and lost my place in the pack, my purpose for participating in this race was to have a safe ride on this road with a sag vehicle and water/safety stops and build up my legs for the upward climb at Viva Bike Vegas. 

After tearing my legs apart on that road, I took it down to a foundation pace and found company with the women of RGV cycling and Sebastian, the son of a phenomenal woman who encouraged me to continue running when I wanted to quit. during the ride, he bent over and grabbed a sunflower, stuck it in the back pocket of his jersey and rode up by me and said “Erica is watching over us.”

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Erica – the angel

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , on March 20, 2013 by runmyssierun

Erica - the angel883036_369893183123395_1505074654_o882238_370122699767110_983731253_o486070_140346669473877_1776229256_n480584_137169176458293_1050721445_n222749_126918577483353_148894964_n150410_355967014508206_2017422190_n149951_128552590653285_201367187_n67219_128410870667457_902049967_n

God Bless Erica, her family and friends. She will forever be in my heart.

I’m too emotional to write much more.

Tag Team – duathlon for Erica

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 2, 2013 by runmyssierun

Tag Team - duathlon for Erica

So it all started like this: Mario (a friend of mine for many many years and volunteer fire fighter for the City of Mission) climbs into his bunker fire fighter gear and runs 2.2 miles with the additional est. 100 lbs on top of him. Please understand that this is NOT Nike dri-fit technical tee material. This is some seriously HOT – STEAMING HOT – DANGEROUSLY HOT for your body temperature type of gear!!!

And he does it!!! He completes over two miles in his gear and tags me with my own “love” sign for my Momma.

I then grab my bike and sprint as fast as I can *against* the oncoming cyclists (because they are all ahead of me – I was the last bike out because of the time it took for Mario to run in his gear) and have to pedal harder faster to do the best I can to try to catch up to the rest of the crowd.

The cool brisk morning was welcoming for Mario in his gear but the wind cut into me like stabbing knives. My nose was running and I didn’t want to let go of the handle bars to wipe. I figured I was the only one left out there and no one would see anyway!!! (I know… nasty, but hey, ya gotta do what ya gotta do) I knew this path. It was 6.6 miles of bumpy chipped gravel road looping through the river town of Granjeno. I remember going smoothly over the first set of railroad tracks and then it was a blur… the second set of rail road tracks was when I cried out to myself… “DON’T YOU SLOW DOWN!!! Momma help me!”

It was just a couple of minutes after that when I felt the winds change and the smell of gas. “Big John” – Team McAllen’s cycling group’s favorite preacher and now my Saint – was right behind me on his motorcycle. As I reached a stop light (yes, I obey traffic laws), he yelled out to me “You’re going FAST!!!” and then never left me until I reached the transition point.

Thank goodness for my practice and advice from Coach Sandy Overly!!! I expected the transition line, looked for it and finally – as gracefully as I could – extended my right leg over the bike and ran myself in for the tag back to Mario.

And there he went – the heroic fireman off to extinguish cancer for Erica with yet another 2.2 mile run in full gear.

My legs were wobbly like jello. I had practiced transitions but not at this speed nor at this distance yet. I remember smiling and being pretty dang proud that I was a part of this amazing story.

After a brief rest, I was startled by my young rock star SEBASTIAN (I’m sure you’ll be hearing more about him later in my adventures) as he ran up to me and exclaimed “He’s coming! He’s coming! Mario is coming!” I sprang up from the sidewalk and ran over to him with tears rolling down my cheeks. “I’m so dang freakin proud of you!!!” I yelled out.

And we crossed the finish line together – for Erica.

I understand that Team Erica has raised over $30,000 this week. All proceeds are going directly to her. Unfortunately, I know all too well how much cancer costs a family. $30k will last one month.

There is so much need!!! I simply do not understand why our human race is so far behind on this disease.

Red Rover

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , on February 17, 2013 by runmyssierun

Red Rover

This last year, I’ve been told several times that I was an “athlete” and I cringe each time it is said. It makes me think back to a very vivid memory of mine while I was in second grade.

We were picking teams for Red Rover. I was one of the last two. Yep, you guessed it… I was the last picked because I was clearly the weakest link. I was the least athletic.

Last week, it all changed. A brave, courageous fireman chose me to be on his team for Erica. I can’t say for sure that I was the first one he thought of to do this with but it’s enough for me to be chosen.

I met Erica early last year. We were just starting our run journey together when she announced to our run group that she was diagnosed with cancer. She was one of our own. She was one of the Run, Walk or Crawl girls that had pushed me further than I ever thought I could go. She pushed me.

Now, I’m pushing her. NEVER EVER GIVE UP.
Read the photo attached here. You don’t have to be as crazy as Mario and I are but please, I beg you, do SOMETHING. Give if you can.

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