Best Rush After A Speech and Best Packaging of The Year 2009 #best09

December 14 Rush. When did you get your best rush of the year?

I stood up in front of my running group this past summer to do a short, ten minute seminar on visualization during the marathon. The speech went enormously well, and due to the nature of the speech itself demanding 100% of the listeners attention, it was an amazing experience. During the talk, I had everyone take and easy seat and move up close to the stage. I spoke in a hushed, subdued tone and asked them to close their eyes and visualize the feel of the race that was ahead of them. I could feel the energy of fifty people focusing on one thing buzzing around me. I finished my speech and looked out at the crowd sitting just a few feet from me. Everyone was quiet and for an intstant all I could hear was breathing. They were all still basking in the imaginary finish of their marathon. It was a beautiful moment with me being the one of the only people with their eyes open and I could see it in each of their face. I could see the joy and accomplishment in each of their faces as they sat there for that brief moment and watched themselves accomplish a huge goal like the marathon. A rush of pure, sweet, albeit breif happiness and satisfaction washed over me and I exhaled. It was amazing. Then they opened their eyes.

December 15 Best packaging. Did your headphones come in a sweet case? See a bottle of tea in another country that stood off the shelves?

I loved the packaging that my partner's mom used to give us her currently-not-being used margarita glasses, red wine glasses and white wine glasses. Each glass stood up on its own and was protected by foam walls. They are great glasses, too! Great packaging.

Current book I'm reading: "Reading Like A Writer" By Francine Prose

One Mile at a Time

Finish Line
Originally uploaded by andrew_mo.

I just finished reading a blog-post from Austin's own Kristin Armstrong and she was talking about dividing long miles into "chunks" in order to get through them. I have done this many times before, and I like Kristin's term, calling it affectionately "chunky monkey" (not the ice cream).

On my last run before the marathon yesterday, I started thinking about the chunks that I will divide my race into on Sunday.

My friend who I coach, Joe, told me that he was going to dedicate every mile of his race to someone special in his life. I started doing that myself, in my head, on my last run before the marathon.

I thought I would write it out and maybe attach the list to the back of my bib number. I thought that I might attach meaning to each of the miles and choose the person I will dedicate that mile to based on those special meanings.

So here is my list:

Mile 1: My Grandma Betty because if she was still here with us today she would march up Congress Avenue a la Ann Richards and she would probably do the Congress Avenue Mile with me. Maybe I'll run it for her next year.
Mile 2: My best friend in Texas, Stephanie, because that is the longest distance I have got her to run with me.
Mile 3: My brother, Leland because that is our favorite distance that we ran together back in cross country at Standley Lake High School.
Mile 4: Dedicated to my running buddy Jennifer Root, because that was the distance of the first run she ever did with me on Shoal Creek before I convinced her to do her first marathon which she will complete on Sunday with me!
Mile 5: Dedicated to Lovey, who is a not a person, she is actually dog who loves to run the Turkey Trot 5 Miler with her co-owner, Liz.
Mile 6: Dedicated to my buddy Liz aka CODY Molleur, because I helped her train and PR in the 10K distance (6.2 mi) and that was what got her into marathoning.
Mile 7: Dedicated to my running buddy Rob Hill, because at this point in the SA Marathon he'll be more than 1/2 way through his SA 1/2 marathon and if he could see me then, at mile 7, he would make fun of me that I have more than 1/2 to go because he's mean like that.
Mile 8: Dedicated to my friend back in elementary school, Lisa H. That was our favorite number and we'd always bike in figure 8s on our street.
Mile 9: Dedicated to my sister, Mackenzie.
Mile 10: Dedicated to Grandpa John who thinks that 10 is long enough and a marathon is only for "dynamos"
Mile 11: Dedicated to Carmelo, my running buddy who always likes to push 11 milers and pretend they are 9 milers.
Mile 12: Dedicated to my aunt Jennifer and uncle Steve who know my strength better than I do sometimes.
Mile 13: For my "fastest girls" Jennifer Pool and Jodi Lisa, who have rocked out many a half marathon distance with me. Most memorably, of course, for all of us, was Dallas Whiterock 1/2 Marathon last December 2007.
Mile 14: For my best friend in New York, Carrie L. Adams.
Mile 15: Dedicated to my cousin Maria who thinks I should go pro! HA!
Mile 16: Dedicated to Liz who helped me through that mile in my last marathon. She also did a water stop for me at this point in my run last January.
Mile 17: Dedicated to Corrie, because I love her and it was at this mile mark that I saw her for the first time in my last marathon. She was holding a sign that read "NOTHING RUNS LIKE A MERCEDES" and she pushed the wall back with that sign and her cheers.
Mile 18: Dedicated to Joe, who bonked on his first 18 miler but subsequently rocked his 22 miler fully and completely solely due to my pasta making skills. I know he can do it!
Mile 19: Dedicated to my ex-boyfriend and his now wife. His wife once told me that she would "clench her fists for me" while I was running my first marathon. To him because when I saw him on during this point of my first marathon, I was so empowered to run away from him that I sped up on my last 6.2 miles, making a powerful negative split.
Mile 20: To my friend Jeff D who has bandit ran the NY marathon and told me to be careful for the wall at 20. He is still running, though sidelined by injury right now, he still understands the meaning of the phrase "there is no wall!"
Mile 21: To my old running buddy who recently got married I think, her name was Becca Green. We held hands with each other while crossing the mile 21 mark which we thought was the 20 mark. At mile 21, I felt like I had more in me and I could go faster. So I told her that, and she said for me to leave her. So I left her. The last thing she said to me was "Go, Mercedes, go qualify for Boston!"
Mile 22: To my dad who always seems to say the most annoying things to me at this point of each of the marathons I've ran. It gives me something else to think about than the pain. To my mom, too
Mile 23: To my all-star super-star supporter, Ava Thomas, who told me "we'll see you at the finish line" at mile 23 of my last marathon. She ran down Red River with me, holding my hand.
Mile 24: To my Grandma Irene, who gives me wings. I know she's there watching me run every time I hear a bell ring. I might bring a bell with me to San Antonio and have my mom ring it. (NOTE: it will not be a cowbell, it has to be a twinkly fairy or angel sounding bell)
Mile 25: For Becky and Andre, because they rock and they know I rock, too. And if Andre were with me at 25 he would push me harder than I knew I could go...then he would duke it out with me to the finish.
Mile 26: For Robert, because we both think the MARATON is funny because it doesn't have an H and it's shorter.
Mile .2: For my best friend Janet K, because she understands that .2 is a long way to run and the last steps are just as important as the first steps.

Do it. It will be amazing.

This postsecret.com post secret is so right. I wish that I would "do it" every single day of my life. Every day there is a little sign, a tiny push, a miniscule drive to move forward with life and go for your dreams and we all need to learn to listen to that voice every single time that it speaks. The two marathons that I have ran have helped me start to listen to it.



www.postsecret.com



2008 AT&T Austin Marathon. Me with my mom and dad.


And it really will be amazing. Believe me.

Current book I'm reading: Marianne Williamson

The Marathon is Here. Sunday, February 17, 2008

Mercedes after Austin ATT 2007

The big day that I have been training for over the past year is here. I am not at 100%, but I am still going for that BOSTON QUALIFIER. Not only that, I'm going for an amazing experience, that only a fellow marathoner can really understand. Interested in understanding? Contact me and I'll show you how.

Inspiration for the marathon...wow, click me, click me!


And another thing, I'm going to rock. Here is what will drive me to the finish line. The number one thing would be love, then, each of these affirmations...

Positive Affirmations of Mercedes Orten, marathoner, future Boston Qualifier

I am capable of anything.

My friends and family will love me, support me, and cheer me on no matter what.

I will cheer me on no matter what.

I am fast.

I am strong.

I will endure, I am an endurance athlete.

*I am a runner. I am a marathoner*

I will make it to the finish line and be proud no matter what my finishing time.

I will take my body to this finish line and many more finish lines after this!

I am my own hero and I've seen her in the mirror for the past 24, going on 25 years. I will see her again on Sunday morning, and she will achieve.





Current book I'm reading: The book inside my mind as it goes over 26.2 miles.

Dreaming of the day...

I wish I could be running here right now. Such a sweet stock photograph.

I am currently dreaming of the day that I can be a professional runner like Liz Yelling. Liz Yelling's advice.


She was a teacher and then she went pro a few years ago. Can this be me? Am I good enough? As I ran through the hills of Balcones last night, I felt like maybe, just maybe, I am. Only time will tell.


Current book I'm reading: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers AND On the Road by Jack Kerouac

I did it! I am a marathoner.

26.2 miles are mine.

Photos to come!! I am told by my support group that many were taken. I have yet to see them but I am excited to see them!!


Before the marathon with my mom.


During the marathon. This is at mile 23. Look at those legs.


After the marathon with my mom. See that sweet looking silver blanket? Sweet, isn't it? Yes, I felt really damn amazing.


I know that I could not have made it without their support at 4 different locations throughout the marathon! And they had fig newtons!!! Yummy!


I couldn't ask for better parents. They rock. My dad thought mid-race to rent bikes and ride along with me from mile 23-26.2. Needless to say that really helped.

Do a marathon, it will change your life.

Current book I'm reading: The one I'm writing.

carboload - carboload - carboload

Only six days left until the big day, the ATT Austin Marathon. The day that has been stuck in my head for 25 weeks, February 18, 2007. This is a day that I will probably always remember. My first marathon. My first marathon experience.

On Thursday, August 17, 2006, shortly after I began working at the Statesman, I read an article in the paper about how the previous Freescale marathon was changing sponsors. ATT was going to take over the main sponsorship, and the race course might change. I was excited about the 10,000 entrants, which made this marathon the 15th most popoular in the nation. A website for the marathon was tacked on to the end of the short, seemingly inconsequential article. It was certainly the tiny push that I needed to check out the lore around marathon training and running. I began my search that day for a marathon training group. I had decided by the end of that day, August 17, 2006, that I would be training for 25 weeks with AustinFit marathon training group for the marathon that is coming up, now only 6 days away.

That decisive, self-assured move that I made that day, to sign up to run, to join AustinFit, has since changed my life in a huge way. Running long distances like I had never ran before has changed my perspective on my body. I realize now that the human body is capable of so much more than we know. I realize now that the human spirit and mind, specifically my human spirit and mind, is stronger than I ever realized. This realization, which I came upon after a recovering from injury mid-season and after a 22 mile training run just two weeks ago will culminate and consume my mind and body at the end of the race on February 18, 2007. This weekend.

Someone close to me said to me the other day that he "hadn't even seen how strong I was yet" within the duration of our relationship. He then added that on race day, when I complete my 26.2 miles, he was sure that he would see how strong I was. I never thought of it that way, though. I never thought of completing the marathon to show other people how strong I was. I always framed it in terms of proving my strength to myself. And that I will.


See those legs? They will carry me.

Current book I'm reading: The one I'm writing about my life as a runner.
Current song stuck in my head: Peter Gabriel's "Games without Frontiers"

21 days to go and counting...

Twenty one days until the marathon on February 18, 2007!

And I ran 22 miles this weekend with the help of my running group, AustinFit. I love Austin because by the end of the 3hours and 58 minutes of running 22 miles, the sun was shining warm and my body was humming. There is no place I would rather be right now. After running, I protein-loaded with my running group at Freebirds Burritos and then I took a nice, freezing cold healing dip in Barton Springs Pool. There was no one at the pool, and it was 70 degrees outside!

So, today, with 21 days until the marathon, I have begun thinking about my next endeavor. This one is going to take a lot more dedication and a lot more work. Just as I've always wanted to do a marathon, I've also always wanted to do a triathalon.

My friend at work suggested and prodded me just a teeny tiny bit and wants me to try to compete in this one: http://www.captextri.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11&Itemid=12

So, I'm thinking about it. I'd have to buy a nice bike though, and those are like thousands of dollars and I don't know a thing about them! So this will take quite a bit more thought than the marathon goal. As far as that one goes, after 22 miles, I feel like I'm almost there. In fact, I'm only 3.2 miles and 21 days away from there!

Current book I'm reading: Allen Ginsberg's Journals