... Otherwise known as Tu-tu's for Ta-ta's*
*Disclaimer: I have always wanted to wear a Tu-tu in a race. Back in August when I first announced I would be running the Donna Half in honor of my Aunt Donna I had already decided this would be the perfect opportunity to run in a tu-tu; I mean hello, Breast Cancer Awareness = Pink = Tu-tu. (Or maybe that's just how I think?!?) Anyway, then Chic Runner became the Tu-tu Queen shortly thereafter and I was stuck with a dilemma; How could I run in a Tu-tu and not look like I was jacking her style or stealing her thunder? After debating the issue I finally IM'd her, gave her the low down and she laughed at me for even thinking twice about it. So like a pair of boobies ourselves, thus we became Tu-tu's for Ta-ta's.
First things first, you should know that Jill is a total firecracker and kept me constantly entertained with her Jersey antics. I am also excited to say I am FINALLY taller than someone! Yay! (So yes Jamoosh, it was a short convention) BUT, she totally has me beat in the boobage department. Go figure! She also schooled me in all things Jersey; Do you know what a "jug handle" is? Apparently you can't turn left in Jersey so they have "jug handles" aka exit ramps that are essentially shaped like a jug handle so that you exit right to loop around to get headed left. I also learned that in Jersey you do not pump your own gas and that people wear "floods." Who knew?
Race Weekend Recap - You can check out all the fun we had prior the race on Jill's recap HERE.
Race Eve - After enjoying a bit of fun in the sun on the beach we called it a day, had our pre-made pasta dinner, held a dress rehearsal, put finishing touches on our race duds (or destroyed them depending on which of us you talk to... Sorry about the socks Jill!) and into bed with a book and some trashy TV.
Sock cutting FAIL.
Race Morning/Pre-Race - I got a suprising amount of sleep and woke up ready to run. There is something to be said about racing for fun; there aren't the usual overwhelming race day nerves, you can just relax and enjoy the experience of the day as a whole without the added pressure.
It was a brisk 36* as we headed out to the runner transportation buses near our hotel, we arrived a minute or two before the bus arrived for pick up so there was minimal freezing. Then we arrived at the Runner's Village and man oh man was it COLD! We attempted to stay warm by moving around or huddling around the light generators and of course peeing 5 billion times. It must be noted that while we walked about the village our Tu-tu's were by far the best ones around, if I don't say so myself! Toot, toot! (Thanks again Brandi for hooking me up with how to make them!) As the sun began to rise we headed over to the start corral as quite the tu-tu duo and got lots of appreciative and humored calls of approval and requests for pics.
Start Corral - Corraled at the Start we were a small tu-tu'd pair amid a sea of pink; Breast Cancer Awareness supporters, survivors and patients were all around. Every race shirt had a story to tell; everyone there was running for some whether it was a mother, grandmother, wife, sister, aunt, cousin, friend, themselves or just to support the cause. It was humbling and inspiring to say the least.
As ya'll know Jill was running in honor of her Mom-Mom (Grandma, Survivor) and I was running in honor of my Aunt Donna (Survivor). My aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 1999, my senior year of high school, and bravely fought it until she was announced cured on May 9th, 2004. It was a long struggle, with a lot of ups and downs; she lost her hair, her breasts, at times her spirit but she never gave up and in the end she overcame it. She has been my hero and a constant source of inspiration, just remembering all of this, how she'd wear a bonnet to family functions during chemo, watching her joke about it with tears in her eyes, just makes it all so fresh in my mind...
Start to 5k - After crossing the confetti blasted start line we were quickly taught our first lesson on what happens when you do not read about the race course... we turned the corner and began running up an on-ramp onto the highway and then proceeded down said highway towards a HUGE bridge that went over a large expanse of grassy wetlands. I'm just going to go ahead and say it... FAIL. The incline was tough so I focused on keeping us on pace and taking in the beautiful sunrise and endless sea of runner's before us. I wish my pics of this had turned out because it was truly breathtaking. As we crested the top of the bridge we were greeted by the Bridge Brigade and our official spectator Christy! Yay! As you can see I was beyond ecstatic to see her! LOL!
Seriously what is up with this over the top cheese I'm rocking?!
After snapping a quick pic we jumped back in and headed down the decline and through mile 2. We had discussed our race strategy prior and had decided on attempting to run 5k to 5k before walking if at all possible. Jill was running injured and we didn't want to push it. As we got to Mile 3 there was nary a water stop in sight and we were heading down and around a pitched exit-ramp (Jug Handle!) that was very unforgiving if you have ITB issues. Did I mention we both have these? It was not a fun stretch and we were parched, having passed the previous water stops because they were so back logged with runners. Major FAIL as we did not come up on water until 4.3 M.
5k to 10k - When we finally reached the water stop we took a walk break and I pulled off to the side to rid myself of the knee highs I was rocking. It was just too hot. Jill went on ahead and after I was free of the socks I grabbed an extra water for her and jetted off to catch up. She was a very naughty girl and picked up the pace in my absence! I quickly slowed us back down to our intended pace and as we ran through a beach neighborhood we were greeted by loads of spectators cheering us on and saying thank you. The Thank You's we received throughout the entire race were overwhelming, I can't even begin to count how many people we passed that thanked us for being out there running. It was an awesome feeling.
As we came up on Mile 5 we took our first Gu and rounded a corner that revealed to us lesson number two about not looking over the race course... the next mile+ would be run on the beach! I have ran a race on a beach once, coincidentally this very same beach for a 10 mile race last January, but Jill has never. It was called the Memorial Mile and the beach was lined with large boards that had inspirational words on them that had been set up for people to sign at the expo. As we ran along I did my best to keep Jill running smoothly on the packed sand and read the words aloud to her (she called me inspector gadget eyes because I could see so far away) to keep her mind off the terrain and focused. The whole scene was so perfect and beautiful, the sun rising, the ocean roaring, the runners all around us, it was by far my favorite stretch of the race.

10k to 10 Miles - After the beach we looped on to Beach Boulevard and passed our hotel, tons more spectators, bands rocking out like they were super stars, etc. We chatted away and cheered on other runners around us. We stopped briefly so Jill could get the sand out of her shoe and that was about the time we started leap frogging a young boy who was running in honor of his mother who had lost her battle with breast cancer in 2007. It choked us up to no end to see him struggling along in the heat and it was all I could do not to hug him. I can't put it in to words just how many times we saw shirts/runners like this along the way, each time it broke your heart a little more. Shortly thereafter, around Mile 8ish we passed by a large group of "Wanda's Walkers" and a lady went completely crazy over our Tu-tu's and thanked us to no end for being out on the course. Like I said earlier, the Thank You's were overwhelming and got to you. I get choked up just recalling it.
We wrapped back thru the beach neighborhood and came up on Mile 9 where we began the dreaded "jug handle" back on to the highway. Jill was really struggling with her hip but still running pretty steady despite the pain so I decided to sing silly songs to take her mind off things. The next mile we sang each other as many random 80's television theme songs we could think up and I feel confident saying it really helped make that mile fly by... right up until we were on Mile 10, out of songs and back in no water stop land.
Mile 10 to 13.1 - Mile 10 was tough on both of us, between her hip and my ITB screaming at me we took quite a few walking breaks but kept moving. We got to see the elite marathoners run by which was uber exciting as I've never seen the elite's before and it gave us renewed energy to chug on. Mile 11 was a game of "just make it to *insert object in distance here*." I had my Peppy Pacer Pants on in full effect and did my best to keep our spirits up. With Mile 11 behind us we ran up the Bridge of Death and I reminded Jill that we would see Christy soon and thus Christy became our "prize" or when we could take our next break. Soon enough we saw that bright green wig and it was just what Jill needed to put a pep in her step, she charged the hill and up to Christy. She flipped her poster around to reveal a special message just for us: "Redhead & Jill Saving the Ta-Tas one step at a time!" And she drew us in our Tu-tu's! LMAO! So awesome! Thank you so much Christy for coming out and spectating! You and your sign totally made our day! Make sure you check out her whole spectating recap HERE. She began her day before the race started and cheered on runners until the very end!
After leaving Christy we only had 1.1 miles to go! We've got this! Jill asked me when I thought we'd finish and after checking Hermie (my Garmin) I told her if we could keep the pace we'd finish well under what she had estimated. So we trudged on and down around the exit ramp. We hit the last water stop before turning on to the final stretch and the Finish. As we crept up on Mile 13 Jill told me she was struggling and I told her no more Peppy Pacer Pants for me I was bringing out Drill Sergeant Morgan: "Put a smile on your face, give it all you've got and Finish strong nomatterwhat because we can't cross that Finish line in our Tu-tu's struggling!!! You can't have a bad day wearing a Tu-tu!!!" That was all she needed to hear and she picked up the pace for a strong finish!
Finish - Of all the places you'd expect a lackluster crowd it would not be the Finish line right? Well for whatever reason the finish line crowd as we came in were oddly quiet. No cheering or cowbells, nothing really. In fact we had to request some cheers as we ran in. So strange... Any way, after we crossed the Finish line I happily informed Jill we had finished in 2:33, 7 minutes faster than what her worst case scenario forecast had been! SUCCESS!!!
Post Race - We received our medals and clicked a few photos, HUGE THANK YOU goes out to the woman who offered to do this for us and then we hobbled off into the Finishers area. There were volunteers handing out ice packs and I immediately hit up the medic area to have them tape up my knee with some ice. My ITB was trashed and I wanted to get ice on it STAT. No messing around when you have a marathon to run in a week! (Don't worry, I am 100% A-ok) I was so thankful for the volunteers at the race, they were the best I've ever dealt with and the girl who wrapped me up was my angel. THANK YOU! After we got our official pics taken we headed over to the Runner's Village for some H20 & food! I left Jill so I could go grab our bag out of bag check and just happened to run into Tall Guy Surfing who was there spectating his girlfriend Jenny who had also run the half! She totally killed it out there! (Read his spectating recap HERE) I was majorly excited to run into some familiar faces!

After we had thoroughly stuffed ourselves with fruit, muffins, sugar cookies, etc... we made our way to the transportation area once again and headed back to the hotel. 13.1 Miles Run, Done and SO much fun! Tu-tu's for Ta-ta's was a raving success!!!
Read Jill's Recap HERE.
Post Race Thoughts - Running the Donna Half was by far the most inspirational and emotional races I have ever run. The cause surrounding it was so near and dear to my heart and the whole event from Start to Finish left you humbled. I don't know how anyone could run this race and not be moved. I am so glad I ran it for fun and had the opportunity to truly appreciate the entire effort put into it; from the signage (we're talking flags on light poles, spray painted logos on the highway, etc...) to the volunteers, spectators and the runners themselves. There was a constant reminder of why you were running and there's no way you could've finished not feeling like you helped the cause in some small way by being a part of it. Running this race was by far one of the most memorable things I have ever done in my life. We all have been touched by breast cancer in some way, whether directly or indirectly, so if you've never run a race for the cure or attended as a spectator/supporter I highly advise you do. 100% of race proceeds went towards breast cancer research and looking around at the start corral and out on the course you were constantly reminded that no matter how bad you felt and what you were struggling through it was all for a greater purpose.
5k to 10k - When we finally reached the water stop we took a walk break and I pulled off to the side to rid myself of the knee highs I was rocking. It was just too hot. Jill went on ahead and after I was free of the socks I grabbed an extra water for her and jetted off to catch up. She was a very naughty girl and picked up the pace in my absence! I quickly slowed us back down to our intended pace and as we ran through a beach neighborhood we were greeted by loads of spectators cheering us on and saying thank you. The Thank You's we received throughout the entire race were overwhelming, I can't even begin to count how many people we passed that thanked us for being out there running. It was an awesome feeling.
As we came up on Mile 5 we took our first Gu and rounded a corner that revealed to us lesson number two about not looking over the race course... the next mile+ would be run on the beach! I have ran a race on a beach once, coincidentally this very same beach for a 10 mile race last January, but Jill has never. It was called the Memorial Mile and the beach was lined with large boards that had inspirational words on them that had been set up for people to sign at the expo. As we ran along I did my best to keep Jill running smoothly on the packed sand and read the words aloud to her (she called me inspector gadget eyes because I could see so far away) to keep her mind off the terrain and focused. The whole scene was so perfect and beautiful, the sun rising, the ocean roaring, the runners all around us, it was by far my favorite stretch of the race.
10k to 10 Miles - After the beach we looped on to Beach Boulevard and passed our hotel, tons more spectators, bands rocking out like they were super stars, etc. We chatted away and cheered on other runners around us. We stopped briefly so Jill could get the sand out of her shoe and that was about the time we started leap frogging a young boy who was running in honor of his mother who had lost her battle with breast cancer in 2007. It choked us up to no end to see him struggling along in the heat and it was all I could do not to hug him. I can't put it in to words just how many times we saw shirts/runners like this along the way, each time it broke your heart a little more. Shortly thereafter, around Mile 8ish we passed by a large group of "Wanda's Walkers" and a lady went completely crazy over our Tu-tu's and thanked us to no end for being out on the course. Like I said earlier, the Thank You's were overwhelming and got to you. I get choked up just recalling it.
We wrapped back thru the beach neighborhood and came up on Mile 9 where we began the dreaded "jug handle" back on to the highway. Jill was really struggling with her hip but still running pretty steady despite the pain so I decided to sing silly songs to take her mind off things. The next mile we sang each other as many random 80's television theme songs we could think up and I feel confident saying it really helped make that mile fly by... right up until we were on Mile 10, out of songs and back in no water stop land.
Mile 10 to 13.1 - Mile 10 was tough on both of us, between her hip and my ITB screaming at me we took quite a few walking breaks but kept moving. We got to see the elite marathoners run by which was uber exciting as I've never seen the elite's before and it gave us renewed energy to chug on. Mile 11 was a game of "just make it to *insert object in distance here*." I had my Peppy Pacer Pants on in full effect and did my best to keep our spirits up. With Mile 11 behind us we ran up the Bridge of Death and I reminded Jill that we would see Christy soon and thus Christy became our "prize" or when we could take our next break. Soon enough we saw that bright green wig and it was just what Jill needed to put a pep in her step, she charged the hill and up to Christy. She flipped her poster around to reveal a special message just for us: "Redhead & Jill Saving the Ta-Tas one step at a time!" And she drew us in our Tu-tu's! LMAO! So awesome! Thank you so much Christy for coming out and spectating! You and your sign totally made our day! Make sure you check out her whole spectating recap HERE. She began her day before the race started and cheered on runners until the very end!
After leaving Christy we only had 1.1 miles to go! We've got this! Jill asked me when I thought we'd finish and after checking Hermie (my Garmin) I told her if we could keep the pace we'd finish well under what she had estimated. So we trudged on and down around the exit ramp. We hit the last water stop before turning on to the final stretch and the Finish. As we crept up on Mile 13 Jill told me she was struggling and I told her no more Peppy Pacer Pants for me I was bringing out Drill Sergeant Morgan: "Put a smile on your face, give it all you've got and Finish strong nomatterwhat because we can't cross that Finish line in our Tu-tu's struggling!!! You can't have a bad day wearing a Tu-tu!!!" That was all she needed to hear and she picked up the pace for a strong finish!
Finish - Of all the places you'd expect a lackluster crowd it would not be the Finish line right? Well for whatever reason the finish line crowd as we came in were oddly quiet. No cheering or cowbells, nothing really. In fact we had to request some cheers as we ran in. So strange... Any way, after we crossed the Finish line I happily informed Jill we had finished in 2:33, 7 minutes faster than what her worst case scenario forecast had been! SUCCESS!!!
Post Race - We received our medals and clicked a few photos, HUGE THANK YOU goes out to the woman who offered to do this for us and then we hobbled off into the Finishers area. There were volunteers handing out ice packs and I immediately hit up the medic area to have them tape up my knee with some ice. My ITB was trashed and I wanted to get ice on it STAT. No messing around when you have a marathon to run in a week! (Don't worry, I am 100% A-ok) I was so thankful for the volunteers at the race, they were the best I've ever dealt with and the girl who wrapped me up was my angel. THANK YOU! After we got our official pics taken we headed over to the Runner's Village for some H20 & food! I left Jill so I could go grab our bag out of bag check and just happened to run into Tall Guy Surfing who was there spectating his girlfriend Jenny who had also run the half! She totally killed it out there! (Read his spectating recap HERE) I was majorly excited to run into some familiar faces!
After we had thoroughly stuffed ourselves with fruit, muffins, sugar cookies, etc... we made our way to the transportation area once again and headed back to the hotel. 13.1 Miles Run, Done and SO much fun! Tu-tu's for Ta-ta's was a raving success!!!
Read Jill's Recap HERE.
Post Race Thoughts - Running the Donna Half was by far the most inspirational and emotional races I have ever run. The cause surrounding it was so near and dear to my heart and the whole event from Start to Finish left you humbled. I don't know how anyone could run this race and not be moved. I am so glad I ran it for fun and had the opportunity to truly appreciate the entire effort put into it; from the signage (we're talking flags on light poles, spray painted logos on the highway, etc...) to the volunteers, spectators and the runners themselves. There was a constant reminder of why you were running and there's no way you could've finished not feeling like you helped the cause in some small way by being a part of it. Running this race was by far one of the most memorable things I have ever done in my life. We all have been touched by breast cancer in some way, whether directly or indirectly, so if you've never run a race for the cure or attended as a spectator/supporter I highly advise you do. 100% of race proceeds went towards breast cancer research and looking around at the start corral and out on the course you were constantly reminded that no matter how bad you felt and what you were struggling through it was all for a greater purpose.
Thank you for being my inspiration, for helping me always find my strength and for fighting breast cancer and being a SURVIVOR! This one is for you Aunt Donna! ♥
46 comments:
looove it!!! isnt running a face for fun SO MUCH FUN!?!? you guys were adorable and so happy you had such a great time out there for an amazing cause <3
I LOVE IT! Craziest thing is I JUST made a pink, blue, and black tutu for Disney next weekend! Great minds think alike, haha! Congrats ladies, what a fun time you had!
I love this report! Your comments about your aunt and the spirit of the race gave me chills. And the tu-tu pictures (especially the beach shots) made me smile.
What a great cause! and how much fun :)
PS. Thanks for your comments :)
Sounds like an amazing race! And I love that you got to run on the beach-totally FL :)
wow this just sounds like so much fun! I am glad you were able to enjoy this as umm taper? for Gaspirilla :)
Love the tutu's for tata's
nice work gals! i think i might run that next year based on your great recap! kill gaspirilla!
What an awesome experience. It sounds like you had a wonderful time and you looked amazing in your tutus!
I LOVED the tu-tu's for ta-ta's! You guys are sooo cute together! Reading your recap gave me goosebumps - what you participated in is just awesome.
So, how's the IT band - you gonna be cool for Sunday?
I loved reading this- really cool to see it from both perspectives!
You know I had a super fun time and it was a non-stop blast! Thanks for it all...Love you!
Go rock Gasp!
Ps- so glad you mentioned the little boy (I am still thinking about him) and Wanda's Walkers..they were hysterical!
I agree too that Mile 9-10 was the worst but I am super glad I had you by my side :)
Jersey antics...me???
Congrats on the great race! Makes me even more excited for this weekend's marathon!
totally awesome report! and what an amazing race..i am so proud of you for running for a cause and just having fun! We totally have to run a race togeher if we are ever near eachother b/c i want to hear those theme songs! Oh and yeah jug handles are totally weird and they threw me off for the first 2 years living in NJ! the not pumping my own gas is really nice though :) Good job on the race!
Ya'll look adorable, and now I'm convinced I MUST run in a tutu sometime:)
Awesome job to you both!! I love the signs too! You guys looked great with you tu tus
Such a great recap. It made me a little teary just reading. Sounds like a great event. And you looked too cute in the tutus! :)
Awesome recap. It sounds like you had a wonderful race. I got all choked up reading about it!
I'm so sorry that you didn't know all that stuff about my home state! If I had known, I would have filled you in much sooner!
You girls are adorable!!! What a great race recap & a job well done! :) Love all the pics too!
I love your race recap!!! My aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer and is a survivor too! What a great cause! You two looked fantastic too :-)
great report with great pictures! Looks like a great time. I bet you were a hit
Awesome recap! My husband's aunt lost her battle with breast cancer last spring, and soon we hope to run a race for her.
Great job on the race, it's so great to hear that you had a wonderful time. I need to find a race to just do for fun, I'm too competitive sometimes!
Jersey....gotta love it!
It looks like you had the most amazing time!
I LOVE the tutu's! THEY ARE AWESOME! Great recap, I love that you were both running for survivors :) There are more survivors all the time because of people like you!
Great race recap. It sounds like such an inspirational environment. Hopefully they will be one step closer to finding a cure thanks to runners like you! I'm dedicating my first half to my sister-in-law.. another SURVIVOR!!!
Thanks for painting such a great picture of race day!
Ok no telling anyone, but I definitely dropped a tear reading your recap. An amazing read and because of this incredible post, I plan to add a "race for the cure" at some point in my running future. Well once I can get past 5k without dying =P
Amazing!!!
A great run for a great reason. You tell it like on one else can. I love the tu-tus for ta-tas!
I have never had a serious run on the beach. I think that would be hard!
OK I even got choked up on that one and you had already told me the whole story! And I'm at work! Man! Can't wait to see you finish this weekend!
What a fun and inspirational race! I'll say it again you both are adorable. Sorry to hear the IT was talkative. I hope it keeps it's mouth shut throughout your marathon!
what fun times. i love the tu-tu's! i think that dude was also there to cheer for you, his shirt says jenny after all. glad the race went well, you didn't kill jill, and your itb is still holding on for this weekend.
Great recap and it sounds like you had a blast! So awesome that you ran in honor of your aunt.
Good luck this weekend and can't wait to ready the race recap next week.
Awesome post girl! I would have totally been crying throughout the race! Amazing how much a race like that can really touch you. Take care of yourself and don't worry, you will rock the marathon this weekend!
Wow what a great and meaningful race. I love the tutus.
This is truly one of the best race reports EVER! I am so pumped and inspired just reading this.... running for a cause, a personal hero, wearing tu-tu's! Just magnificent!
Sounds like you were an awesome pacer and cheerleader (then drill sargeant)!
Way to go, girls!
(Will Aunt Donna get to read this?)
great race report! you look smoken hot in a tu-tu!
GREAT race report! So insprirational. What did Aunt Donna have to say?
That was a fab race report! Great job with pacing. I looked back at your action shot of Jill several times. It would probably look really cool in black and white. That is an excellent photo.
Awesome recap! It was great running into you. I was getting worried toward the end I wasn't going to find you. I even almost approached a redheaded girl that was all dressed up thinking it was you. It wasn't until I got close that I realized it wasn't, but when I did see you walking over to the bag pick up I was sure it was you! Loved the tu tu!
Nice recap and a great day for sure. My first marathon I was wiped out at the end. A guy in front of me is wearing a ballerina outfit complete with a pink tutu. I think in my addled state: all I have to do is beat the guy in the tutu and I am home. Stay on the tutu's tail. Flash forward: he ran away from me. i got beat by the guy in the tutu. Good luck, and I hope you as great a day this weekend.
A jug handle totally sounds like a drink you’d order at a dive bar…. “yeah, I’ll take 2 PBRs and 2 jug handles on the rocks please… yes, clean glas…yeah..thanks.” I have a buddy I used to work with who was STRAIGHT out of MTV real world NJ. He and his buddies even rented a house on the jersey shore over the summers. Annnnd, then he got fired for forwarding inappropriate emails to the client. Good times.
LOL, so the one time you don’t look at the race course they throw a little beach running at you. I remember that the biggest loser did that one of the first times they had their people run a marathon. They finished on the beach – but in the SOFT sand! FAIL indeed.
Dude… My dad would say “that tall guy surfing sure is a tall drink of water”
Awesome race. Hopefully more people can put survivor next to their names because you ran.
See, look at that – not one bad comment about boobs. Score one for Adam.
You guys are a hoot! Sounds like you had a blast! I'm so cheering you on from my computer chair this weekend! Good luck!
what a great cause. i bet it was emotional, i got emotional just reading this. you guys look really cute, i'm glad you had a great time.
Y'all are just too adorable; love all the pink! So glad you had a good time - and for such a great cause! Good luck tomorrow!!! You are going to ROCK it!!
Great race, great cause, and you both look ADORABLE! Aunt Donna should be so proud.
Love the tu-tus! I love this race recap. What an inspiring and wonderful race. I love races where you have that added inspiration--like "what am I complaining about?" type things. Really helps to keep you (well, at least me!) going. Love all the pink. I'm sure your Aunt is so proud and so happy!
love the tutus.
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