Shattered

I know its Sunday.
I don't usually run on Sundays since it's Farmers Market day.
But for some reason- today I decided otherwise.
Running was on my mind, and Griffith Park was my destination.
I brought my phone to snap some pictures in order to post them on the blog and I got a few good ones.


The pictures do not portray the real beauty that is Griffith Park. Today was a perfectly clear day. All of Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and the beach was seen! My favorite part of the entire hike, though, is right at the entrance. In the middle of nowhere, trees surrounded, bushes and rocks galore, hangs a single piece of wood with two long ropes that makes up swing. You bet I swung, and high I was.
They are not the best pictures, but they capture the reason why I truly enjoy this hike.
The BEST picture, though, was captured at the very end of my hike.

Yes.
It's what you are thinking.
My car got broken into.
I can't really explain my initial reaction. Shock I guess. I had my phone but I had no reception and by that time the battery was kaput. Luckily one of the men that hikes Griffith every weekend was there at the time and offered his phone for me to use. Him and another man stayed with me the whole time till the park rangers came. When the hour passed and they finally came, the first man told me "I don't have much money, but I want to help you, I have forty dollars I can give you toward all the expenses you'll have". WOW. When I'm thinking of all the terrible people in the world, here's a man that has barely anything and what he does have tries to give it away. NO I didn't accept it, but he truly made me grateful; grateful for people like him, grateful that my purse was the only thing stolen, grateful for the important things in my life not just the materialistic things. The second man stayed a bit longer and ensured that everything was OK. Although we were there because of an awful situation, we were truly enjoying the moment. As weird as it sounds, because of this situation, I gained a friend. Corny. Gosh I know. But I believe things happen for a reason.

Was I going to let this event ruin my day. I say heck no. Why should I? Yes my purse is stolen along with (later finding out) all my money in my account, my window needs replacement, no visit to the farmers market, and no garden watering... but I did have an amazing run, added a few great people to my friends list, and of course the sun is shinning- can't ruin a day when its such a beautiful day.
Right?
Well. Here is what was running through my head as everything was happening. It happened. I can't change what happened. I can't make my stuff re-appear. Why am I going to be mad about something I can't help or change. It's not worth my time or effort.
In the midst of a busy day I received a message from my dad.
"Greatness is not where we stand, but what direction we are moving. We must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it but sail we must, and not drift, nor lie at anchor"
Oliver Wendell Holmes

and sailing I am.


Till next time,
Peace, love and happiness.

My pet owl

What a wonderful dream.
After watching the ending of the royal wedding I went back to bed and boy did I fall into a deep slumber.
I had this dream.
A nice dream.
I had a pet owl. He was a nice owl; soft, gently, well mannered.
Well as I was turning over to continue this lovely dream I felt eyes staring.
Does that ever happen to you? Waking up because you feel as though someone is watching you? There was, in fact, someone watching me and its not what you think.
It was my new roommate. Our conversation consisted of this;
Lecia: "Are you awake?"
Me: "I am now"
Lecia: "I couldn't go back to sleep"
Me: "dang. That sucks"
Lecia: "What time are you going running?"
Me: "I can go now if you wanna come"
Lecia: "ok"

Easy as that.
Usually I am the one waking up at dawn seeing if anyone is awake. It's nice that the role has been reversed.

This morning was nice. Did a quick run with the roommate at Runyon before she had to go to work, then continued my run up Griffith.
Gorgeous day today!
Perfect day to garden!


What I have so far.
Acorn Squash
Pumpkin
Spaghetti Squash
Zucchini
Watermelon
Purple Basil
Cilantro
Italian basil
Heirloom lemon cucumber
Heirloom green cucumber
Romaine lettuce
Kale
Red beets
Broccoli
Snap Peas
Carrots
Chard
Heirloom tomatoes


I am looking forward to summer days- movies in the Hollywood cemetery with the roommates- having our own little picnic with the meal consisting of everything from my garden!

Till next time,
Peace, love and happiness.


Special thanks to Taylor Gomez and TNT's triathlete Nikki Duke for their heart warming donations to the Leukemia Lymphoma Society.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Stronger today

Some advice.
Never eat medjool dates and pumpkin seeds before you go to bed. They will give you BAD dreams.
I woke up quite upset and not just mentally exhausted but physically. I had to get up and get going.

As I was driving up to Runyon Canyon, I was playing my dreams like re-runs and it was not my favorite ones. I knew that there was only one thing that would let me forget about this epidsode.
Running.
And its assistant- music.

My playlist today.
Sigur Ros- Staralfur
The Wallflowers- One Headlight
The XX- Shelter
Sigur Ros- Inni mer syngur vitleysingur
Iron & Wine- Boy with a coin
+/- - Snowblind
One Republic- Good life
Florence + The Machine- You've got the love(The XX Remix)
Miike Snow- Animal
Animal Collective- Did you see the words
Lykke Li- Dance, Dance, Dance
Jacks Mannequin- Swim
The Arcade Fire- No cars go
Letters to Cleo- I want you to want me
Queen- Bohemian Rhapsody

I would say it's an eclectic mix but it works for me.

At one point I decided to jog down the largest trail, once you start, you can't really stop. It's a thing called gravity. It reminded me of when my dad and I hiked all the time.
A part of me was really sad that I've been solo for the past year but patience is a virtue- it'll happen.




Well to say the least. This morning wasnt the brightest. I was almost complete with my hike and ofcourse was NOT looking forward to jogging allllll the way back up to my car. On my way up- I set my mind to accomplish at least half, that was before I saw a friend and, well- you know, that motivated me a bit more. Just a bit.
Ok.
When I had enough.
When I thought I used all my energy for the day.
This guy turns the corner.

No. It's not the man of my dreams (although that would be nice).
Its a guy wearing a STRONGER TODAY tee shirt.
How could I stop? If that's not a push to keep going- I don't know what is.
Not only did I make it to my goal, but surpassed it and kept going.

Wow. All before 8:30am.
Not too shabby.

Till next time,
Peace, love and happiness.



*** Special thanks to: Aurora James, Anita Vuogn, Chaya Lipschutz, Mark Davidson, My Grandfather Eli Rubenstein, and my father Hector Guadarrama for their heart warming donations to the Leukemia Lymphoma Society!

To visit my fundraising page...
http://pages.teamintraining.org/los/nikesf11/sguadarram

An Introduction

I feel an introduction is only necessary.

Hi.
My name is Suzanna Guadarrama- but please call my Sawna. I'm a firm hand shaker so please don't be frightened. Born and raised in Los Angeles, currently living in Hollywood. It's not so bad. There are some people that have a misperception of Los Angeles and to be honest I was one of them. Lately I have grown to love it here. I know what I'm saying may sounds a bit off but its true. The past few weeks have been quite an eye opener for me and it has truly made my love for my home much greater. I live running distance from Griffith Park, five minute drive to Runyon Canyon, my garden plot is less than a mile away, my family is only a thirty minute drive, the weather is- you know- its ok, there is a farmers market every day of the week and I'm surrounded by great friends and co-workers. What more could a girl ask for? Actually, there is quite a few things- but that's a whole other topic.

The purpose of this blog is to keep everyone informed. Not just of the progress I make in my training, but of my what's going on in my life so you could fully understand what makes me, well, ME.

Whats going on right now?
Well, for starters, I signed up for a marathon. But you already knew that.
I heard that if you do something for 20 or so days straight- it becomes a habit. Is that true? Well I'm going to roll with it. I've been vegan for over three years now and the past few months I wasn't really proud of the way I was eating. I know, I know, what I consider junk food is not really junk food but I prefer not to put so much processed foods into my system and lately, I feel, that's what I have been doing. And boy was I feeling it. On the 11th I started eating rawvegan. Well that's 15 days of eating purely raw foods as well as exercising and boy oh boy do I feel great. I have another 6 days to go before I reach my goal and I am continuously asking myself... will I stick with it? I honestly couldn't tell you.
What I can tell you is that I'll continue my exercise routine for a while. I've been hiking/running/jogging (call it what you want) both Runyon and Griffith everyday and it's quite the habit. I enjoy both for different reasons. Runyon is a bit more intense and social with its many paths to choose from. Griffith gives you trails and you make the most of it- the sounds of nature and pure visions of beauty makes your ipod look boring. Today, a little old lady stopped me as I was running down Griffith and said she saw me run up Runyon Canyon yesterday and said I was crazy running up that. Well her exact words were “I see you run up Runyon yesterday- now Griffith?!? You crazy- You run a lot!”

Maybe I am crazy.
You'll surely find out the truth.


Till next time,
Peace love and happiness.

This is only the beginning

Six years ago my dad trained to cycle the perimeter of Lake Tahoe as a member of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. At that time, I could not fathom why he was raising money to ride around a lake when he could just pay the initial fee and bam! That would be it. That's before I realized what Team in Training strives for. The members are raising funds to help stop Leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin Lymphoma and Myeloma from taking more lives. My father was completing the event in honor of all the individuals who where and are still battling blood cancers. Little did we know, 5 years after the completion of his event, my father would be diagnosed with Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) which is a group of diseases that affect the bone marrow and blood.



The past year not only was he diagnosed but treated and is now free of the disease. I write as though it was a piece of cake but the days were not so sweet. The weekly Blood, platelet transfusions, chemo therapy, hospital visits, and eventually bone marrow transplant all come at a price and you bet that price is real high. Luckily my father was covered and was able to get the treatment that he very much needed.



So here I am. Memories remind me everyday of the events that have occurred this past year. Sometimes I lose sight of whats truly important, from just going by my day to day activities, and then I visit my parents and it reminds me that there are things that could be done that could improve someones health, like my dads, by just taking some time out and being active. What to do? You ask. Well donating blood/platelets was one thing. For the past few months I have been donating platelets every two to three weeks. I've donated blood before and wanted to take it one step further by donating platelets. By donating that hour to 2 hours of your time, you are not just donating extra time to ones life, by you are providing an invaluable gift to their life. The next step I took to be active, was to join the Be The Match Registry with the City of Hope Hospital to hopefully, one day, accomplish what my fathers donor set out to do- and save a life.



So whats next? What do I do now?



That's what I've be continuously asking myself these past few weeks. That's when I received the email. A few months ago, while my father was still in the hospital, I signed up for informational newsletters from Team In Training and here it was, an invitation to an informative soiree for an upcoming training event and it's being held walking distance from my home. Need I say more?



I couldn't sign up fast enough. On October 16th, 2011, I will be running the Nike Womens Marathon. Yes. That's what I said. MARATHON. This is big- no, a HUGE- step for me. This adventure is not my usual pursuit by any means. But we have one life to live, right?



So as I train, a mile at a time, there's something you can do to give me that little push of inspiration. Donate to assist me in reaching my fundraising goal of $3,200. It would be a 100% tax-deductible donation to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. You wouldn't just be contributing to my race, but towards making life easier for those who are battling with blood cancers. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line- a cure!



You bet I'll be updating my progress frequently, so please be sure to visit back often.



Till next time,

Peace, love, and happiness.