life as we know it

Life. We are born, we live our life, hopefully to the fullest, and then we die. Is it ever fair when one dies? No but we all know that one day we all will die. My father-in-law fell ill in May and June 21st he passed away. It wasn't fair. He was healthy, maybe not the fittest man on the block but he was healthy. He started getting dizzy and loss of hearing, well it turned out he had a brain tumor. The doctor said it was benign, said it was an Acoustic Neuroma, but sadly his symptoms worsened. It became so bad that he couldn't hear anymore and could hardly walk. He had the tumor removed and biopsied. He was diagnosed with large B-Cell Lymphoma. He died the next week.

Life as we knew it changed. We were dropped in the raging water with not life jacket. He was gone, just gone. A man who I knew for half my life, a man who I looked up to and thought of as a father, was gone. My children lost their last grandfather and my husband last his dad. Out world was turned upside down and it was not fair. Within a 2 month span he went from being fine to being gone. Not fair I say.

This brings me to a point. Everyone needs a will. Luckily I was so dang pushy that we got the will signed two days before he passed. But getting to that point was stressful. My mother-in-law didn't realize that people get ugly when someone dies, someone with assets. I was being pushy to protect her, knowing that there would be some people (they have kids from previous marriages) that would come after the estate. So if you are reading this...get a will! It is so important. Also please have all of your records in one place, let your spouse know everything and how to access it.

On another note, I received the okay to run again. So this weekend I will run. I will probably suck but I know I will feel good. I have gained like 10 pounds! Most of it is because we were eating so poorly going back and forth from our house to my in-laws. We had to eat and needed it quick.

Hope everyone is enjoying themselves and having a great day.

road to recovery

Hello. Sorry I have been a bad blogger. It has been very stressful in my life these days. I am injured and now I am wearing a lovely fashionable ankle brace, seeing the physical therapist each week, work has been crazy, and my father-in-law has a brain tumor and his health is deteriorating rapidly.

On the upside my dog has been cleared by the vet to start running with me...that is when I get cleared by my doctor. Once I start again I am going to take things nice and slow so that my injuries do not happen again. My daughters also want to run with me so we will all start together.

I have noticed how much exercise is important to your life. Before running I did nothing. I was always thin (skinny fat) and then these little monsters changed my body and they call me mommy. :) Funny how hormones can really change your body. My hair is no longer straight - it is wavy/curly now, I am fat, not horribly fat but still fat BUT I am changing that. Slowly but I am. As soon as I can I will get back to running!

Hope all is well with all my fellow runners out there in the running world. I will be back soon. So in the mean time I will blog about other things.

See you soon!

never say never

Just a few short years ago you would have heard me saying something like...I would never be a runner...I would never enjoy running...I would never miss not being able to run. Well let me tell you. Never say never, ever. After my half marathon a couple weeks ago my ankle has been yelling - no screaming at me. I know I rolled it but it was hurting before that too and the roll just made everything worse. I have tried to run a couple times since then and it is the by far the most pain ever. Seriously, childbirth was easier. My entire left lower leg kills me. It used to only when I ran and now it does when I walk. So I have stopped running until I can get to the sports medicine doctor. My appointment is not until May 21st. Ugh. So once I was told no more running I was bummed. The weather has become very nice and I have seen so many people running that I actually miss it. I actually said that I miss not being able to go for a run! I couldn't believe it when I said it but it's true. Funny how things change. I also miss my weight loss from it too. I am still doing some light exercise but I don't feel as good. Hopefully they can get me in sooner than the 21st.

I hope so. I have another race coming up in June!!!

my birthday girl

My daughter turned 8 years old on Saturday. Oh my where has the time gone. I remember everything still. How I felt going to the hospital, I had to be induced 2 weeks early...blood pressure was not well. I remember what I wore...gym shorts and a tee with a  sweater - real sexy I know. I remember being in the hospital for 5 days! Man was I happy to get out of there. I remember everything about the birth - I didn't get drugs so I felt and remember everything. That was an amazing experience.

Fast forward to last Saturday my baby is 8 and the little devil woke me up at 5:30 in the morning! What the bleep! Well I got up anyway since we had a house to decorate! My daughter invited 35 friends...well we invited the entire class and then other friends that were in other classes. I always invite the class so no one feels left out. They are young so feelings get hurt right now. Soon we won't have to do this. Well we ended up with 20 children...meaning 18 friends came. Everyone loves my daughter, she is friends to everyone. I think we will always have large parties for her.

Her party was Hawaiian themed. So we decorated the house. Of course I didn't get pictures of the house completely decorated because I didn't think about that until I took them all down! Ugh. Oh well. But I did get some.

This is the birthday girl! She is standing in front door way. See behind her the wonderful lei flower hanging thingy. Yeah that was annoying after awhile. Cute but ever so annoying.

She picked out a simple tropical birthday cake. She didn't want any writing on it. I gave her the idea of putting one of her toy sharks in the water but she said NO. I thought it would be funny. Those flip flops are magnets so they are no hanging on my fridge.

These are the wonderful cookies made by The Green Apron. Amazing! We ended up with around 40 and these were passed out after the party at the goody bag. I don't do toys and icky candy I do things like this. They were so beautiful and so yummy! Definitely check her out on Facebook!

So those are the decorations. Great huh. I wish I would have taken more pictures but oh well. Can't do anything about that now. The other great thing about the party was the entertainment. Now I was suppose to have a "friend" come and do Henna on the kids but she canceled at the last minute because of a "family emergency" that happened to be at the beach during a beautiful weekend. Uh huh, I don't believe her either! So I had to find something else. Luckily I am smart and turned to Google, because that is where the smart people go. I found a lady who does face painting. She came and did an awesome job!

Here are some examples of her work. Here are my children. The one on the left was a frog but she kept touching her face and ruined the tongue. It was very cute! My other one is a butterfly of some sort.

Spiderman

 



A mask. I think it looks really awesome! In the sun it sparkled and shimmered.

 

The kids loved getting their faces painted. They all chose something different, most chose a full face. It was great and actually better than the Henna as the children got some many designs. It was a successful party. I love it when the children leave and they had so much fun. We have done so many different kinds of parties and each one I always try to make it fun for everyone and not just about the birthday girl.

a bit about me

Howdy everyone! I thought I would take a moment to share a bit about myself and introduce you to my family.

I am a mother to two little girls and a wife to a wonderful man. I am also the adoptive mother to 3 dogs and 2 cats. Last year, 2012, I started taking more time for myself and wanting to be healthy. I wanted to be a good role model for my children. I took up Zumba which was fun but wanted more. That is where I found running. I started but boy oh boy did I ever get shin splints! I was bummed as I wanted to run. I found out (after mass googling) that I was doing it all wrong. Too fast, too long, too soon! So I found a great program called C25K aka couch to five K or in another language get off your butt and run 3 miles. I followed that plan to the T and man did it help. I still didn't think of myself as a runner since I wasn't very good but I continued and I am still going.

My children are amazing. Love them to pieces! I have a Gwendolynn and a Matiline. My adoptive children are Wilbur, Griz, Zeke, Jazzy and Java.

Here we are...me, my wonderful hubby and my girls.

 

 

My hubby and I on a date (rare)

 

 

My children are my life...I can't imagine my world with out them. **Note to anyone who even thinks of harming them...mess with my children and I will make your nightmares seem like the happiest place on earth!** They are my pride and joy. Of course they cause me to want to pull my hair out too but that is what makes parenting so much fun, the ups and downs and everything in between.

 

My oldest is a big reader. I mean top of her class, above grade level, never puts a book down reader.

 

 

 

Here she is starting a new book. She is only 8! She loves it so far. I have read them all and I told her that there will be words that she will not know how to pronounce or understand and gave her a dictionary and if that doesn't help she can ask me. She will finish that probably by next week. No joke.

 

 

My youngest is the fashionista of the family. Every time we go somewhere she has on her scarf, glasses (sun glasses), purse and jewelery. She loves make up and all things girly!

 

Here we are at lunch at a place called Pasta Gigi's (I am in love with the place) and her scarf. She also is wearing a bracelet and her purse is on the table.

We always are trying to have fun when we can. Even if it means stopping a police officer to play in his car!

Such a good officer he was...turned the lights and sirens on too!

 



We also love to go to the zoo and feed the birds! We try to go several times out of the year. Not too much during the summer as it is too hot and the animals are not out and about but fall, winter and spring is the best time!

My kids are sassy and smart. They love to play together and love to get into trouble together too.

Told you they were sassy!

 

 

And they are too smart. LOL. I laughed so hard when I saw this sign outside of Gwendolynn's door!

 

Luckily my kids have never really had anything wrong with them (broken bones, etc.). Hardly can believe it myself given how much they fall over themselves or fall off their bikes. But last summer, summer 2012, my oldest had an emergency appendectomy. I knew what it was right away and luckily got her to the ER and surgery before it got bad!

My poor baby girl.

 

My husband is a huge hunter! He hunts everything. So we always have a lot of meat in our house. He is quite excited as he is going on a big guided elk and deer hunt in Montana in 2014. He cannot wait! Here he is pheasant hunting with his dog Griz.

 

 







Here are a few pics of our animals. Griz is a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Zeke is an Australian Shepherd, Wilbur is a Long Coated Chihuahua and Java and Jazzy are shelter cats.

 

WilburJavaZeke

Griz

 

That's all for now. Hope you liked a bit into me and my family!

 

 

 







half marathon baby!

Sunday was my Blooms to Brews Half Marathon! It was suppose to be a beautiful sunny day...well it wasn't, it was cloudy and sprinkling. At least it wasn't pouring or freezing. And really it was better than having the sun beat down on your for 13.1 miles, so I guess I am glad it was cloudy. The run started at 8am. We started off a little fast. I wanted to keep a 13:30 pace. Yes I know that is slow in runner's world but I wanted to finish strong and I knew in order to do that I had to go slow.

By mile 8 I was starting to fade. I was so annoyed and pissed with myself. I knew that morning when I woke up my body was not right. It was not feeling it usual pumped up self for running. I ate and drank but something was just off. So I did end up having to take a small walk break. I kicked myself (not really) for it but my sweet loving husband kept telling me that I need to remember why I run, I am not running to be the fastest, I am not running to make it to Boston, I am running for fitness and fun. I shouldn't worry about people going faster (even though one of them was my ex-running partner), I should only worry about myself and how I feel. So I took his advice and we ran again. Well I was going about my merry way when they decided to route us off the road and onto a dirt and rocky path. I tripped and rolled my ankle. Oh boy I was in pain! Not only that but the rocks kept digging into my heel and my PF started acting up. So I hobbled for 2 miles - the worst 2 miles in my life. I thought I was going to die. I saw cows and wanted to jump on one and ride it to the finish! I was in so much pain. Once we got off that god forbidden hell of a path we ran again. I wasn't going to quit! I was going to finish this race even if my foot fell off!

I finished! I crossed the finish line! Sure it was a slow run and sure I walked and got injured but I FINISHED!!! I had an average time of 13:51 which wasn't too bad considering I hobbled for 2 miles. I really need to watch my pace next time to make sure I am not running too fast. Need to figure out how to do that on my Garmin.

So this is what I look like after the half marathon...granted this pic was taken about an hour later at Burgerville since I needed more food then what they had.

Okay and now tid bit about the course and photos!

The course was named because we were running by fields to tulips and coming back for beer. Okay so I don't really know if that is why they named it that but it fits. We started running and I kept thinking (as I passed fields with not a single tulip) where are all the bloody tulips?! Well finally at the end, like the last 2 miles we finally see fields of tulips! It would have been great to see those damn flowers a littler earlier! The route was very pretty mind you but they hyped it all up about tulips and I wanted to see some tulips!

Here are the tulips...finally!

Pretty huh? I wanted to pick some on the run by but too many people around. LOL.

Well it is rest for me to recover from my rolled ankle. I have 53 days until my next half marathon. This one is the Vancouver, WA Half Marathon. Excited!

Anyone done any races lately or in the near future?

my thoughts are with those in Boston

As I sit and remember my run on Sunday, 10 miles, and how proud I felt and how I am starting to feel like a runner, I was brought to tears as I watched the tragic events at the Boston Marathon. I don't understand the world we live in, I don't see how someone can be so mad at the world to take another life. My heart breaks for those that were hurt, those who lost their lives and those mourning the lives lost. I congratulate the men and women who stepped up to care for the wounded, both medically trained and courageous citizens. I would like to ask everyone to keep them in their thoughts and have a moment of silence for those who lost their lives.

If you are able to today, wear a race shirt to honor Boston.

 

back from vacation land

so I didn't mean to stop blogging...I was on vacation and my computer at home went to the afterlife. It was old in technological terms but not old to me...you pay so much money for these darn things and in just two years they are out of style! One would think they would do something about that.

Oh well my vacation was great, it was a stacation and we had a wonderful time. I also did my running! Even on Easter morning I woke at 5am to run so I would be back in time to see my girls open their Easter baskets. However I wasn't...not because I was so slow that the local sloth passed me but because my littles got up at the butt crack of dawn and ran as fast as their little legs can go to get their Easter baskets. They were already eating their chocolate bunny when I got home. I of course complained to my sweet husband who informed me that they woke him up with "look what we got from the Easter Bunny!" so they didn't even wait for him!

Okay on to my running. So I had my normal 3 miles and 2 mile runs but on Easter Sunday I ran 8 miles! Yes you read that right...8 MILES! Non stop! It was great! My average pace was 12:38. I took it nice and slow so I could finish the entire thing without stopping. That meant I even did two hills! I was so proud of myself!

I was still having some foot issues so got myself some bright (and I mean bright) new running shoes and insoles. They are feeling good on my feet. I wish the PF would just hurry up and go away. It is so painful at times. I read that it can take anywhere from a month (or less) to a year to fully go away. I didn't like that website at all.

This past Sunday I was suppose to do 9 miles. I was very excited to run - I never would have thought I would ever say that - but I was. I got up at 6am to run and it was a monsoon outside! The rain was coming down so hard, sideways and it was windy! So I stayed in my running clothes waiting for a break but it never came. I missed my run. Sucks. I felt horrible. I felt like I let my coach down and myself down. I read something on Facebook (from a running page) that their isn't bad weather, just soft people. Well I guess I am soft. Knowing that I would be completely soaked to the bone in less than 10 minutes did not appeal to me at all. I don't mind running in the rain but this rain was a drowning rain. My run would not have been successful as I would have been soaked and cold and far away from shelter. Oh well. Can't do anything about mother nature. I am sure there are people that would have toughed it out but I am not one of them. Not yet anyway. Maybe when I get better clothes to run in such rain I will be one of those people.

I will keep my head high and continue. Tonight I run 4 miles then Thursday and Friday and Sunday I run 11 miles. I will do the 11, I will and it will be awesome!

planes, trains and automobiles...and running

Sunday was the Shamrock Run - 15K. I was supposed to wake up at 4am (my alarm was set for that time) but found myself wide awake at 3:15. I was so nervous for my race. I stayed in bed playing Candy Crush quietly on my phone as to not wake my husband. Finally 4am came and I was up getting myself ready. I showered and dressed super fast. I needed to eat my big breakfast and drink all my water by 5am. At 4:30 as I sat watching t.v. (there is nothing on that early in the morning) I sent a text to my running partner to make sure she was awake. She's never been up so early and I was afraid she would sleep through her alarm. However she had nerves too and was up at 4. I picked her up at 5:15 and we were off to Cascade Station Max Station. I decided to park there instead of trying to find a parking spot downtown and dealing with all the craziness of leaving after the event. The expected number of people were 35,000 so parking could be a bit dodgy.

We waited for our Max Train to come while listening to the planes fly overhead. The airport in just down the street a bit so you can pretty much see the people looking through their little windows as the planes come in to land. Okay not really but you get the idea of how close the planes are. They are loud. Needless to say we were awake. We boarded the train and found nice "comfy" seats next to the heater. By the time we got into downtown there was standing room only so we were lucky to have a seat. We got to the Waterfront and the start of the race at 6:55am. The race didn't start until 7:40 so we had some time to kill. We decided the best thing was to hit the port-a-potty. Scary as it was still dark and couldn't see in there! Hand sanitizer was used a lot! It was also freezing by the water and they didn't have any heating stations. So that was a bummer as we came in what we were running in since bag check was going to be crazy with 35,000 people about.

Our loading time came and we all gathered in our pace spots like cattle in a cattle chute. Since there were over 9,000 people running the 15K they released us in waves. It took forever to get to the starting line. Once I crossed that line I felt great. No more nerves. We had to run for a little over a mile to the turnaround to follow our course. Well I could see all the people who have already turned around - gobs of them! I was beginning to wonder how many people were behind me and if I was going to end up being last in this race. When I finally made it to the turnaround spot I saw that there were still thousands behind me - giving me hope that I would not be last! :)

The run was pretty smooth, I kept a faster pace than normal but felt great. I fueled and drank my water w/Nuun and it kept my energy up. The Irish musicians were great and the crowds (although few) were loud and supportive. Mile 3 came and the hills started. I knew about the hills in fact I work at the hospital at the top of the hill and we were going to run right past my building. Yep yep, we ran past it (and walked too). When mile marker 6 came I was glad to see her. I knew at that point it was all downhill. I picked up my pace on the down hill as I wanted to keep my overall average pace at around 12:30. Yes I am slow but hey I am running, better than sitting on my behind on the couch.

I finished in 1:59 with an average pace of 12:39. Now that was my Garmin watch telling me. My official race time was 2:06 and a pace of 13:35 but that was because my running partner had to stop and use the restroom, something I frowned upon but when you've gotta go you gotta go. So I will take what my Garmin said since that was my actual running and didn't include the potty break.

I felt great! I finished in less time than I had set my goal for. I wish I would have been able to run the hills more but hey I did what I could. Most people walked some of the hills so I don't feel bad at all. I am proud that I finished and finished feeling strong!

Now onto training and my next race is April 21st - a half marathon!

first day of training

So Tuesday was to be my first official day of my running plan from my coach. However due to an unforeseen migraine I was sidelined. Those things are horrible! I don't get them often but when I do my world crashes down around me. So Wednesday became my first day. Beautiful day for a run. I ran at 7pm so with daylight savings it was light out and wonderful! I didn't need my headlamp to see my feet. It was also warmish, around 57 degrees. I ran in a short sleeved shirt too! By the end of my run there was a slight breeze which made my hot self feel so much better. I forgot my to wear my water belt so I was parched by the time I got home.

Overall I did great. I ran 3 miles, only stopping for a crosswalk and to walk over the railroad tracks as I had a pretty good feeling I'd fall flat on my face if I tried running over them. The run felt great. Of course it was hard but I did it and felt good after.

Miles: 3.01
Time: 37:25.4
Pace: 12:26
Mile 1: 12:15
Mile 2: 12:39
Mile 3: 12:23

Tomorrow I run 2 miles then Sunday I have the Shamrock run in Portland. Fun times!

rain, rain go away

I don't like the rain, in fact I despise it! We have rain here like 200 days out of the year (more or less I don't really know) but if feels like it rains here ALL THE TIME! Days like today where my computer screen is barely visible because of the sun are rare and you almost forget what that yellow ball in the sky is. No joke - it's bad. But on non-rainy days, not necessarily sunny days, we get to go outside and have fun.

We get to walk the puppy without getting all wet!

Running in non-rain is great too! I don't like being wet or cold and hate being wet and cold. So I LOVE to run when it's not raining. Makes it much more enjoyable.

I start my training on Tuesday, my coach is making me a plan and I am going to stick with it and learn this running thing. I am going to be great!

I also have a week before Shamrock Run which is a 15k. I am a bit worried of the hills. Funny thing during packet pick up I overheard several other people feel the same way. Many people have been very sick over the last couple of months and their training sucked too. I am glad I'm not the only one.

Well have a great weekend! It should be sunny here (I hope) so that will make everything better and calm my nerves a bit.

running under the stars

I did it! Last night I ran 2 miles straight with no coughing, no wheezing and it felt great! Loved it. The best part was the night sky. The stars were shinning brightly and the air was crisp with a spring coolness that made my run feel so pleasant. The only distraction was the sound of the frogs! OH MY! They are loud! I have never noticed how loud they were before but man oh man they were noisemakers last night.

I was very proud with myself. I wish I was back to where I was in the fall before all my sickness came but I am not too far off. Two miles is better than none, right!

Only a couple more weeks before the dreaded Shamrock Run, a 15k nightmare. It would have been a pleasant dream had I not become horribly sick. Oh well, it is what it is. I will finish. I will make the best of it. I will be awesome no matter what!

meet Zeke...my new puppy

On Tuesday I went and picked up my little ball of fluff. Zeke in an Australian Shepherd and just the cutest thing on this planet! He is so sweet.

See, cute isn't he. He will soon be my running buddy. So far he is just a walking buddy and not a really good walking buddy as he is not sure yet if he likes his collar and leash. So funny watching pups learn leash walking. My children are in seventh heaven and he adores them as well. So not only will he be my running buddy but I will also be putting him in sheep herding classes! Yep, that's right...we are going to learn to herd sheep! Should be fun.

If anyone is interested in his dog tag I had it custom made by Island Top Designs. Paula is great and does amazing work! Her website is...http://islandtopdesigns.com/. Check her out - you won't be disappointed!

On a running note, I have been running this week and it has gone very well. No more hacking up my lungs - which is always a good thing. I felt pretty good as well. Have a 15k coming up on March 17th. I am a wee bit nervous. I was training for awhile but then got sick and more sick. I am not ready physically but I will be happy with finishing, I know I will finish and it will be great!

weekend review

Getting back into my running has been slow. Coming off of two weeks with the flu and bronchitis has not been much fun. Amazing how much your energy is wiped out and how long it takes your body to recover. I am still coughing a bit but not enough to greatly impact my runs, the only impact has been my body still in recovery mode.

But I still laced up and went out! I took it easy the first day, pretty much just walked with a very slow jog every now and then. The next day was cold and rainy but I was able to jog a bit more with less walk breaks. I was happy to get home...not a fan of being cold and wet. Sunday was my best day of running. Went out at 9am (usually I go around 7:30 at night), beautiful partly cloudy day. Fairly decent in terms of temperature. My run was nice, still had to take a couple walk breaks as my body still has that loss of energy feel from being sick but my runs were longer and faster. I am not fast by any means but I went faster than the previous days.

I looked over different training plans and that I found on the web but since I am so new to running and all the jargon I just don't get it. So I think I will hire a coach. I came across a blog (http://seemomrunfar.blogspot.com/) and read all about Erin and her wonderful worldly family (amazing) and after her e-mail I am pretty sure she will be my coach. I am quite excited to start. I need someone who knows running to help me with my training. Can't wait to learn and be educated and to learn to be a runner!

my running buddy

I have a human running partner, she's great, really she is, most of the time. :-) But I wanted a 4-legged running buddy. I researched different breeds, talked to several people, googled best running dogs and found several breeds that would work. At first I thought, I didn't want a puppy, I should adopt and give a loving home to a dog in need. So the quest began to search every shelter and rescue place around. There were running dogs a plenty, but, big but, I couldn't adopt them. Why? Because I have two cats, I have two other dogs and oh my I have children. Even though I am a very dog savvy person and same with my husband, cats, dogs and kids we could not find anyone to adopt. Take that back, I found a dog. She was fine with cats, fine with other dogs but the shelter put a note that she was not to be adopted to family with children under the age of 10. My kids are 7 and 6, almost 8 and 7. What is two years? I understand all about the maturity and older kids aren't as wild. Save it. My kids are very mature and very dog savvy, I have seen teenagers who should not be allowed to have a dog. So long story short, we could not adopt that dog, couldn't even visit with her. The shelter didn't even have any history of aggression on this dog but they slapped the "no kids under 10" rule to her so we lost out. This went on for awhile. I gave up. I ended up looking for a breeder. At least this way I don't have to worry about the new dog getting along with my cats, dogs or kids.

So here is Zeke. An Australian Shepherd. Isn't he a beauty. He will be my running buddy, in time, he needs to grow first and train, like me.

I pick him up on Sunday, this Sunday. I am a tiny bit excited!!! We will make a good pair. I think I will even learn sheep herding with him!

a new me

Today is the day. I will be amazing. I will strive to do my best. Today is the day I start to learn to run. Yes it is true I have been running for almost a year. I started in April 2012, not really knowing anything about how to run or where to start. I found a partner and we just went for it! Oh boy was that a mistake. I remember I was always in pain, in agonizing pain! My shins, my knees, my lungs hurt like no other. My partner - she was not sore, she was not in pain, or at least that is what she said. I thought I would never run, thought I was a failure. That is when I got smart (lightbulb finally came on) and started to search on anything that has to do with running for beginners. Let me tell you, there is a lot of information, almost too much and sometimes they contradict each other.

Three things that I learned...
1) get a training program
2) buy good shoes from a running store
3) understand that it will take time to be able to run

I mean it takes us how long to learn to walk...one would think that we should know it will take time to learn to run.

I have had my share of road races. I love them even though I always thought I sucked. I have a wonderful sign hanging in my laundry room that reminds me (it is suppose to anyway) that the miracle is that I started not that I finished. I love my sign.

So I will get my shoes on today and I will run. I will be amazing. I will learn to run and learn to love it!