The Anthem Richmond Marathon

So, since I can barely walk today I may as well get to blogging about this weekend! Aarik took off Friday so that we could leave early in the morning. We got started a little later than planned, but I had decided after the ridiculous week we had that we were going to avoid stress, and any outside responsibilities as much as possible. As worried as I was about the race we just didn't need any negativity or aggravation. The way that Sprint GPS took us was absolutely gorgeous. Mostly back roads & small highways. The first half of the trip we got to see lots of farm land, relax & listen to country music while Parker slept & the rest of us got to chat. Then Parker woke up & screamed the rest of the way, everyone had to go potty every 5 seconds & I got a barrage of poorly timed, non marathon weekend text messages. By the time we got to the expo we were all worn out, over being in the car and a little grumpy. Because of that, we were in and out of the expo very quickly and I never even got to see the medal I was hoping to earn the next day. I did however purchase a 26.2 magnet for the Jeep and said a quick prayer it wasn't a waste of money and we bumped into a new friend made on the Richmond marathon Facebook page who we had lots in common with. The expo was crazy crowded but looked to be very well organized, and had more than enough gear for anyone interested in spending money to help remember the event. There was ample parking outside of the convention center. They had booths specifically to answer questions for out of towners and had plenty of free maps on hand. The Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield booth even gave the kids all free cowbells to ring to help cheer the next day. Other than those things it was your typical race expo.
Our hotel was located in a pretty central spot, but let me say I was not impressed with it at all. The shower looked to have never been cleaned and the front desk girl that was there during check in & check out was one of the most rude people ever. I was thrilled, however, that there was a Denny's in the adjoining parking lot and we were happy to be able to walk over to dinner and be the only people there when we ate at 5:00. The kids, of course, love any excuse to have pancakes for dinner! Jennifer and Ray were kind enough to offer me a ride down the next morning which took a big stress off of Aarik,would let the kids get more sleep in the morning, and allow us to spend time together as a group. So Aarik and I tried to plan his route to get to the finish and signed him up to get live updates while I was running. Navigating Richmond and paying tolls every five minutes was another not so fun thing to plan around. When Aimee and I talked I found out we had broken $4000.00 and doubled out fundraising goal!! Inspiration and motivation!! We got the monkeys ready for bed, I laid out all of my race gear, we prayed & went to bed. The kids all slept great, thankfully, and I woke up every hour thinking I had overslept. At five I got up, ate a small bowl of Captain Crunch, got dressed and went downstairs to meet up with the Riska family. We spent less time than I expected looking for parking (not to say it was easy finding a place, just not as hard as anticipated). We got to watch the start of the half, go for a quick jog, found a nice warm place to go to the bathroom (if I run this race again we will stay at the host hotel. Complete opposite of where we stayed), and made it down just in time to have Ray snap a few pics, give hugs to Josh, Aimee & Callie & get in line for the start.

Jennifer and I started the race together and stayed together almost 16 miles.

I wore my hydration pack because I was concerned with all of the NY marathoners coming in at the last minute the race would run out of water & Powerade, especially if my leg gave me a fit and I was at the very back of the pack. {Sidenote: they never ran out of anything as long as I was on the course.} It was nice to be able to chat with Callie's grandma about running, our training, Callie, the course, books and anything else that came up along the way. As we ran together in our Team GSF jerseys we had lots of people yell out to us "That's right! Never Give Up!!" We were even called "The Never Give Ups" a few times. It was such an awesome reminder to us of why we were there. There was ton of course support, signs everywhere, people out with their kids & dogs. People sitting on their lawns with signs, shop owners doing their own water stops, people giving out Twizzlers, cheering... You name it! It was obvious why they call this "America's Friendliest Marathon". The most beautiful part was when we ran along the James River for a while. It was almost silent other than the sound of the water. After the water stop that we got seperated I decided to listen to music. I was really nervous about the Robert E. Lee bridge because I'd heard terrifying things about it, but it gave me no trouble at all. The wind that people talk about must have taken pity on us that day. It was where I saw people start to drop off though, some walking, hobbling, limping, some sitting down on the side. From then on out the race thinned out a good bit. When I came off the bridge one of the race volunteers said, "You've got this, if you did the bridge your fine, it's the hardest part!" How silly of me to believe her!  Truthfully, I did myself in because when I tried to walk through a water stop at mile 11 I realized if I tried to walk anymore I'd be in big trouble. For some reason at mile 20 I went against my decision from just nine miles before and decided to walk through a water stop so that I could call Aarik and let him know to start heading down to the finish area with the kids. Being the amazing man that he is, he was already in the car with them. But when I started running again it was SO painful that it slowed me down A LOT. I kept thinking about all of the people I love who I wanted to do this for, the support they had given me, and I would tell myself that I WAS going to finish this and it would end faster if I kept running and that in only "X" amount of miles I was going to finally be a marathoner. It worked, I kept running. Not running fast, but running. At mile 24 I picked up my pace again, but couldn't maintain it for the last two miles after going up an unexpected hill. When I got down to mile 26 I was searching for my family- people who knew me and loved me and would be cheering me on.

I was so happy to see Josh, Aimee, Callie and Aimee's two sisters off to the side.

Then I saw Ray, Callie's grandpa who was awesome enough to be cameraman &course support Team Callie for the weekend.

I kept looking for Aarik & the kids and then I spotted two Never Give Up shirts in the crowd and realized it was Hannah and David. Those shirts on on my two teammates gave me a little more fuel and I finished the race at the bottom of the hill. I stopped my Garmin and looked down to see 26.32 miles in 5:03:08. I'm not going to lie, over 5 hours was hard to swallow. I've always been a middle of the pack runner, but usually toward the front end, not the back end. But I reminded myself of all the trials I had overcome to get to the finish line, and how blessed I am to be able to run at all, and that at mile 21 when my legs felt like someone had set them on fire I had decided this was such an incredibly hard thing to finish this race I would be proud of my time no matter what it was. I also found comfort in the fact that I beat Katie Holmes' marathon time ;). Called Aarik, they had gotten lost and then couldn't find parking, but they were out of the car now and heading to the finish area. They found Josh and Aimee. We could meet there. Another few minutes of walking and I was given my medal. I saw bananas and bagels, but they made me gag even though I was starving. Picked up a piece of pizza and a Powerade nibbled the pizza, but then decided it wasn't a good idea and tossed it, made my way through a ton of people laying on the ground, asked a cop how to get back to the finish line, followed his directions, climbed entirely too many stairs to get to the bridge off of the island, realized the fence in the way would make it impossible for me to get back to where I'd seen everyone before, went up to the next street,walked up another big hill and finally got to see my family! My sweet kiddos started yelling "Go mommy go! Go mommy go!" And I made a controlled collapse to the curb. I found out Jennifer had crossed the finish line shortly after me & was so excited & proud for her. As we sat & waited for her to make the same confusing journey back to the family, Ray offered to take a picture of me with the family. It's my favorite one from the day.

I'm so grateful he was so thoughtful & helped preserve memories from the weekend, otherwise I wouldn't have a single picture. Unfortunately, there were tons of people with dogs around so within just a few minutes Mckenzie was screaming like a lunatic and even knocked Parker down causing him to slam his head on the road. I decided (in my not so coherent mind) that I couldn't handle anymore of the dog induced spasms, and we left. I wish that I'd been thinking more clearly for photo purposes, because I left before we'd gotten a picture of all four of us with our medals. But here are the others with theirs

They all did awesome!

I learned a lot from this race that I'd like to share. It was so much easier and harder then I thought it would be; and I definitely want to talk about the aftermath of it all, but this post is too long already, so... Next time!

It's Here

So I've been trying to figure out what to post for my "last post before the big weekend" post. I had decided not to do one because I'm not thinking clearly and wanted it to be meaningful. Then Aimee said something to me that made me really think and I woke up to an article written by Victoria Strong, and I realized what I would like to write about.
As part of my fundraising I've spent the past several months describing how this disease works. Telling everyone about all of the things these kids can NOT do because of SMA. Truth is that these kids, and their parents, are told every day what they can't, and won't and shouldn't do; then these amazing children, along with their courageous and supportive parents, go out and they DO. Their parents become innovators, inventors, and activists. They make friends with their physical therapist, neurologist & pediatrician and as a team they make things happen.  These kids DO. Some live past 6 months, some go to Kindergarten, or ballet classes, and they run distances that most adults  "can't". They teach. They are inspirations for those of us who say we can't to get up and do. Their bodies fail them daily but they don't write a blog post to complain about it, they find a way to work around it. They don't ask for pity, they ask for support. When they reach the finish line of their life, no matter what the distance they traveled, they have given it their all. They run the perfect race, finishing with nothing left in the tank because they leave it all on the course.  I hope if I happen to meet "the wall" tomorrow (it's more likely than not) that I can remember the lessons I've learned from observing these amazing people this year and push through it, keep running because I'm blessed to have a body that can run.
For tonight, we're in Richmond, exhausted from the crazy trip, pancakes in belly, wrestling a teething 1 year old  & hoping we can figure out a way to get to the start line through all of the closed, most direct roads! Prayers appreciated ;)

Forced Taper

This morning I had plans to run somewhere between 16 and 20, depending on how I was feeling, and despite being advised strongly not to. My training plan called for 12, but last week had gone so well...
After some hard core jumping in the leaves last night my right leg had started to bother me so I decided it would be better to hang out near 16. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I had to cut out at 13 because I was having so much pain in my right shin, a weird burning in my ankle and some other odd thing in my left foot. I figure it's better to gut it out in two weeks in Richmond, walk if I have to and finish than it is to gut it out now when I don't technically have to and not be able to run any of the race. Goes to show you should listen to those who are more experienced than you.

I also have seen so very many posts recently about children with SMA passing away. My heart aches for their families and my passion is ignited to continue to try to raise funds and awareness of this terrible disease. Remember, the fundraising page is here. The donation is tax deductible and for such an amazing cause. Really, this race isn't about me, or my time, or my medal. It's about why I'm running and I'm grateful that the good Lord reminds me of this frequently.

Three Weeks

That's it. Just three weeks until race day. Tomorrow morning I am going to get up, get dressed, eat a bowl of cereal, and run (hopefully the whole) eighteen point six miles, 30k.  18.6 I'm excited and hopeful that it will go well, that my achilles will be quiet and let me do the work. Is it terrible that I'm already thinking about what I'm going to eat afterward as a reward? The original plan (I know, it's laughable at this point) was that by the time I got to my last few long runs that Aarik would be able to come and run at least the last few miles with me. As seems to be the new plan, the original plan didn't work out. Aarik will be watching the kids so that I can run and as of right now it looks like I'll have a good friend, and running buddy, come along for maybe 5 miles of it. I'm more nervous that stopping at this mileage will be a guarantee that I walk several miles on race day. I guess I just need to be ok with that. Right now I'm trying to decide if I should go sign up for the 10k that is a half mile away and run the course three times, or run loops in the neighborhood so that I can stash an extra water bottle for my hydration belt, or go run in an area I've never run before that has gorgeous trees and nice open roads, but then I'd have to find my way around for eighteen miles which could pose a problem. Praying whichever one happens works out.

Tomorrow (and a few other days)

Tomorrow I will run 14 miles. That is the farthest I've ever run, and it's been almost two years since I've run that far. If it weren't for my mean right shin I would be so excited to have finally made it to this point. Well, I'm excited either way because,with all of the injuries so far, I never thought I'd get to this point. Last weekend I went out to run 12 and in my attempt to not be a hood runner (** see note) I added too many extra roads in and wound up running 13. While this shin has me running MUCH slower than I would like, the pace was such that I could have kept going a while longer and been fine. I also had to cut out one of my short runs this week in hopes it would help my leg, or help it not get worse. So I'm accepting that this time around with training I'm very injury prone, which means the best case scenario for November 10th is that I'll be in Richmond and toe the line very undertrained because of the time  I'll probably continue to take off to nurse these things. It's so frustrating to be physically capable, in every way but one, of doing something you want terribly to do. It really makes me think about what it would be like to have SMA and be fully mentally functioning and know how to do things, but not be able to do them. Which then makes me grateful to just have injuries from doing too much, or doing something wrong. I'm just hoping to go up there and run, walk, crawl or roll 26.2 miles in less than seven hours. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

Things are starting to come together for our rummage sale, "Cookies for Callie", that's one week from today. This is going to be one heck of a crazy week. All of the last minute preparations for what looks to be a huge event, Aarik is switching to second shift Monday, I'm required to start going to the Y two mornings a week for training until my classes start the first week of September, adjusting to putting the kids to bed by myslef when it's really been a two person job so far,  it's supposed to be a 30 mile week (4, 7, 4 and my first ever 15), getting ready to have some major work done on our house, then add in the normal cooking, cleaning and preventing disasters, and the rummage sale itself. A week full of great things that, combined, are a little overwhelming. But, come Saturday night we'll hopefully be in rest/celebration/happy mode. If there aren't any updates until then, I'm sure I'll be excited to update after Cookies for Callie.

If you're wondering, we DO still have our three kids. They still do funny, busy things every day, and they are still wonderful. Right now it's just easier to shoot a picture onto Facebook or Instagram to update family about how Parker, who is barely one year old, is climbing EVERYTHING in sight. Like things that adults and monkeys can't climb. Or to quickly type a status update about how my 6 year old Konnor figured out how to crack the family lock code on Netflix. I can let everyone know at the same time that if they see us out in public Mckenzie picked out what she's wearing, bless her sweet heart. It certainly was not my idea. But, to hold you over until we start school the first week in September and Mckenzie starts soccer, and Konnor starts swim lessons and Parker starts... whatever craziness he starts next, here are a few random pics from lately.

**This is my own made up term for running only in neighborhoods. Every other time I have trained for a race I have been a hood runner. This time I am slowly venturing farther out with each run and am determined not to be a hood runner. The most I stay in the neighborhood anymore is about 2.4 miles, then it is out on main roads to stretch my legs and avoid most dog traffic... MOST. You can expect to see this term used in the future on this blog.

A Sweet Reminder

Of why I'm running to help me on my 7 miles tonight.and the 14 Sunday. 

26.2 miles

OK, I may throw up. It's official, if all goes well with training, I will be running The 2012 Anthem Richmond Marathon on November 10th. "America's friendliest marathon". I signed up tonight. It was a last minute change from the marathon I've been planning to run for the last several months, (Callie's Uncle and Grandma had some things change on their end & we can all run this one together) but it looks awesome! If it's anything like the website makes it look and sound, then I know this was the best choice for my first marathon. It will be wonderful to share this experience with both my family and Callie's. They have all been so supportive, both the ones who are local and the ones across the country. Now I can start getting excited... right?!?!

This week, as I've been anticipating signing up for this, I've been a ball of nerves. The anxiety has been manifesting itself in every facet of my life from motherhood & being a wife, to cleaning, to running and back again. I'm hoping that since I now know for sure which race I'm signed up to run, and have already taken the plunge, that the nerves will ease up and the training can begin. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out, with Aarik's work schedule due to change twice between now and then, and the usual life with kids thing. It's comforting that this race is two weeks further away than the other, also. Two more weeks to train and save money for the trip. Anyone who likes to pray for others, feel free to add me to your list. I'm lacking the confidence I'd hoped to have at this point in the year, and hoping that the donations, and my running ability (and excitement) will pick up again. I'm so honored to be able to join "Team GSF" and help raise money for this wonderful charity that does SO much to help improve the lives of families living and dealing with SMA.

Thank you to all that have supported me in both my fundraising and running efforts. I'll try to post as often as possible about how training is going, and keep you updated on the kiddos and Aarik too! I'm excited to share this fun and physically demanding journey with whoever cares to read about it, but hope to always keep in mind the reason that I'm doing this in such a public way. I'd be perfectly happy keeping my shortcomings as a runner to myself, especially with such a big commitment, but it's worth putting it all on the line for people to learn a little about Spinal Muscular Atrophy and maybe support the cause too! Well, here we go...

Mother's Day Post

Hooray for Mother's Day! I remember growing up my sisters and I would ask my mom what she wanted for Mother's day and every year she would say the same thing- "a clean house and for every body to get along". I always thought that this was because she was a single mom and knew that we kids probably couldn't do much more than that anyway. Now that this has become my request (or very similar to it. mine is actually a clean house, a nap and a day of food that I don't have to cook. Even if it's out of a can/box/drive thru) I understand that as a mom this is actually all you ever really want for yourself (ok, again close to all you ever want. a new pair of jeans or shoes doesn't hurt either). As a stay at home mom, even more so. I find lately I spend my days in a frenzy of cleaning, cooking, cleaning, diaper changing, cleaning, teaching- only to sit down at the end of the day exhausted and surrounded by a cluttered house. Is it all worth it? Absolutely! Do I always remember that? Not quite. But I try. I also have found that the week leading up to Mother's day is often the most chaotic week of the year, many of the days spent in tears, status updates of the insanity, and finally after the hurricane hits it's peak the calm after the storm is usually a beautiful moment, or two, that reminds me why I love what I do. Luckily that part is a day or two before Sunday. This week it was Friday afternoon. After two separate trips to the grocery store, only to come home and find out that there was no solid evidence that anything we bought could be put together to make a meal. While feeling proud of myslef for sending out Mother's Day cards that will be late but were sent before the Monday after Mother's day, and after dropping off dinner to someone else's home, when I put all three of my little monkeys in the bath together. As they sat in the tub splashing the walls, floors, ceiling, and me, I got to have a moment to think about how great they were. How well behaved they had been all day. How awesome it is to finally have all three of them here healthy, and beautiful and funny. Watching them play together and laugh together and love each other. It was a confirmation that everything Aarik and I have done to get these little people here was worth it. The pregnancies and miscarriages, the sacrifices and the struggles, the stretch marks, and most recently giving up ice cream and cheese and sour cream in hopes that it will help Parker to get no more ear infections for my milk to have no cow's milk in it. Putting ourselves and often our marriage, on the back burner. It is an amazing feeling of completion and accomplishment. As much as I fail in life, I did three things perfectly. Raising them is another story, but we do our best, right?! Other things I learned this year for Mother's Day: if you're a "mother runner" you don't get to sleep in Mother's day weekend AND if you leave it up to your husband to come up with Mother's day food, you just  might end up eating a Cliff Bar for breakfast and whatever he's been craving the past few weeks for lunch (like, I dunno, a Burger King chicken sandwich?!)

A week from today is the Diva's half. It will be my third half marathon, and the first one back since having Parker. Of more importance is the fact that my mom is also going to be doing this race. She has trained and worked hard for it and is getting excited. Some time this week I'll find a little time to blog about all of this.

My gift this year is The. Coolest. My hubby bought me my marathon shoes.

Mckenzie wanted me to know that they were HER idea, but daddy was the one who went and bought them. Bless her heart.

I won't be running in them for the next couple of weeks but I'm especially excited to have them for the last couple of months of marathon training, and of course the day of the big race. Lucky for me Aarik knows how much I love shoes, and how hard it will be for me not to wear heels this year since training in higher mileage equals foot problems for me. Thanks babe for making sure the shoes I will be wearing the most will be hot!

Today I'm grateful for my mother and all of the sacrifices she made to raise her children as a single mom. I'm amazed at her strength. I'm also especially mindful today of the moms, grandmas, and nanas praying and fighting for a cure for SMA. The challenges I think I have are nothing in comparison to the ones they deal with daily. These women are angels, and rock stars and deserve a huge shout out, and loads of respect. Victoria Strong at Gwendolyn Strong Foundation  is an amazing woman, and mom, and has been so wonderful to support me in trying to raise money and awareness for their foundation. I'm equally amazed by the positive attitude that Callie's mom, Aimee, has. She is a wonderful mom, and friend, and one of the main reasons that this cause is so dear to my heart. Thanks to all of the wonderful mothers in my life! Happy Mother's Day all!

No language can express the power, and beauty, and heroism, and majesty of a mother's love.  It shrinks not where man cowers, and grows stronger where man faints, and over wastes of worldly fortunes sends the radiance of its quenchless fidelity like a star.  ~Edwin Hubbell Chapin

A Really Quick Note

This was a crazy busy week, Aarik's birthday, our anniversary, new job, time change, Aarik's last week of training before his race and the usual life stuff added to that. This morning is just as crazy but I wanted to quickly share two things: training with three small kids and crazy busy life is looking to be a bit more of a challenge than I had anticipated. This is why I start training a few weeks before I'm supposed to so that when everything collides on a long run day (as happened this Saturday) I can try to make it up the next week. I did get in ten miles Saturday but it was 6.5 outside in the morning and then almost 4 on the treadmill Saturday night. That's the only way I could do it, and I'm hoping it was effective enough not to throw training off too bad. If I don't have to do that again I won't though, by the time I got off the treadmill I had a crazy pain in my right calf muscle and my left foot. Hopefully when I run again tonight they won't still hurt. Fingers crossed.

The other thing is I just wanted to share a link to the blog that Jennifer, Callie's grandma, started. Please check it out and let her know you are supporting her, we can see that you are reading our blog, but it can be tough when you get nothing but crickets in return. Callie has been blessed with amazing parents, two sets of wonderful Grandparents, not to mention aunts and uncles and extended family who ALL adore her and want the very best for her. They've all been very involved in her  life since before it began, they have all loved her and supported her before this trial even came to light.  Each of them are trying to find ways to participate in and contribute to Callie's life and, now, in her fight against Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

As a side note, we still can't register until June 1st and so I'm not going to make an announcement about which race exactly we are doing, but the date for the marathon that we are planning to do is set for October 27th. We are excited and picking training plans and gearing up for some serious time on our feet.

I run because

I saw this on Facebook a while ago and loved it because it's true. At the end of every run I didn't think I could do, I spend at least the last mile thanking my Father in Heaven for the ability to run. For a healthy, fairly strong body and for a strong desire to run. I had no idea then how much I would relate to this quote now.
   Very recently my cousin's daughter, Callie, was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type 2. SMA is a degenerative genetic disease and the number 1 genetic killer of infants and young children. Some info can be found here, or here. There is currently no cure and no treatment. But researchers feel that they are getting very close to finding treatments.
  So as a runner, the only way I know to help "fix" big problems is to google a run that is dedicated to raising money for the cause. Because SMA is something most people never hear about until their child or a child they love is diagnosed, there aren't really many races dedicated to helping with this specific disease. There are a few "Walk N Rolls" that raise a little money here and there and look like they would be beneficial for families to attend. But, as I was researching, I found The Gwendolyn Strong Foundation. This is a non profit organization that allows you to Join Team GSF, from wherever you are, doing whatever active thing you choose to do to help raise money for SMA research and programs. Moving your body so that one day kids with SMA can too.
  So the point here is that I am going to run a marathon in honor of Callie, and her parents, who I love very much and who are at the beginning of a new journey in their lives. The race I want to do is in October and unfortunately registration doesn't open until June 1st so I won't be sharing the exact race I'm doing until I am actually registered for it. If for some reason I can't get into the race I've chosen I will just go to my back up race and announce that one. This will be my very first attempt at running a full marathon, so I was a little picky about which one I'm choosing. I'm scared to death about making this attempt so public, but it's for a good cause and so a little public humiliation can be tolerated :) I will be updating my blog, Facebook and Twitter accounts with what I'm doing in training, how it is going, and info and results on races I do working up to the big race. Parker is almost 8 months now and so I'm working on getting my mileage back up, but I don't know this will be a year of exceptional times for me. My intention with this isn't to PR on any race distance but to finish each one strong, and to give others an opportunity to help fight SMA on behalf of Callie.
  My fundraising page is here -just set up yesterday and ready to accept donations between now and the big 26.2 (and a little after too, I think). I am asking for you to help me share my cause, donate money, help spread awareness about SMA, and if you're local you can come share some mileage with me! The goal is to raise $2000.00 by the day of my race this fall. Please share this blog or my fundraising page with people who you think can, want to and are willing to help. Aimee, Callie's mom, and my dear friend, is also blogging about their journey here, if you want to keep up with them.

So for this weekend my long run was 8 miles and my first actual race will be a 5k March 10th. Any suggestions that anyone has on how to make this a successful effort would be appreciated. Thank you, in advance, for all that you are helping us do to fight SMA.