The 1/2 marathon is Sunday morning. 8 AM. I am feeling nervous about not being able to finish because of injury and what will I do if I really do injure myself?
Then I tell myself I ran the 25k in May with only 10 miles under my belt...I can run 13.1. I just want this race to be done and my body back to the healing process!
I do love what running has done for my weight and shape and am not looking forward to the long winter without it.
I'm still debating if I should run the 25k again in May or just stick to 5k's. Also in the very recesses of my mind is the mantra: run a marathon...just one. But if I pay attention to the mantra I realize how utterly ridiculous that would be .... or not?
Praying God will provide an incredible run for me on Sunday - hopeful for 2:15 that's a little over a a 10 minute mile.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Better?
Okay...so this week was better...not so hectic.
Running is not going as planned! I had hoped to run the half-marathon course on Saturday. Ended up sleeping until 9AM...ate, laid around...finally got going at noon. Got out of my car at the Y and ...rain! Lovely! So I ran...thanks to the ArtPrize people who cheered me on - I made it to about mile 5 before my knee starting hurting - have had knee issues since Tuesday - thought maybe I could push it but decided I'd like to run in two weeks so walked/ran back to my car.
Today I went to Gazelle Sports and spent more money on a pair of shoes and inserts than I did on my groceries for the whole week! I'll try running again on Tuesday.
The race is Oct. 18...so I have some time but I really wanted to have 13 miles "under my belt" so I knew I could do it. The farthest I've run is 11. That will have to do unless I want to try for 12 on Saturday!
Oh, to have such trivial problems! Thank you, God, for your blessings!
Running is not going as planned! I had hoped to run the half-marathon course on Saturday. Ended up sleeping until 9AM...ate, laid around...finally got going at noon. Got out of my car at the Y and ...rain! Lovely! So I ran...thanks to the ArtPrize people who cheered me on - I made it to about mile 5 before my knee starting hurting - have had knee issues since Tuesday - thought maybe I could push it but decided I'd like to run in two weeks so walked/ran back to my car.
Today I went to Gazelle Sports and spent more money on a pair of shoes and inserts than I did on my groceries for the whole week! I'll try running again on Tuesday.
The race is Oct. 18...so I have some time but I really wanted to have 13 miles "under my belt" so I knew I could do it. The farthest I've run is 11. That will have to do unless I want to try for 12 on Saturday!
Oh, to have such trivial problems! Thank you, God, for your blessings!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Life in full swing
Wow! It has been an incredibly busy week! Today, Sunday, is a day that I am relishing in because I have nothing planned!!
An overview of the previous 7 days:
Sunday: Bridge Run at 8AM ran my best time 1:34:32
Worked in my classroom
Monday: Arrive at work at 6:30AM only able to drink liquids because of colonoscopy on Tues.
3pm - take 4 laxatives. 5pm - start drinking 8oz of miralax every 30 minutes until 64oz.
is drunk. 8pm - don't leave bathroom until midnight.
Tuesday: Arrive at work at 7:15AM leave at noon. Travel all over Grand Rapids for 2 hours hunting down books for bible study - only find 5 of needed 8.
Arrive at dr.'s office for colonoscopy at 2:15pm. Arrive home at 4:00pm sleep until 6:30 get up and eat and lay around. Bed at 10:30
Wednesday: Arrive at breakfast with friends at 6:30AM Work Arrive home at 3:15pm. Fix broken toilet handle and valve. Eat some protein and an apple and leave for GVSU class at 5:40pm. Return home at 9:15pm. Bed at 11.
Thursday: Arrive at Bible Study at 6:30AM. Work. Home at 3:15. Cook Dinner. Leave for Chamber Choir rehearsal in Muskegon at 4:45pm. Return home at 10:30pm. Bed.
Friday: Arrive at school for field trip at 8:30AM Get home from field trip at 11:30. Cook meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans for Jared and roommates - deliver food at 2pm. Leave for Chamber Choir performance at 6:15pm return home at 11:45pm. Bed.
Saturday: Arrive at Church for Praise singers rehearsal at 10AM leave at 11:30AM REST for a few hours. Leave for Chamber Choir performance at 6:15pm return home at 11:45pm. Bed.
Sunday (Today) Arrive at Church at 8:15AM Sing with Praise Singers, teach Sunday School, arrive home at 11:30AM. REST....REST....REST!
I truly look forward to a week that is not quite so busy and where I can actually cook more than one meal for my family!
An overview of the previous 7 days:
Sunday: Bridge Run at 8AM ran my best time 1:34:32
Worked in my classroom
Monday: Arrive at work at 6:30AM only able to drink liquids because of colonoscopy on Tues.
3pm - take 4 laxatives. 5pm - start drinking 8oz of miralax every 30 minutes until 64oz.
is drunk. 8pm - don't leave bathroom until midnight.
Tuesday: Arrive at work at 7:15AM leave at noon. Travel all over Grand Rapids for 2 hours hunting down books for bible study - only find 5 of needed 8.
Arrive at dr.'s office for colonoscopy at 2:15pm. Arrive home at 4:00pm sleep until 6:30 get up and eat and lay around. Bed at 10:30
Wednesday: Arrive at breakfast with friends at 6:30AM Work Arrive home at 3:15pm. Fix broken toilet handle and valve. Eat some protein and an apple and leave for GVSU class at 5:40pm. Return home at 9:15pm. Bed at 11.
Thursday: Arrive at Bible Study at 6:30AM. Work. Home at 3:15. Cook Dinner. Leave for Chamber Choir rehearsal in Muskegon at 4:45pm. Return home at 10:30pm. Bed.
Friday: Arrive at school for field trip at 8:30AM Get home from field trip at 11:30. Cook meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans for Jared and roommates - deliver food at 2pm. Leave for Chamber Choir performance at 6:15pm return home at 11:45pm. Bed.
Saturday: Arrive at Church for Praise singers rehearsal at 10AM leave at 11:30AM REST for a few hours. Leave for Chamber Choir performance at 6:15pm return home at 11:45pm. Bed.
Sunday (Today) Arrive at Church at 8:15AM Sing with Praise Singers, teach Sunday School, arrive home at 11:30AM. REST....REST....REST!
I truly look forward to a week that is not quite so busy and where I can actually cook more than one meal for my family!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Cancer
On face book there are several groups that you can join about cancer. Two of them I was invited to the last few days....Cancer Sucks and I Hate Cancer.
These titles started an internal struggle. Without cancer, we would not have met the most caring physicians, nurses, aids, child life specialists, maids, food service people..etc. Without cancer, we would have never known the incredible generosity of our friends, family, and complete strangers. With cancer, our faith has grown tremendously, beyond what I believed my faith could ever be. With cancer, I learned to live every day for the wonderful blessing that it is and be thankful for what I have that moment, that day. With cancer, I learned how to rely on God for strength and wisdom every moment of my life. With cancer, I watched my son go into the arms of Jesus. I was allowed to see the very edge of heaven.
For these reasons I cannot hate cancer. I cannot begin to say that it sucks. Cancer showed our family how to live. Cancer showed me God.
"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell." Matthew 10:28
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34
These titles started an internal struggle. Without cancer, we would not have met the most caring physicians, nurses, aids, child life specialists, maids, food service people..etc. Without cancer, we would have never known the incredible generosity of our friends, family, and complete strangers. With cancer, our faith has grown tremendously, beyond what I believed my faith could ever be. With cancer, I learned to live every day for the wonderful blessing that it is and be thankful for what I have that moment, that day. With cancer, I learned how to rely on God for strength and wisdom every moment of my life. With cancer, I watched my son go into the arms of Jesus. I was allowed to see the very edge of heaven.
For these reasons I cannot hate cancer. I cannot begin to say that it sucks. Cancer showed our family how to live. Cancer showed me God.
"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell." Matthew 10:28
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Tonopah Nevada
That's right, I'm in Tonopah visiting my sister for a week!
It's a quaint little town 4 hours north of LasVegas. When I landed in Las Vegas it was 102 at 10pm. Not a town I would live in!!
Tonopah, however, has weather I can live with - 50's during the night and 9o's during the day! My sister and I toured the Silver Mine Park. Tonopah was a booming metropolis of 7000 people with 50 saloons in the 1930's due to the silver some man discovered in the 1900's. It's now a town of 2800...not sure how many saloons!
It's been great fun so far and I'm looking forward to visiting Virgina City with her this weekend. I guess that's where they filmed Bonanza!
In other parts of my life - I am deeply grieving with a family whose young son has leukemia and her mom just passed away from brain cancer. Once you have been affected by cancer, a whole other world opens up to you. Not necessarily one you want opened.I pray daily for families, doctors, nurses, patients, the list goes on. Prayer is powerful but sometimes you feel helpless when that is all you can do.
We watched "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" last night...we had both heard good things about it not knowing how it ended. Quite a sad one...but a lesson to be learned in humanity.
Camp Mak-A-Dream is going on right now in Montana. Ethan went to that camp for 3 summers. Loved it! And they loved him. We sent some ashes out there to be spread too. Just missing my boy...
Thoroughly enjoyed my retreat to St. Lazare's and love being focused on Christ for 2 days. It's such an incredible experience when you walk so closely with Him. It's really hard to leave St. Lazare's for me because I know no matter how hard I try...I will lose that closeness when I get back to the "real world".
It's a quaint little town 4 hours north of LasVegas. When I landed in Las Vegas it was 102 at 10pm. Not a town I would live in!!
Tonopah, however, has weather I can live with - 50's during the night and 9o's during the day! My sister and I toured the Silver Mine Park. Tonopah was a booming metropolis of 7000 people with 50 saloons in the 1930's due to the silver some man discovered in the 1900's. It's now a town of 2800...not sure how many saloons!
It's been great fun so far and I'm looking forward to visiting Virgina City with her this weekend. I guess that's where they filmed Bonanza!
In other parts of my life - I am deeply grieving with a family whose young son has leukemia and her mom just passed away from brain cancer. Once you have been affected by cancer, a whole other world opens up to you. Not necessarily one you want opened.I pray daily for families, doctors, nurses, patients, the list goes on. Prayer is powerful but sometimes you feel helpless when that is all you can do.
We watched "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" last night...we had both heard good things about it not knowing how it ended. Quite a sad one...but a lesson to be learned in humanity.
Camp Mak-A-Dream is going on right now in Montana. Ethan went to that camp for 3 summers. Loved it! And they loved him. We sent some ashes out there to be spread too. Just missing my boy...
Thoroughly enjoyed my retreat to St. Lazare's and love being focused on Christ for 2 days. It's such an incredible experience when you walk so closely with Him. It's really hard to leave St. Lazare's for me because I know no matter how hard I try...I will lose that closeness when I get back to the "real world".
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Reeds Lake Run
I ran the 10K in the Reeds Lake Run today. Thanked God this morning for cool air...but then for some strange reason the organizers of the run had the 10kers running at 8:45AM and the 5kers at 8!!
So by the time 8:45 rolled around it was already 75 and hot!! The run around the lake was pretty much in the shade but the last 2 or 3 miles were obnoxious. I did dump water over my head whenever there was a water station and ran through every sprinkler that was going but it wasn't enough!
I really wanted to finish it in 58 minutes....1:02:50...bummer. Oh, well...at least I finished and I didn't keel over at the end!
The next race isn't until September now....10 MILES - the Bridge Run. Ran it last year and finished in 1:40, I think. I'm hopeful to shave a minute or two off the time...we'll see.
I saw lots of pink shirts for Milan. Milan is a little girl that died of brain cancer and they formed this group that raises money for pediatric brain tumor research. There were probably 20 to 30 people running today. I wore my E shirt - a tank top today - but have been thinking about trying to raise money either for Child Life at Helen DeVos or brain research. We already have the memorial fund set up at the hospital so that would be easy. What kind of fundraiser is the next question and how does one go about starting it all!
Food for thought.
So by the time 8:45 rolled around it was already 75 and hot!! The run around the lake was pretty much in the shade but the last 2 or 3 miles were obnoxious. I did dump water over my head whenever there was a water station and ran through every sprinkler that was going but it wasn't enough!
I really wanted to finish it in 58 minutes....1:02:50...bummer. Oh, well...at least I finished and I didn't keel over at the end!
The next race isn't until September now....10 MILES - the Bridge Run. Ran it last year and finished in 1:40, I think. I'm hopeful to shave a minute or two off the time...we'll see.
I saw lots of pink shirts for Milan. Milan is a little girl that died of brain cancer and they formed this group that raises money for pediatric brain tumor research. There were probably 20 to 30 people running today. I wore my E shirt - a tank top today - but have been thinking about trying to raise money either for Child Life at Helen DeVos or brain research. We already have the memorial fund set up at the hospital so that would be easy. What kind of fundraiser is the next question and how does one go about starting it all!
Food for thought.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Summer
Summer has arrived! I am enjoying my days off while reading on the deck, playing with new recipes, lingering over memories of last summer, and just loving not having any responsibility!
This Sunday marks the first time in 7 years I won't be driving Ethan down to Camp Catch a Rainbow. It's a camp for kids with cancer outside of Jackson, MI. Ethan loved it and if you remember last year, we were in-patient with meningitis and tumor growth. Ethan was up on Sunday morning with his camp shirt on waiting for the docs to give the go ahead for camp! They did...God bless them! He had a couple of rough days before the pain meds were evened out but he came home with that glorious smile and content!
We got the news a couple of days before camp that he would have less than 6 months with us. His time for fighting was over. It was a difficult thing to hear but we knew in our hearts that God's ultimate plan was about to be unfolded before us.
So I am enjoying all the memories of last summer....the total joy we felt - not sadness - of spending time with our boy!
This Sunday some of Ethan's ashes will be at Camp Catch a Rainbow with a special friend of ours who plans to spread them on Stony Lake early in the morning. They used to fish early in the morning on that lake.
Even though tears are streaming down my face as I post this...I know that Ethan is in such a wonderful place...that he lived the life God intended him to live to the fullest. On Sept. 8 I'm pretty sure he ran into Jesus' arms with that incredible smile of his!
Thank you God for your gracious love and mercy... give my boy a hug a kiss for me!
This Sunday marks the first time in 7 years I won't be driving Ethan down to Camp Catch a Rainbow. It's a camp for kids with cancer outside of Jackson, MI. Ethan loved it and if you remember last year, we were in-patient with meningitis and tumor growth. Ethan was up on Sunday morning with his camp shirt on waiting for the docs to give the go ahead for camp! They did...God bless them! He had a couple of rough days before the pain meds were evened out but he came home with that glorious smile and content!
We got the news a couple of days before camp that he would have less than 6 months with us. His time for fighting was over. It was a difficult thing to hear but we knew in our hearts that God's ultimate plan was about to be unfolded before us.
So I am enjoying all the memories of last summer....the total joy we felt - not sadness - of spending time with our boy!
This Sunday some of Ethan's ashes will be at Camp Catch a Rainbow with a special friend of ours who plans to spread them on Stony Lake early in the morning. They used to fish early in the morning on that lake.
Even though tears are streaming down my face as I post this...I know that Ethan is in such a wonderful place...that he lived the life God intended him to live to the fullest. On Sept. 8 I'm pretty sure he ran into Jesus' arms with that incredible smile of his!
Thank you God for your gracious love and mercy... give my boy a hug a kiss for me!
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