Don't Feel Like Writing About Running

I dont feel like writing about running. Because of 2 beautiful faces.

 I was excited to write about my marathon and all the glorious details.  I couldnt wait.  I started it but then things happened the week after the marathon.  I found out that a friend of mine's sister Mary, died of cancer.  Sunday in church someone who was doing a speech about the Ride to Conquer Cancer talked about her.  He said she didnt complain and never said why me but why not me.  I saw pictures of her posted on Facebook about a week before she died.  She was smiling, had short grey hair, no makeup and looked beautiful.  You could just see that she was full of Jesus' love.  To be dying of cancer and look that beautiful and content, now thats amazing! Running a marathon seems so trivial and self absorbed. 

Then that Friday my world stopped.  I got a call from my husband Don around 10 o'clock a.m. while I was at work.  My oldest daughter was in a car accident in a parking lot at a shopping mall.  How bad could it be, at a parking lot.  My husband picked me up and we headed to Sunnybrook hospital.  We met my daughter's boyfriend Adam there and his face looked serious.  Don went in first to see her because they would only allow a couple people with her at a time.  He came back to get me.  He tried to hide his feelings but when he told me it was serious he couldnt hold back the tears.  Then I desperately needed to get to her.  When we got to her room I could see her feet under the curtain.  The nurse was helping her go to the bathroom.  I was shaking and kept whispering under my breath, I have to see her, I have to see her.  Don told me to stay calm and be strong because she didnt know what she looked like.  I just needed to touch her.  All my children know that I dont hide my feelings well.  I am known to easily let the tears flow, loudly and freely.  But when I saw Andrea I held it together.  I just touched her face and kissed her cheek as my tears silently ran down my face.

Im not exaggerating when I say my daugher Andrea has a beautiful face.  She rarely wears makeup, she doesnt need it.  She just has that sweet, natural beauty.

I was not expecting to see her beautiful face so broken.  Her head was wrapped in a blood soaked bandage and dried streaks of blood covered her face, her right eye was swollen shut and black and bulgy like an eye patch.

First the CT scan.  Brain is fine but she might have bleeding behind the eye which could affect her vision.  Then the opthamologist.  The eye looks fine.  Then the plastic surgeon.  She has a broken cheekbone, fractured skull, contusion, broken bones behind her eye.  Another scan.  She has a broken bone behind her eye that is punctioning a muscle, near a nerve and she might have to have an emergency craniotomy. My daughter heard the plastic surgeon explain the surgery and how they would have to peel back her face.  She was in so much pain and so scared!

They gave her morphine but she had an allergic reaction to it and it didnt help and she couldnt get comfortable.  Later in the evening they gave her different meds and she started to relax. She wanted me to lay in the bed with her so she could lean against me on her good side.  She grabbed my hand in hers and cuddled with me.  She had been through so much yet I felt like she was comforting me.  I felt so thankful for her.

She had to stay over night for observation.  If something changed with her eye she would have to have emergency surgery. If she made it through the night she probably would not need the surgery, which was very extreme and high risk.  Don and I prayed over her. Don thanked the Lord for sparing our baby girl. She's 27, but thats how we felt.  Then we left her at the hospital, which was hard for us but her loving boyfriend was staying with her through the night.

Today a week later, Andrea went back to Sunnybrook for a follow-up.  She still has alot of pain but sees through both eyes and the doctor confirmed that she would not need surgery.  Thank you Lord!

Looking at the pictures of her car we realize its a miracle she is OK.  A metal, heavy gate had blown into her car's path and smashed the top of her car practically off.  We are so thankful her brain is fine, she can see and has minimal scaring on her beautiful face. 

Soon I will write about my marathon experience and all the glorious details of that day.  But right now I just want to run .....and pray.  Life is so fragile...I cant wrap my children in bubble wrap... but I can wrap them in prayer.  Thank you Lord for Mary and Andrea's beautiful faces.

25 K Grand Rapids, Michigan, Riverbank Run

The Riverbank Run weekend was awesome as usual! 

The 5K started at 7:00 so I got to watch the race before my race which started at 8:20.  I was cuted out when I saw my daughter Andrea and her boyfriend Adam running hard and holding hands and I had to wipe away tears as my 15 year old nephew Jordon proudly ran by and waved. What an accomplishment for him!

I wasnt able to watch my hubby Don start the 10K.  I had to kiss him goodbye and wish him a good race as he went off with my brother-in-law Dave and my daughter Esther's boyfriend Jesse who were also doing the 10K.  My daughter looked very worried as Jesse had never done a 10K before.  He did great finishing in 55 minutes.

Ed and I had to head to the 25K start.  I was happy with my 2:22 finish but it wasnt as easy as I thought it was going to be.  I thought 25 would be a breeze but it still felt hard at the end and the last kilometer was still brutal.  Also I felt sick after the finish and had to sit down.  The finish in Michigan is really exciting because you come around a corner and then come into the downtown area and the streets are just packed with people.  I tried really hard looking for my family but couldnt find them.  What a dissapointment!  Turns out they saw me and were yelling my name!  Well at least they saw me.  Despite that I had a great race and really enjoyed it.

Don's mom did the 5K walk and finished strong but there was no one there at the finish because the timing of the races and coordinating alll the spectating can get very complicating.  She didnt find everyone else for an hour.  She managed to watch Ed and I finish even though WE didnt see her. We need a spectator coordinator!

We were all happy with our times and had a great race.  I also learned some things for the marathon.  First I 'm going to wear something that stands out so my family can see me and Im going to have them hold something so I can see them.   Also I am going to have to learn to like gels or powerbars because eating 2 hours before the race is not taking me through the race. 

We all celebrated with delicious meals by our hosts Barb and Dave!

Running on my 50th Birthday

Every birthday I go for a birthday run and reflect on my life.  This year is special because I turned 50!  I still cant believe it!  I dont feel any different.  It freaks me out!  Anyways I had a great 10K run.  I stopped to smell all the lilacs that I passed.  My favourite flower.  I passed a park and thought about my children.  I got teary eyed as I thought about how thankful I am for them. I thought of all my 50 years lived  the ones I treasure most are my stay-at-home-mom days.  They werent easy days but they were wonderful days.  I felt to thankful for my husband who worked so hard so I could stay home with them.  And then when they were all in school and he worked 2 jobs so I could go back to school, which he would have loved to do himself. 

My 10K went so fast and easy and I felt so strong and healthy. I felt so thankful to the Lord that I can run and so thankful for my family.  The Lord willing I will be able to enjoy running for many more years.  Then I will enjoy running with Jesus where the streets have no name.

Last Long Run Before The Races

I did my last long practice run before the marathon on Sunday.  32K.  I felt terrible after this run.  I could barely stand up afterwards while talking to Ed.  I felt lightheaded and nauseas.  Well I learned do not add salt to my granola bar or take Tylenol muscle and joint pain pills or stay up late the night before the marathon.  The combination of these things made me feel very crappy. When I took my shower I ended up sitting down.

Just a few more days till the Riverbank Run.  I cant wait. Tuesday I did a fun 10K and didnt even take my watch.  It felt so easy.  What a great feeling.  Tonight I did weights and 5K on the treadmill and then thats it till the race Saturday - 25K. 

And now I really want to go to bed. As soon as Im done icing my shins. 

Longest Practice Run

I survived my longest training run last Sunday.  I had too many things to do Saturday so I had to do it on a Sunday by myself.  10K route x 3,  plus 6K route = 36K!  According to the Running Room marathon schedule, their longest run before the marathon is a 32K.  When I did the marathon 10 years ago I did 40K.  So this is somewhere in between. 

I find doing loops makes it go faster.  After the first two 10K loops I thought wow, only one more to go plus a quick 6K, no sweat.  You see its a head thing.  You psych yourself up for it.  After the first 20K though I felt fatigued and my legs felt very crampy and stiff.  I ate a peanut butter granola bar and that helped alot.  Ed says salt helps with cramping so this week Im going to try adding some salt to the peanut butter on the granola bar.  Its better than what Ed did at one race.  He just downed a package of salt!  Yuck! 

The last 6K were brutal plus it was really windy.  I took 2 Ibuprofen.  I wanted to experiment with this and see if it helps or affects my stomach.  It did relieve the pain and stiffness in my legs enough to get me sprinting at the end of my run, but it was still painful, just not limping, stupid painful.  Maybe it will be enough to do those extra 6 K I need to do.  This weekend I am going to try Tylenol Muscle & Joint Pain.  Ed says Tylenol is safer.  Ed has lots of experience.  He's run over 15 marathons!  Anyways I will only take pain killers at the end of the race if needed. 

This weekend Im doing my long run with Ed.  We are doing 32K and then we are supposed to taper.  Which works out good because the week after we are doing the 25K Riverbank Run in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  I cant wait.  I love that run, the spectators are awesome!  At one point in the race you have a football team and cheerleaders cheering for you with poms poms and drums!  Its so cool!  We go with Don's family and everyone gets involved.  We've been doing this for over 10 years! 

The next weekend will be a 16K tempo run and then the next weekend is the marathon!! Yikes!  Well I did 36K and I didnt die.

Run to Overcome

After my last 33K run I kind of felt discouraged.  It was so difficult and painful and the marathon is 9 more kilometers! 

Last week I was reading my grandfather's memoirs.  My Aunt had typed them up and made a book of it for everyone in the family.  I found it so interesting and I couldnt believe what he has lived through in his lifetime.  He lived through war, poverty, immigration to a strange country with 7 young children and a pregnant wife and had to work so hard to make it.  It made me realize how easy our  lives are now! 

One of my favourite stories in the book was when they had their 8th child.  It was shortly after they had immigrated from Holland to Canada and they were working and living on their sponsor's farm.  When my grandmother went into labour the farmer would not take them to the hospital which was around 20 miles away.  My grandfather went around to the neighbours asking for a ride.  Finally he got a ride.  They had a healthy baby boy but Oma had to stay in the hospital and Opa had to go home to their other 7 children.  He had to figure out a way to get home.  His son, my Dad, always says "There is no such word as Can't".  Now I know where he got that from.  What my Opa did was walk to his pastor's house and borrowed money to buy a bike.  Then he rode the bike home...at night....and in the winter.  He ended up going the wrong way and the trip ended up taking twice as long.  He said in his book he was very happy to get home and the children were very happy to see him because they were very worried.

I couldn't help but think of this story when I was running 33K last Saturday.  It was windy and cold and I felt nauseas.  But then I thought of my skinny Opa riding on his rickety bike in the winter trying to get home to his children.  Im sure he was cold and frustrated and wanted to give up.  If Opa can do that whats a few more kilometers!

This week I am reading a book called "Run to Overcome"  Its about Meb Keflezighi, the winner of the 2009 New York City marathon and silver medalist of the 2004 Olympic marathon.  His story is similar to my Opa in that he lived in poverty, war and immigrated to a strange country and had to work very hard.  Meb became a 5 and 10 K national champion but was encouraged to compete in the marathon.  He was expecting to do very well in his first marathon, maybe even win like Alberto Salazar did on his first marathon.  He came in 9th and was very discouraged and said he would never run another marathon.  Weeks later he went back to his homeland, Eritrea and was humbled and reminded of how simple his people lived and how easy he had it in the US.  How could he get so discouraged over a marathon!  God had blessed him with the gift of running and training was nothing compared to how hard these people worked.

Its funny how I read these two similar stories within a couple weeks.  Both lived through very difficult situations but worked hard, appreciated their blessings even in the tough times and trusted the Lord for their future.  Sometimes I feel like Im making too big a deal of this marathon and Im not even raising any money or doing it for some noble cause.  But the fact that I happened to read these 2 books in a row made me feel like God was speaking to me and encouraging me when I felt discouraged.  He always does that!  God is amazing like that.  My life IS a big deal to God!  He teaches me something in everything I do.  He wants to encourage me, a back of the pack marathon runner just as much as He encourages Meb, a marathon champion! 

Life is like a marathon.  |Its difficult and painful at times, but if we appreciate what we have, do our best, work hard and trust in the Lord we will receive the prize at the end!   

Nausea and Other TMIs

Last week I survived my first 30K run.  I went with my running buddy, my brother-in-law Ed.  It took us 3hrs 9 minutes which is pretty much on tract with my 4:20 marathon goal.  We ran the waterfront trail in Pickering and the scenery was really nice.  It sure beats my Oshawa city run.  We went 15K out and then back.  It was hard but when you are running with someone else you have no choice but to keep going.  We had problems with clouds of little black bugs though that flew in our mouth and when I got home I noticed a dead one stuck in my eye. 

This Saturday... I did 33K by myself.  I did my 10K & 6.5K neighborhood route and then did them backwards.  It wasnt as pretty and it was cold and windy and I felt nauseous the whole way, I'll take little black bugs over that.  It took me 3 1/2 hrs too!  I think it was because of the wind, plus my watch is crappy plus Ed makes me faster.

My hubby Don and I always go out for breakfast every Saturday morning.  We've been doing this ever since our kids were old enough to babysit.  The past ten years or so we started working out or running before we go.  It feels great to have worked out and shower before our date.  We say we have to work for it or it doesnt taste as good. 

Last week when I ran with Ed I told Don I would do my run first and then we would just have a late breakfast and call it brunch.  Well we had "brunch" at 2:00 p.m.  Crazy I know but nothing stops us from having our breakfast out.  It just doesnt feel like the weekend if we dont have our breakfast treat. 
So this Saturday we had our breakfast at the normal time and then I did my run 2 hours later which is the usual time I have to wait after eating to run without feeling nauseous.  Well 10K into it I felt like throwing up.  I'd burp and then think - oh now Im going to feel better but the sick feeling never went away.  I was also experimenting with these sport energy gummies and jelly beans but they just made me feel even more pukey.

I guess it was too big of a breakfast.  I had 2 eggs, 2 slices of toast, tomato and a fruit bowl with strawberries, pineapple and bananas oh yeah and about 3 cups of coffee, maybe that was the reason.  I wont be doing that again! On the morning of a race I always eat a couple hours before the race but I have half a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter and half a banana and a cup of coffee and it has never failed me.  I'm ready to go to the bathroom right before the race and then Im good to go.  I know thats TMI but its very important.  I've seen runners in the bushes during a race and one time I saw a woman whip down her shorts and go behind a very skinny tree.  Im not that hardcore!  Peanut butter bagel from now on!