Obstacles to Sanity



There were sure a lot of men in skirts. I'm still not quite clear about the reasoning behind that particular trend.



"You're CRAZY!" is what I heard every time I showed anybody the course of the Warrior Dash. They'd have a perplexed look on their face for a while and I'd say "I just REALLY want to do it!". Yeah, I know, it's not the most descriptive reason to do... a thing.

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There were all kinds of people there, old, fat, fit, very young, smokers, non-smokers, hippies, rockers...this race was pretty much the great equalizer of all races. I thought people were weird at marathons. OH NO, I'm pretty sure the weirdness factor was over 90% at the Warrior Dash in Minnesota on July 23rd and 24th, 2011

The two boa girls were with me for the start of the race. I ran into the green boa girl along the way. She was struggling a little and her friend had left her in the dust. I ran with her for a little bit but I was feeling really good so I didn't linger with her for too long. I feel kind of bad about that.

There were hundreds of people in each wave, one half hour after another, all day long. My wave was at noon. It just so happened that my friend, Nicole's wave was at 12:30 so we drove together and supported each other for the days leading up to and on the day of the race. It was nice to have a friend there to figure it all out and take it all in with me. It was also great to have her experience the whole thing so we could hash it out afterwards. It was very difficult to process, as it's unlike anything I've ever done before. It wasn't a race, it wasn't a run, it was almost like a playground for grown-ups. The mud and the hills defined EVERYTHING about that day!

"At the end of the race, there are water and bananas for you." Um, yeah. Sure. Yum.

I tried to engage a lot of people in conversation, even during the race. Usually, a race is such a deeply personal thing but this was much different. This was almost like a bonding experience. I made sure to try to encourage people who were struggling and sympathize with those who were running alongside me at times. I wanted to take in the beautiful scenery around me (it was in a ski resort in the summer on a beautiful day in Minnesota! What's not to love about that?) instead of focus on the path in front of me, which is what I would usually do for a road race, especially a lousy 5k. This was NO "lousy 5k"!

As we were leaving, throngs of people were just getting there. I would tell them as we passed, "Beware of the hills! They're killer!" I thought that was very helpful of me.

The very first obstacle was just a giant hill. They didn't really tout that as a true obstacle but most people I talked to afterward agreed that the hills were way harder to handle, mentally and physically, than the man-made obstacles.

This picture was of me AFTER I had "washed up". I went to the grocery store like that. I don't think the customers appreciated that very much. I got a lot of very funny looks.

The expression on the faces of each of the people I saw crossing the finish line (before my wave) was very hard to read. I saw them slog through the final obstacle, a giant mud pit covered in a bunch of barbed wire, with dead-pan faces. I couldn't tell if they were enjoying it, just glad it was over, or just too tired to care? Either way, the amount of mud covering each person was daunting. I wondered if I could even finish the race or if I might get hurt. It was kind of nerve-wracking to think that I'd look like THAT by the end of the race. Not that it made any difference at that point. I was already so muddy from the finishers rubbing past me on the grounds before I even ran! I saw the finishers walking toward the end of the grounds where a giant water blaster was shooting water to "wash off" the bulk of the mud. The people were swarming up against a mesh fence in an effort to get just a little bit of the mud off of them. The result was that they were no longer covered in the thick, 20 pounds of goo but that they were still, by any one's standard, VERY dirty!

Me and Weazy on the chairlift

My wave time was announced so I got in line toward the end. I figured that it would be much nicer to pass more people than would pass me and, since I had no actual time goal, I really just wanted to kind of take it all in and enjoy the day.

I gave Weazy and Sara (my only cheering section for the day) tickets to ride the chair lift to see me up on top of the hill (they missed me but enjoyed the ride...I didn't know that they'd have to WALK down the hill! Haha!) and we were off! I knew that I'd be able to handle a light jog for a couple hundred feet but that the first hill would be killer (I had seen it on the way in) so I took it easy. My strategy was to MARCH up the hills, try to jog down them, and at least jog in between all of the obstacles. I did pretty well on all of those goals. I never really "walked" except for up the hills. My legs were pretty much numb from using muscles I didn't even know I had after a while. I did do a lot of the stair climber at home before the race...thank GOD I did! I would have been sore for weeks if I hadn't somewhat trained for all those hills!

Linda, Nicole, and Laura...ALL "crazymama"s!

The walls and things to climb over were many but that part was actually a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. The mud pit at the end was the most surprising. I remember stepping into it and the strange, immediate feeling that this was SO wrong and that I needed to get OUT of that mucky stuff as soon as humanly possible. I remember hearing this giant man yelling at me to "GET DOWN, GET DOWN, YOU DON'T WANT TO SNAG ON THE BARBED WIRE!" and me, in my tired rebelliousness was thinking (really loudly at him) "SHUT UP, YOU FOOL. I'M TIRED AND I'M TRYING TO FINISH WITH THE MOST DIGNITY I CAN MUSTER AND THIS CHICK IN FRONT OF ME IS GOING SO SLOW!"

Unfortunate clinginess of clothing. This is not a very flattering picture, but it's what I looked like, I guess.

In the end, I wasn't content to just finish but I wanted to finish with as much speed as I could and try as hard as I could through the whole thing so I would have a good "control" for the next year's Warrior Dash...which I FULLY intend to enter! I wasn't in it for a good time but rather to HAVE a good time! Maybe next year, I'll actually have a better, faster time than this year and possibly some family members and more friends with me IN the race too!

I was in ‎396th place for our age group (35-39) on the satrun Overall number: 2625 Time:52:09.00 minutes per mile:17:16 I think there were over 800 women in my age group. Funny little tidbit was that Nicole and I ran different waves but she was only three seconds behind me in time and just a few places after me! She was running with another friend and her friend told me that she held Nicole back so I'm sure Nicole (who recently lost a lot of weight and is in way better shape than I am) could've been even faster had she been on her own. I sort of wish I had been with someone who had slightly more ambition than I did so I'd have been pushed just a bit more but I think I did pretty well all on my own.

I can't believe how the mud stuck to me in places I didn't even barely know I had places. I had to take a shower and two baths before I could get that stuff off of me and out of every crevice and crack. The worst was my feet and hands. I think because we have so many wrinkles and crinkles on those things. I had to buy a pedicure kit with a pumice stone and nail brush and some of those scrubby gloves and a bath pouf and take a soaking bath to get the final crud off of me.

  I've worn my Warrior Dash T-shirt (the white one you see in the pictures) to a few places since then and I ALWAYS get comments about it. The other day, I was walking out of Goodwill with four kids and these two guys walked in after me then walked out as I was walking out. The one guy looks at me and throws his hands up in the air in an "I am thee champeen" pose and yells "Warrior Dash! Woo!". Then he got into his car and drove away.

  I just smiled and kept walking to the car. I understood he was unashamed to do that goofy, public display because we had a bond (along with a few thousand other MN folks). We are all self proclaimed "warriors" in the battle of the mind and body against obstacles we have placed in our own paths. We actually PAID to slog through that mud and climb those nasty hills and jump over those impossible barriers! We came out on the other side fatigued, grubby, slightly cranky, uncomfortable and with goofy grins. We are all very pleased with ourselves and can't wait to do even better next year!

Most people wore old shoes because they knew they'd be all beaten up after the race. I brought some flip flops and dropped my old shoes in the pile along with thousands of others. They are washed up and donated.

 Nicole lost her husband to cancer almost 2 years ago and is raising 4 children on her own now. She lost a ton of weight and looks better than she did in high school and is working out nearly every day because she needs to be here for her kids. I know that there are far more challenging things to face in life than a silly race where you get to climb over old cars and have water sprayed at you but the whole thing taught me some great lessons about my fellow man. I realized that each person there had a story and a reason for trying to get through the race course and face VERY public humiliation. I pictured the words of each of their stories on their foreheads, like little signs proclaiming their particular battles to the world "My mom died last year." "I have a bad back and I'm overweight." "I have a drinking problem but I'm getting better." "I'm young and healthy but there's diabetes in the family." "I have 7 children and I've been feeling lumpy lately and need a goal to get off my lazy butt and finally do something about it."

These two fire pits are right at the end of the race. I jumped over it with flair for the girls to take a picture. It didn't turn out but I just saw it on the race photo site and it's quite something. I may have to get a copy, just for myself to look at and laugh and laugh.

 Just threw that last one in there, you know, randomly...no specific reason.

Weazy took this one. It perfectly captures how gross the mud pit was.

Since this is my first and probably last post for the month of August, I'll just end it by writing that it's been a very exhausting summer and that I'm looking forward to fall and school and being a little more organized (for at least a few weeks at the beginning of the school year, anyway) and maybe getting back into checking out how my blog friends are doing. I've been really bad about keeping up with my in-person friends, much less spending any great amounts of time on the computer. I think the magic number of kids is seven. It's the tipping point of responsibility. No more long baths, long phone calls, or sit around in your pajama days for this mom! Time to grow up, I guess.

Preparations

I think it's kind of funny how, with each birth/hospital experience, my "go to the hospital" bag has shrunk.

With Trina, I brought a huge duffel bag full of every possible thing a new mom could need: special music, scented stuff, pampering things, special blankets and a choice of clothing for the baby to wear when he/she went home, some bigger clothes from before the pregnancy, so that I could have something to wear home.

I wore what I walked in the hospital wearing.

I was annoyed with any smells/sounds and didn't need any of that crap.

I didn't use 90 percent of the stuff I packed.

With Tommy, I brought the following things:

My bag: extra pads (I've noticed the hospital charges enormous amounts of money for those dumb things), my daily makeup/personal care gear (small bag), an extra pair of underwear, some comfy sweats/pjs, and some extra slipper socks.

Baby's bag: an outfit for going home, some spit blankets, a carseat.

I made sure my phone was charged up and that my camera was in my regular purse. I also made sure I had a tweezers and fingernail clipper...for when I had extra clipping and tweezing time. That hospital was miles away and I knew I'd have a lot of down time.

I was glad I didn't have a lot of fussy stuff to put away once I got home. This time, I might add some snacks so I don't feel like a pig, asking for juice after juice and snack after snack besides the meals. I drive the nurses NUTS with my snack requests. I might just pack a REALLY BIG BAG of snacks this time.

I also try to remember one of my pillows. I think I might try to come home early this time (depending on what time of day I go to the hosp.). I don't need the extra billing and those hosp. beds are SO uncomfortable. Besides, I always feel like I'm overstaying my welcome by the third day.

I think I might try to get away with NOT having that damned blood pressure cuff attached to me the whole time during labor. That thing will drive a girl insane.

I might try to do most of the labor without the epidural. That intrathecal morphine thingy worked really well last time (the anesthesiologist was late and it was my only option)...but I'd hate for it to "run out" and not have any more pain relief when it really matters. Do you know if you can get an epidural AND the morphine (toward the end if the epidural isn't working properly...which has happened to me three times)?

Boy, you'd think I'd have it DOWN by now! You'd think I'd just go in the hospital, pop out a baby, and come home later that afternoon, weighing 50 pounds less and with a cute, happy, non-yellow, happily nursing child in my arms!

I wish.

Sick Days, Birthdays, Happy Days, Sad Days

After our Crazy Dance Party a few Friday nights ago, we got strep in the house. The whole works (except for Trina and I) had to go to the doctor and get meds. THEN, Tommy couldn't breathe one night, so we went to the ER with him and he got a steroid shot, with the lovely info that the doctor thought he must have croup. Really? Croup (virus) AND strep (bacteria)? How lucky can one family get? Everyone else got the virus too, including Trina.

It took three weeks and finally, today, everyone sounds and feels a whole lot better.

On Wed. we celebrated Tommy's 2nd birthday (he was sick and miserable, I don't have any pictures of that day, but here's a shot of him at that dance party the Friday before. He danced so much he collapsed on the floor...several times...especially when he saw the camera was on!)
We then celebrated Mari's 4th birthday on Friday. She went to a pre-school screening (I don't intend to send her to school, but I just like the screening and the people who do it in this town. They're very supportive of homeschoolers in this district.)
She wanted to wear her crown and bring her purse along for the screening. It was pretty obvious that it was her birthday, since she wore this special collar that said "Happy Birthday" that she'd been saving ALL year, just for the occasion. They sung "Happy Birthday" to her at the school. She was so pleased. She also said goodbye to the neighbor as he took his kids (that we babysit) off to see their grandma. Mari hollered across the street, "Bye! Hey, did you know today's my birthday?" The neighbor said, "Oh yeah! That's right!". Mari hollered again, "You forgot to say 'happy birthday'!". He thought it was funny...I thought she was getting a little to into the princess thing.
That girl's got some MAJOR sass going for her. I have a feeling she's going to work it until she figures out some other thing that will work for her to get out of doing chores and taking naps.

Saturday morning, Butch's parents took the birthday kids (including Butch) out to their breakfast/shopping for birthday gift/shopping for cake, tradition that we started a few years ago. It makes the birthday kid feel really special but we figured three birds with one stone was the way to go this year! Butch reported that this exchange happened at Perkin's:
Server: Do you want pie, or ice cream?
(she got a choice for her birthday)
Mari: Ummm, I think because I'm FOUR, I should have cake and ice cream.

She got ice cream. Butch put the brakes on the princess complex there, but she handled it just fine!
Saturday night, we had my side of the family over to celebrate the birthdays in our house (Butch's was Sunday!) and my twin niece and nephew (birthday today) and my other nephew who will be 4 this Saturday. It was super funny to sing happy birthday for 3 cakes (two names on each) and it ended up being a total blast. We had a couple other people over, too. Our neighbors (who are like family since we have their children over every week for babysitting)and Tommy's godparents, Rachie and Billy. Even Matt and Anna got to come from Menomonie with their dog, Jake. A good time was had by all!

The "sad days" in the title only refers to the illnesses...but there is some sadness in that the worry of an unstable economy is threatening Butch's job. He has been laid off (this will be the third week) for the first time in years and years. His company is very stable, one of the only companies that does what they do, and THEY are feeling the pinch...I can't imagine how the rest of the construction/industrial world is doing right now and for the past two years. I don't know how people live on just unemployment, but I know we can't. We can NOT sustain this for very long. I don't know what we would do if he were laid off for more than 5 or 6 weeks. We have to make some tough choices, I know that, but with 7 kids, there are certain things that pass the "want" category and really are the NEEDS. We need a roof over our heads, clothing on our bodies, food in our bellies, and transportation. What can we let go? Not much. We have come to depend on the internet for communication, education, and bill paying...although, the thought just occurred to me that if I can't pay bills, what's the point of paying them online? Just (mostly) kidding! I'm cracking up a bit here. This is all a lot of worry that a LOT of people are going through, I know that. It does make things a little easier, knowing that there are a whole lot of people in this sinking boat with us. Misery loves company, right? Ugh. How about misery can take a hike. I wish misery would leave people alone once in a dang while. Misery stinks on ice.

Well, the ONE good thing that comes from having Butch here is that he is helping with school. Math is hard (said in my best Barbie voice) and Butch does it so much better than I do! He gets to see how schooling works for each child, which is something he misses out on while he's working. He has also gotten to take them ice fishing a few times (something he's never really done before) with one of his retired co-workers (a great friend of the family). That's been great bonding time with the kids, too. Butch and the kids also primed and painted the entire basement. We had all of the equipment and paint but hadn't had the time to finish that job until now. If we only had money, as well as time, we could put in carpet and trim things up...but that might have to wait for a while. We haven't driven each other crazy quite yet, but I'm sure that day is coming.

Oh well, I guess we'll just have to gear up...

Find the strength to push each other to not give up...

Remember to lean on God, who will help us when we feel like falling...

And when we fall...

And get discouraged...

We can know that all of that prayer and love will carry us through...

And help us (however shakily) get to our feet...

Until we rise again!

Triumphantly calling from the highest mountaintop!

"Come let us praise the Lord with joy: let us joyfully sing to God our saviour. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. For in his hand are all the ends of the earth: and the heights of the mountains are his. For the sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.

Come let us adore and fall down: and weep before the Lord that made us. For he is the Lord our God: and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Today if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts..."

December Ending

Well, with the best of intentions, I didn't make it through December with a post-a-day.

I was sick, that's my excuse. It seems like EVERYONE went through a barfing flu-type thing (at least on facebook!) so this family must have caught that virus too. I think it hit all the girls. So far, it hasn't affected any boys in the house...but I'm waiting for that other shoe to drop, as it always does.

I haven't been getting ANY sleep. I am stressed out and have a bad cold sore. I thought I was going to go into labor with the barfing I did yesterday.

The GOOD news is, Anna's wedding is next weekend! Yeeeehawwwww! We have a slight dilemma regarding the new address of our soon to be brother-in-law. The kids already have an "Uncle Matt". So far, we've been addressing the NEW Uncle Matt like this: Future Uncle Matt. Since that will no longer be applicable, we've decided we have to come up with some alternative name for him. What should it be??? "Uncle Matt 2" sounds lame. "Little Uncle Matt/Big Uncle Matt" are kind of rude sounding since both of them are pretty big but new Uncle Matt is quite tall. "Anna's Matt" just doesn't do him justice. We'll have to think on that one some more. Both of their last names sound a little goofy and not as personal, so we can't go by "Uncle (last name here)".

Okeydokey, ONE more post tomorrow for December, then I'll really try to post weekly, at least. I'll also try to scrounge up my camera (where did I leave that thing?) and post some more pictures or beg some off of Trina. I'm also going to try to record some of Matty's accomplishments on the guitar. He's really taking off with that thing. We need to find him a decent amp., though so he can shred some electric guitar for a change. I think that's where he'll really shine!

Now, I have to head out to ALDI for some groceries, even though I still feel like junkola. We have NO butter, eggs, cheese, bread, or other basics in the house. I did miss the whole week's trip last week but we filled in with holiday meals so we didn't feel the hurt until today!

Oh man, I just looked at Mariela and she has a goatee. It's purple marker colored. She's really been bored this morning and she's been using a marker to write in her workbook...and all over herself, apparently...oh, wait...some of the furniture too. It's a never ending battle around here, I tell ya. I have to go show her a mirror now. I'll try to get a picture before she gets a bath.
(used my cellphone)

December Hope

Please say a prayer for my friends in their most difficult hours! Michael Talley is hanging on for the holidays but he is in a lot of pain and is afraid to sleep, lest he never wake up. Here is his caringbridge site. Here is a lovely article in the Star Tribune about the family. Here is a story (with video!) of the Talley surprise we pulled off a couple of weeks ago. The Santa is my dad! There are a lot of my friends and some of my family in the crowd! It was such a nice day and it made the family so happy to see the love and support they have.

Please, leave an encouraging message/donation or just drop a line to let them know that you are praying for them. Michael needs assurance that his family will be lifted up when he is gone.

Thank you!

If We Make It Through December

HA! I bet you thought I wouldn't even make it past the third day! WELL la dee fricken dah, here I am so there tttthhhhppppttttt!

Seriously, I am so stressed out that I have a rash all over my body (TMI alert, whoops, too late) that doesn't bother me during the day, but at NIGHT it drives me NUTS. I'm pretty sure it's candida infection (too much sugar, stress, not enough "good" bacteria, overgrowth of yeast in my whole system) according to the internet searches I did on "rashes during pregnancy". By the way, do NOT look up anything having to do with "rashes, images". It's not pretty.

Is it bad to secretly (not anymore, I guess) wish that a couple thousand dollars just fell in my lap during December so I wouldn't have to worry about presents, decorations, donations, food, etc.? To make matters worse, Butch has extra time off during the holidays (for which he doesn't get paid) and that's always a concern. I know I know, I should be all "but it's about family, and love, and thanksgiving, etc." and it SHOULD be about those things, but the other things matter, too.

I heard Glenn Beck this morning talking about how he sold his house (took a loss) so that he could work his way to being debt free. I actually considered what would happen if we went back to renting after all these years. It wouldn't solve the problem of a car (we still owe for a couple of years on the van) but BOY wouldn't it be great to be even CLOSE to being debt free? It can't happen right now (I'm pretty sure we couldn't afford the loss we would have to take on our home in this market) but it's an interesting proposition I might explore if the market perks up.

I don't usually talk about this personal stuff but I'm so stretched right now (financially and literally...this baby is growing FAST!") that I know my good pals who read this will sympathize without getting all mushy about it. BUT, lest I be accused of being too dry in this post, I offer this picture. Go ahead, stare at it and try not to say "awwwwwwwwww"!

(My niece, Madeline. I get to squish those cheeks in real life. Jealous?)

Alternate Use For A Treadmill

Besides being a clothes hanger, a treadmill (apparently) can be a comfortable resting place for a tired soul:


(This was a totally remarkable event. Tommy NEVER sleeps anywhere besides his bed. A day after this picture, he got really sick with a fever and terrible ear infection. He's better now.)

We tried running last week and this week but each run was a strain because of the air quality. We'll try again, today but I'm not really counting on it being a satisfying or fruitful run...except in that we are, at least, trying.

This summer has been a weird one. We had one of the coldest Julys on record and now the humidity is almost unbearable. Just when it's time to don some summer clothes, you got outside for 2 minutes and you're panting and gasping and running back into the air conditioning. I sure am thankful for air conditioning!

How about this "health care reform" crapola? I can't not say something about it. All the hubub and opinions are dominating the news. Here's my .02.

We already have "insurance" for the "poor" (it's called medicare/medicaid, right?). Why don't we have a system for health insurance (for people who don't need to live off of the government and want more choices in health care) just like car insurance? Competitive pricing, better coverage, portability, etc. and if you don't want or need health insurance, how about posting pricing for care (like pricing at McDonalds...right above the receptionist's heads). THAT would take care of about 80 percent of the problem, right there!

OH NO! That would be too simple! The reps in D.C. would have less justification for their existence and three figure salaries.

Inspiration

Wowie. I've had a week to recover now and I'd like to reflect on what I've learned. If you are easily bored with more "I, Me, myself" talk, please stop reading now.

I've learned that I can finish things I've started, no matter how hard they are. I actually learned that after Tommy was born, but that was another story (even though a marathon story and a birth story ARE very similar in many ways! ;) Right, MPN?). I've learned that many people do not even KNOW anyone who's ever run a marathon and so when they find out YOU have, they immediately think you are some sort of expert and start quizzing you. It almost always goes something like this:

Newbie: Hey, I heard you run. I heard you even ran a MARATHON!

Me: Yeeeeaaaah, but not very WELL. And I don't even run very fast, it's more of a "jog", really.

Newb: Oh yeah, my doctor told me that it would be bad for my knees/bad for my joints/my kidneys would be stressed/my hips are out of alignment/at my age, it's bad to START running.

Me: Well, I am overweight, mother of 6 and I started very very slow. I ran a 5k and thought I'd accomplished my life's goal but then decided to run a half marathon, just to say I did it. Then my dopey sisters convinced me to try a marathon and I DID the training. It was very hard, but anything is possible once you put it on a schedule and make time for it, right?

Newb: Hmmm, I was thinking of running, maybe I could give it a shot. What kind of shoes do you buy?

Heh heh. That's how it starts, then they are HOOKED! I've loved how running is making me feel more fit, in control of my health, and makes my resting heart rate nice and SLOOOOWWWWWW. I've NOT loved: running in the cold/wind/rain/extreme heat, pain from overdoing it, the sad look on the kid's face when I tell them it will be a "longie", always worrying that I'm going to trip and fall on my face, how my legs feel in the first, three or four miles. But OH how great I feel when I see home coming close and I am DONE!!!

That makes it all worth it. The journey is okay, and it's good to get away, but home is where I want to always cross the "finish line".

So, you peeps say "you inspire me". I hope that's true! Some special people were MY inspiration so I need to give the props NOW! Noelle is a running rockstar. She is someone who's been a part of our lives since she first befriended Trine at work many years ago. She ran some incredible times in her first marathons before some back surgery sidelined her but she's still VERY active.

Karen will always be my go-to-running-guru. I may not EVER run near the miles she has gone or wants to go, but I love all of her advice and still remember her first "training schedule" she made for me before my very first attempt at a 5k. She encourages me and makes me feel super awesome all the time.

My sisters keep on running through many time issues and family matters. Without them, I wouldn't have any goals and I'd be even shlubbier than I already am.

Most importantly: My hubs, who hates it when I leave the house (because he looooooves me so much he wants to maaaaarry meeeeee), but always has it nice and clean when I come back. I couldn't ask for a more awesomely wonderful hubs than that?

Get up off the dang couch. Run. Walk. Torture yourself and hop on that elliptical or stairmaster for five minutes today. PUT DOWN THAT BAG OF CHIPS ALREADY! The road is calling! You don't even have to put makeup on!

Just don't forget your sunscreen.

What Was I Thinking? (*with updates)

(* I just realized, as I re-read this post this morning, that you will probably feel like YOU ran the marathon after reading it! Hahaha, now you don't have to go run one! Isn't that nice of me?)

Thursday night:
I've got to get this house cleaned up for Trina. She'll be here for the weekend with the kids and needs a clean slate. Plus, that way I'll know that it's not MY fault when the house is messy HAHAHA if I come home to a messy house on Sunday!

Butch needs some sort of vacation after this event. What can I do for him. Too tired to think of something so I'll have to revisit that one.

Will all the kids be safe while I'm gone? Will I remember to pray for the people I promised to pray for? Yes. I just have to believe in those things or this will all be for nothing. I have to make this be for SOMETHING.

Friday morning:
Are all the kids safe and where they should be? I hope I don't get sick on the ride up to Duluth. I'm getting a little sick on the ride up to Duluth. It was fun though! It was great to bond with Trine and have an exciting talk about what and how we would be feeling re:the race. We need to pray for Anna who is saying she has a bad head cold and will have to RUN tomorrow with that awfulness! Do we have every thing we need to make dinner tonight? Will we be able to have time to do the things we wanted to do (like see the talk by Dick Beardsley at 4 pm, watch Anna's Matt and her bff, Maggie race the 5k at 6pm) and still get to bed on time? Will we be able to sleep at all? Probably not. Nobody sleeps the night before a marathon. Too much to worry about...holycrap...did I remember to pack my SHOES? Haha just kidding...no worries, I remembered everything. We watch Matt and Maggie come in from the 5k and they do GREAT. We are so proud of them! Dang, it's downright COLD! We are shivering and a fog is rolling in. It's hard to see even a couple hundred yards away. I hope it's this cool tomorrow!

Friday night:
I can't think about the race so I'll just practice the guitar. I've got a great audience. Miss Maggie is singing along and we are having a great time. Food was good for on the fly (darn boys burnt the chicken on the grill...ate it anyway). Hope I ate enough FIBER. We ALL hope we ate enough fiber! Hope we didn't eat TOO MUCH fiber! Can't sleep. Knew I wouldn't be able to sleep. How could tonight be any different than ANY night of any week? I will just lay here and try not to think about how quiet this house is, about how sore I'll be tomorrow at this time, about how I hope they don't have those loud frogs like we do in the pond outside my window, about how great it is that the weather report we last saw said that it will be 65 and partly sunny tomorrow! PERFECT weather for a run!

Saturday morning:
I'M UP! I'm ready! We are getting dressed but I don't know if I should put my shoes on until the verrrrry laaaaaast seeeeeeecond because DANG I'll be in those things most of this day! We are taking some pictures outside before we go and over in the woods Butch spies a deer! Is that some kind of good omen? I hope so. We are all feeling pretty good but there is the ride to Two Harbors and three girls who get easily carsick...
What if we have to go pee and the start is too close? What if we have to pee during the race? Wonder if we'll see anyone we know? There are THOUSANDS of people here! Whoa. We see Andy B., Trine's old buddy from school! He wishes us luck and we wish him the same. We all go into our zones (Trine at 3:50, Anna somewhere around 4:30 and me in the back forty hahaha. I'm juuuuust in front of the "Walkers" sign. Sigh. Oh well, I know my limits. I chat with some folks who don't mind the chat. They aren't bothering to stretch or anything. It seems like I'm not the only "firster" here today. What's that over ther...WHY CAN'T THOSE DUDES SEE THAT I CAN ACTUALLY SEE THEIR JUNK WHEN THEY PEE BEHIND THOSE BUSHES? I am TRYING to avert my eyes but sheesh could you get any more gross, you guys? Those bushes are NOT opaque and do you even care? I don't think they care. People are ditching their sweatshirts ALREADY! Noelle sends a text (I am carrying my phone. I am used to it because I carry it for training, for safety so I figure that's okay...it does feel a little like I'm cheating for some stupid reason.). The text reads "83 percent humidity UGH!". Uh oh. This is NOT good. This is not according to plan. We did not train in any humidity. Wind. Yes. Extreme cold. Yes. Rain. Yes. Heat and humidity? N O
What's my plan? My plan is to scrap any plans. Just pretend it's a normal, training run and drink a little more than usual. Pray for the peeps and just GO.
I love those fighter jets and the loudspeaker playing the theme from "Top Gun" WOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!
And, WE'RE OFF! It's 7:30 and most people are still sleeping in and I'm running a MARATHON! HOlYMOLY. I try not to but I can't help but text Trina to tell her we're starting. I take a picture of myself going through the starting line. It takes me a while to even get there after the gun goes off. Actually, I can't even HEAR the gun because I'm so far in the back of the line! I hear some peeps behind me talking to a very old man and asking him if he's "that guy" who ran 100 marathons or something like that. He is. They clap for him. I think, "way to go, old dude! I bet you'll BEAT me" hahaha.
It's pretty hot. No, it's REALLY hot. It will get cooler next to the lake, right, RIGHT?

Mile One:
Remember to pray. This one's for the hubs. I can't believe he's here. Wonder when I'll actually see him on the side. Wonder if I'll actually need the food in the bag they're carrying. It's REALLY hot. It's not really cooling off at all. Oh well, it usually takes me around 3-5 miles to get the legs working. Pace yourself, Laura. Pray for a while. It's hot.

Mile Two:
Oh, those balloons came up really fast! Yeah! Mile one gone! Okay, gotta pray for Trina now. Pray she's doing well with the little ones and everyone is safe and happy. Prayingprayingpraying...sheesh, it's pretty hot still. I think it's getting hotter. No, I'm getting hotter because I'm running. Keep praying. Oh, here come the balloons yay mile three already! Wow, I might have to start kicking it up a notch, because I'm doing so well already but I have to remember to pace myself yes pace myself pace pace pace pray pray pray.

Mile Three:
Wow, it's friggin hot. Okay, pray for Matty now. This mile is like Matty. It started out pretty tough, got easier around the middle, and now it's getting very hard at the end (pre-teen aaaack!) but it's totally doable. Even though it's veryveryvery hot now and I really could use a drink. I can tell because my throat is dry and my gum is getting sticky already ALREADY? Wait, I'm only on mile THREE? That never happens when I train!?
I'm in trouble.

The only time that's ever happened was during the 22 mile training run where we didn't drop water and I got dehydrated and almost passed ou...NO. That will NOT happen! YEAH! There's PLENTY of water here! Here it comes right there get some water in you now NOW. Noelle said "if you drink water you just mix a little of the replenisher stuff with water, take a little when you slow down a little, then dump the rest" yeah, I'll just do that. One thing though. I can't run after I drink THREE CUPS OF WATER. Why am I drinking so much dang water? Why do I still feel thirsty after I drank so much but my stomach is sloshing around and I can barely JOG now?

I'm in trouble.

Mile four:
This is just a regular run (pray pray pray for Weazy). I should just treat this like a regular run, right? It's VERY hot. That is true. But if I just treat it like a regular run I'll be just fine. I just passed the 4:30 balloons yay! I might even do better than I thought by one, whole hour! I COULD do better...I've certainly TRAINED to do better! Yes, I really can do bett...Oh, I'm super thirsty again though and I'll have to take some water at the next aid station. Oh man, I don't drink this much water when I train. This is getting really bad, I don't know when to stop or when to pass the water and wait until the next one. What if I don't get water but I need it, then I pass out halfway through the mile because I didn't drink? Man, it's just flippin hot. I can't cool off even though I'm stuffing icecube after icecube down the front of my shirt and splashing a whole cup of water on to my body and head at every stop. I am not drying off in between. That's significant, isn't it? Keep praying, you still have to pray for Weazy on this mile, right? Or wait, is it Bocker now? I don't remember if I passed the balloons for mile 5. If I pass the balloons, does that mean I've RAN for five miles? Or, does it mean that this IS the fifth mile? I've got to keep that straight.

Mile five, or six or both:
I'm losing touch of reality. There are so many bodies around me in varying states of sweat and the sounds are getting to me. The dragging of feet, the sliding of shuffling feet, the smell of the overdose of cologne, perfume, sweat, dirty hair, ugh. It's all probably ME I'm smelling. I'm a mess already. This sucks bad. Have to remember to pray for Weazy, Bocker, or whomever. Okay, it's gotta be Bocker but I'll pray for both of them, just in case.

Mile six, I think:
Waterwaterwater. I see a bathroom. I don't really have to go but I should. I've been drinking buckets of water and a person who drinks buckets of water SHOULD pee, for gosh sakes. I wait but don't mind the wait. That's good. I'm very controlled. I really don't care that I'll have to add about 5 minutes to my finishing time. I mentally pat myself on the back for being a good sport about it. Some guy comes out of the stall on the right and says, "It's kind of a mess in there."

Talk about understatement of the WHOLE DAY.
There's poo EVERYWHERE. It looks like someone took a poo gun and it exploded right as a crap bomb went off around the time a cow took a break from chewing it's cud and shat all of the contents of her stomach in the general direction of the exploding shit bomb.

Wow. I think and SAY to the lady next to me, "Ya know, maybe TODAY isn't the time to do the 'hover' maneuver. I think that today, a person could just suck it up and go ahead and SIT when they have to do something like that!!!".
She agrees.

We use the stall on the left and leave the stall on the right for the boys who only need to STAND and don't actually have to risk touching anything other than their sweaty selves. Ugh.

I step inside the biffy and it's 200 degrees AT LEAST in there. I gasp and try not to touch anything, or breathe. I realize that I can only manage a few drops and then my stomach falls to my feet as I know what that means.

There's really no coming back from dehydration, Laura. You gave it a good go. Today is not your day. Just finish this dang thing.

I go out and start running but I know it's just a matter of time before I can't anymore. Pray. You promised you would so do it. At least you can do that. I see the bridge, buildings and town of Duluth and that is my destination. Geez it's far away! Imagine if I have to WALK there?! NO. I WILL run there. It will only take a few more hours. Pretend it's just Albertville to Corcoran, you've done that before! You can do it again! Oh, wait, pretend it's Albertville, to Corcoran...twice. In one day.

Oh geez.

Everyone around me is breathing a sigh of relief because there is a slight, cold breeze around this corner. Oh, wait. It's gone. It WAS wonderful though. It keeps us going, hoping that the closer we get to the lake and Duluth, maybe we'll get more of it?

Mile 7,8,9ish:
Praypraypray
I'm thinking very hard about my youngest three kids but the doubts and heat are getting to me. I'm trying to balance all the scales in my head at the same time. Do I push it and keep trying for my goal? Do I take it easy, knowing I'm already so parched and I will never recover or might even pass out or hurt myself? Am I needlessly worrying and should I just slow down on the water a little? The next water station comes up and I'm determined to just take a few, little sips but I end up drinking four cups of water, one cup of replenisher, and grabbing a cup of ice for the road.

I officially "give up" I start walking with the ice and give in to a moment of absolute, self pity. I start to inwardly cry for all the hard work that I believe is for naught. Something stops me. I tell myself "NO, you promised to pray for people. Remember WHO they are and why you are praying for them!!!" So, as the ice melts (so I can drink it...I'm already thirsty again). I remember that moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas, brothers and SISTERS are next.

Praypraypray.

I see Butch and the boys and I try to eat half of a nutrition bar but that just depresses me. I almost feel like I haven't worked hard enough to deserve "lunch". They tell me that Anna is only about five minutes ahead of me and that Trine is about 20 minutes ahead of her and they are both suffering but Anna is really bad. (I found out later that she lost it and cried like crazy because her nose was really running and her cold was making it impossible to run with any kind of comfort). I keep going because I'm running again after the little break and I don't want to stop running because it's SO HARD to start running again after I stop to walk. Why is it HARDER to walk, but almost impossible to start running again? My muscles don't even REMEMBER how to do that dang 'walking' thing that my body is making me do.

Miles 11-16ish:
GUTTING through. Praying, walking, jogging, trying not to get distracted by evil thoughts about the annoying lady who is blahblahblahing about crap I don't even care about. Why does she have to be so loud on this road where everyone around her is panting, sweating, walk-jogging, to get to that place waaaaaaaay over there in that foggy distance? Doesn't she KNOW how long I've trained for this EVENT? I've half a mind to turn around and punch her lights out but I've no energy left.

Say the St. Michael prayer for the runners around you. You can't be the only one suffering like this. Pray nobody pushes too hard and actually dies. It could happen. St. Michael, protect us all.

I've forgotten the part about "just have fun!". I'm a double loser. Pray. Okay, I've officially "given up" for about the 5th time now. I see Elvis in white and Elvis in black and I need to get a picture to text to Trina at home. I might as well enjoy the goofiness around me instead of get frustrated with it. There are SO MANY GOOD FANS around and they are encouraging EVERYONE alllllldaaaayyyyyy. It might even be harder to be a fan than to run this thing! I take a picture with Elvis. I decide that I'm going to notice the nice things around me instead of that pavement four feet ahead of me. LOOK UP! Be glad you are not the lady who brought the whole belt full of heavy things to weigh her down. It looks HOT to carry all that stuff! I only need my phone, my gum, my lip stuff. People are handing out all the necessary things along the way (YAY SUNSCREEN! YAY ADVIL! HAHAHA VASELINE EW NO THAT'S JUST GROSS!). I need to remember to pray for the peeps. Praypraypray. Walkwalkwalk.

Mile 16 I think I don't remember: I see Butch sometime again and I tell him, "I know I can make it if I can just get to mile 18. He fans me with my "Go Laura!" sign and a nice lady fans me with a HUGEMONGOUS sign because she's all out of orange slices and I think she sees me eyeing the one she's saved for her daughter and I feel like I could grab a rind off the road and suck on it at that point. I NEED to stop. I want to stop oh how I do. What's the point of this thing again? I could just hop in the car with Butch and Matt (Anna's Matt) and drive off. It would be sooooo nice. Everyone would understand! Off I go, see ya suckers...yeah, right. Everyone would understand but I wouldn't. I would always feel like a huge bum if I didn't at least just TRY to finish. I'm not going to KILL myself, but I WILL finish! Mile 18mile18mile18...bye boys! See ya at 20!

I am tanked. There is a really skinny, older woman who is walking the same pace as me. She's super tanned and looks like "a runner". I chat with her a little and then a lot. She's got a son who lives in Africa who runs a mission for children of AIDS and they have 6 children. I find out also that her husband had spinal stenosis or something like that and we walk and walk. We talk about our training and our goals and she's pretty much in the same boat as I am and that makes me feel better. She mentions after mile 18 (yay! we made it!) that she's glad she has someone to talk to because she's not really feeling all that good. I really look at her and decide to slow down even more because she's not really LOOKING all that good. I ask her what she needs and she is quiet for a bit. We walk and chat some more until we hit the next water station and she perks up a bit and says "if you feel good, you should just go when you feel like running" and I say that when I see Butch at 20 miles, I might just do that.

Mile 20-24:
No Butch. It's okay, we're in town now and the fans are getting closer together and louder (but it sure seems like there aren't as many as last year...that must mean something). Still praying but it's getting hard to concentrate with obnoxious music all around but I promised.

I start jogging again but stop when I get to the water. WATERWATERWATER why do I have to drink so MUCH of it??? I am totally screwing myself every time because it SLOWS me down and I have to walk for about a half mile and it's SOOOO hard to start again after that!? UGH! I am frustrated, sore, my knee hurts (NEVER happened BEFORE) and my hands are swollen to twice their normal size. I alternate being hot and feverish and being cold and shivery with goosebumps and everything. I am angry because if my knee didn't hurt so bad, and if the humidity would die down a little, I could actually RUN the last, few miles. I really try but there's the dang bridge and there's NO WAY I'm running up that thing. Some time ago, the balloons passed me for 5:30 and I'm waiting to get passed up by the six hour balloons. I figured maybe they passed me when I went in for my second, futile bathroom break sometime in there? Whatever. I'm in town now. I'll just take it easy and jog when I can...or not.

Mile 25:
All along, I'm thinking about how it's "just ___ more miles" but this idiot guy says something like "It's only .2 more miles!" HA, I think and I say "you are a liar!" because I remember that jackass from LAST YEAR and I know where I am. It's ONE point two miles 'til the finish you jerk. How dare he get my hopes up like that? Especially now, so close to the end and me at the back of the line anyway???
oh yeah
PRAYPRAYPRAY that I don't have enough energy to go back after I've finished the race and poke that guy in the eye with a stolen fork from Grandma's restaurant.

I hear him protest that "I'm not lying...somethingsomethingwhateverwhatever" and a lady looks at me funny as if to say, "WHY would you call that guy a liar?" but then she looks ahead to how much more we have to run and she doesn't say anything. One mile after 25 sure is a lot harder to manage than one more mile after 12, I'd just like to state that one for the record.

Mile 26...point two:
I bump into a group of women who are wearing the gear belts with all the bells and whistles. I hear one of them say to the group, "lets just stop and walk for a bit then we'll jog strong around the next corner!" they all agree and I say, "Yeah, I'm in for that plan." We walk for a bit with me, feeling a little like the 5th wheel lame-o girl picked last for the kickball game and I mention something about should I have these goosebumps and should I actually be cold? One of the ladies grabs a gu packet and hands it to me saying something like "Oh, you must be (insert runner lingo for "you need some nutrition of some sort" here) do you want raspberry flavor?". WHATEVER lady. I take one just to be polite but then realize my mistake as it goes sliding down my throat and gums up the works. ACK! There are no water stations and I'm too polite at that point to ask her for a swig of whatever water she might have on her cumbersome, yet oh-so-handy, saddlebag laden belt. Yikes. We hit the next corner and I say something super dorky like "Yeah, lets do this thing!" (oh my Gosh, did I just say that? I MUST be going loopy!) so we jog really strong for about 2 blocks then fade like a bunch of losers when we realize just how far we are from the finish. We say to each other "The NEXT corner...for SURE!" and laugh at how stupid that sounds this late in the game. I let them jog away from me and figure I'm just going to have to end this "race" the same way I started...all alone.

HEY! There's MAGGIE! Right there on my left, screaming and shouting "LAURA!". I feel happy that I'm jogging and not walking because she's there cheering me on and that is so nice of her! I whip out my phone and film myself crossing the finish line for Trina and see Butch and Trine's Matt on the right. They say "good job" and fill me in on where Trine and Anna are. They are in the restaurant, trying to keep cool. Don't you know it's 91 degrees? I've waited SO LONG to go get some food and strawberries and all that good stuff...
But
I'm cold, and shivering, and thirsty, and tired, and wet.

Someone puts a heavy medal around my neck and I wait for the handing of the water and the wrapping of the mylar that I was so surprised by last year after the half marathon.
NOTHING

I cough...ahem, sir, could I please have some water? This kind man with a huge tub of Aquafina bottles hands me another CUP OF FREAKIN WARM WATER and I just about lose it. I don't even have the time to grab a bottle of that nice stuff so I ask him for more when he sees that I gulped the whole thing down in .2 seconds, didn't he realize that I would need another...
Oh whatever.

I go to pick up my T-shirt and think it's a nice shade of green but can't they see that I'm tired and where can I change my sopping, wet clothes?

I go pick up my race bag and practically collapse on the table where I dared to lean on it, waiting for the man to get my bag for me.

I forget that Butch told me to go to the "C-D" sign to meet him and Matt and I go to the changing tent. I give myself a wipey bath with my winnie the pooh wipey container that I had put in my racebag, change every stitch of my clothes, put my wet junk into my racebag and put the whole works into the really neato backpack-like thingy I bought at the expo the day before. That was a good idea to pack that thing in the racebag. ONE good idea for the day, anyway, right? Heh heh. I'm feeling a little perkier now that I'm out of my icky clothes. Some lady starts chatting with me from across the tent and I don't feel like chatting with a naked lady when I have this mixed blessing of a photographic memory so I won't get the sight of her nipples out of my mind forever so I gather up my stuff and see a black pair of shorts that are really sweet, but not mine. I snatch them (they were abandoned) and think "Yay, sweaty free shorts!". I figure they would be just fine after they were washed with all my icky stuff. Wow, I'm pretty much losing any kind of germophobia I may have had before all this, aren't I?

I hobble over to Grandma's restaurant and find Trine and Anna dazed and confused on the floor. They try to get up and we all try to make a plan of what to do next but none of us knows. We eventually (after Butch and Matt come and find me and yell at me for not meeting them at "C-D" hahaha) decide to just sit down and eat like normal people and we all re-hash what we just went through.

I ate a rueben sandwich in about 3 bites. Also, a plate full of french fries sopping with ketchup.

There. Whew. That was kind of hard to do. I can tell you more (especially if you ask me specific questions), but that was basically it. I left out a lot of the details of the people watching that I was doing and a lot of the emotional stuff I kind of stuffed to the background or was overcome by the prayer. It was a HUGE learning experience, that's for sure.

The end was so...anticlimactic, I guess. I was expecting it to be a little more like last year where I felt so GOOD after the race (...emotionally. I felt a lot worse, physically last year so I know the training worked well this year!) and people were so attentive. This year, I had to go up to some guy and say "Hey, I have the SHIVERS!" before he wrapped me in some mylar and said something like "There ya go! That oughtta do it!" and he acted like I had the plague or something. I didn't expect confetti, or fawning accolades, or anything but sheesh!

Alrighty, it's late and I gotta go to bed. It feels good to get the whole story out there, though. Your story will/would be different and mine would probably be too, if I ever tried this again. There can only be ONE "first marathon" though! This is probably the longest post I've ever posted. I'll try to post the pictures that go with the story tomorrow.

(*I can't believe I forgot to post my final time! As I came up to the finish line, I saw the clock read just under 6 hours so I thought my final goal could be to "beat" that six hour mark and that's when I tried to push one, last time.

My half marathon time was only slightly longer than it was last year, which is pretty good, considering how hot it was and how I was trying to go a LOT slower to pace myself for the whole thing. It was 2:34:12. Last year, it was 2:22:40 WITH an 8 minute bathroom break. My final chip time was 5:48:05. It took me seven minutes to even reach the start line so my overall time was 5:55:12. My pace for this race was 13:33/mile. My training pace was between 9-11 minutes per mile, depending on snow/wind/ice/length of run.)

One More Day

YIKES! AAAAACK! Wish me luck!

Follow the runners by going here.

I may bring my cell and "marathon blog" through Trina! Wouldn't that be fun? I can't make any guarantees though. I might be "in the zone" and not be able to do it. I should be able to talk while I'm running (since I did throughout training...ask anyone I've run with...those poor people.). As I've been told by many people, "If you can't talk, you're going too fast!".

26.2 Miles of Hail Marys

Countdown to race time! We race on Saturday. If you want to follow me during the race (you can actually see where I am!) online or on your phone, go to the Grandma's website and click on the Verizon tracker button up top. You can find out mine and my sisters' full names if you email me so you can keep track of all of us . I'll post my race number on my running blog (private) so you can see where I am and when on race day too. Katrina's goal is under 4 hours, I think. Anna's is 4.5, and mine is 5.5. We all trained the same but we know our limits and this is where we feel comfortable. I'm hoping to do a little better than 5.5 hours, but I know how hard it is at the end and how easy it is for me to get dehydrated, sore, uncomfortable, and how that could destroy any faster goal than that one. Last year, I lost Anna right at the beginning of the half (bathroom break before the one mile marker!) and had a great time trying to catch up to her. I kept focusing on a girl that MIGHT be her and then shooting for overtaking that girl. It really was a giggle, and I ended up being only five minutes behind her, so I hope to do something like that again. It felt so good to be PASSING so many people, rather than getting passed. I won't have to worry about stopping to pee, stopping to stretch, or re-tie my shoes and we can all go our own pace. I hope they just fly down the course and feel great doing it. I hope I don't run into them, as that might mean they aren't doing well or are hurt.

There are lots of "I"s and "Me"s in that paragraph up there. One hopes that one would not be so self-centered after this race. One would hope that one could concentrate more on the family and the house after this race. One thinks that maybe "one" is not a good substitute for "I" as it makes one look like they mean they are THE "One".

Never mind. I am so excited, and veryveryvery nervous for the race day. I can't wait until around the 8th mile when I'll be thinking "HOLY MOLY, I'M RUNNING A MARATHON! I FEEL GOOOOOOOD, AND I'M NOT DYING!"...then, when I reach around the 23rd mile, "HOLY MOLY, WHY THE HECK DID I THINK OF DOING THIS STUPID THING ANYWAY? I THINK I'M GONNA DIIIIIIIIE!". I'm pretty certain I'll be limping across the finish line. I've done the training for "intermediate" so you would think that I'd be oh-so-awesome by now and superpro. I'm so not. I'm still just a beginner. I'm pretty good at 8 miles and less but I get up there in the teens, I start to feel my weight, age, and blobbyness.

I might take a month break from running and try to lose some weight so it won't be so hard to run so many miles. I think then I will train for a "faster 10k" and try a few 10k races to see how that would go.

Oh, this is all assuming I'll still be alive after Saturday...wish me luck!

(Hail, Marys/prayers said at each mile...)
Mile #
1. For the hubs

My Children:

2. Trina
3. Matthew
4. Analise
5. Niklaus
6. Mariela
7. Thomas

8. Our parents and grandparents

9. Our sisters

10. Our brothers

11. Our nieces and nephews

12. A special friend and her new homeschooling adventures

13. Special friends

14. All my friends that are trying to get healthy

15. Michael Talley and all those suffering from cancer

16. Our priests

17. All of the other runners

18. All couples that are experiencing infertility

19. All unborn children

20. All of our soldiers and sailors

21. Our country

22. Paula and her family

23. Regina and her family

24. All those with housing problems

25. Families suffering from childhood cancers

26. Surgical recoveries

.2 Me

I figured I'd need it most for that last .2. Might be selfish but I'll be thanking God, plenty when/if I cross that finish line!

Prayers for Grandma *Update with Concern

(in comments from Trine):

Update for you: I just got a call from one of Matt's sisters. Not to alarm anyone but Joyce does have a low grade fever which could or could not mean some type of infection, though they don't know where. It could be something as "minor" as a bladder infection. Either way, these days in recovery are going to be tough and she is not 'out of the woods' yet. The other word we got was that she may potentially need a pacemaker. Her heart rate appears to be slowing too much when they slow down the temporary external pacing. They are bringing in a specialist. She says she doesn't have any pain and considering that her breast bone is in two pieces currently being held together by staples and her heart was just operated on, I'd say she's pretty heavily on pain meds. Therefore, she isn't really remembering much when people visit but she is doing okay.

In other words, thanks for the prayers so far and if you could spare a few more that would be great!

I'm going to tell you a little story and end with a prayer request. Skip to the end if you've heard this one already:

My hubsie used to run with a weird crowd of peeps back in the high school days. They were mostly jocks and party guys who's parents had some dough, and lived the good life. He did have this one, odd feller friend named Matt. Matt was the youngest of ten farm children and had tons of fun raising his pigs and working on the farm. Matt was mostly cared for and tried to escape from his older sisters (and did a fair job at it) throughout his youth. He had a hard, but interesting life out on many acres of beautiful land. Rolling hills, peaceful pastures, swampy backwoods were his life. To get "into town" for football or wrestling practice, he had been known to drive the farm truck before he had his official license. See, farm kids could drive work vehicles (under age 16) around town if it was "official farm business". So, to get out of any potential troubles in that regard, he would throw a few hay bales in the bed, just in case. Him and Butch have all kinds of goofy stories about their adventures on the farm. Some of them involving beer and uneven lines in the fields...but that's a story for another day.

Matt's parents were very special to Butch. He almost looked to them as other parents and loved them very much. Matt's dad passed away a few years ago but I can't really talk about that without getting very sad. All I can say is that I miss his grin and his ginormous hands until I see Matt's hands and Bubby's grin.

Matt's mom, Joyce is an angel on earth. She is simple, wonderful, sweet, and loving. She's also very wise in many ways. I could go on and on but one thing that could illustrate the impression she has had on Butch is that I pretty much had to pass muster with Joyce before our relationship could continue (I met her only a few weeks after I had met Butch!). I knew it was a "test" when I met them. It's a good thing I came from a farm family environment because I felt right at home with that nutty bunch! I think back to that first meeting and how she hugged me the moment we met...I could never imagine that we could be REAL FAMILY someday and that Joyce and I would share genes with some of the most loved children in the world!

Trine sent me this email today:

As most of you know, Joyce (Matt's mom) went in for a routine check-up last week and the dr. found what he thought was a 'minor' blockage in one of her coronary arteries, so she was slated to get a stent put in early this week. Well, yesterday they found that she had at least 3 maybe 4 arteries with serious blockage thereby requiring open heart surgery. Her surgery is scheduled for 11am today. She is at Abbott. She is feeling really good (didn't have any symptoms or signs that she recognized anyway) and some of Matt's siblings were there until late last night and all 10 will be there today before and after the surgery. The surgery is said to last at least 4 hours. I don't know any other details but I will update you as we hear news.

Please say a little prayer that God is watching over Joyce and her doctors and keeps her safe. I don't know about you but I would be DANG scared knowing I had to have this procedure. But she's one tough cookie and I'm sure she'll be fine for her surprise 80th birthday party coming up in July!

She IS a tough cookie and has survived a few other major surgeries and uncomfortable procedures (Matt was 13 pounds for pete's sake!) but please, take the time to pray for her today! She might be tickled to know that people from all over the world prayed for her during this scary time!

Thank you!

*We just received word that everything went well. She had to have a triple bypass and as far as I know, no other procedures. She is heading to the ICU soon.

I just spoke with Matt and I'm going to be leaving work to head to Abbott shortly.

Thanks for your concern and prayers!

Katrina

Put Off 'Til Today

We have a very busy day today. Today is Analise's First Holy Communion. I will post pictures later.

Suuuure I will. I still have a monster post of the pictures I took outside the farmhouse. They are so nice, I can't wait to post them. Yes, I can.

I think I have Swine Flu. I have had a runny nose and aching everything for four days. It's slightly better today but it hurts when my eyeballs look sideways.

I am going to try to get Trina over to St. Paul later this afternoon to visit with an author who will be visiting a bookstore there. I would hate for her to miss that.

It's going to be tricky.

I was supposed to go for a long run today but the running has been on hold, due to complications of swine flu, of course.

I haven't run since the 8+ miles on Tuesday, or whatever day that was.

Oink.

Weird Day

We woke up to still-coughy kids yesterday so I knew we'd have a difficult day of cleaning, no school, un-cooperation...so Trine called and said she was going to the Como Zoo. I bagged it all and headed for the zoo! The weather was GREAT. The zoo? So-so but it was so lovely outside, we could have been looking at an inner city slum or something and we wouldn't have minded.

When we got home, I took the stroller out of the van and it opened then closed on my middle finger tip. I swore, ran in the house, ran it under cold water, swore some more (it REALLY hurt!), felt like puking, then PASSED OUT! I haven't done that since right after I had Trina. Weazy said she was really scared and that my eyes were wide open. Gross. When I came to, Butch was asking me if I needed anything and I was wondering what the heck I was doing on the floor. He said my electrolytes must be off or something from running. I don't think so, I think I was just so grossed out by the skin peeling away from my fingernail that I thought my fingertip could fall off and the thought of it was too overwhelming for me. I spent the rest of the night fighting that nausea and the pain of my finger.

Butch spent the overnight shivering and sweating with a fever, woke up with a very sore throat, and stayed home from work today. On a good note, Matty finally says he feels much better. He and Bocker are sounding more like boys than seals at the zoo. I fought going to the doctor, knowing they would probably just say "It's a virus...nothing we can do, give me 50 bucks.". I was worried about strep but the infection seemed to be way deep in their throats not like strep usually presents itself. They all fought it off themselves, so that's good. We are at about 60 percent now. I'm heading out to do my 9 miler that I missed yesterday because of my fainting adventure. It's going to be SEVENTY DEGREES TODAY WOOHOOOOOOO!

"I Feel Glad That He Chose To Be With Jesus."

I'm headed over to Coborn's to buy some cards.

Click here to read/watch the story on WCCO

Happy Easter?

Everyone is down for the count. We have a version of the flu from hell. Mari and Bocker were the worst victims last night and everyone else has been flirting with it, on and off, since three days ago. Matty can barely talk. Weazy had a headache and fever and threw up yesterday. Trina spent pretty much all of Thursday in bed. Mari had "cweatuahs" in her "fwoat" (creatures in her throat) for the past three days and today (right now as I type!) she is burning up with fever. Tommy's regular boogers are now a pretty, Easter egg green.

I have a congested chest and a tired brain. I was up pretty much all of last night with varying stages of sick children who just didn't want to be sick anymore. It's been a very long time since we've ALL gotten sick at the same time!

We were supposed to have Easter celebrations here at our house. So much for that. Trine is having it at her house by default (thank goodness at least it won't be ruined for EVERYONE) and the only good thing I've got going for me is that my house is clean (except for the puke on the bed upstairs that I haven't gotten to yet) because we expected everyone to be here today.

Trina and Weazy felt good enough to go over there but the rest of us are here, lamely trying to salvage what should be a day of celebration by taking medicine, sleeping on the couch, doing laundry (eventually), and sweating out the fever and sore throats.

I DID boil some eggs and we are attempting to color them but I'm not getting a very enthusiastic reaction from the "bunnies" around here.

Hope YOU are having a terrific Easter...or at least one slightly better than ours!

Were You There

Here is an update from the Michael Talley website for today. It really got me thinking about what I've done/not done for Lent. I don't think I'll ever look at it the same way again:

"Well, it's Tuesday. Some of my fears are being realized. I woke up this morning and I feel awe full. I'm constantly cold, to the point I put on my thermal underwear I use for hunting!! My stomach is very upset, to the point it's best not to be to far from the bathroom!! This was expected, just not welcomed. My spirits are good and I will continue to fight. Death is just not an option!! I go through cycles, being down, then up, but one thing seems to remain constant. My will to live. With God's help I expect to beat this. Others before me have gone through worse than me. That is something I need to try to remember on a daily basis! You know I complain about never eating again. Yet I am reminded that Jesus didn't eat or drink for 40 days. That's 40 days people. Who am I to complain about not eating solid food. He voluntarilygave up all of that for me. So... not to be to preachy, I am not feeling well, but I am fighting. If it be God's will I will overcome this disease and if I do I promise to God and all who read this I will be a better father, husband, christian. I look forward to paying forward all the wonderful things that have been done for me. It's the right thing to do. So.. thank you to everyone that hasn't given up on me. It means more than you know. Thank you to the people who write that don't even know me, from different states and what not. My love and thank yous to all of you. May God bless everyone of you that takes time out of their day just to think of me and my family. We love you all. God bless you all. Love Mike , Nicole, and the kids."


This is the husband of my friend from jr and high school who is suffering from a VERY aggressive form of throat cancer and going through a second round of high dose chemo. They have 4, beautiful, young children and could use your prayers and encouragement. They really do appreciate comments from everyone so please take the time to note something to them, no matter how small. I think it gives them strength to know they have so many people who care.

Spring Training?

Here is an excerpt from my marathon training blog...

Yeah, except there's really no "spring" to speak of.
We get one nice day, here and there, and then it's back to reality. I have this theory where the weather here is actually the result of another mini-ice-age and that, eventually, we'll have less and less warm days, more and more cold days, and the warm days will shrink to about 4 days of 90 degree weather and the rest will be like Siberia in the winter. It will be a frozen tundra and the glaciers will creep down into Minnesota and we'll have to learn to switch over to snowmobile sleds on our cars instead of wheels. No? It's a working theory. I have about about three or four more decades of data to gather.

Training is going really well. I'm skipping a lot more than I did last year with the half marathon but I think it feels pretty good. I've been skipping only about one day a week (other than the "off" day on the schedule). I think it's good for my muscles to recover and it feels so much better to run the day after a break. I am noticing the long runs don't really wear me out a ALL anymore. I have teeny aches and pains, but nothing that's debilitating or what I would call an "injury"...

If you want to read more, head on over to that blog
If you've already been invited OR you could just send me an email or comment that you want to be invited (I need your email addy). It's not that thrilling, but some people have asked me "how's the training going" and this is your chance to read all about how much I whine about the weather, aches and pains, and brag about how many miles I can run even though I'm a lumpy, lazy, mother of 6.

Oooooo, tempting, isn't it?