When Life gives you Lemons...

As if training to run a marathon with no natural athletic ability wasn't hard enough, try training with a fractured heel. Add to it, the fact that it was misdiagnosed for the last six weeks. I guess in a way I am relieved, I was beginning to think this was just a typical running injury and that I would just have to learn to run through the pain (which is what I was doing). When the podiatrist looked at the x-ray it took him exactly 30 seconds to say look there are two fractures running through your heel, you aren't running anywhere, time for a cast.

My world crashed, I fell apart, suddenly nothing mattered more then this marathon I have been training for. I don't know how to explain it, I am no trooper, I usually look for a way out of things, I am notorious for the stack of unfinished projects in my closet, the big ides I have but never execute and the things I walk away from when they get to hard or complicated. Not this time, people have believed in me enough to sponsor me, I am doing it to honor the memory of my step-father and I am going to do my very best to finish this.

After some discussion (I cried and begged) we compromised on a walking cast that I can remove to do swimming pool running and I can do some cardio training. There is a chance I will not actually be able to run on pavement until the actual day of the marathon but with the supervision of my doctor for my foot and the guidance of my coach for training I still have a chance.

This is how I see it, I could quit now and I would fail, or I could fail at mile 10 of the marathon and at least I could say I did everything I physically and mentally to finish what I started. I am beginning to see that perhaps that is what a marathon is all about, not necessarily a medal or a finish line.

The Marathon with no end!

It is already July, where do the weeks go? They wrap themselves around the days; first the hours and then the minutes disappear. My physical body continues to age and yet my mind seems to be growing younger with new discovery, knowledge and enlightenment. I guess that is the purpose of children, they serve as visual reminders that our time to explore and learn is only a precious and fleeting glance. Watching the development of a child you see just how brief the duration of time is to a physical body. It works in reverse as well; watching a person succumb to the ravages of Alzheimer's disease you are watching a lifetime of gained knowledge and experiences shatter into fragments the brain can no longer match. What was once a treasure eventually just disappears.

So, to try and capture any one particular point in one's life and say "this is my "now", my moment, I am ready" would really be a futile exercise in ignorance. I don't think I will ever have learned or experienced all I want to know in this life.

Will I ever walk away from Van Gogh's painting the "Mulberry Tree" and say "That is it, that was his last brush stroke, now I understand what he was trying to say"? I hope not, nor do I think I will I ever say I understand God or my purpose on this planet.

What I can say, and what I do know is this; I know beauty when I feel it, I know I am here to be of service to my fellow human beings and I am here to be source of love and not hate. These sound like simple concepts when in reality I seem to spend quite a bit of time grappling with them.

I can sum it up like this, I have figured out that I am merely in my infancy of knowledge, entering kindergarten if you will. I am packing up my backpack and setting off to school. I am anxiously looking forward to the friends I will meet, the teachers whom will inspire me, the struggles, the tests, victories, field trips and yes, even the difficulties and obstacles.

As I have proceeded along this Marathon journey I have figured out the trip may be longer than I originally anticipated. Perhaps it is good that my math skills are so weak, that way I won't realize how far I still have left to go. I may not know where the finish line is but one thing I do know know; the journey is sure to be fabulous!

We take a Hostage

I am desperately trying to reach my sponsorship goal by the July 10th deadline. Most people on my team just send reminder e-mails out to their co-workers every pay-day. Problem for me, I don't have a job and I have spent most of my time volunteering in public schools. I absolutely love the people I work with there and many of them have already sponsored me but how to you continue to ask people for money that 1. work for schools that are about to take three months off without pay, 2. Have just been hit with lay-offs and know there are more to come and 3. don't get paid enough in the first place?

Well, sad to say, I resorted to kidnapping, yes, I stole the mascot, actually Jake did it. We also followed the government (Bush administration) approved guidelines for torture and we made a video so they would know I am serious. I am hoping this ploy works and that it works fast, mostly because I don't want to be stuck with this giant bear at my house much longer. My husband actually suggested he take a picture of myself and the bear "spooning" in bed last night. I hope I don't have to go there!

Senior Discount for Me!

I just celebrated my last birthday in my thirties. I really hadn't minded getting older since I had always equated it with gaining wisdom as well. Unfortunately since I have been sidelined from running these past three weeks I have had some time to think, always a bad idea. I think I have help up fairly well for my age. I mean, I am no spring chicken, but I have never been mistaken for a senior citizen or anything. Whenever my kids tease me about being old I just tell them you are lucky I am so hot! At the L.A. Marathon I volunteered at a water stop at the 19 mile mark. That means on each side of the street there are about 30 to 40 volunteers standing there with their arms outstretched holding little cups of sticky Gatorade for people to run by and grab, they keep running, drink and throw the cup on the ground. We scream and yell encouraging remarks, some runners look happy, some about to collapse, you get the picture. At one point a nice looking man in his 50's actually stopped in front of me, took his drink and said "I always stop at the prettiest girls to get my drink". It is so uncommon for someone to stop like that, the volunteers around me all came up to see what he said. I was very flattered. When I got home, happy and glowing from the compliment and told my husband what had happened this was his first remark "Where you the only girl there?" So now I am not so sure I want to get older, apparently I will be okay as long as I am the last woman on earth!

I'm A Runner Now!

I did it! I competed in, and finished my first "official" event. Last weekend I ran in the Los Angeles Marathon 5K run! This was my test to see if I liked running in an organized event and I could do it without looking like a moron. I was also a water volunteer in the "Big Race" at mile 19. Let me summarize my experience for you.

In order to complete this race, which was just a brief training distance at this point in my training, I had been doing some extra mileage and hill training. Well, at this point my body got wind of this whole marathon concept, apparently, you cannot go from being a non-athlete to a "super-athlete" (sort-of) without consulting your body. So, I took a few days off to rest a sore knee, then my first day back at training I suddenly experienced a pain in my heel that reminded me of giving birth. Of course I finished that run but the next day when I couldn't even stand on that foot, I had to seek medical advice. Nothing broken just a torn fascia thing in my foot. I guess it's this muscle thing that runs under your foot. Medical advice, stay off of it for a few weeks. What I hear, run the 5K, then see a specialist and rest it a bit.

So race day morning, I limp downtown to the starting line with my guys. There was excitement in the air. People stretching, warming up, eating protein supplements and such. Get ready, Get set, oops every one takes off in a large heard! So I ran, not very fast, but amazingly it hurt less to run than walk. There were people lined up all the way cheering, volunteers giving out water and even a gospel choir singing. I knew I would fall behind the guys due to my foot and I didn't bring my I-pod so I found myself making up running themed commercials for all of the fast food restaurants as I ran by them. Pretty soon I was running ole' past McDonald's, running for the border, running with Jack, etc. Before I knew it there was the finish line, I was greeted with my medal and cheers from my team just like I had completed the marathon not a 5K. We posed for pictures and then I limped over for my free banana and nuts!

Everyone treated us like we were Olympic athletes, and some people looked like they had just run 50 miles when they reached the finish line. My favorite competitor had to be the woman who was complaining as she jogged, lighting and smoking cigarette after cigarette. I guess the race coordinators never thought to post no smoking signs along the route!

Now we were off to volunteer at water stop 19, I couldn't wait to see what someone looks like at mile 19, I'll save that for my next post!

The new men in my life!

These are the new men in my life! I know I have always been too much of a woman for one man to handle so now, I have a whole team! These guys really rock my world! I don't get out of bed at 6:00 am on on a Saturday morning for just anyone. We secretly meet every Thursday night in Lot G (along with a herd of bikers and a zillion runners) for a 3 mile rendezvous followed by a romantic dinner.

This is not an exclusive relationship, we see other people, in fact there are even a few more people in our group, but these guys regularly leave me gasping for breath (or maybe that is the running.) Our relationship goes in cycles, one minute, then three minutes. We are planning a getaway together to Hawaii in September. They don't don't judge me by my Spandex and they didn't even laugh at me when I cried because running sucks! If you ever seriously consider running a marathon I would highly recommend your own running affair, you know the saying misery loves company and I LOVE MY COMPANY!

The Breast is Best for Knee(me)!

I often take pride in my ability to utilize my "inner Martha Stewart" to come up with creative ideas but I am especially proud of my latest innovations! Now you may think that in order to run a marathon, you must also be able to walk, this is apparently, a misconception. It turns out there are a variety of leg and foot ailments that while, keeping you from being able to walk, are in no way supposed to limit your training. Oh yes, they do hurt, but that is what makes you tough!

The only relief for my poor, aching, swollen knees is ice -lots and lots of ice. While searching through my deep freeze for a long lost bag of frozen vegetables to use for an ice bag, I came upon the ice packs that were used in my breast pump and diaper bags to keep breast milk cold, BINGO! They are perfect for my knees and after nursing four kids, I have plenty of them. This got me thinking, one of the other problems my feet are having is cracking and bleeding from the special running socks that do some special moisture thing, BINGO again, sounds like cracked nipples, I knew I must have some nipple cream somewhere, and sure enough I did. A few days later, I am still hobbling, but with less swelling and no more cracked heels! I wonder what I can use the extra bottle liners and diaper rash cream for!