A kind word

Sometimes a friend will tell you exactly what you need to hear at a given time.  And it is even better when it is someone with whom you haven't spoken with in quite a while. 

I have really been struggling with body image lately.  The past few weeks have been really difficult for me.  And I don't want to talk about it too much or dwell on it because I don't respond well to focusing on my body.  It tends to take me down a dark path to places I don't want to go.  And I have many friends who also struggle in this area, and I would hate for something I say to derail someone else's recovery.  So, I have been suffering silently.  And, trying to focus on the good.

My body can do so much for me!  (It's a great mantra....when it works.) 

The mantra hasn't been working much for me lately.  I get stuck focusing on the negative:  the weight I've gained, the way my body looks, the difficulties I have trying to log more miles and increase my endurance.  In the back of my mind, I have horrible, negative, debilitating thoughts that threaten to send me back down the same spiral that I dug myself out of more than two years ago.

But, today, I got a great message from a good friend who I haven't seen in a couple years.  Someone who knew my past struggles and could even relate to them in her own way.  In three short sentences, she put a smile on my face and really brightened my mood.  She encouraged me and gave me a little permission to offer myself grace.  I am very grateful for this wonderful, beautiful woman and I feel so blessed to have her in my life.  And I miss her desperately.

What is the nicest thing a friend has told you recently?

I hate driving in the rain

What a crazy drive to Madison!  The wind and rain were horrible.  For a time, between Wausau and Stevens Point, we were driving less than 40 miles and hour and the visibility was next to nothing.  It seemed like forever, but we finally made it to Madison and got to Fleet Feet to pick up the race packets for tomorrow's race.  I am bummed that Holly won't be running it with me.  I have been looking forward to running with my sister, but she needs to take care of her back and heal well so that she can keep playing volleyball.  And, hopefully, she can run with me another time.

After picking up the registration, we drove over to my aunt's house.  And, as per usual, she had a feast ready for us.  There was chicken in gravy, couscous, broccoli, green beans with almonds, veggies and dip, yummy rolls and a chocolate cake to die for!  I think I have definitely loaded up on calories for the race.

Now we are getting tucked into our hotel for the night.  The hotel is great (I'll have pics later) and I am hoping to sleep like a baby and be to the chip pick up at 8:00 tomorrow morning.  Wish me luck!!

And, good luck to my friend Bryon who is running the Illinois marathon this weekend; Becky and Rob who are running the Illinois marathon relay; Liz, Becky and Beth who are all running the Eau Claire half marathon. 

Coffee date

I had a great coffee date this morning.  Liz and I decided to meet up and check out the new coffee shop in Colby.  I say 'new' but I think they have been open for about 8 or 9 months now.  I guess I'm a little late.

I had a latte and it was pretty good.  But it was great to catch up with a friend and just get to know each other better.  :-)  I hope we will do this again.


Then it was time to come home and pack for the weekend.  Fortunately, I had help.

I also got distracted by some flowers.

Okay, now I must finish packing for the weekend and clean the bathroom
 I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, especially those of you who are also running races.

Where to begin?

I have so many things to tell you guys.  I'll start with Crazy Legs.  It was madness!  I have never seen so many people in one place all lined up to run in the rain.  Actually, the rain held off during the race.  (Thank you, God.)

I left my Aunt Sharon's house a little after 8:00 because I knew that it would be insanity trying to find a parking spot.  And it was.  Sharon and I had talked about the two free parking spots near Camp Randall.  Well, both of those were full.  She had also mentioned to me that there was a school on Mills that a friend of hers was going to use to park.  She told me that I should go down past the Eye Clinic to find it.  Well, as soon as I saw the Eye Clinic and it's empty parking lot, I knew that my search was over!

But, let me start from the beginning.  I told you guys yesterday about my CMA exam and that I passed!!  Yippee!  On the way to the testing site, I stopped by the Kohl Center to pick up my race registration packet.

I got there about 20 minutes before the doors opened and there was a line.  There weren't that many people in front of me, but people kept showing up.  By the time they opened the doors, the line was around the corner and up the block.

The CrazyLegs people do a really good job of organizing.  I really have to had it to them.  There were more than 20,000 runners and everything about the entire event was pretty easy for me to navigate.

You know it is a big race, when they have to subdivide the runners whose last names start with 'O.'

There was this cute older couple who was volunteering at the T-shirt area.  They were really adorable and seemed to be having such a good time talking to everyone and just spending time with each other.  Of course, I was one of the first ones in the door.  I hope they were still enjoying it 8 hours later. 

So, fast forward to race morning, I am dressed warmly, parked at the Eye Clinic and heading to Camp Randall to catch one of the many shuttle buses to the Capital Square.

Once we got dropped off at the Square, I was amazed at all the people.  And, again, at the organization.  Oh, and for my NY friends, here is Madison's version of the Flatiron Building.

The Capital Square is beautiful and I just couldn't stop looking at the gorgeous pink tulips!  I wasn't the only one taking pictures of them.

I was in Wave Z, which was right in the middle of the pack.  There were 52 waves....A-Z and aa-zz. 
Looking ahead to Wave Y.

And back....

I even noticed people in the windows of the hotel who were watching all the commotion.

And this guy had one of the best seats in the house.

We even had some pre-race entertainment.  This guy was very talented.

I knew that my friend Jeremy was somewhere in the sea of 20,000 people.  I didn't know where, but I was silently wishing him well.  I haven't seen him in quite a few years.  So, imagine my surprise when I turn around to see....

This was the coolest surprise ever!  What are the odds that we would wind up in the same wave and get to start the race together?  What a great day!

We finally made our way to the starting line.

And, we're off!!
A nice steady climb to start the race.  It didn't seem to faze me much because I (characteristically) started much faster than I wanted to.

There was a nasty hill in the second mile that just about killed me.  I totally wasn't prepared for it and at one point I looked down at my Garmin to see that I was running at about a 14:00/mile pace.  Yikes!

But, I just kept truckin' along.  I saw my Aunt Sharon out on Observatory Drive and was thrilled to be able to ditch my jacket and leave it with her.  I would have been fine to leave it around my waist, but I was afraid it was covering my race bib and I wanted to be able to search for pictures of myself later and I knew that I would need my bib to be visible.

The race finishes inside Camp Randall Stadium.  We actually run onto the field and finish at the 50-yard line.  Pretty cool.  There is a band and tons of cheering fans.  It was awesome!

I would definitely run this race again.  The energy was incredible.  The race was very well organized and it was so much fun.  I just hope that the sun comes out next year.

Here are my stats from the Garmin:
Mile 1: 8:47  (wow!)
Mile 2:  9:23 (including killer hill)
Mile 3:  9:34
Mile 4:  9:26
Mile 5: 9:16

My Garmin recorded the race distance as 5.01 miles.

Official total from CrazyLegs officials:  20,450 participants!  Wow!

Jeremy finished in 48:27.  Great job.  He crushed his goal time.

Happy birthday Mikayla

Some days there is nothing better than a good massage.  Today was one of those days.  I was treated to a great massage from the wonderful staff at Back to Bliss.  I love them!  And I really love a massage that incorporates lots of stretches and that is just what I got from Cheryl today.  Hip stretches, calves, glutes, IB bands, arms, shoulders.  I could have laid there all day.  I feel so much better. 

Alas, the rest of my day is now calling me.  I picked up Jaden from preschool and we are having some lunch....that bears a striking resemblance to breakfast.  Jaden had some Rice Krispies and I am enjoying a really yummy bowl of pumpkin oatmeal.
It has:
oatmeal
flax
berries
banana
2 scoops of pumpkin
1 scoop of peanut butter

I could easily eat a variation of this for almost every meal and be a very happy lady!

My good friend JJ is having a baby today.  Welcome to the world, Mikayla.  You are a very blessed little girl.  You have two wonderful sisters and parents who love you immensely.  They are going to bring you up in the Lord and teach you what you need to know to follow Him.

Is it just me, or does it seem that everyone is having babies right now?  I have another baby shower to go to on Saturday.

A new day

A five-mile run and one phone call later, and I am feeling better.  Things get crazy in life sometimes.  It is important to take care of the relationships that matter to you.  I know that I am guilty of getting swept up in the day to day drudgery of life, but I need to be more intentional when it comes to the people I care about.  I don't want to go so long without connecting to these people that I fail to notice when they are going through a rough patch.

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. 
            Hebrews 3:13

 

BBQ time

We had a fantastic time and Teena and Abie's tonight for dinner.  Abie was going crazy at the grill. 

I had a couple pieces of this chicken and it was great.  There was also a wonderful sun-dried tomato pork loin.  That was probably the highlight of everyone's plates.  I skipped the brats, hot dogs and burgers.  But I did enjoy some of the pasta salad, steamed broccoli, corn bread muffins and veggies and dip.

Seriously, how cute is Micah?  I could just squeeze him!

The kids all had a blast.  Yes, that is my son trying to teeter-totter by himself.

But he also picked me some flowers.  He's the best.



After we caught the end of Phil Michelson winning the Master's (yay!), we had to go out and make smore's. 

The kids quickly got bored of roasting the marshmallows and left that task to those of us with patience.  But, they quickly returned to eat up the spoils of our labor.

I definitely over-indulged this evening.  I am going to try not to beat myself up over it.  Tomorrow is another day.  I really enjoyed the company and conversation and I'm pretty sure that Jaden had a fantastic time.