Thank You Shelby!!

Here is my sister Shelby. She is the real hero in all of this. This is her 2nd 1/2 marathon since she got cancer. She is AMAZING. I fully made her walk way more than she wanted to and she made me laugh and smile for 13.1 miles. Who could do that?? I love her and I'm so glad she made me do something so hard.


Here is the whole crew. My little brother Jamey started training in Jan. like the rest of us and he is some kind of running prodigy. It's sick really. Everything he tries he succeeds at. He was amazing!! Shelby's husband Jaymee ran like the wind also and did amazing. And then there is Jeff. He trained like 4 times. He didn't buy any new shoes or clothes. And that brat got out there and also ran like a total champ - staying up with Sara for 10 miles!! Way to go. He schooled me by like 40 minutes! He is amazing. He too can do anything he tries. I am so proud of him too. Our great friend Sara is also awesome and even schooled Jeff. Way to go Sara!

Lexi really wanted to run with us and started training but fractured her foot and couldn't run with us. But she cheered us on and laughed a lot and we needed her there. I love my sisters.


Ok - something wierd kicked in about mile 7. I'm not sure what it was. Maybe it was this illusive "runner's high" I have heard so much about. Maybe it was the magic caffiene beans we started eating. Maybe it was the fact that I was doing something so hard for me and not dying - I don't know but I got really crazy. I started high fiving everyone I could see and just went a little nuts. As you can tell by the pictures straight after the race. I look high! It was so fun. I really loved it.

The rest of these pictures are just pre-race fun and night before jitter pictures. I was scared to death and Shelby was delighted. I had a blast with my family and I am so glad I did this. I will fix this later and organize it better but for now I just wanted to get the pictures up before I left for Utah.






And this last one is because for one day I really was a celebrity! Yea me! Yea Prices! Yea Team In Training. Yea to all of you who helped us raise over $4,000 for cancer research. It felt really really neat to feel I was part of something so big and that I helped make a difference.

I did it!!!

When I get back in town I will post all the pictures and talk all about it but I just want to say that I CAN DO HARD THINGS!!!!!!!! I ran the half-marathon today in Nashville and it was great! I had a blast.
SEE YA!

Discouragement

When Shelby asked me to run this race back in January I thought, "This is crazy! I don't do any exercise - how am I going to run 13.1 miles in just 3.5 months?" But then I thought I couldn't say no. It's for cancer research. It's for Dad and Yuko and Grandma Marge and mostly - for SHELBY. So I bought some shoes and started running. And it hurt. And I hated it. But I kept going. I think deep inside I envisioned myself becoming this great runner. I imagined being all skinny and perfect and happy like all the runner girls I know. To put it bluntly - I was going to excel at this. So I ran. And at first I couldn't even run to the next light post. But then I made it two and then three. And all the while my calves were killing me. And then I went one mile without stopping and I cried. I was so proud. And my calves were killing me. But I kept on going. I have gone 127 miles now in preparing for this race. That is 5 full marathons if lumped all together. And guess what? A week away from this race I still hate it. My calves have never adjusted and kill every time I run more than a mile. So now I walk run. Run a little, walk a little. I went nine miles the other day, pushing two babies in a double stroller. I was exhausted and it took too much time. Why??? Why??? Why didn't I excel at this? Why am I not a runner yet? Why do I want to stop? I know there is a great gospel analogy in here about some people have some gifts while others are given others. We don't all get all gifts. Christy H. can sing like an angel and is BEAUTIFUL and started running and is great at it. She got all the gifts. Why not me? Shelby can go 13 miles without stopping and she has messed up radiated cancer lungs. Why not me? Blah blah boo hoo. I'm just sad that I didn't end up a runner. But, actually I am glad cuz remember, I hate running!
And PS - I've gone 127 miles and haven't lost 1 pound.

But we did reach our goal and have raised almost $4000!! That's something! Yea for great friends and family.

Dream Day

If this happened to me in a train station I would be forever happy. Would someone arrange this for me. Thanks.

Sound of music

A Great Potty Training tip

I think one way to help with potty training your boys is to accidentally slam the toilet seat down on their extended unit while they are trying to go. . . I think this will lead to a lot less anxiety the next time we try. DANG IT!!

April Fools

Lizzy and Cody got me so good on April Fools day. It went like this. "Mom - go up and take a shower and we'll be really good kids."



Then in unison, "APRIL FOOLS!"

What funny, funny kids.

****WE MET OUR GOAL FOR OUR RACE!!!! THANKS TO ALL YOU DONATED! WE LOVE YOU.