travel

here, there, and everywhere.

First off, i apologize for my blogging absence. it appears to me, that without running in my life, i have become uninspired. but since people keep hounding about posting a blog, i realized that i’m not the only one who cares about me. good to know!

so now i am back in the blogging world. and while i’ve been gone, here’s what has happened:

1. 10 days ago, i bid farewell to my crutches and my aircast. that’s right, after 28 days of clamoring around and making people my personal servants, i set myself free. they’re currently collecting dust in the corner of my bedroom, and if anyone ever needs to borrow them, i will rent them out for $5 a week.
i have been walking relatively pain free since then and doing some light biking, swimming and walking. mark these days on your calendar, folks: July 25 i will make my celebrated return to the softball field. ok, so i’m probably the only one who will be celebrating, but still…… July 29 i will lace up my running shoes, slap on my Garmin and jog away. ok, so i’ll probably only go less than or equal to 1/2 mile, but this is a huge deal for me.

2. hmmm…what else have i been doing?? working, celebrating my 24th bday, laying by the pool, enjoying the Prairie Village waterslides, went home to visit the family for the 4th, and spent a much needed vacation in Seattle with Seattle Boy.
that trip was my main motivation to rid myself of the crutches. although they would have garnered me a pre-boarding privilege, i never would’ve been able to enjoy the trip to its fullest. Seattle is a lot hillier than i had envisioned and we did quite a bit of walking downtown and around Bainbridge Island.
it is certain that i would’ve beat someone up due to frustration and pain had i been on crutches. it is certain that someone would’ve been Seattle Boy.
the only bad apart about the trip was that the weekend i visited, there was a half marathon and marathon taking place only a few miles from where we were. http://www.seafairmarathon.com/ had i been healthy, i would’ve entered, but i was forced to sit this one out.
ho-hum…..maybe next year.

17 days until i run.

nothing too exciting. just a photo op with john bingham at the expo, pre-race photo with teammates, 6:24 clock shot (the moment i thought my leg would snap), and some glamour shots from the ambulance & hospital.

you stay classy, San Diego.

It’s almost here!!!! In about 9 hours, i will start running the most exciting and scariest race of my life. I’m feeling very optimistic about it, even though my leg is still being a bother. But i’m going to look past that and enjoy the entire experience. The people, the music, the challenge, the extreme excitement of running my first marathon.

Tonight we had the TNT pasta party and it was SO inspiring to see over six thousand participants, coaches, and honored patients. And it reminded me of just what I am running 26.2 miles for. I know that no matter how much pain i may be going through tomorrow, that is nothing is comparison to what cancer patients and their families go through. So i’m running this for all of them. But mostly in honor of Brita. And in loving memory of Aunt Dana and Grandma Strahm.

i’ve been reading through all the encouraging letters and emails i’ve recieved throughout my training and they make me want to go out there and run, run, run.

This isn’t going to be easy. I know that. But this isn’t going to so hard that i can’t finish it. It’s going to be the most amazing experience of my life. so far.

my 3:30 am wake-up time is getting closer, so i head to bed with this as my inspiration:
‘I can do all things through Him who strengthens me’ Phillipians 4:13

i’m off to San Diego today, and i’m taking this bum leg with me. will it suck it up and work like a champion? or will it be a wimp and refuse to work?

i have no idea.

and that’s what scares me the most.

less than 48 hours until the marathon and the update on my leg is not much better than my last blog. it still hurts. still throbs. still makes me frustrated and nervous. on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being awesome….it’s about a 6.5 right now. and that’s where it’s been the past few days.

but, oh well. here i go. i’m gonna give it all i’ve got and run, run, kitkat.

yeah, so about that……i think it drained my blogging energy. i really couldn’t think of much else to tell about other than- yeah, i ran 18 miles. So, I’ve finally gotten around to posting a new blog. My shins and hip were being very stubborn the first 3 miles, but I gave them a pep talk and told them that they still had 15 miles to go, so they might as well stop complaining. The rest of the run felt great, and i was just on a mission to finish as soon as possible so I could drive home for Easter. Post-run, I stopped at the grocery store and bought $7 worth of ice and I got some weird looks from the early morning elderly shoppers. They were probably thinking, That girl must be having a party. And, on Easter weekend? What is this world coming to? If only they knew that i was going home to sit in all that ice and actually enjoy it. It was great to go home and spend time with my family and hear their words of encouragement and awe for my training, but really it’s them that should be applauded for helping me get to where I am today. so thanks, guys. And another BIG THANKS to everyone who has donated. I can’t express how much it means to me to have your support and I’m floored by your generosity. Although, there are still some of you who haven’t donated….you know who you are. I’ll be hunting you down.

I finally got my pictures back from St. Louis, and let me just say that it doesn’t work too great to take pictures while running. I did manage to get a few decent ones though.

I am hooked. Hooked on the half-marathon. Hooked on all that surrounds race day. I ran my first official half-marathon on Sunday in St. Louis, and i couldn’t have been more scared/excited about the whole thing. I was just a little concerned since my right hip developed a mysterious bruise last week and has been having a reoccuring pain that kept flaring up. My hips seem to be a little off-kilter. Plus, walking around downtown STL probably wasn’t the best idea, but we got a little disoriented on our way to packet pick-up. Still, i knew that a little hip pain wasn’t going to keep me from running. No way, Jose.

Race day, I woke up before my alarm even went off at 4:45 am, well rested, wide awake and ready to run. Shoveled a Power Bar in my mouth, downed a Powerade and Crystal & I headed to the start line with some fellow TNT runners. After a last minute dash to the restroom (thank goodness for the indoor restrooms at the Hyatt; I avoided using a port-a-pottie all weekend), I found Crystal amidst the throng of runners right as the gun went off. As mentioned before, my goal was 2:15, so we started with the 4:30 marathon pace group. i think Crystal thought we were in the 3:30 pace group, because she led us through the stampede of runners at lightning speed. I was just so super excited I didn’t even notice we were cruising along at an 8 min pace until we reached the first water stop, and I decided that it would probably be in my best interest to slow down for the sake of my hip/shins/heart/every other body part.

I sent Crystal on ahead as I slowed down to a 9 minute pace, much more comfortable for my hip. It was slightly painful for the first 3 miles, and then it just kinda disappeared as the pack headed into the Budweiser brewery around mile 4.
After that point, I felt pretty great and just settled into an 8:45 pace for a couple miles. I carried a disposable camera with me, so I was just out to enjoy the scenery and aim towards my 2:15 finish goal. Feeling good, I had the 4:00 marathon pace group in my sights and set my goal to pass them and stay in front of them the rest of the 7 miles. The remainder of the race felt great, despite a minor twinge in my left ankle and lack of foresight on my behalf to carry some Gu. thankfully, i was gifted some unknown type of gel at mile 10. From then on, it was pretty much all downhill from there, as i pushed myself on towards the finish with the Gateway Arch shining brightly in the Sunday morning sun ahead of me.

I sprinted across the finish line with a stellar first half-marathon time of 1:55, good enough for 1435th place out of about 6,500 half-marathoners, and an avg. 8:48 pace. Yippeee! you know what that means…..new sexy sandals for me. And since I ran a sub 2 hour, I think i’ll buy myself a cool new pair of running shorts. Some with little mesh pockets, so I won’t have any excuse in the future not to carry my own Gu.
Things I learned from my first official long distance race:
1. Always remember to pick up safety pins at the Expo….or just bring a bunch with me.
2. Make sure I have my own Gu with me.
3. Best t-shirt of the day award goes to this guy: How’s my running? Call 1-800-LIMP.
4. I need to get myself a KitKat cheer squad.
5. above all, it’s more about having fun than running fast.

yes, i know. my blogging has been a little lax this past week, but for very good reason. I was sunning and running in Californ-i-a. I flew out Thursday night to visit my friend Kaddie in Malibu and woke up Friday morning to 73 degrees and sunny weather, so I headed to Zuma Beach for my weekly long run. Thankfully, this week it was only an 8 miler. There’s a 5 mile long boardwalk that I spent some time on, but most of my run was surfside in the sand, which I LOVE, for the sake of my shins, plus the extra workout it gives my legs. Beach running is just so much fun to me. The run felt really great, and I finished in 71 minutes, great pace considering the sand running.

I took a break from running on Saturday and Sunday, since shopping in Santa Monica, touring Hollywood and walking around Disneyland all day gave my legs plenty to complain about. That’s right, I finally got to go to Disneyland. I felt like a 7 year old trapped in a 23 year old body.
But Monday, I was back out to the beach, this time I headed a little south to Will Rogers State Beach, near Santa Monica. I had to soak in all the California running i could get before I headed back to Kansas. I spent most of the run on the concrete path, and surprisingly my shins did not hurt at all. I think they were just happy to be in Cali.

I got 13 miles of spectacular running in during my vacation, now I just have to get out of the post-vacation funk and get ready for this saturday’s 16 miles, and the St. Louis Half Marathon next weekend. Springtime in Katieland is just full of excitement!