So Thankful!

If the only prayer you said in your life was 'thank you,' that would suffice. -Meister Eckhart

I returned back "home" to Atlanta today after a really great Thanksgiving weekend in Summerville. I hadn't been back there since May, which is definitely the longest stretch I've ever gone without going home. It was perfect. I few home on Thanksgiving morning (and even got in a nice little run through the Atlanta airport ... whoops ... I'm not one for being punctual but this was the first time that I was thisclose to missing a flight on my own accord). We ate lots of good food, saw an awesome Widespread Panic show with my Dad, did some good shopping, watched the Gamecocks BEAT Clemson!!!, saw a great friend over coffee, and even got in a good run! I forget that not everywhere is hilly and it was so nice to run on flat ground!

So we are officially T-7 days until the half marathon! I am so excited and don't know how I'll make it through 4 days of working!

All in all, I am incredibly thankful for so many things .... good health to even have trained for this race, great friends and family for supporting me in my quest to find a cure for Crohn's and Colitis ($3800 raised from 83 incredible people!!!), and the opportunity to complete a half marathon with Team Challenge! It's been a great run!

27155

...That's my official race number for the Rock 'n Roll Las Vegas 1/2 Marathon! Yay! It's getting so close and I'm really pretty excited! I just wish it were here already!

We've been getting lots of emails lately from the race itself with all of our information ... for registration, the expo, and the weekend as a whole. It all seems so strange that I've been training for so long and the time is actually here! And it's even crazier that I feel GOOD and know that I'll be able to complete the 13.1 miles relatively easily! Of course I still expect to huff and puff my way through it, and take plenty of walk breaks, but I'll finish in much better shape than when I started training back in August!

There is a system where you can be updated of my status through the race by text message. I think I have to sign people up for it, so leave me a message if you'd like to keep up with my race in progress next weekend! The race itself starts at 6:15am, which I'm a little less than thrilled about it .... but I'm certain that y'all won't be getting text message alerts too early :) Remember, I'm not setting any world records for this race!!

11 miles .... check!

So yesterday came and went .... and I can now say that I've completed an 11 mile run! We did a 6 mile loop followed by a 5 mile loop through Decatur, and it was a perfect morning! It was cool, but sunny and just beautiful!

The first 6 miles were good, and we took a quick pit stop at the Big Peach to use restrooms and get some fuel. The final 5 miles were .... challenging. My run/walk group that I was with decided to run the route backwards. We run this route pretty often, so we thought we'd mix it up a bit. Bad idea, because going backwards means running UP all of the hills. I think we were all struggling, but we finished, and I actually felt pretty good. It's a nice accomplishment to know that I can run 11 miles without completely dying!

Our coaches and mentors have been telling us to practice routines now before race day gets here. That means drinking fluids, eating breakfast, and getting fuel during the race. Well, I'm all for doing the "right thing" with this running stuff, so I decided to buy some Gu energy gel to try out during training. It's what they have during the race, and my sister-in-law uses it all the time during her long runs (she, by the way, finished her 2nd full marathon yesterday .... amazing! WTG Beth!) so I figured it was the cool thing to do. Wrong answer ... that stuff is nasty. I'm such a color/texture person when it comes to food, and I realize that may be some of my issue here, but that Gu stuff is like a thick, bad-tasting jelly. And I don't even like jelly. I guess I thought it'd be more like pudding, and less like a sticky-thick-goopy mess. I was not amused. Guess I'll be trying out other things or just going without. Ugh.

After my run yesterday I came home and slept, which is my favorite thing to do. I really didn't feel too sore, just tired, and feel pretty good this morning too! Knock on wood I'll feel good after Vegas too ... because I sure want to go OUT after the race on Sunday night! :)

3 weeks ... the countdown is on!

Scared!

We are running 11 miles in the morning .... and I'm slightly scared! I've really tried to be good this week, both with eating and with running. I did my 5 miles on Tuesday and felt good after that. And I've tried to eat less crap at work this week (and perhaps the email from our office administrator that said no eating during the day while we're "on the clock" helped too ... HA right, I can't make it through the day without snacking). I ran 4 miles on Thursday night on the treadmill in the gym and felt really good throughout it. I tried to push myself, and finished the run and kept up a 12 minute mile pace the whole time. Doesn't seem like much, I know ... I'm certainly not setting any world records here, but I was pretty impressed with myself!

So of course the night before our longest run yet, I had such great expectations that I was going to eat good and rest up ... nope. I had Mexican and beer with the girls from work. No big deal, I'm sure .... that burrito and queso will give me plenty of fuel for the morning!

Updates to come .... POST 11 miles! :)

Crunch time!

We are less than 4 weeks until Vegas .... whoa! I'm starting to get super excited, but nervous too because I'm not just going to Las Vegas to hang out .... I have to RUN 13.1 miles! I've vowed to try and eat better and really be good this next month until the race, because up until now I've continued to eat like crap. I just love snacks too much ... I'm so guilty of eating ice cream for dinner, lots of cereal, and packing my lunch for work that is similar to a pre-schoolers. Seriously ... everyone makes fun of me because I eat Kid Cuisines, Lunchables, and bring stuff like string cheese and pudding cups to work. I can't help it ... I just love that stuff. Kid Cuisine with the corn dog, french fries, and chocolate pudding with sprinkles is my favorite! (It has corn too ... but I pass on that ... HA!). Not saying I won't continue to eat that stuff, but I'm really trying to not pack 9 extra snacks into my lunch box. So far this week I've only been halfway successful ... I've eaten better for the main course of my lunch, but I bought some Halloween candy on sale this weekend and I've been chowing down. I'm typically not very successful with this kind of stuff, especially when it comes to limiting what I eat! :)

This weekend we are running 11 miles .... oh gosh! It's been rainy and nasty here today because of Ida, so I went to the gym and ran on the treadmill. I decided that I needed to push myself a bit more, and put a time limit on my 5 miles tonight. I did it and actually felt pretty good and accomplished. I tend to struggle for the first 2-3 miles of any of my runs ... and after that I seem to get this second wind and do pretty well. I hope it's the same this weekend for 11 miles!!!

Even though I've met my fundraising minimum (thanks again!!), I am still continuing to fundraise to help find a cure for Crohn's and Colitis! Be sure to visit my website!

Thank you!

Grazie .... Merci ... Danke ... Gracias ... Xie Xie ... Spasiba

I met my fundraising goal today and I am completely humbled by your support! I have been training for the Rock 'n Roll Las Vegas 1/2 marathon for 11 weeks now ... WOW ... and I have officially raised $3700 to help find a cure for Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis! I have had the amazing support of 81 individuals who believe in me and believe that we will one day find a cure for IBD!

In 4 weeks from today, I will have completed my goal of running 13.1 miles! I can't believe that in 4 short weeks, I'll be in Vegas running a half marathon! I am so excited to be there and part of all the excitement!

This past week I just felt kind of yucky, and it definitely had an effect on my run on Saturday morning. We were just doing 6 miles this weekend, which shouldn't be that big of a deal considering we've been doing 6+ miles for like 5 weeks or so. I made it about 2ish miles before I was absolutely beat. I decided to hang back a bit and wait for the walking group. I finished walking the 6 miles with Janet and Hilda, which was nice to get to know other ladies on my team. I don't know what was going on, but I've just felt 'off' all weekend .... not like sickly and bad, but just not necessarily good either.

Today, I went to special mass for Faith and Sharing sponsored by the Ministry to Persons with Disabilities. It was JUST what I needed today, and the Gospel and Homily were so perfect for today. The Gospel reading was from Mark and was about the poor widow who put 2 coins into the treasury .... a perfect message for today when I met my fundraising goals! I am so humbled by the support of all my amazing friends, family, and even strangers who have donated their hard-earned precious coins for a cause. God has certainly placed all of you in my life for a reason and for that I am eternally greatful. Thank you ... thank you .... thank you!

Spirit Guitar!

At every group training run on Saturday, there is a spirit award given in the form of a guitar! The recipient has to add some sort of 'bling' to the guitar during the week and return it to be passed on! I had the guitar 2 weeks ago, and had to add my decorations quickly since I was in Knoxville when it was time to pass it on. I brought it to my friend Jennifer who brought it to the 9-mile group training run last weekend!

Here are some pictures of the guitar I took before and after .... I LOVE doing that kind of stuff and had lots of fun!

This is the guitar before .... how cute!

Everyone who came before me did such a good job .... aside from the Georgia sticker! How ugly! ;)

This is the back of the guitar. I don't know if the picture does it justice, but the sticker on the left says "Are we there yet?" Story of my life during this training ... I'm thinking that very same thought every time I start running!

I decided to decorate the strap! I bought some Vegas-themed buttons and used my really domestic sewing skills to sew them on!

And this is the finished product! I super-glued jewels onto the strap in between all the buttons! I was on the phone with Mandy while I was doing it, and I mayhave had a little mishap with the super glue. Good thing Mandy is so quick with Google! ;)

Thank goodness for best friends!

This past weekend, I headed back to Knoxville for a mini-reunion weekend with 3 of my best friends from grad school. It was a perfect weekend and JUST what I needed to get me through these next few months! I have a love-hate relationship with Knoxville .... I have so many great memories there and made the best friends and got the best Audiology education I could have asked for, but I also spent my entire last year there really sick. It was where I was diagnosed with Crohn's, undiagnosed with Crohn's, and spent my sickest time with Crohn's. I had an awesome doctor in Knoxville though, and I definitely credit him with getting my health to where it is today. So many memories of Knox .... both good and bad!


The weekend with the girls was full of many more memories! We visited with our clinical supervisors on Friday afternoon. We also headed over to UT Hospital, where our friend Ali is currently a patient being treated for a case of C. Diff after just being diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. I hated seeing her there, and I absolutely know what she's going through (I had C. Diff 3 times and it sucks ... no other word for it), but she was in really good spirits. She's a strong girl and under great care from her GI and surgeon, and I know she'll make it through this! It was so strange being on the other side of visiting friends in the hospital .... usually I'm the one in there being all pitiful!


My friend Anna may be the best .... on Friday afternoon I needed to run 9 miles (because I certainly knew that after going out on Friday and Saturday nights I wouldn't want to get up and run in the morning) .... because she volunteered to run with me! She may tell you that I asked her to go, but that's not the truth because she totally volunteered. We ran at Sequoyah Hills, a gorgeous neighborhood right on the river. It was hilly, and we huffed and puffed, but we did it. It was nice to spend time with her and catch up on life, and especially to have someone to do that distance with! It makes it so much easier!


We went out for Halloween on Friday night .... didn't go to the bar until about 12:30, so we were all slightly exhausted but had SO much fun!



We were a pretty festive bunch .... Natalie was a twister board, I was the Statue of Liberty (which was a big hit with the foreigners), Mandy was a peacock, and Anna was a matador. We had a great time dancing and we all loved our props! My light-up torch was so fun!

Saturday was gameday .... YEA! I miss not being a full-time student anymore because it's so much harder to make it to college football games! I know I've mentioned before, but I absolutely love college football. I'd rather nothing else than to watch college football ALL day on Saturdays. I get anxious when I don't know who's winning the game or how my college pick-ems are panning out for the week. With that said, I love the South Carolina/Tennessee game every year because I get to cheer for 2 teams! I consistently wear garnet and black to these games, mostly because it's way cuter than orange, but I'll always wear a Power T tattoo just so I can sing Rocky Top. It rained all day on Saturday .... we tailgated in the rain, we walked in the rain, and we sat through the game in the rain. I'm amazed that I'm not sick this week -- knock on wood -- because it was plain nasty out and I was soaked to the bone. I was a little sad that South Carolina lost (and barely even showed up), but I'm still happy that Tennessee is now only 2 wins away from being bowl eligible.

This was before we got super soaked!

Anyways, the weekend in Knoxville was well worth it, but I'm so tired of traveling! November will be pretty calm, with just a trip home for Thanksgiving weekend. We are less than 5 weeks away from Vegas ..... how exciting!