Respect the Distance

I recently saw an add by Pearl Izumi, although I don't agree with everything that was said I do agree with one thing, "respect the marathon." I am not a fast runner, as a matter of fact over the past two years I have gotten much slower. Do I want to be behind most of the crowd? NO. As my health improves so does my speed, I don't think that should be important though. It should be important that I am out there, doing my best, not someone elses best, MY best. It has been almost 5 years since I first saw an advertisement for the Walt Disney World 2008 marathon, I couldn't even run a block without thinking I was done for. That add got me moving, it got me moving all the way to the finish line 7 months after seeing it. It took me 7 hours, it is the medal I am most proud of, I did it, me, the couch potato. Since then I have done a few more marathons, a lot of half marathons, a few other distances and have enjoyed the journey. It hasn't always been easy, and the past year and half has been agonizing at times. I am slow, I am slower then I have been, but I am faster than I was. I respect the distance, any distance because any distance is more then no distance. 

WOW, almost to Thanksgiving!

This year is just flying by! It seems as if I blinked and October was gone and now we are halfway thru November. Well, fun things that happened in October would be the Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon - really a half but this is the name they chose, lol and also LOTS of folks in for the Marine Corps Marathon on Halloween. Per docs orders I walked Myrtle Beach and only did the 10k at Marine Corps, but spent much of the day chEARing on the marathoners. My HERO of the day was an Marine Wounded Warrior. He was on a crank bike, escorted by fellow marines, fighting hard to finish, and the only limb he still had was his left arm. I was amazed and inspired by him in so many ways. There were many Wounded Warriors on the course, but he summed up the word courage for me. Semper Fi. 

The not so fun thing, but definitely a step in the right direction, is that after 15 months of migraines, body pain, and stress, I have finally been diagnosed. Fibromyalgia. This is not something that I knew/know much about but I have been reading up on everything I can find. It is considered a chronic pain issue, and apparently the central nervous system causes a chemical imbalance in the brain which causes your body to react in various ways. It can mimic other diseases - like Lupas, rheumatoid arthritis and even MS, all things they checked me for. I have talked to a few people that have it and they have told me not to expect to run marathons anymore, but my doctor says if we can get me properly medicated and the pain under control there is no reason why I can't try. I have set my goal as the New York Marathon 2011, I had to defer this year because of my illness, but am in for next year. I would like to just feel like 'me' again and I know having a goal will really help. 

No big plans for Thanksgiving, just the 5 of us, but Zaki and I are already working on some little projects for the table. We just got the basement re-carpeted so the the kids are back in their playroom and I can reclaim my scraproom as mine again. I am excited about all the holiday projects I have ideas for, and thanks to everyone at SCS and The Greeting Farm for help in emptying my bank account I have tons of product to work with. ;-)

Baltimore Half

Well, Saturday was beautiful weather for a race. High of 66, perfect for a few hours on the course. As usually Baltimore impressed - or freaked me out depending on where I was - with its hills. Per Doc's orders, yes, I am actually listening (mostly, lol), I walked the entire course with the exception of the very beginning and a few downhills that I couldn't contain myself on, finishing in 3:28. I was happy to keep under the 3:30 mark with all that walking and it keeps me hopeful that walking the Myrtle Beach Half next weekend won't be do bad since it is all flat. Mustapha had a great run, finishing in 2:12, not a PR for him, but great considering the hills. Both of us felt pretty beat up on Sunday, which was a complete shock, I think we both said we felt like we did a full instead of a half. I can't remember the last time my legs felt like this, even stranger is the fact that they hurt this much from walking, lol!

I promise to take it easy for the next couple of days, which will be super easy since UPS says that my delivery from Stampin' Up is on my porch. I will run home at lunch to stick it inside since we are supposed to get rain this afternoon and then I will through the fixings for chili in the crockpot so that dinner will be very easy, and this way I can spend more time playing with my new stuff. 

Peace and Pixie Dust!

Which One???

Ok, so along with my recent discoveries of things I NEED to have are these cute little stamps at La-La Land Crafts. I am totally in LOVE with the Luka Pirate and thought that would be my first stamp from them - then they came out with 3 new designs, just in time for the holidays! Choices, choices, choices!!!!!

Make sure you check them out, you can do a fun Blog Hop and see some fabulous ideas and they also have a chance for you to win Blog Candy, YUM!

http://lalalandcrafts.blogspot.com/2010/10/weve-got-more-new-stamps-for-you.html

New Dirction

Well, this has been a crazy year! So far I have gone Goofy in January, (Disney's Goofy Challenge where you run the Donald Half Marathon on Saturday and the Mickey Full Marathon on Sunday), went back for the Princess Half Marathon in March. April and May I challenged myself with 5 Halfs in 4 weeks (yep you read that right, one weekend had 2 halfs). September I completed the Coast 2 Coast Challenge by running the Disney Land Half Marathon and I also did the Philly Rock & Roll Half in the middle of the month. This weekend I will complete the Maryland Double by walking the Baltimore Half and next weekend I will be walking the Myrtle Beach Half. That's right, walking. My doc has finally put the brakes on my running activities until they find out whats wrong with me. HAHA, I know you are offering all sorts of suggestions but in this case it's the 15 month migraine that has finally caused them to say I need to give my body a break and work on figuring out what is wrong with me.

So, since I apparently have extra time on my hands - especially since I had to defer the New York Marathon in November and won't have to spend my evenings and weekends training - I get to more time to play with my first love, crafting. For the first time ever, I have spent the last year NOT working on my scrapbooks, cards or crafts and I miss it. It was sort of hard to fit in with the training and 3 kids. Boy oh boy do I have a lot to catch up on! Zaki and I have already started a cute little project for his class for Halloween and I think the break I took allowed me to loosen my "lets make it perfect" reigns and let him really do his thing. It has been great to just have this time to play, not trying to fit it in around the 2 million other things that seem to pop up when you work full time and have 3 boys and spouse - who is still fitting in all his training, lol.

I'm anxious to see where this new journey takes me, hopefully playing in my craft room will keep me sane - and won't break the bank!