Celebrate Fitness 10K Race Recap

Ok, ok, so the Celebrate Fitness event for the Young Women’s Breast Cancer Program at Siteman was, mmmm, a little over a week ago and I’m JUST NOW writing the recap.  Seems to be par for the course like my other blog entries, wouldn’t ya say?

BUT, nevertheless, here I am to give you a play by play step by step of the event (well, maybe not quite).

 

Celebrate Fitness is a yearly event held on the campus of Washington University as a fundraiser for the Young Women’s Breast Cancer Program at Siteman Cancer Center…hey, that’s ME!!

 

The YWBCP is a great source of information and support for all us under 40s who have been diagnosed with breast cancer.  We are definitely in the minority in the breast cancer population so there is so much need for a program like this (unfortunately) where we can lift each other up an share with each other.  So- all the money raised from this event goes to help women like me get their help and support we need to deal with our diagnosis.  And this year, Celebrate Fitness raised over $60,000 to support the YWBCP!!!!

Obviously, it was huge success again this year.  This is my first year getting to attend this event because of prior commitments I’ve always had going on, but I was SO STOKED that I could go this year!! 

Approximately 1300 people gathered together on a beautiful morning at the WashU Athletic Complex to show their support and participate.  How this event works:

Celebrate Fitness is a ninety-minute fitness workshop for men and women held at the Washington University Athletic Complex
Participants may chose from one of eight workouts. Indoor activities include Zumba/Hip Hop, yoga and water aerobics. The outdoor activities include boot camp, a competitive 10k run, a competitive 5k run, a 5k walk or a 1 mile fun walk.

Very cool. 

My doctor, and FRIEND, Julie picked me up at the hotel at 730am and we headed over to the campus.  She was running her first 5K, and just started running 2 WEEKS AGO!  Wow!  But she’s is terrific shape so I knew she wouldn’t have a problem.  We ran into quite a few people we knew, and visited while we got our bibs and then we went inside.

There was a short talk about the purpose of the day and a special Angel Award that was given out.  There was also a “Ring My Bell” performance done by a dance team in which all survivors were invited to come on the floor and ring the handheld bells that we were given. <------Symbolic of the “ringing of the bell” that we do when we finish treatment at Siteman.  Then it was off to the workouts!  

It’s probably no surprise that I did the 10K.  Well, I guess it’s also in the title of this post.  Hello, genius…and yes, I’m talking to myself here.  It was an absolutely gorgeous morning, and I could not WAIT to have an amazing run out into Forest Park and back. 

It was about 1-2 miles in that my right foot started giving me issues.  The top of my foot was killingggg me with every step.  To adjust, I ran on the inside of my foot which took some of the pressure off the top.  It helped and made the run bearable but not by much.  My foot was really angry at me when I finished.  But I had a pretty good time, considering!  I know…I’m messed up.   

 

Yay me!  And Yay, Julie, who ran her very first 5K in 31:26!  How awesome is that?!  So proud of her!

Afterwards, she took me back to the hotel and the fam and I headed back home, me wishing I had grabbed a bag of ice at the hotel to put on the top of my foot.  But I was balancing the discomfort with my post run endorphins.  Heehee!

The endorphins weren’t working, however, on Sunday morning when I got out of bed.  I could barely walk on my foot at all…like hardly put any pressure on it.  It was killlllinnnnggg for sure.  I googled everything for runners and decided I either had tendonitis or a stress fracture.  Great.  I rested it all day Sunday and felt so.much.better on Monday.  After taking a few days off,  and implementing some relacing techniques on my shoes to take the pressure off the top of my foot, it is almost as good as new.  Whew!

I am so happy that I got to participate in Celebrate Fitness this year.  This event will have to be a “must” on the calendar for next year.

Remember to CHECK YOURSELF, LADIES!!!  Knowing your breasts and doing your monthly self-breast exams can save.your.life.  Period.

xoxo

Sensational Sunday

Morning, y’all!

This post was actually supposed to go up yesterday, but laundry, kids, work, etc. all got in the way…imagine that!

We had a great Sunday!  Definitely blog-worthy, but unfortunately light on pictures…boo.  My day started like this,

 

Which led to this,

 

 

GLOR-I-OUSSSSS!!!!!

A fabulous 15-miler, the longest I’ve ran in quite some time, started the day on the right foot definitely!  It just felt so good.  Nothing hurt, no discomfort, nothing.  Just me and my praise and worship jams, soaking up the gorgeous sunshine as well as every step I took.  Lovely indeed.  Thank You, Jesus.

I am also pretty stoked that my car went from looking like this,

 

TO THIS,

 

Yay!!!  After being without my ride for a week, it is fixed and as good as new!  I don’t remember if I filled you all in on my “little” fender bender, but in case I forget to tell you, Tyler put a warning/reminder on my back glass shortly after my incident that I think pretty much explains it pretty well…

Thanks, Son.

Ok, I’m off to wake up young’uns…  I hope y’all have a marvelous Monday and a great week!!

xoxo

Things I’m Loving This Week

Hello friends! 

And Hello March!  Is it seriously March already?!  Crazy!  Did anyone else start to write a “2-“ on their checks today?  Guilty.

I thought I’d play a little game of Things I’m Loving This Week…

The absolutely gorgeous and sunshiny past two days that have allowed THIS to happen (ala “Family Project”:

 

My treadmill, for the days when the littlest is too puny to go to school and an outdoor run is out:

 

Sweet students who love their substitute teacher.   This may have been Zach’s class… :

 

My sweet girl, who told me last night that she loves me so much that she gets sad when she can’t see me:

 

My oldest kiddo, who can always make me literally laugh out loud :

 

What are YOU loving this week?  There MUST be something…

Happy March!

Remember not to neglect your BREAST FRIENDS, ladies…check ‘em often!  It could save your life.

xoxo

Our Family Project- Part II

Hey guys  

Remember when I talked about our new family project?

Well, things are progressing and moving right along in that department, thanks to the hard work of my oh-so-talented hubby and the mild winter we have had.  <----- I mean, seriously, it’s supposed to be 70* today and it’s February!  Love it!

Anyway, here are some more “project” shots…  What do you think?

Any guesses? 

We are SUPER EXCITED!!!

 

I’m going to go pick up my house a little bit and then go watch more progress outside.  It’s too beautiful not to be outside today!  After the severe weather that had us heading downstairs to the basement at 330 this morning, I never would have guessed that the weather would be so perfect today.  My heart goes out to all those around our area in Branson, SE Missouri, and Southern Illinois who lost loved ones and had destruction because of the storms.

So just to make you smile, here’s a little pick me up, thanks to Pinterest:

Heehee, I thought it was too cute

Have a good day, friends

xoxo

And Just Like That…

Half of Tyler’s high school basketball career is over.

Yep, Spike, that’s how I feel too.

In some ways it’s been a long year.  And at times we were even begging for it to be over.  But not really.  Because when you get right down to it, we love watching our kids do their thing more than anything.

And everyone has their own “thing” at Bulldog basketball games.  It is most definitely a family affair and a big tradition… 

Tyler, of course (wearing the same #40 that his dad wore in HS):

 

Zachary, manager extraordinaire (and Sam his partner in crime):

 

Katie (cheering on her team by dancing with Spike at halftime):
 

 

And the nervous parents and grandparents (Jack has no fingernails left, BTW):

 

After the final buzzer sounded last night, with the score not in our favor, I watched as the mommas of the seniors wiped away tears as they watched their boys play their final game in a Bulldog uniform.  All the years of blood, sweat, and tears flashed through their mind as if this moment isn’t really real.  This is finally the end.  And then it hit me…I’m halfway there.  I’m halfway to being that momma, watching her senior play his last game. 

And I’m not even close to being ready. 

I mean, I feel like we just got started!

I know I’ve said this before, but could time.please.stop.now??  I may or may not have asked Tyler if he’d like to flunk a year or two in order to drag this out a little longer… #momoftheyearhere

I know this is all part of the process of growing up, and it’s something we all go through, and it may seem a bit dramatic, but when it’s your kid…there is seriously nothing bigger.

So, unless I figure out a way to stop time in it’s tracks, we will keep marching forward and pray that God will be our Guide as we travel through these different phases of life.  You can bet that I will be soaking up every.single.minute.

 

Good job, boys.  We are SO PROUD of you. 

And THANK YOU, TYLER for giving us lots of things to cheer about this year!!

Peace. Love. And Bulldogs.

xoxo

Sunshine & Rain Showers

Oh wow.

Ok, so this is a little intimidating. 

The first time my Live Writer program has been opened in three weeks.  Blank page.  Has it really been three weeks since I last posted??  <leaves to check>

Yep.  Geez.  So much has gone on, so much happening, yet I have no idea what I’m going to write about.

Truthfully, one of the biggest reasons I haven’t written is because I’ve been in a somewhat pissy mood [thank you absent hormones] and really didn’t want to write just depressing and cranky posts.  But then I had the thought,

“But this is MY blog.  The place to write MY thoughts and feelings and to share.  Yes, even if they are sometimes not all sunshine and flowers.” 

So here I am.

Here to write about my sunshine and my rain showers of late.  I’ll try to be brief and catch you all up.  We’ll see how that goes.

SUNSHINE
-Good oncologist checkup on Feb. 3!
-”Benign findings” breast MRI – still CANCER-FREE!!
-Health and wellness household-wide.
-Basketball keeping us busy.
-A beautiful, mild winter, all except for the light snow that fell last week that led to 2 snow days and very ecstatic kids (and teachers as well).
-Substitute teaching for me…whoa.  My thoughts: Teachers don’t get paid NEARLY enough!  But I AM enjoying subbing! <---Probably because I have the “grandma role” here…I get to give them back.
-Our family project is coming right along!  I’ll share more later.
-The office phones are starting to ring a little more again…Praise God!!
-Running has been back in full force, back to getting in my 30-40+ miles per week with a good balance of treadmill and outdoors.  LOVE.  Oh-and I’m also lifting weights and getting buff.  Ha!
-My birthday present from my parents was registration to the Country Music Marathon in Nashville on April 28!!!!!  My sister, Jessica, is running too, along with my sister-in-law Kristy.  It’s going to be a great girls’ weekend!!  I.cannot.wait.
-Oh yeah, and I had a birthday…#34!  I’m glad.  I like even numbers.

RAIN SHOWERS 
-Really my only rain shower is cancer-related…of course.  Blah.  This is pretty much my reason for my pissy mood as of late.  Even since Sarah passed away, I just feel surrounded by cancer.  And not all good news either, sadly. 
--Two ladies I follow on Twitter and [try to] participate in weekly breast cancer chats with, Rachel and Susan both lost their battle [I hate that phrase by the way] with breast cancer within one day of each other.  Both young and vibrant and very vocal in the fight against breast cancer, their passings leave giant holes in their families as well as the blog world.  
--A friend, Krissi, whose Caring Bridge site I’ve been reading for quite some time with stage IV breast cancer now has mets to her brain…ughhhhh….  She has been doing so well and taking chemo like a champ and her mets to the liver have been receding.  With no symptoms her dr ordered a brain MRI last week only because it had been a year since her previous one (which was good).  This one showed up several places of metastases in her brain, albeit very small.  Now she is pausing chemo while they zap these places with radiation.  
--My cousin’s mother, Lorraine, who has been doing well since a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer last year, was diagnosed with metastasis just a couple of weeks ago, and just passed away on Saturday.  Geezzzzzz…..cancer, cancer everywhere.  I really am so tired of all of this.

BUT, despite the rain that occasionally falls, I have to remember this:

  

Here’s to blessings and sunshine, friends!

Love you guys

xoxo