Perspective

I was going to complain about how hot it is, then I realized that: 1.) It isn't 115 degrees; 2.) I'm not 5,700 miles from home; 3.) I'm not dressed in a full BDU uniform a metal helmet and carrying 70+ lbs.; and 4.) There is very little chance that anyone will shoot at me or that I might drive over a bomb in the road today! Thanks to all who serve.


Maybe some of you saw this floating around as a Facebook status this week.  It was one of the ones people encouraged you to "repost if you want to show how thankful you are".  My default is to never repost a status, as that reminds me too much of the aunt who send you the FWD:FWD:FWD:FWD: email about how we are going to knock the moon out of orbit by sending a rocket up to it.  But this one actually made me think for a minute, since virtually all I've done this week (and the few weeks before this one, frankly) is complain about this miserable midwest weather.  Triple digits nearly every day.  100% humidity. No wind.  I continually use the term "ants under a magnifying glass".  I lament that I ever had to leave the cool, blissfully overcast Pacific Northwest.


And if it's not bad enough to merely exist in this heat, I'm training for an ever-loving marathon in it!  I realize, of course, that they have contraptions that allow you to run indoors, away from the kiln-like heat.  My father and I call them "dreadmills".  The thought of being on one for more than about 5 miles makes me a bit twitchy, though I will do it if it is stormy out.  On Monday I ran nearly 6 miles in the crazy heat before giving up and finishing the remaining 4 miles in the luxury that is my apartment's gym.


But this status really resonated with me.  And so for my 5 mile tempo run on Friday, I committed to completing the whole thing outside.  (For me, this means 1 mile warmup, 3 miles at 9:27 minutes/mile, 1 mile cool down)  And while I ran, I thought about what it would be like to be thousands of miles away from my family and the comforts of home.  Running in boots instead of Nikes, with no icy water and warm shower to reward my finish. And every time I started to slow down, I remembered that I did not have an extra 70 pounds strapped to me.  And it truly did put my run and the heat into perspective! 

So thank you, to those who serve and have served, for all you do!

I've signed up to raise money for the American Cancer Society while I'm training. $1250 seems so much easier to me than the hundreds of training miles I'm putting in. But even though there are people encouraging me to run, in the end it's up to ME to lace up and dig deep. For the fundraising, I have to encourage YOU! So please, I'll endure the heat and rain and blisters and pain. It won't hurt that much to open your wallets, I promise!

Why Am I Doing This?

So many people ask me why I'm running a marathon at all. It's sometimes tough to answer, especially when I'm asking MYSELF in the middle of a 10 mile long run in 100 degree heat!

I have already completed one marathon, so it's not as though I'm looking to cross it off my bucket list. Crossing that finish line was such an amazing feeling of accomplishment, relief, elation...a flood of so many emotions. It truly ranks second only to giving birth in the memorable moments of my life.
Since I am all set on the procreation end of my life, I'm doing it all over again. 16 weeks of training. Ugly, blistered feet during sandal season. Ice on my knees. Sunscreen in my eyes. Tears-sometimes from sunscreen-sometimes from pain-sometimes from the crazy emotions running for hours will pull out of you. Chafing. Giving up hours of my week to expose myself to whatever mother nature is throwing at me, just so I can be fit enough to run in a giant damn circle around St Louis.

But those little bits of encouragement along the way are wonderful. Staff at Fleet Feet giving high fives when I tell them what I'm training for. All the 'likes' and comments on my Facebook status when I post a run. A cool bath to soak my legs in when I get home. The look of awe on my 11 year old stepdaughter's face when I tell her how far I went. Knowing waves and simple nods from other runners.

But that finish is what I'm craving. Pounding my feet for 26.2 miles so I can hold my arms up across that finish line and say that I made it!

This time there's even more to it. I've signed up to raise money for the American Cancer Society while I'm training. $1250 seems so much easier to me than the hundreds of training miles I'm putting in. But even though there are people encouraging me to run, in the end it's up to ME to lace up and dig deep. For the fundraising, I have to encou

rage YOU! So please, I'll endure the heat and rain and blisters and pain. It won't hurt that much to open your wallets, I promise!

A Monumental Day

So yesterday was our "fun" day in our marathon mother and son drive. First stop, Devil's Tower. I knew I had planned a full day of sights and driving, so we got close, took a few pictures, read about the legend, and took of down the road again. See ya later  Wyoming!

It appears the Sturgis bike thingy (festival? invasion?) is happening or coming up very shortly. Herds (flocks? prides? pods?) of bikers are converging everywhere we visit today. Sadly, Trent is sleeping when we get to Sturgis, and a sleeping Trent means no potty beak, and that makes me happy.

Mount Rushmore is next on the list. It's raining when we get there, but turns out to be a great day. Amazing views, loved the story about how this monument was created. It seems so excessive and crazy in a way. Trent's review: It was kinda lame, but I'm glad we came anyway.  A note to the US parks service: if you're going to charge 10 bucks admission, don't look at me like I'm crazy when I hand you the plastic. Lots of people don't carry cash.

Up the road a bit and we're at Crazy Horse. Even though the museum seems kinda like a mish-mosh of Native American stuff, we enjoyed this monument much more. Only his face is really done, and it will be great for us to look back at the pictures we got today when it's complete.

Foggy, nasty drive into Mitchell last night, complete with random lane closures. Trent stayed up and kept me company til we got in at 1am. Such a great kid!

Today, Corn Palace here we come! Hoping to make it "home" tonight but we'll see how it goes.

Location : 1001-1099 S Burr St, Mitchell, SD 57301,

Could use some vampire weather

Ready to continue our drive through Wyoming, and although this place is huge and gorgeous, it could use a few things. Namely, some enormous fir trees and some clouds. I'd even be happy to see a drizzle. DAMN this sun is bright! Forget sparkling, I'm fixin to combust!

So here's the Wyoming driving checklist: huge sunglasses to block the ball of death in the sky, preemptive ibuprofen for the inevitable squinting headache despite the huge sunglasses, plenty of water, liberally applied sunscreen to prevent farmers tan due to the window being open. Air conditioning? Ha!

Location : Address not available

Big Sky Country

Tried to make up for lost time today, and managed to squeeze in 4 states in 1 day.

Got out of Washington as soon as the coffee kicked in, and made short work of the Idaho panhandle. Didn't even stop for a Gowalla stamp, thankyouverymuch.

Then it was on to Montana. Big sky country indeed! I didn't bother taking many pictures, because they'll never do it justice. Despite the orange cones mysteriously blocking lanes of highway where nobody is working, this was one of the most pleasant drives I've ever taken. Every time we turned a corner, the view got better and better. The sunset behind us was almost too good to be true, and after that we had an amazing show, as lightning arched from one end of the sky to the other.

Pretty wiped out as we hit the Wyoming border, but paying for a hotel room before you start driving is a great motivator to keep going

Tomorrow's goals, Devils Tower, Mt. Rushmore, and make it to Mitchell South Dakota do we can wake up and see...the world famous Corn Palace!

Location : 1002-1142 S Garner Lake Rd, Gillette, WY 82718,

Idaho? No no no.

After a late start and too many potty breaks, we are not as far along as I would have liked to be. Thought for sure we were going to make it to Couer D'elene, Idaho, but no such luck. Actually, we could have made it there just fine, but there are no rooms, so we're stuck in Spokane.

But all in all, I couldn't have asked for a better day. Great scenery, great company, and a great start to the journey.

Tomorrow's goal:  Make it through Montana and into Wyoming.

Location : 12803 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley, WA 99216,

You've Stolen Our Hearts

We' ve said it a hundred times this week. This is the hardest place we've ever had to leave. From New York to California and back again, no city we've ever visited or lived in has had such a profound effect on us.

When Rob gave me the news months ago that a promotion to his home office in St. Louis was shifting from dream to reality, I starting crying--mentally saying a long good-bye to everything I love about Portland. Views of Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens made me cry. The long hallway of trees on the way to the coast made me cry. Seeing the city coming out of the tunnel on 26 made me cry. The Made in Oregon sign? Yup. Smoke at the Timbers match against Vancouver provided a convenient excuse to tear up too. So I thought that when it came time to say some real good-byes this week, maybe my quota of weeping would be used up. Not even close. I've held it in as I've hugged you all, but as soon as I'm out of sight I spill over like the Pacific NW skies.

I don't subscribe to any religion, but I can still say that I feel blessed to have been here, to have met and known you all. Thank you for opening your hearts to our family, Portland has truly stolen ours.

RCTID

Location : 2000-2098 SE Taggart St, Portland, OR 97202,