Thank you guys. I just read Troy's facebook page and am sitting here so touched by your love. I wish I could communicate my feelings better ... I can't possibly explain how supported we felt yesterday. Now I know why. :)
Last night I was informed that the Medika Mamba total was at $62,600 . That is nutty, nutty, nutty. (No pun intended.) Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
My Lydia Beth turned two yesteray. I thought of her at mile 18 when I wondered, "Have I ever been in this much pain on October 4th before?" The answer is no, she was c-section and it was much less painful. :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY LYDIE! We are really missing the kids at home and continue to pray for Meg and Viv and all the kiddos.
Race Report:
For non-runners, this will be far too much information - so skip this section.
Slept fitfully, nerves, nerves and a room that was far too quiet. (I am used to sleeping in a vortex of fans and noise.) Got up at 5:50am. Breakfast at 6:10. Left the hotel to head to start line at 7:05. We went into the Metrodome to stay warm and use the facilities. 8:08 was the time we crossed the start line. The first miles felt pretty good, the crowd is so thick that you almost need to run slow, that is a good way to start. The first hour was great. We knew Troy, Jen, Tess, Ike, Paige, Noah, Britt, and Chris were at mile 7. The photos are hilarious, we look so stinkin happy we almost look foolish. :) We high fived and did not stop to talk. A few minutes down the road we saw my sister-in-law Laura. At mile 10 we needed bathroom break number one. Someone had bowels that did not cooperate all that well. We saw my aunt and uncle and some super cool ladies that came from South Dakota right around that time. (It is all a blur.) At mile 9-10-11 I was having side aches and struggled to get my breathing to settle in right. I was very frustrated. I have never had that happen in Haiti. The hot humid air must agree with me. We stopped and ate at mile 11 when we saw our gang again. I whined a little bit and then Troy asked you guys to pray and by the half way point at mile 13 it passed and I never had a side ache again. Tina was aweseome because she was super chill with me when I needed to walk, drink, or ... uh ... the other thing I needed to do.
Miles 13 to 16 went okay but were mentally tougher because I was bummed that I did not feel more gazalle-like and fast. I was setting the pace and we already realized we would not beat 5 hours ... not by a long shot. My hips were killing me by then. At that point we re-adjusted our goal to beat a little old man who was in the 75-79 year old division. (You gotta have goals.)
At mile 17 we saw our peeps again and stopped to grab pain meds. From 17 on I don't think we ever went more than two miles without seeing someone we knew, it was awesome. We stopped to talk to Mom and Dad and Matt and my nephews at about 20. We used the bathroom again. Mile 21 I got the worst cramp in my left calf. I tried to adjust to run on the cramp and got a cramp in my left foot. oh.my.gosh.cramps.hurt.so.bad. That is another thing that never happens to me in Haiti. I never cramp while running. It was very odd. We walked quite a bit after that.
We saw the biggest crowd of the entire race somewhere between 21 and 23. All the different groups converged there and they were loud and totally obnoxious and made us laugh.
Right after that I saw friends from my old work (thanks Corey and Steph) and then friends from the 90's (Sue&Andy - I was in their wedding a lifetime ago) that I never get to see anymore ... that was so cool. We stopped to hug them and ate a banana at 23. I think the third and final emergency restroom break was somewhere in this mile too. Port-a-potties at mile 24 are not not not a very nice place. Blech. My recommendation is to avoid that scene at all costs. For me the cost would have been finishing with poo running down my leg - you do what you gotta do.
After that it was just a game of keeping the cramps from tripping me up and chatting with Tina about how thankful I was for her help. The finish of the race is beautfiul, you come up over a hill and the St Paul cathedral is on your left and the State Capitol building is straight ahead. We had enough juice left to finish fairly strong. (All things being relative.) The finish was really fun ... because finishing is a good thing. Thank you Lord.
End of report.
Okay - if you skipped the race report - the gist of it was that we spent a lot of time in the lav and Tina was patient with me. And we had lots of really good friends and family and people we love that helped us get it done yesterday. We love them so much. *I* love them so much. They were amazing.
Because I ran so stinkin slow we got back to the hotel and had to get ready for the banquet right away. No naps. I made a conscious choice not to think about how much REALLY REALLY MISS so many of the people we were about to see. I tried hard to live in the moment and just enjoy my opportunity to hug them and try to catch up in the 34 seconds we had together. I did not want to spend the whole night crying about that. I am doing that now instead. Paige spoke about Renald and did a beautiful job. Wally and Eleanor Turnbull were honored and were so cute to watch - they had no idea they were going to be honored. It was a great evening.
I get a lump in my throat everytime I reflect on how good you all have been to us. Because of you guys and your gifts of financial support, your gifts of love, your gifts of prayer -- we are hanging in and pressing forward. Your trust and support means so much to Troy and I. Seeing everyone made me wish we could come home and have access to your beautiful faces again. We miss you all so much.
I need to go get some sleepy little boys some breakfast. Our next four days are packed full of errands and visits, I am not sure I will be able to write very much until we get home on Friday. I will post photos later tonight from the race, they turned out so great I want to share them. You have never seen happier looking runners.
Last night I was informed that the Medika Mamba total was at $62,600 . That is nutty, nutty, nutty. (No pun intended.) Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
My Lydia Beth turned two yesteray. I thought of her at mile 18 when I wondered, "Have I ever been in this much pain on October 4th before?" The answer is no, she was c-section and it was much less painful. :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY LYDIE! We are really missing the kids at home and continue to pray for Meg and Viv and all the kiddos.
Race Report:
For non-runners, this will be far too much information - so skip this section.
Slept fitfully, nerves, nerves and a room that was far too quiet. (I am used to sleeping in a vortex of fans and noise.) Got up at 5:50am. Breakfast at 6:10. Left the hotel to head to start line at 7:05. We went into the Metrodome to stay warm and use the facilities. 8:08 was the time we crossed the start line. The first miles felt pretty good, the crowd is so thick that you almost need to run slow, that is a good way to start. The first hour was great. We knew Troy, Jen, Tess, Ike, Paige, Noah, Britt, and Chris were at mile 7. The photos are hilarious, we look so stinkin happy we almost look foolish. :) We high fived and did not stop to talk. A few minutes down the road we saw my sister-in-law Laura. At mile 10 we needed bathroom break number one. Someone had bowels that did not cooperate all that well. We saw my aunt and uncle and some super cool ladies that came from South Dakota right around that time. (It is all a blur.) At mile 9-10-11 I was having side aches and struggled to get my breathing to settle in right. I was very frustrated. I have never had that happen in Haiti. The hot humid air must agree with me. We stopped and ate at mile 11 when we saw our gang again. I whined a little bit and then Troy asked you guys to pray and by the half way point at mile 13 it passed and I never had a side ache again. Tina was aweseome because she was super chill with me when I needed to walk, drink, or ... uh ... the other thing I needed to do.
Miles 13 to 16 went okay but were mentally tougher because I was bummed that I did not feel more gazalle-like and fast. I was setting the pace and we already realized we would not beat 5 hours ... not by a long shot. My hips were killing me by then. At that point we re-adjusted our goal to beat a little old man who was in the 75-79 year old division. (You gotta have goals.)
At mile 17 we saw our peeps again and stopped to grab pain meds. From 17 on I don't think we ever went more than two miles without seeing someone we knew, it was awesome. We stopped to talk to Mom and Dad and Matt and my nephews at about 20. We used the bathroom again. Mile 21 I got the worst cramp in my left calf. I tried to adjust to run on the cramp and got a cramp in my left foot. oh.my.gosh.cramps.hurt.so.bad. That is another thing that never happens to me in Haiti. I never cramp while running. It was very odd. We walked quite a bit after that.
We saw the biggest crowd of the entire race somewhere between 21 and 23. All the different groups converged there and they were loud and totally obnoxious and made us laugh.
Right after that I saw friends from my old work (thanks Corey and Steph) and then friends from the 90's (Sue&Andy - I was in their wedding a lifetime ago) that I never get to see anymore ... that was so cool. We stopped to hug them and ate a banana at 23. I think the third and final emergency restroom break was somewhere in this mile too. Port-a-potties at mile 24 are not not not a very nice place. Blech. My recommendation is to avoid that scene at all costs. For me the cost would have been finishing with poo running down my leg - you do what you gotta do.
After that it was just a game of keeping the cramps from tripping me up and chatting with Tina about how thankful I was for her help. The finish of the race is beautfiul, you come up over a hill and the St Paul cathedral is on your left and the State Capitol building is straight ahead. We had enough juice left to finish fairly strong. (All things being relative.) The finish was really fun ... because finishing is a good thing. Thank you Lord.
End of report.
Okay - if you skipped the race report - the gist of it was that we spent a lot of time in the lav and Tina was patient with me. And we had lots of really good friends and family and people we love that helped us get it done yesterday. We love them so much. *I* love them so much. They were amazing.
Because I ran so stinkin slow we got back to the hotel and had to get ready for the banquet right away. No naps. I made a conscious choice not to think about how much REALLY REALLY MISS so many of the people we were about to see. I tried hard to live in the moment and just enjoy my opportunity to hug them and try to catch up in the 34 seconds we had together. I did not want to spend the whole night crying about that. I am doing that now instead. Paige spoke about Renald and did a beautiful job. Wally and Eleanor Turnbull were honored and were so cute to watch - they had no idea they were going to be honored. It was a great evening.
I get a lump in my throat everytime I reflect on how good you all have been to us. Because of you guys and your gifts of financial support, your gifts of love, your gifts of prayer -- we are hanging in and pressing forward. Your trust and support means so much to Troy and I. Seeing everyone made me wish we could come home and have access to your beautiful faces again. We miss you all so much.
I need to go get some sleepy little boys some breakfast. Our next four days are packed full of errands and visits, I am not sure I will be able to write very much until we get home on Friday. I will post photos later tonight from the race, they turned out so great I want to share them. You have never seen happier looking runners.
