Rocky Crew - Tracey

Let me introduce yet another fearless Crew Member: Tracey . Tracey comes to us from Kansas. She began running exactly 2 years ago. If you read her blog you will see that she made some huge life changes around the time she started running. It sounds like she like many of us running moms used running to take control of our lives and our health. She has now in just two years of running completed a marathon, I think that is amazing. She has also spent time doing some night runs with the Trail Nerds up there in Kansas and said it was a blast. I can't wait to meet her in person. She is super inspirational and I am sure will keep us going through the night. Yay, Tracey. Thank you so much. Check out her blog if you have time, she has some good posts.

The Rocky Crew - Cathy

I wanted to introduce the crew for Rocky. I figured rather than one long post I will introduce them one or two at a time. When I decided to do this race, I asked all of my Running Mom friends if any of them could come and pace me for the race. I was shocked to find out that not only one volunteered but a handful said they would come. We now have a solid group of 4 ladies, all moms, all runners, all strong women. Once we had a group they decided that the captain would be Cathy. So it seems fitting to introduce our Captain first. Here she is:

This is Cathy.  Our fearless leader.  She is from California and has run for just about 3yrs now.  She has 5 girls.  Yes, I said 5 girls.  Her husband Jack is also running Rocky but, he is running the 50 mile race.  He has a 100 mile race in March and I think this is sort of a warm up for him.  Cathy has been training hard for this.  Right now the plan is to have her run the last 17 miles with me.  In HS she swam and later on in her 20's she was a bodybuilder.  If you know her you have to get her to show you pictures.  They are amazing.  No wonder her arms make all of the Moms in our group green with envy.  I am sure you will hear me talk about Cathy again, in March I am traveling to Modesto to run her first marathon with her.  I feel a sense of calm about the race knowing Cathy will be running things, she is so dang organized and awesome.  Stay tuned I will introduce the entire crew this week.  Only 6 more days til Rocky and a week from this time I will be running in Huntsville, TX.  Super excited. 

The Power of Positve Words

So I was thinking the otherday about what and who inspires me. There are pleanty of people who have really impacted me along the way and I soon became lost in a sea of names and faces. One thing that I could sort out was that I really like a good positive saying. The first I remember of these positive messages was my HS Cross Country Team. I really loved that team. We were a tight knit crew and a few of the members even came back when they were on breaks from college to coach us. One was Todd Maycomber (I will talk about him in another post when I get to people who really inspired me and my running) the other guy I remember was Mike Najar. I just pulled out this little photo box I have that is stuffed full of positive notes I have recieved over the years. The box is full of letters and notes and sayings that make me smile. And in this box were 5 notes that Mike had made for our Cross Country Team. I think he did it before each race. He would find an inspirational message, type it up and make copies for the whole team. It really mattered to me that he did this. It wasn't just the messages it was also the gesture.

When I went to college I wasn't a good enough runner to make a team, no I didn't try but trust me I wasn't. I think sometimes it is good to be able to evaluate yourself honestly and this is one of those examples. So instead I joined the crew team. The crew team was my saving grace and the friends I made there have pulled me through more than just college. They are life long friends and people whom still to this day I look up to. During my first year of rowing we had secret buddies and we would make inspirational gifts for our secret buddy. I still have a bunch of those in my little box. A few even have hand done paintings on one side and awesome words of encouragement on the other. Somehow the power of a positive message stays with you forever. It can become a mantra. It can move you forward when all you want to do is stop. It can lift you up. Well I think I could go on and on but the whole point of this post was to list some of my favorite quotes and ask you to do the same.

Favorite Quotes:
1. If it is to be it is up to me ~ W. Johnsen
2. If you take your eyes off the goal all you will see are obstacles ~ unknown
3. Do not pretend that people become great by doing great things. They do great things because they are great. ~GB Shaw
4. The mind is the limit. We know that it is not the body. As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do something, you can do it. ~ Schwarzennegger
5. Run when you can, Walk when you have to, crawl if you must, just never give up. ~ D. Karnazes
6.It's not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog ~unknown
7. Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss you will land amoung the stars. ~Les Brown (I think but saw it with someone elses name as well)
8. Be the Architect of your future ~unknown (there are a ton of versions of this one out there)
9. You miss 100% of the shots you never take. ~Gretsky

Ok please send me your favorites.

What a Pain in the Back

As some of you know in the late summer I herniated a disc in my back or rather a herniated disc in my back flared up. I most likely actually got the tear a few years back when I was lifting a washer/dryer unit and the guy I was lifting with apparently couldn't hold his side up and let it drop, no warning just dropped it, well that hurt. It really hurt. This is a note ladies, don't date guys that are weaker than you, you can get injured, ok you can date them but don't get them to help you carry a wash/dryer combo unit (those suckers are heavy). Ok so back to the back. Mostly tore the disc then. But I guess these things don't heal and will flare up from time to time and so even though my back was hurting this summer I decided to run anyway. Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb (please repeat as many times as you feel necessary). Well .5 miles into my run, I can actually show you exactly where it happened; I took a step and BAM! No more standing upright. I had to walk home stuck at a 45 degree angle (I guess that is better than 90). After a month of therapy I was back up and running and training for my ultra. I thought I was in the clear and then on Sunday. Chloe was done eating so I picked her up out of her highchair and POP! I knew instantly something was not right but didn't seem as bad as last time. I got into the Doc today and after the initial evaluation he thought it was not so bad and then I started therapy, after the second station I couldn't even stand, I had to drag my body to the table for muscle stem. I was crawling/hobbling to the table and in tears it hurt so badly. Ok so now I am home, I can walk and I am thinking: What the HECK! All of this training and I might not be able to run for a few weeks. I am doing the race, I just don't care, I am doing it but, let’s face it there is a small chance 100 mile with a messed up back might hurt a smidge. I am bitter, frustrated, ok I am PISSED OFF! Why is my back giving me trouble now? Oh the Doc answered that last one for me he said it probably happened because of all the training. Ughhhhh. Did I say I was frustrated? I just want to run dang it. So I am ranting. Ok done now. I am going to run this race, it is fine, and it just isn't going quite as planned. I have two weeks to get this under control. I can do this.

Foam Rolling

Do you ever really need to work out a tough knot?  You know the one that has been there for weeks and is only getting bigger and tighter.  Well if you do I highly recommend a Foam Roller + Toddler combo.  Knot Not kidding around here (the puns there are cracking me up).  Ok seriously in the mornings when I use my Foam Roller, Chloe loves to jump on my legs and get a ride.  The extra weight is awesome.  She can really work out a calf muscle.  Even if you don't have a toddler around I do totally recommend a Foam Roller, they rock.  You can really work out tired muscles.  I really like it for my IT band and my calves.  So just a short post to show how my morning started off :).  Come on you have to admit that is one cute kid.

Diabetes is a "Big Fat Turd"

What you haven't heard that quote?  Could be because those are the words of my 6yr old nephew.  He was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes when he was just 3 1/2 yrs old. The other day after he had to have a set change he told my sister that Diabetes was a turd in fact it was a "big fat turd."  Not sure anyone could have said it better.  For the past three years he has endured set changes for his insulin pump every other day (needle that is placed in your gluteus maximus muscle) and finger pricks about 15-17 times a day.  The kid is tough.  He loves to play hockey, in fact this picture isn't really of him flipping off Diabetes it is him showing a hockey wound, someone (I will not name who and you can't make me) skated over his finger and since he has Diabetes the wound took weeks and weeks to heal. 

So what is the point of me telling you about Joe?  Well I had a heck of an idea while running today.  That is where I do my best thinking and I am sure most of you do too.  I have been trying to figure out how I can make money for a charity (JDRF) with my running.  The other day my running buddy Anna told me I needed to Affiliate with companies so that I earned money when people read my blog and then bought items I was talking about.  Now you know where I am going with this.  Yippeee.  Ok so here it is: any and all money this site makes by affiliating or anything else I can think of will go to JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund).  I do not quite have the hang of Affiliating and am not sure about using AdSense, so if anyone has ideas, lay them on me, I am all ears.  I am so excited about the chance to earn even a dime for this cause. 

Type I Diabetes is not the same as Type II, it isn't controlled by diet it is an autoimmune problem where basically the kids Pancreas stop working all together.  They have to wear pumps that give them a controlled constant flow of insulin and they have to constantly check their blood sugar to make sure it is in a normal range.  Can you imagine trying to keep a young active boys blood sugar in a normal range manually.  This takes a ton of work.   With Type I Diabetes comes all sorts of other issues for the kids, like blindness, kidney issues, problems with wounds healing, etc... A cure for this disease would really change a lot of kids lives.  85% of the money that is given to JDRF goes directly to research.  I would love to see a cure in Joe's lifetime and so for now this is the charity (my sister is also looking into some cutting edge scientists that are working on this, if they seem viable I would also like to donate to them) I am choosing to give any money this site earns to. 

Ok so I am not asking for money.  I am asking you to check my site and if I have a banner or button for a company (only have NorthFace so far) please use that link to buy the item you were already going to buy that way I get a kick back and that kick back goes to JDRF. I promise 100% of what I am able to make will go to charity.  Also if you have ideas on how I can make more please please let me know.  I would love to be able to donate a substantial sum to JDRF.

Running with Drunk Drivers

As most of you know I live in an area where there aren't many trails to be found and I am usually in a rush to get my miles in therefore I am forced to run on the sidwalks and paved trails around here.  I would say that on average on a 20-30 mile run I come close to getting hit by a car twice every run.  I titled this "Running with Drunk Divers" but, these folks aren't drunk worse they are texting and talking on cell phones.  The absolute most dangerous drivers are the teens that are texting.  I was once running down a street pushing Chloe and a Black SUV started vearing right at us, I began waving franticallly, no response, finally I shoved the jogger with all my mommy might right over a curb and dashed out of the way myself only to see a cute teenybopper texting away never noticing she almost hit a mom and child.  Car and Driver did an test where they had two men, drive, then drive while texting and then finally drive while intoxicated.  It showed the the men either reacted the same while texting as impaired or slightly worse.  This data scares me and it should.  I run with these people everyday and everyday they come so dang close to hitting me.  Intersections are the worst because people no longer look both ways before making a right turn on red, they just go, and if they are texting they really don't pay attention.  I do my best to gauge if the person can see me, if they are texting and I can, I go behind their car, but dang it if still somehow I can't get away from these texters.  Yesterday I was crossing an intersection, the light was red and the walking sign was illuminated for me, I thought I was good to go and then as I began to cross a car started approaching the cross walk, he wasn't even in teh far right lane, he was in the middle lane and apparently still planned to make a right on red, from teh middle.  As he got closer I waved, closer, I hurried up and waved, closer, I did my dance to avoid having my leg smashed, that was when he finally looked up from his phone to see that he was about to hit someone.  Doug (my husband) says after each of my tales, why didn't you yell, why didn't you hit the car, why didn't you... I guess I have slow reaction time, I never think of these things at the time.  Dang I wish I did.  That guy deserved a nice smack on the hood of his car, but didn't think of it, just scooted out of his way.  Not actually sure what the point of this post is except to point out the obvious how dangerous it is to text and drive and how scared I am that one day I will get hit by someone that is so engrossed in coversation or text that they don't see me.