Milestones

Well, today was the big day! The day that has loomed out in front of me since I started the "mini" training. Today was the 10 mile walk day. That is the most you walk before the race. I have watched this week approach on my training schedule...wondering "would I ever be able to do that?" Well, that week arrived and guess what? I did it!! It was long and hard and I'm exhausted, but I did it!!! Today was very emotional. I cried on the way to the park feeling a little overwhelmed by what was ahead. I called Sue for a little support and like the friend that she is, she put it in perspective...she told me to suck it up because there's no crying in marathons! Now, don't be thinking that she's insensitive. I actually laughed when she said it and it did the trick. But, when the walk was over, I also broke down and sobbed. It's just a little overwhelming to come to this milestone in the training. To do something that you never thought was possible is very motivating. I feel like I can do anything right now. I decided today that I need to continue this drive to exercise when the race is over. I'm come so far, I don't want to lose all I've gained. Well, that's all for today!

Operation Kenzie gets to see Daddy is a success!

Kenzie and Daddy say goodbye.
Early morning playing

Somebody loves her Daddy

Trip down...time for diaper change and PJs

Kenzie was loving the freedom!

Bridge into Jacksonville

The pier

Time to head home

Doesn't she look so peaceful?

9 Miles

Well, my trip concluded with no beach time at all. Aunt Marla, I'm sorry, but didn't make it to St. Augustine either. Another 100 miles of driving on top of what we had already done, was just too much of a deterance. Some day though, I would like to go there. Instead, just headed back to Augusta and had dinner with Jon, Andrea and Kenzie. Watching Andrea and Kenzie tell Jon goodbye was a real tear jerker! My sister is one tough cookie...I don't think I'd be as strong as she is. The trip home yesterday was long but uneventful. I must say that Kenzie was one amazing traveler. She was so good. 20 hrs. in a car seat is a long time for a toddler and she only had 1 10 min. fit in all that time. (I'll post pics of our trip soon.)

So, since the winds deterred me from my walk on Sat. I got up this morning to do my 9 mile walk. I want you to think of some destination that is 9 miles from your house and then think about walking there! 9 miles is a long way!! My friend Missy walked with me today. She did the first 8 with me which was awesome. She had only done 6 to that point and is fighting a torn miniscus in her knee. I was very proud of her. I did the last mile on my own but that wasn't any big deal. At one point she told me I was "speedy." I have to say that I'm pretty sure noone has EVER called me that before. :) This coming Sat. is 10 miles and I must say that I never dreamed I would get there. Thanks for all your encouragment and prayers through this process. It has meant the world!

Kelley

The things you do for love...

Like walking in the rain and the snow, when there's no place to go, and you're feeling like a part of you is dying...

Couldn't resist. Just heard that in the car. Love that song. It reminded me of this weekend. Let me explain.

My sister's husband, Jon, is in the Army reserves and is currently at Ft. Gordon in Georgia for 4 months of training. He is halfway through his time. Andrea was wanting to come for a weekend visit with kenzie about this time which coordinated with my spring break. So, Sue and I volunteered to drive her and Kenzie to Augusta. The plan was to leave on Friday from Andrea's about 2:30 and arrive that evening before Midnight. We thought it would take around 9 hours. Sue and I would stay the night in Augusta and then leave early Sat. morning for Jacksonville Beach, Fl. Supposed to take about 4-4.5 hrs. We would have the rest of the day Sat and all day on Sunday to lay on the beach and enjoy an area of Florida we had never experienced. Then Sun. evening, we would head back to Augusta so that we could pick Andrea and Kenzie up early Mon. morning to head home. It was going to be a quick trip, but would be a fun road trip and would help Andrea so she wouldn't have to drive that distance with Kenzie by herself.

Well...here's how it really went down. First let me point out that Sue and I had to drive 3 hrs to get to Andrea's. we left her house by 3:00 and didn't arrive in Augusta till 1:15a.m. It was a LOOONG day. ( I have to say though that Kenzie was amazing. Traveled very well for such a long time in the car seat) We got to deliver Andrea to base which was an experience in itself. First of all, Jon is on the phone with Andrea telling her protocal as we approached the base. You have to turn your lights off and approach with only your parking lights on...not sure why. After our ID's are thoroughly checked and we count our blessings that we are not over to the side being searched like the other cars, we head toward Jon's room. He's telling Andrea to tell Sue to slow down that they really enforce the speed limit (25mph) and that if someone is on the side of street getting ready to cross, you have to stop and let them; they have the right away. We are a little slap happy by this time and are making all kinds of jokes. I'm sure we are going to get thrown in the brig before we get off base, which is HUGE! I was picturing something much smaller. Amazing. So, we get to see Jon get Kenzie out of her car seat and see her for the first time in 2 months which brought tears to my eyes. Very sweet moment. She was a sleepy little doll. Sue and I head off to our roach motel and get to bed at 2:00am. We hit the road at 8:00 this morning planning to be on the beach by noon. Try 2:00 and the beach was out of the question. It took almost 6 hours to get here, AND they are having hurricane force winds. It was only 68 today. We walked out to the beach and had to turn right back around. Too cold. The breakers are 4-6 feet though. It was amazing to see. They have dangerous rip currents posted for the next couple of days for this area. So, we drove 18.5 hrs. total to get here for two days on the beach and we'll be lucky to even go out to the beach. Tomorrow is supposed to hit 70 and be less windy, so maybe we'll get to go out, but it's been a bummer of a day. Also, we have been amazed at what a wierd place this is. We've been to many, many areas in Florida and have never been to one that made us as uncomfortable as this place. Full of freaky, or should I say "unique" people. Not sure we care to come back. On top of all that, Sue is sick with throat and ear issues which doesn't make a "road trip" that much fun.

The things we do for love...Love you Andrea, Kenzie and Jon! :)

Unnamable

I can't even think of a name for this blog...today was crazy. Sue and I headed to Matter Park at 8:45 this morning to walk 8 miles. This was our first time walking the river walkway. So, we were told that if we started at one end (by Vogals in downtown), walked clear to the other end (center of Matter Park), around the pond twice, and all the way back to my car, it would be 5 miles. Then we would need to turn around walk 1.5 miles and then back again to make the additional 3. So, that was the plan. First let me say, that the lake we walked around last week, was completely flat terrain compared to the riverwalk, or at least the first part of the riverwalk. The big hills by the hospital had me completely sucking wind and wishing that I was not doing this crazy marathon. Once we got farther along and the path evens out, it was quite lovely and enjoyable. However, knowing that we had to go back and do the hills again and then turn around and do them AGAIN, had me competely beside myself. On the way back the first time, I was hurting in my hip on the big hill, so I told Sue, that I wanted her to stop her clock when we got to the end, we would jump in the car and drive to the other end in Matter Park and walk the last 3 from there to avoid doing the hilly part a 3rd time. So, that was the plan. So, at 5 miles, we were under time, Yippee! Then as we started the last 3 miles from the other end, we were on time at 6 miles. Then the unthinkable happened. We needed to turn around when we got to the 1.5 mile marker. Now, I could swear when we were walking the first time, that I was sure we got to that marker before we entered the big hill. So, we're walking along and we pass 1.25 and then we get to the bottom of the hill and we haven't seen the 1.5 marker. So, I start up the hill. Sue is trying to convince me to turn around and just count it as close to 8, but I am determined to be accurate. So, up the hill we go. When we get clear to the top, we come to the 1.75 marker!!! WE HAD MISSED THE 1.5 MARKER!!!! I'm pretty sure there was some swearing going on. Sue was beyond angry. She was really feeling it today and to find out that we had done an extra 1/2 mile was not a good thing. So, at the bottom of the hill, there was the 1.5 marker so faded that it was easy to miss. I'm sure we'll laugh about this someday, but it won't be today...or even tomorrow. The funny thing was, I was truckin up that hill, not nearly in the pain that I was the first time and I proceeded to be the cheerleader for Sue that we could do this. We had totally switched roles. She was whining around and I was trying to encourage. Well, this lasted for only so long and then I got mad. First let me explain that the plan for the remainder of this day was yard work. My yard was so covered in sticks that it was hard to tell if I had grass. So, knowing the hours of back breaking yard work ahead of us, didn't help the dispositions. She kept wanting to dwell on that, and I really needed to not think about it. One obstacle at a time was my philosophy. So, we got a little ouchy with each other, but we made it back to the car in one piece. 8.5 miles down. We did decide as we walked today, that it officially wasn't really fun anymore. Once you pass that 8 mile mark, it just becomes hard and super tiring. As I am typing this, it is dawning on me that we checked our time at the wrong place. I thought we should check it when we had .25 left to go, but we should have checked it when we had .5 to go. So, knowing that, we were probably on time. I thought we were 4.5 min over, so that would make sense. It takes about that if I'm walking an 18 min. pace. So, not faster today, but on time, which is huge considering the hills. I thought I would die! To all my friends who walk the riverwalk faithfully, you are my heros. You can also have your riverwalk...not sure I'll be returning any time soon. ;) So, did we actually do the yard work??? YEP! All done...spent about 2 hrs. picking up sticks and then Sue airiated (sp?) my yard. So, I am just now sitting down for the first time today and it is 4:00pm. I think I'm going to go soak in the tub. I actually feel good, but I'm tired.

Success...

Well, today was interesting. Today was only a 6 mile walk because it was the 10K training day in Indy. I say ONLY 6 miles and that kind of makes me laugh. Since I did 7 last week, I thought 6 would be a breeze this week. Boy was I wrong. Let me set the stage...I am at my sister's in Columbus this weekend. So, Andrea, Sue and I decided to walk together. Mom and Dad volunteered to come down and watch Kenzie so we could go walk. Andrea has this park here in Columbus that has a walking trail around a big lake. I thought that sounded awesome since it was 70 degrees today...well, so did 5000 other people. We had people walking dogs, people pushing baby strollers, families out for a stroll and lovers walking hand in hand. Then there were those of us who were there for serious exercise. On top of the chaos, this was my first time on a trail that was hilly and uneven. We weren't a quarter of the first lap and I knew I was in trouble. I was hurting and huffing. I don't think I mentioned that one lap around was 1.2 miles. So, we needed to do 5 laps to get our 6 miles in. My goal shortly after starting was just to finish in an 18 min. mile. I was really doubting that I would make that, but I was gonna try. Lap 2 was still bad...about lap 3 things loosened up and the pain was better. So, when it was all said and done...1hr. 44 min and 30 sec. I finished with a 17.5 min average. I was beyond elated. I thought that was incredible considering the change in terrain and considering I was sweating like a pig. All good things in the long term for training, but things that I thought might really make me lose time today. The fact that I was faster was so rewarding. I was a little irritated that my sister went out and just walked 6 miles with no training and walked several steps ahead of me most of the way. But, it was motivating to have her there because my pride wouldn't let me stop or slow down. I've been telling her how well I'm doing so here on the day she can actually see how I'm doing, i definitly didn't want to look bad. That was the motivation that got me through the first 2 miles. She was very encouraging and proud of me. (But I'm secretly hoping that she's really sore in the morning. :)

60's Day...

Today was 60's Day at school. Our special needs class sponsored a dance today with a 60's theme. We had a ball! My team decked out and had so much fun! Below we are staging a "sit in" in the principal's office. Groovy...Peace out!

Unabomber Smurf...

I can't even believe I'm putting this picture out there, but it was too funny not to. ( For those of you thinking, "Geez she looks big!" Please keep in mind that I had MULTIPLE layers on.)Yesterday, I walked in the 29 degree cold and looked like a unabomber smurf doing so. however, I was fast!!!! Who wouldn't be in 29 degree weather? It was actually very energizing and I was on a natural high when I got done. Tonight I worked out at the gym and did my hard workout only to discover that it's...not that hard anymore. Not sure when that happened but my face wasn't flaming red tonight and I didn't feel like my chest was going to explode...hmmm. Am I getting stronger? So do I do the right thing and up my reps? I don't know. I kind of enjoyed the feeling that I wasn't going to die before I finished. This journey is starting to get a little bit addictive. 5 lbs lost this week! :)