Um.... Still Running :)

Wow, it's been a while, hasn't it?  No excuses, just life...  Of course, considering it's probably mostly my Mom and Dad that read my blog and they know where I've been, I'm pretty sure that nobody's thinking I've dropped off the face of the running planet or anything ;).


But seriously...  how's the running going, you might ask?  Actually, there have been some setbacks and disappointments lately, but I am STILL definitely doing Disney.  The setback part is, for some physical reasons, I had to drop down to the 1/2 marathon.  I've known this for several weeks, and I think that's probably part of the reason why I haven't posted in a while.  While I realize that it's still an accomplishment, and I am still raising the funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, I felt like I was almost letting down my friends and family who have donated for my fundraising.  Crazy...  but that's me :)


The running was going great through October and into early November.  I ran very consistently in early October on our trip down to Florida.  Some beautiful runs down there - I did 5 miles one days along St. Augustine Beach; another day, I got lost on a Sunday morning on my long run near my in-law's house, and luckily found my way back home just around the proper 8-mile mark in plenty of time to go to church!  Ha!  I got back to chilly weather in Dayton, did 10, did 12, did 14...  Then, though, some things came up and I realized, as my darling husband says, that "wisdom is the better part of valor".  I realized I would be wise to drop down to the half marathon and be satisfied with that.  So, I'm basically just maintaining my miles now.  I'm doing several medium-length runs during the week, and then longer ones on the weekend - 8 last weekend, 10 this weekend, 12 coming up.  Thankfully, my back is holding up very well, and the long runs are all feeling very good.  I've slowed down somewhat (I think I did my 14-miler in early November averaging about 9:20's, but now I'm more in the 9:45-10:00 range on my runs), but I was never in this for the speed.  I am a waddler, not a sprinter :)

Abby and Greg and I are really looking forward to going down to Disney in January.  It'll be a nice 4-day weekend, a cool break from the Ohio scene right after Christmas.


As I was running up a hill near work the other day, I was trying to focus again on the reasons for my running this race, the biggie of which is the fund raising for the L&L society.  I suddenly started having a flood of memories come back to me of that time six and seven years ago, when Abby was in the midst of her chemo. I would spend every night after she went to bed on the internet message boards, "chatting" with long distance friends, none of whom I have ever met, who were mostly moms and dads of kids with leukemia.  We'd compare notes every night, talk about treatments and symptoms, commiserate.  Their kids' names started running through my mind like a roster - Kendrie, Maddie, Austin...  I remember the heartbreak every parent on those message boards would experience when we would get bad news of a relapse or worse.  And once again, I realized that even the $2500 I am raising can help.  You just never know which dollar will make the difference for somebody's life.


I am mostly thankful in this season.  You'd think of all people, I'd remember the most to be thankful.  But I get crazy and busy and distracted like everybody else, and I forget how much I have to be grateful for.  I am so thankful that my sister is well, and that Abby has survived, and survived with such great gusto.  I can't wait to see what she is like at 12, and 22, and 37, and thank goodness, I get to do just that :).  I want other Moms and Dads to have that same ability, so chalk that up to another reason I run.