I Did It...My 13.1

 Hey y'all...I'm alive and well.

I know it's been a long time since I blogged but I have been busy hustling and bustling about.  The pain I have lived with for so very long is all but gone and it has left me feeling young and active again. I've been running, cleaning, making home made makeup products and keeping up with my other daily activities; all of this with little to no pain.  Hurray! 


Okay, okay I'll get on with my 13.1 journey...

My race was on a Sunday so Saturday evening I collected and readied all my running necessities so that kept me busy...for like 15 minutes.  I wasn't really all that nervous because I knew I had trained well (except for those 4 weeks I took off at the tail end of training due to pain) and I could just believe that I had done enough.  I rested Saturday night and had a good visit with my mom and family then went to bed early to ensure a good nights rest. 

I had to wake up way to early.  It was still very dark when I arrived at the Fair Grounds to take my seat on one of the many buses lined up waiting to take us all to the start line 2 towns away. After arriving I made my way over to the port-a-potties and didn't even have to wait in line.  Then I headed over to the food and coffee table to partake of one strong cup of coffee and a banana piece.  While I was waiting for the start of the race I met some lovely young (they were all in their 20's) ladies who welcomed me into their group and chatted me up.  None of us raced together but I finished ahead of some of them. 

 

Honestly this was an easy and well organized race.  There were volunteers all along the way as well as tables with water, pretzels, gummy bears at miles 2,4,6 and 8.  At mile 11 there was the table of temptation with doughnut holes, beer and wine...I did take a doughnut hole but not the alcohol...I prefer O.J. and vodka.  After downing the yummy doughnut hole I felt reinvigorated and made good time to the finish line in 2:31.  My whole family was there at the finish to cheer me on as I received my finishers medal.  

To be very candid I did better than I thought I would.  I made sure to drink my Gatorade concoction along the way and eat my lara bar for energy.  I took some gummy bears from a sweet little volunteer at mile 8.  All along the way volunteers were stationed and they would cheer you on as you passed by clapping and yelling out "You can do it" as well as dancing and just having fun.  It really did make a huge difference to me because at some of those miles I was tired and needed a little encouragement to keep going.  Luckily I did not have too much pain. 

When I was finished and had some water and a muffin I realized just how much I had accomplished and it felt amazing.  My legs were hurting extremely bad due to my sciatica but after my son drove me home they felt 90% better.  My husband took the whole family out to breakfast to celebrate and I ordered hot chocolate with whipped cream to drink and fish and chips to eat.  I enjoyed every bite of my meal and didn't even care how many calories was in it.

I would definitely run another 13.1...someday, but not any time soon.  It's nice to just enjoy running and not have a race looming ahead in the distance...for now!  The last few weeks have been spent running by time, not miles and enjoying the feeling of accomplishment.  

In other news...

My oldest son G moved out yesterday to begin his new life with his girlfriend in Klamath Falls.  He arrived safely and is happy to be reunited with his love.  He has an interview for a job tomorrow and another possible job working for one of the vendors from our store here in Grants Pass.  I know that he will do great on his own, I have faith in him. 

I may have finally found my new church family and I'm excited to meet new people and form some new relationships with a home group.  This has been on my mind ever since I left my old home group about 3 years ago.  I have been to two different churches but neither one suited me.  This church I found a week before my half marathon and they made me feel welcome the minute I walked in and sat down.  I missed the Sunday of my race and last week as well but managed to get there today for the traditional service.  I was the only one under 45...everyone there had to have been at least 65-75 but I loved it.  It was like being in a room full of grandparents.  What could be better than that?

Anyhoodles, I am sorry I've neglected my blog but life has been busy for me.  Now that the kids are back in school and I'm working Monday thru Thursday fixing lunch for the high school kids that come into our small store, I have to fit my running and cleaning into the days hours and unfortunately my blog has suffered.  I hope that y'all are doing well and are healthy and happy.  

Anyone race lately and want to tell me all about it?  The Lord bless you and keep you.  The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.  The Lord look upon you with His everlasting favor and give you peace.  

Blessings and hugs,

 "Limitations only exist if you let them"

Godspeed...this comes from the Middle English expression "God spede (you)", a wish for success and fortune for one setting out on an enterprise, voyage, adventure, or travels. It may also mean good luck.

© 2013 Shannon M. King. This publication is the exclusive property of Shannon M. King and is protected under the US Copyright Act of 1976 and all other applicable international, federal, state and local laws. The contents of this post/story may not be reproduced as a whole or in part, by any means whatsoever, without consent of the author, Shannon M. King. All rights reserved.

I'm Doing It...13.1 Here I Come

It's final...I'm running my half marathon next Sunday! How, you ask? Well let me tell you...

About two weeks ago I started to really stretch and roll my muscles in hopes of getting some sort of relief...and, it worked!  I have been running, working out, stretching, rolling etc and I'm amazed at the difference.  It really is a miracle, a total surprise to me.  I have had little pain in two weeks, except for one day...it has been wonderful.

So I decided since the pain is soooo much better, I'm going for it.  I will never be fast or place in my age group (most likely) but that is not why I run, I do it because I can.  I'm alive and I can run, so I do. I'm a survivor and I'm gonna keep on surviving.  

I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I was going to miss my half...again, for the second year in a row. Now I'm on my last week of running and gearing up for the big day! Can you believe it?  Me either!  

Remember awhile ago I mentioned I was being interviewed by Live Fitter blog....well It came out September 11th.  Here is the interview, I hope you enjoy it.  The pictures are not the best but they were all I had.  

The kids have all started back to school and I could not be happier.  It is so nice to get some quiet time to myself for a change.  My youngest son (not my youngest child) is working part time and has 3 AP classes, so he is one busy dude.  My oldest son (also oldest child) is moving to Klamath Falls at the end of this month...I love him but glad he is going off to find his future, I hope he is successful in all he does. My daughter just started 7th grade and is loving it, she gets to be an office aide for her 1st elective so she is pretty excited about that, and my middle child who is my second oldest son is in his last year of high school so it's a bittersweet year for him...and his father and I.  He will be going into the military after he graduates as they will help him get into college and become a mechanical engineer...he wants to build/design bridges and stuff like that. So there you have it.

Some pictures I took recently...

 
That is what I have been up too...how about y'all?

Anyone have a race they wanna tell me about? I love to hear what y'all have been up to, so drop me a line. 

Blessings and hugs!

 



"Limitations only exist if you let them"

Godspeed...this comes from the Middle English expression "God spede (you)", a wish for success and fortune for one setting out on an enterprise, voyage, adventure, or travels. It may also mean good luck.

© 2013 Shannon M. King. This publication is the exclusive property of Shannon M. King and is protected under the US Copyright Act of 1976 and all other applicable international, federal, state and local laws. The contents of this post/story may not be reproduced as a whole or in part, by any means whatsoever, without consent of the author, Shannon M. King. All rights reserved.

Letters To Myself...A Mental Note

 I often wonder what my life would look like had I not had cancer and become a runner.  Who would I be? Would I have awoken the sleeping giant of fitness enthusiast in me, or would I have continued on in the lifestyle I was existing in? I'd like to think that I would have gotten tired of being fat and unhealthy but I just don't know.  It's amazing to me that it took a life threatening disease to come to my senses and cause me to change my entire lifestyle.  

Life has a way of throwing me curve balls just when I think things are going great.  Why now? Why after all this time did this have to come to the surface iu such a painful wrenching way to my soul? Did I just not want to see the reality of what was going on?  Oh, I thought I was listening to my body speak to me, but I see now that I was not listening hard enough.  I let small pains and bits and pieces of important information come and go without even a nod in their direction.  I thought I had it all under control but I forgot two very important things, nutrition and my lack of normalcy.  Normal has never been my forte'.  I couldn't just have one thyroid disease at an early age I had to have three and I couldn't just have low Vitamin D I had to have Chronic critical low Vitamin D due to my bodies inability to process this vital nutrient.  How could I forget or rather ignore the nutrition and think everything was going to turn out alright?  

I know that all the stuff that's happening to my body will work itself out, one way or another, it's trusting in the process that has me worked up.  Giving up running my half marathon for the second time in two years has been heartbreaking, yet I know that it's what is best for my body.  Yet a small part of me wants to run it anyway, the consequences be dammed.  I won't do that though, it would be like running in the direction of danger just because I can, and frankly that's stupid. 

If I could just look back several months to my newly healed self I would tell her to focus on more than getting her mileage back up and for pity's sake take the damn vitamin D every day...and don't forget....get your protein in one way or another. I'd tell her that even though she could run long distances, maybe it wasn't the smart thing to do, and that running a half marathon would not define who she is. I'd tell her to just enjoy the shorter runs and focus on being as physically healthy as she could be.  Ah yes, hindsight...there is that!

If I could give one piece of advice to someone out there I'd tell them that nutrition is just as important as physical exercise.   We all want to be faster, better etc...but when is the cost to much.  I'm here to tell you, the cost is always too high when it comes to your body...it's the only one we get so take care of it and in the end it will take care of you.

I'm gearing up for more testing to see why I'm having this pelvic bone pain.  Is it a fracture, probably not. Could it be osteitis fibrosa?  Possibly.  Is this Thyroid cancer metastasized in the pelvic bones? We shall see! All I know is I'm in horrible bone jarring pain and cannot run nor can I sit or stand for long before I'm relegated to laying on a heating pad in bed, which is every day by mid morning.  This is not the life I envisioned while getting healthy, yet it is the life I live and I'll find joy however and wherever I can because it could always be worse.  I am blessed beyond measure and I am so very thankful for each and every blessing in my life.  That includes all you lovely people from the blog-o-sphere that have become my friends.  

Blessings and hugs, here is what has become my new hobby now that I have so much free time to just laze around...LOL enjoy! I call my new hobby Cloudy Thoughts Photography...What say you?

"Limitations only exist if you let them"

Godspeed...this comes from the Middle English expression "God spede (you)", a wish for success and fortune for one setting out on an enterprise, voyage, adventure, or travels. It may also mean good luck.

© 2013 Shannon M. King. This publication is the exclusive property of Shannon M. King and is protected under the US Copyright Act of 1976 and all other applicable international, federal, state and local laws. The contents of this post/story may not be reproduced as a whole or in part, by any means whatsoever, without consent of the author, Shannon M. King. All rights reserved.