AND THE WINNER IS.......

When I blogged last, surgery had me just about given up my hopes of finishing the half marathon.  I was going participate in the relay instead and was trying to be positive about it.  But when the time came to actually register for the race I had an epiphany.  Both Team Manager Tonya and Coach Missy said that they thought I could do the half.  Hmmmm......something to ponder.

Life had been crazy, there has been many changes and a setback or two, but the bottom line was - I NEEDED A WIN.   So I decided to make one.  I registered for the half and picked up on my training.

So, yesterday I was up at 5AM, laced up my running shoes and joined thousands of other athletes at the Sunsphere,

I was much calmer than I expected - thanks to my teammates and coaches.  The night before I watched a video of last years race several times.  I thought that visualizing folks crossing the finish line in Neyland Stadium would help keep me going.  It did.

Knoxville is such a beautiful city and seeing it from the vantage point of the race was amazing.  People were encouraging and kind, the weather was wonderful and it was the physically hardest thing I have done - ever.  It was a perfect day.

It took me over 4 hour complete the half.  I never had a moment where I thought I couldn't do it.

 Here is what I learned:

• Your mind will tell you to stop before you body does.  I am stronger than what my mind and my body tells me I should be.
• There is nothing better for your spirit than doing something that you didn't think you could do.
• You are never too old to be a bad ass. (Excuse the language please)

What I won:

• A really cool medal
• A farmer tan and some blisters
• A "really good" kind of sore body.
• Some amazing friends.
• An experience to last a lifetime.

When I finally turned the corner and saw Neyland Stadium, my tears caught me off guard.  I don't know if they came from pride, or relief or both.  Regardless, I earned those too.

For those of you who don't know - Neyland Stadium (home of the Vols) is the "mother ship" for virtually everyone in East Tennessee.  To run across the field (in the footsteps of Peyton Manning), and see my sweet husband, parent and friends was simply beyond words.

This is not the end - in fact, it is just the beginning.

- Kim

Life Thows a Curve Ball.......

Okay, so January got off to an amazing start and I was feeling great about my progress.  Then, as happens, life got in the way.  More specifically, my gallbladder got in the way.

I will spare you the details but the short story is this - I have had a painful gallbladder attack.  If you add together the time it took to diagnose (last week), remove  (this week) and recover/be released to work out (2 more weeks), I will have lost 4 weeks of training time and the big event will be a mere 5 weeks away. 

When it comes to things outside my comfort zone (specifically exercise and diet related), I have never been a "finisher".  I have started many plans, paid for many programs and when life got in the way I used it as a convenient excuse to quit and go back to my comfortable, couch potato ways.

For me, being on this team has been as much about finishing something as it has been about losing weight and getting fit.

At the end of the day this curve ball has provided me with this "life lesson":

 If you don't make time to exercise, eat right and take care of yourself consistently you WILL eventually be forced to take time to deal with the results - illness, lack of energy etc.

 

As with all things - life is much less about what happens to you than it is about  how you react.  We all get the curve ball, the car that won't start, the sick kid on a busy day, the plan b or or plan c or plan d.

So, I will relying on my team, putting on my big girl panties and doing what it takes to get to 13.1 on April 7, 2013.

See you at this finish line.

-Kim

 

 

 



 





 

 



 

 



 

 

 

Mean Girls and Milestones

On January 1st, 2013, I participated in the Calhoun's New Year's Day 5k.  Just getting to the race site was a huge win - it was cold and rainy and I spent a good 15 minutes that morning trying to come up with a good reason not to go. 

It was an amazing feeling to sign in and get my first ever race bib (number 449) and listen to the National Anthem before the race started.  It dawned on me that this was the first time ever, that I had heard the anthem at a sporting event where I was a participant.  Never in grade school, high school or college, but here, at age 48, I was participating in an actual sporting event.  Despite the rain and the cold, I was thrilled.

Then the race started.  In short order I ran through a puddle and felt the water fill my shoes.  My calf and ankle quickly began to ache.  I had started towards the back of the group of almost 800 participants but was still keenly aware of being passed by other runners and walkers.

I kept telling myself - "This is my race - I am not competing against anyone but me.  My goal is to finish".

Shortly after hitting the turn around point I found myself near a group of "20 something" girls who were walking the course in rain ponchos, laughing and having fun.  I continued to  walk briskly for a few minutes and then would jog as long as I could before going back to walking.  When I started my jog, I found myself back in 3rd grade gym class  as the "mean girls" decided to have some fun with me.

I won't honor the words by typing them here - but let's just say these young women thought it was amusing to make loud comments about my progress.

About that time, I saw two figures walking towards me.  Two of my teammates, Bryan and Scott, had finished the race and come back, in the rain, to see me to the finish line.  When I chided them about not having the sense to get out of the rain, their response was simple - they came back because that is what a team does.  They stayed with me until I ran across the finish line.

So later that day, after I had a hot bath (complete with hot cocoa, compliments of the sweetest hubby in the word), I thought about the mean girls.  About how, at first, their words stung - but only for a minute.  I was honeslty surprised that the next thing I felt was pity. How sad to think you have peaked at 20. To think you have no room to grow - and to feel the need to put down a woman (me ;) who is achieving things at 48 that she couldn't imagine at 20.

My New Years wish for those girls is the gumption to always strive to be better, a team to support them along the way and someone who loves them like my husband Kent loves me.

Looking forward to 2013!

Kim