Ski Trip 2010

We recently went to Crested Butte, CO to go skiing with Dusty's family.  The crew included: us, Dusty's mom and dad, his sister and brother-in-law, and his Aunt Susan.  We had a great time skiing and hanging out with the family.  All the crew flew up there except Dusty and his dad who wanted to drive instead.  It actually worked out well, because we were able to send all our luggage and supplies with them, instead of paying all the baggage fees.  Everyone had a lot of fun, and we look forward to doing it again next year!

Lots of snow in Texas

Around 2 weeks ago we had record snow fall here in the Fort Worth area. I think we got around 13 inches at our house. Work even got delayed until 10am! Gracie hated the snow, but it was beautiful while it lasted. We lost power for most of Thursday night until around 6pm on Friday, but since we were either asleep or at work most of the time, it wasn't that big a deal.

THE MARATHON!

Since I'm behind on blogging, I'll start with the most recent event and work my way back.  Yesterday, I ran my first marathon!  I decided on the Cowtown marathon about 4 months ago and began training.  4 months later it was game time and I really wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be.  I knew I had trained hard, the weather was perfect, and I had friends to help me along the way. 
Ester, Amy, Dusty, and Kyle (my little bro) were going to meet up with me every 5 miles or so, to give me supplies and take turns running with me.  They did an awesome job, and I couldn't have done so well without them. 

I met up with my crew around mile 9 and they dropped off Amy, and I needed to take a potty break (thanks Dusty for taking this picture).

Amy ran with me for 10 miles (the crew missed us at one of the stops) but she was a huge help and kept me going when I had a little freak out around mile 18 . . .let me explain. 

The Cowtown marathon provides pacers for the race, for example, I wanted to finish in 4:20, so I found a pace coach that was suppose to ensure that I would finish in that time.  His name was Patrick, at least that is what his shirt said.  I tried talking to Patrick that morning so I could introduce myself, but he either didn't hear me or decided to ignore me.  I then tried again, by asking Patrick a question.  . .still no response.  So I gave up, and just decided to follow him, but not talk to him. 

When Amy joined up with me, I told her about Patrick's friendly demeanor, so she tried talking to him, and still no response.  We were beginning to think maybe he just couldn't hear, when someone else ran up to him, asked him a question, and he just started talking away.  So, we came to the conclusion that Patrick just didn't like us (it was a good distraction at least).  Around mile 17 Patrick started really picking up the pace, and I could tell he was going to fast.  I told Amy I didn't feel like we were that far off the pace, and this was just too fast for as many miles as we had left (I was far more stressed while this was happening than my words are expressing).  Amy was calm and said it was alright, we'll just keep him in sight, and just keep doing what we were doing.  I guess Patrick finally came to realization that he was going to fast and had left his group behind, because he saw the mile 18 marker and came to a complete stop.  Amy and I ran on by, thinking what in the world is going on here.  At that moment we decided to just trust our own bodies and listen to what our internal pace clock was telling us.   (I'm wearing a teal and black shirt and Amy's in red)

Amy ran with me until around mile 21 where I picked up my sweet husband Dusty (who was soooo excited about running--for those of ya'll that know Dusty you should know I'm kidding).  Around mile 22 we picked up my brother and we were in the home stretch.  Amy was great about talking to me and keeping me distracted.  Dusty and Kyle on the other hand needed a little encourgement.  I finally told them to start talking to me, because I was hurting quite a bit around mile 23.  Dusty tried, but Kyle really picked up the slack and did a good job encouraging me. 

Long story shorter. . . I finished!  My time was 4:18 (9:52 pace).  I got 22nd out of 68 women in my age group.  99th out of 368 women, and 488 out of 1194 people.  I was proud of myself, but most of all, greatly appreciative of all the support from my friends and family.

Yes, I'm eating Blue Bell ice cream, but after 26.2 miles, you can eat what ever you want!!!

Gracie

It has been awhile since I blogged, but things have been a little crazy. Our most recent event involved our little, precious dog Gracie. She had an accident on New Years Day morning trying to jump on the bed to visit her Grammy and Papa (my mom and dad). She fell off the bed and either landed funny or twisted on the way down and slipped a disc in her neck. When it first happened she appeared paralyzed from the neck down, but after 30 minutes or so she started moving her back legs. Her front legs were a different story. We took her to the emergency vet because she could not move her front legs or put any weight on them. If we tried to stand her up she would just collapse and fall head first on the ground.




The vet (Dr. Smith) was great and very optimistic that Gracie would recover, but by the looks of her, we really had our doubts. Dr. Smith said this wasn't the worse case she'd seen and said Gracie should recover in about a month. They kept Gracie over night and we came back the next morning to pick her up.



Our instructions were to keep giving her the medication (steroids, pain killers, muscle relaxers, and an antacid) and to restrict her movements and come back the next day. Gracie couldn't do anything for herself. We had to hold her to eat and drink and assist her in going outside to use the restroom. This involved allowing her to walk on her back legs and holding her front half off the ground (it was quite funny to see myself and Dusty duck walking around the yard holding our dog and cheering when she went to the bathroom). It didn't help matters that Texas had the coldest temps in 10 years the week she was completely immobile. The temps were in the teens and 20's with single digit wind chills and our sweet little dog does NOT like the cold. She would shiver and was completely miserable.



We kinda had a routine down, but then the fun began. The medicine caused Gracie to have explosive diarrhea, and I mean explosive. This occurred hourly. My dear, sweat, husband stayed up all night with her taking her outside every hour. Needless to say, we went back to the vet. This one was just a normal vet office close to our house. He gave her meds for the diarrhea which was basically just 1/4 of an Immodium tablet twice a day. This vet wasn't as optimistic as Dr. Smith. He said that if she doesn't start improving soon, we should look and seeing a Neurologist and consider surgery. This option usually runs around $5000 and that just wasn't in our budget. He told us to come back in a couple days. We went back and he repeated what he said and we told him we were willing to wait this out to see if she improved. Surgery wasn't really an option for us because of the cost. We were going to try and rehabilitate her and even considered getting those wheels for dogs if that didn't work.



Well to try to make this long story a little shorter, this past Monday, Gracie turned a corner. She was starting to get stronger and was able to stand on her own and take a few steps out of her kennel. I took her outside and basically had to let go and see what would happen. Well, my amazing little girl started walking on her own. She walked like she was drunk, but she was still walking! It was a great sight to see. I called Dusty to tell him, but he really didn't grasp what I was trying to tell him. I knew he had to see it to believe it. He got home around 8 that night, and I immediately told him I needed to show him something. I got Gracie and took her outside. I set her down in the grass and she started walking. He was so excited and you could tell it was sinking in--she was going to get better!



So, it is now two weeks since the accident and Gracie is walking on her own. She still has moments of weakness and her balance and strength still need improvement, but we are on the road to recovery. For all of ya'll that prayed, we thank you.



I'll try to keep this current.

OCD

I talk about Gracie a lot, because she's a very special dog. One example of this is her OCD. Most of ya'll are thinking there is no way you dog has OCD, but I'm here to prove you wrong.


Recently, I had to park my car in the cul de sac near our mailbox, because Dusty’s truck was blocking the drive into the garage. Since I normally park in the garage, there are usually not any cars parked near the mailbox. Well, Gracie also knows that there are normally not any cars parked near the mailbox. I opened the front door so she could see out and walked into the other room. All of a sudden I hear ferocious barking and I wonder what in the world could she be barking at. I assumed it was the neighbor’s cat, but he was nowhere to be seen. The only thing that she could see was my car. Yes, my car is what she was barking at. You see, it was out of place and Gracie doesn't like it when things are out of place. There isn’t the first time Gracie has went crazy because something has been out of place. She started barking one time at the kitchen counter because I hadn’t put the bananas in their usual spot. She also woke me up one night barking at my backpack hanging off a dining room chair. The backpack was slightly unzipped and hanging open, and this really freaked her out.

I took a picture of her staring out the front door at my car. She finally figured out it wasn’t going to hurt her and calmed down. . . .crazy dog!

56 Degrees!

I know, I know, it has been awhile, but the weather has been so beautiful it is really hard for me to waste the days typing on the computer.  Nothing too exciting going on, just the same ole same ole. . . .
It was a beautiful morning (56 degrees)!!!  I made it through my entire 13 mile run without soaking through my clothes!   Other than that I didn't do a whole lot.  Dusty and I went to the Home Depot and got some fertilizer to plant the tree is parents got for us.  It's an oak tree and it's already around 10 feet tall, so Dusty had to dig a really big hole!  I went and donated blood while he was digging. 

I think it is going to rain a lot this week, so maybe I'll do some more updates.  I want to get some pics of Kristen and Mike's wedding on here soon. 

Guess that's all for now!

The BOO BOO

So, Gracie has this toy. . .actually to be more specific she's on toy # 3. This toy is referred to as the Boo Boo around our house. It's one of those stupid looking dog things made famous by the Pet's Mart commercials. Gracie absolutely loves it--we have to hide it to make her stop playing with it. The only problem that we have encountered with Gracie's obsession with this toy is she also likes to destroy the toy. By destroy, I mean pull out all the stuffing until all that is left is the cloth cover. Once this task has been accomplished I usually head to the store to buy another one. So as of this date we're on Boo Boo #3. We started with a purple one . . .

moved on to the blue one (no pic), and now we are on an orange one. . .

Gracie's obsession makes me laugh, so I've decided to start documenting the Boo Boo's over the next year. Any time Gracie get's a new Boo Boo I will let ya'll know.


Gracie received her first Boo Boo in June of 2009. So now begins the count to see how many Boo Boo's will meet there demise by June of 2010. Any guesses????

Slow Mo

So, last weeks 15K didn't go to well.  I felt great up until mile 7 and then the heat and humidity really got to me.  I felt like I was running in sand and not going anywhere, but I trucked along in my sweaty glory until I reached mile 8 and then it just got worse.  I was starting to get goose bumps (sign of dehydration) so I took a brief walk to get some water and gatorade.  During this time, I thought maybe it would be a good idea to take a hit off my inhaler--which I did and all was well.  So, I start jogging again and probably made it a quarter mile or so only to realize that I no longer have my inhaler.  Great . . .now what should I do.  I'm not really having any trouble breathing, so I could leave it behind. . . but then, it is pretty new and it would take at least 2 days to get a new one and it cost $30 dollars. . . so, ugh. . .I guess I'll turn around and see if I can find it.  So I start running away from the finish (this is a mental beat down) and ask some people (heading toward the finish) if they've seen an inhaler on the ground.  Luckily a man (not a nice one or he would have picked it up) said he saw it about a quarter mile back or so.  To make a long story short, I finished.  It just took me a lot longer than planned and I felt like poop doing it.  This was probably the worst race I've ever ran. 

But on a happier note, my friends did really well.  Ester got 3rd in our age group (Female 25-29), Amy got 12th, and I got 25th.

So, I took the past weekend off from racing and will try my luck again this upcoming weeked at the Tour des Fleurs. I'm running the 20K so it'll be slow and steady.  The race starts at the Dallas Aboretum and it goes around White Rock Lake.  I did the 10K last year and had a good time so this year should be fun, plus the Aboretum is really pretty this time of year. 

Nothing else too exciting going on.  Dallas Cowboys won and it rained all weekend!!  Couldn't ask for much more.

Big D

This is a pic of some of my running friends. . . Amy (in blue), Sam, and Ester (in pink). This was taken before The Big D marathon. I did the half marathon, and Amy did her first full! Ester and Sam helped coach Amy all the way through her 26.2.

We did this at the beginning of April and it was actually still cold then-thus the long sleeves. I'm going to try and start taking my camera to the races, so I can get some more pics to post on here.

Snot Great

I've got a snot problem. Not feeling too bueno. Thanks goodness for puffs plus w/lotion (product shout-out). . .best invention for allergy sufferers by far! I've got a 15K tomorrow morning, so I hope I get all the snot out today. Hope everyone is having an excellent labor day weekend. Wish I could think of something more entertaining to write about, but all the medicine has got me off my A game.

Hmmmm

Well, nothing new or exciting to write about. Just being awesome as usual! Woke up this morning and did around 9 miles or so. Then I just came home and crashed. Feeling a little bit lazy now, but there is laundry to be done!

Keep on rockin peeps~

Buggers

There is a mosquito in my house and it is feasting on me! I can't seem to locate it, but when I do, it will die. . .oh, yes, it will die!

Trying this again

Ok, so I kinda feel off the wagon. I'm going to try and start working on this again. The entire format might change, because I'm thinking about working on a blog for my running group. Not 100% sure on that yet. . . but maybe.

My life just really isn't that exciting.

Over the past months that I haven't written anything, I just really haven't done much. Dusty and I are married now. The wedding was amazing. I will try and get some pictures of the wedding up soon. I ran my first 1/2 marathon (13.1 miles) and am considering running a full (26.2). I need to decide by the end of this month, because that's when I will have to start training if I want to do the Cow Town Marathon (Ft. Worth).

Anyway, I guess that is all for now.

Peace and Love!

Because I can. . .

So, I got a few things I need to discuss. One being the stupidity of the public. The stupidity of the American public is beyond measure. It is frustrating how stupid people are. Stop and think before you make a phone call about what you are going to say when someone answers. Please have a pen handy if you are needing information. Pen/Pencil's are useful tools that assist one in obtaining/remembering information. Listen to what the person on the other end of the phone is saying and please pay attention. I could keep going, but just typing about stupid people makes me angry. And just in case you were wondering. . . there are such things as stupid questions, believe me, I have heard them.

Also, if you happen to be running on a trail/path that I am and I wave to you or smile, please do the same back. This is Texas! We do that kinda thing here. It's polite.

Been awhile

So, been back from vacation for over a week. Wish I was back on the beach. Wedding stuff is starting to get a little stressful. Too many things to do and I can't keep up with everything. I can completely understand why people go to Vegas--it's a lot easier and affordable.

I ran my first 10K this past Saturday. It was fun and not as painful and I thought it would be. I finished my 6.2 miles in 56:41 = 9.09 mile pace. Not too bad I guess. I finished 48th in my age group out of 234 people and 187 out of 1031 women.

Guess that's all for now. I've got to get back to reading.

Vacation

Almost vacation time and I can't wait. We are all headed to Padre and we hope we are able to avoid the large # of hurricanes that seem to be trying to spoil are fun. I'm soooo ready to be on the beach working on my late summer tan and drinking pina coladas!

Other that waiting on vacation all I seem to be doing is running. Fun times

Hmmmm.

So, I guess I decided to do this because everyone else is. . . stupid peer pressure. This blog will be sporadic--just a warning.