I Have a Heavy Heart

My brother-in-law, whom I have known since I was about 9, lost his battle with lung cancer on Saturday. He put up a brave front and fought a good fight, but his body grew weary and weak from the chemo and radiation. My sister wasn’t ready to let him go and is having a very difficult time.

He and my sister had been together since they were about 15 years old. Our families became close friends. They moved with his family to another state and eventually my family moved to the same city and state (except for me and another sister, we were both married by then).

He was a great guy (a bit annoying at times when I was a teenager) and a great husband and father to their three kids. He wasn’t the most ambitious man but spent a lot of time with his family. He especially loved to fish, putz around on their son’s farm and play with his grandkids.

Last March we had a gigantic family reunion/birthday party for him. He has a large family and mine is too, so we had a lot of people there. We all knew he wouldn’t live through the summer so it was really a celebration of his life. My daughter, the photographer, took lots of pictures for us.

At his request there won’t be a viewing before the service. He wanted to be cremated and have a small service where everyone is to wear their most comfy jeans and t-shirts. A bonfire will be lit at their son’s farm that evening in his memory.

I’m trying to get some priority projects at work up to a point for others to take over so I can leave tomorrow to be with my family. The problem for me is the service isn’t until Friday but I have to be back in town to catch a plane on Saturday morning to go to a conference. I won’t be able to attend the service or bonfire and feel a little bummed about it.

So this is my tribute to Johnny - a simple man who enjoyed the simple pleasures in life leaving this world his way … simply.

The Versatile Blogger Award

Wow! I’ve received my first blogger award – The Versatile Blogger! I’d like to thank my manager, my agent, my producer – but I especially want to thank AJH at Age Groups Rock for bestowing this award on me.

My first thought was “how on earth am I going to think of seven tidbits about myself that would be of interest to all of you”. Then I realized they don’t have to be profound, or intense or even humorous. They just have to be – me.

Seven things about me:

1.  I went to Jamaica for eight days a few years ago for my daughter’s wedding. I actually came home with a tan! I’m fair skinned, so I always burn. I loved Jamaica!

2.  I love hiking. Last Sunday I went on a two hour hike with one of the local hiking groups in my town. The trail we took is listed as difficult. It had a lot of steep hills and a lot of ticks. The temperature was 85 degrees. The heat and hike pretty much wiped me out for the rest of the day.

3.  I bought my grandson all of the Harry Potter books and videos. I have to confess, I bought myself a set too. I really enjoyed that series.

4.  I love music from the 1940’s (Dean Martin, Glenn Miller and his orchestra) up through current(Nickelback, Lady GaGa). I frequently switch between radio stations when I’m in my car.

5.  I took ballroom, country and swing dance lessons many years ago. And I’m still looking for a guy that can dance!

6.  I bought my first house a year ago at the age of 53. I did own a house with my ex, but we’ve been divorced for almost thirty years, so I’m considered a first time home owner.

7.  I love sitting on my deck in the evening as it gets dark, listening to the different bird sounds, the hum of traffic in the distance and the water flowing in the creek behind my house while the insects dive-bomb my computer screen (which is what they’re doing right now) .


I’m suppose to present this award to other new (or not so new) bloggers. But, since I’m pretty new myself and so far most, if not all, of the bloggers I follow have been blogging for quite a while and already have this award, I don’t know who to pass it on to.

Now for my running update since my last run with the running group. Here’s a brief synopsis of my week – I ran some, hiked once, mowed a few times (hard work!) and worked lots.

Wednesday night I ran with the group again and once more I had a great time. This time I brought Little Red (my Garmin) with me so I was the time keeper. The only problem was I had the workout set up for a total of 30 minutes but we weren’t back at the starting point by then so I just hit the lap counter and went for another 10 minutes for a total of almost four miles. We’re the newby slow runners, so it definitely takes us longer to go out and back, but everyone waits for us to return and we just hang around and chat for a while. It’s a really great time.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend everyone!

A Slight Set-back, Bifocal Contacts and ... A Running Group!

In my last post I told you I had set up a running schedule beginning that day (Sunday). I did run that day and on Monday I decided I needed to get more exercise, not just by running so I did level 1 of the 30 Day Shred (Jillian Michaels). On Tuesday I could tell I was headed for another bout of bronchitis so I was put on another round of antibiotics and had to put my training schedule on hold. Luckily, I caught it early and am feeling much better. However, I just couldn’t get myself motivated to start up again.

But, last Thursday I received an email from a female member of the local running group. I had joined the group last January and decided to watch a 5k race a few weeks later. Since I was so new to running, I didn’t participate in any events or even watch any more races.

There are several groups of members that get together on various days of the week to just run. One of the groups is strictly for women. They meet on the first Wednesday of the month at a member’s house for a 30 minute run and pot luck dinner. They alternate hosting the pot luck each month between the members. I never attended because I knew I couldn’t run for a full 30 minutes yet or even run as fast as they can. They also meet at a particular trail all the other Wednesdays to just run. Another new female member, also a newbie runner, was looking for other newbies to run with on the Wednesday trail run. I had totally forgotten about that women’s group until I received that email. I got so excited and replied back that I would love to join the group at the trail and run with her. Several other women, also new to running, responded as well. I couldn’t wait for my working day to end today. I left work at 5:00 instead of working late as I usually do.

There were four of us new runners and ten or twelve other women that run at various paces. Some ran five miles (2.5 out and 2.5 back); some ran 2.5 miles (out and back for a total of 2.5). We newbies ran 3 miles (1.5 out, 1.5 back). Of course, we did the walk/run intervals.

The woman that sent out the email also brought her 29 year daughter who is a runner. She was great! She wanted to run with her mom so she timed our walk/runs. After a five minute warm up walk, we ran for three minutes/walked one minute. Then we ran one/walked one. The rest of the intervals were run 2/walk 1. I had a few tough moments where I felt like stopping and just walking, but I thought about all of you, how you push yourselves to not quite by using self-talk. So, I just told myself I could do it, if I keep going this time, the next time will be just a bit easier. Afterward I felt great! The weather was really nice. There was a nice coolish breeze that felt so good during our cool down.

I had an awesome time. It was great having someone to run with and can’t wait for next Wednesday’s group run. I feel more motivated to continue my running schedule in between Wednesdays. I’m sure I’ll notice some improvement, however small, by next week.

Oh yeah, I ditched my bifocal glasses for bifocal contacts. I couldn’t understand how contacts could be bifocal and was a bit apprehensive, but I’m so glad I did it. I hate wearing glasses and the contacts work great.

Happy running everyone!

Happy Mother's Day and Goal Setting

Happy Mother's Day to all of the Moms out in the running blogsphere. I hope you all had a nice day. I had a nice Mother's Day weekend. Yesterday my two daughters and I got a spa pedicure while drinking a white chocolate something-or-other with soy from Scooters Coffeehouse. It was a bit decadent and very good. Today D2 and her family took me to brunch. We went to Le Peep Restaurant. It was packed! They told us we would have a 20 minute wait. After waiting for 40 minutes, I inquired whether they still had our name on their list. They said it would be another 10 minutes. We were seated after waiting (and mostly standing) for 75 minutes! We knew it would actually be longer than 20 minutes, but not 75! And they were still packed with people waiting to be seated when we left.

Well, I have finally set up a running schedule to complete the C25K training program that I started a few months ago. For one reason or another (or no reason at all) I never went further than completing week two before just stopping. Yesterday, I hooked up my Garmin to my computer and scheduled each run on the Training Center software that came with it. I was surprised at how easy it was to set up the training program and download it to my Garmin.

I set up the Training Center to begin with Week 3 Day 1 beginning today and continuing every other day. I know it seems a bit ambitious (for me) but I have a goal to run a 5k sometime around late July or early August. I want to have completed the C25K program and have about a month to build up my endurance and distance. The program trains you to run for time (30 minutes) not distance and I’m not sure that I’ll be running a 5k distance when I complete it.

Today I ran Week 3 Day 1 om the treadmill and feel I did pretty well. The only problem was the Garmin kept beeping at me to go faster, even during the warm up. I kept increasing the speed hoping the beeping would stop (it was quite annoying) until I felt a straining feeling in my right leg. I decided to back off the speed and just tolerate the beeping. I need to figure out if the target speed for each pace zone can be adjusted.

I found a race that I would like to run but it’s being held on July 10th and I’m not sure I’ll be ready by then. I have until Jun 30th to register so I should know by then how I feel I’m progressing. I also asked my daughters to run a 5k with me. They were a bit surprised I’m interested in racing but were very supportive and happy to join me on my first race. I feel more excited and motivated to run now!

Congratulations to everyone that raced today. Especially Anne (Asthma and The Gift of Running)! She ran her first race today – a 10k! She’s such an inspiration!

A Very Good Weekend and Renewed Outlook

This has been a pretty good weekend for me. I didn't work (shh, don't tell anyone) or wallow alone at home in a funk. I got myself outside in the sunshine and fresh air. I even got some exercise.

About mid-morning Saturday I decided it was time to dig up the five bushes that line my walkway. If you want to experience some hard physical work or get out some pent up aggression, just try chopping at the roots of some thorny bushes! I managed to get at least one yanked from its stronghold under my sidewalk and at least got the dirt dug out around the rest before having to leave for a few hours. Thankfully, daughter #2 (D2) and son-in-law decided to surprise me and pulled the rest out with their old jeep while I was gone.

Midway through the bushwhacking, daughter #1 (D1) needed a big favor. She had an unexpected photo shoot and needed someone to watch her two youngest daughters and take one of them to her softball game. So, I put away the shovel and spade, got semi cleaned up and took them to lunch and then to the softball game. It was fun watching 7 & 8 year old girls play softball. It was also fun racing the younger one to the car and back to the ball field.

After getting back home and seeing that the rest of the bushes had been yanked out, I decided to head out to the state park where D1 and her family had been camping since Thursday. Now, in case you're confused about D1, she has this really bad habit of trying to do too many things at once. She knew her daughters had games on Saturday but took them camping anyway since the campground is only 30 miles away from where we live. But, she got a call on Saturday about a last minute photo shoot from a current client and felt she couldn't/shouldn't pass it up. In the meantime, her husband and oldest daughter stayed with the camper.

Anyway, D2 and her family went out to the camp ground for a cook out and I decided, after a much needed shower, to venture out there myself. I grabbed my running shoes and Garmin, made a quick stop at the store and surprised everyone. Before dinner, I got the granddaughters to run with me. We just did 1 minute intervals, walk 1/run 1. The girls loved running with me as much as I loved running with them. We only did about six of these, but it felt great. I felt so refreshed! I just couldn't believe it. I contemplated doing another round of intervals, but it got too dark and late and I needed to head home.

Today I still felt great. A bit sore, but great. After reading some of the blogs that I follow, I ran some errands, did some shopping and met a friend for a movie late this afternoon. She had been wanting to get together for a movie for a few months, but for one reason or another, I kept backing out. But today I decided to heck with everything else (work, laundry, cleaning) and had a really nice time.

About a week ago, I came across a quote on another blog that really hit home with me so I wrote it down. I believe this woman had heard it from someone else. I can't remember the name of the blog off hand, but when I do, I'll definitely give her the credit for the quote. The quote is - "You have to let go of the life you have to make room for the life you want". The life I want is more calm in my life, good health, closer relationships with family and friends and more positive life experiences. But, if I'm to achieve the life I want, I have to let go of the stresses of work, open myself up more to others and let them get to know me, do what it takes to get and stay healthy and set goals to help me accomplish all of this.

I have made a pact with myself that, unlike last summer, I will not let work interfere with my ability to enjoy this summer. I will get out of the house more, meet with friends more, go to more of my granddaughter's softball games, hike more, and RUN MORE.

Who knew that running for six minutes could have such an impact on a person's outlook! It's time to get back in the saddle, in this case the running shoes, again.