I did it!

Yesterday morning I woke up at 4:00am because I was so excited.  I left the house about 6 to make the hour drive to the 5K at the beach.  It was absolutely beautiful at Jennings beach!  I was really freaked out by all the people, because I have been training alone.  I am used to just doing my own thing and talking the the dogs I encounter or saying hi to neighbors.  This was much different.  These people know what they are doing and that was extremely intimidating.  I do need to say that the running community is, by far, the nicest group of people I've ever met.  People I had never set eyes on before, were giving me hugs for good luck and there wasn't a stranger in the crowd.  I'm not just talking about the group I was with, I'm talking about the entire 1,000 or so people.  A woman who realized that I am a cancer survivor, looked for me at the starting line just to give me a good luck knuckle pound.  Unbelievable!  Also, Carlee, one of the TNT coaches, who is 8 months pregnant, stayed with me the whole time.  By the way, the sweat was pouring off of me and she was cool as a cucumber.  I can't thank her enough for watching out for me. 

I need to give you the bottom line here now, because I'm heading out the door.  I will give more details later today.  I did finish the race!  I was also the last person to cross the finish line.  I was kind of mad when I found that out, but my son said, "what the hell Mom, you finished a 5k and you're a cancer survivor.  There are army guys who couldn't do that."  I felt a hundred percent better. 

Three more days

Wow is the 5K really in three days!! Time has been flying by lately and I didn't even realize how long it had been since I blogged, until I checked it today. I did a practice walk/run on Saturday and suffice it to say, it went OK. I'm trying to mentally prepare for Saturday morning and the possibility of it being very hot. I'm not a huge fan of the heat and although some people would attribute this to my weight or age, they are wrong, I just don't like the heat. Sorry about that, I'm still a little bitter about the butt-holes and their ignorant comments.

Today was my visit to one of my doctors to check my blood pressure and cholesterol. She explained to me that people in training don't lose weight and many end up gaining. I stayed the same, thank goodness. What the hell! Still hoping it's muscle. She also told me that I need to eat a slice of toast with peanut butter before the race. I normally don't like to eat a thing before I hit the road, but I will listen to my Dr. and she reads this blog sometimes, so I had better say that. Anything for a little more energy. I'll have to leave my house about 6am on Saturday to get to Fairfield about 7 and some wiggle room on the time just in case I get lost. There won't be anyone at the finish line for me and I have to admit, that makes me kind of sad. My husband will be with our son at a military thing. My son told me to do the race and so I will.

On my way home from the Dr., I remembered that I wanted to get a purple feather in my hair for the 5K and I was passing by the hair salon, so I stopped in to see if they had time tomorrow to do it for me. When I walked in the door, my hairdresser was sitting right there and although she had an appointment coming in, another person offered to put it in for me today. She heard me talking about the 5K and that I'm a survivor etc... and she put the purple feathers in my hair "on her". It was so nice and I really love my feathers.

One last thing for today. Since my 5K is almost here and this training is coming to an end, do you people want me to continue my blog writing about random things? I will be continuing going on my walks and I might start yoga. I'm sure there are many more amusing things to share in my future. Oh yeah, and should I change the name of my blog? Any suggestions? I will try to blog Saturday afternoon to let you all know how it went. That is if I can still move my body. I will do my best.

Just Venting

Here it goes.  Last night after a meeting, a person I know asked how my training was going.  I sent out emails begging every single person I know for money for this LLS fundraiser and he happened to be  in my email.  I told him it was going pretty well, but there have been some bumps in the road.  He then looks at me and asked how my joints are because people who are a little overweight like me and him can have a lot of trouble with their knees, hips and ankles.  He said that is why he doesn't run, because he has some extra weight too.  I think he doesn't run because his neck can't hold up his damn head full of rocks.  Once the shock of what this dumbass had said to me wore off, I told him my joints were fine.  Then he gave me another strange look and said incredulously, "oh, so you're able to do stretching?".  All I was able to muster up in response was a yes.  I may have had a bone marrow transplant and there are some minor limits in my life now, but some people can use a brain transplant.  In what universe is it EVER alright to talk to a woman about her weight?  And how about a simple good for you for doing this for charity, or even saying nothing would have been good.  People need to learn that the things they say to each other can have lasting affects that aren't always good.  Now, I feel very self conscience about how I look and I cried about it today.  I wasn't even able to put on my running clothes and go out today, because I think people are looking at me wondering what the fat girl is doing running.  I'm sure I'll feel better tomorrow about myself, but today I'm kind of feeling crappy.  I won't let him get the best me and won't he be surprised when I complete the 5K in two weeks.  What a jerk! Starting right now, only positive thoughts and I'll hit the road in the morning, with my new deodorant.

Wow, has it been two weeks?

I think I have a lot of updating to do today.  Yes, I got my treadmill and it isn't broken, but it kind of sucks.  It's a manual treadmill and much harder to walk on then anticipated. I'm still going to try to conquer the annoying machine and I'm going to show it who's boss...I hope.  The incline on the treadmill makes a huge difference and I thought I was going to have a damn heart attack the first time I tried to walk/run on it.  I'll get there.

I didn't run in the Memorial Day 5K, because when I went to register online, it said registration was closed.  It originally said you could register up until race day, but maybe they changed their minds. It all worked out though, because it was hot and humid as hell that morning. Hot I can somewhat handle, but humidity seriously kicks my hiney.  My chest gets tight and I feel like an 80 yr. old, who just mowed their lawn while dragging around a walker, and pressing on a life alert necklace.   It's just really not a pretty sight!

My training has been going OK.  I will be doing the June 23rd 5K for LLS after all.  My son said that he wanted me to do the race, so that's what I'll do.  I honestly wonder if he fears that I'll embarrass him in front of his superiors.  FYI, I wouldn't do that...on purpose.  I'll admit I did tell his Drill Sgt., when he was away at boot camp, that I am his Mom so I out rank all of them.  Oops, that may have cost my son a few push -ups.  Well, he was pissing me off and he wouldn't tell me how my son was doing after he was sent to the hospital.  I think I may have even pulled out the recovering from a bone marrow transplant card.  It eventually worked, because I did get another call saying he was doing alright.  I really wouldn't embarrass him, I have too much respect for my son and what he's doing to ever make him feel icky.  He has also been very supportive of me doing the 5K and when I don't think I've accomplished enough, he tells me I'm doing good and to keep going.

Here is my last update.  When did I start smelling so bad?  On Thursday, it was a little humid when I did my training in the morning.  I got home and took off my running shirt, to the most rancid smell coming off of my body.  It smelled even worse then chemo sweat.  You need to understand that I thought every bodily function smelled way worse while on chemo and I thought I smelled gross all the time.  Anyway, I thought I would never get the scent out of my running shirt again.  Then it happened two more times after training.  Absolutely disgusting.  Now I know why neighbors were keeping their distance while saying hello to me. I need to find the hard stuff.  I'm contemplating visiting a construction sight and asking those dudes what deodorants they use.  I think I need something industrial strength.  No more flowery or fruity scents for me. I hope people bear with me if in the future I smell a little like musk, Old Spice or Mitchum Sport.  I never want to experience bad armpit smell on myself again.  PU.