It is finally here

Yep, it is true, the Chicago Marathon is finally here! After 3 months of training, I can no longer avoid it…in less than 48 hours, I will be running 26.2 miles with over 40,000 other runners in downtown Chicago. Even though this will be my third marathon, I am still filled with anxiety. I don’t know if it is the fact that for the first time I am running the full 26.2 miles on my own, or if it is because I still feel like I didn’t train all that well, of it is because I am worried that any one of the several injuries I acquired while training this year will reappear on Sunday. But underneath all that anxiety lies excitement and joy. There truly is something magical about running 26.2 miles through the city of Chicago with thousands of other runners. 

This year, I have a different focus for the marathon. Unlike years in the past, I don’t really care what my time is; I am not running it to set a new PR or to qualify for Boston, but instead I run it in memory of my Grandma. I run to celebrate her life, to celebrate her strength, to celebrate her compassion, to celebrate her love for the little things in life. And whether I run the marathon in 5 hours or 3, it won’t matter to me because I know it wouldn’t have mattered to my grandma.

And I just know she will be watching over me on Sunday, cheering me on from the stands in Heaven.

Gram, this run is for you! RIP 06/18/09

2nd Half Marathon – new PR (for the year)

Well, I finished the Lake Zurich Half Marathon feelin’ good and in great spirits. This race, unlike so many others I have done, I actually ran all my miles at or close to my goal pace. I didn’t start out too fast, nor did I ever start slowing down. I think that made all the difference in the world because at the end, I was able to sprint in and pick off about 3 to 4 people. I kind of felt a little bad about passing them right at the end, but then on the other hand, it did feel pretty good. And the best part was I set a new PR for this year.

If anyone is considering doing a half-marathon next year, I highly recommend this one. The course is hilly, but manageable. The volunteers were awesome – always cheering us on and giving us encouragement, which is definitely needed right around miles 9, 10, and 11. There was plenty of water and gatorade on the course and volunteers were shouting out our times at every mile. The course was scenic as well, which always helps!

So now with this Half-marathon behind me, I can start to focus on the Chicago Marathon which is coming up in 19 days. This coming weekend, I will be doing my last long run before the marathon – 20 miles! And then after that I will start to taper my runs until the big day. I am praying that I remain injury free for the next 3 weeks and that the weather on marathon day is actually decent unlike past years.

I’ll keep everyone posted as to how these next 3 weeks turn out.

Peace.

6 days until my next half-marathon

It’s true, I have signed up for another Half-Marathon. This time I will be running the Lake Zurich Half Marathon on Sunday, September 20th. I am not sure if this is the best idea I have had, seeing as I am trying to heal an injured foot and the fact that there is only 3 weeks until the Chicago Marathon. But me being one not to turn down an invitation to run in a race, I decided to sign up. My friend is also going to be running it, so at least I will have some support .

In order to get ready for this Half, I plan on doing the following runs:

Monday – 7 miles; Tuesday – 8 miles; Wednesday – 6 miles; Thursday – 4 miles; Friday – 9; Saturday – 3

Not sure if all these miles are going to happen or if the foot will hold up, but I am going to try anyway!!  

Peace.

I just can’t stay away..

After only being gone from Kentucky for two months, I just can’t seem to stay away. Back in July, I made a whirlwind of a trip down to Parkers Lake and just last weekend, I went back. But this time, I had a 3 day weekend thanks to our Labor Day holiday, so I got to spend even more time in KY.

The trip started with me driving out to Roanoke, IN to pick up my former roommate and good friend, Ann. We then proceeded to make the 6 hour drive to Parkers Lake, KY. We left around 10:30 on Saturday morning, and should have gotten to Parkers Lake by 4:30; however, we happened to run into a little car trouble…we got a flat tire!! Thankfully, though, a nice KY man flagged us down and we were able to make it to a truck stop without blowing the tire. And go figure, the truck stop had a tire repair shop, so we were able to patch the tire and be on our way in an hour. God is so good!!

Well, we arrived in Parkers Lake fashionably late, but were still greeted by two of our good friends that we worked with. It was really good to see them. That night, we also made it to the Cumberland Falls ’square’ dancing night and got to see even more people that we knew. And the best part (at least for me) was that we made it right at the end of the dancing, so I didn’t have to get out on the dance floor – oh happy day!

On Sunday, we went to Grace on the Hill church and got to hear some amazing music and an awesome message by Pastor Tim. I really do miss that church. I would love to be able to move it and transplant it here in IL . After church, Ann and I stopped at our favorite ice cream place which is the Brown Cow – got to love their twist (a.k.a stacked) ice cream. After our ice cream, we headed on up to Jackson County for the BBQ that the Jackson House was hosting. It was a little weird seeing all the new volunteers, but at the same time very cool. I am still in awe at how so many people give a year of themselves to serve with CAP – it truly is awesome. At the BBQ, I also got to spend some time catching up with my good friends, Jenny, Jenna, and Shannon. Jenna and Shannon will be ending their volunteer time in the next few months, but Jenny has stayed on for another year. I so incredibly happy for her.

The best ice cream in Corbin, KY

After the BBQ, Ann and I made a second trip (yes, second!) to the Brown Cow and enjoyed another twist cone! We then attempted to see the Moonbow again (we missed seeing it on Saturday night by 30 minutes) but it was a bit too cloudy for it.

On Monday, Ann went to visit another friend and I decided to just relax in the trailer. It was like old times, me laying on the couch reading a book and listening to the falling rain. It was great. Somedays, I really do miss that trailer!

Around 12, we hopped back in the car and made the trip back home, but of course not without one last stop at Cumberland Falls. Oh and the Mellow Mushroom – yea for pizza!

Again, a great trip to Kentucky and another reminder to me that I really do love that state! And of course, I am already planning another trip back down..I am thinking perhaps November

Rainbow at Cumberland Falls

Peace.

Sometimes you just have to laugh

Today, I had a 12 mile run scheduled on my Marathon training schedule and wouldn’t it figure that today also happened to be one of the hottest day of the summer. Did I let that deter me…no way. I was determined to get this run in, so I set my alarm for what was way too early for a Saturday morning and tried to get a full nights sleep. When the alarm went off..what do I hear….rain!! Not a light drizzle, but heavy rain. What is a girl to do…I needed to run.

So, I checked the weather and it looked like the rain was moving out of the area -PERFECT!! I laced up, grabbed my water, and headed out to the trail. By the time I drove to the trail, the rain had nearly stopped, it was just a drizzle at this point. 

I started my run and within the first mile, the rain had completely stopped and there was a slight breeze. The is going to be a great run, I thought to myself. Well, then I hit mile 5 and started to hear thunder in the distance. At first, I shrugged it off and said, ‘that must be a truck’. Nope..it was thunder and it was getting louder. Ok, at this point, any sane person would turn around and head back, especially knowing that I still had 5 miles to get back to my car. But did, I turn around…no way. I still had one mile to go to hit the 6 miles that I needed to make my 12 mile run.

Well, that turned into a huge mistake..I made it to the 6th mile, turned around and then the skies opened up and the rain came pouring down. I was completely soaked within 5 minutes, but I still did not stop running! Here I am soaking wet, in the middle of corn fields, with absolutely no one in sight…I couldn’t help but start laughing! What a sight I must have been. It is actually a good thing no one saw me – Oye vay!

Anyway, I finished those 12 miles, completely soaked, but feeling quite proud of myself. But next time, if I hear thunder, I am turning around

Peace.

Kevin’s birthday Celebration

Happy Birthday, Kevin!!

Today, my family and I celebrated my brother, Kevin’s 19th birthday. We didn’t do anything fancy, just dinner at one of his favorite restaurants and then cake back at the house. It was really good to go out with my family and just relax. However, it was a little sentimental because this is the first birthday we have celebrated since my grandma passed away in June.

I was actually standing in the kitchen cutting his cake, when I could hear my grandma’s voice telling me to ‘cut just a little piece’ for her. She never ate a lot of sweets, but on special occasions she never turned down a piece of cake or ice cream. She would of really liked the cake we got for my brother..it was chocolate – her favorite.

As more and more birthdays approach and as the holidays came nearer, I have a feeling I am going to have more and more of those moments of sensing my grandma or remembering the things she used to say. I am so grateful for all those memories that I have of her!

I still miss her terribly and wish she could have been here to see my brother turn 19, but I know that she was celebrating up in Heaven and eating a piece of chocolate cake in his honor!

Cumberland Gap

For all those that read my blog, I am terribly sorry that I have not posted in over a month. These past few months have definitely been a whirlwind for me. I want to fill everyone in on what has been happening this summer, but before I do that, I want to tell you all about this past weekend which included a trip to the Cumberland Gap! For those of you that don’t know, the Cumberland Gap National Park has the spot where you can stand in 3 states at once. Here I am standing in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia.

After spending ten months in KY, I was never able to make it to the Gap until now – it was well worth the wait! So, last Friday, I headed back down to KY after work (for those of you who don’t know, I am back in IL) to hang out with my fellow roommate, Ann! I arrived on Saturday morning, we chatted for a bit, and then along with Alex headed to the Gap. It is about 1 1/2 hours away, so it gave us plenty of time to catch up.

So we get to the park, get directions on which trail to take to get to the famous spot and off we go. Of course, Alex and Ann make me lead the hike…bad idea! We hike for about a mile and never find the famous spot and soon we find ourselves right back to the beginning of the trail. And this is why I never lead hikes! Well, apparently, we had missed a sign that said ‘The GAP’ with an arrow pointing in another direction. Nonetheless, we started on the trail again and followed the sign. Here’s a pic of me at the beginning of the trail the second time around.

Well, we made it the second time and the view from the top was awesome and it was also pretty neat to be standing in 3 states at one time. We were also lucky enough to eat lunch up there without anyone bothering us. I ate in Virgina, Ann ate in Kentucky, and Alex ate in Tennessee – it was pretty humorous.

After eating our lunch in different states, we decided to drive to the Pinnacle Overlook located in the Cumberland Gap National Park. More amazing scenery even though it was cloudy.

Being away from Kentucky for a month has made me realize even more just how beautiful Kentucky is and how blessed I was to be able to spend so much time there!

The rest of the weekend included dinner at the Mexican Restaurant, late night chatting, church on Sunday, and lunch at Dino’s. Oh and the Brown Cow which has the best ‘twist’ icecream cones in Kentucky. The weekend went by way too fast and I definitely could have spent another day or two or five there, but I am so grateful for the two days I did have!

And a HUGE thanks to my ‘peeps’ for making this weekend an amazing one (you know who you are ).

Peace.

A new ‘hot’ spot

Tonight, I was introduced to Buzzard Rock, a beautiful overlook in McCreary County. For tonight’s dinner and devotion, Ann took us all out there. It was certainly nice to get away from the trailer for the evening. It was so peaceful to be on top of that rock. Sometimes I get wrapped up in my day to day tasks and completely forget just how beautiful McCreary County is. What a blessing it is to have places like Cumberland Falls, Eagle Falls, and Buzzard Rock literally in my backyard.

Here are a few pics from the evening:

Taking it all in...

Scenic View

Ann and me

The small things

Today, myself and about 7 other CAP volunteers had our Exit Lunch up in Mt. Vernon, KY. It was a time for all of us to come together and reflect on what the past year has meant for us. I have been so busy these last few weeks that I have had barely anytime to really think about the past ten months. What have they meant to me? How have I changed? How will I handle transitioning from CAP? Have I made a difference here? All these questions started popping up at today’s lunch. And while, I would like to address each of these on my blog in the coming weeks, what I most would like to share on today’s post are the little things that I am going to miss when I leave KY. They may sound like silly things, but to me, they are the types of things that have helped me get through these ten months and the types of things that I will never forget. Here are just a few of them:

• Stopping at Cafe Machiatto and chatting with Nina about the day
• Driving on Falls Road and stopping at the overlook for the breathtaking views
• Eating dinner on the porch with my roomies
• Hoping in the car at 12:30 at night to catch one more Moonbow
• Ann and I listening to K-love while eating tator tots at Sonic
• Meeting Jenny at Op Share so that we can help one another load our trucks up with miscellaneous housing items
• Going to Karate with Ann
• The McCreary Group Hugs
• Driving in my truck
• Pancake Saturdays
• Getting directions from the locals (I never was able to find any home on the first try)
• Seeing the sunrise as I drive back from the gym
• Getting random food from Operation Sharing – the Dove ‘Beautiful’ Chocolate was the best
• The joy and relief in the face of those I am able to help
• Taking naps on our porch swing
• Playing dodgeball with the after-school kids
• Late night chats with the roomies

The list could go on and on….I sure am going to miss Kentucky!

Thank goodness, I still have 3 weeks left

The Beauty of Kentucky

I wanted to share with all of you, just how beautiful Kentucky is. Sometimes I get so caught up in my day to day routine here in Parkers Lake, that I forget to take the time to go out into nature and just enjoy being in the Appalachian Mountains. Last night, Allen provided all of us that opportunity when he decided to take us to an abandon Fire Tower about ten minutes from our home. After dinner, we drove out to the tower and made it just in time to see the sunset.

We did nothing, but sit in silence and watch the sun slowly fade into the horizon. It was absolutely beautiful and just what I needed to see. As my time comes to an end here in Kentucky, I am definitely going to miss seeing views like this everyday. I guess that means I am going to be visiting Kentucky often

The hills of Kentucky

Sunset from the Fire Tower

Another Pic of the Sunset