Month: March 2014

I would once again like to introduce you to my friend Jodi, for whom I have organized my event/fundraiser.

Her father passed away when she was just 13 years old.  She was very close with her dad and was devastated as you can guess.  Some of you have suffered similar losses, I have not.  I can only imagine.

Not long after her mother signed her rights away to her for whatever her reasons were.  She kept her little brother though.  Now we have all endured our different sorts of abandonment and rejection in life – and no one is necessarily worse or more painful than another – I don’t make light of any of it.  I just know that there are certain things that just create a whole new level of unacceptable and for some, impossible to overcome.  I am not here to pass judgment, that is not my point, I just would certainly venture to say at least in my own opinion that this line was drawn here.

Jodi fell into a similar text book pattern of self-destruction in her early adulthood, but through faith and pure will to fight, she rose above her inwardly-abusive behaviors and did something remarkable – she lost nearly 200 pounds by eating healthy and exercising.

She fell in love, she got married, and things were falling into place nicely.  Twenty weeks into her pregnancy, she was diagnosed with ‘terminal’ cancer and told to terminate the pregnancy to begin treatments right away, as her only chance to live.

She rejected this idea.   So the doctors told her she would likely not live to see her child turn two.  Her beautiful daughter Emilee just turned six.

Hallelujah praise the Lord.

Jodi fights cancer daily.  She has pain she hardly talks about that makes me want to smack myself in the face when I think I have something to complain about.  She doesn’t know how  much longer she has but she lives each day to its fullest.  She tries to do things that she doesn’t think she is good at like arts and crafts to make Emilee’s birthday special.  And what I really love – I love it all – but what I really super dig, is how hard she works out and eats healthy and RUNS.  She runs her brains off.

She just finished her first marathon!!  And not just that, she ran a 5k and a half and the marathon in 3 days – because why not?!!

Sadly – insurance doenst pay all the bills.  She has lost her home and has even sold her furniture.   I don’t want to embarrass her – she never complains – but I want to help her and her family in any way possible.

In 34 days I will run for 24 hours straight.  I will NOT stop.  And during this time, you can run with me, wherever you are, for any distance you chose, and you’ll get a beautiful medal I designed  after Jodi (it’s a cupcake with stars) 😉

If you don’t want to run, or walk – you can just donate.  If everyone would just give a little bit, it will all add up, and hopefully help a fellow sister, mom, runner.

Thank you

Kirsten

Donate here:

 http://gfwd.at/1ghMXSv

Here is Jodi…

Here is the medal…

Today was my 6th marathon in 3.5 yrs.  Well, 10th if you include ultras.

My mantra today went a little something like this: “Youre not here for a PR or a BQ, that’s another day.  This is a training run w a medal – chill out and enjoy the day” (and boy did I enjoy it, nevermind a sick tummy).

I started out my first 5 miles with a friend from high school.  And lets be honest here – we go into every race fantasizing that we’re going to do something incredible.  And if I’d stayed with her, I could have PR’d – but then, I might have gotten injured…

Ultra training is not about speed for me right now, its about new distances and endurance.  Going into my first couple of ultras I over-trained and paid the price (with a dislocated toe and nerve damage on one ankle to say the least).

So 6 weeks out from my first attempt at 24-hours, I needed to reel it back, and it was hard mentally.  Walking was actually more painful than running, it made me cramp up.  And it was hard to let my friend go off.  It was hard to stop chasing the 4:30 pacers, and then finally, I let the 5 hr group go past me somewhere around 24.  So with only 2 miles left, I just chilled.

A wonderful thing happened and helped me to shift my focus however.   I  met a lady named Pamela.  I’ve had the blessing of meeting some really special people during a few of my big races, some of whom have become important friends in my life.  I think there is something about the adventure we share – the emotions, the fear, the pain and then finally the joy – that bonds us.

Pamela was great.  This was her first marathon.  And I knew how she was feeling – at least to a point.  We connected around mile 17 and kept running back into one another.  Then I decided, I know how hard this part is, the last few miles – especially the first time – When you hit the ‘wall’ and youre really unsure if you’ll give in – so, I stayed with her.  Honestly I was happy to do so – I was feeling down right ready to walk anyways, so I let her drive the pace.

Finishing with her was a beautiful experience filled with joyful tears & a hug.  She did it.   And I was so proud of her.  Here we are:

Tomorrow I can take my doggie on a ten miler – he’ll be sure to stop plenty of times to sniff and pee on things, so, it wont be a stressful run – but it will be good training for the ATR coming up.  I know what my mission is right now.  Two big ultras in the next few months.

Then maybe – just maybe – Next year I will transition into a totally different training-mode – one where I slim down, tone-up and get faster.

Maybe 😉

<3 K