I've started a new blog for running, What You Running For. I plan to still keep this one for family stuff, and the other one will be specifically for running and pre-eclampsia advocacy. I want to use my running to raise awareness and research funds for this devastating condition that has had such a profound effect on my life.

The Biggest Loser

The Biggest Loser is one of my favorite shows. In fact, I often do a treadmill workout while watching. But last night's episode was such a load of crap. The contestants are all going to quit because they only want to compete against people who "deserve" to be there? And it's not fair that eliminated contestants can come back, even though it's been done almost every previous season AND it was explicitly in the contract they read and signed?

The reason you deserve to be there is because you did the work to avoid elimination. Oh wait, I know for sure Mark, Conda, and Kim all spent time below the yellow line, maybe the others as well. Well, you deserve to be there because you made the right alliances to keep you safe and/or the person you were up against was hated more.

But the contestant who returns will also deserve to be there for having done what it takes to win the challenge.

This whole season has been a Mean Girls Club. First it was Mike, who was eliminated because he was a loudmouth. Then they transferred their hate to Adrian, who dared to be the new guy. Once he was gone, Kim was the target even though she had previously been one of the worst Mean Girls. And now it's all the returning contestants. And the Mean Girls are all going to quit, because if they can't get their way they just won't play. I had really thought Mark and Buddy, at least, were above all that, but they were the ones to actually go through with quitting. What a bunch of babies.

Sweetie is doing so well

Sweetie was diagnosed with kidney reflux a year ago. We were told that a Grade 1-2 will clear up on its own, while a Grade 4-5 definitely needs surgery. She was a Grade 3. We decided to wait for a year to see if she outgrew it. Even 3 months ago, she was complaining of pain every day, and I was convinced she'd need surgery.

Then one day I realized she wasn't complaining any more. In the last 2 months, she's gained some weight. Not a lot, but still. AND her preschool, Sunday school, and co-op teachers have all commented that she's participating more, making friends, and just happier.

She was retested a few weeks ago, and there's NO reflux. I didn't realize how much it affected her, but I'm so thrilled to see her blossoming. And so thrilled she doesn't need surgery.

DWTS Most Memorable Year

Last week was "Most Memorable Year" week on Dancing with the Stars. My most memorable year was 2009, the year the twins were born. I spent the first half of the year terrified I'd lose them and the second half struggling to care for them. But I'd do it all again to have them. So if I were on DWTS, the song I'd pick to represent my year would be Kelly Clarkson's My Life Would Suck Without You.



What's your most memorable year, and what song (released in that year) would you pick to go with it?

ER visit

I've had some mild chest pain, more of an ache, for two days. Yesterday, I had a low fever and a sinus headache, and my lungs felt heavy. Seemed like a typical cold. Today, the chest pain has localized to a small spot in my right lung. I also coughed up some blood. Because I have a blood clotting mutation (MTHFR a1298c) and because my sister has had a pulmonary embolism, I decided I should get checked out.

The EKG was fine, chest x-ray was clear, and blood work (including d-dimer which looks for blood clots) was normal. So I'm home with orders to rest, follow up with my doctor next week, and come back if the pain gets worse.

New Goal

So this blog has gotten kind of neglected. I'm a lot more active on Facebook. But I did want to update with my running goal for the year.

This year, I plan to run 1000 miles. This is about a 20 mile/week average, with a little wiggle room. I'm already off to a good start: we're 1/4 done with 2012, and I just reached 250 miles (1/4) today. To reach this goal, I've been running twice during the week, 4-6 miles each, with a weekend long run ranging from a minimum of 6 to a maximum of 20, depending on what I'm training for and where I'm at in the training.

Training for the Little Rock marathon got me well on my way, since at the beginning of the year I was doing 14+ miles most Saturdays, but now that I'm done with that my long runs are more in the 6-12 mile range. Once Papa Runner is done with his next race at the end of the month, I plan to gear back up for my next marathon. I haven't officially signed up yet, but I'm hoping to do the Leading Ladies marathon in South Dakota in August.

After that, it's Papa Runner's turn again for a fall race, and then I hope to do the Disney Goofy Challenge in January, but that's not firm yet. If I can't do it in 2013, I'll do it for sure in 2014.

All of this is just ground work for my long term goal. And this goal is pretty crazy and impossible.

When I was training for my first race, my coach told me every runner should have 3 goals: a weekly goal that's fairly easy to achieve, a medium term goal 3-6 months out that's "on the edge of achieveable" with hard work and a little luck, and a Crazy, Impossible Goal, one you may never actually reach, but that you set anyway to keep you motivated. At the time, I set the Goofy as my CIG, but now that it's on the horizon, I've set a new one. I haven't shared it with anyone other than Papa Runner, my parents, and my sisters, but someday I'll make it public.

My First Marathon

I finished my first marathon in Little Rock on Sunday. Papa Runner and I flew down Friday and spent a great evening with some friends who had moved there a few years ago. On Saturday, I picked up my packet from the Expo, bought a new 26.2 sticker for my van, and attended a meeting for the early starters.

One of the reasons I picked Little Rock is for its generous time limit. Many races have a cut-off of 6 hours or even less. I thought I could finish in 6 on a good day, but I wanted a cushion in case conditions were less than ideal. Little Rock has an early start for anyone expecting to take more than 6 hours, so the course time limit is 8 hours if starting early. This early start is ONLY for those needing more than 6 hours, and they will disqualify you if you're significantly under that. At the meeting, we learned the rules for avoiding the DQ: stay behind the 6-hour pace team until the half way point. Then, if you're having a great day, go ahead and finish faster.



Sunday morning, I headed out just behind the 6-hour pace team. There were two pacers, one a little ahead of the other, and with my walk/run ratio, I'd catch up to the lead one during my run and fall back to the trailing one during my walk. The second pacer, Steve, was absolutely the perfect guy for the job. He's done almost 200 marathons. He'd announce everything he was doing ("I will start running at the corner, and run for 1 minute"), and at each mile marker he'd let us know we were "20 seconds ahead, but there's a hill coming up" or "30 seconds behind, but we'll make it up on the downhill." There was quite a group around him, all having a blast.

The first ten miles went great. Miles 10-15 are a steady uphill climb, but not too bad. Yay for stair training! Mile 16 is a pretty steep downhill, and I made up a lot of time there. That was where I passed the pace team, and stayed a little ahead the rest of the race. Once we got down that hill, the course heads out into an open park, where it was sunny and hot. Even there, though, I felt pretty good. Papa Runner was able to cheer me on at several places on the course, and it always gave me a boost. I saw him for the last time at mile 24, and that's when I finally started to feel less than great. My ankle, which had been acting up a few weeks ago, started to get achy, and the general stress of having run 4 miles farther than I ever had before was catching up. BUT I never had a "hitting the wall" moment, and I never missed a run interval.

I had thought I could do a 6 hour marathon on a good day. Turns out it was a great day. My final time was 5:56:27. I had signed up in the "walker" division, and it turns out I was 8th place among the walkers, 4th place for women! I'm pretty excited about that. I got a HUGE medal, too. Little Rock is known for having the biggest marathon medal, and since this year was their 10th run, it was even bigger. Amy won my "Guess the Finish Time" contest with a guess of 5:53. She just edged out Staci, who was 33 seconds over. (Sisterly rivalry!) Amy, I'll get your Panera card to you soon.



This was such an amazing experience, and I can't wait to do it again. I have to give a big Thank You to everyone who supported me before, during, and after the race. It was such fun to see the comments here and on Facebook. I don't have any marathons currently on the schedule, but I'm signed up for the half at Champaign in 8 weeks. I'm hoping to turn my unofficial PR of 2:44 into an official one. I'll be looking for more marathons with favorable time limits, maybe in the fall. And I'm still debating about attempting the Disney Goofy in January 2013 or waiting until 2014.