A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

So a video must be worth millions!

My dear, dear friend Hillary created this video for me. It's absolutely fabulous and captures so much of the emotion of the day. Enjoy! And thanks, Hillary!!

I ROCKED!

In spite of the knee obstacle, I FINISHED! What an AMAZING experience! Words can't even begin to describe it. I have so much to share here, so I'll have to do it in pieces. I also have hundreds of pictures to glean through and post the best ones.

In short, Anita-Nell got me through by pacing me and keeping with me the ENTIRE race. THANK YOU! I couldn't have done it without you! My knee held up ok until about mile 19. From there it was a looooong walk. But still we finished around 6:22. No fear of being swept. : )

Dad, Dave, Julie, Heidi and Rex, thank you SO MUCH for being there to cheer me on and to celebrate the event! It was AWESOME to have you all there! I felt very loved and blown away by all you did for me. And there was nothing like being able to hug my brother's neck and sob at the finish line. Oh how I wish my mom could have been there, but I know she is proud of me.

I'll post LOTS more very soon, but I just wanted to get this posted initially for those of you who may not have heard from me yet.

Just getting out of my bed and to the bathroom Monday morning was grueling. And all the sitting, then hobbling around airports during the day was just brutal. I am walking better today though as long as I don't sit for too long.

The big question remains - will I run again? At this point I have to say I am not even remotely interested in another full marathon. But a half marathon, well . . .

Gotta Run . . .

I am off for Phoenix today. Emotionally I keep swinging back and forth - first it's fear and dread, then it's nervous anticipation and excitement. Ugh.

I know my knee is not healed, but I will make the best of it anyway. Anita Nell has offered to run with me and help pace me. I am SO glad she will be there!!

So, keep me in your prayers on Sunday - race day. I will be getting back to Boise on Monday just before 5:00.

Thanks, my friends!

10 Days To Go

I went to the doctor the other day to have my knee looked at. I was told what I kind of expected I would hear. It’s not a serious injury – no tearing or bone problems. It’s just a ligament strain kind of thing. So I do need to continue to lay off the running and allow it to heal, but I won’t really have to worry about some kind of permanent damage during my race. That’s good news.

So this morning I went to the Y and ran for an hour in the swimming pool. I put on this floaty belt thing, got in the deep end and ran the width of the pool over and over . . . and over . . . and over . . . and over. It was a tremendously boring hour. You can’t read a book, watch TV or listen to your iPod in the swimming pool. And it was amazingly slooooow. It took about 2 ½ minutes just to go the width of the pool. I felt really ridiculous at first, but got over that after a while. My knee felt fine while I was in the pool, but was tender as I walked back to the locker room. I plan to run in the pool from now until my race – no more treadmills for me.

So, once again, if anyone would like to come keep me company on Saturday morning, I’ll be at the Y. I don’t know what time I’ll go yet. I have to check what the pool has scheduled to make sure I can get a lane. But if you would like to come run or just float leisurely on your back alongside me, I would LOVE the company! It’s only supposed to be an 8 mile run, so I will only stay about 2 hours. Shoot me an email and I’ll let you know when and where!