just 3 things

Badwater is coming up. I'm afraid to count the days. I feel like a kid at Christmas. Mom used to put a candy ribbon up for us kids as a countdown to Christmas eve. Eating that candy every night made the build up to Christmas that much more exciting. I think the candy tasted sweeter too. Only now, with Badwater, I have a to-do list a mile long and it isn't sweetness I taste but anxiety I feel. But every time I cross something off that list...I do feel like that kid again. That is sweet.

The way I see it, I have just three things left to do before the big day: maintain fitness, get heat acclimated and do logistical stuff (shopping, packing, final crew organization, getting the house ready).

This would be a passive heat training temperature. Just sit and sweat baby!

Last time I wrote about life getting in the way of training. Well, things finally clicked and I got 2 solid weeks of decent workouts making a solid 5 week cycle of running:

• week 1: Pigtails Challenge 1/2 (100 miles)
• week 2 & 3: recovery
• week 4: 100 miles (!!! 1st time ever !!!)
• week 5: 70 miles

That left me 3 weeks to recover, taper and maintain.  I was elated that my running finally came together and I could hit some volume that I had so been wanting to do. Also, during this time I began fake tanning and doing some gentle (but active) heat training. Life was consumed by running. My 11 year old daughter took it all in stride. She is so supportive and patient.

But, it can't ever be that simple. During week 4 my mom discovered a lump in her breast. She is already a breast cancer survivor and she has chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Running took on a new meaning as I processed what this could mean for my small family. She got a positive (or would it be negative?) diagnosis. We have another battle to fight, another challenge to face.

Family love!

I don't know how to say what this means to me. I get my strength in running from my mom. She is the strongest and bravest person I know and running, while it brings me joy, is also a way I can honor my mom and all she has done for me. I try to be my best for her.

Needless to say, my stress quotient is very high. My running is blech. Heat training is going pretty good. I'm getting things crossed off that to-do list with the massive help of friends like John and Linda and an incredible amount of understanding from my daughter. Getting ready for an event like this with a family "crisis" going on has really brought out the best in my friends and daughter. Elena might be "just 11" but she is more mature than most 30 year olds. I would like to think she gets that from me...but who are we kidding?

I did manage to use the warmer temperatures of eastern Washington to get in some active heat training. I layered up and walked/ran for an hour a couple of times in temperatures in the low 80's (20 degrees warmer than western Washington!). I discovered my feet are VERY good at sweating. My socks and shoes got completely soaked (so much so that I left partial wet footprints behind me). In an attempt to balance running and single-momness I took Elena to the aquatic center so she could swim while I layered up and walked the perimeter for an hour. I took a few breaks to visit with Elena and watch her go down the slide. And she wasn't even embarrassed by this! No one at the water park asked me what I was doing but I did get tons of strange looks and people that quickly looked away, not wanting to make eye contact.


Heat training and swimming at the aquatic center

I have to get back those 3 things. Keeping a balance in life, uncovering the strength my mom has bestowed upon me and being so excited about my life I can hardly contain it!

I can't wait!

I am living this dream in support of the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. Please support this great organization, my mom and my run by making a small donation. I get a lot of strength from those of you that do and have. Thanks! 

Leukemia Lymphoma Society Fund Raiser Page