Last Saturday (actually Oct. 11th), I had the privilege of running in the Race for the Cure. It was lots of fun and a special time for me as I was running in memory of Sal. I think I ran a good race, had a good running time for me, and challenged myself more than I ever have before. (I wrote this a while back and wanted Jeff to share his part of the story. His challenges of getting the kids from the parking garage to the finish line 10 minutes AFTER I finished the race were pretty funny. This was written the week we realized our puppy was getting sick and we never had a moment of down time for Jeff to tell his side or for me to publish, but I still want to share a little about this great day for me.)
For those of you who don't know, my sister and I are training for a 1/2 marathon we will run in December! Sarah will be running with us, too! In April, Amanda and I shared with Sal that we would be running the 1/2 in honor of her. For me, at least, running at all was a challenge and running 13.1 miles was the one thing I never believed or imagined I could do. As I watched Sal persevere and continue to love life and try everything to live this life during such difficult daily circumstances, I decided that I could do this. I could run. I could train. I could find time to take care of my body and improve my health. I could finish. I realized that in honor of her and in great awe of God's creation of the human body and of life, and to do something that would help me believe more in myself, I would run this race. So, I am slowly making progress. My longest run so far is 7 miles, and I will be running 8 in the next few days (actually, I have run 8 now and plan to go for 10 next week!). When I feel exhausted in a run, or when my knee starts hurting, I remember Sal and others who have endured so much and have run such a good race. Then, I put a smile back on my face and keep going.
Jeff, Kiran and Ellery have been so amazing in supporting me through all of this. I am very grateful to Jeff for sacrificing evening and weekend time for me to train, to Kiran for always bringing me very tasty ice water and Gatorade, and for Ellery for her sweet smile when I make it home! I always get my last burst of energy to finish when I think of my wonderful family waiting for me!
Mr. Kiran is not into taking pictures these days, so we take a whole bunch and usually get a few good ones. :)
Kiran and Mommy's Apple Blossom Tart
Daddy's Yummy Smoked Turkey
Kiran has decided he likes posing now, so he got up on the counter and asked me to take this shot!
Making the Tart Together - Kiran stuck with it from beginning to end, and it was quite complicated. We had a great time!
You can't even imagine all of the machines it takes to make an Apple Blossom Tart. For example, above you see the steam roller. We also used a bulldozer, excavator, dump truck, scraper, and more! :)
