Crazy Hot Half Marathon

Well, the good news is that I survived! It was insanely hot. I decided about mile 4 that there was no way I was going to push myself to sub 2 today. Turned out to be a very good choice. About mile 5 - at the top of the bridge - someone collapsed right in front of me from dehydration. One of the other runners had a cell phone and called 911. She said the operator told her they had another woman who was already down about mile 4. We later learned this was our friend Teri. The good news is that Teri is ok - just a little dehydrated - getting IV fluids in the ER.

So I ended up walking quite a bit and just "taking it easy", listening to my body and trying not to get overheated. Turned out to be an ok strategy for a day like today. I finished in 2:14 - which works out to about 10 minute miles. Considerably slower than I was planning, but totally fine.

And here is the really funny part. I came in first in my age group. It was just that hot out there -nobody wanted to push it. I came in 21st overall woman. WHOO HOO! And I am not sore or worn out. I have been HYDRATING like a crazy person since crossing the finish line. Another day, another (MUCH COOLER) race, I will go for the sub 2 half.

During my run, I was thinking - what is wrong with me? I run races in the FREEZING cold and the BURNING hot humidity. I obviously need my mental state checked!

Pre-race Jitters

So I have signed up to do a half marathon here in Vero tomorrow. I am hoping to break the 2 hour mark. I hesitate to even write that because then I have something I have to live up to. Part of me is very confident that I am capable of doing it, but then I think about all the variables and get nervous.

I had all my crazy "pre-race" dreams last night. (so maybe I got that out of my system and will sleep well tonight?) The usual, can't find my shoes, forgot my fuel, my bib ripped in half kind of stuff kept me from restful sleep.

Checked out the race course this morning. It is going to be fairly similar to our usual Saturday morning runs. There is a lot of looping down streets and back though. Hopefully I will be able to post tomorrow about a fabulous run with a great time!

A life well lived

This seems like such an awful thing to blog about, but I don't know where else to post my thoughts and feelings. My dear sweet Fran went to meet Jesus. I feel so very blessed to have known her and yet it just seems so unfair that she is gone.

Fran and I met through our FIAR message boards, and it sounds funny to say that we met on the internet, but we really did. I was so blessed to have Fran as a roommate at the 2008 conference. I just keep replaying conversations she and I had that weekend. I remember her telling me that her parents always said she was "an old soul" and very mature for her age. I remember her saying that she was certain she would die from cancer (that she had already beaten) but they were just hoping that it would be 50 years from now.

I am reading through the "Bible in 90 days" and my reading for the past two days has been ironically applicable. Yesterday it was Proverbs 31, and I could only think of Fran as I read the words: She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom and faithful instruction is on her tongue. . . Her children arise and call her blessed, her husband also, and he praises her. And then today in Ecclesiastes: There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die. Oh how I wish this was not Fran's time. I wish that she could have stayed here on earth to see her amazing daughter grow up. But our timing is not God's timing.

I really can't believe she is gone. I will miss her encouraging and wise words on our FIAR boards. I pray for her family in the days, weeks, months and years ahead. I look forward to the day we will meet again.