Breaking My Own Rules

I'm just going to admit it. I don't like wearing sneakers with jeans. I just don't. There are a few situations where I deem it acceptable like camping, hiking, or say when you are at Disney and walking for an entire day. But beyond that. It's not ok.  I warned you I was crazy.

For the past several weeks my feet have been hurting. I don't know if it's the high heels, the longer walk to my office, or running a half marathon without much training (stupid!) that did it. But whatever it was the result is that my feet are PISSED. They even hurt when I am sitting. The last run I did happened to be 6 miles of trail running on July 12th. My right foot bothered me so much I had to walk a lot of the last 2 miles. In the woods. In 95 degree weather. With barely any water. Being eaten alive by mosquitoes. Sigh.  Good times.

I rested last week, but the feet still hurt.

This is what I have resorted to:

I'm not happy about it, but I have two trail races coming up in September and they are looming over my head. I am signed up for the Jay Peak Trail Running Festival 25K (15 miles) on Labor Day weekend, followed by the Spartan Beast at Killington. The Beast is a 13 mile trail race with obstacles like jumping over fire, scaling walls & spear throwing.  Maybe wearing sneakers with good support will help my feet feel better.

Because here's the thing, while I am scared to death of The Beast. I am DETERMINED to finish, if not for myself, then for my friend Christie who just last week at age 32 was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Christie and I met through the elementary school. Her daughter was in Corey's K, 1st and now 2nd grade class. Her son will be on the same K team as Alexandra. While I haven't known her that long, I have quickly realized that she is the kind of friend that everyone should have. She is generous, smart, organized (though she claims she's not), she makes parenting look EASY (though she thinks she doesn't), and she is funny. She makes me laugh every day with her facebook posts about the funny little people she's raising. I'm not sure she realizes that she is part of how I survived last summer. She arranged a meal train for us. She sent Corey gifts for his crappy, in-PICU 6th birthday. She is AWESOME.

And honestly, I think cancer picked the wrong girl. Because she is going to kick some ass.  She is going to beat this, and I have no doubt she will do so without losing her sense of humor or spilling her drink. So, if she can face a mastectomy and chemo with grace and humor, the least I can do is drag my butt over some obstacles for a 13 mile race in her honor. She's the real Spartan.

So yeah, I'll break my own rule. For Christie.

And so it begins...

Back in January, I had the bright idea to start a blog. I thought it would be a great way to document the more interesting aspects of my life. I thought that it would be fun. I painstakingly chose a name for my blog...one that I thought best represented what I wanted to blog about, and then nothing happened. Here it is 7 months later and I am finally sitting down to write my first post. I think part of the delay was the realization that I am not even a good writer. So, grammar police, do yourselves a favor and stop reading now!  Save yourselves! The other part of it was that I felt like there is just too much to say, and yet none of it would be interesting to the general public. I wanted to be eloquent. To be profound.  I think I have finally accepted that maybe I should just be me. So here I am :)

So, here's me in a nutshell. I work at a large corporation that will remained unnamed. I am married & I am mom to two beautiful kids. Corey will be turning 7 on Saturday, and Alexandra is 5. They are crazy, funny, and sassy. They make me laugh, and they push all my buttons. Leaving me semi-crazy and exhausted. But, I like to think most moms are semi-crazy and exhausted. At least that's what I tell myself :)

In addition to the insanity of dealing with a 7 & 5 year old on a daily basis, I also have the added craziness associated with all of Corey's medical appointments. Corey was born with Spina Bifida, a birth defect where the spinal column does not close correctly in utero leaving the nerves of the spinal cord exposed. To date, Corey has had 9 surgeries. The scariest of these occurred a year ago yesterday, when he had emergency surgery to repair a bowel obstruction and perforation & spent 17 days in the PICU.  It is still scary to me to think that he could have died. I am so thankful for the wonderful care he received at the Children's Hospital.

In my free time I run & do bootcamp. When I say I "run"...please note that is a bit of an exaggeration. I am slow. Turtle slow. 12 minute/mile slow. And I find that somewhat discouraging. Lately I've been struggling with both running & bootcamp (see reference to exhaustion above). I want to be a better runner, a more fit person overall. But in the last few months I just cannot make myself get out the door more than once or twice a week. Perhaps public shame will get my butt in gear ;)

I chose the name of this blog "Live. Run. Hope" because I really want this blog to be about the crazy things that happen in our daily lives. I can't make this stuff up, people! I want it to be about my quest for fitness. And most of all, I want it to be about my hope for the future. My hope that my kids will be happy, and healthy, and not TOO scarred from having me as their mom :)