Jazzie and Tahlia

A few more days!

Just a few more days and I'll be running the half marathon. I am ready! I know I've put in the training and I am confident that I will finish and hopefully beat my personal record :-)

Matt of course will be on the side lines cheering me on. You may remember that he is my biggest cheerleader! This year, Ohio Valley Voices will have their own cheering section and we'll have noise makers, snacks and posters. If you're in the Cincinnati area and you'd like to join Matt and other O.V.V. supporters, we will be in front of Cafe Moca between miles 8 and 9.

As you know, I am running on behalf of Ohio Valley Voices, but I am running this race for me and for my girls. I hope I inspire them and make them proud :-)

2012 Heart Health 15K Race

Training Group Photo:

Just starting out, so still smiling:

I can see the finishing line from here!

Finished!

Got my medal...

A great race!

When I came home (thanks girls!):

Another medal to add to my collection:

Goodbye old friends...

I had to get rid of my running shoes the other day. It was (beyond) time.

I had a hard time parting with them however. These were the shoes that helped me fall in love with running. I trained in these shoes. I ran my first half marathon in them and I ran my first full marathon in them...

They helped me achieve things I never thought I was even able to. But running shoes only have so many miles you can put on them and it was time to retire mine.

Meet my new friends:

I'm looking forward to go on this new running journey with them and I am excited to see what they might have in store for me. I'm thinking the 10K here perhaps?

Marathon after thoughts

I can't believe that a week has already gone by since the marathon. What an experience! The day after the race I was so incredibly sore! I could barely walk and all my muscles hurt. On Tuesday my muscles felt better, but I was actually feeling nauseous. I had a hard time doing anything; all I wanted to do was lay on the couch. All day long I felt like I was going to throw up. I think it was from sheer exhaustion and my muscles releasing a bunch of lovely toxins. By Wednesday I was just about back to feeling like normal again and I went to pick up my 26.2 sticker which is now very proudly displayed on my van. My knee is still recovering (plus somehow I picked up a couple of different injuries), so I have been taking it easy this week. I have walked, but I have not been running even though I REALLY want to!

Last night my neighbors threw me a "Post Pig Party". A few of them actually came out this past Sunday to cheer me on and I cannot tell you what a wonderful surprise it was to see a bunch of my neighbors standing on the side at mile 19 with signs and screaming my name. So the party last night was MUCH appreciated and a lot of fun. I LOVE my neighbors! Here's my cake:

Back to the marathon: such a great experience! Even though it was rainy for a good portion of the race, a lot of people came out to cheer on the runners. I couldn't believe how much energy we were getting from them. Many of them were handing out snacks like oranges, candy, pretzels and banana's. A nice little treat during our run. One house was handing out shots of Jagermeister which I cannot even IMAGINE being able to enjoy during a marathon, but it was FUN. While I was training I had come to the conclusion that this was probably going to be my only marathon. The schedule is no joke and the time commitment is just to great. However, as soon as I crossed the finish line, I wanted to do it again :-)

I will leave with some things that I've learned from training and running the 2011 Flying Pig Marathon:

• I am much stronger than I thought I was.
• With proper training and a lot of hard work, I can achieve great things.
• If I truly believe in myself, there is no stopping me.
• Running is as much mental as it is physical.
• The most giving, generous and encouraging people were the people I least expected it from.
• On the flip side, some people have reacted differently than I had hoped for or expected from them. I feel like there might be some jealousy there, but it hurts a little regardless.
• My husband is my biggest supporter.

My biggest cheerleader

So just about all of my friends and family have been incredibly supportive, but NOBODY has been more supportive, more encouraging (and more proud) than my husband. He has been amazing throughout my training and he was there for me all the way on Sunday.

The girls spent the night with Cera so that Matt could drive me downtown where he stayed all throughout the race. He was there shortly after the beginning of the race and showed up at different spots on the entire course. I don't know how he did it, but he kept showing up everywhere! He had a whistle and many times I could hear him before I could see him. Whenever we passed him he was clapping, whistling, waving and cheering us on. With each and every time I saw him, I got more energy and wanted to keep going even more. 

There was one point when I overheard a woman that was running behind me say to herself: "Who is that guy?" After I mentioned it was my husband, she said: "OMG, I love him. He is everywhere!"

Later we saw Matt standing next to a police officer who was directing traffic. However, with Matt whistling and waving his arms, it was more like he was directing it. Not sure if the police officer appreciated it, but it was too funny...

Apparently Matt (by now dubbed "the guy with the whistle by many runners) got several hugs at the finish line from some ladies thanking him from being out on the course cheering everyone on.

I realize that I ran the marathon all on my own, but with the help from this...

... I was able to get this:

Thanks for being there and for cheering me on, babe. I love you!

Flying Pig Marathon 2011

Well, today was the big day. After training for four months, it was finally time to run my very first marathon. My training group and I walked to the starting line together and started running at 6:30 AM. It rained pretty hard at first, but after about 5 miles it slowed down and the weather was near perfect for running after that. Going in to this, I was of course worried about how my knee was going to hold up. It was hurting me slightly for much of the race, but at mile 20 it starting hurting me more. But there was NO way it was going to stop me. By mile 23 it had gotten worse and I needed to take more walking breaks, but I ran when I could and FINISHED!

I am tired and sore, but I feel a HUGE sense of accomplishment. And the crazy part is that even though I said I would never train for a full marathon again, I kind of want to do this again!!!

Mile 23 and hurting:

My coach stayed with me the whole time. She is awesome and really helped me through. At least the sight of Matt made me smile:

Hurting still:

When I finally crossed the finish line I burst into tears. Tears of relief, tears of joy, tears of pride; all the work I did finally got rewarded.

Got my medal and a bagel ;-)

Called my mom in Holland to tell her the news:

I have to thank my husband for being an amazing supporter today. More about that tomorrow. He deserves a separate post for that one :-)

"For all of us, the miracle isn’t that we finished, the miracle is that we had the courage to start." John Bingham

Tomorrow is the big day

Well, tomorrow is the big day! The Flying Pig Marathon is finally here. I will be eating my lucky pizza tonight and we will also attend the Pasta Pig Out at Ohio Valley Voices. I am happy to say that I was able to raise almost $1,400 for the school and for that alone I am thankful and proud.

I will be getting up at 4:30 tomorrow morning to meet the rest of my training group. The start of the marathon will be at 6:30 AM. I am hoping that the rain they are predicting will hold off until after we are finished. We are not a very fast running group, so I do not expect to finish before noon. Our goal is to simply finish :-)

My plan is to update on FB a few times during the race since I'll be carrying my phone, but we'll see how that goes.

I will leave with a quote that my friend Michelle sent me and that has been going through my mind over and over...

"Whether you believe you can or believe you can't, you're probably right."

-Henry Ford

I THINK I CAN!!!

Rainbow

Last night I went out to meet my training group for my very last training run before the big day on Sunday. It rained on my way there, but when I pulled into the parking lot, the sun came out and a beautiful double rainbow appeared. It's hard to see the second rainbow in this picture I took with my iPhone, but it's there!

I am so glad that we didn't let the rain stop us, because it was important to me to finish this training with my coaches Brad and Kim and my training buddy Denise. We have been together from the beginning and I think we all wanted to finish what we started together back in January. At about mile 2, it started raining on us again and when we made it back to our cars, another rainbow appeared. We all took it as a sign of hope and a sign of luck. We can and we WILL finish the marathon on Sunday!

This and that

I can't believe the marathon is this Sunday! Am I ready? Yes, I am ready to do this. My knee is still not 100%, but I am not going to let it stop me. 

"I've learned that finishing a marathon isn't just an athletic achievement. It's a state of mind; a state of mind that says anything is possible".
- John Hanc

Bring it :-)

 

For as long as I can remember, Tahlia's nickname has been tweety bird, so when I saw this shirt, I simply had to get it...

She's my little rockstar ;-)

And speaking of rockstars, here we are burning some calories after dinner last night:

One more week

(Side note: why do these video stills always make my face look ridiculous???)

I am proud to say that when I signed up for the marathon training through Ohio Valley Voices, I agreed to try and raise at least $250 for them. I am proud to say that I have raised $1,220! I want to thank everyone who has donated in my name. I appreciate it SO very much. All the money raised will be used towards teaching children like Jazzie to talk and to understand when being spoken to. My wish is for every child with cochlear implants to have the same success that Jazzie has been able to have.

Thank you!!!!!

Unstoppable

I saw the orthopedic/sports doctor today. After some x-rays and upon closer examination of my knee, I have been given the official okay to run the marathon come Sunday, May 1st.

I got a cortisone shot, I need to stop running for a week and cross train, but besides that the doctor sees no reason why I should not be able to finish the race. I will have to tweak the rest of my training schedule, but that's okay. I am going to do it.

I wore this shirt for a reason today. I am unstoppable ;-)

Feeling down

A setback

About a week ago, my knee started hurting during training and has not gotten any better since. It's actually been quite an ordeal. I was not able to finish the 17 mile run I was supposed to do on Saturday. I was in too much pain and my coach pulled me out at about mile 10. I was so disappointed that I didn't finish, but relieved to stop running, because I was hurting. I called the physical therapist on Monday morning and was able to see him later in the day. He thinks that my knee pain stems from my fall from last month. My right hip and right hamstring are extremely weak and my knee has been overcompensating. He gave me some exercises to do and also told me that I "might" not be able to run in the marathon, which is only about a month away. This would devastate me after all the work I put into it. But I am not giving up yet! I am doing my exercises and I am continuing to see the physical therapist, so hopefully I will still be able to run on May 1. If needed, I could also train in their pool, even though I would prefer to be hitting real pavement ;-)

If that was not enough, the PT was worried about my lower leg being so swollen and told me to see my regular doctor, which I did yesterday. She immediately sent me to the hospital for a veinous doppler test to make sure I didn't have a clot in my leg (that was scary!). Thankfully I don't, so we can assume the swelling stems from my knee.

Sigh... I am supposed to run 18 miles on Friday. I am going to try my very hardest to do it, but I might have to stop early. Wish me luck. I hate that this has happened so close to the race and I can only hope that I can finish what I set out to do. Not just for Ohio Valley Voices, but for the girls and myself as well.

My first half marathon

I ran my first official half marathon today! I've actually ran 13.1 miles several times before, but it has always been during my training; never during an official race. But today my training group participated in the Heart Association's Mini Heart Marathon. It was a rainy day, but it didn't dampen our spirits. I felt great throughout the entire race and had a great time!

Matt and the girls came downtown towards the end of the race so that they could see me finish. Here I come (in the middle in pink)!

At this point I am looking all over the crowd for Matt and the girls. I knew they were around somewhere and I couldn't wait to see them. I am not looking too glamorous here, but after running 13.1 miles in the rain I guess nobody looks their best ;-)

I finally spotted the girls and even though the picture is pretty blurry, I think it shows my excitement ;-)

Tahlia gave me this note as soon as I finished. She is so sweet...

It felt great crossing that finish line. I did it and felt pretty good doing it. However, I could not help but (briefly) think about the fact that in just 6 weeks, I need to run twice as far. But for now I feel very proud that I finished my very first race ever, especially given the fact that I just started running about 6 months ago!

An "off day"

I ran 17 miles during training this past Saturday; the most miles I have ever ran. It was also my most difficult day during my training so far. I felt so good the week before when we did 16 miles, but I was not feeling the love this past Saturday. My legs were SO tired and around mile 12, I really hit a wall. In fact, the other people in my group started calling me sailor, since I was saying a few choice words ;-)

I was really struggling and wanting it to be over so badly. Then we came across the building that used to house Ohio Valley Voices. I recently blogged about my emotions when I ran by it for the first time in a long time during one of my other training runs. It was very emotional. So when we ran by it again this past Saturday I had a little moment and cried. I cried because I was so tired and knew I still had about 3 more miles to go; I cried because of all the memories coming back; I cried because I wanted to be DONE. I had to dig really deep to keep going. But then I thought about all the times that we've pushed Jazzie. All the things she's had to endure to get to where she is today...

Her first surgery:

Countless of doctor's appointments afterwards:

Hundreds of hours of speech therapy and aural rehabilitation:

All the times Jazzie fell asleep on the floor, on the couch, in the car and everywhere in between because of getting used to and being overstimulated by her cochlear implant:

Being exhausted because of her brain getting used to all the different sounds:

And still we pushed her. We decided on a second cochlear implant even though Jazzie cried over it because she was so afraid...

I thought of all of that on Saturday and how we have been pushing her for years. And that is when I dried my tears, told myself to suck it up and to keep going. I told myself that if Jazzie can go through all of this, I can run for three more miles. Giving up on Jazzie has never been and never will be an option. Giving up on finishing my miles was not going to be either, so I got myself together and ran the remaining 3 miles.

This Sunday is my first official half marathon and by God, I am going to finish it.

15 miles + 7 girl slumber party = a great day

I ran 15 miles yesterday. The farthest I have ever made it during my training. Don't get me wrong, that last mile and a half was hard and I wanted it to be over SO badly, but I walked away from it feeling strong with a huge sense of accomplishment.

After relaxing at home for a bit, Jazzie's friends from Ohio Valley Voices started showing up for the slumber party. The girls had an absolute BLAST. We made our own pizza's, decorated cookies to go on our very special slumber party cake and did several crafts. In between there was lots of talking, giggling and playing. Around 11 or so, we got all the girls situated in their sleeping bags and turned on a movie. By 1:15 everyone was asleep. I have to give a HUGE shout-out to my husband who sent me to bed at 11:30 (I was exhausted from that run) and he stayed downstairs to monitor the girls. In his words: "There are advantages to having a cochlear implant. One of them is that you can break up a party in no time flat by removing their devices". Thanks for staying up with them, babe. You are the best!

The girls were up at 8 AM, which I didn't think was bad at all. They played some more, ate breakfast and the moms started showing up to pick them up. I can honestly say it was a big success. I am glad these girls share a special bond. I know Jazzie loves it when she is together with them, because she does not feel different from any of them. She is not the person who is different/the one who is deaf/the one with cochlear implants. Everyone is the same and it makes her so happy :-)

Dinner time:

The girls decorated pillow cases which they all signed.

Craft time:

One of the crafts we did was tying water balloons around flip flops. They are time consuming to make and some of the girls were getting frustrated with them, but they are so cute!

Isn't this cake great? 

When I saw the cake in a magazine, I knew we HAD to have it for the party. One of the other moms graciously offered to make it and I think it turned out great!

Saturday - The Good and The Bad

The Good: 

I ran 13.1 miles yesterday which is half a marathon!!! Too bad is was only part of my training and I didn't get any official recognition for ;-) 
Still, I am very excited that I was able to make it that far. The last two miles were hard and my legs were getting heavy, but I did it! 

The Bad:

As Jazzie was opening a box of origami papers, she suddenly exclaimed: "I cut my finger!".... At first I thought she meant a paper cut, but when I took a closer look I realized she had actually cut her finger pretty bad with some scissors and I knew it was bad enough to make a trip to the ER... After some drama upon hearing the word "stitches", the doctor presented Jazzie with the option of gluing and splinting vs. stitching. She was a lot happier about that option:

I think it would have been faster to just stitch it because they were having a hard time getting the bleeding to stop, but in the end I suppose a happy child is what we all wanted. It wasn't quite how we had imagined spending a Saturday evening, but Jazzie is all smiles again ;-)

A run down memory lane

I had a 6 mile run on the schedule today, so I decided to run in the area that my training group and I run in every Tuesday and Saturday. I am familiar in that area, there is lots of hustle and bustle and there are sidewalks so that I don't have to run in the streets. At about mile 2, I found myself in the area of Jazzie's old school. Before Ohio Valley Voices moved to it's current location, they rented space in a church and the toddler center where Jazzie started was actually housed in a residence that is located right next to the church. I decided to run past it, just for old time's sake ;-)

As I got closer and the school was in my sight, a ton of memories started rolling over me. I mean, this is where it all started. I remember visiting the school with Matt and Jazzie, shortly after returning home from China in 2003. Jazzie had just been diagnosed with a profound hearing loss in both ears, she had not gotten her cochlear implants yet and Matt and I were exploring all our options. Jazzie was this age:

I vividly remember walking through the doors and meeting with the school's director. She gave us a tour of the school and we got to visit the classrooms in person. Matt and I were amazed by what we were seeing AND hearing. These kids were not only talking, they were talking well and we could understand them! Right then and there is when we made the decision that we wanted Jazzie to receive cochlear implants and that we wanted her to attend Ohio Valley Voices. Jazzie received her first cochlear implant that December and started attending OVV in February.

Fast forward to this morning... I actually turned into the parking lot of the school so that I could look at it a bit longer. There are so many wonderful memories there. This is where Jazzie first started mimicking sounds. This is where Jazzie said her first 2-syllable word - I wish I could say it was the word mama, but it was actually the word meow ;-) This is where we got to experience magic; where we got to experience the miracle of our deaf daughter starting to talk. It is also the place where Jazzie first met her best buddy Sophie.

(Not the best picture of them, but I think they were both a bit in shock by all the people in the audience during the Holiday Program). 
This is also the building where I met other parents of deaf children who have become close friends. Jazzie just blossomed there...

At the end of Jazzie's time at the old building:

Jazzie spent two years at the old location before the school moved. Even though the school is in their own, high tech building now and Jazzie spent another 2 great years there, the church and the "toddler house" as we used to call it, hold very special memories. Running by it this morning was great. After I ran around the parking lot a couple of times, I moved on, but only after being reminded of how far Jazzie has come and why I was there in the first place: to train to run the marathon in honor of Jazzie and to raise money for that wonderful school that changed our lives forever.

Every damn day, just do it ***Updated***

Yep, that's my motto!

Saturdays are supposed to be my long run training days. However, I am not able to do it tomorrow, so I am doing it today. I HAVE to get those 10 miles in. No excuses! I want to say thanks to all of you have sent me messages of encouragement. I appreciate them ALL!

I will try to remember to take another video when I am done. It should take me about two hours to run my 10 miles.

Happy Friday!!!

UPDATE:

And here is me, literally the moment I walked back in the door after my 2 hour and 20 minute run. It's cut short, since the girls walked in right in the middle of it ;-)

Newsletter article

Jazzie and I were featured in my marathon training program's newsletter.

You can read it here. Just scroll down until you see our picture.

How I went from 5k to a full marathon

I've had some people ask me about my training schedule. I started my official training on January 4. I'd been running on my own before that, but since I decided to run in the Flying Pig Marathon to raise money for Ohio Valley Voices, I was able to join this training program. Before I even joined the program, I had in my mind that I was going to run the 5K. However, Matt was quick to point out that I was already running close to a 5K on my own and that I should set my goal higher. So, I changed my goal to a 10K. On the first day of training we were all divided into groups. Since I was a beginner and had never run a race before, I was encouraged to join this particular group who would be running intervals. I found out that I was the only one in the group training for a 10K and my coach (Kim) talked to me about considering the half marathon instead of the 10K. After our conversation I decided to go for it. Then last week during our run, Kim mentioned that it was not too late to start training for the full marathon. I thought she was crazy, but she said: "You are running strong now. You can do it. There is plenty of time".

Meanwhile our initial training group had gotten smaller and now consisted of just three women (including myself) and two coaches. The other two women (who, incidentally, I really like) are training for the full marathon (their first) and also encouraged me to go for it. So, last week I made the decision to train for the full marathon. Remember, we are training to run/walk. We walk (fast) for a minute, then run a minute. Walk a minute, run a minute, etc. Last Tuesday we did 6 1/2 miles. It was the farthest I had ever gone and boy, I was feeling it. Not so much during it, but the day after. Tomorrow we have an 8 mile run planned, which should take us about 2 hours. I am a bit daunted, but also very excited about it. Saturdays are our long run training days and we will build up the miles each week. I also train with the group on Tuesday evenings. The rest of my training schedule consists of running on Sundays, cross training on Mondays, group training on Tuesdays, cross training on Wednesday and running Thursdays. Fridays are my only days off to get ready for the long run the following day.

I NEVER could have imagined that I would enjoy running so much. I am so excited to do this. Not just for Ohio Valley Voices, but for myself and for my girls. Each year that Jazzie attended Ohio Valley Voices and the Flying Pig Marathon rolled around, I wished that I could be one of the people running in honor of one of the students and raising money while doing it. I admired them so much and they inspired me, but I felt that I was in no way able to be one of them.  However, since losing almost 70 pounds and since I started running, I feel that this is the year that I AM able! I want Jazzie and Tahlia to know that they can do anything, even when they think they can't. I am very proud that I am finally able to give back to the school that changed Jazzie's life by doing something I never thought I could. Jazzie is amazing. She has overcome a lot of obstacles and she will continue to face challenges, but I want to show her that she can do anything she sets her mind to.

I CAN run/walk the marathon and I WILL.

I will do it for you, Jazzie.