My Running Heroes

The past few weekends I have been blessed to witness some amazing running feats, I thought I would share some thoughts and pics of these events. 

Last Sunday, Eric and Justin ran the California International Marathon (CIM) in Sacramento, each with a different goal: Eric - attempt to run a Boston qualifying time, Justin -  finish his first 26.2 mile race.  I have participated in many road races either as a participant, volunteer, or spectator, but every time I witness runners attempting the marathon, it’s inspiring.  Each runner on that course has spent many hours and miles preparing for this moment on this day, to see if everything (weather, training, muscles, mental game, stomach, etc) can come together for them to meet their goal.  I love watching runners at different stages of the race.  At mile 5 everyone was energized, still closely packed together, smiling, chatting, and still feeling great.  At mile 10, most folks still look strong, they had found their rhythm and were clicking the miles off.  By mile 18, runners look tired, and in the midst of the battle, their battle with their legs, the road, and most of all, their mind…convincing themselves they aren’t crazy, that they can do this, and pushing on.  This is when runners start to dig deep, to find out what they are made of.  At the finish line, I can’t help but get tears in my eyes watching runners meet their goals and finishing their 26.2mile (+ many months of training) race. 

I am so proud of what Justin and Eric accomplished on Sunday.  Justin trained for his first marathon through the Texas summer heat, around many out-of-town weekend trips, a 24hr mountain bike race, and a busy work/life schedule leaving him few hours to sleep, much less train.  Some how he fit it all in.  Not only did he finish his race, he ran an AMAZING time of 3hrs, 44minutes!  That is 8:33min/mile!  He looked strong and like a champ the whole race.  I’m so grateful to have been able to witness my brother’s first 1/2 marathon earlier this year (in Austin), and now his first marathon.  

Eric has run a few marathons, and after our Big Sur Marathon experience, decided to train for CIM to see what kind of PR (personal record) he could run, hoping that it would be 3 hrs and 10min or less, qualifying him for Boston.   This is a ridiculously fast pace if you ask me.  That requires and average of 7:15min/mile…I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty confident I would be lucky to run ONE mile that fast, much less 26.2miles at that pace!  Eric tweaked his training for this race, tried a few new methods, and logged many miles and long runs on his own.  Ultimately, Eric shaved 17 (difficult) minutes off of his PR, finishing in 3hrs, 15min, 40 seconds (7:27 min/mile!).  He ran an incredible race, pushing his body to the max capacity, something which I know I couldn’t do myself.  His discipline and self-drive enabled his body to run 25miles averaging at his goal race pace.  Unfortunately his legs weren’t calibrated with the full length of the race, and like a rebellious 2 year old, refused to listen to what Eric told them to do resulting in cramping and walking much of the last mile.  I can’t express how proud I am of Eric’s accomplishment on Sunday, finishing that race in such an incredible time and overcoming miles of throbbing pain.   

Eric and Justin, ready to go at 5:30am, braving the 30degree start-time temperature.

Justin & Eric post-race

 This weekend Eric and I drove to Reno (through the snowy pass, taking chains on and off the tires…) to watch Eric’s niece run in the Junior Olympic National Cross-Country meet.  Katie is 9 years old and a very talented runner.  This was an incredible race and fun to watch.  Reno recently has received an un-seasonal amount of snow, leaving these kids to run on a course with 1.5 feet of snow.  By the time her race started, it was 29 degrees and most of the snow was packed, but they were the first race and still had to run through some unpacked snow in parts.  In a field of 250 girls ages 9 & 10, Katie ran like a champ, fighting the whole race finishing 14th overall and the first 9year old.   She was honored as an ”All-American” as she finished in the top 25.  It was exciting to see this cute, cheerful 9year old give it all she had to do the best she could in this race.  

My other running hero is Katie’s older sister Chelsea.  Chelsea is 11years old, and also competes for her school track and cross-country teams.  Chelsea may not have the same gifts with running as her younger sister, but that girl is driven!  During the regular cross-country season she won almost every race in her age group, improving on her times from last year.  Although she didn’t qualify for the National competition, and knows that if they run head to head her younger sister would beat her, she worked so hard to improve her personal times and run the best she could in all her races.  Her self-motivation is so admirable, and on top of all of this, she is one of the biggest cheerleaders for her younger sister.  It was great to see her support and encourage Katie this weekend! 

Not only do I love running for the physical and emotional health benefits, but I love watching how it can bring out the best in each of us.  That it can motivate a person to take on a long-term goal, and find it within themselves to complete it.  I’m so blessed to be surrounded by amazing runners! 

The Katie Thronson Cheering Team. From left: Aunt Tara, Chelsea, Uncle Eric, Michael (Eric's brother), Katie, Kerrianne (sister-in-law) and Kirsten (Eric's cousin who lives in Reno).

Katie after her race! Uncle Eric is still super excited and can't wipe that smile off his face.

The One When I Peed on a Stick

Who would have thought a little bit of urine, a piece of plastic from Rite-Aid, and 2 minutes (or in my case about 20 seconds) could totally change your evening beverage choice and many other more important decisions for the rest of your life.  

We had recently decided we were finally “ready” to take the plunge into parenthood.  We threw caution to the wind thinking it would take up to a year to get pregnant…apparantly it only took a night at the Portland, Oregon Shiloh Inn!

In early August, after a weekend of wine tasting celebrating Eric’s birthday, I noticed I was a “few days late”.  I told Eric that it was a busy week for me, so if things didn’t “change” by the end of the week, I should probably take a pregnancy test.  The next day I arrived home to a beautiful bouquet of flowers from the Farmer’s Market…and two tests Eric picked up from the store on the way home. 

I had imagined that by the time we would try to start a family, I would already feel the maternal instinct, and would cry tears of joy as I read the positive pregnancy test.  I even imagined recording us reading the test for the first time, then later posting it on Youtube to tell our family and friends our exciting news.  As I went to take the test, I realized…this wasn’t the Kodak moment I had built up in my head.

Before I could even get out of the bathroom, it was VERY clear, we were pregnant.  There were no tears of joy…I just laughed.  Eric could hardly wait to hear the results, and couldn’t figure out why I was laughing.  He hugged me with excitement, and again, asked why I was still laughing.  I think they were laughs of anxiety and of shock that I was really pregnant.  I was intending to open a good bottle of wine that night, instead…I asked Eric to just hug and hold me while I processed the many emotions I was feeling. 

I was relieved that I didn’t have the “oh no, I’m pregnant, what are we going to do” feeling – I was far from that…but I also didn’t have the tears of joy that I was expecting, and in my head imagined all my girlfriends who are moms had.

I finally was able to describe what I was feeling to Eric.  I felt totally awkward and out-of-place, like I was in middle school all over again.  I was finally settling into Sacramento life, redefining and shaping my owned “identity”, and feeling comfortable in my skin - then in less than two minutes everything changed.  I felt that all of a sudden I was labeled with the ”mom-to-be” identity and I had NO idea what to do!  It was as though I just entered a foreign country.  They stamped my passport and sent me on my way…I could understand the language spoken, but couldn’t speak it myself, nor did I understand the customs or behaviors expected of me.  I had mixed feelings of wanting desperately to tell my girlfriends immediately and ask for advice and guidance, yet at the same time I didn’t want people to think I was asking stupid questions and not ready for this. 

Eric did two wonderful things in the next 24 hours to help me feel more prepared for this new and exciting journey.  1: He helped me look up pregnancy food “do’s and don’ts” so, in my words, I didn’t eat something stupid.  2: He went to the library and checked out 5 pregnancy books so we could start figuring out the world of pregnancy and parenthood, and to get a glimpse of what to expect. 

It didn’t take me long to happily and proudly ADD the label of “mom-to-be” to my identity.  Once I got over the initial shock, started to feel the 1st Tri sickness (the pregnancy suddenly became very real!), and start-up the learning curve of all things pregnancy/parenting, I have become VERY EXCITED to be a Mom!  It’s such an amazing and blessed experience, for which I’m very grateful.

Funny Observations

Three things that recently made me laugh heartily out loud, or at least a little to myself…

1. The Network for a Healthy California has started a new marketing campaign called “Champions for Change” where they have billboards and ads around town encouraging Californians to eat more fruits and veggies and increase physical exercise, to help reduce obesity and other diet-related chronic diseases.  This is a great cause, and I love the ads.  A mom with her arms crossed, with the words “My Kitchen, My Rules.  Rule #1: Eat more fruits and vegetables.”  What made me laugh, is seeing one of these ads on a TACO TRUCK.  What?  Not the place I expected to see one, but it makes sense if you are trying to change habits.  Better to remind people shopping at the local convenience store and the taco truck that they can make healthier choices, rather than in front Whole Foods or the Co-op shoppers. 

2. When walking to a meeting downtown, we walked past a group of protesters with signs saying “Save Sacramento County Jobs, no to consultants!”.  The protest wasn’t really a surprise, there tends to be many these days in town, especially around recent budget cuts.  What I wasn’t expecting to see is that all of the protesters were members from the homeless community.  On the surface it seems like a win-win situation.  Homeless folks are earning a little income, employees get their message across without missing work.  It’s just that the Sacramento County employees essentially hired “consultants” to protest consultants.  Hmmm…

3. My co-worker’s naughty plant.  While brewing her coffee one morning she looked out the window to see the below growth in her plant.  At first she thought her husband stuck a plastic figurine in her plant as a joke, but no…this manhood grew on its own!

Heaven’s new Biker Babe

Last week my Aunt Maggie passed away, at the age of 52, after battling ovarian cancer the past few years.  Although we all knew her time was near, and we said our “good-bye’s”, the news of her death hit me much harder than I expected.  Although she is my “step-aunt” (married to my stepmother’s brother), I consider Aunt Maggie and Uncle Norman some of my closest relatives.  They have been in my life for over 22 years, growing up we saw them at least twice a year, as adults we try to continue to visit on an annual basis.  It’s not just the loss of a relative that left my heart aching, it’s that Aunt Maggie was incredible in so many ways.   

I’m so grateful that Eric encouraged me to fly back to Florida for her funeral and memorial service.  I really needed this time to process her death with my family, hear from Uncle Norman stories of her last days, and share fun memories with friends and relatives.  They have such an expansive network of friends, all good, caring people.  From their motorcycle club buddies, to their community of faith, the church overflowed with people joining in celebration of a woman who positively impacted their lives. 

The services and celebration of her life were wonderful, and I appreciated the special touches carefully planned together by Maggie and Norman.  Uncle Norm wore a light gray suit, the same suit he wore at their wedding rehearsal dinner 27 years ago.  He had their motorcycles set up on display in the garage, highlighting moments of significance shared together.

Photo collages of Maggie’s life were on display, reminding us as one relative put it, she was “disgustingly photogenic”:

We learned about the poem they shared together while Uncle Norm was a pilot with Delta and away from home, remembering they are still in sync even when they are apart.  Now he carries a lock of her hair and the watch she gave him in his pocket, reminding him they are “set to the same time”.

I think one of my favorite stories I heard over the weekend comes from one of my cousins.  She married into the Nelson family 12 years ago, and has always had a special bond with Aunt Maggie, sharing recipes and teasing each other about college football teams.  Once when the family was gathered at Maggie and Norman’s house, Maggie had made her delicious homemade peach pie.  Many of the women asked for the recipe, and Aunt Maggie gladly copied and shared it with them.  When my cousin asked for a copy, Aunt Maggie said “no, I’m not going to give you my peach pie recipe”.  My cousin was shocked, and asked “why not?  I just saw you give it to three other people.”  Maggie went on to explain, “they’re never going to make the recipe, asking for a copy of it is just their way of being polite and communicating their enjoyment of the pie.  If YOU want my recipe, you need to come visit again, and I’ll teach you.”  So…my cousin did, and she learned Aunt Maggie’s peach pie recipe.  She plans to plant a peach tree in their yard and use those peaches to make Maggie’s pie every year.  This story characterizes our Aunt Maggie so well.  She is respectful, allows everyone to be themselves and feel honored and loved, yet can see things how they really are.

Two months ago I wrote a letter to Aunt Maggie trying to put into words how much she meant to me.  I’ll close with a section of that letter:

“The top 5 things I admire about my Aunt Maggie that I hope to someday incorporate into my life:

 1. She is CLEVER. I know many smart funny people, but you merge both of these characteristics together so well. Two silly stories come to mind that have stuck with me over the years. The first – I love hearing the story of how you and Uncle Norm met, with him creeping down the side of the hill on his motorcycle bringing Chris to soccer practice, etc. You describe the story so well but my favorite part is how you figured out the age difference – by asking where he was when he learned JFK was shot. Very clever! As part of this category, it’s also your humor. My second ditty is playing games at the Crescent Beach house in the kitchen ….likely Pictionary. Grandma and Grandpa finally went to bed and you declared it to be “Miller Time” and that cracked us up. I treasure those times at the beach house together – so fun!

2. She is STRAIGHT FORWARD AND SPEAKS THE TRUTH. I love your honesty about your truth and how you see a situation. I can’t think of anyone who can “tell it like it is” with such love and humor that your message is heard and always appreciated.  At work when we are off to social events, our motto is “chat, but don’t offend.” You have this down!

3. She MODELS A GREAT MARRIAGE. I greatly admire your relationship with Uncle Norm. You demonstrate a true partnership. You model how to maintain your uniqueness as an individual, yet at the same time become a team, with shared interests and adventures. Together you seem to live life and have fun!

4. She is a BEACON OF LOVE TO OTHERS. You are so loving to all that you meet.’ As a mother, and aunt, a wife, a daughter, a friend, a sister-in-law, a daughter-in-law, etc…..your love is felt and embraced by so many lucky people! A specific example that I am trying to emulate is your thoughtfulness to Grandpa.  You mentioned that as you see notes or articles which would interest him, you mail them in a note to him. It is so easy to think of others but still go on with my everyday life, but now I try to think more about slowing down and sharing those thoughts.

5. She is an ETERNALLY POSITIVE PERSON. Your mental strength and positive attitude about life has always been clear to me, but even more so as you have worked through your health challenges. I am blown away by your strength, and choosing to live your life to the fullest, appreciating each moment and making the best of all situations. What a lesson to us all.” 

 

We Staged a Miracle

Wow, what an incredible experience.  It is difficult to put it to words.  Last Saturday the kids performed their play, A Hand Out For Hope, to three overflowing audiences.  It was so rewarding to see these kids shine on stage.  Some of the miracles along the way that will stay with me…

Thanks to the skills of my brother Justin, we merged images of art made by each of the children in the play into a poster (see below).  The Sacramento Bee was very generous to our program by writing a great article, capturing interviews on this video, and printing our posters for free. This generosity allowed us to give one to each of the children, while selling the others for next year’s seed money.  This is such a great memento of this summer’s production.

2009 Staging A Miracle Poster

We had a display during the Saturday performances (which were associated with Sacramento’s 2nd Saturday Art Walk event) of art and photography by the kids.  It was a powerful display that the Sacramento downtown library requested to have as an exhibit in the next few months.  This is a great opportunity to continue to raise awareness of Staging A Miracle, and give the families an excuse to go to the library together! It is another example of how this small program is truly becoming a community collaborative.

Sunday after the final performance(as part of the worship service) we celebrated the conclusion of our time together with a cast party.  During the party the writer and director of the play presented each of the children with their poster, on which we had written positive characteristics we observed in each child.  Watching those kids hang on to these words of encouragement, and witnessing how much they have learned and grown in the past 5 weeks was miraculous.  Some of the kids learned to play guitar.  Some kids shined when they learned to focus their energy in a positive way.  But most of all, meaningful relationships in this community have formed, and I expect will continue. 

I began the journey to volunteer with the group because I loved the concept and wanted to help others in my community.  As a result, I have been changed for the better by this experience, and I look forward to the next step, whatever it may be.

Look for pictures and a video in a future post…likely a few weeks.

Staging A Miracle – Week 3!

We are now in week 3 of 5 for Staging A Miracle.  It’s amazing how far we have come, and incredible to see the different pieces of the workshops now weaving together.  Each rehearsal I find myself having a magical moment of some type.  Last week it was watching a group of younger children, ages 6 to 10, gather around their music teacher singing their hearts out to the Creedence Clearwater Revival song “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” to the lyrics customized for the show. 

Tonight, my moment was helping Rydell, an autistic 13yr old in the program who is participating with his younger sister.  Rydell is such a sweet kid.  I haven’t had many interactions with him yet, but there has been enough that he gives me a big hug when he says hello and good-bye.  This evening was our first rehearsal where we merged most of the kids together.  Picture 40+ kids ranging in age from 6 to 17 singing, dancing and teaching them the choreography to make all their actions look cohesive.  It was loud.  It was chaotic.  There was lots of movement.  I saw Rydell sitting in the back of the room by himself.  I joined him, to make sure he was ok.  He did great for a while, then it was clear he was overstimulated.  He shared a few methods with us to help calm him down, then eventually went for a walk (picking up three other adults he invited to join us), and we all walked around the church with him while he told a story.

Having an instant connection with kids has never been my thing (it’s really my brother’s gift), but as I am spending more time with these kids, with such various backgrounds, we still find a way to all have fun through this program together.  Although I won’t complain when I have my Tuesday/Thursday evenings and Saturday afternoon back, I am still looking forward to each performance and the miraculous moments we will experience!

Feelin’ Furlough Friday

Today I felt the pains of Furlough Friday for the first time.  No, Eric is not furloughed (yet), but many state employees, including the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) large offices near my office, are now furloughed 3 Fridays per month.

Since I was riding my bike to a breakfast meeting downtown before continuing to work, I didn’t brown bag my lunch figuring I would just stop by the little bagel deli (note: sign on the building is titled “Bagles”, yes, they are spelling challenged) around the corner that my colleagues frequent and get one of their delicious salads or sandwiches.   Today for lunch, in the 100+ degree heat, I walked over to the bagel shop and noticed they were closed.  After studying their sign closely and confirming they should be open, my colleague and I concluded it must be due to Furlough Friday.  Sigh.  No worries, I’ll try the new Teriyaki joint one block over.  No dice.  Lights out, locked doors.   The owner of the dry cleaners next door told me it was due to Furlough Friday. 

As I stared at the Taco Bell contemplating if I wanted to be spending quality time with the porcelain god this afternoon, I noticed a little Mexican restaurant, Los Jarritos, one more block away…please…be open and delicious.  Thank you Los Jarritos!  Not only did I have a delicious enchilada, taco, beans and rice for lunch, it was only $5.43!  What a deal. 

Although the struggles  furloughed employees have (14% paycut) are much greater than mine, in a very minor and peripheral way, I shared their pain today.  Oh California, what will we do…

Are You Ready for A Miracle?

For the past five months I have been volunteering with a wonderful team of people planning, preparing and doing lots of praying for a program called Staging A Miracle.  (Click here to see a video of the inaugural performance from last year).  This is a five week summer arts theater program, primarily for families in the Sacramento community who are transitioning out of homelessness.  It’s of no cost to them, and an opportunity for grade school children to receive quality arts programming three times a week, culminating with a performance of their musical on Saturday, August 8th as part of the Sacramento Second Saturday Art Walk.   These kids will not only perform in the play, but their art will become the backdrop, their words will become the script, and their voices will be the music. 

While the children are in different workshops with practicing artists learning to paint, dance, sing, act and write, we provide childcare for the babies and other arts-related classes for the preschoolers and the parents.  It truly is a summer arts program for the whole family.  

In the months leading up to tonight, we already witnessed a few miracles.  One of the key aspects to this program is the provision of transportation.  Many of these families don’t have reliable transportation, or the funds for additional trips.  Months ago we thought we had secured donated vans to transport the families (100 participants in total!) to and from the church for each rehearsal.  3 weeks ago the van deal fell through….that same day, we received a generous grant (in this challenging economy) which has enabled us to pay for alternative transportation.  Such a blessing!

Tonight was the first night of this summer’s Staging A Miracle program.  It was electrifying to see the church transform into a center for children in the arts, bringing participants and volunteers from all walks of life together to be creative and have fun!  It seemed as though everywhere I turned there were smiling faces.  What began as a crazy idea from some amazing people at First United Methodist Church in Sacramento, has grown into a community of love, support, and hope for the future.  I’m so grateful and excited to be part of this program, I can’t wait for our next gathering on Thursday!

It’s amazing to me…

…that it’s 9:30pm and in the 60’s, yet in 2 days it will be over 100degrees here, and still in the 60’s in the evening.

I am also am amazed, or more accurately – wondering, where my blog post time went?  Sigh…I will work on that.

What is missing in this photo?

Remember the kids magazine Highlights and the hidden pictures, where you looked for items within the picture?  Let’s play a version of that game:

What is different in the below photos*?

Official Big Sur Marathon elevation profile

Elevation profile from Eric's GPS watch

 The top picture is the elevation chart posted on the Big Sur Website.  The second picture is from Eric’s GPS tracking watch.  Notice the difference between miles 15 and 25…I mistakenly thought we were in for some fairly smooth sailing.  Not quite!  Eric’s watch captures the rolling hills – which was the reality, they must have been “hidden” in the official profile!  When runners told us at the start this was a tough course…I began to really believe them around mile 16.    I still had a blast!

*Note: Miles 1-3 on the official chart is pretty accurate, Eric’s is off because the GPS was catching the tree tops as we were still in the redwoods.