Fast Forward to 2008

This was a year of getting on that fit train.  This was the year that I realized that I was no longer healthy. I had quickly lost all that weight I gained when pregnant with my boys who were 15 months apart.  It was easy. I didn't diet, and the only exercise I had was gardening and chasing the boys. My oldest was diagnosed with mild Diplegic Cerebral Palsy. After years of therapy and a few major surgeries, life was finally starting to calm down a little, but my anxiety level was through the roof. I had extremely high cholesterol, low iron, esophageal ulcers, constant hives, dizzy spells, constant cold sores, unending colds and infections, and was told by my doctor that I was a walking time bomb. My anxiety was so bad that there were times I would go to the ER for fear I was having a heart attack. After trying different medications for all my ailments, along with seeing a counselor, I was still not finding any relief. That's when we met our new neighbors. They were runners. My husband starting running with the neighbor. After a few months, we learned of a "Poker Run" which was a fund raiser for a local children's charity to benefit children in need of gifts during the holidays. It was suppose to be just for fun. You run from bar to bar in a three mile loop and collect a playing card. The best hand wins. There was no timing, no first place winner, no last place. Only the person with the best poker hand would win. My thought was, "I can do that". But to test my non-running legs, I decided the night before to take a run around the .75 block in our neighborhood. I made it back alive, but I felt like I was dying. My brother who had just completed Iron Man that summer told me that what I was experiencing was blood flow to the brain that hadn't been felt in years. He assured me I would be fine. Surprisingly, I was just fine. It felt great to run, even if it was just in short intervals this time.  That next week, I began my goal of running a little further each day.

In April of 2009, I was ready for my first 5k. After running all winter outdoors, I knew I would be ready for my first race. After battling some shin splints and learning that increasing my mileage too quickly and the need for better running shoes, I had learned a lot about running.  I did surprisingly well for my first race. I was so nervous, I didn't know what to expect. I finished with a time of 29:23. Not too bad for my first race. This gave me the confidence to get faster and sign up for more races.  That November, I was able to shave an entire minute off my 5k time on a hillier course. I finished with a time of 28:16. The following spring, I had a PR on the first course I ever ran with a time of 27:06.

My husband signed up for a local half marathon that was being held that April of 2010. I knew I would never be ready so I agreed to be his cheerleader and photographer.  As the months passed and my mileage grew, I got comfortable with my runs. I had a schedule set that allowed me to increase my mileage. Instead of it just being something to relieve stress and get my blood flowing, had become something I really enjoyed. When race day rolled around, I wished I had signed up for that half marathon. I was bummed I didn't run it. I was ready after all, with my mileage at a comfortable 12 miles. I came to realize that I actually enjoyed running, so instead, my husband signed me up for the Lake Placid Half Marathon. I thought it was a great idea until the day came closer and I realized that it was a very hilly course that seemed to never end. But I survived, with my husband by my side to assure me I was doing fine and to keep me motivated.  I finished with a smile and couldn't wait to do my next one.
Over the course of the next couple of years, we added lots of finisher medals to our collection for various distances of road races. I even had a few age group winning placements that I can be proud of.... But eventually, I felt like there must be something more out there. That's when we discovered Obstacle Course Racing. We saw a video on YouTube of this race where you do obstacles, run through mud, get electric shock and many other things that looked like more fun than just running on the road.  We weren't sure if we were quite ready for that big race at the time, but there was set to be a local mud run that we signed up for to be sure we liked it first.  Needless to say, we fell in love with it! Within a few weeks we were signed up for our first Spartan Race!  Instead of going for a small race, we signed up for the Spartan Beast at Killington, VT.

When childhood was different

Back when I was a child, I had always participated in some sort of sport.  When I was around 6 or 7 years old, my parents enrolled us in swimming lessons at our local beach.  We would take a bus that would pick us up just down the street.  These were the days that our parents would have full trust in others to take care of us when we were away from home.  There were different levels based on your swimming ability. I earned a patch as I proceeded through the rankings.  I always admired the lifeguards who taught us how to swim.  I once asked my mother for the cute red bathing suit that they got to wear and that I wanted to be a lifeguard when I grew up.  One instructor in particular was my favorite.  I still see her at sporting events here and there.  I guess it's important to have a certain level of respect for someone who has your life in their hands.   I was a bit of a beach bum back in those days.  After swimming lessons we would take the bus back home to have lunch. Then we were allowed to take the school bus in the afternoon to spend the rest of the day at the beach (Yes, children. All alone. Without an adult other than the lifeguards. Things were different back then.) My parents would meet us at the beach where we would have dinner and head out on the boat where my parents and brothers would all go skiing.  I was afraid to learn how to ski. I have no idea why, but that giant lake was just scary to me.

During those years, I also played softball. I started out as a catcher and played second base.  That was until I got hit square in the back of the head with a baseball bat.  There was a dropped ball in front of home plate.  I bent forward to grab it. At the same instance, the batter took a practice swing while standing in the batters box, hitting me right in the back of the head.  Back then, there were only face masks without the helmet.  Again, things have changed since I was a kid.  After that incident, I took on the position of pitcher and shortstop where I continued to play all the way up through high school.

When there was no ball, we were always to be found riding around town on our bicycles. As soon as I was a steady rider, my mother took my training wheels off my bike.  That same day, my older brother convinced me that it was okay to ride my bike downtown.  He chose the steepest hill, but the fastest route. I knew it was a bad idea, but my brother convinced me it was okay because we were going to the library.  Even without a parent or permission.  As my brother yelled to me from the bottom of the hill to pedal faster, I suddenly lost control.  Down I went. Face first on the fresh pavement.  I ended up nearly knocking my front tooth out, had to have stitches across my forehead, my chin and even inside of my mouth.  This is the reason why I am not a triathlete.  I just can't bring myself to trust a bicycle to keep me safe.

During the winter, I could either be found riding snowmobiles with my family, skating at the local skating rink, or on the mountain skiing with friends.  I was still less than 14 years old, but my parents were fine with us going off on our own across town with friends and no adult present along with the other kids in town.  As much as I didn't like the cold weather, I would never turn down a chance to be racing down a black diamond trail. Who could resist skiing the same mountains that the Olympians did? 

As I grew older and entered school sports, I tried quite a few different sports.  I played two years of basketball. I still played softball, but also enjoyed being a cheerleader.  I was on the swimming and diving team. My favorite heat was the 400M Backstroke where I always did well. I never found myself on the track or cross country team.  I had no interest in running. It seemed very boring to me despite my parents nudging me to join since both my brothers were on the team.

Throughout this entire time, our family still did a lot of hiking, biking as a family, canoeing, camping, and traveling, as well as hours on the lake in the boat, snowmobiling or off-road Jeep expeditions.

In my next blog post, I move out of my parents home and go off to college....

Learning to love the outdoors

Let's go into a little bit about what brought me to where I am right now in my life.  When I was growing up, (in the 70's) my parents were what you could call "hippies".  Bluegrass festivals were a part of my life. I grew up listening to the Doors and Harry Chapin. They were very "outdoorsy" and loved to go camping, backpacking, and hiking on a regular basis. My father always owned a Jeep of some sort. We would take off on a Saturday morning and they would just drive for hours through mud and muck, up and down mountains, in and out of the forests. We would stop for a picnic (or if the Jeep got stuck so deep in the mud that we couldn't move) and sometimes even set up a makeshift camp.  My father owns some property on top of a mountain that was only accessible by foot. More recently a logging company that is working on the mountain has built up the road to make it accessible for now. Somehow they managed to build a "camp" up there (which is mostly used as a hunting camp now) and that's where we spent a lot of the time in the summer. We would go hiking, blaze trails, pick wild berries, cook over an open fire and tell stories.

We lived a pretty simple life. My father owned an autobody shop and my mother was his bookkeeper, etc.  As us children got older (I have an older and younger brother) our adventures would get larger. Once, they decided to take us out to the middle of nowhere in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada. It was so far from civilization that you couldn't even get a radio station. You were startled by moose on your way to the outhouse. The water was so clean and clear you could see the fish at the bottom. We had to learn to paddle a canoe and how to portage from pond to pond. We could only bring what we could carry ourselves, and what would fit into a Ziploc baggie in case we capsized. This was torture to a thirteen year old girl who could not be seen in public without having blow dried or curled her hair in the 80's.

Looking back on it now, all of this played an important part of who I am today.  I am not afraid to get dirty. I am not afraid of adventure.  I find myself trying to plan these same adventures with my own boys.  It has become a tradition for us to go on a big family camping trip at least once a year.  We gather with my parents, family and friends to relive these memories every year on our traditional camping trip on Memorial Day weekend at the same camping spot we did as a kid. We now own our own camper and make frequent camping trips with our own family. I learned a lot about survival on these trips. I learned some great life "hacks". I learned to always be prepared. I take pride in how well I can pack for a trip, even if it's just a day trip. I learned how to build things with my own hands and my own imagination and with limited supplies. I learned how to read a map, follow instructions, what to do if you ever get lost. All things that bring me to where I am now in my life.

*See my next post on sports in my life.

Let's get this ball rolling

"A BROTHER is a FRIEND given by nature."
The boys exploring at the St. Louis Arch

Although blogging is not completely new to me, it may take me some time to get into a good routine and variety of topics for everyone to enjoy.  Years ago, I started a blog.  Not for my own benefit, but for my family and friends.  When my son was born at 29 weeks (11 weeks premature), he spent quite some time in the NICU.  15 months later, our second son was born.  It didn't take us long to realize there was something wrong with our oldest son.  Throughout that time, family and friends were concerned and overwhelming us with calls and emails about our son's condition and health.  Meanwhile, he was diagnosed with mild Diplegic Cerebral Palsy.  This was at a time where there was no facebook, instagram, voxer, smartphones, etc.  It was tiring to update everyone on a regular basis.  Time we didn't have in the day.  As time went on, tests were done, treatments, and surgeries were scheduled. His first major surgery was scheduled 14 hours away. How else were we to keep all of our family and friends updated on a surgical spinal procedure that could change our son's entire life?  Well, I started a blog.  It was a tremendous help in getting the information on his progress.
His surgeon and staff caught wind of this idea and loved that we were sharing videos and photos with people thousands of miles away.  It became apparent that there was a need for all patients and families to communicate with loved ones throughout their children's procedures and time spent in the hospital. His surgeon, the caring man that he is, found a program called "Caring Bridge".  So the hospital joined the program so that families could keep in touch. 

In the PICU for recovery following Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy

 Back to the blog idea.... I continued to blog about our son's therapies, recovery, other surgeries and felt great that I was able to help others make these huge surgical decisions for themselves.  The blog did so well, that we decided to start a family blog and a blog for our youngest son.  Over time, facebook took over the transfer of photos and information on our growing, active family. Those blogs sit idle and lonely now. 
Fast forward to now. Facebook just doesn't seem to be large enough to share all that I have to share. 
On this blog, I will do product reviews, race reviews, recipes, nutrition information, inspiration and of course a little bit of fun.  If you have any requests for topics, feel free to message me and I will do my best to accommodate you.  Thank you for following.