A walk to remember

Circumstances beyond my control (my van in the shop) led to the need for me to walk home from the gym this morning after I finished teaching my class. Down to only one car right now while we await the completed repairs on our van, James dropped me off at work but then needed to get himself to work. Our Georgia rains have ceased, at least for today, so the walk from the gym to home wasn't that big of a deal for me. I couldn't have asked for better weather, and it gave me time to be calm and quiet and reflect. One reason I have neglected my blog for so long, I realized while walking, is that since I finished the marathon I have not spent any time running lately. The training runs were my opportunity to think and be alone with myself. That is usually when I collected my thoughts and then felt I had something to blog about. Since abandoning my running (or taking a very long hiatus from it) I seldom find myself alone or able to get much deep thinking in. Hence, the long break from blogland. Hopefully this realization will motivate me to take more walks which will in turn lead to more blog posts.

All of that leads into my post for today.

As I was walking home on this absolutely gorgeous day my route took me down various roads and paths, some with sidewalks, some without. It was on one stretch of grassy land with rather tall weeds on one side where I found my eyes scanning the ground in front of me looking for snakes. I am deathly afraid of the little devils.

As I was scanning the ground in high alert mode my thoughts shifted. I realized that had I been born elsewhere, in another land, the very ground that I walked on out of necessity could be a deathbed for me.

How fortunate am I that I was born an American where I do not know the fear of walking a field where landmines might be buried? How lucky I am that my life is in America and I am free to walk home from work when need be, without fear or treachery. How blessed I am to be married to a wonderful man who wears this country's uniform with pride and great honor. How humbled I am that so many millions of others currently answer the call, or have answered it, to defend our beloved America, to say to the enemy, "You won't hurt us today. Not my country. Not on my watch."

May God watch over all those who put themselves in harm's way so I can know the joy and beauty of a peaceful walk in my America. And may God wrap His loving arms around the heroes who walk with him in Heaven now.

God Bless the U.S.A.

Mission: Accomplished!

Goal: Realized!

New addiction: Found!

Alright, I won't go so far as to say I'm addicted to running (that addiction belongs to my hubby). But I will say that for all my talk ahead of time that this would probably be a one-time deal for me, that I would finish this race and be done with running, that I hated running and couldn't imagine what I was thinking by entering a half-marathon....well, a lot of that has changed now.


I got bitten by a bug.


The racing bug.


Maybe it's not so much the racing that I loved. It could very well be that this was a DISNEY race and the adrenaline rush that came with it was indescribable. Whatever it was, I'm smitten and looking ahead to future races. This was absolutely not a one-time deal for me, no matter how much smack I talked ahead of time.


I won't go into a lot of details about the race because I don't recall a lot of the minute points about it. I noticed the crowds cheering, the Disney characters out for meet-n-greets, the lines for the port-a-potties, heard the music from various dj's and local bands along the way, saw my family at mile 7 for a photo op, and cursed the cloverleaf on-ramp that I had to go up (it never seemed to end!). I felt the energy from the crowd when I needed it most, only needed to use my mp3 music for about 2 miles of the race, and only got teary-eyed one time when I entered Epcot for the last mile of my route. I remember crossing the finish line and feeling so proud that I had accomplished my original goal of completing the race and also my ultimate goal of being able to run the whole thing without needing any walking breaks.


I was not fast by any means but I wasn't the slowest either. And even if I had been, there was another jogger that morning wearing a t-shirt that was quite inspirational. I'll never forget that shirt, ever.

Dead Last Finish

is better that

Did Not Finish

is better than

Never Even Started.

How awesome a saying is that? I love it! Any takers out there for next year's race? Registration for 2010's event has started. Why not sign up for it, have a year to train, and proudly wear a shirt slogan like the one above? Hubby and I are hopeful that we'll be there again next year to do this craziness again!

I leave you with a picture of our family after my race was over, my Donald Duck medal around my neck and the sign James made for me that encouraged so many more than just myself.

Happy 2009!

Another new year has begun. I've never really liked New Year's Day very much. I much prefer New Year's Eve because it is still in December. New Year's Day means we are now in January and I don't like that one bit. Why? Because January is closer to June and July than December is. I don't like summer. Not a bit. I take after my mom in that regard. There's just something unnerving to me about the approaching summer season, which is why starting a new year doesn't thrill me. My favorite time of the year is when fall arrives and I know summer is behind us. The turning over of a new calendar means I'm once again facing summer rather than leaving it behind. Does that make sense to anyone out there other than my mom and I?

Anyway, what I do like about a New Year is the promise of all that is to come, all the wonder and possiblities that are open to everyone. I like to think about what the new year will bring for my family and I, what dreams we'll realize this year, what happy memories we'll make, what new experiences we'll discover, what the days will hold for us. I hope and pray that 2009 will be filled with happiness and wonder, God willing.

Tomorrow morning our family will leave bright and early to start our year off trying to realize the resolution we put into motion one year ago. It was my 2008 New Year's resolution to prepare myself for the WDW half-marathon and I guess I'm as prepared now as I can be at this point. In my mind I'm thinking there was more I should have done, or things I should have done differently, but at this late date I'm out of training time and need to go with what I've got and give it my all. Whatever comes my way I'll battle it the same as I've battled everything else all these months, including the stomach bug that just torpedoed through our home over the last couple days. That sure put a wrinkle in our training plans, no doubt!

But the race is more about finishing for me than competitiveness anyway. I never planned any grand illusions of a great time or any craziness like that. My only goals for this race are to finish and not to be the last to finish. James assures me I won't be the last as there will be people doing nothing but walking the race whereas I'm trained to run most of it, again God willing! James has a time goal in mind and he's so well trained (and competitive) that I'm sure he'd be disappointed to get less than what he's after. Me, I just don't want to get swept up! I want to finish the thing, get my Donald Duck medal, and have tangible proof that I am no longer the fat girl that Lance Miller tormented in high school. Deep down I think that is the monkey on my back during this whole thing. Completing this race is my moment to say I have buried that fat girl, I am not her, and I can release her once and for all.

So, to all those out there who, like me, carry too heavy a burden of who they are/were/hope to be, I'll be out there running for us on Saturday, January 10th, hoping that 2009 frees each of you from that demon. Life is too short to keep carrying my fat girl memories on my back. Truthfully, she weighs too much, and I'm not talking poundage.

Happy New Year!