Most Beautiful Run Yet

65 miles down, 1 concert to go

Troy and I on Friday morning

We had an incredible time riding with the 5 Weeks for Freedom team on Friday! We spent the night at the church (everyone just finds a spot on the ground with their sleeping bags), and then after a debriefing in the morning, we headed towards Nashville.

This bike lane showed up at the end of the trip and was greatly appreciated!!

It was HOT, and HILLY, but the team works together to encourage everyone along (thank you Deb, Margee, Dave...). For a big stretch of our trip, we did not have a bike lane or shoulder (for those of you living in Nashville, we came up Franklin Avenue to Old Hickory, and headed East) The traffic was intense, and I had to pry my shoulders down from my earlobes after that stretch. With all of the traffic, I forgot to drink water, and I started to dehydrate at mile 40. I had just taken a huge hill, and realized that I wasn't sweating, but once I drank a couple of bottles of water, I felt great again and was back on track.

With Iron Mike at the finish line... I think the world of these guys!

I have a new appreciation and empathy for a lot of people. When I was on that huge hill at mile 40, with the sun beating down on me, in pain, and feeling nausea, it is not a cliche to say that my heart broke again for the families who toil in the sun all day under threat of violence, watching their children be groomed for slavery with no way out. But I could end my ordeal any time I wanted, so I still don't have a clue. I also have a new appreciation for the team who will continue to ride along the Underground Railroad until they reach Buffalo NY, and 1,800 miles to bring awareness of modern day slavery to the communities they visit. We are looking forward to our concert tonight at Christ Community Church! I will be the one sitting on a pillow at the piano!

We did it... again!

Here is a pictoral review of our time at Grandma's Marathon (we ran the Gary Bjorklund half)... Yes, this is me with Hal Higdon of Hal Higdon fame! His Novice Half Marathon Training regiment got me through. Here I am with my friend Melanie in line for the porta potties before the race. Our friend Brian noted that although you would think that folks would be thinking about inspirational quotes, and motivational thoughts at this moment, most runners are thinking about having a successful visit to the john. This is mile 7 - it's hard to take a picture and run at the same time. Troy stayed with me until mile 10, and then pulled ahead... a little. Look at him, he's not even sweating! Troy finished at 2.09, and I finished at 2.12, three minutes under my goal! Here are my studly friends who ran the full marathon: Rebecca, Brian, Britney, and Melody As Troy watched the full marathoners cross the line, he slipped his medal in his shirt and said, "I think I'll hide my toddler medal now." Here we are 'acting' like dork half-marathoners: Bee, Troy, me, Terri, Melanie and Dan Thank you to everyone who left well wishes on here, and who checked in with us along the way. Allison G, thank you for the carb load and power bar! You are so thoughtful! We had an incredible day. My favorite moment was when I was running through downtown Duluth at mile 13, and I thought to myself, "I'm really hitting a wall," and saw a girl on the side of the road with a big sign that read, "Every wall has a door." Amen.

Running

Melody and Terri (my inspirations to run) and I in warm up blankets after our chilly race

I am three weeks away from running my second half marathon. I am not in the least bit athletic, but I love setting goals, and sort of like achieving them. I had a flashback this week while I was running: When I was in Jr High, I tried out to be a cheerleader, but I did not make the squad. It was traumatic only because all of my closest friends made it, and we were then somehow mysteriously forced into separate social groups. There was a teacher named Mrs. Reed who took notice of my lonely state, and encouraged me to join the track team. She put me on the mile because I was not fast, and I did not have any other discernible skills to jump or throw things. My first meet I tried to keep up with the pack, and ended up completely burning out on the third lap. I had no concept of pacing having not really trained much at that point, and came in dead last, running that uncomfortable last half-lap by myself to the cheers of Mrs. Reed and my mother. I puked at every meet because of nerves, and as somewhat of a hypochondriac, I'm sure I wore Mrs. Reed out on my many 'injuries', but still she cheered me on, and I got better. I started out around a nine minute mile, and ended the season with a 6:17 mile - a school record! It was not even fast compared to the other girls in the city, and I didn't even place in my last meet, but it was fast for my school. The last time I was there, I found my name still up on the wall of the gym "S. Colbaugh 6:17 Mile" - that was in 1984. I lived off of that one achievement for many years, and even though I did not stay on the track team, I have considered myself a runner in the back of my mind for many years. Last year I thought it was high time for such an intrinsic runner like myself to actually run, and so I trained with friends for the Whistestop Half Marathon in Ashland, WI. There is no point to this post other than to say that I like being in that underdog place, with room for improvement, but without anything to prove. I like working to make myself better without the insane pressure of having to be the best. Mid-run this week, I flashed back to the fullness of joy of doing my personal best, and hope to feel that way again on June 19th.