Two Weeks Notice!

Race for the Cure is TWO WEEKS from today! I'm very excited to be participating as a runner, team member and fundraiser! My team is in the Top 10 for fundraising! BUT we haven't reached our goal, YET! Please, please, please contribute or join our team ASAP!
If you register by MAY 6 then your bib and t-shirt are mailed to you! Woohoo! You can actually contribute money up until May 31 for it to count as Race for the Cure funds, but I will stop bugging people about it after the race.
Once again, here is the link to my team page: http://slc.info-komen.org/site/TR/RacefortheCure/SLC_SaltLakeCityAffiliate?team_id=204249&pg=team&fr_id=2479

You can donate to the team in general, or to any of the individual teammates listed. Porter and Parker each have a goal of $5.
The Race for the Cure will be my FIFTH race since turning forty, and it celebrates 5 years of being a survivor! We are also dedicating this race to my dear friend Lee as she starts her fight against cancer!

On a slightly different note, I did my third race today, Color Me Rad. It was a family and friends effort and way too much fun! Parker was able to volunteer through the Utah Down Syndrome Foundation, and Dad and Porter were his volunteer buddies. Fun was had by all!

I've Come A Long Way, Baby!

I just finished a 5 mile run in under an hour! That's a HUGE achievement for me. I started running a little over 2 years ago for my heart, then my health, and now my life. I began with the Couch to 5K program. I was mostly an interval runner, meaning I would run for 30-60 seconds then walk 60-90 seconds. The first non-stop distance I ran outside was .6 miles and it took me over 8 minutes. When I finally got up to running a full mile, I was able to do it in 15 minutes. People could walk faster than I ran! Luckily, a former classmate of mine that I ran into at our 20 year reunion is now a personal trainer. Steve gave me a personal work up to help me with my cardiovascular endurance. It was the guidance for the gradual and sustained improvement I needed.

Fast forward 2+ years. If I run harder than usual I can sustain an 11 minute mile for 2 miles.  Today, running at a normal pace, I averaged 11:52 for 5 miles. Actually, for the first 4 miles I averaged 11:38; mile 5 was a killer! This was my second 5 mile run of the year, and I'm thrilled with the results! I can't believe that I used to say that I would never be a runner, and I'm so glad that it isn't the truth.
This past weekend I finished the first of my 40 races to celebrate turning 40. My 5th scheduled race is going to be the Race for a Cure. My team name is 5 for 5, and that's because I'm running a 5K to celebrate my 5 years of being a survivor. I'm also running for my dear friend Lee, who is a member of the team too. She just recently started her fight with this disease. If you're reading this post, and you haven't already, please consider joining our team and/or donating to Komen SLC. The only reason I can do extraordinary things is because of the extraordinary support I have from the extraordinary people in my life! THANK YOU!

Lake Powell Birthday

     

How do I even begin to describe the most perfect 40th birthday! I can't, but you can see it in pictures. Surrounded by extraordinary views, wrapped in the sun's warmth, rocked by the waters of Lake Powell; experiencing all that with some of the best people on the planet! Beats the hospital bed I was in 5 years ago! So grateful for my life and all that is part of it!

Learn Something New Everyday!

I actually don't see how you couldn't do this. Instead of making it a point to learn something new everyday, I think you'd have to make a point of stopping yourself from learning something new. I'm not only considering academics or book learning, but also career knowledge (which for me happens to be a lot of academics and book learning), social, political and pop culture, personal life lessons, intended and unintended, and the list could go on and on.
Here are three new things I learned yesterday:

At work, with the help of a colleague, I learned more about My Access. I learned how to import students, set up groups and assign a prompt. The day before, with the help of another colleague, I learned how to use the student results to know what types of lessons/teaching I should focus on. End result: I will learn more about what my students know and also learn what to do to help them learn more! Win win!

At a social function with friends, I learned that kids only have to be "shielded" from seeing alcohol depending on the type of liquor license you have. I'm surprised that parents aren't given some sort of partition to place around the alcoholic beverages on their table to keep their children "unaware." Speaking of children and alcohol, here's a previous post about Porter playing "bar." I already knew that Utah's liquor laws were a little quirky, but I learned last night that they are actually totally absurd. For example, you can't "travel" with your beverage, meaning that if you are at one table and move to another with your drink, then set it down, you've broken the law. And that it takes two people to order a pitcher of beer, but one person can order an entire bottle of wine AND a shot of tequila and be served both at the same time because that is considered only two drinks.

My awesome friend Vickie also tried to teach us the proper way to take a great picture, as in pose for a picture. Something like sit up straight, one shoulder down, chin towards that shoulder, head tilted to opposite shoulder, chest out, and something about creating an S? Still learning.

One last thing I learned from Instagram is that KPop is all the rage, or will be all the rage. Basically it's VERY popular Korean pop music by Korean girl and boy bands. Feel free to check it out!

PHEW! I wonder what new things I'll learn today? Tomorrow? Next week? Next year?

Running for My Life

• Idea: Run 40 races to celebrate 40 years of life.
• I have said, on more than one occasion, "I will never be a runner." 
• Heart issues after chemo lead me to consider running, the efficiency of it being a big factor.
• My BFF Brenda starts me on the Couch to 5K program.
• Ran my first 5K and 10K 8 months later.
• Participated in Ragnar 2011.
• Facebook status November 27, 2011: I'M A RUNNER!
• Signed up for the first of my next 40 races 
• Raising money for Race for the Cure this year to celebrate surviving cancer and chemo 5 years ago!

Keep Proving Me Wrong!

I did something tonight that I've been afraid to do. I went to Porter's wrestling practice. Not being there was more than just about not wanting to see him fail. It was about not wanting to see what broke his spirit last week. It was about not wanting to see him fail while he was putting every once of his being into doing his best while failing. It was about not wanting to see how much easier it was for the other kids. It was about me wanting to protect him from disappointment. It was about me not knowing how to be there for him, a determined boy being sabotaged by his own body.

He's the one on top.

We actually had a little talk this afternoon before practice. In fact it's been one of a few that Clint and/or I have had with him about his wrestling venture. We know how frustrating it's been for Porter. We wanted to give him an "out" without making it seem like he was quitting or giving up. I think he took that out at least 3 times, including today right after our talk. And then at least 3 times, one time for each time he "quit," he quickly reversed his decision with an emphatic "I'm NOT giving up!" which he repeated a few times for even greater emphasis.
After our talk he went to get ready for practice, shouting "I'M NOT GIVING UP!" a half dozen times as he was changing. So I decided that in order to be there for Porter, I need to stop feeling sorry for myself and be there to cheer him on. I'm so glad he decided not to quit and even more glad that I decided to go to the practice. He did so great! And according to Clint, there has been improvement. There was not a trace of the disappointment and frustration that I saw last week.
As we were walking out Porter turned to me and said, "Mom, are you so proud of me." Yes! Yes! and Yes! Those of you that know us well, know that this isn't the only time Porter has proved us wrong. When will I learn to stop doubting this persistent, determined, and extraordinary kid?

Disappointment

Unfortunately, today was a day of disappointments. For me, it was a letter in the mail announcing the opposite of what I wanted it to. I applied for a fellowship to Korea; a sixteen day, all expenses paid, educational trip. Hundreds of others also applied, or so the letter said. Though I wasn't sure I would be selected, I acted like a would be. I was considering taking some Spanish classes, then this opportunity came up. Though Spanish would be more practical, I kind of felt like I was "cheating" on a language I was supposed to know. Now I have to decide again, Spanish or Korean? I'm leaning Spanish so I need to get over the guilt of not knowing Korean.
Disappointment is such a downer. It literally takes the wind out of your sails, the air out of your balloon, the bounce from your step, the, well you get the idea. It's not the end of the world, life or death, so on and so forth, but it is a really big bummer. 

Disappointments are worse when they're piled on. Though the second disappointment of the day wasn't mine personally, it was Porter's which effects me as his parent. If I haven't already made it clear, Porter is very into WWE, which is "professional" wrestling, or I like to call it, fake wrestling. He's a big fan and his mimicry resulted in an injury, a visit to urgent care, and a field trip to watch a real high school wrestling match. Fast forward a couple months and an opportunity for pee wee, non-competitive wrestling is offered by the local high school wrestling team. Porter, the Mountain May, and CTF (initials/moniker of his neighborhood wrestling buddy) decide to sign up.

For those of you who aren't aware, wrestling is an incredibly physically demanding sport that takes major strength and stamina. Porter is seriously lacking in physical strength and stamina and it is incredibly frustrating for him. He inhabits a body that does not cooperate with what he envisions it doing. The situation is similar to his speech difficulties. For the longest time, the way he heard himself talking in his head and what was actually being heard by others didn't match up. He once even said, "In my head I have a beautiful singing voice." Even with his "new" awareness, he hasn't given up singing. 

Tonight at wrestling, it was "Boom, boom, boom. Over and over and over and over again." Porter was relating his experience at practice tonight, and the worst part of it, it was a much younger kid that he was wrestling. Porter is somewhat trapped in his own body. I understand his frustration because I've been betrayed by mine. It doesn't work to give him the adult intellectualized explanation of his situation, he's just a kid, and a resilient one at that. This is just a speed bump on life's road, but it doesn't make it any less disappointing in this moment.