24 Thanks

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, “thank you,” that would suffice. ~Meister Eckhart

November is a time when we pause to give thanks for things big and little in our lives. I'm thankful for these things and so much more....

1. The sweet way Madeline whispers when she gets shy. If you listen carefully you'll hear her whisper "knock knock". She wants to tell you a joke.

2. A mama's boy. Right now Max thinks I'm the only girl in the world. I like it that way.

3. My quirky Claire. Never a girly-girl; she has a trunk full of dress up gowns and a beautiful doll house that sit untouched. Instead she prefers to pretend she's tiger and will growl at little boys who try to chase her at the playground.

4. My princess. Madeline will ask me to put 10 different clips and bows in her hair while wearing a frilly tu-tu. She'll sit regally in the front of the shopping cart at the grocery store, waiting for people to admire her 'pretties'.

5. Max's eyes. When he was a baby they looked like they had a mind of their own. Big, brown eyes that made people laugh because he always looked surprised. He's grown into those eyes...boy are they beautiful.

6. Chris' work ethic. He works hard. He has long hours. All to provide for his family. I can't thank him enough.

7. Running. The transformation that takes place in my heart and mind once my feet hit the road is indescribable.

8. Claire's Mona Lisa smile. It's precious.

9. Twins. They have made me a better mother. Watching their relationship is a joy. The bond is more than just siblings and I'm thankful they were given each other. The balance is perfectly beautiful.

10. Having a singleton first. HE was right to give me my Claire first. My firecracker who was more challenging than twins. She prepared me for what was to come.

11. Austin, Texas. Our family belongs here.

12. God. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. - 1 John 4:16

13. My parents. They give 150% of their love and time when they are visiting. When they are here, I can admit: I need family. My children are blessed to have them for a Nana and Papa.

14. Memories. My three brothers and sister are thousands of miles apart. We don't get to see each other often but I have so many memories of the joyful times we spent together growing up.

15. A supportive husband. He encourages me to be a better runner, spouse, mother, woman.

16. Music. It's part of the fuel that helps me run short distances fast and energy for hours and hours of long runs.

17. Teachers. My kids have learned from my Dad how to spot Jupiter. I thought it was a bright star. We are all gifted with knowledge and it's wonderful to see it shared.

18. My jogging stroller. It allows me to share my joy of running with Madeline and Max.

19. The Austin Zoo. It's a fun, special place for me to take my kids.

20. Date nights. Because eventually our kids will be grown and it'll be just the two of us. I hope when that day comes we won't have to learn to reconnect because we have been nurturing our relationship all along the way.

21. Family movie nights. Eating pizza in the living room while watching a 'kid movie' equals greasy faces, smiles, peace and harmony.

22. Coffee. Some days it's a luxury. Other days it's a necessity to survive until two unnamed monsters' nap time. Eternally grateful.

23. Forgiveness. I have made and will continue to make mistakes. Some small, some so big I wonder if I can ever be forgiven. Those who love me seem to have an endless supply of forgiveness. For that I'm thankful.

24. Being a mom and a wife. At 23 I decided having kids wasn't for me. Falling in love with the right person and 3 kids later, I'm thankful God's plans are always perfect. I'd be lost without the gift of Motherhood and the companionship of my best friend, my husband.

Kay Harmon Photography

Time to Say Goodbye

I can almost see it
That dream I am dreaming
But there's a voice inside my head saying
"You'll never reach it"

Every step I'm taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking
~The Climb


I had high hopes going into Marathon 2. I had one (very hilly) debut marathon under my belt. The San Francisco Marathon was a great experience and so I immediately decided I wasn't a 'one and done' marathoner. San Antonio was a 'guaranteed' PR (personal record) for me. With a 4.17 time for San Francisco, I was confident I'd at least meet and hopefully beat that time with San Antonio. The course was described as fast and easy because it doesn't have many hills.

Runners always have goals. If they say they don't, they are keeping it to themselves. Some will say: I just want to finish. I don't want to have to stop and walk. Others will give a solid time. I wanted to finish San Francisco in 4.30. My 'secret goal' (don't ask a runner her secret goal...it's a secret;)) was 4.15. For San Antonio my first goal was 4.15....second goal was 4.00...and my secret goal? I was hopeful for sub 4. I would have happily taken 3.59.59.

I put in the time with training. I even did a test run of 16 miles at race pace (9 minute mile). I felt good! The week before the marathon I started to get pre-race jitters and added Andrea Bocelli's beautiful song, Time to Say Goodbye to my play list. I don't speak Italian but I took the line "Time To Say Goodbye" personally. It was time to say goodbye to my fear about my upcoming marathon and embrace the fact that I was ready.

I thought I was.

I had some inkling doubt about the weather. If it was a really windy day, that would be the one thing that could slow me down. I didn't even consider the heat. It was supposed to start in the 60s and peak in the high 80s. I didn't realize just how fast that heat would hit me.

Race day came and Chris and I nervously kissed each other good bye just as the gun for our corral went off. We had agreed beforehand not to run together. I was going for a 4 hour finish, he was hoping for 4.45-5. As soon as I started running I felt the humidity weighing heavy on my lungs. But I maintained my pace at the planned 9-9:15 for the first four miles.

I felt o.k.

I realized the course wasn't so much flat as slight inclines that would peak to a flat level and then incline again. No hills that took you to a smooth sailing recovery downhill. I realized I needed to slow down. It was already getting warm.

Mile 5: 10 minutes.

I was feeling weak. I decided to rewrite my goal in my head and hope for a 4.30 finish. At mile 6 I was happy to feel the tap on my shoulder. My friend Adriana was running her first half and it felt good to see a face I recognized. "How are you doing?" My reply was a pretty weak "Not so good". I wished her luck and she took off.

Mile 6: 10 minutes

I just didn't feel right. My legs were dead. But I could push through dead legs. I have in the past.

Mile 7: 9 min. 45 sec.
Mile 8: 9 min. 41 sec.
Mile 9: 9 min. 59 sec.

Mile 10: 10 min. 07 sec. This was the start of 7 long miles running on a country route in direct sun and no crowd support. It was at this mile marker that the half marathoners veered to the left to finish their last 3 miles. 20,000 half marathoners were veering left and 4,000 marathoners were veering right to embrace 16.2 more miles.I knew the next 7 miles were going to be long and lonely.

Mile 11: 11 min. 22 sec. It was here that I realized something was going all wrong. I reflected back on the last 11 miles and realized I never felt great. At some point in any run I usually have some highs of feeling awesome and lows of feeling like it's the hardest thing I've ever done. Up to this point, I knew I never had a high. It frightened me. Something was wrong.

Mile 12: 10 min. 23 sec.

Mile 13: 10 min. 55 sec. I was inspired when I looked over across the road and saw the first marathoner already on his way back. He was at mile 23 in just a little over 2 hours. The other runners and I cheered him as he raced after the pacing truck. And then reality dawned on me: I still had over 2 hours to go.

Mile 14: 11 min. 05 sec.
Mile 15: 10 min. 45 sec.

Mile 16: 11 min. 04 sec. Remember that song I mentioned earlier: Time to Say Goodbye? It came on my play list and that's when I started crying. I had never felt so physically discouraged in my life. I couldn't believe I never felt good. I couldn't believe that I hit my wall so early. Mile 16 and a wall? I still had over 10 miles to go. How many times have I run 16 miles? Countless. And though they weren't always easy, I never in my running life felt like this after only 16 miles. I felt discouraged. Disappointed. Scared. As the words Time to Say Goodbye were sung to me, I realized I needed to say goodbye to this race. If I made it to the finish line, it would be a miracle. The words DNF DNF DNF were echoing over and over in my head. In racing terms, DNF is Did Not Finish. I realized it was a possibility I would be riding the cart back to the start with the other DNFers I saw giving up along the way.

Mile 17: 11 min. 37 sec. Physically I was dealing with some things that have never happened to me before. Runners are not typically grossed out by bodily fluids. I've run by people who have peed themselves, defecated, have blood dripping down their legs from chaffing....I've seen it all. And even though I typically don't use the restroom during a race, I wasn't surprised that I suddenly had to go pee and go pee now! I ran to the nearest porta potty, quickly took of my hydration belt and slung it around my neck. I hovered (I do get grossed out by porta potties) and nothing came out. What?! I felt like I had to go pee so badly! I didn't see that stop as a waste of time, it's not like I was setting a PR this day.

Mile 18: 11 min. 18 sec.

Mile 19: 13 min. 36 sec. The sudden urge to pee hit me again. 3 more times I stopped to use the porta potty. Only to have ONE drop of brown urine come out. I felt like I had a bladdder infection. I was in serious pain, uhm, down there. It was very painful to have this strong urge to pee, to keep running on what felt like a full bladder only to not be able to go. I was severely dehydrated even though I had been drinking water at every water station including the water I brought with me.

Mile 20: 13 min. 09 sec. At this point I looked around and realized I was seeing something I have never seen before during a race: there were more walkers around me than people running. I was one of them. The high temperature hit 87. I'm sure it was warmer on the black asphalt we were running on. As I limp-ran towards a group of walkers, a guy turned around and saw me approaching. He smiled weakly. He looked really fit but exhausted as he mumbled "It's just too hot, I can't run". I stopped and walked with him for a bit. We talked about how they needed to have water at every mile. We talked about our disappointment in how slow we were going. We talked about how it was amazing to see so many people walking and knew it was something we were forced to do or the alternative: pass out from heat exhaustion. We wished each other luck and I took off in a slow and painful shuffle.

Mile 21: 11 min. 32 sec.

Mile 22: 12 min. 33 sec. By this mile marker I no longer had a time goal. I had a feeling I wouldn't get a DNF but whether my time would be 4.45 or 400 hours, I didn't know. Time didn't matter at this point. I just needed to keep moving in the direction of the finish line. I felt like we were all moving in a crawl.

Mile 23: 12.52
Mile 24: 12.16

Mile 25: 13.33 Another porta potty break. One more drop of brown pee.

Mile 26.2: 10.37 As I ran to the finish line, I felt like I was dragging my heart behind me. The crowd was energetic. Enough to make me smile, but not enough to block out the pain I felt physically and mentally for the last 4 hours and 49 minutes.

I crossed the finish line and grabbed a cold towel. I sat down and draped it over my head so I could cry. This time it wasn't tears of joy. These were tears of frustration, pain, disappointment and relief that my hell was finally over. I saw other runners crossing the finish line with the same look I felt. One woman collapsed into her husband's arms and wept. Her disappointment was palpable. I had to resist the urge to go up to this complete stranger and hug her and say "I know. I know exactly what you are feeling." I just cried silently with her. I looked up to see the guy I had stopped to walk and talk with at mile 20 running in. He gave me a hi-five and said "We survived".

We certainly did.

Sadly, later that evening, I learned our running community lost a runner that day. A 32 year old half-marathoner collapsed after the race. It made me realize I should be eternally grateful to even have crossed the finish line. To still be breathing and here on Earth with my loved ones. My heart goes out to his family.

After this race I wasn't sure if I'd ever do another marathon. The pain I felt during the race from heat exhaustion and dehydration was something I never wanted to experience again. It scared me and made me reconsider my running goals. But a friend shared this quote with me and I realized I have to try again:

"Life is not about how fast you run or how high you climb but how well you bounce." ~Vivian Komori

I have a score to settle with marathoning. I'm saying goodbye to the fear the San Antonio Marathon put in me. This runner will be bouncing back.

When you look at me that way...

I know you must sometimes think you're not my priority. But you most defintely are. This was supposed to be written for our 6th anniversary. Life and kids sometimes shuffles things around but I didn't forget you. How could I? You're my better half. The only person on this earth who gets me. The real me. I fell for you the first time you looked at me and as usual, I'm already fumbling my words, so I'll borrow David Gray's song: Please Forgive Me....he said it perfectly:

Please forgive me
If I act a little strange
For I know not what I do
Feels like lightning running through my veins
Every time I look at you

Help me out here
All my words are falling short
And there's so much I want to say
Want to tell you just how good it feels
When you look at me that way

Throw a stone and watch the ripples flow
Moving out across the bay
Like a stone I fall into your eyes
Deep into that mystery

Barbara LeGere Photography
Happy (belated) anniversary. Growing old with you....is all I want to do.