My First 5K!!

5K Mud Run!!

Today I participated in my first 5k! Yep...two friends and I did the Mud Run.  We did what all serious marathon runners (ha) do...and that is get great accessories.  We had cute little pink shirts made up with the saying, "I thought they said RUM!"  They were a hit.  We got a lot of points, laughs, and "love it!" By the time we got to the start line, I were feeling pretty good.  And then they said GO!

Tangela models

My first big mistake was not listening to my boyfriend (I HATE even saying that!) when he kept saying all summer, "You better start training!"  I kept thinking...it's SUMMER, I'm a teacher, I have TONS of fiction books to read, and tons of pages to write. Ugh...it seems my former Marine may have known what he was talking about!  One of my friends that participated with me today said she was just going to "wing it!" when I asked her about training...and that seemed like solid, sound advice...lol...so I decided I'd just wing it, too.  Not very smart!

I did okay the first couple miles...I honestly did!!!  There were mud pits to crawl through, steep cargo nets to climb over, walls to scale and crawl under, straps to walk on top of one foot at a time (very difficult for someone with no balance!)...all these things I did (EVERY ONE OF THEM) while sloshing through mud in 100 degree heat!  Okay, I did have help on the balance beam, but as a special education teacher, I take the "accommodation/modification" approach...my friends held my hands so I wouldn't fall. I have NO balance. When we got to this balancing obstacle, Tangela says, "Oh, Jenna, you are @%!&#$!!!!!"   LOL...she was right.  But even with the help they had to give me, I honestly was still feeling great!!  THEN...the last half of the 5K came crashing down on top of me!!!

It was the last leg...the end was near...I could see the victory (finish) sign in the distance...people laughing and partying, music blaring...VICTORY WAS MINE!!  This may seem like a crazy thought, but by this time, I was beginning to get delirious...only I didn't quite know it. Yes, victory was mine...until we actually came upon the last two sets of obstacles. One set was a huge, bounce house type slide.  Only, there was no stairs to climb up and slide down all graceful like...NO...you had to haul yourself UP THE STEEP RUBBERY, MUDDY INCLINE with only a nub and a rope!!!! WHAT THE !@#$#@!!!!  Who WERE these sadists!!!!

Tangela went first (which was not the norm...she usually was the one to give me help), then Lodder and I went next.  Lodder takes off like a freaking ninja scaling a wall...and I start to panic!!  I get halfway up, and I start to almost cry.  I was physically exhausted, I'd been lifting my BODY WEIGHT for the past hour and a half...and it's a hell of a lot of weight to be lifting!! LOL..and I had a momentary panic that for the first time, I couldn't do this!!  Lodder is sitting on the top of the slide, telling me to grab on and to haul myself up (yeah, like THAT was going to just happen in my panic attack)...and I hear myself crying, "I need Tangela!  I need Tangela!"  Lodder calmed me down, I hauled my butt up the last bit, and we slid down the muddy, steep slide.  I stood up, but I couldn't quit shaking.  Much to my dismay, not three feet away, was ANOTHER rubbery, muddy slide!  And here my friends, is where it gets comical!

Now, I did learn a lot about myself during this journey, and that is I admittedly have unresolved anger issues toward men.  Ha! This was a "women only" run, but men were allowed to watch...AND VIDEO!!!  Now, not all men were there solely to heckle the women, I know that...but I did hear some rather nasty comments...and I wasn't exactly thrilled that they were allowed to video us!  Like we were going to be their comedy relief for the week!  This is important to know...because the next part is why I didn't want ANYONE filming! LOL...so...this god-awful slide is mine to scale AGAIN!  By this time I am shaking pretty badly, and I seriously think I'm going to vomit. The three of us girls decide we will do this together...and we slowly take off.  Lodder and Tangela make it to the top and they turn to wait for me...and I WAS ALMOST THERE!!  I truly was ALMOST THERE...and the worst thing that could happen...happened!  I slipped....

Now, like on the first slide, the only thing you had were these little rubbery nubs sticking out of the steep incline and a rope.  When I slipped, my whole front side hit EVERY FREAKING NUB ON THE WAY DOWN!!!  Yes, this meant with every bump, my shirt inched upward!!  And with my shirt, also came my sports bra!!  I could feel the slide on my BARE STOMACH!!  Oh, the humiliation!!!  When I reached the bottom, I surreptitiously tried to pull my muddy shirt down, while listening for the sounds of babies screaming for their mothers about their eyes being burned!! LOL!!!!! I hauled myself up...and thought...that's it, I'm going to conquer this b!tch!!!! 

AFTER!!

Only I didn't.  I tried one more time, but I was shaking so badly, I couldn't do it.  I had to tell Tangela and Lodder to go on down the slide without me.  I had to turn around and get off.  The other women there were very kind, asking me if I was all right, reaching their hands out to help me...I mumbled I was okay and tried to regain my kick-@ss attitude.  But I was having a hard time.  We finally get to the LAST obstacle, and it's TWO eight-foot tall walls to climb over.  By this time, I was dizzy, unable to speak, weak, I think I was going blind in my right eye, I'm trying not to vomit, sweating, shaking, skin was sizzling in the blazing sun, and I was just really, REALLY ready to be done!  I climbed up the wall, Lodder reaches up (they have finished) to help me steady my leg, I'm leaning over the top of the wall, eight feet in the hair, and I think, "She's going to be pissed if I puke on her!" LOL...and a part of me wanted to, because I wanted them to feel as badly as I did!!!  LOL...yep, I'm kinda a yucky friend when I'm having a heat stroke!!!! I swing my legs over, and down I shimmy.  We walk a few more feet, and there's the LAST eight-foot wall to climb.  I absolutely could not make my feet do it.  I didn't want the girls to have to wait on me, risk getting vomited on, or worse, fallen on....so I didn't do my last obstacle!  Was I disappointed...YES.  But by this time I don't really remember much else.  I know we made it to the finish line, had pictures snapped, and headed to our car.  I asked a lady to take our picture, or rather, I whispered it to her because for some reason I couldn't speak.  The world was moving swiftly and my body felt like it was standing still and ready to implode. I had to close my eyes on the ride home, afraid I'd get sick in Lodder's car.  James called me (I don't even remember this) and he said I was slurring my words so badly he thought I was hurt or drinking! LOL...it's hours later and I'm just now able to sit up without feeling like I'll lose my insides, and I still have a huge headache.  

Will I do it again...HECK YEAH...I'm looking forward to the Color Run, the Glow Run, and any other run I can find.  Because even though I am exhausted beyond anything I can ever remember...I actually was able to do something amazing!!  Something I didn't know my body could do!!!

   

Personal Testimony of my Sister's Amazing Journey!!!

This blog post is dedicated to my sister, Juliana. As most of you know, Jules has lost and kept off over 200 pounds this last year. I can't express how proud I am of her!!  Her dedication to making herself into a more healthful person has been surpassed by everyone's expectations!  I'll never forget her telling me the story of going in for her three month check up and sitting next to a girl who had surgery at the same time she did.  The girl had only lost 20 pounds in three months, while Juliana had already lost nearly 100 pounds!!!  Even the doctors were amazed at the way her body took to the surgery.  She was meticulous about measuring her food, eating what she was supposed to, and sticking to the diet. The result was a weight loss of over 200 pounds!!!  That's the amazing news...the not-so-amazing news, with this huge weight loss came real challenges.  Trust me, on this I know, when you have dramatic weight loss, it doesn't just melt away with the weight.  When I lost my 80 pounds, I loved the way my body looked, most days.  Unfortunately, there were many times I would be discouraged by the way my skin now sagged.  So I made the decision to have the skin removed.  Juliana is now struggling with this problem--the main difference, mine was only 80 pounds, hers is over 200 POUNDS!!!!  It's almost incomparable.  I'm writing this post because I am asking help for my sister.  We have started a fund for her to help reach her goal of having skin removal surgery. Juliana is the most warm, positive, and giving person I know.  She loves life, always has, but now that she's able to get around in it, she really thrives.  However, not surprisingly, there are days she has bouts of depression over the vast amount of skin that hangs down from her arms, stomach, and legs.  If you go on her Give Forward site, you can see AMAZING before and after pictures.  She starts with the day of her surgery (she had to drop down to 350 pounds before the doctors would do the surgery, so she had lost 30 pounds already)...and slide all the way over and see her FANTASTIC HEALTHY BODY minus 220 pounds!!! Thanks in advance...and please share this blog so that others may experience the amazing journey my sister has started!!     

Her link:
http://gfwd.at/1bVJKnq

Why Children Should Learn the Five Love Languages

This morning talking with Maddy, I had an eye-opening experience regarding her idea of "love" between parents and kids.  Thinking on it, she's probably not the only kid (especially from a divorced family) who may have this type of thinking. It was a serious conversation regarding how she believed one of her parents "loved" her more because that parent stayed home and took care of her as a baby, while the other parent worked outside the home every day and was really "never there" like the other, thereby he didn't love her like the other parent. I told her that her daddy working like he did paid for the house she lived in, all the toys she had, all the food she ate, and even made it possible for her mommy to stay home and take care of her full time.  That was Daddy's way of saying he loved her and her mommy.  She rolled her eyes and said, "Yeah, right!" Now, to be honest, this is not the first time James and I have come across her "thinking" regarding the whole role daddy didn't play in her life or she thinks he didn't play and has never been told otherwise from the person she needs to hear it most from! But that's a whole different discussion about divorce.  

I told Maddy about Gary Chapman's the Five Love Languages.  I tried to explain to her that just because one parent does one role and another parent may do a different role, does not mean that one parent loves a child more or less.  Not wanting to put it in a "your mommy" and "your daddy" blame game, I simply asked her to take a look around the house for a minute.  All the things that she has access to, all her clothes, all her games, everything comes from someone who loves her and who wants her to feel safe and loved.  All these things come from her daddy, me, my mom, my sister...everyone loves her, but everyone plays a different role in her life.  I then tried to explain the love between adults.  I told her that Daddy shows me he cares for me by working hard, making me things, taking care of problems around the house....and I show him I care for him by cooking (James may think that's up for debate), doing laundry, working outside the home...different ways in which we show we care about each other.  Trying to lighten the mood, I said, "I even show him love by mowing the yard." Maddy finally pipes up, "Hey, I've been mowing the lawn lately in summer!"  I said, "See, that's your way of showing us you love us."  Maddy, "No, it means I love the yard!" Hmmmm...

So maybe I didn't explain it as well as I wanted...but I will say it honestly broke my heart to hear her say (and be trained to believe it true!) that she believed one parent loved her more simply because their role was different.  As I'm writing this, Maddy is sitting in the "Daddy Chair" writing her own story.  James has brought her in a cup of hot tea (she took it without a word), he has exited the room and returned with a snack bar for her (he even opened it and pulled down the sides for her)...she didn't even blink at what he did.  I wanted very badly to say, "See Maddy, this is an expression of love he is showing you!!" Unfortunately, the last few months have taken a different turn as to what I can and cannot say to Maddy...so I simply said nothing, and I just hope that she learns by the example we are setting for her...even if I have my doubts.