Keeping it Going!

Hi Everyone! Hope you're all doing well! Andy and I managed to get a bunch of Christmas shopping done today, which was a good feeling! We (as in I) finally got our Christmas tree up yesterday, so it's feeling a little more festive here! Last year Andy put up the tree by himself (which he said was so depressing) because I was up at the hospital as much as possible.

Last Christmas was honestly terrible - at this time Stephanie was very ill. She was in the hospital for over a month straight from getting the fugal infection and other side effects from the chemo. We spent Christmas in the hospital - Stephanie didn't even remember what she got for Christmas until she was able to go home, and Amy was putting her things away and had asked Steph, "Do you want to wear your new earings from Mom and Dad?" Steph was like "What earings?" What a difference 9 months makes! It sure makes you appreciate a holiday season without sickness and pain!

As far as training is going, since I'm a wimp and it's been cold out, I've again been doing my short runs during the week on the treadmill. Talk about boring!! It's so hard not to glance at the time and distance every 30 seconds or so, and think, only 45 minutes to go, etc. :) Oh well, it's better than running in the ice and cold in the DARK.

That's why I was excited to run our longer run yesterday outside. Amy from Team in Training drove down from Madison to run with me, which made it much more fun! I got a route from a guy at work who has run several marathons, and it was supposed to be 12 miles. (we were supposed to run 10-12 yesterday) Well, I didn't account for the extra mileage starting from my house (instead of the YMCA), and then I missed a road, which added maybe a 1/2 mile. So, the 12-mile run turned into a 13.6 mile run!! haha. We were both like, "Gee, either we are going extremely slow today, or this is more than 12 miles!" In a way I was relieved it was more, because that would have been depressing! But, it wasn't the greatest starting out because it was raining (yuck!), but luckily that stopped maybe a mile or two into the run. Then it was just slushy and wet, but luckily I've been blister-free since I've started training. (Now I'm going to jinx myself!) It sure makes me excited to run in Phoenix soon, and not have to have a bunch of layers and deal with snow and ice! I also can't wait to start running in spring and summer ice-free. :)

So, things are going good! My tendinitis is almost completely gone, and my hips are just getting sore from the miles. I'm really excited to actually run a marathon - holy cow!! I still can't believe I'm doing this! I've said it before, but I'll say it again - I likely would have given up if it wasn't for this great cause and team!

Thank you all for your support!
Katie