A little joy in a lot of stress

I would be half lying if I only posted the good things and never talked about when I am struggling.

My shoulders are balled up with stress.  This is what's on my mind:

My hands and feet are going numb for hours at a time.... right before I run my first relay race (more on that).  My doctor appointment is Aug. 15th.

I leave for camping on Aug 17th.  With two small children.... for several days.  Without my husband (who is at a new job).  What the heck do I pack for camping?  I realize now how much I rely on my husband for this kind of thing.  

Our gracious landlady has informed us to start looking for a new house to live in as soon as possible because she will be preparing to put her house on the market.  (Though this wasn't our official 30 days notice).

I run Hood To Coast on Aug 22-23.  I have never left my kids for more than a few hours.  This is going to be a huge thing for me....  I'm scared.  I'm still breastfeeding Squeakers in the evening, so this will be different.  I leave her with a friend at the beach on Wed.  Pack the vans on Thurs and run Fri and Sat.  I'll see her again Sat. night.

A dear friend of mine just went through a terrible medical emergency.  It didn't go well.  I am devastated for her.  I can't even begin to narrate the feelings in my heart for her and her family.

I am searching for a new place to live.
I am writing out my camping packing list, purging junk and getting ready to downsize.
I'm looking over running gear and trying to figure out what to pack and sort gear for each van.
I'm the team captain so I'm trying to get people the information about legs and other questions they have and help them feel confident, comfortable and relaxed.
I am excited to be asked to join the Run Oregon blog for a trial period to see how it goes.  They are an amazing group of people with a well informed blog on all things running in the Oregon and Southwest Washington area.  I feel like a little kid graduating to the big kid table.

And through all of this...  I am happy.  I am.  Okay, I cry a lot for my friend and I worry about camping and leaving my kids.  But in a way this relay race will be a small escape from reality for a couple days.

Then I got the mail today.  I sort of forgot through all of this that I had purchased a livingsocial deal for a photo collage blanket.

There was stress with that because the terra drive with every photo ever taken in the last 9 years was destroyed.  Squeakers was running, tripped on an ill placed cord and it went crashing to the ground.  The company we sent it to can not recover the info on it.  Hopefully we can find someone who can save it.

Anyway so grainy facebook pics and low res phone photos have been sent to me and I treasure each and every one of them.  I sent them in to collage.com for my photo blanket and I got this:

Isn't it amazing?!
Bugaboo has to help me hold it up... it's that big.  The theme is running and my family.  My first race (5k) ever and nursing Bugaboo at the finish line.   My second race (5k) a year and a half later and nursing Squeakers at the finish.  My first half marathon with my kids under the big black umbrella to cheer me in the typhoon.  Their first kids' dashes and their first race medals.  Running in costume together, doing color runs together....

Photos carry a lot of meaning to me and I can't believe they are gone, but I won't lose hope that they can't be recovered someday.

I won't lose hope that my friend and her family will heal emotionally from this devastating time.

I will keep my hope strong that I can camp with my kids, be independent have fun and stay sane.

I know I will walk into Hood To Coast exhausted from the camp trip but I know it will still be fun.  I hope to keep my tears at bay so that it is fun for me teammates as well.

This blanket came in the mail just at the right time.  I look at it and think of the example I am now to my kids.  How they enjoy running and doing races as much as I do.

I look at it and smile.  Life is complicated, difficult, beautiful and good.  It's all good.

Race Recap: The Joe Dudman 5K

Race Recap:  The Joe Dudman 5k on June 21, 2014 

June 21st fell on a beautiful, sunny Saturday this year and also marked the first day of summer.  As the longest day of the year, several races were going on in my area during the morning and into the evening.  

So many choices.... where should someone kick off the celebration of summer and go run?

Well, the answer was simple for me.

I spent my morning at The Joe Dudman 5K.  This was a small community event (just under 70 participants) and a once in a lifetime race.  After all, how many times do we get together in the racing community to throw a 5.0K race in honor of someone's 50th birthday?   I haven't spent time with Joe outside of saying "Hey, good job." at local races, but it was important to me to be there for such a milestone for such a great guy.  You can catch up on some of his adventures on the Run Oregon blog.

That morning, I hung out at the packet pickup table and helped runners check in before they went out to warm up for the race.  There were athletes of all levels represented in the audience from those who hadn't run much (or at all, like my dear husband) and some who were new to the idea and this was their first race.  However, the great majority were strong athletes vying for the prizes for the top three finishers in the Overall division and the Masters division.  (Don't believe me?  52 of the 67 athletes finished the race in under 30 minutes.  Don't worry.  I wasn't one of them.)  One participant was a 6 year old and I hope that my kiddos will want to run with me (instead of ride in the double wide behemoth stroller).

We started the race by singing "Happy Birthday" to Joe and then counting down until the race began.  And everyone was off on a strong start!

Joe with his prize for a great race, (upper right corner) me with my mug and cupcake and (below) my husband securing the behemoth stroller to the roof of the car.... because my stroller is the size of my car.

The course was laid out in a pretty and quiet business complex in the Beaverton area and then over to the Fanno Creek Trail and back again, starting and ending near the ADAPT Training building.  The course was fairly flat and I enjoyed the foot bridges and trees in the paved trail part.  My kids shouted "YIPPEE!"  everytime we crossed a bridge.  

Before the race, an Adapt trainer lead the group in some dynamic warm up stretches and after the race, participants were invited to checkout the 9am class for free.

Funds from the race were donated to the American Cancer Society, and about $500 was donated.
Participants were given a pretty blue mug donated by Run Oregon blog and I happily filled mine up with half hot chocolate and half black coffee, donated from starbucks.  The race had lots of fantastic donations and raffled off some free race entries to some local races, socks, "Thera pearl" recovery hot and cold packs, tech shirts and much more.

 There was a cupcake bar that participants could pick out a chocolate, vanilla or red velvet cupcake and coat it with chocolate, vanilla or cream cheese frosting and then top with various candy choices.  How cool is that?  If anyone wonders what to get me for my birthday?  Throw me a race party with a cupcake bar.  ;-)