St. Jude Marathon - #2 down and no more to go! :-)

Well- It is over and we did it! There were 14,000 people entered in this race to find a cure. As you all know my life has been crazy with building, packing, selling, teaching classes at Group Fit, and life in general with two WONDERFUL kiddos and an amazing husband so I did not have a lot of time to train for this marathon. My longest run was 16 miles and I would run every now and then through out the week or sometimes every other week. Well- let me tell you LESSON has been learned. Training is a neccesity and I am not made of steel!!!! God, my angels and your prayers carried me through the last 10 miles. My right calf got tight at mile 13 and then both of my calves started seizing up at mile 16 but I kept praying and thinking of all of the people on my shirt who fought so hard to battle cancer and somewhere deep down inside I was given strength. I saw my sister three times and many other friends that helped to push me along the way. I have NEVER wanted to quit something so bad in my entire life. The pain was horrendous for the last 10 miles but at least I knew at the finish line my battle was over. By mile 25 I could hardly flex my feet to run and a sweet man told me to stretch and walk it in because I had come to far to give up. So I made myself walk, stretch, run, walk, stretch, run. And for those of you who know me you know how hard it was for me to walk but by golly it helped and God gave me a special boost at the end to finish strong. At the end I was so full of emotions that I collapsed into a ladies arms as her friend took off my time chip. I cried and cried and she asked me if this were my first marathon and I told her no that I was just crying for my grandmother and the angels that carried me through to the end. I am finally able to walk a little better. Matthew has been amazing and he has massaged my legs and taken over the household chores and boys. He has won father of the year in my book. Thank you Leslie, Rodney, Liz, Becky, and Andrew for helping me in the end when my legs finally gave out at the finish line. You were God sends and I will repay you one day. Nurse Leslie kicked in and took great care of me. You rock sis, and yes this is my LAST! I love you all! My final time was 3:55:23. Like I said before- my angels carried me those final miles. Now- I am going to limp around and pack up my house!!!! :-) Attached are some pre-race pics.

VEGAS BABY

We had a GREAT Time with Grandma and Grandpa Linder. Will catch you up on the trip later when I have more time. Here are my favorite pictures of the family fun.

Marathon Countdown- 4 days

I am absolutely OVERWHELMED so please pray for my family as we transition to a new home over the holidays and I run this marathon this weekend. I know my "gin-gin", Barbara Smith will carry me through the difficult untrained miles. She is with me always and I know she will be with me on that cold December day. I miss her so bad today. I miss the way we used to sit and talk on my back patio when I lived in Dyersburg. Like my mom, she would never stay long but we always had a good time when we were together. I loved to drink coffee with her and talk about flowers. She loved to do yard work and she would always pull my weeds and water my plants when she came over because I did not inherit that green thumb. I always think of her when I plant my flowers in the spring. After she passed I would find my self picking up the phone to dial her number. This is one of those moments that I just wish I had one more moment, one more cup of coffee and one more hug. My mom sounds like her and I inherited the same raspy voice at times. Sometimes when my mom speaks or laughs it reminds me so much of sweet Barbara. Life is so precious and each moment is so important. Right after she passed Blake threw a penny into the wishing well and when was about 4 and a half and he started jumping up and down and cheering and I was curious so I wandered over to see what he was so happy about and he said, "I did it. She is coming home. I did it! I made a wish and God is bringing Gin Gin back." Oh- if it were that easy. That was a hard thing to explain but in the end he was still young enough to take the news better than an older child would. But on the bright side, my grandmother is no longer battling Cancer and she is holding the son that she lost when he was just a little boy! It is now his turn to hug her and talk about flowers AND she is pain free! She and everyone who has, is or will fight Cancer WILL help me get through this race. Now- I am going to hug my kiddos and husband when he gets home and thank GOD for my blessings. I hope you are all having a BLESSED day! On this run I will be running with quite a few names on my shirt. My Cousin Cathy has two friends battling Cancer, my grandmother, Jason Myers, Jason Tarpley, and a few others. If you would like to put a name on the shirt it is not too late. I am making my shirt Thursday and I will take a picture and post it!!!! Please let me know. I want to hear the crowd yell the names of each and every person that has fought or is fighting this disease!!!! It is an amazing feeling to hear the crowd yell for not just you but for the ones you love!