Race Report

Normally, it's the runner who posts the race report (and he probably will on his own blog), but here's my take on the weekend's events at Rocky Raccoon 100.  And no, he didn't finish, just in case you don't follow me on FB and didn't already know that.

First up, the weather.  We had been watching the forecast very closely all week and knew that the weather was probably going to be a factor in the outcome of this race and sure enough, it was.  We got down to Huntsville on Friday afternoon and things were looking good. The temps were mild (as opposed to last year, when we nearly froze to death) and the parts of the course that we could see looked great.  Well, about 4:30am Saturday morning, as we were getting ready to pack the car and head to the park, Mother Nature decided to change all of that.  A massive line of thunderstorms rolled through and I knew right then that it was going to be a very difficult day for my guy.  As we stood huddled under an umbrella, trying to keep him as dry as possible until the 6am start, he looked at me and simply said "This is going to suck."  But in typical Derek fashion, he stripped off his poncho, gave me a quick kiss and took off in the dark with a smile on his face.

This race consists of five 20 mile loops and when he came in from the first 20, I knew in my heart that this would not be the year.  He was already hurting, covered in mud and generally just looking pissy, which is not his normal style.  Derek runs because he thinks it's fun, not to torture himself, and nothing about the way this race started was fun.  He changed socks and shoes, took some pain meds and headed back out to start the 2nd loop.  I caught up with him after another 3 miles at one of the aid stations and thought he looked a little better.  The dry feet helped, as did the pain meds, so I hoped maybe things were turning around.
I didn't see him again until after 40, and it was pretty obvious that he was hurting.  He didn't want to complain in front of his runner friends who were there (why is it that men think they have to be so tough all the time?), but when I met him again at mile 43, he admitted that he'd tweaked his hamstring after slipping around in the mud.  I was glad I had insisted that he take his phone along on this loop because I really wasn't feeling good about him making it all the way back around.  Sure enough, as I was trying to figure out when to meet him at the next aid station (and had just poured myself a big glass of wine to calm my nerves), I got a text that said "Done, can you pick me up in about an hour?"  Done.  That was it.  My heart fell, but at the same time relief came over me.  I just couldn't imagine him doing another 40 miles in the mud, in the dark, knowing how bad he was hurting.

I snapped this when we got back to the hotel, I have no idea how he ran 56 miles in that muck.
I picked him up, turned in his timing chip and we headed out of the park.  For the last time.  Ever.  This is the 3rd time he's attempted this race, and the 3rd time he's DNF'ed.  Derek is an extremely talented runner, but 100 miles is simply more than his body can handle at one time.  He's disappointed, of course, but he has a great attitude, as he always does about everything.  This morning we were talking about it and he said "It's just running, it's my hobby, not life and death."  He's got the Cowtown Marathon, which is only 3 weeks away, in his sights and since he only ran the "kiddie loop" at Rocky, he's going to go sub-4 hours or heck, maybe even go for a PR (personal record) there.  Seriously, 56 miles is a kiddie loop?!?!  Yep, that's what he said.  ;)

No matter how far he runs, he'll always be my hero and I couldn't be more proud than I am right now of my husband.  Not only for what he does physically by running these ridiculous distances, but for how well he handles it when things don't go as planned.  He simply rinses the mud out of his shoes, looks forward to the next race and keeps right on running with that big ole handsome smile on his face.

Favorite Photo Friday ~ One Hundred

Go big or go home. Because it's true. What do you have to lose?~Eliza Dushku 
These legs are "going big" in a BIG way this weekend as my husband will be attempting finishing a 100 mile trail race. That's no typo, I meant 100. As in one hundred. miles. of running. at one time. Crazy? Yeah, a little, but it's what he loves to do. And since I love him, I'll be right there cheering for him from the crack of dawn Saturday until he finishes sometime Sunday morning. It'll be hard to watch him hurt, but it will be freaking amazing to see him cross that line. 
 Good luck babe, you're ready.  Go kick some Rocky Raccoon ass!  

The Doodle is Six

Six. How is that possible?

It seems like just yesterday that we were preparing for his arrival.

Now he's a bright, precocious kindergartener who's being visited by the tooth fairy on a regular basis.

We celebrated the big day with a party at our local bounce house place. He had a blast running and playing and thought that his Angry Birds cake was pretty darn cool.

We happen to think he's pretty cool, too. Happy Birthday, Doodle!

Favorite Photo Friday ~ Peanut's 8th Family Day

On January 5th, we celebrated our 8th Forever Family Day with Jaden. Right before we headed out to PF Chang's, a family day favorite for my girls, I snapped a few quick shots of her in her new glasses, which are, of course, pink. We're so blessed to have this little firecracker in our family, she definitely keeps things fun around here. Happy Family Day to all of our dear travelmates and Yahoo group buddies from back in the day. How did our baby girls get so big so fast?

I'm baaaaaaaaack!!!!!

I guess I should back up to that since I never even got around to blogging about it.  Back on October 29th, Derek and I had been at a wedding and were both in our closet getting ready to change into our pj's.  I asked him to take my boots off (as I always do), and was standing and holding on to the shoe shelf when he began to pull them off.  The first one came off just fine, but when he went to pull the 2nd, my other foot (that was in a sock) slid along the carpet toward him (away from the shelf I was holding on to) and BOOM, I went down.  Somehow my left arm got caught underneath me and the radius, right at the wrist joint, snapped.  It was obvious immediately that it was broken and broken badly, so after calling a neighbor to come stay with the kids (thank you Melissa!), and several minutes of dragging myself up off the closet floor and practically crawling to the car, we were off to the hospital.  Long story short(er), they admitted me that evening, did surgery the next day to put it back together and then I got home on Halloween, just in time to hang with my cute Wizard of Oz characters.

The next few weeks were a blur of pain meds, having to ask for help with EVERYTHING, physical therapy, and well, to be honest, misery.  You don't realize how very necessary an arm is until you lose the use of it for a bit.  I can't help but be thankful though, that it was my left arm and not right, because things would have been SO much worse had that been the case.  I am also thankful for my husband, who stepped up as always to do what had to be done, and our neighbors and friends who helped during that time, as well.

So, fast forward to now, 10 weeks later, and I'm still battling the break.  At my 6 week follow-up, I was diagnosed with RSD, a condition where the sympathetic nervous system in my left arm was in hyperdrive and was preventing it from being able to heal normally.  I've been getting weekly nerve block injections in my neck (under sedation, thankfully), which have helped tremendously, but I am still battling some swelling and have limited mobility in my wrist and fingers.  I hope that with continued therapy, I'll get most of the use back, but am starting to come to terms with the fact that my hand may never be "normal" again.  The surgeon who repaired my arm called the break "wicked" and I think that term pretty much sums up what this entire experience has been like.  I know that in the grand scheme of life, I could be dealing with something a WHOLE lot worse though, and I am thankful more than ever for my healthy body, which I certainly took for granted before this happened.

I didn't want to see the x-ray of my wrist pre-surgery, so I don't have any pics of that to share (you're welcome), but here is the "after" look with the new hardware.

I hope y'all are doing well, I've missed the bloggy world and will do my best to catch up here and check in with all of you soon.  How the heck did 2012 get here so fast?!?!?!   

favorite photo friday ~ my characters

We had to talk the Doodle into going along with our "theme" this year, but in the end he loved being the lion.  I love that my kids still love Halloween.   


 

favorite photo friday ~ surprise!

So last Friday afternoon I'm standing in my closet, pulling the plastic wrappers off my dry cleaning when Derek arrived home from work. He comes walking into the bathroom (we enter our closet by way of the bathroom) and I'll be darned if my bestie Lisa doesn't walk in right behind him. I can only imagine the look on my face, as it took me several seconds to understand that she was really standing there, and then I proceeded to jump up and down like a maniac in my bathroom of all places with an arm full of dry-cleaning plastic wraps. It was seriously the coolest thing EVER! They got me good, as I had NO earthly idea that she was coming, and in fact, I'm constantly telling people how Derek NEVER surprises me (this was the first time in 20 years of marriage). It was the perfect weekend to celebrate our anniversary, Reagan's one year family day and Lisa's birthday and I only wish it could have lasted longer, as those 3 days passed in a flash.

You'd think that two photographers would have an abundance of pictures to show for that type of weekend, wouldn't you? Well, we don't. Nope, not one solitary frame taken with either of our DSLR's. We were just too busy having fun to slow down long enough for pics. Of course, I'm kicking myself about that now, but it's OK, we have a few fun shots taken with my new iPhone 4S (if you don't have one yet, get one! The camera rocks and Siri is pretty fun, too) and the memories of the weekend will last me a lifetime. Thanks to my sweet hubby and amazing friend for such an awesome surprise, I will never forget how excited I was when I saw you two standing in the bathroom, LOL. We definitely need to start planning our next get-together soon! Love you both!!

favorite photo friday ~ pink peanut

I believe in manicures. I believe in overdressing. I believe in primping at leisure and wearing lipstick. I believe in pink. I believe happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and I believe in miracles. ~Audrey Hepburn

twenty years

Today Derek and I celebrate our 20th anniversary and what an amazing journey it has been. Recently I got a tattoo of the last part of the Song of Solomon scripture "My beloved is mine, and I am his" in Derek's honor and it fits us perfectly. He is mine, I am his. Totally, completely, forever his. I am so thankful that I was blessed with "mine" at such a young age and am looking forward to MANY more years with my love, my friend, my Derek.

Here's a quick look back at our day, October 19, 1991.

i heart faces ~ tickled pink

No way I could let the tickled pink theme at I Heart Faces go by without including my Peanut. She is all pink, all the time. You know that scene in Steel Magnolias where Shelby says that her wedding colors are blush and bashful? Well, I imagine I'll be hearing those same words from Jaden one day and we'll be hosing down the sanctuary with Pepto Bismol, just like in the movie. Hopefully, she won't bust this particular move in her wedding pics though. When I asked what she was doing, all she said was "Peace out, Yo!" Mmmmmkay silly girl, whatever you say. Yo.