Update and TCM 10 miler

Ok so I usually say "this is gonna be a short post," but this time i mean it. ( um, sure Julia)
We had a good week of MD appts and scheduling things and just really really feeling like we were being HOVERED over by our friends, our faith and by incredible people that love and support us. Even some that we dont know. So once again, thanks. We feel the support, we really do.

The party last sunday was incredible. I mean i cant even tell you how special it is to have all your wonderful family ( minus the out of town siblings...sorry...) and close friends all there celebrating us and our commitment to each other. Rich put my wedding ring on a gold chain and gave it to me just so that any possible thoughts of indefinite postponement of the wedding were dispelled. I mean really...what can i say to that. Of course I have run the gamut of feeling selfishly sad that our wedding may not happen to feeling utter and complete panic that it may not happen as planned bc of some very serious health issues. At the same time I am a bit giddy about the possibility of a smaller and more spontaneous wedding if he is up to it. Kinda fun to not worry about place settings and what people are eating! Heck we may have a reception at a great pizza place.."order what you want, as much of it as you want...sure get a pitcher of Surly per person, no problem!" Ha!

We have been at Mayo and got some good news that may allow Rich to have a little bit less invasive or lifestyle changing surgery. This is all good! I mean I love the MD's we have met up here but when you go down to MAYO it is a smooth and professional operation. I guess my thought on surgeons is that they dont want to screw up and that they have healthy ( um , ok) egos. So take that into acct and you have to say that a well known surgeon isnt gonna say he can do something confidently unless he can. Right? So yea! We hope for a surgery next week and then we REALLY PRAY that there is no sign of cancer so there is no chemo and radiation. That would be the best gift ever! It has been a hard stresful time bc we want to be aggressive so that there is the smallest chance of recurrence but at the same time we dont want to over treat it. And to let go of the fear of Cancer recurring is hard. I mean..once you have had cancer there is always that fear...of "when will it come back?"

So...To keep Rich busy i have had him up early and running around at races:) This sunday he picked me up at 5:50am and i said "just think, next sunday you dont have to do this.." and then i thought "this may be more appealing than being in a hospital bed tho.." lovely :( Julia.

I had a hard week. Just tired and the weather changed and i was SOO surprised i didnt get sick. I had a few days where i woke up feeling like "ruh-roh...here it comes.." and Jen just kept saying "All you need to do is get your legs back for sunday..." Well since I did my ONE run on thursday, a measily 5 miles with a few pickups, I had no idea if i had any legs or not. I rode the trainer for an hour and after 15 minutes was bored silly and realized it is time to update the Itunes. NOW.
I am not good at riding and watching TV or long movies, I just get antsy. music all the way with something on the TV on mute. I digress....

So I went into today with "See what happens, Go for it. but be ok to LET IT GO..if you feel icky."
I have also been having some sympathetic GI issues...last week Rich had to do all this fasting and drinking stuff and at one point he didnt eat for more than 48 hours. And rich loves to eat. I mean that in a healthy way. He has been good for me in so many ways and one is that he has a healthy view of food and a healthy appetite. So i had to drive him down to mayo and thought " I am going to not eat this morning and support him.............." Ok that lasted about 30 minutes. And he agreed that one of us had to have normal blood sugars to make decisions and drive. Lol. I also realized that was dumb. I wanted to eat!

So anyways...( see short post, right?) saturday and early this AM I was having some rumbling and was thinking "why? come on!" but it was all ok and i got some food in me EARLY and then had my gel 45 min before the race and was fine! phew. Ok now the clif notes will start:
Pre race, lovely view of the st paul skyline.
We start in downtown mpls and run to st paul. Shortcut to st paul! ( as opposed to running the full marathon. poor souls.)


So this is crossing the bridge just after coming up Franklin Hill (mile 3-4?). At this point i am still under 7 min miles and as i see Rich I hear this "damn." I knew i was moving too fast for him. haha.

so here i see him and say "take it NOW." and laughed. This was coming up near St thomas. A nice little uphill that kinda just looks so easy but really is the start of the false flat for the next 3 miles. And this is where things started to get a bit ugly. I had gone thru the 5 mile mark at 34:54 or so and was thinking...hey, ok. When i went thru the 6 mile mark at 42:05 i was thinking..ok getting tired, still working uphill a bit but i can still see Julie Hull ahead of me. dont lose her.


At William Mitchell I was chasing Jules and thinking..."keep going keep going..." I went thru the
7 mile mark around 49:35 and at that point kinda let go of the 70 min goal. I just mentally let go of it and stopped looking at my watch. But I also sped up. I just figured that if I could hold a VERY uncomfortable pace from mile 8-9 I could GUT out a VERY VERY uncomfortable pace for a mile. I mean really, you can do anything for a mile, despite wanting to fall into Half IM run pace I didnt let myself.


Plus these nice folks came out to watch so I wanted to run fast! Ruby has no interest in running obviously. She is all about the hands on petting :)

So as we head down John Ireland ( yes downhill! but a looong ways, you can see the finish but you cant really get there as fast as you would like. or say as you can on your bike!) I see the clock. I hadnt thought about the clock for 2 miles and was just oblivious to everything...there was a GIANT MN blow up VIKING and also a HUGE AMERICAN FLAG that i totally missed till we walked home)
The clock said 1:09:14. HUH?
Ok then..I can do this...at the same time thinking that if it is more than a 200 yard distance i cant do it but i just started to HAUL it down the road.

I tried not to look up at the clock but it seemed like i was moving ok. and the clock wasnt moving that fast. I mean I really was amazed. Still I was over one mat and knew that the 2nd mat, about 10 feet past the first was the finish mat. Dang it...come on..SPRINT!!!

I hit my watch after i kinda got my leverage and...1:10:00.
HA!
I dont know my chip time and nor can i verify that i am not all messed up and I actually ran 1:10:01 but whatever. Close enough:)

Congrats to all running, thanks to all spectating and keep on prayin!
PS so what is up next for me? You ask?
Surgery
Wedding
Honeymoon
Planning 2010!