See Diva Run

In some respects, it seems like just days since I wrote my goals for 2008 post. In other respects it seems like a lifetime. I did work on those goals throughout the year, but with limited success. Injury limited my running. Depression had me eating comfort food. I shopped less, and continue to look for new homes for much of the stuff I have. I discovered the freecycling.org web site, where you can post things you have to give, and search for things you need. It’s a great way to keep stuff out of landfills. I’ve got a few running items that I’m going to offer through the blog, as they are light and easy to mail. Since I’ve been living downstairs with Jasmine, there has been almost no television, but probably too much Internet.

Since they were good goals which can be improved on, I will continue to pursue my list from 2008, but I do have some specific goals in mind for 2009.

1. Instead of setting goals for speed or distance, or even limiting myself to running, my goal for 2009 is 260 hours of activity. That averages out to 5 hours per week. It won’t make me any kind of endurance athlete, or give me anything to brag about, but it is more than the 30 minutes most days that are recommended for good health. If I can do more, great. The idea is just to be healthy, and not obsessed with a fitness goal that has unhealthy side effects.
2. The events of 2008 reminded me of the need to be flexible. Plans are great, but you need to be able to change or cancel them when your friends, family, and beloved dalmatians need you. I want to be more available to my family in 2009.
3. There is one monkey I absolutely need to get off my back this year, and that is the f#*!%g degree that I have been working on for what seems like forever. I’m on track to finish in July. I will be so happy when I don’t have to waste precious time on that nonsense! Who really cares about Enterprise Portals anyway?

I had really hoped to have the Tahoe Triple be part of this list, but there is no way I can do the training and still do the other things I need to do. RunDoctor says I should not be making any long term distance plans until we’ve determined what is wrong. I thought I had determined what was wrong, but when I explained it to him, he looked at me like I was crazy, and told me I need a bone scan. I’m nearly positive nothing is wrong with my bones, but he is positive nothing is wrong with the soft tissues, so there you are. I have a moral problem with continuing to waste medical insurance on this, when there are sick people who really need it. I’ll ponder it a while.

One last goal for 2009 is to do a better job of keeping up with my blogging friends. The moral support I get from you has really kept me going this year. I want to do the same for you. Wishing you all the best for a happy, healthy 2009.

I made a big fuss out of Christmas when the kids were little, but have steadily cut back over the years, until there are few remaining traditions. I don’t bake, or decorate (not even a tree), or shop. Well, I shop a little, but mostly online. This year I picked up a few items while traveling, but the guys like video games and DVDs, and they are very good about keeping up their Amazon.com wishlists. A couple weeks ago I went to the Amazon.com web site, clicked the mouse a few times, and was done. The problem being the snow that has kept me at home has played havoc with the mail, too. According to the tracking information, the packages should have arrived Monday. They didn’t. One package arrived Tuesday. We were suppose to be at our son’s house in Arlington at 4:30 on Christmas Eve, but when I checked the mailbox at 3:30, the snow was undisturbed. Text messages were flying back and forth, and our son said we should forget about the presents and just come spend time with them. Fortunately, a small avalanche had tumbled out of the pine tree and buried Mr Diva’s car in the driveway, buying me a little extra time! I checked again at 4:00, and there were fresh tracks! I grabbed the mail and headed for the house to shove the remaining gifts into gift bags. I’m a big fan of the gift bag for 2 reasons. The first and most obvious being that I’m profoundly lazy. The other reason is that unlike my mother, I don’t reuse wrapping paper, but we pass gift bags (and the tissue paper) back and forth year after year. So I rushed into the laundry room, where I’d stored the rest of the gifts, and shoved them into bags. I was afraid that Mr Diva would walk in, so I shoved all of his gifts into the dryer!

We had a lovely evening with the kids, and were home by 11:00. I probably should have wrapped Mr Diva’s presents then, but I’m quite the procrastinator. Finally, at 9:00 this morning I decided it was time to pull the gifts out of the dryer and get them ready. Mr Diva finally rolled out of bed around 10:30, and I’m happy to report that he out-procrastinated me! Eventually he finished wrapping my gifts (he used to make the kids do it), and let me come upstairs. We had a nice brunch of whole wheat coconut pancakes with coconut and raspberry syrup and organic eggs. Our one enduring Christmas tradition is that 24 hours of A Christmas Story plays in the background throughout Christmas morning. This morning, the satellite dish was offline, so we listened to Christmas music. As I was putting the pancakes on plates, I heard voices in the living room. Ralphie was going after Scut Farkas. Now it felt like Christmas! To my amazement, Jasmine gave me the gift of not making a fuss while I spent time upstairs. We watched the whole movie twice before I headed back down for doggie duty. Good behavior ended when Mr Diva put the ham in the oven! I’m planning to go back upstairs in a few minutes to have a piece of pumpkin pie while watching Christmas Vacation.

I hope you’ve all been enjoying a happy day with the people and pets you love the most.

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

I’m sure that I have at least 4 posts worth of stuff to share, but I’m going to lump most of it in here, and deprive you of all of the daily minutia of my life. I’m sure you are terribly disappointed!

First, I want to thank everyone for their kind thoughts for my sister. I’m happy to report that she went home from the hospital yesterday. She is happy to be in her own space, and I don’t blame her. The test results came back. It was an aggressive, stage 3 cancer which often doesn’t get detected until stage 4 (as in we are sorry but there is nothing we can do) as it doesn’t have symptoms. In her case it caused blockage, and that saved her life. She still has to go through chemo. I’m hoping to go and stay with her for part of that.

In other news, my odometer rolled up another digit over the weekend. Between long hours at work, and concern for my sister, I just wasn’t up for a big celebration, so we limited it to a quiet dinner for two. But that was just on the day. A week earlier we went to dinner and a movie with our son and daughter-in-law, whose birthday was Tuesday. Mr Diva gets his very own celebration on Friday. I had lunch with my friend Gladys the day after, when I was feeling a little more energetic. I tried for an 8 mile run on the treadmill, but my phone kept ringing, and Jasmine wouldn’t settle down. Soon my foot and hip began to hurt, and I realized that I was getting weaker, not stronger. Rats!

I did score some very cool birthday stuff, including a small fortune in iTunes cards (I so love iTunes! Many hints were dropped!), a very cool book about Day Hikes in the Olympic Rainforest, massaging slippers and a shiatsu neck massager. The neck massager is really taking the knots out! The slippers are a little strange. I also got a massaging foot bath from my friend Michelle. She said if I didn’t like it, I could always use it to wash my bras. That is why she is a BFF!

On the foot front, after slow but steady progress, things are now getting worse again. It is not plantar fasciitis, but something is going on with my ankle. I can tell that it is very unstable, and when I land on my foot, it is on the edge of my foot. The rolling motion causes a lot of torsion on my knee and hip, so it is no wonder that Dr Webber has to put it back every few days. I’ve got a painful, swollen area just below my ankle that doesn’t respond to ice or Emuprofen, so I’m going back to see RunDoctor on 12/23. I’m hoping he will listen to me, as I’m pretty clear about the problem. I just need a solution, and quick! I need to run 3 times/week, even if it is only 30 minutes and 5 mph. In the meantime, walking is less painful, and I seem to have more control over my foot strike, so I’m walking as much as I can.

Each Thursday the Runner’s Lounge proposes a topic for discussion. The topic for this weeks Take it and Run Thursday was running dreams and wishes. I covered the wishes on Thanksgiving, but I was too caught up in the reality of what was going on with my sister this week to think much about dreams. I’m finally done with work for the day, so I’m going to take a few minutes to dream.

The dream I’m pursuing at the moment is the Tahoe Triple, as in 3 marathons in 3 days around the edge of Lake Tahoe. For some that might sound like a nightmare, but for me, the dream is to be able to do it without injuring myself before or during the event. I have a history of getting hurt while training that I would like to put behind me. I wouldn’t dream of running 3 urban marathons in 3 days, but 3 days of running at Lake Tahoe sounds like a dream to me.

Most of my other running dreams involve retirement. When I retire, I plan to celebrate by running the Tahiti Moorea marathon. I saw a video for it at a race expo once, and started planning the retirement celebration. I also plan to run the White Nights Marathon in St Petersburg, Russia. I’m not planning to learn French for Tahiti, but I am totally going to learn Russian before I go to St Petersburg. My sister loves to travel in Europe. I think I’ll bring her along. If the money doesn’t run out (S&P500, please make a huge comeback in the next few years!), I want to do a running tour of Ireland.

I would also like to spend some time traveling other parts of the U.S. Maybe I’ll even become a 50 States Marathon Club member. When I’m not traveling, my dream post-retirement career is to be a dog walker/jogger. I’ve even purchased a domain name, jogswithdogs.com. Imagine getting paid to walk and run instead of being held captive at a computer. Now that is a dream!

Finally, my most extreme running dream is to be an age group winner when I’m in my 80s.

Now, in keeping with the dream theme, I’m bringing back the Brooks video, because I really like it, and it is a good cause. Sweet dreams everyone!

Last night, when the call came I was somewhat prepared. I was in fact expecting a call. I just wasn’t expecting this call. My sister has been feeling unwell for a while, and she was hospitalized for a week while I was in San Antonio. I got a call on Sunday that she was back in the hospital. According to my niece, the latest round of tests revealed a mass in her abdomen that had not previously been detected. Surgery was scheduled for Tuesday. My niece flew to Honolulu to be with her Monday. I do not like the word “mass” because it is often the introduction to words we find much more frightening. Last night I was expecting a call to tell me that something minor was detected and removed. Instead I learned that a cancerous section of her colon had been removed. I’ve been letting this information roll around in my mind for hours. I’ve been strategizing what she will need in terms of care and support, and how and when I should fly over so my niece can return to her responsibilities here. I have not been tumbling into the emotional abyss that usually follows the call.

When you get the call, the memory is one that stays with you forever. I remember that I was busy with something I thought was terribly important, and impatient to hang up when I got the call about my other sister’s breast cancer, and my father’s lung cancer. Your priorities can change in a single moment. The parental discipline I was administering and the infraction that elicited it suddenly seemed trivial. Right now, you might be stressed out about something that seems very important. Would it still be important if you got the call about someone you love?

At the risk of making this blog more thought provoking and less silly, I feel compelled to share with you a lesson that life keeps teaching me. The things you value most, including the things you think you own, are really just on loan to you. Your families, friends, pets and possessions. Even youth, beauty and charm, as well as speed, strength and endurance. Whatever you think is yours is really just entrusted to your care. Don’t assume they will always be there. When you are setting your priorities, keep that in mind. If you are making long range plans, ask yourself if you can do what you want, and still live up to your other responsibilities. Sometimes sacrifices must be made. Sometimes it is the dream that must be sacrificed.

I think the reason I’m not an emotional wreck today is that in my heart, I know the surgeons got everything, and that despite a family history that offers very few happy outcomes, my sister is going to be OK. We are going to be little old ladies together, and swap photos of our great-grandchildren, even if we can’t remember their names. Is there someone you’ve been meaning to call? Go do it now.