Friday Recap...

Wow...where do I start? It is always so hard to recap a race, because for almost all of my races there has been so much emotion going into it. This one was no different. But I will try...here is the weekend recap:

Friday: Our plane was supposed to leave at 9:15, arriving in Dallas at 4:15 (time change of 2 hours). Well we got on the plane, started to taxi to take off and then we realized we were headed right back to the gate. Hmm? Weird. Oh ps...if you don't know...I am SO SCARED of flying. It is something that I am seriously trying to deal with. Lots of prayer....LOTS! So anyway, we got off the plane and got on a new one. Total delay....2 hours. BOO! Had to stop in Albuquerque to drop some passengers off and pick some up on the way to Dallas. Well to say that it was a smooth landing would be the farthest thing from the truth. It was the most turbulence I have ever experienced. I was crying and telling AA "I can't do this" over and over again. People were starting to look. Awesome. I was "that" girl. AA, being the amazing man he is, tried to calm me down, which didn't work. He even said "you have to do this, what is the other option?" Great point AA, great point. Well anyway, we landed. Some people even clapped. Yup, it was that bad. I asked the flight attendant if the take off and landing were going to be that bad going to Dallas. She said no, and she was right, still bumpy but no where even close to that. Ugh! Way to start off the weekend.

Aywho, landed in Dallas, sans makeup after crying it all off. Katie and Rob dog were there to greet us! It was HOT! And we loved it!! They took us to their AMAZING new home so I could put more deodorant on (because somewhere Seattle and Dallas I had some massive flop sweats), and for goodness sakes put some mascara on (remember that whole crying thing?)....geez I looked horrible! Then we went to dinner and ice cream at their favorite spots. SOOOOO GOOD!

We even got to walk there, so it felt like West Seattle. Went home and watched some basketball and I pretty much fell asleep right there after all that emotion from the day. WOW, was I glad to be in Dallas.

Saturday coming next.....

It's go time baby....

Today, I tried yoga. Different story for a different day, but let me tell you that is HARD! My boss invited me to come with her, "beginner yoga, full of laughing not worshipping" she said. Sweet I'm in! I looked at her at one point and said "this stupid swan dive pigeon tree thingy pose is so stupid that it is hard!" As you can see I'm not very serious about yoga....AT ALL!

When you run an endurance race there is one thing in common at the start. There is a magnetic pull towards the start line. There isn't much talking, because really, what else is there to say? Training is done. Some people are programming watches, some people silently cry as they realize what is ahead of them, and some people pray, pray and pray some more, because they know the only thing getting them to the finish line is God. Everybody has a story. Everyone crosses the start line one person, knowing if they make it to the finish line, a tiny part of them will be different for the rest of their life.

How many of us can truly treasure the experience of a single day, that don't include a marriage or a birth of a baby, for the rest of your life? I can think of single days that I truly treasured:
1. The day that I accepted Jesus' role in my life, as Savior, King and love of my life.
2. The day I got married
3. The day I finished my first full marathon.
I have run 6 half marathons up to this point, and countless more in training, but I have a feeling that Sunday's race will be a race that will be one of those single days. I am so thankful God gave me the challenges that He did in the last couple months. Without them, I would not have re-learned to give every once of trust to Jesus, how grateful I am for family and friends, and the awesomeness of how ones' body is made.

So without further adue....it's go time baby...thank you Jesus!

The Pain Cave

You have all probably heard me talk about the pain cave. It was a concept I learned from Sonja. She uses the pain cave theory in all of her Ironmans. I know that a half marathon or even a full marathon is no where even close to an Ironman, but I think that no matter what level you are at you can use the pain cave theory. What it basically is, is knowing that you will be tested in any of these endurance sports and you need to decide how far into "the pain cave" you are willing to go. The pain cave is a scary place, because for most of us we feel our best just sitting around, or maybe going for a light workout. But all of these endurance sports requires us to be in some sort of pain. Some days/races the pain is minimal. Some days the pain is unbearable. So on every race you have to decide how deep into the cave you are willing to go, before you know what the pain will be like.

I didn't know of the pain cave when I ran my first full marathon. If I did, my finishing time would have been a whole lot faster. I might have collapsed at the finish line, but that time would have been faster.

On Sunday, the pain cave will be present, however I have already decided I am not going very far in. I might sneak in there part way, but I am not getting lost in the pain cave. My body is just too fragile right now. My lungs are just now starting to feel a tiny bit better, and well I want to race more in the future and going deep into the pain cave this weekend puts me at a higher rate of not being able to do that. Plus, we are staying with Katie and Rob Dog and I intend to stay there and not the hospital. I intend on Katie feeding me until I am fat and happy, not eating hospital mush. I intend on walking to Starbs with Katie in the morning, talking about life, not walking out of a hospital talking about what new drugs I am on. I intend....okay okay you get it you get it. :)

I started thinking yesterday about how blessed God has made my life. I complain about the dumbest stuff. Instead of complaining I need to praise God that I am even in the place to be complaining about something. For example, AA and I are being "grown ups" these days and are trying to buy a house. I was complaining here and there about it, and then caught myself. I need to thank Jesus that we even have the ability to buy a house, and need to pray that the house HE already has picked out for us would be a home where His name is proclaimed. I caught myself complaining about how my hamstring was killing me after running. Gosh I almost hit myself over the head with that one. I should be thanking God that I can run! I need to get into the GRATEFUL CAVE....and run as far into it as humanly possible!

Caves....who knew they could provide such insight on a Wednesday. :) What is something you have been complaining about, that you should actually be grateful for?

Excited!!

So I just posted this on Facebook and Ms. Katie, aka, "The Real Housewife of Dallas" aka, "OHM2" (stands for Old Married Hag 2, I was number 1, Erica is number 3) posted what she is excited for. Alas...I shall share it with you....

Shelby Lanting
Things I am excited for:
1. Seeing you and Rob Dog
2. Sun, I haven't seen it in a while
3. Heat, I have only felt it in a tanning bed
4. The expo....my American Express card is excited too! Aaron...not so much...
5. Food...good food
6. Seeing you...wait did I already say that?
7. Run, run, run, run!!!
8. To hear Rob dog tell funny stories
Oh the list could go on and on!

Katie Manor
Things I am excited for:
1. Seeing you and A
2. Sun, it really is underrated
3. Heat, but not too much on race day
4. The expo... I hope to continue with my Lululemon obsession...
5. Food...Mexican food! (to quote Rob: "My only thought during the race will be how I am going to take it 'deep' in Mexican food after running."
6. Seeing you too!
7. Run, run, run run
8. To hear you tell funny stories
9. To introduce you to the Big D!

That's it....I'M EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh boy!

Oh Monday. Today was been very stressful and it is only 12:30pm? How does this happen? Oh I know, I stop having faith that God is the driver of my life and I FREAK OUT! Ugh I hate when that happens. I am trying to calm down, remembering who controls my life and that,

"He has plans for me, they are plans for good, not for disaster, to give me a future and hope." Jer. 29: 11

That was a memory verse of mine last month....oh how quickly I forget. What am I stressed about? Well it doesn't really matter. What matters more, is that I serve a loving and giving God. So that is what I am focusing on today!

Sunday AA and I were supposed to go out for our last long run before this weekend. Well the sun was out...and so was the wind. We got a mile in a my hat almost blew off it was so windy. After much discussion, we decided I would run back to the car and pick AA up in an hour. We both agree that I cannot get sick before this weekend. So I ran super fast back to the car, I had a 7 year old rollerblader in front of me, who was pacing me! It was great! Drove to the gym, ran 30 minutes, back in the car to pick up AA. I finished 5 miles. AA finished almost 8. I am okay with that.

So today, here is what I know about the last 3 months of training and this weekend:
1. I have been a horrible training partner to AA. Not only getting PE, but being moody and not confident has not helped him be confident this weekend. I am sorry AA.
2. Am I ready for this weekend? I have no clue. Not one.
3. It was been 40 degrees, raining and windy every training run we have gone out one. Dallas: 85 degrees no wind. Awesome.
4. Will my lungs, heart and blood hold up this weekend? Again, no clue.
5. Will I finish, I sure hope so.
6. No matter what happens, is God good. YES!

3 things...

....that made me laugh/smile today:

1. A little convo that went like this:
Co-worker: "Shelby are you running like a seven minute mile these days?" Dead serious by the way
Me: Laughing "Nope a little slower."
Co-worker: "Oh right, you have PE, so what, like a 7:20 minute mile?"
Me: Laughing even harder, "nope like a 9:30 miles these days."
Co-worker: "Oh right. That sounds about right for you."

BAHAHAHAHAHA! That might be an insult, but these days I am so happy to even be able to run so I will take it as a joke!

2. Walk into the gym look up to see that the only treadmill open is next to a Gisele Bündchen lookalike, who is sprinting...I mean sprinting. Oh an PS...she has just a sports bra on rocking her hot bod. You know what I feel about people only wearing their sports bras, especially in the gym. For some reason I just let out a laugh. It was so ridiculous. Even better, got on the treadmill next to, again, the only one open, to see that she had been sprinting for the last 3 miles and continued sprinting for 4 more miles! Here I was love handles and all, just trottin' away next to her. Ha! I told my love handles not to be sad, "don't compare yourself to her non-existent love handles ladies, they don't even know what Ben and Jerry's taste like. You on the other do and don't even try to lie and say you don't love every bite."

3. I saw this leaving the gym...so cute three ladies on their lunch time run, all wearing BRIGHT GREEN! They were just running, laughing away. Love that!

Happy St. Pats day!

Oh and PS....GO GEORGIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Inspiration Wednesday

Happy Wednesday! I am trying to think of some fun new things to do on this blog. I decided that Wednesdays will be "inspiration Wednesdays". We could all use some inspiration in the middle of the week. Some weeks, I will feature I will feature people, some weeks stories and some weeks who knows what.

This week I am featuring Cathy Wagner. Cathy is a dear family friend who is also my boss' boss. She was the one who helped me get my job now and continues to inspire me everyday. I could write a book bout how much Cathy inspires me. My mom was her triathlon coach, when she did her first triathlon. She quit her comfortable job to take on a job that literally touches more then 1 million under-served kids a year. She battled breast cancer and won. She talks about my mom, without abandonment. She loves Jesus and is not bashful about telling people.

And now, she is battling colon cancer. She has courageously fought through 6 weeks of chemo and radiation. And now, today at 10am she goes in for surgery. Because I work with Cathy I got an email last night that was sent out to our region. It explained her new work schedule for the next couple weeks. And then this is how the she ended the email:

"I’m blessed to have meaningful work, great friends, a loving husband and family and a strong faith. I’m so ready to move on through this journey and hope to be cancer free soon!

My oncologist nicked named me Lancecetta and calls me his female Lance Armstrong. So I thought I would share this quote.

“If children have the ability to ignore all odds and percentages, then maybe we can all learn from them. When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope? We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up, or fight like hell.” ~Lance Armstrong

Believe me Lancecetta is fighting like hell! Thank you for all your support!

With much appreciation,

Cathy"

Jesus, stay with Cathy. Love on her today and I ask for complete healing for her. Lord I thank you for Cathy and how she shines Your light.