Boston Marathon

The Boston Marathon was amazing. It actually blew my socks off from start to finish. The wheelchair division was treated like royalty, I got to rub elbows with Elite wheelers, Heartbreak hill did not disapoint, and best part was - I took my gloves off at the end and my knuckles had doubled in size. That is what you pay the big bucks for.

Here is a video of me at the bottom of "Heartbreak Hill" Mile 21 of this course and the longest/steepest hill. Thanks to Challenged Athletes Foundation for approving my grant request and paying for my Boston expenses. CAF - you changed my life.

To read more about the boston experience, I posted more on my website about racing.

So much has happened...

Its been almost 2 months since I posted in here last. That is a record for me. My life went into a tailspin in late September, and now I think I can write a little bit about it.

A couple months ago, we bought plane tickets to go out west, visit family and do the St. George marathon. Then a couple days before we were to leave, Chris' grandma Vera died at the age of 92. With the help of Chris' parents, we bought new plane tickets to leave a day early than we had originally planned so that we could be there for the funeral. It as an emotional time as

we got to see all of Chris' family and attend the funeral and burial. That was Friday - Monday.

Tuesday was the only normal day of that week. We went to Hogle Zoo with Chris' family and toured SLC a bit. Alex lost his first tooth and we prepared to travel to St. George the next day.

Wednesday we drove down to St. George, met up with my sister Michelle and greeted my brother Justin and his family as they came into town from California. Thursday morning everything changed. We got a call from my mom that my dad had a heart attack. He had it two days prior, but was not treated until Thursday morning when my mom and dad realized that something was really wrong. Monday of that week my dad had a procedure where they put a scope down his nose and took a little sample from his lungs because he had questionable spots that appeared on a CT scan. When my dad had intense chest pain on Tuesday, he thought it was just a result of the procedure.

So many things happened once he was admitted to the hospital, I hope I get all the details in. (and it the right order) First, they put a couple stints in his heart to keep the arteries open in a certain area. They did this by going in through a point in his groin. The stints were good, but they got a clot and they had to go in again. After/while the this was happening my dad's kidneys were failing and they put him on dialysis. I guess this happens sometimes as a result of the dye they use in the stint procedure. Friday we had Alex's birthday party.

After the marathon on Saturday morning, Justin and Michelle drove their families down to be with my parents. I got a ride on Chris' dad's plane. (It was awesome, we went over the grand canyon.) While I was there from Sunday morning to Monday evening I got to spend 2, 2 hour sessions with him in the ICU. It was touch and go and his heart rate was not very consistent.

I left and he was looking better than when I got there. But Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday of that week were not good. My dad's heart crashed several times and they had to defibrillate him. But once the doctors found a medication that regulated his heart and put in a pacemaker/defibrillator he was on the road to recovery. My sister April came down from Oregon to be with him during that time as well as Michelle, Justin, and Brandon. I came back to Michigan, but it felt like every 8 hours I would call and something new was happening.

My dad went through so much and continues to walk on pins and needles to keep his heath in place. He is the ultimate trooper. He was discharged from the hospital and his home now. My mom and he have many many doctors appointments each week. When I talk to them on the phone, they are sounding good and little rested.

As Veterans Day approaches, I think of my Dad and the life he has led. He has honorably served our country and led our family. Our country and our family are never far from his thoughts. I love him.

August Events

Jacob turned four weeks old yesterday. Here is a picture from each week. Some memorable events that happened in the month of August:

• Jacob was a little jaundice and had to see the doctor a lot
• 9th - We went blueberry picking as a family
• 13th - Went to the Impression 5 Carnival
• 23rd- Chris started his fall semester classes at Boise State
• 23rd - Aaron had his preschool orientation
• 26-28 - Chris went to Woodbadge
• The boys built the biggest fort ever and slept in overnight
• 27 - The boys and I went to the awesome Techsmith BBQ
• 28 - I did the Crim 10 mile race with a time of 1:08

The huge fort we built

Thats me in the blue shirt in the bottom right corner

St. George Marathon

(This picture of Chris is at mile 26 and he looks fresh as a daisy)

It is done. We are back in Michigan from our travels out west where Chris and I both did the St. George Marathon. It was a great course. Absolutely beautiful. And I went faster than I ever have before (thanks to the huge hills). The speed was scary at times. On some hills, they were so steep and long I would be riding the brake and still going 35 mph. Yikes. It helped to balance out the uphills where I could not even break 3 mph. It was an amazing experience. Finishing this race in 1 hour 59 minutes qualified me to compete in the Boston Marathon in April.

Even though Chris injured his foot a month before, he was able to run and he finished strong. He and my brother in law Brandon stayed together for the first 14 miles, and finished only about 10 minutes from each other.

THE CRIM

Post race

Mile 2

Finish Line Photos Here

Chris and I just got home from a 10 mile race in Flint called the Crim. We had such a great experience. It was the most fun I have ever had on a race. I couldn't stop smiling the whole way. Plus there were several bands (marching, rock, classical) along the way. That was really nice.

On the infamous "Bradley Hills" there was a band at the top playing little riffs and beats to the rhythm of my pushes. In my dreams they would have started playing Jimi Hendrix' "Foxy Lady" but that didn't happen. Other than that everything was perfect.

The weather was amazing. It didn't rain! It was also in the 60's and overcast. Not what I expected in a late August run.

And by the way, I won $1000 for coming in first with a time of 62 minutes. It was a good day in racing. Thank you Fusion Medical for sponsoring the race and to the Challenged Athletes Foundation for sponsoring my awesome chair.

Thunder in the Valley Games

I just got back from a great Michigan jewel. The Thunder in the Valley Games is put on by Michigan Sports Unlimited in Saginaw Michigan.  The games are kind of like a mini paralympics for Michigan. I competed against wheelers from several different states. I learned a lot from my competitors technique and training.  It was very cool but I am exhausted! I did the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, and 5000m.  

I will be thrilled to get off the track and back on the road. I have never liked going around in circles.

Thank you CHALLENGED ATHLETES FOUNDATION

The Challenged Athletes Foundation is an amazing organization. I applied for a grant earlier this year and just received my very own custom racing chair. I am so lucky they chose me as a grant recipient.

The chair is beautiful. The color is my favorite. Hopefully nobody will refer to me as "dude" in any future races. (got a couple people saying "Go Dude!" on the Riverbank run) The fit is good but I will continue to adjust it as I figure it out.

As you can see in the table below CAF distributed almost 1.4 million dollars of grant money this year. 79% of applicants were approved!

You can support Challenged Athlete Foundation by visiting their website.

2009 Grant Distribution Statistics

The Riverbank Run

At the starting line I was in the far back on the left

This was about 3 pushes before the finish line

 The picture means a lot to me because I was pouring out thanks to God just as I crossed the finish line

A couple weeks ago I did my first big race. The Riverbank Run in Grand Rapids is a 25k that draws a lot of big racers. When I made my race schedule back in March I put this one on it thinking I could just to the 10k division. My longest race previous to this was only 5 miles so I thought 25k was out of reach. So I emailed the wheelchair division coordinator inquiring about the 10k and she said "there is no wheelchair division for the 5 or 10k you have to do the 25k" Yikes. I signed up just hoping to finish. 

A week before the race was to begin I get word that they changed the course because of flooding along the riverbank.  As I was driving the course two days before the race was to begin I discover that the course change eliminated most of the flat area along the riverbank and added many more long, steep hills. As I drove them at 40 mph I was getting scared because of how long they were taking me to get up!

I had only been racing for 6 weeks but I felt like I had a pretty good base.  I thought "I can finish... I will be alive at the end and I will cross the finish line... as long as it doesn't rain."

Race morning came and it was raining. The race began and the rain fell. For a wheelchair racer, rain is the biggest obstacle because we have no grip on our push rim. The rubber on our gloves and the rubber on the push rim do great when its dry but miserable when its wet. It would be like putting distance runners on a very long uphill slip n' slide. 

Thankfully, another racer named Tricia Downing gave me some Handball Klister (its like really tacky glue that doesn't harden) and I put that on my gloves. Without that I wouldn't have finished the race. I had pretty good grip for the first 12 miles where all the big hills are.  As I was climbing the last hill and feeling like the klister was finally rubbing off I started to get a little scared. Scared and relieved at the same time. It felt like even though I three more miles weaving through town, if I could make the klister last until I got up this hill the finish was within reach. 3 miles to go - I can do that. I finally had this pit in my stomach disappear. It was a feeling of relief like "I am actually doing the thing I wasn't sure I could do."  

After I got over the last major hill and headed into town my right glove had no klister left and I just kept slipping. Each time I slipped - BAM. I hit my bicep on the fender that covers the wheel and I would lose my momentum.  All my focus was on getting good contact with the rim. I wasn't thinking about speed at all. On a minor hill about two miles to go I was slipping so bad I started to slow down to 2-3 mph. Runners were flying by me. One runner passed me and yelled "don't stop - you're so close!" I wanted to say "I am not stopping! There will be no stopping. I just have to find a new way to push on this right side." So I tried pushing with my right thumb on the spoke and I actually went a little faster. At least I wasn't slipping and losing momentum. I pushed on the spoke for the last two miles. I ended up with a time of 2:03:17 and placed 2nd out of 3 women in the wheelchair division.  

As I crossed the finish line all I could think was "Thank you Heavenly Father. Thank you for showing me that even in the worse possible conditions - you can make help me succeed if I just keep moving." I know he was with me and he made a miracle happen.  It has been 10 years since I have felt his presence so strong. The last time was when I broke my back. After I had been in the ICU for a week I was losing the will to push through the pain. I put my whole self out there and said to Him "I am pretty much done here. I have no more to give." In repsonse, he picked me up and carried me through the darkest night of my life. He was the living water of strength after I had tried to for a week to do it alone. 

Crazy Day

So most of my blog posts are about the highlights of my life. Not today. Today I will make a little travel journal of the trip the boys and I made to Grand Rapids. Not to say that today was terrible it was just a lot of work.

It began at 10 am with a trip to the library. We picked up some DVDs to watch in the car. Our portable DVD player is broken so I carefully placed my Mac on the seat between the boys and turned on Lady and the Tramp. Within 20 minutes Alex was out cold and Aaron was not interested in the DVD. Aaron played with the front wheel of my racing chair which was right in his face because it had to go over the back seat to fit in the car.

We got to the Fredrick Meijer Gardens, woke up Alex, and ate our picnic lunch. Then we went inside to go to the gardens. We were five feet in the door and I looked up at the price. It was $12 dollars for adults and $5 for each kid. It was a little out of our price range and the boys seemed happy with the picnic and the cool building so we got in the car and headed for the children's museum. 

Part of the reason we went to Grand Rapids was for me to check out the course of the Riverbank Run to take place on Saturday. I heard it was hilly - but Oh my goodness. I had no idea. It was insane. The hills were like a mile long. So now I know that I am going to die on Saturday.

We arrived at the children's museum with a parking spot near the building (yay) and five feet in the door I realize I don't have my museum membership card. It would have been another $20 price tag if the nice man at the desk hadn't called our local museum to confirm I was an ACM member. 

We spent two busy hours at the museum. The kids loved it. When I could, I was busy on the phone trying to get ahold of a wheelchair racer in Grand Rapids who could maybe help me with my busted racing chair. We had emailed back and forth and even though I asked twice - he never gave me his address. So I had Chris on the phone stalking this guy with all the internet skills of the universe. All the while Aaron is running from me because he had a poopy diaper and he didn't want me to find out. (little does he know I can smell it across the room) 

I had to rip the boys away from the museum, but once all the crying and screaming was done we drove to the wheelchair racer's house. Aaron fell asleep in the car and once we got to the guys house things went pretty well. I talked to this amazing guy who will be doing the riverbank run for the 25th time this year, Alex watched a movie on my laptop, and Aaron slept. The great thing about meeting with this guy was he had the exact part I needed to make my chair work again and he fixed it in two seconds. I owe him a big one. 

We got in the car to drive home and the boys were FALLING APART. They had had enough. So I said "Okay, lets find a McDonalds and you can get a Happy Meal." Which is like their big treat. So we drove and drove and 1/2 hour later no McDonalds. Finally I see a sign on the freeway so we get off then it tells us the McDonalds is 7 miles down the road. (I hate it when they do that) So we drive. We get the happy meals and look inside to see what the toy is... and its a CD of some kids singing pop songs. Alex cried. All he wanted was a little toy to hold on the way home. No toy. And to make matters worse, no fork or dressing for my salad. Then as I open my parfait to eat it Alex says "Is that for me?" I don't answer "Is that for meeeee?" Still I am thinking... do I really need this or can I give it to him? "Is that for me?" "No Alex its for me." I do actually need it.  More crying from Alex. 

It was sad, then I started to run out of gas. So I pulled over and got gas. The guys at the gas station near my house always pump my gas for me. There were no kind faces at this station. I got out and pumped it. Still mad about the salad I couldn't eat. 

We drove home. We did our best to sing songs because Alex wanted to fall asleep again but I knew I would be up all night if he did. Finally we got home and we were all in one piece. My racing chair was fixed - good. I got to see the course - yikes. And now I am blogging about it all while the kids play with legos. 

Challenged Athletes Foundation Grant

GREAT NEWS!!! I received a grant for a new racing chair from the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) for $2500! Now I can have a chair that actually fits me and is not 10 years old. CAF is an incredible foundation that awards several grants each year for disabled athletes in racing, tennis, hand-cycling, rugby and many other sports. 

I am so grateful to CAF for this grant. What an amazing feeling it will be to use equipment that will help me progress in the sport at an increased rate.  I AM SO LUCKY! 

The next step for me is to work with High Performance Mobility  to order the Top End Eliminator OSR and get it shipped out to me. My guess is it will take about 4 weeks since they custom build each chair. Then CAF will send me some decals and a shirt with their emblem so I can represent them in each race I do. I am going to get to word out about CAF. 

First 5k of the Season

We did our first run this season on Saturday. It was the Run for the House at Hawk Island Park.  Saturday morning was freezing! Everyone was cold, but the very coldest were our two boys who rode in the jogging stroller for 2 miles and then couldn't take it any more. Aaron kept jumping ship so Chris couldn't finish the race. It was so sad and frustrating. The boys are troopers but we probably won't take them on another race again. Its hard when our needs (running fast) and their needs (playing at the playground 50 feet away) conflict. Plus, the boys are getting big and thats a lot of weight to push. 

Good news is I did my personal best at 26:42. The racing chair is very fun and I have a lot to learn in it. I expect that 5k time to get shorter and shorter each month I train. 

My Competition - Yikes!

I am doing some research about different racers and what type of equipment they use as well as their technique and positioning. I am learning so much. I am a little overwhelmed right now because I just read that gold medalist Chantal Petitclerc is going to be competing in the Grand Rapids Riverbank Run! Oh my goodness. She is the best in the world right now. Here is a link that shows the list of gold medals she has earned - starting in 1992! I can't believe we are going to share a starting line. 

The crazy thing is that I was already totally nervous about the River bank run because they only offer a wheelchair division in the 25k and that is way farther than I have ever gone before. So I have a month and a half and we will see what can be done in that amount of time. 

I am excited and so motivated.