Blog Like a Girl

Just Keep Swimming, Part 3

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 17:01:36 -0500

I missed Sarah Kate’s third swim meet because I was out of town. Mr. Andi was there, as were my mom and stepdad and (as always - bless his heart!), the baby. Her times didn’t improve much, but she did swim the full length of the lane during the freestyle without grabbing onto the lane rope at all, so that was good. She finished third in one of her heats, which meant she got a coupon for a free Fla-Vor-Ice (we won’t talk about the fact that there were only three girls in the heat). The bigger news was that at practice on Friday morning, she was awarded “Best Effort” for her performance the night before. She was very proud of herself, and I was happy to see that despite her slow speed and three week absence she was truly considered a member of FAST (Fairhope Area Swim Team). The next week, at the last practice of the season, the coaches gave out a few awards. Sarah Kate received “Most Inspirational” and while I was very proud of her, there was a tiny little part of me that felt that maybe she won that award as a consolation prize for being so painfully slow.

The final meet of the season was the big City Meet with all of the area teams. It was a two-day (Fri/Sat) championship with the 10-and-unders swimming in the morning and was held in Gulf Shores (about 40 minutes away including the Chick-fil-A drive-thru pit stop). Mr. Andi took Friday morning off so we could all load up and head down there. When her 25 free event came up, I was ready with the camera at the end of the lane, doing my best not to get in the way of the timers yet still be where I could yell and hopefully have her hear me (and all the while trying very hard not to drop my camera in the water). Coach Meredith, Mr. Andi, and I screamed and yelled and cheered her on. She finished last, as usual, but while she was swimming I thought to myself “she seems faster today.” As soon as she touched the wall, I looked up. 1:02.98. My initial instinct was that it couldn’t be right, then that my eyes were failing me and I really need a check-up. Then I heard the timer say “Wow! You improved your time by 28 seconds!” OMG!!! It was true! I rode the high for the rest of the day.

On day two of City Meet we got up early and schlepped the baby and all of his stuff back down to Gulf Shores. Sarah Kate had stayed up late the night before and was dragging, unlike the first day when she was excited and pumped. I really wanted her to beat her previous backstroke time, but I wasn’t feeling optimistic. She had been harassing me for two weeks to let her have the Toy Story 3 Wii game, so I decided maybe a little bribe was in order. We did our pre-heat pep talk (“What’s your motto?” - “Finish Strong!”) and then I asked her how badly she wanted the TS3 game. She looked at me tentatively and then I told her “If you beat your backstroke time, we’ll get it for you TODAY.” She first got excited, then asked me what would happen if she didn’t beat it. The truth was that we were going to get it, anyway (hence the emphasis on the word “today”), but I didn’t answer her. As we headed over to the clerk of course, I noticed how many people wished her luck and high-fived her on the way.

I took up my station at the end of the lane again, and decided I would be much more aware of her time during the backstroke heat. When she was near the midway point, she was under 30 seconds. I tried not to think about what that might mean, knowing that she would probably lose some steam at the end. When her hand touched the wall, I looked up. 54 seconds. Under a minute. OMG!!! I grabbed her up and gave her a huge hug - not caring one iota that I would be soaked.

The previous day, I had talked to Coach Rich, the owner and head man at SWAT, a local year-round swim team. Typically, year-round swim teams are traveling teams and are more competitive, so I wasn’t sure how he would feel about having a disabled kid on his team. I shouldn’t have worried. Not only was he receptive to the idea, but he wrote down both of her heat times and made a point of coming over to congratulate her after her backstroke heat. I told two of her current coaches, Brittany and Meredith, that I was going to sign her up for SWAT and they said “That’s fine, but you HAVE to come back to FAST next year.” They weren’t teasing, either. Both Coach Brittany and Coach Meredith had deadly serious looks on their faces when they said it. It was at that moment that all of my pre-season worrying that they would consider her a burden was completely unfounded. Not only was she not a burden, but they wanted her back.

Reflecting on the meet, I started flashing back to all of the people - swimmers, parents, and coaches - who had congratulated her or wished her luck. In a world where people often don’t know what to say or fear that they’ll break her if they touch her, THIS GROUP GOT IT. She’s just a regular kid who can’t walk very well or swim very fast. I realized suddenly that the “Most Inspirational” award wasn’t a consolation prize or a prop to fit the narrative of the disabled swimmer. She really was an inspiration - not just to the other swimmers, but to the other parents, as well. It was through her efforts that others were inspired to work hard and to do their best.

We left after Sarah Kate’s heat, so I don’t know if FAST won the city meet this year or not. I’ll find that out later today when we go to pick up her rainbow-colored participant ribbons. What I do know is that the 10-and-under kids, who swam in the morning heats, kicked butt and FAST was leading before the older kids swam in the afternoon. The 10-and-unders are the kids who practice with Sarah Kate every day. Truthfully, it’s probably not Sarah Kate’s influence that helped them to succeed, but what if it were?

One thing I do know - she inspires me.

Just Keep Swimming, Part 2

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 12:41:34 -0500

Anyone who knows me or has read my blog for awhile knows I am a fan of Disney. Of all the Pixar movies that have been made to date, “Finding Nemo” is my favorite. I love the fact that they made a movie that centered around a kid with a disability, even if that kid was a fish. I love, also, how they gave many of the characters some sort of impairment - short term memory loss, allergies, addiction, obsessive-compulsive disorder, etc., but that the film isn’t inherently about disabilities. I don’t have near enough time or space to delve into all the many reasons why I love the film, so I’ll just say this: one of the overarching themes of the movie is “just keep swimming”

Sometimes it’s good to have a kid who knows no limits. Sometimes it’s tough, though, to be the mom of that kid - the person that knows the reality of the limits. It’s tough to think in my head “I know she can’t do that. Should I let her try it anyway?” My typical instinct is to let her go for it, but just to be ready to pick up the pieces at the end. When it comes to physical challenges with Sarah Kate, I’ve taught her one thing - to finish strong. It is the motto she lives by when she attempts a foot race and when she goes to a swim meet. I’ve told her time and again that it doesn’t matter where you place, because as long as you finish strong, you will continue to best yourself.

Sarah Kate missed three weeks of swim practice in June, due to being in Birmingham for intensive physical therapy. We returned home on a Friday and there was a meet on Saturday - the GCAAL Junior Championships. Swimmers from all area teams were to compete, but there were maximum qualifying times in order to push the awards down to the swimmers who don’t usually get to shine (yes, that’s a fancy way of saying that it’s a meet for the slower kids). I wasn’t too sure how well she would do, but my friend Crystal and her kids had plans to come over (a 90-minute drive) to see her, so we were committed.

It was brutally hot. I now knew the swim mom drill, but we hadn’t yet invested in a tent to protect us from the sun. We arrived early enough to grab a table under an awning, and Sarah Kate headed to her warm-up. Coach Meredith worked with her on jumping into the pool (a new skill that her fabulous PT, Carrie, had helped her with during the three weeks of therapy) - already an improvement over the intrasquad meet where she started in the water.

The 25 yard backstroke event rolled around and we had a little pep talk. The heat wasn’t full, so she was starting in one of the middle lanes. No meltdown this time (progress!) Mr. Andi, Crystal and the kids, and I cheered and screamed, along with Coach Meredith who had run from the start block all the way around to provide encouragement. For a short time, I thought she might actually beat another girl in her heat, but she faded a little at the end and wasn’t able to pull it out. Coach Meredith shouted excitedly after seeing her time, however, that she had bested her previous time by 10 seconds, finishing in 1:16.32. I couldn’t contain my joy! A short time later she swam the 25 yard freestyle, and while she didn’t improve her time at all (actually lost a second), she did so much better than she had done previously because she swam the crawl the whole length (as opposed to interpreting freestyle as “free to get to the other end in any way you can, even if it is backstroke”).

Although she was still last in both of her events, Sarah Kate showed me at that second meet that she was capable of so much more in swimming than I had previously thought possible. She continued to “just keep swimming”, despite the obstacles, and shattered my low expectations. But the best was yet to come...

Just Keep Swimming, Part 1

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 11:53:23 -0500

When The Girl came home in the spring proclaiming that she wanted to be on the swim team, I didn’t quite know what to say. The head coach was the P.E. teacher at her school and had apparently talked it up the week before registration. Initially, I didn’t even mention it to Mr. Andi because I was sort of hoping the fever would pass. A week or so went by, though, and she was still bringing it up, so we decided to talk to the teacher/coach. She knows Sarah Kate well and she was very encouraging. I was convinced, Mr. Andi was convinced, and The Girl was excited. I figured we would skip the meets and maybe she’d get a little better at swimming. I have taken her to the pool myself in the past, but with the baby it’s much tougher, so I figured we would come out ahead even if it were just extra exercise.

The first couple of weeks of practice were rough. She was placed in the 7-10 year old training group, which put her way behind the curve - partly because of the cerebral palsy and partly because of her age. She had lost a lot of the confidence she’d had in the water since last season, and to top it all off, many of those early days were marred by thunderstorms at practice time. They don’t skip practice in a storm, choosing instead to do land-based exercises which weren’t much fun for her (mostly because she couldn’t do a lot of them). When they were able to swim, she was always in lane 1 (where she would stay for the duration of the season) with the wall in easy reach at all times. The coaches worked patiently with her to get her over the fear that had suddenly gripped her when she saw how long a 25 yard lane actually is, and mom sat nervously on the bleachers, trying to distract myself with caring for her baby brother.

At morning practice on the day of the first meet, she decided she wanted to swim in the meet that evening. It was an intrasquad practice meet, and all of the swimmers were placed on either a yellow or blue team. Since we had registered late and never intended to do meets, anyway, I had not ordered her a team suit. Although I knew it wasn’t absolutely necessary, I drove to the local supplier and - miracle! - they had one suit in stock in the team pattern that happened to be her size. I shelled out my $50, not knowing if she would ever wear it again, in the hope that just having the suit would help her to feel more a part of the team.

We arrived at the meet and I felt completely unprepared. I didn’t know what was going on and it showed. Her coach asked me which lane to put her in - 8 or 1. I knew that lane 1 would have the wall, but she could duck under the lane 8 rope and have steps available to climb out, so I chose 8. Big mistake. Complete and total meltdown ensued, because she knew there would be no wall for security. I pried her off of me, tried to calm her down, and walked myself and the baby back over to the coach to get the lane changed. Sigh.

Much like the races she has done in the past, that first swim meet was bittersweet. I was so proud of her for trying, but it’s very hard to watch her being so far behind the other kids. She stuck it out, though, and finished both events - 25 yard backstroke in 1:26.38 and 25 yard freestyle in 1:34.89. She was so far behind in the backstroke that she actually ended up having a lot of extra people cheering for her. My belief is that some of the parents were sitting there wondering why the next heat wasn’t starting, looked around and thought “Holy Cow! There’s a kid still out there! I hope she doesn’t drown! Go Girl Go!” Another bonus (for me, anyway) was that a young boy in the event before hers had a meltdown in the middle of the pool and had to be rescued by one of the coaches. Yes, I did feel bad for him, but I considered it a victory that Sarah Kate wasn’t That Kid.

At the end of the day, Sarah Kate found herself on the yellow team - the winning team. She did a little trash talking the next day at practice, and I was happy with what she had already achieved. Little did I know at the time, but she would do more this summer than I dreamed possible.

A Little Happy

Tue, 8 Jun 2010 12:30:32 -0500

It’s amazing the little things in life that can bring a smile to your face.

Back in 2002, when I was expecting Sarah Kate, I did something that most first-time moms do - I registered for baby stuff. One of the items that I registered for was a Fisher Price Kick & Play bouncer. In addition to the typical vibrating seat, the bouncer also had a toy bar with lights, songs, and sound effects. It had two modes: baby-activated or continuous play. The way that it worked was when the baby would kick his/her legs, the lights and sounds would come on. Pretty cool, huh? I was thrilled when my in-laws gave it to us as a gift.

Unfortunately, baby-activated mode never worked for Sarah Kate. It wasn’t defective or anything like that - my baby just couldn’t activate it. From birth, Sarah Kate’s little legs were so tight and weak that she was never able to summon the strength needed to make the lights and sounds come on. We only used it in continuous play mode, and when my sister had a baby a few years later I passed it on to her.

When my sister found out I was pregnant last fall, she committed to sending many of her baby things to me, as I had long since given away everything that I had. Among the items she gave me were two bouncers - one of which was the Fisher Price Kick & Play. Because some friends had given us a brand new Fisher Price bouncer, we decided to keep it and give away the Kick & Play to our local crisis pregnancy center. I stuck it in the corner in Baby Nate’s room until I could make the time to do it.

Now, Baby Nate is the sweating-est baby I’ve ever been around (according to my mother-in-law, Mr. Andi was the same way as a baby). It doesn’t help that we live down here on the gulf coast in humidity central. The other of the two bouncers that my sister had given me is covered in fleece fabric, and recently Scott suggested that we give it back to my sister and keep the Kick & Play instead. I agreed - that fleece makes me hot just to look at it these days, and I don’t think I could bear putting Baby Nate in it all summer. The crisis pregnancy center could wait for the Kick & Play a few more months, I figured.

A couple of days ago, I put Baby Nate in the Kick & Play for a minute so I could get his bottle ready and decided to try the baby-activated mode. He’s still pretty young so I really had no idea if it would work. He started kicking right away and the lights and sounds came on. His face got into The Zone and he was clearly watching what was going on. He stopped moving for a minute and the lights and sounds stopped. He kicked again and again came the lights and sounds, which he watched intently. I completely forgot about the bottle for several minutes while I watched him, Kicking-&-Playing to his heart’s content.

I was ecstatic and I think I grinned for the rest of the afternoon, but it’s hard for me to explain exactly what the big deal was about the Kick & Play. I guess in some little corner of my mind, Baby Nate’s diagnosis of Down syndrome somehow seems “worse” than his big sister’s diagnosis of cerebral palsy. What I realized, though, with the Kick & Play, is that it’s not worse - just different. She is brilliant and may graduate from Harvard with honors (although I hope not, because I can’t afford Harvard!), but she may never be able to jump rope. As for him, it’s unlikely that he’ll attend college, but jump rope might be a favorite pastime for him. There’s no way to know.

For now, I’ll take my Little Happy.

Bookin’

Thu, 3 Jun 2010 21:27:01 -0500

I’m ashamed that it’s taken me so long to post The Girl’s last race report. I guess since I didn’t run myself that day it just wasn’t high on my list of things I needed to accomplish. Bookin’ 4 Books was a small local “inaugural” race held on April 24 to benefit the school libraries. As such, it was heavily promoted in Sarah Kate’s school. There were two events: the 5k Plot Trot and the 1 Mile Pun Run (not a typo - we are incorporating book themes here!) Sarah Kate insisted that she wanted to do the Pun Run. I wasn’t too sure about it, knowing I would be just a few weeks postpartum and recalling the last 1 mile fun run we tried to do - it was over the advertised distance of 1 mile by a great deal; I ended up cutting part of the course and also carrying her for a portion; apparently the race organizers didn’t know enough about fun runs to realize that finisher ribbons for young children are a MUST. However, I told her she could do it as long as she was willing to train for it.

My first steps back into running after my c-section weren’t running steps at all. At one week postpartum I started pushing the stroller around the neighborhood, and if Sarah Kate wasn’t at school she would walk with me. She brought along her iPod Shuffle and tried to keep ahead of me. If I stopped to talk to a neighbor, she would keep right on going. The route we took in our neighborhood was about a mile long, and she finished the full mile on a few occasions. I figured she was ready.

As it turned out, the weather was horrendous in the early morning hours of race day, and I wasn’t convinced that the Pun Run was even going to take place. Just after 8:00, though, it cleared up somewhat and we headed out. My dad and stepmom (“Papa and Bebe”) were in town so we all loaded up (Baby Nate included) and drove over to the start. Sarah Kate was outfitted in her favorite running outfit - a SkirtSports running skirt and blue top (the same color combo typically sported by MarathonAndi at races when I am not running pregnant and just happy to find something that fits). I gave the usual pep talk about it not being important where you finish as long as you “Finish Strong” and we were off.

The course was almost completely flat and was a direct out-and-back on a two lane road. The good thing about the out-and-back was that we were able to see the faster runners coming back toward us and cheered them as they went by. The bad thing about the out-and-back was that it was painfully obvious (at least to me) how slow we were. We reached the orange cone marking the turnaround point and headed back toward the school. Sarah Kate had slowed down somewhat, but was still moving steadily along.

I noticed after a few more blocks that the police cars that were redirecting traffic at the end of the course and the side streets began to fall in line behind us we went by. By the time we rounded the turn into the school parking lot toward the finish, there were at least five police vehicles escorting us in. As Sarah Kate approached the home stretch, she picked up the pace, crossing the finish with a time of 24:57 and extending both arms in the air in victory. There weren’t a lot of people left at the finish when she got there, but every single one of them was yelling for her. Her school librarian was especially excited - Sarah Kate had told her that she planned to run, but Mrs. Normand wasn’t too sure. The librarian from the school Sarah Kate will attend next year was also cheering, with a few tears in her eyes.

As for me, I just beamed. The first few races were tough for dear ol’ mom - pain and pride mixed together in a messy heap of emotions - but this time there was just pride in my little girl’s accomplishment.

I Don’t Feel Special

Sun, 9 May 2010 14:30:39 -0500

As much as I have wanted to, there just hasn’t been time for blogging lately. Maybe if I were getting paid for it I’d be a little more inclined to do it on a regular basis, but as it’s just something I do for myself, I don’t see the harm in skipping a few weeks (ok, several weeks). The truth is that I have always considered this to be a running blog so I didn’t feel like I had much to say since I haven’t been running. I am starting to get back into the swing of things (although I’m still a long way from being able to run marathons again), and since I know what I am capable of it’s not such a daunting task to think of training for a marathon again. I know that my current 30 minutes doing a 4:1 run/walk interval pushing the baby jogger will eventually turn into a sub-5 hour marathon (at least, I hope so).

My last post was about my very special new boy, Baby Nate. He joined his very special older sister, Sarah Kate, as a part of our family on March 13, 2010. Over the past eight weeks since his birth I’ve heard two sentiments expressed over and over again. First, “He has his daddy’s hair!” (absolutely true and hilarious to hear again and again!) and second, “God only gives special children to special parents.” Now I don’t know if that’s just something that people say, or if it really is true, but I’ve heard it so many times now that I’m beginning to think that it’s not just a coincidence and that maybe God is trying to tell me something.

To be honest, I’m a little bit scared (read: terrified) of what being “special” could mean. Is there some Grand Plan that I’m meant to fulfill? Will I recognize it and be able to do it when it comes along? Or does being “special” just mean that there’s something in my personality (like good old fashioned intestinal fortitude) that makes me particularly well-suited to raising two children with special needs? I don’t know the answers, and to be frank, I try not to think about it.

After church this morning, we went to Waffle House for breakfast (my early riser husband has always preferred the earliest church option and has mentioned on a number of occasions that a 5:30 a.m. Mass would suit him just fine). For the past several months, Waffle House was “couple time” after we dropped Sarah Kate off at class (Shhh...that’s a secret we kept from her for months!) Now that class is over until the fall, all four of us went for the first time since Baby Nate was born. Mr. Andi sent me in ahead of him to get a table, and the regular greeter/seater lady, Terri, was there (“2?” - “No, we have the kids today so there are 4 of us.”) As we were finishing up eating, Terri came over to our table - unusual, because she’s typically pretty busy herding the Sunday morning breakfast eaters - to check out the baby. That’s not unusual, as lots of folks are inclined to approach you when you have a new baby, but then Mr. Andi told me to check out her nametag. Attached to the top of it were pictures of her two young sons - one of them has Down syndrome. I then asked her about her son and we chatted for several minutes. She told us that she has the other ladies who work there on “Angel Watch” for kids with Ds (yes, they are Angels Among Us). Her other son is autistic, so she (like me) is a mom with two special children. As we were getting ready to leave, I told Baby Nate to “tell Ms. Terri goodbye” and she looked at him and said “I’ll be watching you as you grow up.”

The thing about the whole exchange with Terri at the Waffle House is that as soon as I heard that she has two children with special needs, my heart overflowed with compassion and I felt an instant kinship with her. I thought to myself “What a special mom she is!” I was also struck by the fact that she came up to speak to us but didn’t mention anything about Down syndrome until I brought it up. She was just a mom connecting with another mom - a mom that had this little thing in common with her. So in that respect, she was just ordinary, like me.

No, I don’t feel special. But I do feel blessed.

Baby (Because I Can't Think of a More Clever Title)

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 08:35:02 -0500

As you probably have guessed by the title above and picture on the right, I had the baby! With the birth of my son, my blog will (more than likely) take on a new direction, but first I need to share a little bit about my special boy. Following is the email that I sent to friends and family following his birth - hopefully it will clear things up a bit for my blog readers who may not know me personally.

Dear friends and family,

First I want to start off by saying how much Scott and I appreciate you and the many prayers that we know have been said for our family over the past several months. We always wanted multiple children, but gave up on that possibility years ago. Fortunately for us, God had other plans!

Many of you have met our special daughter, Sarah Kate. She has been such a joy for us, in spite of her challenges, for the past seven years and we have looked forward to the day when she would welcome the baby brother that she wished and prayed for, and the son that Scott and I had longed for. That baby boy, Nathan Scott, was born on Scott's birthday, March 13 at 6:57 p.m. weighing 6 pounds 6 ounces and we learned in just a short time what a special boy he is. God created him to be an angel walking among us, showing us what truly matters in life.

You may wonder - How could they know this about him when he is so young, so tiny, and hasn't even left the hospital yet? Well, it's because I have known other people like him, and they are all angels among us. You see, Baby Nathan was born with Down syndrome.

We do not know why God has chosen to give us these two very special children, but we know that whatever His reasons may be, we love them and will care for them in the best way that we know how. We have learned that with every challenge faced by having a special needs child there is an equal blessing to be experienced, so we look forward to the years of blessings to come.

Thank you again for your prayers and support. We appreciate you all so much!

Love,
Andi

It’s My Blog and I’ll Complain If I Want To

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:49:08 -0600

It’s been a month since I last blogged - mostly because my running tapered off significantly after WDW, and then came to a complete STOP at the end of January. I had already bailed on my plan to do the RnR Mardi Gras Half Marathon, but then at the 30-week point my doctor put the kibosh on running (and also on long distances) for the rest of my pregnancy. I was OK with that, given how much trouble I was having with my feet and the fact that he did encourage me to keep walking.
Now I’m at the 33-week mark, with only 4-1/2 to 5 weeks left to go, and the wheels have completely fallen off. Back in December, I blogged about the heartburn. I’ve now taken to calling it what it really is - acid reflux, or GERD. Just the other night, Mr. Andi remarked “You know, this pregnancy hasn’t really been all that bad, has it?” Um...no it hasn’t - for YOU. I did not smack him, however, as he was actually trying to compliment me on how pleasant I have been (really?) and how I have been able to keep my weight gain right on target (well, sorta...having no desire to eat kind of helps with that weight gain thing). Before I move on to my laundry list of complaints, I do have a disclaimer to make: even though I’m complaining, I’d rather deal with all of these unpleasant things than have another baby come way too early.
On to my Top 10 Pregnancy complaints:
1. My feet hurt, and not just after walking or wogging. They hurt all the time, especially if I’m not wearing shoes. I keep my Crocs just outside the stall when I am showering so I can put them on immediately after drying my feet off.
2. My hands hurt - especially in the morning. I learned at last week’s appointment that it’s due to carpal tunnel syndrome, which apparently is not uncommon in pregnant women, although I’d never heard of it before. I have it in BOTH wrists, so I’m wearing a brace on the left during the day and on the right at night.
3. I’m tired. It’s as if I have just suddenly run out of gas. Not sure if it’s just typical pregnancy stuff or a cumulative lack of sleep. It has been suggested that I take a nap every day, but the time of day that I most need it conflicts with The Girl’s school pickup time (...and guitar lessons...and PT...)
4. I’m congested all the time and have been for months. Thankfully, I have found a semi-solution to this problem: the neti-pot. It’s disgusting but it helps. In fact, I think it has even eased my nighttime reflux, although I don’t know how.
5. My back hurts. This one isn’t a big surprise, as my back hurt on a regular basis before I got pregnant.
6. I can only comfortably sleep on my left side. Sometimes a girl just wants to change positions, and sometimes it just happens without my realizing it. I always find out what I’ve done, though, when the reflux wakes me up and I’m on my right side.
7. I have a disgusting sour metallic taste in my mouth all the time. All I have to say about this one is - what the hell is this????
8. I have a wicked gag reflex. Pretty much anything will set it off. Any more details would be TMI for the blog.
9. I hate having to depend on Mr. Andi to get The Girl fed, fold the laundry, clean up the kitchen, and so on - especially when I am invariably sitting on the couch watching TV while he does all of the above and more. I no longer work “outside the home” and as a result I have taken a great deal of pride over the years in keeping a good house and preparing healthy meals for my family. However, the issues I’ve been having with eating and fatigue have killed all that.
10. I hate being so short-waisted. I’m carrying this kid really low and he hurts me. A lot. I can’t imagine what it’ll be like when he’s a few pounds bigger (and stronger) than he is now.

WDW Marathon: The Epilogue

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 20:42:47 -0600

Devotees will already know that I didn’t run the full marathon, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a race report - it’s just that this time it’s from the spectator’s point of view. Many of my ROTE pals were running it, some attempting their first marathon while others went for the Goofy. While the snow/rain/sleet did make its way out of the Orlando area before the marathon, the temperature dropped even more and a stiff wind came in its place. When I got up at 5:30 on Sunday morning, The Weather Channel said it was 27 degrees - “feels like 17.” Brrr...
I bundled in as many layers as I could scrounge up (none of my coats will button across my pregnant belly these days) and arrived at the Transportation & Ticket Center around 7:30, just after sunrise, with a giant ROTE sign. Just after arriving, I noticed a gigantic patch of ice that extended across about two-thirds of the roadway. Yeah - if there was any doubt left in my mind that attempting the full would be a bad idea, that pretty much settled it. I yelled at every ROTEr that I saw, whether I knew their name or not, as I waited for Katie and Margaret. After about an hour, I spotted them, along with Jen and Annette, and snapped off a quick photo. I then grabbed my sign and walked over to the Polynesian so I could catch them on the back side of the Magic Kingdom at around the 12.5 mile point. They were still looking strong!
Knowing there was no other good place to see them that would also allow me to make it back to the finish on time, I killed some time by going to Mass, filling up my car with gas, and making a quick stop at Downtown Disney. Unsure of what traffic would be like getting into the finish area parking lot, I headed back to Epcot with a good deal of time to spare.
I managed to squeeze (with my sign, of course) into a little gap by the fence (OK, there actually wasn’t a gap there - I just asked a girl with a friendly face if she would let me in) and started watching for ROTE runners to come through. As I studied the faces of all of the participants as they made the final turn toward the finish, I saw jubilation and determination. These were the people who were finishing in six hours, give or take, and while I know many of them were probably hurting, most of them looked elated.
As I continued to search for the telltale red hats, I noticed something. The longer I stood there, the later it became, and the longer the runners had been on the course. The percentage of runners I would have described as “hurting” grew, and the percentage of runners I would have described as “jubilant” shrunk. Seven hours is a REALLY long time to be on the marathon course, and I could see it on the faces of the finishers. The later it got, the thinner the crowd of spectators became and the harder it was to find runners who looked like they were happy and not hurting. I was very relieved to see that although they came in around the seven-hour mark, Katie, Margaret, and Jen had that “happy” look on their faces as they finished.
I walked around to the finisher area to give my friends the one thing I thought they might want - chocolate milk for Katie and Margaret, and strawberry milk for Jen. We milled around for just a bit and then headed out. As I walked back to my car, I had to go back past the finish line. The official clock read 7:40 by that time and there were almost no spectators left, but a few dedicated marathoners were continuing to straggle in. It was simultaneously inspiring and heartbreaking to witness.
I know there are runners out there who look down on those who finish at the back of the pack. I will be gracious and assume that people who feel that way have never witnessed or experienced the back of the pack before - it is a brutal place to be, and I have nothing but respect for those back-of-the-packers.
One of my favorite running quotes is by the late Steve Prefontaine: “A lot of people run to see who’s the fastest. I run to see who has the most guts.”
I say it takes real guts to finish at the back of the pack. Congratulations to all WDW marathoners - and a special nod goes to all of you who finished at the back.

WDW RACE REPORT: Most Bizarre Race Weekend Ever

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 09:25:34 -0600

The longest wog I did in preparation for the WDW Half Marathon was 12 miles - three weeks before the race. I did a 9-miler on back-to-back days with a 3-miler two weeks before the race, then almost nothing until race day. As mentioned on the last blog post, I was also sick the entire week ahead of the race (not to mention that whole 27 weeks pregnant thing). Needless to say, I was not very confident in my upcoming performance.
The night before the half, I was talking to Mr. Andi and had my plan all mapped out. All I needed to do was to beat the sweeper, so I was going to walk 4 minutes and run 1 minute. Done. Decided. End of story.
Of course, I changed my mind at 4:00 a.m. Standing in the runner’s area at an obscenely early hour, it was around 30 degrees. Shortly thereafter, it started to snow, then to sleet. Katie was planning to pace her dad through his first half marathon (using a 2:1 run/walk), and a few other ROTErs, including Tricia and Steve, were tagging along. I decided to do the first 2-3 miles with them until I warmed up, then go back to my original plan. Well, three miles came and went, and I decided I’d keep going to the five mile point. At five, I was needing a potty break but thought maybe I could make it to Magic Kingdom. I figured once there I’d be halfway home and could manage by myself. Along the way, I ran up the full “hill” near the Contemporary (which is really just a viaduct) so I was feeling pretty good.
By the time we reached the Magic Kingdom, the sleet had turned to rain, which was unfortunate because the sleet would mostly bounce off but the rain soaked in. As we turned onto Main Street, I felt sorry for all of the first-timers, because the crowd was much slimmer than normal for Disney races. Margaret and some other ROTErs had staked out a great spot just in front of the castle to cheer us on we made the turn into Tomorrowland. At this point, the only “throwaway” item that I had actually thrown away was a blanket I had at the start; I was still wearing my extra layer of sweats. Tricia and I picked up the pace a little to give me some extra cushion (time-wise) in the bathroom (that belly support band can be rather unwieldy when trying to potty swiftly). There was a line in Tomorrowland, so we kept going and found a virtually empty bathroom in Fantasyland. Tricia (bless her!) helped me shed my extra sweatpants, which she held onto for the next couple of miles before I finally convinced her that I was not going to want them back. Miraculously, we made it out of the bathroom ahead of the rest of the group (who waited in the Tomorrowland line) and once again we were all together - now headed back to Epcot.
I was feeling pretty good, and Tricia and I were chatting it up so much that we actually started to pull away a little bit from the group, though still within earshot of our Fearless Leader, Katie, who was calling the intervals for us. Somewhere around mile 10-ish, Katie’s dad was lost somewhere in the field behind us, although we were able to spot him with another ROTEr, Roger, when we made the turn toward Epcot. By this point, I was cold, wet, and feeling uncomfortable each time I switched from walking to running (and vice versa). With enough time cushion to spare and her dad lagging behind just a bit, Katie (who was doing the Goofy) decided to walk the last mile. I really didn’t think my hips would do so great with “just” walking, so I asked if anyone wanted to keep running with me. Tricia said she would, so we headed on ahead of the others. We actually ran for a bit longer intervals than the two minutes we had been doing, and our walk breaks were timed more to coincide with my being nervous about falling in areas with standing water and uneven pavement than watching the clock.
As we made the final turn at World Showcase back toward the finish, I decided it was time to take off my throwaway hoodie, as I was determined to get at least a couple of identifiable photos of me (my bib was hidden under the hoodie). That lasted all of a minute before I realized it was WAY too freakin’ cold to go without it. We came upon the gospel choir (Tricia and I both got a little bit teary...) and then ran toward the finish. I stayed with Tricia through the Goofy tent, where I waited for them to remove my bracelet and give me a new one for Sunday (sigh). The rest of our group came in just a few minutes later and we booked it on out of there - we were freezing!!!
All in all, I was pleased with my performance. For a Gulf Coast girl who hadn’t run in anything below 40 degrees and certainly not in a cold rain, the conditions were brutal. Although I was slow, I ran more than I walked, so I was happy about that. And of course, you can’t forget that now Baby Nathan has three medals to his credit - a 5K, half marathon, and a full marathon!