October 2014
 Can I just say that I'm already itching to get back out running again! The debate in my mind is wether I'm going to run the Marathon Relay again or just do the half. I think running is most fun with a partner and I've already been turned down for the Marathon. I'm sure I can get a partner or two with the other options.
     October 18th, 2014, I ran in the Kansas City Marathon Team Relay. The story of how it all came to pass...
     It was a year prior & I had seen signs downtown on the Plaza about the Marathon. It had been the past weekend but totally caught my eye because it was held on a Saturday and that's not very common. I immediately went home & looked up the date for the 2014 run and sure enough, it was going to be Saturday! General Conference had been a few weeks prior and I was now re-reading conference talks. I read, "The Strength to Endure" By Richard J. Maynes. I'm always up for a good challenge and I like to set goals, so naturally, while reading this talk the idea hits me! I'm going to train for a marathon. Then, by the end of the talk I get an even better idea! At this point, I'm so excited that I think I may have jumped up & down & clapped. A lot. I tell Mike & I literally think he thought I was crazy, but, he smiled and laughed and wasn't a dream killer. He told me to do it. That evening I had appointments set up to go visiting teaching and I couldn't contain my excitement! I know the ladies are going to think I've gone mad but I seriously doubt they'll turn me down. What's there to lose? While visiting teaching, I share the message (from The Strength to Endure) and then- Boom. I say something like, So, I'd like to issue you a challenge. I want to train for the KC Marathon but thought it would be fun if we could all do it together. Will you run the KC Marathon with me? I've looked it up and they have a relay so we can all split up the 26.2 miles. The challenge is that, for as much time as your spend physically training, I want you to spend that same amount of time spiritually training as well.  I know this isn't going to be easy for any of us but I know we can do it and it will be so much fun to have this goal and achieve it together. Together it is a very attainable goal. And then, the blank stare. Katie Smith chuckled & I think was waiting for me to say, just kidding! After her, I'm not a runner & me reassuring her that I'm not either & not letting up, she became excited and jumped right on board. I told them all that I didn't care about the time, I only have a goal to finish. I don't even care if you walk the whole thing. Vivian Kirk was shocked and nervous but game. You could have up to 5 team members and at this point I had 3. Lauren Millward was next. She took the most convincing and actually Cyndi Eshenroder, my companion said she would do it while we were talking to Lauren and that made 4 so Lauren may have felt a little pressured now that everyone had said yes and I'm now staring at her. But, done & done. I set up "Team Endure" for the KC Marathon that night. In theory, there was plenty of time to prepare.
     Long story short, I trained "really well" until we left for the Andersen Family Reunion in July. I did terrible on vacation. I worked out 1 day, maybe 2. Woops. Deep down I wasn't too worried because there were still nearly 3 months left. After returning from vacation I felt so sick. The kids had been sick the last few days of vacation so I figured it was now my turn. Theirs was quick. Mine was not. I kept feeling worse & worse. Then I got to the point where I felt like I must have an ovarian cyst or two. I totally felt like I was pregnant. Exhausted, sick, weird cravings for toast & Cheez-its late at night, and many other pregnancy things. It honestly hadn't registered to me for even a split second that I may have actually been pregnant. So I call & set up an appointment to see my OB about my really annoying ovarian cysts. And then. A story for another time!
    I obviously came away from that appointment with a HUGE surprise and my first thought was that I had to get running because October would be here before I knew it. And I told Mike, I'm not telling anyone until 20 weeks. August was brutal. I don't think I ran 1 day. September, I forced myself up & out of the house as often as I could. I didn't get feeling better until I was 20 weeks (which was the week of the run). I ran & worked out very sporadically September.  The last week of September, I knew it was crunch time so I really picked it up. And by really picked it up, I mean, I was only running about 4 miles 3-4 days. It was hard to get out but during a run I always felt great. My hips & feet hurt a little extra, but that may have been my long overdue, need for a new pair of running shoes. A couple weeks before the run I got in one of my "long runs." Yeah, only 7 miles. It was all I could hack. And mid run, I may or may not have had to stop at a few trees. Mike about died when I told him. Hey, a pregnant ladys gotta do what a pregnant ladys gotta do, right? At this point, I was starting to feel a little better pregnancy wise. The week before the run I got a sinus infection & felt terrible all over again. I couldn't breathe equals I couldn't sleep equals I was straight up miserable. I tried everything. For a few nights, I even slept sitting up. I slept better than I had been sleeping until my hips and back would start hurting. Oh, the drama.  I sound like a big ol' baby!  OH, I just got a flashback of a comment Bree said one morning on our run. "Mom, are you okay, cause that noise you're making sounds like a dog!" I literally was panting so hard. The glorious KC heat & humidity on top of the fact that I couldn't breath. This day in particular I was running lots of hills and the kids felt like they must have weighed 100 pounds. Ha. It was a bad combination. Mike kept telling me I needed to trade someone & run the shortest distance. He's always super encouraging but must have seen how lame my runs were. He's my biggest supporter and #1 fan, and because he's actually saying something not encouraging, I'm getting nervous. For real. I'm getting nervous because my training had been a joke. I was always so embarrassed when the other girls would ask how the running was going! I start psyching myself out. If Mike thinks I can't do it, then I probably can't do it. (Not that he thinks I can't do it but that it would be smarter to choose something a bit easier). But, I am not going to switch the week of the run! (I need to work on the pride).

     The week of the run...Tuesday, I had an appointment with my OB and I told her how miserable I was but that I was mostly concerned because the run was Saturday. She wrote me a prescription for an antibiotic & told me I'd be feeling like a million bucks come Saturday. Friday was packet pick up. That evening we all got together for some "carbo loading" and race prep. I had matching shirts made that said "Team Endure" with our last name on the back. I added, "slow but running for two" to mine and it doubled as my, I'm pregnant announcement. We arranged how Saturday would play out. Wished each other luck & prayed we'd get some decent sleep that night.
    Saturday morning we met up at 5:30 then headed downtown.
    Side note. Two of our original team members aren't running. Katie moved away to Washington D.C. and started a rockin' new job with the senate budget committee. She planned on coming back but by the time October rolled around she was pretty overwhelmed with the new job & getting back was going to be tough. Charlene Benbrook took her place. Cyndi had worked her little fanny off and started training in January. When it was freezing outside with snow on the ground, she was walking 2 miles and I was not even thinking about it. She lost 20 pounds and had slowly been improving her time. Seriously, she is a rock star and I think the world of her and her dedication. We found out you had to keep a 12 minute mile pace and Cyndi was concerned that because of her time we'd get kicked off the course and not get to finish at all. She found a replacement (Katherine Thompson) but continued to be our right hand man.
     Cyndi drove. We dropped Kat off at the starting line then drove up to my starting point. The race started at 7am at the Crown Center. Kat was running 2.4 miles. The temperature was probably in the high 40's so it was chilly but supposed to reach the 60's. I knew I'd get hot as soon as I started running & wished I'd left me stuff behind. The sun had just come up during Kat's run. I was at the top of the hill next to Liberty Memorial, and thousands of people were running by. I'm not sure how we actually found Kat be we did & I took off.  I started out a bit chilly, but not too bad. To say I love downtowns is an understatement but I especially love downtown KC. Here I was, running downtown KC. Surrounded by a bunch of strangers that I could strike up a conversation with & never have to see again. I know it sounds strange but I'm strange. I love meeting new people who I feel like are my instant friends. We laugh & joke together, almost immediately have inside jokes (because in these situations we almost always have at least one thing in common). And then just like that, you never see that person again. It reminds me that the world is still a fabulous place full of really good people. I know that doesn't really describe it, but I like that sorta thing.