Bridge Run Weekend!!

Our Charleston venture was awesome and very much needed! As you can see, we rented a nice spacious minivan, a Toyota Sienna, which was the perfect size. Everyone had leg room and enough space to crash once we got on the road at 5am Friday morning...

King & Queen of the middle row...

King of the road... We loved the sunroof!

Once we got settled in the hotel, we drove around the old base. (Ken just couldn't wait). This is the townhouse where Papaw, Mamaw, and the kids lived. Mom remembered what they looked like when she visited us, but Ken knew exactly which building and apartment. They are renumbered and now an apartment complex of questionable safety, but back then these were base housing.

the one on the right.

Mom has a picture of her on this porch as a toddler.

Later we met Pete, Kelly and some friends of there's at Andollini's Pizza on Rivers Avenue. We failed to realize that it was April Fool's Day. We were met with a funny surprise....

Thrift Store Masters!! Pete & Kelly with their friends, Noah and Robin Reed.

Saturday morning, we woke up super early to head to the starting line for the Bridge Run. Pete, Kelly & Josh were a little late, so we weren't able to get a photo of all of us. Josh didn't register for the race, but decided to try to sneak in. He was successful. He walked the race Bandit style....

On the Bus to Mt. P

Waiting to Run...

From my corral, I could see the start line.

Mile 1.5... heading to the bridge

Mile 2.5. On top!

Mile 4.5... turning onto King Street

Pete and I were gonna start together, but he was late. He passed me somewhere on the bridge and then I ended up catching up with him near mile 3. I saw his bright white chicken legs and then NAVY on his sweatshirt and knew that was him... We ran together for a mile or so, then I slowed down and he took off, finishing at 52:14. Noah was right behind him at 53:56. I ended up finishing at 58:02!! My goal was under an hour! It was the first time I ever got under an hour in a 10K. Pete and Noah bought girlie pink running shorts at the expo. They both wore them with NAVY shirts.... When he finished, he said he was pretty cold, among other things...

We hung out on the King Street side of Marion Square to wait for Mom, Kelly, Wes and Josh. I tried to get pictures of all of them, but only got Wes and Josh. Kelly finished in 1:28:38. Mom came running by us like an Olympian! I was so proud of her! She said she jogged off and on during the race and cut off a good bit of her time, finishing at 1:41:20. Josh hung with Wes and they finished in 1:57:21.

My Friend Sandy from high school found me on Facebook and said that her Husband was running the race too. We met up in Marion Square for a quick visit.

After we caught up with everyone, we all walked to the Market for a little while and then headed back to the hotel to shower and change. Part of King Street has pavers and Deb found this one.....

Gullah Sweetgrass Basket maker

Later we came back downtown and walked around the Battery and up East Bay to Rainbow Row and through the neighborhoods to St. Phillips' and St. Michaels' churches.

Rainbow Row

When Ken was a kid, he "took" a cobblestone from one of the streets. There are only a few cobblestone streets left.

Such a beautiful day!

Taking a break behind City Hall.

These folks had the right idea.

Sullivan's Island.

On Saturday night, we went to Gilligan's, a "must eat there" when visiting Charleston.

On Sunday, Wes, myself, Ken, Deb and Josh went to Mt. Pleasant. We had a little while before our Fort Sumter boat left, so we decided to visit the new park that was starting to be built when we left. Mt. Pleasant Memorial Waterfront Park. I so wish it was there when we lived there. It's places like this that make me wish we never left!

The memorial for Mt. Pleasant soldiers

scene from out boat ride to Fort Sumter. USS Yorktown on the left.

After Fort Sumter, we went to see the Hunley. The Hunley was the first submarine to sink a ship in the civil war. It was lost at sea for 100+ years. The 8 guys were MIA. The sub was foun din 1995. They wouldn't let us take pictures of the Hunley. Its being kept in a water tank to prevent it from drying out. It's a really interesting story behind it. (Click the link for more info.)

On the way back to Pete & Kelly's for dinner, we passed by the Hump Bar. Mom went nuts... It's not real by the way. There's a duratran in the window.

Cooking out at Pete's apartment... no alligators in site.

Bridge Run Week!

It's been over a month, I know. I have had trouble finding positive things to talk about these days (aside from running...) I'm following the same half marathon training plan I used for the Oxford half. I signed up for the Renaissance half in Jackson on April 30. Before then, I have the Bridge Run 10K on Saturday, the Anderson Cup 5K next week, and the Lamar Raider run 10K on the 16Th. One of my goals this year was to PR in a 10K. I PR'd at the Winter run in Ridgeland in February (1:00:35). Now I hope to get under an hour! The Winter Run was really flat and VERY COLD! I sped up just to get finished because I couldn't feel my face. :) The Bridge run is mostly flat (except for the bridge of course, which isn't bad) and the Lamar race is pretty flat I'm told.

So we are leaving Friday for Charleston! (CAN'T WAIT!!!) Mom, Wes, myself, Josh, Ken and Deb are heading there for the weekend. We (minus Ken, Deb & Josh) plan to run the bridge run with Pete & Kelly. (It sold out this year BTW).

We recently got new furniture for the living room. We sold our old red sofa and yellow chair on Craig's List. Wes bought them long before we ever met. Our new stuff has a somewhat leather look to it. I think its called durablend or something. I like it. We got new pillows too. The ones in the picture are the old ones. Notice Wes' latest finished project. We got these stumps from a guy on Wadmalaw Island (SC) after a tornado came through. The island was hit pretty hard. We had seen some similar side table stumps at a hotel years ago and loved them. A few days after the tornado came through, we used our press id's to get through the police checkpoint (they closed the island to non-residents) and drove around looking for already cut trees. We found a guy who had several in his front yard. Wes explained what he was planning to do and asked if he could take some of the stumps. (We got the guys' address and I plan to send him a photo and thank him again.) We got five. They sat in the dining room of our apartment in Charleston until we moved (Probably 6 months or so). For the past 2 years, they have sat in the shed with a fan blowing at them to dry them out. A few months ago, Wes took them down to Dad's shop and spent three or four days sanding away. Now they are our "coffee table." There's another one next to the recliner. Yes, they are super heavy, but cool.

Run For Hope Half Marathon

Ran my first half marathon of the year today. The Run for Hope Half Marathon in Oxford. There was a 5K as well that Mom walked. The race benefited Camp Hopewell, a camp run by the Presbyterian Church. It was pretty chilly when we got to Oxford yesterday. We weren't expecting the temperature to drop so much. I was wearing shorts and a sleeveless shirt. I didn't bring any tights to run in, so we made a stop at Walmart.
We went to the Oxford Convention Center and picked up our number and packet. The numbers were made of plastic which was pretty cool. They also were using D-tags, which I was pleasantly surprised about. The race volunteers were super nice and helpful.
The morning of the race, we were able to get a snack before the races started. We lined up and waited a few minutes. Then we just started running. There wasn't a gunshot or anything. There were volunteers at every mile calling out split times (even mile 13, within eyesight of the finish) which was great! The course was pretty hilly. I was not expecting hills. They weren't terrible, but there were a few that were pretty tough. I charged down the hills, but ended up paying for it later. I ended up hitting the 10K mark UNDER an hour for the first time ever! 58:19! I was pretty excited about that! There were lots of water and Gatorade stations. They had Grape flavored Gatorade, which is my favorite. Miles 6-9 took us through the Ole Miss Campus. I'd never been to Oxford before (yeah, I know). Mile 11 took us through the downtown square. It was nice to run through the campus and downtown squares and streets. Around mile 12, there was a REALLY steep hill...that we ran down! (Thank God!) I heard a few people saying that downhill was a bit too steep and could have caused people to fall and it should have been avoided. It was hard to run down it I have to admit. The race started and finished at the Convention Center. They had plenty of snacks, drinks, pizza and other catered foods there. Mom won a door prize. She got a $100 gift card to Kroger. Too bad there's no Kroger in Meridian... We did use it to get gas before we left town (costing $41!)
I really like Oxford. It seems a lot bigger than it is. This weekend there were several tournaments and college games going on. When Mom and I went back downtown for lunch, the square was packed with people. Overall it was a great race with great weather to go along, regardless of me not bringing tights....

First race of the year....

Went to the Bob Coleman Winter Run 10K on the Natchez Trace this weekend. Good times. It was super cold at 28 degrees! I had a thick under armour shirt and a jacket on under my BRC shirt. I was running mainly to finish and get warm! I ended up setting a new PR. That under an hour still eludes me though. I hope to get there this year. I have two more 10K's planned. (Lamar 10K and the Bridge Run!)

Friday: Donation Day

On Thursday, I got up and went for my last shot. I was really tired. I had planned to run after but when I got home, I had absolutely no energy. I laid on the couch til Wes got up. That electrical current feeling started a lot earlier than the three previous days. I felt it nearly all day. We headed to Jackson around 2pm. Checked in the hotel and then went to eat dinner. I was tired and achy all over from the shots. The shots pulled the bone marrow cells from my bones into my blood stream. This caused me to have bad headaches and bone pain. It was tolerable, but after four days with it increasing each day, it was unpleasant. I just kept telling myself that there was a reason for it. The thought that I am saving someone Else's life made the pain bearable.

On Friday morning, we got up, ate breakfast at the hotel and headed for the hospital. I had to have blood drawn first (The first of 10 needle sticks! 19 needle sticks in 5 days!!) Then we headed to the Aspheresis Unit of the hospital. I got situated and they started hooking me up... My left arm was going to be the return, where the blood was going to return back to me after it's filtered. The nurse stuck me and my vein started fluttering. That was a weird feeling. When it stabilized, they went to stick me in my right arm. They first vein collapsed. The second one started rolling. Turns out that the veins in my arms were not big or strong enough to handle the pressure of pulling the blood from them. (When you give blood, the blood flows out naturally. The machine was going to pull the blood out and push it back in). So I had to have a Central Line. The central line is a catheter that goes in a major vein. There's a balloon on the end that supports the wall of the vein. The Catheter was about a foot long. On the end that sticks out are two IV lines, one for extraction, and one for return. (This link is a similar photo of a central line in someones chest. Mine was in my hip). They took me (well, I walked) to "interventional Radiology." I was rushed back to a surgery room (My marrow had a plane to catch) and they numbed my hip and covered me all up like they were about to cut me open. It was strange and fascinating at the same time. The nurse (Stacy) was super nice and explained what they were all doing. They offered anesthesia, but I didn't need it. I was watching the guy dig into my hip with all these wires and things. I never felt any pain, just a little pressure. When he was all done, my hip was orange (sterile zone) and I had this thing hanging out of me. (I felt like an alien).

Now we are ready for the big show. I went back up to the Aspheresis Unit and within minutes I was hooked up and ready. I was actually relieved that I needed a Central line because I had free use of my arms. I would have not been able to move my arms for 3-5 hours with the needles in my arms. And when we started, they told Wes that he couldn't sit with me because there were other patients in the room (there were 4 other beds in the room). Having use of my arms made it much better without him there. I set up my DVD player and watched a movie and used my phone. Here's a picture of my "stuff" starting to fill the bag...

Wes came in and out a few times. He stayed in the waiting area most of the time though. It was a really nice room with big sofas and a TV. He said he fell asleep some. Mom came in right after I got hooked up. She was working a few floors down from where I was.
So I watched my movie and then played with my phone for a little while. Around 3pm, the nurses said I was done. The bag wasn't very full, but they said that was all they needed. I learned that the recipient will adopt my blood type after the transplant. Here's a picture of it ready to go in the cooler. Kind a looks like V8 juice, doesn't it.

the cooler.

I couldn't see it after that point because they were putting the labels on everything. The labels had the recipient's name on it. So this whole time, all these nurses and the Donor Center people knew who it was going to. His name and info was sitting on the counter a few feet away. There was someone waiting at the hospital to take it away. They had a 3:30 flight originally, but because I needed the Central line, they moved the flight to a little later. They had this chain of custody stuff they had to follow. Mattie (the donor center recruiter) took the cooler to the person waiting to get on the plane. Then that person flew to wherever and handed it off to someone else. There was a 48 hour window in between me donating and the recipient getting the transplant.

After they were finished extracting the marrow, they unhooked me from the machine and got a doctor to remove the central line. Wes was in there at this point. There were no other patients there. He got to see the line being pulled out. (I don't think he liked it). Once they bandaged up where the line was, I was good to go.

So that's it.

Throughout this whole process, people have said to me "That's great that you're doing that....I couldn't do it," or "I wouldn't do it," or "I hate hospitals/needles/etc." Well, yeah, I don't like getting stuck either and I'm not fond of hospitals, but I never thought about not doing it. I never considered backing out or saying no. I guess if you're never given the opportunity, you can't say how you would respond. So to all those people who said you wouldn't, I think your opinion would change if it were given a chance. I mean, if you were physically able to help someone else and there was no threat to your own life, Why would you say no? If fear is the only reason, you are being selfish. Fear can easily be overcome.

Today is Saturday. The recipient likely received the transplant today and I pray he is on the road to recovery. I hope to be able to meet him someday. It's weird for me to hear all the praise people have said to me about this. One of the doctors said I was a hero. I don't feel like I have done anything monumental, even though I know I have. Maybe when I get to meet the recipient I'll feel differently. I just feel honored to be given the opportunity. Like I said before, I never gave it a second thought. I know I had the choice to say no, but saying no meant possibly costing someone Else's life. That would have been worse for me to have to think about for the rest of my life.

Would I do it again?

Definitely.

Marrow Donation Shot #3

Went for Shot #3 this morning. Starting to feel tired. I think it's from waking up at 7:30 every morning. For the past two days, the side effects have been hitting me around 4pm. Yesterday it was bone pain. I felt like there was an electric current flowing through my legs and hips. It wasn't horrible, but definitely uncomfortable. I've been sleeping on the heating pad and when I wake up, I feel refreshed and pain-free. I plan to take advantage of that. Yesterday I did 45 min. on the Bike trainer. Today I ran 5 miles. Tomorrow I plan to run at 7 or more. I'm gonna miss one run on Friday and possibly miss the long run this weekend. We'll see.
I'm still feeling good about doing this. I've had a few people tell me I'm nuts. In my eyes, the pain is temporary and totally tolerable when I know that the endgame is saving someone else's life.

Tomorrow we go to Jackson.

Marrow Donation Shot #2

So last night I started hurting. Around 4:45pm, my lower back started killing me. I called Mattie, the donor recruiter. She told me to take Tylenol. It's helping. Kind of. This morning I went for Shot #2. Had to wait for a while. I felt a little tired and sluggish so I decided to fore go my run and get on the bike trainer instead. It was about to rain too (it never did). I had very little energy, but I got through 45 minutes on the bike. Not long after, I started to ache all over. (It's 430pm) I'm still achy. My bones hurt.

Marrow Donation Shot #1

Today I had my first Shot of Filgrastim for Friday's Bone Marrow Donation. I was pretty nervous about it because the list of side effects included nausea, vomiting, etc. I had to go to the Anderson Cancer Center for the shot. I went into the chemo room. That was a little weird. I had to sit in there for a half hour to make sure I didn't have a reaction to it. I felt fine. I came home and got ready to run! I got Wes to ride alongside me just in case I had issues. No problems.

UPDATES

Changed my running log up a little bit. Trying to make it look a little better. I've been neglecting this blog over the last month. I'm pretty sure I'll be continuing that. It happens. As technology changes, popularity changes also. Blogger needs to update it's photo uploading. It's pretty irritating to have to load 5 pictures at a time and then rearrange them because they are all out of order. It also adds a line of empty space for every picture loaded (For example: the 15th picture I load also loads 15 lines in between, etc... The 40th picture also loads 40 empty lines.) It takes more time to delete lines and format than it does to type or just give up and load them on facebook.

Anyway, not much going on right now. Our second trip to NY was awesome! We took lots of pictures (stupid blogger). Most of them are on Facebook. Mom loved it! She was bug-eyed the whole trip. I think she was nervous the first night when we walked around at midnight. Wes flew up and stayed with us the last two nights. He went to the Statue of Liberty while I was running the marathon, so on the Saturday that we were there, he slept in and Mom & I went together. We got to see the Rockettes, Wicked, and spent nearly every night at the Rockefeller tree. The Waldorf hotel was amazing! And the limo tour was great! I totally recommend it! Had the Best pizza in the world at John's Pizzeria at Times Square! Here's a picture of us at the tree.

Wes graduated from MSU last month! YEAH!!! Now we're job hunting. Anyone have any ideas or leads?? He has a degree in Business Administration/Accounting. He's pretty much willing to do anything and go anywhere. We're hoping he has something within two months. That'd be nice. Here's a picture from Graduation.

Hope everyone had a good Christmas! We sure did. We enjoyed spending time with family and friends all over Mississippi.
On January 21st, I will be donating bone marrow to a stranger. (Refer to previous post) I have to go to Jackson. The Donor Registry will put us up in a hotel and buy our meal the night before.

Please pray that all goes well for Wes' job hunt and whatever comes with it.

2010 stats

Running miles:
877 (would have been 1000+ had I not had so many injuries)

Biking miles:
349 (includes riding to work)

Races: 17

1st place (age group) finishes: 2
2nd place finishes: 3
3rd place finishes: 2

New PR's: 4 (5K, 10K, Half marathon, Marathon)

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2011 GOALS:

-Set a new PR for 10K and Half marathon
-Run at least three half marathons
-reach 1000 miles