Blessings of Flying Pig Marathon Week

Sweet Pea running ... overlooking the beautiful Ohio River, under a blazing Cincinnati sun.
Last Thursday we spent the day at Mayo Clinic: Don's blood numbers, on an anti-myeloma drug combination, were better than we have seen in 2-3 years! Friends can keep up on his results on his Myeloma Hope blog.

From Rochester, we drove to Cincinnati... in and out of rainstorms and Interstate truck traffic, arriving safely.

Weather could have been better for the children's events on Saturday morning, but children did come.

Saturday lunch with Precious Nephew and his Dear Sweetie who live in Cincinnati... a delight!

Picked up our Flying Pig Marathon poster (!) and really terrific short sleeved technical finisher's shirts at the expo. Ours were real "women's" shirts !!

Drove the marathon route... glad afterward that Sweet Pea and I got a chance to see the more interesting second half of the course, because later we chose to run only the (first) half.

Appreciated the chance to see the amazing hills of southwestern Ohio and northern Kentucky, the azaleas, tulips, and blossoming trees.

Motel room with kitchen where we cooked our other meals, gluten-free.

Our 45th Wedding Anniversary ... on the day of the marathon ... It was the Best Day!

We made it to that 45th Anniversary, in spite of multiple myeloma: we are blessed.

Lucky Don ran the marathon.

Sweet Pea and I, because of several unexpected issues, elected to take the half marathon course, and received our half marathon finisher's medals.

There were no fatalities in the 3 house fire that delayed the start of the race by 15 minutes and necessitated altering the race course.

The person who collapsed with a heart attack while running the marathon, was rescued and saved, first by other runners, then the official paramedics (See Cincinnati newspaper). Nobody died.

Neat to know our nephew was running, too, and after the race to discover others we knew were there.

Thinking that it is better to have discovered running in my sixties than not at all!
What a great time we are having!

Safe 12 hour drive home, with brief stop for a hug at my sister-in-law and brother's in central Wisconsin.

Last year Sweet Pea and I finished 5 marathons, with official time and finisher's medals, besides surviving the Chicago marathon. We are hopeful that this Flying Pig half marathon can be a training run... for our next marathon!!!

A good trip, good myeloma news, a good anniversary, a good run, another best day of the year.

Eat Dessert First

Blessings at Easter

Easter is now ... God is peaking out in the world ... Look past all the violence and disappointment to see love happening ... Notice the presence of the Spirit.

Let us sing hymns of praise... Alleluia!!

Myeloma ... Impressions ... and Hope

Seeing clearly from here... is like trying to figure out where you are in a field of tall corn. (I grew up in Iowa.)

University of Minnesota... Bank on a Cure... is collecting massive numbers of genetic samples... hoping to understand the many dynamics of myeloma... and develop ways to predict which treatment will work best for each person/kind of myeloma.

My Person has lambda light chain disease, but the protein cells that were the first to spill into his urine last week were kappa light chain. Who knows??? No amyloidosis, yea.

He will have a CT scan to help the doctor understand the lucent lesions that showed up in the top of his skull in the full body bone scan. He will have an MRI of the hip to try to figure out what might be causing slight neuropathy in his right leg.
And yes, a bone marrow biopsy...... as serious as it sounds: a needle, large enough to retrieve cells, inserted in a hip bone.
When he had the first one, he was lying on is side, facing me, and the doctor was on the other side of the table.
The look on my Honey’s face, when the needle was inserted, was a look that was burned into my memory.
(In that moment, more pain than I saw at the time of the kidney stone.)

One source of hope is the amount of research that is going on... more new strong drugs...( but of course... with various side effects in some people)...and doctors who treat only myeloma, at Mayo Clinic, among others.

There is no predicting who will get cancer... any cancer. Some healthy people get it... most do not. Always the question: Why?

When he was first diagnosed, in the summer of 2003, he had no symptoms.... only a telling blood test. I thought that would give him more lead time before his cancer would become critical. That could be true, but since then I have come to understand that myeloma doesn’t follow rules.

The myeloma is always there.. Folks in support groups tell their stories: This drug or that... or a stem cell transplant... or a combination of drugs will knock down the proteins in the blood ... for a while. Never give up; for now, time seems to be on our side. Once in a while we hear that a participant has died. A few people have lived for many years with myeloma.

One of my favorite verses, subject of a paper back when I was writing them for classes:
“....and hope does not disappoint us, because.... love is poured into our hearts.”

Many medical tests this week.. And we are hopeful.
Set the clocks ahead on Saturday night.
Keeping on running.... 2 hours today!
Peace be with you.

It is the best day, this day that we have, the best day of the year.

Having all the fun!

Oh yes, we had all the fun! ...13-14 inches of snow in the last 3 days... after a foot last week. (Where to put it all!?) The whole metro area was shut down Thursday night and Friday morning. We 3 were all out clearing the heavy white stuff.
Yesterday afternoon streets were still not totally plowed, with drifting in open areas.

Snow days: gift of exciting grace! When our children were home on a snow day, I always cheered with them... an unexpected opportunity to have them around. Wishing we could ship a snow day off to the folks who didn’t get one this week, and would have been blessed to have one.

Myeloma support/information group this morning: 17 different people, each with their own set of blood numbers, symptoms, treatments, results, and history, most folks accompanied by a significant other. What a strange complicated plague blood cancer is!
A few fortunate ones use the term plateau; none use the word remission.... ever.

Running this afternoon at the community center, we three. Looking forward now to another marathon, in a couple of months or so. Planning training... strategizing... hoping to make a PR (personal record). I love running marathons. I enjoy the travel to a marathon in another state.

Phone call from Grandma and Grandpa (in their mid-nineties) .. All is well.

A roast is in the fry pan, with vegetables, corn and beans, and my running muscles are stretched and resting. Write on your hearts it is a good day...best day of the year.

Austin Marathon Weekend

Yesterday afternoon we three strolled, with slight post-marathon limp, from the imposing Texas State Capitol Building, down Congress Avenue, toward the Ann Richards Congress Avenue Bridge, where we had run the marathon the previous day. We sat at a patio table, sipping lattes, celebrating victory and the warm spring day.

Runner Dude won his age group.

For us slower runners, race day got warm (with some sunburn) and hills got wearing, with few spectators cheering. We had done our training on a flat indoor track, due to a cold Minnesota January-February. Spring will be welcome!

Hills were moderately tough on my knees and my hip joints muscles are stiff and sore.
But as I ran, I kept thinking, I love running marathons!!
Race officials and volunteers encouraged us.

Sweet Runner Dude coming back to meet us... after running a full award-winning marathon!.... a dearest, most energizing and precious experience. We see him in the distance, running toward, at around mile 22. He brings fresh cold water or Gatorade (the water stops are often shut down by the time we get to that point... except in NYC and Portland OR)... and he carries our most recently shed shirts. He runs/walks with us, checks ahead for traffic where the streets have been opened up, and cheers us on.
Dear Sweetie makes every run and race and marathon a family event for us all.

Our tenth marathon and our ninth state... and for the Fast Runner, his twenty-second marathon and thirteenth state.
We three are all sporting finishers’ medals and shirts.

A hotel room near the start (and finish) and the expo, energized our weekend participation. Our Super Family Events Manager here located a room with kitchen, enabling us to have our usual eggs and oatmeal breakfasts, except on marathon morning, of course. We found some great food for other meals at the super-sized Whole Foods Market, known to some as “Whole Dollar”, but, hey, it beats the regular super markets for healthy choices.

Other highlights of the trip:
Seeing, conversation with, hugging my long-time friend, Peggy, and meeting her dear pre-school granddaughter

Visiting the Lyndon Johnson Presidential Library on President’s Day...riding the free 'Dillo trolley to get there.

Last pre-marathon taper run on Town Lake Trail along the Texas Colorado River

Walking in Zilker Park to the Barton Springs Pool, where a few brave souls were swimming.

Finding a succulent fresh head of organic romaine lettuce at a little organic farmers’ market near the Children’s Museum

Pansies blooming

A gloriously tasty lunch at Pappadeaux Restaurant: Spinach and shrimp salad with blue cheese and hot bacon creole dressing for Runner Dude; sky-high grilled chicken salad for Beep;
linguine with crawfish, blackened shrimp, Andouille sausage and crimini mushrooms in a marinara cream sauce to inspire my cooking back home. A business colleague recommended the restaurant.

Saturday... pre-race pasta dinner was excellent: choice of pasta, sauce, and well, yes... Texas toast!! Plus cookies and pastry we probably should have enjoyed looking at, but resisted consuming the fat points. Lemonade. A fine time.

Safe flights (including a spectacular in-flight sunset) , glorious weather, just being in another city..... And another marathon! Yea!

Write this: the best days of the year!

Blessings & Running

On the way home from the community center, we stopped to buy some new little light bulbs for the kitchen ceiling track... all because our son brought us a “light show”!!
....... a selection of lower power flourescent bulbs for us to try and to compare.

It is delightful to learn from your children......no matter how young...or old... they are.
Cherishing the opportunity to learn from our children is a family legacy in my family.

I remember my grandmother, a wise and educated woman... But always willing to listen to the ideas of her grandchildren. She could be doing something she had done for fifty years.. And when I suggested an alternative method... She was right there with “You’re never to old to learn” as she switched gears.

“You’re never to old to learn”: an attitude... a legacy.... a response of love .... a blessing.

And so .. We have new lower-power light bulbs in the track over the kitchen counter. They even produce less heat, so the bread on the counter won’t mold as fast!

The run this morning was a nice easy 55 minutes at the CC track this morning... no particular pains... feeling good.
Life is good, says Cancer Man. It is the best day of the year.

11K on a Snowy Day

Snowy day and a delightfully routine 11K on the indoor track.
No pain, no strain, one K after another.
Yea Beep; Yea Sunshine.

The snow seemed light, temperature outside around zero, huge multiple vehicle pile-up on I35 south of the Twin Cities. Runner Dude cleared the driveway; we enjoyed our usual eggs and oatmeal and lattes... all cozy indoors.

In the afternoon we two did another 48 minutes of laps in the house for 4 more Weight Watchers points. We are beginning a new project to keep our metabolism a little higher. We are both below WW goal weight, but not at optimum weight for the best marathon run.

Later this afternoon we had the gift of a phone call from an old friend, acknowledging that he had received our annual Epiphany letter. It was good to hear his voice and his greetings.

Best day of the year: we rejoice in it!

January Frigid 5 Race

Running, Blessings

Hello World
A fairyland snow day! A day for a race around the MN State Fairgrounds!

What the crowd of participants lacked in numbers, we made up for in warm camaraderie.
Greeted other runners, congratulated Grand Prix age group winners.
A friend in my age group expressed awe for We Two finishing the Zoom! Yah! Yah! Marathon on the indoor track at St. Olaf College last Sunday. How dear of her!!

Running in the snow reminded me of running on the beach: twice the energy to propel a step forward.
We two wore our new merino wool REI hiking socks. .. Good for cold weather and hot (thanks, Dan, for the good advice.. .after I had blisters in the Portland Marathon.)

We two found a new running friend. Kathleen cheerfully paced with us the whole 2 laps (5K), and promised to look for us at other 5K races.

10am is a nice time for a January race. The outdoor temp was 21. Only slight wind. Fabulous falling snow. Thought of young Grandson, having a wondrous snow day in Oregon last week.

Came home to find, from Son, an e-mail report of first grad school class.
Ate oatmeal before we went.
As we had conversation afterward, as I was cooking eggs, I was stuck by how precious the sound of a human voice is... not just cancer guy’s... but mine too.
I won’t wait for someone to say it after I die.
Life is precious... but the one.. anyone.... living... is precious. Life is good, says Runner Guy, with pleasure in his smile.
I celebrate this best day of the year:.. the one we have.

A delightful running morning. Good to cheer Runner Guy. And fun ride home afterward.. Runner Guy likes driving in the snow.
We got a generous 5 Weight Watcher’s points.. Which we have already begun to devour.
Here comes Beep with my latte!!!

New Year 2007

"Best Day of the Year" ! Emerson said it: "Write on your heart that every day is the best day of the year."

New Year’s Day... 2007... cool, crisp and bright & sunny... a good new beginning.

Total miles Monday to Monday: 33.6 miles


Cartoon:.
An armless worm with a knitting "how to" book Caption..."Clarence was hopeful" .
("Rhymes with Orange" by Hilary Price)
I am a hopeful person.. Sometimes without quite enough ....?

New Year’s resolutions
What I hope to do? To learn? To accomplish? To change? To be? To appreciate?

Encouragement
I like to cheer anyone in being who they can be.. Doing what they can. So Happy New Year! The best day of the year. May the Spirit be with you.

Someone suggested it is good to begin with "What God has done" I think that to get stuck on what God has done.."for me". is to miss the point... To privatize God as only "for me".. Oh my??!! That has a religious right color to it.
Perhaps to broaden perspective... To focus on...
.. family ...friends.. community.. beyond.... And don’t forget the children everywhere.

Bumper sticker I saw just last week:

GOD BLESS THE WHOLE WORLD....NO EXCEPTIONS

PS
Many prayers and wishes for My Love, for Susan, and all those who have myeloma.