a life beyond running shoes.

but i finished the LA marathon last sunday morning while my family sat in church. i can honestly say i am was not sure that i would have but sweet friend, T, pulled me through every step of that blasted marathon!!! we were shooting for a 4:30 (4 hours and 30 minutes) finish time. mom and dennis took us to the start (traffic to dodger stadium will be another post). we got to the starting line 3 minutes before the gun went off.  we were behind the corrals where the handy dandy pace groups were situated.  somewhere in there we passed the 4:45 group.  then somewhere in there we managed to pass the 4:30 group.  i was pretty darn pleased with us.  we were feeling good.  mom and dennis saw us at miles 6....  then saw us at mile 12...... then saw us at mile 17...... where i know i was not feeling good and was starting to worry that with over an hour and a half left to the race, i would not be able to finish.   then the 4:30 pace grou...

can i admit that i feel as if i have reached my adventure threshold? please, no more adventures. we took residence of our new home a week ago. we thought we would only be "house camping" for a few days...... well, one week later and the moving truck should arrive tomorrow. we have had some fun in the meantime. perhaps i will post later about the adventure of driving our family of five across the country, visiting friends & family over five days and 2900 miles.... perhaps, i will just put it behind me and move forward to our new life on the west coast. but until i decide, here are pics from point reyes beach...... hard to believe we live here.  you can hear him saying, "i'm king of the world." she was so grumpy that daddy and the boys climbed the rocks without her. exploring tide pools for the first time. so, i guess we are enjoying the newness of our life our here. it is gorgeous..... it ha...

okay friends.... i have a had a great group to run with.  i have always had awesome running partners...... but never a full group.  when we are all there (which is seldom), there are eight including me. i will miss this group.  and yes, i might find others to run with in california but none like this.   so i came up with some adjectives (and specific definition that suited) for each since it is such a funny, strange, awesome, random combination of individuals...... i have enjoyed every lap, mile, and conversation. thank you for letting me join your group. you were a balm to my wounded soul...... MS - GRACE (a temporary immunity or exemption; a reprieve). it was (is) so nice to rest in your gentle spirit. in you i found a reprieve. CS - HONEST (not false or misleading; genuine). you are refreshing, straightforward, and a faithful companion. in you there is no guile. SS - UNDAUNTED (resolutely courageous). you gospel orient the group with your bo...

One of the amazing blessings of being displaced here is family..... truly we are not for lack of love or company....and my kids are LOVING every minute. (we are related to every child in that picture...just to let you know) we have gotten to attend two family birthdays and a family wedding...and we have not even been here two full weeks. and we spend a lot of time at the soccer field. we signed the boys up for fall soccer.... we missed the first three weeks but have joined in full steam ahead..... well, okay not little bit who burst into tears at being asked to run out onto the field during his first practice here. maybe by the end of the season, we will get him to kick a ball during the game and not just off the field. (and yes, there are alligators in that lake) i have also joined my mother-in-law's running group (that runs at 5:30am). but how sweet to find others to run with, share prayer requests with, and enjoy early morning-sleepy eyed company with.....early, but such sweet c...

family..... we were having dinner with some friends just before we left brooklyn, and the husband was pouring wine into my glass that had just been used at a cocktail glass. his wife tried to get him to get out a clean wine glass..... he said, "why? she is family." sigh. i miss my brooklyn family. i miss my home. i miss my life. we have arrived in florida. and i am thankful. i got to go to a women's bible study on the book of ruth . this is what we were reading: So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi [which means pleasant]; call me Mara [which means bitterness], for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?” So Naomi returned, and Ruth the...

to sing his praises..... praying words would penetrate my heart.... remind me of truths.... and delight in god's love for me... glorious things of thee are spoken zion, city of our god; he, whose word cannot be broken, formed thee for his own abode on the rock of ages founded what can shake thy sure repose? with salvation's walls surrounded, thou mayst smile at all thy foes. see the streams of living waters, springing from eternal love. well supplies thy sons and daughters, and all fears of want removes. what can faint while such a river ever flows their thirst to quench? grace which like the lord, the giver, never fails from age to age. savior, if of zion's city, i, through grace, a member am, let the world deride or pity, i will glory in thy name fading is the worlding's pleasure, all is boasted pomp and show solid joys and lasting treasures none but zion's children know. -- words by john newton, 1779 amazing to think we still sing words so rich and...

two books from last month.... see, i am behind. having so much summer fun, i just have not sat down to blog all about it. shocking!! the dew breaker . by edwidge danticat she uses the history of haiti and immigration to new york as the backdrop for this collection of vignettes that are all tied together. it is like reading eight short stories that are all linked together.... there was only one that i was thoroughly confused on how it connected. this is where i am thankful for my book club to enlighten me.... and help me appreciate a good haiitan fish cake. i think part of why i loved this book is the connection to my own neighborhood of brooklyn. the streets i walk, the neighbors i pass, could all have been part of this story..... strides: running through history with an unlikely athlete . by benjamin cheever. okay.... i am a nerd. i am also on a reading about running kick. cheever sort of goes through the history of running. but i can't say it is complete or thorough. it is...

i have not hid my love for YA (young adult) literature. in fact, i am re-reading all the harry potter books before the last and final movie comes out this summer. and i really did read all the twilight books. (i don't claim that i always read good books, wink, wink). but i loved the hunger games . and of course, the movie is being made. it is all over the blogisphere. and here is the cool part: brooke, who is a babysitter for a kid at the boys' school, just got cast. here is the post from one of the fan websites. (perhaps, i have seen this blog before... cough, cough). brooke is going to be octavia. (small but really cool part) i think i was the only mom on the schoolyard the literally yelped when she was talking about her audition..... then i really did scream when she said she got the part. perhaps it is because i was the only one that knew what she was auditioning for and HOW S TINKIN' COOL IT IS!!! and i just hang with her on the park bench while the kids ru...

or at least it can feel that way. living in a borough of one of the greatest cities in the world.... and most of my life is playgrounds, diapers, homework, and dinner.... with a bit of running thrown in..... i can get down on my lack of cultural experiences. between the financials of getting out much less getting a babysitter. ...... fu'gettaboutit. or at least it can seem that way. in the midst of surviving life with three small kids, major surgery, the anniversary of loss.... we have had an uncanny season of cultural opportunities: a concert. (that is glenn phillips from toad the wet sprocket.... the band i saw) a top modern dance company's performance. (albeit three weeks post-op) the opera. (see previous post ) the ballet. (mind you lincoln center twice in a month.... i have not been once in the six and a half years we have been here). plus, a small off-off-off (not even near) broadway play. it is because we have experienced the overly generous kindness of f...

by kristin armstrong. i like her. i love her blog.... and her book is just a long blog post. i always feel like i can relate... she is accessible, honest, funny, self-deprecating in an appropriate and human sort of way.... and she loves running....for so many reasons: for health, for mental sanity, for camaraderie, for space, peace, and well-being, for the challenge.... and while the book itself can be redundant and things don't connect linearly.... i loved it. it was far superior to the other running book i read earlier this year... it was more personal without being trite. i love her perspective... and wish i was in her running group. it did make me miss stef terribly.... and cause me to evaluate every woman running at 6:15 in the morning as a potential running partner..... but i loved how it challenged me to consider challenging myself more as a runner.... since i am one. and i was sad when it was over, almost like i had gained a running friend for a brief moment in time.......

seriously. i have not cried through a book like this since i read a severe mercy years ago. same kind of different as me . ron hall & denver moore. homeless man.... who was a sharecropper (aka slave). wealthy man..... who makes millions selling art. they become friends because of the rich wife. she loves jesus. she loves the homeless man. she gets her rich husband to love the homeless man. she dies. it is the story of their friendships, their struggles with faith, god showing up, amazing things happening..... and of course, my snippet of a post can do no justice to their story. a story of redemption. of grace. of love. of jesus. and of course i started it thinking it was a different book entirely. boy was i wrong, but glad i was. i must have heard of it since i actually requested it from the library. i figured out i had the wrong book about 30 pages into when i realized it had nothing to do with ethiopia. whoops. i love good mistakes!

the kidney transplant was a success! surgery started around 10. doc came out to say hubbie was out at 3. doc came out to say kidney took and recipient was done around 4. here are some pics: pre-op: post-op with first walk around icu floor: heubert working:

surgery is in 4 days...... dear huebert, thank you for sharing life with us. we are about to give to you to someone else. it has been a pleasure having you. we hope you love your new home. we are rather fond of your new placement. i am sure he will take good care of you, but if he doesn't.... it is not our call anymore. in fact i believe you will be better appreciated in your new home. it is not that we didn't love you, we just took you for granted. i don't think he will. i think you will be loved and cherished..... have a good life, heubert. we hope you grow and flourish, but mostly, we are praying that you will help our friend. make him strong, make him healthy, make him better. see ya' round..... peace out!

run like a mother: how to get moving -- and not lose your family, job, or sanity. by dimity mcdowell and sarah bowen shea. i have to admit, i wanted more from this book, not sure what.... it was cute. a bit funny. mostly anecdotal....with a few running tips thrown in. and more than a few endorsements for running skirts. i might be convince to get one this summer. i did laugh. for that i am thankful to have spent 26 (.2) chapters with these authors. but my overall impression was that this would have been a very good article in runner's world. i think the pitch to make it a full 200 page book made the information too thin..... but that could be because i am a runner and some of the information was not new...... but if i was just starting out as a runner.... i think this might have been perfect for me...but that sounds really elitist of me..... there was some good stuff in there....helpful, funny, relevant. i did appreciate many of the quotes from other mothers and also the reality th...

this is a double post..... my latest book club read: peace like a river by lief enger an interesting read. of which i will be sad to miss the discussion. i will not be attending because my hubbie is donating a kidney that same week. a friend in our church was in need.... we both got tested. we were both a match..... he is the donor. very exciting to see how we get to serve our friend this way. so i enjoyed the book. it had western elements.... think zane gray, butch cassidy, minnesota and north dakota plains. lots of biblical references. an eleven year old narrator that is suspect if not unreliable and yet self-effacing so almost totally reliable. throw in some magic realism (or you could call them miracles), some adventure, and family dynamics and you have this novel. which was an easy read, page turning, and well-written. again, i will miss the group discussion.... i am sure someone in our group did not like it!! kidney: our friend has been in poor health for the past year....

dear sole sister, thank you for joining me on my journey in becoming a runner. the journey of discovering how to do something for myself..... something that challenges me..... frees me..... you were my pavement pounding partner during my discovery that i am a runner; that it really is something i do. thank you for being a wonderful friend.... counselor.... listener..... encourager..... pacer..... leader.... supporter..... training partner...... confidante..... friend. we met and i was not yet a fully actualized mom..... prego and therefore a mom, but not fully actualized...... in six and a half years, you have traversed some of my most major milestones ....... 3 babies, 4 apartments, parents getting married, parent dying, grief, silly anecdotes, identity crisis, depression, contentment, relief, humor...... and then there are the running milestones....... 3 half marathons, 1 full marathon, 15k, 5 milers, a personal best mile time.......and many, many, many, many loops around the par...

my final post for the year....... my last reads: welcoming justice by charles march and john perkins. short but excellent. post civil rights movement toward racial reconciliation through the amazing work god is doing. "a new conviction that christian love could not rest content until it found space for the neighbor and the enemy." (28) "to be a public disciple means finding a place in the world where the kingdom of god is taking shape and getting yourself there." (32) "our biggest problem as christians is that we want the miracle without the love. we want to see the kind of healing jesus brought, but we don't want to learn jesus' way of loving broken people." (77) the girl who kicked the hornet's nest . by steig larsson. total money makeover . by dave ramsey. agaat . by Marlene van Niekerk (i didnt' finish and barely felt like i started but it was my last book club book so i felt like listing it). great house . by nicole krauss. happy re...

our family and some friends from church did a 5K walk in what we sometimes refer to as our backyard.... prospect park. we brought the bikes, jog stroller, and had good intentions of walking around the park with all the other walkers. our crew lasted about a half mile before tears, tired, complaining. we cut through, saw our friends and then cut back around to meet them at the finish line. it was a spectacular day. we love supporting our park. but we live and learn that taking kids for a 5K bike ride with too many hills was not a wise idea. maybe next year?

spectacular weather this past week. i hit my highs and lows of training. long run: 20 miles week total: 32.85 recovery from my 18 miler last week was slow but i did some stretching and yoga before i hit the sidewalks with the jog stroller for the first time in this training process. my high was my speed work. i did 5 one-mile-repeats and hit a first in the fast mile division. i didn't have anything left at the end of that mile but i was not dying. a narrow division but significant. long run today was my all time low for training. i really had not given myself enough recovery time between these two long runs but i wanted to get the distance in.... i got it in. if i could have quit at mile 13, i would have! thank you stef for telling me stories from mile 13 - 18. and tiffany, thanks for the company for miles 6 - 12. i was at least conversational still....poor stef got no conversation. i really could not have done this alone....any of it. thanks for all those who have run with me ...

boys and i went to do some garden clean-up after church. we picked up trash, raked leaves, and met neighbors. it is part of sustainable flatbush . they are starting a community garden across the street from our new worship space. it is on the property of flatbush reformed church, the oldest worshiping church in brooklyn. i don't have pics, but their website might later. we came home and daddy was starting dinner: short ribs. ....braised over many hours in wine and herbs. farmer's market roasted potatoes with rosemary from our garden. the last of the csa tomatoes cooked with butter and shallots for a tomato soup. watched family movie. played. ate. laughed. it was a great day of rest. and this is just too cute: (she is counting in case you can't figure that out)