Comments (78)

By kilax, September 7, 2010 8:43 pm

About two weeks ago my mother-in-law, Linda, went to the hospital because she had flu-like symptoms. It turned out she had a bad infection. The doctors took care of her for several days and she was about ready to leave, when she had an unrelated major heart attack on Thursday August 26th.

Her brain was oxygen deprived for too long during the attack. She passed away on Saturday the 4th.

She was only 62.

Steven flew down to Kansas City on Thursday the 26th, and I drove down on Friday the 27th. We spent most of our time in the hospital – at first occasionally leaving for meals and to sleep, and then staying in the hospital and only leaving for the occasional shower and to pick up food.

We’re all completely shocked by what happened, and obviously, completely heartbroken. Words cannot describe the pain we feel, but “devastated” comes pretty close.

For me, besides being completely worried about Steven’s dad, Steven, and his brother, I feel so so saddened by the family friends and coworkers who came in to visit Linda. They told so many wonderful stories about how passionate, helpful and giving Linda was. It was obvious they were in pain that she would no longer be a part of their life… and it became obvious to me that I still needed to get to know my mother-in-law a lot better.

That opportunity is mostly gone now. She’ll just relive through the stories shared.

There is a lot more I would like to add, but right now, I am just so filled with sadness, there is not much else I can say. I feel kind of lost, and am having a hard time making decisions and thinking straight.

Comments (14)

By kilax, September 5, 2010 10:14 am

My next race is the Chicago Half Marathon on September 12. I am also training for the Chicago Marathon on October 10.

Day 316 | August 30, 2010: yoga

I did the YogaWorks 45-min Beginners DVD – and my neck was sore again. I need to work on that! I also think it may be time to start doing one of the “harder” yoga DVDs again. Maybe.

Day 317 | August 31, 2010: 6 m run

This 6-miler felt a little bit harder than it should. I think I just started off too fast. I had to stop and and take a few quick breaks. But, the sky was overcast, it was raining a bit, and my knee only had a slight ache, so that was nice. Oh, and I only drank 8 ounces of water. What the heck?

I ran the same back and forth one-mile course behind Steven’s parent’s house that I did last Sunday. It varies enough that I didn’t mind going back and forth. The only annoying part is getting to the end and doing a 180 to turn around – I really slow down on those, to protect my knees.

Distance: 6.0 | Start Temp: 83° | End Temp: 85° | Time: 59:21 | Avg Pace: 9:53 | 1: 9:36 | 2: 9:48 | 3: 10:06 | 4: 10:15 | 5: 9:57 | 6: 9:34

Day 318 | September 1, 2010: rest

Day 319 | September 2, 2010: rest

Day 320 | September 3, 2010: rest

Day 321 | September 4, 2010: rest

Day 322 | September 5, 2010: rest

Week Summary: 6.00 miles

I had other priorities and was unable to exercise the last 5 days of this week. Hopefully, that will mean my legs are well rested!

I was supposed to run 18 miles on Saturday or Sunday and did not. I was thinking about running them on Monday the 6th, even though I have a half marathon on Sunday the 12th. My logic is that I sometimes run long on Sundays then the following Saturday – this is basically the same time frame.

What would you do – run the 18-miler on Monday and a half the following Sunday? Or skip the 18-miler?

Comments (16)

By kilax, September 2, 2010 12:01 am

The winner of the I am the Competition ViewSPORT shirt is Amanda (Vegacious).

The winner of the white ViewSPORT watch is Kandi (Kandi Land).

Congratulations! Please email me your mailing addresses and I will ship the items your way.

Thank you to everyone who participated, and a big thanks to ViewSPORT for sponsoring the giveaway! I heard they are going to be designing some new shirts so make sure to check out their website!

I’ve been wearing my ViewSPORT watch all week. It’s nice and lightweight. And it comes in a cute little container!

I’ve even been wearing it with the Garmin while running, so I don’t have to use the Garmin to see what time it is. Ha ha.

Do you wear a watch when you exercise? What kind of stats do you keep – distance, time, pace, heart rate? Nothing?

Comments (71)

By kilax, September 1, 2010 8:45 am

Today is our three year wedding anniversary!

It amazes me how much our love and relationship has grown in just this short amount of time. I thought I knew Steven really well when we got married, but as we have gone through some of life’s hardships and joys together, I have discovered even more about the amazing person he is. That’s pretty cheesy, but it’s the truth.

Aww.

• Photos of the wedding here
• Photo slideshow here
• Awesome photographer’s website here
• Special wedding song here