Where have you been all my life?

So, I started training for a marathon at the end of June ... and then I disappeared.

I guess that means I owe everyone an apology for vanishing from the blogging world. It's been a wild ride since I decided I wanted to become a runner, of sorts.

Here's a short recap of the past few months.

Love the run/walk interval. It's amazing how you get the cardio boost but your recovery is amazingly fast. I've never felt so good after a marathon as I have after doing the interval training -- remember, I'd walked 7 marathons as part of my breast cancer awareness fundraising.

But the training wasn't without its difficulties. Getting up early is no picnic. I took some grief for the early hours from the bf. And fell asleep on the couch more than once as a result. I ate the asphalt one morning, as a pesky bolt in the road reached up and grabbed me and sent me doing the perfect slide into home plate (only there was no home plate.) Fortunately, the injuries were pretty minor and I could wave off the ambulance that came for me.

And the training (mostly the downhills) took a toll on my knee -- sending me to a chiropractor who takes a lot of joy in inflicting a pain on my muscles that I hope none of you have to experience. I call it getting scraped and taped. Not fun ... if you really want to know what I'm talking about look up Graston technique.

But when the morning of the marathon came in San Francisco, I was ready to make the best of it. I had a blast. The first half was a little rough as I had to force myself to walk the downhills -- and almost an entire mile was downhill. I watched the six hour pace setter pass me up ... really discouraging me mentally. But I kept on going and eventually caught up to her again. And somehow, despite a few pains between miles 10 and 14, I got pain free for most of the second half. And then it was just a matter of finishing. The iPod went caput at mile 19 -- so I was glad that I had run all those times without music but I really wished Maggie and Denise were there to talk to.

There is no feeling like seeing the ocean to the side of you and then heading for the finish line. Tons of people cheering and then hearing your friends yell out your name ... Kat on one side, Cayce and Jonathan on the other. It was fantastic. And then a firefighter in a tux (a hot one) gave me that beautiful blue Tiffany's box with my precious necklace inside it. Ahhh! Success!!!

And honestly, despite being tired, hungry and a little stiff --- I was already thinking about the next one. I'm thinking Chicago -- 10/10/10 --- Anyone want to join me?

Other than that, work has been a whirlwind too. I've had a lot of great stories -- managing to keep myself on the front page with regularity. I'm trying to keep it that way, but also manage the constant, never lessening demands.

And I'm trying to be grateful for everything I have. That became even more important last week when I learned that my dad has been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. He's on Day 7 of his chemo treatments and says he's feeling ok so far ... He'll get a week of rest and then we'll figure out what's next. It's been very sudden and a lot to absorb. It's hard to be so far away from everyone in Detroit, but I'm headed home this week to see him for a couple days. We can all use a few good wishes, karmic vibes or prayers -- which ever you prefer -- just keep them coming. I'm not sure I can blog much about it because it's hard to get down in words, even for me, but I wanted to let folks know. Thanks already for your support with this.

That's a lot for a first blog in months but a lot has happened and I tried to keep it to the basics.

Love y'all and I'll try to keep the posts more frequent.

Jess