Yes!!!! I did it! I ran 5 miles, without walking or stopping, in about 50 minutes! Thanks, Lynn, for running along side me and for showing up so I’d have to show up too! And thanks too for YELLING at me to sprint at the end. It felt great!
Today was way more fun than I thought it would be. I got out of bed about 7:15 and was so stiff and sore I had to hobble down the hallway into the kitchen. I gave up coffee a month or so ago, so I just had an unsatisfying glass of water. In my head I whined about how sore I was and about how I was just going to cancel running today. But, I had this thing in my head- I REALLY wanted to see if I could run 5 miles today. I looked outside and it was beautiful- sunny and it looked warm. I did some stretching, took a few arthritis pain pills, and limped out the door.
Arriving at Alton Baker Park, I saw that the sun was not there! Just a bank of fog coming up off the river and cloaking everything in a chilly grey. I got a call from Lynn 
saying she was running late (I suspected it was really a check in to see if I was really coming or not:) That’s the benefit to training with other people- we all count on each other to show up.
We did a brief warm up and took off running. I was motivated to start off a little faster today because it was cold! In the 30’s. See all the fog in the back ground? See how stiff and COLD we look? 
Before I knew it, we had run 2 1/2 miles and I was feeling great! I tried my Power Blast sugar energy tab thing and it was kind of gross, but maybe it worked, because I continued to feel great for the next mile and a half or so. Somehow along the run, my joints and muscles stopped being so sore (maybe it was the pain killers?) The path was FULL of runners today, and there was even an organized race going on. So, there was lot’s of positive, happy energy all along the way. There’s something really special about people you meet on the path at 8:00 on a Saturday morning. (SPECIAL, not CRAZY!) The last mile or so was pretty hard and I started to get sore, but the sprint at the end was fun!
I almost made my goal of raising $500 by today- I made it to $480.25 (I donated $50.00 myself, a requirement for participation. It’s not registered yet on my webpage, but it will be soon) Not bad! My goal for next Saturday is to run 6 MILES and to raise $600.00 more dollars. DONATE HERE!
On my runs I wear a buff (click the link to see a video demo of who wears this and in what ways) on my head. That is the green scarf thing you can see in the picture. The buff was 
introduced to me by my friend and co-worker, Dan (THANKS DAN!) right after I lost my hair to chemo. I really struggled with wigs and hair coverings until Dan told me about the buff. I wore this green one most of the time while I was bald, for two reasons. One, it was extremely comfortable and easy to wear. Two, I liked that cool, athletic, adventurous people were wearing these (it was made popular on the t.v. show, Survivor). It made me feel like less of a dork to wear the buff. When I was sick, I dreamed of the day I could be active again. Now, the buff is coming along with me on my active adventure! I HIGHLY recommend one of these as a gift to anyone who has lost their hair to chemo.
I am going to start something new on this blog. If anyone would like to donate in the name of a loved one who has had cancer (any type), I will write the name of that loved one on the back of my training and race day shirts. Additionally, I would LOVE it if people would share a little of the story of their loved one so that I can share it in my blog.
I am going to start things off with the names that will be appearing on my shirts. First is my friend Sabine Lother. Sabine was my best friend when I lived in Germany when we were both in our 20’s. She was a German girl who taught me so much about German culture. We had many adventures together and we used to laugh so hard that people would stare at us on the street! I remember that she always had mysterious stomach pains that her doctors said were all in her head. Time went by and she married an American and moved to Texas. In Texas, the pains got worse and she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She died shortly after her diagnosis, when she was 30 years old. She is buried just outside of Wurzburg, Germany, near where she grew up. As soon as I can scan her picture, I will post it here. She was beautiful, inside and out.
Second is Grandma Ellen. Grandma Ellen is the great-grandmother to my daughters (on their dad’s side). Grandma Ellen was diagnosed with leukemia right about the time that I discovered I was pregnant with my oldest daughter. As my pregnancy progressed, Grandma Ellen got sicker. She died right before my daughter was born, and her name was given to my daughter as her middle name. Grandma Ellen was the story book grandma who was a farmer’s wife and who used to make big farmer’s breakfasts from scratch- biscuits, eggs, ham, hash browns, the whole thing. I think of her breakfasts a lot now that I’m STARVING all the time:)
I will also be including the names of cancer survivors on my shirt, starting with Frieda Burdette, my mom, who is a breast cancer survivor and a BIG inspiration to me. My mom, at 71, leads a hiking group (called Frieda’s Hikers) on hikes throughout the California High Desert. 
My mom, in the front on the right, living proof that there can be life after cancer!
I will be including my Aunt Ellen, also a breast cancer survivor (and now in her late 70’s), who said this to me upon learning of my diagnosis, “Krista, the women in our family get breast cancer, then we get over it and we live long, healthy lives.” She gave me hope when I needed it most.
So, there’s another reason why I’m doing this- to honor people whose lives have been touched, and ended, by cancer.
DONATE HERE!
Goal for tomorrow: REST!!! Sleep in. Wake up and have a cup of tea. Read the paper. Walk with girls to our favorite neighborhood coffee shop (Eugene Coffee Company). Order hot chocolate and Holy Donuts. Walk home. Sit on couch and DO NOTHING! Ah, rest….
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