Running for Marie

I was lucky to have a favourite Aunt.  A fun-loving, life-of-the-party kind of aunt.  She lived a long 12-hour car ride away but we made that trip every year and it was worth it.  Sometimes, she even made the drive from Utah up to Alberta, Canada to see us, and always brought laughter, music, and fun with her.  I was, and still am proud to carry her name.  She served a mission for the LDS Church to Denver, Colorado, and was the one who took me to the Mission Home the morning I reported for my mission years later.  She was briefly married in  her forties but never had children of her own.  However, she was much more than just an aunt to her many nieces and nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews.  Famly was everything to her and she loved nothing better than a family gathering, especially when music and singing were involved.  Aunt Marie was blessed with a beautiful singing voice.  She joined the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in 1954 and sang with them for 27 years!  We loved to watch General Conference Broadcasts and looked for her, always sitting in her same seat.  I still remember the summer evening she took me with her to a choir rehearsal and introduced me to the organist in the tabernacle.  She had a way of making everyone around her feel special by taking an interest in their lives. 

Marie also performed in many plays and musicals.  One memorable performance was as the "Pink Lady" at the Promised Valley Playhouse.  She wore an elaborate pink costume adorned with feathers, fur, and jewels and sang beautifully.  As the years passed, she retired from the choir and spent a number of years caring for my Grandmother before she passed away.  Whenever I spoke with her on the phone or visited, she always wanted to hear about my family and our latest news. 
This past December (2012), I received a call from my Mom with the news that Marie, who had been in a nursing home for the past few years, had taken a turn for the worse and was not expected to live much longer.  Marie was my mother's only sister.  My husband and I drove to Southern Alberta two days later, picked up my Mom and made the 12-hour drive to Utah to bid farewell.  We spent precious hours at her bedside that night, singing to her and remembering good times together.  She was unable to speak, sedated by the pain medication but did acknowledge our presence.  The next day, she slipped into unconsciousness and gently passed away.  She was 84 years old. 

I am a runner.  Running enriches my life in many ways.  It keeps me sane.  It keeps me healthy.  And training for a race gives purpose to my runs.  So, just a month after my Aunt's passing while looking for a half marathon to run, I discovered "The Pink Half Marathon".  Imagine my delight when I found that this race is a women's only race.  A race in Utah.  And a "Pink" race!  The perfect race to run in memory of my favourite Aunt.

So, in October, I will be making the long drive from Alberta to Utah once again.  I will run for Marie, a beautiful "Pink Lady".  And I will remember. 

FAMILY

Thursday, July 4, 2013

We had such a blast down at Payne Lake Lodge this past weekend for our  Neil Harker family reunion.  It is hard to believe that our family has grown to 28!  (11 of whom are 4 and under!!)  It has been a few years of incredible blessings as the babies have arrived, even in twos- Matty and Royall's twins Rhett and Harland just turned one and started walking, and Matt and Karen's Tommy and Laura are two months old now and truly miracles.

(Neil is holding Tommy and Laura, and Harland and Rhett are in the background)
We arrived Friday evening, in time for Leah Lorna to take family pictures.  It was a little crazy, with the kids so excited to see each other, but also hungry for supper and tired from the drive to the Lodge.  They were really good sports and we got some good shots of everyone.  It is definitely time for a new family picture on the wall, so it will be fun to see the group shots Leah did.  Karen and Royall did an amazing job of organizing the reunion so that everyone had assignments for a meal and various activities.  There was just enough planned events and down time, and the meals all turned out great!  Lissa did a huge pot of oatmeal for Sat. breakfast with all the toppings. Everyone loved it.

 

Saturday we spent in Waterton- skipping rocks by the lake, having lunch, and playing at the splash park.  When nap time arrived for some, they went back to the Lodge and the rest of us had free time in Waterton.  Neil and I went for a walk down by Emerald Bay, had ice cream at the Big Scoop, and then drove up to the Prince of Wales to relax in the beautiful lobby.  (I had a little nap on Neil's shoulder) 

(Me, rejuvenated after my little snooze)

One of the favourite activities at the lodge was canoeing in the little pond.  We all had fun paddling about in the water.

On Sunday, we went to Mountain View for Church, then home for pizza and yummy barbequed ribs thanks to Russ.  Neil took the older kids on a nature walk while the younger kids napped.  (except for Bonnie who got to go along in the Moby wrap!)

Jenna organized a talent show for later in the afternoon, and everyone participated in that.  One of the biggest hits was Neil doing his "broken wrist" trick. 

Monday we cleaned up, packed up, and drove down the road to Hillspring for the Canada Day Parade.  It was a perfect parade for a bunch of little ones- short and sweet, with horses, firemen, and lots of candy!

We all loved it!

It is a precious thing to have a family who appreciate each other, help each other, and love being together.  It takes a certain amount of tolerance, forgiveness, and patience on everyone's part and I am grateful to have the amazing children and grandchildren I do.  And above all  the father and grandfather of them all my sweetheart Neil. 

All 13 grandchildren!  Precious every one.

Tennessee!

We had the best time down in Knoxville, Tennessee this past week.  Neil was invited to give a seminar and lecture down at the University of Tennessee there, and Tom Mueller, who invited him, extended the invitation to me as well and also offered to have us stay with him and his family in their beautiful home.  What fun we had as we drove up into the Great Smoky Mountains, experienced College football at its finest, sampled some delicious food (fried catfish, bar-b-qued ribs, and smoked turkey), and felt welcomed with true Tennessee hospitality everywhere we went. We left 25 degree weather and arrived home in Calgary to snow!  Oh well, it was still great to be back home!

Thanksgiving

I have so much to be thankful for.  This was brought home to me this weekend as I visited my parents down in Coaldale and was also able to visit three married children and four beautiful grandchildren in Lethbridge, and stop by Calgary to visit another married son and his delightful family.  It is such a blessing to be a mother to such fine children, married in the temple and raising children in the Gospel.  It was general conference weekend, so we were also able to hear the counsel of our prophet and apostles, raising their voices in clarity, love, and inspiration to all within the sound of their voices.  We visited the new Calgary temple and felt the spirit there.  We ate delicious food.  We enjoyed beautiful fall weather and marvelled at this beautiful world.  I feel blessed.

Pics to prove it!

I just wanted to post a couple of pics to prove that yes, I did actually do part of this race.  The 12K bike ride into Banff, and (most of) the run.  So here they are.  ( if I can figure out how to actually post pics on this site!)
This bike pic is pretty awesome because:
1. My hair is in its usual "I just got out of a freezing lake, yanked off my wetsuit and swim cap, and threw on a bike helmet" style.
2. My bike jacket is actually blowing in the wind!  (That's how fast I was going!)  OK, it was a really fun downhill section where everyone else was all focused and down in the aero position.  But not me!  I was smiling for the camera. 

Blood, sweat, and tears on the tri course- part Two!

So, at this point you are probably wondering "what about the blood?". I did forget to mention that they also poked my finger to check my blood sugar.  So there was a bit of blood.  My blood.  And some tears.  Not many,though.  I don't tend to cry in front of strangers.   And now we come to the "sweat"!  This is the exciting part.  This is the part where I walked up to T1 all dejected thinking I would have to call it a day and ride the shuttle to Banff in defeat.  BUT when I got up there and put on my shirt and bike jacket and looked at my race number just waiting to be put on, I DID put it on.  I remembered what the ATA official had told me down in the medical tent.  He said I could have just done the shorter distance anyway, and just been DQ'd but still have my time.  I didn't have a timing chip.  I could do anything I wanted,  I was a free agent.  So what I decided to do was ride the 12k super sprint distance back into Banff on my bike, rack it at T2, and then do whatever part of the run course I felt like.  And that's just what I did.  I had an awesome, mostly downhill ride back into Banff, racked my bike, and then proceeded onto the run course just like I belonged there.  I took a bathroom break at T2 and ate a gel, too.  The gel didn't sit quite right, though, so I was back with tummy issues.  I saw Neil, though, right at the start of the run course.  He was so happy to see me and of course oblivious to everything that had happened.  I just called out, "I didn't do the whole thing!", and kept on running.  Kind of running.  Jogging at best, mixed with walking.  At 2 points on the course I just crossed the street instead of doing the little loop, so I probably only did 4k of the course, but I was only out there to experience the run course and feel like I'd done all I could.  I felt nauseous the whole way but just took it really easy.  At one point, a couple of blocks from the finish line, a runner came up and said, "Do you want to run in with me?  I'm going really slow". But after about 100 meters I had to let her go on because I felt like throwing up.  Very sweet of her to help.  I came to the finish chute and jogged in.  Sweaty.  A little teary.  Glad I was able to do what I could do given my awful start to the race.  So In spite of my disappointment with this race, I am so grateful for so much.  The awesome volunteers that assisted me on the swim course.  Those fellow athletes that helped and encouraged me.  All the spectators in the town of Banff that cheered me on to my "unofficial" finish! And my stalwart husband who stands by me and supports me in every possible way.  Including loading my bike into the car and driving me home while I slept.

Blood, sweat, and tears on the tri course

Today was a first- a DNF in a race.  I had always thought that would be pretty much the worst thing I would have to endure as an athlete-albeit a very recreational one.  I won't  say it was fun, but I survived to tell the tale, so here it is!  The story actually starts way back in Jan. 2012 when I decided to sign up for a triathlon I've never done- a fairly challenging course in Banff National Park here in Alberta.  My brother has done this race and said it was beautiful! So I signed up early to get the discounted race fee and proceeded to set up my training program.  First, however I needed to keep up with my training for the Ogden half Marathon in May.  No problem, since my training for running events always includes water running, swimming, and biking as cross training along with my weight training days.  My training and race went well- the half marathon was awesome! I had a few weeks of easy recovery workouts  and then proceeded to train in earnest for Banff.  The weather here in Alberta this summer was just awesome for training, especially on the bike.  Some summers can be so cool and windy.  So I kept up my running, biking, and swimming.  In July my daughter got engaged and set the wedding day for Aug 24th, 3 weeks before my tri,  which made those weeks in between pretty crazy with Wedding plans.  But I forged on and only missed a few workouts the week or two before the wedding and the actual wedding week.  After the wedding, I was pretty tired.  I felt so drained of energy.  I had to cut back on some of my longer bike rides and runs.  My local swimming pool closed for maintenace, so I had to travel farther to swim.  I did do 2 lake swims in preparation for the Banff swim in Two Jack Lake, which went o.k.  I don't like lake swims.  I am pretty intimidated by open water even after completing 5 open water tri's in the past few years.  I especially don't like cold water, which of course the water in a National Park up in the mountains is pretty much guaranteed to be.  But I like a challenge, too. Last Tues., I started to feel a little "off"- my tummy felt unsettled and I basically had no appetite.  By Wed. afternoon, I was hit with a full blown case of the flu, complete with chills, body aches, nausea, and then a fever.  I spent most of the day in bed on  Wed., and Thurs. morning as well.  I didn't feel like eating at all, but tried to keep my strength up    with diluted Powerade, water, and a little soup.  At this point, I didn't think I would be able to  compete in Banff at all, but wanted to stay hydrated.  I just kept hoping for a quick recovery.   Thurs.was the last day for registrations in the triathlon. The deadline was noon.  I thought I would e-mail the race organizers to see if I could switch my registration to the shorter distance-the super sprint.  Instead of a 500 meter swim, it was 300 meter. The bike was 12k rather than 25, and the run was the same-5k.  That sounded doable to me at that point.  So, I started packing all my equipment and readied myself for the super sprint.  I was excited about it.  It was a distance I was pretty sure I could do, even given my low energy after the flu bout.  Friday morning I checked my e-mail one more time before my husband and I started packing the car, and there was one from the race directors informing me that it was too late for any race distance change-I would have to do the Sprint.  Ahhh!  I was so frustrated.  But I was feeling a lot better on Friday, so figured we would go ahead and make the drive up to Banff and hope for the best.  I was eating a little more- toast and soup along with clear fluids.  But my tummy was still pretty iffy.  So, 3 days of basically fluids instead of carb-loading.  A very critical error, I came to realize later.  The drive to Banff was beautiful.  The mountains were shining in the sun.  It was 25 degrees C with a forecast for today of 26!  We drove up to two jack lake after I checked in and got my numbers and swim cap, along with my various bags for all my gear.  I had a little swim in the lake, and it actually felt pretty good.  Cold, but not too bad with my wetsuit and cap.  We drove the bike course, all 25k of it and it was here that I wondered if I would have the energy to climb those mountain hills and then run 5k.  I knew I would find out soon enough, though.  We found a nice little pub type place for a little supper.  Neil had a meat pie but I still only felt like soup.  We enjoyed a soak in the Hotel hot tub before going to bed.  It was a lovely soft bed and I actually slept pretty well until around 5, then mostly a laid awake thinking about the race until our wake-up call at 7.   Then I got busy putting on my trisuit,bike jacket, and runners and packing up my bags for the two transition areas.  Breakfast was a complimentary buffet at the Hotel, but I only felt like eating a little yogurt and a piece of toast.  (is there a pattern here?). So, Neil dropped me off at T2 where the busses picked us up, the he went to his meeting for the volunteers on the run course.  I made a friend on the bus-krista from Calgary, who was doing her first triathlon today!  She was pretty nervous about the swim, so I gave her some tips and told her she would be just fine if she stayed calm.  I helped her get her wetsuit on so it wouldn't restrict her breathing, and she helped me with mine too.  I ate a banana, since the gel I was planning to eat didn't seem appealing.  Then we walked down to the lake and got ready for our wave to start.  I got my cap and goggles on, and got way over to the right where I like to swim.  The horn went off, and I was swimming!  From the start, it just  didn't feel right.  My breathing was regular but too fast.  I kept getting out of breath..  I started  thinking about the long, difficult bike ride ahead of me when I completed the swim.  I just felt weak  and shaky.  Lightheaded and starting to get dizzy.  I was probably just past halfway when I flagged down a kayak and held on.  Once I got hold of the edge, I didn't want to let go.  I felt like it was my lifeline.  The volunteer in the kayak was calm and reassuring and told me I could hold on as long as I  needed to.  At that point, I started to shake and said"I can't swim any more".  I was done.  Weak.  Shaky.  Finished barely after I had started.  The volunteer waved over a rowboat, which came over to pull me out of the water.  All I could feel was relief that I dodn't have to be in the water any more.  The volunteers in the boat were great.  Supportive but not overbearing.  They took me back to shore where I could report to the medical tent. I felt so disappointed.  After all my training for this race, and then to have it end so abruptly was hard.  They gave me a chair and a blanket, checked my pulse and had me put my head down for a while.  There was a young man beside me who had done the whole swim without a wetsuit.  He was suffering from hypothermia.  He couldn't warm up.  They ended up getting him in the ambulance.  I realized that the race was over for me.  I had to fight back tears.the nurses told me that when I felt ready I could go up to T1 and catch the shuttle back to Banff .  They took off my timing chip.  
(Now go to Part Two- the exciting part!)