Boston Marathon Recap

For most of my life, I have heard about the Boston Marathon. Both of my parents were marathon runners and my mom found out she was pregnant with me after running the Boston marathon (she lovingly says she cried for weeks after finding out about me because she was in the best shape of her life. Ha! I took all her mojo. Sorry boucha!). Our local paper did a pretty cool story about it that you can read here. In 2012 a little a year after having my daughter, Isabelle, I decided to do it. I BQ'd in Nashville (3:19) and set my sights on Boston. I showed up to Boston ready to run. Boston had other ideas. It was a record setting 87 degrees and after 24 miles of fighting hard, I was pulled off the course due to heat exhaustion. Super bummed. I spend about 4 hours in the ER and then finally finished the course in a sad 7.5 hours. That was my first Boston. But I knew it wouldn't be my last. 

After the 2013 bombing, I knew I had to go back. So in 2014 I set my sights on qualifying again! This time I did it in my home town race, The Route 66 Marathon. I set a new P.R. (3:10) and won! Read more about it here. 

I promise Tulsa is beautiful. This is the ugliest part of it. It's also hilly. So don't listen to people when they call us flat. That's rude. 

 So, so sick while crossing this finish line. Thank goodness, the photographer is a friend so he photo shopped me and gave me a little color. I was grey. Grey skin is not a good look for me. 

Winning a marathon was always on my "bucket list", but I wanted to break 3 hours much more. I was trained to break 3 for the Tulsa Marathon, but life happened and I got the stomach bug the night of the marathon. It was BY FAR one of the hardest things I have ever done, but I was so glad that I did it and happy with a 3:10. 
After recovering for about a month. I started my Boston training. I will post about what sort of training I did to execute this, but it was my favorite way to train. #Lamecliffhanger

My sister, Mom, and Myself. 

 Oh, Hopkinton. How I love thee

Before the race even started, I was feeling all sorts of Deja Vu. In 2012, all anyone could talk about was the weather. This year, I woke up in Boston and all anyone was talking about was the weather. The cold. The rain. The wind. How could we run up heartbreak hill with a headwind gust of 30 mph? That wouldn't be possible. Once again, I felt the sub 3 hours slipping from my fingers. Then I got pissed and said "Screw it. I am trained. I am not scared of failure. I am an Okie, so there is NO WAY I am scared of wind. Plus, I love running in the cold." So, I started the race with a calm confidence. I planned to take out slower than originally planned, but to pick it up when I got half way at the Wellesley girls. 

My first mile was by far my slowest. 

Here are my splits: 

Mile 1: 7:25- I wanted to take out conservative...but not that conservative. There was nothing I could do about it. I was stuck in the crowds. There was no way around it. 

Mile 2: 6:57- Better, but I still wanted to be at a 6:50 pace. Still fighting crowds

Mile 3: 6:45

Mile 4: 6:48

Mile 5: 6:50

Mile 6: 6:40

Mile 7: 6:46

Mile 8: 6:51

Mile 9: 6:37

Mile 10: 6:51

Mile 11: 6:49

Mile 12: 6:47

Mile 13: 6:47

Mile 14: 6:42

Mile 15: 6:47

Mile 16: 6:46

Mile 17: 7:02 -Hey there Newton Hills 

Mile 18: 6:52

Mile 19: 6:39

Mile 20: 6:57

Mile 21: 7:06. -Damn you Heartbreak hill

Mile 22: 6:37

Mile 23: 6:44

Mile 24: 6:42

Mile 25: 6:36 - I started to get a little nervous that I wasn't going to break it. I felt great. Better than I've ever felt in a marathon, but I could NOT get around people. I was fighting the good fight, but I was stuck. 

Mile 26: 6:38

The last .43: 5:46

Over all time: 2:59:29. I did it! I broke 3 hours. Not by much, but I wasn't complaining. Boston made me earn it that day and I was praising God that it had finally happened! 

"Today was a good day" - Ice Cube

I'm going to be honest....A large part of the reasons I do marathons is because beer tastes better after a long run. Plus, I can drink lots of beer and not get fat. #carboloading

For this trip, we kept my daughters at home. They don't appreciate watching people run for hours and hours. In the words of Isabelle, "Watching people workout is not fun." I agree. But I pray that I will one day run the marathon with both of my daughters. Because that's just bad ass. 

Thankful

Thank you for your concerns. We are safe and were fortunate enough to watch the storms pass over us. My heart breaks for the families who lost everything in the tornados. I can't imagine waiting to pick up my child from school and waiting all night. The thought alone is paralyzing. Like you, we huddled around the tv and hugged our girls a little tighter as we watched the devastation.
Prayers are needed. Okies are strong, resilient and God fearing. I couldn't be more proud to call it Home.
Text "Red Cross" to 90999

Here we are!

I missed this here ol' blog! Life has been speeding by and I am ready to sit back down at my computer and freeze time for just a bit while looking through my camera.
We have been adjusting to the new life of a family of four. Life has been amazing, but good Lord I'm tired! Berkley is doing great and Isabelle is a perfect big sister, which has made this whole transition easier. Berkley is slowly coming off her medicine, which can make for a rough couple of days, but other than that she is such a happy, sweet baby!

I had such a great day celebrating Mother's Day and I was given the precious gift of sleep!! (Thank you again, Mr. T and Berkley. You guys are awesome.) As soon as I woke up, I was greeted by a naked toddler wearing a tiara and sparkly shoes....Motherhood is awesome.

We did go visit Berkley's birth mom, M, which was great. Mother's day is such a day of celebration around here, but after visiting M, I realized how painful of a day it can be for a lot of women. For M, it is a day of regrets, brokenness, and pain. The look on her face when she saw Berkley broke me. She knows that she made a great decision by giving Berkley a home that she couldn't provide, but it still hurts. She has done the most selfless, self sacrificing thing that I have ever witnessed and it breaks my heart. She loves Berkley in a different way than I could ever imagine and I am so glad she does.  She will always be Berkley's first mom and we are so happy that she didn't take the easy way out. We will always love her for making that tough decision.

Me and my gals

Oh man, my heart just explodes for these two. 

I left her alone for ONE minute and the princess fairy placed a crown on her head. That's what big sisters are for, right? 

My little baby has become the best big sister that I could ever imagine. She makes me forget what it was like when it just three of us. She instantly fell in love and included her baby siter in EVERYTHING. 

Our first family hike.

 

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Parental Rights

We have had quite the adjustment with a family of four. Berkley is doing a ton better (thank you for all your sweet words!) and we are loving the adjustment, but change is always a little tough for me. Do you know what makes a newborn adjustment awesome? A baby that only wakes up ONCE during the night. It's awesome. I think we are finally getting payback for her (literally) screaming for 2 weeks straight. She is now eating a ton during the day and sleeping it off at night. She is still tiny, but she is growing strong. We went for a 3 week checkup to go over her medicine routine and she weighed a whopping 6lbs 2oz. She's tiny but mighty.

 Through all of this, we have been trying to keep Isabelle's schedule normal. She does swimming lessons on Saturday and that has become her second favorite thing to do.

 Her first favorite thing to do....hold her sister.

 Thank God for grandparents. Mr. T's parents came in town so we could enjoy a night out with country music (Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley) beer and a little alone time with my hot date. Perfect.

Tomorrow at 10:30 Berkley's birth mom will stand in front of a judge and sign away any rights she has for Berkley. I am terrified. Not that she won't sign them, but I am scared for the emotions she is going to have during that time. I can't imagine doing a more selfless thing in my life. Her strength amazes me. She has been seeking professional help for her addictions and she is doing awesome, but she is also tons of support. We hope to be that support for her and we hope that she lets us.

So What!

 

This week I am saying So What!:

 

-That I haven't slept in a little over 2 weeks. My eyes are officially blood shot, but we get to take our little lady home from the hospital TODAY so that makes it all worth it.

 

-I need to buy Visine for my bloodshot eyes, but I have a weird thing with visine and I think that only pot heads buy it and I don't want to be judged when I go get it. I am no pot head, although my eyes would tell you something different.

 

-Mr. T and I have tickets to see Miranda Lambert on Saturday and we are so excited about it! Hopefully a night away is just what the doctor ordered.

 

-I am still trying to get on the whole "Downton Abbey" bandwagon. I am getting better with it, but still not seeing the hype. However, I do want an english accent and a giant castle. With electricity please.

 

-That I am all out of SO what's! My brain is working at about 50%, but hopefully I will be back in full force soon!

Day 6

Sunday started out perfectly! Mr T. And I left the hospital after a night with Berkley and went to pick up Isabelle at my moms house for some church. It's a really weird feeling being at church with one of your daughters while the other daughter is stuck in a hospital bed. We needed to keep our lives sort of normal for Isabelle and Sunday means donuts and church to her, so we tried to focus on the positive and do our Sunday thing.
Church always feels like such a "safe place" and this Sunday was no different. After a great service, we headed out for a nice run. Throughout this entire stressful process running has become my meditation and peaceful time. I will definitely blog about that all later, but I will say that I have had some awesome experiences on my runs lately.

Anyway....after a great Sunday afternoon we headed back up to the hospital to check on our gal. We were immediately brought back to reality when the nurse said that Berkley didn't have a great morning and her score was a 12. (They score her a few times a day for withdrawal signs. The lower the score the better. We walked into the hospital at a 12-14, but lately we had been at 2's and 4's. So to get a 12 again, after 5 days, was devastating.)

They decided to put her back on a medication that might make her sleepy, but then she wouldn't be uncomfortable. Thankfully, that has worked! Last night her highest score was a 6 and today she has been around 1! She is more alert and eating great and slowly gaining weight. She is a fighter and has reached EVERY goal that the doctor has set for her.

The doctor said that he wants to watch her a few more nights, but that we should be able to go home by Wednesday! Such great news!
We are not out of the clear quite yet, and once she comes home she will continue a detox plan until she is completely off of all medication, but we are just ready to have her home again!
Thank you for your prayers and support! I cannot thank you enough!! 

 

We have been doing a lot of this lately. Holding/ipad-ing. Mr. T is watching every Shark Tank that's ever been made and I just started Season 1 of Downton Abbey. (I have only watched 2 episodes and I'm not hooked yet. Don't you worry though... I will give it a little more time!)

Day 4

We are still in the hospital. She is not doing so hot when the methadone wears off and so they are giving her some medication to help her sleep so she's not awake and in pain. They will wean her off the sleep medication before she can go home.
Mr. T and I took a break last night and went home to sleep while my mom stayed with Berkley at the hospital. It was a nice break, but we were ready to get back with her!

Isabelle keeps asking when Berkley is coming home because she can't come visit her while she is in the NICU and I have a feeling Berkley is ready to be home as well! We are praying for a speedy recovery, but we definitely don't want to leave the hospital if she's not ready. Thank you all for your sweet words and support! For more pics, follow me on Instagram at: anotherstepmel