Judah meeting his Grandpa Great. Clarence's birthday 10/31/03

We, and when I say “we” I mean my little family of three, packed our car and headed east on the night of Friday, May 21. We spent the night in Pittsburg, Kansas with my Grandmom because her home was very close to the hospital Grandpa Clarence was in.
We woke on Saturday, May 21 (the day the world was to end, remember?) and made plans to take the trip to the hospital as the doctors planned to take out the vent by afternoon.
We arrived at the hospital. Connected with Kenton’s grandmother, Evelyn, his mother, Sandy, and his 16 year old brother, Jonathan.
Grandpa Clarence stood a small chance of holding his own oxygen once the tube was removed. However, he had to be conscious before they could perform the procedure. For nearly two weeks prior he had been sedated and it was taking a long time for the meds to wear off. It was decided that they’d wait until Sunday, May 22 to remove the tube. This would allow him more time to come around and be alert.
In Grandpa Clarence’s few moments of consciousness he communicated with us through blinks and responded to us when we asked him to move his fingers. Perhaps the most hopeful part of the day was when my little man, a 7 year old, came in to see his “Grandpa Great.” Clarence’s eyes lit up and he performed better for our little Judah than he did for the doctors. Judah rubbed his hand, talk to him, and acted so brave. Honestly, I stood in the corner like a coward because I can’t handle these situations well. Judah told his sleepy great Grandpa goodnight and we eventually checked in to a hotel for the night.
The next morning, Sunday, May 22, I woke and went for a short run to a local gym. The gym offered free passes to hotel guests. I wanted to ride a bike and did just that. I planned to run back but Kenton needed to get to the hospital, so he picked me up and dropped me off at the hotel. I stayed with Judah and Jonathan while Kenton joined his mother and grandmother for a trip to the hospital.
Just around noon the doctor removed Grandpa Clarence’s breathing tube.

Receiving word that Grandpa was off the vent at 12:07 PM

Due to the good news that Clarence was breathing on his own and holding steady, plans changed. Grandma Evelyn needed to make plans to stay close to the hospital for the week while Grandpa hopefully improved. Grandma lived in a city about an hour away and was without her car. Long story short, Kenton was going to sit with Grandpa, Jon, Sandy, and Evelyn were going to drive back to Evelyn’s house and get her car. Once they got back, we were going to return to Wichita.
The troops took off and that was that. Judah and I came to see Grandpa once more. Judah was again great with him. He helped give Grandpa wet sponges as his mouth was very dry. He talked to him, showed him pictures, and he even played his video from his piano recital for his great grandpa.
I stepped out to make a phone call to my family as they were very curious about Clarence’s status. As I called I saw the lobby TV explain that the entire region was expected to get strong storms and severe weather later in the afternoon. I even left that detail in the message on my Dad’s voice mail.
“Looks like we’re going to get some bad weather this afternoon, that should make going home interesting.”
As my 16 year old brother was going to be driving Grandma’s van back I felt I should warn him about the pending weather. So I sent him a text.

Warning my little bro-in-law about the weather at 1:36 PM

I left Kenton to sit with his Grandpa and took Judah out to lunch. After lunch we went to the mall. We goofed around for quite some time. We were using up tokens at the arcade and then planning to head down the street to Target, Judah had a gift card he wanted to spend.
Kenton called me while we were playing ski-ball and told me he wanted to go ahead and leave town. His mother, grandmother, and brother were about 20 minutes or so away and his grandfather was asleep. Kenton said he was drained and thought it would be just fine to go ahead and go.
I explained we had a few tokens to blow and then we’d be right there. Judah and I took our sweet time. We even took a different route back to the hospital, a more scenic route. While we were sight seeing, Kenton sent me a text.

Driving to pick Kenton up from the hospital at 4:32 PM

Yes, I sent that text while driving. I’m sorry.
I had asked Kenton to check the radar before he left the hospital. I knew it was predicted to storm and the sky had grown completely cloudy.
I pulled up to the entrance of the hospital, he got in, and told me the radar looked ok. Apparently it just showed some thunderstorms and we were fine.
Good enough for me.
We headed out of town. I needed gas and a Diet Dr. Pepper. I began to stop at the first gas station I saw and Kenton told me to keep going. “The one further down has better soda.”
We got gas, I got a soda. I listened to the ladies in the station mention the bad weather coming. One woman even said she was going to pull her car under the port to protect it from hail damage. I thought we were ready to roll, but Judah wanted a drink too. So He and Kenton went in as it began to sprinkle.
I was in the driver’s seat as I wanted to give Kenton a break from his long, taxing day. Once everyone was squared up, we finally took off for home. I asked Kenton to send my Dad a text and let him know were were coming home.

Letting my Dad know we were leaving town at 5:07 PM

I didn’t notice my Dad’s response because it had really started raining as we got on the highway.
You see we weren’t just hitting any old spring storm on May 22, 2011. We were hitting the beginning of the storm that produced a multi-vortex EF5 tornado. We were driving out of Joplin, Missouri before it was destroyed. Grandpa Clarence wasn’t just at any hospital, he was on the 7th foor at St. John’s, the one that took a direct hit.

The rain dumped on us and then the hail hit. I could no longer see where I was going. I pulled over under a tree along tiny, two-lane highway 171. We turned up the radio, attempted to hear what they were reporting about this storm.
Not really knowing where we were, the locations given for the path of this storm weren’t helping much. Baxter Springs was mentioned, I knew we weren’t there. Joplin was mentioned and I knew we were just outside of Joplin. Now the questions remained.
“Do we stay under this tree? Do we turn back? Go forward? What do we do?”

We later realized we were on Highway 171, by the Carl Junction exit

It appeared to let up a bit, so I got back on the road and kept going. I was wrong. It started dropping golf ball sized hail and I was driving blind. I found another tree and pulled over once more. The little highway was full of cars pulled to the side. We cranked the radio, but the hail was so loud we couldn’t hear anything. I was really scared. I kept wondering when was the point that we needed to get out and duck in the ditch for cover.
I kept looking at the trees above. Being a life-long Kansan, I knew that the trees would be whipping around violently if a tornado was coming. The trees were calm. Then I freaked, “Wait, what is it about ‘the calm before the storm’?'”
Before I had time to say anything more, Kenton looked back and saw Judah. He had his knees to his chin and his hands over his ears. The poor thing was terrified.
Our parenting mode kicked in simultaneously. “It’s ok buddy!” “It’s just a hail storm.” “It sounds worse because we’re in the car.” “If we were at home, it wouldn’t even be noisy!” “We’re ok, we just have to let it pass.” “Don’t worry.”
My hands were shaking as I tried to act cool for my little boy.
Kenton finally got a radar on his phone and he decided we need to get out of there. He and I awkwardly traded seats without getting out of the car, we buckled up, and he gunned it. Our goal was just to find a place with shelter. We were in rural Missouri, there was NOTHING! We passed a “town” called Waco. It has one carport. That wasn’t good enough. He sped on as I tried to listen to the radio. The radio was saying that Joplin was in the direct path of the storm.
I feared for my little 16 year old brother-in-law. I feared he was driving into this monster.

I grabbed my phone and saw my Dad’s text. As I told him what was going on, Kenton found a gas station in Asbury, MO. We pulled under the station and finally got out of the hail. We both began trying to hear and read what was going on.

My text to my Dad letting him know about this massive storm. We just didn't know what was going on yet.

I then had to call my little brother-in-law.
I dialed his number and he quickly answered.
“HELLO?!”
“Jon it’s Lacy.”
“I’M BUSY!!! I’M OKAY, BUT I’M BUSY!!!” (click)
I told Kenton he sounded like he was in a bathroom or something. Not sure what was happening I sent him a text to clarify why I was calling.

Desperate text to little bro at 5:49 PM

We went ahead and left the car for the shelter of the gas station. We went in and it seemed as though the storm was dying down. The clerk told us we were fine to keep going west towards Pittsburg. Since it seemed that all was clear we went ahead and started driving again. It was just raining by now and we could even see sun light on the horizon. We took some deep breaths and assumed we’d have one heck of a story to tell the family later.
About then I managed to get another call into Jonathan. I wanted to make sure he was fine. I assumed he was, but I wanted to double check.
He answered. “LACY! A tornado HIT the hospital! Windows are out. The ceiling’s down in Grandpa’s room!”
Not knowing what he really meant, I asked, “Are you guys ok?”
“Yeah, we’re ok.”
Then I lost him.
We tried calling again and nothing. Kenton tried calling his mom. Nothing. I tried calling Grandma Evelyn’s phone. Nothing.
I thought I had a novel idea. I decided to call the hospital. I assumed the bad thunderstorm had messed up cell lines, but the hospital would let us talk to them on the land line.
I dialed and a panting voice answered, “St. John’s Hospital!”
“Hi, I’m trying to check on a family member.”
” I know everyone is. I don’t know. The power’s out, we just don’t know, I’m sorry”
The panic in her voice was horrible.
“Uh, ok.”
“Sorry.” (Click)
I pacified myself and Kenton by saying that she was probably worried because patients were on vents and she was scrambling to check on the generators. I even questioned her professionalism. Thinking that was no way to speak to a concerned family member. At that point, I just didn’t know.

We were going to stop in Pittsburg to get our bearings, make sure everyone was fine, and then continue home. I talked with my Dad. He said he turned to national weather and it looked like a serious storm had hit Joplin, but we were ok to keep going. So we did.

I continued to call the cell phones to try and get a status update. Finally I got Evelyn’s phone.
“Evelyn, it’s Lacy. ARE YOU OK?!”
“Yes, we’re ok. We’re trying to get Grandpa out. There’s debris blocking his room.”
(This was the first time I got a sense that more than a bad thunderstorm had hit)
“Oh, my! But everyone’s ok?”
“Yes. Have you talked to Sandy?”
(My heart sank.)
“No. We thought she was with you.”
“She was behind us in the car. She hadn’t gotten here yet.”
(With a sick stomach I motioned to Kenton to stop.)
“I’ll keep calling her, ok?”
“Ok.”
“Bye.”
As I explained to Kenton that no one knew of his mom’s location he turned pale. His first reaction was to turn around and go back.

Getting word back to my Dad at 6:30PM

Judah had grown scared once more when he heard that his MeMe was missing. He asked if he could sit in my lap as we sat at another rural gas station along the highway. I held him and we continued to dial like crazy. Just before Kenton was ready to turn around he made phone call back home to his Step-Dad, Kevin, in Wichita. Kevin answered with, “She’s OK!!!!”
We all breathed deep.
Kenton got the details and hung up.
Sandy had stopped at a gas station and was behind Jonathan and Evelyn by a few minutes. As they were pulling up the the hospital, she was driving there. As they were rushed to shelter in the stairwell (where Jon was when I called him), Sandy took shelter in the only place she could find, under a bank drive thru. A horrible place, but the only place.

We didn’t know what had really happened. No one really did yet. We were told to stay away from the area because emergency vehicles needed to get in. We just continued towards home. We knew everyone was ok and we knew we couldn’t help them anymore.

The real stroy began to unfold

This epic story goes on to tell of my sweet baby brother. The one who was 5 when I met him. Who was now a full grown man helping carry patients down the seven flights of stairs. My once toothless kindergartner was riding in the bed of a pick-up truck with his very sick Grandpa as they transported him to another location. The lego fiend, we’ll say, “scrounged” an O2 tank and a mattress the next morning so his poor Grandpa could get out of Joplin. I couldn’t have been more proud of Jonathan Russel Elliott.
And my mother-in-law, Sandy. She became my hero. She may one day read this so I must qualify these statements by stating that, I’ve always loved her. From day one, I’ve appreciated her spirit. I may not have always understood her or liked what she was doing, but I have always loved her.
But dare I say, she’s always tended to be a bit pushy. I’m sensitive and shy. Her louder nature has always been hard for me to adjust to.
My mother-in-law was supposed to be in Joplin that day. As a nurse she wasted no time helping the victims who were coming out of the hospital. She began bandaging up wounds, cleaning up tubes, and making makeshift slings. As they were transporting her father in a truck with her young son in the back, she followed in her car with her mother. When the vehicles were separated, she didn’t waste time with timidity. She flashed her Wichita USD259 “School Nurse” badge as a means to get passed “security.” When she couldn’t find her son, she grabbed scrubs and searched the ER like she belonged there. Her “pushy” nature was no longer a flaw in my eyes. I finally saw how that trait equaled strength. She was a big, bad Mama Bear out to take care of business. I only hope I would be that courageous. I loved her more after that day was through.
By Wednesday, everyone was back in Wichita. Grandpa was checked into the 9th floor of Wesley Hospital. Jonathan hated this.
“He should be in the basement!”
We reunited, hugged, and listened for hours.

I’ve cried about the what-ifs. What if Kenton didn’t decide to leave? We were within 30-45 minutes of being in the storm. Where would Judah and I been? We were on Rangeline Road. That road is destroyed. The path I ran that morning is gone.

My May 22, 2011 run in Joplin, MO. The EF5 Tornado destroyed this route.

Would I have been separated from Kenton? Would our car be wrapped around a tree? Would we be here telling this story?

All we could do was thank our God that we all ended up where we did.

Grandpa had the worst view of the storm. They didn’t have time to get him out of the room. His window’s blew, his face got cut, his bed was moved, and he was drenched by the rain. After surviving that we thought he was invincible. His condition improved everyday. He was getting ready to be moved to a long term care facilty. We were amazed. We thought we were going to lose him in Joplin.

Another storm struck our lives last week. The doctors determined his lung condition was relapsing and he’d have to go back on a vent very soon. Even after the treatments, he stood little chance of recovering. Clarence raised the white flag last weekend and said enough was enough. His quality of life was low and with heavy hearts we had to respect his wishes.

Sunday, June 12, we had what Clarence himself called a party. Tons of family, stories, laughs, and even ice cream filled the hospital room. Our little Judah bravely fed his great grandpa an ice cream sundae. Clarence let him know it tasted great. Kenton got to tell his grandfather how much he loved him and Clarence got to return the love. I sat in the corner and cried like a baby as this went on. Then Clarence turned to his oldest Great Grandson and told him how much he loved him. It was an amazing day.

Monday afternoon Clarence went to sleep. He never woke up.

His funeral is on Monday. Almost one month since the tornado.

I will miss him. I will not miss this month. I am glad to see it pass.

It has been one hell of a month. These events warrant the terms, “crazy” or “busy.”

Clarence was an amazing man that I was honored to know. Kenton valued his opinion more than anyone else. When I met Clarence he was warned that “Kenton is bringing a girl he likes.”

Clarence gave his approval of me within the first few hours. Kenton and I have been together ever since.

Goodbye Grandpa Clare.

Love, your very shy, hopes you knew I loved you even though I was too scared to tell you, granddaughter,

Lacy

Judah with his Grandpa and Grandma Great

Kenton with his Grandpa circa 1984

I knew it was coming this year and recording the final turns and the straight away to the finish line.

Oh, and my iPhone did not capture how loud that last stretch was. It was like being in a tunnel of roars.

Finishing Boston 2011 from Kenton & Lacy Hansen on Vimeo.

Geoffrey Mutai runs a marathon faster than any other human ever. from Kenton & Lacy Hansen on Vimeo.

And just think, I was only about an hour and 18 minutes away! (SHEESH! that guy is wicked fast!)

My little boy, Judah, and Kenton got to see all the top finishers, including Ryan Hall. We have a quick video of him finishing 4th place with the new American Record of 2:04:58!
I can’t believe I stole a picture with this hero just two days prior!

Our hotel was on the starting line, so the family had a great spot to watch from. They had to wait a long time though. The crowds got thick pretty early and they didn’t want to lose their spots.
I ran the whole race with my friend Nick. His parents and sisters were with Kenton and Judah. We were told, “Look left for the first American flag, that’s where we’ll be.” I spent the last 1/4 mile looking left, but so glad I found them!
Listen to little Judah’s voice squeal for me.

My cup runneth over. What a day. To run in the foot steps of Geoffrey Mutai after he ran the fastest marathon EVER in history. To follow the same path as my hero, Ryan Hall, as he set a new record. To have amazing family and friends to share that day with.
I’m not worthy of all I’ve received.

More to come….. I promise.

My head is spinning but I had to pause to show you who I saw today. The picture is blurry, but that’s okay.
I was walking through the expo and caught a glimpse of Ryan Hall and then he walked over to Josh Cox. With sweaty arm pits I interrupted them and asked for a picture.

What am I talking about? PINK. That terrible, awful color. And why am I talking about it? Because my shoe’s this season only come in pink. ….iiiccck

When I called about my specially ordered Saucony Guide’s SIZE: 10.5 – NARROW (aka: HUGE mammoth , yet thin sized), the shoe store owner warned me that they were pink. He knew my strong distaste for the color too. Seeing as it was April 1st, I held out hope all day that it was a joke. Alas, it wasn’t and I now have my very first pair of pink shoes. So, yeah, I’m dealin’ with it!

Blue’s more my thing, if you hadn’t noticed

My new shoes

So, that’s my “spoiled, cushy, does what ever I please, has nothing to really whine about” problem of the week.
 In that same vain, Here’s the link to a nice article from a local magazine SPLURGE! They wrote about my said cushy life. Oh and the author included some really nice stuff about my family.
http://www.splurgemag.com/category.php?id=82&cat=Live

April’s Splurge!

So, that’s a small tidbit into the running drama going on this month. Oh, and that I’m leaving for Boston this week. I’m bib # 8007 and can be tracked along the race.

http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/participant-information/att-athlete-alert.aspx

All the info’s at the link.

Here’s to hoping I’m all smiles (not just faked ones for the camera) as I cross the line on Monday. Even if I’m in pink shoes.

2010,  3:29 Finish

Me faking it. Really thinking “Is this real life?”

]]> http://lacyjhansen.com/Lacy/dealin-with-it/feed 2 http://lacyjhansen.com/Lacy/better-late-than-never http://lacyjhansen.com/Lacy/better-late-than-never#comments Thu, 31 Mar 2011 12:55:00 +0000 Lacy http://lacyjhansen.com/?p=228 Wow-za! It’s been so busy around here!
I woke up remembering that I forgot to draw the winners for this great book.
So, as the early morning trash trucks are rumbling down the street I’m up in the dark selecting the random winners.
I’m happy to announce that Jason N., Hannah, and Matt B. are the lucky winners of the great book,

Don’t Let Me Go, by David W. Pierce (What My Daughter Taught Me About the Journey Every Parent Must Make)

contact me: lacyjhansen at gmail dot com and I’ll get your book to you ASAP, promise!

In the meantime, here’s a really short video as we actually got to the finish line. You can hear my breathing and see just how slow we’re moving. You can also see that I’m just walking in my Dad’s footsteps. It’s a precious memory for me. 

I’ll also let you read our second attempt up the Peak. It was only one year later and it was ugly! 2008′s Ascent ended up being called off during the race due to a monstrous blizzard above tree line. We received that news about 10 miles up the trail. The only way off that trail was to turn around and go back down. Our 1/2 Marathon ended up being a 20 mile mountain hike in the freezing rain. Still a priceless memory, just not as found.

http://blog.lacyjhansen.com/2008/08/pikes-peak-descent-2008.html

2008 Pike Peak Ascent- or Descent as it were!

The Ascent proved to be a trek up a literal and metaphorical mountain for me and my Dad. It’s a treasured memory I will store in my heart for the rest of my life. I mean, how many of you have climbed a mountain with your Dad?

Finished! Smiling at 14,000+ Feet

The complete, heart felt account is found at this link. Warning: it still makes me cry after all these years.

http://blog.lacyjhansen.com/2007/08/we-peaked.html

It’s all worth it once you’re at the top!

As I listened to some great runner’s chat while we ran this winter, we got in to a conversation about a book they’d all been reading. The book is titled Don’t Let Me Go, by David W. Pierce (What My Daughter Taught Me About the Journey Every Parent Must Make). My friends kept talking about how the story made them want to climb mountains and run races with their daughters, as the book accounts the adventures of a father and daughter as they climb mountains and, you guessed it, run races together. The more I listened the more I knew I had to get my hands on this book.
I did just that. I was immediately surprised at the first two pictures I saw as I thumbed through it in the book store. They looked just like the pictures my Dad and I had taken as we journeyed up Pikes Peak.
I gave the book to my Dad for Christmas and we both have really enjoyed comparing our climb verses theirs.

I was so impressed with just the first two chapters, I emailed the author and let him know about me and my Dad. David Pierce has been such a great guy. He got back with me right away after he read my blog post. We’ve shared kind words and encouragements back and forth over the last month.
It feels like we’re in the same club. We’ve both been changed by our “mountain climbs” and our “marathons.” We both know what an unbreakable bond a father and daughter can form once they endure these things together.
If you haven’t climbed a mountain with your dad, I highly recommend it. Pikes Peak registration is open you know.
Also, if you haven’t read David’s book. I highly recommend that as well.
He was nice enough to send me 3 copies to give away.

I’ll hold a random drawing in one week. To be entered in the drawing leave a comment. Let me know about what you thought of my story of our Pikes Peak Ascent. Let me know if you’ve experienced something similar with your Dad. Let me know what your hopeful plans are for you and your Dad. There’s no wrong answer here.
I’m so excited for a few of you to get your hands on this book.

Here’s a video of all the images from our 2007 Pikes Peak Ascent

That’s a big deal for Kansas, ok?

 They were, but it felt good to get that awesome workout in so early in the training season.

A PRE shot before the Kingman Hills

I ran my normal miles the rest of the week. I felt tight in my left calf specifically but chalked it up to the hill run. I stretched more and just dealt with it.
Wednesday, January 26, was my typical morning 10 miler with some speed work. I even got creative and “Stitched” my neighborhood.

My “Stitch” Run

I had to stop twice on this run to stretch out my calf. Again, I just thought the pain was tightness and assumed some more localized attention would do the trick.
That evening I ran once more with the GoRun evening group. I complained that the “tightness” was really bugging me. After the run I stuck around for a great clinic about running drills. I had a great time ignoring the screaming pain and learning to do high knee and skipping drills.

The GoRun Running Clinic

I cycled on the non-running days and kinda forgot about the pain.
I even had a DEXA Scan done at my doctor’s office. It revealed some lower bone density levels that we’re slightly concerning for a runner, especially a female runner. All the time I was at the docs it never occurred to me to mention the pain in my calf. I just assumed it was a fluke and I went on with my scan. (It also gave an accurate reading of my body fat percentage. But you don’t care about that do you?)

My Bones and Tissue

However, by the halfway point of my 18 miler on January 29, I knew something more than tightness was brewing in my left calf. I feared the worse. The runner’s kryptonite: A STRESS FRACTURE.

I contacted my PT, Mr. Karl Glick. he told me not to run and come see him Monday, January 31.
I should have taken a wooden spoon to bite down on with me to that appointment. Once he confirmed it wasn’t a stress fracture (phew!) he proceeded to try and kill me.
While it wasn’t a stress fracture it was a nasty tear in my calf. He immediately hooked me up to an ultrasound machine and treated the “knot.” Then he used his hands to “workout the knot.” OH. MY.
I can’t think of anything more painful in my entire life. Not childbirth (eventual c-section of a 9lbs. 13oz. baby), not a stress fracture, not stitches, not running a marathon, or recovering from a marathon. Nope. Not one thing has been as painful as the therapy for a muscle tear.
I was on my belly, clinching my fist, and kicking my good leg. (I later learned that most cry and that includes the grown men. I feel that earns me some serious street cred.)
I left the office with the strict instructions not to run, cycling and swimming were okay, and to come back on Wednesday, February 2.
Thank goodness for the purchase of a trainer this winter. My butt and that saddle got real familiar this month!
I was lucky to only have to do the ultrasound treatment on 2/2/11, not hand-to-calf contact. That was a nice Groundhog’s gift! No more torture.
Karl had me schedule a massage with our favorite therapist, Nancy Korroch, for Friday, February 4. He treated me with another ultrasound and then sent me down the street to her.
She worked that pesky tear over. I wasn’t in as much pain as Monday, but sheesh! I found myself on my belly clinching my fist once more.
She also had another plan for me. She’s been researching Ion Detox Foot Baths. I got to be one of her guinea pigs. Along with claims of ridding your body of dangerous toxins, it also couples with electrode therapy. So I sat with electrodes on my sore calf, causing it to contract, and watched as my clear water turned into a swamp of supposed toxins.

Nice clean water to start

Less than 5 minutes in

About 15 minutes

The final shot at 30 minutes

 The chart showed that greens and oranges were possible toxins from my gallbladder and joints, I think. Like I said, we’re in the research stage of this product. And she figured, it couldn’t hurt to try and see if it helped the healing process. Man, it was gross to see though!!

I couldn’t run long the next day, so on Saturday, February 5, I replaced my long run with my first 50 mile spin. Whew! Even the best of shows can’t make that sort of thing fun. I watched a lot of TV that day and was so glad when the 50 rolled over on my calculator!
Fast forward to Wednesday, February 9. I’d totaled four ultrasound treatments and even was approved to give the elliptical a whirl.

Finally on my feet

But Wednesday was the real test. A bona fide run on a treadmill was on the doctor’s orders. Only 3 miles, but I took it. I felt pretty good and I got pretty eager. I felt like a caged horse, dying to run. I probably ran a little too hard, finishing up in sub 7/minute miles. It felt really good.
Wednesday, February 16: PT require a morning 5 miler and an evening 5 miler to see how the legs would do on their first double digit day. I’d been allowed to run several 5′s and 6′s since the first treadmill run, but nothing higher. All signs pointed towards healing as I finished my day’s miles with the Wednesday GoRun gang once more.
Saturday, February 19: First “Long Run” back. Ran 14 with the Saturday morning crew and reported back to PT that there was no pain, just a little tightness. He sent me on to my normal week this week and had me plan to check in on Thursday.
Thursday, February 24: “If you promise to go moderate, no hills, no speed work, and vow to shut it down after 15 miles if there’s pain, you can run the scheduled 20.”
Saturday, February 26 (Today):

No PAIN to report!

Check out what he has to say:

(Notice his celebration at the end? That was “Take 15″ of the afternoon!)

World Cup Practice

Michael Phelps #2

Blizzard of Oz, 2011

9:05, 1 Mile Oct. 2010. That’s MY boy!!

Judah and His Pit Crew!

The day of the derby it was a rare 70 degree January day, two days later it was a record low of 3 degrees and so much snow and cold that school was canceled for 3 days straight!

My Little Snow Monster!

All of this took place while my running was being seriously effected. Not so much by the weather though. The longer story, I’ll get to next is about my new adventures with a torn calf muscle. Stay tuned, it’s good one!