I haven't blogged in awhile, I mean to. However, every time I try to type something it isn't something that should be read by everyone. I have SO much built up, yet not all is appropriate to share, even though writing seems to be my perfect source of self-help therapy. So now I am finding new ways to regulate myself. For instance, Mark bought me oil paints and the 'special' paper to go with it. When I saw this I was so excited! I thought of all of the things I could draw and paint... funny thing is, that was three weeks ago...haven't touched it yet. I also said I'd start playing the piano again....haven't touched that yet either...unless you count dusting it! ;)
Life has been crazy, I definitely have been placed in situations where I have questioned the people that are in my life, how my life is so different than others, and how good I truly do have it. I truly am blessed to have my loving family and amazing friends.
As I sit in my classes I often get tangled in thoughts that go through my head. I am learning so much, learning so much to the point my head could honestly explode. I have always enjoyed school, I have always loved learning so I'm glad I'm enjoying this journey of my life. I find myself laying in bed late into the night thinking about what I learned in class and how it relates to situations going on in my life, this process isn't good for someone who doesn't have time for insomnia!
A couple weeks ago Mark and I got the opportunity to go back down to Boone, Iowa for the DMACC alumni game. It was honestly the greatest feeling in the world to be back down there to see all of the guy's as well as some of the parents whom I spent much of my first 2 years of dating Mark with. It was such a bittersweet feeling to see them all out on the field playing with each other again, smiles lit up that town of Boone that weekend! It felt like home again to all of those boys and I cherish the memories of those 2 years, as well as the memories created that weekend. It is neat to see how far those guys have came and how their lives are changing into the process we now call "adulthood" !!
This past Saturday my best friend Ali and I ran the Mankato Marathon, I tell ya what an experience that was! As I added another 1/2 marathon for the books, Ali created her first one for the books. I can honestly say I have never had such a bonding experience like I did with her while we trained for the Marathon. I have always considered her to be one of my best friends, however this process brought us even closer. I remember as the weeks narrowed down for this some of our friends bet me that she would bail. To be completely honest, I had my doubts. As it came down to the final days before the Marathon she was getting cold feet, any excuse you could think of I think I probably heard! haha! my favorite was on the way down to Mankato and she goes "I have to call my dad" so she calls her dad and has a conversation with him but all I remember was "Hi dad, so I'm on my way down for the marathon with Kayla, and I'm calling you because my heart hurts, is that bad?" Her dad then asks her medical questions (after all he is a doctor) my favorite line was "Ali, you're fine, what is your resting heart rate?" we died laughing, Ali then goes on "well I don't know, what's the average? because I'm sure its higher than that" as they continued to talk he wished her luck and told her he loved her. After she got off the phone she told me "I really can't do this!!"
NO ALI! You're not backing out on me now. Our car ride there was so much fun, reminiscing about my memories of Mankato, and all of the crazy things I did with my friends. When it was time to fall asleep we were dead set on going to bed early, as we climbed into bed at 10:30pm we stayed up till about 1- 1:30 am dying laughing. I'm pretty sure all Mankato could hear our laughter. I honestly doubt I will ever laugh that hard again. Wait, scratch that...we laughed on our way home too!!
The morning of the Marathon was beautiful, we couldn't have asked for a better day! My parents came down to cheer us on, however if you know my parents, they don't really "CHEER" like some other people's parents do. My parents cheers consist of "GOOD JOB" other than that, I'm not really sure what they cheered...haha! Ali insisted they bring a wagon to stroll her through the finish line. While they didn't bring one, she never needed it! When we started the run she was good, she seemed super nervous but once we got going she was fine. We even got passed by a 80+ year old man at mile 4 we laughed so hard! We both pulled out our iPhones to snap a picture of him too!
There's our guy! hehe he's so cute!
There's our guy! hehe he's so cute!
At mile 7 we saw a sign that made us laugh it said "trust your training" (lone behold I found out that she NEVER ran when I couldn't run, so basically she ran Wednesday's and Sunday's) at mile 11 we got pushed by a grandma running which made us laugh again. The best laugh was going up this stupid hill at the final mile, it wasn't a steep hill but a steady hill. All I remember was Ali looking over and just busting out laughing. She goes "we look like 90 year old grandma's trying to get up this hill" literally we did! Our form was terrible, we were crippled over as if our bodies couldn't take it. Once we hit the finish line Ali had the biggest smile on her face, she then asked "so are we doing this next year?" Mission accomplished I have a marathon buddy for life now!! YES!!!
I have never been so proud of someone in my life, well minus my brother. But I felt like a proud mom. I was so proud of Ali for how much she doubted herself, and told herself she couldn't do this....she did it. She did it without WALKING! We NEVER walked once. We finished 2:21:13 to be exact! I truly am proud of her and couldn't have asked for better memories than the ones I've had with her through this whole process!! However, she sure was feeling it the next day, which I knew she would! She still claims it was the "greatest experience of her life""Racing teaches us to challenge ourselves. It teaches us to push beyond where we thought we could go. It helps us to find out what we are made of. This is what we do. This is what it's all about."
-PattiSue Plumer, U.S. Olympian
-PattiSue Plumer, U.S. Olympian
That is all for tonight, I hope this finds you all well!
-Kayla
