Kathleen's Adventures

With everything that has gone on in the past few weeks I have kind of forgotten I’m running a marathon on Sunday. Oh well, maybe its best that way. Grandmother’s service and reception went well. I enjoyed the trip up there and spending so much time with my family, it is just under unfortunate circumstances. We stayed in Stephenville which was quite entertaining. We didn’t fit in without a huge pickup truck. Yes, we were in a huge SUV, but we only had 4 wheels, unleaded gas, and no truck bed; therefore we did not fit in. We went on to Lipan Friday afternoon to meet with the preacher and get into the church to get a few things settled. We met the preacher at my mom’s cousin, Rhonda’s house. She and her daughter had redone this house and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such an awesome remodel. Wow. I was so shocked when we walked inside. I’m having them move in and redecorate my currently non-existent house when I win the lottery. Going to Stephenville is going back about 10-20 years in ti...

So after an awful day at work (funny how one person with a serious attitude can ruin someone's day) I found out from my mom that Charlie, my water ski coach from Beaumont, died last week.  I dug a little more and found out he died of a brain tumor.  We had not been in touch since sometime when I was in college.  I had always figured I'd invite him to my wedding and we could be in touch then.  I guess this is a nice wake up call that I shouldn't put off things like getting in touch with someone like I did - especially assuming I'd see whoever at my wedding.  For all I know I'm never going to have a wedding, so it was stupid of me to think that way. I am so sad right now - so sad for his family's loss, so sad that I had not seen him in so long and I did not get to see goodbye.  Sad that I will never see him again.  People need to stop dying.  Seriously.  I know its inevitable, but if I could just go for even a little while without someon...

I'm sorry for kicking that plate of BBQ in your lap 28 years ago. I hear you were wearing a nice white suit. It is safe to say you forgave me though, similar to how you pretended not to notice when we would sample all of your Clinique cosmetics and white shoulders perfume. Coming to visit you was always the biggest treat. Our first stop was usually Piggy Wiggly. You would let us all get whatever cereal we wanted. Elizabeth liked her Lucky Charms, and Benjamin says he did too. I always remember him getting Fruity Pebbles, but maybe he switched after Paul and Chris continued to pick the marshmallows out of his lucky charms. I think I got something different each time - most likely whatever Mom had said "no" to on our most recent trip to the grocery store.  I'm not quite sure how we did not get you kicked out of your apartment. We pretty much took over not only your apartment but the entire complex when we would come visit. No more than 2 guests per apartment in the poo...

Just over an hour ago I got the phone call I had been dreading for a while now.  My grandmother passed away this morning.  Apparently they had had her up and about for physical therapy and something happened very quickly - presumably a heart attack.  Honestly, I do not remember much of what my mom said, but it was something along those lines.  She had a dnr, so they did not do anything to try to save her.  She had been doing somewhat better after her fall and surgery, but her heart was probably done.  She was one month shy of her 90th birthday. I now have no living grandparents.  I guess I am lucky to have had Grandmother this long seeing as some people my age have already lost not only all of their grandparents, but parents too.  I never knew my grandfathers (one died just before I was born and the other just after I was born) and my Dad's mother died when I was in 5th grade.  I do not like the fact that I did not get more "grandparent tim...

Today I completed my biggest week of running yet - 46 miles.  It is sad I'm almost embarrassed to say it is only 46 miles, but before this training season, 38 miles was the most I'd ever run in a week...and that included a 31 mile race!  Many "real" runners would consider 40-45 miles per week as base training, but oh well.  I keep reminding myself I just need to be proud of it and not compare it to others...perhaps others like my friends Vegas and Jerry who ran EIGHTY MILES this weekend!!!  They ran 55 miles on Saturday and 25 today.  They are training for the Rocky Raccoon 100 mile race in February and successfully completed their hardest weekend of training.  We took turns setting up aid stations for them on Saturday and threw them a little finish party Saturday afternoon.  Vegas and Jerry finishing 55 miles   Finish line tailgate party My 20 mile run Saturday was really good.  The weather was perfect.  The girls I wa...

Since I haven’t blogged in forever, especially about training, this may be long. I guess its most of the “story before the story” (the story being my upcoming marathon). I realize I have my training log for this marathon, but nothing else really about my training to be able to look back on, so here it goes. It may bore you to tears and I won’t be offended if it does! Sometime in early to mid December I had a brief wave of fear come over me while thinking about the Houston Marathon – almost butterfly like, as if the Houston Marathon were something I had never done before – a new, kind of scary challenge. Then I stopped and asked myself why I would be worried about that race, considering it will be my 9th marathon (not to mention three 50ks and 4 ironmans). Then I realized that 2010 was the first year since 2003 that I had not run/raced the 26.2 mile distance – most years I had done it 2-3 times, either as a standalone marathon, a 50k, or an Ironman. 2009 was the first year I had not d...

Was I slightly annoyed last night when I got to the gym, in the rain, and had to park further away from the door than I ever have before? Yes. Was it easy to blame the New Year’s resolutionists? Yes. My facebook has been flooded with status updates of how the resolutionists are in the way, cramping our style, taking treadmills, that they don’t know what they are doing, etc. They are essentially getting in the way of routines many of “us” have had for quite a while now. They are causing us to have to do things differently –wait a bit longer, park a bit further away, pay closer attention on a crowded running trail, not get our favorite bike in spin class, or possibly not even get a bike at all. But the one thing we all know is this will die down almost as quickly as it starts, as it does every year. I am not usually nearly as annoyed at this phenomenon as some other people I hear from. Some of that could be because I’m not necessarily a regular at the gym, or the workouts I do usually a...

I think I'm about ready to meet you. Sincerely, Kathleen   Mr. Right 2. Kelly bought me Mr. Right 1 in college and my roommate's dog ate him. Its been 7 years since he was eaten, so maybe the Mr. Right bad luck is over. He also says things like "You look thin. Have you lost weight?" or "I could listen to you talk all night long," and "As always, you're right."