Couch to ATHLETE!

I'm fairly certain that I have written about this before, but here I go again... Every good story has a beginning, middle and end. The reason I enjoy a good movie, a good book, etc. is because there is always a conclusion! When I was first diagnosed with MS, I got increasingly annoyed by the statement "at least you don't have cancer." OK, I get it, MS is NOT going to kill me, but there isn't really an ending to my MS story. Really, there isn't an ending to anyone's MS story because there isn't a cure and it isn't fatal. With cancer, there is an end; not always favorable, but some sort of conclusion. What does this mean? Every day, I get to wake up and acknowledge that it is just another day with MS. Why? Because being diagnosed with MS is 'til death do us part'... although admittedly I'll forever be poking around for some sort of conclusion to my MS story. I need to acknowledge that 90% of the time I am no longer bitter about the fact t...

I'm not a big Ed Sheeran fan. As a matter of fact, when I hear his songs come on the radio I'm fairly quick to change the station, and along came  Thinking Out Loud,  and my Ed Sheeran disdain subsided. It is kind of like my relationship with Bruno Mars... I am embarrassed to say that I like his music, but am not embarrassed by the creativity and thoughtfulness of the lyrics. This is where I should mention that Ed Sheeran was not alone in writing  Thinking Out Loud . Amy Wadge, a songwriter, helped write this song. The opening lyrics of the song immediately spoke to me. When your legs don't work like they used to before... Boom! I'm intrigued. And so I listened intently... It turned into a love song about the world of unconditional love. Life experience has taught me that unconditional love/friendship does not come along daily, and so when it does, it is a true gift For those of you who have a chronic disease, doesn't matter what disease, you will likely understand ...

It has been a very long time since I have posted, to say I have been uninspired would be lying. The truth is that I have been watching this deluge of negativity floating around facebook about slow runners and I have been wanting to say something, but have been afraid that I was reacting without much thought, but I think I'm ready to get it out. This post is a letter to the slow runner, because I am one of the slow runners who has been discouraged. Dear Slow Runner, You may have noticed that races have been limiting their course times, which may inhibit your participation. I want to tell you to not be upset about the race limits! It is something you can strive to overcome when you are ready! I also want to tell you that there are races all over the country that will meet your needs, go and find one of those races, and do that race! Also, once you find one of those races, don't forget to go and cheer on the people who are running the race you initially planned to participate...

Yeah, OK, so I took a short break, but for good reason. I've spent the last two weeks organizing my life. When I say I organized my life, I mean I cleaned out every cabinet, every drawer, every closet, every spot in my house. It is pretty amazing how one can walk in their house and it just feels lighter because of purging so much stuff!!! I'm thinking it is time to identify my goals for the year: Glass City Half Marathon - Toledo, Ohio - April Soldier Field 10 miler - Chicago, Illinois - May A MS ride in DC - Somewhere in Virginia - I just need to identify a ride and talk a few people into this - June-ish or August-ish Hike Pikes Peak - In Colorado - July or August Besides those goals, I have some other 'life' goals that will take precedence, like my house. I'm working on getting everything that is broken fixed. This weekend I started the bathroom, thanks to my bestie... Slowly and surely it will all get done. I will soon be back to the story telling....

It has been a couple of weeks since I have posted on my blog. I'm taking a break until the new year. I did, however, want to take a moment to wish my readers a VERY Merry Christmas!!!

It has been almost a month since I last posted. I was being all thankful during the month of November and now I find myself 4 days from Christmas and I am again feeling thankful. Thankful for my friends and family, thankful for my home and my cat, thankful for everything. I have fallen off the training wagon until about a week ago, and fallen off the healthy wagon months ago. I guess I have fallen off the blogging wagon too. This is where I acknowledge that I am going to take a break from blogging until after the new year. I wish you all the most delightful Christmas!!!

I was blessed with participating in meaningful volunteer opportunities at a young age. It all started with confirmation hours in eighth grade... I went on every trip to the soup kitchen and the Christmas wrapping days, I also signed up to help people with disabilities participate in recreational activities. And so began my first lesson on people first language. Perhaps you have heard of it? It is that whole idea that when you are introducing or talking about a person, you should always address them by name first. So for instance, if I were talking about my favorite TV show, and I wanted to talk about Max and his disability, I would introduce the topic by saying something like: Max, the boy with asperger, NOT: the asberger boy Max. This language has become so common to me, even writing the second statement makes me extremely uncomfortable. So, I was having a discussion about how people hang flags in front of their houses, or put bumper stickers or messages on the back of their cars. We ...