Relaying For One Life

As some of you may know, Relay for Life was held May 20-21. Team Terry's Baristas was one of the most loyal to the cause. We were one of 8 or 9 groups that stayed past 10:45 and were the only ones walking after 1:00am. We all really enjoyed the experience for what it represented and were PROUD to be the for Terry Cordle.
On Wednesday, May 25, 2011, Terry lost his battle with Lung Cancer. It is so unbelievable that this was that same man that single handed chopped down a 40 feet tree in his back yard last summer. For over six months he fought cancer as hard as he could but now he is gone forever! I have known Terry for the around 20 years, since i was a little girl and only allowed to called him "Mr. Cordle" We've laughed together, talked about life and love, about his time in the war. About family and friendship and i think even a little about heaven. He was truly a dear person to me. Like the the Uncle i never had! I piece of heart with have him in it until the day that i too die and meet him in heaven. May God Always be with you Terry!  And if you will a moment of prayer. 
Dear Lord, Thank you time you gave us with Terry. Thank you for showing us, through him, what a kind and loving spirit can be. Please be with us all in our time of need. For those who grieve for Terry and for those who grieve for there own loved ones. In this day and age some many things turn our lives up side down and backwards. Help us to find strength in you. In your name. Amen.

Jamie

Getting on with it!

Every feel like your standing at that bottom of huge task, just a little afraid to start forward? That is exactly how i felt as early as a week before the race. Tons of anxiety and not just a little regret. That is where Mary comes into to play. She is my motivator! My dreamer friend who's positive outlooking is always major inspiration to me. We went and walked the course on the Wednesday before the race. I was feeling a little better but still not "excited" like before.  I hadn't been working out, i been stressed about money and work, weight gain and everything else that women worry about.
The day of the race came an it was clear we out numbered. Those that were ready to race and us. We were trying to help each other stay hyped up but i could help but get the feeling that everyone that helped sign us in and give us our shirts were looking at us with pity. Minutes before the start the were young me sprinting all over the place. There sixty mile an hour dashes were enough to make me want to crawl back in the car. But who was kidding. This is all for a good cause and "HELLO" were here to have fun.
Ready, Set, Go! We were off and jogging with everybody else. If only it had been a race to the red light only 50 yards away. Just past the red light was the first hill on our list. it was bad but it was straight up. The crazy thing was Mary's soon attack. She could breath. She was still walking on with me but i could tell she wasn't feeling right. I kept trying to encourage her to breath deep and pump her arms and all that crap nobody wants to her when they are seconds away from stroking out only 100 yards into a race. But i didn't know what else to say, so i smiled and praised her efforts.  At the top she gained control of lungs and down the road we went at a slow trot but excited. It was at our next walk interval that we realized was were being trailed. How is this possible you say, you guys were the slowest. Why yes were were! So slow in fact that a cop car was LITERALLY escort us through the race. I"m sure he thought that morning would be a twenty minute breeze of tailing some juves around clock tower. Instead he ended up bumper to heel with two staggering sacks of potatoes. Poor guy. I over heard one of the water giver outers encourage him to stay vigilant so he didn't accidentally fall asleep and run us over. Well somewhere around the trip past the good ole Rome News-Tribune Mary starts talking about needing to throw up. "Oh Mary, you can't, not in front of a police officer!Just keep breath and moving, you can over come this" I won't repeat what the reply was. But she didn't get to feeling better and after the first mile of the trip we off to a good start.
At one point in the race you cross over a very busy road and an officer was holding traffic for us and our cop car pulled ahead to ensure our safety. Let me say this is a very good thing that he did. Not three days before when we were "practicing" the course Mary almost got me killed. I was walking along, prepared to stop at five lanes of traffic and wait for the light (and texting) when Mary yells, "We can go now!" I'm looking down texting and thinking alright, i'm with you. I get half out in the road only to see a GIANT black SUV barrelling down on me. It was time to (whats the phrase) "Fish or Cut bait". Boy i started hauling it across the remaining three lanes as fast as my little legs would go. Horn blaring as the vehicle went flying past us at break neck speed. I can only imagine what they thought. (Oh i hate this song, kids stop fighting, crap there goes my coffee all down my shirt, is that my phone, where did i put that things, I need to clean out this purse, HOLY CRAP THERE'S PEOPLE IN THE ROAD!!!!)
So any ways, We stumbled and stumbled and stumbled. And then stumbled on some more. So where through the cop decided we were going to slow to get hurt and left us and we round the RN-T again and then it was time for Clock tower hill. Up up up up up we went hurting all the way! We were so out of shape. I can't believe we quit training. What a disappointment. At the top mom was waiting to get a great picture of us passing by clock tower, i was to tired to really smile for the picture. It's probably for the best that and moment she clicked the camera she in actually hit the off button or something and managed to only get a picture of a white trucking that was passing by moments later. Moms are great!   All and all though we did great. We managed to bet our last race time by a solid two minutes and i LOVE the t-shirt, it is going to look so good in my 5k t-shirt quilt. (On an aside, did you know that it takes over 60gallons of water to grow enough cotton for one t-shirt. That's ALOT!)
After we finished i felt so sore for days and felt discussed with myself for not training and eating better. Because of that i was determined to stop letting life stress me out. And my new motto has been "I may not be able to control what happens to me in this world, but i can control what I put in my mouth!" As a result, in less that two weeks i have lost 4 pounds+ and have really good about our up coming Relay for Life.
May we all find motivation to achieve what we need to do and not just what comes easy! God bless you all! I love you Terry Cordle, The Next Race is for you!
Jamie

Run for the World....or walk!

Our second 5k was one week ago, last Saturday. This 5k was in Downtown Rome and it was for a local church. We had gone a few days before and walked the course, so we would know where to go and what to expect. I was so glad we did that! We didn't rush, just walked and chatted. It was also very nice b/c we had not been able to get together and work out in awhile. We have a usual Wednesday work out routine and the week before (On Wednesday) was when we had the bad storms.
    I personally did not feel as prepared for this 5k as the first one, but I don't think I realized that fully until we were in the race! There were not as many people at this race as the last one. They also had a Fun Mile so there were a lot of families. That was cute and my kids have been wanting to do a race...maybe next time!


   We get started and we are going uphill, everyone takes off running...including us. Almost up the hill and I start having difficulty breathing...and then it gets worse and I am wheezing. I am thinking to myself "how can I be having an asthma attack? I don't have ASTHMA??? It did get better once we topped the hill. I was scared, I have never experienced anything like that and I am planning on talking to My Dr. about it...so I can continue running...walking/running. I also failed to mention I had woken up with a migraine and taken one of my migraine pills...which are strong. I ate a little bite so I thought it would be OK. I will never do that again. Once we reached our mile mark I started getting nauseated. They had water stands set up and I was scared to drink anything...Jamie knows that is NOT like me. I am CONSTANTLY drinking water. I was afraid to have anything on my stomach. This went on for a little while...and Jamie was talking me through it. As usual, she was my cheerleader. I was being a GROUCH. I just honestly wanted it OVER. Oh...and did I also mention we had a COP car trailing us? The runners were ahead of us and we were walking...so we were at the back. That was irritating as well.
   We had a personal photographer! I will have to upload some pics. Jamie's mom came and took pics of us and would show up at different points along the way and that was really cool! The awesome part was seeing her when we got to Clock Hill Tower. Anyone from Rome knows how steep it is at that point and we had just made it up the hill and there she was cheering us on!! Thanks DONNA!!
   From that point on, things got better for me. I was feeling better and I knew the finish line was getting closer. Our PR was just to beat our last time...which was 46 minutes.
   We crossed the finish line at 44:44! Even with all the obstacles we still beat our last time and PR! I was instantly happy. My mind was already racing...we need to work out more, be more dedicated, commit to 3 to 4 days a week and stick to it. That is the most difficult part. Working full time, being a mom and a mom to kids in activities, it is challenging. I will say we can do this, meet here, etc. and things just seem to pop up and get in my way!
   I did see someone that I knew at the race and she WON her age group and beat her PR. It was motivating to see her do that! It makes me strive to keep going on the path I am.
   Above everything, thanks Jamie! Thanks for being by my side! I really don't think I could do this without you. Can't wait for our next one! Time to beat 44:44!!