I run, you cheer. Pretty clear, right?

This post is a request that anyone I know get up early on a Sunday morning, drive to Minneapolis, and cheer for me while I run 10 miles with thousands of other women! Sounds fun, right?!

In less than 2 weeks I will run my first 10 mile race at the Women Run The Cities (WRTC - http://www.womenrunthecities.com/) event. The race begins at 8:00am Sunday, September 25th. The Start Line, and more importantly the Finish Line, is at Minnehaha Falls Park just off of Hiawatha Ave (Hwy 55) in Minneapolis.

I have been running at least one 5k each month this year, and my goal is to complete one a month for the whole year. It is truly with the support of my friends and family that I've kept on pace (pun totally intended!) to accomplish this goal. In addition to pushing myself at these monthly races I've registered for additional runs as well. This 10 mile race is by far the longest race I've ever accomplished. Even my running in Ragnar was not quite like running this 10 mile race.

It is because this will be such a challenge for me that I am asking people I love to get up early and come cheer me on! The people in my life have been so supportive of me all year long and I'd love to see familiar and smiling faces along the way, and at the Finish Line!

If you're like me, then you'd be interested in cheering at a couple places throughout the race route. To help you figure out approximately where I'll be I've put a pace map at the bottom of this post. My goal is to run 11:00 miles, with an overall finish time of under 2 hours. These mile markers (the numbers circled) and the times at the bottom right are just an opportunistic estimate of where/when I'll be.

Who: You and me
What: Cheering and running (respectively)
Where: Minnehaha Falls Park and on the West and East River Pkwys http://www.womenrunthecities.com/WRTC-CourseMap2009.pdf
When: Sunday, September 25th at 8:00am
Why: Because you love me and I'm a wee bit crazy!
How: With all my might!
My plan is to have Hot Hubby take me out for bacon and eggs after the race and the more the merrier!!!

I'm a big kid now

Last week I found a sock. I found this sock under a bed. This bed is in our guest room, and the sock was a white bootie with a pink toe and heel. I knew immediately that the sock belongs to my sister. For those of you who know me well, know that my older sister is one of my closest friends. And for those of you who know both of us, know that she moved into our home earlier this year to separate from her husband.

I'll cut to the chase and tell you that her separation story has a happy ending. She and my brother in law are doing great back in their own home. As I like to tell people who ask how they are doing, "They are fighting like normal people do." Her story of this journey can be found on her blog (specifically during March and April).

But my story of this sock is a little different. I saw this sock, and was hit with a wave of memories. Memories full of tears, memories full of laughter. See the sock was a reminder that my sister came to me when she was in desperate need of support. She looked to her little sister to be a shoulder to cry on, a voice of reason, and comic relief. And during the time that she stayed with us I was forced to grow up quickly.

There have been other times during my life that I was forced to grow up quickly. Seeing the lone sock under the bed reminded me of some of those times:

• Like the time that I was 11 years old and my sister was in a car accident. I was brought to the funeral home to help pick out a coffin for my stillborn niece. Grew up fast there.
• Or what about the time I wrote a letter to my 8th grade English teacher about how awful my mom was to me. My teacher ignored my cry for help and I was forced to grow up and deal with my mom on my own. Grew up fast again.
• There was also a time that I finally had enough courage to state an emotional boundary to my parents and I let them know that I no longer wanted a relationship with my mom. It took courage to look at my Dad and let him know that I wanted her out of my life, but that I still wanted to build a relationship with him. I grew up so fast when his response was "It's either both of us or nothing."

The sock reminded me of a lot of things. Most of all it reminded me that I'm not the little girl I once was. Instead, I'm a woman... still growing up.