Friday, March 30, 2012

Dare to Dream

I’ve been debating on things to write about, sometimes I think of 10 different things at once and then struggle at picking out which story to tie into the specific day activities and trainings.  I think to touch on these stories with dad we can categorize depending on which sports season it is as I think we will be able to cover most of them until the time of the race J  Since today is my LAST ‘official’ Blue Thunder basketball practice we can still touch on basketball as well as the Girls NCAA tournament going on which reminds me of basketball camps with dad.
(I’ve got a few training days to play catch up on as well)
            Wild Wednesday update with the kids, I did play full court a little bit with the kids so we could play 5 or 5, don’t worry I don’t try to score too much on them and only enjoy rebounding over top of them every ONCE in awhile.  I can’t help it; I’ve never been able to be the “Tall” one on a team!  I also ran about 2 miles that day to get at least a little run in.
            Last night (Thursday) I ran for 54 minutes while chatting most of the way with Holli on the phone.  Thank goodness we understand each other while breathing hard!  I ran along the road while making sure I get to the “next mailbox” up goal.         
            I realize sometimes I believe I take for granted the ability to dream and assume that anything is possible.  When growing up the Tennessee Lady Vols was and still are a powerhouse in women’s basketball, Pat Summitt was a household name.  I had more orange clothing then any person needs in their wardrobe.  I wanted so badly one day to play for the Lady Vols, as any young athlete aspires to do in their favorite sport and school.  I can never name a single moment that either my mom or my dad ever told me “That isn’t going to happen”; they rather said “What are you going to do to get there”.  I never questioned the opportunity I just knew I had to work and sacrifice certain things to reach this goal that I had set for myself.  Yes, I’m well aware I’m short, I’m from the “middle of nowhere”, nobody has ever heard of “Ritchie County”, you’re from a small school, etc.  I heard all of those comments from others, but not once did I ever hear “You can’t” from my parents.  I never realized how valuable that was until later in life.  I’ve seen many approach situations with sentences start with “BUT…..” and I feel like I was taught to approach situations with “HOW WILL….”
            Through high school we still had these aspirations; maybe I started to realize the difficulty in the dream still.  However, for a few summers my dad and I packed our bags and headed to Knoxville, Tennessee and I attended the Tennessee Lady Vols Elite Summer Camp for Players.  I had Kelly Jolly and Chamique Holdsclaw as my counselors and coaches which at that time was one of hopeful player’s dreams.  It was just one of the many miles of road trips  traveled with dad to reach the next basketball destination.
            Now for those who know me, know I didn’t end up attending the University of Tennessee J  However, even if Tennessee wasn’t on my top 5 options (or top 100 at that), it still opened the doors for numerous other opportunities through the dedication of reaching for that dream.  I still attended a Division 1 school on a full ride basketball scholarship all because I never knew that the odds were really against a small town short basketball player because my parents never let me believe otherwise. (I also look back now that I’m older and realize the sacrifices they made for me to be able to pursue those dreams)  We were raised that you are in charge of your own life, your own decisions, your own opportunities, and that’s why I’ve never truly doubted the odds of this challenge with the NYC marathon….I can make anything happen (and I will).

One of my best AAU Friends Kelly and I with Pat Summitt
Center Court


Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Wild "Blue Thunder" Wednesdays

I’ve joked about my little basketball team having such “Wild Wednesdays” since the start of the season.  I don’t’ know what it has been about Wednesdays but they usually act like they’ve eaten 100 pixie sticks full of sugar before entering the gym and bouncing off the walls.  They even ask me themselves if they are all “nutso” today.  I’m almost sad to say today is our last regular “Wild Wednesday” practice because Saturday’s game is our last of the season.  I didn’t think I’d enjoy all this as much as I have so now I’m not certain what I’ll do without them.  We have a surprise planned for them next Wednesday to celebrate our teams season but you’ll have to stay tuned for that J  I guess after seeing how much I enjoyed all the kids it’s a good indication why my dad has enjoyed coaching all these years as well as both parents being teachers. 

            Monday we had a hectic schedule and I wasn’t able to actually get much of a run in.  We had to be at a Boy Scout banquet quickly after work so I’ll hopefully call it my “off day” running for this week.  However, the banquet was about individuals who are involved within the community and highlighting them for things they have done, and I couldn't help but think of how appropriate it was with things going on with me right now. Other people's stories always influences you to be a better person and realize there are always opportunities where you can do more for others.
            Yesterday (Tuesday) we went to the track meet here in Ripley to watch a little bit of a small quad meet they were hosting.  I almost hate to say this, but I never realized how sorry I should have felt for putting my parents through that J  Not actually “RUNNING” in the track meet sure puts a different perspective on attending one, sometimes I forget how much actual “dead time” there is at a meet for a spectator.  I was also usually the kid who runs the races that practically started the meet (3200 meter) and sometimes finishes the meets (4x400 meter relay) because being a distance runner they spread out those events for recovery time.   I think I partially felt the way I did because sitting in the bleachers not participating made me actually feel lazy and guilty watching other people do all the running. 
            We left a little early because I apparently I started to feel so guilty for not running I had to make sure I got home in time to actually run J  So with enough daylight to spare I ran on the trails around our house for about 30 minutes, I’m hoping to get a few long runs back in later in the week to play a little catch up on mileage.  I’m just trying to get a “base” of mileage going right now since it’s been awhile since I actually trained for running. Hopefully soon I’m hoping to get more of a structured training plan together still with the time we have before the marathon.
            I tried to go through some pictures I had with me to touch on dad coaching us when we were younger in basketball and I found a few of these.  I know there are more so I’ll be sure to locate them and share in the future.  But with my kids little basketball league ending soon I thought this would be a good thought for dad today J
I’ll end on a quote today…Since dad loves quotes and always wrote them on things he distributed to his players….I’m going to keep searching for fitting ones for him J
"My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me." -- Jim Valvano, Basketball Coach
Tommy (Blue Shirt) and Dad (Red Shirt) were the coaches, Thats Me in the very front with the ball (I was the manager, and yes very aware I have pink socks on haha)  Tara is in the front row all the way to the right.  (Sorry Kelly you weren't old enough for this yet)

Me and Mendy with a Little Cardinal Award we received I believed when dad was our coach. We were always inseparable on teams.  (Yes I'm aware I'm going to be embarassed by some of these younger pictures) :)

Monday, March 26, 2012

Weekend full of Cake!

We had a great weekend!  I was looking forward to work being over on Friday with all this nice weather we’ve had it’s hard to have to be indoors!  We had a fun basketball practice on Friday to get ready for Saturday’s game and the kids were ready to run their new plays.  They also had to update me on all the gossip of the game for Saturday with the other team’s game plans discussed at school. 

            I actually took Friday off from running as my foot has been bothering me a little bit and figured a day off of running was ok at this point with past mileage.  I did play some with the kids so that may count for something J  I also worked on some projects and cards to get ready for a few of the little craft show events coming up I’m hoping to use to help raise a little bit of money with a portion of things going towards fundraising, so I still ‘did something’ towards this which is my daily goal.
            Saturday we had the 10am game.  The usual ref couldn’t make it this week so I offered to help ref the game before ours, and I didn’t realize what I’d gotten myself into.  I’m a pretty analytical person so most situations I found myself stuck at figuring out what a good “give and take” of calls might be.  You can’t call every walk and double dribble or the kids wouldn’t really get the chance to play back and forth.  Sometimes I’d feel like the kids may have fouled with a reach in of some sort…but yet the kid that was fouled I’d let walk/double dribble to get there so I was stuck sometimes as to when to blow the whistle.  Apparently Brock thought it was entertaining because I guess I would call a foul and then tell the kids I was sorry.  When he told my grandma this story later in the day, she chuckled and said “Refs never told you they were sorry did they?” I had to laugh and say they might have a couple times,  I remember at Williamstown one year I had 4 fouls quickly, and dad told me if I fouled out I’d be walking home.  Later on after I was out of high school I had one of the refs tell me that story and laugh and say they all honestly figured they’d have to give me a ride home that night.
            Our Blue Thunder scored another win with Saturday’s game and it was exciting that several of the kids scored during the game so the points were spread out..  We did sneak in a few shot opportunities for our 2 kids that haven’t scored yet…The play "Chicken" worked pretty well and the ball rolled around the rim about 5 times before it decided to pop back OUT of the basket…so we need to figure out a new trick there.  The other play (Mudpit) worked well too and our little player caught the ball and even made a few nice passes during the game, his highlight was he made a basket during warm-ups shooting the ball the RIGHT way (not a granny shot) and that smile was enough to make the rest of the day great no matter what.  He said “coach we were feeling it today weren’t we”, so he “knuckled bumped” with me and kept on going. 
            After the game on Saturday we picked up a cake my friend Brie made at The Tasty Cupcakery here in Ripley for Dad’s little birthday party we had him.  She couldn’t have created and come up with a more fitting cake that touched on all of dad’s favorites J  Even better, it tasted as good as it looks!  We had a fun day with everyone there and Carter (my nephew) providing some entertainment with his famous embellished stories and Sophie (my niece) showed off her new jump rope tricks.  I took Saturday technically off from a long run as this foot and IT band just doesn’t seem to like me right now.  The officiating of the game and the long walk through the woods adventure with Sophie hopefully count, the hills on our trail behind the house def count for something! :) 

            Walking on the trails with Sophie reminded me so much of high school Cross Country.  I grew up on 72 acres (none of which is “farming” land), and when I was in high school we created our own little cross country course at our house.  On Friday’s we’d usually come to the house and run through the trails in the woods there and finish off with “Pitt Night” where we’d roast hot dogs and all the highlights of a good old cookout.  I’ll have to share more of those stories sometimes as we had lots of laughs and pranks at those practices, but I couldn’t help but want to run through the woods but Sophie quickly reminded me “her shoes would get dirty” J 
            We stayed in Ritchie County Saturday night and on Sunday morning I went for a run down the back roads behind our house.  I ran for about 40 minutes between the gravel roads and some softer ground.  It was so nice and peaceful that far behind a main road and running next to a creek didn’t make me think too much I was even working very hard to actually run.  It made me wonder if Central Park will be this peaceful during the final stretch of the marathon? J Another highlight of this weekend was a donation my Grandparents gave me to start the fundraising kick off so I’m excited to just keep building on it! 
            Dad and I’s joke this weekend was when he tries to spell things to me on his ABC chart Sophie made him it tends to be quit comical. (He can’t speak so the chart helps us communicate with him sometimes when we can’t understand his words)  I’m a terrible speller…as well as him being a terrible speller so when we are working together on this project we usually end up just laughing.  Several times Brock yelled across the room what dad was spelling while I was standing there confused.  Dad then started to spell something with “I D”…  and I cut him off and said dad if this next sentence is telling me I’m an idiot than you’re in trouble!  We started laughing so hard I’m not even sure we made it through that sentence. 
            222 days till the marathon J 

All of Dad's Favorites On One Cake :)









Since Dad LOVED to cut all the grass that consumes our big yard he had a cupcake display for that :)