Our next adventure

As I might have mentioned Hubs and I are starting our foster parenting classes the month of June in combination with that we are doing our first charity fundraising walk/run.

Walk Me Home is the signature fund-raising and awareness event for foster care in America. We know not everyone can be a foster parent, but Walk Me Home is a great way to support the over 513,000 children in foster care. This year thousands and thousands of walkers will participate in Walk Me Home events across the country, raising funds to support the life changing programs and activities of foster care associations throughout the United States.

The link above will take you to our page where you can join our team or donate. There will be a "donate now" button over there =====> soon. Hubs is working on the coding as soon as I get off the computer.

You can also "virtually" walk with us.

With foster care and adoption so close to our hearts we want to make sure that we take the time to share it with our friends and families.

If you don't feel that a monetary donation is something you can do please feel free to support, cheer, pray and share our story with others along the way! We are grateful for any support on this journey we can get!

FCR, Hubs and Team Blaisdell

Hendersonville Classic 5k

I need to start off by saying that due to catching up with life after the Country Music 1/2 Marathon I have not been training the way I should have been. Due to the heat and humidity and my failed attempt at a recovery run just after CMM 1/2 where I ran longer than I planned and got dehydrated and heat exhaustion I have not been running in the humidity like I should have been.

I have not foregone training completely I have just been enjoying the oh so cool waters of the pool.

Not only have I adapted fartlek training for the water I have been adding to my swim distances just about every day. I'm really bad at recording those but I am trying to do better.

The jogging in the water in tough! Not to mention the squats and pull ups. Not as easy at one would think it should be.

All that work in the pool has paid off. Today Hubs and Mom B and I ran the Hendersonville Classic.

My goal was 45 minutes, not only would it be a PR but my fastest 3.1 mile run. The first mile went as expected just running out the kinks and as I explained to Mom B making my body realize that this was not some cruel joke and that I was going to continue to run for 3.1 miles.

The humidity was a bit of a factor but not as much as I expected it to be. Wore my new Swiftwick 12 olefin's and did not have to do the usual mid mile one stop and stretch.

The first mile was at a 17 minute pace which seems to be the pace that my body wants to settle into. At least this race was a consistent 17 min/mile pace.

The results look like this: I finished 41 out of 43 keeping up with the I refuse to be last mantra, Hubs was 11 of 11 and Mom B was 14 of 17, we all had new personal records. I am just amazed at how well Hubs has done since he broke his leg in January. Again according to most doctors he should still be in physical therapy and a brace of some kind. We are continually amazed at how fast he healed and how fast his recovery has been.

41 FCR 52:43

11 Hubs 42:11

14 Mom B 50:54

I even had enough gas at the end to run hard to the finish line. I call it "both feet in the air at the same time finishing" I know it seems like a silly goal but it feels so good to have that much left over at the end. Now I need to work on getting 2 minutes shaved off that time. I would love to have a consistent 15 min/mile pace by the race in September.

Till Next Time,

FCR and Hub's

Not running any races in June

Hey there FCR family. I just wanted to let you know that training will go on but Hub's and I will not be adding any races to our schedule for the month of June. We are starting PATH (parents as tender healers) foster care parenting classes.

This is something that we have been working towards for more than a year now. The timing is finally right and the classes are at the right time and when we can be there.

Please remember us as we embark on the first step of this journey that will the be platform for adoption.

With hope and love and prayers,

FCR and Hubs

Number One and Two on Google Search!

Okay I'm really excited!

I don't know about you but I like to google my website and see where it is in the Google search. I know it sounds really silly but I want this blog to be a place where other can come and find some comfort, some inspiration and knowledge that there are other people out there dealing with the same issues and the same doubts.

If you go to Google and search "diary of a fat chick running" the top two results are this blog the first is an active.com link to this blog and the second is the actual blog.

I am really excited about being able to be found at the top of the listing.

I know silly but it really means so much.

FCR and Hubs

Goals, Dreams and Summer Racing.

Okay first of all Middle Tennessee is beautiful right now all this rain has made everything so green, but I could do with out the humidity.

I know I've been off radar for a few weeks since the flood. As I've said before life in the FCR household moves fast.

I'll be updating the 2010 race schedule soon, just trying to find that fine line between what we want to do and what we can do. It always seems to be a tricky balancing act.

On the immediate schedule is a race on Memorial day called the Hendersonville Classic. This is going to be a really fun race for several reasons. Mom B, Hubby's mom is going to be running with us. We are doing the 5k portion.

We are still talking about the RC Cola Moon Pie fest. It's one of those really fun races, but not sure if we can handle the hill, but if we don't race we will be going to cheer on our fellow HRCer's

The influence of one person is amazing. Hubby and I started running now Mom and Dad B are walking every morning. Hubs sisters have also started walking downtown on their lunch break. Not sure if this is related or not but his brother is running and has lost 40lbs and is planning on running the Seattle Marathon. We are so stoked that this is something we can share with our family and friends.

This journey is really amazing. Especially since I stepped on the scale today and I'm down to 255.8 I finally broke the 260 mark that has been plaguing me for months. Just 6.8 pounds to the first 50lbs lost. I'm so excited.

Now that the American Cancer Society Relay for Life in Hermitage is done for the year. I can get back to running and training and preparing for next year's Relay.

It was a really neat experience, and I'm really looking forward to being the logistics chair next year since I will have time to prepare all year long and not just two weeks.

Till Next Time

FCR

My disappearance....

We did not fall off the edge of the world, but the creek did rise 10 or so feet above flood stage here in Nashville and surrounding areas.

The water has been devastating many have lost all they own and are in the process, the ever long process, of dealing with clean up and FEMA.

Unfortunately you may not have heard much about the waters. None of the major national media outlets picked up the story until 4 or 5 days after the city and much of the historical downtown area was already underwater. We have had no visit from the current sitting President. To our knowledge no out of state groups are coming in to help us out. We being the Volunteer State are standing on our own two feet sloshing through the water and picking up the pieces. After 80% of the flooded areas in the county I live in had been surveyed the damage is at an estimated 1.6 billion dollars, that my friends does not include the damage to the Opryland Hotel, Grand Ole Opry House or the OpryMills outlet Mall.

In pondering why this has not been on the radar of the nation we Nashvillians noticed, people were not leaving the state in droves, they were staying and helping rescue others from roof tops of houses and the tops of their cars. There has been no looting, there has been no large crime sprees or outbreaks of violence. We are doing what needs to be done to get dug out and cleaned up and taking care of.

Our family has been extremely fortunate other than being stranded at the house for a couple of days because the access roads were flooded we are safe and dry. I will say tho that one of the water treatment plants was flooded and the other is only running at about 56% capacity which means we are on water conservation orders, cooking and drinking and small amounts of hand washing only. Our water supply so far is still good and are not on boil orders as some of the surrounding area are.

Both parks where we do our training runs have been decimated. The Shelby Bottoms area where I competed in my first 1/2 Marathon is also in the same state.

Friends and fellow runners not in the state of Tennessee please pray for us that we can get dug out and on our way to recovery.

Till Next Time

FCR and Hubby