Afoot and Light-Hearted...

In  the early Summer of this year, I learned that a mole I had on my right leg was, in fact, melanoma.  Melanoma is skin cancer; as a matter of fact - it's the most serious type of skin cancer. My reason for sharing this with you all is that cancer and I have a history that isn't good.       My mother died from breast cancer when I was 16.       My first husband died of colon cancer when I was 24 (and pregnant!)  Those who know me understand that I am an incredibly pragmatic person - most times I can approach things in a very calm, grounded, and practical way. Friends and people I know come to ME when they need strength and comfort.   Not this time - just as kryptonite impacted Superman, cancer had already taken so much and so many from me that learning it had come for me was terrifying.  My life was put on hold and I was stuck in a moment; I cried - I was stunned.  As much as I want to tell you all that I have ...

There are people in my life that may never understand why I run and the lifestyle that I have adopted when it comes to overall health and wellness.  Remember, I ran (at least) 2 half marathons (plus dozens of 5 and 10-K races) when I was at my absolute heaviest weight of around 250lbs - I was literally the healthiest heavy girl I knew - which was a duel edge sword.  To have so much control and discipline when it comes to physical training but struggle on the nutritional side leads to so many feelings of defeat, failure, and overall depression.  When I asked for help and chose to have the gastric sleeve surgery in 2017, it allowed me to finally work to create the kind of person that I always knew I was - my outsides matched the inside 'inner beast' that I knew always existed. There has never been any shame in asking - anyone that thinks I took the easy way out remember this; I was running 13.1 at 250lbs - never forget that? WLS is only a tool and I respect anyone's decisi...

In the Spring of 2022, my husband was given a new job opportunity that had us relocate from our home for 20 years in Massachusetts to Colorado - 2,000 miles away!  Since that time, it's been quite a journey for our family and us. While our kids are pretty much grown and on their own paths, it was hard to say goodbye to the house that we lived in for so long as this crazy blended family. There are no rule books when it comes to blended families, and for better or worse - somehow we made it through to set off some pretty good humans into the world. So we put up the "For Sale" sign, packed up the house (and dogs), and drove to Colorado.  It was hard - did I mention that?  Earl had already been living in Colorado since May in order to start his new job; he flew back to Massachusetts so we could drive out to Colorado together with our dogs, Shelby and Seeley. We planned a 4-day drive in order to make sure we were not asking the dogs to be in their crate for unreasonable am...

 Over the course of my running 'career' (haha!) I've always had a dream that I would one day want to share my story in podcast form. Reason for this, you may ask? I want to remove the stigma, fear and the feeling that 'it's too late' to start running...  This summer, I've enrolled in a course to learn a bit more about creating a podcast and some of the technology that is used to do so; that and talking to some great friends that have launched their own podcasts have given me some great tools to get started.  So here goes... my Episode One of "Afoot and Light Hearted" - the podcast. It's short and to the point - just like me!

 So I ran the Boston Marathon... wow On Monday, April 18th I ran the 2022 Boston Marathon . What an AMAZING experience that I will never forget.  While I am still putting my thoughts together around the day and journey, I thought I'd try to write a bit to capture some things while they are still fresh in my head.  First of all, for those interested  - I received my bib to run the Boston Marathon through my running club - the Greater Lowell Road Runners . There is a process by which they receive bibs from the Boston Athletic Association and they award them to club members through an application/review process.   Training Plan: www.marathonrookie.com  Time to Train: Approximately 16 weeks (buffered in a few weeks for any schedule shifts due to work) We all trained in the winter for Boston - there really is no getting around that if you live in New England. Sub-zero temperatures, snow, ice, etc. - it all adds to the stress (I mean) strength of you as a ru...

In less than 2 weeks I will run the 2022 Boston Marathon . My goal for the race is to finish strong and see myself through this amazing lifetime goal that I've had for SO many years. It won't be fast and honestly, I can't even promise that it will be pretty but I will finish.   The 2-week time frame leading up to the race is called the "taper" - this is a time when you reduce your miles, rest your body, and go absolutely crazy :)  Funny, this is a time as a runner when you would benefit from a long run - but it's the time to not tax your body so you can be fresh for race day.  So - what do you do? Takedown your curtains in the house to wash, purge the junk drawer and write all of those letters you have been putting off. Since the start of the year, my time has been almost completely occupied by planning my long runs, running, recovering from the long run - oh, and eating.  This past weekend, I had a shorter run and was amazed at how many hours I had left on m...

from Russell Avenue to Boyston Street The road to the finish line of the Boston Marathon started in a small city nestled in the Hudson River Valley - Beacon, NY.  While the city I grew up in has grown up itself, as a young girl sometimes all you wanted was to be able to leave.... and I did.  Admittedly, I spent a lot of time as a young woman creating reasons to get out of gym class and being terrified to have to run. The irony of that is that now I pay money to run races - if my gym teachers and soccer coaches could see me now.  In January of 2022 - I received an email that changed my life. My running club, the Greater Lowell Road Runners, awarded me an invitational bib to tun in the 2022 Boston Marathon.  The training has been something I have not taken lightly; I've done the work and put in the time and now I have to trust in that process and know that the training doesn't STOP the pain, it teaches you how to best handle it!  On April 18, 2022, I will stand at...

 Afoot and light hearted... 3 years post WLS I'm really really bad at this personal blogging thing. As part of my role with DriveWorks, I help to contribute to our blog but for some reason my personal blog just gets set aside 'until later' - which doesn't happen but once every year (working on this!) As stated in an earlier blog post, on July 5, 2017 I made the choice to take my life and my health back by choosing to have weight loss surgery (Gastric Sleeve). For almost my entire adult life leading up to that day, I fought a losing battle to become the person I knew I was meant to be. At 242 lbs I ran my very fist half marathon - I had been running for so many years and I was what I used to call the "fittest fat girl" you would ever know. Try as I would, I simply could never get the nutrition side of the equation to balance the physical fitness side.  Once I decided to go forward with the surgery, I've never looked back nor have I ever questioned my d...

It's been 3 years since I have contributed anything to this blog - 3 years.  That's a lifetime in social media isn't it?  Wow, I've become irrelevant even to myself!!  When I started this blog it was to mostly post about running but life gets in the way and typing out 150 characters is sometimes a bit easier than composing content...but lately I have wanted to write a bit more so we'll see what happens. I get bored easily so we shall see. Let's catch up a bit shall we? March 2016 - left my job at SOLIDWORKS to join the awesome team at DriveWorks. LOVE working with this team and it's the best thing I have ever done for myself professionally (and personally if I don't say so myself!)   Working for DriveWorks allows me to work with a great company that believes in and supports innovation and imginations.   My role allows me to network with the SOLIDWORKS Community and be a part of something so much bigger...I love it. June 2016 - my daughter Abb...

Twenty years ago I became a mom. My daughter Abbey was born on December 18, 1997 - 4 months after we lost her father to colon cancer.  My job became full time mom and dad immediately.  Sole parent, sole provider, sole everything.  My village has been small but we have done an amazing job. I can't sit here and tell you it was easy - it was hard and I can remember many nights hoping and praying for sleep with a crying baby - now hoping and praying for sleep if she's out too late 😂 We have done the first day of kindergarten photos (without social media - go figure!), we've done so many firsts together and the journey has been nothing less than magnificent.  We have had of course large  doses of mishaps and comedy along the way. At times our life has been a bit like a novel that you can't put down as you are waiting to see what happens next.....well here we are. Next week Abbey is leaving to start her Junior year of school at Bridgewater State University and ...

Alas another Thanksgiving holiday is upon us - it's often a time of homecoming, reminiscing and of course lots and lots of eating! It's also time to watch - The Last Waltz. The Last Waltz was a film directed by Martin Scorsese that profiled The Band's final concert held in 1976 (if you don't know who The Band is, take a moment to Google them and then come back).  Over the course of this evening, almost 40 years ago, The Band hosted a full Thanksgiving dinner and then cleared the floor to give one hell of a farewell concert - sharing the stage with artists such as Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison among many as well as of course Bob Dylan.   If you have not watched this movie, it's often run on 'palladia' as well as some of the other music channels from time to time.  If you still want more - buy "This Wheel's on Fire" by Levon Helm and sit back for quite the story. While I grew up in New York just across the Hudson River from the To...

Interesting, over the course of the last month I have found that I have fond memories and miss some folks in my past it's not always the same feeling on the other side.  So often I have found myself trying to make others feel comfortable and make myself available for them, but it's not always the same and I end up on the other side of things wondering what happened? My life is so different now from once before - but if you know me you know it HAD to be and there had to be some changes made.  With everything that I had to go through in my earlier years, if I didn't evolve and change I would have been stuck forever just simply going through the motions and maybe never able to be the person I am today.  My need for growth and survival outweighed other things. Walk a mile....or wait...walk just a few steps where I have been and you let me know what you would have done.   The person I started out to be is not the person I am now....it couldn't be. The life that I have...

Let's talk about boobs and breast cancer shall we? As many of you may know, I lost my mother to breast cancer when i was 16 years old.  Losing my mom was hard, however, I had no idea that it was just the pre-game to what I would have to go through later on in life when I lost my first husband Rick to colon cancer while 5 months pregnant and expecting our daughter Abbey to be born.  It goes without saying that when I was say "Fuck Cancer" - I truly mean it. Fast forward if you will through countless years of dating and all of the trials and tribulations of being a single mother trying to raise a child and keep their head up high.  I did pretty good and I will indeed pay myself on the back for that - Abbey is now in her senior year of high school and hopes to become a Chef and travel the world. I have often compared my earlier years after Rick died and before I married to that of a combination of Carrie Bradshaw and Erma Bombeck...... Now as a child of someone who has...

Registered for classes to start on August 25, 2014 - new degree declared in Marketing - it's go time. When I graduated from Beacon High School in 1991 (go Bulldogs!) I went into a small, private business school and got a quick Certificate in Business and moved to Boston.   My plan was to move to Boston, get a job and register for school part time at a Community or State College...I was on my way! That was over 20 years ago. The move to Boston was great, I got jobs doing office temp work locally and was happy to get a permanent job at the local paper writing legal ads.  I registered at Middlesex Community College (Environmental Technology Degree Program) and I was on my way! At one point, I even scored a killer job working in local public health that gave me the experience and education in order to pursue a career in environmental and public health - I was going to change the world!!!!  Life had other plans for me. Shortly after I registered for school - ...

Good morning happy campers! This morning as I sat here with my first cup of coffee, I had my Facebook page open and was crafting yet another witty-yet-annoying post about how proud I am of my husband for riding in the Pan Mass Challengec for his 7th year....blah blah blah.  It just wasn't quite good enough though.  The Pan Mass Challenge deserves more than just a few witty lines on my FB page today. The Pan Mass Challenge is a 2 day, 192-mile bicycle ride that starts in Sturbridge, Massachusetts and ends in Provincetown, Massachusetts.  This is the largest fund raiser for the Jimmy Fund/Dana Farber Cancer Clinic.  This ride is truly no joke - I've done it myself just once.  Not only is the distance daunting - the first day you spend a fair amount of time climbing the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains as you start your trek.  The second day may not have as many "hills" by definition, but the small climbs coupled with the wind off of the water on C...

My mother has been gone for a long time; most that know me remember my mom very well and miss her dearly.   She passed away when I was sixteen (16) years old after a long battle with cancer.  Some days I need only look to my own daughter to be reminded of how old I was....she is now the same age I was when I lost her. Growing up in my family was not easy for me.  Don't worry, this won't be a rant about how horrible things were - because they weren't always that way.   No, growing up as the only daughter in a house full of boys wasn't easy, but as an adult with my own daughter I realize it wasn't easy for a reason.  My mother kept a fairly tight grip on the things that I did, the people I was able to hang out with and the what/where I was at pretty much any given moment.    While it seemed that my brothers could do as they pleased with little to no oversight,  I was set to abide by a different set of rules. As a teenage girl, it ...

As some know, over the last few months, I have been working through an injury that has kept me from running.  While I cannot pinpoint the actual cause of this problem,  it seemed to flair up after a night of candle pin bowling (yeah, candle pin bowling).   Me, who has trained injury free and successfully competed in multiple triathlons as well as half marathons, I get hurt while bowling. I cannot accept this as more than a theory but I have nothing more to go on..so there. However, not running was not the end of the world!!! The sun still continued to rise and set, I continued to breathe in and out - workdays turned to weekends and seasons changed.    While it wasn't ideal, I had to find other means of cardio exercise (mind out of the gutter, I got on the bike and elliptical!) As I begin to start running again, little by little and taking things very slow as to make sure I am ready - it's become clear to me. Simply put - running is not who I am...

On Friday evening I drove my daughter and her 3 friends to see a rock band play in Connecticut - just about 2 hours away. I don't mind the trip and after all it's all for rock n roll right? Well this trip got me thinking about the past shows I have been to and honestly has left me lost in a few of my own memories and missing a friend very dear to me... Sometimes it's hard to write about the past - I believe that is why I try to avoid it. My past should sometimes be left in the past as it's not who I am it's where I am from, however I don't always feel like I have had a lot of power over my past so I'm going to write what I know. In order to fully explain this situation, I should set the stage a bit. Growing up, my father was an alcoholic and my mother died when I was only 16 (the same age that my own daughter is right now to put that in perspective!) We grew up in a fairly decent neighborhood and we lived next door to the Robertson family. If m...

Some time ago when I created this blog I thought it would be a great place for me to share my running and other athletic accomplishments; that's a great idea! Who wants to read about all of it on Facebook or see a great recipe I got at a Weight watchers meeting, I'll do it all here! Great idea. Bad implementation. Come to find out that when you are busy doing all of those things accompanied by the other demands in life (family, work, school, life, etc.) getting around to blog isn't always at the top of the list. So it's been a year, or two.....maybe more. My last post here was about training for a half marathon - well that happened. As a matter of fact, it happened twice :) I ran a race, and another and another and so on and so forth. I lost a pound, I gained a pound, etc. Now you are all caught up with me. Now what? Let's see what I can write about....keep you amused. Maybe disturb you a bit.

On October 2, 2011 I will run my first half-marathon (13.1 miles). This is a HUGE deal for me. Growing up as the chubby chick and becoming an obese adult, I never in a million years would have ever given any thought to running. Now I have set my sights on 13.1 miles in Hampton Beach, NH. Come along with me on this journey....should be fun. Hoping to blog about my training as well as my ups and downs as well as the things I 'find' while out on the road. It might be funny, sometimes it may be frustrating...hell I may even find out more about myself along the way. Who knows....all of this could take me to Boylston Street some day right?