BIX....

Five days, 13 hours, 47 minutes, 21 seconds...and counting! Here it comes, ready or not!

(and, sources say it's going to be one of the HOTTEST Bix races in history! UGH!!!)

Life, we know, is full of choices. Good choices, bad choices. Easy choices, hard choices. Choices that affect only ourselves, and choices that affect others in ways we can't even imagine. I made a tough (for me) choice lately...and have caught a bit of flak about it. So, I felt like writing...to get it off my chest.

You see...

We love the Bix 7...

It definitely holds a special place in our "hearts."

Yeah, that's pretty nerdy (even for me!). Nope, I am not ashamed to admit it :).

I ran the Bix 7 (a seven-mile race through the streets of Davenport, Iowa; held on a Saturday toward the end of July each summer) for the very first time in July of 2004. I've run it every summer since...which means this year's Bix will be my seventh! That first summer, I ran the Bixwith my little sister, Megan (to whom I owe my love of running...and my obsession with it :)).

2003 was the summer of my first races (if you really care, I wrote about my "running beginnings" in a blog post here)...a 4 miler and a 5k, both of which were run with my little sister (Megan, who ran cross country in high school and undergrad)....and then 2004 was the year of my first Bix.

Anyway...

The following year...2005...Jeremy joined me! This requires some explanation....

We had been going through a rocky time together that year (backing up a bit, we started dating in January of 2002, when he was a sophomore at Augustana and I was a first-year). Not to go into too much detail, but we broke up in January of 2005. This was the January of my senior year of undergrad (he had graduated a year ahead of me and was in "the working world" here inBloomington)...a stressful time in my life as I was just starting to hear back from graduate schools about acceptance/rejection, etc. We broke up for a variety of reasons, and the subsequent months were not pretty...not for either of us (in the way of our friendship/relationship and in the way of other choices the two of us made during that time period).

Well, in about March Jeremy decided he was going to start running.

I won't sugar coat this...and neither would he....Jeremy hates running.

***OK...at least he says he does ;). He runs up to nine miles at a time now, so I don't think he can truly still hate running. But that's a story for another time, perhaps ;). ***

However, back in March of 2005...he really did hate running. On his first run, he reportedly could barely finish a mile. So, why did he decide to start running? For me, he told me. He got it in his mind that he was going to run the Bix in July that summer, because he knew how much I loved that race...and how much of a part of my life running was starting to become. He wanted to show me that he could do something...for me.

So he trained, starting with that first painful mile.

He got up early before work some mornings. He ran after work some evenings. He ran in the heat some days. He ran, pushing through each mile...an expression of love. An expression of love, as strange as it may sound, to me.

Soon it wasn't just one mile he was struggling to complete...but it was two. Then, three, four...and, well, obviously you get the picture.

He ran, though he didn't know what the future held.

He ran, though we were both "seeing" other people.

He kept running...pushing through the physical and mental pain. Ran in spite of the uncertainties of life in general and the uncertainties of our relationship. Ran...though he didn't really even quite know WHY he was doing it, or IF it would be worth it.

In the meantime, two hours north, I was running. Running, because it kept me sane. Running, because it was one of the few things in my life I could "control." Running, because I needed a "constant" in my life. Running, because I didn't know what the future held, yet I had this unshakable feeling that it would help me get there somehow.

I may have "loved" running more than Jeremy, but that doesn't mean it was easy. I pushed through excuses, mental exhaustion, and physical pain. Ran in spite of the many distractions of college life. It was that spring, the spring of 2005, when I really started to make a cognizant commitment to running....and have never looked back.

And on a Saturday in late July...we ran our first Bix together. The start of a tradition that will go on for years and years for our family.

***In June of 2004, about 6 weeks before our big race, we did get back together :)***

Now don't be fooled....

If you know us, you know that Jeremy and I are NOT the sappy lovey-dovey type. We are both content to, in general, "do our own thing"...we have our own hobbies and interests as well as joint interests. We have our own groups of friends, as well as joint friends. We bicker at one another more than we probably should. We do, though, love and respect one another immensely. I say all of these things to illustrate the point that we don't have a bunch of silly/meaningless "traditions." We have a few "big" things a year that we do together (besides celebrating our birthdays and anniversary, of course)....seeing Handel's Messiah at Augustana in December each year and running the Bix each summer.

AND, we don't even really run together! Our pace and strategy is much different. Jeremy tends to go out harder than I do, thanks to all of that testosterone, I tease him. I start a bit more conservatively and build speed as I go (negative splits). In most races, I typically pass him after a while and end up finishing before him. We wait together in the start corrals, but split up shortly after the gun goes off. It just works best that way :). Otherwise one of us is annoyed with the other...etc., etc. BUT, we start together...and we meet up at the end and commiserate together. Complain about the heat, the hills, the humidity, a sore knee. Lament our slower-than-we-would've-liked time. Whatever it may be. Weexperience something special...together. (ok, ok...if any of you non-runners are reading this, I am well aware that this sounds completely loony and bonkers!)

So, this spring when an Easter Seals fundraiser...Walk With Me....was announced as having the same date, I was crushed! Torn. I am very committed to my workplace, so I thought I should probably sign up and attend the event. However, when I told Jeremy about it, he seemed very surprised that I would even consider doing anything else on that date. In his mind, it was out of the question. He even told me that he would still be going to the Quad Cities to run the Bixwithout me if I chose to go to the fundraising event.

So, I chose the Bix. But....that's not really it. I chose Jeremy. I chose our relationship, our marriage, our friendship. I'd say it is empowering to finally choose MY personal life over work, but I still feel guilty. I wish I could be there....I really wish the dates were different. I love my co-workers, and love the kids and families I work with. It truly SUCKS to not be able to be there with them on what is sure to be a very special and fun day.

But, I think I made the right choice.

I mean...he runs for me, remember?

Five days, 13 hours, 3 minutes, 34 seconds to go....

...and did I mention my goal??? I am shooting for an 8-minute/mile pace....56:00 minutes :). We'll see how the heat plays into that plan!!!

Decision...It's time for some Big Confessions

I've decided that since this is MY blog (and I don't think that many people really read it anyway ;), which, quite frankly is the way I like it! ;))....I should:
1) write about anything and everything that I want to
2) be completely honest and not hold anything back
3) write about the really funny, really disgusting things that happen to me because: a) I CAN'T possibly be the only "runner" who has had such mishaps (can I?!) and b) because I crack myself up...and what's better than that?! ;) (I am a loser. Really. My husband should've been warned before tying the knot...)

For these reasons, I bring you: Rachel's Running-Related Bowel Mishaps, Vol. 1

I think it would be fair to take this time to give you some background information on my, err, bowel issues. Since approximately 2002 I have been plagued with some odd (??) GI issues that really run the gamut from one end of the spectrum to the other (let me spell this out for you....either I was all backed up and so bloated that my stomach actually looked as if it was gestating life inside....OR I had to run to the bathroom seconds after eating to unleash some terrible, terrible things). Long story short, last year it was determined that I have some form of gluten intolerance (whether it is actually Celiac Disease or something else is really up in the air, and at this point I'm fine with the limbo stage I'm in because, quite frankly, I feel great sans gluten and don't really have time to think about getting further tests, etc.) and have been officially GLUTEN FREE since October 18, 2008....check out my silly GF blog if you are interested in learning more about my adventures or the GF diet in general (I did my best not to plagiarize like Elizabeth Hasselbeck and cite sources to give credit where credit is due, etc. ;)).

Ok, so all of that being said...the point is, I do not have a "normal" digestive system. So, my "problems" are not my fault. Except for maybe the fact that I have been known to eat a Taco Bell Bean Burrito before running 5 miles on a hot afternoon. Maybe I was asking for it then. But that's neither here, nor now.

Ok, I bring you Exibit 1:

Last summer my husband and I were "training" for the Bix 7, a 7-mile race (hence the name!) in the Quad Cities that is held the last weekend in July each summer. It was to be my 5th Bix and his 4th. I am, in general, a stronger runner than my husband (I run year-round while he tends to just run February or March through October or so; he chooses to do primarily weight training in the colder months....but he's starting to get better at doing some indoor cardio during those colder months).

It was a Friday in the summer, and I was working in Peoria. Fridays tended to be busy days for me; I liked working through my lunch break in order to leave for home an hour or so earlier and thus getting back to Bloomington (where we live) earlier and starting my weekend ASAP. So, I tended to skip eating lunch if I was too rushed in the morning and didn't take time to pack a lunch. Clearly not a good idea. SO, on this particular Friday I decided to stop at Taco Bell (uh...) and pick up a Bean Burrito on my way home, since I was STARVING...and they were "on special" for like 79 cents on Fridays at this certain Taco Bell by my workplace. I devoured said burrito while driving and then when I got home, embarked on a 6-or-so mile run with Jer (this was over an hour after eating the burrito...so I didn't imagine that there would be any issues. I was wrong.). Well, about 1.5 miles from home, I began to feel some rumblings in my stomach. I chose to ignore them, and pressed on. A half a mile or so after that, there was no denying what was going on. I had to go...and I had to go IMMEDIATELY. I informed Jeremy of this and he suggested that I turn around and run back toward home, as there was a Porta Potty in a park on the way home. This sounded like a swell idea, so I turned around and began running 2 or so miles back home by myself...about .25 of a mile later, IT happened. I crapped my pants. And it didn't stop. Seriously. So, here I was...nearly 2 miles from home and about a half a mile from the Porta Potty and I was running with a serious load in my pants (I was wearing black loose-fitting capri-length pants, so at least I had that working in my favor)....

To be Continued...

58 degrees in Central IL today!

We had another lovely run outside today...Jeremy sent me a text today saying that it was 58 degrees so I should get home as soon as possible so we could go for a run! My 5-6pm appointment canceled for the day due to having the flu, so I got home around 5:30, which was nice! Of course I felt bad for the family (sounds like they all have the flu; their original appointment was actually Monday night, which they had canceled and rescheduled for tonight...and then had to cancel again :( yucky for them!!)...but it was nice to get home a bit earlier, too.
We had a lovely run together...I am so glad he runs with me! We had a great talk, too...nights like this make me feel so close to him. I am glad we had that chance to unwind together after a long day.