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This lo was one I've really had to do, but struggled getting it on paper. The pics aren't the best, but they really needed to be there to help tell the story. I journaled heavily for this one, my thoughts just kept coming out so I kept writing. The journaling is hidden under the running number. It says, “I’ve never been accused of being an athlete. Sports and exercise just weren’t a priority in my life–until the day I was diagnosed with heart failure or cardiomyopathy. Suddenly there was a huge reason to get on that treadmill and start lifting weights. Exercise offered one part of a second chance at life. If I coupled it with a low sodium diet, medication, and weight loss–and that all worked together to restructure my weakened heart muscle, I wouldn’t have to worry about the possibility of heart transplant. That was the path I wanted to take! So I changed my ways, I learned to enjoy exercise, I learned how to cook with herbs instead of salt. I basically learned how to be a new me. And I started losing weight–lots of it–because I was living a healthy lifestyle. When we moved to Saint Paul, I saw an advertisement for a Run/Walk at Como Zoo. I figured, “why not?” I was already pounding four miles a day on th treadmill, 3.1 miles was nothing. I was basically training for it anyway. I didn’t OK it with my doctors, I should have, but it was what I’d been doing everyday under supervision for the last year. I knew I’d be just fine. My Heavenly Father had blessed me to be healed, this was just another part of my new me. April 20th, 2002 was a chilly morning in Minnesota. Kelly and the kids came to support and cheer me on. I signed in and got my tee shirt and racing number–101–then started doing my warm up stretches. I just remember I had to go to the bathroom super bad and luckily had enough time before the race. Finally everyone gathered at the starting line, the gun fired, and we were out of there. I took it at a steady pace for most of the race, but did throw in a few jogs, just to see if I could. I heard the most interesting conversations–bits and pieces of real peoples’ lives. It was fascinating. The racing path went around Como Lake, through the park and ended back at the zoo. I crossed the finish line in 39:48–faster than any of my practice walks on the treadmill. I wasn’t the fastest racer, but I wasn’t the slowest either. And really it didn’t matter where I finished, because I had just done something the old me never would have dreamed of doing. I had run a race! I was becoming a new person because of a failure. I was redefining who I am. I never really considered the significance of my facing number until I started putting together this layout. But in college, any class labeled 101 indicates a beginning class–an introduction to that subject. And that’s kind of what the last year and half after my heart failure was–an introduction to my new self. It was an introduction to redefining me.”The pp is KI Memories, red cs is ColorMates, blue is DCWV, and I'm not sure on the gold. 5K stickers are Big Honkin, stamps are Provo Craft and CTMH.
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