Belle of the County

Run? Maybe. TBD. I'll explain in detail below.

Have you all thought I fell off the planet? Maybe I did. I'm back now. It's been an intriguing, rough, and exhilarating week. Not much to report on the running aspect of my life. I took it easy for a multitude of reasons. My knees feel great now from the added rest and I'm revived and ready to go again. That's a good thing!

I had a rather scary episode this weekend that I can't seem to get out of my mind. Ry and I were out running. We weren't going to go very far, a 6 mile loop, so I didn't bring my inhaler or my fuel belt. After all, 6 miles is really not much. I usually don't need water, my inhaler, or anything to refuel with a distance that short for me. Don't misinterpret me, 6 miles is a long distance, it's not really for me right now. :) Anyway, we were 3 miles into our run and were hanging out on the Iron Bridge on the Galloway Trail. I suddenly couldn't get my breath like I was having an asthma attack. I told myself not to panic, I didn't want to upset Ry because I didn't have my inhaler with me. I was trying to relax to make my chest relax. I turned around and thought, I need to go sit down because I'm feeling really dizzy. I was walking toward the opposite side of the bridge to sit on the side in the shade. After that I don't know what happened, I just know I got consciousness back when I fell into the guard rail of the bridge. Thank heavens for the railing or I would have fallen head first into the river! So scary. I have bruises on my upper arms from the railing but they are bruises of blessing because I can't imagine my fate if the rails weren't there. Ry thinks I had a seizure because my hand was shaking just like my dad's does, but I don't think so. I think I just passed out on my way to the edge and fell into the rails. Strange. Anyway, I recovered as best I could and we walked back to the car. I passed out again this morning in the shower. Super strange. Why all of the sudden again? I'm going to be really strict with my diet this week (per the doctor's orders the last time I had these episodes) and see if that helps my heart. I am making a point to get a new Garmin with a heart rate monitor. I guess I need to learn my threshold and when my heartbeat doesn't rise during activity I can stop? If my diet doesn't fix my issues this week I promised I'd go back to the doctor.

In other news, and the most important of all, my dear, dear friends Justin and Ashlynne welcomed their new son, Brayden Cooper into the world at 12:56am this morning! I was awake all night getting texts from Justin, and then right after the birth we scooted to the hospital to see the baby. I got to hold Brayden and he was just 40 minutes old! Oh my gosh, I can't put into words the preciousness and perfectness of the situation. It makes me tear up just thinking about it. Brayden is perfect in every way possible from his eyelashes to his tiny fingernails. I just can't put into words the intense feeling, the profound wonder, of a new baby. God is so, so very good. Ashlynne did so fabulous and looked like a supermodel when she was finished. It was a 3-hour labor! I was with her all day yesterday and we walked because she was having practice contractions all day, but the actual labor was only 3 hours! The doctor said all her walking during the pregnancy really helped the labor. I have hope that if I decide to have a child if I keep up my exercise it will pay off! :) Ry and I can't stop thinking about the little guy and can't wait until we can get back to see him. I'm going after work! The icing on the cake for this little miracle- he was born on his momma's birthday. That's right- they share a birthday now! I will admit to you all, the experience definitely has Ry and I rethinking our family plans. Maybe we might have kids? Anyway, the pictures I took this morning will follow soon- I didn't plug my camera into the computer when I got home. I've been looking at the little guy on my camera all morning!

Anyway, because of being up all night and not getting home and back to bed until 3am- no running for me this morning. It was so, so very worth giving up a run to be there for that. I won't forget those precious moments ever.

Hugs to all! I miss you all!

TODAY I LOVE: my new little man, Brayden Cooper P.

SONG OF THE DAY: "Perfect" by Army of Me