Twenty

“Sometimes crying or laughing are the only options left, and laughing feels better right now.”  ~Veronica Roth

On January 1st I rode 20 good miles.   I rode it on my own, with a bum knee, and still averaged 15.5 mph.  I felt great.  Twelve days later I struggle to walk 20 yards. I could focus on the fact that it took a doctor 20 minutes to undo 10 years of work.  I could mention the fact that I sleep 20 hours a day when I take all 20 prescribed pills and when I try to cut back, I have moments where on a scale of 1 to 10, I rate my pain at a 20.  I could mention a laundry list of at least 20 side effects and “bonus” symptoms including nausea, itching, sweats, bruising, swelling, muscle twitches, sore arm pits, and a need for prune juice. 

Or I can remember the 20+ acts of kindness that I encountered this week.  Home baked goods magically appeared, much to my children’s delight.  Friends I haven’t heard from in months called.  I received dozens of texts and emails and messages through every available medium.  People asked me how I was feeling while playing Scramble and Words with Friends and then proceeded to kick my tail without mercy, giving no thought to the drugs that made me practically incoherent.  I was victim to drive by chicken soup, in-and-out shrimp, and Cuban food and everyone ferried my kids to school except me. 

And throughout this week fogged with pain, impatience, and frustration, you inspired me, encouraged me, and made me laugh.  So I share a few of your stories here with deep gratitude and hope your week has gone 20 times better than mine.

Check out this amazing photo!  Angela Thomas, Marie Leticee, and Dawn Young headed out for a 51+ mile training ride and made this new 8 foot friend.  This big boy was hoping they were stopping by for a snack.  I'm glad they decided he was better eyed from a distance.

It was definitely a race weekend, which means a pack of our team mates were out doing a 5K, half, or full marathon!  Congrats to Rose Ray and Anne Marie Stricklin and their crews in the Color Run, a messy rainbow of fun for all ages. 



New triBE member Nicole Kanouse is back to running and gearing up for her first Triathlon in May, pictured here with Jonathan Gray.  I am thrilled to see Julie Jaworski back from back surgery and ready to rumble.  Both ran awesome half marathons on Saturday.  







And Sara Dowdy, Trish Horel, and Molly Halcom finished the full marathon at Disney, pictured here with honorary triBE members Neal Ater and Jason Dowdy.  Congratulations!

 

               And then I stumbled across this video on Pam Ater’s page, and I had to laugh. 
                                                Take 3 minutes. You need to watch this.

Laughter is good medicine. You are good medicine. 
Thank you twenty times over for a very bad, really good week.