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I’m thankful for a fun “goodbye” day with my Mexico co-leader. Over the last 9 months, I’ve gotten pretty close to my co-leader for the Mexico trip, and we became friends as we were planning and preparing. We spent about six hours together last Friday as we went out to lunch, went on a walk, and then sat at Chick-fil-A for a few hours talking over sweet tea. She’s moving next week and while I’m sad to have a friend move away, I’m thankful for the chance to have built our friendship this last year, and I’m thankful she was by my side for so many crazy situations and fun while in Cancun.
I’m thankful for the dolphin show I got to witness. I’m still so in awe of the little dolphin show I got to experience while in Florida and am thankful that I just happened to be at the right place at the right time to witness it. Those little moments bring a smile to my face every time I think about it.
I’m thankful for my Kindle. I love being able to fall asleep while reading without having a light on, and I especially love being able to have multiple books at my fingertips on a screen that I can easily see outside. Kindles are such nifty inventions, and I use it a lot more than I thought that I would.
I’m thankful for fresh squeezed orange juice. My cousin and I had freshly made orange juice every morning while looking out at the palm trees and the water, and it was absolutely amazing. I wish I could have it every morning, but I’m thankful for those little moments of enjoyment each morning.
I’m thankful for moments of laughter with friends. There were so many wonderful moments this past week with friends of laughter and good conversation. I deeply value each of these moments in my life, and feel thankful for those in my life.
Now it’s your turn to share! What are you feeling thankful for today?
As I’ve said before, running wasn’t something I thought I’d be able to do again after my POTS diagnosis. Many years after my diagnosis I tried to run, and I almost passed out after 0.75 of a mile. But I picked myself up and tried again another day, and slowly I found myself becoming a runner. The day I ran my first half marathon was one of the greatest days of my life, because it was the day that I really realized that a chronic illness diagnosis doesn’t have to completely determine my life physically. And after my 8th half marathon last month, I realized that I am SO much stronger than before .
Running has given me SO much. It’s given me a great community of people, has taught me an incredible amount of physical perseverance and endurance, and has taught me quite a bit about comparison.
I run because I CAN run, and that is an absolute gift.
For those of you who have had your sights set on a Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon (half or full!) race this year, if you register today you get up to $20 off! The rest of the time, use the code RUNWITHCAROLINE for a discount!
Now it’s your turn to share! Why do you run?
First things first- stats! I biked 578 miles this winter on my bike trainer, which is a huge amount of miles for not moving from the same place! I set a new bike trainer PDR of 30 miles this past January, but most of my rides were between 10 and 20 miles.
I watched several movies, TV shows, and read a few books during my time on the bike trainer this winter as well, which I think is my saving sanity during those months. I actually feel a little sad when I hit the road again that I can’t read and bike at the same time!
Maybe the craziest stat of all though: TWO- the number of times I came close to falling off my bike trainer, catching myself on the way down. I really don’t know how this happened, and I wish I could have a video of it (I’m sure I’d laugh!), but I don’t.
Bike Trainer riding and road biking feel totally different to me, but I’m sure glad that I have my bike trainer to keep me going throughout the winter months and keep my paces up for summer!
On Memorial Day, my cousin and I went out for a two and a half hour boat ride around the Marco Island/Naples area with two of her parents’ friends who owned the boat. It was a gorgeous (HOT and sunny) day out, so the wind felt great whipping across my face as the sun shone down. I had some delicious nuun in a large insulated container to keep me hydrated, and I was excited to potentially see some dolphins.
About an hour in we passed along this little waterway between two different islands, and boats were jammed up against the beaches with people just hanging out in the water. I got a good laugh out of these boats though:
There were drink, burger, and ice cream boats out!
As we turned away to head out of this area, we noticed a pod of dolphins with their back fins in the air, and they looked really playful. I guess dolphins love to play in the wakes of boats because we were able to “pick them up” and they hopped into our wake. We slowed down just a bit and walked to the back of the boat to enjoy the show!
The dolphins were jumping up completely out of the air and darted through the water, and we got our own private dolphin show (with 4 dolphins!) for almost 10 minutes. They were close enough to me at points that I could’ve reached out and touched them (I didn’t). Sometimes two of them would jump together on the same side of the wake, sometimes they would jump on opposite sides. It was like a synchronized show, but I knew they were doing it for their own fun, not because it was a set show someone was making them do. It was beautiful!
I could see their eyes, their cute little smiles, their noises as they darted through the water. It was absolutely crazy.
I squealed and clapped for at least half of the time they were jumping. It was just beautiful, and I didn’t want it to end. They eventually darted on their way, and we continued our boating adventure. We saw a number of other dolphin fins in the distance, but nothing will compare to the beautiful dolphin show I saw earlier in the day.
I’ve called this blog “The Little Things” for a reason. Life is really about the little things in life, and this is an example of a beautiful, unexpected little thing that I’ll never forget.
Now it’s your turn to share! What’s one of your best memories of nature? Have you ever seen dolphins jumping like this?
Every day looked fairly similar, with minor variations:
The mornings kicked off usually with me on my own, as my cousin often got up about 30 minutes later. I would have coffee and/or fresh squeezed orange juice out by the pool while reading.
Once she got up we ate breakfast, put on sunscreen application 1 for the day, and went off kayaking. Our distance was different every day, from anywhere from about 1.8 miles to 3.8 miles. I love kayaking as I’m close to the water, you get to feel some waves, and of course there are dolphins occasionally around!
view from the kayak
Then we’d come back and read by the pool or in the pool to cool down for a bit before lunch and sunscreen application 2. Then if was off to the beach!
We took chairs down to the ocean and read for awhile before walking slowly on the beach for about an hour. I love people watching and strolling the beach as the waves hit my feet. When I think of going to Marco, those daily walks on the beach are what I think about. Along the way to cool down we’d get in the water and bob around. Getting back in was pretty nerve-wracking for me since I got caught in that rip current two months ago in Cancun.
Then we’d head back to the pool for sunscreen application #3 or 4 (depending on how sunny it was), a snack, and more pool time to end the day.
We only went out for dinner once, to my favorite restaurant on the island: Mangos! It’s right on the water, and we ate at sunset which was beautiful.
Seriously- how beautiful is that?
Most nights we ate dinner quickly and then headed back to the beach for sunset! I love that time because it’s a slowing down, intentional time to focus on the present moment.
And then it was time for dessert, maybe a bit of TV, and off to bed so we could do it all again the next day. We also enjoyed random things like the 5k run in Naples, biking around the island with other extended family, the boating adventure I’ll talk about tomorrow, and other little things.
This trip was totally unexpected. We only booked it about 3 weeks before we went, and I had a great time. I could do this same thing for WEEKS and not get bored, but I try to bring little pieces of this schedule and vacation lifestyle home with me (like going outside at home to enjoy sunset).
Now it’s your turn to share: What’s one of your favorite vacation places? Do you enjoy a completely active vacation, restful vacation, or a combination of both?
Nail polish and reading above the clouds
Here are a few random facts from the week:
1. Traveling alone this past week was SO strange. I arrived at the airport, checked in, and immediately was stressed that I couldn’t find my team. Everywhere I went for those 10 days in Mexico I was responsible for 20 people, and the entire time I was flying to Florida I kept having little moments of anxiety that I couldn’t find the people I was responsible for. It was funny and weird all at once.
2. I’m not sure why it is, but within 1-2 hours of being inside an airport my skin gets REALLY dry. I keep forgetting to put lotion in my travel bag, and then I end up regretting my forgetfulness.
3. I’ve been watching “Married at First Sight” (episodes are online and the A& E website) the past few weeks, and what a completely strange concept for a show that one is! They keep calling the marriages “an experiment”, which I think is the absolutely opposite way we should go into a marriage, but I can’t stop watching it anyways.
4. I’m an extrovert, and don’t have a need for too much time by myself at all (especially not when I’m seeing a smaller case load like I do in the summers), so coming home from vacation can be extra difficult. I went from spending 100% of my time with my cousin to having lots of hours a day by myself, and that’s a bit rough for me to adjust to.
5. In Florida I had fresh squeezed orange juice every morning (cut the orange in half, stuck it in the juicer, and enjoy!), and I absolutely loved it! I’ve been really craving it since I returned, and would love to start every morning with a little glass of it!
Now it’s your turn to share! What’s one random fact from your week? Do you need much alone time?
I’m thankful for time with my cousin. I don’t have any sisters, but I have a cousin who is just a few months younger than me whom I talk to almost every day in some form or another. Even in elementary school we wrote letters regularly and talked on the phone. I haven’t seen her in 2 years (SO sad!), since the last time I was down in Florida, so us getting to go on vacation to Florida again together was just fantastic. I’m thankful for face-to-face time with her!
I’m thankful for walks on the beach. When I think about vacationing in Florida, one of the first things I think of is walking on the beach. I love the waves lapping on my feet, the sea breeze to help cool me off, the sound of the waves, and the birds all around. Rain or shine I will be walking the beach and enjoying every aspect of it (well- besides stepping on sharp shells!).
I’m thankful for slow, leisurely mornings. “Sleeping in” is all relative, as I usually can’t sleep past 7:15 or 7:30, but I loved waking up, making a cup of coffee, and going outside to read in the mornings until my cousin woke up. I wish all mornings could start that way, but I’m thankful for the moments that I do have to start that way.
I’m thankful that I got to run with my cousin! Like I talked about earlier this week, my cousin and I ran a memorial day race on Monday morning, and it was the first time we had ever run together as adults. It was fun, and I’m so glad for that sweet time I had with her while running under the palm trees.
I’m thankful for time to be totally in the present. I tried to live as much as I could in the present without other plans (beyond knowing what time we needed to leave the beach so we could shower and eat dinner before sunset), and it was SO relaxing.
Those are just a few of my vacation thankfulness things.
Now it’s your turn to share! What are you feeling thankful for today?
Packet pick up was open on race morning, which I appreciated since it was a 45 minute drive from the Island. The race started at 7:30 (which I also appreciated due to Florida heat), but that meant that we had a really early morning ahead of us. We left the Island around 6:10 and headed up, enjoying the sunrise over the ocean on the way.
We parked around 7 o’clock and walked to packet pick-up, which took about 5 minutes to get through. We were able to get back to the car to drop our shirts off (they ran on the small size, and while mine fits, I wish I had gotten a size up) before heading to the starting line.
race tanks
It was almost 80 at the race start, with high humidity, and my body was not at ALL used to running in that temperature. I knew it was going to be rough, and told my cousin, who is faster than I am, that she could go ahead if she wanted. She said she’d stick with me, and off we went.
pre-race. not so sweaty yet.
The race was at a city park, and it was fun to wind through paths of palm trees, which is absolutely something that I don’t run around normally. By mile 1.5 sweat was dripping into my eyes- something I’m not used to when running. There was one water stop, but I had brought my handheld with nuun (unusual for a 5k, but necessary with the heat!). My cousin and I talked as we ran, and as quickly as it started, it was over.
It felt like I had just stepped out of the shower due to sweat. We walked over to the water area, AND THEY WERE OUT! I grabbed a little container of mandarin oranges to drink the juice, and that was good.
We took some pictures and headed out to a gas station nearby, where we had seen Key Lime Pie Donuts on the way into the race.
Any holiday needs delicious donuts, so we picked two up to enjoy later as we hurried back to the island- we had a morning and early afternoon boat ride to get to (where we saw some dolphins jumping completely out of the water! It was like our own private dolphin show! I’ll tell you more about that next week, and I’ll share some pictures with you as well).
So now I’ve run a race in Florida, and can add that to my “states I’ve raced in” tally (6). Overall I thought the race was organized well, and I wish I could be part of the Golf Coast Runners- I’ve heard great things about their other races.
For more race recaps, check out my race recap page.
If you’ve never heard of Amy Purdy, let me tell you briefly about her: she’s a bronze medal Paralympic snowboarder in Sochi, was on Dancing With The Stars, and is a motivational speaker. I first heard of her on DWTS, and was so impressed with her dancing skills, especially because she is a double leg amputee. Her dancing was beautiful and her story was inspiring. When I saw that she had recently released a book telling her story, I was immediately interested.
On My Own Two Feet is her story of her near death experience with meningitis to the process of having both legs amputated, both kidneys removed, and her push towards surviving and thriving as a result. When she contracted meningitis, she was given less than a 2% chance of survival, but she didn’t just survive- she threw herself into thriving in the best ways she could, even pushing herself to get back onto the snowboard. Her story shows the resiliency and thriving nature of humans. She came across as very humble and sweet-natured in the book, and it was a very easy read.
As I like to do, here’s a quote that resonated with me as I was reading:
Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day to remember all those who have died while serving our country.
I will be honest and say that I haven’t had anyone in my life die in war, and I’m certainly thankful for that. I do have a brother in the military who is currently deployed, and him dying in the line of service is a thought that terrifies me. I guess this year, going through this deployment, I have a lot more feelings about this day, and A LOT more respect for those who serve, along with their families. This is also the first Memorial Day that I’ll see the pictures of the graves at Arlington National Cemetery, knowing that my grandpa is buried there.
This past year I walked alongside my brother as he prepped for his deployment, knowing that, in his line of work, he was doing something where he might lose his life. He’s willing to die to help protect this country. I have HUGE respect for that.
And I have a HUGE amount of respect and gratitude for those men and women who chose to serve, knowing that the cost might be their life, and they did it gladly anyways, and did end up losing their life. I grieve with their families and friends, as this day (along with SO very many other days throughout the year) can’t be easy for them. To those who gave their lives, along with their family and friends- I just want to say THANK YOU. Thank you for serving, and thank you for standing up for this country in ways that most of us don’t. Your service is so deeply appreciated.
