My last long run of this training session was supposed to be today, but my kids have a stomach bug.
I worked out Monday through Friday. I can’t do much to improve my speed, expand my stomach or prepare for hills.
So now I turn to the little things: Where will I stand in the pack at the start, how will I eat 12 donuts quickly … things like that.
Luckily, I have some online friends who have done the Krispy Kreme Challenge before. They gave me advice on where to go, how to eat, etc.
So now it’s time to focus on the why — set the mindset for this race. Yeah, it’s the beginning of a new year and I’m coming back off a setback.
After thinking about it for a while, this race is more than just a way to kick the for the 2018 race season. The challenge raises money for the UNC Children’s Hospital. I know two people who have benefitted from modern medicine as a child. Both had their lives cut short, but the lives they lived were loud and impactful.
Wendy and Kevin, this Krispy Kreme Challenge is for you.
During the summer before my senior year of high school, my family moved from Virginia to North Carolina.
At my new school, I had no friends — cliches were already long established. During the spring track season, I meet Wendy. She was one of the few girls who was taller than me. She was a phenomenal athlete and had a scholarship to play basketball in college.
She also had Type 1 diabetes. She was kind, funny and just awesome. She died her freshman year in college.
Then, there’s Kevin, who was born with only one functioning kidney.
When he was 12, it was removed. He served eight years in the Air Force Reserves. He was the oldest brother, a dad, volunteer, active at his church, grandfather to three mountain kids. He had two kidney transplants and last a lot longer than the doctors predicted back in the 1960s.
He died in 2016, after living an amazing life.
The services UNC Children’s hospital provides allow people like Wendy and my dad to live longer lives — although I don’t think they had children’s hospitals when my dad was a kid.
So, I think the little details are covered. Now just to get my bid and run on Feb. 3.
Mountain Mama Adventures 