A few weeks ago Nicole graduated with her Bachelor's degree in Business Administration.  It's been a long time coming.  It's just one more example of who she is.  She has been working towards this for a long time.  She's taken years of traditional on-campus and online classes, worked lots of long hard hours and graveyard shifts and taken crappy positions to earn the dollars to get through school, pay the rent, and try to find some time and way to get on a snowboard.  She hasn't taken any free rides.  She finally found her answer to school through Western Governor's University.  If you haven't heard of 'em, you probably will, because I went to her graduation, and they really are doing some extraordinary things.  (And my husband is working on a degree from there too.)  When the status quo wasn't working, she found another way to do it.  That's kind of the story of this school.  It's awesome.  And it's exactly just like her and snowboarding.  When she didn't want to be confined to a sit-ski, she saw snowboarders, and said that's what she wanted to do.  But she was told there was absolutely no way an above-the-knee amputee could ever snowboard, that it had never been done.  So she set out to do it.  And it was hard.  She went out every day, all day for an entire week and never got up on the snow once, while everyone smirked and said, "we told you so."  And she persisted with all her bruises and tears anyway.  And she went to the snowboarding Nationals competition the next year, the first above-the-knee amputee snowboarder to compete and stand on the podium.  She makes it work.  She finds a way.  That's all, whatever it is.  (Have you ever seen a beautiful girl that carries duct tape, wrenches, and a power drill in her purse - her prosthesis has an uncanny way of collapsing at key moments) And guess what?  

She is already working on her MBA!

Just one more reason why Nicole amazes me.

So, am I still running strong?  Well, I just finished 5k101 last night.  It was tough.  But I stuck with it faithfully for 8 weeks.  And in 5 days I will be running my first 5k.  Aaaaghhh!  I have a number of running goals and plans that I will let out of the bag as the time comes.    But for now, let's just get through the first 3 miles.  Am I addicted to running yet?  I don't even think so.  Do I like it yet?  Well, I don't loathe it.  It definitely has started something for me

I also told you in a previous post that I'm horribly sentimental, and along with that I'm really moved by music.  So as I continue along this little journey, I want to share with you some songs that are meaningful to me.  I'm not exactly sure what I'll do yet.  But I'd like to start with Uncharted, by Sara Bareilles.  This song is so perfect for Nicole.  It epitomizes her spirit, from the very beginnings of trying to snowboard, her path through school, and especially the fight she has been a part of to get snowboarding into the paralympics.  I had someone ask me the other day if Nicole was scared of going out and talking to people or something to that effect, and the basic question I think is that, do things scare her.  The answer is yes, absolutely.  But she jumps in and faces things that terrify her head on anyway, all the time.  Because sometimes she just doesn't have any other choice.  It's either she does it or nobody does.  So she just does it.  The one thing you can always count on though, Nicole will always be smiling!  (I hope you enjoy this little music video.  Because it not only is a great song that says a lot about her, but it's also kind of funny, and that's just how every minute is that you spend with Nicole.)

So, are you wondering how this thing is panning out?

I found a wonderful running coach in the form of a podcast, called 5k101.  Check it out at

http://runningmatemedia.com/5k-101/

It's great because it breaks training for a 5k down into 8 weeks, running 3 times a week, and the guy coaches you all the way.  He tells you exactly when to run and when to walk and even gives you pointers on how hard/easy you should be running and how you should be feeling, instruction on proper breathing, lets you know it's ok to repeat a week if you are really struggling but challenges you to move through the program and get through each interval.  It's awesome.  I'm an absolute beginner but so far this makes me feel like this is something that even I can achieve.  Mind you, I just completed the 2nd week.  If you have an iphone or ipod touch you can download it as an app and customize it with your own tunes.  I'm not so fortunate so I have to stick to the pre-programmed music but I'm ok with that for now.  And once I'm done with the 5k they also have 10k101, so I'm planning on checking that out eventually too.  But first things first.  So there's my informercial.

So am I out running miles and miles yet?  No.  If I tell you what I actually have run it might sound kind of pathetic, but remember that 2 weeks ago, I had never run before.  So right now I can actually only run for a couple of minutes at one time before I have to have a walking break, but the training program breaks it up that way into intervals, so I can totally push through it.  Not that it's easy, but it's also not nearly as hard as I thought it would be so far either.  I think I imagined that I was going to be so sore I could barely walk and that I would barely be able to run 30 seconds before I'd be so out of breath I'd want to die.  I can see how it's definitely a head game.  I'm happy to report that I have been feeling strong and pumped, and dare I say it, even a little excited.  On my days off of running I've gone for a couple bike rides and done some resistance training because I feel like I need to do something.  It just feels wrong to sit there.  I can also see that I need to work on what I'm eating so I will have the energy I'm going to need once I start really getting up the distance.  Eating is so hard.  I hate it.  (There's a lot of otherwise healthy things I can't eat because of allergies.)  Can't someone just hook me up to an IV and I don't have to think about it?  J/K

And, I actually registered for my chosen race.  So I'm in.  There's no turning back or giving up.  I'm running the Legacy Midnight Run on August 3rd.  It's a glow-in-the-dark race.  How cool is that?

Woohoo!  I'll be there.  Will you?

If the shoe fits...

So I surprised a few friends with a Facebook post that said I am "about to undertake a venture I said I would never do."  Then I posted this pic.  I bought them.  These shoes.  Do you get it yet?  In case you stumbled over here, curious about what all this is about, there are a few things I should tell you.

I am not a runner.  I have never been a runner.  I loathe running.  The very thought of running makes me want to throw up.  I love my walks  In fact, I lost 45 pounds, just from walking.  I actually resent feeling like I must be somehow inferior when I am out walking and everyone else is whooshing past me.  I simply have no interest in taking it to the next level, so to speak.

So then, why?  What the?  Where is this coming from?

This is why.  I have a sister.  Her name is Nicole.  She kicks butt.  She has a dream.  It's about to come true.  And, she's a butterfly.

See, I am horribly sentimental.  I always give her butterflys for her birthday, because there is this song by Martina McBride called, She's a Butterfly, and when I first heard it I knew it would have to be a special song about Nicole.  And you need to know that I have a hero, and her name is Nicole.

Still, this isn't making a lot of sense to you.  Why would I want to take up running?  Well, I also have a really awesome sister in law.  A couple of years ago she had back surgery, twice.  The first one failed. Within a year, I believe it was, she ran RAGNAR.  I don't think she had ever run before.  Before her surgery she was literally confined to bed. She couldn't even sit in a chair or walk or anything.  Yeah.  Wow!  At this point, between the two of them, I'm feeling like a pretty big wimp, right?

So, Nicole finally has the chance within her grasp of going to the Paralympics in Sochi Russia in 2014. This has been no small feat.  The para-snowboarding athletes have been fighting for this for like, 10 years.  It's been a huge uphill battle.  And at the very moment when all hope seemed lost, a miracle came about and Russia changed their mind and now they are going.

When my SIL was training for RAGNAR the idea popped into my head that if snowboarding did ever make it in to the Paralympics I would run a race for Nicole.  So now here it is, and I guess I have to run.  Because I am so sentimental, this is both very literal, and very figurative for me.   I have some big goals.  But dang it.  If my one-legged sister can snowboard (which I tried once BTW) at the Paralympics, then this two-legger can run, right?

There's a number of reasons I see for doing this.  Maybe a little healthy sibling rivalry, perhaps.  Or maybe I can help give Nicole a shot in the arm once in a while when things are feeling a little tough for her.  Yeah, while she is amazing, she has those days too.  Or, maybe I can help get her name out there because she needs exposure for her cause.  (The para-snowboarders, unlike many other olympians, are completely on their own when it comes to funding).  Or, what would be the coolest thing of all is if I could figure out some way to turn this venture into some sort of fundraising campaign for her (and the other para-snowboarders).  I'm not exactly sure what this could become because I've never done, or been involved with anything like this before.  But I guess it's time to get huffing and puffing.  First order of the day is to pick a 5k and find a training schedule that will work for me.  My skill level is like zero, nothing, never done it, running for idiots.  But whatever this is all about, the only thing I know is Nicole is a survivor.  Truly.  She doesn't climb mountains, she conquers them.  It's just what she does.  So this is just what I'm going to do.

So now you kind of get it.  The shoes, the butterflys, the title of this blog.  This oughta be interesting...

To hear "She's a Butterfly" by Martina McBride click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W41OSTgrfNQ&feature=related  

And please check out more about Nicole and her cause at http://www.nicoleroundy.com/

Check back to see what happens...
(oh and sorry Nicole, hope you don't mind that I stole the picture from your Facebook page)  ; )