Dad's Surprise Retirement Party!

My dad is retiring this year from coaching and teaching. He has been coaching football and track and teaching Algebra since before my brother and I were born. I'm not sure the exact number of years, but it's A LOT! He has definitely put in his time. I know my dad is a great teacher and coach because he has been a teacher and a coach to me. Although I didn't go to NHS, there were countless times when my dad helped me with my math homework and gave me lessons on throwing the shot put. I probably wouldn't have made it through Algebra in high school without my dad because I really didn't learn a whole lot from my teacher. Yes, there were times I didn't understand what my dad was talking about when explaining a problem and sometimes that led to frustration and tears, but he would stay up late until he made sure I understood the problems and could answer them on my own. He never told me the answers, unless he knew I could solve them myself. I remember when I threw the shot put in the 8th grade my dad would take me up to Norman High after I had track practice at North and he would work with me on my form. Surprisingly, for how small I was, I could throw the shot pretty far.....thanks to my dad's advice and help. He made me practice extra just like he made his shot and discus throwers do. I loved having a dad that was a coach and a teacher. I loved going to practices, football games, track meets, and I loved playing "pretend school" in his classroom. My dad will also be retiring from his summer job of mowing lawns and running the neighborhood pools. I think he's pretty excited for the next stage of his life. I predict there will be lots of golf games played in his near future. Please pray that he will find a new job that is fun and that he loves doing just as much as coaching!

Suzy, the assistant track coach and head cross country coach threw my dad a surprise retirement party at her house. I think my dad had a slight idea about the party because he said people were acting fishy at practice and asking strange questions......but I think he was still surprised and I know he was glad to see everyone. My mom came up with the idea to make the stick figures of my dad's head to hold up when he walked in the door. Not sure where she came up with that idea, but it was a hoot! There was a good turn out at the party and it seemed like everyone had a great time. Lots of funny stories were shared about athletic events that occurred over the years. Unfortunately, the marathon was the morning after his party so I didn't get to stay for very long. I wish I could have taken some better pictures, but these were the only ones I got. Enjoy!

hahaha

Getting ready....Here he comes...SURPRISE!Great family friendsTelling storiesRelaxing outside He got a pretty sweet cane as a gift.

Mema's Surprise 80th Birthday Party!

Next up, from the other side of the family, was my Mema's surprise 80th birthday party...and boy was it a surprise! My family had been planning this party for almost 4 months. We weren't sure how we were going to keep it a secret for so long, but we succeeded and my Mema was shocked. It's been at least two years since I'd seen some of my dad's side of the family. Most of us live pretty far from each other so it's hard to find a time when everyone can get together at once. We wanted to make sure we found a time that would work for everyone. What better weekend than Easter weekend right? Everyone in the family made it to the party except my cousin Brad's fiance, Jaimi. We sure missed you Jaimi! Wish you could have come. My Mema thought she was meeting my aunt and uncle and a few of my cousins for lunch and then going to watch the kids hunt Easter eggs. Little did she know, the whole family would be there to celebrate her birthday instead. There was a great turnout....approximately 55 people showed up. We served cake, cookies, and punch and had a big Easter egg hunt afterwards. It was a great weekend and it was so great to see all my family. I even got to meet one of my little cousins for the first time and he's almost two...CRAZY! Here are a few pics I took from the weekend.

Here she comes

S-U-R-P-R-I-S-E!!!!

Hugs from Kinley!

Mema and her grandkids!

Mema and all of her great-grand kids. They are so precious!

My family

The whole family

Tabletop decorations!

Pretty cookies!

Kaylee and Kinley!

Marcy's Baby Shower!

April and May were super busy months for me, hence the reason I haven't had a lot of time to blog. Therefore, now that I have some free time, I decided to catch you guys up on all the fun events that went on. First up is my cousin, Marcy's baby shower. My cousins Marcy and Chris are expecting their first baby in June. It's a girl and her name will be Isabel Susan! I'm so excited for them and I cannot wait to meet her. I know she is going to be the most gorgeous little girl. She will definitely be loved a lot! She is going to be one lucky girl because I know her mom and dad will do a wonderful job raising her! My cousin Chris is a pilot in the Navy and he is currently serving overseas on the cargo ship known as the USS Carl Vinson. It was pretty crazy when I heard the news that Bin Laden was dead and they buried him at sea from Chris' ship. Chris is supposed to be arriving home shortly before Isabel is due. Please pray that he makes it home safe and in time to see the birth of his little girl! Marcy made signs for us to hold up in a picture to send to Chris. The signs read, " We love you, hurry home, we are so proud of you!" Marcy also sent Chris a teddy bear that had a recording of the baby's heartbeat that you could hear when you pressed it's tummy....what a neat idea! Marcy and Chris' long time friend said the sweetest prayer at the baby shower that left everyone in the room in tears. She couldn't have said a more perfect prayer about how blessed their baby will be to be born into two loving families, with two loving and deserving parents, and many great friends that will love and care for Isabel! Congrats Marcy and Chris! I'm so excited to meet Isabel and can't wait until Chris comes home!

We Love you Chris and Marcy!holding hands before the prayer.Marcy giving Mrs. Roundtree hugs for the special prayer.tears from the soon to be aunt Blondell!Marcy with her mother and sister in law and cousin Libby.Marcy and her momBeautiful Marcy with a cute preggo belly!The "Navy Baby" onesie I made.Libby and Ethan decorating their onesieThe quilt Aunt Jan made for Isabel.They had the cutest idea to have everyone decorate onesies and cloth diapers for Marcy to use. I was impressed with some of the funny things people created. Spit happens! Baby Izzy!

So There Are Still Good, Nice People In This World...

I got to work today and my co-workers said that the man I ran with in the marathon came by my work today to check on me and see if my knee was doing okay. How nice/sweet was that? He lives in Tulsa, but they said he was in town for business and remembered that I worked at the JCPenney's Salon and wanted to stop in and see how it was. Unfortunately, I wasn't at work yet so I missed him. Bobby, if you happen to read this post, I really appreciate you coming to check up on me. That was very nice of you. I hope that the race to the finish turned out better for you than it did for me and I hope your recovery was quick and easy! Congratulations on completing your first marathon and thanks for encouraging and checking up on me!!

For those of you who might be interested, my knee is doing 10x better and so is my ankle. I feel like if I give them one more week of rest, I might be back to 90%. I'm hoping that after one more week of rest I'll be able to start running again. Although, it will probably be very short distances. Baby steps!!

26.2 MILES...I DID IT!

Yesterday, I completed my first marathon!! My main worry about running the marathon was the weather. I trained all winter so I was used to running in cold weather and not heat. I just knew it was going to be 90 degrees on the day of the race and I was going to have a heat stroke......boy was I wrong! I prayed and prayed for beautiful weather and we got exactly the opposite. Probably some of the nastiest weather you could run a marathon in. It was below 50 degrees and it down poured the whole time. At first I didn't think it was going to be that bad. The rain was refreshing and once I got started I warmed up and felt fine. I wore a long trash bag over my clothes so I stayed fairly dry. Around mile 11 the sun started to peak out and the rain ceased for a bit so I threw off my trash bag and took off my jacket....that was a big mistake! The rain picked up again and the weather got much colder. By mile 14 I could no longer feel my hands. I could hardly even open up my Ziploc package of energy chews because I could not control my hands because they were so numb. Thankfully at mile 17, I ran by my cousin Brad and he insisted that I take the leather gloves he was wearing. Thanks so much Brad, that was a huge relief!!! They warmed up and felt so much better. Not only was it freezing cold and raining, but as if that wasn't enough, I got hailed on twice. Once at mile 19 and once at mile 24. I'm not going to sugar coat it at all.............it was the most miserable thing I'd ever experienced. WARNING: If you don't like to hear whining, don't finish reading this post haha.

I was extremely bummed before the marathon started because I realized that I would be running the whole thing by myself. Yes, my mom still ran the half marathon with her friend Karen, but I didn't run the same pace as them so I knew I probably wouldn't see them after we crossed the starting line. Around mile 9 an older man asked me if I was running the full and I said yes so he asked if it would be okay if we ran together. It was his first marathon too and he knew that if he didn't stay at my pace then he would probably try to run too fast and end up crawling through the finish line. We didn't stay together the whole time, but we always ended up running into each other and running together for a little while. He was extremely nice and it helped me stay motivated.

Around mile 17, I started feeling a lot of pain in my left knee. At the beginning, it wasn't anything that I couldn't handle, but it gradually got worse and worse. By mile 19, I had to stop running and almost fell to my knees because it hurt so bad. It was so tight that I could barely bend it to walk. I limped on it for a while and then pushed myself to a fast power walk to warm it back up. After walking for a while, I convinced myself to start running again. I realized that it hurt less to run on it than it did to walk. I tried to tell myself, just keep running.....only 7 more miles to go. At mile 21, I was in so much pain that I stopped at the medical tent to see if they could help. At this point, I was bawling pretty hard due to the excruciating pain. The lady at the tent said there was nothing that she could do other than call the people to come pick me up and take me to the finish line where someone could examine it. I looked at her, told her I was at mile 21 and there was NO WAY that I wasn't going to finish. She suggested I put some Biofreeze on it and maybe it would go numb for the rest of the race. It helped for a little bit, but not long. A mile later I ran by my family/fan section. They were hooping and hollering and cheering me on. As I got closer to them, they realized that I was crying. I could tell they were all concerned and wanted me to stop and explain what was wrong. I pointed to my knee and told them that if I stopped I wouldn't be able to start back up again. From mile 22 to the finish line I did a combination of walking and running. I ran as long as I possibly could and then walked for a bit. Over the course of the marathon I stopped 3 times to go pee. I really only had to wait in line for the Port-a-Potty once. After the race, I was extremely cold. I could not stop shaking and chattering my teeth until I got home and took a hot, hot bath. I iced my knee and took some Ibuprofen. That helped quite a bit, but I'm still walking around with a limp and it hurts really really bad. I woke up this morning moaning and groaning because it hurts to bend it at all. Thankfully I have today off work and I'm planning on getting a massage!

My final time was 5 hours, 31 minutes, and 46 seconds. That equals a 12 minute and 40 second mile pace. I wasn't shooting for a particular time. I figured it'd be somewhere around a 12 minute pace. I'm just thankful that I was able to run across the finish line! It completely amazes me how fast some people ran it yesterday. The female winner completed the marathon in 3 hrs, 5 mins, and 14 secs. She was 24 years old from Stillwater, OK. I believe it was her 1st or 2nd marathon....AMAZING!

I can honestly say that right now I have no intention of ever running another marathon. I just don't think my knees are cut out for that. I'm pretty sure they were ruined years ago in volleyball. I will however probably run a few half marathons. I do not regret running the marathon at all! Had my knee not hurt, I would have felt so good about it. I could have toughened out the weather. It is the biggest accomplishment I've ever made and now I can say I've done it. Mark one thing off my bucket list!! I'm also glad I was able to run in honor of the 168 victims who died in the Murrah Building bombing. While we were waiting for the race to start, I turned on my IPod and the first song that came on was "Light a Candle" by Point of Grace. I truly believe that it was a sign from God to remind me that I wasn't only doing this for myself, but for everyone affected by the OKC bombing. It was really cool!

I wish I had some great pictures of me crossing the finish line smiling and holding my hands up, but truth be told, I don't. All I have are really embarrassing pictures of me crying and in pain. Although they are embarrassing, I still want to share them. Like I said earlier, there's no sugar coating to this post.

Here I come. Mile 22

Taking deep breaths

And here comes the tears.....

Pointing to my knee and boo-hooing to my family, haha. At least I can laugh at them now.

Trying to give my family a smile and a wave before passing them.

Last, but definitely not least, I want to thank my friends and family that were there supporting me. I'd also like to thank those that couldn't make it, but still encouraged me along the way. Thanks to my mom, dad, brother, Aaron, Allison & Ryan, Allison E, Brad, Steph, Colby, Terri, Parker, and Zach. You guys did a fantastic job cheering me on and you were huge troopers for standing out in the awful weather. I'm sure you were 3X as cold as I was. Every time I passed by each of you it gave me a boost of energy and confidence to finish the race! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Check out this link to see a fun video of a couple who got married while running the race! So sweet!

Training Progress #16, #17, & #18

17 weeks down, O-N-E more to go!!! The marathon is in t-minus 6 days!!!!!

I completely failed on week 16. I didn't run a single day that week....OOPS! I was supposed to run 5 miles on Tues, 8 miles Wed, 4 miles Thurs, and 12 miles Mon. That was the week that I was super busy...I went to Dallas and then had a lot of things planned for my birthday. I figured since I ran 40 miles the week before, my body probably needed a nice little break.

I felt fabulous on Tuesday when I started my running for week 17. I ran 4 miles Tuesday, 6 miles Wednesday, and 3 miles Sat. I was supposed to run 8 miles today for my long run, but I skipped it. There was really no reason for skipping it other than the fact that I was busy doing other things and wasn't really in the mental state to go for a run. I sure hope skipping my last two long runs won't kill me!

This week (week 18) I will be running 3 miles tomorrow, 4 miles Wed, 2 miles Thurs, resting Friday and Saturday and running the race on Sunday. I can't explain to you how long I've been waiting for this day to come.....since Dec. 27th, which was 5 months ago, or 18 weeks ago. Hallelujah!!!!!!!!!! I'm very very anxious and ready. I'm a wee bit nervous about the weather, but other than that I'm totally ready to go! Praying for nice cool running weather with a little bit of a breeze, but not much. Hopefully no rain.

For those of you in the area and interested, you can tune in to KFOR NewsChannel 4 for live minute by minute marathon coverage from 6:00 am-10:00 am. My bib number is 2990, although it is highly unlikely that you will be able to spot me running by. Check back next week for pictures and information on how the race went!

Slow and steady wins the race,
Quincee

Birthday Extravaganzas!

I had the BEST 23rd birthday. Thank you to all my wonderful friends and family who sent cards, text messages, facebook comments, and made phone calls. You guys made my day!

My week started out super fun with a short trip to visit my best friend Marcus in Dallas. He recently moved to Seattle for work, but was in Dallas for the week for training. I had so much fun catching up with him and meeting all his friends from work. We got to see Cory Morrow in concert one night and I got to spend all day shopping at the Grapevine Mills Mall. I found quite a few bargains!! Thanks Marc Marc for being a wonderful host....I'm so glad I got to see you!

Downtown Fort Worth for the Cory Morrow concert.

On Friday night my best friend from college and her boyfriend came into town for the Josh Abbott Band concert. We all had dinner with my brother, his fiance, and my other roommate before the concert. Josh Abbott Band was soooooooo good in concert...they exceeded my expectations. We had a BLAST!! Allison and Jeremy surprised me with an A-W-E-S-O-M-E birthday present....a 22 inch LCD flat screen TV!!! HOORAY!! If you know me at all, you know that I'm always behind the times when it comes to technology. I have an old school TV and an old school cell phone and I'm never up to date with those two devices. Allie knows me best and knew that I would never buy a new cell phone or TV for myself. I absolutely LOVE it. I feel bad because they spent WAY too much money. The old school cell phone problem was also taken care of when my parents bought me a new cell phone for my birthday...yay! Thanks guys for helping me stay "up to date."

My brother's fiance, Ashley, me, and my best friend from college, Allison

Allison and her boyfriend, Jeremy

Me and Allison

My new TV!

Saturday night a small group of my friends went to a 70's dance club in OKC called Groovy's. It took a while for everyone to get warmed up and get on the dance floor, but eventually everyone starting dancing for most of the night. Thanks for coming guys!

On Sunday morning my parents surprised me at the house with breakfast and presents. We had a nice breakfast before I had to head to work.....yes, I had to work on my birthday...YUCK! It wasn't bad at all though. After work, we had a cookout at my parent's house and my cousins and my grandpa came. It was a beautiful night and we sat outside on the back patio and watched the boys play.

Me and my cousin Stephanie

The boys helping me blow out the candles

Playing on the hammock!

Thanks again for all the birthday wishes and gifts....and for those who helped me celebrate. I'm so thankful for each and everyone of you!