Blessed by Being Famous in a Small Town

Living in a small town community, I often take for granted living in a small town community. Sometimes it's great that everybody knows your name and sometimes you just want your own space. I can't go anywhere in this town without somebody asking how my mom's doing with her treatment and at least once a week someone who stops me at the store has tears in their eyes as they talk about my mom. It's emotionally draining. And I'm reminded by Miranda Lambert's song "Famous in a Small Town" that there are both good and bad about living in small town community.

But we are BLESSED by living in a small town. The ladies that worked with my mom at the nursing home put together a benefit dinner and auction for this past Saturday. As people gathered in for the dinner, I was more than proud of the community that I live in; I was so happy that this is where we live. More than 60 families were in attendance at my mom's benefit. I was overcome with emotion as I watched families who live in our rural area, who often live paycheck to paycheck, donate large sums of money and purchase items at the auction for a rediculously high amount. Tears streamed down my face as I watched in awe of these wonderful people in our lives. I literally had to take an emotional break from the room and thank God for the gift of our small town.

Another part of the small town community is that you actually build bonds with people around you. Like I said earlier, I can't go anywhere without people asking me about my mom or telling me stories of my mom and how she has affected their lives by taking care of a family member when she worked at the nursing home. Even the Police Chief came by the benefit, still in uniform of course. The outpouring of love and support of these great people cannot be compared to that of any other place, I don't think. We're blessed by being here.

The goal of the benefit was to assist us in covering my mom's medical costs and travel expenses. This great community provided our family with that and more. It did my mom's spirits good to see how many people care about her and were willing to do whatever to help us in whatever way they could. What a true blessing.

Thanks will never be enough.

Sissy Pushups!

So I met on Wednesday with my new personal trainer, Mr. Smokin' Hot (ironically enough S and H are his initials). He is a friend of mine, is very athletically built and has personally ran a full marathon. He's been supportive and enouraging since he learned that I was running my first 5K back in February. When I shaved 6 minutes off my time during my second 5K in May, he was so proud of me. Now I have my 1/2 marathon in October that I'm starting training for AND the physical test in August for the Springfield Police Department to get into their academy.

I'm not physically fit. I haven't been in a long time, if ever, but I'm getting better every day. Every day I get out and do something active but now it's time to step up my game! On Sunday, August 15, 2010, I will be tested and must pass each section to move onto the next section of the physical agility test:

15 push-ups (no time limit)
24 sit-ups in one minute
Minimum vertical jump of 13 inches
300 meter run in a maximum time of 97 seconds
1½ mile run in a maximum time of 18:29

So today is day one and it's nothing but a bunch of sissy pushups and situps and jumping up stairs. I speed walked 2 miles this morning with a friend. I mapped out my 300 meter run (just under .2 miles, on a completely flat roadway). I just finished up my second of three sets of sissy pushups and situps and still have my third to do later this evening. I'm waiting for this Sunday to roll around to be forced to RUN the full 2 miles because I gave up on myself Thursday morning, even though I accomplished a major feat in running up a hill that feels to me like a mountain TWICE. I was winded and chose the easy way out instead of monitoring my breathing and controlling it. I let it control me. I have a deep fear of failure and I give up on myself easily, so I need that extra push of Mr. Smokin' Hot!

But for now, I'm working on my sissy pushups...

I originally said something about having to do my 1 1/2 miles in 14 min 53 seconds...so thankful I read it wrong...that's what I have to do it in to pass the ACADEMY! :) But I'm still gonna work toward that now!

If you wanna join in the sissy pushup and situp fun, it's simple. Three times a day do as many sissy pushups (see illustration above) and situps (full body situps with your feet under the couch or something sturdy) as you can. Set your goal! I have to get to where I can do 50 sissy pushups and 70 sissy situps then I move on to doing as many regular ones as I can twice a day and as many sissy ones once a day until I can do 50 regular pushups and 70 regular situps each time. I'm building up endurance and stamina...and my arms and abs are gonna hurt like hell in the morning. I LOVE THAT! Here's a two week chart to show your progress!

For the vertical jump, there's no "sissy" version. I have to jump onto something sturdy that is at least 13" high, 20 times, three times a day.

Working on my running. I have to RUN 2 miles every day, 5 days a week. I will be running 4 miles 1 day a week and have one off day. The first 2 miles or 4 miles of my 1/2 marathon training will be all running then I can do my typical walk/run/jog(/crawl) for the remainder of that day's miles.

I will be running my .1869 miles (300 meters) but I'm rounding it up to .2 miles for simplicity. Plus if I can run .2 miles in less than 97 seconds, I obviously will be able to do the .1869 miles in less than 97 seconds! I'll time myself on this tomorrow to know where I stand. Then I will do it every evening, separate from the endurance miles.

So that's the full plan ladies! And even though I'm gonna hurt in the morning, I am still...

Loving MY Life,

Kat