I thought I'd give an update on what's been going on with us the past few months.
To start off, I am no longer working. I was laid off as a contract employee from Caterpillar. My last day was Friday, March 13th. I am searching for another job in the area, but there is not much hiring anywhere right now. I am hesitant to look for anything in Indy since I really would not want to make the commute from our house everyday - probably about an hour and 15 minutes to downtown Indy.
Chris is (thankfully) still working at Caterpillar but they have several shutdowns scheduled for this year. I'm sure a lot of people have heard about the layoffs at Caterpillar that were announced this spring. We were blessed that Chris was able to stay as one of the few people in his group. Chris had a week off in April when he did some painting and organizing at home.
The last month and a half has been a whirlwind of trips for me. After going to Kansas City with Chris the first weekend in April for a college friend's wedding, I turned around a week later and drove down to Joplin (by myself) to help my parents. They are moving to a new house in town and I was able to help them do some of the cleaning, packing, moving, decluttering, and organizing all week long. I was glad I had the time to help them out, as I know we made a big dent in the things to be done. Plus I got to see their new house!
The next week I was back at home with Chris before leaving again. This time I went down to Columbus (Chris' parents' house) to help take care of my 12 year old sister-in-law Kaitlyn and my 3 year old nephew. I stayed there for almost 2 weeks while my mother-in-law was able to visit my father-in-law in India. They were able to spend a lot of relaxed time together, which they both needed. So I was glad to help. During that time, Chris had also come down on the weekend to visit and also go with me to my mini marathon race.
Then I was back at home for about another week before returning to Columbus last week, which is where I'm at now. This time my mother-in-law had to travel back to Missouri to help care for her mom, as she is very sick right now - she has another round of aggressive cancer after fighting off breast cancer last year. (Please pray for Chris' grandma and Chris' whole family during this tough time.) Chris had this past week off, so he came down to Columbus with me. He spent the week helping me babysit and doing some repairs and projects around the house for his mom. I'm here the rest of the week until Kaitlyn leaves for camp.
This year has already proved to be abnormal and unpredictable and I don't really expect that to change soon. But I find it amazing that God can use bad situations (me not having a job) and turn them into a blessing in disguise. I would not have been able to help both of our families how I have in the past couple of months if I had still been working. Chris and I have also had extra time to spend together (when I've been home) recently.
Monday, May 25
Kerrie's first mini
Much overdue, but that's ok...
On Saturday, May 2nd, I got to run in the Indianapolis mini marathon - 13.1 miles. It was such a beautiful day to run and I was excited with my finishing time. I finished in 1:45:24 crushing my original goal of 2 hours. It was just over 8 minute pace and I finished in 3144th place out of 35,000 racers.
The weather was perfect for running - cloudy and in the 50's for most of my race. It had actually gotten in the low 40's the night before, so it was a little chilly when we walked outside at 5:00 in the morning!
I thought the worst part of the race would be the 2 and a half miles around the Indy Speedway track, but I was wrong. (The winner of the mini actually finished while I was in the speedway, so I got to watch him on the jumbo-tron while running! He finished in just over an hour.) The mileage really started to hit me around mile 11, but I trekked on to the finish.
Overall, I was excited to have finished how I did for it being my first mini. I was surprised that I could keep 8 minute pace, but Chris told me before the race that my legs should be able to keep that pace (and he was right). The race was definitely better than my Saturday long runs had been because there were tons of bands playing and people on the sides cheering everyone on! It definitely gave me more to look at while running and keep my mind halfway preoccupied. And I was most excited to have Chris and my sister-in-law Kaitlyn there to watch me run. They stood by until I started, watched me as I finished, and met me afterwards.
Here are some pics from the day...
On Saturday, May 2nd, I got to run in the Indianapolis mini marathon - 13.1 miles. It was such a beautiful day to run and I was excited with my finishing time. I finished in 1:45:24 crushing my original goal of 2 hours. It was just over 8 minute pace and I finished in 3144th place out of 35,000 racers.
The weather was perfect for running - cloudy and in the 50's for most of my race. It had actually gotten in the low 40's the night before, so it was a little chilly when we walked outside at 5:00 in the morning!
I thought the worst part of the race would be the 2 and a half miles around the Indy Speedway track, but I was wrong. (The winner of the mini actually finished while I was in the speedway, so I got to watch him on the jumbo-tron while running! He finished in just over an hour.) The mileage really started to hit me around mile 11, but I trekked on to the finish.
Overall, I was excited to have finished how I did for it being my first mini. I was surprised that I could keep 8 minute pace, but Chris told me before the race that my legs should be able to keep that pace (and he was right). The race was definitely better than my Saturday long runs had been because there were tons of bands playing and people on the sides cheering everyone on! It definitely gave me more to look at while running and keep my mind halfway preoccupied. And I was most excited to have Chris and my sister-in-law Kaitlyn there to watch me run. They stood by until I started, watched me as I finished, and met me afterwards.
Here are some pics from the day...
Stretching and looking way too happy before the race at 7am
The front of the pack at the very start of the race
Can you find me? (Hint...on the very left edge in a light blue shirt and pink shorts)
After the finish line...can you find me again?
After the race with my finisher's medal. Does it look like I just ran 13 miles?
My watch at the end of the race
Chris and I are now thinking about running another mini together later this year in the fall. We haven't committed to anything yet so we'll see what happens. He has started running 6-7 days a week and I'm now running 3-30 minute runs, 2-40 minute runs, and 1-50 minute run per week.
Friday, May 1
The time has come...
OK...So I'm not sure where the past few months have gone since it's been February since I last posted! We have quite a few updates, but I'll save those for later.
The more important news for today is that the mini marathon is tomorrow! It's quite hard to believe that it's already here - the race I've been training for since November. I'm excited, but yet getting a little anxious at this point. I seem to always get nervous before a race.
I'm confident that I can beat my goal time of 2 hours if I stay focused tomorrow. The past 2 Saturdays I have done close to 13 miles in just under 2 hours. (Those days I have been useless for a few hours afterwards.) I think all of the bands and the gatorade and water stops along the race course will help me run faster too! I'm not sure I'm looking forward to being around 30,000 people, but it will be a memorable experience nonetheless. I will post next week about how I did!
The more important news for today is that the mini marathon is tomorrow! It's quite hard to believe that it's already here - the race I've been training for since November. I'm excited, but yet getting a little anxious at this point. I seem to always get nervous before a race.
I'm confident that I can beat my goal time of 2 hours if I stay focused tomorrow. The past 2 Saturdays I have done close to 13 miles in just under 2 hours. (Those days I have been useless for a few hours afterwards.) I think all of the bands and the gatorade and water stops along the race course will help me run faster too! I'm not sure I'm looking forward to being around 30,000 people, but it will be a memorable experience nonetheless. I will post next week about how I did!
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