"If You Want to Make God Laugh, Tell Him About Your Plans"

"The best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray" could not be closer to the truth. Everyone who hasn't been under a rock knows I've been on a health kick for close to two years now. I eat relatively healthy, I work out about 6 days a week including both cross training and running, I plan to run 15 races in 2015 (and I'll try to PR every race time I had last year), plus complete my share of the 2,015 mi in 2015 Challenge - 672 miles.

So it should come as no shock when I had three races planned for March; a 10k, a 15k and a half marathon. I trained strong going into March, I was crushing my average mile time, heck my last 12k race was an average pace of 8:35/mi. I was doing well. But as it so happens, I planned and God laughed.

The week between committee weeks ending and session beginning I went into the hospital for a test and a procedure that should have put me in recovery for 4 days. When I woke up from the procedure I was informed by my Dr. I had a large tumor and part of my insides removed that would put me in recovery for 4 weeks instead of 4 days. I was crushed. Here I was doing everything right, getting healthy and working hard to meet my goals and in one afternoon I was put in the hospital overnight and on a long, slow recovery back to physical strength.

That afternoon as I laid in my hospital bed in the worst pain, and all into the next day, I focused on the stupid part instead of the bigger picture. I began to feel sorry for myself that I wouldn't be able to run some races I paid for and worried I'd lose most of the physical gains I made, rather than what my Dr. told me - had they not caught it in time, it could have been life threatening.

I don't share this because I want you to feel sorry for me. Rather, I share this because this a blog about my journey to get healthy and fit and sometimes we get some bumps in the road that we don't plan for. Whether it be injury, illness, busy lives, or whatever the case might be, what's important is to face the facts, realize we are human and that the best laid plans can quickly be erased.

I'm a little over two weeks post surgery, with a little less than 2 weeks until I hopefully (praying, fingers and toes crossed, for the love of my sanity) get my all clear from the doctor to return to exercise and running again. And it probably also doesn't shock you that I'm bound and determined to make up for lost time by running Springtime Tallahassee 10k on Saturday when I get my all clear and looking at fun races to run this summer/fall to make up for the three I missed this month. You know, in the event God doesn't laugh at me again.

This whole experience has taught me to be thankful (not going to lie, watching everyone post their Gate River Run photos yesterday put me in the WORST mood, but nothing a little... or a LOT... of retail therapy couldn't cure). And I am especially thankful that I was extremely healthy before the surgery so recovery hasn't been that hard on me outside of the first few really awful days.

But most importantly, I'm so incredibly thankful for the amazing support network I have of family and friends. You can tell the true friends by the ones who will sneak you in Starbucks and visit you in the hospital, who will bring you by food or more Starbucks when you can't drive and are hopped up on pain meds. I'm thankful for friends who will take you to Target to buy all the embarrassing things the nurse should have told you to buy while you had family in town, who visit you and who make you laugh even though your stomach is stitched up, and who text you from near and afar to say they love you and to check in on you throughout your recovery. And I'm especially thankful to my grandparents who drove up to take care of me, and my family in South Florida who expertly and lovingly care for my puppy while I'm recovering and working long hours in the capitol.

This morning Melissa and I got together to walk a few miles around Cascades Park as the sun was rising and then spent the morning church hopping to do bible study with Allison, and to worship at Calvary Church. This morning I thanked Him most of all that this was caught in time, that it wasn't life threatening and that, with His blessing, I will run again soon.