Running for Grammy - Trainng for the Flaming June Half Marathon

March 2010

Last year, Luke and I ran our first race ever - a 10k in Kew Gardens.  We then took a while off to recoup, moved house, settled into life in Cambridge, Luke started rowing and we just completely fell out of the habit of running.  After a couple months off, I started running again - trying it fit in 2-3 outings a week.  And it's been going well.

But about a month ago I decided that I needed a motivator and goal so I started checking out upcoming races.  I decided to sign up for the Flaming June Half Marathon that takes place just outside of Cambridge.  We have a lot going on in the next couple of months, so a close to home race fit the bill.  And knowing that I'm going to have to run 13.1 miles will definitely get me moving.

2011

I've started training and am using Hal Higdon's Novice 1 Training Plan as a guide.  I'm currently in week 5 and ran just over 6 miles this morning.  6 miles is just under 10k - so this distance I am familiar with and can handle.  We'll see how I'm doing once we get to week 10.

But I don't run just for me.  I run for Grammy.  My Grammy is an amazing woman.  She's a great cook and an amazing seamstress - both of which she tried to teach me.  Cooking I can handle - but I wish I had taken more time to learn proper technique and skill when it came to sewing.  Unfortunately she is no longer able to do either.

August 2012

August 2012, just before Luke and I moved to the UK, was the first time that I had ever truly experienced the effects of dementia/Alzheimer's.  In the car on the way back to her apartment, Grammy looked over at me and said, "Your mom is dead, right?"  I think I was a bit in shock and told her no, that my mom was waiting for us at her apartment.  But I didn't know how to respond.  Do I go with the flow and continue on her train of thought or do I attempt to bring her back to reality which could upset her?  I still don't know the proper answer to that one.  

April 2012

Just a couple months later, I flew back home to attend my grandfather's (other side of the family) funeral.  Shortly before that, Grammy fell and broke her foot - and then her other foot.  She was in the hospital when I got there and we knew that she could not go back to her apartment.  We selected a skilled nursing facility for her to recoup in and after she had been moved I went to visit her for lunch one day.  

"Well how'd you get up here so fast?" was her question.  "What do you mean, Grammy?  Where do you think we are?"  "Grant City, of course."  Grant City is where Grammy grew up and where she and Grandad retired to.  It is about 2 hours north of Kansas City.  I tried to tell her we were in Kansas City, but she wouldn't believe me.  To her, we were definitely in Grant City.  

22 June 2007

It has gotten progressively worse while I've been in UK.  Today she lives in a memory care center in Smithville, Missouri.  

November 2014
(don't forget to check out the photobomber in the back!)

The woman she is today is so very different from the woman that I grew up with.  I don't get to see her very often any more, but when I do, it's hard.  
Outwardly she looks pretty much the same as she always has - except that she now has long, pink fingernails (there is someone that comes into her unit to do manicures).  But it's hard to remember the last real conversation I had with Grammy.  Today, conversations are more or less her stories about what she believes she did that day.  Sometimes it's funny.  Sometimes it's sad.  

March 2010

Other than Alzheimer's and the inevitable fact that she is getting older, Grammy is pretty healthy.  She could continue to live like she is for a very long time which is hard to cope with.  It is a very stressful process for her daughters and very sad for her friends and family who have known her for so long and miss the woman we know and love.  

Because we live in the UK, I am unable to be there for Grammy and my family.  Therefore, I am running this half marathon for Grammy in hopes that the research and programs that the Alzheimer's Society leads and participates in will find treatments that will slow/cure/prevent Alzheimer's in the future.  Please join with me by supporting me on this run.  You can sponsor me on my fundraising page.  My goal is to raise £300 ($450) and run the half in under 2 hours.  

I'll keep you updated on how the training is coming over the next 7 weeks.  Pray for endurance and no injuries.

Love you & miss you,

Aubs