RECOVERING ON THE WEEKEND

15th and 16th May 2010

As my tiny, bony body aches from the Cross Country event on Friday I am smiling though because I achieved something that I dared to dream about and so desperately wanted to do for myself and to inspire others that some days you may think you are down and out but if you have that determination and courage you can have the sky light up in the magical colour of a rainbow. What I achieved on Friday was for me a rainbow stretching so magnificently across the crystal, blue sky of Autumn.

My head is throbbing and feels like it is a ticking bomb ready to explode any second, I have never had this feeling before but know it will be something else that I will learn and grow from.

Yesterday we went to watch Jarrett and Nalani run in an ACT Cross Country Club point score event at Lyneham. They were running 3.1km which I think is pretty courageous after both of them running the four kilometres just the day before. As they took off I wished that I was competing alongside them, I have moments like these when I wish I could just be that same person I once was so long ago for me now. Jarrett ran like a bullet again, I don't know how he does it, he was out front with an older boy and they had a huge lead on the rest of the field. Down the final hill to the finish they were fairly even and then the older boy, who had much longer legs than Jarrett, just crossed the line before him. Jarrett won his age group though and received maximum points for that and then Nalani came in and I could see that she was pushing herself right to the end, she was quite sore as she is not used to racing two days in a row, she achieved great points also and is still leading her age group on points.

We spent the remainder of the day packing ready for our move and I felt so physically exhausted that I fell asleep until dinner time. My body just is not the same as it used to be and every little activity that I do takes its toll on me and because I push myself, I think I may often overdo it and that is why I get so exhausted. I guess I do this because I don't know what lies ahead for me and I am just not going to sit back, life is far too precious to do that and I just want to make the most of every single day.

This morning was extremely chilly and slightly foggy as we headed to the AIS for running training, I was so rugged up I felt like an Eskimo living in Antarctica. As we walked though the sun came shining down upon us and I began to peel my layers off and I really enjoyed the sun on my bones because I was still in agony with them. After running training we went to Belconnen Mall to do some birthday shopping for Jarrett and while we were there we went into Angus and Robertson to see if we could see my book and I could take a photograph of me with it in the shop but the lady told us that they had sold out of all their copies in just the first day - Wow! how stupendous is that. Borders in the Canberra Centre have also sold out of all my books and I have my in-store signing at the end of May. We have 240 books left and then that is all that there are, they are in demand. I am hoping to fund a reprint so that everyone has the opportunity to purchase one, so together we can truly make that difference in the future for children who have brain tumours. I was saddened to read that Brain Tumours have the highest mortality out of all childhood cancers and they are the least funded, this is why it is so important to me to be the one who can maybe help this to change.

We are off to Church and I will be praying for all the children who are going through treatment at this time and pray that they will not be in too much pain and will recover.

I thank each and everyone who supported me through messages in my Cross Country I really could feel all the love and encouragement reaching me on that day. How blessed am I to have the warmth and friendship of such marvellous people.