SLOWLY GETTING BETTER AND AUSTRALIAN YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS

5th to 11th March 2011

Our World is suffering with so many natural disasters firstly in Queensland, then New Zealand and now Japan it is absolutely devastating and unexplainable, I just hope that we are spared any more heartache in our world for the remainder of the year. 

I have spent the last week trying to recover from my upper respiratory infection and middle ear infection, it has taken two lots of antibiotics but it is now almost cleared which is such a relief, I thought it was never going to improve for a while there. 

We had our School Fair on Saturday, it was a lovely Autumn day for it, I went for just a short time because I was just not well enough.  Nalani helped setting up and Jarrett helped with the tidying up afterwards.  I did not even go to running training because I wanted to get better to be able to go to Sydney to see Jarrett run at the Australian Youth Championships, so my walking practise around the AIS with my rollator had to take a back seat for my health.

Nalani had her appointment with the surgeon on Monday and she received some terrific news and that was that she will be fully back into sport within the next three months, she was advised to join the gym, to do some more work so she can get back to her running more quickly.  The news put a huge smile on her face, she has found it so difficult not to be doing her sport, she says it not only helps her to feel healthy physically but also mentally. 

I had to go for blood tests, they took four large vials, blood tests are so simple for me to have, although the blood nurse did mention that they seem to be taking the blood from the same vein all the time.  I have a couple of results back, I have no antibodies to Hepatitis A or Measles, that is from the high doses of chemotherapy, sometimes your body is able to build back these immunities but mine has not been able to.  I see the doctor again this Wednesday to have my flu injection, hopefully the rest of my blood results are back and he will discuss them further with me.

This week at school has been tiring for me, with still recovering from illness.  My Art work is coming together nicely and I am pleased with how it is looking, in Maths we are learning how to convert decimals to fractions and in Integrated Studies we are working on a project about Active Citizenship.  Each day that I have been to school I have been so fatigued that I had to come home and sleep, then again rest also helps your body to heal so it is a good thing however when you have the amount of homework we do in Year 8 it is often difficult to cope.

By Thursday I was given the all clear to go to Sydney to see Jarrett run, I was so elated, I would have been devastated to miss seeing him run.  We left Canberra to drive to Sydney in the pouring rain which followed us until we passed Marulen, we had a stop at Sutton Forest to stretch our legs and for something to eat and drink.  Driving into Sydney the sky was filled with a thick, heavy smoke haze from controlled burning, it stung our eyes and when you breathed in your lungs were filled with the smoke.  However later in the day the winds came up, blowing the smoke away which was a good thing because with Jarrett being an asthmatic it could have really caused him many difficulties. 

To stretch our legs again from the trip we went for a walk around DFO and after we checked into our motel we went for the 1.5km walk to Sydney Olympic Park to have a look at the track.  On returning to the motel I had a long sleep. After a delicious dinner at the bistro with Jarrett's coach we went to Sydney Olympic Park to watch a couple of other members of Jarrett's squad run in their events.  One thing I must mention is that the footpaths in Sydney are atrocious, definitely not made for wheelchairs or even pedestrians they are so uneven, high gutters even at traffic light pedestrian crossings and at times so narrow from tree overgrowth.  The races were exciting they were the Steeple events, I love watching them go over the water jump, both members of the squad did extremely well. 

Friday was Jarrett's big day but not until later in the night, in the morning he had a physiotherapy appointment so we once again tackled the dangerous sidewalks to Sydney Olympic Park, which has marvellous paths for wheelchairs, as the Sydney Olympics were held there they have to have excellent walking paths.  Before his appointment, Jarrett had to do a jog, stretches and some run throughs as part of his pre-race preparation.  He had his appointment which he felt loosened up and ready to fly around the track.  We had a hot chocolate and shared a jumbo chocolate chip cookie then began our walk back to the motel.  Suddenly, the sky turned dark, small spits of refreshing rain turned to larger, heavier drops and then the heavens opened up and it poured down, fortunately, we found shelter under a shop.  Eventually the rain stopped and the sun shone upon us again so we could walk the rest of the way back to the motel. 

After resting we went across to Paddy's markets, the fresh fruit smelt so scrumptious, although the seafood did not have the same appeal to my sense of smell.  There were many stalls with bargains, we picked up a couple.  We returned to rest again, I fell asleep, as even though I am recovering my body still is weak from being ill. 

The time then came to leave for the race, we drove to the track as it would not be appropriate to have Jarrett walk prior to a 3000m race.  The skies had again become dark and there were a few spits of rain however the rain held off until much later in the evening.  We watched Jarrett warm up with his Coach before his race then I gave him a humongous hug to wish him luck and told him to run his best.  My stomach was full of butterflies when he and the other competitors made their way onto the track for the race, I can only imagine that Jarrett's stomach had many more butterflies than mine.  Then it all began with the starters gun going off leaving my ears ringing for ages afterwards.  Jarrett was the second smallest in the race, some of the other boys looked so much older than he did and were huge in stature.  Jarrett paced himself just as his Coach had told him to, he looked strong, his breathing looked fine which was a relief after his severe asthma attack at Cross Country Nationals.  With the final lap to go although Jarrett was not in medal contention he ran focused and strongly making more ground to finish with a 9:15:35 which was a personal best by five seconds this season, he came 11th which he was really thrilled with.  He is the fastest in the ACT for his age group in the 3000m and the 11th fastest in Australia, I think that is incredible.  The best part was, he has gained so much more confidence because his breathing was fine, I think it has been really scary for him since his attack at Cross Country.  He was brave and determined, he was able to overcome adversity and move forward.

It had been a huge day and after a later dinner again with Jarrett's Coach I went to bed thrilled for Jarrett and extremely tired, I slept like a log not even hearing a thunder storm that hit Sydney in the early hours of the morning.

While we were in Sydney we heard some very upsetting news about my Great Grandmother, she has had a heart attack, she is in hospital, she has fluid on her lungs and a blood clot in her artery, the doctors are trying to drain the fluid and dissolve the clot.  I have been praying that God will look after her and let her stay with us.  Could I please ask you to pray for her and that her doctors will be successful in pulling her through.

I also know that some of my followers have been having health issues themselves and I have also been saying prayers for them and wishing them speedy recoveries.

In line with Jarrett's running I have this quote 'Every great athlete seeks a personal best, they seek new challenges, stretch their capabilities and learn from their mistakes, if they believe in themselves, show persistence, courage and have faith in their ability they will always surge ahead not only in their sport but also in life'  I think we can in our lives all think like athletes, learning from our mistakes, showing persistence and courage and seeking to do our personal best always.