A little Gobble for your Wobble!

Welcome back. I hope you all had a blessed weekend and took a moment to reflect and remember our Veterans this Veterans Day. I did something this weekend that meant a lot to me, but I don't recommend you try it at home :)  I have run the Soldier Half Marathon every year since it started and this year was the fourth annual. I don't know if you follow my blog or know about my accident, but 6 weeks ago during a trail race, I fell and fractured my shoulder blade. I was extremely depressed about this. I had already trained up to a 10 mile run the week before my fall and was in great condition to run a good run this year. I just got out of my sling 2 weeks ago and immediately tried running again. My first 3 miler went ok, but the next day I ran a 6 miler with my training group and felt like I had been run over by a truck. I was pretty sure the race was out for me. I went to therapy the Thursday before and my therapist said she really couldn't recommend me running. I ran into my therapist the next day - Friday - at the Soldier Kids Marathon. They have a program where kids 12 and under log miles until they get to 25 miles. They have about 6 weeks or so to get them. Both of my kids participate. Its always been a tradition that we would take the kids to the Soldier Kids Marathon and then I would pick up my race packet and go have a pasta dinner. I stood there at the start line of the kids race which is also the start/finish line for the half and full marathons that take place the next day. I was completely bummed. My physical therapist was also there with her kids and saw me. She saw how down I was and said - I cant stop you from running tomorrow. If you will listen to your shoulder and dont run competitively, I think you will be ok. So, I went into the expo and I was still on the registration list (I had asked to be deferred to next year). So, I got my bib and race packet and off to Olive Garden we went. I was so nervous Friday night. I had only run 6 miles since the accident and I had only gotten up to 10 before. But, I went into it with no time expectation. I met up with my running group Saturday morning and was able to run the first six miles with them. The latter half of the race was one of the hardest physical things I did. I definitely was not in the shape I had been. But, I finished the 13.1 miles 20 minutes slower than any other half I have ever done. And it was the proudest I have ever been. It meant so much to me to come back from this injury and still be able to do the sport I loved. Now, Sunday, I felt like I had been hit by a truck, but I will always know I am capable of more than I think I am. Before you go out and run a half marathon with a broken shoulder, know that I have been running for about 10 years and have done 3 marathons and more half marathons than I can count. I have done a sub 2 hour half twice and regularly run 5 and 10ks. So, I am conditioned to run. AND I did walk a good bit of the second half. My pace from where they clocked my 10k to the finish was 13 minutes, so there was a lot of walk/running there. That being said - you can do hard things. I bought one of the 13.1 stickers for the back of my car so I can always remember that even though there are valleys in life, there are still peaks to climb.

I proudly add this 4th Soldier Half Marathon medal to my collection. It means a great deal to me. And I want to publicly thank my husband for having my back through everything - the injury, the recovery and making all of the wonderful signs that he and the kids held during the race ( Your scapula is behind you, Your scapula makes the pace for you to finish the race). He and the kids were amazing through this whole ordeal. 

Ok, I know you really came to see today's outfit. So, we will get on with it. I have gotten to know Linda from Juvie Moon since I started sewing up her outfits for the Handmade School Year. She is really lovely. You can visit Juvie Moon here http://juviemoon.com/ and see her gorgeous patterns of which most go up to a size 12. Linda sent me one of her upcoming skirt patterns to test out and it is another winner. It will be called the Stella Marie and I highly recommend you be on the look for it. I used scraps from some recent outfits for the skirt. It is a super quick sew and its shirred waist makes it very comfortable. I appliqued a turkey on a Target long sleeved white tshirt to finish this super cute Thanksgiving themed outfit. It was very cute and she got lots of compliments (even from the nurse when we went to get flu shots this afternoon - yuck!) 

I present the upcoming Juvie Moon Stella Marie Skirt and appliqued shirt. 

Bundle up tonight! I think most everyone in the US is getting quite the chill. Tomorrow and Thursday are supposed to be really cold down here in the Southeast. So, tomorrow and Thursday, you will see some cold weather cozies! Hope to see you tomorrow!