Thank you, Dr. Tiller.

Dr. George Tiller was killed on Sunday.

He was shot as he served as usher at his church, passing out bulletins. His wife was singing in the choir.

Dr. Tiller was an obstetrician and gynecologist. He was a licensed doctor and a veteran. He performed abortions, including late-term abortions which account for a very small percentage of abortions in the United States. He was one of the only (as in one of four or so) doctors in the United States who performed late-term abortions. Women travelled great distances to his clinic - their thank you notes lined his clinic walls.

If you think late-term abortions are horrifying I beg you to read this Boston Globe story about a woman who actually had one.

The late-term abortions that Dr. Tiller performed were legal, thoughtful and safe. Dr. Tiller would help a woman diagnosed with cancer decide whether to end a pregnancy in order to get cleared for chemotherapy. Dr. Tiller would counsel a girl who was raped and didn't realize she was pregnant. Dr. Tiller would provide abortions for women who longed to be mothers only to find that their pregnancy went awry - a fetus with severe neurological defects or with fluid in its brain. Dr. Tiller did what very few new doctors today do - he provided safe abortion services.

According to Planned Parenthood. four facilities in Illinois provide abortion services. Four. One in Champaign, one in Aurora and two in Chicago. That's not a lot of clinics, and that's definitely not an overabundance of abortion resources. Planned Parenthood flies a doctor to South Dakota from Minneapolis to provide women there with abortion services. In light of Dr. Tiller's murder, that doctor is now protected by U.S. Marshalls.

I find myself tearing up as I read about Dr. Tiller's work and his steadfast commitment to women's rights. I think about what abortion rights mean for women in America, and I think about what it means that a doctor who helped women through their hardest moments day after day was shot at his church.

Rest in Peace, Dr. Tiller.

I did it!

On our way we passed the Field Museum. Julie doesn't care about taking photos of the dinosaur wearing a hockey jersey.

Ready to run! I think I need sportier shades, maybe.

Here I am running (whether it looks like running or not!) toward the ramp to Soldier Field. Cindy, Brian and Julie cheered me round the bend!

Past the finish line on the 50-yard line! Go Bears! Go me!

Phew!

I felt great after the run and didn't finish too shabby - an hour and 59 minutes (meeting my under 2-hour goal!). Next I'm going to try to do a faster 5K!

Ready!

I'm ready!

I did my last run on Tuesday and my lifeguarding class is passed and all done! Tomorrow is lots of rest, lounging and enjoying the spring breeze!

I have to do a whole bunch of preparation to do - set up my shuffle, pin my number 3421 to my shirt, get my glucose tabs in my little pocket and psych myself up!

Hooray for that! I'll write about the race afterward.

Lunch break!

I'm trying to be very on top of eating decently all day long especially since this is a busy week. 

I'm running 10 miles on Saturday and doing lifeguard training all week too. Lifeguard training isn't terrible and it's actually nice cross-training. I passed my prerequisites, which is dandy (5 people in my group didn't!). Just let me know if you ever need someone to pick a brick up 8 feet underwater and swim 20 meters with it. I'm your gal. 

So, I'm trying to eat a wholesome, filling lunch that doesn't make me starved by 4 p.m. Today I had a grilled cheese and a banana. Tomorrow I'm packing my own concoction, with the help of lunch maniac B. He recommends (and packs for himself):

• Frosted Mini-Wheats
• Clif or Luna Bar
• Peanut butter sandwich (or toast)
• Yogurt (I might bring berries for mine - yum!)
• Grapes

When I was in middle school my dad made our sandwiches. My brother and I were troublesome to pack for even though we both ate PBJs. I'm a creamy PB, grape jelly gal; my brother is a crunchy PB, strawberry jam guy. My mom also dealt with these preferences but my dad was always really puzzled by it.

Weird!

As a reward for my excellent shoe-buying record I had a $25 credit at Fleet Feet and headed that way on this breezy day to find something awesome to run in.

I was looking for some sort of cutesy running outfit, but completely ruled that out since I have plenty of shirts and can't really bear the idea of looking so coordinated.

I talked to a Fleet Feet employee about shorts, shirts and jackets. Despite my initial interest in tops I found myself really interested in shorts. Why? What's special about running shorts?

I'll tell you.

Running shorts have underwear built in! Yes, running shorts come with underwear built-in! 

Who knew? 

8 miles today, 9 days to go! Plus a public service announcement.

Today was my final big run before the race! I scooted down to the lake path then all the way north to Granville Road and back home. 

And I don't feel beat up, achy or injured (despite a few bicycles and a rude dog getting a little closer to me than I prefer). In fact, I feel pretty awesome and accomplished. 

Tomorrow I'm giving blood! I really like giving blood. It's easy and makes you feel really good, especially since my dad received blood when he was in the hospital. I don't even miss the blood I give, since I'm so excellent at replenishing it myself.

I think YOU should give blood too, if you can. I had to wait until a year after I went to Costa Rica, but I'm sure someone like you is at least a candidate to give blood. Here are several reasons to give blood:

• You get a cool card with your blood type on it. You can say things like "I'm so positive that you're a weinie that my blood type is O-positive." Or "I even get an A in blood, that's how smart I am."
• According to me and my personal labor laws, you can use sick time or paid time to give blood.
• When you give blood you are automatically allowed to brag. And you sound brave to people who are scared of needles and blood. "Oh, I'm not freaked out by much - I just lost a pint of blood then ate six Oreos."
• When you give blood you get to lay down and watch bad soaps. Afterward you drink water and eat cookies. Delicious!
• You might get a cool compliment about yourself. For instance, I'm told I have "beautiful veins" which resemble "water hoses." Who knew!?!
• Your donation can save up to three lives. Heroic, no? 

I gave blood while my dad was in the hospital and it felt really, really important to me. I felt like the blood he got was good for him because it gave him better reserves to fight infection and recover, but also because someone gave it. 

Someone sat in a reclining chair, took an hour out of their day to share blood and eat some cookies. With my dad. I certainly never thought about that before my last donation, but I think it's a pretty beautiful thing. 

If you do want to give blood check out Lifesource in the Chicago area, and the rockstar American Red Cross elsewhere. 

Countdown to 10-miler: Wonderful, wonderful day

So, this weekend I lost my entire diabetes kit. Yup. Somewhere between Sox Park and my friend's car my kit was lost. I don't know if someone stole it (good luck to whoever tries to pawn a freaking OmniPod - it's of literally no use to anyone but me) or if it just got dropped and swept away. But I do know that it's lost.

This created a lot of diabetes drama. Plus I had to order a replacement. A $400 replacement. Arrrrrrgh! 

Finally today I spoke to my diabetes doctor's nurse and got some help. She - in a very no-nonsense manner - insisted that I call the OmniPod representative for the Chicago area. I left that lady, Lois, a message and quickly got a call back. Lois delivered a brand new Personal Diabetes Manager free to me within three hours! She actually send her daughter, who was coming to the city anyway. This delightful young lady drove up, tossed a box of OmniPod materials my way and headed on her merry way.

Un-freaking-believable! Amazing!

B will even tell you that I was teary-eyed that someone would be so nice as to send their daughter to my apartment to deliver a new kit for me. It truly made my night and at least my week. 

After that I took a nice 3-mile run and then ate really, really yummy tacos that B cooked. 

I'll try to post every day until my big race, just to keep my brain - and not just my legs - working.