I’m baaaack!

Here I am. I have plenty to write about, but I haven’t had the desire / time / whatever to type it out. I will probably forget most of what I was planning to write, but oh well.

For starters: the Grand Rapids Marathon. I finished my half-marathon in 2:23. I told myself when I started that the worst I wanted to do was 2:20, so I did a little worse than I wanted. However, at the end I had to tell myself to keep running and not stop and walk, so I consider it OK. My parents were able to come (they left their home at 5:45 AM!!) and cheered me on. Jim also brought his bike and rode along the route. I saw him 4 or 5 times, so he cheered me on and even gave me chapstick at Millenium Park. 🙂

Other news: my trip to Burundi. The dates are December 5-17. I sent out a letter describing the trip and some details about how you can support me. If you didn’t get one and want one, let me know.

I have gotten the medical part mostly taken care of. I had to be sure my shots were up to date, so the Friday before the marathon, I got yellow fever (the live version), tetanus, hepatitis A, polio and influenze. I picked up my malaria and typhoid prescriptions and will start taking those soon. Oh boy! I better not catch anything!

I am very excited and nervous about the trip. It’s definitely a once-in-a-lifetime trip! My favorite part will be the 8 hour flight to Amsterdam… or maybe the 8 hour flight an hour later to Nairobi?? Just kidding!