Please Pray for Amy!

I am not going to post details (per her family's request), but for those of you that have followed this blog for a while or know me, have heard me talk about Rockstar Amy.  She was hit by a truck on her final long ride prior to Kona, and is in bad shape.  She needs all the postive vibes that she can right now.

I had just recently thanked her so much for her help with IM, and told her that I would put an ad for her on my blog.  I hadn't put the ad up yet because I really have been struggling to post stuff, and it didn't seem appropriate to put it with my underpants update which was also long overdue.  Here is the link to her site so you can read about her accomplishments (and hire her once she is well).
http://amyglucknutritioncoaching.com/
It is funny how you can feel so affected by certain people.  Amy is one of those people that is just so fun and happy all the time.  She is super friendly, and very humble.  While I am not strong enough to train with her side by side, I have trained "behind" her :)  Having dinner with her this past May was probably the defining moment turning my ironman dreams into a possibility.   I feel like I may not have had my incredible Ironman story if it wasn't for her.  Sure, I had other friends trying to convince me to do it as well, but having someone as strong and talented as her who has been through it tell me that it is possible given I do x, y, and z, that made it real.  It was after dinner with her that I wanted to do the 160K route of the Michigan Mountain Mayhem, and while it took some convincing from other friends that I was OK to do that, if I hadn't even though to do it, I wouldn't be where I am.  It pains me so much that the friend who contributed so much to the best race of my life is in pain right now, and struggling.  Please include her in her prayers. 

Dinner before IMKY 2011, she was there as a supporter

I stole this picture from Ironman's website from the Kona Underpants Run last year.

 The day I met Amy.  Me, Cristina, Amy, and Kristel, late summer 2008

I was about 7m pregnant with Soren at the time.  I had only met Cristina breifly before, and this was the first time I had met Amy.  Kristel and I went to grad school together, and the two of us had set up a meeting at Maybury of members of Team Stayput Detroit for a photo contest.  There were a couple other ladies that came out.  I thought it was really interesting how of the 20 or so pictures we had, this one is of just the 4 of us plus Keira.  All of these ladies have become very important to me since this day.  I hadn't ever done a triathlon at all, which is why I was not in tri attire (that and the fact that running clothes is a bit more forgiving to the growing belly).  Fast forward to now, and Cristina and I are doing our first Ironman together, with Amy on the sidelines cheering us on!