McPHERSON COLLEGE - Bulldogs and Tigers Unite for a Cure

McPHERSON COLLEGE - Bulldogs and Tigers Unite for a Cure

Getting Back.......

Well, it has been awhile.  It has been a long while since my last blog.  When the fall season approaches at school, it seems like I'm usually trying to find every extra minute to focus on recruiting students for the next year's class.  So......blogging hasn't been one of my top priorities.

It's funny how things have changed.  Mom has been gone for almost 4 months and of course there hasn't been a day that goes by that I don't think of her.  I find myself still wanting to call her everyday after work like usual.  There has been good days and bad days....which is to be expected.

So let me update everyone on my miles.  Recently, I just hit the 400 miles mark.  If you can do the math in your head, I'm a few miles behind.  It took while to get back in the swing of things after I took some time off when mom passed.  The weather has also created a dilemma as well.  I plan on hitting the pavement, (or treadmill) hard this next week. 

I am going to follow a training plan I found online that I think I will like.  Previously, I was not following any plan, so I'm hoping this will help me stay on task. 

Tomorrow night, I will let everyone know how I'm staying active the PanCan.

Good night!!

Razorbacks, Rainbows, Reminiscing.........and Running.......

On July 31, 2011, my mom lost her battle with pancreatic cancer.......

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind.  We were able to get mom back home from the KU Med Center a few days before she passed.  She would of wanted this.  My dad, my sister, and I were by her side the whole time. Fortunately, mom also got to see her two sisters and mom a few days before she passed.

Although many tears were shed the next few days, a sense of peace came over me.  Finally, my mom was free of pain.  Finally, my mom was not battling any more.  Finally, my mom was free.  There is no doubt in my mind that Pappa, Grandpa, and Mark G. were their to meet her when she arrived at the gates of heaven.

I have been overwhelmed with the amount of support our family has had not only the past few weeks, but the last 3 years.  The community of Ness City has been nothing short of amazing for my family.  Also, the McPherson College community and the admissions team have been a incredible.

On Tuesday, we had mom's vigil.  As soon as we stepped out of the church, my cousin took a picture of the sky..........

I'm sure that rainbow is mom letting us know she was there!!  :)

Funny thing is, this wasn't the last sign we saw from mom.

Checking the weather the night before mom's funeral, Ness City was supposed to have a high of 115!!  We had planned the funeral at 9am for this very reason.  When we awoke that morning, it was cool as a rain had fallen that night.  Actually, it was kind of chilly!  The temperature in Ness City that day didn't get above 87 degrees.  That's mom......having it her way.......

The past few weeks have also seen a change in my running.  Actually, I haven't run at all.

So, the running continues tomorrow.  It will probably take me a few weeks to get back in the swing of things, but I know mom will be there with me the whole way.

I truly appreciate everyone's support through this trying time.

Remember to Teach, because mom was the greatest teacher.
Remember to Pray, because there are many people still fighting pancreatic cancer.
Remember to Support, because everyone can take part in this fight.

Matt

End of June

The end of June is quickly approaching and I have started to get a hang of balancing work, running workouts, and P90X.  So far, as of June 27th, I have logged 173 miles of running.  Although the longer runs have become easier, I have set a goal to start making runs faster.  Most miles I am averaging around an 8:45 pace and I would like to continuously drop that to an 8:20 pace.  I've made a new music list to help me do this, mostly consisting of techno music.  :)

Mom continues to fight to get better.  Two weeks ago, Kelsey and I got to spend the weekend with Kelsey's niece Kayleigh.  We drove to Hays on Saturday and visited the Sternberg Museum.  What a great trip!  Kayleigh loves dinosaurs so we thought it would be awesome to check it out.  Here are a few pictures below of the day!

That's a Big Dinosaur!!

Kayleigh through the greenhouse.

Kayleigh was a little scared of T-Rex (her favorite dinosaur)

After the Sternberg Museum, we made our way to Ness City to spend the night with my mom and dad.  Kaleigh was happy to see my mom.  We all loaded up that evening and went to the park where Kayleigh was super impressed with Ness City's park.  She loved going down the slide and showing off for my mom.  

Edited pic......one of my new hobbies.

Like I said, mom continues to fight to get better.  She is continually eating better and getting stronger.  A few times I have called during the evening I have caught mom and dad at one of John's (my cousin) little league baseball games.  I'm glad that she can get out of the house to do these things still.  One thing about Mom, she loves baseball, so June is always spent watching the College World Series.  One of my fondest memories of a child during the summer is watching Wimbledon and the College World Series with mom.  I can remember her and I watching John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors in tennis matches and just spending time together.  Great memories!!

Thanks again to everyone following this blog. Remember, if you have friends or family that want to support a cause, tell them about my journey.  I hope you continue to read my blog and follow me.

Remember to Teach.  Remember to Pray.  Remember to Support

I Hate It.....But I Love It......

Pretty crazy right?

Yes, Kelsey and I have started the P90X program.  We did this program before we got married and we felt it was time to start it again!  So, last week, we started our adventure.

Are we sore???!!!  Of course, we know that after the first few weeks of working out, the soreness will go away and it will become easier.  I was pretty bummed last Thursday when we couldn't find our Yoga cd since it was one of my favorite workouts.  We will keep you updated with each phase on how we are doing.

After the Suicide Hill Run, my legs were really hurting, so I took a few days off.  I think with the longer runs I'm going on, my body is still getting used to the pounding.  The runs have become harder as well since the weather in Kansas is brutal during the summer.  I decided last week that I would start getting up early in the morning to run some.  There are a few days I will do a morning run and an afternoon run and then take the next day off or do a short run on my off days.  I have to coordinate with the P90X workouts on my days off, so it will be a work in progress over the next few weeks.

I'm not going to be able to make a few races that I wanted to, so I'm going to focus right now mostly on the MOPS run in Marion as well as the half marathon run in September in Hutchinson.

I have a few ideas of some neat mom stories in the next few blogs so stay tuned!!

Remember to Teach.  Remember to Pray.  Remember to Support.

10K

Suicide Trail Run

There is Suicide Trail Run.....................

Last Saturday I ran in my first 10K!  What an awesome experience it was!! Kelsey and I drove up to Little River at 7:30 am so that I could get there at a decent time to warm up.  Little River is a small community just 15 miles west of McPherson.....such an awesome town.  Little River was in full force at 7:45 when we got there!  I saw alot more runners then I thought I would.  I got a good warm up in by jogging a few blocks and stretching real good.

Right before the race started, I noticed that there were about 30 people in the 10K race. People of all ages were in our group.  When the gun sounded, everyone started sprinting!  HaHa.....I thought to myself, "No way I'm going to keep up this pace for 6.2 miles!"  I got behind a group of people that were running about an 8:15 mile pace, so I got behind the group and kept the pace.

Beginning of Race

The first 2 miles were ran on pavement and dirt roads, something I was really used to.  My legs felt pretty heavy these miles.  My legs have felt really heavy the past few weeks, so I knew I needed to push myself.  My second mile was ran about the same pace....8:30 pace.

Then, the hills started.  At the second mile, the pack turned onto a cow pasture and started the uphill climb.  Most of the 3rd mile was going up and down hills in pastures.  The scenery was awesome and weather was just great.  The pace really slowed down though........10 min pace.  My legs were not used to the hills and rough terrain.

After the 3rd mile, my legs finally felt good.  I took the pace back down to a 9 min pace.  Although there were tougher hills and even 2 creek crossings, my legs felt really good to push myself up the hills.  I knew the "Suicide Hill" was coming up, so I wanted to keep this pace until that mark.

The 5th mile is when "the hill" showed its ugly self.  Really steep and really rocky, the hill was really tough to go up.  I got 3/4 the way up, and brisked walk the rest of the way up.  After I finally beat the hill, it was pretty much smooth sailing to the finish line.

Finish Line

My final time was 54 minutes and 1 second. I beat my goal of less than an hour.  I'm really looking forward to running in some more trail runs in the near future!  Thanks to Little River for putting on a great event!!

Getting some Gatorade and a banana after the race

MMMMM.......banana.......

The miles keep coming.......

Quick thank you to Lynette for sponsoring miles! I appreciate it so much!

I hope to blog more often now that summer has started.  So keep watching!!

Remember to Teach.  Remember to Pray.  Remember to Support.

100 miles down....

Well, if you are watching my daily mile tracker, you might notice 3 digits now!! I ran 4 miles with one of my good friends this evening to make my total number of miles up to 102!!  I'm really excited to get past this hurdle considering it took longer than expected to get here.

Next Saturday I will run in my first 10K race.  The 10K is in Little River, KS and is called the Suicide Hill Trail Run.  Now, looking at what the race is called, I'm surprised anyone wants to participate.  This will be a cross country race with two creek crossings.  It will be interesting to see how I do since I have only ran on pavement since I have started.  Kelsey will be coming with me to take a few pictures and cheer me on.  After the race, we will head west to see mom.

This week is finals week at the college, which is always an emotional week.  It is especially emotional this year since my first real recruiting class are graduating.  It has been a great 4 years watching them grow both spiritually, mentally, and personally.  I must say, McPherson recruiting a fantastic class 4 years ago.

Mom has continued chemo and continuing to eat very well.  I can not wait to see her next weekend.  Thanks again everyone for your prayers and support.

Remember to Teach.  Remember to Pray.  Remember to Support.

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!!

Kelsey and I got up this morning early and traveled to Ness City to surprise mom for Mother's Day!  Although we knew we were only going to stay a few hours, we definitely wanted to see mom.

So we hopped in the car around 7:30 am and headed west.  Kelsey and I usually talk or listen to music while we are in the car.....but I had something new to make the trip go by really fast!!

Pretty sweet, huh?  Needless to say, Kelsey was fast asleep once the author started reading.  

It was great to see mom!!  She actually surprised us by how good she looked and how much full of energy she was.  I asked her what she wanted for lunch and she replied, "How about spaghetti?" 

(See a few blogs ago to understand how excited I was!!)

A great mother's day it was!  I hope everyone enjoyed their day!   I will leave you with this very powerful and "tear jerking" video!!  Enjoy!!

Remember to Teach.  Remember to Pray. Remember to Support.

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Jogging and Blogging

Greetings all!

Well, one month is down!!  The past week which is really my first week into the second month (got that?) has really been a struggle.  I took a few days off of running to focus on work since we are for sure in the busy season!  My 3 mile run on Wednesday was at a much slower pace then I wanted so it's important that I stick to the plan.  My left leg has also been giving me some trouble but I think I just need to stretch more before and after I run.  I just need to stick to the plan!

Last weekend, Kelsey and I got the chance to go home to see my family.  We had a great time in Ness City.......spent some much needed quality time with mom, had a short but great conversation with grandma, and of course.......got to drink some slushes!!  Mom was in great spirits and she was excited to see us!  My brother, sister-in-law, and nephew are coming to Ness from Colorado this week so I know mom is really pumped to see them.

Kelsey and I have been looking at some more race opportunities to participate in.  We found a few around the area so we are trying to figure out our "summer schedule".  One of the races I'm really excited for is the Blake Reed Miracle Mile!  Interested in this race and want to learn more?  Check out this link!
http://www.mcpherson.edu/news/index.php?action=fullnews&id=2177

This Sunday of course is Mother's Day.  I will be doing a special mother's day post on my blog to tell one of my favorite "mom" stories...so stay tuned.

A few thank you's before I end.  Huge thank you's to Jamie, Mo and Po, and Cody for sponsoring miles.  Cody and Jamie, you guys are great friends........although you live states away, I'm so appreciative in your support.  Mo and Po, thank you for all that you have done......you are the best!  Also, thank you to Coach Eby and Becker!  You might not know this, but you guys have played an important role in keeping me motivated for my runs!  P.S.....Go Bulldogs!

Remember to Teach.  Remember to Pray.  Remember to Support.

One Month

The past month has come and gone so fast.  I will have run over 60 miles in my first month which is more than I expected to run the first 30 days.  I have also ran in my first of many 5K's to come!  Also, and most importantly, I have had more support for my journey than ever imagined.  

If you are following me closely, and I hope you are, I have added something new to my page; the upcoming events list.  I'm going to keep everyone updated on what PanCan Events are being held or I plan to attend.  Next stop, Omaha, Nebraska for their purplestride event!  The Pfannenstiel Pfighters can't wait!  

Remember to Teach. Remember to Pray. Remember to Support.

Friends, Family, and 5K

Our 5K was this past weekend in Kansas City!  We had such a blast with family and friends!  All in all, the Pfannenstiel Pfighters at a total of 9 people.  We all finished the 5K without the ambulance picking us up!  All of us even made the goals we had set!  Personally, I wanted to finish below 27 minutes; I finished in 26 min 8 secs.  In their age division, Mira finished 1st and Tecie finished 2nd.

Back L to R: Melisa, Matt, Kels, Bruce, Amanda
Front L to R: Beka, Jared, Mira, Tecie

Kansas City put on a fantastic first Purple Stride Event.  Over 1,100 people were registered for the event and over $90,000 was raised for the event.  It was very inspiring to see that many people in one place fighting for one cause.  It was even more inspiring to know that there were 10 survivors in the crowd.

Want to thanks everyone again for participating in the event with us!  We are very blessed to have the friends we do!!

The miles are still coming along.....After this last 5k, I think there will be more races in the works!
Feel free to tell your friends and family to follow my journey!  I have had so much support already.....feel very blessed.

Check below for some more pics of the PurpleStride Event!!

Tecie and Mira with their medals

Mandy and Kels

Our signs!

Awesome Students!!

Our great friends Jared and Beka!!  Love you guys!

It started sprinkling....needless to say, Mel wasn't to happy....

Kels, Matt, Brother in Law Bruce, Sister Mandy

Our race signs

 

Remember to Teach.  Remember to Pray. Remember to Support.

Mamma Mia!

Greetings!

First things first!!  Huge THANK YOU to Nancy and her support!  Nancy is a great friend and even better....she is an SEC fan!! We don't find many of those around, do we Nancy??
Thinking about supporting?? Click on the daily giving link!!

Running was great this week!  I finally got some new running shoes and got my music in order for my runs.  It took me a while to make the perfect playlist, but it was the worth the wait.  I seem to run much smoother and faster when listening to music.  Some people will think I'm crazy if I show you my playlist, so I will just give you the genre's on my playlist:

Country
Techno
Hip Hop
Easy Listening
Alternative
Rock
Gospel
Broadway

Think I'm crazy yet?

Since Kelsey and I are both working towards the 5k on April 23rd, we have also tried to work on have a healthier eating program.  Vegetables, carbs, fruit, protien.......we are trying to figure a plan of attack  So of course when I talk about food.......it got me thinking........

Remember what it feels like?  When you walk in the house, and you smell something in the kitchen?  You smell something that reminds you of home......something great.....something....that mom's cooking.

Everyone has their favorite meal from mom, right?  Mine is spaghetti.  I have to tell you............my mom's spaghetti....unbelievable....

Although she just uses traditional regular Ragu sauce, meat and noodles, there is something else in it!  There has to be!!  Growing up, it was always a treat and everyone would get excited when mom was making her spaghetti.  Alot of people have tried to match the taste, but no one can.

What is your favorite "mom" meal??  I look forward to reading some comments!!

P.S. Don't forget! Feel free to share my blog with anyone who you think might be interested in following!  There are 20 followers so far!!  Thanks to all that follow!!

Remember to Teach. Remember to Pray.  Remember to Support.

A quick pic....

Had a great weekend at home....thought I would share this picture with everyone! Jeebz usually stays at the farm with Nanna and Pappy when we go home to Ness. Looks like he had a busy weekend!!

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A Story

Wow, almost one week down!! If you have been watching my dailymile ticker, you probably have noticed that I finally hit "double digits" (pretty exciting, I know!).  It's been such a great week!!  I've had many people come up and talk to me about my blog and how much they have enjoyed reading it.  I have encouraged them to share my blog with their friends and family......Please do the same! 


I must share this story with you.  A friend of my mom's wrote me on Facebook the other day and after reading it, (and hopefully after you read it) it reminded me of how much mom meant to the education world.


"I've been reading stuff you've posted and I am so sorry about what I read about your Mom. I remember when she was in the hospital quite some time ago with health problems but not living in Ness anymore I haven't heard a whole lot since so I wasn't aware of the cancer. I loved your Mom as the girls' teacher, Amber was in first grade when we moved and then of course Jade had her. I always enjoyed talking to her wherever I saw her.
If I may share a funny story with you about your Mom and Jade.
One night when Jade was in first grade we were at the Cactus Club eating and Jade was sitting at the table kinda slumped over leaning on the table waiting for our food, we would look at the door when anyone came in and Jack said, Jade look there's Mrs. Pfannenstiel, Jade immediately sat up straight--as if sitting in the classroom and the teacher walked in--and looked over at the door. Jack and I started laughing cause we knew it was a respect thing on Jades part cause Jade liked her as a teacher, but we also knew your Mom ran a no nonsense classroom which in this case went beyond the classroom. She was an awesome teacher.
Had to tell you, we thought it was pretty funny."


How funny!! I would know how my mom teaches though.....and how although running a "no nonsense" classroom was her motto, her specialty was truly caring and educating kids.  I was fortunate enough to be taught by mom in second grade.  I'll never forget she gave me my first "F" (and even in Math, my best subject)!!


Last but not least, some quick thank you's to some of my newest supporters in dailygiving!


Shay -- Miles 54 through 106


Courtney and David -- Miles 107 through 135


Kay -- Miles 136 through 155


You guys rock!!  Thanks so much for the support!  I truly appreciate it!!




Kelsey and I are headed to Ness for the weekend to see Mom!  (This is me being pumped!)
We are looking forward to running the streets of my hometown!




As Awlays.......


Remember to Teach.  Remember to Pray.  Remember to Support. 

Angels & Running buddies.....

A Huge shout-out to The Bowmans for sponsoring my first 53 miles!!  An awesome way to start things off!! You guys are great and I truly appreciate the support!!  If you are interested in sponsoring miles, click on the "first giving" link at the top of the page.

I probably should introduce a few people that will be in support of me throughout this whole experience before I get to sore to type.....LOL!!

Definitely my better half!!  My wife Kelsey is also training for the Purple Stride Event in Kansas City on April 23rd.  We have been running together for about 6 weeks preparing for this 5k event.  My favorite part of the day is when we run together....we get a chance to talk about our day, relationship, dreams.....we really seem to communicate great when we are running.....(when we can talk and not out of breath!)  I'm truly blessed to have her in my life!

Mr. Jeebz!  Yes, Kelsey and I usually take him on our run with us!  Jeebz is our 2 year old dog that we have had for just over a year and a half.  This is personally my first pet that I've ever had....Kelsey had farm dogs and cats while growing up.  Jeebz has been a wonderful addition to our family.....although there have been a few times he tests our patience.  

This was a token my mom gave me just a few short weeks ago.  If you know mom, you know she collects angels.  Growing up, it's what most of us kids got her as gifts.  She gave each of us an Angel token for us to put in our pockets each day to remind us of her.  Naturally, I usually don't let it out of my site.  It goes with me to work, on my runs, and has a place on my nightstand by the bed.  One of the most meaningful things mom has given me.

So far this week has been good.....I'm not to sore yet and I'm 8 miles in.  I'm hoping to get to at least 15 this week and push on.......again, I think the miles will get much easier once I get over the initial hump!

Remember to Teach.  Remember to Pray.  Remember to Support.

Teaching

Mom was a teacher. Although she is retired after 26 years, she continues to teach.  Everyday....important things. Family, life, attitude, jobs, relationships......the list goes on.  She has taught our family to stick together through hard times, to praise each other on accomplishments, and to stay in touch.  Although my brother is in Colorado and my sister is in Ness, I feel that the past few years have brought us closer together.  Although she has left the classroom, mom still teaches.

Day 1 was what I thought it would be.  Long.  I'm going to follow a modified version of a marathon training schedule that a co-worker told me about.  I'm not for sure if a marathon will be in the future, although that might change.  Today I ran 2.65 miles at what I thought was a decent pace.  I know the pace will get much faster and the miles much longer as I continue.  I'm using dailymile.com to track my miles for the year and after the first run, it looks like they round up!  I will keep everyone updated on my real miles on my blog and hopefully I can find a road track that is exactly 3 miles.

I've already received so much support from people at work.......I'm truly blessed to be surrounded by such great people.  When starting this blog, I thought even if I got a few followers that it would be a success.  After a week of the first blog post, I already have 5 followers!  If you a reading this blog, feel free to pass it along to people you know......the more people that follow, the more people learn about supporting the fight for pancreatic cancer.

Many people have asked about how they sponsor.  Throught the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (www.pancan.org) I have set up a fundraising page.  You can access it by clicking on the "first giving" link on my page.  All the support is greatly appreciated.

Remember to teach.  Remember to pray.  Remember to support.

Matt

1,000 Miles begins with a single step....

You've heard that old chinese proverb, right?  I was surfing the internet a few weeks ago and I came by it and for some reason it caught my eye.  See, a few weeks ago, my life and my family's life changed.

Let's go back a few years though.

In the fall of 2008, my mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  Yes, my mom.  An elementary teacher of 26 years that never drank, smoke, cursed......you name it.  Now without going in to alot of detail, my mom ended up having a whipple procedure.  We knew we had a long road ahead of us, but we thought we beat it.  

In January of 2011, my mom was rediagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  The doctors have told us we are probably looking at weeks and months............not years........that we have with mom.  We started chemo right away to not necessarily prolong life, but hopefully ease the pain.  This past week, the doctors told us the chemo was actually worsening her condition.....so mom made the final decision of stopping chemo and letting nature take it course.  

Although I might not be able to save my mom, I know I need to do my part in finding a cure.  Fundraising, making people aware, and supporting the cause.

$1.........1 Mile.  That's how you can fight with me.

My hope is to be sponsored $1 for every mile I run.  $1,000 is a tremendous goal.  But why set goals if they are not big?

I hope you join me on my year long journey. I will post weekly to keep everyone updated on what is going on in my life........and hopefully tell a few stories about mom on the way :).

Interested in fighting with me?  Contact me.

My fight begins April 4th, 2011.