Where My Feet Have Carried Me
By Sarah Satterfield
I ran this morning. Zero dark thirty and I, as usual, started my day with a run. It wasn’t always like this. You see, I have never been an athlete. But that all changed in 2007.
My most unlikely journey began on Father’s Day, June 17, 2007. My husband, Phalen, rarely had any time off work. This day was an exception and we decided to take advantage of it with a family outing to Disney. We loaded our two little girls into the car early and began our adventure. Peyton turned five that very day. Her baby sister, Emma Claire, was a mere four months.
Disney was crowded as it often is during the summer months. The day was hot and the children quickly grew restless. There was something else wrong, though. With Phalen. Phalen never complained of being sick, but something was not quite right. By the middle of the afternoon we were all ready to return home. Again out of the ordinary, Phalen said he needed to lie down. I unloaded the children and got everything together to teach summer session at our local college the next morning.
My cell phone rang the following day at about noon. It was Phalen. The manager of a furniture store, he was on his way to court to settle a dispute with a customer. His back was bothering him again. When he was just a few blocks from the courthouse, he decided to make a U-turn and go to the hospital instead.
This was the first of several bouts of intense pain. The pain was accompanied by unexplained and alarming surges in his blood pressure. He was in and out of various area hospitals for close to three weeks. Despite heavy medication, the pain would not subside. The ultimate diagnosis was devastating. Phalen—a thirty-five-year-old father of two–had an extremely rare and incurable disease that causes mid-sized arteries in the body to collapse. I carry the name of that disease still to this day on a crumpled post-it note in my wallet—polyarteritis nodosa.
The disease ravished Phalen’s body, causing acute kidney failure. The pain he had been experiencing was brought on by the literal breaking apart of his left kidney. The initial prognosis was grim; Phalen was given a 13% chance of survival. Thirty-five years old. The father of two. 13% chance of survival.
Treatment with massive doses of steroids ultimately sent Phalen’s disease into remission. But those same steroids caused avascular necrosis. Both femoral heads broke apart, necessitating a bilateral hip replacement. That surgery was followed-up by a heart attack.
I watched my husband struggle to stand. I watched him using a walker and insisting that all the blinds be pulled so the neighbors could not see in. I watched from the comfort of my recliner.
And then I woke up. I came to the realization that I had been blessed with the gift of health, yet was doing absolutely nothing. So I ran. I had never run before, but I ran. And I kept running, because I could. I ran for my husband. I ran for my children. I ran for my father who died way too young after a very short bout with cancer. I ran for those who could not.
And I am still running. I wish to “run” this country, and have thirteen states under my Spibelt thus far. I run 5Ks, half marathons, and marathons. I just run. This unlikely athlete—a middle-aged mother of two who one day got off the recliner—is now a nationally ranked triathlete. I have competed in the National Olympic Length Triathlon Championships; I have done Dopey. I have run the mountains of Vermont, and the hills of Utah. I have run through Amish country as well as the Everglades.
So where have my feet carried me? My feet have carried me to a place far bigger than I. A place that forced me to look inward and appreciate what I had. May your feet carry you there too.
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My name is Melody and I am a Runner!
I have always been physical, doing some sort of walking or exercise video but, I never really ran for years and years. I was in shape just not running.
I started out running from telephone pole to telephone pole, then I’d set another goal eventually adding in some serious intervals.
As I thought about the theme of “Where My Feet Have Carried Me” it came to me that while my feet have carried me through many things in life already I did not get in to the serious walking until 2015. I had struggled with many health issues through the years and my husband, Russ, faced many health issues of his own. There were times when I thought I was going to lose him. It was during these times that my motivation for staying active went away. I was never considered overweight but I did watch the scale increase in numbers.
I have run off and on since high school. Usually it was for fitness and the aerobic part of my training. My feet also ski, rollerblade, dive, swim , bike. You name it I do it. I started to up the events in 2014. I did my first sprint triathlon, which I loved. I incorporate yoga into training so I don’t get injured like other people do.
This year my new events are longer bike rides for charities, swim to the moon, a 3 mile swim, and an Olympic triathalon. In January I finished a full marathon in Disney. That was the first and last. Half marathons or less are optimum for me. I’m not fast but I come in middle of pack. I’m ok with that. My feet are wonderful to do all this and they deserve my applause. Feet don’t fail me now. Keep on keeping on!
I am a Physical Therapist in MA, specializing in geriatrics and long-term acute care. I’m a wife to a loving husband, and mom to three beautiful and lively hunny bunnies–my mini-me and twin curly-headed cuties. I love jogging/running even when I hate it. I’m starting to get the whole family involved slowly with preschooler friendly events. I’ve been at this for a year this June, and am putting running a marathon on my bucket list. My next half marathon is May 1st, and June 5th I officially become a Spartan!
Once the “with children” stage of life began, I realized that I had to lose (some of) the lists or I was going to lose my sanity! But still, old habits die hard. I still remember that sunny afternoon around a kitchen table at my family’s Easter gathering, telling my aunts and cousins my plans to run a half marathon the following May. Without saying a word, they all raised their eyebrows as they shifted their gaze towards my two toddler girls on the floor playing with my newborn son.
And on the morning of November 1, 2014 I was fortunate enough to head to the start line of the Monumental Half Marathon with my brother and sister-in-law plus 2 of my aunts, 2 of my uncles and 4 of my cousins – the first half marathon for nearly all of them! There is truly no better feeling than crossing the finish line to find so many familiar faces – except, maybe, the sudden and surprising realization that you played a small part in inspiring these people to take those first steps towards reaching their goals. Goals they may not have ever even considered if you hadn’t been so obnoxious with the crazy runner girl talk all the time!
ABOUT BRANDI: Though she calls Indiana home, Brandi loves to travel near and far with her husband and three hilariously crazy kids! She can’t live without Jesus, her Runner Girls and coffee. Preschool teacher by day, professional blogger and freelance writer by night, you can follow along with Brandi and her Runner Girl Adventures online at 
Where have my feet taken me? It was October 20th, 2014. My friend had asked me to do a half marathon with her. She was a runner but I wasn’t. I told her that races were for runners. I couldn’t even run a quarter of a mile without stopping from being all out of breath. My friend told me that my walking was basically her run pace and she convinced me to sign up. Six days later would be my first half marathon. Wow! It was in Canada and I was so excited. I decided since I was signed up I might as well see if I can run some of it, so that day I started running on my treadmill at home. I couldn’t run long but I tried my best.
By January, I had already done 4 half marathons, one 10K and two 5K. February 8, 2015 was a hard day for me. I was out running with my husband and somehow I got an intense pain in my knees. I had to start walking. I couldn’t run. I made my way back home, showered, and then my husband and I went to the grocery store. The pain became more intense and within the hour I was in the hospital ER. I had x-rays done and 
It was in December 2015, fourteen months into my running journey that I ended up having double major knee surgery. Yes, I had both knees done! I was on a “no weight baring restriction” for a while. On February 1st, 2016, I was able to start walking again. I started by doing a slow mile a day then gradually increased my waking speed and the distance. March 6th was my first half marathon done following my double knee surgery and that was at 9 weeks post-op. I was still just walking. I wasn’t allowed or ready to start running. I did another half at 11 weeks and another one at 13 weeks. Again, I was only walking. By 14 weeks post op I was ready and allowed to start running again. I took on my 4th half marathon at 14 weeks post-op and was able to run, for the first time in almost 5 months, about 9 of those miles finishing in 
