Welcome to Issue #262 of My Monday Memo
by Rachel Brandes
Quote of the Week
“An unacknowledged trauma is like a wound that never heals over and may start to bleed again at any time.”
– Alice Miller, Swiss Psychologist
Today is Monday, June 2, 2025
National Leave Work Early Day
Feline Tomfoolery
with Brady & Belichick
- Brady– Why does the human sleep for so long at night and then get up and sit right back down at the desk with the big bright screen?
- Belichick– It’s as if she doesn’t realize we have been waiting all night for her to play with us.
- Brady– We have to be sure she is aware this behavior is unacceptable. Even though she has positioned her big screen thing to keep me from climbing around, I will contort my body and get behind it, even if I do have to knock things over and pull plugs out of the wall doing so.
- Belichick– You do realize that annoys her, right?
- Brady– So? You annoy her all the time.
- Belichick– Do not. Not so much anymore now that I am learning she won’t react when I sit behind her and meow incessantly. Now I jump up on her lap and she loves it. I just sit there while she works. She goes out of her way to work around me. This is because I am her favorite.
- Brady– You just go ahead and think that, Runtzilla.
Brady & Belichick are Rachel’s adorable felines. Brady is a short hair and very dominant and athletic, much like his namesake (Forever Patriots). Belichick, aka Beli, the long hair, was the runt of their litter and is much more passive, until provoked. These two cute boys turned two on May 4, 2025.
Random Photo of the Week
Ah, Mount Rainier… Photo taken by Rachel on a waterfront trail at Point Ruston in Tacoma, Washington.
Mental Health Minute
Once upon a time, Rachel thought that post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was something only military personnel experienced. It wasn’t until several years ago when a therapist diagnosed her with PTSD that she began to learn more. This diagnosis explained a lot for her and somewhat normalized (for her) the way she walks through life now.
Resources shared in this week’s Mental Health Minute was found on PTSD: National Center for PTSD Home.
Sunday FunDay RunDay
with Tacoma Run Club
On a Sunday not too long ago, Rachel got to run/walk with friends, Angeline, Josh and Bill at the Tacoma Run Club gathering. It was another beautiful day in Tacoma and a great turnout of participants. The four friends enjoyed coffees at Anthem after an easy three miles on the course.
This is what it looks like when four people can’t seem to get on the same page as far as which facial expression to make for their group picture. Why does Josh look so perfect in all of the pictures? He totally didn’t participate in the make the funny face picture attempts.
One Half & One Half Half
On Saturday, May 31, 2025, Rachel and her friend, Jennie, headed to Olympia, Washington for a half marathon. This would be Jennie’s first official half marathon. The two were accompanied by Jennie’s husband, Stephen, who handled the transportation and moral support for the day.
This event was a bit of a last-minute decision for the two, as Rachel had looked for a flat half marathon course for Jennie’s first half and the US Road Running Medal Madness 1M, 5K, 10K, 15K, & Half Marathon at Heritage Park in Olympia, Washington popped up with a decent registration fee.
The event was different than anything Rachel had seen before. The photo above is the entire group of participants. She’s used to having hundreds or more than a thousand participants in these events. The reason this one was so small is because US Road Running holds this event at the location on the second Saturday of each month. This was an add-on for the fifth Saturday. The course is also completely flat and around a lake, multiple passes dependent on which distance you selected to run.
Pictured above: Jennie at mile 11.5 with Capital Lake in the background.
Why isn’t Rachel in that picture with Jennie? So… the week prior to this run, Rachel had been nursing a knot in her right calf muscle. She took the entire week off of running to work on the knot and be sure she was ready for Saturday.
When Saturday came, her calf felt 90% better and she was ready. The two had a great pace going through the first five miles of the course and were averaging an 11-minute mile pace.
They hit mile six and were nearing the bathroom when Jennie mentioned she would need to make a quick stop. Just then, Rachel’s right knee wobbled, and she felt a sharp pain on the outside of her knee. Uh oh. She told Jennie something was wrong, and she would use the bathroom break to stretch. When Jennie emerged from the bathroom, Rachel knew her race was over. Jennie would run the remainder on her own.
At this point, Rachel wasn’t sure what was wrong but only moments later, as she tried to walk back to the start/finish point, she realized this was her IT band and it had completely locked up. She couldn’t bend her knee without piercing pain.
Side note… it’s interesting that this issue features PTSD in the Mental Health Minute, as Rachel was struck by post-traumatic stress when she realized this was her IT band. You see, back in 2012, when she attempted a half marathon with an inflammation of the IT band, her knee had locked up just after the first mile. She ran the rest of the race (a 13.1-mile race) unable to bend her knee using her hip to pull her leg around. This was where she destroyed her spine leading to the never-ending saga of back issues and spinal surgeries.
Wait, wait, wait… What is an IT band? The IT band, also known as the iliotibial band, is a tendon on the outside of the leg that runs from the top of the pelvic bone to the knee. When it gets inflamed, it tightens. When it tightens, it rubs against the bone. Hello, pain. Stretching is key and Rachel knows better after 2012.
Rachel was sad but proud as she watched Jennie leave her on the course. She was so excited to be by Jennie’s side for this experience and bummed to have to stop short. She finally made it back to the start/finish and had completed 6.63 miles in total. The event coordinators changed her registration from a half marathon to a 10k (6.2 miles) and gave her a medal for that effort.
Jennie completed the course and finished strong. She did great with a finish time of 2 hours 40 minutes and averaged a 12:17 minute mile pace. So, one half and one half half done on a beautiful day in Olympia, Washington. Time for recovery. Until next time, be well.
