Been On Vacation !!!

I missed seeing every one last Saturday! I took a few days off work for the first time in 1 & 1/2 years!! I took my two brothers ( 15 & 8 yrs.old) to SIX FLAGS over Texas. We went Saturday. I thought about having to run my miles on Sunday, but after walking around Six Flags for 6 hours on Saturday, I decided that would suffice! I went to Six Flags when I was a child... I just didn't remember that the roller coasters would give you WHIPLASH! It rained all day, everyday of my vacation and then the rain followed me home! I need a vacation from my vacation! See you guys this Saturday for half a Marathon!
I AM A MARATHONER (with whiplash!)

11 MILES !!!! 6/2/07

I AM A MARATHONER!!! Can you believe this? Can I believe this? I did an eleven mile run!!!
I wore out my 1st pair of running shoes around three weeks ago. My little toes were sticking out the side of them. The treads were slick and the heel was worn badly. I tried to get just one more week out of them and after our Saturday's run two weeks ago, Mark noticed what bad shape my shoes were in. I went into Fleet Feet immediately. I wear a women's size 12 double A!!! They had to order my shoes. They thought they would be in last week. When they had not come in by last Friday night, I went to every sports store in Jackson looking for a pair. At one Sports store, a saleslady thought I was joking when I asked for my size! Needless to say, I did not find any my size. So.. I bought a pair of men's New Balance running shoes that were long enough but NOT the right width! Oh , did I pay for it! After Saturday's eleven miles... my feet were SCREAMING at me! Today, my ankles hurt terribly. They hurt so bad yesterday that I wanted to chop them off with an axe!!! I went to the store and purchased some Epsom Salt. After soaking, my feet started to forgive me some. With all this said, my suggestion to everyone is to buy two pairs of running shoes. Don't get caught with a worn out pair and not being able to find another correct fitting pair to replace them. "An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of no regret!"

I had so much fun running with Morgan and Shekkera on Saturday!

IMAGERY

I have read several articles on running. One article caught my attention. It talked about using imagery. It said to think and say to yourself: I am running effortlessly and very relaxed. Imagine that your running form is SMOOTH and Graceful! These hints go along with what I already believe with positive thinking. Those who are around me on our long runs, know that when I approach a big hill, I say out loud, "I just LOVE this hill!" Then as I top the hill, I say, "You know what I love about this hill? THE OTHER SIDE!" Okay positive thinking and a little sarcasm go a long way! I have always believed in positive thinking, now with using imagery, I can enhance my runs mentally. This "running business" is hard physically and can often be a mental battle. So... Saturday, if anyone hears me say out loud "I am running SMOOTH and GRACEFUL!" and " Isn't this the most beautiful scenery ... Don't laugh... just join me in my SMOOTH and GRACEFUL run through the Rain Forest!!!!

IS THAT ALL?

Saturday morning was great!!! I can NOT believe that I did a 10 mile run!!! Okay, my feet believe it, but... it is still hard for my mind to comprehend! I did not do as many of my running intervals though. I heard Mark say take it SLOW! I have become aware that if an old Pro says it, you better listen!!! Part of the way into my run, I paired up with Felicia. She and I are about the same height and have about the same energy level. That makes for a good run together. Not to fail to mention that she doesn't mind all my gabbing! We caught up to the lady who was there to give suggestions on speed walking. The last time I tried speed walking, I found muscles in my body that I did not even know existed! Right before Felicia and I caught up with her, we had started to use my interval watch to pick up our pace. We did the speed walking with her for 2/3 of the walk. At the last water station she bid us good bye so she could help others who were interested. Felicia and I took off thinking how well we had done so far. We continued speed walking and using my interval watch as a reminder to "get at it!" We rounded the last corner and went up the last hill. It was all downhill from there. I said to her, "Let's RUN the rest of the way, You ready?" I think she thought I was joking at first! But then we took off... It felt great to have that BURST of energy at the last quarter mile!!! When she realized that we were in seeing distance of Fleet Feet...she said..."IS THAT ALL? I told her I could kill her!!!!!! It sounded at first like... Oh... is that all? I could run another 10 miles! But in reality I knew exactly what she meant. We had had such a good time on our run but to believe that we felt good enough to run during the last quarter mile. We both laughed about how months ago we were saying... 2 miles, oh my!!!! I AM A MARATHONER!!!!

Monday May 21, 2007

Saturday's run was yet another learning experience! I did pretty good on my run. I even got in a few extra steps!!! Thank you Clark for running me down to tell me that I missed my turn!!! The mistakes I have made during training , I call learning experiences! So... when I get to Chicago, I ought to be a PRO!!! Blogging is really great! I look back and read some of my beginning blogs and am able to realize just how far I have come.

Brenda, You go girl, I just love to be around you. You are such a character!!!

Amy W., You are doing so good.

Amy Walley, I am so verrryyy proud of you! I know you can do this because you are a Walley!!

Kelvin, You look like you are getting younger by the minute!!

Chuck, You look like you are really enjoying your run!

Morgan, You are doing fantastic!


Amy and I changed our route this morning. We went for a little more than a hour. We walked to my church, Pinelake, and thru the parking lot. Last year at this time I would have laughed uncontrollably out loud if someone would have wanted me to walk to Pinelake (for fun). Okay if it were to go hear Pastor Chip preach, I would have been all in! But.. for fun???

I had puffy knees after Saturday's run. I did not stretch near enough! Lesson learned!!!

Have a good week fellow marathoners!!! I AM A MARATHONER!!!

From then to now...

From when I was a little girl (yes, that's me), to now, I have set many short term goals. The Chicago Marathon is the first real long term goal that I have set for myself. I am really proud of all I have done in the last several months! Everyday, I wake up and thank God for all the opportunities He gives me!

9 MILES !!!

I still can't believe that I made it through 9 miles!!! Who else noticed that the Firemen put us out a cooler of water in front of the fire station? That was so nice of them! I really enjoyed talking to every one during the run. I just keep telling myself... KEEP A MOVIN' !!!!