Great Eight

Thank you Brenda for the title suggestion!

It really was a GREAT run last night. As usual it almost didn't turn out that way, once again I found the need to use the bathroom. We ran our normal route and as we passed the port a pottie twice I didn't feel the need to go, unfortunately about a 1/2 or maybe 1 mile down the road it hit me. It was similiar to Saturday morning, it hit so hard that several times I had to stop in the middle of the street cross my legs and squeeze really hard. It was just awful! We were already headed back to the Port a pottie but I probably wasn't going to make it. Lucky for me a very good friend of Brenda's and a fellow runner was very close. Brenda ran ahead and asked if I could use the facilities. Suzanne and her husband were so nice!! They saved my run!!! When I was leaving I told her where I lived and said if you are ever running in that area and you feel the need please stop by!!

The cast of characters partcipating in last night run were - Brenda, Michele,Kelly, Robert & Myself. From the very beginning Robert took the lead and we all just followed.
It was breezy last night but not bad at all, especially considering how windy it was Monday and Tuesday night.
Before and after the bathroom break I felt good while running...It didn't feel like we were speeding along, but it also didn't feel too slow.
We did the first 5 miles in the Blooming Ridge subdivision, we try to get as many miles in over there as possible it helps us mentally to know that when we get back to Michele's we only have a few miles left.
We stopped at her house, she needed to take a potty break and we all took a water/accelerade break. I stretched just a little bit and then walked a bit until Michele came out. It is so funny because I always say can we take this part slower and everyone agrees and then those end up being our fastest miles.
When I had to take the leg crossing breaks in the earlier miles I noticed that it brought our avg pace down to 10:25, but by the time we finished we had a 10:02 avg pace.
We are always usually pretty chatty those first few miles and really it just depends but last night we got kind of quiet towards the end and especially the last .5 mile we were kind of all strung out. Kelly was REALLY strong last night! Actually she has been very strong a lot lately!!! I think running with people who are faster than you (not that I am) really helps. I know since I started running with Brenda and Michele I feel like I have improved not just my speed but my endurance. It is not a rule or anything but we usually don't take walk breaks on our Mon and Wed. night runs. We do take a water break whenever we get to Michele's house but that's it. Of course last night I had two major breaks.
Brenda really made me feel great last night, it was during the last mile and she told me how strong I was running. I was actually starting to really feel fatigued but it felt good to know it wasnt' showing!!

8 .0 miles
1:20:22
10:02 avg pace
1-10:06
2-9:52
3-10:39 I bet you can guess what was going on during these two miles!
4-10:59
5-9:53
6-9:47
7-9:42
8-9:22..woo hoo!! I am really proud of this last mile, we were running into the wind during a good part of it and I was starting to feel tired. To me this is where my increased endurance really shows, when my last mile is my fastest!

Strip Club

Club Members:
Arland
Brenda
Michele
Kelly
Annette
Heather

6 miles for the girls and 4.5 for Arland.
We started off nice and easy, well I did... Arland and Kelly took the lead. It was VERY windy heading out, the kind of wind that you almost don't feel like you are moving. Brenda, Michele, Heather and I were teasing that we should be running behind Arland and Kelly to help break the wind. Those two were in the lead and since they are taller it made sense.
Although it was windy it was pretty warm around 54 degrees I was wearing a skirt and didn't wear a hydration belt so when it came time to take my gloves off I had no where to put them. Luckily Arland did have pockets so he was nice enough to take them for me.
Because it was so warm at different points during the run one or the other of us would be stripping off a layer. We joked about we were the :stripping runners" and maybe others might want to join us if they knew about all the stripping that goes on during our runs. It doesn't sound nearly as funny on paper as it did while we were running!!! BUT we were having a lot of fun with it at the time.
I didn't have any stomach issues at all... when we ran by my port-a-pottie I just smiled and said (to myself) thanks old friend but I won't be needing you tonight.
Arland left us at 4+ and so it was an all girl run for the last 1.75. Don't worry Arland we didnt' do any stripping without you.
It was a wonderful run and I'm thankful to have my "gang" to run with :)
6.05
1:00:58
10:05 avg pace
1-10:35
2-10:20
3-10:09
4-9:58
5-9:37
6-9:51
It always feels great when the last miles are faster than the first!

Sunday 7

7.01
1:14:07
10:35 avg pace

Kelly, Cheryl and I had decided to do our run in the afternoon. As I mentioned in my previous post I was exhausted Saturday night and felt like I needed the extra sleep.
Chery's leg was still hurting so she decided to take care of it and I believe she needed rest more than a run.

Kelly came to my house and we ran down 1st street to the High School, Eastside elementary, main street back to 1st street. We also ran around Hunter's Run and on down to the Softball fields to get our 7 miles. We actually hit 7 well before we got back to my neighborhood so we were able to get in a nice cool down walk.

We had great weather for our run, not quite as warm as we expected but we both ended up in our short sleeves about a mile into the run.
As usual the first couple miles are always the hardest and it seemed to take forever for me to get a handle on my breathing. Once we warmed up though it was fine and it was nice to just run at a comfortable pace.
Kelly and I both had a couple of funny Garmin issues. We were about 4.5 miles into the run and I was making suggestions on side roads etc. to help us get our 7 miles before we got back to my neighborhood. Kelly was really quiet and seemed kind of annoyed... I just thought maybe she was having a rough patch in the run. A few minutes later she said this run is taking forever. Turns out that she had turned off her Garmin when I made a pit stop at the High School track and forgot to turn it back on. She was showing 2.3 miles when we were actually over 4.
A little later I look down at my Garmin and it shows we are running a 6:07 pace, NO WAY... I look again 6:13, crazy Garmin what is going on I look again and it's still in the 6:00 range. Finally I look and realize that I am looked at the total time for our run which at the time was 1:06:xx I didnt' have my contact in so I didnt' see the 1. and I had it on a different screen than I have been using during runs. I knew all along we weren't running that fast so I was relieved to realize that it was human error and not something crazy going on with my Garmin.

After the run it was of course a trip to Starbucks! I am really like the new "Skinny Mocha".

"Stunning" Saturday

Saturday morning started off with a 16 mile run with Cheryl and Michele. It was cold, my stomach caused me much distress and almost stopped my run at less than 2 miles. The construction site port a pottie that I mentioned in the last post once again saved my run. If I could have gotten to it about 5 minutes sooner it would have been better but oh well it all turned out ok in the end.
Cheryl really wanted to get in 20 miles and I had hoped that we would get 5 miles in before we met with the rest of the group. We didn't meet our goal, we ended up with a little over 3.
Michele wasn't feeling great either so she got in 4 miles by running the parknig lot and then she went home.
It was a pretty big group Saturday morning comprised of mostly faster runners. I knew that we wouldn't be running with them, but I don't think I realized how soon we would be left in their dust!! LOL
We ran the first 5 or 6 miles staying pretty close to Joan and Debbie they even made a pit stop at Sonic with us. They stayed a bit ahead of us most of the time, which worked out great for me and Cheryl because they found all the icy patches for us! LOL
We lost them when we decided to make a pit stop at my house. It was nice to be able to make that stop but it really put us behind.
Cheryl has been having a lot of problems/pain in her upper thigh groin area but she has still been running strong. We were not fast but we kept up a steady pace. Even towards the end when everything was starting to hurt we managed to keep going by using the old man shuffle. I tried my best to take as many side roads/loops that we could so I could get Cheryl as many miles possible. I knew we were going to fall way short of 20 but Cheryl was hurting so much that towards the end she didn't care anymore she just wanted to stop running!! As did I!!
My Garmin battery died at 9.02 miles so I don't have any overall stats for our run and honestly I don't care, I'm just glad we got it done.

After we finished the run we went to a new restaurant in town "The Diner" the big group was already there and we just squeezed in with them. It was great to hang out with everyone and have breakfast, even though it took forever to get our food!! They have only been open for a week so they were PACKED!!!

After breakfast I had just enough time to go home shower and dress to go to Greenbriar to a Competitive Cheerleading competition with Kelly and Kelsey. My neice Rachel is a competive cheerleader and her sister Katie called me the night before and asked me to go. I would have gone either way but it worked out great since Kelsey was also competing. The girls K&K came to pick me up about 12:30 and we started our road trip.

Rachel has been a competive cheerleader for a couple of years but this was the first time I got to see her perform. We had to wait a long time for her team but it was worth the wait. I had tears in my eyes the whole time her group was performing. She was awesome!!!!! So beautiful and so good!!! I guess her team didnt' do as well as they would have liked, but I couldn't tell you because I couldnt' take my eyes off of Rachel!

Kelsey's performance was also awesome!! I am just in awe of these girls. Of course other than Rachel and Kelsey the little girls were my favorite. There is a lot of glitter, sparkle and dramatic makeup involved. It was like walking into a whole new world that I never knew existed!


I wanted to get a picture of Kelsey too, but forgot :(

After running 16 miles and sitting on hard plastic seats for 4.5 I was wiped out by the time we got home. I walked in the house peeled off my clothes, washed my face brushed my teeth and promptly got in bed. I was probably asleep withins seconds of my head hitting the pillow. I slept from 8:40pm until 8:25 am. I felt like a new person when I woke up!!

Thank goodness for construction site port-a-potties.

Wednesday nights 8 miler was saved by a construction site port a potty. It could have been a 1.25 mile run if not for that safe haven.
I knew when I left my house that I just didn't feel right. I had a coffee from Daily Grind around 1:30 but didn't think much of it until later.
We started the run, Brenda, Kelly, Robert and myself. From the very beginning I was slow, we had only gone a few hundred yards when I felt the rummbling. I thought if I just keep it slow and steady maybe that will help. Robert hung back with me a lot, and that was very nice! finally I guess about a mile in I said can we please go straight to our road with the port a potty. We usually run a lot of cul d sac's before we get to that road and are usually at about 2.5 by the time we get there. I would not have made it Wednesday night. I had to stop a couple of times and walk, I also had to stop a couple of times and stand with my legs crossed and pray that nothing would come out!!! It is such an awful helpless feeling.
But as the title says.. thank goodness for that port a pottie. It is in a very convient location and the others were able to keep running while I took care of business.
I would not have cared if that port a pottie had been nasty and vile, that is how bad it was, but lucky for me, it was actually very nice. Well at least it was before I used it!! LOL

After getting that out of the way I ended up with a great run! It was chilly but not windy and that helped a lot.
Before we started running Michele came out and told us she wanted to try to run the last 2 or 3 with us. We kept running in circles, loops, cul d sacs until we got in 5 miles before we headed back to her house.
Michele joined us and then as soon as he hit 6 Robert left us. So it was just the girls for a little while. It was a great run and I felt on top of the world afterwards. I guess because I knew it could have had a much different outcome.
8 miles
1:21:35
10:11 avg pace
1-10:43
2-11:30
3-9:51
4-9:57
5-9:52
6-10:03
7-9:53
8-9:42

I'm moving to Alabama

Yesterday afternoon I went to Wal-Mart to visit with Kylie, Livia and Tracy. As soon as I found them Kylie dragged me off to the "kids books" after looking at the books for a little while I was able to tear her away from them by suggesting we go look at the "kids clothes" Wal-Mart has a whole bunch of Hannah Montanna stuff and Kylie LOVES Hannah Montanna!!! She also LOVES purses! so of course what could be better than purses with Hannah Montanna on them???

In this picture Kylie has on a Hannah Montanna hat, 5 purses and a whole lot of Hannah attitude!

She was pretending to be Hannah, signing autographs and stuff......

All of a sudden she said to me I'm moving to Alabama! When I asked why are you moving to Alabama she informed me ... "To be with the Jonas Brothers" OH MY GOD 4.5 years old and she is already ready to move to another state for BOYS!!!!! Poor Jeff and Livia!!!

Did someone say more hills?

Tuesday night with the Flyers... how I love thee. Oh wait did someone say hill repeats?? Actually a little birdie had told me last week we would be doing hill repeats this week. Even as I was being tortured by the Little Rock hills on Saturday morning I knew what was waiting for me on Tuesday.
I had been dreading them for days!! Maybe if the hill that Coach Dennis picked out for our hill workout wasn't so darn steep and long maybe .... maybe we wouldn't all be learning how to kick some hill butt!! Seriously I don't think I will ever love hills, but I am not afraid of them anymore. Dennis doesn't just pick out the meanest hill in town for us but he teaches us how to run up it. He watches all of us and if he see's you struggling... not using proper form he will pull you aside and go over the proper technique and he does it in such a way that you never feel chastised or bad. I adore our Coach, we are so lucky to have him!
So Tuesday night started off with a warm up run, 2 miles for advanced 1.5 for intermediate. Bailey and I took our usual pit stop at mile 1, we don't usually get 2 miles because of our potty breaks but we usually end up with at least 1.5. We got to the meeting spot about the same time as the "fast girls". Tracy, Tamara and Brett had already started their hill repeats. I got one in and then Brett asked me to run with him. Woo hoo I was excited, I haven't really gotten a chance to run with Brett much yet. So we start up the hill and whooosh he was gone!!!! Oh well it was a nice thought! LOL
I told myself I wanted 12, after the first repeat I said ok at least 10. But I am happy to say I ended up with 13 :) I was really happy!!! The last time we did hill repeats Dennis had to pull me after 6 so 13 was a huge victory to me!
With the warm up and 13 hill repeats I had 4 miles, I really wanted at least 5 and so did Bailey and Kelly. We were going to add on when we noticed that Brenda, Cindy and Rock were headed in the same direction. They said "Bridge to Bridge" ok sounded good. It actually have us 1.5 miles so that was great. I really thought we would take it slow and easy but we actually ran it pretty fast. I guess we all just wanted to get out of the cold!!
Everyone did a great job on the hills!!!! We are all getting stronger!
Of course on the way home I had to call Cheryl and let her know I had survived the hills!! LOL She is pretty miserable up their in NY but it doesnt' look like she will have to go again next week so that is good news!

For Terri & Joanne

Birthday Run

Monday was Arland's 29th ;) birthday, he was going to take the day off but ended up working from home instead. I had ordered him a really nice Pearl Izumi cycling jacket hoping he would be able to wear it on the planned group bike ride Monday morning. I guess it was a good thing he had to work since his jacket didn't arrive until yesterday. It is really nice, and looks good on him, I hope he gets to test it out soon!

After our run on Sunday Kelly and I both said we were going to take Monday off we needed to rest up for our Hill Repeat workout on Tuesday night.
Even Monday morning I thought for just a little while I might really take the day off... but of course I didn't... I ran and I am so glad I did!!!
It was a great run both physically and mentally. After a really tough long run I sometimes lose confidence in myself and I need these Monday and Wednesday night runs with Brenda and the others to help me regain that lost confidence.
We talked Arland into running with us. At first he was a little resistent he knows we usually run 6 and he had 2 planned. I told him that if he could run 2 he could run 3 and that it wouldn't be a problem at all for us to alter our route to accomodate his mileage needs.
Michele is still recovering from the calf pain that caused her to almost quit at mile 3 on Saturday, she is taking this week off to let it rest and hopefully prevent a serious injury from occuring.
Kelly got out of work late and needed to run some errands with her daughter and Robert was "Refing" a Basketball game.
So it was just me Brenda and Arland and we had a great run. Arland was impressed with all of our "hills" and he didn't even see all of them. As usual the first couple of miles were a little tough but we kept telling ourselves we were taking it easy we wanted to get a run in but we also wanted to be ready for Tuesday night.
Arland looked really strong and powered up all the hills... he would pass me and Brenda on every one of them. You would never know to look at him that he had to take almost 2 months off because of a stress fracture in his leg.
When we got back to Michele's house we were at 3.4 miles, Arland decided to run the cul de sac with us to make it 3.5 plus a cool down walk.
Brenda and I said our good bye's and went off in Michele's neighborhood to finish up our 2.5 miles. I think we had just passed the 5 mile mark when I felt the first raindrops... We didn't even know there was a chance of rain. We kept on running ,of course we didnt' have much choice we were about a 1/2 mile from Michele's house, we decided to run loops around the Cul de sac to finish up our 6 miles, we wanted to finish but we didn't want to get too far away incase it started pouring down. It was a pretty steady rain but it didn't bother us, it actually felt kind of good. It was around 39 degrees monday night so you wouldn't think rain would feel good, but because we didnt' have any wind we had gotten pretty warm during our run.
We were able to get a short cool down walk and then jumped in our cars. Usually we will stretch and cool down but not with the rain!
6 miles
1:02:11
10:22 Avg pace
1-10:20
2-10:20
3-10:48 quick walk break
4-10:06
5-10:13
6-10:20

Sunday six

While I was running the hills from hell on Saturday I kept telling myself, I am not going to run on Sunday. I deserve a day of rest after all of these hills.
Of course that didnt' happen... I try really hard not to miss any runs.
Some really smart ladies - Brenda, Cindy and Lisa decided that since it was going to be about 19 degree on Sunday morning that it would be a great idea to change the time to 1:30 in the afternoon instead of 7:00 in the morning. GREAT decision! Luckily they shared their idea and it was embraced by all.. well I don't know about all, but I know there were quite a few of us who met Sunday afternoon, more than have been showing up for the 7:00am run.
It was still cold about 33 degrees and windy, BUT thankfully not as bad as Saturday had been!

The first 3 miles of this run were torture, my calves, shins and the tops of my feet were killing me from the hills on Saturday. I decided I wasn't going to torture myself and slowed down. I also seriously considered quitting after our 3 mile loop. Luckily I started to warm up and was running with a great group of ladies so I didnt' want to stop. It was my bud Kelly, Bailey, Jackie and Jamie O.
Jackie just ran the Goofy Challenge in Disney World last weekend and I think this was her first run since then. I alway love hearing her stories. She has been using the Jeff Galloway system of run/walk and was telling us how successful that has been for her.
Coach O (Jamie) who is running the Little Rock Marathon was very interested so they decided to test it out. I'm not quite ready for that program. Too many walk breaks are hard for me, both mentally and physically. Jackie and Jamie are both fast runners and we kept kind of leap frogging each other during part of the run, but then once again I thought I was going to have stomach problems. Luckily it was just a minor blip but something about the thought of having to use the bathroom always makes me run faster. The next thing you know Kelly and I have left everyone in our dust!! Not bad for the slow girls!! LOL
Poor Bailey she has some kind of cold but she did great... she is another fast one who hasn't reached her full potential yet.
I'm happy we have been getting to run with her quite a bit lately, someday soon she will be too fast for us. She's a sweet girl and I'm looking forward to meeting her husband and spending some time with them on Thursday when we all go to see the "Spirit of the Marathon" movie on Thursday night.
Overall it was a good run... hard but I'm glad I did it.
Almost forgot, one really nice thing happened. While we were running on HWY89 we were getting a lot of pissed off glances from people, but then all of a sudden I hear just the blip of a siren and look up and a guy in a blue truck is giving us the thumbs up! It was such a great feeling!!
6.20
1:04:07
10:21 avg pace
1-9:46
2-10:08
3-10:30
4-11:01
5-10:46
6-9:57
.2-1:57 (9:56 pace)

Holy Hills Batman

I think we have run every freaking hill in Little Rock by now. This mornings route reminded me a lot of the last 4 or 5 miles of the Tulsa Marathon. Just hill after hill after hill.

I dressed for the cold and wind this morning and thank goodness I did, it was freezing and the windy was just merciless.

Hills, Wind, Cold it all sounds like a receipe for an awful run but guess what it wasn't. Oh it had it's miserable moments and I am hurting now but over all I would say it was a good run. I know when you read Cheryl's blog you are going to think we must have been on two different runs, but no, we were together this morning along with Michele.

When I got to Team 1 this morning to meet Michele she said she wanted to drive, sounds good to me. She had the heat and the heated seats cranked up so I was in heaven.
We went to Academy Sport's to pick up Cheryl and she immediately had to use the bathroom. Lucky for us the Shell station was right there and they had an outside bathroom, I decided I better use it too just in case.

The meeting spot for this week's LR marathon training group run was in West Little Rock on Rahling Road. We were actually a little early which just gave us longer to stand in the cold and wind.
Starting off we did a little loop that took us right by our parked car, this turned out to be a godsend for Michele. I had on an earband around my head and then another fleece one around my neck and I kept pulling it up to my mouth and nose, Michele made the comment she wished she had one... lucky for her when I was getting stuff out of my car I scooped up an extra one so we stopped at the car and got it for her. Those things saved our lives today, Cheryl had one too.

Pretty much right off the bat we were running hills, we started off on a bit of a downhill but you know that old cliche... what goes down must come up. Once the hills started they never stopped. I remember thinking at one point ok surely we've run enough hills, I know we are training for the Little Rock Marathon but there aren't this many hills in that race. In the past I thought this particular training program for the Marathon was a bit "light" they only have one 20 miler but I think if you go on all of their training runs you will be ready for LR, they definately prepare you for the hills!

I guess we had gotten a couple miles in maybe 4 when my stomach started misbehaving. It wasn't terrible, I've definately experienced worse but it was enough to worry me. I knew we weren't too terribly far from a possible restroom stop so I kind of just put my head down and just ran. I didn't realize I had gotten so far ahead of Michele and Cheryl until I came to an intersection, I could see if I went straight there was a Burger King and a possible bathroom but the group was turning right, I knew there would eventually be a bathroom that way too. I didn't want to risk going to Burger King and the girls losing me or me losing them I should say so I turned back for them. When I got there I found out that Michele was hurting and had been contemplating turning around. I don't know exactly what her plan was, but something about walking and then we could pick her up when we were done. I don't know, but I asked her did she want to turn around stop make a smaller loop???? But by then she said no let's keep going, I decided to pass up the Burger King and was rewarded by the sight of a Shell gas station just ahead. I am now officially boycotting Shell and EZMART, you all remember what happened a couple of weeks ago at another EZ-Mart in Little Rock, well this time I didn't push it. It wasn't that bad but good grief it made me mad!!!
While Cheryl and I had attempted to make that pit stop Michele had continued on walking. When we caught back up with her she was walking with a gentleman I recognize from a lot of the 5K races we do locally. We struck up a conversation and we ran/walked along side him for a mile or so. He told us this will be his second marathon, he did it last year and he wanted to prove to himself that it wasn't a fluke. Unfortunately we had to part ways when we found Nirvana... I mean Kroger. Thank goodness for Kroger it came along at exactly the right moment. I was able to take care of my problem and Michele and Cheryl were able to warm up a bit. We were right around 6 miles when we got to Kroger and up until that point had not taken in any nutrition. The thought of a Honey Stinger or Luna moons just made my stomach flip. Instead while we were in Kroger I bought, or I should say Michele bought me a little package of peanut butter crackers. PERFECT! I was able to eat a couple of those and then a little later I was able to take in a little bit of the honey stinger. It was enough to get me through, I think I am going to start bringing those along more often, the only problem is how to carry them?

The rest of the run was a combination of running and walking. I was able to be pretty strong on most of the hills but towards the end we probably were walking every other one and then the big monster one on Taylor Loop... we walked it. I think it was a good thing though although we are all pretty sore now, we managed to finish the run injury free. Michele was thrilled to be able to finish 16 especially when she thought she was going to have to quit at 3.
While we were battling up that hill we saw an older man in front of us, we had been closing in on him the last couple of miles. Well after we reached the top of the hill he opened up the space between us, until that is, he ended up sprawled out on the sidewalk. Oh my gosh that was a scary sight. I didn't actually see him go down, it was just more like all of a sudden there he was on the ground. We sprinted over to him and by that time others had arrived. I asked him if he tripped and he said yes... I wanted to make sure it was a fall and not a fainting thing. He laid there for quite awhile or at least it seemed like it at the time, finally he was able to start to get up and you could see that he had hit his head on the sidewalk, he was bleeding from his head and his nose. His wife was there with her car and another runner had his SUV either one could have taken him to the hospital or home. I really thought he would just get in the car with his wife, but NOPE he forged ahead. When we realized he was going to keep running or at that time shuffling we said hey well I guess we'll just hang with you. We ran/shuffled along side him for a good while, he was training for his first marathon. He said his goal was to beat Katie Holmes..LOL
I guess we had been with him for a little bit when I looked back and realized his wife was following him in her car. I can just imagine how worried she was about him. We got ahead of him a little bit after that, we still had some more killer hills to tackle.
Michele and I had slowed down and Cheryl got her second wind and took off and left us in her dust... well soon the older gentleman caught up with us we said to him darn you we didn't want to have to run anymore but if you are running then we will too! LOL
Several times while we were running today Michele and I talked about why we run and basically it comes down to because we can and so many people in our lives can't. I told her about my mom's emphysema and she told me about some of her young Physical Therapy patients... and then you add in the guy who kissed the sidewalk and then got up and ran 2 more hilly miles, well it just puts it all into perspective. I am so thankful that I can run, and somedays those runs are going to be really hard but I am going to try to stop beating myself up when they are and just be thankful and joyous that I can get out there and do it.

It was a tough run today, we weren't anywhere close to being fast, but we survived it and we shared some nice moments with other runners and it was worth every miserable cold hilly moment!!

Oh and the cookies they have set out for us at the end of the run... those are the best damn cookies I have ever had in my whole entire life!!! LOL

16.26
3:22:57
12:28 avg pace
1 - 11:33
2 - 11:15
3 - 10:19
4 - 10:52
5 - 11:44
6 - 12:36
7 - 11:28
8 - 12:51
9 - 13:54
10 - 13:07
11 - 11:08
12 - 10:42
13 - 14:31
14 - 16:29 (sidewalk incident)
15 - 13:15
16 - 14:24
.25 2:43 10:34 pace

8 turned into 6

As I was driving to Michele's for our Wednesday night run it was lightly raining, Kelly had already called and planted the idea of just bagging the run and going to Starbuck's instead. It was tempting but we both knew we would regret it later if we didn't get our run in. We did agree that if when we got there or if in the beginning of the run it started pouring down we would quit running and go for coffee instead.
I actually got there first with Robert and Brenda right behind me. I stayed in my car for a minute or two and then Michele came out. Kelly was on her way so we decided we would just run around the cul de sac until she arrived. Robert stayed in his warm car and waited for her.
It was sprinkling pretty good when we started, I put on a hat to keep the rain out of my eyes, but it dwindled down to pretty much just drizling on us for the rest of the run. I'm glad I had the hat when I got in my car after the run my clothes were dry but the bottom of my hair was soaking wet!

I have to admit it was a hard run for me. I ran really hard on Tuesday probably too hard and it showed on Wednesday night. I never could find that rythmn that makes running enjoyable, I pretty much struggled the whole time.
Michele took us on a new route and that was nice... well the route was just as tough as our normal one but we didn't know it ahead of time and we didn't know what sections to dread etc.
Even though it was a tough run I planned on running the whole 8 miles I never seriously thought about quitting early. until. my stomach decided at about 5.75 that it needed some attention. It hit pretty hard and I almost didn't know if I would make it to Michele's house. Luckily we werent' far once we got to her house my stomach settled down for a second and I considered continuting the run but I didn't want to get a mile out and have a problem. So instead of being mad at myself for not being able to get in 8 miles I am happy that I was able to persevere during a hard run and get 6 miles.

I really had no transition from running to driving... I don't recommend it, especially on a wet night. Almost the whole drive home I was disoriented and felt lost. Once I got home and warmed up I was ok but that was really freaky!!!

6 miles
10:23avg pace
Normally I would be dissapointed that a 10:23 avg pace run was so hard, but the first mile we were running the cul de sac just to get in mileage and I didn't stop my garmin when we stopped to pick up Kelly and Robert so it was pretty slow, the next mile was also kind of slow but the last 4 were all around the 10:00 - 10:05 range.

Happy Birthday Mom

I miss you!!

Tuesday Night Flyers

2 mile warm up
4 x strides
22 min at LT pace
4x strides
1.5 cool down

It was a great run, during the warm up I ran and chatted with Bailey. I thought that Kelly had gotten ahead of us but about 1/2 through I realized she was behind us. As has become standard practice Bailey and I headed to Casa de Kylie for a pit stop. It really wasn't as necessary last night as usual but it gave me peace of mind and probably helped me in the long run.

After everyone finished their warm up's and strides we all gathered so we could start the workout together. Advanced were running LT pace for 22 min and Intermediate 16 min. Arland was doing something between Beginner's and Intermediate.
Andrea who is just 4 weeks post surgery is back to running with her doctor's blessing. She asked what my LT pace was and when I told her 9:40 she said she was going to try to run with me. I had been planning on running with Kelly and I thought we could all three run together, but Andrea and I went out too fast. Sorry Kelly I really didn't mean to leave you behind!!!!
Andrea is a really good pacer, although we completed the workout faster than I was supposed to. She was really good at telling me to slow down which really helped me to be able to maintain the pace for the whole 22 minutes.
My goal LT pace was 9:39 my actual LT pace was 9:15. Coach Dennis doesn't like it when we go too fast, each workout has a specific goal and if we go to fast we don't get the full benefit. Having said that I have to say that I felt good last night, it was HARD but I wasn't completely spent when it was done so I hope I did get what I was supposed to out of that workout.

This morning was Body Sculpting with Andrea at 5:00am...she turned her garage/fitness facility into a torture chamber this morning and had the whip out. It really isn't good that Biggest Loser comes on the night before our Wednesday session...or maybe it is! LOL
It was a great workout very hard and I will definately be hating her for the next few days. I declined her offer to work out my legs afterwards. Maybe I should have but I have 18 on Saturday and didn't want to risk it.

If it doesn't rain it is 8 tonight with the girls... if it does rain maybe I will be able to make myself do 5 or 6 on the treadmill. PLEASE DON"T RAIN!!

Feeling Goofy

Our friend and running buddy Jackie just ran the Goof yChallenge at Disney World this weekend. She was at our Cruiser meeting last night and brought along her medals and told us what a great time she had.
So now I am seriously thinking about doing it next year. The problem is you have to sign up pretty early because it sells out fast. Who knew there would be so many people who would want to punish themselves by running a 1/2 marathon and a full marathon in one weekend.
On Saturday when we were doing our long run we were thinking of and talking about Jackie running both and the popular concensus was that she was kind of crazy!! LOL Of course Michele says to me that sounds like something you would do. I of course said NO WAY!!! And now here I am a few days later seriously contemplating it. Kelly also had that gleam in her eye last night while we were talking about it with Jackie and I think she is right there with me.
The problem or problems are that you have to sign up almost a year in advance, and who knows what could happen in a year. It is also pretty expensive, but Jackie said you get a lot for your money.
I really really want those medals!! and just the whole experience. Jackie say's she is doing it again next year and I think Kelly is on board. It would be great if we could get a big group to go. Rock also seemed very interested.
Even if not everyone wanted to do the Goofy you can sign up for either just the 1/2 or full marathon.
Something to think about.

Six and Six

Sunday morning's 6-miler was a recovery run with Cheryl in Cabot. Brenda, Lisa and Cindy were also running but even on my best day there is no way I could keep up with them for any length of time. I had been thinking about a route for Cheryl and I and ended up deciding to just run up 89 to the Highschool and back. There were a couple of ways we could add on if we needed to but we were able to get our 6 with only one little extra add on.
It was COLD Sunday morning and just a tad bit breezy, but nothing too windy. We really lucked out this weekend with the wind.
Cheryl's upper thigh/groin/hipflexor area is really hurting her so we started off with a walk. I think if it had been warmer we could have walked longer but it was just too cold so we started jogging. The first mile was tough we had to take a couple of walk breaks but then after that we kind of got into a groove and just kept an easy steady pace. One of the reasons I chose this route was because of the Phillip's 66 gas station, I wasn't sure how my stomach was going to feel once we started running so I wanted a bathroom option not too far away. Turns out I didn't really need it, although I did go in just in case.
Cheryl also went in, I decided to wait for her outside and as I was standing there a lady who was pumping gas said to me "My hat's off to you" I kind of just smiled and said thanks and then she said it again. I assumed she meant it because it was so cold and we were out running so I told her that once you got started it really wasn't too bad. We chatted for a bit and she was really very nice. So often when we are running we get the drivers who want us off the road so it was nice to get such a friendly greeting from someone.
We probably shouldn't have taken that break because we got really stiff and it took a while to warm up again.
Towards the end of the run we had to take a few more breaks, Cheryl was really in quite a bit of pain but she was a trooper and we made it for the entire 6 miles.
Brenda and the other girls finished about the same time we did and when we ran up to them the first thing Brenda said was " You are going somewhere for coffee... right?" LOL Of course we were!!!
We went to Starbuck's in Jacksonville and chatted and read the interview with Dennis our running coach in the Arkansas Democrat Three Rivers Edition.
6.01
1:07
11:12 avg pace
144 avg heart rate

Monday's 6-miler was at Krooked Kreek. We were going to be pushing it because we had a Cruiser meeting at 7:00. Brenda and I had discussed trying to start at 5:45 and when I talked to Michele she was fine with that as well. Heather and Sarah S. were also running with us tonight, Heather came to my house and followed me over to Michele's. Just as I was pulling out of the drive-way Brenda called to tell me she wasn't going to make the run or the meeting. It was 5:40 and she was just leaving work and had a killer sinus headache. We chatted for a bit and I told her I thought she could make it in time to at least get part of run in with us. She said she would see how traffic was etc and that she knew the route we were running and she would find us if she decided to run.
We started off the run with Michele, Sarah, Heather and myself. We stayed in Michele's neighborhood and just ran around the cul-d-sac until Robert and Kelly arrived.
After we had everyone well except for Brenda we headed off to the Willows. At first we were running a pretty steady but not too strenous pace. But bit by bit we started picking it up.
Robert's shins were bothering him and he had to stretch every now and then, but after a few miles he seemed ok, I guess he just needed to warm up and run faster.
We were just running along when I saw someone running with a reflective belt... funny but I didn't automatically know it was Brenda, my first thought was oh wow there is another runner out here. We almost never see other runners!! LOL
But yes Brenda did decided to run after all and it was great to see her.
It was a great run... Michele must have had her wheaties because she pushed the pace the whole run!!
As soon as we finished we had to rush off to the meeting.
6.0
59:56
9:59 avg pace
1-10:11
2- 10:09
3-10:30
4 -9:39
5 - 9:33
6 - 9:51

Loopy 14.5

Saturday's LR Marathon Training Group run was great!! It was a big loop starting in Little Rock going over to North Little Rock and then back to Little rock. We started off on the River Trail and ended on the River Trail but in between we got to run through Little Rock. This was a whole new route for me, well the first 1/2 anyway and I loved the change of scenery.

Kelly and I met at Team 1, she was driving seperately because she needed to get home ASAP after the run. We were waiting on Michele but when she wasn't there by 5:17 I called... she called back she had overslept and didn't hear the alarm. We were supposed to meet Cheryl at 5:30 in Sherwood so we couldnt' wait. Michele was very upset that she had overslept and she said she was going to try to meet us. Honestly I never thought she would make it, but when we were on Cantrell she called again and she had just left Cabot. I told her how to get to Murray Park but we still didn't know if she would make it. She told me not to worry and that if she didn't find us she would go over to the Skate Park and run with Brenda's "gang" ;)
When we got to Murray Park the first thing I said was I have to go to the Bathroom!!! I knew it was a one seater and the line would get long. We lucked out and there was only one person ahead of us. I went in and did my business, which was kind of hard to do because the door wouldn't shut all the way and I knew there was a line of women outside waiting on me!

Cheryl and Kelly also had to go and we were a little late getting started. No biggie we had a map and we had Cheryl so I wasn't worried. We struck up a conversation with a girl outside I think she was a little bit worried but we saw her later and not only did she catch up but she passed us!
I guess we had been running for maybe .5 of a mile when Gary and Curtis caught up with us, those crazy guys had been doing hill repeats on their bikes before the run. Did I mention that it was FREEZING!!! I tell you what those are some tough, dedicated, crazy guys!
It was around this time that Michele called and said she could see a bunch of runners orginally she was going to go ahead and park at the meeting area and try to catch up.. we hung up and then about 30 seconds later she called again and just as she called she passed us. Cheryl suggested she turn around and park at the golf course and we would meet her. It worked out perfectly!!!!

From the very beginning we all said we were going to start off slow... and we did not too slow around 11:00-11:30 min miles. It was very comfortable. It was a little hard though when the guys were with us to not get pulled into their pace, although their pace is really really fast, they were running slower for us. For a little while it was Kelly and Curtis and Michele and Gary.
Cheryl and I were very comfortable bringing up the rear. Not sure how far but Kelly needed a walk break and let Curtis go and she came back for us and the three of us stayed together pretty much the rest of the run until the last few miles.
Our strategy of starting off slow really worked, we did not take any breaks until mile 4 and that was a "gu" break. We walked long enough to take in some gu and water and then we were off again. Just as we turned onto Markham we saw Gary and Michele running towards us... where is Curtis??? The Davis brothers like to play cat and mouse so Curtis had challenged Gary to catch up with him. Gary gives him a couple miles head start and then he chases him down. I told you those boys are crazy!! LOL but I sure do love them!!

I was starting to feel the need to use the restroom again so we made the decision to run to the River Market. It turned out to be a very good decision!! We all took a bathroom break and a refueling break and then we head back towards the Main Street bridge to cross over into North Little Rock.




Again we hadn't taken any walk breaks between our 4 mile break and the River Market which was 5.87. Well Cheryl did have to take an "adjustment" break. She had worn a heat patch on her sore groin/upperthigh area, and while it really helped her in the beginning it eventually started rubbing and becoming painful so she had to get it off. I really wish I would have had a video camera to capture it... she is so funny and watching her dig into her pants to get that thing off was hysterical!!!
It was right around that part where we were running in the "bad" part of town. Very sad to see all the mattress's laying on the road etc.

Once we got to the River Trail it was back to the same ol thing. I love the River Trail but even that can get old somethimes. I really liked this route because it was a loop, we went through some area's I haven't run in before including "Dillards Hill" it didn't seem that bad but I'm sure when it comes towards the end of the Marathon it is much tougher!
It was nice once we were on the River Trail to know that once we passed through certain area's we didn't have to turn around and go back. I love loop's!!!
We got to see several other Cruisers' we ran into Sarah S. and Heather at the Dog Park.



We also saw Brenda, Cindy, Lisa and Rock on the BDB. They still had 5 miles left while we had under 1. They looked great... strong as usual. They had done an out and back so they were on their second trip over the Bridge.


When we got to the Dog Park where we saw Sarah and Heather I had to make another pit stop. I had gotten ahead of the other girls and as I was inside I heard Kelly go by and say she had to keep going because she was going to be late. She needed to get back to Cabot for her son's Basketball game.

Michele had also gone ahead, while we were running towards the dog park we met up with a girl who was doing her first run on the River Trail and she didn't really know where she was going. Michele ran with her for a little while to lend her some support. Cheryl had stuck around with me... when I came out of the port - a - pottie she was laying on the ground. Her upper back hurt so bad and that was the only position that helped alleviate the pain. This was the first run in a few weeks that she had that pain. Of course I had to get a picture... I said to her you know I HAVE to take your pictures. Cheryl said I don't *&^%$ care!!! If you look close you can see she is sort of laughing sort of grimacing. She didn't stay there long and then we were back on the trail, we had less than 3 miles to go... woo hoo!!!




About a mile before the bridge Michele came running back for us. There would be long stretches where we would be strung out no one really running with the other and we were all in our own little worlds, but yet we were still together and that is such a great feeling.


As you are approacing the BDB you can see it for a long time which is NOT a good thing. It gives you too long to dread it! Just before we got to it I said let's take a quick break so we can run up that %$&*&@!!
AND we DID IT!! we ran all the way up, slowly but we did it! It was just before the downhill when we saw the other girls. We were on the downhill slide and they still had the hardest part of their run left.
When we got back to the parking lot Michele wanted to walk so she decided to head towards her car and we told her we would pick her up. We stopped to mark ourselves off of the sign in sheet and get a cookie. There is a guy who is at all these runs, he's a nice guy very talkative. He was kidding us about there only being one cookie left etc. Well he wasn't parked far from us and as he was walking to his car he stopped to chat. He commented on how color coordinated I was. pink.. pink.. pink... and oh you even have on pink sunglasses. LOL Then he looks over at Cheryl and she has blue.. blue.. blue... he was a bit dissapointed she didn't have matching blue sunglasses. LOL

Well then he started admiring my new Honda and was asking lot's of questions and we were talking about gas mileage when I saw him notice the 26.2 sticker on the back window. He said OH is that what your gas mileage is????? Of course he was being funny but it made me think, I wonder if some people might think the same thing.

Anyway we were there for quite a while and Michele had gotten pretty far before we picked her up.
After Cheryl dropped her off we headed back to the River Market to Boulevard Bread Co. for coffee and breakfast.

When we got there I saw Vicki and she came over and sat with us and the three of us chatted for a bit.. Arland was next and then the girls all came in. Kelly was even able to make it. Unfortunately she only got to see the last minute of her son's game.

It was nice to sit back and chat with everyone... and BONUS Cheryl helped me with my Garmin we changed some of the settings so I can see it better and get the stastics that I want while running. In the picture I have on Vicki's reading glasses..LOL




Once again it was another great morning of running and hanging out with friends!!



Arland also had a good run yesterday morning... he is complaining about being slow but I am just thrilled that he was able to run 4 miles with NO pain!!

After going home and showering I went back to NLR to run errands. Target, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Sam's Club. By the time I got home I was beat! The rest of the evening I just tried to do little things to keep me busy, I didn't want to fall asleep because I wanted to go to bed early. Well I didn't fall asleep but I also didn't go to bed as early as I wanted to... although I'm sure the majority of people would think 9:30 on a Saturday night is EARLY! LOL

Eight is Great

Well it was great once it was done!!

Where: Krooked Kreek
When: 6:00 p.m.
Who: Brenda, Michele, Rock, Annette

We had much better weather last night, still coldish in the upper 40's when we lower 40's when we finished. The best thing though was no wind... just a little breezy.

I wore my zebra skirt last night because I couldn't find any of my compression shorts and the shorts in that skirt are compression. I also had on a short sleeve "skirtsports" shirt.. pink of course to match the pink in my skirt. Over that I wore a thin Brook's long sleeve tech shirt. When we first started I thought maybe I made a mistake by not wearing tights but in the end I was very happy with the skirt.

We decided from the begining to take this run a little slower and believe me I was very thankful. Yesterday morning the bitchy visitor who comes to visit once a month arrived on my door step yesterday morning with baggage in tow..cramping, bloating etc, so I was feeling a little sluggish. All the girls are very fast and I feel bad when I slow them down but I think everyone was ok with the pace last night. I know that Rock, Brenda and I were still recovering from our workout the night before.

Although I always say the location for this run is Krooked Kreek that is not entirely accurate there are two different neighborhoods that we run through, we usually go across into the neighbrhood across from KK to get in our first 4 - 4.25 and then back into KK for the last half. This works out great we just leave our water on Michele's mailbox and take a quick break. Last night Michele and I both needed to use the restroom facilities so it was a little bit longer break.

On the second half of our run we picked up a new running buddy, he never told us his name but he would trot beside us for a while and then run ahead and then back to us. He made me very nervous though because he would come barreling towards us and I was always afraid he was going to try to trip me. He was kind of annoying not just because of the constant fear of tripping over him but he would stop and pee at almost every single mailbox oh but the worst was when he decided to take a dump in front of us.... EWWW and it was stinky!!! Luckily we were finally able to ditch him just before we got back to Michele's house.

I really was feeling sluggish last night, luckily Rock and Brenda were feeling good and they kept the conversation going. It was funny though they would be talking about something or Rock would ask a question and I would want to say something but I just didn't have the extra energy to spare... actually that's not really very funny!

I think it was right after mile 5 we were running along one road that crosses with Michele's street, I looked down and asked Michele if that was the way back to her house...she said yes and I said good to know incase I need to turn around, my lower back was killing me and I was halfway thinking I might have to cut the run short. Lucky for me Brenda and Michele wouldn't even hear it... Brenda said no way, you will be so mad at yourself if you cut it short and Michele said oh don't worry she's not going too. Love those girls they keep me honest!!!

Great run!! slower than we have been running it but I'm fine with that!
8.03 miles
1:25
10:35 avg pace.

Fox and Hound

Last night during our running Clinic we played a little game Coach Dennis likes to call "Fox and Hound" Dennis lined us up based on our LT pace with the slowest runners starting out first and and the fastest last. The slow runners were the fox's and the faster runners the hounds.
I was the second person to go - 1 min. 39secs. after the first set of runners, Bailey was about 40 seconds behind me Robert behind her and so on.

The goal is that we should all finish or in this case approach the 1/2 mile mark around the same time. We tried this earlier in the summer and everyone went too fast and it didn't work.
I'm not sure if last night worked either, but it was fun. Reed the 13 year old super runner was the only one who caught me within the 1/2 mile. I was able to overtake the beginning group right around where i was supposed to, although I did not pass Brett... he was not going to let his old mom beat him!! LOL
Rock passed me shortly after the 1/2 mile mark, she said how far are we going and when I told her 1 mile she said crap I went out too fast. ME TOO!!! Cindy, Brenda, Dennis & Josh all passed me eventually, but I didn't mind I was thrilled I held them off as long as I did. First mile was 9:00 flat, I was supposed to do it in 9:39 so I don't think I did it right... but then hardly anyone else did either. When I finished my mile I looked back and saw Robert and just behind him Bailey. I gabbed with Robert for a second and then went back to talk to Bailey and we both admitted we were CHEATERS!!! LOL

For our second LT pace mile Bailey and I decided to run together... although she is faster than me that first mile took a lot out of both of us.
It was fun running with her, we talked a little bit not too much... talking was hard!! We finished our 2nd LT mile in 9:23 still a little faster than my LT pace but it felt good.

We all ran together in the warm up run... it's rare that happens, but when we got over the bridge to the North Side of Magness Creek Bailey and I had to take a little detour.
The rest of the group got in a 2 mile warm up run, Our's was about 1.7 good enough. After our workout we ended up with another mile and then the run back to the school was .67. Total mileage was around 5.5 for me.
I think I missed something somehwere by starting and stopping my Garmin so much. I know I forgot to turn it back on for at least .5 mile. BUT I am going to go by my Garmin and say I did 5.5 last night.

After a few days of running in warmer temps the return of the cold last night didn't feel very good!!! And once again the wind was brutal.

Cheryl and Kelly you were missed!

Monday Run

6.03 miles
1:01:37
10:13 avg pace
1 - 10:19
2 - 10:12
3 - 10:01
4 - 9:18
5 - 11:09
6 - 10:13

Runners:
Annette
Michele
James
Robert

Last night was warm but very windy. It was 65 when we started and I have no idea the windy mph but it was fierce.
Our 4th mile was our fastest and it was also the hardest, almost the entire mile is a continious incline.
Our 5th mile was our slowest, mostly because the beginning of it was when we stopped for water and to say goodbye to James and Robert.
Robert was only planning on 3 or 4 last night and James had a football game to watch and a house full of company.
It was great having James with us, because they have younger children James and Michele don't get to run together very often so last night was a treat.

Runner Girl...Fitness Fanatic

Runner Girl Kylie

Crunches

looks like she is flying

She is really strong!!

Yesterday afternoon I was on my way to Kylie's house and I mentioned that since it was so warm maybe we could go for a walk. She said "no I don't think so... my legs are sore because I ran yesterday" She ran/walked for 20 minutes with Tracy and Brett and according to Tracy with only occasional whining. LOL

Arland To The Rescue

This morning I went to the elementary school to meet with the group. Several others had met earlier in a different location they were doing 16.

I knew that several of the SSE group were planning on running the 10.5 mile route but I was hoping that maybe there would be others who just wanted 6 or 7. Lucky for me Kelly pulled up beside me soon after I arrived.
Joan, Vicki, Jane & Jamie O were all planning on running 10.5. Kelly and I had already done our long run and I didn't really want to do 10 again today. We decided though to just run with them as long as we wanted to and then we would call Arland to come get us.
It was warm this morning 63 when we started, also VERY windy. The route we were running had us running 3 miles along hwy 321 which is a very busy road. It does have nice wide shoulders so it makes it a little safer to run on but I am always glad when we are done with that portion of the run.

We had been running for a little over 2 miles when Vicki and I both mentioned that we needed a "tinkle" stop. McDonalds was about a mile ahead so we decided on that as our pit stop. We had been running together but then Joan and Jamie O starting lagging behind... not because they were running slower but because they were finding money! LOL When we all got to McDonald's we found out they were having a contest and between them had found over a $1.00 so far. After McDonald's Kelly and I slowed down a bit and we ran with Joan and Jamie for the rest of our run.
Soon after mile 5 I was starting to feel fatigued. I didn't have my 1/2 of a granola bar this morning... I didn't have anything and I was starting to feel it. We had been planning 6 from the beginning so since we were both starting to feel fatigued when we hit 6 we stopped and started walking. I called Arland and asked him to come pick us up. I think he was a little confused at first, but I assured him we were ok, we weren't hurt we were just DONE!
We had really worked up a sweat during our run but it didn't take long for the wind to really cool us off when we were walking as a matter of fact we were starting to get really cold!!

Arland found us huddled against the backside of Fred's trying to stay warm and stretch a little bit.

We were very relieved to see the big red "rescue" truck pull up. Kelly needed to get home so she could ready for church but she had time for a quick trip to Mountain Mudd.

We were lucky girls this morning. We got to run with our friends, and then we had a handsome Fireman rescue us and buy us coffee.

Bonus

This morning as usual there was a Cruiser group run. Once a quarter the Cruisers also have "trash pick-up" they sponsor a portion of Hwy 89 and we pick up trash along a mile stretch. Since joining the Cruisers I have twice helped with the trash pick-up. I was sad that the timing didn't work out for me to help today because it is always fun and a chance to get to visit with fellow Cruisers.

Well Kelly and I got a little bonus this morning, not only did we get to go to Starbuck's with Michele, Kim and the Davis brothers but we also got to have breakfast with the Cruisers. Just as we were pulling into Team 1 Robert called to tell Kelly they were all headed to "Jane's Kitchen" to have breakfast. Michele had to go home but Kelly and I decided to go join them. Of course I was a little worried they might not let us since we didn't pick up trash. LOL

Pictures from Saturday

I am so bummed the first picture is so blurry!! :(

Also Gary and Curtis are friends of both myself and Arland and I sent him these pictures as they were taken.

The trip to Starbucks was a great time, and it was so nice to get to spend some time with the guys. We don't get to see them very often so it was a real treat to spend some time with them today!

Saturday on the River Trail

As has been my habit the last few weeks I planned on meeting Cheryl Saturday morning to run with the LR Marathon training group.
Kim got back into town this week and she came with us as did Kelly and Michele.
I met the Cabot girls at Team 1 and then we picked Kim up at the Community Center in J-ville.
It was quite a lively trip to NLR 4 girls in one car the conversation was flowing. When we got to the designated meeting spot Cheryl was already there and came over to greet us. She was starting off the run with a headache, never a good start!
When I first got up this morning I had put on running pants and was planning on wearing two long sleeve shirts. Lucky for me not so lucky for him Arland was called out on a car accident. It turned out that the persons involved fled the scene so there was nothing for the FD to do, it was a job for the police. Anyway he got home before I had finished dressing and let me know that it was 53 degrees out side and humid. I immediately changed into a running skirt and a short sleeve tech shirt with a long sleeve over it. WELL when we got out of the car at the River Trail it was NOT 53 degrees!! The wind was howling and it felt pretty chilly. Although it was cold at first I ended up being dressed just right!

There was a huge crowd this morning and people were doing quite a variety of miles. We all took off together and just as we were approaching the only real bathroom on the trail we noticed a lady heading towards it...oh my gosh they were open! At that time I didn't really feel like I needed it, but I try to not turn down a real bathroom when it is avaliable. Kelly headed that way first and then Cheryl and I.
After the break we kind of broke off into two different groups, Kim & Cheryl and Kelly, Michele and I. My goal for this run was to not take any walk breaks.
The first 6 miles I felt great and didn't walk except for a few seconds to get a drink of water. A couple of times Kelly did need a short walk break and Michele and I would keep going just at a slower pace and then we would circle back for her. This worked really well for me and I was able to keep my energy up through most of the run.
On the way to the turn around spot the wind was kind of hitting us sideways, but boy oh boy when we turned around... fierce head wind!! And the way back has a few pretty steep inclines.
A couple of miles after the turn around we were approaching one of the longer/steeper hills on the way back, I have always hated that hill and I have walked it many times. So far this morning I hadn't had to walk any hills and was feeling pretty good about it. But wouldn't you know just as we were approaching that hill my stomach did a flip flop kind of thing and I felt like I needed to use the bathroom. I told the girls... I think Michele thought I was faking it so I wouldn't have to run up the hill!! LOL But I showed her and I did make it all the way up, but at the top I didn't feel so good. Luckily though it calmed down and I was able to keep running. Kelly took a quick break but I just kept going, I looked back once and Michele said "you're good" she knew what was happening. I needed to just keep running as fast as I could to get to the port - a - pottie in case things started going south with my stomach.
Luckily everything behaved and I made it to the port a pottie and was able to resolve the issue.
I heard Kim and Cheryl go by as I was inside...
Once we started running again my Garmin started beeping at me. I didn't have my reading contact in so I asked Kelly to tell me what it was saying, but she couldn't see it either. Finally Michele told me it said something about too much data. It has happened before and I knew it wasn't going to accurately track the rest of the run so I just stopped it.
I really hate when things malfunction with the Garmin in the middle of a run :(
but today I didn't let it get to me.
After the port-a-pottie we only had about 2 miles left, we had run further out than we had to so we were a little ahead on mileage. We were on a stretch of road that kind of connects the River Trail, I was starting to feel a little fatigued, at this point we were all back together. I had been thinking about Gary and Curtis, I had tried to work out a way that we would be able to run together this morning but nothing had been resolved before I left this morning. I had been hoping to see them somewhere along the trail but had just about given up hope when all of a sudden they flew by us on their bikes. Perfect timing!! We arranged to meet at Star Bucks so they headed back in the opposite direction to their car. I was glad that we had run a little further on the way out because it meant that we would get to walk a little at the end. We walked it in and then turned around for Cheryl and Kim, I knew something was wrong because they were too far behind us and then I saw them walking. It turns out that Kim's knee was really bothering her. She thought it might be IT Band issues and was asking Michele questions about it. Michele has battled IT issues off and on for quite a while now and she is a PT so she was the perfect person to ask.

I know this run didn't turn out the way Kim or Cheryl wanted, but it was a really good run for me. Other than the port-a-pottie break I only took two really quick water breaks.
I might not be fast but I am building my endurance and that felt great!
I had a 10:11 avg for the first 7.8 miles. I'm waiting to talk to Kelly to find out what our last two miles were.

Starbuck's pictures to come on the next post.

Track Workout

Last night we had our Flyer's workout at the High School Track. I normally don't like the track but it definately has advantages!! A nice even surface being one of them especially important when you are doing speed work.

I arrived a little early last night I needed 5 miles to get in 40 miles for the week. Arland thinks I'm weird because I have been counting my running weeks as Saturday Thru Thursday. I do that because Friday is my rest day so it kind of makes sense, to me at least that Saturday is my first run of the week and Thursday is my last.

Bailey, Cindy and Robert were also there, so we all started off on our warm up jog. I ran/chatted with Bailey for most of it. She is a speedy thing but she was running at her relaxed pace so it was a nice run. One of the other advantages of the high school track is the normally clean port-a-potties. I had to take advantage of them twice last night. Not for stomach issues though, thank goodness!!! They weren't as clean as normal, I guess maybe they haven't been emptying it because school has been out for the Holiday's???

I had about 1.25 by the time everyone else had arrived and Dennis gave us our work-out. He told us to warm up for 2 miles, Jane, Kelly, Cheryl, Jen and the others hadn't warmed up yet so I ran with them. The intermediate only had to warm up for 1 mile so I think that is what Kelly and Jane ended up with or maybe a little more.
We were going to do the Advanced workout but ended up doing something kind of inbetween advanced and intermediate. We were closer to the intermediate
We did 2 800's, 1- 1200 and 1-1000
Kelly, Jane and I started off on the first 800 together. Considering that I was feeling sluggish on the warm-up I was a little worried about the workout, but next thing you know we are flying around that track. Our first 800 was 4:23 way too fast!! My LT pace is supposed to be 9:45 and we were running at an 8:50 pace!! LOL
The second 800 was 3 seconds slower so still too fast but it felt better than the first one did.
Poor Kelly I think she might have a stomach bug or something because she started feeling sick during the first 800 but she kept going and finished 2 800's and 1 1200 before she finally stopped. She probably should have stopped after the first one!
Cheryl and Jen were running together but then all of a sudden I see Jen on the side of the track stretching with Dennis. Not a good sign! I asked her later and apparently she might be having IT issues :( I really hope not, she has been training/planning on running the LR 1/2 marathon.

On our 1200 I think our pace was around 9:00 I can't remember and I dont' have my garmin. We purposely slowed down, we were feeling those 800's and knew we needed to be smarter on the 1200. By the time we got to our 1,000 we were pooped. I don't know what our pace was for that one, but probably around a 9:30 pace or maybe even faster, we really wanted to be done!!

I have always loved running with Jane and last night was no exception. We helped push each other although I think it was easier for her than me!! She is a very strong runner!

I think I forgot to mention it was FREEZING again last night, another advantage of running at the track is you could bundle up for the beginning and then shed layers as you need to. I had on two layers on the bottom and 3 on top, pretty much I lost my jacket during the warm- up and I also took off my running pants and just ran in my tights. During one of the last laps of our last LTpace workout I threw my gloves down, I was starting to feel nauseous and something had to come off but I didnt' want to take the time to take off one of my shirts. It didn't take long before I regretted losing the gloves, my hands were freezing, but it did help alleviate the nauseous feeling.
After We finished our workout Jane had to leave and I stayed and ran with Cheryl for a little bit, she was working on her last 1,000. She looked really good last night very strong and steady, although the cold was really bothering her.
Brenda and I stretched for a bit while Rock and Cheryl finished their runs. I haven't been stretching enough so I am really glad I did, I am not at all sore this morning. Maybe it will kick in later???
As soon as I got home I took a hot shower... almost my whole body was bright red from the cold and my stomach was numb!!!
Luckily we are going to have a little relief from the cold this weekend. It is supposed to be in the 60's on Saturday and 70 on Sunday. WOO HOO!!! LOL

Lessons I have learned from the last two runs. I just have to have confidence in myself and keep pushing even when I think I want to give up!!!

When I was talking to Cheryl yesterday I told her about how I hadn't had any stomach issues my last few runs. I'm not quite sure what to attribute that to... eating better?... my body adjusting to the cold?... I think it might actually be the nature valley granola bar I have been eating about an hour before I run. Maybe it's just coincidence but I bought them, a few days ago and I had one on New Year's morning before we ran and I had not problems, and just the day before I did experience stomach problems on the run. I also ate one about an hour before I ran on Wednesday.. not problems... and again last night and no problems. So is it just luck or is it the granola bar????? I guess time will tell.

I did get over 5 miles last night so I accomplished my goal of 40 miles for the week :) Today is a rest day and tomorrow is another run with Cheryl and the LR Marathon Training group.

Wednesday Run

Wow what a great run last night. I met Brenda and Rock at Michele's house, honestly most of the day I was dreading the run because it was so damn cold and WINDY!! I bundled up really well, I had on two layers on the bottom and three on top. I also had on an ear band around my head and around my neck plus a light weight fleece scarf. Cheryl and Kim would have been proud!! LOL Well wouldn't you know when I got to Michele's house the wind had died down... THANK GOODNESS!!!
It was still cold 32 when we started and I was thankful for all those layers for about 10 minutes and then I started feeling nauseous and had to start peeling stuff off. Oh I also had on some really thick fleece gloves, now I know better than to wear something so warm on my hands. It is weird my hands are usually the first place to get hot and when my hands are hot I am miserable luckily gloves are an easy thing to take off and these had hooks so I could loop them around my spi belt.

I think we were about 2 miles into the run when my phone rang, we had been expecting Kelly and Robert to join us but neither of them met us. Kelly was calling to tell me she got hung up at work and wouldn't be able to run with us :( Actually when the phone first rang I couldnt' get to it and i called her back, we assumed that she was at Michele's house so we were going to change our route so we could meet her, but that wasn't the case. It is really hard to talk on the phone and run!! Especially when you are running with the fast girls!!
I have to admit there were times during the run when I thought I don't know if I am going to make it.... but I just kept those feelings to myself and concentrated on keeping up with the others.
This was the first time I have actually run with Rock, sure I see her during the beginning of group runs but this was the first time we ran the whole time together. Of course this was a very easy run for her so we let her do most of the talking.
Pretty much soon after we started running I knew I needed the little girls room. We ran by Suzanne's house but it was dark so we didn't stop, it wasn't terrible and I probably could have made it the whole run, but in the new subdivision we found there is a lot of new construction and lo and behold there was a port -a- pottie. Luckily Rock needed to go too.. I let her test it out first!! LOL It really wasnt' that bad, or maybe it was just because it was dark. It was such a relief to be able to get that over with. I guess I didn't realize how much all that pee was weighing me down becaue after that I felt much better.
We normally run 8 miles on Wednesday nights, but we had decided ahead of time to make it 7... I was so glad too!!!
I don't have my splits with me here at work but I know we ran 7.01 miles in 1:09 which on my Garmin avg out to a 9:53 pace. Brenda had 9:45 pace which I think is what our real running pace was. When we stopped to use the port a pottie I didn't stop my Garmin right away.
I was beyond thrilled with with those numbers!!

First run of 2008

Last year Arland, Kim and I made a date to run together on the first day of 2007. This year my first run of the year was with a group of Cabot Cruisers. I missed Arland (injured) & Kim (out of town) but I still had a great run today.
It was very cold this morning which it is winter so that is normal but the wind... sheesh it was howling!!
I started off with Joan, Jane, Bailey, Cheryl and Susan. Michele had also joined us but she was feeling speedy so she took off ahead and ended up running most of the route with Patty. Joan, Jane & I got a little ahead of the other girls, and I slowed down a bit to let them catch up. Bailey and I ended up running together, she can be very speedy but today wasn't about speed for her. We ran together for a bit and then turned around to circle back for Cheryl. Although we went back for Cheryl we didn't stay with her for long. We kept an eye on her though and it looked like she was running with Susan so I wasn't worried about her. At one point though Bailey looked back and didn't see Cheryl, I was worried then and thought maybe she had decided to turn around. Bailey and I eventually caught up with Jane and Joan and pretty much ran the remainder of the run with them. I kept thinking we would turn around and go back for Cheryl and Susan, but it was one hill after another and the thought of running any of them a second time was just too much for me!!
The route we ran was very hilly and with the wind it was at times just daunting!! We did have some nice stretches where the hills blocked the wind and we would be comfortable but they never seemed to last too long.
Just before we got to the last big hill on hwy 321 Michele who wasn't that far ahead of us turned turned back to run with us. That hill has a lot of history for us and it really made me happy that she wanted to run it with me :).
When we got back to the school we had 7.1 miles. I asked Michele if she wanted to walk a bit and head back up 321 to find Cheryl and Susan. At first we were jogging so I started my Garmin but then we had to wait for traffic to cross the street and then ended up in some grass which was hard to run on for some reason, so I gave up and turned off the Garmin. It's silly but I knew it would drag down my total avg pace for the run and I didn't want that. We didn't get very far on 321 when we saw Cheryl running towards us. We could also see in the distance Susan wasn't too far behind her so we all started towards Susan and the four of us jogged it back into the school. By the time we got back everyone was gone. The Razorbacks played in the Cotton Bowl this morning and everyone was anxious to get home and watch the game.
I asked all the girls if they wanted to go to Mountain Mudd, Susan couldn't go but Cheryl and Michele did so we loaded up in the Honda and got our reward for getting up early on New's Day and running in the cold and wind. Mountain Mudd has the best sugar free white chocolate, no one else compares ! Once we got back to the school we sat in the warm car and chatted a bit before everyone had to get home and get on with their day.
It felt great to start off the new year with a great run with great friends!
7.2 miles
10:35 avg.pace
1-10:33
2-9:48
3-10:36
4-10:44
5-10:51
6-10:36
7-10:05

A few 2007 Milestones

2007 is officially over, and what a year it was. Kim, Arland and I joined the Cabot Country Cruisers which opened up a whole new running world for us. I have made so many new friends because of the Cruiser's they not only enriched my running life by also my personal life as well. The Women Can Run Clinic and our Tuesday Night Flyer's with Coach Dennis also had a huge impact on my life!
I also met Susan "from Benton" through the blog world and have been blessed with her friendship!
It was also Susan who first encouraged me to start a blog, I was resistent at first but I obviously gave in. Cheryl and Arland also had a hand in that decision as well.

Here are some totals for the year.

Total miles 1270 and that doesn't include probably anywhere between 20 and 50 miles where I didn't have my Garmin. This year I am going to start logging my mileage at Running-Journal.com.

Total # of races 24
1 Marathon (Chicago)
3 1/2 Marathon's (Little Rock, Tulsa, Memphis)
1 15K
5 10K
1 4 miler
1 2 miler
12 5K

I won 12 Age group awards

My picture was in the paper 4 times. Twice in the small local paper, once in the State wide paper here in Arkansas and once in the Springfield Missouri local paper.
I was quoted in 1 newspaper article.

I volunteered in two 5K races. The Spring Fling and the Magness Creek Fight to get Fit 5K.

I drank a million cups of Starbuck's/Mountain Mudd/Daily Grind coffee. Ok that might be a slight stretch... but not by much!

2007 also was the year that my sister Tracy realized that running isn't so bad after all. My Aunt Tamara also kept running in 2007 and completed several 5K's. My son Brett has started running and I hope 2008 is his year :) I also hope that Livia will find her way back to running.

Cheryl continued running in 2007 and decided to train for a full Marathon. She still doesn't love running, but who knows maybe 2008 will change her mind. After all I can still remember her telling Kim and I that she would NEVER run a marathon and I can't count the times she told us we were CRAZY!! and here she is training for Little Rock!! ;)

I also started Spinning classes in 2007 and although I will cut back on those I am hoping to get out on the bike more in 2008.

Happy New Year everyone I hope 2008 is good to us all!!!