This morning started off with a Body Sculpting class at 5:00am. I have to admit I'm not loving this getting up at 4:15am crap!!!!! I do love the spinning and the body sculpting though so I guess it's worth it.
Today was upper body which I think it will always be on Wednesday's and that is exactly what I want. It was tough!!! I have a feeling I am going to wake up very sore tomorrow morning.
This evening was a VERY WINDY 8 mile run!! Earlier in the day it had been about 60 degrees but sometime after lunch it started getting colder and by 6:00pm it was really cold. Eight miles were the plan but the first mile or two I kept thinking to myself I really don't think I can do it, luckily I warmed up and was indeed able to finish 8. Although at .75 to go my stomach twisted up on me but I just said NO and slowed down for a minute or so and it behaved and didn't give me anymore problems.
Robert ran the first 4.25 with us, he was great company and it's always nice to have a guy around!! Robert and Arland are a lot alike and I think Robert is starting to get used to running with a bunch of women... he is learning we will talk about just about anything when we are running!!! LOL
Kelly wimped out on us tonight.... but she made the right decision, she was feeling really tired and it's better sometimes to rest than to push when you are not feeling right and risk getting hurt.
8.0
1:23:41
10:27 avg pace
1 - 10:41
2 - 10:19
3 - 10:27
4 - 10:10
5 - 11:17... we had looped back to Michele's house I took off my jacket and we said goodbye to Robert.
6 - 10:21
7 - 10:22
8 - 9:59
Other than the little bit of time when I took off my jacket and we said goodbye to Robert we did not take any walk breaks. We had to stop for just a second at the end of one of the roads as some cars were turning into us.
This is a challenging route plenty of "rolling hills" or inclines and tonight it seemed like we had a fierce headwind at every hill.
Spinning tomorrow morning and then I get to rest until Saturday mornings 14 miler with Cheryl and Kim at the River Trail.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Flying at the track
Due to a meeting Coach Dennis needed to attend our Tuesday night Flyer's group met at the High School Track. When we first got there the parking lot was packed, but I noticed the lights were not on at the track so we realized it must be something at the gymnasium or somewhere else. Kelly told me later it was a Choir performance.
When I left work yesterday I was cold so I dressed fairly warm for the run. I know that I always end up getting hot so I did wear a short sleeve tech shirt under the long sleeve shirt Cheryl and I got from our Bass Pro race in Springfield.
I was also wearing one of my "Bondi Bands" to cover my ears. We started off with a 1 mile warm-up it was me Cheryl and Kelly. Kelly is breaking in new shoes and new inserts so we lost her for a bit, the warm up was going well, it felt comfortable but then the problem that I had on Monday night came back for a visit. Luckily there is a very nice port-a-pottie right by the track and I was able to make a stop and then catch back up with Cheryl. She was already at 1 mile but she ran another loop with me so I could have 1 mile too. After the warm up we did our strides and then time for the work out. 2x800 and then 2x1000 at lactate pace Dennis has been concentrating on the lactate pace to help build our endurance for longer races Marathon, 1/2 marathon's. Cheryl, Kelly and I all started together but we all have different LT pace so split up soon after. As usualy I started too fast, my lactate pace is 9:45 and I did the first 800 at a 8:49 pace. The second one I tried to slow down but still did it just under a nine minute pace. I told Kelly the 1,000 will be slower... and it was but not by much. I felt like I got in a really good workout last night, I was comfortable in my long pants but I did have to take off the long sleeve shirt and I pushed the bondi band back off of my ears. Instead of strides we did 3/4 around the track at an easy jog as a cool down. I haven't added up all the mileage from last night but Cheryl had 4 miles so I probably had 3.75 unless of course she had her automatic pause on and then she probably had more and then so did I. It doesnt' matter it was a good workout.
My sister Tracy and Aunt Tamara were also there, I don't get to see them very much because they are in a different group and usually finish and leave before we do, but I'm so glad they are both running!!
Kelly tried to entice me into Starbuck's afterwards but I felt bad that Arland stayed at the track the whole time even though he could only walk so I didn't want to run off and leave him.
Robert had teased us with thoughts of Chili... wouldn't that be yummy on a cold night!!
It was fun running at the Track last night, I usually don't like running on the Track, something about the soft surface usually bothers my legs but not last night... the only thing was that after a couple of miles of going in one direction my left knee started feeling kind of tight. We did our last 1,000 going in the opposite direction which was very challenging as most everyone else was still going in the orginal direction. At one point Dennis said he could forsee a collision but I was very careful and moved far away when runners were approaching me.
The best part about running at the track is you get to see everyone more...at Magness Creek sometimes we don't cross paths with the faster runners very often. Dennis told Arland he also really liked it because he could really see everyone. He gave me a very nice compliment last night, he said I had great form and that I was quickly becoming the poster child for good form. He also said that I was already the poster child for "stir the pot" our downhill running technique... he said he tells everyone about how well I do it. It is always nice to get positive feed back especially from someone you have so much respect for.
The other really great thing is we got to see other runners... there were several ladies from the Women Can Run clinic, and best of all Jane and Sarah P were there :) I havent' seen Jane since right after the Tulsa marathon when she came to the shop to check on Arland. We didnt' really get to talk last night since they were running one way and we were running the other but it was great to see them.
When I left work yesterday I was cold so I dressed fairly warm for the run. I know that I always end up getting hot so I did wear a short sleeve tech shirt under the long sleeve shirt Cheryl and I got from our Bass Pro race in Springfield.
I was also wearing one of my "Bondi Bands" to cover my ears. We started off with a 1 mile warm-up it was me Cheryl and Kelly. Kelly is breaking in new shoes and new inserts so we lost her for a bit, the warm up was going well, it felt comfortable but then the problem that I had on Monday night came back for a visit. Luckily there is a very nice port-a-pottie right by the track and I was able to make a stop and then catch back up with Cheryl. She was already at 1 mile but she ran another loop with me so I could have 1 mile too. After the warm up we did our strides and then time for the work out. 2x800 and then 2x1000 at lactate pace Dennis has been concentrating on the lactate pace to help build our endurance for longer races Marathon, 1/2 marathon's. Cheryl, Kelly and I all started together but we all have different LT pace so split up soon after. As usualy I started too fast, my lactate pace is 9:45 and I did the first 800 at a 8:49 pace. The second one I tried to slow down but still did it just under a nine minute pace. I told Kelly the 1,000 will be slower... and it was but not by much. I felt like I got in a really good workout last night, I was comfortable in my long pants but I did have to take off the long sleeve shirt and I pushed the bondi band back off of my ears. Instead of strides we did 3/4 around the track at an easy jog as a cool down. I haven't added up all the mileage from last night but Cheryl had 4 miles so I probably had 3.75 unless of course she had her automatic pause on and then she probably had more and then so did I. It doesnt' matter it was a good workout.
My sister Tracy and Aunt Tamara were also there, I don't get to see them very much because they are in a different group and usually finish and leave before we do, but I'm so glad they are both running!!
Kelly tried to entice me into Starbuck's afterwards but I felt bad that Arland stayed at the track the whole time even though he could only walk so I didn't want to run off and leave him.
Robert had teased us with thoughts of Chili... wouldn't that be yummy on a cold night!!
It was fun running at the Track last night, I usually don't like running on the Track, something about the soft surface usually bothers my legs but not last night... the only thing was that after a couple of miles of going in one direction my left knee started feeling kind of tight. We did our last 1,000 going in the opposite direction which was very challenging as most everyone else was still going in the orginal direction. At one point Dennis said he could forsee a collision but I was very careful and moved far away when runners were approaching me.
The best part about running at the track is you get to see everyone more...at Magness Creek sometimes we don't cross paths with the faster runners very often. Dennis told Arland he also really liked it because he could really see everyone. He gave me a very nice compliment last night, he said I had great form and that I was quickly becoming the poster child for good form. He also said that I was already the poster child for "stir the pot" our downhill running technique... he said he tells everyone about how well I do it. It is always nice to get positive feed back especially from someone you have so much respect for.
The other really great thing is we got to see other runners... there were several ladies from the Women Can Run clinic, and best of all Jane and Sarah P were there :) I havent' seen Jane since right after the Tulsa marathon when she came to the shop to check on Arland. We didnt' really get to talk last night since they were running one way and we were running the other but it was great to see them.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Monday run
Sheesh it was cold last night. The run started off ok... cold, and a little sluggish but we were just starting to warm up when my stomach decided it didn't want to play nice. I was so dissapointed we ended up having to walk it in and even that was a struggle :( Oh well we did get 2 running miles and 1.5 walking. I guess better than nothing but still a big dissapointment.
The good news the toe didn't hurt.
Here is one last picture from Memphis. I can't believe I didn't post it with the others since it is one of my favorites!
Cheryl relaxing right after the race.
The good news the toe didn't hurt.
Here is one last picture from Memphis. I can't believe I didn't post it with the others since it is one of my favorites!
Cheryl relaxing right after the race.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Lazy Sunday
I got up at 6:00 this morning to get ready to go to the school to meet anyone who was running this morning. I had talked to Michele about running this morning and also Kim.
I did my normal pre run routine, and got dressed the last thing of course was my shoes, put them on took two steps and realized I was not going to be running today. I mentioned my raw little toe, well it didn't bother me when I was walking around barefoot but as soon as I put a blister bandaid on it and then socks and shoes it was really painful!
I checked my e-mail and Kim had sent one saying she wasn't going to run this morning. I called Michele and left her a voicemail.. I really hope she slept in and wasn't waiting for me at the school, or if she was I hope there was someone for her to run with.
I promptly took my shoes and socks off, changed out of my running clothes and puttered around a little bit. I didn't want to turn on any lights or make a lot of noise since Arland was still sleeping. I came back into the office and posted the Memphis pictures and checked a few blogs. At about 7:15 after being up for a little over an hour I decided to go back to bed and I ended up sleeping until after 9:00am!! I spent the rest of the day in P.J's and never once left the house. Instead I watched several "Samatha Who" episodes and a couple hours of Grey's Anatomy. I didn't realize how far behind I was on that show. It was really nice to just kind of do nothing today, but now I'm feeling guilty that I didn't get anything accomplished.
I guess we all deserve a day off every now and then.
I did my normal pre run routine, and got dressed the last thing of course was my shoes, put them on took two steps and realized I was not going to be running today. I mentioned my raw little toe, well it didn't bother me when I was walking around barefoot but as soon as I put a blister bandaid on it and then socks and shoes it was really painful!
I checked my e-mail and Kim had sent one saying she wasn't going to run this morning. I called Michele and left her a voicemail.. I really hope she slept in and wasn't waiting for me at the school, or if she was I hope there was someone for her to run with.
I promptly took my shoes and socks off, changed out of my running clothes and puttered around a little bit. I didn't want to turn on any lights or make a lot of noise since Arland was still sleeping. I came back into the office and posted the Memphis pictures and checked a few blogs. At about 7:15 after being up for a little over an hour I decided to go back to bed and I ended up sleeping until after 9:00am!! I spent the rest of the day in P.J's and never once left the house. Instead I watched several "Samatha Who" episodes and a couple hours of Grey's Anatomy. I didn't realize how far behind I was on that show. It was really nice to just kind of do nothing today, but now I'm feeling guilty that I didn't get anything accomplished.
I guess we all deserve a day off every now and then.
Race Day Memphis 1/2 marathon
We were a little late getting on the road and then we encountered some construction traffic that had us running behind. I had spoken to Kelly and Heather about where they were, unfortuantely we didn't get to meet up with any of them.
We did get to the race in time to make it to the port a potties and thank goodness!!!
As we were heading to the 10:00 minute pace corral we passed Susan, it was just a brief moment but it was great to see her.
The whole time we were waiting for the start I was scanning the crowd for Kelly and Robert, come to find out later they weren't very far behind us.
They do wave starts at Memphis so it took us around 9:00 minutes to cross the start line. Normally it is at this point that Kim and I say good luck and good bye, today was different we actually ran the whole race together along with Cheryl.
We started off at a very comfortable pace, for me yesterday was all about Cheryl. Kim and I want her to love running as much as we do and she didn't have the greatest experience at the LR 1/2 marathon so we wanted this race to be different.
The race course was VERY crowed much more so than last year. It was kind of hard for us to run together so we had to do a lot of weaving, sometimes I was having to catch up to them and vice versa. One of the many great things about the Memphis marathon is they have water stops at every mile. We skipped the first one, but took water at the second one, this kind of became our pattern for the rest of the race. We would only slow down long enough to take a drink of water and then we were off. I had worn an old denim shirt as a warm up and I finally threw it off about mile three. Before the race I had been worried that the Elijah shirt would be too warm but it was actually perfect, I was comfortable the whole race!
One of the bad things about the Memphis 1/2 is the roads, they are very uneven and slanted you constantly had to be on the lookout for holes and it was a struggle to try to stay in the middle of the road to avoid the slant.
Some of my favorite parts of the early miles were running down Riverside drive and seeing the Mississippi River, soon after that though there is a pretty steep incline before you get to Beale street. Beale street is always fun there are lot's of crowds and music.
I pretty much needed to pee from the start of the race... very frustrating especially since I used the port a potty just before the start. I did ok until mile 4 and then I told the girls I was going to have to stop at the next aid station. Luckily Cheryl needed to as well so I didn't feel like I was holding her back. As I was in the port a potty I heard Kelly calling Cheryl's name, I was so dissapointed I missed her.
That stop was really the first walk break we took, other than just a second or two at the water stations at mile 2 and 4.
I really don't know why I thought this race was flat with only a few inclines... I mean I ran it last year so what happened to my brain??? I've been saying it was runners amnesia, but I also think it was because last year this was our first big race. Also last year I got really sick right after the race so maybe that erased my memory of the course??? But when we were running yesterday I would think oh yeah I remember this hill. I was also thinking of poor Kelly, I had assured her over and over this was a relatively flat course. I was afraid she was hating me and would never trust me again!!
Somewhere around mile 6 I think it was I felt something rubbing my right little toe, I have never had problems there so I think maybe something was in my sock. Finally just as we were approaching the park into the zoo Cheryl needed a walk break so I took that opportunity to take off my shoe and adjust my sock, Cheryl also needed to take off her ankle brace. The potty break and the shoe break really affected our time but both were very necessary! We got started again and I knew that the adjustment hadn't helped my little toe, I just had to live with it. I now have a nice little raw spot on my little toe, not a blister that would be better, no I have a spot on my toe with no skin at all.
We missed the GU station, it was somewhere around the zoo, I did hear someone say something about chocolate gu, but yuck I didn't want that!
I had started my Luna Moons about mile 4 and took one every other mile or so after that.
Oh I can't forget to mention that at mile 4 we saw Chasen and he saw us and he called out my name and said good job. It was so awesome to see him, I have never been at a race where I knew someone in the crowd. Right around mile 10 or just before it Cheryl spotted her Aunt Martha and cousin Grace, we started yelling and waving our arms, at first she didn't see us, but then when she did see Cheryl the smile on her face was priceless... she even ran with Cheryl for a little bit with her arm around her. The smile on Cheryl's face during and afterwards was priceless too!!! It gave us all a jolt of energy that lasted quite a while! It was a little bit after that that I got to see Chasen again, and again he saw me and yelled encourging words to me.
The stretch between the beginning of mile 10 up to about 11.5 were just awesome the crowd support was wonderful kids were lined up for low fives and I was on top of the world. Somewhere around here as I was woo hooing and yelling thanks to everyone in the crowd a man came up beside me and said he wished that some of my energy could rub off on him... so I rubbed his arm and told him he was doing great, that just made my day too :) especially since I remember last year at that time I was really struggling so it was nice to maybe help someone else just a little bit.
The constant hills were starting to wear on us, I don't know what point we were at but I remember the three of us were calling out all of our body parts that were hurting, which were pretty much all of them.
Cheryl really was starting to struggle and at about 12.5 she just suddenly stopped and said she couldn't do it, that everything hurt. Of course Kim and I were right there and didn't let her stop for long, I told her even if we have to walk it in it's ok, but that if she ran it in she would have a huge PR. I don't think Cheryl cares about any of that but I was just trying to think of something to keep her going. Of course she was never really going to stop, she just needed a breather. Right around this point there is one last uphill, and there was a guy there who said " I have to be honest with ya'll, you look like HELL, but you are almost done" it was perfect we all got a good laugh out of it and it helped take our mind off that last hill. Thankfully the last part of the race is downhill into Auto Zone stadium and for the 1/2 marathon runners it is just a short but around the track to the finish line.
There was a man with his son and maybe other family members running together and we had kind of played leap frog through out the race, I thought it was so great that they were running togehter and he was doing such a great job so around mile 12 I ran up to him and told him how awesome he was. We passed him just after that, but as we were approaching the stadium that little guy just zoomed by us I was so happy for him !
I really wanted me Kim and Cheryl to cross the finish line together but there were so many people with us I didnt' know if we would be able to.... but we did :) I can't wait to see the pictures.
I was so proud of Cheryl yesterday she has had a lot of setbacks with her running, she has had to do a lot of travelling and just as she was really starting to build up her mileage and feel good she twisted her ankle while in Seattle. The Dr. told her no running for a least 4 weeks. After she was able to run again it was almost like having to start over, but she did it and she did great yesterday!!! She still doesn't love running but I am not giving up hope!!!
Big shout out to Kelly who had an awesome race yesterday with a huge PR!! Way to go Kelly.
After we got our medals and chips off we went upstairs for food, on the way we ran into Jackie, Ginny and Jamie. I was thrilled to see them!!!! We chatted for a bit but I was starving and ready for some of that yummy McAlister's soup!
Luckily while we were in line for the food Robert found us :) we all got something to eat and then went to the bleachers and sat with Kelly and Robert.
It was an awesome day I wish I could have seen Heather, Sarah S. and Shaylynn they all had great races as well!!
My only regret was that I was not able to be there for Susan when she started struggling during the full marathon.
My very favorite thing about this race is that all the proceeds go the St. Jude's hospital and most of the crowd support is family members who have been touched by St. Jude. All through out the race I would yell thank you's to the people clapping for us and they in turn would say no THANK YOU for running... it's not very often that you have people thanking your for running and it was just and awesome feeling.
I thought of Elijah often yesterday and of my old friend Kathy and her son Brandon Tyler who recently earned his angel wings. I did a lot of praying for healing and hope and peace for Elijah's family and for Kathy.
I plan to run the St. Jude marathon or 1/2 marathon every year for as long as I can run.
We did get to the race in time to make it to the port a potties and thank goodness!!!
As we were heading to the 10:00 minute pace corral we passed Susan, it was just a brief moment but it was great to see her.
The whole time we were waiting for the start I was scanning the crowd for Kelly and Robert, come to find out later they weren't very far behind us.
They do wave starts at Memphis so it took us around 9:00 minutes to cross the start line. Normally it is at this point that Kim and I say good luck and good bye, today was different we actually ran the whole race together along with Cheryl.
We started off at a very comfortable pace, for me yesterday was all about Cheryl. Kim and I want her to love running as much as we do and she didn't have the greatest experience at the LR 1/2 marathon so we wanted this race to be different.
The race course was VERY crowed much more so than last year. It was kind of hard for us to run together so we had to do a lot of weaving, sometimes I was having to catch up to them and vice versa. One of the many great things about the Memphis marathon is they have water stops at every mile. We skipped the first one, but took water at the second one, this kind of became our pattern for the rest of the race. We would only slow down long enough to take a drink of water and then we were off. I had worn an old denim shirt as a warm up and I finally threw it off about mile three. Before the race I had been worried that the Elijah shirt would be too warm but it was actually perfect, I was comfortable the whole race!
One of the bad things about the Memphis 1/2 is the roads, they are very uneven and slanted you constantly had to be on the lookout for holes and it was a struggle to try to stay in the middle of the road to avoid the slant.
Some of my favorite parts of the early miles were running down Riverside drive and seeing the Mississippi River, soon after that though there is a pretty steep incline before you get to Beale street. Beale street is always fun there are lot's of crowds and music.
I pretty much needed to pee from the start of the race... very frustrating especially since I used the port a potty just before the start. I did ok until mile 4 and then I told the girls I was going to have to stop at the next aid station. Luckily Cheryl needed to as well so I didn't feel like I was holding her back. As I was in the port a potty I heard Kelly calling Cheryl's name, I was so dissapointed I missed her.
That stop was really the first walk break we took, other than just a second or two at the water stations at mile 2 and 4.
I really don't know why I thought this race was flat with only a few inclines... I mean I ran it last year so what happened to my brain??? I've been saying it was runners amnesia, but I also think it was because last year this was our first big race. Also last year I got really sick right after the race so maybe that erased my memory of the course??? But when we were running yesterday I would think oh yeah I remember this hill. I was also thinking of poor Kelly, I had assured her over and over this was a relatively flat course. I was afraid she was hating me and would never trust me again!!
Somewhere around mile 6 I think it was I felt something rubbing my right little toe, I have never had problems there so I think maybe something was in my sock. Finally just as we were approaching the park into the zoo Cheryl needed a walk break so I took that opportunity to take off my shoe and adjust my sock, Cheryl also needed to take off her ankle brace. The potty break and the shoe break really affected our time but both were very necessary! We got started again and I knew that the adjustment hadn't helped my little toe, I just had to live with it. I now have a nice little raw spot on my little toe, not a blister that would be better, no I have a spot on my toe with no skin at all.
We missed the GU station, it was somewhere around the zoo, I did hear someone say something about chocolate gu, but yuck I didn't want that!
I had started my Luna Moons about mile 4 and took one every other mile or so after that.
Oh I can't forget to mention that at mile 4 we saw Chasen and he saw us and he called out my name and said good job. It was so awesome to see him, I have never been at a race where I knew someone in the crowd. Right around mile 10 or just before it Cheryl spotted her Aunt Martha and cousin Grace, we started yelling and waving our arms, at first she didn't see us, but then when she did see Cheryl the smile on her face was priceless... she even ran with Cheryl for a little bit with her arm around her. The smile on Cheryl's face during and afterwards was priceless too!!! It gave us all a jolt of energy that lasted quite a while! It was a little bit after that that I got to see Chasen again, and again he saw me and yelled encourging words to me.
The stretch between the beginning of mile 10 up to about 11.5 were just awesome the crowd support was wonderful kids were lined up for low fives and I was on top of the world. Somewhere around here as I was woo hooing and yelling thanks to everyone in the crowd a man came up beside me and said he wished that some of my energy could rub off on him... so I rubbed his arm and told him he was doing great, that just made my day too :) especially since I remember last year at that time I was really struggling so it was nice to maybe help someone else just a little bit.
The constant hills were starting to wear on us, I don't know what point we were at but I remember the three of us were calling out all of our body parts that were hurting, which were pretty much all of them.
Cheryl really was starting to struggle and at about 12.5 she just suddenly stopped and said she couldn't do it, that everything hurt. Of course Kim and I were right there and didn't let her stop for long, I told her even if we have to walk it in it's ok, but that if she ran it in she would have a huge PR. I don't think Cheryl cares about any of that but I was just trying to think of something to keep her going. Of course she was never really going to stop, she just needed a breather. Right around this point there is one last uphill, and there was a guy there who said " I have to be honest with ya'll, you look like HELL, but you are almost done" it was perfect we all got a good laugh out of it and it helped take our mind off that last hill. Thankfully the last part of the race is downhill into Auto Zone stadium and for the 1/2 marathon runners it is just a short but around the track to the finish line.
There was a man with his son and maybe other family members running together and we had kind of played leap frog through out the race, I thought it was so great that they were running togehter and he was doing such a great job so around mile 12 I ran up to him and told him how awesome he was. We passed him just after that, but as we were approaching the stadium that little guy just zoomed by us I was so happy for him !
I really wanted me Kim and Cheryl to cross the finish line together but there were so many people with us I didnt' know if we would be able to.... but we did :) I can't wait to see the pictures.
I was so proud of Cheryl yesterday she has had a lot of setbacks with her running, she has had to do a lot of travelling and just as she was really starting to build up her mileage and feel good she twisted her ankle while in Seattle. The Dr. told her no running for a least 4 weeks. After she was able to run again it was almost like having to start over, but she did it and she did great yesterday!!! She still doesn't love running but I am not giving up hope!!!
Big shout out to Kelly who had an awesome race yesterday with a huge PR!! Way to go Kelly.
After we got our medals and chips off we went upstairs for food, on the way we ran into Jackie, Ginny and Jamie. I was thrilled to see them!!!! We chatted for a bit but I was starving and ready for some of that yummy McAlister's soup!
Luckily while we were in line for the food Robert found us :) we all got something to eat and then went to the bleachers and sat with Kelly and Robert.
It was an awesome day I wish I could have seen Heather, Sarah S. and Shaylynn they all had great races as well!!
My only regret was that I was not able to be there for Susan when she started struggling during the full marathon.
My very favorite thing about this race is that all the proceeds go the St. Jude's hospital and most of the crowd support is family members who have been touched by St. Jude. All through out the race I would yell thank you's to the people clapping for us and they in turn would say no THANK YOU for running... it's not very often that you have people thanking your for running and it was just and awesome feeling.
I thought of Elijah often yesterday and of my old friend Kathy and her son Brandon Tyler who recently earned his angel wings. I did a lot of praying for healing and hope and peace for Elijah's family and for Kathy.
I plan to run the St. Jude marathon or 1/2 marathon every year for as long as I can run.
St. Jude 1/2 Marathon Memphis TN
Huge shout out to Aunt Martha for graciously allowing us to stay with her, she is such a nice lady!
Arland and I picked Kim up on Friday morning and then he took us to Sherwood to meet Cheryl. Another big thank you to Glen for letting us use the Focus it saved us a ton of money on gas!
We had a few stops to make, the most important one of course was Starbuck's!! I tried a new drink this time. I had a sugar free - fat free Gingerbread latte, have to say not my favorite but not bad I did drink most of it. Next stop was Cheryl's mom's house, Kim and I were dissapointed that she wasn't home, maybe another time.... I hope!!
The drive to Memphis was pretty uneventful we had no problems and drove straight to the Cook Convention center for the Expo. This expo was way better than Tulsa!!!! I was extra happy that the "spibelt" booth was there and I was able to stock up. I also bought a couple of "Bondi Bands" they are super cute but just don't work that great for me, I still need to experiment with the best way to wear them. I borrowed one from Kelly at the Duck race and made it work, but I tried to wear one a different way for the race yesterday and it was falling off before I even made it 1/2 a mile.
We roamed around for a little while, Kim and Cheryl got foot analysis's done and bought new inserts and I got a free 10 minute massage.
We were starting to get really hungry, I honestly don't think I ate breakfast, no I know I didn't I had Kylie that morning and barely had enough time to get the both of us ready to go. Cheryl did share some peanutbutter crackers with me and of course the Starbuck's helped sustain me for a while.
We decided to have lunch near Cheryl's aunt's house and eagle eye Kim found us a great little cafe to try. They had soup and salad's and I had a sandwich, everything was really yummy! I would like to go back sometime when I don't have a race the next day. Kim had a tomato soup that looked so good that I really wanted to try but I knew it wasnt' a good idea.
Aunt Martha's house was very close to the restaurant and we were there in just a few minutes. She has such a nice house, it is in a really nice older neighborhood lot's of trees and not all of the houses look the same!!
Chery's cousin Grace was with Aunt Martha... that girl is something else very boisterous. She was still on a Hannah Montanna high after seeing her the night before. I of course know a lot about Hannah Montanna becasue of Kylie, I have watched hour's of that show and I have the CD in my truck for whenever Kylie is riding with me.
We were able to just relax and visit with Martha for a couple of hours before we all went to dinner. I was excited that Joan, Ginny, Kelly and Robert were also joining us. I was less excited that we couldn't all sit together but they did put us at two boothes next to each other. I was sitting behind Cheryl and Kim and I was constantly hovering over there shoulders, wanting to know what they were going to eat etc.
I had a grilled chicken salad and I split a baked potato with Kelly. All the portions were huge no one could even eat half of their dinner. During dinner of course the conversation turned to the race the next day. Joan was talking about the rolling hills on the course. Kelly said HILL"S with big worried eyes. I told her Kelly no don't worry there aren't really any hills just a couple of inclines but otherwise it is mostly flat. Turns out I am a big fat liar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but more about that later.
Dinner was lot's of fun, I love listening to everyone's stories, I just wish that Aunt Martha could have heard some of them. Next time we will wait longer so we can have one big table.
After splitting a huge piece of Carrot Cake with everyone it was time to go home and get ready for bed.
Aunt Martha the gracious host gave Kim and I her bed and Cheryl slept on a mattress on the floor. We have all travled together before so the sleeping arrangments worked out great.
I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of Martha and Grace. Hopefully maybe Cheryl did.
I will finish the race day report in a little bit.
Arland and I picked Kim up on Friday morning and then he took us to Sherwood to meet Cheryl. Another big thank you to Glen for letting us use the Focus it saved us a ton of money on gas!
We had a few stops to make, the most important one of course was Starbuck's!! I tried a new drink this time. I had a sugar free - fat free Gingerbread latte, have to say not my favorite but not bad I did drink most of it. Next stop was Cheryl's mom's house, Kim and I were dissapointed that she wasn't home, maybe another time.... I hope!!
The drive to Memphis was pretty uneventful we had no problems and drove straight to the Cook Convention center for the Expo. This expo was way better than Tulsa!!!! I was extra happy that the "spibelt" booth was there and I was able to stock up. I also bought a couple of "Bondi Bands" they are super cute but just don't work that great for me, I still need to experiment with the best way to wear them. I borrowed one from Kelly at the Duck race and made it work, but I tried to wear one a different way for the race yesterday and it was falling off before I even made it 1/2 a mile.
We roamed around for a little while, Kim and Cheryl got foot analysis's done and bought new inserts and I got a free 10 minute massage.
We were starting to get really hungry, I honestly don't think I ate breakfast, no I know I didn't I had Kylie that morning and barely had enough time to get the both of us ready to go. Cheryl did share some peanutbutter crackers with me and of course the Starbuck's helped sustain me for a while.
We decided to have lunch near Cheryl's aunt's house and eagle eye Kim found us a great little cafe to try. They had soup and salad's and I had a sandwich, everything was really yummy! I would like to go back sometime when I don't have a race the next day. Kim had a tomato soup that looked so good that I really wanted to try but I knew it wasnt' a good idea.
Aunt Martha's house was very close to the restaurant and we were there in just a few minutes. She has such a nice house, it is in a really nice older neighborhood lot's of trees and not all of the houses look the same!!
Chery's cousin Grace was with Aunt Martha... that girl is something else very boisterous. She was still on a Hannah Montanna high after seeing her the night before. I of course know a lot about Hannah Montanna becasue of Kylie, I have watched hour's of that show and I have the CD in my truck for whenever Kylie is riding with me.
We were able to just relax and visit with Martha for a couple of hours before we all went to dinner. I was excited that Joan, Ginny, Kelly and Robert were also joining us. I was less excited that we couldn't all sit together but they did put us at two boothes next to each other. I was sitting behind Cheryl and Kim and I was constantly hovering over there shoulders, wanting to know what they were going to eat etc.
I had a grilled chicken salad and I split a baked potato with Kelly. All the portions were huge no one could even eat half of their dinner. During dinner of course the conversation turned to the race the next day. Joan was talking about the rolling hills on the course. Kelly said HILL"S with big worried eyes. I told her Kelly no don't worry there aren't really any hills just a couple of inclines but otherwise it is mostly flat. Turns out I am a big fat liar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but more about that later.
Dinner was lot's of fun, I love listening to everyone's stories, I just wish that Aunt Martha could have heard some of them. Next time we will wait longer so we can have one big table.
After splitting a huge piece of Carrot Cake with everyone it was time to go home and get ready for bed.
Aunt Martha the gracious host gave Kim and I her bed and Cheryl slept on a mattress on the floor. We have all travled together before so the sleeping arrangments worked out great.
I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of Martha and Grace. Hopefully maybe Cheryl did.
I will finish the race day report in a little bit.
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