Running and Living in the Carolinas!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-26T21:28:00.002-05:00

Had a nice Christmas at Colleen and Steve's. It was great to be with the kids for Christmas although I always feel a bit like an aunt rather than a parent. I forgotmy camera so will post pictures after I get them from the girls.
Julie still hasn't had the baby! I really thought she'd have him before Christmas. Looks like he'll be here when it's time. Looks like they've decided to name him Soren. That name was in the running then dropped from the list. I can't say I'm crazy about it but I have no say in the matter! I wonder how many times they'll have to spell that in the future! Who knows, they may. Hanger the name by the time he's here! Stay tuned!
I did run a little today and went to swim. Swimming with the coach is a tough workout. Tomorrow I plan on running about 3 and then maybe a little Pickleball and biking!

Almost a new year!

2011-12-22T11:34:00.003-05:00

Wow, it's been so long since I've posted, I almost forgot the name of my blog account! It is going to be my goal (again) to get back to posting updates to what is going on in my/our lives. I'm going to try to post something everyday but based on my track record that won't happen but at least it will be more frequent. I'm really looking forward to 2012 and making it a great triathlon year. I've just started swimming with Coach Kirk at the SCCL pool and he keeps telling me I'm a natural swimmer and have lots of potential. I don't want to wait to long to develop that as time is running out!
So, for anyone out there that still checks on this blog, keep looking. I'll be back!
Now, I'm on my way out the door for a quick 10 mile ride. (still can't run so I'll ride when I can) It's 60 degrees and warm! Not bad for Dec 22nd! Whoo hoo!!!!

Day 3

2011-06-03T22:46:00.002-04:00

So far so good. I haven' t been 100% on the 17 day but have done reallk good and feel good. No diet coke, cut back on coffee, and no grain with lots of veggies. Breakfast yogurt with strawberries, lunch turkey rolled in lettuce with cube cheese. Snack vita top and yogurt with strawberries. Dinner chicken and veggies and salad. Snack frozen frui bar. Biked 15 miles and played Pickleball. I played poorly again a nd got all upset again. I'm ready to quit. I'm not sure how to relax and just play without getting all bummed out. Anyway, I've got to play as often as I can and get better.

Day 1

2011-06-01T14:40:00.002-04:00

Day 1 so far so good! Ate yogurt and grapefruit for breakfast and salad with tuna. Ice tea and water. Ran 5 mikes then biked about 10 and went to the pool to do about 25 laps. Felt great to swim after working out so hope to do that regularly. Also did some resistance excersies for upper body, flutes, hamstrings and abs.
Hope to bike again tonight for second workout. (yes I count this morning as only one!). We're waiting for our new patio to be completed. It's going to be really nice.. We've invited a couple of friends over so hopefully it'll be done. It's really hot out so may be to hot to sit out there anyway. Now we need a pergalo.
I did give in to my after lunch craving (habit) for a coffee but no sweet with it. Not sure what I will have for a snack. Dinner will be chicken and veggies! Maybe I'll freeze some Greek yogurt for desert! Or maybe ricotta. I could make something with that, yum!

17 Day Diet, Day 1! (again!)

2011-05-31T15:48:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow is June 1st and I have decided to try the 17 Day Diet again. This time I have to be serious and PREPARED! Hopefully I am. I am not where I thought I would be by now with just running and working out so I have to take drastic measures!
As an added incentive (as if wanting to lose weight and feel and look better wasn't enough) one of my new Sun City friends is going to do a Tri with me! Yikes, she's very good and competitive. I know that I don't have to beat her and surely can't but I do want to be respectable and not drown! It's been so long since I've blogged I've pretty much forgotten how to do it but will figure it out eventually and make this a great blog like so many of the ones I follow have. I'd love to inspire others so that is what I will attempt to do and that should also help keep me on the straight and narrow!

What is the 17 Day diet you ask? That's a good question. It's pretty simple which is why I like it. It's basically a high protein carb diet however, you can have 2 fruits a day as well as yogurt and lots of veggies, chicken and fish. Green tea and hot lemon water are encouraged and what a great time of year to drink more water. I do plan on cutting back on my coffee consumption but cannot totally go without. My plan is to only drink the magic coffee potion in the morning. I also plan to "give up" diet Coke. That may be even tougher than my extra coffee. However for 17 days I can survive, right? That is why I want to post daily. I need to be held accountable and this is the best way I can think of to do that.

So here's the plan! I will focus on both cardio and resistance training and will cross train doing at least one exercise every day!!!! Even if it is only to walk, yes that is exercise although it's hard for me to think of it that way. I will definately need to do cross-training with a couple of tri's coming up! Now that we're getting settled I'll be able to dedicate more time to working out (or should I say playing?!) I will be posting everyday with my workouts and my food diary so keep my honest.

So off to Pickleball tonight and am looking forward to Day 1 tomorrow. I plan to run to the pool, swim 300 yards and then run home! I hope to run about 8 miles. When I get home I will do some resistance training from the fitfabulousforever.com website. She basicially recommends doing resistance training 6 days a week incorporating most muscles only once in that cycle. Tomorrow will be upper body, hams and glutes and abs. Not bad. It'll be fun! I will post the links that I'm using as soon as I can figure out how to do that!

Cameron in Sun City

2011-02-21T16:30:00.001-05:00

The house has walls!

2011-02-15T15:34:00.001-05:00

Here is the latest picture of the house being built. I will update the blog shortly with all the latest details!

Getting motivated!

2011-02-04T11:13:00.003-05:00

Now that we/re getting more settled we've started branching out. Yesterday we went to Ballantyne NC to check out the Ymca. They have 2 branches, each within 10 miles from us. When you join one you get to use both. One is for adults only and has lots of yoga, the other is larger and has an outdoor pool (for this summer) as well as a huge spinning room. They also offer a Triathlon training program this spring that I want to sign up for. Here in Sun City they have a personal group training program that I started last night. It's an hour of personal training and I loved it. The trainer is great, very bubbly and friendly. I'll do that on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 5:00.
We're really looking forward to running around here. Saturday we plan on going to a greenway called Anne Springs Greenways and it has miles of trails. There are a couple of running groups that meet there but we're going to venture there by ourselves first.
I did well on another day of Eat to Live and hopefully the scale will reflect my efforts soon. In any case, I love eating so many fruits and veggies and I know I'll reap the rewards soon.
Today we're going to go to a local mall. This should be an adventure. I'm sure I'll be in shell shock. There is so much shopping around here I don't know where to begin so we're going to start at the closest mall.
We haven't gotten to Charlotte to see the baby yet cause now that we're pretty much settled, Frank has a cold and we don't want to expose him to Cameron. Hopefully next week we'll be able to get out there and then on a semi-regular basis after that. I can't wait to see him. He is a real cutie.
Time to get ready to go shopping!
Have a great day!

Back online!

2011-02-02T19:47:00.003-05:00

The computer guy came to fix my computer today so I'm back online or at least in the process of getting back. They had to replace my hard drive so I lost all of my files. I managed to find my external hard drive so will be able to reinstall my pictures. Hopefully I can remember how to do it. Frank got me the Photoshop software for Christmas and I've been looking forward to learning how to use that while we're in-between houses so I'm glad I'll be able to do that. Fortunately I had all of my music on my Ipad so I could transfer all those files back to Itunes as well as my Apps. That was scary. I was pretty stressed out thinking I had lost everything but thankfully most everything can be recreated, I just have to get creative.
Frank went to get his eye examined today and ordered new glasses. He broke his glasses about a month ago and has been wearing his old ones and he couldn't really see all that good. I don't know how he could stand that for so long. Anyway, he'll look much more with it once he gets those. His are pretty geeky!
I didn't get to run today because I had to wait for the computer guy but hopefully today was the last day we have anything pressing to do so no more excuses! I hope to run about 8 in the morning.
My eating is going really well so far so I'm really pleased although it's not 100%. Today I had my green smoothie, (yum!) and then soup and broccoli for lunch, an apple with almond butter for a snack and veggie chili and a huge salad for dinner. I will have my nightly Edy's Frozen Fruit snack for dessert. Got to lose about 20 pounds to be in fighting shape so I'm committed! I still am not willing to give up my coffee with cream though. Hopefully I can at least cut down but that is tough for me cause it's something I really enjoy.
Time for Idol! Yes, I still am addicted to it! Gotta Run!

Met with Pulte home supervisor

2011-02-01T19:38:00.003-05:00

This morning we with Jim Klutz, the supervisor assigned to our house build. He's a really nice guy and we feel confident that he'll look out for us. Closing is scheduled for April 28, 89 days! Some of the options have changed since we made our selections so we were able to makes some changes. We were able to change to Kitchenaid appliances which was awesome! They had also added some additional color choices for the hardwood so we changed to a darker color. So all is ready to proceed. We did visit the sight and the slab is complete and the next thing is the framing which will happen Feb 11! It'll be fun to watch the progress. We'll be able to see the progress every morning as part of our run. Jims wife is a massage therapist who actually works here in Sun City. I'm hoping to be able get together with her and do trades.

We're now officially signed in to the fitness center and I'm looking forward starting a workout program. They have a couple of personal trainers that you can sign up with. Running is pretty good here so I think I'll be able to get into better shape. I've also decided to try a healthy eating with lots of fruits and veggies. So far I'm doing pretty good and want to drop about 20 pounds.

Tomorrow someone from Dell is coming to fix my computer that the cable guy crashed! Our warranty is up next week so it's really good timing! Can't wait to get back online although I'm really wishing I had a laptop! Ummmmmm!

We're in Sun City!

2011-01-30T22:06:00.003-05:00

Wow! I'm not sure how we did it but we managed to pull it off and we're settling in to our temporary rental house in Sun City while we wait for our new forever home to be built! Last week was a blur. The movers came Tuesday and due to impending weather wanted to completely load us instead of just starting to load us and finishing on Wednesday! Yikes! We immediately went in to over drive! By 5:00 they were done and so were we. We went to dinner with Elsa and Joe at BoneFish! Kind of appropriate as we had gone to Bonefish the night we had decided to make an offer on our Pinehurst house! We went full circle. It was really fun to see them again and hope we stay in touch. We decided to spend the night with Valorie and Frank and really didn't sleep much at all. We got up in the morning and went back to our house to clean it. Wow! What a job. Frank and I worked non-stop for 6 hours. Exhausting. It looked great though and I think the new owners will be happy that we left it so nice for them. I hope they enjoy our house. We will miss it but I think the move is the best thing for us. About 2:30 we left for SC and got hung up in traffic. We made it to the landlords office about 5:30 to pick up the key. Now we're off to the new house. We found the house but there was no power. That was not good. It was getting dark and cold. We finally talked with the electric company and discovered that the main breaker had been turned-off. Power was on! We turned on the heat and went to find a hotel. Hotels were full or not dog friendly and we ended up staying at a dump. Really it was disgusting. I can't believe I didn't pursue at least switching rooms. The room we were in had had a microwave that had apparently had a popcorn fire. The smell was horrible. I couldn't wait to get out of there! It cost us over $100.00 to stay in a dump. Horrible. I hope I never tolerate that kind of treatment again. Long story, and I was tired. Another sleepless night! Poor Chico has been really stressed along with us. We were all getting grouchy!
We got up early and left to come back to the house to wait for the movers. They finally called and let us know they wouldn't be here until 11:00! The smoke detector was emitting an beep because of a low battery and that is horrible! Chico was really freaking out and didn't even want to go in the house. We didn't have a ladder or anything. I decided to put my MacGiver mind to work to figure out how to remove the detector. I noticed the large garbage can with lid and the recycle box. So I used the recycle box to step up on to the top and voila, it worked. I was able to remove the detector and the noise was gone. A little annoying that the landlord didn't get the house ready for us. Not a good sign.
Now, the movers finally show up. That was crazy, decisions, decisions. The garage is full and the house was full of boxes but we were finally in. The movers left about 5:00 and now we'd have to try to make sense of the mess. I realized that my yoga mat, bike helmet and swimming stuff did not make it in the house. They are buried and probably won't be able to be located. I hate to buy a new mat and bike helmet but we may have to if we want to be able to play.
Saturday and Sunday were finally a little less stressful. We had much of our stuff unpacked and put away, at least enough to be able to function. We even took a little time to go for a short run on Saturday and Sunday. We hit Costco on Sunday afternoon and our frig and freezer are full. I'm going to start the Eat to Live diet tomorrow which is lots of fruits and veggies. I want to lose some weight (that's nothing new) but I feel that I really have to drop a few pounds if I want to do better running and working out. It's a new place and a new opportunity to start a new. I'm going to Florida in March with Tate and Julie so have that as a goal date to reach by desired weight. It'll be fun! Huh! Green smoothies will be my new best friend!
Well it's time to get some rest so off I go to bed. I'm planning on posting about my success for the next 6 weeks with Dr Fuhrman.

After Alaska!

2011-01-23T14:56:00.007-05:00

Before we begin our next adventure I thought I'd do a quick recap of what's been going on since our cruise!

We returned in the middle of August. We went to visit Tate and Julie and the kids for a few days and to celebrate Zella's 2nd birthday. She's really growing up fast.

Our next big event was to run Hinson Lake, 24 Hour Around the Lake. We made it to about 62 miles and decided that was enough. I wonder how I ever did 100! In October we ran the New River 50K. It was fun and I didn't get the leans this year and made the cutoff!

We've been thinking about moving from Pinehurst for awhile and started looking around to see where we might want to move to. We went to Wilmington NC, then to Charleston SC and finally settled on the Charlotte SC area. We put the house on the market thinking it would take months to sell but it sold within two weeks and we started to wonder if we were doing the right thing. It was getting to the point of no return. We decided to buy a home in Fort Mill SC which is about 12 miles outside of Charlotte where Erin and Josh live. We found another Del Webb Sun City community and decided it might be a good option for us. There seems to be lots of active people that live there as well as a fitness center, a pool, and lots of trails for running and biking. We are closing on our house on January 27th and will have to rent for a couple of months as we've decided to build a new place rather that a resale. This way we got to pick out all of our options as well as the lot. Our new home will be on Pinehurst Lane which we thought was appropriate for us.

Here's a picture of the model home that we're building.

So we're just about packed and the movers will come on Tuesday to load our belongings. It's scary to move and start all over again, but I think we'll really enjoy being closer to a city with lots more to do as well as to the newest member of our family, little Cameron. Here's his pic!

Here's a picture of Ella at Christmas!

Catching up!

2011-01-23T13:54:00.012-05:00

It's been several months since I've posted to my blog so I think it's time to catch up. I'm going to go back in time and try to recreate what's been going on. As you will soon see, there has been a lot! I'm even going to have to change the name of my blog as a result of the latest events! But I digress, back to the past!

Back to our cruise! We spent the next day at sea with lots of relaxing. Spent time in the spa and taking in some shows. Our next stop was to be Ketchikan. We had signed up for an excursion to the Rain Forest to do Zip Lining and Adventure Rope Challenges. We met our bus at 6:00 AM and it was the first day of rain we had seen. The locals were thrilled with the rain because they had not had rain for about 15 days and they collect rain water for drinking and bathing etc. They love the rain! We were driven to the Rain Forest where we met up with our guides, they were just a couple of young boys so it was a little unnerving to trust them with our lives. They strapped us up for the Zip Lining and away we went. I'm afraid of heights but for some reason was not too nervous. I had survived the helicopter ride, so how bad could this be.
Here are some pics of our adventures that day!

The next part of our cruise was to Victoria Canada. We were only there for a couple of hours so decided to not do any excursions but to explore the town on our own. It was nice to just walk around and then we went back to the ship for dinner. The cruise was winding down and we were on our way back to Seattle. It's amazing how efficiently these ships operate. You could tell they've done it before!

Once back in Seattle we stayed a couple more days to finish up the trip. We did all the touristy things and really enjoyed the city. We had beautiful weather and unusually warm and sunny so all the stories about the rain and dreary days in Seattle didn't dampen our trip!

Alaska Cruise 2nd Port Skayway

2010-09-09T18:32:00.009-04:00

On Wednesday we arrived in Skagway which was a very small cute town. It looked very much like something out of an old western movie seen. We visited the proverbial gift shops and found some great buys. After filling up a shopping cart, we headed back to the cruise ship to catch our bus to begin our second adventure. The bus takes us to a high speed catamaran which takes us to yet another bus and then we finally arrive at our destination to view a glacier up close and personal on a 10 passenger canoe. Yes, we did have to paddle for some of the trip but they did have a small motor that was used for most of the trip. Here's a picture of the cute outfits we got to wear as well as some shots of the glacier and sights. We did see a bald eagle but no bear. We were hoping to catch sight of one.

The Cruise Begins!! First Stop Juneau!

2010-08-30T14:23:00.017-04:00

Now that the "race" was behind us it was time to relax and enjoy the real reason for our trip, the Cruise to Alaska. We decided to go on a the Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) which was perfect for us. NCL cruises are Freestyle which means you can do what you want, when you want. There was no formal dressing or sitting at the same table with the same people every night so it was very relaxed and comfortable for us. Here's a picture of our cruise ship and us as we enter the ship!!

We were nervous as we'd never been on a cruise and weren't sure we'd fit in, but we soon discovered that they are indeed for everyone and NCL quickly made everyone comfortable. It's amazing how efficiently they are able to get all 2500 passengers rs on board and settled. Our first stop was lunch in the cafeteria which was great. So many choices, I'm sorry I didn't take a picture of it. There was definitely something for everyone. Once we were through eating our room still wasn't ready so we took a little tour to check the place out. Really awesome. We found our way to the spa and the fitness center and were given a tour of the spa. They had an option for you to "join" the spa which entitled you to use the hydrotherapy pool, hot tub, sauna and steam room as well as the heated loungers and the great views from the front of the ship. We immediately signed up and I am pleased to say we used it everyday and were very pleased to have had that option. Here are some pics from the spa! Check out the view!

The ship left Seattle on Sunday afternoon at 4:00 and we would not dock until Tuesday in Juneau. Lots of time to recover, relax and explore the ship. We had chosen our cabin wisely in the mid-section of the ship on level 10. Surprisingly, I had better navigation success than Frank which is really strange cause I always get turned around. But for some reason I had very little difficulty getting around.

The lounge area as well as the room TVs were continually showing various excursions and after looking at the excursion that including going to Dog World and driving a sled with a team of dogs, it was too cool to ignore. We had originally signed up online to take a helicopter to a glacier and walk around but hadn't wanted to spend the extra money to go to the glacier with the dogs and sleds but decided it was something we wanted to do and would most likely not have that option again. So now we're signed up to go on a helicopter ride, to a glacier with the dog teams and we'd be able to drive a sled! How cool was that! Here some pictures of that adventure!

We were really happy that we had decided to splurge and go to see the dogs. It was a fun day and an adventure we will not soon forget. The weather on the glacier was very warm and the ice glacier seemed more like mushy snow. It was awesome.

Alaska adventure

2010-08-18T08:04:00.000-04:00

Alaska adventure

2010-08-18T08:03:00.000-04:00

Alaska Vacation

2010-08-17T11:16:00.019-04:00

We've been home a couple of weeks now from our Washington/Alaska vacation. It was a great vacation and I'll try to recap it here.

It began on Wednesday July 28. We had a limo service pick us up at home which was a terrific idea considering all of the luggage we had as well as the time we'd be away. We got to the airport in plenty of time and settled in for the long flight. We changed plans in Denver and our flight was a little delayed leaving there due to a storm. Eventually we took off and made it to Seattle. We took a shuttle to the hotel and tried to get as much sleep as possible. In the morning Frank went back to the airport to get a rental car and then came back to the hotel to load up the car and the adventure to Mt Ranier begins. Here's a picture of Frank trying to figure out how to get all of our luggage into this little rental car!

Our first stop was breakfast at a 50's kind of place. It was cute and a great way to start our adventure. From there we drove to Mt Ranier. What an incredible location. Here are some pictures to try to capture what we saw there. It was a little overwhelming to think we'd be running up some of these mountains on Saturday at the White River 50 Mile Endurance Run!

Saturday morning we got up early (4:00 am) to make the 5:30 early start which was a couple of miles away from our hotel. Frank decided to run with me and we'd get through it together. I struggled from the beginning and at 8 miles, I told him he should continue as I didn't think I'd be able to make it. This was a very tough course. Only 2 hills but each about 7 miles straight up! It was not fun, at least for me! It was beautiful but a little too scary to really enjoy the views. The trails were very narrow and I found myself constantly having to pull over to let the faster runs go by and then again after they turned around. I was amazed at how effortless the elites are able to maneuver the technical trails. I was petrified that I'd fall off the ridge and never be heard or seen again! I made it back to the start/finish area, which was about 27 miles and had missed the cutoff so wasn't able to do the second half of the race. I was fine with that as I knew that I did not have another 23 miles in me. It was a struggle just to get the first "hill" done!

Now that we're home and I'm looking at the pictures of the race,I'm even more disappointed that I wasn't able to finish the race. It's seems that I just cannot get adequately trained to pull off a tough 50 miler. I'm not even sure if I could pull off an easy 50 at this point. I definitely have to work on this or just realize that those days are behind me and just accept that I can only do, what I can do. Enough whining, back to our vacation!

Frank finished the 50 so all was not lost. He said it was the toughtest 50 miler he had ever done however I was still disappointed in myself. Here are some pictures from the course. Frank sure looked tired! By the time I got to the photo spot on the course, the photographer was gone so I had to photoshop myself (thanks Tate) into the picture. I was so bummed that I didn't get that prized picture with Mt Ranier in the background so this is helped a little with that disappointment.

Now that the race is behind us we get ready for the second phase of our adventure. We return to our motel to get ready to return to Seattle in the morning. We are tired but happy and excited about the cruise. We returned the rental car at the airport and got a limo service to pick us up with all of our luggage and bring us to the Cruise Terminal. We got there early and checked in to prepare for boarding the ship. It was amazing at how smoothly everything went. We were actually able to get on the ship earlier than we had anticipated and were able to eat lunch. Wow! Let the eating begin!

Back on Track

2010-08-17T10:49:00.002-04:00

It's been way too long since I've updated my blog and I realize I really need to keep it current to help me stay (get back) on track. We just returned from our whirlwind vacation adventure and I want to be sure to capture the memories as best I can.

It's been difficult recovering from our trip and today I go back to work after being off for 3 weeks. That will be a drag. Hopefully however, it'll help be get on a schedule again. I'm having difficulty getting motivated after the White River 50 mile run adventure. I'm so discouraged to not be able to finish yet another ran. It was extremely tough but I should have been able to get through it. My body just doesn't want to cooperate. I think I need to go back to square one and really get my base developed. I've been reading a book called Slow Burn and hopefully it'll help me increase my endurance and stamina by going back to the basics of effective heart rate monitor training. Although I continue to use a heart rate monitor, I don't think I've been using it efficiently so back to the drawing board.

I was out trying to run this morning and realized that I don't have a goal event to work on so I think I will use Weymouth as my goal event although there are other races that I plan to do but I'll use those as training runs! We're thinking about doing a marathon in Florida in October so we can check out the Gulf side to decide if it's somewhere we might want to move to. I can't believe we're actually thinking about moving but we've concluded that there is really not much in this area that inspires us and we'd both like to be in a more active area. I'm not sure that Florida is the answer but we've got to start looking and it would be great to find an area that we like as well as one that will be easy for the kids to visit and that they'd like to visit. We'll see. In the meantime, back to training! I'm going to put together a training schedule like I used to do for marathon training and hopefully it will get me to be more consistent. I also plan on incorporating Hot Yoga and some cross-training when I can fit it in.
Stay tuned!

Summer

2010-07-24T17:41:00.000-04:00

Umstead Report

2010-03-30T10:26:00.002-04:00

My attempt at running another 100 at the Umstead 100 Endurance Run fell short. I experienced back spasms at mile 17 and after a couple of hours of ice and rest, I managed to complete 50 miles. It was important to at least accomplish that goal. I'm not 100% sure I would have been able to complete the distance although I was feeling great and the running weather was perfect. I'll never know and although I'm disappointed in not completing the race, I'm also relieved that it's over and I can move on. I need a break from all the miles I've been putting in and am not sure where to go from here. One day at a time and I will let it unfold. I'm confused and seek guidance so will be open to my inner voice. Today is going to be one one more day of rest and tomorrow I will attempt to start getting back into some type of routine. The weather is awesome, going to be record highs so hope to get the bike out soon.
I think I'll take Chico to the park this morning for a walk around the lake. That's a foot in the right direction!

Rocky 2010

2010-02-08T18:21:00.000-05:00

Weymouth Woods 100K

2010-01-18T13:16:00.002-05:00

This past weekend we ran the inaugural Weymouth Woods 100K in Southern Pines which is about 5 miles from home. My friend Marie Lewis was the Race Director and she did an outstanding job. My training had not gone as well as I had hoped so I did not think I'd be able to run the whole race but would use it as a training run. By the day the race came I had decided to give it my best and complete the whole 62 miles. I was feeling great (that's a relative term of course) and staying positive until we got to the end of the 11th lap. I had 3 to go, each one about 4.5 miles, and I decided I just didn't have it in me and decided to drop. No fan fare, no explanation, I had decided I was done. I told myself that 50 was enough! 50 is good isn't it? At the time I thought it was the right decision and had promised not to second guess myself however, in the light of day, I have been questioning myself. It was certainly not a bad decision as it's wasn't my goal race however, a dnf is a dnf. Now I need to figure out how to keep that little voice that tells me it's okay to quit, to SHUT UP! I also think it has a lot of do with my fear of SUCCESS! Yes, not so much my fear of failure, although I'm sure that is part of it as well, but I think it's more the fear of success. Go figure!

I refuse to beat myself up (too much anyway, a little maybe) but I do want to learn from this and use it for my next event. I know I need to train more both physically as well as mentally. It was the first ultra I've done in almost 2 years except for New River 50K in October, where I bonked but finish. By the way, I'm waiting for pictures of the "lean"!

One of my goals for the new year was to get a little more selfish and I have to figure out how to do that. It's so hard for me to put my foot down and put myself first. I am working on doing that and hopefully will figure it out soon.

New carpets installed!

2009-11-16T18:22:00.002-05:00

Well, after two years of hating our carpets, we finally decided to bite the bullet and get them replaced. It was a LOT of work to get ready but they really look great. The best thing is that the guest room is now my workout room. We decided to not put the bed back in there for now so it's great. My Pilate's machine is set-up and ready to go as well as my free weights, yoga stuff and anything I may feel like doing! No more excuses. Now I just have to get my butt in there!
I really lucked out this afternoon cause my two clients ended up cancelling! I was sooooo happy cause I was sooooooo tired! I wasn't sure how I was going to give them a great massage. Also, my early client tomorrow had to cancel too. She broke her leg in three places! And she calls that an excuse. Oh by the way, she didn't break her leg doing any crazy trail run or anything like that, she was walking a dog!!!!! I'm just saying! Walking a dog is worse for you than running??? Can we make that leap! I think so! Anyway, hopefully tomorrow will remain slow at the spa and I'll get another day of rest. (from the spa, not from house duties)

Tomorrow I'm starting my additional cross-training workouts. I'm going to the gym at 6:45 AM for an abs class and then a 7:00 spin class and then I'll meet my friend Anne for a run at 9:00! Sounds like a perfect day! Anne will be moving back to CA in about 3 weeks. I miss her already. She's a great friend and we just get along soooo well. I already plan on going to San Diego in June to run the marathon with her.

Well, looks like I should get back to work. The house is still in shambles, but so much better than this morning. At least the furniture is back in place and the beds are made. Now we just have to go through the clothes and shoes and junk to weed them out. We have way too much junk and I don't want to just stuff it in the closet. It's a great way to clean house for sure! We'll have to have a garage sale when we're done! NOT!

Gotta Run!

OBX Marathon

2009-11-09T20:42:00.002-05:00

I survived the OBX Marathon but it was a tough one. I never felt good out there and I guess that's because I didn't taper for the marathon as it was intended as a training run. It's a catch 22 cause I want to use the races for training runs to build up to the 100 but also want to be able to run a respectable time for the races. I'm not sure if I'll do the Derby 50K in a couple of weeks. It was not fun to feel so tired throughout the entire race. The marathon was a great event though and the support was awesome. Anne came down and met me at the halfway point and ran with me for a few miles. She actually left me at about mile 22 or so and I chased her from there. I wasn't much fun as I usually am in a training run, so I don't blame her for taking off. I just wish I could have kept up and felt better. Frank and I have also concluded that our age is a factor and it's very humbling. Factor that in with running ultras and you have a real case of slow times. I do think that running some shorted races and speedwork will help but we are older for sure and much slower. Perhaps it will be time to shorten our distance running after Umstead.
Anne texted me today to tell me that they sold their house in PInehurst and will be moving back to San Diego. I am so sad as she is a good friend and I am goin to miss her a lot. She is so much fun to be with and to do things with. I hope to get to visit her this summer and run the San Diego Marathoj with her. It'll be her first marathon and she better not beat me.

Halloween Hustle

2009-10-31T16:07:00.000-04:00

Here's Anne and I after the Halloween Hustle 10K. Let's just say my "hair" took a beating! It was fun and good to do a "short" run. Next week, the marathon! Yikes, that's another 20 miles!

Recovery going well

2009-10-13T14:51:00.002-04:00

I managed to get a 4 mile run in this morning and felt much better than anticipated. I ran a slow 4 and plan on a slow 8 in the morning. Today is my second day of gluten free eating although I'm not all that sure that everything I have had is gluten free but at least I haven't had any wheat which I know I"m allergic to. I'm hoping it will help to lesson my running induced diarrhea. (sorry to be so graphic) I'm also hoping that it will reduce my itchy irritated skin. I look like a leper and I've read that that can be a sign of allergies to wheat and gluten. Fun!
I had my yearly mammogram this morning so I'm good to go for another year. Yay! Always good to have those things behind you.
Franks' birthday is Friday so I'm trying to figure out something to do. My brain is working overtime.
Okay, better get ready for work. Only 2 clients today so that is great. Looks like it's going to be a slow week although I did have 3 yesterday. So far none on Thursday so I'm asking for the day off and maybe we'll go to the beach or golfing or something. Today is a perfect day weather wise but alas, it will not last. A cold front will be here in the morning so golf may not be an open. (It's supposed to rain as well)
Gotta Run!

Sorting it all out

2009-10-12T14:36:00.002-04:00

I've been recovering from the New River 50K for the past couple of days and have been trying to figure out why I bonked so badly. I guess it all boils down to being under trained, not eating enough, not drinking anything except water and no electrolytes. Add that to my intestinal issues and it's a road to disaster. I felt great up to about 15 miles and then felt like I was being pulled backwards or running in to a headwind. It took me awhile to realize that it was me slowing down and not everyone else speeding up. (I'm a slow learner) I thought wow! they must be feeling good and are picking it up! Wrong, I had slowed to a crawl and soon would be literally crawling (okay, almost crawling) Anyway, by 20 miles I knew that the last 11 miles would be very hard. I was having a hard time staying on the trail. I kept veering off and leaning to the left. I felt like a car when it's needs to be aligned. Nothing I could do could keep me standing or running straight. I hooked up with MTCer Vicky Fogelman and we dragged each other in. With 1.7 mile to go, the sweeps decided to sweep us in. One of the guys, finally had to literally run next to me and lean into my side so I wouldn't topple over! It was very embarrassing. So far, no photos have surfaced although I could still be blackmailed!
I know it's important to eat and drink but perhaps I felt it wasn't really that important. I was running and feeling great and was running for hours without having to stop to walk. That was great. I felt like my training must be paying off. And then boom! It was over. Oh well, I ran about 15 really good miles so that is what I'll take away from the experience. They are all training runs so it doesn't really matter, I suppose as long as I learn something from all my "training" runs.
One thing I've noticed also is that the runners that seem to be having the best time, have the best time! Think about it! That is the premise of Born to Run and something we should all aspire to. Smile!!!!! Even when it hurts, be HAPPY!

Grampa's birthday bash!

2009-10-05T15:00:00.000-04:00

Here's a new pic of Frank and Miss Ella. She's quite the little person now.

Waiting for U2

2009-10-04T21:54:00.000-04:00

Here we are at the U2 Concert waiting for U2 to begin.

U2 concert

2009-10-04T21:50:00.000-04:00

Here's a pic that Colleen took at the U2 Concert last night. What a great concert!

Golf days of summer!

2009-09-27T19:51:00.000-04:00

Here I am playing my first round of 9 holes of golf! From the looks of my form and the decision to not keep score, I need a few more lessons. It was fun though and I really think I will like it once I have an idea of what to do out there. We golfed with Joe and he was great. He's only been golfing for two years but he's very good and he was very helpful to us teaching us quite a bit already. It took us 3 hours to play 9 holes which is pretty bad. Most take about 1 1/2 hour for 9 holes. We're making 9 holes of golf seem like an ultra. Oh well, we can only get better, right?

Angels amoug us!

2009-09-27T12:44:00.003-04:00

Here's the latest pictures of my little angels. It doesn't get much cuter than this! I miss the girls and hope to see them this fall. I'll probably have to fly out for a few days but our schedules are getting pretty full now that the fall is here and we're training for the 100! Long runs and races almost every weekend. I ran 15 yesterday and 6 today and felt great so I guess I'm recovered from Hinson Lake. Our next run is the New River 50K on Oct 10 and then we signed up for a 10 mile trail run on Oct 24. So short, what were were thinking. That's actually a long story but none the less, we'll be doing a 10 miler, I guess it'll be speed work! Two weeks after that we'll be at the OBX Marathon and then two weeks after that is the Turkey Trot Half marathon (haven't committed to that one yet) and then the following week is the Derby 50K. So many races, so little time. I better pick a date to visit Ohio soon before they're all booked up! I'm working on finalizing my race schedule and will post it soon!

Running in to the night!

2009-09-20T21:55:00.002-04:00

We ran the Hinson Lake 24 Hour Run this weekend although fell short of our 24 hour goal. After about 13 hours of running and socializing we decided it was time to go home and get some sleep. Frank ran 52 miles and I ran 45! I was a little disappointed by not reaching my 50 mile goal but the bugs started biting and my feet started complaining so I decided to go home. The good thing is is that I did not get injured and my recovery time will be minimal which is a very good thing. My legs feel great and my biggest issue today has been the mosquito bites. My wrist is swollen and I just itch everywhere. My legs are already a mess from other bites and now it looks like I'll have a few more to add to the collection.
I'm taking the day off work tomorrow so we're going to head to Costco in Greensboro for supplies. Shouldn't need too much but it's always fun to go to civilization every now and then.
Tomorrow I really need to get serious about my training and my weight loss. My intentions are good but somehow I manage to lose site of my goals and let my guard down. Hopefully I'll be able to stay focused this time. Losing 20 pounds would really help my running. I'd be smoking fast! Okay, I'd be a little faster!

Outer Banks here we come!

2009-09-14T22:14:00.004-04:00

We found a house to stay in when we go down to run the Outer Banks Marathon in November. We got a great price and there's a ton of room so a couple of couples will be coming down to join us. Anne and Elsa will probably run the half marathon and the boys will probably run the 8K. (Frank will run the marathon of course.) The place looks great with a hot tub for after the race as well as a pool table, and glorious views. The couple we're renting from has run the marathon but recently moved to California so won't be there this year. They said it was a very fun race. That's just what I need, a fun marathon! I'll run in the back of the pack and just enjoy the day. Now, I have to get serious about dropping a couple of pounds and getting back into marathon running shape! OBX here we come!

Umstead 2010!

2009-09-10T21:10:00.002-04:00

I can't believe I did it, but I signed Frank and I up for the Umstead 100 mile trail run in March 2010. I thought one was going to be enough but it seemed like we had to do one more. Let the games begin!

Tubing?

2009-08-30T21:38:00.001-04:00

Here's a pic of Frank and I tubing! We went to a get together at Marie's house again this year and decided to try tubing. Last year we were afraid of injuring our old bones! It was really fun even though we both got thrown off after we told them it was okay to speed-up a little! Be care of what you ask for!

Ella discovers the magic light

2009-08-29T18:54:00.000-04:00

Here's Ella discoving that the light will go on and off with the press of a button and was very proud of herself! The amazement of a child.

August get together

2009-08-29T18:49:00.001-04:00

Here's the latest pic of Ella and us. I must be shrinking!.

Quick thoughts

2009-08-26T13:11:00.003-04:00

Here's a pic of the now one year old Zella! She is a real cutey with the BLUEST eyes. I like to think this is a picture of her talking with her grandmom!

It seems I never have time to work on my blog. Between trying to get my workouts in, work and the running club, golfing, there is just not enough time. I tried to run for the first time today since the Meldown 50K (a 30K for me) and I'm still very sore from the chafing and decided to not make it worse and went home after 2 miles. I did manage to get a weight training in so that was good. It's been a while since I've even thought about that and boy, did I feel it today. I've lost quite a bit of strength but hopefully will be back up to speed in no time. I feel so fat and flabby that I am really motivated to get back into my routine workouts. I plan to swim after work tonight.

I bought the IPOD Touch after a couple of my friends commented on the weight loss applications that they have used to lose weight. I love my gadgets and so far so good. It definitely makes you think twice before absently eating. I've been pretty good about logging my food and it's amazing just how little 1200 calories really is. Who knew? Well, I guess I did but I didn't want to believe it! Anyway, I'm really expecting to succeed this time.

It's been so hot and humid here and I'm really getting tired of it. Trying to run in this oppressive heat is impossible. Hopefully the worst is almost over.

Well, I guess that's a wrap as I have a list of things to do before work and I always end up having to rush. Gotta Run!

Our new deck

2009-08-04T21:31:00.005-04:00

Here's a pic of our new deck. It's great to be able to sit outside and relax. I love it!

One of these days, I'll get back to by blog. It just seems that there's never enough time. I've been really busy with working out and working. I'm feeling great and have had much more energy so my running is increasing and improving. I've also started a women's bike group and we meet on Fridays to bike about 25 miles. I've also put together a small group of women for a Wednesday morning run. It's great to find so many like minded women. I'll blog more about them soon. For now,it's off to bed as I have to get up around 5:30 to meet to run at 7:00 to try to beat the heat. It's been extremely hot and humid lately!

Red Sleigh 60K Bike Ride

2009-07-19T09:54:00.001-04:00

Here's a pic of Frank and me after finishing the 60K bike ride. It was a VERY hilly and challenging ride but beautiful and well run. Very little traffic so we were able to feel pretty comfortable. It was actually a race with chips so there were a lot of really serious riders. The winner of the 100K finished at the same time we finished the 60K. Go figure. Oh well, I suppose they weren't senior citizens. All in all a great ride and we both would go back again next year. It was Frank's first time on the bike this year, so he was very pleased to go out and ride 37 hilly miles. Age is just a number, right?

Fathers Day with Ella

2009-07-15T11:47:00.000-04:00

What do you think she's up to?

Father's Day

2009-06-20T15:52:00.001-04:00

Colleen and Erin came down to visit for Father's Day. Little Ella is really getting big and very inquisitive. She loves Chico but he always stays one step ahead of her and tries to hide from her tender touch. Too bad cause Ella really loves him!

Ada in wonderland

2009-06-18T20:24:00.000-04:00

Time to reflect

2009-06-15T20:15:00.005-04:00

It's been awhile since I've posted much that's going on so I'll try to catch up. I'm still struggling with getting back in the game but am feeling better now that I'm working less days. I'm down to 3 days a week and it's such a relief, physically and mentally. Now I just have to get my workout schedule in order. It seems that my days off from work coincide with my days off from working out which is kind of dumb. I need to work on that. I've pretty much decided to try to run another marathon this fall but am not all that excited about it. I'm still torn and prefer running the trails. I guess I'll just train for a marathon and see what happens. It's been so hot here that it's making running tough but I suppose that is what makes runners tough. We ran 8 miles yesterday and it was brutal, very hot and humid. We have met some great people to run with and hopefully I'll improve as a result.
I'm reading the book Born to Run for inspiration. It's a very interesting book because I am so familiar with many of the people in it and it gives a lot of history to ultra distance running. It certainly is making me want to get out and run on the trails. We're going to do the Sweaty Butt 50K on July 4. Well Frank is, I'm only going to run two loops (hopefully I'll run two loops) for about 20 miles. That'll be the farthest I've run in a long time. It should be fun as it is a Fat Ass so no pressure. Elsa and Joe are going to do it as well. They've never been to Umstead so I'm looking forward to showing them around.
Looks like our next big race will be a 10 miler in Wilmington NC. We've been wanting to get to the beach for awhile so this is a great opportunity. The race is Saturday evening at 6:00 so we'll have all day to hang out and then there's a party after the race so that'll be fun as well. That is July 18 so I've got a month to get ready. We don't have anything picked out yet for August but in September we plan on doing Hinson Lake 24 hour run. Hopefully it'll be our comeback race with the Mangum group.
Tomorrow we go to the township to discuss our deck addition. They told us it would only take about 10 minutes so it sounds easy enough. I'm really looking forward to have the deck completed. We'll be able to eat out there and even get a little sun. I need my vitamin D.
I bought some new massage training dvd's so I'd better get watching them. I'm hoping that they'll help save my hands and arms.
I also wanted to add another picture that Tate sent me of Adalyn and me. He takes such great pictures. This pic was another one in the Cleveland Garden.

Gotta Run!

Back from Ohio

2009-06-09T18:46:00.002-04:00

We just got back from a weekend trip to Ohio to see the grandbabies. (and Tate and Julie!) They are gettting so big, the babies, not Tate and Julie. Anyway, I'm still recovering from the trip and hope to run in the morning and start getting back into some kind of shape. Now that I've cut my days at work, I have no more excuses!

What next?

2009-06-01T20:36:00.003-04:00

Well, I've managed to cut my days to only working Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Hopefully that will help restore my energy as well as my hands. I went to the doctor and he did more blood test but we both agree that my lack of energy is most likely from overdoing it at work. I go back to work tomorrow and have a full day so that will be a test.
Running is still not going great for me although I sometimes have a good day (or should I say a not too bad day) and at least it keeps me from totally giving up. Tomorrow I plan on running on the treadmill and then taking a spinning class. I'm hoping that it will be good to mix it up a bit. I have found that swimming really feels good after a long day of giving massages so I try to do that after work as often as I can and I really enjoy it.
We've decided to expand our deck a little so that we can actually sit out there and get some sun. I can't believe what this township requires in order to "expand" a deck. We're probably adding about 100 square feet so it's not a big deal but it still requires the same thing as if we were building a house! Crazy. Anyway, I hope it's worth it. I spent several hours this afternoon trying to find the info they need. I hate paperwork.
We're going to Cleveland to visit Tate and his family this weekend so that should be fun. I'm looking forward to seeing the kids. I'm sure I'll be amazed at how much they've grown. I wish we could see them more often but we just have to make the most of it when we can.
Frank and I actually signed up for golf lessons and I'm really looking forward to it. It's a 5 week golf school and a friend is going to do it as well. I think it will be fun to putt around a little and hopefully it'll be a social outing as well. It seems the only people we meet are the ones we've met from running which is great but for the most part, they are acquaintances. It'll be good to have another interest other than running as well. Who knows we might even like it!

Happy Birthday to me!

2009-05-26T21:46:00.002-04:00

I can't believe that it's been over a month since I've posted. I am definately too busy and have to work on changing that. Today was my birthday and I had to work. I'm starting to get pain in my elbows, arms and hands so that is not good. I'm going to tell my boss I have to cutback or I'll end up not being able to work at all. I've been working 5 and sometimes 6 days a week, putting in over 30 hours and it's just too much. Now that the weather is warming up and summer is here, I definately want to have more free time and hopefully will be able to work that out. I like having a little extra money so I'm not ready to stop work yet but we'll see what happens.
I'm still struggling with my running and working out but am now convinced that probably the biggest handicap I have is that I work too much and am just exhausted much of the time. Noticing a trend here? Looks like something has to give. soon!
Well, it's almost 10:00 PM so I'd better get ready for bed. I want to get a run in in the morning and then I have an appointment at the eye doctors to check out my glasses. I got new glasses in March and I don't think the lens is right so I want them to be rechecked.
Friday I'm going to our doctor about my hand, wrist arm, elbow shoulder etc. I hope he has some words of wisdom. I'm also going to go to an acupuncturist next week for treatments as well and am really excited about that.

Back in the running!

2009-04-27T14:58:00.002-04:00

Well, I got through the Owls Roost Half Marathon and after a rocky start with dead legs I was very pleased with the outcome. I started in the back with Irene and started to jog as I began to warm up so I was last from the get go. My chest burning was minimal so that was a pleasant surprise. I started passing people around 3 or 4 miles and started feeling better about my steady pace although my legs were still tired from Thursdays workout and I had my doubts about finishing. I started to count the runners I passed for awhile but lost count. I realized that I'd be able to figure it out by looking at the results to determine how many people ended up finishing behind me. I ended up passing about 28 people so that made me feel great. I was third in my age which I didn't expect but I was happy with that has well. Now I'm excited to do more races and get my endurance back. We've signed up to do a 15K this weekend in Chapel Hill and it looks like a lot of fun. Another single trail event and not too long a distance so it'll be a good training run. Maybe we'll make a comeback after all.
Work has slowed down and I'm only going to end up with 2 clients today which is fine. Kind of nice to have a break actually. I do plan on swimming after I'm done which will be around 7:00. I'm finding I really like winding down after work and it's a great time as the pool is pretty quite by then.
Chico goes to the vet tomorrow to have his teeth cleaned. That always makes me nervous but the vet came highly recommended so I feel as confident as I can feel I suppose.
Well, better get ready for work and play. Lots to pack for the spa plus the gym!
Out!

Owls Roost Rumble

2009-04-24T10:26:00.002-04:00

Well, we're off to do the Owl's Roost Rumble 1/2 Marathon. It's in Greensboro about 2 hours from here and it's going to be about 89 degrees so it'll be HOT!!!! Oh well, it'll be a nice day in the woods. I ran about 8 miles yesterday after a leg workout with my trainer. Probably not the smartest workout right before doing a half marathon that you're not up for, but what the heck, who ever said I was all that smart. At least I have a ton of excuses for a very slow run!!!!! It's a good think I'm not too competitive and am not too concerned about my time.
Sunday is the Striders picnic and it's going to be about 88 degrees! A good day to stand around and chat rather than running! I'm hoping to get on my bike Sunday afternoon and for good measure, maybe just in the pool for a cooldown swim!
I've been swimming after work at night and I'm really enjoying it. Once I take the initial plunge I'm always glad I did it but it's tough to make myself get wet. I'm hoping that an evening workout will become a habit and eventually may be able to do something other than swimming but if not, swimming is a great workout.
Well, better get ready for the drive. It'll be great because we'll be able to do a little shopping. Target and Costco! Who could want for more. Who ever thought a trip to Target would be fun!!!!! Well, it is!
Say some prayers for us this weekend as neither Frank nor I are in "racing" shape! I'm mosting hoping not to fall. Ever since I broke my pinky, I'm a little nervous!
Better go!
Out!

Out of my funk!

2009-04-01T20:31:00.002-04:00

Today is April 1 and I'm finally out of my funk. Whew! I was just really not doing well. Part of it was probably that I'm so exhausted from working so much and I think I've solved much of that problem. I had been extending my hours and it was just too much. Also, I wasn't running until 9:00 most days and it was just too late as I couldn't get anything else done. So, I'm running at 8:00 and working out with a personal trainer a couple days a week. I felt a lot stronger this morning on my run and am finally making progress. I think the Cross-fit Training will really help with my cardio as well as strength. We're starting to think about running again and have signed up for at least one trail run. We're going to do a half-marathon trail event in Greensboro where they hold the 40 miler in the fall. It's a good way to make a return to the trails. It's on April 25. In May we're doing a 15K in Asheville on the Biltmore Estates. It's supposed to be beautiful although I'm actually a little sorry that we signed up to do it as there are some other events that might be better for us to do. The Biltmore race is on the roads but it's only a 15K so hopefully it won't be too bad.
Tomorrow is the running club meeting and hopefully that will go well. I've got a good agenda and we have a guest speaker coming to talk about feet! Hopefully it will be interesting.
Not too much going on and it's almost time for American Idol so I'd better get ready! Who will get the boot tonight? I hope it's Megan but she seems to skate every week!
Gotta Run!

Where do I begin?

2009-03-22T16:48:00.003-04:00

It's been so long since my last post I'm not sure I even remember how to post. I"ll give it a go although it may be a short one. Let's see, what has been going on. Running has been so so and not much progress. It's really discouraging but it is what it is, I suppose. I am planning on working with a coach/personal trainer so hopefully that will get me back on track. The plan is to do more cross-training and mix up the intensity. I"m hoping to pay her in trades! Wouldn't that be cool? I just got back from a few days in Florida visiting with Tate and his family. It was really fun to spend time with them and to really get to know Zella. She is so cute and what a good baby. (except that she doesn't like to sleep through the night) She is very smiley and inter-active. She was always trying to figure out what I was doing and then copy me. Very cute. She's about ready to crawl and then watch out! Ada really loves her little sister and it's fun to watch them interact. Ada is really smart and had a great time in Florida. She's very excited about turning 4 next month. Hard to believe it's been 4 years.
Work has been really busy and actually kind of stressful which I didn't expect in a spa environment but when you have a bunch of women, stress will appear. Kind of funny actually.
Let's see, looks like Frank will be working for a couple of months for the censious bureau so that will be interesting. Looks like we'll be bringing in the dough for a few weeks anyway. It's been so depresssing watching out retirement money dwindle to half of what it used to be. Hopefully, it will recover before we really need it although it seems unlikely.
Today, I've been doing research on continuing ed classes for my NC license. It's so crazy here but if I want to keep working, it's what I have to do. So many classes, so little time. I'm debating between reflexology and a deep tissue techniques. I want both but it's a fortune to take classes cause they're so far away and require staying in a hotel etc.
I'm still getting used to my new computer and haven't completely transitioned. My old computer still holds some info that I need to get moved to the new ones. Such as Itunes. I need to get it transferred so I can download new music!
Here's a picture of Ada and Zella during vacation. How cute are they.
I'll work on posting more frequently but this working 5 to 6 hours a day, sure cuts into my day!
Happy Trails!

Catch Up time

2009-02-17T17:15:00.002-05:00

Things are starting to get back to normal. I'm back to work, survived my first club meeting as well as the Myrtle Beach 1/2 Marathon! Whew! The meeting was well attended, about 25 members so that was a record I think. That followed with a great turn-out for the Saturday group run. We are definitely making a lot of headway in encouraging all level of runners to come out. Work is going okay and fortunately it's not really too busy right now so I haven't had to do too many back to back (no pun intended) massages. My pinky is still tender but everyday it gets better. The Half Marathon was a struggle and I certainly learned that I'm not in all that great shape. I still have a tendency to think that going out to run 15, 20 or even 30 miles is no big deal but it is when you haven't done it for a long time. I'm having difficulty figuring out where to focus. I'd like to get a little faster, thus run some road races and do speed work but then I think about how much I enjoy trail running and long days spent in the woods and think I should just do that. I'm sure that there is a way to have the best of both worlds and I just need to work that out. Lots of possible races on my races for 2009 but none have really grabbed me as THE ONE to focus on for a good race. I'm signed up to do the Umstead Trail Marathon on March 7 and am certainly not ready to run a marathon, especially that one. I think I will still do it but find a way to turn it into a 20 miler or something. There is a 6 hour cutoff and to be honest I'm not sure I could do 26.2 in under 6! It'll just be another "training run"!
I'm also wanting to get in really good (at least good for a 58 year old) and I know I need to do resistance training for that. I've decided to try P90X which is an extreme workout training that's claim to fame is "muscle confusion". I've started doing it and am enjoying it. It does mix everything up. The thing I'm not clear about is how to fit running and other workouts in. I'll just play it by ear I guess. Today I did Plymetrics and then arms and shoulders and felt great although I didn't get a run in. Tomorrow I will run and do the P90X Yoga!

I started a swim class last night and i think it will be fun. A couple of the Striders are in the class. I didn't know that anyone I knew was signed up but it was nice to see a couple of familiar faces. Hopefully it'll get me ready for the Woodlake Tri in May! It's such a close-knit community here that you can't really go anywhere or do anything without seeing someone you know. I really love that about this area. It feels so friendly and welcoming although most are must acquaintances.

I've got to get back to working on the club stuff. I have to write up the minutes from the meeting as well as order the new shirts. Once that is done, I need to schedule an officers meetings and get ready for the next club meeting. That will be here before we know it. I haven't firmed up a guest speaker yet but have a couple of suggestions. I also think I'll start a blog for the club. I think it will be a lot easier that to constantly send emails to the webmaster to update the website and also a lot more user friendly that a newsletter. That reminds be, I also need to remove non-paid members from our Yahoo group. Power!

Gotta Run!

Another setback

2009-02-05T15:30:00.002-05:00

Geez, it's been almost a year since I've been painfree/injury-free! What is going on? I haven't even writen about my broken pinky and now I broke (well, okay injured my back!) First things first, I broke and dislocated my pinky and sprained the ring finger of my right hand. Being a massage therapist, this was not a good thing although two weeks of an unscheduled vacation was not all bad. At least I could continue to run run but spinning, yoga and weights were pretty much out of the question. I'm planning on going back to work next Monday and my finger is much better although still pretty stiff. So, I've been running and yesterday decided to take a day off from running (it snowed again) and resume my weight training. I even lowered my weights figuring I had lost some strength but managed to pull something in my back and bamm I was done! I could barely walk and it's still pretty sore. I went to the chiro today and apparantly strained my lower back muscles and it will take up to a week to heal. Problem is I don't really have a week so I'm hoping to get a long slow run in Sunday. We'll see. The Myrtle Beach Half Marathon is the following week and I'd like to at least have a respectable time and more important, is the Umstead Trail Marathon coming up on March 7 that Elsa decided to run with me. Now the pressure is on to do that one. Frank won't be doing it as he's still having problems but it just didn't dawn on me that perhaps I should pass on it as well as I haven't been training and it's hilly and was the beginning of my hamstring problems last year. Do we runners ever learn? Elsa and I have vowed to run/walk it as a training run but Elsa just qualified for Boston at the Disney Marathon so she's faster and in better shape than I. Oh well, I hope she is serious about run/walking the race and just having fun. We'll see.
I've been running a lot more lately (well until my recent setback) with a women Ellen that I met and Elsa so it's been really fun. We're all in our 50s so have really bonded. I was beginning to feel either younger or older than most that I met and hadn't met anyone that I could run with and now I've met two people! We meet at 9:00 and run 6 almost daily so it's very cool and I relly look forward to it!
Tonight is the running club meeting, the first one that I will be chairing. I've been working really hard and think it should go well. I have lots of ideas for 2009 and most will be thrilled but the core group may not be as thrilled as I'm not so sure that they want to the club to grow. They're pretty happy with the click that they're established. I guess we'll just be a club of various clicks! Probably based on pace!
I've spent a lot of time recreating the website and I'm very happy with it although I'm sure we'll be making changes throughout the year. Check it out. www.sandhillsstriders.org.
Looks like we're going to go to Florida in March to hook up with Tate and his family. He'll be much better than going to Ohio! It'll be even warmer than here although it isn't too bad here. Much better than the NE.
Better get ready for the meeting! Wish me luck!!!!:)

2009-01-25T22:09:00.000-05:00

2009-01-23T11:50:00.000-05:00

My second job!

2009-01-20T17:25:00.004-05:00

Now that I've started working and taken over the running club, it's like I have 2 jobs! I'm so busy trying to get all of the club info transitioned to the new officers as well as update the website to a more user friendly version. I just finished a revision to the first two pages of the website and once that is done, I'll work on revising the Activities Page to include upcoming races and I also want to add a page for race results. I'm not sure how happy the webmaster will be. Time will tell.
We had a couple (about 4 actually) inches of snow this morning. Everything came to a standstill, even us! I'm attaching some pics to show just how deep it was and also how much fun Chico had. What a winter surprise.
There's still tons to catch up on but for now, I need a break from the keyboard. I've been working on the running club updates for the past 3 hours.

New Year's Resolutions and Goals

2009-01-05T08:32:00.003-05:00

It's a little past New Year's but I've finally decided to work on my resolutions and goals for 2009. As most people, my main resolution is to lose weight although I suppose it's actually a goal. My resolution should be that I resolve to get serious about my eating habits and get back to eating more of a healthy and balanced diet. It's so easy to fill up on unhealthy foods and snacks not to mention that it tastes good and makes us feel good at least in the short term. In the long run, it makes us feel bad, physically as well as emotionally, at least it does me. My goal is to remind myself of my commitment to better nutrition and habits before I eat poorly not after. It's very easy to reaffirm after I eat something that is not so good for me. To help me reach my goals, I decided to join the Weight Watchers online again. It seems to be the easiest way to track my foods as well as to encourage some type of obligation to stay on track. It's simple and that's what I need. I had thought of various other tools or programs but decided that for now simple is best. We'll see how it goes.
My goals for 2009 besides losing weight is to get fit, really fit. It seems that with all of the running I do, I don't seem to be all that fit. My goal is to do more cross-training and be more consistent with my weight (resistance) training. I'm even thinking about doing a triathlon this spring to mix it up. I'm in the process of developing my "race" plans) but have not completed it yet but it looks like I may actually attempt a road marathon this year! What? Say it's not true. Yes, it seems that I may need some "shorter" distance events ( I can't believe that I think of a marathon as a shorter distance) to help me get back some of the "speed" and fitness level that I enjoyed pre-ultras. I(hey everthing is relative!) do plan on continuing with ultras but they will take a back seat and if I do them they will be shorter ones (50K tops) and they will be to develop my endurance and leg strength. I will be posting my 2009 list of races that I plan to do as soon as I've had a chance to do a little more research into what fits into our schedule. Currently I'm planning on running the Uhwarrie 20 mile trail run on Feb 7 and then the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon on Feb 14 and after that the Umstead Trail Marathon on March 7. Gee, I didn't realize that I had such a demanding schedule. So much for cross-training. Just kidding, I do plan on lots of cross-training even it's just WII training! (if we can ever get the WII Fit) My cross-training plan includes lots of spinning and swimming as well as the running. I'm hoping that work at the spa will slowdown a little so that I won't be too tired for a second workout of the day after I finish work. I've been trying to do that and so far the only success I had was to sit in the jacuzzi after work! How about a swim first??? I'm trying and my intention is there. Now it's just the follow through. Okay, I've spent the last 60 minutes signing up for WW and now posting my intentions so I'd best be off and get my resistance training in before I run out of time.

I am scheduled for a bone density test this afternoon so I want to get my resistance training and a spin class in before the test. I'm not scheduled with any clients this afternoon so it may be an easy day. We can hope but I'll be surprised if it stays that way.
Happy New Year.

The New Year!

2008-12-29T13:52:00.002-05:00

Somehow Christmas has come and gone. It was a quiet but nice Christmas. We spent the day at Erin's with her, Josh and Steve and Colleen as well as their mother and hew husband. A little stressful but nothing that a couple of Mimosa's can't take care of. I guess I just decided to let the past be the past and move on or at least do the best I can.

Running is okay. I had a great run on Saturday and felt terrific. (only about 5 miles) I was thrilled. It was fun! But then I went out again yesterday (Sunday) and had a terrible run! The weather was very warm and humid so I'm sure that that was a factor, but still, I didn't expect to feel that poorly! Thank God for tomorrows!!!! Me and Scarlett!

I went to the doctors today for my physical and everything looks pretty good but I am low on Vit D and the doctor thinks I have a low thyroid. This would account for several of the ailments that seem to be plaguing me right down to my recent bout with Vertigo. He recomended supplements and caltrate to see if that helps. I go back in 3 months to get retested and if it's still slow, he'll give me drugs. Apparently one of the symptoms is weight gain and difficulty with weight loss so that would explain my problems with that. (although my diet has not been very good lately! I'm also going to take the 2 week carbohydrate intolerage test again. It's funny cause I was planning on doing that at the first of the year anyway and now it's a recommendation for my symptoms! I guess it was meant to be.

I've been busy with work at the Spa as well as with running club stuff. There is so much I'd like to do with the club although I'm not exactly sure why. I don't even run with them cause I'm so slow. Hopefully the club will grow and I'll have members to run with as well as improving my running. Lots of goals for the new year and that will be my next post. As much as I love the holidays, it's always nice to have them behind us and get on with our goals and routines! Speaking of routine, I"m off to the dentist!!!

iRunFar

2008-12-19T11:25:00.000-05:00

iRunFar

Grandmom and her girls!

2008-12-18T09:32:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to post a picture of Adalyn and Zella from our trip to Cleveland. Ada is so big and what a great sister. Zella will have a great role model and friend.

The Holidays are upon us!

2008-12-17T21:27:00.002-05:00

Once again, I'm surprised by the speed that the holidays are upon us. It's been awhile since I've posted so I'll try to catch up. I ran a 5K on Dec 6 and won my age group. While that sound great and I'm not knocking it, my time was certainly nothing to award. I ran it in 32+ and even though I was happy with that considering my fitness level, I'm very surprised that it was good enough for 1st. I guess that's part of getting older. The next day I ran a half marathon as a training run to get a long run in and placed 3rd in my age. (it's that age thing again) The course was very hilly and it was cold and windy and it didn't turn out to be the fun run that I thought it would be. It was a good workout and that was about it. My time was again, nothing to award but I'll take 3rd anyway. I ran 2:30 and that was my goal, I just never thought it would be good enough to place.
I've met with the running club officers, old and new a couple of times in the past couple of weeks and I certainly have my work cut out for me. Lots to do to but hopefully with every ones support we'll be able to grow the club into a strong community organization.
Work has been pretty busy so that is taking up a lot of my time and I'm having a hard time scheduling my time. I'm hoping that after the holidays, I'll be able to work a more consistent schedule and not be so scattered although some of that is just the nature of the job. I haven't figured out how to work out while I"m try as it involves extra showering and sweating and sometimes I'm just too tired to put out any more effort. I do think though that after the first of the year, I'll be a little more successful. I don't have a specific goal either and that always makes working out a Lotte more difficult to make it a priority. I'm still working on my 2009 plans. I'm thinking about doing the half in February and then a marathon in May and possibly a triathlon or biathlon. I do want to do more biking this spring and summer. I can see how much it has helped Chris and others to improve their running plus it's just fun. My ultimate goal may be the Pinehurst Tri next October and then return to my roots of ultras in 2010, hopefully injury free and full of enthusiasm.
We went to Cleveland last weekend to see Tate and his family. It was a scary drive up as once we hit Cleveland the roads turned to a sheet of ice. We saw several accidents and cars off the road. It took us about 11 hours to drive up and again to drive back. Frank did most (all on the way back) of the driving so that was great. I would have freaked out with the ice, wind, rain and then fog! We've decided that we will probably have to celebrate Christmas via UPS next year and will drive in the spring and fall.
Now for the fun part of the trips. The kids are doing great. Ada is so smart and very grown-up. She's a great big sister and it's really funny to watch Zella watch her every move. She is very alert and observant. She is also very big for 4 months. She is already wearing 9 month outfits and growing! She is very smiley and a happy baby although she is not all that fond of sleeping alone all night. She's not a fussy baby though and was really fun to be around. Sometimes she'll actually try to imitate you. She coos and really connects. She is almost ready to turn over and sit up so she is very strong. It makes me sad that we probably won't be able to see them again until April or May. Tate and Julie got us a video camera though and we'll be able to see them and talk to them so that will be a lot of fun and will help us to not miss everything.
Tate and Julie had also gotten a new Nintendo Wii game and even though I normally don't care for games (I'm much to sophisticated) I decided to try it. They had bowling and tennis to name a few. It was so much fun that we decided to get one for ourselves for Christmas! I can't believe that Frank and I actually bought something so silly. I do think it will be fun however and better than just sitting in front of the TV although I'm sure we'll still do our share of that but at least this will be a diversion. I want to get the Wii Fit board and do some of the workouts as well as the My Fitness Coach game. That would be great since we love working out so much and this will make it a little more fun! We ordered it Sunday from Cleveland and it actually appeared on our doorstep tonight! I"m not sure if we'll wait till Christmas to open it though. I've already invited the girls from the spa to come over for a post holiday party to play Wii!!!! How cool is that. Maybe we'll start inviting more friends over. When you don't drink, it just doesn't feel as natural to invite people over so with the Wii it might make it more logical. We'll see.
Frank is still not running and it's hard to see him go through what I went through for so long. It's so hard not knowing if and when you'll be able to run again and to watch your fitness level that you've worked so hard on, go down the tubes. I'm still working on getting mine back and it is coming along but I also noticed my hamstring tightening up again today so I have to be careful not to overdo it.
Well, I think that just about captures what has been going on the past couple of weeks. We're almost ready for the holidays, just a little gift wrapping to do and we're don. I'm actually working the day after Christmas so my Christmas will be a quick one this year.
Better wrap this up so I can get some sleep and get my workout in in the morning. I think I've pretty much figured out that if I don't get my workout in in the morning it doesn't get done. Hopefully in the new year, I'll be able to do a few doubles but we'll see. My plans are always a little too ambitious sometimes and I fall short. I'll work on that!!!

Runner's World.Com: Running, Racing, Training and More.

2008-12-10T09:38:00.000-05:00

Runner's World.Com: Running, Racing, Training and More.

President for 2 year! What was I thinking????

2008-12-05T10:29:00.003-05:00

I can't believe how fast time flies. It's been a pretty good week with running and work although work is certainly slower than the preceeding couple of weeks. I really like the people I work with so it's fun so far. I think this week I'll end up with about 6 clients for the week so that is perfect!
Frank is doing better and hopefully it's because the "mice" are moving away from his joints and not just the drugs masking the pain. He's able to walk pretty much normally so that is very encouraging and he's already looking forward to running next week!
Tomorrow is the Reindeer 5K in Southern Pines which should be a lot of fun. Hopefully some of my walker lady friends will be there. I'll have to call them to be sure! I'm also going to go to Asheboro NC on Sunday to run the Victory Junction 1/2 Marathon. I wanted to get a longer run in so this seems perfect. Lots of MTCers will be there as well as Striders.
Speaking of the Striders, you won't believe what I did last night at the meeting. As you know I assumed the role of President Elect back in September after the current one resigned (smart lady) with the knowledge that it will mean that I will be President in January for one year. Fine, I was already thinking I was a little crazy but what the heck. Anyway, last night no one would volunteer or nominate anyone for the President Elect role for 2009. One women (another Donna) said she would be VP but didn't want to be the president elect in 2010 so (and this is where it gets crazy) I blurted out "I'll be president for 2 years, if you'll be VP for one year! What was I thinking??? Now next year, when her term is up we'll look for yet another VP and hopefully someone will come forth. Now, I'm into this for 2 years after already thinking that I shouldn't even be doing it at all! Hopefully I'll have lots of help and will be able to actually run with the club eventually. I'm so much slower than those young ones that I'm really out of my leaque. Also, no one would volunteer or nominate for the role of Treasurer or Secretary so I nominated two of the women I've recently met and have recruited them into the club. Hopefully I'll be able to recruit more older slower runners to join me and then it will be a success!!!! I do have lots of plans for the club but they may not go over as well as I hope they do. I may be out of my league!!!
Gotta Run!

By the way, here's a photo of Frank at the Sweaty Butt 50K last July. Someone sent it to me recently and I thought it was pretty good. Like those abs?

Phedippidations PodCast Website

2008-12-03T22:08:00.000-05:00

Phedippidations PodCast Website

Joe Friel's Blog

2008-12-03T22:02:00.000-05:00

Joe Friel's Blog

A Non-Running Weekend?

2008-11-30T22:06:00.003-05:00

Hey what's up with that? How did the weekend turn into a non-running weekend? Well, I did "run" on Friday for an ugly 4 1/2 miles but I guess it should count for something. I had that burning sensation in my chest again for about 30 minutes. It was so bad I was going to stop but decided to just walk/run until it went away. It finally did and then I felt fine although a little tired. I guess all the work is catching up with me. I ended up with 5 clients on Friday so it was a very tiring day. On Saturday Frank was running the Derby 50K and I was going to run either one or two of the 10 mile loops and then help out at the finish line but a couple of volunteers had not shown up to work an aid station so I quickly agreed to forego my run and work. It's nice to pay back once in awhile plus I could run on Sunday, right? Well, not exactly. Frank ended up dropping at about 26 miles with severe pain in his butt. This was not good and I hoped that it would not turn out to be a recurring problem like mine has. Anyway, today we decided he should go to the emergency room for an X-ray as it was almost impossible for him to walk. I opted to not run and to go right away to the hospital. I knew I wouldn't be able to enjoy a run knowing that he was in pain and really should be seen. Anyway, 4 hours later, he was diagnosed with Joint Mice! Yes, that's right, joint mice. The technical term is Osteochondritis Dissecans and it's apparently when pieces of bone break away and are floating around and may get lodged in a joint. ( or something like that) He has to go to an orthopedic and hopefully will not have to have surgery. It sounds like it's something that has been happening for a long time and for some reason it decided to get lodged in his hip joint. The doctor said he must has injured it years ago but it's unclear as to what may have happened. He didn't seem to indicate that his running caused it or even aggrevated it but he'll find out more when he meet with an orthopedic guy. So I never ended up running but plan on getting back on track tomorrow. I think work will be much slower this week so I should be having more time to get my workouts in.
We have a busy week though with the running club meeting on Thursday night, a 5K and a birthday party on Saturday and then a staff meeting with the whole fitness center on Sunday night. Wow! I hope Frank is better so he'll be able to get around a little better. It's very painful for him to put any weight on his right leg. I'm surprised the doctor didn't give him crutches, or at least one to keep his weight off it. Hopefully Dr Mercier will suggest that. I hope he'll get to see him tomorrow.
Well, it's late. Better go and get ready for bed. I have to take Chico out and put the trash out until Frank gets better. It's been quite a year for us with injuries this year. Hopefully next year we'll be running injury free again. Frank is just 40 miles shy of reaching 2000 miles this year so hopefully he'll be able to somehow get that in. I suggested pool running or walking although walking probably doesn't count. Gotta Run!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T21:06:00.002-05:00

What a quiet day! We ended up staying home for Thanksgiving so I could work tomorrow. I agreed to work to accomodate the clients that had been scheduled for Tiffany before she left. I am scheduled to do 5 tomorrow so it'll be a very long day but hopefully worth it. I don't think I've ever done 5 massages in one day but I think I'd better get used to it. The Spa is pretty busy and since I'm pretty much available to work quite a bit, I'll get lots of hours. Also, I've been getting really good feedback and will be pretty busy with requests soon. A couple of clients have told me that I gave them the best massage they had ever had so that is cool. I'm getting more comfortable there and am fitting in pretty nicely. It's just a very nice atmosphere to be in although it is pretty hectic.
Tomorrow I plan on going to the club to workout and then will start work at 10:00. I get a 2 hour break in the middle of the day so plan on coming home to eat and relax.
Saturday is the Derby 50K and although I'm certainly not ready to run 31 miles I do plan on running at least one loop (10 miles) and hopefully two loops for 20 very easy miles. I'm so out of endurance shape and it's really tough trying to get it back. I did run 8 on the treadmill yesterday and actually feel best on the treadmill. I may have to do most of my running on the treadmill to acquire a better base. I'm hoping that once I get settled at the spa I'll be able to work my workouts around my work. Since I'm at the club, I want to be able to utilize it as much as I can either before or after working out. I keep looking at the pool wishing I could go for a swim but it hasn't worked out yet!
Well, better go get ready for tomorrow. Gotta run!

Working 9 to 5!

2008-11-22T13:40:00.003-05:00

It's been another crazy week. I started working at the spa on Wednesday with my first two clients and then Thursday one of the other therapists "resigned" and I took over her clients and hours! So I went from working four hours two day a week to working full time or as much as I want in my first week! I had 4 clients on Thursday and 4 on Friday! That's more than I've ever had in such a short time frame. I'm not even sure if I've ever done 4 in one day! I could have worked today as well but I had signed up to run the Turkey Trot 10K which was held at the health club where I work so most of the employees were working or running the course! It was really fun to know so many people at the race today. We knew people from the Mangum Club, the Striders as well as others we've met out running on the trails in addition to the health club! One of the Mangum runners actually won the race overall. Pretty impressive. I ended up running with my friend Susan who had just run a 1/2 marathon last week so we ran easy and just chatted the whole way. I probably should have run it by myself and pushed a little but it was much more fun to just run it "easy". We ran about 65 minutes and I was fine with that. Just a little more than a 10 minute pace so hopefully I'll continue to improve as I start working on "speed". My goal is to run the Myrtle Beach Half marathon in 2:10 although my secret goal will be 2:00 but don't tell anyone! I think I should be able to get back up to that pace with some quality training and dropping a few pounds. Oh those few pounds that never seem to go away. Anyway, that's what I'm going to work towards.

Today we're going to Raleigh to babysit for Ella tonight while Steve and Colleen go out. We won't be seeing them next week for Thanksgiving so I think this was Colleen's way of consoling us! We haven't seem Ella for about a month so it will be fun. I'm sure she's motoring around and ready to walk. I can't believe she's almost a year old.

So looks like we'll be home for Thanksgiving and I'll cook for us. We were going to go to Baltimore but I have to work so we'll be home alone! I'm actually looking forward to it now that I'm working. We'll be able to run in the morning and then hang out and hopefully decorate the house for Christmas, maybe even put up the tree. I have to work on Friday and already have 4 clients scheduled. Saturday we're going to go to the Derby 50K which is one of the Mangum Track Clubs races. I think Frank will probably run it and I plan on running about 2 loops (20 miles) and then helping with the finish line at the end of the 50K. It'll be fun to see everyone again and be able to both run and then socialize.

I am really surprised at how much I like working at the spa. Everyone is really nice and so happy to have me on board. I actually had sent in my resume to another salon in Southern Pines thinking I could work a few more hours as I was only working 2 days at the spa and was actually offered a position but once the other therapist left, I now have more hours than I can handle so I had to pass on the other salon. It's amazing how many massage places there are around here and how busy they all are especially in this economy although I guess that most of the residents here are pretty much loaded and aren't all that affected by the recession. We are certainly affected and have lost a lot of money in out retirement account. I won't even look but I noticed that Frank is getting more and more concerned. Hopefully things will turn around and we'll be able to make up some of the loses but it may take longer than we've got before we need it. Hopefully I'll be able to work for awhile and can hold off using any of the money for as long as we can. Who ever would have imagined this entire crisis could have happened and the ripple effect it's having on all of us. Hopefully Barack will come in on his white horse (I hope that's not a racial comment, it's not intended to be but some are very sensitive) and save the day. I'm sure he'll take care of us and we won't have to pay our mortgage or for medical so I suppose we shouldn't worry too much:)
Okay, enough babble.
Gotta run!

You just never know!

2008-11-13T17:50:00.002-05:00

Well, after such a great run yesterday, it wasn't so great today. I woke up with a splitting headache which I normally don't get a headache so I'm not sure what was up with that. Anyway, one of my beginners runners had called and said she's meet me at the club to run on the treadmill next to me so I felt I had to go and at least try to get a workout in. I felt pretty lousy,but did manage to get 5 miles in so I felt good about that and hanging in there. Especially after my friend never showed up! Good thing I wasn't depending on her to be there. At least it got me there so it wasn't really a bad thing.
I went to the Rolfer today and am so pleased with my progress. My hip and butt issues are GONE! The last visit he really broke up a lot of scar tissue and I've had no pain or discomfort since. Today he worked a little more on my upper body and loosened up some of the tight areas there. I cannot say enough good things about Rolfing. I am very fortunate though as I'm sure not all Rolfers are as good as he is although I suppose they should be. I just think he is fantastic and really knows his stuff. Today was session #9. I'm not sure if I'll need 12 or not. We will reassess at my next visit. I'm sure I'll be able to schedule any additional visits pretty far apart and then eventually just go for tune-ups! This is probably the best thing you can do for your body. I wish everyone could experience it and discover just how good your body can feel. (even after years of abuse!)
I'm pretty convinced that I'll forgo running ultras until summer and will train for a road marathon this spring. Hopefully the one in Cleveland and maybe Tate will run the half or maybe even the full! I think it will help with my ultra training in the long run cause I was a "lot" faster when I first started running ultras and it was probably cause I was still running marathons. I ran a 4:06 Boston at 51 which is pretty darn good. I don't think I ever gave myself credit for how good I did back then and I also ran a sub 4:00 to qualify for Boston at 50. I don't know if I can ever qualify again,but it might be fun to try. Also, maybe I'd actually be able to run with some of the "fast" runners in the running club (that have never broken 4:00 in a marathon and are much younger than I was) and I'd love to kick their butts!!!! Unfortunately for me most of them are at least 10 years younger than I so that may just be too big a dream but I would like to at least show a little respect for an old lady! Dream big!

Finally a good run!

2008-11-12T13:27:00.002-05:00

I finally had a good run this morning so I'm very pleased about that. The weather was perfect (that always helps) and I just turned on my music and ran for about 8 miles. I was debating out there if I should do the Turkey Trot half marathon, 10K or 5K. Now that I've decided to scale back my ultras for awhile it seems that it might make more sense for me to run shorter races to help with my "speedwork". I go back and forth on what to do but I'm sure I'll figure it out before the big day.

I did a lot of thinking out on the trail this morning and one thing I was thinking about was the recent election of Obama. I would certainly have preferred to see McCain in office however, it is what it is and I will support whoever is president. It donned on me that only 52% of the country actually voted for Obama and that is a concern I think due to the fact that the media was in the tank for him and certainly wanted to see him elected and he also had 95% of the black vote of which a large percentage were probably 1st time voters because they wanted to vote for a black man for president, rightfully so. Anyway, it seems with all of the turn-outs and enthusiasm he should have won by a landslide so that tells me that it is still a very divided country and without the new black votes, he would not have won. I hope that in 4 years we can look back and say, "wow! what a great president" and that he gets reelected this time by a landslide. He won't have the media to protect him in 4 years but will have the experience of these next 4 years, and good or bad, we'll have a better idea if he really is the candidate we want in office. I pray we do. It will be good for our country to come together and grow and prosper. It'll be an interesting time and I do hope that unlike the way Bush was treated, I do hope that the non-Obama supporters will take the higher road and give him a chance. If he screws up and goes back on his word, then we can judge him for that but for now, let's assume he's a man of his word although it is often difficult to know just what that word is. God Bless America!

one hundred push ups

2008-11-11T07:31:00.001-05:00

This looks like an interesting challange and something I could add to my resistance training, bent kneed of course but what the heck!

I finally got a run in this morning at the club. I ended up running 6 on the treadmill and felt pretty good although I do have a way to go to build my endurance backup. I should probably run on the treadmill more often as I'm able to maintain an even pace and control my heartrate. The best part about the treadmill is I don't have to walk as much like I do on the trails although I do find myself drinking more and I can't drink and run so I allow myself a walking drink every mile. I hope to build from there as I want to be able to get to more continuous running workouts. I still am not back 100% and can feel the remnents of my cold but it is almost gone. I was going to do a double workout and spin after I ran but I decided that would be too much too soon so I opted out and came home. I will at least do a Pilate workout later.

I did the initial test for the push-ups and was able to do almost 20 doing them bent kneed so I'm not sure how effective that will be but that's where I'll start. Maybe I'll try the straight leg plank version after the first 6 week sessions!

one hundred push ups

The Next Big Thing! A Goal in the Making!

2008-11-09T22:01:00.001-05:00

Could this be our next big thing? An easy 100 in a beautiful area! Actually I can't even believe that I'm thinking at all about another 100 miler, but it does look nice. I can't even remember the last time I had a really good run. I put in a few miles at Massochist but they don't really count and I tried to run Wednesday feeling lousy as I was fighting a cold. I finally got out today but walked 4 miles with the new walking/hopefully one day running group so it again didn't really count as a run or workout. I'm feeling a little better from the cold and hopefully will be able to get back to working out this week. I got some making up to do. I feel like I'm always starting over and trying to get my endurance back. It's pretty frustrating but I just have to suck it up and get the job done. Tomorrow I'm planning on a little running and a spinning class if I'm really okay. Tomorrow night I'm meeting with the current officers of the running club to discuss the transition. Sounds familiar doesn't it. I hope mine goes as smoothly as Obama's does.
Well, I'm really exhausted so am off to bed.

100 Mile Races

What was I thinking?

2008-11-07T11:13:00.002-05:00

It just hit me and I had to ask myself "What was I thinking"? Here I am planning on these ultra distance races and crazy stuff like that when I've hardly been running and am still trying to come back. For some reason I think I can just pick up where I left off. That may be possible but probably not smart so I've decided to rethink my crazy, lofty goals and pare them down. I think I'd be much better served if I come back gradually and build my base as I had been doing before I got a little too optomistic. Anyway, I'm going to take a stepback and determine what makes more sense for me. I've had to come back several times so I know I can do it and just need to be patient.

Running, Sport, Fitness, Outdoors, Travel and more - realbuzz.com US

2008-11-07T10:28:00.000-05:00

Running, Sport, Fitness, Outdoors, Travel and more - realbuzz.com US

On the Job Training!

2008-11-06T21:16:00.002-05:00

After orientation today's on the job training, I'm ready for clients. My schedule will be Tuesday and Wednesday from 2:00 to 6:00. Sounds like a great deal and I'm sure it will take a few weeks/months to build up a clientele but I'm looking forward to getting started.

I've been feeling a little flu-like ever since going to the orientation where there were a few participants coughing and hacking all over the place. I think I picked something up and I just hope I can shake it. I've been pretty achy and tired all day but do seem to feel better at night so it may even be allergy related. Anyway, my training (running that is) is in the toilet so hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow and can get back on track. I'm hoping to run the Shirt Run on Saturday although it will not be pretty, I do need some mileage. There's a lot of races coming up and if I had any chance of finishing them with any semblance of pride, I need to work on my base.
I've been doing some searching for upcoming races so I can determine a goal race and what races I'll do along the way in preparation. So far this is what I've come up with: The 15 mile Shirt Run this weekend. the Turkey Trot 1/2 marathon in two weeks, and then the Derby 50K the following weekend. In December it looks like we'll do the Reindeer 5K in Southern Pines, and then the Frosty 50K in January. We're signed up to do the Uhwarrie 20 miles in February and then the Unstead Trail Marathon in March. There are a few options in April that we're considering so I know we'll do something but am not sure what yet. There's a 1/2 marathon in Cleveland on Ada's birthday weekend so that's a thought. Also in April is the 24 hour Ultra Run in VA that sounds like a lot of fun or the Bull Run Run. So many races, so little time. In May there's the Cleveland Marathon that I have my eye on and that may be my goal race and try to break 4 1/2 hours. It would be great to try to qualify for Boston but it's been awhile since I've run a road race and I think it will take some specific training to ever do that again, but this is a start. So it looks like a pretty busy spring whatever we decide to do. I'm not signing up and paying for any until I'm positive that I'm going to do it. Tate called tonight and he's been really getting into running so I'm hoping that he may want to run the half marathon in April and then maybe the half or the whole marathon in May! Wouldn't that be cool. If we go out there in December and then not again until May that is a little longer than I'd like it to be so we'll have to work on that and maybe go out in March for a quick trip.

I am very excited as I have at least 3 women who have commited to coming to the reservoir to start a walking program. I'm hoping that they can find buddies in the group for additional workouts and also to go to the upcoming 5K's. I've been trying to do this for awhile and I think it's now finally coming to fruition albeit slow. I'm hoping that most of them will gradual become interested in running and join the club but one step at a time. It'll be fun to see where this goes. It would be great if I could somehow turn it into a profitable business. It seems that so many people I meet are really looking for a champion or someone to help them get started in an exercise routine.

Time to get some rest. Hopefully I'll feel up to running at the club tomorrow. I'm really having a tough time getting back into a consistant training program again. I am pretty much injury free so I have no excuses so I better get serious!

First Health officially!

2008-11-04T21:12:00.003-05:00

I'm now officially employed at First Health with an id badge and all! I just completed a gruelling 2 day orientation that was, well, gruelling! Basically it consisted of sitting in theater like seats from 8:00 to 4:30 as streams of various departments came in to train us on the ins and outs of the hospital. Most of it did not apply to me as I'll be in the Fitness Center at the Spa and most of the employees at the orientation were nurses or worked somewhere in the medical arena. I must say however, that I am very impressed that the hospital is a really large corporation, albeit not for profit. I'm not sure when I'll actually have my first massage client but I will find out my schedule on Thursday and get the on the job training and an official job description. I pick up my scrubs tomorrow! At least I'll know what I'll be wearing to work every day.

We were in VA over the weekend and Frank did the 3rd race in the Virginia LU Series completing them all in the required time. He ran the 50 mile Mt Massochist and I must say it's named appropriately. I ran about 10 miles of the course, some with him and then a little more with Jean. That was really fun but very challenging and I think that the section I ran was some of the easier trails. It was crazy to think anyone would want to run 50 miles in those mountains! It was a long weekend but I'm glad that Frank's quest for his series jacket is done. Now he can wear it with pride. Now we're trying to determine what our future events will consist of. Frank was able to successfully get us entered in the Uhwarrie 20 mile trail run in Feb so he redeemed himself after his failed attempt at Umstead! It fill in about 30 minutes so he did good! I haven't heard who else got in that we know but I guess we'll find out this weekend at the Shirt Run.

Well, it looks like the presidental election is over for 2008. I had to stop watching it as it really doesn't look good for McCain. I had held out hope that when it came down to it, that many Obama supporters would not be able to pull the lever for Obama but it looks like I was wrong. I am very saddened to think what our future may hold. It seems so unfair that media bias and hidden truths were accepted and encouraged in order to assure a win for a liberal, leftist candidate. Perhaps he would have won anyway but we'll never know and it really seems unlikely. I do not understand how so many are so fooled by this sleezy guy. Hopefully our country can survive 4 years of liberal, leftist control. At least it's over and we can concentrate on more important things, like 2012! Just kidding. I'm electioned out and am looking forward to other issues to focus on although at this point, I'm not sure what that may be. Perhaps working on my own new presidency of the Striders Running Club although I'm getting a little discouraged with the lack of cooperation from the current officers. I've been trying to schedule a meeting to start to transition to 2009 but it's been impossible to get everyone together. (it's only 3 people including me!) I'm starting to have second thoughts about my volunteering to take it over. Anyway, I'll be able to really focus on that and hopefully move the club forward.

Keep moving!

I'm now among the employed!

2008-10-23T21:09:00.002-04:00

Well,as they say, be careful what you ask for cause you might get it. Well, I asked for and got a job. I haven't had a job since 1999 when I left AT&T so it will be a little weird. I interviewed for the job for a massage therapist at the spa in our health club exactly one month ago to the day and today they called and officially offered me the job. Looks like I've passed all the references and experience requirements. Tomorrow I go for a drug test and finish up the paperwork and then get to order my uniform, yes I'm going to wear scrubs. How attractive is that??? And to make it even better, they're beige. Pretty flashy huh?! It'll be good though and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm only scheduled to work two days a week from 2 to 6 but from what everyone has told me, I'll get all the work I want. I think it will be a good place to work and hopefully it'll get me to work out more consistantly as I'll be there already. I know a lot of people at the club so it will be really fun to be "one of them". I don't think I've ever been "one of them". Maybe I'll be able to trade for personal training!

I've been doing well with my running and have been throwing in "speedwork" so hopefully that will pay off. I still don't have my goal race picked out yet but am working on it. So many races so little time. I think about a road marathon and then I think, why would I want to do that? For now I'll just continue rebuilding my base and getting my running to a more consistant level. I am running in a 5 mile race on Saturday so it will be a good gauge as to my true fitness level. It's supposed to rain though so it may put a damper on it. (get it?) I'm hoping to break 50 but don't really see that happening but it would be a sign that I'm making good progress.

I'm supposed to go biking with a women I met at the club in a spinning class. It's supposed to rain though so I don't think it will happen. I think the thing I like best about this area is how everyone seems to know everyone and everyone is pretty friendly although some groups are clicky for sure. I'm hoping to establish a womens biking group for the more mature biker. The women at the club mentioned she would like that as well since we're not able to keep up with the speedsters anymore. I won't start that until next spring however. I take over as president of the running club in January and that will be a big job as I want to make a lot of changes to how it's being run currently. (who do I sound like?) Anyway, there is unnecessary spending and my campaign was to lower taxes. Just kidding. I do have lots of plans for the club though and I think it'll be successful. Working at the club will enable me to bring in more beginner or wannabe runners just because I'll have an opportunity to meet more of them and talk it up!

Off to bed. Got a busy day tomorrow. I'm going to try to blog daily although with my current track record it may be a little to ambitious. Stay tuned!

Catching Up

2008-10-16T18:35:00.004-04:00

I've been lax again with posting on my blog. I guess I've been busy but am not really sure with what. I have to figure out how to schedule my appointments in a more productive manner.

I did get the job at First Health FirstSpa and I'm very excited. I'll only be working two days a week and only about 4 hours each day. Not a bad gig! I'm sure I'll have to work additional hours in the future but for now, this is more than enough. I get free membership to the club and also can work out in-between clients if I have a gap! Plus, I figure that once I'm at the club it'll be easier to stay and workout. It's always hard for me to get back over there in the evening on my own but now I'll be there! No excuses now! Okay, I'm sure I can always find an excuse but it'll be harder to skip an extra workout.

My rolfing sessions are going great. I think it will really help get my body back into great condition. My posture is already better and I feel taller and am breathing better. It's great and I think everyone should do it. Unfortunately it's pretty pricy and tough to justify unless there's a real issue that needs to be fixed.

The girls are coming down this weekend to celebrate Frank's and Erin's birthday so that will be fun. Can' wait to see Ella and how much she has changed over the last month. Pictures to follow!

Tate and his girls

2008-10-09T14:19:00.000-04:00

Picasa Web Albums - Julie - New Album 10/8/08 2:47 PM
Here's a recent photo of Tate and Adalyn and Zella. Can't wait to get back to Ohio and see them again. Zella is really getting big apparently much bigger than Ada was at 2 months.

Back by popular demand

2008-10-07T18:47:00.002-04:00

It's been a little while since my last post so I need to catch up.
First, the good news/bad news. My stress test came back fine so that is good news however, I still don't know why I get out of breath walking up stairs and why my chest burns when I expend too much energy without a proper warm-up. I'm going to work on improving my endurance (if that's possible) by following the Maffetone principle which is running aerobic for substantial period of time. I've been working on it for the past few weeks and have already seen an improvement so hopefully that will be the answer.

I'm still waiting to hear about the job at the health club. I'm not sure if no news is good news, bad news or just no news. Hopefully I'll know before the week is out. If I don't get the job there, I will probably pursue renting space at the salon where I get my hair cut. I think it would be a great space and with the clientele that goes there I think I'd get more than enough business. I still would prefer to work at the health club and let them get the clients and supply the supplies. Call me lazy! Actually the best benefit would be that if I didn't have a client during my scheduled work time, I could leave the spa and go home or work out. How perfect is that!!!!!

Running is still not totally pain free. I'm still only running every other day and ended up only running the half marathon race instead of the marathon distance at a race we went to over the weekend. Frank ran the 40 miler so I had a few hours to wait around for him. Fortunately it was a beautiful day to just hangout in the sun. We both won our age groups so that was fun.

It's frustrating to not be back to pre-Umstead condition. I've done about everything I can do so now will just concentrate on not overdoing it as well strengthening it. I can't believe that this has been going on for so long but hopefully it will be a thing of the past in the not to distant future.

Gotta Run!

Heart Rate Training

2008-10-01T08:04:00.000-04:00

formationflier

A visit with Ella!

2008-09-29T13:46:00.001-04:00

Frank and I went to Colleen's yesterday and got to see Ella. It had been a few weeks since we've seen her and it's always fun to see how much she's changed. She's sitting up and rolling over and trying to crawl. Such a big world to explore. She still has those huge blue eyes that can melt your heart.

It's been a crazy couple of weeks so I need to catch up. I overdid my running last week and am now trying to figure out just how much I can do. I went to the Rolfer this morning and that was great. It was pretty uncomfortable yet I do feel much better. I also went to see my medical doctor and told him about my heart concerns and now I have to have a nuclear stress test tomorrow. I told him about the burning in my chest and that I have difficulty climbing stairs or steep hills. I just can't get enough oxygen to my big muscles. After learning about the heart disease that Toni Braxton brought to light on Dancing with the Stars, I'm convinced that I have the same disease. It's called Microvasxular Angina also known as Cardiac Syndrome X. The symptoms she had are exactly what I have. It'll be good to either rule it out or rule it in. It would be great if it is the answer and there is a treatment that will help me be able to exert myself or at least to know why I'm not able to do what I used to be able to do. It'll be interesting to say the least and I'm very excited to have the test done and find out what's going on. Dr Mercier does think that my hamstring issue is much improved and suggests that I continue to strengthen it as well as to start running some hills. Who knew. I've been avoiding hills!

Another thing going on is that I had an interview last week at First Spa at First Health, the fitness center we belong to. I wasn't sure if I wanted to work there or not but after learning more about the position and responsibilities, I really hope that I get it. I won't find out until next week so it's a little unsettling but at least it gives me some time to be more objective about it. I think I have a pretty good chance as I have experience however, I am quite a bit older than the other applicates. Which will triumph, youth and inexperience, or age with experience. We'll see! I vote for the experience factor!!!!

Okay, I guess that enough for now. Later!

ChiRunning

2008-09-22T11:59:00.000-04:00

ChiRunning

BodyMechanic Fitness

2008-09-22T08:26:00.000-04:00

BodyMechanic Fitness

_Muscle Activation Techniques_______________________________________________________________________________

2008-09-22T08:25:00.000-04:00

_______________Muscle Activation Techniques_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Turn over a new leaf and run...(and keep going)

2008-09-20T13:33:00.000-04:00

Turn over a new leaf and run...(and keep going)

Half Marathon Training Plan

2008-09-16T15:31:00.000-04:00

Half Marathon Training Plan

The Happy Big Sister

2008-09-13T12:10:00.000-04:00

Here's a cute picture of Adalyn with her new babysister Zella!

What a week it's been!

2008-09-13T11:13:00.002-04:00

It's now been over a week since my last blog and what a week it has been. Since I last blogged I have learned that it was not food poisoning as I had thought but a virus that has now run through the Davidson household. I was sick starting Wednesday morning at 1:00 AM and lasted until mid-morning. I started to feel better on Thursday although was still pretty week. Next came Ada. At around 1:00 AM on Saturday morning she got the virus as well and was vomiting etc all night. She was a trooper and bounced back really well. The wonders of youth. I felt horrible knowing that it was I who had brought this horrific virus with me. I awoke in the wee hours of the following Wednesday morning (I was scheduled to leave for home that day) again around 1:00 AM to find that now Julie was sick. It was absolutely horrendous as she had to nurse the baby every 2 to 3 hours and was vomiting and was violently sick as well. What a nightmare. I immediately knew that I had to cancel my flight to stay and help with the babies as well as Julie. Tate had been up all night as well yet needed to get to work. I took care of everything from 4:00 am on and it was incredibly difficult. The baby was hungry and Julie would try to nurse while practically asleep but her milk supplies were low due to her dehydration. I tried to feed the baby some formula however she had never used a bottle and was not happy. I did manage to get some down and it was enough to top her off for awhile so she and Julie could sleep. Julie spent the entire day in bed and I ran around like crazy taking care of everyone. All in all, it went pretty smoothly and we managed to get through it although I never want to go through anything like that again. I was now scheduled to return home Friday and although it was touch and go for awhile, I was able to leave them knowing that they were through the worst of it. Fortunately Tate never got sick so that was a blessing. I'm beginning to think it is a girl thing.

I arrived back home last night and practically cried I was so happy to be back. Thank God Frank is so helpful and not helpless at home. I returned to a clean house and no surprises or messes. It was probably neater or at least as neat as when I left. Chico was soooo HAPPY to see me as well and he was beside himself. He kept jumping up in my lap and kissing me over and over. He finally has gotten back to a normal quiet life of being grateful that is pack is back in tack!!!

I never did end up running the 1/2 marathon last week. Good thing. I did get out for a run but was still feeling run down after being sick. I ended up running twice while there so I was disappointed with that and am further behind in my comeback than I could have imagined. I did notice that my butt was rearing it's ugly head after my 10 mile run so that may be too much to try to do until I rebuild my stamina. I have to rethink my goals!

Today I'm still pretty tired so I decided to allow my body to recover one more day. It's just good to be home and to get back to some normalcy. Maybe I'll try to swim this afternoon just to do something. I am running tomorrow with two beginners at the reservoir. I hope I can keep up with them! We'll be doing a couple of loops around the lake and then I hope to be able to run another loop or two after that on my own. I think I'll shoot for about 8 miles and will build gradually from there. How many times do I "begin again?". Oh well, it is what it is.

This week will be about catch up as I had to cancel several appointments last week. I need to be sure to pace myself and allow time for my workouts. Slow and steady is my motto. Gotta Run!

The best laid plans!

2008-09-05T15:32:00.003-04:00

It's Friday afternoon and I'm in Cleveland visiting Tate and his family. I arrived on Tuesday and apparantly got a case of food poisoning that night. I was up all night with extreme vomiting and diarrhea. I know,. TMI! Wednesday was a total loss and all I did was sleep. I couldn't eat or do much of anything. I felt like such a burden. I come to help with the new baby and end up creating more work for everyone. I started feeling better yesterday and went to pre-school with Ada for her first day. She was very excited and photos will follow. It's been really hot here and was too hot for me to sleep in the attic as planned. I ended up sleeping on the couch which is not a bed, need I say more. It's been raining today and really cooled off so I should be able to sleep in the attic for the rest of my visit.
I had planned on taking Ada to a kid's run tomorrow and then going to a half marathon on Sunday however, it doesn't look like it's going to work out. It's supposed to rain tomorrow and Ada doesn't get up early enough to make the race without a great deal of duress. The kiddie race starts at 8:15 and that is pretty early to get everything and everyone together. The half marathon is much further away than I thought and I can't pick up the race packet at the start. I'd have to pick it up tonight and it's a drive from here so I don't think I'll be able to get it. Oh well, at least I should be able to get a good run in anyway. Now I'll be able to run in the morning as well as Sunday so maybe it'll be better anyway. I think I'm pretty much recovered from my bout with food poisoning and should be able to get a good run in.

Growing up fast!

2008-09-01T19:41:00.001-04:00

Ella came to visit us yesterday and is really getting big. She has huge blue eyes and is quite the beauty. Looks like she's going to be one of the few lucky girls that get blue eyes and dark hair. Colleen calls here Snow White. What a cutey! Erin and Josh came over as well so it was fun to have them all here. I really have to work on my picture taking as I seem to take lots of pictures but most of them are not very good. I'll just have to keep practicing. One of these days I'll get it right!

We had a very busy weekend and now I'm getting ready to leave for Cleveland and meet our newest granddaughter, Zella. I'm very excited to meet her and spend some time with her as well as my little Adalyn. How fun is that! I hope the Chico and Frank can survive without me for 10 days! I'm sure they'll be fine although Chico may be a little freaked out and will probably spend the whole time looking for me.

I ran 10 with Chris on Saturday and opted out of the 25 mile bike ride that I was going to do after the run. It was extremely hot and humid and I was whipped after the 10. I deep forgetting that I'm 57! The course we did was part of the Boogie 50 mile run and it's very hilly. I can't imagine doing it 5 times!!!

On Sunday I had my first beginner runner join the group. It was a lot of fun and I'm really looking forward to starting my beginner group which will officially kick off after I get back from Ohio. I was voted in yesterday as the President Elect (VP) and will become President of the club on January 1, 2009. I'm very excited about it as I have many ideas for the club. They've had problems in the past getting runners to come out to run with them as they have the reputation of being too fast. Now with me around that reputation will be erased!

Today Frank and I met with Chris and biked the Tour De Moore bike ride. We only did the 50 but it was pretty challenging but fun. The weather was perfect which was a pleasant surprise after the past few days of July like heat and humidity. We really lucked out.

I'm just about packed to go to Cleveland. Next Sunday I'm running a half-marathon. It will be a good gauge to see just how fit or unfit I am after months of not running. My goal is to run it under 2:30 but will be happy just to finish.

Better go and get ready for the big trip!

Time does fly!

2008-08-28T21:52:00.002-04:00

I can't believe how time just has a way of getting away. The week has flown by and I don't feel like I've done very much. It took a few days to recover from my trip to Raleigh to stay with Colleen's dogs. Between not being able to sleep and my allergies to the dogs and cat, I was a mess. Hopefully all will be normal soon. Last week we had the Olympics and this week the Convention. We get so hooked on the hoopla so I guess the media has done it's job. I'll be in Cleveland next week so I'm not sure how much of the Republican Convention I'll get to see. I'm curious to see how the media coverage will compare. Oh well, the election will come and go before we know it.
I went to see the Rolfer yesterday and am still very happy with what it's doing for me. I can't wait to go again when I get back from Ohio. Every visit I feel looser and looser! (is that a word?)
We have a busy weekend again. Saturday I'm going to Ellerbe to meet Chris to run 10 miles (the Boogie course) and then we're going to bike 25. That should be quite the workout. Sunday I'll be meeting the club at the reservoir and we're starting a beginners running group. It'll be fun to coach them along to help them meet their goals. On Sunday afternoon Colleen and Erin will be down for a cookout so that will be fun. I can't wait to see how Ella is doing. Monday we're doing a 50 mile bike ride which will be the furthest I've biked in several years. Hope I can do it. It's pretty hilly from what I hear. Tuesday I leave for Ohio to meet Miss Zella. Can't wait to meet her. Better get to bed. I've got a busy next few days!

What a beautiful family!

2008-08-22T16:45:00.003-04:00

Here's a couple more pictures of Zella and her new family. Looks like my little Miss Adalyn will be a great helper. Can't wait to meet her!

Here's Zella!

2008-08-20T14:21:00.003-04:00

Here's a pic of Zella and Ada and Tate and also Julie with a sleeping Zella. She was born yesterday, 8/19/08 weighing in at 7lbs 14oz. Can't wait to see her in a couple of weeks.

Weekend Update!

2008-08-17T19:32:00.002-04:00

It was a pretty busy but fun weekend. Saturday we got up early and went to a bike ride in Carthage that benefited Special Forces. Our SF friend, Col Lt Fred Dummer and his wife Susan (better known as Mr and Mrs. Doom) were there as well as my new friend Susan that I met at the reservoir. After the ride and a couple of hours of hanging out with everyone, we came home and watched the Olympics which was a little frustrating as our DVR Cable Box keeps rebooting. We got through most of the major events without missing too much. This morniing (Sunday) we got up early again to meet the Striders at 7:00 for a run. Frank ended up running with the group and it sounds like he had a good time. He's turning into a real chatty Cathy! I ran with my new friend Susan (the one mentioned above) and it was great. She's really easy to run with and didn't seem to mind my continual run/walk routine. We did okay all things considered and ran about 9 1/2 miles in 2 hours. It's the farthest I've run in awhile so I was pleased. No pain except that after I was done, my glutes felt a little tight but that is to be expected. It started to rain while we were out there so when we got home it was nice to drink a coffee, eat breakfast and watch more Olympics! Later we went over to the gym. Frank wanted to lift weights and I decided to swim. Michael Phelps is so inspiring. After that we came home and yes watched more Olympics!
We did sign up for the New River 50K that is scheduled for Oct 11 so that's a good goal race to work towards. We're still up in the air about Triple Lakes the week before New River. They have a 1/2 marathon this year as well as the marathon and 40 miler so if we do it I may sign up for just the 1/2 marathon as it'll only be one week after Hinson Lake and I hope to do at least 50 there and one week before New River! I sure hope my body holds up and continues to cooperate with all my goals!
I am also thinking very seriously about running the Myrtle Beach Marathon in February. Several of the Mangum Track Club as well as Striders do that race every year and love it. We haven't done a road marathon for several years but it might be fun so I think I'll set my sights on that one. I'd love to qualify for Boston but I don't really see that happening but never say never. I need a 4:15 although my stretch goal at this point will be to come in under 4:30 but in all probability it'll be more like a 5 hour marathon???? There's a bike ride the following day which I think would be really cool (literally), and I am hoping to do that as well. Think I'm geting ahead of myself? I love planning and scheduling. It's the actually doing these things that I often fall short of but a girl can dream! I'm thinking about doing the 30 mile bike ride??? Anyway, that's the thought of the day. That's what happens when you sit around for a couple of hours after a bike ride with running friends and talk about all the races and events that you'd like to do. Anyway, the door is open for thought!
My "massage interview" has been postponed for a few days as the owner has some medical issues. Hopefully it'll happen next week if it doesn't work out for this week as we're leaving for Colleen's on Wednesday. I'm really excited to start work on the new salon as I think it will be a great opportunity. I had another call from a Strider for a massage so if this keeps up I'll be able to bring some clients to the new place. (unless they prefer coming to the house) It's nice to have them come to the house but I do have to put all my weights and workout stuff away which is a pain but not a big deal. When they come here I don't have to pay the salon a percentage so financially it's a better deal as well.
I volunteered to be the President Elect of the Striders running group. Yes, I did it again!!!! I said I'd never do that again and here I go, both feet in pretty deep. I'm actually very excited about assuming this role as I'd love to see the club expand to a club for all levels. It's mostly consisted of young fast runners with a few others who try to hang on and everyone else that wanted to join them, just got discouraged and didn't come back. I'm on a mission to really attract all levels, especially new runners. I've already approached a couple of women that were walking at the reservoir to ask if they'd like to join a beginner running group and they were very excited. It seems that by stretching out a little bit, I'm finally meeting more people that are more like me. I was concerned at times as it seemed that most of the people we met we either too old or too young for us to have much in common with. I'm really getting to know quite a few people around here and it's going to be great. I think we'll be able to really feel like a part of a community now. It seems that we see someone that we know or at least have met, whenever we go anywhere. I guess that's part of the allure of living in such a small community. I'm starting to really love it here. I was beginning to think that I wouldn't really enjoy living here until I was about 65 or so (the median age) but now I'm finding there are active middle age adults as well and I can ever keep up with some of the younger ones as well. Life is good! Now it's time to go watch more Olympics! See ya!

Sleeping Beauties

2008-08-14T08:11:00.000-04:00

Looks like the boys are pretty comfy and have left no room for me!

Another job interview?

2008-08-13T16:02:00.002-04:00

Yes, I interviewed for yet another massage therapy position. Since the initial calls I had after the advertising for the Salon in Pinehurst, I haven't had any additional calls and I have not attempted to advertise further as the room is less than ideal. It is very small, and noisy and a little messy as well. I really wasn't comfortable there but wanted to give it a try. I will still continue to be available to work there if requested by one of the salon's clients but will not attempt to build my base there. The couple of clients that I did meet there are now coming to the house for their massages as they live in the same development as we do. That works out great for them as well as me. Frank and Chico don't seem to mind too much being relocated to the den. I decided to contact a spa/salon that currently offers massage to see if they might be looking for a part-time therapist. Another Bingo on my first call! The salon is called Donna Lane and is in Southern Pines and they are looking for a part-time massage therapist. One of the therapists that works there just went on maternity leave and the other one only works one day a week so at this time, Monday through Thursday are available until the other therapist returns so I'll be able to work pretty much as much as I want. Once the other therapist returns, we will work out days and hours available. The place is beautiful and very soothing and quiet. I met with the owner today and really liked her. I can work on commission as an independent contractor which is what I prefer so that is great. I'm going to give her a massage on Monday to make sure she likes my massage and then we'll work out the details. The salon is located in downtown Southern Pines in an area called The Courtyard and is very cute. It's a great location and I'm very excited to have the opportunity to work there. I hope it works out but I know it will.
Now an update on my recovery and running efforts. I went to the Rolfer again yesterday and must admit, I think I'm addicted to the sessions! I feel so loose and light and energetic after a session that I want more. Yesterday he worked my feet, ankles, shins, calves, quads, hamstrings and abdominal area. Wow! It was a "little" uncomfortable in several areas, but that is temporary and certainly worth it. I wanted to try out my new legs and feet today so I went to the reservoir to run in spite of the fact that it was raining cats and dogs. The weather is very unusual for this area as it has been raining all day and very cool (in the 70s!) I had to get out in the cooler temperatures, rain or not. Frank went as well and we ran for 2 hours. I felt the best that I've felt in a long time and am very encouraged about that. I do feel that the worst is behind me and soon will be a distant memory. My legs felt light like they wanted to fly. (although my flying days are over) I will probably not run tomorrow after doing 8 today but will bike and then run again on Friday and then the organized bike ride is on Saturday and then hopefully a long run on Sunday. (2 to 3 hours!)
Time to hit the weights as I've been slacking off all week. Off to the dumbbells!

Volunteering at the Jimmy V Golf Classic

2008-08-11T10:25:00.001-04:00

Here we are at the Jimmy V Celebrity Golf Tournament. We were volunteering as course marshalls and it was pretty cool although not too many celebs that we recognized but all in all it was fun. The fun continues tonight as we're being bused to Raleigh to attend a volunteer party. Volunteering has a lot of perks for sure!
I did get a little run in this morning and felt okay, certainly better than on Saturday. I ended up running around the house on the roads and it was nice. I realize that we really need to get out on the bikes and bike around here and really check out the area. I got turned around (no surprise there) and had to ask someone for the best way back. Turns out the women I asked is a friend of a client that is coming for a massage today! Small world.