I decided that I'm more accountable for my speedwork when I force myself to do it on a treadmill. So, I avoided the wet track today. (yes, I got on the dreadmill for some speed. You read it right!) It was only 4.14 miles total. I ran a 1 mile warm up, then took off for .25, walked .25, alternating until I reached the 4 mile point. I almost got to a point where I was tasting my lunch. Ugh!

I didn't even notice the time when I got off but I think it was around 45 mins. I was too delirious! The guy next to me was trying to mimmick what I was doing. Why is that always so obvious?! ha! He was cute & single so I didn't point out that even when I walked, he couldn't catch me. (Yeah, I'm evil!)

My left knee is sore today, mostly above the knee. It will get lots of rest over the next few days because I'm only planning one quick 4-5 miler while I'm gone and I'm wondering when I'll get that in...

I dropped my Mercedes registration form in the mail today because I refuse to pay the active.com fees when I can avoid it. If the knee gives me lots of pain in Jan, I'll be doing the 1/2 & I'll just have to get over it. :P

I also did about 40 mins on the elliptical, 15 mins bike, some light leg & arm weights. I'm tired of being pale so for the first time in a VERY long time, I did the tanning bed. I really need to check into the spray tan thing. That supposedly lasts about 4-6 weeks.

Heard Peyton is only playing the first half of Sunday night's game. :)

I didn't sleep well & I think I was just apprehensive about having only 2 days to regroup before taking off for Indy (Go Titans!). I finally got out around 10am for 12. At about mile 6, I realized I didn't eat enough. I had an orange, water, and one enduralyte pill. So, I could have stopped at 6 or 7 & gone home to eat but I didn't. I had 12 miles on my mind. I probably should have waited till tomorrow to do it but oh well... I did every hill I could find out near the country club, then 2 loops around Macon, & then went into Tara for one loop. I should have gone to the car instead of Tara. At mile 9, I was literally out of energy. I started taking short walk breaks. I was so mad at myself but being stubborn, I decided to log 12 somehow. (2:11:46 for 12.05 miles) Oh well, I'll take it under these circumstances. :P
I later hit the gym for 1 hr on the elliptical, yoga ball crunches, & stretching. I feel much better now.

I mailed off the Tom King 1/2 registration form but could not find where I printed off the Mercedes form. I'll have to get that in the mail tomorrow. Yes, I'm signing up for the full but if my left knee gives me problems in January, I'll downgrade to the 1/2.

Again, I recommend the book, "Marathon Woman" by Kathrine Switzer. She is my new hero. It is because of her that women are allowed to run marathons. She's led a pretty amazing life. I had to laugh when she wrote that her 1st husband, Tom, referred to himself as a "natural athlete". He had a HUGE ego & he kept telling her that he was the athlete, not her. If anyone reading this knows my history with Tom Frederick, you are laughing as you read this because he told me on more than one occasion that he's a "natural athlete". It was me that got him to do the Staggerwing Du & the Mach Tenn Tri several years ago. I got him off his couch but he'd never admit it, just like he'd never admit bringing his new girlfriend to the Staggerwing this year was nothing more than an ego trip for himself. As Garth Brooks has said, "Thank God for unanswered prayers." :)

I just pulled out 2 Titans pom poms, 2 Titans flags, my D'Mase jersey (Derek Mason), my old UT Peyton jersey, & my Longhorns VY jersey for our game on Sunday at the RCA dome. We are going to try our best to get on TV. I think we'll make a sign that says, "Cut us some slack, Peyton!" I'm already getting pumped! This is my 1st Titans away game & the playoffs hinge on the Titans winning. The Colts are already in with a bye week, I believe. Anyway, the unthinkable could happen, you just never know.....it sure happened in Dec '06 with a 60 yrd field goal, baby! :)

The boys avoiding my camera in the car. :P

I was determined that once the "hoopla" died down, I'd get out for a minimum 5 miles this morning. It's just too nice here weatherwise & these hills were calling. It was slow since my legs are still in shock from the 10.53 miles on the hills yesterday. I may try to squeak in 3 in the morning. I don't have to be at the airport until 1:30pm but I won't hold myself to it. All my laundry is done and pretty much packed. It's been nice being with family that I don't see often. Seeing my sis, her husband, Mark (he's doing Disney's marathon SOON!), Austin, Avery, Toby (beagle #1), & Ava (beagle #2). We have been eating and vegging out most of the day today, which is nice. The neighbors keep bringing cookies and one lady brought over some Phillipino food. I'm tired of eating. :( My biggest problem has been the cookies. Mark had made some delicious sugar cookies last week that I sampled the first night/day I was here and then here comes more in the door. If people bring a bunch of cookies over to Hannah's sister's house during the time we are in Indy, I'm going to lock myself in a bathroom. ha!

I've been so blessed this year and I've blessed myself with a lot of things, too. ha! Traveling some, buying the 305 garmin finally, and I got myself a Garmin 330 GPS system for my car. I cannot wait to use it. (I got mine at Walmart for $178) I also bought Kathrine Switzer's book after reading about how much David liked it on his blog. I can hardly put down, "Marathon Woman". She is amazing!

This subdivision has a theme in it. "Race Horses" Apparently, you have to be a race horse to run fast in it on these hills. I'm not griping because I needed these hills but dang!!!! I did a slow 10.53 miles this morning at a 10:19 pace. Those of you who know that I can run faster than that have to know that the hills slowed me down. I went up "Admiral's Way" hill so many times that I lost count. I even went out to the access road that runs along I35. It's hilly. Every street in this neighborhood is hilly but I did it. My goal for today was 10 no matter what the pace and I went over that. I'm hoping to get out tomorrow and maybe Wed morning. Going to see how the left knee feels.

The 27th or the 28th, I am planning on at least 12 miles. I'd like to hit an Abs class on the 27th if it fits into my schedule.

Titans won yesterday. Yippee!

Merry Christmas Eve :)

Ok, I'm a dork. It was Avery Johnson. The Spurs retired his #6 jersey last night. GREAT game! Spurs won 99-90 against the LA Clippers. (Pics to come later) I have to admit, it was more fun than a Preds game but I'm still a football fanatic for the record. Tony Parker (no Eva Longoria sighting) played but Tim Duncan outshined him big time with something like 34 pts! It was nice having Deb give me the run down on everything from the history of the Spurs to the fact the my nephew is actually named Avery because she really liked Avery Johnson's name. ha! Thanks for the last minute tickets to the game, Mark! (This week NBA Champions next week Super Bowl Champions)

Needless to say, we got to bed late & got up early for church. Church was cool. I can honestly say I've never been to a church where there are 2 guitar players & someone on drums. Just awesome!

Tonight, I think we are going to try to catch a movie, maybe "Fred Claus".
I hope to be in bed earlier than the last 3 nights. :P

I decided to stretch & do some pilates moves when we got home this afternoon. No running today, just dog walking! I don't feel like having to take a 2nd shower for dinner tonight! ha! Plus my knee seems to be telling me that yesterday's fight on the hills in the wind earned it a rest day. Tomorrow morning, the plan is for a solid 10 miles as soon as I get up. I'm leaving a water bottle in the front yard. It's cooled down here a little, thank goodness.

I got here around 10m Thur night, got to bed late 2 nights in a row so I'm out of my routine. :P I'm having fun with the nephews, the beagles, etc... The boys have grown so much & I'll dump photos here when I'm back in TN.

I'll keep this brief. Yesterday was a very slow 5.04 miles with an out of shape 36 lb beagle but he hung tough. He refused to run with me today on my last 2 miles! ha! We ate on the Riverwalk & did some shopping. It was 77 or 78 degrees.

Today, I ran 7.31 miles fighting headwinds & long slow uphills. Trust me the wind did not help me at all. It's bad enough when you haven't hill trained in many months but to do it in headwinds just added extra resistance but I'm glad I did it!! Toby, the 36 lb beagle, would have none of it! ha! My pace was only 10:25 but that included stopping for water, wrestling with my shirt & headseat for approx 2-3 mins. I had to come out of my shirt despite the wind. Hills heat me up quicker than anything & I should have known better. I'm going to hit them as much as I can until I leave.

I'm hoping that by tomorrow evening or Monday morning that I can get out for 10 miles.

Tonight, we are going to a Spurs game. They are retiring an ex players jersey, Avery "Something". ha! My youngest nephew is named after him.

Go Spurs!!!!

...2 dr's appts, oil change/tire rotation, renewed car tags, quick trip to walmart pharmacy, last min shopping, last min packing, & I'm on my way to Nashville SOON!

Breathe, breathe, breathe.......

Confession 1: I conned the MIS Dept out of a piece of fudge pie yesterday.
Confession 2: I invaded the Engineering Dept's Christmas lunch today.
Confession 3: I ate over 1/2 of a Myrtle (like a turtle) that Patti sent from the candy store in Waterford, MI with my Christmas present tonight.

I did 1 hr on the elliptical machine & some crunches. I had to hurry so I could give Dylan his Christmas money & visit with my sister. (The one in T-town)

Tomorrow is NOT looking good for a run. I scheduled an oil change & tire rotation during the time I thought I would run. So, I'll play it by ear. I refuse to get up early since I'll be landing at 10pm & probably up late!
I'm EXCITED!! I fly the big bird to San Antonio 2morrow. I can't wait to chase down 2 nephews & 2 beagles. :)

I could not face going out East area alone after work so I hit THS again. I managed to do about 5 out of the 6.28 miles on asphalt. I kept looking at the track. The round & round merry go round track just wasn't calling my name. I wasted 30+ seconds coming out of some clothes. I got overheated. Dodging the cars coming in for the basketball game was getting annoying so I stopped at 6:28 (9:43 SLOW pace overall). If it had been daylight I would have gone somewhere else & ran much faster. I felt great! 30 mins on the elliptical, some stretching, & yoga ball crunches finished me off.

Tomorrow: my last chiro/massage appt for the year-I'll cross train for an hour afterwards.
My Tullahoma nephew, Dylan, is coming over at 8pm for his Christmas money from Aunt Lisa.
He's 13 so I can no longer buy anything for the kid!

Thurs: Dr's appt at 9am then I'm going to run at least 5 miles and do some serious stretching. I need to finish up packing & head out the door by 3pm for Nashville.

Friday: it's supposed to be something like 77 degrees in San Antonio. I'm going to run naked in my sister's gated neighborhood. :P

It took me almost 3 miles to get my legs warmed up but I somehow managed to push my pace down the last 2.2 of my 5.2 miles (9:17 pace) on the THS track. The last mile was around the parking lots & school. I felt the need to burn more calories & stretch my legs on the elliptical so I spent an hour on that. It feel good!!

Tomorrow, I may attempt somewhere between 6 - 8 miles, not real sure yet. I'm going on how I feel right now. I believe my sister's neighborhood is runner friendly, plus I do know that they have some sort of trail near the house. Right now, I'm WAY over what I wanted for the year in mileage so I'm not pushing myself too much but the thoughts of Mercedes are not totally gone. :)

I will be getting new shoes in January, that's a given. I'd like to get in at least a 17 miler mid-January & then the Bongo to Bongo 14 mile training run. That should be enough to give me the confidence for a Feb marathon. Who knows.......so hard to predict anymore.

I reserved our room for 2 nights for the CMM. Patti & I will be there Thur night for the Bon Jovi concert so we may pick our race packets up Thur afternoon & then go back to shop the next day. We are staying at the Ramada right next to LP Field. Amazingly enough it's not filled yet & the rate was better than I thought it would be $269 taxes & all for 2 nights. That's not too bad since we're splitting it. After the 1/2 on the 26th, we'll shower & rest at my Aunt's house, which is 10 mins from downtown. Two concerts & a half marathon all in one weekend!

.........I just had to post that I ran almost 10 miles tonight. I started out at the THS track running 4 miles before Reiko joined. We took off down Jackson slowly. (hey, she needed a tour of downtown Tullahoma) We ran from the THS parking lot down to the Walmart parking lot and then back up to Dillards for a potty break. We headed to what I call the "damn bar district" and circled in front of "Fast Jacks" and then back down to THS. I ended up with 9.9 exactly and she ended up with a little over 5, I think... Sure, our pace was slow (just under 11 min miles) but hey, it's been 5 days since I ran RC so this to me was a sure sign that I might be ok now. The left knee never hurt but I can still feel my legs are not 100%. I'm glad I blew off my planned cross training. It felt good to run in the cool evening. Tomorrow, Rest, and depending on the weather....the plan is for 5+ miles & pilates on Sat.

Saw the photo from RC. Again, I look like a 200 lb woman running but let me assure you, I weighed at the gym last night at 128 lbs. Granted I need to get below 125 but I'm sure a lot of this is salt/water retention. I have been eating so much salt this week. I ate 80% of a full bag of popcorn last night for dinner while talking to cousin, Patti, on the phone. I wanted to lick the bag, actually.

Got an exciting phonecall from Eddie in NYC yesterday. What a sweet guy! I envy a person who lives in an atmosphere where you would probably NEVER get bored. He has an amazing life. I really hope we meet face to face one day. I hope I meet him on my next visit to NYC!

Last night, I decided to go ahead and make the committment to do the Birmingham Mercedes marathon if everyone else is in... If nobody else dives in, I'll stick to my 1/2 plan. :) I figure if I start having problems, I could always downgrade to the 1/2 anyway. Terry Q. has done it 2X and really liked it even though it's not a PR course. Hills! So, with proper warm ups, I plan to tackle some hills in the near future. (I reserved a room for $112 w/tax for Feb 9th @ the Redmont, thanks for the info, Michele)

FYI, Wayne informed me that he did RC in 4:54 in '05. I guess '05 was a good year for him because I believe that's when he did Chicago in 4:49, which is his marathon PR. If he reads this, he'll correct me if I'm wrong. ha!

Last night:
1 hr 5 mins elliptical
40 mins bike
stretched but probably not enough

Tonight:
elliptical, light leg weights, crunches, and tons of stretching.

We are due for a cool down big time with the weather. If it's not raining Sat morning, I plan to get out for 5-6 miles and then jump into Carla's Pilates class before heading to Murf. If I can't get outside Sat, then I will definitely run on Sunday. The packing for Texas has got to start on Sunday afternoon. I hope my brother in law runs with me while I'm there, otherwise, it's me and a nephew riding beside me on a bike, I'm sure. :)

Rollin had to postpone so I met Greg in Murfreesboro after Kirby and the chiropractor had their way with me. My back would not crack hardly at all. I'm stiff as a board but my neck cracked big time. I do feel better.

Don Pablos cheese dip must have crack in it. I inhaled it along with 3 bowls of chips. I'm almost embarrassed to admit that. Greg, are you still brushing the chips off your lap that flew off my face? Yikes! ha! Thanks for the margarita and company.

William is turning into a machine. He has the addiction now. :)
He's completed 3-5k races in ONE week and won 2 age graded awards!
(Do not get injured!)

I'm going to be a bragging aunt right now. My 12 yr old nephew made the middle school basketball team. 80 kids tried out and they narrowed it down to 25 for the team.
Way to go Austin Jay!!!!
Avery, my 9 yr old nephew, wants to take me to a huge Pizza place where they have rides inside the building. He wants me to get into a race car. ha! Too funny! I cannot wait to get to San Antonio to see them and Toby, the beagle. (of course Deb & Mark, too)

I will most likely hit the gym if R doesn't make it in. I really need to work out the kinks. Saturday, I need to try to test the legs with a slow 5-6 miles and I'd like to do Carla's pilates class, too. My hip still does NOT hurt. My knee isn't aching but it feel like it's "out of sorts". Almost like it needs to be adjusted. I hope that it's in recovery mode and I'm being overly aware of it.

I'm sitting at my desk in my long dress shorts that I would normally wear in late Sept/early Oct. It's Dec 10th! This flip flop weather not only affects my ability to run efficiently but it makes my sinus cavities hurt. :( You know, if we had the weather we had on Sat back in Sept when we ran the Murf 1/2 we probably would have been much better off in that race. It's a mind thing and my mind was telling me that Sat should have been much cooler because it is afterall December. Not 100000% humidity and 61 degrees at 8am.

FYI, the Expo for RC was awesome as usual. Saucony bought out Hind so I was excited to see my favorite Hind shorts on sale for $9.99. I grabbed Carla a pair also. I love those shorts because they are paper thin and they fit short gals like myself and Carla really well. :)

Noticed that the Huntsville Track Club site is posting our gun times. Sure, go ahead, take those precious seconds away from the public eye that I earned via my chip! ha!

Aside from the weather, I've been thinking today of what all I did wrong this fall. Not stretching before I run hurt my bursa tissue (or that was just a freak injury). We all know that running in the cold can lead to pulled ham strings and other muscles without a proper warm up. I need to train myself to start out slower during the cooler months. I need more stretching before I run.

I try very hard to go downstairs during work to use the bathroom down there and I stretch there also. By the time I get away from my desk @ 5pm, I'm usually so anxious to get started, I jump out of the car and take off...usually forgetting to stretch a little and forgetting my pepper spray. TWO things that I should never forget since I run alone about 75% of the time.

As I type this I notice that I have no pain in my hip (bursa). My quads are making up for it, though. I plan to test my legs Sat morning. As the saying goes, "Time will tell." If all goes well, I'm definitely going to set my sights on another race in the next month. It's a part of my natural instincts to plan all the time. I'm a "planner" and if I don't know what I'm going to be doing in the not so distant future, then I'm not happy. I realized this a very long time ago so I'm going to view the Strider's calendar and come up with some "planned" races. Short Races for the next month. I have only 1/2's to contend with in the Spring. No marathons! As soon as I have some time at home to regroup, I'm going to check out the NYC marathon site and get my stuff in the mail as soon as they start taking applications. This is my ONLY "planned" marathon. If I don't get in for '08 then it's just not meant for me to cover 26.2 miles all in one day next year. My brother in law sent me a link for San Antonio's marathon/half marathon. I might consider it if I don't get into NYC. (but I'll only do the half) I believe it's Nov 17th, but not sure.

As for other things in my life. I have a lot going on, choices to make, and many plans.
For instance, I'm a going back to NYC and after watching the travel channel on cruises, I may plan a cruise in the not so distant future.

I still think the striders need to have a "singles" run or link on the site.
There are not enough single guys out there running, apparently. ha!

New Years Resolutions are on my mind and I've already blogged a few.
My main thing right now is to heal and forget about another bad '07 race.
#8 is history! :) The Urban 10k will be my only "happy race" in '07.

Now on to more planning on other things..... :)

Weather: 61 degrees at 8am and humidity that you could cut with a knife. I knew I would be in trouble because I had backed off training because of the hip issues. Who would have thought that the weather for the 4th time this year would bring me to my knees at a race in Dec. CMM was hotter than hell, Murf 1/2 sucked the life out of me, & Music City 1/2 was just plain disappointing in Oct even though I did win my age range. (It's all in who shows up!) It's insane when you are pouring water over your head during a Dec marathon! I was wearing the least amount of clothing allowed and was burning up by mile 14. We had some misting rain early on that felt good, though. Just freakish!

No PRs, except for Chuck H.: Chuck, I'm trying not to hate you, ok. Mr. 44 yr old clydesdale that ran a 3:25 BQ for 2009!!! Seriously, congrats to you. You obviously have the genes, training, & focus. Lana & Michele, it will come one day, (the sub 4 marathon). It will sneak up on you when you aren't expecting it and probably with less training. The humidity got to you both just like so many others. Wayne, you have a new RC PR. I was hoping you'd get a new marathon PR and if the weather had cooperated, you would have had it in the bag. Thank you for pushing & pulling me into mile 22. I would have walked a lot more if you had not been there to speed up to me and give me our pace.

Hip & knees: My hip decided to behave but I'll know if it's getting well when I sit on it for 8+ hrs on Monday. Thank God, I have a chiropractor/massage appt after work. My left knee started aching around mile 6. I basically walked/jogged slowly the last 6 miles of the marathon. Wayne & I had a 4:30 pace going for a very long time and when we fell off that, we set our sights on 4:45, but then my knee decided to start screaming at me of all things. Like I said, I'm glad number 8 is history and I will NOT be doing this marathon next year. If I don't get into the NYC marathon next year, I will NOT be doing any marathons at all next year. I plan to let my body repair and to work on speed. I'd love to work on getting a new PR in the much shorter races. What a concept! Today was 4:54:something for me. Not my worst but definitely not my best.

Tomorrow: the Chargers come to LP Field. Hannah & I are in the club. There are a couple of hot chocolates with baileys with my name on them. I'm drinking!!!

Monday: Cross train
Tues: Cross train
Wed: Cross train
Thur: ?
Friday: Rest
Sat: Depending on how I feel, I will test the legs, the left knee, and the left hip. The left side of my body really bites it right now! :(

While driving into work I thought about the last 7 marathons & what I did to prepare. I know this post is probably redundant but I had to analyze once I got here once again for my brain to start working this cold morning.

'04 Dec-RC-5:04 (or 5:06?) plantar fasctittis kept me from running more than an hour straight that fall. It's a wonder I finished with that time.

'05 Apr-CMM-4:23:46 No long runs over 17 miles & only one at that. How did I do that? :(

'05 Dec-RC-4:44 No injuries just laziness that fall. I think I did it for the tech shirt & to fight the winter fatty feelings.

'06 Apr-CMM-4:17:11 Long, hard tempos in Winchester with Michelle Hawkersmith. Boy, do I miss her!

'06 Nov-Chickamauga-4:59 Shin splints had plagued me for a month or longer. Ran with left shin wrapped. STUPID!

'06 Dec-RC-4:57 Ran it without a lot of the weekly runs that I need so desperately & the left shin was still bothering me.

'07 CMM-4:36 Despite running a lot more & being injury free, the heat got me & for the 1st time ever I used a porta pottie during a race!

My assessment is that I need to do more tempo runs & speedwork, DUH!! I believe alternating weekends with the long runs might help keep the injuries away. Doing a LONG run every single weekend really puts a dent into my social life. Ok, laugh with me! When I ran with Michelle H. in the winter/spring of '06, we built up gradually & threw in a few weekends where we cut it short. Keeping a good 1/2 marathon base year round is the key, I think also.

Did almost 2 hrs of crosstraining last night & stretched the DEVIL out of my legs & hips.
Tonight, I'm gathering everything together to load in the car first thing in the morning. I'm leaving from work at 2:30 which should put me at the host hotel by 4:15 at the latest. I've heard the pasta dinner may sell out. If it does, then I'll have to leave & find something somewhere else & bring it back to the room. I just want to veg out anyway when I get there.

Good luck, Chuck H. on your 3:30! See ya there. I hope to finally see Paul C. sometime after the race, you UT Vol maniac, you! And the gals who've worked the hardest, Lana & Michele, "just do it". If I'm able to find you & ask, you know the first words out of my mouth will be, "Did you do it?!" Holly, thanks for coming down to cheer. When you do the CMM Full in April, we'll be there for you!

Also, good luck to Tom L., Joe B., & Kellie A.
Wayne S., you are bound to go well under 5 this time, I can feel it. Thanks for the ONE 20 miler that I did do this Fall. Without you, I would NOT have got up that early to do it.
I'll text everyone as soon as I get to my phone. I want #8 done!

I had an very cold, but enjoyable 6 miler with Carla in her neighborhood. I was a little underdressed for once. (shoulda worn gloves) We entered into a newer part of her neighborhood & went down to West & back. I had trouble with the Garmin in the dark so I'm not sure of the time but I'm guessing a 9:40 pace for 6 because she did drive it before we ran. It's always fun to take an easy run and just chat & catch up. Thanks Carla!

Tonight, I'm going to cross train, elliptical 1 hr 5 mins, crunches, light arm & some light leg weights. I plan to stretch quite a bit, especially the hips! Thurs, get ready for Huntsville because when I leave work @ 2:30 friday, I'm heading straight down. Confirmed my reservation at the host hotel. No late check out! I hope that changes when I get there. The hotel is full both nights so they'll be rushing the friday night only people out, I'm sure. I really wanted a shower to be presentable when I got back to Tullahoma for a Christmas party but oh well... My main goal is just to finish the race in one piece so I'm not sweating the small stuff right now. :)

Ran 6.5 Tues night at a 9:55 pace. The first 3 miles I felt like my legs were never going to warm up so I did a 3 mile warm up in front of a decent 3.5. :) I wore short sleeved tech shirt, shorts, & gloves. Glad I didn't wear anything else because that was all I needed. 15 mins on the elliptical to stretch the legs, some light leg weights, & stretched.

Ran 5 tonight at a 9:21 pace. I pushed the first 3 miles as hard as I could in the blind darkness since I have the 5k on Sat so my last 2 miles were fairly slow. (elliptical 30 mins, yoga ball crunches & stretched). My left hip is not 100% even after a 5 day break of no running. I will be doing an "interesting" 26.2 miles come Dec 8th!

I was told by a very polite policeman to get down before I fall.

One day I want to see something at Madison Sq Garden.

I promised myself I would not get too personal or deep with stuff that most people wouldn't care about on here but hey, it's my blog.

First off, I did 10:51 miles after work (1:45:26-10:02 pace) with my shuffle blaring in my ears. But even the music couldn't take my mind off what cousin, Pam, shared with me before my run. She had a conversation with my ex-sister in law. Apparently, my ex husband is on his 3rd wife (I was his 1st). He's married to a woman who has 3 kids now, going to counseling (FINALLY!) and he's found God. He's doing things I told him to do while I was married to him. I'm by no means a super religious person but I've often turned to God in the good and bad times of my life and it's that power of prayer that's got me through my rough times. (College, becoming a young military wife, losing a pregnancy, divorce, and numerous less serious issues over the years).

I feel numb when I hear someone say the name, Gary Smith, which is VERY rare. I'm not in touch with any of my former in laws. Due to our traveling, I was never close to them anyway. Apparently, Gary's 2nd EXTREMELY young wife left him broke. (imagine that?!) He's done some growing since the 2nd marriage ended and good for him. I'm glad! :) I hope the 3rd wife is strong enough to stay with him, bless her heart. Maybe 3rd time will be the charm. :)

I spent a decade of my life with a man who had many demons. A lot of the demons he had I kept within the confines of our marriage until he decided to go through a mid-life crisis at the age of 29. I dare say, it was mainly friends who initially stood by me, not many family (until I made his demons known). I spent over 10.5 miles thinking about how his life must be like now and I sincerely hope he's calmed his demons. I will say one thing, it's because of him that I developed this running interest. Running around Germany seeing the sights on foot was cheap and easy. It did not hit me how fast Gary was then until he came home one day telling me that the Army wanted him to stop smoking and train for some event. (Yes, sadly I was married to a smoker!) Needless to say, he loved the smoking more than the idea of being relieved of combat training in order to pursue running. Not many people know this about him but he was an awesome runner. Tall, lean, long legs, and fast. He pushed me, ran circles around me, and got me moving. (long distance came MUCH later for me)

If there's one other thing that I'm grateful for that resulted from my marriage to Gary Smith, it's the fact that I met Cheryl H. in Belton, TX so many years ago. Two twenty-something military wives working in the office of a Bridal Apparel manufacturer. :) She listened to me on the phone and read my emails during my divorce. Even though so far away she's remained in my life for a reason. I cannot wait to see her tomorrow night for the first time since 1993. :) Thank God for old friends. They are like family to me.

So, I'm giving thanks this year for the people like Cheryl in my life. I'm also giving thanks that Gary Smith may have finally found the peace his deserves. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and Hannah, if you read this....and my plane goes down, you know where the rest of the tickets are, right???!!! :)

I am only working 2 days this week & believe me, I can tell. The "dogs" are barking! It's as if they know, they know I'll be off Wed & they have a "let's try to squeeze as much in on Mon/Tues as possible" attitude. I had to take a migraine tablet and get the Admin Asst to the President to pop my upper back in her office. I felt horrible. I'm still tired from the weekend but after hitting the gym tonight for some cross training, I do feel better. I did the ellpitical for 1 hr 5 mins total even though after 50 mins, I got off because I could NOT stand to hear the squeaky elliptical belt on the one next to me. After I did some free weights on my arms, yoga ball crunches, & stretched with Carla's kick boxing class, I got back on for another 15 mins. I felt so much better when I left. I hope tomorrow's a better day.

There's a chance that I may have to work past 5pm tomorrow & if I don't get out of there by 5:30-6pm, I will probably cut my run short. I realized that I have to be at the airport on Wed a little earlier than I had originally thought. Turns out I had my Christmas flight confused with my Thanksgiving flight. I think I would be pushing it to get up super early to run long on Wed. I just don't want to stress myself out anymore than I have to since I am traveling on the BUSIEST travel day of the year. Yikes!

So, the plan right now is to run 10 miles tomorrow out in the East area, lapping Tara until I know I can head back to East for a solid 10 miles. I'll probably stretch at home. If I do this, I'll probably go to the gym Wed morning for an hour of stretching & elliptical. If for some reason I do NOT get in 10 miles then I'll figure out an alternative plan.

This Broncos - Titans game is sad already! TWO touchdowns already by Denver in the first freaking quarter! Can the Titans not play without Albert Haynesworth?! Stella needs to give them their groove back, baby!

I set out at about 8am this morning for a cold 17 miles. Well, about 2 miles into it I took off my gloves and carried them for another 2 miles. I decided by mile 4 that I wanted to take off my thin, long sleeve tech shirt from the '05 RC marathon. By mile 9ish, I was wishing I had worn shorts instead of tights. As I've said before in previous posts, I can sit ALL day long at my desk freezing to death but get me out running and my body warms itself tremendously. My cooling system doesn't work as well as my warming system. I hate summer weather running and it hates me.

My first mile was the figure 8 in my neighborhood and yes, it took a while for my legs to warm up and get moving. I refused to look at my garmin to see how slow I was going. I then headed out to Hwy 55 to Waggoner Park. I decided that even though I forgot my pepper spray I really wanted to run through the base. Less traffic, no stop n' go to wait to cross streets, etc... The sun came out and I started warming up. I probably lost 3+ mins trying to get myself situated all over again. I walked while trying to get my headset, shirt, and gloves intact.

I ran with my iPod shuffle. If I have to run ALL ALONE, I'm going to wear it. Believe me, I appreciate my Eminem, Madonna, Sheryl Crow, Aerosmith, Maroone 5, and Justin Timberlake on these long runs. When Bon Jovi's "She's a little runaway" came on, I got pumped. Ahh, the really young Lisa started picking up the pace to her old FAVORITE song from the days of cruising in my Volkswagon Rabbit (thanks Dad). I was jamming on my run in the base. I ran a 1/2 mile past the UTSI entrance. Some goodlooking guy in a honda was pulling out of the UTSI road. He briefly stopped to ask me how I was...I said, "I'm great!". It sort of scared me but oh well......he was cute! I took in a 6 ounce bottle of fruit punch gatorade and one enduralyte pill. I had a coupe of clif shot blocks too at various points. When I headed back towards the Golf course, I realized I had better head over to the Science Center or I'd be short. By the time I got around the dinosaur, I had less than 2 miles left. (perfect!) When I got to the drive way, my garmin read 17.16 in 3:01:09. I know I would have been well under 3 hrs if I had not had to wrestle with my clothes and headset but I got it in and that's that.

I need a shower and a good stretch. This is my last LONG run before RC. I'm doing 13 miles next Wed morning before I get ready and head for the airport. It will be downhill from there. As for my 8th marathon, I just want it overwith at this point. Then it will be a time for healing and some serious cross training. My goals for '08.

1. Get my hips healed
2. Get faster on my shorter runs/races
3. TRY to get into NYC marathon
4. Travel
5. Save, Save, Save more money
6. Make the most of every moment and just have fun
7. Make new running buddies
8. Figure out how to wear my garmin's heart rate monitor
9. Eat better
10. and finally......treat myself to spa treatments, facials, peels, etc.... :) I LOVE this goal!