Special Shout Out to...

Doug and Gloria Wade!

Our fundraiser-bean-counter-gal just told me that this dear couple, former neighbors and co-worker (Gloria), also gave money prior to Sunday! Kudos to them for helping me make it to $1,000! Kindness from so many places! I am indeed humbled!

Hip hip hooray! Thank you, thank you!

Nine Miles - whew!

So, I ran with my Fabulicious group again; a nice pace and speed to which to return. We clocked in at 2 hours 6 minutes, a solid 14 minute mile. The other group I ran with made it in 1 hour 58 minutes (13.1 min/mile), so not that far off of what we did. I bet I could keep up with them…but I’m relatively pain-free today, so that counts for something.

Next week’s run will include more Body Glide in more areas, for sure - too many sore red spots today. It will also be a ten miler! I’m surprised at how well my flabulicious body is holding up! Thank you, Lord, for the water stops and those that man them! I’ll tell you what, at our last water stop, around 8:00, the sun was brutal! For some strange running reason, I preferred to be moving than standing in that heat!

OH – also, BIG NEWS! I’m over my “Obligatory $1,000” mark! Yippee! Many thanks to:

Bob and Liz Lynch

Chesapeake Bay Internal Medicine

Chris and Paul Biondi

Flowers by Steve (Barry and Stephen)

Gift Matcher

Herb Waldenmaier

Joan Vogelsang

Jodi Short

Kathy Anderson

Kendra, Troy, and Luke Riley

Linda Hills

Lisa Weremeichik

Lyn Kilbourn

Meredith Weiler-Skirka

Midge Coppersmith

Mr. and Mrs. Reid

Nancy Tucker

Ronald Martin, and

Trudy Hamilton!

With your gift to Easton ROCKS,

each of you have encouraged me and spurred me on!

And have given kids a wonderful opportunity.

Many Many Thanks!

If you are so inclined and have not yet donated, you have until July 26th! I'll give a big huzzah to future contributors then!

Alright, until the July 5th run – chill, chill, don’t freeze.

Eight Miler

Ahhh, so that’s done! I met up with Amy at 6 a.m. on this humidish Sunday morning, the sun just stretching itself awake, and the moon putting itself to bed. We walked around the track to warm up and we decided on a 3:1 pace, which we kept up for 4 miles. 4 miles in 46 minutes, thank you very much! That’s an 11.5 minute mile! Didn’t I just say I was not a sub-13 gal? Hello!

I was feeling a little winded, so at that half way mark we had our Goo and we switched the pace to 3:2. Amy was so incredibly flexible with running speed and pace – she's lovely! It was a joy to run with her. She told me how Easton Rocks began and some happenings along the way. I am so impressed that two gals (she and another Susan) had a vision for a few after school programs and it has turned into this! She has big dreams and ideas for the future, all of which get me so excited. I offered to help in some way, so I’ll be doing some administrative work for her when the school year gets started. I’m delighted to lend a hand in some way, more than running! :)

So, back to the run. After the 4 mile mark, we slowed it down a bit, but the time still slipped by, because we were chatting. I’m telling you there is no other way to run, you have to have a running buddy! We followed familiar roads and towards the end, Amy’s GPS watch beeped for 8 miles, and I was surprised! SUR-PRISED that we ran 8 miles. 8 miles in 1 hour 40 minutes! 12.57 minutes per mile. Sub-13, by 3 seconds, but still!

So it’s been 9 hours since I returned home. My quads were sore in church and I took a 1.5 hour nap this afternoon, but right now I’m feeling OK! Eight miles done, just have to add five more for the half marathon! C’mon Nine Miler! I can’t wait!

The Seven Miler - You Just Never Know!

Well it’s Saturday morning and I am home typing and watching the kiddos as they watch Wallace and Gromit! A load of laundry is in the dryer and we're going to go grocery shopping soon. I would normally be out on the 8 mile run, but my hubby has his own run to do – 50K/~32 miles – so we work with each other’s schedule. I will be running the 8 with our head coach, Amy, tomorrow morn, 6 a.m. Wish me luck!

Last weekend, we ran 7 miles. We were lumped into larger groups so we could shake ourselves out and run at our own pace. I saw a friend, S., and she asked me to run with her and her running buddy/friend, J., at a 3:1 pace, and I knew they were a bit schneller than what I normally run. I was confident from my good maintenance run earlier in the week and have been toying in my mind about trying a 3:1 ratio, so I accepted this offer. I checked it out with my other running gals and they said ‘fine! Have fun!’ so off I went.

I enjoyed running with S & J, the 3:1 gals! The conversation and pace were new. S said she was having an off day, however, and so I think we didn’t quite run at their full or usual potential, thus allowing me to keep up. All in all, we had a great run, I did anyway. We finished 7 miles in 1 hour 29 minutes, just 6 minuets faster than my 6 mile run! :o I wanted to know right then what I should do next week (today), what group to be in. I told myself to be patient; that I would certainly know by the next run. And I sure do! I am not a sub-13 minute/mile gal. My legs were sore the next two days and my run on Monday was pretty lame, more like a walk. Running is pulling out a more competitive side of me, I would love to be able to run faster with them, but the bigger mileage will kick my tookis if I go too fast. I have to increase mileage and speed gradually, says my homebased coach. He would know, I have to try to remember what he says.

Tomorrow will be interesting, for sure. I don’t know how fast Amy runs, but she’s very familiar with my pace. I guess she figures we’ll do OK together. I think I am just a slower gal, and I have to be OK with that. Thursday night when I ran, I did a 5 K in 40 minutes, with some walk breaks, 13.3 minutes/mile. I guess I just want everything now, and am learning again that that is not possible. Just get to the start line uninjured. And if slower gets me that way, just be OK with that. Funny, just a few months ago I would never dream of wanting to run, or run faster! You just never know!

Pre-7 Jitters

Feeling a little nervous about tomorrow - oh, it's the big 7! For some reasons, numbers with 7 in it seem important or big to me... I'll never forget how old and grown up 17 was to me when I was younger than that. Now, being >cringe< 37, I'd love to go back to those innocent, carefree times! What am I talking about! My parents still take care of me! :D

So, I've been kind of cocky lately, and I think it's going to get me now. Hmmm. I only had one run this week at the Y - I did relatively well, for me, but still, "I scare" as Kate would say. PLUS I have some type of oozing bumps on the back of my left knee. Not fun, rather annoying. Probably my yearly bout with poison ivy. Even though I never come in contact with it, some how in June I need to get Prednizone (sp?) for it, it spreads that bad all over me. It never fails. Also, I didn't have a pasta dinner tonight or a baked potato or anything - just Sushi. Will that keep my fires burning tomorrow morning? Maybe if I quick eat something superstarchy now, it'll be OK.

Am I being superstitious or realistic? I'm sure I'll let you know if I fall to pieces tomorrow! :P

Fabulicious!

Ahhh! We did it! We ran 6 miles and changed our name! :)

The six miles were accomplished in one hour and twenty-three minutes, four minutes quicker than we were supposed to, but fifteen minutes longer than last week. The humidity was crazy today, the haze thicker than I've seen in years, summer's finally here. We all made it back alive! Sweaty, but alive!

Today was also the first day we needed to eat while running. Since your body burns energy, you need to put some back in while running. Common practice is 100 calories every 45 minutes or so. At mile three I tried my first pack of Goo. I could handle the vanilla taste, but it was very Survivor-esque to have a glob of slime on my tongue and swallow it. Running in 100% humidity, swallowing slime - I don't want to know what's next. But ya gotta keep going and follow the rules! I'll try my beans next week.

And, our team name was changed! One of our gals got bumped up a group so now we're Fabulicious! I'm groovy with that, it's a little silly which is good. L thought that one up a few weeks ago, C suggested it today. We all like it, so there it is.

That's all for now! Exciting times! I'm off! Zip-a Zip-pah!

5 miles and the Fantastic Four

We did it! 5 miles in 1 hour 8 minutes! Still quicker than the time we are supposed to run, but we reassured ourselves that we'll slow down! It was a nice day, no rain in the morning, but humid. We've escaped the humidity for quite sometime this year, and the heat, but summer will be creeping in, no doubt. We decided on a name, The Fantastic Four. I'm not super jazzed on it, but I had nothing better to offer. And really, a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet and/or run as well!

So, we bit the bullet...I am now a member, again, of the Talbot YMCA. The pickup truck scared me enough to shell out $117 upfront and $38 each month thereafter. All for a worthy cause, I altruistically justified to myself, and better than ending up dead. My first run there was last night, it was good. Better treadmills than in my shed, I'll tell you. Plus there are TVs, it's air conditioned, the treadmill has numbers flashing at how well I'm doing (or not doing, potato/potahto). I think I will be OK here for the next three months. It does irk me to have to drive someplace to run, but better safe than sorry. Do I always use so many cliches?

It's really amazing that I ran 5 miles. Running with others makes all the difference. If you asked me to do that alone, I would say, "No thanks" or "I'll see you in three hours", cuz I'd walk the whole thing. I guess, for me, it's not the four of us that are so fantastic, although the gals I run with are great. It's what we are doing, or can do, that is phenomenal. Yea! :) Maybe our name isn't half bad after all.

So this Saturday we, the Fantastic Four, and about 40 others, will run 6 miles - a 10K! - and almost half the half marathon! Each week there's something to look forward to! Hip hip hooray! It's all very exciting.