Secrets Don't Make Friends

Normally that would be the case so I am told by my 16 and 13 year old daughters. However, I have been keeping a secret now for a few weeks that has just about kill me for my very dear friend Jessica. I was finally given permission to share and oh boy am I gonna share with anyone who will listen. Jessica is PREGNANT! For those of you who are asking who is Jessica.... she is my most favorite running partner... No offense to my new running buddies.... Jess has been running with me longer, putting up with me, listening to me grown over every ache and pain and just plain out one of the best friends a girl could have.

I won't give you the whole entire story, cause I am going to post her blog site as well as one I follow. But unfortunately, Jessica suffered a miscarriage earlier. So we have been waiting for this day to find out that everything was good and the baby was growing. Baby McKnight is growing! 10.5 weeks along and baby due on Feb 22,2009! I am secretly hoping it comes earlier in the month since my birthday is in February! How cool would that be for me! What an honor! Well to say the least I couldn't wait to get home and write this! Secrets are hard for me. Oh I love good news!

So cheers to Kevin and Jessica! You two have no idea how happy I am for you! I can't wait to babysit!

Cross Training Day or 4 mile Run?

Which one shall I do? As I have mentioned before, I do boot camp on Monday and Wednesday. I will be honest, I have missed the last two Mondays. Well we added Friday to it now (to make up for Monday). We discussed this yesterday after that kick ass hill workout and Marisa says that today should be an aerobic workout not anaerobic. OK I am little slow and am just learning the difference, which confuses me (doesn't take much, blond to the root). I have read a couple of articles and talked to people and still don't know that I fully understand the whole concept. So, I went to boot camp anyway. OK my heart rate monitor said 178-180 almost the entire time! I don't listen very well as we have all figured out! It is a great workout even though probably alot more than I should of been doing. Didn't someone say no pain no gain? Well my ass should be rock hard with as sore as it is right now.

Going to take the bike for a little spin tonight as well.... I can't wait for that! My new toy and I am loving it!

Happy Hump Day! See you all tomorrow night.

The Joy of Gentle Rolling Hills!

Did I say gentle rolling? That is because my lungs are screaming and my brain must of been deprived some oxygen during that hill workout. "Hills will make you a better runner" to quote Marisa! Tamara, Kay and I owned those hills. I am very proud of you girls! You push me and I appreciate that. I can't forget John for pushing us on the last one! OK hill workout over! How many more to go? Now I know why she only gives the damn schedule out a month at a time. Then I can't count how many are left.

John Conner in our group gives us a quote before each training session. I love this because they are always so appropriate! Tonight's was "The body does not want you to do this. As you run, it tells you to stop but the mind must be strong. You always go too far for your body. You must handle the pain with strategy..It is not age, it is not diet. It is the will to succeed." Well it might be diet for me... popcorn, beef jerky and peanuts before a run does not settle well....

I WILL SUCCEED AND I WILL FINISH THIS MARATHON.

We Rocked It!

Yes I know it is Monday morning and I should of posted this yesterday when it was all fresh in my mind. But I spent all day on the lake (forgot my sunscreen) and was too tired when I got home. So to recap my Sunday Long Run.

We started at 7 a.m., I thought when I woke up late that it might be an indication of how bad the day was going to be, but not! I got my coffee and headed to our meeting spot, Battleground Park. We started out for our 7.7 miles and I was thinking to myself how hard this course was going to be since there are so many hills. Surprise, Surprise. Surprise at the end I felt great. Soaking wet due to it being so muggy but hey maybe that meant I lost a pound or two.I made up for it at lunch with a cheeseburger and french fries. I was in a hurry to leave to get to the lake, so yippy I missed core work. No Tamara, I am not doing extra on Tuesday as you have suggested! I worked 38 years to have a core like this one, why would I want to ruin it now? OK,OK so the exciting part is I got home yesterday, hooked my Scotty watch up and downloaded the results. Last Sunday my average pace was 10:58, this Sunday my average pace was 10:38. OK I felt like I had won an Oscar! Yes to those of you who run fast that is sad, but to me who runs slowwwwww, for an almost 8 mile run that is not an easy course, Tamara, Kay and I are Oscar winners.

I am truly dedicated to this training, even so I plan everything around it.I am leaving late for my vacation next week to get my long run in on Sunday! I have great, great, great training partners and that has made the biggest difference. I miss my partners from last year, but they will hopefully be back next year! Jess if I take the cat, you have to promise to be back next year.

Great run group and I know I haven't said this, but you guys are the best. Thanks for all the laughs, advise and friendship! Someone very wise has taught me or he is trying to teach me (BRYCE MAYBERRY) that life is about experiences we share with people,what we learn and take from it! Thank you all for the experiences we take with us each week! I APPRECIATE YOU!

Clips it is

Purchased: Bike (yes it is girl specific), helmet, riding shorts (aka diaper shorts), shoes, pedals and it is all at home, safe and sound in the garage.

Fellow bloggers and readers, clips won! 3 people in the store said, definitely start with clips, one shook his head no and then of course Keith chimed in with his vote for clips. So clips it is. OK the guy at the store Brett, very helpful and knowledgeable individual, set them on the lowest tension possible for easy kick out I think it is called. I have to learn a new language to go along with my new sport. Then said to go to a very grassy area and practice. I made Keith and Christine promise to visit me in the hospital. He will pass out room number when it is known.

So bike is purchased and I think tomorrow I will head over to Country Park and take a spin. I just got off it from riding around my neighborhood. Fun, Fun, but guess what, I learned that my legs are not as strong as I thought they were. What the hell have I been doing for a year now? I thought for sure I would have no problems! Oh well was I wrong and then when Brett told me I was riding wrong to keep my feet level in the pedal not my toes down, OMG!

I have to learn to ride a bike all over again! This should be fun. I might have to start a blog just for cycling.

I Love Thursdays!

Not only because Friday is almost here, but I actually look forward to our run on Thursday night. Nothing really to talk about, run was good. 4 easy miles, I had my trusty running buddy Tamera with me. She even stopped with me during the watch malfunction. I am still learning how to use it. Gosh there are alot of buttons to push. So nothing really to report. The core workout was good. TOUGH but good, one day Marisa my core will thank you, but for now it is screaming "YOU SUCK" with all those exercises. But it is meant with love and admiration.

I am super excited (I sound like one of my kids now). So excited, I didn't sleep well last night, ok didn't sleep at all. I even stood Rod up this morning for our 6:30 sharp run so that maybe I could a good couple of hours in. Today I get my bike. Yes I am going to be the proud owner of a Cannondale 6 13. OK, on the bike it is spelled out but that is just too much. No streamers or a bell needed on this bike! Maybe I could get a basket though. Then I could ride it the grocery store, to work, just anywhere I wanted to go. Yeah right. Time will tell. The question of the day is clips or no clips to begin with? Keith says clips, Amy says no clips. Those of you who know me well, know that I am the biggest klutz to begin with, can you imagined me locked into a set of peddles. John check the health insurance, I am seeing some hospital visits in my future.

I can't wait to ride it somewhere besides the parking lot of the store..... Any suggestions? Any riders (beginners only please)?

Have a wonderful day and remember today is an OFF day. I am beginning to like these.

We Regrouped

Thanks to Marisa for being smart enough to cancel tonight's track work. Instead we got on the dreaded treadmills. This is not negative, this is honest. I hate a treadmill. I would rather be beaten than to get on that dreaded thing. But I did it. It took a few minutes of convincing myself that I would be better for it. Yeah right whatever......

So I went over to the gym, found my treadmill in corner and went at it. Of course the lady beside me kept looking at me when I would start my interval like something was seriously wrong with me. She finally left. Yes I ran the old lady off! Maybe it was the combination of sweat and heavy breathing. I have not clue and guess what, I don't really care. I was glad she left, then I could concentrate instead of worrying about her evil looks!

Workout done, dinner eaten and hey it is only 7:18 p.m. What will I do now... Oh I forgot my core workout. NOT!

I actually did it!

I made myself do it. I took yesterday OFF! No boot camp, no cardio machines, no running, no NOTHING! Except EAT! I think I ate everything in site. I was starving yesterday. So I fed my hunger...... I will have to pay for the rest of the week. I normally try to give myself one day to splurge and yesterday was it. For those who knew me before I have dropped almost 40 lbs since I started running last January. I have a lot more to go but I am proud of it and hope to keep it off permanently.

Track work here we come tonight... The heat is going to be a killer.... HYDRATE, HYDRATE, HYDRATE!

The calander does say OFF

Even though our training calendar says OFF today, I was all set and ready to go to boot camp. I set the alarm last night at 9:00 p.m. for 4:45 a.m. and soon was off in dreamland. I woke up, rolled over and looked at the clock and it was 5:19 a.m., I rolled back over and went back to sleep! Not sure how I missed the alarm, don't remember turning it off but it had been turned off.

I will feel guilty all day! Any form of exercise seems to put me in a better mood. Therefore, with doing nothing, I will feel the need to make up for it after work. But I think I am going to truly give myself a day off without the guilt. Let's see how that works for me.

Happy Monday!

Sunday Long Runs

Today was our third Sunday long run. We met at Salem Lake in Winston Salem for one loop around. 6.65 miles according to my handy dandy new gadget. The Garmin Forerunner 305.

I have wanted one of these for over a year now. Christmas came in July on Friday. I found one on the internet and John bought it for me. This thing does everything except run for me. Maybe I just haven't found that feature yet. Of course once I got it, I wanted to play with it and see what it would do. I went to the computer just to discover I could not download the software. The search for it on the internet began. Of course I couldn't find it and the yelling began. I am so impatient. I finally found it and went through the steps to download it and now I am set and ready to go. After your run, you just plug it up and it sends your info to the program and oh how cool is that. I am so easily entertained!

It was a great run today, muggy but otherwise uneventful. No falls, just one lost runner and several no shows... I want mention names but one was my ride! I am sure he is probably out running right now!

Rod's fast is faster than my fast!

That is my new t-shirt logo! I ran with Rod this morning. Just 4 miles, and he, as normal kicked my ass! OK I hate excuses, but here are mine for such a poor performance this morning at 6:30 a.m.

1) I went to sleep around 2:30 or 3:00 this morning
2) We had just run 5 miles last night and I was sore!

To me those are very good ones, but Rod has no mercy and doesn't care. He even said that in a couple of months he wants us running that 4 mile frikkin all up hill course, path whatever you want to call in 36:00 min! Has the man lost his mind? He seems to think that training is going to make me faster... HA HA HA HA! I find this very funny but then I think back, yes that was a goal of mine. But come on, that would be an 8 min mile if my math is correct (somebody check it) and I don't think there is EVER a fear of that happening. Heck my legs are too short for that to be possible.

If your wondering, yes I complained about the hills! I knew he had missed my "bitching" about it, so I felt obligated. Now I am going to eat my lunch and take a nap!

Not as interesting as you might think

Thursday nights are kinda boring... I say that now... in a month I will be crying on hear. The words might even be blurred there will be so many tears.

We met at Off N Running's new store. Great new digs if you haven't had a chance to see it. Stop by and tell them Amy sent you! HA HA! Anyway Marisa gave us our path for the night and we took off. Almost 5 miles later and we were back. Nothing to write home about.

Now the conversation along the way is different. In my group, Me, Tamara and Kay boy we chat it up. I know you all are surprised since I am so quiet and reserve. Yes I know, less talk more run. But Marisa said slow and easy. We missed Amy R. tonight she is on vacation! You better be running while your in Nantucket girl ! I told her she had to bring pictures to prove it! Almost at the end I told them my bacon was burning. The joke is if you smell bacon burning it is just my legs rubbing together. Never fear Herbie's did not burn anything! Yes how rude to send a bunch of hungry women on a path that crosses a greasy spoon. Especially me... I might stop and have a bite or two and then come back.

See told you it was just a boring run! Hot as hell though... I have learned runs are never boring when your with people you like. I am very appreciative of the new friends I am making. I get to run with Rod (last years running group) in the morning. YEAH I can't wait...... I hope he will run slow though. His idea of slow and mine are way different. So Rod if you are reading this, my slow buddy!

I have added Dena's link to her blog for those of you who want to keep up with it. It is hilarious and I love it! http://www.denaharris.com/ (Dena I hope you don't mind)

Goodnight everyone and see you Sunday. Kenneth, I can't wait to see you and just talk talk talk the whole way to Salem Lake!

I must have lost my mind!

For those who already know me and think I am crazy....your right! This morning I went to boot camp. Yes I decided I need to shed some body fat and gain muscle so I have joined a boot camp. Those people are crazy. It is two days a week (there is rumor maybe 3 days), starts at 5:30 a.m. til 6:30 a.m. We start off with a nice stretch then we run a mile. This crazy man, Michael Broadway wants this mile ran in 10 minutes......Has he lost his mind! It is 5:30 in the stinking morning, the morning after hill repeats! I can barely lift my legs never the less run a mile in less than 10 min. I am proud of myself 8:41!!!! YEAH... The motivation is the skinny women thinking they will out run the marathon trainee! Yeah think again! I saw a shirt last night, "My fast is faster than your fast"! I want it! The bad part of this boot camp, it is sandwiched in between Biscuitville and Carter Brothers (best gravy biscuit in all of High Point)! Right now I am starving and I want to eat two gravy biscuits! Oh well the price we pay to be thinner and faster..... I better be lightening quick after this crap is all over!

For anyone interested in joining me, we have 8 weeks left. Michael was a trainer at Gold's Gym and I watched him take some seriously out of shape folks into what I would call miracles! Now he has a personal training studio all his own. However nice and good at what he does, I think something went seriously wrong in his childhood for him to enjoy the punishment we get at this boot camp. But I think somewhere there was a promise of transformation of the body if you would follow the plan. Rebel that I am, I am going to TRY!

Happy Wednesday!

It is Official I SUCK at hills!

Now I totally understand why I choose a marathon on mostly flat land. I HATE HILLS! I thought it before but it is official, I hate to say it again, but I HATE HILLS. In our group there are these folks who can run up those hills and make it look like nothing, (Chris, Dena, John and Pam)and then there is me.....Pam told me that was negative thinking and yes it is very negative thinking! For those that are new to our group, Pam and John are awesome runners, but more importantly awesome people to be around. Thank you John for supplying us with inspiration before our runs. I think a prayer might be in order the next time we run hills!

So back to why I hate hills. Well mainly because I am lazy! I ordered a charm that says "No More Excuses". Sure hope it comes before the next hill repeat night. I think they picked one of the steepest hills in this crazy town for us to do hill repeats on. Hill repeats for those of you who might not know, are exactly what they sound like. You run up and down a hill repeatedly. I know, I asked myself the same thing, WHY? Well someone said I would get stronger. Right now I don't think I can move my legs, never the less think of them as getting stronger. I have been running for almost a year now with Rod and Jessica (last years group) in Adams Farm, up and down the same darn hills and I swear they never get easier. I sure miss my running buddies. Rod misses my complaining about the hills! Rejoice Rod, now other people get to hear me complain for an hour. You get a break buddy!

I have tons more to say, but it is 9:44 p.m. and that is exactly 1 hour past my bed time give or take a minute or two...and I have boot camp in the morning... So good night and GREAT JOB GROUP! YOU ROCK, well except for Marisa and those stupid planks! Come on girl, we can't hold that for a minute and laugh at the same time! LOL!